Selena recognized the beautiful singing lilting through the air. Maryana.
Then she heard, "Selena! Wait! Selena, I need to talk to you!" It was Ray.
"There she is!"
"Is that her?"
"It is!"
Wendy, Alisson, and Tess.
Finally, Damon turned up the staircase, noticing her.
All the people that she least wanted to see at the moment were there.
Selena waved at Damon and tried to smile. Any other time she would be happy to talk to him; however, the situation was less than ideal. Damon knit his brows together in confusion as she turned around to flee. Ray was racing Wendy, Tess and Alisson to get to her, rushing through the Viaduct Entrance. She made a break for it. Running up the stone staircase, Selena went around a corner, heart racing. She headed down a corridor, but before she could go any further-
SMACK.
She toppled to the crimson rug on the floor, dark ringlets splaying out on her face.
"Selena! I'm so sorry... Why are you running?" Selena glanced up, a bit dazed. Her friend's familiar face stared down at her. The girl's gold-and-red Quidditch robes for Gryffindor made Selena realize that Quidditch practice must have ended (and that meant that Annabeth was probably headed back to the Common Room.)
"Sasha, hey. Um, sorry. I just want to get to Professor McGongagall's office before she leaves. Extra credit questions," Selena lied. Clearly, it was convincing because Sasha nodded carefully.
"Alright, well... I guess I'll see you later," the fifth-year said happily, emerald eyes shining with excitement most likely left over from Quidditch practice.
"Yeah," Selena replied hastily, getting up. "I'll see you." Without another word, she sprinted down the corridor, portraits yelling at her to walk.
10 Minutes Later
Hazel was sitting quietly at a table, reading, dark brown hair slipping from behind her ear.
Somewhere along the second floor staircase, near the Serpentine Corridor, Selena had decided the Library would be the best choice of hiding. The Gryffindor Common Room was off-limits (for Annabeth reasons) and of course she wasn't actually going to McGonagall's office. The Library was quiet and Madam Pince would never allow a horde of students to come in. However, seeing her Hufflepuff friend was a surpise to Selena.
"Hazel!" Selena swallowed and walked swiftly over to Hazel. She sat down next to her.
The brunette girl looked up from her book - something about apparation - and smiled, crossing her ankles. "Hey, Sel."
Selena managed a wave while breathing heavily and trying to catch her breath.
Hazel's smiled slipped off as she looked at Selena. "What's wrong?"
"I was... running away from," Selena spoke between breaths, "everyone... Ray, Maryana, Wendy, Tess, Alisson, Damon-"
"Damon?" Hazel interrupted. "Damon Griffin? Why were you running from him? I thought he was you're friend. Why are you listening to Wendy and them?"
Selena waited a moment for her breath to even out and then exhaled before speaking. "He is. I wasn't running from him. I was running from everyone else. Damon, well, I just didn't want to talk to him because I didn't want Wendy and the others to catch up. He's great and a good friend, but -" Selena stopped, glancing at Hazel. "I thought you were with Rolf talking to Professor Hagrid."
"Oh," Hazel said, waving her hand dismissively. "Turns out, Karrot just needed more leafy vegetables. Rolf went off with a roommate to the Common Room. Now, what was going on?"
Selena sighed, leaning back in her wooden seat. She stared at the high ceilings of the library, the light streaming in through the windows, the golden chandeliers dripping with flaming wicks. Row upon row of books stretched around them, novels and texts flying around magically. The sound of rustling paper was hushed, voices whispering and giggling now and then. It was a welcome change to the chaos that had been in Selena's mind the past few days.
She'd already told Hazel a while ago about what her other friends had said, but she hadn't mentioned the letter. The one that they gave her on the Hogwarts Express. Blinking, Selena sighed again, breathing through her nose. She didn't take her eyes off of the ceiling.
"They gave me a letter. Wendy, Tess, and Alisson I mean. I don't believe a word of it, I haven't seen reason to. I just... I don't want to make myself. Ray Macalaster still wants to talk, Tess and them want to also, Maryana scares me, and then-" She felt the urge to tell Hazel what Annabeth had said about Sirius Black, but she quickly decided against it. That wasn't an option, she had given Annabeth her word. Instead, Selena looked back at Hazel.
Her friend's eyes didn't reveal a thing but concern.
"If I told you what the letter says, you wouldn't tell anyone... would you?"
Hazel's expression morphed into hurt. "You think I would tell?"
"No! No!" Selena added hastily, sitting up. "I just wanted to make sure that you, well, that you wouldn't think, uh... So about the letter that Wendy and Alisson and Tess gave me. What do you think I should do? It made no sense! It switched topics a lot, and was very random... It had underlined words and strange sayings..."
Hazel looked at her book, fiddling with a corner of a page, and then at Selena. "Maybe I should take a look at this letter," she suggested. "But only if it's okay with you. I won't tell anyone about it."
Selena relaxed with relief. It was more comforting than she'd thought to heard those words. "Of course. Thank you, Hazel."
"Where is the letter?"
"In my dorm."
"Bring it back here after dinner on Monday... Then we'll take a look whatever it is they're saying. We'll figure it out."
Selena stared at Hazel for a moment, feeling as though she could burst with cheer. Finally, she would have some answers! As she got up to leave, she suddenly whirled around, throwing her arms around her friend. "Thank you so much! I don't deserve you, Hazel Locarn!"
Hazel giggled, clutching Selena's arm. "Yeah, yeah, you can thank me after we decipher the letter."
As Selena left to another stack of the Library, she noticed Hazel blushing happily, refocusing back on her book.
Two Days Later
January 10th, 1994. Monday.
The minute Professor Binns dismissed History of Magic, Selena was the first one out of the room. Tess was in her class, and she didn't want to risk talking to her. Not to mention Maryana Callahan, who also had the class.
As the corridors filled with raven-robed students, Selena kept her eyes on the staircases, ignoring all the chatter around her. Walking into the Gryffindor Common Room, she swiftly climbed the steps, and hesitantly opened her Dorm and peeked inside. It was empty, the only creature awake being Shorty, who was cleaning his feathered wings. Selena saw her messenger bag and hurriedly sifted through its contents (two bottles of ink, a quill, The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1 by Miranda Goshawk, a random pawn from Wizard Chess, some homework assignments, and her beaded coin purse) until she found the folded letter. She found Annabeth's letter too, the parchment crumpled up and worn from being read so much. After stuffing Annabeth's note to the bottom of her bag and leaving her cat sleeping on the bed, she made her way back down the staircases.
Once she reached the Great Hall, the aroma of warm biscuits and vegetables and even some turkey filled her nose. The ceiling was dropping snowflakes just like the cold outdoors, though happy chatter and warm golden light filled the big room.
Trying her best to sneak around without anyone seeing, she managed to find Renee talking to Elizabeth at the middle of the Gryffindor Table. Selena rechecked her robe pocket for about the fifth time, feeling the crumple of paper like a security blanket.
"Hey, you two," Selena said as lightheartedly as she could to them.
"Hey!" Elizabeth replied, as she glanced up, aqua glasses flashing. She seemed just as chirpy.
"Have you ever noticed," Renee said dreamily, looking at a platter of desserts, "that a biscuit is the same shape as the full moon?" Elizabeth gave her a look and Renee lowered her head, jabbing a golden fork at a slice of turkey.
Elizabeth shook her head and smiled at Selena. "So. Have you made up with Liss, Wendy, and Tess yet?"
Selena looked over to where the three girls were laughing with Sasha. "No..."
"Why?" Elizabeth pouted.
Selena plopped down on the bench next to Renee, and began to scoop mashed potatoes onto her plate. She piled up some turkey and slices of bread to top it off. "Liz, I don't know why. Well, you know why. They've just been a little controlling. Don't worry. It's nothing major. We're not hexing each other, are we?"
"Not yet," Renee mumbled.
Elizabeth poked her. "Quiet, you!"
"Anyway, don't worry..." Selena filled her goblet with Pumpkin Juice and sipped some. "It doesn't matter."
"Holding grudges is something that matters," Elizabeth replied, propping her elbows on the table as she leaned in. "Selena, you've barely spoken to them in months. I'm not even sure how that's possible! This isn't healthy! Friends should talk to one another! Relationships don't work this way!"
Selena mumbled an indecipherable reply into her goblet, looking away.
Elizabeth made a face much like the one Danny had when Katie Bell mentioned that she thought he had feelings for Hermione Granger (though that turned out to be true, judging by his face turning scarlet and the sudden spout of Irish words that no one else could understand.)
Someone drifted into the Great Hall with Alexanda. Selena stiffened with a mouthful of turkey. Annabeth was walking with Alexanda, bobbing her head to some words from the conversation.
Elizabeth and Renee noticed as well. Looking back at Selena, Elizabeth leaned in conspiratorially again. "What's going on with Annabeth Black? She's been moping. Moaning Myrtle has been talking to her, you know!" When she finished her whispering, she stabbed some beans with her fork.
Selena looked up as she swallowed the turkey. "What do you mean? Who's Moaning Myrtle?"
"We mean," Renee said, "that she's been going to the out-of-order girl's lavatory on the first floor. Moaning Myrtle is a ghost that lives there in the lavatory and she - well, she's not exactly know for being the friendliest. Only a few people ever go to talk to her, and when she isn't exploding out of a toilet and scaring them, she just ends up crying."
"Really?" Selena asked. She was surprised that Annabeth would put up with this Myrtle.
Renee nodded. "Yeah. It's quite saddening actually..."
Another group walked into the Dining Hall behind some Ravenclaws. Harry, Hermione, and Ron all walked in, sitting near Annabeth and Alexanda. Right behind them came Seamus Finnegan and Dean Thomas, laughing loudly about something Selena couldn't hear.
Renee stared for a moment as well, but Elizabeth didn't pay them much attention. "You both are going to the Quidditch match this Saturday, right? It's Slytherin versus Ravenclaw. I was talking to Cho Chang - the Ravenclaw Seeker - and Grant Page - he's the Keeper. Bronwen was thinking that they'll have to play more for agility. The Slytherin team this year is much more about brute strength, we think."
Selena hadn't been keeping up with the Quidditch match schedule ever since the Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff one. She turned to Renee. "What do you think, Ree?" Renee (besides Alisson, of course) was the biggest fan of Quidditch in their year.
"Um... yeah... I guess. That Marcus Flint doesn't really care to play fair, so I'm a bit nervous for Ravenclaw," Renee admitted. She didn't look too happy, Selena noticed at that moment. She was drooping all of a sudden, bordering on gloomy. Renee was usually an exploding ball of happiness.
"Are you alright?" Selena blurted. She watched Renee, who crossed her arms. Elizabeth looked sympathetic, and Renee looked down the table.
"Did Annabeth say something?" Selena asked. Renee finally rolled her honey eyes.
"I'm fine, Selena. You can stop asking. I think I'm going to go to head on back to the Common Room. See you both later." She pushed her plate away and stood up without another word. She didn't look back as she walked past the Gryffindor table and out of the Dining Hall.
Selena and Elizabeth exchanged a look, neither of them quite sure what to think.
1 Hour Later
Selena waited until nearly everyone was talking and walking back to their Common Rooms. A few of the ghosts were still floating around, Nearly Headless Nick (the Gryffindor House Ghost) was mumbling to himself as he levitated past Selena. She hoped that Peeves wouldn't be about, snooping. The poltergeist was nothing but trouble. Trying not to keep checking for the letter in her pocket, Selena hurried through the darkening corridors. The endless passages, frosted windows and shade thrown across walls made it almost creepy to walk around. The candles flickering in their sconces made Selena's shadow long and very lean, which just made it look like a person was following her.
Thankfully, she found the Library before too long. Barely a soul was there as well, Hermione Granger reading silently at a table and Luna Lovegood reading yet another magazine upside-down. Hazel was sitting in a chair alone at the other side of some shelves, a novel propped on the arm. Selena walked over, careful not catch Madam Pince's attention.
"Selena!" Hazel whispered when she saw the girl walking up to her.
"Hey," Selena responded, giving a quick smile.
"Hi. So, do you have the letter?" Hazel asked, a bit more serious. She closed her book as Selena nodded. Silently, Hazel led her to behind a bookshelf.
"Hand me the letter," Hazel demanded in a whisper. Selena picked the letter out of her pocket and handed the blue paper over to Hazel.
Selena watched as her friend read each word carefully then stopped at the end. She went back through, her eyes jumping around. Soon, they widened and she looked up. "Selena..."
"What? Do you see how ridiculous it is?" Selena asked, smiling a bit and folding her arms. Part of her really wanted Hazel to say yes.
Hazel swallowed. "No... I see..." she lowered her voice to a whisper and pointed at the paper. "I see that Wendy, Tess and Alisson think that Damon supports He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named..."
Ooh! Was it good? What did you think? Did you like it? Did'ja Did'ja? Huh huh? This chapter was BIG in my opinion! It had lots of stuff tucked into it, and it was super long! I know that you guys are wanting their first year to come to a close, and there are only 2 more chapters for their first year! Yay!
I am already planning for their last year. It will be really fun and very dramatic. Now, did you guys see anything going on with Renee? I put a hint in there! And congrats to those of you that deciphered the letter they gave her! Now, now we see that too!
Well, I would like to recommend my new story: Roses & Stars for those of you who love reading about the daughter of Bellatrix and Rodolphus! So, yeah. You'd be doing me a HUGE favor if you read it!
Well, thanks for reading. Please review! REVIEW! Bye!
~Meghan