"You're Welcome"

Hallowe'en 1968

The Hallowe'en feast had the members of The Slug Club bubbling with anticipation. Serenity was listening in on the conversation between Lakita, Erin and Dexter as she twisted the golden treasure chest pendant between her fingers and she pushed a pumpkin-flavoured lollipop around her mouth. Laughing at one of her sister's jokes, she looks across at the Ravenclaw table to find Merritt already watching them.

She was smirking from where she could see through to Serenity, her bushy eyebrows wiggling suggestively from across the hall as The Grey Lady passed between them. Narrowing her eyes, Serenity removes the lollipop and moves her mouth to imitate 'what?'

Within seconds of asking, her vision turns black and the conversation between her sister and cousins dulled. Through the conversations that continued in the excitement, she could hear the distinguishable cackle of her younger sister and a familiar warmth pressing on the back of her neck. Her hand closed around the pendant and raised her other to hold the hand covering her eyes.

"Guess who?" Pulling the hand away with a giddy smile, Serenity spins on the bench to find Lucius bending over her.

"Lucy!" Despite his constant disapproval of the nickname, he couldn't help but smile as she wrapped her arms around his neck and grinned up at him. "What do I owe the pleasure?" He hums and lowers his mouth to her ears.

"Rumour says Slughorn hired The Hobgoblins for tonight."

"Does 'rumour' have a name?"

"Nothing gets past you." Lucius' arms tighten around her waist as a wolf whistle drags their attention back to the people around them.

Vaughn had stolen Serenity's seat on the Hufflepuff bench- Juliet sat on his knee, her arm wrapped around his neck with a smirk on her face as she watched the two of them. Lakita was frowning at the back of Juliet's head as she removed a hard boiled sweet from her mouth and pressed it onto her hair.

Serenity raised her eyebrow disapprovingly as Juliet screeched and attempted to pull it out. She whined when she only managed to get her hair tangled even more. Erin shook her head with a sigh as Juliet began demanding that Vaughn 'get it out!' Rolling her eyes at Lucius, who was watching the scene with a bemused smirk, Serenity kicked Lakita's leg. Her sister whined which was punishment enough for her.

"Here, why don't we just cut it-" Juliet screamed and launched herself from Vaughn's knee as if it had scolded her backside. Cradling her hair, she shook her head at the boy dropping the butter knife and holding his hands out to her with a chuckle. "I'm joking, babe!" After a hesitant moment, Juliet also laughed and allowed him to wrap his arms around her waist.

Erin reached across the table and pinched the sweet. Without time to protest, Juliet's head was yanked backwards as Erin tugged on the sweet as her magic unravelled the hair from it.

With a pristinely clean sweet in her hand, Erin offered it to Juliet. The Slytherin shook her head with a scowl and cuddled into Vaughn. Briefly offering it to Dexter, Erin shrugged and passed it back over to Lakita who proceeded to suck on it once again.

Lucius finally stopped laughing enough to reply to Serenity.

"Vaughn saw Stubby Boardman in Slughorn's office earlier."

"Are you sure?" Serenity, now in disbelief, looked between the two boys for any sign of a joke. Vaughn simply shook his head.

"I'm sworn to secrecy." The group was as silent as possible in the noisy hall. "I realise now how contradictory that is."

*

Serenity entered the Slug Club party with Lakita on one arm and Erin on the other. The two non-members were there on invitation of the two Senate twins. This would be the first time Erin would attend one of Slughorn's parties and she was dressed in her finest. Her white gown shimmered as the light caught the gold glitter layering the skirt and dispersing onto her torso. Her blonde hair was pinned back after a half hour of Serenity and Lakita labouring over it and her cheeks sparkled from stray pieces of glitter.

Lakita wore a tan dress with brown ribbon as a belt which she claimed to have once been their mother's. Despite it initially seeming unappealing in the dull dormitory light, various tones were now becoming clear in the crisp moonlight that leaked through the windows around them and Serenity was suddenly envious of her sister.

Serenity had been spoilt for choice when it came to her wardrobe. Not only did she have her dresses from home but a brand new emerald one-shoulder dress. It was silk all over and gentle on her skin. She absolutely adored it and finally had an excuse to show it off to, not only her peers, but to Lucius, the boy she had been dating for six months now.

The skirt bounced around her thighs as the three of them stumbled down the hallway in a fit of giggles. To any onlookers they would appear intoxicated when, in fact, they were merely high on happiness.

Serenity and Erin's minds were clear of the feud taking place among their family members as they headed towards a night of dancing and laughter. Beside her sister and cousin, Serenity couldn't have felt more at peace.

Entering the office that had been renovated for such grand celebrations, the three of them parted from each other in awe. Small pumpkins floated above their heads, candles flickering in them as paper bats weaved in and out of them. The paintings on the walls were draped with fake spiderwebs much to the dismay of their inhabitants. However, the most captivating scene was the small stage at the far end of the room and a drum kit that read "The Hobgoblins".

Vaughn had been right.

"Told you so." Squirming at the breath on her bare shoulder, Serenity was the first of the three hufflepuffs to witness the gaggle of Slytherins entering the room together. Lucius beelined for Serenity as the twins greeted Lakita and Erin. A warning shout scattered the group as Vaughn charged into the room, Juliet gripping to his back and her fist raised above them. The two of them giggled as Juliet lowered herself to the ground and brushed off her dress- now looking considerably less wild.

"Where's Slughorn?" She inquires, glancing around to see the other members of the Slug club giving them odd looks as the room remained silent.

As if on command, the Professor climbed onto the designated platform from behind a curtain with a chuckle as he cradled a glass of mead.

"Hello! Hello! Sorry for keeping you all waiting but I managed to call in a favour from some old friends of mine." Moving away from the microphone, he glances at the drum kit and pointed to it with a look of recognition. "Ooh!" As four men hop onto the stage, Slughorn clambers down.

"Alright Slug Clubbers!" Without another word, The Hobgoblins burst into song. Guitar and drums nearly drowning out the singer but exciting the students nonetheless.

Juliet was the first to react, squealing as she dragged Vaughn onto the dancefloor despite having no clue who the band were. Serenity's grin grew as she watched her friends and glanced up to see Lucius watching them too. Removing his hand from her waist, she tugged him towards the designated dancing space.

"No, no!" He pulled his hand back, earning a pout from her. Huffing after a second attempt, Serenity grasped Erin's wrist and proceeded to drag her into the growing gaggle of students.

Lucius watched Serenity laugh with her cousin and begin jumping along to the music. The two girls were holding hands and spinning each other around as if their only happy memories of this night. What he didn't know was that they had danced all night to The Hobgoblins in Erin's bedroom on many occasions- they would cause so much raucous that Christian and Irene were forced to remove the record players from their rooms... as if that was enough to stop the two.

Sensing someone watching him, Lucius looks over his shoulder to see the Senate twins watching him expectantly. With Lakita at the refreshments table, he suddenly felt uneasy under their gaze. Mumbling and shrugging at them, he heads to join Lakita.

"No offense," he began, "but your brothers keep staring at me and it's beginning to weird me out." Lakita took a sip from her drink and glanced over at her brothers who were now being addressed by Slughorn.

"Full offense... I thought you were friends?"

"They're friends with Bellatrix." Dropping two ice cubes into two cups, he proceeds to fill them with the beverage provided in a punch bowl. "There's a difference." Humming, Lakita watches him be careful not to spill one of the cups as he places it on the table beside the bowl before lifting his own cup to his lips.

"Why aren't you dancing?"

"Why aren't you?" Lakita narrows at him over her cup.

"I don't have a partner, what's your excuse?"

"I thought you came with your brothers. What, can't they dance?" She playfully punches his arm, jostling the drink and nearly making him spill it.

"Of course they can! They're just very reserved people and I would rather not push them out of their comfort zone." Scanning the room, she senses Lucius' patient gaze. She glances up to see his single raised brow and sighs. "Fine. Their definition of dancing is very different to everyone else's... it's embarrassing."

"What, do they only know ballet or something?"

"...or something." She mumbles, pouring herself another drink. "Good job on changing the subject, but I have to ask again: why aren't you dancing?" Lucius smirks and discards his cup onto the table.

"Is dancing a requirement now?" Lakita puts her cup down as well and crosses her arms.

"Oh, come on! The great Lucius Malfoy cannot be shy about dancing with his girlfriend?" He shakes his head, helplessly looking between his girlfriend dancing on the other side of the room and his sister standing before him expectantly.

"No, I just don't want to spoil her fun."

"Merlin's beard!" Scoffing, Lakita picks up the spare drink Lucius had poured and places it in his hand. "Stop being such a flobberworm, Lucius, and go have fun with your girlfriend." Stumbling as she pushes him away from her, he takes a deep breath and carefully manoeuvres his way to the centre of the dancefloor where he knew she was.

"Hey!" Serenity's face lights up upon seeing Lucius approaching and wraps her arms around his neck. "Isn't this amazing?" She accepts the drink, downing it in three large gulps and passing it off to a seventh year student monitoring the dancefloor. They mumble and saunter off with displeasure as Serenity goes back to hanging off of Lucius' neck.

"Not as amazing as you." He answers, watching the light never fade from her face as she rolls her eyes.

"You're so sappy. What happened to that skeptical guy way back when?" Lucius used his hold on her waist to make her stand straighter and pull her closer.

"He got to know you." Serenity giggled as he began to sway her. The two of them slowly turning on the spot despite the fast pace of the music. "I'm so grateful for you." He leaned his forehead against her and watched as her eyelids fluttered. Their eyelashes brushed gently against each other and their hot breaths mingled in the limited space between them.

"And I you." Her voice was barely audible over the noise as she moved her head slightly and noses brushed. Grinning wildly, Lucius dipped his head and gifted her a chaste kiss.

He moved too fast, which he discovered as his nose pressed into her cheek too hard and her mouth was still open partly. Despite their teeth clashing for a short moment Serenity giggled. The two of them, finally on the same wavelength, leant in and managed a simple sweet kiss.

For a moment afterwards neither of them knew what to do or say. They stood their in an awkward silence before Lucius finally made eye contact.

"Do you want another drink?" With a small nod in response, he broke back through the crowd. Behind him, Erin and Juliet were swarming Serenity as witnesses to the moment they had shared.

With shaky hands, Lucius poured two more drinks. He did his best to avoid contact with Lakita who was making her best attempt at draining the punch bowl, even if it did continue to refill itself. She sighed and watched the boy fiddle with the drinks in a buzz of excitement.

"I didn't mean that kind of fun." The sudden noise shocked him, the two cups falling over and staining the white tablecloth. He huffs and directs his attention to Lakita as she shrugs and hides her amused smirk behind her cup.

A/N

Yikes, this was quite long
And extremely chaotic,
But who really cares

-A Haiku by Beth