Selene squeezed her way past people. Her friends chose the absolute hardest seats to get to for the first tournament. She glanced down at the arena. Boulders and smaller stones were scattered everywhere. They still haven't announced what the first challenge will be, and Selene had no guesses.
She finally reached her friends and glanced at the people in the row behind them. Directly behind Selenes stood Nott; beside him was Daphne Greengrass; and then beside her were Pansy and the rest of the Slytherin group.
"Why would you choose to sit here?" She asked Cas, not caring if the Slytherins behind her heard.
Cas held up her hands in defense. "We were here first; they chose to sit near us."
"Trust me, Selene, we don't want to sit here either," Daphne said, her body practically pressed against Theodore. Selene found her eyes lingering on the contact of their bodies and tore her eyes away, turning around.
"Then fucking move," Selene spat.
"Woah there," Cas said rubbing Selene's arm. "What has got your pants in a twist?"
"I'm just sick of them."
"Your pants or the Slytherins?" Cas asked, then, catching sight of Selene's face, let her smile drop and asked, "Are you sure?"
"What else would it be?"
Cas glanced behind Selene at Nott and said, "That's what I'm trying to figure out. But you seriously need to calm down."
"Dragons?" Annie yelled. "I want a dragon."
Selene raised her eyebrows at her statement as a particularly loud roar shook the stands. Fire shot threw the air, and Cedric dove behind a bolder. Cedric Diggory was down below, battling a dragon. Its tail whipped, slamming into a rock that cracked from the force. Cas and Selene slowly turned to look at Annie.
"He's cute." She smiled and shrugged.
"I need to stop trying to understand this girl," Cas said, shaking her head.
"Hey Selene," Daphne laughed. "Nice bow."
Selene reached back and against her will self-consciously touched the ribbon she had tied into a bow to keep the front sections of her hair pulled together at the back of her head. "What, are they sitcom bullies?" Selene whispered to Cas.
"Calme," Cas whispered in a horrible French accent, keeping her eyes on the dragon who was now fighting Fleur.
"Je suis calme."
Cas briefly glanced at her and said, "Since when did you know French?"
"Since when do you?"
"Please, what I said was barely French."
"So was what I said. I pronounced all the important parts wrong."
"See, I didn't even realize there were important parts." She paused for a second, a smile tugging on the corners of her lips. "And this girl from Beauxbaton has been teaching me some French."
"Why am I just now hearing about this?" Annie cut in, leaning over to hear, her face indignant.
"Because it's not a big deal," Cas said, unable to hide her smile anymore.
"That's not what that smile says," Annie giggled, poking her friend.
"We are going to miss the entire tournament. We'll talk after."
"Oh, do you two want to meet in the kitchens after curfew like we did last year tonight?" Annie asked, eyes wide.
"Yes!" Cas and Selene agreed.
"It's a date," Annie said, turning toward the dragons again. "But not an actual date because we don't want your Beauxbaton's girlfriend to get jealous."
"Stop!" Cas laughed, blushing.
The cannon went off, signaling Harry to come out. Selene could hear Hermione screaming in support from where she stood.
"Are she and Potter a thing?" Cas asked, motioning to Hermione.
"I always thought she and the ginger had something going on," Annie said.
Suddenly, cold liquid poured down Selene's back and drenched her hair. She spun around to see Daphne smiling: "Sorry, it was an accident." She said, not sounding one bit sorry.
Someone else snorted, but Selene didn't care. "Suck my foot-long dick, you self-entitled piece of-"
Suddenly, her face twisted into fear, and she, along with everyone else, dove to the ground. Selene began to turn around to see what she was looking at, but before she could, arms yanked her down. She looked up just in time to see a dragon tail whip through the air right where she had been.
She looked at her arms, which were still being clasped in her hands. She followed the hands to arms, then to shoulders, then to a face that belonged to Theodore Nott. Their faces were inches apart, still stuck low as everyone else straightened back up, the dragon gone.
"Thanks," She whispered, staring wide-eyed at him.
He opened his mouth to respond, but an arm linked through his and pulled him up, forcefully yanking his hands off her arms where they had still been. Selene straightened up quickly too.
"What were you saying about your dick, Selene?" Daphne asked, her arms clasping Theodore.
Selene, however, ignored her, refusing to look at Nott. She turned around, trying to process what happened. She turned to Cas, her cheeks turning red. Cas raised her brows in response to a question. Selene just shook her head.
"And then she asked if I wanted to hang out sometime," Cas squealed, taking a bite out of a scone as they sat on the floor of the kitchens.
"Oh, she so likes you." Annie smiled, kicking her feet in excitement.
"Talking about liking," Cas smiled. "How was your date with Alexi? We haven't had much time to talk about it."
Selene shrugged. "It was okay. We didn't talk that much because of the language barrier, but I had a good time. He asked me to go again this weekend, and I agreed."
They sat in silence for a moment until it was broken by Cas: "Oh, so I read something about a Yule Ball during the Triwizard tournament."
Selene nodded. "Yeah, it happens on Christmas."
"We should go together," Cas grinned.
"What about the Beauxbaton girl?"
"Doesn't matter. I want all three of us to go together. You guys are my best friends."
"Okay," Selene beamed. "Let's do it."
"The Yule Ball has been a tradition of the tri-wizard tournament since its inception. On Christmas Eve night, we and our guests gather in the great hall for well-mannered frivolity. As representatives of the host school, I expect each and every one of you to put your best foot forward, and I mean this literally because the yule ball is first and foremost a dance." Professor Mgonogal said.
"Where's Annie?" Selene whispered to Cas, who just shrugged and looked around the room.
"Now to dance is to let the body breathe; inside every girl is a secret, and a swan slumbers, longing to burst forth and take flight."
"That was emotional," Selene said, shaking her head in fake somberness.
"Deep."
"Poetic."
"Moving even." Selene and Cas shared a smile.
Eventually, Mcgonogall called everyone forward and said, "Boys, choose a girl to dance with."
Selene spun to face Cas and said, "May I have this dance?"
"Of course," Cas grinned, "Follow my lead."
"Why can't I lead?" Selene asked, frowning.
"You are a wonderful person, El, but you are a horrible dancer. I found that out when we were seven, and you tried to get me to learn a dance to ask our parents if we could have a sleepover."
"You forgot the spin at the end, not me. That was supposed to be our big ending."
"Now that everyone is paired up," Magonagall started, "Mr. Riddle, where is your dance partner?"
"There isn't anyone else, professor."
"Well, watch very closely." She said this as she motioned for the music to start playing and began counting the steps.
"You and your girlfriend are adorable," Daphne Greengrass said in a voice thick with false adoration as she waltzed by. She had partnered up with Theodore, who seemed very focused on the dance and wasn't looking her way.
"Wow," Selene said, shaking her head. "You're just checking off all the bad person boxes."
"Right?" Cass said, "Like, you can't be a pureblood supremacist and homophobic. Leave some bad traits for the rest of your friends."
Suddenly, the doors flew open, and Annie stumbled in. Her tie was hanging loosely around her neck, and her shirt was tucked. Her hair, which was put up in a bun, had pieces falling out, and her hands were covered in dry paint.
"Sorry, I'm late." She breathed out, trying to flatten her uniform.
"Better late than never. You can partner up with Mr. Riddle."
"Who?" She asked, furrowing her eyebrows.
Magonogall pointed him out and Annie rushed past, whispering, "Fell asleep."
Cas shook her head. "That poor girl. She hurt his pride and had to dance with him as a muggle-born. I do not envy her."
"I think Tracey Davis does, though."
They both stared as Davis angrily yanked Goyle across the dance floor to be closer to Mattheo and Annie. Selene scanned her classmates, her eyes landing on Daphne and Theodore. Daphne was talking about something, and he just listened. He was waltzing along like he could do this in his sleep. He looked over at her, their eyes meeting. She could almost swear she saw a smile flicker across his lips.
Hogsmead was packed the day before the Yule Ball. People were running into shops at the last minute. Selene sat at a small table inside Madam Puddifoot. Across from her sat Alexi. He was sipping his tea and reading the menu. Her hands were wrapped around the hot mug, staring out the window.
Her head felt like it was being split open, and her body was drained of energy. She felt a sickness coming on. She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't hear the door open or Alexi talking to her. He reached across the table and tapped her arm.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Alexi," Selene shook her head. "What were you saying?"
"The Yule Ball Tomorrow."
"Yes, it is," Selene smiled, trying to block out the sound of Daphne's annoyingly loud, high-pitched laugh at whatever Nott said, a few tables away.
"Would you go with me?"
It took Selene a few seconds to process his words, "Oh, Alexi." She smiled and said, "I totally would, but I already agreed to go with my friends."
"Oh," His face went blank.
"But you know who would love to go?" Selene said, having an idea, "Luna Lovegood. She's a year younger than me, but she is the sweetest. I feel like you and her would get along. She has a job in Hogsmeade, actually, at Honeydukes. You should go ask her.
"Luna?" He asked, testing out the name.
Selene nodded encouragingly. He got up and put on his coat. When Selene didn't get up, he furrowed his brows.
"You come?"
"No, I don't feel well. I'm going to stay here for a second. I might pass out if I get up."
He nodded and walked out the door. Selene pulled out a book; her head was fogging up. She got two pages in when her head hurt so much that she couldn't even focus. She shoved her book in her bag and got up. She slipped on her coat and turned to leave when she ran into Theodore Nott. The cup of burning hot teat hit her stomach and spilled down the front of Selene's shirt, burning her stomach.
Selene cursed, trying to pull the shirt off her skin, but the damage was already done. She pulled up the side of the shirt that didn't have scars underneath and saw her skin already starting to turn bright red. She heard Daphne giggle, and that was all it took for Selene to break. She started crying, big, fat tears rolling down her cheeks.
"You are such an asshole, Nott," she said, her voice wobbling, turning around and storming out of the coffee shop.