VIRGO SELWYN

"Hey, you're Libra Rosier, right?"

"Yeah, that would be me. And you're Aquarius. Aquarius Patil."

"You know who I am?"

"Everyone knows who you are on account of Granger's incessant whining whenever you outscore her."

I was watching Patil speak with Rosier from behind a pillar, taking notes for Scorpio. Even though I hadn't shown it when she'd asked me to keep an eye on Patil's progress and step in should there be need for a contingency option, I was glowing on the inside, honoured someone like her had thought of me.

Scorpio was a breath of fresh air. She was nothing like the people I was forced to surround myself with in order to maintain my cover. She was quiet, poised. Graceful, like a swan, and much more beautiful than a swan ever could be, brown eyes the same colour as her silky hair tying in so wonderfully with those straight, thick brows.

Shaking my head, I turned back toward Libra and Aquarius, watching, dumbfounded, as the strikingly handsome boy reached out to playfully touch Libra's arm. She didn't brush it off. Instead, she leaned into his touch, laughing.

"You should've seen Granger when you bested her in the Transfiguration quiz last week."

"Oh, I did. It was truly a sight."

Aquarius paused slightly, gazing into Libra's eyes, hand on her elbow.

"You're truly a sight too, Libra Rosier, but in a different context."

Libra bit her lip nervously and smiled when Gemini rounded the corner. Aquarius leaned in, whispering something in Libra's ear. I craned my neck to get a closer look just as Gemini began to walk faster, stepping out from behind the pillar. Rookwood noticed me and changed course, grinning.

"Virgo, fancy seeing you here. Don't Hufflepuffs have double Herbology with the Slytherins right now?"

I gasped, tapping into the sweet, innocent girl I had effectively masked myself as. "Oh, silly me! I'd best be on my way, Professor Sprout won't be happy..."

I scuttled away, drawing in a sharp breath, trying to figure out what I'd tell Scorpio, mentally chiding myself for my foolishness.

.....

"-what were you thinking? I told you to stay hidden under all circumstances apart from if our cover was blown! We would have had a clear cut answer and we would be able to gauge if Rookwood really had fallen in-"

"I already told you I was sorry, Rosier. What more do you want me to do?"

Scorpio sighed, looking away. "I'm sorry. I just- I don't want to believe the worst of Rookwood. I've known him since we were children, and I know Patil doesn't feel too kindly toward him."

"Patil doesn't feel too kindly toward anybody," I retorted. "But thank you for understanding."

"It's all right," Scorpio replied, smiling. That smile was worth more than the whole world, a smile saved, a secret kept from the world. I couldn't bring myself to look away from Scorpio's smile, not because it was particularly beautiful, but because it was for me. She was smiling for me, with me, because of me, and I was falling in love with her, slowly but surely, completely and irreversibly.

Turning back toward my work, I smiled too, because even though the disease of love was hooking me with its painfully sweet talons, I was enjoying myself.

.....

TAURUS WEASLEY

"So you saw Selwyn watching Gemini?" Hermione asked for the billionth time, eyebrows furrowed.

"Yes, I did," I replied. "She was right there, peeking at Libra and the Patil boy."

"Libra and the Patil boy..." Hermione mused. "Odd. Odd indeed. D'you think he fancies her?"

"I reckon. He was touching her arm an awful lot. And... well, she seemed to like it."

"Huh. Libra could use someone mature after Sagittarius, I suppose. Good for her."

"Yeah, but why did Rookwood look so huffed? Didn't he have something going on with Leo Snyde behind closed doors?"

"Well, that's what I thought too..."

I glanced at my watch, gathering my books. "Well, I'd best be off, Hermione. You enjoy your study session." Hurrying toward the dormitories, I turned my mind to Quidditch, briefing myself for training, stretching out my legs as I walked, when I bumped into someone relatively short, a shock of glossy white hair spilling out on their head.

Pisces Shacklebolt.

Pisces was nothing like their brother. They were quiet, calculated, hidden away. They'd changed since our first year, no longer the bubbly green-eyed Hogwarts prodigy everyone longed to be, but rather the fallen star, lying on the ground, trodden on but still glowing with an eerie, vengeful light. They were the kind of person you couldn't walk past but who you couldn't pay much attention to either, the perfect paradox within a person.

"Watch yourself, Weasley," they hissed, pushing past when I turned, reaching out for their shoulder, not even sure of what I was doing. I just wanted to see their face again, see those green eyes, that smooth skin, those full lips.

Get your head on straight, Weasley.

"What?" Pisces snapped, looking irritated.

"No- nothing," I stammered, cursing myself internally. "Sorry."

Pisces huffed and turned around, their robes billowing around their ankles.

I turned a corner and ran to the Hufflepuff common room, changing into my gear as fast as I could, grabbing the Nimbus 2000 I had bought with the money I made from my summer job at Flourish and Blotts.

Hurrying to the stands, I paused upon seeing Scorpio Rosier on a hill, wand outstretched, pointed at Gemini Rookwood's chest. Hiding behind a boulder, I watched closely to see what was going on.

"How dare you, Rookwood?" Scorpio screeched angrily, wand hand shaking slightly.

"There's nothing going on between us, Scorpio, I swear-"

"Oh, is that so? Explain what Virgo saw outside the Ravenclaw common room!"

"So you had spies?"

"That is hardly relevant, Gemini. You betrayed us. We were a clan. Destined to work together. Bound by an oath."

"And I haven't broken the oath, Scorpio-"

"Yes, you have! Virgo saw what she saw."

"You trust some lowly-ranked member's daughter over me? Shame on you, Scorpio. I should have known you were going to let your feelings interfere with the task at hand."

"There are no feelings!"

"Really?"

"Y- This is not about me. This is about you. You can deny it all you want. You can pull out your own wand and fight me here and now. You can even go to our parents with your complaints.

"But, for the love of God, do not deny it.

"You've fallen in love with my sister, Libra Rosier."