Let's pretend that it hasn't been a full year.
Chapter 13: The Yule Ball
The news that George Weasley and Selene Malfoy were in an illicit sexual relationship had been spread all around the castle by the next morning, much to the chagrin of the former. Selene had been tactically avoiding her housemates, having risen early to enclose herself in the library until breakfast. But as the clock ticked on, and her stomach gradually began to rumble, she knew she couldn't evade the fallout any longer, short of finding her way into the kitchens and eating down there among the House Elves. Which Hermione would not be best pleased about.
As it turned out, Selene needn't have worried, because the fallout managed to catch up with her before she could so much as take one step down the moving staircase outside the library door.
"What were you thinking?" the Weasley fumed, storming up to the girl in the (thankfully) abandoned corridor. "What the hell were you thinking, Malfoy?"
"I don't know what you mean," the girl replied delicately, striding past the redhead with a purpose. "Merry Christmas, by the way, Weasley. I hope you have a good one," and possibly the last one with both bollocks, if the tales of the formidable Molly Weasley were anything to go by.
"You know what I'm talking about, Malfoy," the twin spat, jogging to keep up with his classmate. "Why did you tell Ron that we were dating, of all things? You have no idea what this means for me!"
"Certain death?" Selene replied coolly, holding onto the bannister as the staircase swivelled around. "Come off it, Weasley, I'm sure you'll be fine. As long as your brothers don't curse your arms off, I'm sure you'll still be able to prank people come the new year."
"But… But…" George spluttered, finally catching up with the girl. "It's my reputation, Malfoy. Ron wrote to my parents, too. Your father and my father don't get along!"
"Stop talking in exclamations, Weasley," Selene sighed, waiting until the staircase had clunked into place once more before continuing her descent. "It was a joke. Maybe not a very funny one in retrospect," and one that might cause her to lose both of her non-existent bollocks before the day was out, "But a joke. Don't worry, I don't fancy a red-head Weasel."
George fell silent for a moment as they walked down the stairs, falling into step beside each other. The blonde girl glanced over at the boy for a few moments, noticing his glower at the floor and electing to remain quiet. She rather enjoyed her effect on people - her father had once described her as 'the perfect Slytherin' (shame that hadn't worked out on paper).
Selene knew she'd messed up with Ron the day before, she didn't need a Pensieve to tell her that much. It had been on impulse, mostly upon seeing how furious Ron had been that a Malfoy dared to be friends with his brothers. Her brother was right; seeing that face swell up into a red frenzy had been 100% worth it. But the fallout wasn't exactly fair on George. Even if it was funny.
"Do you… Y'know…" he said suddenly, taking Selene by surprise. She looked over at him again, meeting his gaze with an arched eyebrow and a blank expression, not letting herself betray her thoughts. Ice Queen persona, she reminded herself, sternly. Don't laugh at him. "Did you… Want to try dating me?"
The twin's flushed face against his freckles made Selene snicker before she could stop herself. Cutting over George's hurt expression, she stopped in the corridor, lowering her guard. "No offence, George," she said, reaching out her hand and laying it on the redhead's shoulder. "But I'm really not looking for a relationship right now. A bit of fun, yes, even friendship," she lowered her gaze from his, awkwardly patting him on his shoulder. "But we'll see."
"You didn't have to laugh at me," George grumbled, drawing back from the Ravenclaw after a moment's pause. "But- yes, yes. I understand. Completely." Although, honestly, he didn't think he would ever truly trust any member of the Malfoy family, especially Selene.
"Good," Selene allowed herself a small smile, the tips of her teeth peeping out from between her lips. "You can tell Ron that I was joking. And that I most sincerely apologise."
"Oi," replied George, grabbing the girl's arm and starting off down the corridor again. "No, you can tell him yourself. Unless you're too embarrassed to admit that you were flirting with a Gryffindor."
"Oh, I'm not," Selene brushed off, prising the boy's fingers away from her arm, catching up to his long strides in a few seconds. "What have I been doing for the past two months with you two, then? Is that what they call… 'Being friendly'?"
If Selene noticed George's blush, she didn't comment on it. "Ah, my dear Selene," he said, grinning at her with a painfully wide smile. "I doubt you're ever that friendly. You have a bite like a rabid Puffskein."
"Don't call me 'Selene'," Selene sneered, crossing her arms over her chest. "It might be Christmas but we're not on a first-name basis yet, Weasley."
"Would you like to get on one?" George replied, waggling his eyebrows, before continuing: "And didn't you call me 'George'? How do you know I'm George?"
Selene reddened, realising her mistake. "I don't," she retorted quickly, hiding her frustration at being caught out behind a glare. "For all I know, you could be Fred. But why would Fred go out of his way to find me, pretending to be his brother, just to tell me off for something I did to his brother?"
The twin paused in the corridor, regarding the Malfoy girl with a bemused expression. "You really do belong in Ravenclaw, don't you, Selene," he beamed at Selene's thinly veiled anger at the use of her given name.
"That wasn't exactly defeating the dark lord You-Know-Who though, was it?" Selene rolled her eyes, continuing onto the Grand Staircase. "Just logic. I don't think you two are smart enough to come up with a plan that convoluted."
"Oh, you wound me," George/Fred exclaimed, mockingly holding a hand to his heart. "Is the Ravenclaw Malfoy too good for us poor, lowly humans?"
"No," Selene protested, stopping halfway down the staircase, leaning against the side with a heavy sigh. "I just prefer the company of intellectuals."
The twin paused beside her, looking the girl up and down before chuckling. "You don't know how to relax, do you?" he snickered, ignoring his classmate's icy glare. "You've got quite the wand up your arse, Malfoy."
"Better than having freckles on my arse, Weasel," Selene spat, storming away down the staircase, leaving the redhead behind her to stand and laugh at her overreaction. "Are you going to just stand there?"
"Do you want to see my arse, Malfoy?" George asked curiously, the twinkle in his eye betraying his amusement. "I thought you weren't looking for a relationship right now? Or are you looking for more of a… Convenient relationship?"
"Shut up, Weasley," Selene sighed, chewing on the inside of her lip. She could see the group of redheads huddled around the top of the Gryffindor table, accompanied by the bushy hair of Hermione Granger and the distinct messy black mop of Harry Potter. She wasn't relishing the prospect of apologising to the youngest Weasley boy in front of his friends and family, but she supposed that she, ultimately, didn't have much choice.
After all, she had (kind of) screwed up George's reputation - if, indeed, the twin standing beside her was George Weasley - and she hadn't yet afforded him with an apology of his very own.
"Come on then," she said, after a moment that felt like a full minute. "Let's get this over with. If you're sure you can't do it for me."
"Nope!" George replied happily, grinning from ear to ear at Selene's obvious discomfort. "If you aren't going to admit that you messed up, you've got to apologise to Ron yourself. And refrain from flirting with the poor boy, if you think you can restrain yourself that long."
"I hate you," Selene muttered under her breath, finding the pockets in her Muggle trousers, blanking the twin as she marched into the Hall, ignoring the curious stares of her fellow Ravenclaws and her brother, as she made her way to the Gryffindors. The other twin looked up as she approached, full fury in his eyes, whilst Ron just seemed embarrassed.
"What do you want, Malfoy?" Fred spat, as Selene approached. His harsh tone took her aback, and her countenance immediately hardened to suit the tension of the situation. Hermione gave the Malfoy girl a small, awkward smile, before shuffling along the table to avoid the confrontation.
"To apologise," Selene replied coolly, clenching the inner fabric of her pockets between her fingers. "What I said and did last night was unacceptable. I accept and regret the decisions I made."
"So you and George…?" Ron piped up, a fragment of relief visible on his face. George, who had caught up at this point, took the space beside his twin on the bench and nodded vigorously.
"Nothing going on," he said hastily, giving Selene a winning smile. "Isn't that right, Sel?"
Selene rolled her eyes, muttering something unintelligible under her breath, before taking a deep gulp of air. "I'm sorry I flirted with you, Ronald," she continued, ignoring George's use of her (hated) nickname. "It won't happen again. You're too young for me."
She nodded to the youngest Weasley, who was regarding the girl with an expression of confusion and if she wasn't mistaking it, a little admiration. "I'll see you tonight, George," she said, not bothering to acknowledge the other twin. "Don't talk to me for the rest of the day. I've already spent too much time with… Gryffindors."
And with that, she walked away from the Gryffindor table, ignoring Draco's piercing gaze on her back as she sat down amongst her fellow Ravenclaws. The conversation at the festive breakfast table immediately switched to 'whatever was going on between you and George fricking Weasley', and, immediately, Selene realised just how much of an issue this rumour was going to cause.
oOo
It was, perhaps, lucky for Selene that the first major fuckup of her Hogwarts career was overshadowed by the monstrosity that was the Yule Ball. By the afternoon, the only talk circulating the castle was of Sleekeezy's and eyeshadow, rather than the supposed affair between the Blood Traitor and the heiress to one of the most prominent Ancient and Noble houses.
Even for those that opted for a late afternoon snowball fight, such as the Weasleys and Harry, were roped into the festivities, with several of the girls at each of the tables opting for a smaller Christmas dinner in case they wouldn't fit their dress robes. Selene, on the other hand, carried her dinner over to Cedric Diggory once Cho and Marietta had left for the Ravenclaw Sixth Year dormitories, and continued eating with the Hufflepuffs.
"What's these rumours about you and George Weasley then?" Jane, a sixth-year Hufflepuff, questioned after a few moments of roundabout conversation. "From that altercation this morning… Is everything okay between you two?"
"Yes," Selene said shortly, shoving a mouthful of roast potato into her mouth. "There's nothing between us. It was a misunderstanding."
"Sure…" Jane replied, apparently unimpressed by Selene's answer. Selene knew that the sixth year Muggleborn girl didn't trust her, but she was friendly enough, and at least attempted to hide her mistrust. It didn't help that her boyfriend was from a well known Pureblood family of Slytherins, and Lucius had made several comments on the degradation that particular Noble house was experiencing from Jane and Arnold's relationship. Selene tried not to be a part of them, but it wasn't exactly something she could forget.
"Look," Selene put down her fork, glancing sideways at Cedric. "Don't go spreading this around, right? It's false. I did it to annoy his little brother. Nothing more."
"That's not very Hufflepuff of you, Selene," Cedric said snarkily, laughing when Selene gave him a trademark icy glare. "But no. Really. Did you apologise?"
"Yes mum, I apologised," Selene replied, rolling her eyes to the suitably Christmassy ceiling. "Leave me alone. Anyway, shouldn't you both be getting ready for the Ball?"
Cedric sighed, holding his head in his hands. "Cho made me order special robes just to match hers," he said, his voice slightly muffled by his hands. "And dress robes aren't cheap, you know. I'd already bought some and she made me buy more…"
"I wish I'd thought of that," Jane yawned slightly, stretching her arms above her head. "Can't be bothered to go before six. Doubt Arnold is making much of an effort either, knowing him. I made him get a matching tie though."
"This is the problem!" Cedric sighed, looking up from his hands to look Jane in the eye. "You… You girls… You make everything so needlessly expensive…"
"You're a most Noble and Ancient House, Diggory," Selene patted the Hufflepuff boy on the back cheerfully. "I'm sure you can afford a set of dress robes that match Cho's."
"But it's the principle!" Cedric exclaimed, rubbing the back of his neck. "And I've got all the extra pressure from being a Triwizard Champion, too. Bagman was a real pig about it at the First Task."
"Look," Jane cut in, pointing at her fellow Hufflepuff with her fork. "If Cho doesn't see how much of a catch you are, with or without blue dress robes, she's an idiot. And you just need to calm down. You can dance, I'm sure, you'll be fine."
"He can't dance," Selene interrupted bluntly. "Our families made us take dancing lessons together as children. We were always put together because we were both so terrible nobody else would dance with us."
Jane was thrown off balance by this comment, and after opening and closing her mouth for a few moments, elected to take another bite of her turkey. "I miss Muggle school," she said, after a moment or two. "Much less complicated. Easier lessons. None of this 'Mudblood' crap."
"Who's been calling you a Mudblood?" Cedric said immediately, looking around at the other tables. "You don't need to stand for that, Jane. It's uncalled for."
Jane glanced at Selene, just imperceivably, but blatantly enough for the blonde girl to sigh and roll her eyes, knowing the answer immediately. "I apologise for my brother's conduct, Jane," she said, somewhat awkwardly, seeing the girl's distrustful gaze. "Have you told Arnold?"
"No," Jane said shortly, throwing her fork onto her (now empty) plate. "Because he's under enough pressure anyway. No point in making it worse and setting him at odds with the Prince of Slytherin."
Selene grimaced at the nickname, but couldn't help but note the sharpness in Jane's words. She looked back down at her plate, trying to think of something to say that didn't betray her bewilderment at this situation. Even though she knew not to use that nickname (mostly from a couple of years of learning from Cho and Marietta), she didn't realise that it was so… Effective. And not in a good way.
"Have a good evening tonight, guys," Selene said, after a few moments of awkward silence, leaving her plate on the table. "If I don't see you before," which she wasn't really planning on. She felt like she would have enough to contend with George, and his newfound adoption of 'Sel', the one nickname she would never accept.
Cedric gave Selene a one-armed hug before she left, Jane affording the Pureblood girl a small, stilted wave that appeared to be more out of courtesy than true regret in saying goodbye. Selene avoided the Gryffindor table with a mile radius, despite George attempting to get her attention with furious hand gestures and shouts of her name. What didn't he get about 'don't talk to me'?
Even though the Ravenclaw girls dormitories weren't exactly her idea of Havana either, Selene could only imagine just how furious Cho would be with her if she didn't turn up sharpish, so, somewhat begrudgingly at least, she headed up the Grand Staircase. She didn't notice her brother, poised at the doors to the Great Hall up until this point, swiftly walking across the Entrance Hall to the Slytherin Common Room.
Draco scowled to himself as he marched to the dungeons, a gnaw of worry growing in his stomach. Was his sister up to? He would be lying to himself if he told himself that he didn't care, but he also knew that it would be better for him to just stay away from whatever mess Selene was going to get herself into.
Where had the girl from the World Cup gone? She had always been a little… Odd, at least in the respects of the Malfoy family, from being sorted into a house other than Slytherin to making friends with half-bloods and Muggleborns without too much fuss. And now she was openly having some sort of relationship with a member of a notorious Blood Traitor family, and in the process, walking away from the most fundamental truth of being a Malfoy.
He muttered the password to the blank stone wall, before stepping into the passageway, trying to push any thoughts about his sister out of his mind. The prospect of the Yule Ball with Pansy was already vomit-inducing, and he hardly wanted to make his day any more repulsive.
However, when he entered the Slytherin Common Room, only to be greeted with a furious Theodore Nott, he knew his day was about to get a whole lot more complicated.
oOo
It was Cho's natural instinct to get worked up over absolutely every bone that was thrown her way; whether that be her crush on Cedric, Harry's crush on her, or the ever-infamous Yule Ball. Maybe it was the offshoot of being an only child, but it was probably more likely to be attributed to her personality.
Even so, the level of control that she had asserted over Selene was extreme, even for her. After supervising Marietta's hair, she had sprung on Selene like a particularly starved Hippogriff, attacking her on all sides with words and curling tongs.
"No," Selene said abruptly, after around half an hour of this treatment, getting to her feet. "Look, Cho, concentrate on yourself," she accompanied these words with a trip to the mirror, self-consciously smoothing out her dress robes. "You're with the Triwizard Champion, after all."
Cho blushed slightly pink, giggling nervously, joining her best friend at the mirror. "Fleur's going to upstage us all though," she said, somewhat dejectedly, thinking of the quarter-Veela's allure. "I can't help that… Not even with seven bottles of Sleekeezy."
"Rowena knows why she's going with Davies though," Lavender glowered, almost dropping her mascara wand into the sink. "He's been through all the girls in our year, aren't we enough for him anymore?"
"Thank God, that's what I think," Selene sighed, stretching her arms out above her head. "Honestly, after this morning, I'm not sure if I want to even give Weasley the time of day. I'm throwing him a bone by doing this, he looked pretty dejected when his brother got asked by Johnson."
"Tell me about it," Marietta responded, once again from the sink, recapping the mascara with a quiet pop. "You must be crazy to go with a Weasley…"
Selene rolled her eyes to herself, walking back over to her four-poster bed and perching on the edge of the blue and bronze bedspread. "Exactly," she replied, after a small pause. "I don't like being told what to do."
A little more time passed, mostly populated by Cho and Marietta bickering over the curling irons, and Selene getting stuck into her Christmas DADA homework before Cho shrieked loud enough to shock a banshee. "Have you seen the time?" she exclaimed, eyes wide. "I'll be late! I- I mean… We'll be late!"
Selene glanced up at the clock on the wall, before quickly slipping her shoes onto her feet. "Maybe if you two weren't arguing so much we wouldn't be running late," she muttered to herself, as she followed the other two girls out of the doorway and down the stairwell. "Are Cedric and Boot waiting outside for you guys, too?"
"Yes," Cho said, somewhat dreamily, her mind apparently much further away from the current situation at hand. "I hope I won't make a fool of myself… Everyone's going to be looking at us…"
"You and Cedric are perfect for each other, though!" Marietta exclaimed as the trio walked across the Common Room, ignoring the other groups of Ravenclaws around the tower. "And you'll look perfect together, too!"
"I'm sure you'll be fine," Selene added, leading the way out of the Common Room and into the corridor. "And I think you're making far too big a deal about this… It's just a dance. A 'Ball' is a bit of a misnomer."
"You're just saying that because you're going with a friend," Cho rolled her eyes in Selene's direction. "If you're still insisting that George is a friend... I'm still not buying it."
"If I was friends with the Weasley twins, I wouldn't be staying friends with them for long," Marietta smirked, prompting another eye roll from Cho. "Terry Boot is decent enough… But those twins… There's a certain shine to them…"
"I'll put in a good word for you, then," Selene sighed heavily, before a slight, almost unnoticeable smile emerged on her face. "Although I will admit it, they do scrub up very well."
Even if the two twins did look very much like bottles of Ogden's Old Firewhiskey in a pair of dusty, hastily mended dress robes, George was looking pretty surprised to see Selene. His twin had an expression more akin to indifference than appreciation, but he, at least, begrudgingly nodded.
"You look," George scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, looking the Ravenclaw girl up and down a few times, as Cho and Marietta eagerly wandered off to find their respective partners. "...decent enough, I guess."
"Decent enough?" Selene crossed her arms over her chest and repeated the motion on the redhead, raising an approving eyebrow. "You're not so bad yourself, Weasley."
Fred had been watching this exchange with a look of abject disgust, but before he could fully express his displeasure at the interactions between his twin and the Ravenclaw Ice Queen, his concentration was marred by the appearance of his date.
Angelina Johnson, Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, and one of Selene's harshest critics. Much as her brother had garnered criticism in his second year for making the Slytherin Team as Seeker (which had actually been mostly down to the lack of applicants for the position that year), when Selene had made her team in the Third Year, it had come with accusations of her father paying off Flitwick, and of Selene herself sleeping with Davies. Most of the attacks had come from Angelina, who had been furious from the moment that such a hated specimen had managed to score the first goal in their first match together. Not to say that it wasn't a widespread sentiment, but it was Johnson who dealt the first blow.
"Malfoy," she said shortly, giving the Ravenclaw a curt nod, before turning to Fred. "Are we going in then?"
George checked the gold watch on his wrist, and shook his head, "Champions first," he said, as a brief explanation, eyes determinedly avoiding Angelina's. "Ready to let our hair down?"
Selene remained silent, crossing her arms and shooting a glare towards Angelina. "Some of us need to more than others," she said pointedly, matching the scowl thrown her way by the Gryffindor girl. "Watch that chin, Johnson. You'll put Weasley's eye out."
To her credit, Angelina didn't immediately explode. "Better than no chin at all, Malfoy," she spat, grabbing her date's arm. "At least the women in my family are all… well-endowed."
A jab at her lack of chest? Selene hadn't expected such a low, low blow, but she did chuckle, despite herself. She also couldn't help but notice George's subtle glance towards the top of her dress, which earned him a snicker and a wink. "You'll have to try a lot harder than that to see them, Weasley," Selene copied Angelina's motion, linking her arm into the Weasley's. He at least had the grace to blush. "I happen to think that there's a lot more to a woman than just her tits, Johnson. Ah, should we go in?"
Angelina tightened her jaw as they slowly entered the Great Hall, shuffling awkwardly to one side as the Champions took to the dancefloor with their partners. Selene shot Cho an encouraging glance, before gesturing to Fred on her left and miming gagging with her fingers down her throat. Not her classiest move, but it made her best friend laugh.
"You might want to calm that temper, Malfoy," George jested, having been the only person to witness the exchange between the two friends. "Nobody wants a grumpy date."
Selene sighed heavily, taking George's freckled hand in her pale ones and giving it a condescending pat. "For the last time, I am not your date, Weasley. I'm here as a friend and a possible lay if you play your cards right." Those cards would have to be at least five aces, but she was open to the possibility.
She said these last words as she looked around the Great Hall, sweeping her eyes over the congregation assembled as they waited for the dancers to finish. Snickering as she noticed Draco's awkwardness with Pansy Parkinson, she shifted her gaze to Theodore Nott, who was staring at her with a stony face.
Now she knew he was looking at her, she took the opportunity to grab George's hand, ignoring his surprised jolt. "I need your help," Selene hissed to him, still meeting Nott's gaze. "I want to piss Nott off as much as possible."
George glanced over at her, seemingly slightly surprised at the venom in her tone. "Midnight tryst gone wrong?" he guessed, as they walked onto the dancefloor, grabbing her other hand and preparing to dance. "I didn't think you'd like a younger man, Malfoy."
Selene grimaced and shook her head, deliberately stepping behind her to tred on Angelina's heel. "Nothing like that, thank god," the idea made her physically sick. "That family is so inbred that their dicks practically exist inside their bodies. No, he just…"
She trailed off, instead tilting her head to one side and noting George's expression. Wistful, a little upset, and staring right at where his twin was deftly twirling Angelina around. "Wow, you're whipped," she noted, with a snicker, changing their pace to simply an off-beat sway back and forth. "Is that why you came with me? To piss off Johnson?"
"No!" George said immediately, but the blush on his cheeks said something very, very different. "You know I think you're not all bad, Malfoy. You're a laugh, at least. And you let me copy off you in class."
"Let is not the same as resigned defeat," Selene replied, shaking her head, moving them around so George couldn't see the pair anymore. "Seriously though, if you like her so much then why haven't you said anything to Fred?"
"He likes her too," George said, with a downcast expression in his eyes. "And if you've spent more than half an hour around us, you'll know that Fred always gets what he wants."
"Sounds like he needs taking down a notch," Selene noted, rolling her eyes as Johnson began running her hands through the other twin's hair. "Christ, how much more disgusting could they get?"
George blanched, and Selene raised an eyebrow. "Okay, maybe that's not what you wanted to hear."
She took advantage of the change in tempo of the song to drag her partner off the floor. She placed a glass of Firewhiskey in George's hand and patted him on the shoulder. "Liquid courage," she said, by way of an explanation, before grabbing herself a nearly full bottle.
"But it's no use!" George sounded like he was almost going to cry, so Selene tapped the bottom of the glass, forcing it up closer to his mouth, where he gulped it down in one. He spluttered somewhat, slapping his cheek as Selene refilled the glass almost to the brim. "I don't even want to sleep with her, Selene, I just… Want…"
"Want what?" Selene questioned, as she took a deep swig from the bottle. The alcohol burnt her throat, but at least she didn't make a fool of herself by coughing. She wasn't good at reassurance at the best at times and helping someone she barely knew just wasn't in her nature. But her hatred for Fred and Johnson were winning out here, someone that dismissed her without even trying to understand her, and someone that had set out to make her whole life a living hell. She truly felt for George's pain, especially as his twin seemed so oblivious to George's feelings.
He'd finished the second full glass by now, so Selene topped it up a third time, downing what was left of the bottle in one. "Right," she set the bottle down on the table, looking around for a second. If she was going to do this, she would need to be a lot more than just pleasantly buzzed. "Grab Johnson the second she steps off that floor, ask her for a dance."
"But what about Fred?" George replied despondently, downing his third glass. Selene rolled her eyes, taking the glass away from him, and slapping the redhead around the face.
"Stop being stupid, Weasley," Selene exhaled, as the twin's eyes seemed to finally spark up again, perhaps with anger rather than determination, but that would do. "If you're having to take advice from a Malfoy, then you're in serious trouble."
"Why did you slap me?" George protested, but at least he finally took Selene's waving hands to mean 'fuck off over there' rather than 'keep crying'. "Seriously, Malfoy? We've progressed to physical assault now?"
"Yes, yes, very funny," Selene muttered, pouring herself another glass of Firewhiskey. God, helping people she didn't like was hard. Johnson was a such a piece of work, she wasn't entirely sure what George saw in her cold, brown, emotionless eyes. At least she'd be cockblocking Fred Weasley through.
"Sele-"
"Oh, fuck off, Nott," Selene glared down at the most shorter, much slimier boy, who had taken this prime opportunity to approach her. "I don't know what the fuck you told my father, but I am not going to dance with you!"
Nott genuinely made Selene shiver, with his deep-set eyes in his pale, watery face. Maybe it was the Firewhiskey flowing through her veins, but she wasn't going to take any shit from this weaselly little kid anymore.
"That's no way to speak to your betrothed, my dearest," Nott said silkily, raising one thin eyebrow, grabbing Selene's hand and planting a cold, sloppy kiss on her fingers. "Will you not even afford me one dance?"
Selene pulled her hand away immediately, grabbing a corner of tablecloth to wipe any traces of the mouth assault away from her fingers. No, she seriously was not going to be dealing with this today. "No," she said, at least managing to summon some dignity from her steadily decreasing facade. "No, Nott, not today."
Theodore's face turned from slimy to sour in an instant. "I saw you dancing with that Blood Traitor," he snarled. "You have no idea what I can do to you, Selene."
"Really?" Selene finished her glass in one gulp. "Lovely talk, Nott. Must dash."
But as she turned around, a clammy hand grasped her wrist in a vice-like grip, anchoring her to the spot. "I wouldn't be so hasty, darling," Nott hissed. "Not every husband wants a slut for a wife."
"Get… off… me…" Selene protested, trying in vain to yank her arm away. She could feel a mixture of anger and alcohol in her veins, simultaneously enhancing and sapping her strength. Goddammit, why did she think it was a good idea to drink so much in such a short amount of time? She was never able to hold her alcohol.
"Oh no, darling," Nott chuckled under his breath, a sly smile on his face. "I think you'll find that soon, very soon, we'll be together forever…"
"OI!" Selene was distantly aware of someone yelling but at this point, her anger had swelled to the point where she only saw red. She gave her arm a yank, using all of her strength, and thanked the God of Quidditch as her arm muscles flexed and finally tore her wrist free. Nott was caught off guard, either by the yeller or Selene's actions, so she took her chance and kicked him where it mattered, not even bothering to check if she'd hit her mark before taking off out of the Great Hall.
"Goddamn… fucking… shoes…" Selene groaned as she ran into the Entrance Hall, which was mostly empty apart from a few canoodling couples. She paused long enough to tear the heels off her feet before her stomach gave a self-satisfied gurgle. Obviously, she hadn't eaten enough at dinner.
Before she knew it, she was outside, vomiting into the grass, trying to ignore the people around her that were probably more amused than concerned. Selene paused long enough to glance up to check that nobody had recognised her, before resuming emptying her stomach into the flowerbed.
"Hey, Selene, you okay?" soft hands were at her neck, pulling her hair away from her mouth, gallantly ignoring the strands already wet with vomit.
"Do I look okay?" Selene, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "Oh god, I regret not taking a second helping at dinner…"
The voice laughed, deep enough for Selene to guess that it was a guy who had found her. "Maybe next time you should." the voice was soft, too, and kind. Probably a Ravenclaw boy. Her mind was too fuzzy to care.
"Please help me," Selene choked out, as she retched into the bushes again. "I just want a bed."
And that was how Selene found herself picked up like a sack of potatoes, slightly clumsily but with good intentions, as her eyes closed and she drifted into sleep.