The days of hanging out at Hogwarts

The entire venue was converted from an office. Through the chat area where Slughorn and the guests were, the center of the room was decorated as a dance floor. The Weird Sisters band was playing in the front, and many young wizards were gathered nearby.

I don’t know if it was the band’s bad taste, but they were playing Celestina Warbeck’s "A Pot of Hot Love", a popular love song in the wizarding world with a strong jazz flavor, which just didn’t match the style Slughorn wanted to show.

The dining area was located on the side of the venue away from the stage. It was relatively deserted and there were almost no people.

Loren and Hermione found a corner seat with a wide view and sat down.

Perhaps the venue of the party was too far from the kitchen, so the mode of tapping the plate to order dishes was not adopted. The way to get food here is to wave to call the house elf waiter, or go to the long table in front to get it yourself.

There were all kinds of food on the long tables, most of which were small dishes with exquisite presentation, such as pan-fried foie gras, baked snails, and Marseille fish soup. The most eye-catching was the table of lobsters. A whole row of big guys with red shells were lying on the ice, and their backs were cut open, revealing the crystal white meat with textures...

There was no bread or biscuits to fill the stomach, and even the desserts were small portions, the kind that Loren could stuff five or six in one bite.

The ingredients and workmanship were luxurious, which was in line with the style of the potion master.

If Professor Slughorn didn't have the intention of showing off, Loren would not believe it.

"Is there anything you want to eat?"

"I can eat anything."

"Then sit here and wait for me."

Loren got up and left the small round table and walked towards the long table.

On the way, he met a house elf whose name he couldn't remember, and borrowed his tray. Based on the principle of taking less frequently, he selected several dishes that looked good, took two portions of each, put them on the tray and brought them back to the small round table.

The taste of the food is a bit difficult to comment on. It is definitely not bad, but it does not match their exquisite and attractive appearance. With the performance of the Weird Sisters and sparkling wine, it slowly goes into the stomach.

The sky outside the window has completely darkened, and the lights in the venue seem brighter.

Harry and Ron have also arrived.

Slughorn greeted him enthusiastically again. With previous experience, he did not give Harry a chance to refuse this time. He grabbed his arm without saying anything, dragged him to Elder Worpple, and enthusiastically introduced this savior to everyone.

Harry subconsciously dragged Ginny with him, and the red-haired girl looked helpless.

Ron and Lavender stood in the corner, watching the Weird Sisters singing absent-mindedly. Lavender glanced to the side from time to time. When she found that her companion had signs of turning her head, she quickly retracted her gaze and looked straight ahead firmly. Ron opened and closed his mouth several times, wanting to say something but stopping...

It is hard to believe that these two carefree people can act restrained and introverted.

Draco and Nott went to greet Slughorn first when they entered the room, but the professor was busy introducing his friends to Harry and showed little interest in greeting the two descendants of Death Eaters.

As more and more students and guests entered, the party gradually became lively.

Loren also saw Seamus and Dean. He didn't know how they got in. After a round, they came to the dining area and buried their heads in eating. They waved their knives and forks more powerfully than they waved their wands.

At 8 o'clock in the evening, the Weird Sisters began to play dance music, starting with a lively tango.

Pairs of male and female dancers entered the dance floor, hugged each other's waists, and spun with the melody, their skirts flying.

Slughorn and the older wizards did not enter the venue, tacitly leaving the stage to the young people, watching with a smile from the audience, with nostalgia and memories in their eyes.

They were mainly students in the sixth and seventh grades, about sixteen or seventeen years old. The boys wore formal gowns like adults, with a few well-formed mustaches growing on their upper lips. Most of the girls chose silk dresses, with fuller breasts. When they walked, their waists swayed slightly, and their skirts swayed, revealing their slender and straight calves.

The youthful breath formed by hormones seemed to be some kind of wonderful magic, which greatly improved the dancing skills of the students in the venue.

In the aftermath of the last section of the opening song, when other couples were kissing, a girl from Slytherin supported herself with her partner and spun on the spot for more than ten times. Her skirt fluttered like a swan with its wings spread, and her beautiful figure attracted the attention of the audience.

At the end of the song, the thunderous cheers and applause fell silent for a few seconds before erupting, shaking the candlelight gently.

Loren and Hermione also applauded from the audience.

They had a clear understanding of their dancing skills, and reached a consensus when the music started, and did not join in the excitement of the opening dance.

The overture sounded again, the melody was still lively, the dance floor was lively again, the sound of high heels blended into the drums, the strings screamed at the top of their lungs, and the band's guitarist swung his long hair up and down like a madman, making people worry that he would throw his head out in the next second and join the Headless Knight Club that Nick had been thinking about.

Loren and Hermione were concentrating on appreciating their dancing. Hermione was dumbfounded by the fast rotation and high splits in high heels, thinking that this was a move that was more difficult to learn than the most obscure and profound Transfiguration.

Fortunately, tonight was not a hot dance special. After about ten minutes, the music stopped, and the guitarist who was shaking his head staggered off the stage, replaced by a violinist with a melancholy look.

His eyes swept across the audience, and he sighed imperceptibly. The bow was pressed on the strings, and the melody flowed out like a spring, soft and soothing.

Loren stood up and straightened his unwrinkled collar, bent over and stretched out his hand towards the girl, making an invitation: "Can I invite you to dance, Miss Granger?"

Hermione pursed her lips into a slight smile, her eyes bright, and held out her hand.

Entering the dance floor hand in hand, such a gentle melody does not require any dancing skills. Like other men and women, they hugged each other, swayed slowly around each other's waists, cheek to cheek, whispered into each other's necks, and rubbed their ears...

The distance was close and the movements were close. The sparkling wine he had just drank was evaporated in the body, and the skin was burned through the hot breath, and the body temperature rose unknowingly.

They have been officially dating for two years, and it's not like they don't have such intimate moments, but on such a night, with such a melody, the sweet aroma of fermented grapes escapes everywhere, lingering on the tip of the nose and turning into the smell of a love potion.

Hermione felt a little tipsy.

Do you want a kiss when the music ends?

No, there were so many people watching, and she didn't want to be watched like Lavender.

But everyone who danced before was...

Hermione's eyes passed over Loren's lips and lingered involuntarily.

Such lips were actually a bit thin and seemed to have clear boundaries. Because they had eaten several portions of velvet ice cream, they were a little red and moist from the cold. She couldn't help but think of trying it.

Hermione suddenly came back to her senses and looked away uncomfortably. She felt that if she continued to think like this, she would be prone to making mistakes.

"what's on your mind?"

"nothing."

"Um?"

"nothing!"

The men and women in the venue were more unrestrained than they were, touching and pinching each other while dancing. Some couples were already trying more explicit moves, such as Cormac McLagan next door, who was biting the girl in his arms unscrupulously. Lips.

Hermione's face turned redder and redder, until it almost bled.

She tried to divert her attention abruptly, but the human brain did not obey the command of subjective will. The girl looked at his lips that moved slightly when he spoke, and couldn't help but pursed her lips, as if her heart was being scratched by a small brush. Even though he moved, he couldn't scratch the itch.

The music enters the final stage of the finale.

Loren looked at the tangled and changing expressions on the little witch's face and felt a little funny.

What's there to worry about? There will be a long time like this in the future.

He stopped and the little witch looked up at him, her eyes shimmering with a hint of joyful anticipation and a little uneasy hesitation. Her past habits made her feel in such a complicated mood. The lips moved slightly, subconsciously trying to press them together.

However, Loren didn't give her a chance. He lowered his head and sucked the softness like peach petals.

With the hint of sweetness from velvet ice cream.

…

Half an hour before the lights were turned off in the castle, the lively Christmas party ended.

Watching Slughorn send his guests out the door one by one, Harry deliberately lagged behind. He had already asked Ginny to go back to the common room first, and was lingering with Ron and Lavender. bid farewell.

The two are showing signs of getting back together again.

Harry put away his slightly subtle expression and looked back at the venue. Only a few house elves who were cleaning up the room were left. As for Loren and Hermione, they left midway through the party and said they were going to the tower to study astronomy on their own.

Only fools believe their excuses.

"Oh, Harry, why are you still here?" Slughorn saw off the last guest. As soon as he turned around, he saw the savior, with a smile on his face that was red from alcohol, kind and kind. , "Go back and rest quickly. When you open your eyes tomorrow morning, you will be able to see the Christmas gift I prepared for you. You will definitely like it!"

"Sir, I have some questions to ask you..." Harry paused and added, "I think I can improve the paper last week."

"I remember! Gorbalot's third law, right? My dear child, it's pretty good that you can write such an article at your age -" Slughorn suddenly thought of Loren, and after a pause He said, "There are indeed some places that can be modified. Maybe we can complete it together and submit it to some journals after the semester starts. Among the guests just now are editors from publishing houses..."

"..."

Harry listened to his story quietly, showing eyes of wonder and praise at the right time, which made the old professor feel more and more comfortable.

Slughorn's walrus-like beard trembled with laughter: "...Don't worry, Harry, we have plenty of time. It's too late today. How about coming to see me tomorrow?"

"I have a simple question that doesn't take much time."

"Then ask quickly, dear child, ask quickly!"

"Sir, I would like to ask you if you know...horcruxes."

This word seemed to contain some kind of depressing magic. The moment he heard this word, Slughorn froze. His round, rosy face became visibly pale, and the wrinkles of his kind smile were quickly flattened. , his expression turned cold.

He squeezed out a hoarse voice from his throat: "What did you say?"

Harry paused for a moment and asked slowly but firmly: "I would like to ask if you know about Horcruxes, sir."

"Dumbledore... no, Dumbledore already knows. He will not let you come to me."

Slughorn's eyebrows knitted together, and he stared at Harry, complex and difficult-to-understand emotions flashing through his deep eyes, including shock, fear, guilt, shame...

Harry felt a little strange, why did Slughorn think that it was Dumbledore who asked him to come to him.

"Yes, you are the savior, you must kill him, you need that memory...

"I feel disgraceful and I'm afraid he will find out that I helped you.

"What you ask for is not much, I know, I know..."

Slughorn muttered to himself randomly. He fumbled in his breast pocket and pulled out a handkerchief, wiping his sweaty forehead and pale face, his old palms trembling constantly.

"Go to Dumbledore, he will give you the answer!"

After Slughorn said these trembling words, he immediately pushed Harry out of the door and let him knock without making a sound.

…

North Tower Tower.

The cold night wind swept through the dark forbidden forest, swept across the vast site, and roared towards the roof of the building, but failed to catch up with the young man and woman who turned to leave. It hit the castle wall in vain and broke into several cold strands. breath.

It was already lights-out time, no one could be seen in the corridors and stairs, the portraits and ghosts were preparing to sleep, and the castle was completely quiet.

On the way back to the common room, Loren held the girl's hand with one hand, and threaded the fingers of the other hand through two thin straps, carrying two stiletto-heeled glass slippers, dangling.

Hermione was still wearing the same dress, but she had Loren's coat on top, which she had taken out of the pendant. She had no habit of randomly piling clothes in the pendant, let alone shoes. The shoes on her feet were also Loren's. The size was obviously too big, and the heels of the shoes drooped every step of the way.

"Ask a question."

"you say."

"Why aren't I allowed to put my high heels in the pendant?"

"Don't you like these shoes very much? I want you to get in touch with them more."

Hermione recalled the scene between the two in the tower not long ago, couldn't help but blush, and hummed at the man, as if to demonstrate.

Loren didn't care at all.

What kind of punishment was this? The newly bought shoes had only been worn for a few hours. If they were dirty, he wouldn't even mind the owner's feet being dirty.

White, soft and tender, it feels great to the touch.

Hermione could still hold back her shyness when there was no one on the road, but she was discouraged when she reached the common room door.

Behind the next corner was the Portrait Hole. The girl was fighting to take her shoes back, but someone with a bad personality refused to give them back, and there was another fight between you and me.

The fat lady's expression was dull, there was nothing surprising about her.

That’s how it is between couples, festivals are all about being intimate.