she shines and nobody knows what to do with her.

The lights were too bright. Everything was too loud. Her head hurt. Her chest hurt. Though just waking up, she felt exhausted. Pippa Bardon hovered in between consciousness and her prior, unconscious state. Her eyes fluttered, though she kept them closed. The brunette’s lids felt heavy, but she was slowly waking and trying to piece together the chain of events. She was distracted, recognizing different things as her mind kept whirring. This brought another throb of pain and Pippa slipped back into the darkness.

Awakening once more, Pippa decided to check herself methodically, starting at the bottom and working her way up. She focused the best he could, and wiggled her toes. Only one set cooperated. Perplexing, but she soldiered on. She moved the parts just enough to make sure they were in working order, but shifting her upper body hurt. Pippa took in a sharp breath, and hissed and flinched once more in reaction. Conceding, she tried to get used to being awake, and let her eyes flutter open once again. A blurry figure was coming into focus and Pippa did her best to ask it, “are my sisters okay??”

with heavy eyelids she studied the ends of her hair, the chipped edges of her nail polish, the frayed ends of the plaid button up she’d stolen from declan’s closet. aurora waited and waited....and waited. after arriving far too early to visit her sister and haggling the nurses to just let her go back, rory was exhausted. roaming the streets at night and taking cat naps during the day could only hold her over for a little while -- which is exactly why her head was finally cradled on her arms. with her hand laced with pippa’s. aurora had found the silence comforting enough to fall asleep though it was soon to be disturbed.

pippa’s voice made her bolt up, eyes barely opened. “i’m awake...i wasn’t...i promise.” she replied unsuccessfully answering her question. a whine left her as she forced herself awake, circles dark under her eyes. “pips, everything is okay, they-- are okay. i’m okay. everything is okay.” rory let her head rest against the bed once again, still holding onto her older sister’s hand. “-are you okay though?”

Lily looked up from her planning binder, her eyes falling onto the nearest person in the room. “White lilies or chrysanthemums? Lilies symbolize that the soul of the departed has received restored innocence after death whereas chrysanthemums symbolize loyalty, devoted love, lamentation, and grief.”

aurora frozen in her tracks, refusing to look at her friend. “why would you ask me that? --besides white is boring.”

dex wasn’t exactly comfortable, having traded in his usual flannel and jeans for a suit that aurelie would approve of (his joke about wearing the eeyore onesie had gotten exactly the reaction he’d expected), but it was worth it to see aurelie’s face light up the way it did when she’d walked into the ball. which is why, despite her almost immediate hesitation—-and despite the fact that truthfully, he’d rather whisk her away for a night alone than be around a large number of people who likely wanted him dead—-he persevered, shooting her a winning smile and tucking a bit of hair behind her ears. aurelie would have the perfect night, he’d make sure of it. “c’mon, aur—–who cares about the stuffy old purebloods looking down their wine glasses at us? pip is here, and annie and lily too—-and if my girlfriend wants to have fun at a ball, then i’ll damn well make sure she does. prettiest girl here ought to get her way, don’t you think?” he held out his arm for her to take, “at least give me one dance?”

aurelie watched as girls and boys passed by in beautiful gowns and handsome suits. it was straight out of a fairytale, she’d thought. perhaps she’d been a bit naive picking out a dress and mask like she’d actually be able to go through the doors and it didn’t make her feel any better watching the Travers smile and shake hands with people who could very well be murderers. aurelie didn’t like it. “declan. --let’s just leave, okay? it was way, way selfish of me to ask you to come here and i know you don’t even like suits and you had to buy one...”a frown tugged down the corners of coral-colored lips, “we can go somewhere else. they won’t miss me at all..we can wear this stuff when-- if we get married. no need to do it now.” she tugged the mask’s ribbon loose, careful not to mess up her hair and held out her hand with a smile. “we can dance whenever we want....this place means nothing. let’s go?”

                “ aurelie, man, do not do this to me. ” rj practically squirmed in the dress, make up and hairdo the younger girls ( annette, namely ) had corralled her into. “ you’re right, i mean, this is yule ball levels of lame. but it’d be lamer if you let me go in there alone. i can’t ditch, i’d be standing up rafe. ” the two were swept up by the approaching crowd heading toward the entrance, and rj tried out what she hoped was an encouraging smile. “ c’mon, bardon. do it for my brother. or, forget dex’s dorky ass, do it for…. a… pal… ?? ”

     “but--” aurelie stomped a foot in frustration, “i wish this was like...our ball or something.” she rushed to the older girl’s side, taking her hand as the crowd gave them no choice but to enter. “he doesn’t even want to come --and neither do you right? so we could just turn around and leave? still?”

sequins glittered in the atmospheric light, and a myriad of statuesque figures lingered in the faux enchanted forest. be it forms chiseled from cold, hard marble or people raised and taught to mimic it, the stage was set for something lavish. pippa was certainly dressed for the part, yet watchful eyes had been on the look out while she mingled. when a familiar, perplexed face appeared by the entrance, the older sister excused herself to greet the younger. pippa intercepted two champagne flutes as she stepped over, and one was soon placed into aurelie’s hand. “if cinderella can last until midnight, so can you.”

a sigh left her, shooting a pout down at the bubbly pink champagne. she had gotten all dressed up and she had been terribly excited for such an event but guilt twisted in her stomach. “well...i’m not giving them any money.-- and im not losing a shoe...these are expensive.” aurelie found herself looking for dex’s mask though since she came late she figured it might be impossible at that point so she stuck to her sister’s side. “are you sure its okay to be here?”

Kiran K A H N

Sterling Rosenthal

Cato Crouch

Lloyd Carrow

Nibs Vasco

Gabriel Purkiss

Ruben Travers

Greta Gaunt

Ainsley Urquhart

Li Luo Chang

Yeonu Ahn

Harvey Warrington

Cora Brightwell

Haru Rowle

Dion Perthshire

Sibella Belby

Erin Collins

Roseline Rookwood

Norbert Kruegers 

Icarus Carrow

it was bad enough alex had jumped ship, rhys was mia, and he’d been left with the task of making sure their house didn’t go to complete shit, but his girlfriend had—-for whatever reason—-brought that complete wanker miles warrington to the party and was currently cozying up to him right in front of his face. there was a part of him that KNEW aurelie wouldn’t really do anything—that she was likely messing with him; but while he trusted her, that little shit miles was enjoying it too much. finally, he snapped, and marched over there, pulling miles to his feet, “you, yeah, you’re done—-get out, all right? fuck off back to hogwarts,” giving him a firm shove, dex turned back to aurelie, “and you—-what the actual fuck are you doing, aur? it’s fucked up.” fuming, dex turned on his heel, headed back to the kitchen to check on things.

aurelie was quick to untangle from miles, dex’s reaction had been a little more dramatic that she had expected but it was at least a reaction. mouthing a earnest sorry towards the now exiled miles and holding her phone to say she’d text him later, she trailed after dex. "declan.” she started after him hands wrapping around his arm to slow him down. “we were just taking a picture! you -- i didn’t know you’d get this upset over it.” She laughed nervously before slipping in front of him, and in attempt to divert his attention gave a twirl. “don’t you think i look pretty?”