The Sky With No Stars

Chapter 2- The Party

"Which earrings?" Zoe asked, turning around.
Cassandra gestured to the pair on the left, " The silver ones." Zoe nodded. "And are you really wearing that?" Zoe's dress was black leather to match her signature jacket, as well as being very tight and very short.
She rolled her eyes. "Of course I'm wearing it. The more important question is what are you wearing?"
Cassandra had yet to decide on a dress. Her dress from home suddenly seemed subpar and Eva was making her try on her whole closet. Considering the party was meant to start in fifteen minutes, the girls were freaking out.
Suddenly Evangeline squealed. "I found it!" She rushed out of her walk-in-closet, hanger in hand. The dress was nice. A bit lower of a neckline than Cassandra was comfortable with, but she knew this was the best she could do in Eva's closet. The fabric was very pretty. A silvery gray velvet that brought out the smoky tones in Cassandra's eyes.
She nodded. "Okay." Evangeline squealed again.

Ten minutes later, lipstick and eyeliner in place, all five were downstairs greeting the guests arriving. The party was in the ballroom, the biggest room in the house, and Eva had loaded it with a bar, many small tables, and most importantly, a D.J. booth and dance floor. Quickly, the room was packed with far more people than Cassandra was comfortable with. They had lost Arielle quickly to her Ravenclaw boyfriend, Ryan, and Eva and Zoe were gone soon after that. That left Cassandra alone with Shannon, and they socialized and danced for a bit before Shannon became caught up in a game of exploding snap, witch Cassandra was horrible at. So she retreated to the shadows by the balcony and pulled out her sketchbook.

The moon was full, the music was pounding in her ears, and a couple was snogging in the bush behind her. Her pencil outlined the dancing bodies, capturing it in a single line. She let herself go. Cassandra couldn't dance to save her life, but this she was good at. As she detailed a butter beer bottle in the next page, a voice came from behind her. "You're good."
Startled, Cassandra jumped and clumsily spilled her bottle on the dress. The voice snorted and she spun around. It was a girl, Hogwarts age, but one she didn't recognize.
"Who the hell are you? You just ruined my dress!" The girl laughed again and smiled.
"I'm Persephone. I'm transferring to Hogwarts this year and your dress is fine." She was just starting to be surprised when Persephone held out a hand. "Dance with me."
"What?"
"Dance with me." When Cassandra hesitated the other girl rolled her eyes. "Come on, I don't bite." It might have been the alcohol, but Cassandra took the unfamiliar girl's hand and let herself be led onto the dance floor.
The music was loud. Some stupid but popular hip-hop song. "I can't dance." Cassandra warned her.
"That's okay. I can." Persephone took her had and pulled her into a waltz. Wait, what? Yes, a waltz. It didn't fit the song at all, but Persephone was right, she could dance. And as she effortlessly led Cassandra through the crowd, the world, and even the music faded away. With the other girl's hand resting lightly on her waist, Cassandra noticed something. This girl was very pretty. She had jet black hair cut short and the clearest, bluest eyes Cassandra had ever seen. No, she wasn't just pretty, she was beautiful. And Cassandra sort of kind of wanted to kiss her... wait, what? No. Definitely the alcohol. Then the song started to end and Cassandra spun and spun and spun and when the music came to a close, leaving her breathless and flushed, the beautiful girl disappeared into the crowd as they all cried "Happy New Year!"