Team: Kenmare Kestrels

Position: Beater 1

Character : Daphne Greengrass

Optional Prompts
9 (word) Dangerous
10 (quote) 'They say marriages are made in Heaven. But so is thunder and lightning.' - Clint Eastwood.
11 (word) Atmosphere

Now and Forever Chapter 3

(Daphne POV)
I stared in trepidation as the great horned owl flew directly to me, knocking a few smaller owls out of its way. "Please, no," I whispered, my hands fisted in my lap. "No. Please don't be for me…" My voice trailed off and I whimpered when the owl landed right in front of me. He glared at me before sticking his leg out with a sealed scroll tied to it.

"What's that then, Greengrass?" Pansy asked from a few seats down. We were the only ones at breakfast this early, so I was able to get away with a slight look of horror crossing my face.

"Marriage contract. Father is trying to marry me advantageously for… Well, you know." I took the scroll and winced when the owl cuffed me on the cheek with his wing on the way out of the Great Hall.

Pansy gulped and scanned the air to see if her father's owl was coming in for her this morning as well. "Do you think Father would send my contract at the same time as yours?"

I shrugged, forlorn. "At this point, I'm not sure I even care if your father sends anything, Parkinson." I resorted to using her last name to try to distance myself from the message I had yet to read. "I know which family I'm to be married into. It's not a good match. If anything, he'll probably try to kill me once he finds out… which will be soon." I nodded toward the eagle owl that had just flew in and perched on the table where Draco Malfoy usually sat.

Pansy paled. "You're to marry Draco? But what about…" Pansy's voice dropped and she slid over to sit next to me. "What about the big reveal yesterday about Neville and Draco?"

I shook my head and whispered, "I gave a potion to the house elves. They slipped it in the pumpkin juice carafes last night and will repeat the process today. No one will remember except a select few. It's for their safety that no one outside of their protectors know what happened. I'll need your help to keep the peace as much as possible."

Pansy's eyes widened. "Will you keep Draco from the potion?"

I shook my head. "He has to take it. If he doesn't, the knowledge could be ripped from him and used against him. I know that Granger casts spells to check she isn't being poisoned due to the hostile environment for Muggleborns, so hopefully she'll stick to water or coffee once the scan comes up positive. She'll help Longbottom get through everything."

A scowl crossed Pansy's face. "Is that why the love potion I laced her juice with didn't work on her last year?"

I laughed hollowly. "Probably."

Pansy looked around as students started filing in. Per my confession earlier, the chatter spilling out around the Great Hall had nothing to do with Longbottom and Draco's reveal yesterday.

The atmosphere of the Great Hall was slightly uplifting, though there was a bit of contention at the Gryffindor table due to the Weasley twins razzing their little brother.

"Let's go back to the Common Room, Parkinson. I forgot my book for potions," I angled my eyes to the doors as Malfoy walked in. "I don't want to be here when he reads the letter."

Pansy nodded.

As we left, Granger shuffled in with a yawn.

Pansy sat at our shared table and watched the class like a hawk. She gasped and I turned just in time to see a beetle land across the room in Granger and Longbottom's cauldron.

"HERMIONE!" Longbottom yelled, diving onto the girl knocking her to the floor as the cauldron exploded spectacularly. Granger shrieked as they fell.

"P-Pro-Professor Snape," Granger whimpered, shifting around, trying to get out from under the still form of Longbottom.

"Two hundred points from Slytherin," Professor Snape snapped as he levitated Longbottom and assisted Granger in standing. "Gryffindors dismissed. Slytherins are to remain here until I return. I want to know who threw the beetle, and why, or I will have you all punished for causing irreparable damage to a classmate. Miss Granger, we are going to the infirmary."

I watched with pursed lips as the Gryffindors bolted out after the Professor and the injured students. Not even Potter and Weasley stayed to see what would happen.

"That was unbelievably dangerous! Who was it?! SPEAK!" I practically shrieked the last word.

Pansy stood at my side, arms crossed. "House Parkinson will call a blood feud on all of you if you don't come forward, now."

"As will House Greengrass," I snarled.

Malfoy arched an eyebrow at us, "What's the big deal? It was only the Mudblood and blood traitor that got hurt. It wasn't even a big enough explosion to get Potter and Weasley."

I turned my baleful glare on the Malfoy heir. "I suppose you read the letter from your father?"

Draco sneered and nodded. He opened his mouth to retort, but I cut him off.

"Well, they say marriages are made in heaven. But so is thunder and lightning. Be prepared when I bring the wrath of Merlin upon your head should I find out that you were the cause." I turned to face Pansy. "Pansy Parkinson. House Greengrass formally extends an alliance to House Parkinson. Should I find out the instigator of the explosion, will you be my second in a duel against them?" Daphne extended her wand arm forward.

Pansy clasped her wrist. "House Parkinson accepts the alliance with House Greengrass. I will stand as your second should the need arise."

The other Slytherin students edged away from us as the magic of a formal alliance glowed brightly.

"A formal alliance over Granger and Longbottom, Daphne?" Bulstrode asked in awe.

Zabini stepped forward , pulling Nott by his sleeve . "We had nothing to do with the explosion. We have a hard enough time keeping our own cauldron from being a hazard. We don't need the added stress of turning someone else's into an inferno of destruction."

I eyed them both critically before I nodded. "Go stand by the door. You can't leave until the Professor gets back."

Draco scoffed, "Who put you in charge?"

I growled, "Shut it, Malfoy, if you know what's good for you." I studied the other Slytherin students. Zabini and Nott were by the door due to their innocence—in this matter at least. Excluding myself and Pansy, that left Bulstrode, Goyle, Crabbe, Davis, and Malfoy.

Tracey Davis watched the interaction silently, Millicent Bulstrode at her side. Crabbe and Goyle flanked Malfoy.

"Who did it? I won't ask again," I said quietly.

"That's perfectly alright, Miss Greengrass. I will get to the bottom of this attack. Miss Parkinson, Miss Greengrass, Mr. Zabini, and Mr. Nott. You are all excused. Head back to the Common Room. Alert the other years that I will be holding a House meeting after supper," Professor Snape said with his signature drawl as he strode back into the Potions classroom.

I sent one last glare, full with a promise of retribution for the instigator, then linked arms with Pansy and left the class.

Once the four of us were out, the telltale flash of privacy wards went up around the door.

Zabini stopped and looked at the both of us. "What was that all about, Daph? Pans?"

Theo stepped up and cast his own privacy spell around the group. "Why does nobody remember what happened yesterday? Such a big revelation should be gossiped about but nobody had a clue when I asked around."

"We had to protect them," I started to speak, but Pansy's voice cut in over mine.

"It was for the good of all of us. If Lord Malfoy received word of his heir in a relationship with a male—Longbottom, no less—he would have disowned him and had Neville, Alice, and Frank Longbottom killed. He probably wouldn't be able to get to Lady Augusta since she's on the Wizengamot. Don't try to argue that, either. I know for a fact he would—my father would do the same to any girl I might bring home as a romantic interest."

Zabini watched us closely for signs of deception. Seeing none, he sighed. "What can we do to fix this?"

Pansy looked at the Potions door over her shoulder, "I hate to say it, but we need Granger's help."

I groaned, "The rest of you go back to the Common Room. I'm going to go talk to the smartest witch in our year. Hopefully she won't hex me on sight."

Pansy patted me consolingly on the shoulder. "Good luck. You're going to need it."

Daphne squared up her shoulders and walked to the stairs as the others watched her leave. "Here goes nothing."