This is my entry for Round 12 of the QLFC Season 4. I play Keeper for the Caerphilly Catapults and my prompt this round was to write a light-hearted friendship story about Slytherin characters.
"Come on Blaise, we're going to be late!"
"Hey, it's not my fault that you took half an hour in the bathroom doing your hair!"
"That's... that's not important right now!"
It was the last weekend before the Christmas Holidays, and Daphne Greengrass was sitting on one of the green silk sofas in the Slytherin Common Room listening to the faint shouts of her friends. She sighed and stared at the door to the boys dormitories as she waited for them to be ready to go to Hogsmeade.
Eventually the door opened and Blaine Zabini and Theodore Nott appeared from behind it. They crossed the room to where she was with sheepish looks on their faces.
"Ah, finally! I was wondering when you would grace me with your presence!" Daphne said haughtily, before smiling and continuing, "Come on, Filch will have left the entrance hall by now!"
The boys mumbled their apologies before following their friend through wall that concealed the entrance and exit to the common room.
Once outside in the corridor, Daphne looked at both of her friends' winter attire. Whilst all three of them were wearing their Slytherin scarves, Theodore had gone all out and was wearing a Slytherin hat, Slytherin gloves and socks, and a dark green winter coat.
"Really, Theo? All green? Don't you think people already know what house you're in?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
"What? I can show house spirit if I want to!" Theo defended.
"Well…"
"Okay, guys! Shall we go now?" Blaise interrupted.
"Alright."
"Okay, Blaise."
The walk into Hogsmeade was fairly uneventful, and the three Slytherins soon reached the main square of the village. Thick layers of snow rested on top of every building and there was a massive Christmas tree decorated with real fairies in the centre of the square. The trio decided to head to the Three Broomsticks first.
Once inside, they found a table by the window and sat down, sipping butter beers contentedly.
They chatted for a while, mainly about Quidditch and what they were getting for people for Christmas, before paying for their drinks and heading out into the snow.
"So, which shop first?" Blaise asked.
"Ooh, can we go to honeydukes?" Theo replied as Daphne nodded in agreement.
"Alright, to Honeydukes it is!" Blaise announced and strode towards the brightly coloured shop windows with the other two following in his wake.
The sweet shop was packed with Hogwarts students either doing Christmas shopping or just purchasing confectionary for themselves. The three Slytherins decided to meet up outside the shop in twenty minutes to allow for Christmas shopping without risk of the planned recipients seeing their gifts prematurely.
Daphne, who had decided to get her two friends some sweets and something to do with Quidditch each, finished her shopping in Honeydukes within ten minutes. She made her way through the crowds inside the shop, tucking a big box of Chocolate Frogs for Theo and a large bag of Fizzing Whizzbees for Blaise into a bag as she went. She was surprised to find both of her close friends already waiting for her and, after a quick discussion, they headed off in the direction of the Hogsmeade branch of Quality Quidditch Supplies.
"Oh no! Quick, hide!" Daphne cried as she caught sight of Pansy Parkinson and her friend Millicent Bulstrode crossing the street ahead of them. The trio jumped into an alleyway next to them.
"What do you think Draco will like best, Millicent? The personalised wand holster, or the Slytherin Quill set?" Pansy was saying. Millicent was looking nonchalant and Daphne had to bite back a laugh. She was pretty certain that 'Draco' would want neither, and that Pansy, who was known for chasing after him like a lost puppy, would kill any chance she had with him by giving him something as boring as a 'personalised wand holster'.
Once the two girls had passed by, the trio went to Quality Quidditch Supplies and agreed to meet outside, like they had done in Honeydukes. Daphne purchased a Caerphilly Catapults hat for Blaise and a book on the history of the Quidditch League of Britain and Ireland for Theo before exiting the shop to meet her friends.
She found that she was the first to finish and, after clearing the snow off a bench outside, she settled down to wait.
Before long Blaise had come out to join her and he had just sat down when the pair saw Malfoy and his two lackeys heading for the Shrieking Shack. Once Theo had joined them outside the trio decided to follow Malfoy, wondering what he could be up to.
When they reached the edge of the clearing in front of the Shrieking Shack, they were greeted by an amazing sight. Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle, who had obviously been bullying Ron and Hermione from Gryffindor, were being pelted by snowballs which seemed to be coming from nowhere.
"Well, he had it coming to him, you can't deny that!" Theo whispered. The others nodded - none of the other Slytherins, with the exception of Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy, and Millicent, liked Malfoy.
They watched with delight as Malfoy was pelted with snowballs from one direction, then bombarded by flying mud from the complete opposite direction, and then given a brief break before being attacked all over again. Crabbe and Goyle were standing to the side slightly, unsure as to whether they should do something or not.
This lasted for around fifteen minutes before a mud spattered Malfoy, having finally escaped the wrath of the 'invisible' snowballs, hurtled towards where the trio were hiding behind a tree, and disappeared towards the village.
"Come on guys, let's go." Blaise whispered, holding back laughter.
"Okay."
"Yes, let's!"
The three friends made their way back to Hogwarts, chatting and laughing amongst themselves before the snow began to fall faster.