"What do you tell Crabbe and Goyle?"
"What do I tell them…when?"
"When you want to be alone."
"Merlin, what do you tell your dog when you want to be alone? Nothing. I just tell them to stay, and they don't follow me."
"Just like that?"
"They're not here now, are they?" he said, shrugging.
"You treat them like animals."
"They allow themselves to be treated like animals. If they don't obey me, they'll latch on to someone else."
"Why would you even put up with them?" she asked grumpily. She began ripping out tufts of grass and throwing it into the wind. "They're boring, and rude, and stupid."
"Why do you put up with Bulstrode? She's fat and ugly, as well as boring."
"She wouldn't have any friends if I didn't include her," replied Pansy, frowning.
"Ever the humanitarian, Pans. Always looking out for the downtrodden."
"Besides, she's in love with you. It's always, 'Draco this' and 'Draco that.' She wouldn't always be hanging off my arm if I weren't with you so much." She snorted. "As though she even had a chance with you to begin with."
He smiled dryly. "Are you calling me a snob?"
Sweetly, "No, dearest, I'm calling you a Slytherin. You're cold, calculating, ambitious, and Pureblood. That's why you wouldn't be seen alone with Millicent if the fate of the known world depended on it. And that's why I put up with you."
"Is that so?" He was grinning in earnest now. "So why would I put up with you?"
With lowered lashes, she matched his grin. "Because I'm the only one you know who's worth it."