Beta: digthewriter
Written For: hprare_cliche 2014, prompt A10: Eighth Year Ministry Ball. (Made it a Valentine's Day Ball), F1: Childhood Friends in Love (doing whatever I want to do—and how could I say no to that?) for nearlyconscious
Pairing(s)/Character(s): Daphne/Pansy, Blaise/Ginny, Harry/Draco
Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Rating: R
Warnings (Highlight to view):* Students slipping students potions. *
Word Count/Art Medium: 1680
Summary: It's Valentine's Day and Pansy is fighting with one of her best friends, again.
Author Notes: Thanks to my beta: D.

Daphne was too drunk for this. Draco and Pansy were fighting again and all she'd been able to piece together from Pansy's rant was something about him being blond, which just made her defences come up as she was also a blond. It was unlikely the fight was about him being blond, but Daphne pulled at the tips of her hair anyway.

Pansy was good at that: tearing down Daphne's self esteem without a thought. Then she fell against Daphne's shoulder and said, 'You're a much better friend than he's ever been. All he thinks of is himself and his prick,' and Daphne let go of the negative thoughts about her hair colour. Pansy was also the best at making everyone else in the room become insignificant.

'Come, love.' Daphne nudged Pansy off her shoulder. They might be insignificant, but they were still there and—as Pansy wasn't particularly quiet with her complains—they'd begun to stare. She stood, pulling Pansy to her feet beside her and they both swayed. As she guided Pansy out of the Great Hall she glanced at Draco who glared in the opposite direction determined not to look at them. Millicent stood to his right and nodded to her. She attempted one back, but it made her dizzy.

It was the worst night for this. Earlier that evening, they'd—as in her and her fellow Slytherins—welcomed the spiked juice. It helped calm their nerves about being forced into an uncomfortable social situation with the rest of the school. Classes were one thing, but a Valentine's Day ball was quite another. Unsurprisingly, it was Granger's idea—the ball, not the alcohol; but, surprisingly, it wasn't altogether a bad one. Blaise in an attempt to mock Draco—because there was no amount of alcohol that would get Blaise to admit he simply wanted to talk to Ginny Weasley—joined her in a conversation with Harry Potter as they'd all been friends all along. After they removed their jaws from the floor, they answered whatever, no doubt tasteless, question it was Blaise asked them.

And laughed.

Not a forced this situation is making us uncomfortable and we're only laughing to be polite and not ruin our best friends attempt at unification laugh, but a genuine Ginny Weasley had tears running down her cheeks and Harry Potter turned red from the effort of trying not to laugh. On top of that, they all glanced toward Draco right before it happened.

It was typical Blaise. But it wasn't in the privacy of their common room just the four to seven of them picking at each other's weak spots. It was in public and Pansy laughed too.

'If one little thing doesn't go his way he just—'

Daphne hated to admit it, but she couldn't care less what Draco had said. She'd heard it all before and she knew Draco. Whatever he said was true, and the reason Pansy was so upset about it was because she had no defence against it. Draco and Pansy had been over for three years at that point, but sometimes it still felt like Pansy was waiting for him to change his mind.

As they walked down the stairs Daphne asked, 'Are you still in love with him?'

'What? Of course, not.' Pansy stopped and the look on her face almost made Daphne regret that she'd asked. 'I'm in love with you; you know that,' Pansy said, 'he can suck Potter's cock for all I care, but he is still one of my best friends and I still care—' Her voice caught and she closed her eyes.

Daphne pulled lightly on her hand and they began to walk again, but after a couple steps Daphne stopped.

'What's wrong?'

'You know,' Daphne said, 'Alcohol is such a tame thing to spike with considering all the options.'

'What are you suggesting?'

'It is Valentine's day, is it not?'

A smile spread across Pansy's face. 'And?'

'We'd really be doing everyone a favour.'

'Quit being cryptic; what's your idea!'

Daphne began down the stairs again quicker than she had been earlier. 'Do you mind terribly if we don't use the lust potions we bought for tonight?' Soon they were in the Dudgeons both walking quicker than they should under the influence of alcohol.

'But sex is so much better on those potions,' Pansy whined.

'Yes,' Daphne said, 'but it also makes it near impossible not to kiss someone when you really want to kiss them...and Blaise hasn't left Weasley's side since he first joined their conversation. I doubt he will unless he is told to.'

'And really,' Pansy finished for her, 'Draco fighting with me is all his doing, isn't it?'

Most of the younger Slytherins were in bed, but a few gave them odd looks as they made their way through the common room. They both ran down to their room stumbling and giggling. Once they got there, Daphne found the potions in her trunk. She grabbed two of the four. The strongest lust potion they'd bought and the one that heighten their senses. The second potion she handed to Pansy.

'You stay here and get ready for me...I'll be back.'

Spiking a punch bowl was not the smartest thing to attempt while drunk; and since the main part of her plan to keep from getting caught was not to be seen, she couldn't enter the hall. But as luck would have it, just outside the doors she ran into someone who could help her: Theo.

'What do you want?' he said as soon as he saw her.

'What makes you think I want something?'

'The look on your face—you're smiling. It's creepy and weird, stop it.' He smirked back at her as the smile dropped from her face. 'Just tell me what you want.'

'A bit of revenge for Pansy?' She handed him the vial.

He laughed as he read the label.

'I take that as a yes?'

He nodded and she began to back away.

'You're not going to stick around and watch?'

'Theo, our rooms are empty...I'll be content enough to hear the stories tomorrow.'

'Point, but you should join us later if you finish early.'

She stopped herself before she said her automatic response about how she didn't have those types of problems. He was doing her a favour, after all. And Pansy was waiting for her.

Daphne preferred not to take potions that played with her perceptions, but Pansy loved it. She was past the rolling around the oh so silky sheets and simply rubbing her hands in circles at her sides once Daphne returned.

'So how do you want to do this?'

Pansy smiled, her eyes closed, as she said, 'How ever you want, but I don't want to have to move from this spot.'

Daphne rolled her eyes. Pansy was going to collapse from the alcohol before either of them finished, and then be upset she wasted her favourite potion in the morning. Daphne walked to the foot of the bed, gently took Pansy's foot then leant down and kissed her ankle. Pansy moaned as soon and her lips made contact. Daphne did like the reactions she got out of her when on the potions.

She kissed every few inches up the inside of Pansy's leg and then curved up her thigh to her hip. It would have been every inch, except the moaning became soft and by the time she made her way to Pansy's lips there was minimal response. She smiled fondly at her girlfriend and laid beside her then pulled the blankets over both of them. The alcohol pulled her quickly into sleep as well.

#

Most things you do seem much smarter, funnier, and cool when you are drunk than they do the next morning when you wake up hung over with Ginny Weasley smirking down at you.

'What d'you want?'

'Blaise needed a girl to come in here and fetch you, as boys can't; but to answer your question all Iwant is to say: You're very lucky Blaise kissed me before Malfoy kissed my boyfriend or I'd be hexing you right now, but instead—thank you.' She turned and left with a quick, 'Blaise is waiting.'

'Who was that too loud harpy?'

'Ginny Weasley,' Daphne groaned as she pulled herself up. 'I fear this might be a very bad day.'

'I distinctly heard a "thank you", that would indicate appreciation from our little prank.'

'Oh, Pansy dear, I'm quite aware of this, but Weasley—how should I put this—if she was the best choice to send out of all the options, then how do the people a little closer to us feel about our prank? Particularly, Draco, who we both know has never had a problem getting into our room before.'

'Oh, shite.' Pansy rubbed her forehead. When Daphne moved to dress, Pansy stopped her and pulled her into a kiss. 'How about we let them wait?'

'Are you sure?'

'Yes.' Pansy smirked before she gave another kiss. 'If Draco is upset, he can come and tell me himself. Honestly, if he isn't busy with Potter right now, than he deserves a bit more torture. There is only so much we can do for him before he has to help himself.' She rolled her eyes and then looked back at Daphne. When she spoke again her voice was softer and without the edge it had previously carried. 'So...how about you take the rest of your clothes off and we try another one of our potions, hmm?'

Pansy's ups outweighed her downs and Daphne had no regrets about how they'd spent Valentine's Day. If only the rest of their friends would be this lucky. Perhaps, soon they would be.