Circa October 1995:

Umbridge... or Umbitch as many liked to call her; The despicable woman had been appointed as a high inquisitor, therefore she inspected each and every classroom, smugly grinning and giggling in the corner with her notebook and quill.

Even Professor Snape was visibly disgusted by her presence.

Artemis had been playing the woman like a fiddle, reporting back to her with false information about the school, distracting Umbridge successfully and not putting any attention on the divine group.

Artemis even waved her pureblood status in front of the woman, tormenting the woman in a not-so-subtle way. It's not like the younger witch was proud of it... well, she wouldn't say she wasn't, however, this was just one of Artemis's tricks she didn't mind using to play with people she believed deserved it. It'd gotten  her out countless detentions and spared her from getting the words 'I must not tell lies' engraved on her hand, Merlin that hurt like a bitch.

Perhaps it was her cunning ways engulfing her, or just her Slytherin side, but Artemis was determined and she wasn't mad about playing the long game when it came to people like Dolores Umbridge.

But sadly this only made Umbridge disband all student organisations, unfortunately, it didn't have the effect that she thought it would. It just made the students much sneakier and discreet, which is what the 5th, 6th and 7th years needed to be if they wanted to throw a Halloween party in honour of their fallen friend.

And hopefully, they were going to do and try to not get caught.

***

Thursday, October 31st:

ARTEMIS' S DORMITORY:

'Come correctly or don't come at all'

...Is what the Halloween invite specified.

The party would be thrown in the Hufflepuff common room, with only 5th years and older in attendance.

Of course, Artemis had a helping hand on the guest list. Other than the normal Hufflepuff teens, Aurora, the Pureblood 5, the Weasley twins, Lee Jordan and also Harry Potter had also received an invite.  Everyone knew that the so-called chosen one was a friend of Cedric and even had to watch him die in that horrid earlier in the year, therefore they extended an invitation to him, but not to his little group. Li Mei Zhong was invited, due to being a close friend and girlfriend of Cedric, but she was too sad to even consider going.

Artemis was getting ready in her perfect room, as her boyfriend sat on the edge of her bed already dressed in his costume.

He wasn't a fan of the Hufflepuffs but remained civil with most of them since the memorial they had for Cedric a few months ago. That and Draco didn't like the idea of Artemis going to the party without him.

Draco was occasionally sent a nod of acknowledgement to Alana and Zacharias whenever he saw them, which wasn't often, but the moment he saw Iziah he immediately scowled, still holding his distaste for the younger Jones wizard.

"Does this look okay?" Artemis' voice pulled him out of his thoughts. He instantly gawked at her.

She had dressed up as the character Dionne from the film clueless they had recently watched, Daphne was going as Cher.

Artemis had adorned a black and white checkered skirt, a thin white undershirt and a red short-sleeved top. She wore her hair in knotless braids and opted for a thin black hairband. She chose to not wear the matching checkered jacket or hat knowing that the alcohol and warmth would make her feel hot and sticky.

Draco's eyes travelled from her black knee-high boots to her white knee-high socks, all the way to her beaming face."

"I look that good huh?" she cockily quipped.

"Better than good," he mumbled, then he caught the scent of Chanel No. 5 and coconut drifting through the air. He motioned her to spin, and she compiled, practically making his eyes bulge out of his head, "beautiful."

"Thank you," she moved her braids out of her face, pushing the headband back so they couldn't stop her from seeing anything. She grinned after taking in his costume, "you look handsome."

Draco, Blaise and Theo all decided that they wanted to dress up as gangsters, more specifically Tony Montana, Don Corleone and Al Capone, they didn't care if some were real or not, they simply loved mobster films despite not watching any of them in a while.

Artemis thought her boyfriend looked way too good to be letting him out of her sight. Between the Armani suit, the black bow tie and the rings that encircled his fingers she could keep her eyes off of him.

"I know I do," Draco teased and ran a hand through his hair. She playfully rolled her eyes, which made him smirk, "have you eaten today?"

"Barely."

He brought out a green apple, along with a small knife that he usually kept in his room, but since he had been selected as a prefect he didn't care. He carved out a piece of the fruit and offered it to his girlfriend, waiting for her to take it.

"Really?" she huffed out a laugh, not particularly stunned that he was skilful with knives.

"You have to eat something," he motioned for her to take it, which she did, slipping it off the knife and eating the small piece whole, "good girl." he praised and his smirk broadened when he noticed her stiffen.

She shot him a knowing look, "Stop."

He slowly rose from the bed, "I'm not doing anything," he stared down at her with as much innocence as he could muster up. He caught her hand and pressed a kiss to it. "Now let's go."

***

HUFFLEPUFF COMMON ROOM:

The Slytherins didn't expect Hufflepuff parties to be so good.

Music boomed throughout the room, bouncing off the tall walls of the vibrant and lively common room.

Many people always spoke fondly of Hufflepuff parties, claiming that they were relaxing and joyful, almost like all animosity left the room the moment you stepped in.

The whole room was bathed in golden yellow and light brown. Faint silhouettes of previous head boys and girls flickered on the walls.

The Pureblood 5 could smell the faint scent of weed drifting through the room.

Artemis and Daphne were embraced by Alana and Aurora who were quick to bring the younger witches over to the drinks table, there were many drinks tables, that were surrounded by food, which the Slytherin boys quickly went over to.

The older witches were dressed up as spies. Head to toe in all black.

Tables were littered with bottles of alcohol, from the wizard and muggle world, a few that were smuggled into the school.

The Weasley twins and Lee dressed up as prisoners from Azkaban. The trio were too busy dancing with many of the Hufflepuff witches in the centre of the room, to notice the new arrivals.

The room was pretty much packed.

Harry, who wore a football kit as his costume interacted with the Jones brothers who had tried to make him feel comfortable, after not knowing that many people were in the room.

Iziah and Zacharias dressed up as rock stars, whether it was their dream or aspiration, they wanted to manifest it.

"So how is Hogwarts treating the chosen one nowadays?" Zacharias started up a conversation with the boy for the first time.

"Other than the constant fear of death...it's okay," Harry awkwardly replied, making the brothers laugh.

"You're not so bad Potter," Iziah playfully nudged him and downed the rest of the contents of his drink.

"I didn't realise that I was awful."

Iziah snorted, "To some."

"But not all and that's all that matters," Zacharias added and squeezed the young wizard's shoulder, noticing his discomfort.

"Don't worry," Iziah rolled his eyes, "everyone has enemies."

"And you have the biggest one."

The wizards all broke out into laughter. Despite the seriousness of the statement, Harry wasn't overcome with fear, the alcohol replaced the emotion.

"Well the ones in school are annoying," Harry quipped, staring at a particular platinum-haired boy, who was happy dancing with Artemis. The brothers followed his gaze.

Iziah smiled sadly at the couple, "pain in my arse more like."

Zacharias chuckled at the obvious jealousy that they shared, "Snowbunny isn't that bad."

Iziah and Harry exchanged a pointed look, before uttering, "Too you."

And they instantly all broke out into laughter again.

***

Artemis and Draco were now cooped up on a Hufflepuff couch, she was struggling to compose herself; the dragon whiskey had already seeped through her viens and she couldn't keep her eyes off her boyfriend.

"D," she whined.

He cockily smirked at her, "Darling?"

She lazily grinned as he steadied her in his arms.

"You're gone." he hushed her, making her pout.

"I'm not that drunk."

"You're pissed Temi," Theo stated and sat down next to them with a big bowl of crisps. He had just finished talking to Alana, the pair had been cracking jokes for an hour.

"Only a little bit," Artemis used her hands to try and show how much she hand drank.

"I'll get you some water," Draco went to go and get up but she hugged him tightly, stopping his movements.

"Stay with me."

Draco didn't think it was possible to fall harder for Artemis Joelle Seramore, but he just did. He stared at her with a doe-eyed smile that made Theo want to vomit there and then.

The Nott wizard got up from the couch and yelled, "let's play truth or dare!"

Everyone cheered.

***

Not everyone ended up playing the game, most of the guests continued to dance and sing along to the music, but the Divine group and Harry moved to the bigger couches so they could start playing.

"Alright let's start with an easy question," Alana dramatically cleared her throat and eyed everyone who surrounded her, before they settled on the drunk Seramore witch, "AJ."

"Yes," she giggled into her boyfriend's neck.

"Who was your first kiss?"

Most of the wizards groaned, finding the question idiotic, "That's easy." George complained.

Fred nodded in agreement, "That's boring."

Lee face palmed, "She's obviously going to say Malfoy."

When Artemis didn't respond, they all turned to her, Aurora being the first to ask, "Are you?"

Most of them all gasped when she shook her head, Draco pulled away to see the seriousness in her eyes.

"Who?" his stormy grey eyes darkened after he questioned her. His thoughts ran wild with the possibilities. But based on the intrigued expressions from both Harry and Iziah, he knew it couldn't be them.

Artemis's blurry gaze drifted over to her best friend, "Daph."

And that's when most of them screeched in shock.

Harry choked on his water, "What?" he coughed out, Zacharias gently patted his back, before they were both shushed by Iziah who wanted to know more.

"When?" Lee shuffled closer, wanting to know all the information as did the twins.

Daphne laughed at the shock written on most of the 6th and 7th years' faces, "2nd year."

She remembered speaking to Theo about his sexuality and how he was struggling with it. After many conversations with the boy, she wanted to know whether or not she was into girls, so she asked Artemis if they could kiss and they did.

To this day Daphne was unsure about her sexuality, but the one thing she was sure about was her love for her boyfriend.

Alana gawked at the two girls, "Wait —"

"B, you knew?" Draco quickly deduced once he noticed that his godbrother remained unfazed by the news.

All eyes were now on the Zabini wizard.

"Daph told me after it happened," Blaise informed them with a smile, before pressing a kiss to the blonde's forehead.

"And then he told me," Theo added, laughing at the betrayal on Draco's face.

"I wanna kiss her now," Alana murmured, making a few of them snicker.

Draco flipped her off, causing all the witches to laugh. Artemis turned to him, noticing how tense he was, so she interlinked their fingers, squeezing his hand, making some of the tension defuse in his body.

"Alright alright settle down," Zacharias exclaimed, still wanting to continue with the game.

Aurora cleared her throat and turned to the Zabini wizard, "Okay, let's ask the other cousin."

Blaise feigned hurt, "Hurtful."

George pondered for a while, "Blaise I dare you to snog..." he trailed off, too drunk to remember that the young wizard was in a relationship,  "Harry help me out with this one." he said nudging the boy.

"Iziah." Harry blurted out, gaining a few giggles.

Blaise brought his girlfriend into his arms, staring at her with a hesitant look, "Sweetheart —"

Daphne waved him off, "Go ahead." she insisted, not at all threatened, especially because she knew that they were so in love that a kiss wouldn't ruin that.

The group were stunned that she was giving her seal of approval. Many of them inched forward as Blaise stood up confidently and walked over to the younger jones brother.

Alana squeezed Aurora in anticipation, neither could believe this was happening. The Weasley twins were practically bouncing in their seats. Meanwhile, Harry and Lee were drunkenly giggling to themselves.

Blaise leaned down and placed his hands on Iziah's face.

"It's happening, It's happening, It's happening," Theo squealed excitedly, before Draco and Artemis covered his mouth, wanting to focus on what was happening in front of them.

Daphne couldn't help but giggle.

The loud music blocked out the gasps that spilt from everyone's lips. The kiss seemed to last a lifetime, both boys' eyes were closed as their mouths moved as one.

"Goodness," Aurora muttered and fanned herself.

The moment Blaise pulled away, he nodded at all of them, "not bad." he confirmed, wiping his lips and moving over to his girlfriend, whilst everyone else recovered from their shock.

Iziah blinked slowly, appearing to be in a daze, "I see why you're in love with him Daph."

"He's a great kisser." Daphne informed them all, grinning up at Blaise as moved he moved her onto his lap, "Theo would know."

Suddenly everyone turned to Nott wizard who was downing another cup of dragon whiskey and clearly missed out on what Daphne said.

"What?!" most of the group screeched again, shocked by everything that was happening.

"What did I miss?" Theo slurred his words.

Artemis jumped onto Draco's lap and started playing with his hair, "That you snogged B." she told the drunken boy.

"Ohh," he nodded in agreement, exchanging a look with Blaise, "I remember."

"Details now," Aurora demanded as did the rest of them.

Blaise shrugged, "It happened in 2nd year"

"Where was I?" Draco threw his hands up in the air. How did he miss so much? He was so confused and drunk. Hufflepuff parties are a mess, that he actually didn't mind.

"Off somewhere being a dick." Theo quipped.

"The usual," Harry and Iziah muttered, before using a cough to conceal their words.

"So does that make you bi?" Zacharias wondered aloud, then looked between the cousins, who shrugged.

Artemis only told herself and other people she was bisexual because she was still confused but she knew she had time to figure it all out. She was attracted to boys and girls but was ultimately in love with a boy.

"We don't know." the cousins informed the group.

"I just have a thing for boys with grey eyes." Artemis proclaimed and grinned at her boyfriend, making the witches coo and the wizards groan. Draco's heart began to beat faster as he stared down at her.

"She's talking about your dad Draco." Theo snickered, gaining more laughs from them all.

Draco shoved him, "Shut up."

***

"Who knew that you liked the ladies?"

Artemis severed on her feet and slowly looked up at Iziah, who stood there with a smile spread across his face.

She shrugged, "I like what I like Zay." she replied, her mind drifted off to her boyfriend, who was in the bathroom.

She knew he was hesitant about leaving her alone, but Blaise was close by so she couldn't drunkenly wander off.

Iziah's eyes widened in shock, "It's Zay now?"

"Yup." she nodded,  "Nice costume." she gestured to his outfit, believing he and his brother looked like something out of the 70s.

It was more punk rock than anything and she thought it suited them both.

"Thank you, you look good." he forced himself to not let his eyes wander, wanting to be respectful, not like his housemates shared his values since many of them eyed the Slytherin princess.

She chuckled, "Don't I always."

"Even when you're drunk you as humble as ever." sarcasm dripped from his tone, and he shook his head and concealed his grin with his cup, before taking a sip.

"I try." they both laughed at her words. She cocked her head to the side,  "so do you really want to be a rockstar or did you want to dress up?"

He was prepared to make a joke in response to her outfit but he realised that Artemis and Daphne actually mimicked Cher and Dionne to a tee.

He pondered for a moment, thinking back to all the times he had practised or performed with his brother, Cedric and Alana. It all seemed like a dream to him, especially because his recently deceased friend was in most of them.

"I would like to, but my dad doesn't think me and Zach should even entertain it."

Artemis used one of the tables to help her keep standing, "It's your future," she pointed out,  "and he'll see that when you become successful." he was taken back by her optimism.

"You think we can make it?"

She nodded as she blinked slowly, "I do." Cedric would too.

"What if it doesn't happen?" he didn't mean to sound negative but failure was one of his biggest fears and although he didn't get along with his father he didn't want to disappoint the man.

"Just because you're dreams don't come quick and fast doesn't mean it won't happen." Artemis couldn't stop the words from spilling from her lips.

"Is that the alcohol talking?" he wondered, amusement was clear on his face.

"I'm speaking the truth... I think." she paused, "and besides your friends will support you."

Iziah ignored the pang in his chest at the word friend, his feelings for the Seramore witch were fading but he doubt they would ever vanish.

After witnessing how she was in the presence of Draco, Iziah knew they were truly in love. She brought the best of the Malfoy wizard, it was obvious and sort of beautiful in his eyes.

Iziah tilted his head to the side as he smiled bashfully, "You're gonna support me?"

"Of course, if your friends aren't there to see you succeed? is there any point in success?"

He huffed out a laugh, "You're right."

"As always."

Before he could reply, a tipsy Daphne skipped over and grabbed her best friend's hand, "Come on Missy, we need to dance," she then waved at the wizard,  "Hi Zay, bye Zay."

"Bye little serpents." he smiled as the two witches made their way over to the centre of the room.

***

Artemis and Daphne captured the attention of many other teens as they danced to the melody of the pop song, Alana and Aurora joined in, giggling and laughing with the younger witches.

Draco was focused on his girlfriend as the girls jumped up and down.

Blaise grinned when he saw the kiss Daphne sent him, he pretended to catch it and place it on his heart.

As the music settled down and played something more upbeat, many more guests joined the witches in the centre of the room, filling it up to the brim.

It was the song that Cedric and Iziah sang at the Yule ball many months ago. Although the moment seemed cheerful, it was still bittersweet.

Iziah was propped up on his brother's shoulders as he yelled out a speech, gaining everyone's attention, "To the boy with the dazzling smile and great hair. May you forever live on in our hearts and minds," he raised his cup in the air,  "to Cedric!"

Everyone mirrored  his actions with whatever they could get their hands on, "To Cedric!"

***

Draco pulled Artemis off the couch after seeing her eyes flutter, "Alright come on my darling." he thought it was adorable how she was trying to fight off sleep.

"What no," she whined, however, she couldn't fight him, his grip wasn't too strong, she was just too tired and intoxicated.

"Yes." his tone was very stern despite the amount of alcohol he had consumed. It was like whenever he was around Artemis he immediately sobered up, wanting to be alert whenever she was near.

"Okay."

Artemis waved everyone goodbye and those who could return the gesture did. Blaise was too busy trying to keep Theo from drinking with the help of Zacharias. The Zabini wizard didn't need to keep an eye on his girlfriend as Daphne had wrapped her arms around his waist.

Alana and Aurora were chatting away with Lee, whilst the twins were playing pranks on Harry, who slept in the corner.

Draco scooped up Artemis, making her laugh softly.

He used a disillusionment spell so they could blend in with their surroundings.  They didn't get caught as they made their way back to the dungeons and walked up to the common room.

He quickly muttered the password and slipped through the threshold.

It was around 2 am and fortunately, they had no lesson tomorrow due to the week-long break.

The common room was practically empty, only a few first years were sleeping on the couches with their homework splayed out around them.

As soon as the couple ended up in Draco's room, he guided her to the bathroom, laughing quietly when Artemis almost tripped, "don't be mean." she pouted along the way.

He grinned down at her, "Sorry beautiful." he steadied her against the counter.

"Good."

He playfully rolled his eyes and started searching through the things that she kept in his room.

The first thing he brought out was her make-up remover, although there were charms to take it off, she never liked them.

So Draco wiped her face gently with a wipe, his heart fluttered when she tiredly smiled up at him. "It feels nice," she muttered.

"It does?" he questioned teasingly as he continued until the makeup was gone, not like he believed she needed any as her face was already perfect to him, but he knew better than to get involved with a woman's business.

"Yes."

He applied moisturiser to her face and although Artemis was drunk she still appreciated everything he was doing.

His breath hitched when she squeezed his sides three times, indicating her love.

"I love you," he whispered, pressing a chaste kiss to her forehead. She drunkenly squealed with excitement, earning a chuckle from him, "So cute."

"I know."

Draco then helped her out of her clothes, keeping his eyes on the ceiling, not wanting to be tempted in the slightest, because his mother and aunts raised him better than that.

He pulled one of his shirts over her head, loving when it dropped before her knees. I love when she wears my clothes, he thought to himself.

Artemis's eyes fluttered shut as Draco undressed until he was only wearing a pair of dark green boxers.

"Keep those pretty brown eyes open," he gently tapped her face until she stared up at him in awe.

"You're so pretty." she blurted out.

"I know," he winked down at her.

Draco grabbed one of her silk scarfs, then took off her hairband and placed it on the counter. He made sure her braids stayed protected, remembering how to secure them after his aunts had instructed him to do so many times over the years. 

He helped her brush her teeth, whilst simultaneously brushing his own. They washed out their mouths before he gently picked her up, carrying her over to his bed, settling her in his sheets and climbing beside her, turning off the light and leaving the transfigured stars to twinkle above them.

Artemis felt his arm wrap around her waist, holding her close,  "We're beyond the stars D." she murmured.

"We're beyond the stars Darling."

***

a/n:

artemis torments new professors each year, apart from her guy Snape. flitwik in 1st year, lockhart in 2nd, dumbledore in 3rd, moody (barry crouch jr) in 4th and now umbridge is next.

daphne has kissed the cousins... has she won at life?

theo has kissed blaise. iziah had crushed on artemis and now has kissed blaise. alana wants to kiss both them. harry is just happy to be invited. draco is happy that only him and daphne have kissed artemis. zach and aurora are just loving the chaos. the twins and lee have no clue what is happening and are just having a good time.

how did you guys enjoy this chapter? i just wanted some joy for a change. cedric's memory is still going strong. i had a lot of fun writing this Halloween chapter. i like writing party chapters, because nothing bad happens in them.

don't worry there will be a another celebration later in the act.

thoughts?