It had been nearly a month since her little birthday party her friends had thrown for her, and Sirius hadn't spoken to her or even so much as looked in her direction. It didn't make any sense to her, because in her mind, she had thought he had stopped hating her a little that night. She had hoped somewhere deep down that he would have started liking her a little more.

The initial hurt she had felt the next morning had been like a slap to the face. One moment he was being kind and actually talking to her, the next he was ignoring her, leaving the table when she sat down... for a while she held on to the hurt, but now she was just angry. What in the hell had she done to deserve this treatment from him?

First it was her loyalty to her family. Then it seemed as though he hated her for her connection to his brother. And now for what? She had stayed at his stupid party, listened to his stupid music, drank his stupid alcohol, and helped him steal his stupid secret ingredients for whatever concoction he was planning on brewing. Had that not shown him enough?

Selene didn't feel like a coward. She just had a healthy respect for the rules and cared little for having to deal with the consequences for breaking them. Maybe she was a little scared, if only of her mother, but it still wasn't like her to be a part of what Sirius did. Or maybe it had just been so overwhelming because she had been drunk. She didn't honestly know. It still wasn't fair for him to treat her this way. For being afraid?

"Hey, did you hear what happened?"

Selene looked up from her half eaten breakfast at Fiona, who looked particularly shaken. Her big brown eyes looked afraid.

"No, I haven't. Why do you look like that?"

Fiona rubbed her face. "Three students dropped out today. Muggle-borns who are scared to be away from their families right now."

"Oh." Selene didn't know what to say. She didn't exactly know what was happening in the muggle world. She'd been hearing really bad things had been happening more and more over the past few years, but her family had shielded her from most of it, aside from their own opinions.

"You're not planning on leaving, are you?" Selene asked, feeling a little worried. Since Sirius had been ignoring her, she had little by little been avoiding her Gryffindor friends and hanging out more with Fiona and Regulus. She knew Fiona had a muggle mother, and she felt some worry that she would leave.

"Oh no, don't worry about me." Fiona smiled weakly. She still looked pale. "I'm staying to finish my schooling, if I can. I don't want to go out there only knowing what I know now. It's not enough."

"It's that bad isn't it?" Selene felt stupid. As a pureblood she really hadn't felt the effects of the chaos that had begun. It hadn't been on her mind. She didn't read the Daily Prophet. No one close to her had really spoken about it. The closest she got to hearing about it was Regulus, but he only spoke about ideologies. Even he wasn't in the inner circles that were beginning to form among their families.

"Must be nice to not have to worry about you or your family's safety." Fiona sighed. Then she jumped, looking over at Selene with big eyes. "Oh no! I hope I didn't offend you. I only meant because you're not related to muggles or anything."

Selene gave her a half-hearted smile. "It's alright. I knew what you meant. I'm sorry you have to go through this."

"I'm sorry for all of us." Fiona muttered, rubbing her palms against her skirt. "It's going to get really bad. I feel it."

"That's sort of morbid, don't you think?" Selene laughed weakly. "The Ministry will handle it. We shouldn't worry so much."

Fiona shrugged and ate her breakfast in silence, leaving Selene to her thoughts. She felt bad for Fiona. She was sure that despite her bravado, she wanted to go home to keep her family safe. Selene felt a little worse realizing she knew she didn't feel the same way. Her family didn't need protecting. They were as safe as they could be.

Selene stood abruptly, gathering her things and leaving her friend without a word, rushing towards the Slytherin table, plopping herself down beside Regulus, who jumped in surprise at her sudden appearance, though smiled nonetheless.

"What brings you over here in such a hurry?"

"Fiona told me students are dropping out." Selene said, setting her bag beside her on the bench. "I don't know much about what's going on."

"And you thought I might." Regulus grimaced, pushing away his plate. He took a sip of his pumpkin juice before facing her. "I don't know much either."

Selene frowned. "I just thought... with your family and all..."

"They keep me out of the loop as much as they keep you out of it, Selene." He said, looking away from her. "I don't like it either."

"Oh, okay." Selene looked down at her hands. "Um... have you spoken to your cousins recently? About what's going on?"

"Not since I left for school. Bellatrix and Narcissa aren't necessarily conversational, and don't care much for sending owls to inform a child." Regulus said, sounding only slightly bitter. "We're safe anyway. Why does it matter that a few muggle-borns got scared and ran back home?"

"I don't know." Selene shrugged. "It's a lot to take in. If people are scared, really bad things are happening."

"Just stay out of it." Regulus said quietly, though not unkind. "It doesn't concern us right now. We should focus on the things happening right now, right here. You missed an announcement at dinner last night."

"Did I?" Selene said distractedly.

"Because students are scared and leaving, the Headmaster decided that instead of the traditional Hallowe'en Feast, we're going to have a dance."

Selene perked up immediately. "A dance?"

Regulus grinned. "Yes. And I was wondering if you might like to be my date for the evening."

"It can't hurt." She laughed, feeling her neck grow warm. Her sudden worries forgotten, now replaced by the excitement of going to a ball. It was perfect for her. She had plenty of dresses to wear that she had packed in anticipation for the winter months to end.

Regulus rolled his eyes. "A simple yes would have been fine."

She grinned. "At least I'm going."

"You would have gone by yourself." Regulus commented, resting his cheek on his fist. "Once you found out, that is."

"How do you know I wouldn't have asked you to go with me?"

He raised his eyebrows. "Would you have?"

Selene stood, patting him on the head as she slung her bag over her shoulder once more. "Maybe."

The rest of the day passed by relatively uneventful. Most of her energy was spent thinking about Regulus, the dance, the things Fiona had said, and lastly, Sirius.

She felt guilty for her excitement while Fiona was so upset. Selene thought to herself that between the two of them, she was the only one who belonged in Hufflepuff. Fiona was brave and smart, and too kind for her own good. She belonged in Gryffindor, where she would have probably ended up with a better friend. One that would have made her feel better about her decision to remain at Hogwarts.

Selene hadn't grown up with many people her age, and so having friends now had a tendency to throw her off. She didn't know how to react most of the time, and more often than not she failed at comforting the ones she cared for. She was going to try for Fiona. She didn't know what she could do, but she would try her best.

"Hey, Selene."

"Fiona!" Selene whirled around, adjusting her dress. "How're you feeling?"

"I'm fine." She said, plopping down on her bed. "You look nice."

Selene smiled. "Thank you. Are you going to the dance?"

She shrugged. "I was thinking about it."

"You should go." Selene insisted, sitting down beside her. "You can dance with Regulus and I. It'll be fun. You could use the distraction. We all need it."

"I don't really have anything to wear." She admitted.

Selene's smile widened and she rushed over to her suitcase, rummaging around. After a few minutes she pulled out one of her favorite dresses; a short, frilly summer dress, made out of shimmering gold satin. She held it out for Fiona to take.

"I can adjust it to fit you if there's something you don't like." Selene said, watching her hold it up to admire. "I learned a few tailoring spells over the summer. And if you'd like, I can braid your hair."

Fiona stood and pulled Selene in for a tight hug. "Thank you."

Selene laughed, slightly uncomfortable though she hugged her back. After a few moments, she held Fiona back at arms length.

"It's no problem. I know being here is hard for you, so I want to try to make it as easy as possible. I know I'm not that great with words, but I don't want you to end up leaving."

Fiona blushed. "You're a good friend. I'm going to go change."

Selene sat down on Fiona's bed, restarting her braid as she waited for her to finish changing. She had been to a few parties, mostly ones that her family hosted a few times a year, but she had never experienced a dance at Hogwarts. The only time she had ever heard of a dance taking place at Hogwarts was the Yule Ball, and since there were no more Triwizard Tournaments, she knew that she wouldn't get the chance to experience it.

But she was hopelessly excited for this opportunity to forget about the things that were upsetting her, to dress up, and dance the night away.

"How do I look?"

Selene looked up when she heard Fiona and grinned. "You look great. I don't think I even need to tailor it for you."

Fiona twirled once, smoothing the skirt down with a huge smile on her face.

"Thanks. I didn't think it would fit." She admitted. "You're so much smaller than me."

"Honestly it looks better on you." Selene laughed. "You fill it better than I do."

"You think so?" Fiona pulled her hair out of the ponytail she normally kept it in, letting it fall in loose brown waves a little past her shoulders. "I do love it though. Oh! Do you want me to do your makeup?"

"Sure."

Fiona grabbed a couple small bags from her trunk and made her way back over to her bed, seating herself in front of Selene and set to work.

"How many sisters do you have?"

"Three. One is older than me, but the other two are both seven. Twins. Close your eyes."

Selene did as she was told. "Do you think your younger sisters will be witches, too?"

"It's hard to tell. I never knew about any of this stuff until I got my letter. They have an advantage—they know about it because of me. But if there's no magic in their blood, it's not possible. No matter how much they experiment."

"Your older sister isn't a witch either?"

"No. You'd have met her if she was. We're only two years apart."

"Is she jealous of you?"

Fiona laughed. "No, of course not. She's heard everything about this place through me. Maybe she was at first, but after hearing my stories over the years she's more than happy to be considered normal."

"How do your parents feel about it?"

"They were scared out of their minds." Fiona chuckled. "They wanted to come with me my first year, meet all the teachers and whatnot, but they're okay with it now."

"So they approve of who you are now? They don't try to hang on to who you were before you found out you were a witch?"

She sighed. "It's complicated sometimes, but we get through it."

"What are they like? I'm sorry if I'm asking too many questions."

Fiona laughed. "Don't worry, I like talking about my family. They're kind of ditzy, you could say. My mum is really forgetful and my dad thinks he's funnier than he actually is sometimes. He tells the same jokes a lot."

"They sound amazing." Selene said wistfully.

"Maybe you can come over some time. Like for the holidays." Fiona offered. "Finished. I hope you like it."

Selene took the mirror she offered. "Maybe. My parents like me to come home, though."

Fiona hadn't done anything elaborate, though the light bronze shimmer on her eyelids and black winged eyeliner seemed to make the blue in her eyes brighter.

"You're good at this." Selene said, still admiring her reflection. "I've never worn any makeup before."

"My older sister taught me how." Fiona said as she gathered all of her things and placed them back inside of her trunk. "She's better at it than I'll ever be though. I only know as much as I did for you."

Selene stood, sliding on her black flats and smoothing the skirt of her dress. It was deep blue and strapless. It fell just above her knees loosely, and shimmered softly as light caught it. She walked over to the door and opened it, grinning.

"Are you ready?"

Fiona smiled nervously. "As I'll ever be."