Emery Fowl stood before the mirror, fixing her outfit she'd chosen for the party. 

Of course Emery had attended parties before, but they were all formal. This was her first time attending any other party besides those that were hosted by purebloods. While in those parties, Emery always wore fancy dresses, she had no clue what to wear this time.

With a little help from Cecy, and some of the other girls in the dormitory, Emery had settled on wearing something warm, comfortable and decent.

She looked in the mirror one more time. 

"You sure I look okay?" asked Emery, looking at Cecilia who was sprawled on her bed reading a book.

"Yes, Em, you look fine," said Cecilia, not looking up from the pages. "Now hurry up, and go, or else you'll be late."

"Sheesh, I'm going," said Emery, looking at herself in the mirror one last time as she brushed her long blonde hair which she tied into a loose ponytail. 

She wore a silvery-gray polo neck sweater made of the softest material, and deep blue skinny jeans. She finished off with a pair of suede black heeled boots, which reached her knees and made her look even taller than usual.

Kissing an annoyed Cecy on the cheek, she picked up the gift bag on her bed and ambled out of the dormitory.

At exactly half past eight, she reached the Room of Requirement. Slowly, she slipped through the doors, in fear, so as not to get caught by any of the patrolling teachers.

As soon as she entered, her jaw dropped. 

The room was slightly dark, lit up only by a candles and enchanted fireworks. There was a large table of snacks, as well as a drinks table, where it looked like half of The Hog's Head's stash was. Loud music blares from the radios, each playing a different song. Students danced wildly to the beat, following no particular song.

"Hey, look who's here," sang a voice to Emery's left. "Glad you could make it."

Emery turned her head. "Sirius!" she exclaimed happily. "It looks wonderful!" she said, looking around the room once more.

Sirius shrugged. "It's like this most of our parties," he said. "Your cousin didn't come?"

Emery shook her head. "She didn't want to. She said she wasn't feeling well. She said thanks for the invitation, though" Emery explained.

"Oh," said Sirius. "Tell her you're welcome then, and wish her a speedy recovery."

"Okay," agreed Emery, before turning to look at the party, where a bunch of Gryffindor girls were dancing wildly. 

"I've never been to a party like this before," she said in awe.

"I know," smirked Sirius. "You've only been to the typical pureblood formal parties, right?"

"Yep," she chirped. "How did you learn how to party like this anyway?" she inquired.

He smiled slyly. "It wasn't me. Moony," he said.

"Remus?"

"Oops," muttered Sirius to himself. "I let it slip."

"Sorry?" asked Emery.

"Yeah, I meant Remus," said Sirius. "He's half blood, and he's got many muggle friends in his neighborhood, so he learnt a couple of stuff from their parties."

"Ohhhh," said Emery.

"Yeah," said Sirius, rubbing the back of his neck. "Come enjoy the party now."

Within a matter of seconds, Sirius had grabbed Emery's hand and pulled her to the drinks table. "Have a drink?"

Emery bit her lip. "I've never drank before," she whispered. 

"Ah," said Sirius, "Well in that case, I won't force you."

Emery raised an eyebrow. "But what if I want to try?" she hinted.

"Well, you can try, but since it's your first time, don't have too much, just one shot would be enough," he suggested. "You won't regret."

Hesitantly, she nodded, then grabbed a goblet and handed it to Sirius. 

Sirius filled it halfway with firewhiskey, then handed it back to her, their fingers brushing slightly.

Emery blushed then took the goblet and pressed it to her lips, taking a small sip.

A burning sensation filled her mouth, and she felt tears spring up to her eyes. Coughing slightly, she swallowed it and then went into a full on coughing fit.

"Hey, Emery, are you alright?" asked Sirius, patting her back with concern in an effort to make her stop coughing.

She nodded in the midst of her coughing.

"I'm good," she gasped in between breaths. Then she began laughing light-headedly. "That was brilliant," she said.

"Yeah, that happens the first time," he said. "You don't have to finish it," he added unsurely, pointing to the goblet in her hand.

"Nah, I will," she said, before drinking the last sip. It wasn't much, much it was enough to give her the boost and energy burst to party.

"Oh, I feel great!" she yelled. "LET'S PARTYYYYYY!"

And then she whizzed off to the dance floor and did the craziest moves she could do, not following any particular rhythm or style.

"Oooh, Hello there Fowl," said James Potter as he danced into view. "Wanna dance?" he shouted over the blaring music.

"Sure," yelled Emery with the same energy.

And her and James danced, to the Weird Sisters, both laughing hysterically as they competed with each other as to who could do the funniest moves.

A while later, they were joined by a girl with dirty blonde hair and a pale face dotted with freckles. She smiled and tapped James on the shoulder. 

"Can I join you guys?" she asked.

"Sure," said James. He pointed to Emery. "This is my friend Emery Fowl."

The girl smirked. 

"Oh I know," she said, her eyes twinkling at Emery. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

She held out her hand. 

"I'm Marlene. Marlene McKinnon." 

Emery took her hand and pulled her into a dance as a new song began. 

"I'M GONNA DANCE UNTIL I FALL," shouted Marlene, as she laughed and pulled Emery into a weird twirl.

"Yo girls," said Sirius, joining the pair, "I'm joining in."

"Me too," said James. "You guys forgot about me," he whined. 

"Well come on then," sang Emery. 

"Let's play dance it!" screamed Marlene. 

"Yeah," yelled James. 

Sirius then smiled cheekily and magnified his voice magically. 

"Hello there, fellow witches and wizards. I hope you're enjoying my party," he said. There was a cheer of excitement and an applause. "WHO WANTS TO PLAY DANCE IT?"

There was a cheer from the throng of students, and the radios were switched to muggle music.

To Emery, she'd never heard anything like it before, and she liked the way it sounded, more upbeat and wild compared to wizard music.

The rule of the game was to see who can dance the fastest without falling, yet do the most number of moves in a song.

And the game began.

One by one, students who were too drunk to pay attention to dancing were eliminated. Slow dancers were crossed out too.

Eventually, it was just Emery, James, Marlene, Sirius and three other students Emery didn't know.

The songs kept on changing, and the competition became harder. It was only Sirius, James and Emery left. Marlene had twisted her ankle and fallen.

"I give up," said Sirius. "I'm done."

James and Emery shared a smile, and then they began dancing, teasing each other, each trying to make the other stop dancing by saying random stuff.

The song finished, and Emery took a swig of pumpkin juice to refresh herself.

"Hey Emery," called Sirius. Emery looked up. Sirius beckoned her over and leaned down to whisper something in her ear.

Emery's face broke into a large grin. "You sure it'll work?"

Sirius nodded. "Positive."

Emery went back to the dance floor and the radio was switched to a faster song. James and Emery were dancing as if their lives depended on it.

"PO-TTER! PO-TTER! PO-TTER," cheered some kids. The other half were going, "FOWL! FOWL! FOWL!"

"Hey Fowl," shouted James, doing a weird twirl, "how much do you owe me for winning?"

Emery laughed. "Winning? I think you mean losing."

"Oh, you just wait, Fowl," said James.

Emery didn't reply, but kept on dancing. 

A minute before the song ended, she called out again. 

"Hey Potter, how long has it been since Evans said 'yes' to your date?" Emery asked.

At this, James stopped dancing. "What?"

James fell to the ground. 

Emery smirked. "You literally fell for it," she said.

"I WIN!" yelled Emery. 

Those who were watching cheered. 

"THREE CHEERS FOR THE DANCE IT QUEEN!" yelled Marlene, hoisting Emery into the air with the help of Alice Fortescue. 

Someone made a makeshift crown with party decorations and placed it on Emery's head.

"GO EMERY!" cheered Sirius.

"YOU GOT IT FOWL!" said another girl

Those who watched the game were cheering and fawning over her, but Emery paid no attention. Instead, she was smiling at Sirius who smiled back, knowing her win was all due to him.

Their eyes were locked in a gaze, and it was then that they both knew they had made a golden friendship indeed.

a/n: here's today's update, a nice long one. whoever wants the outfit Emery wore as how i imagined it, there's a link in the comment right here:

The outfit is also in the external link, whoever finds it more convenient..

thanks for reading, and have a great day.

love, elsie