AN: Prompts will be displayed at the bottom to avoid them potentially giving away things.
the tides are in our veins
AlwaysPadfoot
Chapter One
Ginger and Camomile Tea
On September tenth, Daphne Greengrass' face turned a shade of vibrant pink no one had seen before. Tracey Davis, her best friend of five years, frowned from behind her glasses and shot her a quizzical look. Daphne blinked the mortified expression off her face and thrust the Daily Prophet across the breakfast table. She tapped furiously at an advert in the announcements column and Tracey pushed her glasses into her hair, peering at the black print.
An Important Announcement From
THE GREENGRASS FAMILY
Lord and Lady Greengrass would like to announce their oldest daughter's seventeenth year. Daphne Edna Greengrass celebrates her special day in her sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The family wishes her a pleasant yet productive day and good luck with the remainder of her studies this term.
"What—" Tracey began.
"The small print," Daphne hissed.
Tracey squinted down again at the paper.
The Greengrass Family welcomes and encourages offers from families to pursue a partnership with their oldest daughter.
"Holy fu—"
"You'd think they could have told me, maybe even mentioned it in the letter they sent this morning," Daphne interrupted, clearly furious but keeping her voice to a harsh whisper. "Why, for Merlin's sake, would they print this in the Daily Prophet?"
Tracey leant backwards, unsure of what to say, whilst Daphne folded the paper in two and snapped no at anyone who asked to read it.
It wasn't until their Muggle Studies class later that morning that Tracey suggested a solution. "Can't you just scare all the men away like you usually do?"
Daphne snorted. It was something she had mulled over for the last few hours — something she was sure she could pull off too. The only problem was if her Grandfather found out. If he realised that she had been purposely warding off suitors, then he would be furious and claim she was bringing shame on the family. It was something he'd said multiple times when Daphne mentioned anything slightly akin to the fact she had no interest in boys whatsoever. So, realistically, chasing them all off probably wouldn't work forever.
She waved her hand dismissively. "A temporary solution, Trace."
"I'll think of something," Tracey replied. "You shouldn't be worried about it today anyway, Daph — it's your birthday, for Merlin's sake."
Her friend was right. Despite the embarrassment of her Grandfather basically putting her up for sale, she was supposed to be enjoying the day, not worrying. She should have realised it was going to happen sooner rather than later.
"You're right; I'll try and forget about it for now," Daphne said.
Tracey beamed from behind the end of the quill she was chewing. "Excellent; so I was thinking we should—"
"Miss Davis, Miss Greengrass, this is not the time for conversation," Professor Burbage called.
"Sorry, Professor," they chorused.
They managed to avoid trouble in their small N.E.W.T Level class until Tracey thought it was appropriate to toss a note onto Daphne's desk. It promptly missed and landed between Ernie Macmillian's and Padma Patil's desks right in front Professor Burbage. Their Muggle Studies Professor bent down to collect it and opened it to read.
The girls watched in horror until Burbage sighed. "Miss Davis, two points from Slytherin for throwing parchment around. Miss Greengrass, as it's your birthday, I will give you the benefit of the doubt. Now, please, girls, continue with your O.W.L recap booklets."
There was a mumbled yes, Professor from the two before they continued with the work they'd been set.
Finally, the clanging of the school bell echoed outside in the corridor, signalled the end of class. t The room was filled with the sounds of scuffling bags and scraping chairs. Professor Burbage called out to remind them to complete their booklets for homework and the class headed for the door. Daphne and Tracey were near the back of the small group when suddenly Ernie Macmillan stopped in the doorway and stepped back.
"After you, Daphne," he said.
Ernie had a slight stammer in his voice, which was unusual since he usually talked with such obnoxious confidence.
Daphne exchanged a look with her bespectacled friend and then turned back to the curly-haired Hufflepuff. "Um, thanks, I guess."
Confused, she quickly slipped through the open door. She was closely followed by Tracey, who leaned in close to whisper in her ear. "That was weird, right?"
"Yeah."
They began to walk down the corridor, only to hear the rush of feet that was Ernie catching up and falling into step to Daphne's left.
"So it's your birthday today, Daphne?" he asked.
"Yeah… it is," she answered slowly. "Why?"
"Well, I wanted to, you know, say happy birthday and stuff," he trailed off. "I mean, do you have a free class now? We could go finish these booklets in the library."
"I have History of Magic next," Daphne answered. "Why are you asking, Ernie?"
He had made no effort to talk to her before. Why was he now asking whether they wanted to study together? She was suspicious to say the least and she could see Trace frowning in her peripheral vision. Ernie's cheeks tinged pink and he immediately looked down at his shoes as if embarrassed.
"Well, I mean," he stammered, "I think you're pretty and stuff, and I... I was just... I thought, you know, because of — "
"Any time today, Ernie," Tracey muttered from behind Daphne.
Daphne had already guessed what he meant, however. Ernie had read the Daily Prophet this morning and therefore he was being nice to her in the hope that maybe their families could make an arrangement. Even so, Ernie couldn't quite bring himself to say that.
"—I mean. You know, it was just suggestion," he said, his confidence coming back. "Another time, then. Have a wonderful birthday."
He spun on his heel and strode away from them before either of them could say anything more. Daphne was rooted to the spot for a moment and Tracey made a questionable noise behind her.
"What the frick was that?" she exclaimed — except she didn't say frick, but something far more vulgar than that.
"That was the beginning of the impact of that stupid article this morning," Daphne explained frustratedly.
Trace pressed her lips together and Daphne huffed. This was turning into the worst birthday of her life so far. The two girls split at the end of the corridor: Daphne heading for the History of Magic classroom and Tracey heading in the direction of the stairs so she could make her way to Herbology. Between the Muggle Studies corridor and her History of Magic room, Daphne was stopped twice by different people.
A seventh year, Lewis Rowle, stopped her on the stairs between the third and fourth corridor.
"Daphne, right?" he asked, flashing particularly white teeth at her.
"Right." She nodded.
They'd met a few times at Pureblood balls but had never really exchanged more than a few words.
"Would you like to join me for lunch?"
"I—I said I'd eat with my friend today," she replied, trying not to sound as rude as she wanted to be.
"Tomorrow?" Lewis prompted.
"Maybe; I'll think about it," she said. "I have to go to class."
Daphne said goodbye and quickly ascended to the next floor, where she bumped into Theodore Nott.
"Woah, Daphne. Watch where you're going," he said jokingly.
The two sixth-year Slytherins got on well, so she apologised. "Sorry about that; I'm having one of those days."
"One of those days?" he prompted, picking up the book that had been in Daphne's hand and passing it over to her.
"Yeah."
She didn't particularly want to explain and Theo didn't push the topic either, which she was grateful for.
"Here," he said, "I'll walk with you. You're going to History of Magic, right?"
He walked the remainder of the way with her, making small talk as they usually did when they shared classes or were in the Slytherin's N.E.W.T. study room working. Unfortunately, that didn't last much longer. Daphne was just about to thank him and say goodbye when he stopped and spoke before she could.
"With your permission, Daphne, I would like to court you so our families can form a strong alliance and — "
"For Merlin's sake—" except she did not say Merlin's "—I don't want to be courted or anything. Just stop, Theo," she interrupted.
She didn't wait for his response; she simply stormed into History of Magic and dropped into her chair with a huff. Her bag slid to the floor with a thud and caught the attention of Susan Bones. Susan, Daphne, Terry Boot, Justin Finch-Fletchley, and Anthony Goldstein were the only five students who had pursued History of Magic to N.E.W.T. Level. The class was even smaller than her eight-strong Muggle Studies class. They were all close knit because of that. Susan slipped into the chair beside her.
"What's the matter, Daphne?" she asked.
Daphne turned to the redhead, whose blue eyes were filled with concern, and sighed. "It's nothing, Susan; don't worry about it."
Susan, however, turned out to be wholly persistent. "You are obviously upset. I mean, your usual Slytherin demeanor is pretty non-existent. Could I help in some way?"
"Unless you have sway to retract an announcement from the Daily Prophet," Daphne responded, "then not really, Susan, no."
"Ah, right. I saw that this morning. How are you feeling about it?"
"Pretty crap. I think my grandfather is trying to make a point because he knows I care more about school than I do about dating or whatever."
"I can't even begin to imagine, Daphne," she said. "I'm sorry."
"It's fine." The Slytherin sighed. "It's not your fault."
For a moment, neither spoke. There was just the chatter of the three boys across the room. Class didn't start for another five minutes. Eventually, Susan broke the silence again. "Is there no one you like at all? Boys-wise? Girls, even?"
Daphne's head shot up. Susan's lightly-freckled face was serious, so she wasn't joking. She felt her cheeks heat at the question.
"No," Daphne responded. "I mean — Merlin, imagine. I'm getting palpitations just thinking what my grandfather would say if I were… if I liked girls."
Susan hummed. "So that's a no on boys, and a no on girls. Perhaps you're interested in merpeople?"
Daphne laughed at the knowing look on Susan's face upon her suggestion. Clearly joking, Susan smiled and threw her hands up in the air. "Success — I just made you smile."
Daphne could feel herself beaming. Susan was so easy to talk to that it surprised her; she did feel mildly less annoyed than a few minutes ago. At least she was being nice with no ulterior motive, unlike the three boys earlier, who had just acted chivalrous for the sake of a family arrangement. That, and Daphne knew Susan must have been struggling herself this year. She'd read in the paper about Susan's aunt, Amelia Bones, being killed during the school holidays.
Even so, Susan leant back in her chair, still grinning widely. She pushed her hair to one side so she could play with it over her shoulder. "In all seriousness, Daphne, you seem like a good person. So if I can help in any way, please just let me know, okay?"
"Alright," Daphne replied. "Thanks, Susan. That means a lot, actually."
For the rest of the class, the two girls chatted on and off, and worked together when there were set tasks. Daphne found herself forgetting all about everything that had happened previous to the class. She was captivated by her new friend, intrigued by her friendliness, her open-mindedness, and Daphne was totally at ease for an hour and a half.
When the bell sounded, Susan turned to her and smiled. "Try and enjoy the rest of your birthday, Daph. You deserve to."
"Thanks."
Susan left alongside her fellow Hufflepuff, Justin, but waved and called goodbye before disappearing through the classroom door. Daphne packed up slowly, intending to avoid the majority of people making their way to lunch. Despite the fear of more people hounding her thanks to the announcement in the paper, Daphne was smiling. She had never thought a History of Magic lesson could be quite so enjoyable — and so calming.
Susan had proved her wrong.
Competition: QLFC Round Five
Prompt: Write about a character acting chivalrous, or having another character acting chivalrous towards your character.
Word Count: 2074 (not including titles and A/Ns)