Chapter Sixteen

A/N: Thank you to Beth5572 for reviewing the last chapter.

Before long, Hallowe'en had rolled around, and this year, Professor McGonagall had decided that they would have a celebration similar to the ones held annually by Muggles, in an effort to build further bridges between the magic and non-magic worlds. The main difference would be that they would each dress up as typically fearsome fictional characters, such as ghouls, vampires, mummies and werewolves, although the professors had warned them to be mindful of causing any offence to the resident ghosts of the castle, particularly Peeves, who would most certainly be taking advantage of the 'Trick' element of the evening over the 'Treat'.

Selena had enjoyed the concept of the evening immensely and she and Fred had spent a few evenings planning what they would attend the party as. They would be going together, as friends of course, and wanted to make sure they had the best costumes of all. House points would be awarded for effort, but that was not quite their reasoning.

The two had bonded significantly over the losses they had both suffered during the Battle of Hogwarts. Although it had taken place before they had even been old enough to talk, it did not make the losses any lighter for them to bear and it had been nice for them to have someone to talk to about their feelings, for it was too painful for either family to discuss the subject amongst themselves, particularly for Fred's father, George, who had lost his twin brother to the fight. Selena understood his agony completely; if she ever lost Teddy, she had no idea what she would do.

Still, although they had bonded over pain, the two had become great friends and enjoyed each other's company immensely. They both knew how to make the other laugh, to cheer them up when they were feeling down; it was the kind of friendship Selena had dreamed of all her life. She had never had anyone to talk to but her brother and the family that had taken her in when she was a new-orphaned baby after the War. It wasn't the same as having a true friend of her own.

Selena shook her head clear of her thoughts and turned towards the mirror, smoothing the fabric of her costume down with her hands and smiling at the finished result. The girl had chosen to attend the party dressed as a werewolf and had used the Metamorphosis skills she had inherited from her mother to create the full effect. Her hands, arms, legs and face were covered with soft brown fur, with small patches of white that made her look almost like a cat. Her nails were pointed, like claws, her teeth were sharp, like fangs, and her eyes were darker than she remembered, but still held the softness of their normal state. "Wow." she breathed out loud. "I really look like a werewolf."

She had chosen a deep red dress to off-set the brown of her new fur, a floaty length of fabric that would spin in a wide circle around her when she danced. She had a ribbon of the same colour tied in her hair and two more wrapped around her wrist and neck. Overall, she was pleased with her appearance, for all the effort it had taken.

"Are you ready?" Fred asked her as she descended the staircase, smirking as he tried to neaten the trail of fake blood dripping down from his lips onto his dark leather cloak, but his smile faded as he saw her, his mouth drooping open and his eyes filled with an emotion Selena could not quite place. "Wow, Lena. You look amazing!"

Instantly, her confident expression faded away, replaced with her usual shy smile, directed towards the yellow rugs covering the floor. Fred did not seem to mind her sudden timidity and continued to speak, babbling with all the speed of an enchanted hag she had once seen in his family joke shop.

"My granny sent me this old thing, said it would look really scary, but it doesn't look scary at all." Fred complained, swashing his cape about in mid-air. He had a very good point, as the cape was really far too short to share anyone; it just looked like something found in a child's dressing-up box, which, knowing the Weasley family as she did, it most likely was. "And then I painted my face white and put on some fake blood and fangs, but it doesn't look anywhere near as good as yours. Yours looks real! I wish I knew how you did it."

Selena's smile became sly and knowing. "Family secret." she replied cryptically, running her hands over the fur on her arms. Fred was right; it really did seem to be part of her.

Experimentally, she gave the downy tuft a little tug and yelped with pain. 'That's strange.' she thought. 'When I shifted into a cat to play with Teddy before, it never hurt to pull my fur. It isn't really there, so how can it hurt?'

"Come on." Fred beckoned. "Or we'll be late to the party."

Trying to push the pain to the back of her mind, Selena took Fred's arm, which he had been jokingly holding out to her for the past minute, and the two made their way down to the ballroom.

It was an entertaining celebration, as the ones at Hogwarts always were, but throughout it all, the girl could not stop herself from thinking of the pain she had felt when she pulled on her fur, and how impossible that pain should have been.

Desperate for answers, Selena had whipped her head left and right in search of her brother, to see if he felt the same pain as she did, but when she found him, she saw he had defied their plan by coming dressed as a skeleton instead. Still, when he tapped at the exposed bones of his arm, he said he did not feel a thing.

For hours after she had gone to bed, Selena pondered a single question. 'How could that fur be a part of me?'

A/N: Please review!