Sasha had half hoped his departure would have gone unnoticed.  A quiet retreat was bound to be simpler than trying to explain ... whatever there was to explain.  What was he supposed to do?  He'd come to Fig's party because he'd wanted to - he'd been looking forward to it.  He hadn't expected Olivia to be there but, in hindsight, it was probably foolish to have expected her not to be there, either. 

Fig was a member of SAWS.  And, yet, still considered Sasha his friend.  He was also Tawse's friend.  In fact - that mishmash of students in the living room was, somehow, a shining example of who Fig was.  Different years.  Different houses.  A Slytherin from a purist family with a relative on the run from the Ministry in the same room as Ravenclaw who openly studied chemistry alongside potions and a squib and a werewolf.  Fig was, very much, an equal-opportunity friend.  Helga Hufflepuff would probably be puffing with pride. 

Sasha didn't have the slightest idea how Fig managed it.  He'd felt little pangs of jealousy towards the Hufflepuff before; this was certainly not a first.  Ironically enough, Sasha knew the Hufflepuff was perfectly capable of being entirely oblivious about it, too. 

"I just ... I still have a report to look over before class tomorrow," Sasha offered with almost no conviction.  Even he could hear the disappointment in his own voice.  Lying to Abby had been much easier - especially before Fig had unwittingly offered such insight.  He shook his head slightly - being far more truthful in admitting he wasn't quite alright than he had been when offering a reason for leaving. 

What was wrong?  "I'm sorry.  I just - I don't know how ... relax around her, yet." 

Xavier had been intent on paying attention to the game and not caring about what the other students were up to. He was here for Fig afterall. It had been a really rough year for the two childhood friends and Xavier wanted to try and rebuild whatever bridges he had set ablaze when he left Fig alone with his uncle in Knockturn. It may be too little too late but then again he had never taken Fig as the kind of kid to hold a grudge for too long, his invitation to such a shin dig should have been enough evidence of that.

He was sure he wasn't the only one to notice Schlagonwagon slip out of the room, especially once Fig went after him but he also wasn't about to run after them. Instead he shifted on the couch he had been perched on and slipped down into the cushion Sasha had been occupying. He glanced at mini Reid next to him and offered her a small smile before taking another swig from his flask. He turned his eyes towards the hallway Sasha and Fig had gone down and nodded towards it leaning slightly towards Abby to talk to her, "Whache reckin tha's all about?"

Sasha did not have homework, Abby thought. She knew him. He would have gotten it all done before coming here! Abby watched him go with a slightly glum expression, planning on sending him a flurry of owls to try to cheer him up later.

When Figaro vaulted over the couch, she nearly got up too before she realized that two babbling blonds would only make Sasha more uncomfortable.

Abby visibly perked up as Xavier took a seat next to her. Not all was lost. There were boys here! Cute boys!

In response to his question, she glanced at Ollie, then back at him. Abby wasn't quite so bold as to whisper about the werewolf when she was still in the room and she couldn't be sure how many people Sasha had told about the attack.

"It's not a real party unless someone leaves abruptly, right?" She lowered her voice and took a sip of butterbeer.

"Maybe the crisps aren't to his liking. Or he got really upset about that last play," she offered him one of her goofy grins.

Xavier decided that little Reid wasn't so bad and when it came down to it she probably was the best looking one there, he always did have a weakness for blondes. He followed her gaze to the Foley girl and gave a curt nod, "'Nuff said." He grumbled softly. If there was something going on with Sasha and the werewolf, he didn't really want to get in the middle of it. He figured he may as well get used to it, as should everyone else in the room. SAWS may have been creating because of how Foley had been treated but things weren't going to be all sugar and rainbows just because she was allowed back at school. Xavier personally didn't give a flying rat's ass about it but the girl was going to get a lot of abrupt departures whenever she walked into a room simply for being who she was.

As Abby gave him a goofy grin and a lame excuse Xavier answered in turn by giving her a charming smile of his own as he got comfortable on the couch. He stretched and placed his arm along the back of the couch, not around Abby's shoulders but just behind them allowing him to recline enough to rest his feet on the coffee table. He could just imagine the quick rebuke he'd receive from Mrs. Sellaphix but thankfully for him she wasn't around. With his flask still in hand he subtly turned his body in Abby's direction giving the girl his full attention, "Thee crisps ta yer likin' then?"

Figaro leaned around to look back into the living room where everyone was seated.  A few curious gazes were looking back at them.  Her?  He saw Sophie, Abbie, Raine, Olivia, Addie... could he mean his mum? Figaro frowned at how Sasha could have possibly been made uncomfortable - wait, was this about...! No, Sasha couldn't be hung up on something like that? He was a smart kid.  The smartest.

"Aw, look Sash, she's just like the rest of us.  Not as if you're going to catch it," he tried to reassure his friend with a clap on the back.  "Don't be so old-fashioned, mate.  You want to leave, I'll live.  Probably.  Eventually, I'll get over sobbing my eyes out and maybe one day make something of the shattered soul of a person I once was.  But probably you should come on have drink and listen to Callum, George and Ed all get beat in the face."

He smiled again, trying to convince Sasha that all was well.  "Just be more awkward the longer we stand out here.  She's a squib not a vampire.  C'mon."

With that, Figaro went to return to the party where the crackling voice of Archer Radley was still calling the game. 

"-Chudley's keeper is down! Looks like they'll be replacing them with a reserve! Not something you want to do when you're already down 30 points to a very aggressive Falcons' squad.  Still no word on the snitch yet, but both seekers have been kept very busy by flying Bludgers..."

"Is it just me or does Wiedman seem more brutal than usual? Maybe it's all the gossip about whatsherface and that designer," Sophie was picking at a cupcake, trying not to notice the fact that Sasha had basically bolted from the room and the way Abby cast a not-really-so-very-subtle glance at Ollie. If she had thought navigating the social constructs of what to do in Knockturn Alley with Deus was tough she should have remembered that she was sort of best friends with a werewolf who had attacked someone they both knew and would be in contact with a lot by default. If Ollie did get to come back to school (and Sophie was really hoping she did) then Sasha would have to learn to be in the same room with her eventually. He couldn't run out of classes just because she showed up.

What had happened was awful, there was no denying that but pulling focus and being weird about it rather than accepting it was a thing, it had happened, it wasn't Ollie's fault anymore than it was his fault... well. Maybe Sasha would just never get that. Maybe he was too close to the situation to see that sometimes things happened and you had to find a way to forgive people because there was no getting away from them, She just hopped Ollie would, for once, be oblivious. Still, she  squeezed the other girl's finger and flopped down on the nearest empty space, grabbing a butterbeer along the way. "I heard they were all but engaged and she just told him to bugger off because he doesn't make enough money," gossip (so long as it was about people very distant from her) was way more interesting than Hunter Radley's play by play - even if he was kind of really hunky.

Damn it all, she really wished she was not so observant sometimes. Sometimes she wished she was completely oblivious to the world around her but unfortunately that was no the case. Spending so much time avoiding the dangers of silver and people who didn't like her, resulted in her having a tendency to observe the people around her and her surroundings. This meant she did notice the glance her direction from Abby and the prompt exit of Sasha. How were they ever going to survive in the same room together if he wouldn't give her a chance. She was a werewolf one day of the month and yet he couldn't like her for everything else that she was. How many times could she tell him she was sorry? There was nothing more that she could do to help the situation along. She couldn't just disappear. Ollie was okay with the fact she was a werewolf, because that wasn't all that she was. When she looked at the space that once had held Sasha she felt momentarily disgusted with herself.

She felt Sophie squeeze her hand and looked at her friend. She just couldn't do this. She was trying to be strong and carefree, but the fact Sasha couldn't bear to be around her got to her. It was her fault she had attacked him, but it wasn't completely her fault. She would have been in control normally, she was on her way home she would have made it but she stopped to talk. How stupid of her. She replayed that day over and over, and she was trying to forgive herself. Sasha would never forgive her, he probably shouldn't but couldn't he accept that the person she was, was not defined by that one day a month she was a beast? She was her own person and she just wished he would see that.

"I should probably go," she said leaning over towards Sophie. "I just can't be here being the object to gawk at." Though if she returned to Hogwarts she would be gawked at there, maybe she should get used to it.

Sasha grimaced apologetically.  Somehow, Figaro's carefree and ... easy ... response just prodded Sasha's guilt more.  Without it, Sasha would have felt more justified in feeling prickled and defensive about seeming 'old-fashioned.' 

But, when Fig finished his encouragement and strode back into the living room, Sasha remained in the hallway, looking stunned and confused.  Squib?  Abby?  Of course he wasn't leaving because of Abby - was that what people thought?  But, Figaro had already settled back in his seat by the time any rebuttal had formulated in his head. 

Now, to say anything would require returning to the living room.  Which would turn a personal discomfort into a public spectacle.  Of course, Sasha could never do that to Ollie.  Regardless of his own unease. 

Sasha chanced a quick glance into the room.  Tawse had already situated himself in Sasha's spot.  And, was getting quite close and comfortable with Abby.  Why was this so difficult?  He knew he should just go back in there and relax and ... and it wasn't even just Foley.  Somewhere, in the back of his mind, Sasha knew she was just the convenient excuse.  He'd never been good at this whole 'chilling with mates' kind of thing.  But, now...

Now, he wasn't just socially inept.  He just ... he felt old.  Displaced.  It was depressing.

In the end, Ollie really did need the time to reconnect and socialize with her classmates more than he did.  She'd probably actually use it better, too.  He was disappointed and he'd have to apologize to Figaro later - and try to explain, if he could.  For now, he'd slip away.  Contact Scotland, since he had a little time before he needed to be anywhere.  Then, he could be reminded that this decision wasn't as foolish or selfish or abnormal as it was feeling right now. 

Sophie looked up at her friend, usually smiling lips drawn into a thin line as she cast a long glance at Abby and Tawse then back to Ollie's worried features. She considered all the things she could say, the little white lies she could try to tell to make the other girl more comfortable, but it wouldn't work, not in the long run. Letting out a long breath she leaned near Olivia's ear, her voice calm, "You're going to let a gossipy Reid, we don't even go to school with, and the boy who ran away from school because daddy didn't love him chase you off from a party? No. You are not". There was no question to her voice as she laced her fingers with the other girl's.

"You want to come back to school? This is going to happen. People are going to whisper, they might even point - but you're better than them Olls. You are strong and brave. You always have been and I'm not going to let you take the cowards way out this time," her voice was hushed but firm as her brown eyes locked on Ollie's face. "I know this isn't easy for you, but I wouldn't be your friend if I babied you along. Sasha has left, there is no way he's coming back in here now. If someone says something you know I have no problem telling people all about themselves. You deserve to have a life Ollie, one that includes friends - but sometimes that means also interacting with idiots".

Xavier had made himself comfortable very quickly! Abby couldn't say she minded, and was very conscious of the arm not quite on her shoulders but close enough to be gossip-worthy. Try as she might, she was also conscious of Fig trying to convince Sasha to stay, and the flurry of whispering from the werewolf's corner. She smiled at Xavier anyway, flattered by the attention.

Abby made the mistake of glancing at the pair of girls for a second time, and looked away at the stare she got, as if they were all kids on the playground and lines had been drawn in the air with toy wands. She hopped up suddenly, took the bowl of crisps from the table, and sat down again, offering it to those still sitting on the couch before setting it on her lap.

"The crisps are to my liking, sure," she rolled her eyes at Xavier, assuming he was aware of the tension in the room. "You seem pretty nice too." Another grin. Flirting was the solution to all problems!

The party seemed to have found a natural sort of equilibrium with everyone engaged in some way.  Sophie and Ollie had their heads together, Xavier and Abbie were hitting if off.  (Very weird, that...)  But Sasha hadn't followed him in, and well, that was probably just part of being friends with Sasha.  Figaro was back in the game, still eating the cottage cheese out of the carton when...

"And Falmouth makes and early 10 points!  That's Marmaduke Amherst slipping the quaffle past Carter.  Close by the Cannons' fresh Keeper, but there's no close in dragons or Quidditch!"

Mouth full, Figaro rocketed out of his chair with a shout.  A spattering of white, chunky, wet cheese flew a-fling.  Falmouth had scored and that was cause for ruckus.  "Ha ha, yes!"  He clapped his hands loudly as if he was there in the stands.  He'd only been to a pro match once, but he'd give his wand to go again sometime.  He just hadn't been able to get away this summer, and there was no extra money flying around the Sellaphix house.  Maybe if he'd actually got that job he was supposed to...!

"Drink, drink where ever you may be!
We are the drunk and disorderly!
We're rude and we're crude and we like men in the nude!
Falmouth Falcons can't be beat!"

His victory dance over he fell back into his seat.  Someone had cottage cheese in their hair.  He gave hir a cringing grin.  "Sorry."

Xavier made a point of ignoring whatever was happening with Flickwick and the werewolf. If Schlagenwagon wanted to have hissy fit over some girl, all the power to him. It had nothing to with Xavier and he wasn't about to start caring about it now. He was much more interested in the game and seeing how much he could make mini Reid blush.

When she offered the bowl of crisps around he hadn't taken any, instead waited until she had settled them into her lap to take a handful, having to lean into her slightly to do so. For now he pocketed his flask, finding the little party was becoming entertaining enough without it.

Xavier chuckled slightly at Abby, was she flirting with him? The night was just getting better and better.

"You seem pretty nice too."

"Tha's jus cos ye don' know me luv." He gave her a wink and a devilish smile. Boy did the girl ever have the wrong impression about him, but then he couldn't blame her. She didn't go to school with the rest of them and had none of the other preconceived notions of him that most of the other girls did.

When Figaro erupted into cheer over the score Xavier had been right along with him, getting to his feet to yell at the wireless, making sure he didn't make Abby too uncomfortable by yelling so close to her ear. When Fig's victory dance was done and the cheers had died done he settled back down into the couch next to Abby, his arm going back to the back of the couch once more.

"So if ye don' go ta Hogwarts, wha do ye do?"

There was a great deal of... things, happening in the room. Social things that Raine observed but mostly ignored as the game continued to be narrated on the wireless. None of her business, that's what all the drama was. She only slid her attention away from the match when Sasha had left and then again when Figaro had (she could only suppose this was what he'd been doing) done a little dance for a Falcon's ten points.

Loyalties were inevit-- Raine broke off her train of thought at this and lifted a hand to her red curls, frowning very slightly. Cheese. She raised an unimpressed eyebrow at the Hufflepuff as he mouthed sorry rather candidly, and was about to dismiss the apology when she felt a movement on the other side of the couch. Abby was sat next to her on the couch; on the other side of the squib was Tawse, who she didn't realize had come this way of the living room.

But then again, it was sometimes too easy to simply let Abby be Abby and pay no mind to her. Had the two been talking all this time? As if to answer this internal query, Tawse directed a question at the younger Reid; illustrating just as much. Merlin. For all their talk about boys in Egypt, surely she had better taste than him. He didn't have a good vibe, not even for a Slythie.

"So if ye don' go ta Hogwarts, wha do ye do?" Tawse was saying and Raine shifted her position slightly as she turned her head to look past her friend, at him. Predatory, that was the word for it.

The idea sent a tingle of concern through her. There was something mildly alarming about Abby being anybody's prey.

"She gets lost in marketplaces and flirts with stupid boys, from what I know," Raine abruptly interrupted before the other girl could reply, though she kept her eye unsympathetically on her schoolmate: "Aren't you the curious one today?"

Upstairs, Zelda had rolled her eyes at Figaro's sport-shouting, and had to wrangle Frank back away from the stairs.  Not even the temptation of getting to use his wand at home was enough to override his interest in the game and the big-kid fun downstairs.  "Stay, Franky."

Downstairs, things kept on.  The Wireless crackled on about the Cannon's attempts to come back, and to defend against the brutal Beatings of the Falcons, and there was even a snitch sighting that led everyone on a merry chase for a spell.  All in all, food was getting eaten, the wireless was getting yelled at, and teenage gossip was afly.

Figaro, perhaps more than anyone present, knew Xavier.  Or we'd expect him to. They'd been little kids together, but they were quickly growing apart so that Figaro felt like they were friends by tradition or default rather than any real shared interests.  Except Quidditch.  Raine seemed sour for some reason, but her comments reminded him of something.

"Oh shite, guys.  Did you hear that Jazz Hawke got her wand stolen?" he asked, cracking open another bottletop.  "Fauna Blake's on the Aurors now and told me that Jazz got straight up mugged and had her wand taken." [1]

Figaro sounded both concerned and incredulous, and a little more the latter than the former, the story seemed too unbelievable, almost too distant to be believed.  Figaro didn't know Jazz well, just about as much as any of his other classmates. 

"Wonder what she's gonna do about it."

1.	July 24, just a few days ago. wiki