#Rivalmance Dirthalene AU

[selenelavellan]

Unfinished Stories

So, I have a few never-gonna-finish-or-edit-them or too short to stand on their own pieces and I wanted to post them in order to clear them and move them around in my folders, so...here we go. AU is listed before each story, and some end abruptly. Enjoy <3.

Reincarnation AU

Felasel drops his stack of files and papers onto the conference table where Selene is already seated with an echoing 'BANG'.

"Alright," He starts "So, this man has his fingers in a lot of our partners pots, so to speak. He's been angling to get a meeting with us for a few years now, and his portfolio is finally extensive enough to bother."

"What does he do?"

"Sales, mostly."

Selene flips open the first file cover with a frown "We don't need sales people."

"He disagrees," Felasel shrugs "If you hate him, we never have to meet with him again, but at least I don't have to listen to my assistant complain that he's left me 5 messages in a day again."

Selene merely makes a skeptical noise in return, but her skin turns cold as the salesman enters the room. Dressed in a fine suit, with a nauseatingly familiar head of orange hair, cut short this time around, but that same smile that had tricked her so long ago.

"Hello there!" he grins :"I had no idea this company was run by such beautiful elves! No wonder you are in such high demand."

"Ugh," Selene mutters with a roll of her eyes.

Felasels head whips around in surprise at Selenes unprofessional reaction, before he extends a hand to the salesman 

"I'm sorry about that. She hasn't had her coffee yet," he lies. "I'm Felasel Lanuris, and that's my associate, Selene Lanuris. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"You as well" he smiles as he shakes Felasels hand and turns to face Selene "My name is Haleir, in case you hadn't heard it yet," He tells her with a wink.

"I have heard your name all too often, I assure you," She grumbles back, not even bothering to rise out of her seat. 

Haleir blinks as Felasel releases his hand, and tries to shake off Selenes abrasiveness. "Ah, were you the young woman I left all those messages with then?"

"No. I run this company, and I promise you that if I had received any messages from you, you would not be standing here now," she growls, fingernails elongating where her hands are clasped in her lap.

Felasels eyebrows crease, as he politely asks Haleir to step out of the room, closing the door behind him and turning to Selene with arms crossed.

"You haven't even heard his pitch yet."

"And I don't need to to know we will not be doing business with him."

"...Someone you know?"

Selene sighs. "We dated. Before I met your father, and before your father threw him through a window."

"What happened?"

Her nails drum thrice against the wooden table before she simply states "My concept of 'consent' when I was younger was not very good."

Felasels eyes flash, an echo of extra accross his face as his head whips towards the closed doorway "I'll kill him myself."

"Unless you find evidence he's still pulling the same or similar crimes in this life, there's no point," Selene dismisses. "I'd rather just keep him as far away from us as I can."

Felasel nods, pressing a button beneath the table for security and indicating towards Haleir with his head as they ascend the stairway.

Ghost Hunting AU (x)

Serahlin and Adannar(both mentioned) belong to @scurvgirl

Dirthamen, Mythal, and Lath belong to @feynites

Ana (mentioned) belongs to @lycheemilkart

Selene let out a heavy sigh as she tied her hair high upon her head.

Today's the day.

The state had sent the notice a week ago; “Your Match has been found. Please report to the main office in Denerim,” with an appointment time that is about...two hours away, now.

Snagging her bag off of the hook, Selene exits her apartment, locking the door behind her to meet her government mandated partner.

–

They stick her in a waiting room. Which is...worrisome.

Serahlins partner had practically tackled her to the ground at the door when they were matched. Which was unconventional, sure, but they seem happy enough with the arrangement. Selene's pretty sure Adannar is planning on proposing soon, even.

Ana never mentioned being stuck in a waiting room when her own partners were found, and she ended up with two.

Maybe something's wrong?

Selene is fidgeting with the strap on her bag, worrying it through her fingers when the door opens, and an older woman with sharp eyes and grey hair enters.

She closes the door behind her.

“Oh, hello!” She stumbles, practically knocking her chair over in her haste to stand “I'm Selene, it's nice to meet you.”

“That's very kind of you child, but I am not your partner,” the woman informs her as she pulls out a stack of papers, and a pen.

Selene raises an eyebrow at the woman, skeptical.

“So...are you with the company, then?”

“Something like that,” she smiles, though it doesn't quite reach the womans eyes. “Why don't you tell me about yourself. Your paperwork claims you are a fighter, is that correct?”

“Yes, that's cor-”

“But I can also see that you are Dalish. I was lead to believe that the Dalish do not fight their ghosts.”

Selene fidgets a bit more and sits back into her seat. “Well, that's true, yes. Our Keepers typically handle all of our ghostly encounters.”

“So that makes you rather redundant, wouldn't you agree?”

“That's-that's not really-”

“So you have no experience actually encountering ghosts? No training in how to defend yourself, or your partner? Wouldn't signing my son over to your care be something like a deathwish, then?”

Selene frowns, straightening up in her seat. “That's not- my heritage has nothing to do with my capabilities. Most fighters don't have any experience until they're matched. I'd keep-wait, did you say your son?”

“I did,” she answers, turning the stack of papers towards Selene with a pen sitting on top. “You will need to sign these papers and agree to our terms before you will be permitted to see him. We have an appearance to maintain, and I will not tolerate sloppy work marring my families name.”

Selene flips through the paper, sighing. It would take her weeks to decipher all of this without Serahlins help. “I have to meet your son within the allotted time, or we both go to jail for treason,” she attempts.

“Then I suggest you sign quickly.”

Selene sighs, and grumbles as she signs through the appropriate paperwork while the woman watches.

She gives a Selene a smile as the paperwork is shoved unceremoniously back towards, tucking it under her arm.

“Welcome to the Evanuris family,” the woman states and walks back out of the room.

Selenes brain short circuits for a moment.

What.

What.

She doesn't have much time to process before a man walks into the room. Tall, and handsome with a square jaw, dark hair, and stunningly blue eyes. She startles and practically leaps out of her chair.

He pauses when he sees her.

“Hello.” Selene squeaks.

“Hello,” he nods back. “I hope my mother did not give you too much trouble.”

“Is she going to kick off all of our encounters? Because I'd like to get some notice next time, if so,” Selene jokes, attempting to ease some of the tension out of the room.

“She will not. There was a dispute when my match was found. My brother had wanted to meet you first, but...My mother was more suitable.”

“Right. Sure.” Selene nods, because she probably shouldn't insult her partners family immediately after meeting him. She holds out her hand “I'm Selene. It's nice to meet you, Mr. Evanuris.”

He eyes her hand for a few moments, before taking it in his own. “Please call me Dirthamen. It is a pleasure to meet you, as well.”

She smiles at him.

Another woman steps into the room, in a pencil skirt and button down blouse with pink curls that cascade down the whole of her, and a name tag that reads simply 'Lath'.

“Are you two ready?” she smiles.

Dirthamen nods, and Selene swallows as she leads them out of the room.

They follow her down long hallways filled with unlabeled doors, as she explains their next steps.

“First you two will need to forge your scythe, to allow Miss Selene a weapon to fight with. Scythes vary from person to person, they're a symbol of your devotion to one another. Some couples have issues getting their energies to coincide, and there are various methods you can use to forge your creation.”

High School Rivalmance AU

“There's no way that's right,” Selene squints through the frames of her glasses.

“You've been dethroned,” Melanadahl nods sagely.

Selene huffs, and nudges him gently in the side with her elbow before striding out of the classroom, hand gripped tight around the strap of her bag while he follows alongside her.

Second.

She got the Second highest grade on the test.

Selene has had the best performance in every mathemagical course she's taken since she managed to squeeze her way into this stupid elite school. It's the only way she can prove she's supposed to be here, that she isn't some pity case for the school to boast about, or some number for them to check off on their 'diversity' reports. Her written exams have been perfect, her practice exams have gone off without a hitch, and she hasn't lit anything on fire in over 6 months!

The nerve of her teacher.

“Should I start carrying a fire extinguisher?” Melanadahl teases as she continues her path through the halls to their instructors office.

“No. I just need to find out what happened,” she grumbles.

Knocking three times on the door, their instructor bids them entry and Selene doesn't bother taking a seat as she demands “My grade is wrong.”

One grey eyebrow arches over their teachers face as he glances up from the pile of papers beneath him.

“Your grade was fine. You're doing exceedingly well.”

“Someone outranked me.”

“Yes, that happens.”

“Who was it?”

“The point of using student ID numbers rather than names on that list, is to protect them in situations like this, you know.”

Melanadahl snorts, while Selene's fist tightens.

“I didn't make any mistakes.”

“You rounded incorrectly on your written exam.”

“The actual answer was 3.049! The nine rounds the four to a five, which rounds the zero into a one!”

“You only needed to round to the hundredths, not the tenths.”

“The instructions on the test said differently.”

Their instructor lets out a long suffering sigh as he leans back in his chair and slings his arms over their rests. “Fine, then I will adjust that in your scores. He still outranked you in the practical.”

“My practical was flawless, you said so yourself!”

“His gestures were more solid than yours, as was his focus.”

“That's a load of nug shit, and you know it,” she argues.

Their instructor rubs gingerly at his forehead. “Selene, sometimes people appear who are better at things than we are. Whether it's a product of their upbringing, private tutelage, or simply natural talent. You will have a far better life if you strive to better yourself from their presence, rather than fight against them. Now, I have 5 other classes with tests that need to be graded. Please see yourselves out.”

Selene opens her mouth to argue again, but Melanadahl drags her back out into the hallway before she has the chance to speak.

“He's right you know.”

“Oh, et tu, Melanadahl?”

He shrugs, before leaning onto the tips of his toes and whispering “I know who beat you.”

Selenes head whips towards his “Who?”

“The new kid. Dirthamen Evanuris.”

“...There's a new kid?”

Melanadahl just lets out a laugh “You've met him!”

“What? No I haven't.”

“You have though,” he points out “In the library, after school on Monday? He was the guy that nabbed the Magical Applications for Trigonometry in Warding book from the other side of the shelf. You chased him down!”

Selenes eyebrows scrunch together before she recalls the blue eyes on the other side of the book case, and dark hair walking away before she had darted around the corner and asked (very politely, she insists) to borrow it instead. He hadn't argued with her, just seemed sort of...stunned? And handed it right over.

Guess he didn't need it anyways, really.

Stupid perfect-score-on-his-practical-getter.

“Oh,” she admits.

Melanadahl teases her for the rest of their walk back to his home for their usual Thursday study session, Selene slipping her shoes off as she enters and follows him up the grand staircase towards his bedroom. As they reach the hallway, Selene rushes to press herself up against the wall as two dark blurs go rushing past them, landing in what she's pretty sure would be best described as a 'jumbled heap' at the bottom, skateboards clattering to the ground.

“Nah, the one at my house gets better air,” Complains the blonde one.

“Whatever man. The others should be here soon, you ready to practice?” Melanadahls brother intones as he stands and brushes off his pants.

“Yeah, I guess-” The blonde ones eyebrow raises as he notices Selene and Melanadahl at the top of the stairs and lets out a lewd whistle “You should wear a skirt next time! Give us something to look at!”

Selene rolls her eyes while she and Melanadahl both jointly flip him off.

“Your younger brother is fuckin' rude,” The blonde elf complains to Enastaren.

“Not my fault, that's on our parents.”

They both laugh over that and wander off to the oversized garage while Melanadahl lets out a groan and walks with Selene to his room.

“I hate that guy,” he grumbles.

“Who is he?”

“Falon'din Evanuris. Your competitions twin, from what I understand. He's been hanging around Enastaren a lot this week. They're doing some 'rock band' thing together.”

“Your brothers taste in people hasn't changed, I see.”

“Listen, he hit on your dad one time-”

“And I'm still not gonna let him live it down,” she reminds him while shrugging off and unzipping her bag to begin their studies.

–

The next day in mathemagics class, Selene does keep an eye out for Dirthamen, though. She finds out he actually sits a couple seats over from her, and never speaks unless called on. As the class draws on, she also notices he tends to favor traditional pencils to mechanical ones, keeps three different notebooks out at all times (One scrap, one work, and one graph), and has a tendency of staying unnervingly still while he's thinking something through.

And also his eyes are piercingly blue, and maybe his jawline looks pretty good, and the school uniforms blazer actually suits him pretty well.

But that's all secondary, of course.

Melanadahl groans when she tells him about her discoveries at lunch “Don't do this to yourself.”

“Do what?” Carina asks as she plops down next to Selene with her lunch bag.

“Selene's got a boner for the new guy because he did better on a test than she did,”

“Ooooh,” Carina nods “Is that all it takes? Because I kick your ass in chemistry, Selene. You wanna catch a movie this weekend?”

Selene throws her hands up in frustration while Carina takes a bite out of her apple, staring up at her from beneath her own square frames.

“Are you serious?” Selene finally asks.

Carina shrugs “Depends on if you say yes.”

“...Yeah, alright. Are you paying?”

“Sure,” she agrees with a grin.

“Woah, woah, woah! What about me?” Melanadahl pouts.

“You have enough significant others, and Selene deserves someone who can treat her special,” Carina points out.

Melanadahls pout deepens.

“Plus I don't put out,” Selene states bluntly.

“Oh. Well, then  I don't care,” Melanadahl finally settles before taking a bite out of his salad “You two do whatever makes you happy, just don't phase me out of the group.”

“Deal,” Selene and Carina agree in unison.

–

The movie actually goes...weirdly well, Selene thinks.

Carina found a small theater showing slightly older movies for cheaper prices, and buys both of them tickets for some cheesy sci-fi movie they enjoy. Selene takes her to a local coffee place that gives her a discount because she helps cover breaks sometimes after school in exchange for their wi-fi password.

They've been friends for a little over a year already, but there's still a lot she didn't know about Carina. Like how her parents fled Kirkwall after their debt to the Carta was technically paid off, or that she has an extensive collection of horror stories and movies, or that her favorite color is midnight blue. Carina ends up asking why they always study at either her or Melanadahls house, and never Selenes, and she has to explain that her parents aren't usually home, and she also, technically, doesn't have a key to the apartment ever since she enrolled in this school. But the fire escape leads right past her window, so she can get in and out that way on her own, and her scholarship gives her a stipend for transportation and uniform pieces and things that she budgets into food or things that she needs.

Carina just shakes her head, while Selene tries to change the subject.

They hold hands on the walk to Selenes apartment building (and Selene tries not to be awkward when she goes to the bottom of the fire escape instead of the actual entrance) when the sun starts to set, and Carina stretches up to kiss Selenes cheek before they part, and thank her for the date.

“Are we....dating then?” Selene asks. She hasn't really done this before, and she's not sure where to go from here.

“Think on it,” Carina suggests “We can be, if you want to do this on a regular basis, or we can just have had the one good date and leave it here.”

Selene nods, and rocks on her feet before bending over to place a return kiss to the dwarfs cheek. “Thank you,”

Carina smiles, and sends Selene off with a wave before leaving.

After crawling through the window, Selene kicks off her shoes and flops back onto her mattress.

Dating could be nice. She likes Carina, certainly. And they get along. But with school, and her studies...maybe this isn't the time for it?

Especially not with someone around and looking to push her out of her top spot.

Resolving herself, Selene sits back up, and pulls out her practice books and some paper, and gets back into her usual routine of study.

--

[selenelavellan]

Hogwarts AU

Or 

Oh Gods What Have I Done

Featuring

@feynites Dirthamen, Falon’din, Uthvir, Venavismi, Tasallir and Haninan

@scurvgirls Adannar, Serahlin, and Kassaran

@justanartsysideblog‘s Victory, Aelynthi, and Melarue

@elalavellas Ela

@lycheemilkart‘s Ana and Vitality

TW For Mentioned Abuse, and Fire

“I hope Dirthamen Evanuris takes a long walk off of a short dock!” Selene huffs.

“Ah, he's not such a bad guy, Sel.” Says Adannar from beside her as they stride through the halls and towards the Great Hall.

“You don't think anybody is 'such a bad guy' Addy,” Selene sighs dismissively “So that hardly counts for anything.”

“You aren't normally so quick to dismiss people, either,” he points out. “What is it about this guy that bugs you so much?”

“Who's bugging Selene?” Pipes in Serahlin as they join her and the rest of their group at one of the long wooden tables to eat lunch.

“Dirthamen Evanuris,” Selene mutters back before going into a poor impersonation of him “ 'Oh look at me, I have so much money and free time that I know every vague reference to everything ever and everyone else is always wrong because I know everything and blah blah blah.'”

Serahlin just gives a nod and a soft “Ah” while exchanging a look with Adannar. “I take it something in particular happened in class then?”

Selene throws her arms up in the air, frustration returning “He corrected the professor! 'Oh Professor Vitality I'm so sorry but did you know that according to Brother Genitivis writings in some obscure book that only exists in my personal collection, the dates you're giving us are inaccurate' like-like-UGH. What a pompous-STUCK UP, NUGHEADED-UGH!”

“Did he really say that?” Ana asks as she bites off the end of a piece of celery.

“No.” Adannar corrects.

“He may as well have!” Selene fumes as she stabs a fork into the salad that appears before her. “So sorry the rest of us peasants don't have access to every book in existence!”

“I think you're exaggerating,” Venavismi chimes in “He's a pretty quiet, docile guy. I think you two would get along if you just got to know each other.”

Selene levels a glare, fork pointed directly at Vena, one carrot matchstick dangling off the end. “That's traitor talk.”

“It's not traitor talk,” Vena laughs. “He's my roommate! And you're my friend! One people, one love, etc etc.”

“No, it's definitely traitor talk.” Ana says, scooching to sit besides Selene, who indicates towards the redhead with a 'See???' motion.

“Banana's just mad because I got the snitch before she did in the last match.”

“You cut me off!”

“From my perspective, you tried to cut me off.” Vena points out. “Selene, help me out here.”

“Oh no,” Selene says “I'm not a traitor.”

“You're a Ravenclaw! I won the match for our house!”

Selene just shrugs and plunges the fork into her salad with a quiet muttered “It's also that bourgeois nughumpers house, so you're on your own.”

“He's still leagues better than his brother,” Serahlin tuts. Her brother Tasallir nods in agreement beside her. “I hope he wanders into the forbidden forest and doesn't come back.”

“He still giving you problems?”

“He's giving everyone problems,” Serahlin nods. “I'm surprised Professor Melarue hasn't expelled him yet.”

“I heard they tried,” Uthvir says. “Headmaster Haninan said this place was his best chance to 'improve' though.”

“His potential improvement shouldn't mean the rest of us have to suffer.” Ela pouts.

“I'm sure they're doing the best they can,” Aelynthi points out. “If Falon'din crosses a major line, even Headmaster Haninan won't be able to stop Nanae from doing what they have to to keep the rest of us safe.”

“They should just get rid of the whole family,” Selene mumbles. “Save us all a lot of headaches.”

“Doesn't work that way,” Victory says, tapping her shoulder reassuringly “You'll just have to put up with him a while longer.”

“Five more years,” she groans. “I'm not gonna make it.”

–

“Your measurements are inaccurate,” Comes a voice from behind Selene. She jumps, having thought she was alone in the Ravenclaw Common Room this late at night. Or early in the morning, depending on your perspective.

“My measurements are fine,” she insists. Dirthamen scrunches his eyebrows together, moving closer to her and picking up the parchment with her experiment written on it.

“You have too much mandrake root for this desired effect.”

“It's fine.”

“Your antidote could kill the person you give it to. Is that your goal?”

Selene sighs, and snatches her parchment back from him. “Of course not.”

“Then I must re-advise; you are using too much mandrake root.”

“I'm really not.”

“Are you also using dragons breath? Selene, this potion is liable to-”

There is a small explosion then, an eruption of fire from her portable cauldron as a large draconian growl fills the common room. Dirthamens arm wraps around her shoulders, yanking her back and away from the worst of the flames.

The two of them cough, one of the windows flying open to let the smoke out of the room. Selene re-opens her eyes, blinking away the spots after the too bright flames nearly seared them out of her skull.

She sits up, pulling herself out of Dirthamens grip.

“Well,” She says, patting some of the ashes off of her cloak. “I will admit that there was, perhaps too much dragons breath in that particular attempt,”

Dirthamen nods, but Selene continues as though he hadn't “But not too much mandrake root. So you were wrong, too.”

He frowns, at that.

“You nearly blew the two of us up.”

“I didn't ask you to come down here.”

“If I had not, your face would be suffering severe burns.”

“Or, I wouldn't have lost my concentration, and would have noticed the excess dragons breath in time.”

“That seems unlikely-”

“But not impossible.”

Dirthamen sighs. Stands. Brushes some of the ash off of himself.

“I suppose that is technically true.”

A few other students start coming down the stairs to see the commotion, and Selene hurriedly packs up her things before they can ask her any questions.

Vena comes down the stairs too, noting the scorch marks and smoke still in the room, and makes note of Selenes absence from the room. He shakes his head, arms crossed over his chest as he looks at Dirthamen. “No luck, huh?”

“It appears not.”

–

The following years schedule brings with it several classes that Selene has to share with her self-appointed rival. She is not thrilled to find him in her Arithmancy class, Study of Ancient Runes, and Defense Against the Dark Arts.

She is even less thrilled when she is paired with him for Advanced Potions.

“Perhaps this way you will be less likely to set fire to the classroom,” He points out as they set up their station.

Selenes shoulders raise as she bites her tongue; she has to work with him for the rest of the year after all. Perhaps calling him a nughumper to his face isn't the best way to kick off the year.

His brother glaring daggers at her from the table behind them isn't helping things, either.

Selene does feel a pang of pity for Tasallir, who seems to be carrying the two of them throughout most of the assignments while Falon'din complains about smells and sticky substances on the floors potentially staining his boots.

But mostly she's just ready to smack Falon'din when he grabs her arm after class.

“Hey, bitch,” he sneers. “Stay away from my brother.”

Selene raises an eyebrow. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“I mean, I know about you two. I hear about you both getting all cozy and shit in the common room, I saw you cuddling up during potions. Its gross, and you need to stop. He's not gonna give you any money or whatever, so just leave him the hell alone.”

Selene frowns, and slowly pries his fingers off of her arm. “Listen,” she says. “I have never once, ever, sought out your brother. Apparently, someone on the school board seems to think its funny to throw us together at every turn, but rest assured, I'm not after any 'money or whatever'.”

“Then why'd you partner with him?”

“We were assigned partners you daft elf.”

Falon'din lets out a heavy breath through his nose and straightens.

“Fine. Whatever. Just remember, he's my brother.” he sneers before walking away.

Selene just shakes her head and mumbles. “They were right; you are worse.”

–

The next day in the Common Room, Dirthamen has a dark bruise covering much of his left cheek.

Vena stays at Dirthamens side for breakfast, and he joins the group for most of the morning.

Most of them stick to awkward conversation, trying not to mention it, or the way his eyes never seem to leave the bowl of cereal in front of him.

Selene feels a sting of guilt. Of course she had thought he needed a slap, but not...not like this.

“What happened?” She finally blurts, staring straight at Dirthamen.

The rest of the table goes silent, as he slowly glances up at her, rather than into his bowl of what by now is just soggy wheat with sugar and milk.

“I upset my brother,” he admits. “More than usual.”

“This is a usual thing?”

“Normally he is more careful not to leave a mark. Yesterday he seemed to be...particularly incensed, however.”

Selene drums her nails on the table. “Have you told anyone about this?”

“Our father believes we should 'sort it out' ourselves.”

“What about a teacher?” Aelynthi chimes in.

Dirthamen shakes his head. “It is a family matter.”

“The hell it is,” Selene says, standing abruptly. She holds out a hand for Dirthamen “Come on. Aelynthi, you come too.”

He nods, and the three of them make their way into Professor Melarues office, where Selene knocks thrice on the door before it swings open.

“Come in,” they call without looking up from their papers.

“Nanae,” Aelynthi responds, and that, at least, gets their attention. “We need you to do something.”

Selene nods, and carefully pulls Dirthamen forward towards the head of Slytherin house. “Falon'din did this.”

Melarue frowns at the large purple mark on the young boys cheek. “Your brother struck you, Dirthamen?”

He hesitates.

Selene squeezes his hand reassuringly in her own as he looks to her, and gives a small nod.

“...Yes.” he admits.

Melarue seems to become very still for a moment. As though running through a long line of possibilities in their head. “I will bring this up to Headmaster Haninan,” They assure him. “For now, please head to the infirmary. They will give you something there that will help.”

Dirthamen swallows and nods, but mostly seems thankful just to leave their office.

Selene follows him to make sure he actually goes to the infirmary, while Aelynthi heads back to the Great Hall and their friends.

One of the nurses ushers Dirthamen into a cot, and carefully applies some foul smelling salve to his cheek. He winces at first, but as the color starts to lighten and return to his usual skin tone, Selene can see some relief seeping into him.

“You do not have to stay.” Dirthamen informs her.

“I want to make sure you're ok.” She shrugs.

“Why?”

“Why not?”

“You do not...” he pauses.

Selene waits.

He sighs before continuing “You do not like me.”

“Who told you that?”

“It is apparent.”

Selene raises a skeptical eyebrow.

“...Vena may have mentioned it once, when I asked if I could join you all for breakfast in the past.”

“Well...he's not wrong.”

Dirthamen seems to sag a bit at that. “It is true, then.”

“You seem upset.”

“I thought...I had hoped, perhaps, that you and I could be friends.”

“Am I even up to your standards?” Selene scoffs.

Dirthamen blinks in confusion.

“Because you're so...” She gestures vaguely “Like, rich? And you know everything? And you've got all these rare books memorized and stuff? I'm sure you have tons of people lined up to be your friends.”

“I do not,” he informs her. “My brother is more talented at creating bonds with people than I am.”

“Your brother is a jerk.” She says bluntly.

Dirthamen blinks again. “He is my friend.”

“No,” Selene says, leveling a finger at him. “Friends don't hit friends unless it's Quidditch. Like when Victory accidentally got Aelynthi in the face with the quaffle? They're friends, but Victory still had to apologize. A lot.”

“My brother often hits people in Quidditch.”

“Well, yeah, he's a Beater. Probably a good outlet for him, honestly. But you don't play, so there's no reason he should hit you.”

“But I had upset hi-”

“Ever.” Selene emphasizes.

Slowly, Dirthamen nods.

She lets out a breath. “Ok. Alright, fine.”

Dirthamen tilts his head, eyebrows scrunching together as he waits for her to elaborate.

“We can be friends,” She says. “Most of our classes are together, anyways. We can walk together or whatever, and you can eat with us, and at the end of the day, you and I can go back to the dorms together. So that you aren't alone with Falon'din again. Ok?”

“I do not wish to be a burden on you.”

“It's fine,” Selene shrugs. “I just want to make sure you're...safe. We're friends now, right?”

Dirthamen nods again, his disposition becoming a bit cheerier at the title.

“Ok then,” Selene nods in return. “And just so you know, I kick the ass of anyone who hurts my friends. So if your brother tries to hurt you again, I'm gonna kick his ass.”

“I believe that is against school policy.”

“Then I'll duel him or prank him or curse his broom or something! I just...” She traces her fingers carefully over Dirthamens cheek, now back to its normal size and color, but still buzzing lightly with the recent healing, and whispers “Family isn't supposed to hurt you.”

He swallows, and nods again. Her hand lingers just slightly over his cheek before Selene clears her throat and stands. Offering her hand to him again, she helps him to stand, and they make their way to Study of Ancient Runes.

“Did you do the homework?” he asks, trying to ease some of the awkwardness between them.

“Yeah, but the one from page 238 tripped me up, I couldn't find it in any of my reference books, I'll have to ask Professor Kassaran about it.”

“It is from a harder to find collection,” He nods. “I have a copy in my room.”

Selene resists the urge to roll her eyes.

“You could borrow it, if you'd like.” he says.

She blinks, and looks over at him.

“Really?”

He nods. “That is the sort of thing friends do, yes?”

Selene swallows and nods. “Yeah. Thank you.”