Chapter 14: Wheeze or Bleed

Oh, shit. Her head hurt. And it was not a pretty sight.

Selene groaned, rolling over in bed and nestling down into the sheets, blocking her eyes from the wintery sun that was slowly sneaking in through the cracks in the bed's curtains. Whatever she had done last night (those memories were still hidden by her hangover), it hadn't been too great of an idea.

She let herself drift back into a doze momentarily, spreading her legs out in the bed, subtly wiping her mouth to check for any dribble stains. Predictably, like every night after a few drinks, there was a little wet patch just to the side of her mouth on the pillow. And there were a couple of strands of hair clinging to her face that still smelled strongly of bile.

But at least this bed was comfy. And it smelled nice, as well. Like clean sheets and aftershave.

Aftershave?

Selene's eyes flicked open, adjusting to the sight in front of her. Aftershave? Who had she screwed last night? Oh god, had she remembered to cast an anti-pregnancy charm? She'd been dribbling and probably vomiting, and god knows what else. Snoring? Farting? This was not good. She might have to dig into daddy's bank account a little to keep this lad quiet.

But more importantly - where in Rowena's sweet name was she?

It took a second longer than it would have done without the alcohol, but eventually, Selene managed to sit up, blinking in the sunlight as it properly hit her eyes. In the daylight, she could see that most of the four-poster curtains were closed, thick red brocades blocking the occupants from view.

Really, Selene? A Gryffindor?

Selene groaned, and put her hand over her eyes for a minute, trying to take stock of what had actually happened last night. Maybe George had successfully seduced her (not as hard as it would have been without alcohol involved)? Although somehow she doubted that, as she could hear a couple giggling behind one of the curtains, and one pale, Weasley-looking foot was poking out from the end of the bed.

Unless that was Fred? Urgh, whoever Selene had gotten with last night, she was in serious trouble.

"Up already?" a cheeky, slightly unfamiliar voice called over to her, and Selene finally pulled her hand away from her face. There was only one person with a voice quite that infuriating, and she just prayed to Godric that he hadn't been the one to take her home last night.

"Lee Jordan," she said, trying to find some of her Ice Princess facade beneath her hangover, although it lost most of its effect with her scratchy voice. She coughed somewhat, cringing as she threw up a little in her mouth. "Please, please tell me that this isn't your bed."

The boy smirked, throwing up his hands and shaking his head. "I am innocent, Malfoy," he chuckled, taking a couple of steps closer but minding Selene's glare. "And as far as I know, your virginity remains untouched. You've been out cold for twelve hours."

Selene snorted. This boy really had no clue if he thought she was still a virgin. "Why am I here then?" she rubbed her temples, trying to remember what she had done last night. "Whose bed is this?"

"Selene?" one of the twin's freckled faces poked out from behind the bed curtains. Oh god, it was probably George there. Yes, yes it was because now he was smiling, shooting her the first genuine look of gratitude that she had seen in a long, long time. "You were right. Firewhiskey is liquid courage."

"Oh god," Selene moaned, barely able to contain her grimace. "Well, as glad as I am, why am I here with you?"

"Funny story," George pulled the curtain open a little, Selene pulling at a face at his pale, freckly chest. "I didn't know you had a thing for Freddy dearest, Sellie."

"Do not call me that!" Selene snapped, looking around the room again, now that her eyes had fully adjusted to the bright light. "And I don't, I don't remember how I even got here…"

It took a second for her to realise that the replying chuckle was coming from next to her, and Selene only had to look to her left a little to see that Fred had taken up a spot on the floor next to the bed. She tried her best not to stare at his bare chest as he stood up, revealing… Well, um, his body, naked apart from a pair of boxers. Wasn't he cold?

"You were a right state, Malfoy," Fred snickered, pulling on a pair of jeans from the floor. "Moaning and groaning, vomiting all over yourself… Although you are very cute when you sleep."

"Apart from her snoring!" Lee chimed in from across the room, crossing his arms with a self-satisfied smirk on his face. "Oh yeah, and didn't she fart in your face at some point?"

"She's a snuggler, too," Fred pointed out, looking down at the girl on his bed, who was getting steadily more and more pissed off. "Calm down, Malfoy. No funny business went on between us, I promise. I was too busy saving you from Nott."

That was about as much as Selene could take. "I do not need saving!" she snapped, jumping to her feet, ignoring the way that the room swirled around her. "Especially not from that piece of fucking pondlife scum," she spat, stumbling a little as she attempted to gain her footing. "I fucking hate that fucking idiot…"

"Calm down, Malfoy," Fred laughed out loud this time, reaching an arm out to steady Selene. "And, um… Would you like to take a shower or something? You... You're kind of covered in vomit."

"Yes, yes I would," Selene sighed, reluctantly accepting Fred's steadying hand. It was at this moment that the cold hit her, and she looked down at what she was wearing. "You took my clothes off? You're perverted, fucking perverted! How do I know you didn't take advantage of me!"

"You were, and still are, trashed," Fred sighed, pulling the covers off his bed, and handing them to the Malfoy, who wrapped them around her pale body. "At least you don't go commando, huh?"

"You ain't fucking funny," Selene muttered, shaking his hand away. "You know what? I wish we did have sex. Then at least I'd feel normal about all this."

"We still can," Fred's voice dropped to a purr, moving his half-naked body closer to Selene's. "I'm not averse to fucking a girl that dribbles… and farts…"

Selene marched across the room, sheets still clutched around her shoulders. "Fuck off, Weasley," she snarled, as she slammed the bathroom door shut behind her, ignoring the reverberating laughter that ensued.

oOo

It took Selene a few days to come to terms with what had occurred on Christmas Day, and when she did, she almost kicked herself. Yes, her mission was to push away her parents until they disowned her, but almost screwing a Weasley twin? Even worse, the shittier Weasley twin? That was far, far too much.

She still wasn't speaking to Draco, either, but nothing more needed to be said between them. He knew why he wasn't in her good books, and he at least had the grace to be upset about it. Nott was a piece of work, her brother knew that as well, and when the other boy recounted the tale of his pained nuts, Draco couldn't help but stifle a smirk.

But without Draco on her side, Selene was unlikely to get free of her family successfully. There was Black Family Blood in her veins, strong enough to be the closest living, non-Azkaban dwelling heir, and her parents would be working hard to keep it in the family, so to say.

Also, of course, she wasn't able to inherit without a husband, so she knew she was heading towards a wedding sooner or later, unless she either killed Nott, or made his family think she was damaged beyond repair.

Selene had spent the last few years of her life learning how to press her parent's buttons, and although she was sure that they knew that their eldest was by no means innocent, she knew that they were going to try their damndest to prove otherwise to Mr Nott and the rest of their fucked-up family.

Which is why she found herself walking up to the Gryffindor table one lunchtime, deliberately picking a time when few people were around, so she wouldn't arise too much suspicion. At least since Christmas George had been almost friendly to her, so she didn't think people would question it too much if it did come to it.

"Fred," Selene said curtly, tapping long fingernails on the long dining table to get the redhead's attention. "Can I have a word?"

"Can I bring my lunch?" the Weasley replied through a mouthful of sandwich. Selene rolled her eyes and reluctantly nodded, giving George a tight smile in response to his friendly one.

"Come along, Weasley," she sighed, leading the way outside, first to the Entrance Hall, and then to the cold winters day outside. It was freezing, but Selene had prepared well, rolling her gloves onto her hands. Fred, however, was less well prepared.

Finally, he finished his sandwich, and sat down on a wall, looking at Selene in curiosity. At least it wasn't abject anger and dishonesty anymore. "What do you want to talk about?" he said, surprisingly calmly.

"I need your help," Selene didn't like to admit that to anyone, but having thought this over, it was as good a plan as ever. "And I think we're already heading in the right direction to start it."

"Okay," Fred quirked an eyebrow, motioning for her to continue with his second sandwich, before taking a large bite.

"I want to pretend to sleep with you," Selene said matter-of-factly, ignoring Fred's surprised choke. "If we tell everyone that we've started a sexual relationship then hopefully it'll stop Nott following my every move."

"I thought you hated me," Fred smirked, finishing off the last of his sandwiches. "Is this all about upsetting Nott and mummy and daddy? Or do you actually want to be fuckbuddies?"

Selene smirked and shook her head. "Sleep with whoever the fuck you want, Weasel, I don't want you," she continued, slowly taking a seat next to Fred. "There is a thing called acting."

"What do I get in return?" Fred asked suspiciously. "It's not every day a Noble and Ancient House asks to pretend to screw you. There's a catch."

"Well, hopefully, my father won't kill you," Selene said mildly, clapping her hands together in her gloves. "I'm a good wing woman. I got George with your date, remember?"

"Well, actually, no, I didn't," Fred scowled. "That was you? I actually really liked Angelina..."

"Whatever you want, Weasley," Selene interrupted quickly, ignoring his glare. "I'll pay you for all I care. I just need this done before summer."

"I don't need your money," Fred waved a hand. "Look, Malfoy, just because we're poor doesn't mean I need handouts from your family." His look was almost venomous at this point.

"Just. Pretend." Selene signed, flicking a bit of wool off her coat. "Please, Fred."

Maybe it was the use of his first name or the fact that Selene had said please to him for the first time in her life, but Fred sighed and reluctantly nodded.

"We can use any of our products on you," he said quickly, a fair deal forming in his mind. "And I'm allowed to screw anyone else I want."

"Same goes for me," Selene interjected quickly. "No cutesy PDA. Just what makes people believe us."

"Believe me, Malfoy, if you ever engaged in cutesy PDA I would eat my socks," Fred guffawed. "So, it's a deal?"

Selene was still slightly concerned as to what 'products' would be used on her, the Weasley twin's new human guinea pig, but she took Fred's outstretched hand anyway. "Deal." she nodded, a slight glimmer of hope forming in her mind.

She got to her feet, holding out a hand to her new business partner, smiling with satisfaction when he took it. He was getting the hang of this already. Selene led Fred slowly through back to the Entrance Hall, making sure they were right in front of the Great Hall, before reaching her arms across his shoulders and pressing his lips to hers.

Fred was absolutely freezing, but as he melted into her grip, Selene couldn't help but smirk, closing her eyes and biting his lip, using his momentary shock to slip her tongue into his mouth. For someone that seemed so reluctant to do this, he was enjoying this. Every movement she made, he returned in equal measure, his mouth wet and hot, eagerly exploring Selene's lips with his tongue. Yes, she had him right under her thumb. She might have picked the best kisser in Hogwarts to do this with.

She pulled away before Fred could (never give the man the upper hand, she could hear her mother chiming in her mind), and smirked at his slightly bewildered expression. "See you later, baby," she said, the term of endearment making her throw up in her mouth a little. She shot the Great Hall a pointed look, making sure to look right at the Slytherin table, where Nott and Draco were sat, both looking absolutely furious.

Finally, Fred regained the use of his tongue, blushing beet red at his momentary confusion. "Yeah, see you later," he muttered, making Selene laugh out loud. He was going to have a hell of a storm to explain to his family, she could already spot George looking incredulous in his direction.

Oh, yeah. This might have been the most Slytherin thing she'd done in her life thus far, but it was executed with perfect Ravenclaw smarts. If she was going to be a slut, she was going to be a damned good pretend one.

oOo

True to his nature, Draco was fuming as he stood awkwardly outside the Ravenclaw Common Room, trying not to look too conspicuous. He had been relegated to waiting outside, having tried multiple times to gain entry.

"The more you take, the more you leave behind," the knocker repeated, in a peaceful tone, as if the bronze eagle could see the boy standing there, tapping his feet. "What am I?"

"My patience?" Draco snapped, unsurprised when the door, once again, did not swing open. Where was everyone? The holidays were over, it was late in the day, and yet there was nobody hanging around. If he could even just get into the Tower, then that would be one step closer to his goal.

Of course, he thought, he wouldn't have even had to come here if it weren't for his idiotic sister. He could be in the dungeon right now, rather than pacing around, trying to answer a stupid riddle. Or even if Selene hadn't been put in Ravenclaw, that would have been so much easier.

First being sorted into Ravenclaw, then starting to make friends with Mudbloods, then hanging around Blood Traitor families, then kicking Theodore Nott in the bollocks… It was just all coming to a head. And, of course, she had gone way too far this time, which didn't bear thinking about.

"Finally," Draco exhaled as someone came walking up to the knocker. "Can you let me in?"

"Oh, okay," the dreamy voiced blonde girl nodded, walking closer to the knocker, Draco's foot slowly tapping faster and faster. "What's the riddle?" she asked quietly, looking expectantly at the bronze knocker.

"The more you take, the more you leave behind," the knocker repeated again patiently, whilst Draco rolled his eyes. The blonde girl was taking her sweet time deciding on the answer to the question, which made Draco start to question whether this was actually worth his while. Maybe he could just do this tomorrow, or just get father to send a strongly worded letter to his eldest daughter. Why was he even bothering anyway, she wasn't going to listen to him, even if he spoke reason and she was being an idiot.

"Footsteps," the girl replied thoughtfully, after what felt like hours. And, finally, the door swung open, with Draco emitting a sigh of relief. Finally, he was free.

The girl began to slowly walk through the door, Draco following impatiently. How slow could one person be? This was just taking the cake. All he wanted was one thing- well, person. One conversation, to be more accurate. The amount of effort he had to put in… His father would hear about this!

"Where's Selene Malfoy?" Draco asked of the blonde girl snappishly, crossing his arms over his chest. "I've been standing out there for hours, just waiting to get in!"

"Oh, really?" the dreamy girl was not too bothered about Draco's plight. "You must be her brother. Her head is empty of nargles, but yours is very full. Are you two definitely related?"

Draco held in a growl, quickly composing himself and taking it upon himself to look around the tower. The Ravenclaw Common Room was much lighter and airier than his own, with shades of blue and bronze dotted all around, with a few silver strands here and there. The complete opposite of the dark, dingy Slytherin Dungeon. Maybe they weren't related? No Malfoy had ever been Sorted into Ravenclaw before his sister, so maybe his mother had a fling with someone behind their- his father's back. This was just - he shuddered - so un-Malfoy of a room!

He shook himself out of his thoughts quickly enough to catch the familiar glimpse of long, pale blonde hair and haughty shoulders. She always stood up very straight, perhaps a relic of his mother's attempt to turn her into a Pureblood High Society wife.

Well, Selene had well and truly fucked that now.

"Christ, Cho," Selene sighed, as Draco walked closer to the group gathered around the fireplace. "It's not even that hard."

"I know that," her friend replied hotly, pointing to a line of words on the parchment in the middle of the semi-circle. "Marietta, you said-"

"Nuh-uh," the third and final girl interjected, her curly hair bobbing as she shook her head. "I didn't say anything! Anything you heard was a figment of your imagination, I only suggested that dragaz means 'apple pie', I doubt it actually does!"

"Selene-" Draco began, but his sister held up a hand to his face to silence him. "Just use Spellman's Syllabary," she dropped the said title on the table with a thump before climbing to her feet and fixing Draco with a steely gaze.

"We're not talking in here," she said through gritted teeth. "Outside. Now."

So Draco had spent all that time trying to get in for nothing. Great, just great. Typical of his luck nowadays, first Pansy had tried to snog him at the Ball, then she told everyone that he touched her (admittedly rather nice) boobs, and now he was standing in the middle of the Ravenclaw Common Room, being stared at by everyone. Did he really stick out that much? Other than the fact that he was still in his school robes, which proudly bore the Slytherin Crest, he looked just the same as everyone else.

Unless they could smell that he hadn't managed to answer the riddle?

He didn't need to be told twice though. Selene had a look of thunder in her eyes as she led him out, their near-identical height (she still had a couple of inches on him) not making him seem any less ridiculous as he walked outside, metaphorical tail between his legs. Ravenclaws were incredibly judgemental.

"How dare you tell Father that I said yes to Nott when I didn't?" Selene spat, turning on her brother the second that the door swung shut. "You know how seriously he takes this shit, now we might as well be as good as married in his eyes!"

"You should have said yes to him," Draco rolled his eyes, taking a step closer to his sister. "You have no idea the world of trouble you're in now, Selene, if Father hears about this-"

"Look," Selene sighed, taking a deep breath, leaning back against the wall with her arms crossed across her chest. "You hate Nott as much as I do, right?"

"Well, thankfully I don't have to marry him," Draco snapped, which earned him a wry smile from his sister. "You can't just run around like this, you have no idea how much trouble Father will be in if he breaks the pact with Nott's father. I know you hate him but this isn't the way to solve things."

"I'll be of age in May," Selene pointed out. "Then, I'm as good as free. Seventeen and I'm out. I'm counting down the days, trust me."

Draco huffed. "Look," he wasn't even sure what to say to his sister anymore. He almost didn't recognise the person stood in front of him. This was getting out of hand, and he knew he had to do something, but he didn't think he was going to get through to her anymore. "I just don't want you to get hurt."

Selene scoffed, allowing herself a small but good natured smile. "I'm not going to get hurt," she said confidently. "I'm just… Enjoying myself."

"The Blood Traitor twins, really?" Draco shook his head. "Out of anyone, anyone at all, who could be worse?"

"Potter?" Draco shuddered at the name of his rival, and Selene laughed, properly this time, dropping her defensive stance. "Leave me to my life, Draco, and I'll leave you to yours. I don't want to get involved in whatever…" here she paused, looking for the right word. "...strangeness you've got going on."

"Pureblood Prince," Draco muttered, secretly rather enjoying the derogatory nickname he'd been gifted by the Gryffindors.

Selene smirked, and nodded. "This conversation is over," she said, before Draco could say anything else. "It's almost curfew. I'll have to give you a detention if I see you out of bed after hours."

"Not your patrol day, huh," Draco rolled his eyes, reluctantly dropping the subject. He knew defeat when he heard it. And if Selene was determined to fuck her life up, then so be it.

oOo

"Why am I here," Selene could count the number of times that she'd ended up in the Gryffindor Common Room on one hand, one of them unfortunately being all too recent. She'd never wanted to see the inside of the room again, but a deal was a deal, and she was indebted to Fred to holding up his end. Good kisser he may be, but he was an even better liar.

"Nosebleed Nougat," George replied proudly, as he cracked open a shabby suitcase with a double W printed on the lid in shiny red paint. "They work on us-"

"They'll hopefully work on you," Fred chimed in (Selene was beginning to learn their differences, especially as Fred was always a little closer to her, in case anyone saw them). "And using a Prefect is way more ethical than using ickle firsties!"

"Don't tell on us," George shot Selene a pointed glance, waiting until she reluctantly nodded, before handing her a couple of brightly coloured sweets.

"If these work on you," Fred sat down on the arm of the armchair Selene was sat in, patting her on the back. "Then hopefully that means they'll be okay for everyone…"

Selene examined the sweets carefully. "Nosebleed?" she questioned, dreading the answer. In response, Fred just placed a bucket in her lap, an evil grin on his face. "Oh, no. If these are being used for getting out of lessons, I can't condone that at all."

She tried to deposit the sweets back into George's hands, but Fred pushed her back into the chair, his expression smug. "Remember the deal?" he said quietly, so only she could hear. He leaned in close to her ear, ignoring George's disgusted expression. "Don't say a word, George still doesn't know a thing."

She really didn't have a choice, did she? So, she sighed, and reluctantly placed the sweet into her mouth, wincing as the bitter taste flooded her mouth.

"Change the flavour," she choked out. "That tastes… Like actual arse."

Fred laughed, watching the girl grimace and twitch, as the first couple of dribbles of blood began to escape from her nose. "Aim for the bucket!" he reminded quickly, pushing it closer to her face as the blood rolled down her chin. "That's going rather well so far, Georgie!"

George made a couple of notes on a piece of parchment, scrutinising Selene's face intently, as the blood began to flow with more regularity. "Shame Malfoy's are already so pale," he mused, ignoring the girl's glare. "It would be useful to see the difference in skin colour!"

"Fuck off," Selene attempted to say, seemingly forgetting that she currently had blood flowing down her face and into the bucket. She coughed as spluttered as a couple of drops of blood got into her mouth, spitting them out quickly, shuddering as the metallic taste hit her tongue.

"That's the spirit!" Fred grinned, leaving Selene's side to stand in front of her with his twin. "My, my, that's a lot of blood. I thought Pureblood Supremacists only had hate in their veins."

Selene didn't dare speak again, but she began to think up many colourful and creative insults to use as soon as she could. That is, if she could remember them. She was beginning to feel a little faint from the amount of blood currently leaving her face.

"Hey, now eat this one!" George pressed another sweet into Selene's hand, which she quickly took and crammed into her mouth, trying to avoid getting any more of the thickly flowing substance anywhere near her taste buds.

She waited for a second or two, before finally meeting the twin's expression. What first was interest quickly turned to horror.

"What have you done?" Selene quickly choked out, before what felt like all of the day's food came spewing out of her stomach. Was this part of the plan? Were they creating fucking torture, or joke products?

"That's the wrong one!" George exclaimed suddenly, turning around to rifle through the suitcase, Fred quickly pressing a handkerchief to Selene's nose to try and stem the bleeding as she continued to chuck up an unidentified substance.

"No shit," Fred hissed in return, pushing the bucket closer to Selene. "Whatever you do, don't go to sleep this time, Malfoy."

Selene honestly felt like throwing the blood and vomit filled bucket at the bastard's head at this point. This wasn't what she signed up for, and the second that this ridiculous plan was over she wasn't going near either twin with a bargepole.

"She's still bleeding," Fred mentioned, after a couple of seconds of George's frantic searching. "Do we seriously have no antidotes?"

"Use a spell?" George suggested, turning away from the suitcase with seemingly no cigar.

"Well…" Fred took a second to scratch his head, which gave Selene just enough time to throw the bloody cloth at his head. "Ouch! Godric, woman, I was just trying to help you…"

"Then help me!" Selene looked up from a bucket in a second where she wasn't vomiting, fire in her eyes. "Just…" she vomited again, splashing a little on the hem of Fred's trousers, "Help me."

"Only if you say please-" Fred began, but George quickly cut him off with a look. "...okay."