blood must shed for time to reset

chapter 7

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   ( Their lips foretold the future, their eyes hissed the past. Death by the haunting of a present day. )

—CIRCE'S BIRTHDAY MARKED THE
second of September, albeit it needn't matter because Praesidium never celebrated, and thus she learnt to blank the day. However at Hogwarts, it proved to be different. With Regulus' days away, Mulciber, Snape and a few other selected sacreds conjured up a party — an expected gesture, apparently. The school year was mid-way through October now, causing the temperature to drop, an anticipation of halloween to build, and the tension between Circe and Regulus to reach its peak.

The pair hadn't spoken much, to Regulus' confusion. He was a fool, blinded by a veil of transparency, because it was clear his relationship with Circe was more than platonic. Yet it seemed his mind hadn't wrapped around this realisation just yet, and therefore, he looked at Circe's distance with disconcert.

   Whilst they drifted, the Einar began to pour her time into Xena, spending late evenings smoking and talking with the girl. Trivial chatter that lead to moments of drowsiness. They both were concealing secrets, but those were unimportant to the friendship, and so no digging was needed — both understanding the simple concept of privacy.

Of course Circe had accidentally stumbled into Xena's business a few days prior to Regulus' birthday; having caught a wave of rumours that circled around the Lowes. It left the assassin with knowledge she didn't care for, but because she felt Xena was owed the truth, she let it slip from her mouth, entering the atmosphere with darkness. The gossip was suppressed before it could grow, and in Circe's hands it was left safe.

It proved highly unfair, but it made sense why Xena was so desolated: a secluded figure of great importance. Biologically born a male, the girl suffered prejudice and restrictions from the first breath she drew. Albeit her family paid money for procedures and operations, and whilst in the muggle world transgender people struggled, wizards and witches had it significantly better. At fifteen, she'd accumulated most of the factors that deemed her a female — only left with the psychological damage of her mental state and the cruel opinions of others. Only.

    But it didn't matter to Circe, it didn't change anything. So the nights remained, becoming more common, and Xena finally felt herself settle in the presence of the Einar. They'd found a friend out of each other, and despite their conflicting personalities ( Circe more extroverted with a salient personality ), they got along well.

   On October the 27th, the emerald common room was empty of students, not a flicker of noise present in the area. The whole of Slytherin had been invited to Regulus' party, at the courtesy of Snape, but other than that, only a few, selected Ravenclaws were permitted access. It was a bitter, but understandable, restriction: only the most 'elite' were allowed to celebrate a sacred's birthdate. The scarce muggle-borns in Slytherin weren't blocked from the gathering, albeit they'd be idiots to go, and thus had most likely settled for a night away from their house.

   Circe wasn't planning on attending ( she'd yet to destroy her feelings for Regulus, but had successfully frozen them from augmenting ) albeit at the last minute, with both Xena and Mateo goading her, she'd threw on a dress and followed them down. Mostly to shut the couple up. Her short hair was tossed around, wearing disheveled waves, and her face was left, mostly, bare — apart from her usual, winged eyeliner which stood out in a sharp manner.

   Her apprehension wasn't only directed at the Black, for it was also governed by the past. The last time she'd attended a party, she was raped. Left to pick up the jagged pieces of her soul as she navigated through the steps of revenge. Even now, she suffered from its consequences, and so she had every right to fret about the night ahead. Albeit she wasn't going to let a dead man control her existence, so she raised her chin and entered the room with a sense of poise.