At first, Christopher thought he had simply heard Selina incorrectly. But as his confused expression didn't change the look on her face, he concluded that he had in fact heard her. "I'm sorry, what? Did you just say she charmed her hair?" Violet Le Veela. Brunette. Was this a joke? She was always so caught up in her appearance and looking good for everyone, that he had a hard time believe she'd have done it. Not that she wouldn't look just as lovely with brown hair, for she would, but he was sure she didn't see it that way. "....Was this... because of... me?" Surely she wouldn't do all of that because him. He hadn't even seen her since she told him to rot with his father and threw that locket at his feet.

He'd thrown it into a bush somewhere afterward.

"We can try! We'll settle on being kids that know when to apologize. Merlin knows we both need it." He didn't want to grow up any time soon, he just wanted to live in the moment. And of course survive being a teenager. So this plan fortunately sounded fitting.

"Yes," Selina said bluntly, "charmed her hair. As in it is brown now." She honestly did not know why, but she wouldn't be surprised if Christopher's assumption was right. If Selina was correct, which she usually was, Violet had charmed her hair for some odd point to Christopher. What? She was not sure. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that Chris had poked fun at the importance of Violet's looks to the little Veela. Either way, the hair was charmed brown it was easy to reverse with magic, but Selina knew only one thing would revert the hair back to blonde.

So she said slowly, "I don't know if it was because of you. But if I was a betting person... I would gander yes."

She rolled her eyes at his enthusiasm. Oh Christopher.

Alyssa was in the Library Reading lounge catching up some reading when she realized that she had not checked on Queenie, since she last visited the Owlery which was a week ago. She had been very busy attending classes, completing homework assignments and preparing for her finals that she hadn’t had the time.

She reached into her bag, took out the woolen sock and took out her metallic egg. It felt warm to the touch but the temperature felt just right. She examined it for any cracks or rust but couldn’t see any. Alyssa heaved a sigh of relief. She was glad that nothing had happened to it because of her neglect. It did however lack a little shine on its surface, so Alyssa decided to polish it up a bit.

Making sure that Madam Donovan was nowhere nearby, Alyssa took out her wand. Pointing it at the egg, she moved and traced it all over the egg, and whispered, “Ex-CO-lo”. Again a yellow light engulfed the egg and immediately disappeared. Alyssa picked up Queenie to examine it. Its shell reflected her image and its color and the designs on it were clearer and brighter. 'Looks all good now,' Alyssa thought to herself. She quickly placed the egg back into the woolen sock, tucked it safely in her bag and went back to studying.

Maybe he was wrong about her. Maybe she wasn't all that shallow. Even though that was kind of a low blow to brunettes. His own hair was, after all, a dark brown. Though it was very nearly black, so it probably wasn't directed towards him in that way. She was probably using her blonde hair as a symbol for perfection and charmed it brown to show she wasn't just a perfect face. It was a cruel thing, what he had said to her, and he really regretted all of the terrible things he'd said. But it was too late now. He could never take it back.

"Well what does she expect from me? What does it do besides prove a point? By all means, I'm impressed and rather shocked that she'd do that. But I just don't know what more she wants from me! She's already broken my heart once...." he mumbled, wondering what her real motivation behind this was. Probably just probably getting him to think she had changed or something so he'd come back to her, and then she'd just laugh at him and show up with Skylar. And not the ginger they both had befriended. He felt kind of mean for assuming such things, but he learned that he didn't really know her anymore. He'd thought he had. But now he knew otherwise.

Selina hugged her knees and replied, "Christopher I don't know. What do you want me to tell you? This isn't my job to fix this... you're fifteen years old now. I'm not going to hold your hand with this or hers... like you said, we're growing up." It was up to Christopher and Violet to handle their own affairs now. Did she want to help? Of course. She was their best friend, but it was not her place anymore to get involved. It was time that they handled their own business. After all, Selina could barely manage hers.

"I know, I know..." Christopher said, shaking his head. It wasn't necessarily advice he was seeking out. He just wanted answers. "I just wish I could know what was going on inside her head! I need to find out what to do. On my own this time." Selina was right. He'd be fifteen years old in just a month! He was too old for these petty games. His sister had always helped him before, but she couldn't always mend the relationship. She had her own things to work out and he needed to learn how to solve his own problems.

He knew what Selina would've done, however. She would've made the two sit down, talk it over, apologize, and make up just like that. But that wasn't real life. Things weren't that easy. Sure, he'd love that. It was so simple. But things could just go back to the way they were. They'd damaged it beyond repair. He couldn't apologize to her. He couldn't even face her! And to be honest, he liked being single! It made him feel independent and better about himself. He didn't need to date someone to be happy. The problem was, he did miss Violet at the same time. Her friendship if nothing else. But how did two people just fix that? They'd said they hated each other, and a large number of other unforgivable things. It was madness.

After a long silence, and Christopher staring at the ceiling, he focused back on Selina. "Now that we've established I have a major issue that must be solved, how's your life going right now? I know you hate opening up, but my ears are open if you just need to vent," he shrugged, smiling a little.

It was killing her. She wanted Christopher and Violet to work things out. After all Violet and her brother had never looked so genuinely miserable, but if she held their hand with every little thing eventually things would rupture. She always knew this day would come, the day when she would need to take a back seat and say to her friends your life is what you decide to make it. It was hard though to just let go, but it needed to happen. She had too much else to worry about then the stress of another couple's relationship.

Selina then left him with one piece of advice, "This is all I am going to say. If you want a good, sound piece of advice here it is: the only way you are going to know what is going on inside her head is if you talk to her."

Then she washed her hands of the issue. Sure, she would let him vent when he needed and give him support and vice versa for her best friend, but she would not be their mother anymore. They were nearly upper classmen now. Merlin, Chris was.

He was brilliant at diverting the subject. How did he always manage to do that? Flip the conversation on its head and back around to Selina, "No, nothing much. We currently aren't talking if that is was you mean..." And whose fault was that again? Oh yeah... Selina's.

How did she always do that!? How on Earth did Selina Skylar always manage to tell him the exact OPPOSITE of what he wanted to hear!? She was good, that one. It was a no brainer, that he'd have to actually talk to Violet to make up with her, but he wasn't ready to yet. And she wasn't either. They were miserable with out one another but they couldn't even try to work it out like big kids. I mean, come on! He was an upper classman now! And she and Sel would be as in no time! It was ridiculous, but he was afraid. Afraid she'd hurt him more.

He nodded solemnly, feeling all gloomy. He didn't want to talk to her, but he'd at least let Selina know that he might try. Maybe. But probably not.

"Oh." Guess he wasn't the only one with relationship issues. Trying to console his sister without making her uncomfortable, he asked timidly, "Are you..... alright...? What happened? I mean.... only if you're okay with opening up....." It seemed like every time he tried to be there for the little red head, she'd close up her walls and go on about respecting her privacy and how she didn't want to talk about it. That made it quite difficult for him to feel like he was being a good brother, and probably made her feel more alone. But he wasn't going to force her to talk about it if she didn't want to. Unless she really needed to. But for now, it seemed a safe enough subject.

"I'm not a fragile little doll, Chris," Selina sighed. She hated when people did that to her. She knew that she was perhaps not the easiest person in the world to deal with emotionally, but she rarely broke down. Selina was not the crying type. If anything she would resort to getting angry than crying. She was not going to break over this. People had to stop walking on egg shells around her.

But she knew that he was being careful with her emotions because he was a good big brother and was worried about her. It was only natural that he should be and would be. So she answered his question honestly, "I'm avoiding him... I like everything about him, even the not so good stuff and that scares me. I usually don't ever like anyone like this. In fact, I've only ever liked Simon before this and he was a more crush than anything. But I like him and it scares me..." She pulled her legs into meet her chest. It was true. It was all so confusing. How Chris and Violet handled it flawlessly... oh wait... darnit!

Shaking his head quickly, he said, "Oh, no! I wasn't trying to say you were fragile, more that you just often are a bit.... reluctant to talk about that sort of thing. I'm just trying to support you and respect your boundaries at once." He certainly knew she wasn't fragile. Well, everyone could be sometimes, but he didn't think she was a doll. She was tough and fiery, but she had emotions too. And he was just trying to help her without her getting upset with him. She either thought he was suffocating, or insensitive, or thought he was calling her weak, when all he did was ask her how she was! Girls were just so hard to understand!

He nodded sincerely, listening carefully to every word she had to say. Looking at her right there at that moment, Christopher noticed something. Selina really was growing up. All of the confusion and fear and love and irritation on her face about the whole situation definitely let him know how serious she was about this boy -about Gideon- and he just saw how grown up she was becoming. It made him want to reach out and laugh and hug her and just forget about all of their problems. But he didn't. It wasn't the time for that, as much as he wished it was, and they had to stop putting off all of their problems and do something about them.

"I'd be a hypocrite if I told you to just march right up to him and confront the problem like it was nothing, because I'm stupidly enough doing the exact opposite of that. But relationships are scary. They're confusing. Most of the time, you got that swooping sensation in your gut and you don't know if it's just love or fear. So what I suggest for you and Gideon, and I should probably do myself.... is just sit down and talk about what's best for you both. If you don't want to end up like Violet and me, don't let fear get in your way. If you really like Gideon, tell him how you feel! If you want to be more than friends, don't hesitate to tell him, and talk it out. Don't ignore the problem." With a shy smile, he continued. "I know he really likes you, Sel. No matter what confusing feels he might think, I know he still really likes you under it all."

It sickened him how that advice would be perfect for himself as well as Selina, yet he was too much of a coward to take it. Maybe he shouldn't have been in Gryffindor after all.

"Good," Selina said burrowing her body even deeper into the chair that she was snuggled up in, "because I'm not weak. So you should try to remember that I can handle whatever it is that is going on in my life." Even if Gideon scared her out of her wits. It was not that she did not like Gideon, quite the contrary. It was because she liked Gideon that she was so scared. She knew that eventually she was actually going to like a boy and not just have a school girl crush, but he was unexpected. He was nothing like she planned. Yet, still her heart had been affected and she did not know how to handle that.

He saw more in her than anyone ever had before. She wasn't just Selina Skylar the fiery, fun and compassionate friend. He saw the fire within her and how she worked. He knew just how to talk to her when she was being a brat, which was often, and she knew how to calm her down. No one had ever wielded that kind of power before. Selina made her own destiny, but if she had learned anything from Christopher and Violet it was that when you date someone everything is not about you. It is a partnership and Selina did not know if she could handle that. She had been on her own so long now.

Then Christopher adopted a tone she had never heard him say before. It was compassionate, well thought out, understanding. Where had her idiot of a big brother gone? He had, in the blink of an eye, been replaced with this capable and brilliant young man. That made her sad. Everything was so swiftly ending. She was moving to a new chapter of her life.

Her eyes fluttered a bit and she looked down at her knees. A small smile graced her lips, "Well look at you Christopher Brian James, you are all grown up now. Acting like a big boy and all."

She sighed, "You're right, but I can't talk to him. Everything is changing and I don't know how to handle the change. What if I mess it up?"

No, no, no! It couldn't have happened! Exept it did. Lilly thought. She remembered the great times she'd had with her mum. Violet would not take it well. She couldn't help it. Tears flowed down Lilly's face as she dropped her book.

Raven just walked to the reading lounge. Wanna spend a much time reading. Suddenly, she saw a book dropped and she took it.

Whose book is it? she thought. Then she saw a girl was crying there. Raven walked to her and gave the book.

"Sorry, Is it yours?" asked Raven.

"Oh- sorry," Lilly said, taking the book. "Thanks." She pulled some tissues from her bag.

Zhenya flopped into a chair. She had a very large History of Magic textbook which, for once, she was wanting to read! She also had her trusty journal! She pulled it out and wrote;

She put her journal away and pulled the book onto her lap and started reading.

Being bored Angelina grabbed her book: Hogwarts, A History, from the girls dorm in her trunk she headed down to the library to spend some alone time to read. Walking into the library she found an empty table and sat down. She open the book to the first page and began to read the making over Hogwarts.

Ronnie had brought with her her Quidditch Through the Ages book to go and read in the library. She found a table to sit at and sat down. She'd read this over a million times. . .but it was still fun to read on her spare time.

Alex wandered into the libary just looking for something to do. No one seemed to be around the castle to talk to but then she spotter Ronnie sitting reading. She rushed on over aand sat beside her and in a whisper said. "Hullooooooo" tehe.

Christopher smiled back slightly and rolled his eyes. "I'm not that grown up, Selina Arden Skylar. But you're acting like a big girl now too. I guess we'll just have to get used to it." He did want to grow up, very much. But just not too fast. He wanted to live in the moment, as his father had always done, but unfortunatley, under the current circumstances, he found it a bit hard to focus on the now. He was more focused on when he was older and didn't have to deal with such problems.

"Well, Sely, that I can't tell you. Because right now, we are in the same exact predicament. Except rather than beginning a relationship like you are, I'm just trying to fix one. But I'm being too much of a coward to take my own advice. I can't even face her. I haven't even looked at her in five months. I'm afraid of messing up too."

It was so ironic that he was handing out Selina the same advice he needed himself. Yet he couldn't take it. He was too afraid. He wasn't ready. He was being a coward, but he was also stuck. And so was Selina. It was a total sibling moment.

Selina rested her head on her knees and positioned her head so her ear was lying flat on her knees. Her head was facing toward Christopher as she listened to him give her advice; however, halfway through his advice he started to go off about Violet. She was right. She knew that he missed and still wanted to be with her, but she was going to stay out of this as much as she could. As much as her self control could muster. She hoped that her self control was better than it had been in previous years. That did not say much.

So she bit her tongue on meddling and settled to give him some sound advice, "Listen... I am not one to be talking right now, but you need to talk to her. I know it is foolish to believe that you too deserve to be together forever, relationships are hard. I think, personally, that if you two can get past this you might have a shot, but I can't see the future. Well I can... but that's besides the point of what I am trying to say. What I am trying to say is that she is important to your life. She's been there for so long and knows so much about you, do you really wanna lose her? Even if she just becomes a friend... do you want to just walk away?"

Selina took a breath in and continued, "I know I have to talk to Gideon. There is a lot of things that are going on there, but you two need to talk more than we do. You love her Christopher. That kind of emotion doesn't go away. It may transform, but it doesn't go away. Love her as a friend, girlfriend... whatever you like, but you should talk to her. Do it before it is too late."

There was a beat and then Selina said, "She's dancing Christopher... more than ever. You know she only does that when she can't express her feelings in words. Its really bad."

Shaking his head at himself, though he was more shaking his head at the floor, he sighed, squeezing his eyes shut. He didn't know how to explain his feelings, but he had to get them out SOMEHOW. Actually, he didn't know HOW he felt. He was definitely upset about the break up, and he still definitely had feelings for Violet, but he didn't know what kind of feelings they really were.

"I just..... I don't know how I feel right now. I don't know what to do and I'm really scared I'll mess things up forever." He fiddled with the laces of his shoes and tried not to sound like a little kid. "I don't want to lose her, but I just... I can't put myself through that again. I can't put her through that again. I don't want to bring her down anymore. I don't know if we'd be able to ever be together again." God, they were so young. He'd be fifteen in a month, and Violet was still thirteen for half a year. They were too young to hurt this badly.

Blinking confusedly, Christopher cocked his head to the side a little. "But... she always dances. Well, she danced all the time when we were together, anyway. I don't really know anymore." Maybe he was just being an ignorant boy and was oblivious to what dance truly stood for to Violet, but he thought she was just very passionate about the sport and did it to relieve stress or to express herself and all. But it apparently meant more than that.

Selina sighed, "Who says you have to be together?" Although Selina did want them to get back together, but she was NOT going to meddle. Nope... she hoped, "I'm simply saying you don't want to lose her in your life. You should at least try to work it so you can be friends. When someone is so involved in your life for so long to cut them out for good is terrible. You are who you are because of experiences you had with her. Don't lose your friendship. Keep her close. Not per say as a girlfriend, but as someone to be there for you."

She rolled her eyes at his ignorance, "She dances, Christopher, when she can't express herself. She is really hurt, so she is physicalizing her pain into dance. She NEVER dances this much. All she does is dance now.... its bad."

Ronnie jumped. "Oh, it's you!" she said laughing. "So, I hear your joining the family at Rupert's?" she said, smiling.

Christopher let out a deep breath, seeing her point, but still disagreeing. "I don't want to lose her at all, but I'm afraid being friends would hurt too much. I just can't face her Sel.... I can't. Not yet. I'm just hoping to not make it six months since I've even looked at her, let alone spoken to her. What if she ignores me, or blows me off, or says something hurtful?"

Considering this, Christopher tried to proccess the reasons behind her dancing. "I don't think she's dancing because she misses me, I think she's dancing because I hurt her and she's getting out her frustration at the cruel things I said. She doesn't want to talk to me, Sel. But I'm too afraid to test that theory."

Selina shook her head, "For such a smart boy you are so stupid. She missed you and you miss her. Even if you can't rebuild a romantic relationship, don't you want to at least have her in your life? I could not live with out her... and I know you can't either." She sighed and rubbed her forehead, "Please... just talk to her... please?"

But she would not force him to do anything... it was not her place anymore.