The special third through seventh year Hogwarts (and visitors) holiday bash at T3B is on for Saturday, February 13 starting at 7 to 10 PM. 

The place is decked out in floating pink, red, and white candles, as well as streamers.  It’s not intensely decorated, just enough to convey there’s a theme and it’s a “special” ocassion. 

For this evening’s festivities, there will be no  alcohol served.  Butterbeer and other regular T3B fare will be available for third to seventh year students of all schools, alongside some special treats. 

Cupid’s Arrows, a mild (i.e. non-banned) love potion, served in a very small dose, has limited effects that last for ten minutes.  The concoction smells like exotic fruits and the drinker will experience brief euphoria, giddiness, and an insatiable urge to dance with the first person they see.  Depending on pre-existing feelings, it could also induce the urge to kiss. 

There are also Candy Hearts, which have the traditional messages of “LUV SPLL” and “OWL ME” on them, but when you put them on your tongue, they fizz and pop (like our pop rocks) and leave behind the name of the sender in a temporary tattoo of sorts. 

Photographers will be present for spectacular photo opportunities and Valentine’s Fun is inevitable and encouraged.

Her evening shift was one big contradiction. Beth had to come to work, but she was being told explicitly not to do her job?! Others may have grumped and wished for a night off instead, but world renowned barmaid Bethan Ellis – who, if history was any indication, would be grumpy soon enough anyway – was just excited for an evening of social slacking. She could serve butterbeer with her eyes closed! She didn't expect she'd have to wash too many glasses, either, since most of the Hogwarts kids, particularly the younger ones, fancied drinking butterbeer straight from the bottle (which, in her opinion, was the best way, whether it was her job to wash the glasses or not). And those gimmicky little pink beverages she had to dole out? Well, they'd be fun for other reasons.

It was just going to be a leisurely, low pressure evening with a bunch of kids. That was fine with Beth. She missed Hogwarts more than she liked to admit at times and she was not at all opposed to spending the evening mingling with the shadows of her past. She wasn't fond of Valentine's Day, as a rule, but this? This was fine. As long as she was working then nobody could come by and try setting her up. It was the last thing she wanted, but also the first thing half the world seemed ready to do at any given moment. Plus, did work even count as an excuse since it was true? This silly school shindig was a gift! A gift!

Bethan herself was not dressed festively, unless a red shirt counted as 'festive.' She didn't want anybody getting the wrong idea, but she didn't want to get marked a killjoy, either. She'd most likely have to wear the same top tomorrow for the same reason, which was not an anomaly for the fashionably ignorant barmaid, who cared less about her wardrobe than some wild animals did. She leaned casually against the back counter of her closed down bar, arms crossed over her chest, waiting to serve up some harmless drinks or tease small children.

Gloria Gibbon was decked to the nines. Of Hearts. Because honestly no other playing card suite suited the holiday decor and she thought being decked to the diamonds would just be tacky.

So Gloria had her party dress with every red, pink, or plum purple bow, charm bracelet and other acessories she had had over the years. Because who wouldn't want to be out on a Hogsmeade visit longer than usual? Til 10 said the invite! If only she had mastered her valentines poetry by then.

Her pocket knuts had been saved up to shiny sickles in anticipation, traded from a boy she knew that always had money on hand out of a coin collection to track down rare goblin minter's serial numbers because he expected them to get more valuable. And that was why he was handy as a cash register and not a Valentines date.

She approached the bar. "Hello! Miss Ellis isn't it? Got some of that Cupid's Arrows stuff?" And a boy to go with it, came the unsaid wish. Or at least a friendly enough girl who didn't mind if the love potion made Gloria do anything foolish.

Beth stared dumbly as the bedazzled fairy princess approached the bar, looking like something a little old lady's cat might have thrown up. She was so distracted by the excessive festiveness that she didn't manage to get a good look at the girl's face until she was right in front of her. Once the barmaid was able to look past the sparkle, however, she was quick to recognize the girl as one of her old housemates, who she'd been in school with as recently as a few months ago. She'd been smaller then, Beth noted, but that was usually how it worked. It was strange how quickly yesterday's first years seemed to transform into actual teenagers in what seemed and felt like days. This shindig had barely begun and she was already feeling old. Thank goodness there weren't any current first years invited. She hated the idea that there were Gryffindorks in the castle who she hadn't met and/or terrorized. It was a disturbing thought.

”Hello! Miss Ellis isn't it? Got some of that Cupid's Arrows stuff?”

“I've got some, yeah, but I'm warning you, I didn't make it, like, so if you don't like it, or you don't like what it does, you can talk to the management,” she explained as she strolled up to the edge of the bar. Serving love potions to Hogwarts students just seemed like an accident waiting to happen – and the fact that she recognized that was yet more proof that she was growing old. Bethan had been in school too recently to not see this Valentine's gimmick for what it really was... a million pranks waiting to happen. She would have bitten someone if they'd tried to drug her with this stuff (and, in fact, probably still would). It would likely be amusing, but not for the idiots who were dumb enough to drink it without asking what it was. She was looking forward to an interesting show.

 “They make you crazy,” she warned the younger girl, “Might be fun if you like making a fool out of yourself, but I reckon that's a personal choice. I'll pull one for you if you like, but if it were my money, I'd buy a butterbeer.” Clearly she was the saleswoman of the year. "What is it you're trying to accomplish, exactly?"

Someone was sounding like an old maid. That is what Gloria thought as she was recieving a lecture almost the same as what her parents said for no WonderWitch stuff from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. The qunitple W ban.

"Love in any form is going to make you a little crazy," Gloria said. "Love potions are all in stupid fun anyways. But still. What if you try and try and still can't get any intrest from a boy day of Valentines? I mean, what's a better social easer? A simple love potion to last 10 minutes or something firmer than Butterbeer that you can't sell me anyways?"

It was wrong to think Gloria was jealous but there were plenty of girls in her grade getting their own boyfriends. Their talk made you sick half the time but maybe less sick if you had your own special boy friend.

"Chalk it up to the spirit of the holiday," Gloria said, edging her money further on the counter for emphasis.