Daphne et Tracey

Characters: Daphne Greengrass, Tracey Davis

Type: Just your average Slytherins first meeting

Note: this fic takes place before all the events in my Harry Potter fanfiction era. If curious about the rest of the story, please look through the rest of my storiesfor the subsequent fiction.

When people tell you about going to Hogwarts they talk about the fun, the drama and of course, the magic. What they don't tell you is that leaving behind all that you know and going into something completely different is very possibly the most terrifying experience you could ever have. And they do this to ten year olds, its a wonder we aren't all mental. I sat on the train, picking at my sleeve nervously. I, of course, was already mental, but I also had some grave misgivings about the rest of my classmates. Quite clearly they were still letting in the bourgeoisie as the girl who had tried to sit down in my cabinet had a remarkable resemblance to a beaver. Lord was that girl going to be teased. Thankfully, she had decided not to sit with me, but almost physically recoiled from my cold stare. The door slid open again.

"Hallo, my name is Tracey Davis." It was a tremulous voice but one that caught attention. I glanced over in boredom, calmly surveying her from head to toe. She was quite unremarkable in appearance to look at, pretty but not overly so. Her hair was quite calm unlike that bush that had accidentally wandered into my compartment, though it was much of the same color. I realized that several moments had passed and I still hadn't answered her, and she turned quite pink with embarrassment.

"I apologize," I said regally, moving my trunk so she could sit down. "I'm Daphne, Daphne Greengrass." We sat quietly for a moment, neither one of us really knowing what to say. I randomly spelled one of my earrings into a large radish and she burst out laughing.

"Thats brilliant!" She leaned forward eagerly. Like an little pet. I was overtaken by the urge to name her something atrocious and to pet her hair, but valiantly managed to keep quiet. Adopting strange girls as pets was generally frowned upon in most societies. "I haven't seen so much magic as I've seen here!"

My eyes narrowed suspiciously. That sounded like she was a mudblood.

"Oh, and where do you come from?" I asked it casually, as if I were inquiring about the weather and of course I wasn't asking about the country.

"Oh, from Devonshire. Me mam had to teach me how to Floo to get to Diagon Alley." Well, at least one of her parents was of the blood. That was good enough for me.

"How did you like Diagon Alley?" I asked it politely and decided that I liked this girl with her eager to please air. She would do nicely as my minion. I mean friend.

Daphne was entertaining to say the least. I never really understood what went on in her head though it entertained me to listen to her ramble. Somehow we got onto the topic of ice cream at Florian's, and found out that we had the same favorite flavor. We have been inseparable ever since. Funny how it doesn't take much when you're eleven and desperate for someone, anyone to be your friend. Even if sometimes I think that she likens me more to a pet than a friend. The train finally pulled to a stop and the two of us had a brief scuffle over luggage before we fell out into the corridor, almost on top of a tetchy little blond boy. There was an even larger scuffle as Daphne and the boy recognized each other and I think that Daphne may have kicked him hard in the crowd because he was limping later and shooting her mean looks.

"Who was that?" I asked, slightly terrified to be riding in a small boat across a pitch black lake to a home with no parents. Can anyone else think that this may lead to a need for counseling later in life?

"THAT! Was Draco Malfoy." She said it with a demeaning scoff. Daphne helped me out of the boat as I almost tripped on my robes. "And he has cooties."

"Well, if you think about it, you just kicked him and so they might have spread. You may want to check that." The stricken look on Daphne's face was priceless as she frantically checked for cooties. At the time we were still in the tail end of not entirely being sure what cooties were, we just knew that boys had them. And, as girls, we desperately didn't want to get them.

"Comman there miz Greengrass, lets get going then." While we were loitering, the rest of the crowd had passed us by. The both of us stiffened in sheer terror as a behemoth of a man loomed over us.

"Yes sir!" Daphne managed to squeak out, looking terrified. I was even more self preserving and shot off down the path, not even stopping to be polite. Daphne caught up to me, looking annoyed. She gave a bit of a hysterical wail and clutched onto my sleeve. "You left me to dieeeeee!"

"Oh don't be dramatic. He wouldn't have killed you." I snorted. Daphne gave me a look I would be very familiar with that look in times to come.

"You ran away too." By now we were at the doors and she whispered to me. "Abandoner."

I turned to look at her with a silly face and she giggled. She had to quickly compose herself as we walked into the hall.

The both of us, along with most of the new class, were fidgeting in line. Eleven year olds were not meant to stand still for this long. We were playing the poke without actually touching the person game, trying to stay under the radar as the teachers readied us for the sorting hat. It was a battered old specimen, but deep down, it terrified me with its power over my destiny. They started at the beginning of the alphabet and I thanked Merlin that I wasn't at the end. I don't think that my delicate constitution would have handled it. Tracy looked absolutely stiffened with dread and I grasped her hand comfortingly. Her name was one of the first.

"Davis, Tracy?" She trembled a bit as she approached the small chair and plunked down. I almost visibly winced as I could see my work cut out for me in years to come.

My name was first, before Daphne's and I think it was better that way as I probably would have asked to be in whatever house she was just so I didn't have to try and find other friends. The hat slid over my eyes and I nearly screamed in fright when a voice sounded by my ear.

hello there. It wasn't that loud but I still jumped. Lets see, hmmm...Right. They were little noises, meaningless to me, but apparently meant something to the hat as it yelled out-

"Slytherin!" I didn't know much about the houses, but I knew it wasn't Hufflepuff of which I heard dreadful things. I caught Daphne's eyes and grinned, jumping off of the stool as soon as the hat was pulled off of my head. Daphne had no question about where she was going. I joined the green thronged crowd and got several pats on the head and handshakes. The sea of red looked at me as they would a dead skunk and I did something that I've never done before. I smiled so charmingly that the curls of their smirks seemed to waver a bit. I turned it up a bit until it was almost blinding and they were forced to look away. I swung my head away as I heard her name.

"Greengrass, Daphne!" My heart skipped a beat at that. That was me. I was up. I took a deep breath to settle myself and glided to the chair, sitting down easily. I scuffed the toes of my shoes nervously as the hat and the darkness descended.

Oh dear, The hat said quietly into my ear. Was there any question where to put you?

"Slytherin!" It yelled so loud that my ears rang. I opened my eyes to the sea of green and silver that was to be my new home. And in the midst of it, saw my new best friend. Perhaps not the therapy inducing nightmare that it had started off as, this school. Who knew, it might even be fun. I looked up to my head of house and a thousand possibilities stormed into my brain. Oh, this could be fun indeed.