Narcissa began to stress more and more, so that by the time classes were over, Ruby was afraid she would explode into a fiery ball of stress.
As soon as classes let out, Ruby dragged Narcissa to her dorm in Gryffindor just long enough to drop off her books. Ruby got a few nasty looks for bringing a Slytherin into the Gryffindor common room, but she didn't care. She dragged her friend to the Great Hall where they were supposed to be studying and insisted that Lucius and Sev come with them. Lucius so he could pick out his costume, and Sev so he wouldn't be bothered by the Marauders while she was gone. Neither male looked happy to be dragged on a shopping trip, but couldn't argue since Ruby was already pulling them both towards Hogwarts.
The four spent the next few hours looking for the perfect costume for the Slytherin couple.
Narcissa and Lucius didn't know what half the costumes were supposed to represent, and were slightly horrified by the muggle version of witches and wizards.
They eventually settled on vampire costumes, and paid for them.
After eating dinner quickly, Ruby dragged them back to the Slytherin common room long enough to tell Lucius to be ready by the time the party started and come to get Narcissa.
Ruby hadn't ever dressed anyone up before, and insisted she'd need several hours, mostly so she had plenty of time to fix anything she messed up, although she didn't tell that to Narcissa.
It was already six thirty, and the party started at nine, giving Ruby two and a half hours. Ruby started by washing Narcissa's blonde hair, and having Narcissa put on the costume. Ruby pulled Narcissa's hair up into a ponytail, leaving out several curls to hang down. Then she curled the ponytail so that the hair fell in front of her shoulders so it wouldn't get it the way of the high collar.
It took her several tries to get the pale eyeshadow on correctly, and she let Narcissa put on the mascara and eyeliner. She didn't want to risk poking her in the eye.
The rest of the makeup was surprisingly easy to apply as long as she was careful. Ruby looked at the clock to see that it was eight thirty. The two had found a few spells to make the couple's eyes red, and give them fangs. The spells worked surprisingly well, and Narcissa looked like a vampire straight out of a fairy tale.
She looked over the costume, hair and make up one last time just to make sure everything was perfect. Satisfied, she and Narcissa made their way to the fifth year dorms to see Amaris.
Amaris was dressed as a pirate, her dark blonde hair down with a tri-corn pirate hat sitting on her head. She wore a loose long sleeved off the shoulder shirt that was an off white color, and were ruffled at the end of the sleeves. She wore a tight brown corset shirt over it. She had black velvet leggings and thigh high leather boots with a three inch heel, the top folded over to give her a more pirate-y look.
"Nice costume." Ruby smiled.
"Thanks. I'm going with Regulus. He has a pirate costume too. We match. What are you going as?"
"Oh, I'm not. Sev and I thought it would be a good night to have twin time. Narcissa and Lucius are going as a vampire couple." She said, motioning to Narcissa.
"Cool. You spelled your eyes red?"
"Yeah. Ruby thought it went with vampire look. And I've got fangs."
"Does Lucius have red eyes and fangs?"
"Not yet. I'll spell him once we see him. We just came over to see if everything was going well."
"Yeah. I'm all ready to go. Shall we?" Amaris motioned to the door.
"We shall." Narcissa grinned. They descended the stairs, stepping into the common room. Narcissa smiled as her boyfriend stepped up to her, holding out his hand.
"Are you ready to go?"
"Almost. Just hold still." She quickly spelled Lucius's grey eyes to turn red, and his canines to grow into fangs.
"What did you do?" He asked, suspiciously.
"You have red eyes and fangs, just like Narcissa. Just try not to bite yourself, or anyone else. They are sharp."
Reg was next to Amaris in a pirate costume. Rabastan Lestrange stood a few feet away, struggling to put on his cape before finally succeeding. He was dressed as an evil knight, or Ruby guessed that was the intention since the costume had a lot of black. The hood on his black cape hid his face, although she could see his face a little through the semi-transparent fabric. The long silver sword was in his belt, the tip almost touching the ground.
Evan Rosier was also dressed as a knight, but his costume didn't hid his identity. His costume didn't have a belt, and Ruby wondered how quickly he would ditch the sword.
There was another boy next to Regulus, dressed as a ninja, but Ruby didn't know who he was.
(A/N Any guesses?)
Ruby and Severus slipped away, stopping at the library to grab a few books before making their way towards the kitchens. Although most students didn't know about it, Lily had heard about it from one of the older students, and had told Sev.
Ruby politely asked a house elf named Missy to get her some of the left over feast food, setting the books on a small table.
The two sat side by side, and although Ruby loved the freedom Hogwarts granted, she realized she had missed moments like these when it was just the two of them.
They started with a book on classic fairy tales by Beetle the Bard, before moving on to books on the history of resurrection spells that required a lot more brain work, but were still fun.
"Are you excited to go home for Christmas? It'll be our first Christmas without dad."
"Yes, but I'll miss you while you're at work."
"Don't worry. It'll be over before you know it, and we'll be going through mom's stuff every night."
"I wonder what kind of stuff she has."
"Probably a lot of old magic stuff. Hopefully some pictures." She said, before turning back to the open book that lay between them on the table.
It was late when they decided to go to bed. Ruby hadn't slept in her dorm since the lake incident. She needed the constant reassurance that she wasn't dead, and the dark was so scary now. She didn't want to any of her roommates to know, and the other boys in Sev's dorm were so messy they didn't notice when the door was cracked open to let in a little light.
When it wasn't dark, no one would have any idea there was anything remotely wrong. Ruby put Potter in the Hospital Wing twice by mid-November, and was serving a month's detention. She had noticed that after the first time, Black hadn't been bothering her brother nearly as much, only a sneer here, and a wad of paper there.
She knew that Potter was usually the one bothering him before she had gotten to Hogwarts, but Black would join in frequently, although he didn't initiate it. However no one else seemed to notice it, so Ruby thought that maybe it was just her. After all, she hadn't been there before.
Ruby left Slughorn's classroom where she had finished cleaning up a mess in the cabinets that first years had made. She was only too happy to get out of detention, but it was late, well past curfew.
No one was out now, except the prefects who patrolled the dark corridors.
And that was the problem. The dark corridors.
"Lumos." Ruby whispered, a faint light glowed dimly from the tip of her wand, flickering at her fear. The only light in the hallway was a small one at the end of the hallway. It seemed so far away. It was almost like she was at the bottom of a pit, hoping for someone to help her out.
The light from her wand flickered out as it dropped out of her shaking hands. She knelt down trying to find in, but she couldn't feel it. Panic was rising in her chest. Her breath came in short gasps.
The last torch from far down the hallway flickered out.
Ruby was suddenly plunged underwater again, unable to breath. No matter how much she tried to fight, she couldn't breath. She couldn't tell which way was up in the darkness. She choked, swallowing water, fighting for air but there was none to reach.
Which way was up? Which way was she supposed to go? It was so dark. So dark. She couldn't breath. She was clawing for air, but where was the surface. It was so dark, so dark, so dark.
"Lumos." She wasn't underwater anymore. She was just on her hands and knees in a hallway in the dungeons, coughing for breath. She coughed violently, trying to get air in her lungs now that she was above the surface. She saw her wand a few feet away, and scrambled for it, whispering 'Lumos' over and over, trying to get her wand to make a light brighter than the dim flicker it was currently producing.
She managed to calm herself long enough to make the light a little brighter, taking a few deep breaths.
"Do you think she'll be fine?"
"I'm sure she'll be fine, Padfoot. We've really got to go. The moon is rising. Moony needs us." Ruby didn't see anything when she looked around. She managed to pull herself to her feet with the help of the wall, and managed to stumble to the Slytherin common room, one hand clutching her wand tightly.
She fell into her brother's bed, and fell asleep instantly; her panic attack had exhausted her.
Ruby didn't tell anyone about what had happened the night before, and no one came up to ask her about it, so she thought maybe she had imagined it. Maybe it was her magic saving her again. Or maybe it was just one of the torches that had lit up for a few moments and she had come up with the voices to explain it.
If someone had been there, they would have asked her about it, right?
Ruby really hoped no one had seen her. She felt frustrated with herself. She was one of the most powerful people here, and she was suddenly afraid of the dark. It was a child's fear. Children were afraid of the dark because they couldn't see. How was she supposed to protect her brother if she was afraid of the dark?
Near death experience or no, this fear was irrational and stupid. She needed to get over it. In whatever way that worked.
She felt like throwing something, but resisted. It would have attracted attention since she was in Arithmancy with her twin. It was comforting to have him right next to her. He was right next to her if she needed to protect him.
She solved the Arithmancy questions, forcing herself to focus on her school work. Potter was still in the Hospital Wing from his latest broken nose.
Lupin and Black were at the back of the class, Lupin furiously whispering at his friend to be quiet and let him work. Ruby went to the next question, pretending the class was silent. She wondered absently if this class would be any easier if she had stayed in muggle school.
Lily, Alice and Mary, three of the girls from her dorm, were near the front of the class. Narcissa was on Ruby's right, with one of the boys from Sev's dorm, and a Slytherin girl who was in the same year behind the three with the two Marauders.
Ruby looked back down at her paper, writing down the answer to the question. If she focused a little, she could imagine it was just like home, her and Sev studying his textbooks in the attic.
Everything seemed to be okay until Defense Against the Dark Arts the next morning.