──────────────
'TRY ME'
──────────────

tw: attempted drugging, attempted assault

♡

Hours later at midnight, the party remained as alive as ever—despite the dwindling numbers of students as the fire whiskey started to catch up to them. Mina watched in amusement as a tipsy Charlie threw a handful of lollies in his mouth and, no longer than a second later, floated a few feet above the crowd with steam coming out of his ears.

As those around her erupted in laughter, she felt a bit out of place as seemingly the only sober person left in the room. Although, it was amusing to watch as even the most reserved people start to yell and dance around on the chairs like little kids, all from various houses. Mina even spotted Draco Malfoy getting into the loud muggle songs blasting from the floating speaker, using his wand as a microphone.

"I'm gonna take a breather," she said to Charlie once he was back on the ground, but he didn't hear her as he started debating a drunk Ravenclaw on why trolls could be taught ballet if they tried hard enough, actually. He slurred a bit on his words, his cheeks flushed pink, too caught up to notice her slip away.

Squeezing through the crowd, Mina felt suffocated by the amount of glittery people brushing against her shoulders and sloshing their drinks. The air was hot and thick with sweaty body heat and a bit of smoke from god-knows what. It felt like years of holding her breath until she finally reached the outskirts of the crowd, finding refuge by the back wall beside the drink table.

Mina grabbed a cup and eyed the punch bowl filled with a pretty, alluring pink liquid. She had never really had alcohol before—aside from a small sip from her dad's glass one Christmas—but maybe just one drink wouldn't hurt. There was an array of different shaped glass bottles strewn across the stained tablecloth, most almost empty. But as she reached for the ladle on the side of the punch, she remembered Harry's warning those days ago: never drink the punch at a Gryffindor party.

"Hey, you showed up!" speaking of the devil, Mina turned to face a tipsy Harry. His glasses askew on the tip of his nose, the glitter on his face was even better up close—like he was some sort of art piece under the colourful lights. "Everything okay?" he asked, taking a sip from his cup.

"Uh, yeah," Her face heated up as she caught herself staring. Surprisingly, Heather was nowhere to be seen. "The glitter suits you," she motioned to his face, but her voice was drowned out by the music—and Draco's attempts at high notes.

"Eh?" Harry leaned in closer, fixing his glasses. Her lips almost brushed his ear as she repeated herself—trying to focus on her words and not the way she caught a whiff of his cologne.

"Same to you!" he pulled back to beam that charming smile of his. She laughed a little, fiddling with her empty plastic cup, pretending for her own sanity not to notice the subtle once-over he gave her. "You dress up nicely," he added a bit softer as the lights danced over his hair, and in that moment everything felt like it was in slow motion. Like they were the only two in the room. Just his eyes on hers.

But for whatever reason, her eyes were drawn away from his to two people over his shoulder at the far end of the room. How Mina spotted them amidst the crowd in the dim lights was unbeknownst to her, but there was no missing Heather and Cormac McLaggen standing together on the outskirts of the moshing bodies.

At first she thought they were hooking up—her stomach dropping at just the thought, thinking about the boy in front of her—but as she squinted, saw they were talking quietly under the colourful haze. Mina only caught a glimpse of them swapping something in their hands before Harry's shoulder blocked her view again.

"So, a group of us are gonna play truth or dare in one of the dorms soon, away from all of...this. You should join," he said, his breath sweet and fresh from the enchanted drink he just had. "I heard someone snuck some of Snape's Veritaserum out of his office, too, so that could get interesting."

Mina almost immediately said no; smuggled potions mixed with drunk party games was practically asking for trouble. But looking around at the overcrowded common room with the faint stench of sweat and vomit hanging in the hazy air, it seemed like the perfect getaway from the chaos.

It was definitely a bad idea, she knew that...but something in the back of her mind was strangely tempted to see just how bad things could really get.

So, Mina nodded.

"I'm in."

- - -

Sometimes very bad ideas don't seem that bad in the moment. Sometimes it feels like too much fun to be something you'll regret later. That's what this truth or dare game felt like to Mina, because at the time it really didn't feel like a bad idea. There was about ten of them, a mix of sixth-year and older guys and girls, gathered in someone's dormitory sitting around in a circle with some drinks, slurred words, and a tiny vial of Veritsaserum on the carpet.

It was much quieter in the dormitory, though they could still hear the muffled music from the common room. As Seamus took a tiny sip of Veritaserum and began telling his most embarrassing story in all its painful details, Mina's face was pink with laughter. Of course, that was more to do with the bit of fire-whiskey in her system rather than the story itself, but in that moment it felt like the funniest thing in the world.

"Oi, steady now," Harry laughed across from her in the circle as she took a few more sips of the burning drink, his cheeks also tinted pink. Almost as pink as the eyeshadow Heather wore beside him, holding his hand, a bit of her lipstick smudged on his cheek. She handed him a cup, but he didn't take it, saying he'd be sick if he had anything more.

But with the more fire-whiskey Mina swallowed, the less she seemed to care about the couple across from her. It felt like the first time in weeks she was able to let go of things, even if it was only for a little while. As the group's laughter died down once Seamus finished his story, an especially drunk Lavender Brown turned to her.

"Next turn...Mina," she said dramatically with the tone of a gameshow host. "Truth or dare?"

Feeling everyone's gaze land on her, Mina eyed the little bit of Veritaserum left in the vial. So far they'd heard unfathomable secrets--that a closeted Lavender is secretly dating a girl, that one of the older Quidditch boys has no gag reflex, and that Parvati Patil made out with Draco once last year. Feeling Harry's gaze on her, Heather's gaze on her, she swallowed thickly. No way were her real feelings for him going to be let out tonight. Not like this.

"Dare," Mina said. She braced herself for whatever Lavender was going to come up with.

"Down the rest of your drink all in one go," she said, and Mina cringed, eyeing her cup still half-full of fire-whiskey that she was planning on tipping out. But it was either this or drink out of the punch bowl in the common room for not doing the dare—and no one wanted to drink out of that punch bowl. So, fire-whiskey it was. She squeezed her eyes shut and gulped it down in one go, the group laughing as she screwed her face up in disgust as she swallowed the horribly sour liquid. But the pain it caused was even worse than the taste: it was as though actual fire burned down her throat.

After a few more turns—her stomach finally starting to settle—it was Parvati Patil's turn to ask someone. From her spot on Dean's lap (as a result of another dare), she looked around the group and smirked once she laid eyes on her victim. "Potter," she said, "Truth or dare?"

"Dare," he said immediately, some of the boys laughing at his eagerness.

She thought for a moment, eyeing the people lounging around the room. "I dare you...to kiss the prettiest girl in the room on the lips," Parvati said.

Something pinched Mina in the heart. It felt like she was actually going to be sick now as his gaze flickered to Heather beside him. She could see exactly how this was going to go: he'd kiss Heather like everyone expected him to, they'd all cheer for the brand new, most attractive-looking couple in the school, meanwhile Mina would melt into a puddle of her own despair and seep into the carpet.

She looked down and fiddled with her cup, waiting for it to be over already. The fire-whiskey mixed with the bubbling sadness in her stomach made her want to burst into tears and hide right then and there, or drown herself in more fire-whiskey, or—

Her thoughts were interrupted as Harry tilted her chin up and kissed her.

Soft lips. Warm hand, warm face. Cologne. Thudding heart. Heated face. It only lasted a few seconds at most—a gentle, lingering peck—but in those few seconds, everything came crashing down and crashing up at the same time.

There was no way this was happening—maybe fire-whiskey causes hallucinations, maybe she fell asleep and this was just a dream. This was Harry, after all. Help-Me-Date-Another-Girl Harry. I-Like-You-As-A-Friend Harry.

But when he pulled away, the dream didn't end. He had just kissed her in front of everyone. Dumbfounded, she sat frozen in place. Unable to think. To do anything.

"What the fuck?"

That came from two people. One from a seething Heather, her face beet-red, and the other from across the room. Mina looked over to see Charlie at the doorway, her jacket slung on his arm, looking like he'd just been hit in the stomach.

It was like she was in shock. Nothing was registering. She couldn't think of anything other than Harry's lips. On hers. He thought she was the prettiest in the room with Heather sitting right beside him. He kissed her. In front of everyone. In front of his girlfriend. In front of—

"Charlie," but he just shook his head and left. Mina stood, her heart beating like crazy as she stumbled out of the now chaotic dorm room into the hallway. He was almost down the stairs when she caught up to him. "Wait—"

"What the hell was that?" He spun around. A few heads turned, but otherwise his voice was lost to the music.

"No, no, no, please," she could see him thinking. Could see exactly how he'd seen that kiss. Could see the hurt in his eyes. "It wasn't like that—"

"Then what was it?" he said, swallowing thickly.

"A dumb dare, a stupid dare, I—"

"I thought you liked me," his eyes flickered to the cup in her hand. "And you said you don't drink."

"I never said that—"

"So you don't like me?"

"No—I mean yes, I—that's not what I'm saying!" She squeezed her eyes as her head started to throb, growing dizzy from the lights and the noise and everything. "I do like you. I don't drink."

"Then why are you drunk and kissing someone else? That doesn't add up, does it?" Charlie ran a hand through his hair.

"I didn't know he was going to kiss me!"

"But you didn't pull away, did you?" he asked, and her lips moved to reply, but nothing came out. It was true. She could've moved, could've pushed him away. But she didn't. "I'm gonna go," he tossed her jacket onto a nearby chair and moved away.

"Charlie," she left it there and went after him, pushing past the oblivious onlookers, but quickly lost sight of him in the sea of bodies. He was gone.

She found herself at the drinks table, cup in hand, staring at the punch bowl, replaying the last five minutes in her head. Heather was right there. He could've kissed her. He could've just lied and kissed Heather. Mina grabbed the ladle and tried pouring the punch into her cup but her hand shook too much. It was a dare. He's had more than enough to drink. So have I. It didn't mean anything. But that thought just hurt more.

She dropped the ladle and scooped the cup in the punch. Who does that? Who falls for a girl just to kiss the one who helped set them up? What the hell was he thinking? Mina took a big gulp of the punch and nearly spat it back out, but made herself swallow it. Why does it hurt so much? Another gulp.

"Hasn't anyone told you never to drink the punch at a Gryffindor party?"

Mina looked up through teary eyes to see Cormac leaning against the wall beside the table with his usual smug smile. She'd walked right past him, and now he'd just seen her gulping down as much alcohol as possible while half-crying. Can this night get any worse?

Apparently it could, because Cormac seemed up for a chat, and Mina couldn't find the energy to leave.

"If you're gonna drown your sorrows out," he unscrewed the cap of a bottle with a vivid blue liquid inside. "At least do it with some taste." He motioned for her cup, and she begrudgingly handed it over.

As he tipped the rest of it out into the punch bowl, she covered her eyes with her hands, wiping them, not caring about smudging her mascara, then watched as he poured one for himself and offered the other to her.

If Cormac was drunk, he wasn't showing it.

"Now, what's got your knickers in a twist?" He said into his cup, and she screwed her nose up in disgust. Of course he'd be the type of person to say that.

She took a sip of the blue drink. "None of your business." It was like a sweet fire-whiskey. She sipped on it a bit more. Mina couldn't tell what was more confusing this night: Harry kissing her, or Cormac offering her a drink? What kind of parallel universe had she slipped into?

"Fair enough, fair enough. But you know what is my business?" he stepped a bit closer. No one seemed to notice them in this dark corner of the common room. "Your friend keeping me off the team because he doesn't like me. Bit biased, eh?"

Mina scoffed, taking a step back. "You're still going on about that?" She took another sip. Surely he wasn't this pissed off about a dumb Quidditch team. "What do you want me to say? I'm sorry he chose the better player?"

"I don't want you to say anything." He put his cup down. Moved toward her again. Alarm bells rang in her head. "I just think that if Potter gets to call the shots on the pitch, I get to call the shots in other...areas. Bit of revenge, y'know?"

TW:

The way he looked at her then made her want to bolt all the way back to the Hufflepuff common room, but her body felt too weak. She stepped back again, but the wall hit her back, and he cornered her. She reached for her wand but of course it wasn't there. Who the hell decided that skirts shouldn't have pockets? And why the hell was he this pissed off about not making a dumb school Quidditch team?

He put his hand on the wall next to her head, but she inched away. Mina peered around, but everyone was too focused on the music. The lights didn't reach this far back. She started to feel weirdly drowsy as his breath fanned against her cheek, a scary look growing on his face.

"Drink up," he said quietly, tucking something into his pocket, and her heart sunk.

Mina looked down at her cup, at the swirling blue liquid, and only then realised she hadn't watched him pour her drink. "You...you put something in it," she slurred a little, like she couldn't control her mouth properly. Her voice shook. "What did you do?"

"Nothing, nothing," he insisted quietly, almost a whisper. But there was still that sinister smile on his face. "Well," he corrected himself, "nothing you'll remember."

She felt her legs give way, dropping the cup, but he kept her up, pressing her against the wall. He then started shifting them over to a small hallway nearby—dark, away from the crowd. He was taller than her. Stronger than her. She couldn't wrestle out of his grip as her limbs grew weaker. She had to stay awake—she had to fight back. But everything was becoming slower. More distant. Her body was hyper-alert but shutting down at the same time.

Cormac shoved her into the hallway, and this time her legs really did collapse. The carpet burned her cheek. She couldn't get up. Couldn't say anything. He closed the door to the hallway, encasing them both in darkness, and approached her. But just as she squeezed her eyes shut, preparing for the worst, the door burst open—and in one swift motion, Cormac's shadowy figure was pulled back from her and thrown onto the ground.

"Thought I told you to stay the fuck away from her, McLaggen." someone said. Their silhouette stood in front of Mina, blocking Cormac from her. The latter let out a hollow laugh as he straightened up.

"Or what? What're you gonna do, Potter?" Cormac stalked towards him, but Harry had already pulled out his wand, holding it against Cormac's neck. "Come off it," McLaggen scoffed. "You don't have the guts."

"Yeah? Try me."

And then everything happened all at once.

Cormac suddenly lunged for Harry, hitting him square in the jaw, but in a blinding flash of light, he was thrown out of the hallway straight back into the common room where he crashed into the drinks table. It collapsed onto the floor, showering himself and some onlookers in the splashed drinks, leaving him surrounded by broken glass and drenched in the infamous punch. Either he'd been knocked out or was too embarrassed to stand—but now with everyone's attention on him, it was safe to say he wouldn't be coming back over to the hallway.

Despite the relief she should have been feeling, Mina's body wasn't convinced the danger was gone. Whatever Cormac slipped into her drink was still effecting her, and even if she hadn't had much, she'd no idea how harmful it was. On top of that, thinking about what might've happened if Harry hadn't stepped in...

Stupid. So fucking stupid. Her arms shook as she struggled to sit up, hair sticking to her face. It felt hard to breathe even as she took in lungfuls of air, heart beating out of her chest, too fast to catch up to.

Someone kneeled on the floor beside her, and she flinched as a hand touched her arm, picturing Cormac, that terrifying look in his eye, the physical advantage he had over her—

"Mina, hey, hey, you're okay now," Harry said softly, eyeing the tears streaming down her cheeks. Looking up, she finally recognised his warm hand, his even voice, the safety of his presence. Her heart eased its pace a little. "Did he hurt you? What did he do?"

She tried to talk, to answer, really tried to, but her panicked gasps for air blurred into choked sobs. And then, right there on the floor, all she knew for a few moments was the little nook between Harry's neck and shoulder as she folded into him; into the safety of his arms as he pulled her close.

Letting him hold her, crying into his shirt, she didn't care about what happened in the dormitory. She didn't care about the kiss, about the fire-whiskey, about Heather or Charlie or the stupid dares or the confusing games. All she knew was that she was scared and upset and shaking and he was there; kneeling on the carpet and holding her.

♡

a/n:

i live for the drama. WHAT a chapter HAHAHAH.

also i just had to use the 'kiss the prettiest girl in the room' scene from perks of being a wallflower it's iconic

i feel like i say this every authors note but SORRYYYYY for the lack of updates u guys, omg. i literally have no excuses i'm just lazy. weeks turn into months VERY quickly.

but anyway, i hope you liked the chapter!! and i hope u don't mind it being a bit longer than usual-- i got a bit carried away with it lmfao.

i really really want to try and be more consistent with my updating!!! as of this chapter i give y'all permission to hassle me for updates—lots of authors find it annoying but it's honestly motivating for me, so go crazy.

I LOVE U ALL. especially those of u who have stuck by this book for ages even with my lack of updates, it means a whole bunch <33333

-g

p.s. i'm obsessed with cormac getting thrown into the drinks table that's fucking hilarious.