CHAPTER TWELVE
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SIGHING, Winnie was pushed forward by Louise to the tree in the courtyard where they were meeting Lily, Marlene, and Dorcas. She ran her hands over her outfit over and over again. She didn't know if it was appropriate for the occasion or not. Then she didn't know why she was so worried about that.

The three girls arrived soon enough, Marlene and Dorcas sharing the same level of enthusiasm that Louise had from the very start.

"At least someone here has some sense," Louise told Winnie and Lily with a grin as she skipped down to the lake with excitement.

Lily leaned over to Winnie and whispered, "At least. Because where we're headed, there is absolutely none."

Winnie laughed loudly and Lily grinned back at her. Louise paid no attention to it and simply encouraged it. "There you go! Fun! Have it!"

Lily giggled along a little more until they finally caught sight of a small light hidden strategically between some trees near the lake. The night had only just begun, with the sun setting barely moments before they had arrived.

James was cracking open a few bottles and Sirius opened his arms to gesture to the small area. Only James, Peter, and Remus filled it. Clearly, it was either a small affair or nobody else had agreed to come. It definitely had Winnie questioning a thing or two.

A few floating jack-o-lanterns filled the air between them and they had a few treated laid out on a small foldout table that looked poorly made — she suspected that somebody had transfigured it.

"Welcome!" Sirius greeted, Winnie tearing her eyes from one of the jack-o-lanterns. His smile was illuminated in the soft orange glow that was given off by the limited sources of light. "We've got some food and drinks, help yourselves."

James was pouring quite a bit of firewhisky into some cups, and Winnie walked up and happily obliged. Anything that would make this party more enjoyable and Sirius less irritating.

"Winnie's the first!" James toasted, grabbing his own cup and tapping it against hers. "Lily, would you like a drink?" He wandered off at that question, Lily clearly putting in a grueling effort into not hating him at that very moment for the sake of everyone else.

A few drinks later, the party was decidedly the best thing she had ever been to. The food was ten times better than she expected it to be, and as she munched on a cauldron cake, she couldn't help but admire how beautiful the lake looked.

"Enjoying yourself, Winnie?" Sirius asked from her left, sidling up to join her where she stared at the lake absentmindedly.

"As long as you don't get me into detention, again," she told him, shaking her head while pouting exaggeratedly.

"Hey, now, first time wasn't my fault," he defended, noticing that she was wobbling slightly and put his hand on the small of her back to help guide her into a seated position.

"And the second time was definitely on purpose...arse," she mumbled angrily, grabbing another sip of her drink. Sirius grabbed the cup from her hand once she was done with the least smug smile she had ever seen him wear. He put it on his other side so she couldn't grab it again. "Why?"

"You should probably slow down a little, love. In fact — accio — have some water," he offered, pressing a cup of water into her hands. She obliged, only just then realizing how thirsty she truly was. "And yes, it was an accident on purpose."

"Not how that works."

"Well, how else was I going to see you again?" he mused, glancing over at her with a smile. Winnie scoffed loudly, pointing an accusatory finger in his direction.

"You know Louise! It wasn't that hard!" she exclaimed, not understanding why on earth Sirius Black would care so much about seeing her again.

She remembered him shrugging but after that she felt quite tired, didn't hear a word he said and fell straight into his lap, spilling half of her water in the process.

And when she woke up the next morning, her first words were very clear in her memory. "Oh shit!"

The sun was barely breaking over the horizon, and she shoved a disheveled looking Sirius next to her slightly roughly. "Wake up! You twat!"

Blinking rapidly, Sirius glanced up at her with a grin. "Well, good morning to you." Winnie shook her head as the others around her began to stir.

"I swear if Filch catches us," she rushed out, not quite wanting to spend another week in detention.

"Cross my heart, Winnie, I will not let him catch you," Sirius smirked with a quick wink, and she responded by simply shoving him lightly. He laughed in reply, causing her to roll her eyes.

"Is anyone else hungover as fuck?" Louise questioned quite loudly, grabbing her head with a faint smile. "I mean, wild, great night. But blimey, this might be the end of time."

"Louise, please don't be so dramatic and focus on getting back to the common rooms," Lily groaned, grabbing her things quickly while James simply watched her tiredly.

Winnie quickly began to help with the cleanup process and before they knew it, they were ready to start sneaking past Filch and his just as dreaded cat. Tip toeing on the grounds they attempted to not look like they had just been sleeping in the grass all night while they hid behind each tree they came across.

Once they were in the hallways, it was much easier to duck and weave from any possible authority figure. Though, all of them traveling at once did make more sound than was preferred at that very moment.

Winnie waved to the others before she entered the Hufflepuff common room, letting out a sigh of relief the minute she stepped behind the portrait. Despite that situation, she supposed it was a fun night. Almost, perhaps, as fun as Louise said it would be.

She stopped in her tracks when she spotted someone else in the common room. There sat Amias, leaning forward in one of the armchairs to set a copy of the Daily Prophet into the flames.

He must have heard her footsteps, since he glanced back, letting go of the paper, letting it get fully engulfed by the fire.

"Didn't enjoy the news today?" she asked curiously, knowing that while the news wasn't pleasant, burning it this early in the morning was strange to say the least.

"Why are you up so early?" he questioned back, ignoring her inquiry entirely.

"I, er, just wanted to get an early start on the day," she explained, shifting while trying not to appear dirty and exactly like she had been sleeping outside like an animal. "You know me."

He went suddenly quiet at her last comment and she realized that he really didn't know since it had been years upon years, but in that moment she thought hey, why not change that?

"We should really hang out some time, it's been too long," she said, smiling at him cheerfully to sell him on the idea.

He was staring at the fire again now. "I don't think we can," he told her quietly. She wasn't very certain on how to respond to that. How does one respond to a comment like that?

Instead of pushing it further, she simply said, "Okay." And then moved along up into the dormitory. Luckily, everyone was asleep. Her undeniably irritating dormitory mates were not what she needed this morning.

All she wanted to do was take a nice long nap to hopefully sleep off the dull headache that only threatened to get worse.