( chapter xxi. DANCE THE NIGHT AWAY )

— 🌙 —

         She smiled as she put on the dress. It looked beautiful on her, the dark red complimenting her pale skin. The sleeves hid the scars that adorned her arms from past full moons, instead showing the beautiful color. Her hair was curled, for once, a difference from her usual straightness. The heels she wore made her look taller and made her feel more powerful. The sound they emitted when they hit the floor feeling her with more confidence.

         The last thing to do was makeup. She went away from the mirror and went into the bathroom where Birdie was waiting for her, patting down on the seat she would take while her makeup would be done. The Bishop girl wore a nice blue dress that the two had gotten while shopping in Hogsmeade for their attire for the night. "Wow," Birdie breathed as Calypso sat down, "You look amazing in the dress, better than in the store."

         Calypso giggled. "Thank you, Birdie, you look so gorgeous. Blue is definitely your color," Calypso complimented her back, "And of course I look better now. My hair's been done, I have the heels, and I'm about to have my makeup done, too."

         Birdie hummed and began to work on her face. "Angelina's breath is going to be taken away."

         "You make it sound like we're dating," Calypso rolled her eyes, "We're just friends going to the dance as friends – that's all. I don't feel any sort of attraction to her and she doesn't with me. We've been over this like a million times."

         "Are you sure she's over you? Because I was there last year when she would continuously talk about you like you were the most perfect thing in the universe. Something like that doesn't just go away," Birdie asked her.

         She bit her lip. Calypso was far from perfection, look at her arms for that. She was a monster among men, a wolf in sheep's clothing – quite literally. Calypso was in no way perfect and should never be thought of like that, it was completely against who she really was. And if Angelina knew...if anyone else knew of who she truly was, they would be disgusted. No one would ever fancy her again, how could they? She was a werewolf – a beast when the full moon called in the sky for her, completely unaware of what happened as she was locked away in her own mind, trapped there for a night only to awake with blood covering her body as she remembered nothing about the events that transpired the night before.

         No one could ever love a monster, not like Calypso. Even her parents didn't love it each other, it was just a classic case of high school sweethearts who got pregnant too young so they got married as society expected. It could never work, her mother must've known that when her father started to pull away before handing her divorce papers. No one could ever love a monster.

         And that meant that no one could ever love her. It was a terrible though, alienating yourself from love, declaring that you're unlovable and no one should ever consider even loving you, but it was a logical conclusion for her. It was the only conclusion she could come to with who she was, what she was cursed it. She had always tried to swallow down the thought like a pill, forget about it for a while but it always came back to haunt her. It was always there, surrounding her and whispering in her ear that, yes, it was true. No one would ever love her. And no one should. She was a terrible thing to love, someone who couldn't even control themselves when the night of the full moon came along. Someone who could hurt everyone they have ever loved without mercy or a second thought because they weren't even control of their own body.

         The beast would never care about who she killed. The beast only wanted blood – even if it came from itself. And Calypso would be left to deal with all the guilt that would come after the killing, when she awoke next to a dead body – a fresh kill from her hands. From the beast that infested her body.

         "I'm not perfect," Calypso spoke, avoiding eye contact with Birdie, "I'm far from perfect."

         "Aren't we all?" Birdie asked, continuing to apply the products to Calypso's face.

         "No, I mean – I mean, with what I am...I'm not perfect because of it, I shouldn't be compared to something like that. She should've never thought of me that way," Calypso continued.

         Birdie sighed, taking down her hand and staring right into Calypso's eyes. "You aren't far from perfection because you're a werewolf, you aren't perfect because you're human. We all are and because of that, we have flaws and make mistakes and that makes us imperfect. Not because you turn into a werewolf on a full moon or any of that shit," she said completely seriously.

         "You don't understand, Birdie. You've never woken up in a pool of your own blood, but I have. You don't have reminders on your body of what you are, but I do. I become this merciless creature who will murder any person who stands in their way," Calypso tried to reason, to make Birdie understand.

         "Yeah, okay, but you also let me cheat off you every damn time because you don't want me to get in trouble. You fucking stand beside Harry Potter even though everyone hates him this year for the tournament and you have always stuck by what you believe. Hell, you have literally helped first years find their classes on multiple occasions. So whatever point you're trying to make with the whole werewolf thing is never gonna work here, Cal," Birdie listed, "Okay?"

         She didn't believe her. Calypso didn't think she ever would, but continuing to argue was pointless and would leave them in the bathroom for hours, causing them to miss the Yule Ball – which she didn't want to do. "Fine," she relented. Birdie gave her a look. "I'm not a monster, or whatever."

         "We'll continue to work on that," Birdie commented before returning to doll up Calypso's face.

         The Black girl just huffed in response.

― 🌙 ―

         THE TWO GIRLS walked through the corridor together, already knowing that they were a little late. "This is all your fault," Calypso commented as they rushed to get to the dance.

         "What? How is this my fault?" Birdie exclaimed, "And damn is it hard to run in heels. We are never doing this again, got it? My feet cannot handle it."

         Calypso rolled her eyes, "You were the one who wanted to spend an hour trying to curl my hair even though I've already told you that it barely likes to curl."

         "Well I did it, didn't I? And your hair looks amazing," Birdie added the compliment at the end.

         "You were also the one who wanted to go above and beyond on our makeup and then add a little sparkle so that we'll stand out and everything," Calypso added, "Oh, and don't forget how you bought three pairs of shoes for tonight and had to try on every single pair to decide which looked best even though you can't fucking see them under your dress!"

         "Sorry for wanting to be stylish and wanting that extra sparkle," Birdie said sarcastically, "I never get to dress up here or look nice, so I just wanted to stand out a bit. Grab the attention of a guy that I can take back to my dorm for the night."

         Calypso wrinkled up her nose. "Gross," she complained as they continued to walk, slowing down as they passed more people who were also late to the dance.

         "Okay, we're not running anymore? Great, I like this plan, it's really nice and now I won't roll my ankles," Birdie gasped, out of breath, "Man, I am really out of shape. And hey – just because you aren't sexually attracted anyone doesn't mean I'm not. Boys are nice and it would be shame for me to deprive myself of enjoying how nice they are."

         "You are literally the worst," Calypso told her, "And I think you already have a guy, no need to worry about attracting another."

         "Oh, really? I have a guy? Because last time I checked, I've been horribly single my whole life with no boyfriend which means that I don't have a guy," Birdie said.

         Calypso smirked. "You have a guy, don't worry," she said cryptically.

         Birdie scoffed, "If I had a guy, I think I'd know. And nice I don't...well."

         She shook her head at her friend, smirk still present on her face as they continued to walk. When they were almost at the dance hall, Calypso saw Sloane just walking out. "Hey, Sloane," Calypso greeted her with a smile

         "Hey, Calypso," Sloane said back, smiling at her and then at Birdie, "I'd love to stay and talk but Leilani just ran to the bathroom and I need to help her – needs to freshen up her makeup."

         "Cool, maybe I'll see you a little later at the ball," Calypso said back.

         "Yeah, maybe," Sloane agreed before waving goodbye, going off in the direction of the bathroom.

         Calypso turned her head back to look more at Birdie as they walked into the dance, her morphing into one of confusion at the look on Birdie's own face. "What?" she eventually asked her friend.

         "Since when are you buddy-buddy with Sloane Clarke?" Birdie asked her, "Last time I checked, she's a total loner – that Leilani girl is like her only friend."

         "I'm not really buddy-buddy with her, but we bonded a bit on the train ride to Hogwarts – when you had that Prefect meeting or whatever. And now we're just more friendly with each other but I wouldn't call us friends or anything," Calypso explained, "Why?"

         Birdie shrugged, "I don't know, it's just weird I guess. I mean, we've been talking about her for ages since she's the only person in our year with better grades than you and now you're actually talking to her..."

         "Just because she focuses more on school and actually does better than me doesn't mean I have to be jealous of her, she's pretty nice most of the time," Calypso said, "Except for the fact that she doesn't support Harry as a Hogwarts champion, but whatever..."

         "You're still hung up on that?" Birdie gave her a look.

         Calypso rolled her eyes, "Of course I am. I mean, I don't like that he has to compete seeing as he's underage but I'm gonna support the hell out of him. He needs it."

         "Alright," Birdie sighed, looking around, "You think Lee brought a date?"

         Calypso smirked, knowing that Birdie didn't intentionally know what she was doing. "Why? Is it really important if he did or not?" she teased her friend.

         "What? No. I'm just wondering what unlucky girl he tricked into going to this stupid dance with him," Birdie played it off. Calypso almost wanted to laugh at her, friend but refrained.

         For the first time, Calypso really looking around the ball for any sight to Angelina – the person she was actually (kind of) going with. But, to her disappointment, she couldn't find the Johnson girl. Still, the continued to walk around and take in the sights, neither of them wanting to dance just yet.

         "Awe, look at Maddox and Cedric together, they look so cute," Birdie gushed, pointing to the pair who were dancing together. Calypso agreed. "Wonder who Harry took with him..."

         "Not sure, maybe his friend – Hermione," Calypso offered but Birdie shook her head.

         "No, Hermione's with Viktor Krum, see? Man, how did she bag a guy like him? I'd kill to be in her place," Birdie sighed wistfully, "He's so strong and I bet he could carry me without breaking a sweat...I totally need to steal him from Hermione by the end of the night."

         "Or, you could not do that and let them be and seduce Krum another time, like a normal person," Calypso offered another solution, "That way they can enjoy their night."

         Birdie sent her a glare. "Fine," she begrudgingly agreed, "But she is totally not keeping him forever...I will get him."

         Calypso shook her head at the girl, wondering why exactly she decided to commit herself to Birdie. But whatever, she could think about that more later when they weren't at the Yule Ball. "Have you seen Angelina?" Calypso asked her.

         Birdie shook her head, "No, I would've pointed her out. Wasn't she supposed meet us here?"

         "Yep, but I just can't find her. The room is pretty big, though..." Calypso tried to defend the Johnson girl in some way, although she had no real reason to.

         "Calypso!" they heard a voice. Turning around, the saw Cho Chang going towards them.

         "You're talking to Cho again, too? Man, I have seriously missed a lot," Birdie whispered to Calypso.

         "Not really, she doesn't wanna be friends with me right now, which is totally get. You know, you can be friends with her even if I'm not," Calypso said back, "She told me that you stopped hanging out with them last year, which isn't what I wanted."

         "It's whatever," Birdie waved it off.

         "No, I'm serious, you can have your own friends and I never meant to control who you hang out with or anything. They're your friends, too, so make up with Cho and everything...I don't mind," Calypso insisted and Birdie sent her a smile.

         That was when Cho got to them. "Calypso, I am so sorry but I had to tell you this because I know that you were planning on being dates or whatever with Angelina," the girl started, "But she's...well."

         "What's going on, Cho? What are you talking about?" Calypso asked her with a face of confusion on her face.

         Cho sighed, "Angelina's with Fred. As in, she's Fred's date. I'm sorry but it was totally unfair for you to be waiting for her the whole night."

         And that was when she felt her heart crumble again. "What?" she uttered out.

         Cho nodded. "It's true," she said, "Angelina told me but I couldn't find you yesterday to tell you and then, well, I've been dancing with Harry for a while and didn't even think about it until I saw you over here with Birdie."

         "No, um, thanks for telling me," Calypso told her, "But I can't believe her."

         Birdie rolled her eyes at the thought of Angelina, "That bitch...sorry, Cho."

         "No, don't be sorry, I totally agree. Call her whatever you want, she kinda deserves it for this," Cho shook her head.

         Calypso swallowed. "Excuse me, I need to leave," she muttered, walking away from them, near the exit when she caught sight of Angelina smiling at Fred. God, that bitch. Birdie was right. She didn't even look guilty for what she was doing.

         Perhaps she stared too long because Angelina's eyes caught Calypso's and that was when she turned away, leaving the Yule Ball. She heard her name called by Angelina and heels tapping the floor rapidly but she didn't stop moving until an arm caught her and forced her to turn.

         "Hey, Calypso, is everything okay?" Angelina asked her with mock worry.

         "Fine," Calypso spat out, "It's just that I found that my date – you know, you – is actually with someone else for the night and totally fucking backtracked on our plans."

         "Calypso, it's not like that. Fred didn't have a date and he asked me and how could I say no?" Angelina asked.

         "Like this; no. It's only two words, not that hard to get out of your mouth," Calypso gritted out.

         Angelina sighed, "I'm sorry, but he was so desperate and I didn't think you'd care that much. I mean, we can still dance together and everything and it's not like Fred and I are each other's dates because we fancy each other, it's just two friends going together."

         "Like we were supposed to? Because that's what I thought, Angelina. We were supposed to go together so that he didn't have to worry about dates, it was supposed to be a celebration for us being friends again but I guess that doesn't really matter to you, does it? It really doesn't seem that way to me because the moment someone asked you to go with them you totally fucked me over," Calypso continued to rant.

         "Calypso..." Angelina looked at her sadly.

         "Save it. I don't want to hear any more of your bullshit excuses. If you didn't wanna go with me you should've never offered in the first, I would've been fine going alone but no, you were the one who wanted to go with me and I'm the one who foolishly agreed to it," Calypso went on, "Fuck you, Angelina. Fuck you."

         She then turned around, continuing to storm away, any want to go back to the Yule Ball gone from her mind. She didn't know when she stopped, all she knew was that there was a staircase and she didn't have the will to go back to her dorm quite yet. Calypso sat down on the stairs, staring at the walls for a while before the tears started to roll down.

         She was pitiful; crying over a girl that was barely even her friend. She was crying over someone who had hurt her so much because Calypso let her have the power to do so, to tear her apart and feel terrible about herself. The few tears turned to full on sobs with streams of tears falling from her eyes. Calypso was utterly pitiful there, weeping openly on a staircase where anyone could pass her at any moment, no privacy whatsoever.

         "Calypso?" she heard a soft voice. Looking up through blurry eyes she saw Maia. "Are you okay?"

         "No," she chocked, "I'm – I'm really not good."

         Immediately, Maia sat down and held Calypso in her arms as she cried, occasionally stroking her hair as to calm the girl. "It's okay, Callie, it'll be okay," Maia whispered to her.

         Calypso shook her head, "No it won't! I'm so foolish, Maia, I've let her hurt me over and over again. When will I learn? It was supposed to be...be such a good night and now it's ruined."

         "Hey, it's not ruined. We can go to the Room of Requirement and watch a Disney movie? That always cheers me up," Maia offered in a soft voice. So kind, so relaxing.

         She nodded and Maia helped pick her up. At least she had someone to do that. Maia had her arms around Calypso as they walked up the stairs, going to the sixth floor with the Room of Requirement, requesting for the right room. A door appeared and Maia pushed the forward, opening the door before getting Calypso to the couch.

         Maia then went to the TV against the wall and looked at the different movies offered. "Aladdin or Sleeping Beauty?" her cousin asked.

         "Sleeping Beauty," Calypso said, clouded in her sobs as the tears still streamed. Maia put the movie in and they let the trailers before the movie start, the Greene girl coming back to sit on the couch with Calypso.

         They sat close to each other, watching the Disney movie that brought back memories from their childhood with Aunt Nadia – or Maia's mum – forcing them to sit through all the movies for 'education purposes'. Calypso didn't regret any of those times, though. She never would.

         And as they watched the movie, her tears stopped and she calmed down although she was still so sad and angry at the Johnson girl at the same time. But she was okay. Okay enough. With Maia by her side for a moment, like they weren't complete strangers as they often played while at Hogwarts, she was okay. At least, she would be.

for the next update, I need 4 comments thank you. <3

(and, as a reference, I'll begin working on the next chapter on tuesday)