Harriet hesitated before the doors, taking a moment to steel herself. She had been dreading the party all week, and it was not getting any better.

And her dress was uncomfortable. She looked down, grimacing at the green fabric, but looked away again. It was long, and it sort of split at her legs, if that was the right word. She knew it was a halter neck dress, she wasn't that hopeless.

It was just... Weird.

A little.

Mina nudged her. "You opening that anytime soon?"

She pressed her lips together, and nodded, before not pushing open the door.

The other girl sighed, and did it for her. The doors swung open to reveal the back of a hall, or ballroom. Whichever you would like to call it.

The murmur of polite chatter, and the sound of glasses clinking was soft, flowing over their heads. Circular tables were arranged around the sides of the room, with satiny white cloths covering them. Dainty name cards were placed behind the plates, giving everything an air of 'elegance'. There were people, clutching glasses of champagne and... Talking. Waiters threaded in between the guests, with plates of hors d'ouvres and other stuff.

Mina pulled her over to one of the tables, with their names on it. She just caught a glimpse of her name, beside Caleb's, before Mina was pushing a glass of something into her hands.

Harriet looked down at it, and it looked like wine. Red wine, maybe. Probably. She took a sip. Yeah. Red wine.

She took a wary look around, and once she saw that neither Laar nor Darian were there, relaxed. She probably shouldn't be drinking. The whole underage thing. But she would be eighteen in spring, so she was fine.

In fact, it was Mina who shouldn't be drinking. She gave the rune user a side glance, which Mina returned, with narrowed eyes.

"You're not allowed alcohol, child." Harriet nudged her, with a sly grin.

"Ha. We're not in America, Harry."

She shrugged, and went back to scanning the room, in search of the others. Caleb was on the other side of the room, chatting up some Lady or other. And he was completely in his element, as usual. Harriet was jealous, to be honest. He and Mina had it easy. She, however, actually had to try to keep a conversation going. However, the Chosen One wasn't faring so well. Kadriq was chatting with the Earl of Salisbury, and one of his daughters, and looked decidedly awkward. He caught her staring, and she gave him a small wave, with a slightly evil grin.

Doing okay?

He narrowed his eyes at her, and she tilted her head slightly.

I could mention you, and call you over, and you'd just have to walk over and start conversing.

Harriet let out a fake gasp, and clutched a hand to her chest.

You would not.

Try me.

He gave her a sly smile, and leant forward, seemingly intrigued with something the Earl was saying. Harriet scoffed softly, and leant back against the table, sipping softly at her wine.

She barely realised Mina was staring straight at her.

"What's up, Lovestruck."

Harriet looked over, raising an eyebrow at Mina as she folded her arms over her chest. She wasn't that... What? She wasn't lovestruck. That was stupid. She wasn't even in love. She hadn't been in love with anyone. Ever. Plus it was too soon.

"Facta, non verba."

Fucking rune users.

Mina restedher arms behind her head and and leant back, tapping her foot on the ground. Infuriating. Infuriating. So. Fucking. Infuriating.

"Bitch." Harriet murmured, giving up and leaning onto her knees with her elbows. She kept her gaze fixed on the ground, even as a pair of highly polished dress shoes appeared in front of her, and a polite cough sounded. She kept her gaze on the ground even as Mina poked her arm, and gave the person a apologetic smile.

"She's just sulking."

"I am not." Harriet pulled her head back up and glared at Mina, before turning to the stranger. She gave him a small smile and stood up, giving Mina the finger behind her back. The boy looked about her age, and was a little taller than her. He had icy blonde hair, and it fell across his forehead in an elegant arch. His navy blue suit complemented his... Bone structure? And he overall looked like a Draco Malfoy who hadn't been tortured by Lord Voldemort.

Basically: Hot guy alert.

She coughed, looking anywhere but at the male in front of her. Jesus. Those were some bloody good cheekbones.

There was a waltz playing in the background, as he extended his hand for her to take. And she took it, obviously. And then he kissed her hand.

Holy. Mother. Of. All. Fucks.

If this was a movie, she would step on his foot, they would laugh about it, he would be really sweet and they would get togerher by the end of it.

But, as it wasn't a movie, no such thing happened. Instead, the dance went by without a hitch, and she thanked him, before retreating to where Mina was. But of course, Mina had left to talk to someone. Or dance with someone. Or do something. She couldn't really see the rune master anywhere. Or maybe it was just because she was so short.

Caleb would be easier to find.

And she was right. He was standing in the middle of a group of people, and their raucous laughter echoed through he hall. Laar would probably give him some grief for it later, but Harriet wouldn't be surprised. He looked marginally tipsy. She sighed, and strode over, lingering at the edge of the group.

More people her own age. Lovely.

Harriet looked for any way she could get over to Caleb, but it turned out that wasn't needed. He had already spotted her, and was beckoning her over. She tried to look obliging, but not like she wanted to be there. She would do what she did at all social events: Talk like she didn't want to talk, have people abandon her because she 'didn't want to talk', get sad because people abandoned her because she 'didn't want to talk', and then look for some alcohol because she was sad that people abandoned her because she 'didn't want to talk'. It was a vicious cycle, really.

Once she had managed to navigate the crowd of people clustered around Caleb, he pulled her to his side, wrapping an arm around her. He smelled of expensive wine. Probably tipsy. His cheeks were flushed, and he was grinning ear to ear as he watched narrated a story to his audience, who burst into appreciative laughter once he was done. Soon, they dispersed, and Caleb turned to her, his smile unchanged, if not a little tired.

"People, huh?" He ruffled her hair, and she flicked his arm, smoothing it back into place.

"Thought you were social." Harriet mumbled, still trying to fix her hair.

"I am, it's just tiring." Caleb said, looking elsewhere. There was a hint of something in his voice. Sadness, maybe?

She sighed, wrapping her arms around him. "You'll be fine. Remember that time at the Base when you walked into the meeting like... An hour late?"

"Yeah?"

"You were uh..." She trailed off. "...You were tired?"

Caleb chucked, and hugged her back. "You're adorable, Midget."

Great. Two annoying nicknames.

"That's Mina, not me." Harriet protested, flicking him again. She wasn't actually short. She was a lot taller than most people her age, and it used to be a problem when she was younger. It was just that she was a lot taller than most of the boys. And she probably shouldn't have cared, but nine year old Harriet was living in the '50s.

"Nah, Mina's Titch."

"Good name."

"You're still midget, though."

"Fuck you."

The room went dark for a second, and Harriet pulled her head up, looking around, but the lights came on again. She reached forward her quarterstaff, but remembered it wasn't there. Cursing under her breath, she grabbed a knife from one of the tables. It wasn't the best, but it would do.

The room was plunged into darkness again, and she heard a scream.

A/N: Whoo! Finally an update! Better late than never, I guess? I know this kinda didn't make sense, and it was kinda a cliffhanger, and I have no outline so this story will be quite mad, but there you go. As always, please comment your opinions! They're welcome!

(Unless you're doing it because you want to be an ass)  ((In which case don't))  (((Also vote, but yeah)))

Until the next update!
- Moose