A/N:
First fanfic, so it's gonna be rough. I have some clue where I want this to go but no idea if it will actually make it there or not. Probably will be cut short as to prevent random sidetracks that doomed my first ever story. So round one here we go.
A/N 2:
If I owned any of the content you recognize I wouldn't be going to school. As I am still in school, I own nothing. And probably never will.
Chapter 1: Party At Malfoy Manor
Malfoy Manor:
Daphne let her eyes wander across the guests mingling in the main ballroom as she tried to find people she knew. She loathed these kind of parties, people where to uptight about appearances to give up any good information. Plus, she was expected to behave a certain way in order to prevent bringing shame to the Greengrass name. She saw her father talking to the Nott patriarch off to one side. Probably about a marriage contract for me, she thought cynically.
Politically speaking Theo wouldn't be a horrible husband, his family was well connected with agricultural production, and he had some sense of subtlety and brains. Theo was behind the Potter Stinks badges in fourth year, and he had some sense of subtlety and brains. Theo was behind the Potter Stinks badges in fourth year, even let Draco take credit for them publicly, no sense getting a Champion, maligned as he was, mad at you. Potter had a long feud with Draco beforehand so wouldn't think anything of him doing the badges. No, Nott wasn't a bad choice, unless it was a marriage to Theo's father, but that would never happen, too big of an age gap, it would seem like her father just wanted t0 get rid of her. And that was not a good move for either side.
Daphne thought she was more than capable of being valuable outside of an arranged marriage, but nobody asked her opinion on the matter. Hopefully whoever she ended up marrying would see that. She didn't have high hopes for Malfoy though. Seriously, one of the infamous Black sisters reduced to little more than eye candy? And Draco is so set on being a spitting image of his father. Seeing Lady Malfoy walking around exchanging pleasantries, she approached the older witch. Daphne had heard stories of the three Black sisters during her time in Slytherin, Bellatrix's hexing of a perverted Hufflepuff still had the Badgers looking over their shoulders when discussing girls to this day. And the fight they got into after Andromeda announced she was marrying the muggleborn solicitor? She had seen the damage that was left in the common room walls. "Good evening Lady Malfoy" Daphne greeted the host of tonight's party.
"Well hello Miss Greengrass. Your summer is going well I trust?"
"Yes ma'am. I am currently looking forward to receiving my OWL scores"
Lady Malfoy nodded, "Yes I'm sure you did well on them. I know Draco has been anticipating their arrival. He's quite proud of his work in Defense and Potions" Daphne smiled at that. It was an open secret that Professor Snape was quite liberal in his tutoring in those subjects.
"As he should be, I must confess that I am worried about my score in Defense however. With all the turnover it is quite a challenge to be prepared"
"What did you think of Professor Umbridge this year?" Mrs. Malfoy inquired, looking curious.
"To be honest I think she was unqualified to teach the subject. Her work as High Inquisitor was excellent, but to be honest I learnt more from the fraud Lockheart than her. I would have liked to see her take over History, with an Auror, or someone given the Defense Job" not the most politically correct response, but an honest one.
"Was it truly that bad? Draco seemed less than impressed, but he was like that for everyone, except Moody, terrible business with Crouch"
"Honestly, yes. In my opinion her mission to improve the Ministry's position at Hogwarts would have been better suited to the History job, as there she could highlight all the Ministry has done and paint muggles in as worse a light as possible. As it was she made the Ministry seem incompetent and alienated three fourths of the school. Additionally, I had to blackmail that mudblood Granger into tutoring me so I could have a chance to pass the Defense exam"
"And how was that? Draco tells me she is insufferable"
Daphne smiled knowingly "She can be, if you let her get her feet under her. Keep her off balance. And she is delightful to watch sputter and try her hand at comebacks It doesn't hurt that she knows what she's talking about. It's a shame who her parents are. She could be quite the asset, still could be if people weren't so blinded by blood purity"
"Are you saying that the mudblood might be good for something? That Purebloods aren't superior?"
"No, Purebloods are still by in large more skilled than the average mudblood. Granger is not average. She has a knack for problem solving I have never seen before and an outsider's perspective that could prove beneficial, if we can dissuade her from some of her more, shall we say radical ideas." Mrs. Malfoy looked thoughtful at that.
"I take it you are already trying to take her in under your cloak? Do you think you can keep her under control?"
"Yes I am trying to bring her in, but with people like her it is less control and more direction away from sensitive issues"
"Hmm" she said, not quite approving of her answer "well, I wish you the best in dealing with such an uncultured girl"
"Thank you milady" Daphne replied as they went their separate ways. She had not gotten more than a few steps away before she was intercepted by Susan Bones and Pansy Parkinson. They both had serious looks on their faces.
"We need to talk, meet up on the balcony." Susan said before sweeping off to talk to Millicent. Shrugging Daphne meandered her way up to the secluded balcony overlooking the dance floor. There were a few pairs talking business, but otherwise it was a fine spot for a private conversation. She saw where Susan, Pansy, Lilly Moon, Millicent, Hannah Abbot and Lisa Turpin where talking quietly.
"Good, you're here. That's everyone. So ladies, we have a problem." Pansy started. Everyone keyed into the conversation at that point.
"Yes, I overheard Nott and Malfoy Senior discussing a bill that they wanted to push through the Wizengamot. A coven bill" Susan said. The ladies where taken aback by this. Covens had been looked down upon as craven for close to 200 years. Why would anybody be talking about a bill regulating covens when the last coven went extinct over 75 years ago.
"However coven is just a polite cover, think sex slave harem for a more accurate picture of what they want put in place" Pansy continued.
"The Fuck!" Lilly swore, face turning a livid red. The rest mirrored her sentiments.
"Do they really think this will pass?" Lisa asked, "I know most of the Wizengamot is male, but still they do have daughters right?"
"More likely they think this will be a good way to shack up certain families under a more respectable guise. Would these be actual covens, governed by Coven Rule, or paper covens?" Daphne asked.
"Legit covens, but the rules proposed for Ministry formed covens would be so skewed it wouldn't matter much" Susan replied. "To be honest I think our best shot would be to form our own covens before that happened. They think it will pass the September session. Definitely not before then though. We have time, but not much"
"So we're all going to form a Coven?" Hannah asked.
"Well, maybe more than one. I don't think I could stand being in a coven with Pansy, no offense" Susan replied.
"Ok, so are these six plus one covens, or what?" Millicent asked.
"Six plus one is a pretty standard starting coven. We just would need to get them registered before the law passes, which looks to me to be a pretty sure thing. We would need someone official to witness the formation ritual, and I don't think Dumbledore would go for it. He's not a big fan of blood magic" Pansy answered. They all nodded at this, agreeing to see what they could do to protect themselves in the face of the coming change.
They all agreed that this was an idiotic move, shaking the foundations of their society, but at the same time, it was the Traditionalists that where pushing the law through. They must be seeing this as their last gasp to stay on power after Voldemort showed himself at the Ministry. Daphne knew it was rumored that many Traditionalist stalwarts, such as Malfoy, had barely managed to escape from there in Death Eater regalia ahead of the Aurors snapping at their heels. Daphne shuddered to think about what they might do to Hogwarts, as they still had a respectable presence on the Board, even after Malfoy was removed.
"Hey, Susan" Daphne caught up with the girl as they broke up "Your Aunt would be willing to witness right?"
"Hey Daph, she should be, contingent on her agreeing to let me join. You have any ideas on who you would join up with?"
"I have a name or two, nothing solid yet, you?"
"Same. I was thinking about Hannah, but Pansy has got her teeth into her pretty good and I can hardly stand the girl. Padma and Su Li from Ravenclaw would be another two that I would consider"
"Nobody else from Hufflepuff? I thought you Badgers stuck together?"
"We do normally, things have been tense since Cedric died and tempers are starting to get frayed. I hung out in the library most of last year"
"That sucks. What do you think of Tracey and Granger?"
"Haven't really talked to either. Hermione needs to get off her high horse, but this may be a good thing for her. I hope that five of us can reign her in. Tracey strikes me as a snarky malcontent"
"So no on either of them"
"Eh better than going with Pansy. Hermione was helpful during the DA last year, more patient than she was with Ron or Harry. Tracey seems like someone who either would be a lot of fun or trouble with a capital T"
"So, willing to go in with me? I don't really care the two you ask, I'm pulling Granger and Tracey"
Susan shrugged "Give me a week to think on it. Right now I'm leaning yes but don't want to commit. We still would need to figure out the guy. And sorry I am vetoing any Slytherins. Bunch of prats."
"Too true. Gryffindor isn't much better, but at least Longbottom would be easy to mold"
"Or Potter. Hermione has him pretty whipped from what I hear. And they aren't even dating."
"Still hardheaded and stubborn"
"That's a prerequisite for Lions"
"We'll see. I will admit that having the Potter name wouldn't really hurt any coven, just have to make sure he knows this isn't some fantasy harem situation, and if he wants to keep his balls he'll treat us right" Daphne admitted after a pregnant pause.
"Everyone is always saying he's too noble for his own good"
"Maybe, still not my first choice."
"I'll give you that. Right now I'm leaning towards Ernie, but I'm not sure he is right either. Honestly none of the guys inspire confidence. Think Pansy will tap Draco?"
"She'll try. The other five will veto though, even if they are all Slytherin. Draco is known as too much of a Daddy'd Boy for most of the girls there"
"Ok, hopefully I can keep on good terms with Hannah, cause it would be awkward for our friendship to come to an end because of this."
"I wish you the best. I'll get in touch with my choices after this gets over" Daphne replied. They exchanged well wishes as they parted ways. She traded a few brief words with Pansy as they agreed that both of them in a coven would not work. Pansy had a more segregationist view on muggleborns than Daphne. Daphne thought that if they had talent it should be put to work for the Pureblood elite. They had long ago agreed to disagree on the issue of how best to deal with them and being in the same coven would lead to conflict that was less than conducive to success.
Daphne's relationship with Pansy could be described as civil. Even in socially isolated Slytherin they rarely ran in the same circles. The Inquisitorial Squad last year was as an aberration. Both shared a basic political outlook and goals, but their respective ideas on how to get there lead to disagreements. It didn't help that Pansy looked down on Tracey because she was a half-blood, while Daphne valued her as an adviser and confidant. It often paid to have an adviser from the lower social classes. Hermione was how she hoped to fill that role for the muggleborns.
The party dragged on interminably after that bit of excitement. Daphne filled her role as heiress with all the poise and grace expected of her, but her mind was elsewhere. She had problems to deal with, and mingling with the upper crust did not lead her to a solution. Nothing got done at these events. It was a time to feel out the crowd, judge the atmosphere surrounding an idea. The vibe she got from this party did not fill her with hope. It looked like Susan and Pansy where right. The Coven Act was the main talk, even more so than what was to happen to Fudge. Of course she also had repeat her spiel about school at least 10 different times to various parties. Small talk was inevitable.
It was a very tired Daphne that exited the floo that night. She bid her parents good night as they retired to their respective rooms. She didn't even glance at the letter from Hermione on her desk. That was all for tomorrow. Now it was time to sleep, and gather her thoughts.