A/N:Thanks so much to everyone who has reviewed, added to favorites or story alerts thus far!*Hands out cyber Halloween treats*This one begins during the time that Arla was in Arithmancy last chapter and shows us what Tracey and Daphne have gotten up to… oh boy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters used in this fanfiction except for my OC Arla Paxton. Or Cardcaptor Sakura.

Chapter 14: Death and Divination

Meanwhile, as Arla entered her Arithmancy classroom, the rest of the Slytherins sans Blaise entered the Divination classroom in the North Tower. They entered the classroom though a circular door, which was unusual enough as it was, but what awaited them on the inside was even more different than what they had learned to expect when going to classes at Hogwarts. The classroom had poufs rather than chairs, several small circular tables, and the drapes were drawn within the room. Crystal balls, candle stubs, and teacups aligned the shelves on the walls of the room. It had a sort of mystical, out of this world sort of aura about it, and was certainly unlike most of their classrooms that had desks neatly arranged into columns and rows.

Daphne and Tracey sat together and started chatting about the room.

"This place is so cool, "Daphne opinionated about her current surroundings.

"I think my creativity will flow quite nicely in this classroom, "Tracey hypothesized. The girls as well as almost all of the other occupants in the room continued to talk after this until a woman entered the room. She adorned large round glasses that gave her an owlish sort of look. Her brown hair was relatively curly and frizzy. She was rather thin and possessed dark green eyes, enlarged due to her spectacles. Her attire consisted of a spangled shawl and jewelry.

"Good day, my dears, "she greeted in a misty, fairy like voice. "You have decided to venture into the art of Divination. I must tell you books alone will not get you very far in this subject, and only those who possess the Inner Eye can truly hope to be prosperous in this field." For the next ten minutes or so, she went on to talk about what the class would entail before she split them into groups of two to practice tea leaf reading. Tracey was paired with Theodore Nott while Daphne was paired with Draco. Theodore Nott was a tall lanky boy with wavy chestnut brown curls who Tracey, despite being in all of his classes for the past two years, still did not know very well.

"Daphne, "Draco began before they started.

""Since when do you call me Daphne?" Daphne interrupted.

"Since now, "Draco brushed this off. "Anyway, how old is your sister?"

"She just started Hogwarts so she's eleven years old… and is far too young to get married, if that's what you're thinking."Daphne informed him, looking at him suspiciously.

"Oh for the love of- I was not planning on marrying an eleven year old girl, Daphne!"Draco protested but then composed himself."Did I ever tell you you have such lovely green eyes, Daphne?"

"No, but other people have on countless occasions," Daphne added."Astoria's gotten compliments on her eyes even more than I have though. I mean, she has one green eye and one blue; that's extraordinary."

"Yes, "Draco mused.

"Look Malfoy, let's just cut to the chase, "Daphne spoke suddenly. "I understand why you fancy me, but I'm not ready to be dating anybody yet. Besides, I don't approve of the way you go around bullying people, so even if I was ready for that sort of commitment, I would still not go out with you unless you changed your ways, then I may or may not reconsider. I'm sure you actually are a nice enough boy deep down Draco, but I am not interested in dating a bully. Please do not feel bad about this; I am sure a handsome boy like you can find a girl, and I only hope you treat her well."

Draco spluttered at Daphne, unable to form a coherent sentence.

"Oh God I'm sorry Draco, did I hurt your feelings?"Daphne worried.

"NO! Greengrass, I was not flirting with you just now! I was not trying to ask you out; I was trying to- never mind!"Draco scowled and looked down at his tea leaves.

Meanwhile at a table nearby sat Theodore and Tracey. "So, um, how does this work again… exactly?" Tracey mumbled to Theodore. She and Theodore rarely interacted, and she had always been particularly shy around him ever since the day in her first year when she had accidentally set his robes on fire. He was not a mean boy, she knew, and could not remember him ever participating in any form of bullying, but she could not help at the moment feel slightly nervous around him.

"We try analyzing what we see in our cups by comparing them to images in our textbooks on pages 5-10 and looking up the meaning of the symbols."Theodore replied.

"Oh. Right. Erm, thanks."Tracey mumbled again, looking into his cup. It was very difficult to match the cup's contents to any of the symbols in the textbook.

"What does the sun symbolize?"He asked, looking up from her cup.

"The sun in general? Well, that usually symbolizes hope or happiness or brightness or-"

"Concerning Tessomancy."Theodore clarified.

Concerning what? " Sorry?"

"Tessomancy."Theodore repeated. "You know, tea leaf reading."

"Oh. Right."Tracey blushed and looked down at her book. "It means pretty much what I said a minute ago: It means happiness."

"Well then, "Theodore smiled."It looks like you've got happiness in store for you. I saw it in your cup. There was an acorn there to, which seems to suggest that you're going to be quite wealthy some day."

"Thanks."Wait a moment, why I am I thanking him? It's not like he just created happiness for me if it was already there to begin with or is offering me money. God, I must seem like such an idiot to him right now…

"What does mine say?"Theodore broke her train of thought.

Tracey looked down."Okay, I see what appears to be a skull… and right next to that is a cross…

then what looks like a falcon having an aneurism-"

"A what?"Theodore busted out laughing so hard everyone in the vicinity stared at him. It was very rare to witness Theodore talk or make any sort of indication of him being alive, let alone the sort of raucous laughter.

"A falcon, that to me at least looks kind of like its having an aneurism, "Tracey repeated, taken aback by his sudden laughter, unsure whether or not she should join in. It did not seem like he was laughing at her or trying to be mocking; he simply found what she said to be amusing. Still, while the tension Tracey was feeling still hung in the air, it had now lessoned somewhat. "Let's see, there's also this club and this thing that looks like a dog… what do all those mean?"

Theodore rifled through the pages of his textbook." Well, the cross symbolizes hardship and suffering, the falcon represents a deadly enemy- although I don't know what it means if said falcon is having an aneurism-, a club stands for an attack, a skull means danger, and you just saw the Grim, which I assume you already know the meaning of judging by the comically terrified expression on your face. Now, I'm no expert at tea leaf reading but I believe you essentially just prophesized that an enemy of some sort is going to cause me a lot of strife, endanger me, attack me, and then probably kill me. "

"Oh my God!"Tracey buried her face in her hands, clearly mortified and horrified at the same time. "I am so sorry!"

"It's all right!"Theodore assured her, laughing."You're not a real Seer, it's not like this is going to come true or anything! Relax, this is all just practice."

Tracey was about to respond when Professor Trelawney announced to the class, "Miss Daphne Greengrass has just read in her tea leaves that Draco Malfoy is going to die at the hands of a Hippogriff! Oh, woe is the future! That is the second time this morning I have foreseen a student's death. How my heart aches at the thought of young life ending so soon!"

"I'm going to die?!" Draco rounded on Daphne. "Greengrass, this is your entire fault! If you hadn't read those tea leaves, none of this would have happened!"

"Oh my dear, do not treat Miss Greengrass so harshly."Professor Trelawney told him."Even if she had not read those leaves you are going to die either way."

"Oh, thanks, that's a very comforting thought!"Draco sniped sarcastically.

"If it makes you feel better mate, "Theodore piped up."Tracey here just read my tea leaves and not only am I going to die, I will also be endangered, attacked, given loads of trouble and hardship, and have an unknown enemy become involved in all this."
"Actually the falcon doesn't mean unknown enemy, it just means an enemy, "Tracey corrected him.

"I say unknown being as I'm not aware of currently having any enemies, "Theodore explained.

"The third student today who is going to die in the foreseeable future!"Professor Trelawney wailed dramatically."Oh, this is not going to be a good year!"

Really? I never would have guessed that. Daphne thought to herself, rolling her eyes and flipping long and golden blonde tresses over her shoulder before another thought occurred to her. "Professor, you said this was the third time today someone's been prophesized to die. Who was the first person?"

"Harry Potter, "Professor Trelawney hiccupped, eyes watering. "If you'll excuse me children, this has been too much of a shock for one day, so for the remainder of the period I would like to spend some time… alone."And with that being said she burst into tears, ran into her office and slammed the door behind her.

"Should we go after her?"Tracey wonderer concernedly.

"I think she just needs some time to herself, "Theodore assured her. "Don't worry about it: I highly doubt anyone is actually going to die."

"Well we're all going to die someday," Daphne reminded him.

"I meant anyone whose tea leaves read they were going to die in the near future," Theodore informed her.

"Oh, you're probably right."Daphne agreed. "In the meantime, there are a full fifteen minutes left of class so we can get a head start on our Transfiguration homework." Daphne pulled out the homework that McGonagall has assigned them already on the first day and proceeded to work on that. Meanwhile Tracey pulled out her notebook. Tracey had gotten a new notebook for her birthday where she drew illustrations and wrote stories for fun. It was a purple marble notebook and she had created flower illustrations across the front. Her name was scrawled across the section where her name was supposed to be listed in rainbow colored print.

Theodore, who had been about to start his Transfiguration homework, noticed the notebook. "Tracey, what is that?" He queried, blue eyes curious.

He has very nice eyes, she found herself thinking before answering somewhat shyly," It's my notebook. I-I like to draw and write- I-I got this notebook for my birthday last summer and I draw pictures in here and write stories for fun."

"Really?"Theodore's eyes lit up."That's so cool. I always think people who are artists- whether it's through drawing or writing or some other form of art- are really interesting. "

Tracey blushed again yet feeling more confident this time, added, "Thank you, I've loved drawing and writing since I was a little kid, and every birthday and Christmas my parents buy me a new one: Usually I'll have just about filled up my most recent notebook around those times of the year, so it's good timing. And whenever I finish writing and drawing in one, I show it to my friends-Arla and Daphne- and they write comments on the back cover. Also, I set up my notebook using magic so that only I can access it. I'm not going to tell you how though, only that it has something to do with the front cover…"

"Aren't you the mysterious one?"Theodore commented wryly.

Tracey giggled."You're funny, you know that Theodore?" She blushed yet again as soon as the words were out of her mouth. (Needless to say, Tracey had a habit of blushing often.)

"Please, call me Theo." Theo requested. "If it's all right with you, would you mind showing me some of your work?"

"Okay, but you can't look as I open the book, okay?" Tracey watched Theo cover his eyes before getting the book open using her secret technique, and flipped open to her most recent work. "Open your eyes."

Theo did and found himself looking at a very realistic painting of a young girl with alabaster white skin while still possessing rosy cheeks and long raven hair that fell in delicate waves. She also had one sapphire blue eye and one emerald green. This person could only be Astoria Greengrass: Very few people had such distinct eye colors."You drew a picture of Daphne's sister?"

Tracey nodded. "I painted it, actually, on the train ride yesterday."

"This is beautiful Tracey, "He gaped at it."Amazing, it looks just like how I imagine a photograph would in Technicolor and if they stood still."

"Muggle photographs are like that you know."Tracey informed him.

"Really? Weird." His tone did not suggest that he patronized the idea of Muggle technology though or even Muggles in general much to Tracey's relief. He actually seemed fascinated by the concept.

"What's on this page?"He asked, turning back a page which revealed an anime drawing of a little girl with short light chestnut brown hair that fell in layers and had bright olive green eyes who was from a manga series Tracey had recently started reading called Cardcaptor Sakura.

"This is a girl from a comic I like to read, "Tracey informed him."It's fan art, you see. I drew her based off of how she looks in the series."

"Neat, "He replied. He looked at the page opposite it, which contained writing on it rather than paintings or anime drawings this time. "Can I read this?"

"Sure,"Tracey nodded. "It's an excerpt from a story I'm writing at the moment."

"What's it about?"Theo inquired, genuinely interested.

"Well, it's a murder mystery that took place at this really poor orphanage in the 19th century. The main character in my story is a girl whose father- a wealthy business man- owns the orphanage but doesn't take very good care of it, hence its current position. The girl meets one of the boys at the orphanage one day when she sneaks out of her house that's on the outskirts of town- she's not allowed to go outside during the day, due to the fact that her mother died when she was young and her father has become extremely overprotective of her ever since, and doesn't allow her to go outside very often, let alone by herself- and falls in love with him later on, but her father wants her to marry this man whose a colleague of his to "secure her future." Meanwhile, there's this whole murder subplot that occurred at the orphanage and the girl and the boy are trying to solve the mystery." Tracey summarized.

"Sounds fascinating!"Theo grinned. "I think I'll read it."

He has a nice smile; he should do that more often. "If you start on page 6, that's where it begins. Every so often a drawing or two will interrupt the story, but after that the writing picks up again. Right now, excluding drawings and other pieces of writing, I have roughly thirty pages written. "

"All right then."Theo turned to page six and commenced reading.

S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S

After the bell for lunch rang, Theo handed Tracey back her notebook. "Would you mind if I wrote something on the back cover once you've finished using the book?"

"Sure, "Tracey then realized she had technically just said 'yes I do mind' even though she meant the opposite."I mean, not at all. That is to say, I-I'd be very…happy if you reviewed it."

"Great! From what I've seen so far, you've got talent Tracey! By the way, this is a little off topic, but how do you manage to have such neat handwriting? Mine is always nearly impossible for people to read."

"Oh, I don't know, "Tracey shrugged.

"And how are you so good at spelling and grammar? I'm terrible when it comes to that. Got any tips?"

"Oh, it's easy once you've memorized the rules, "An idea struck Tracey."Maybe I could teach you sometime."

"That'd be great!"Theo agreed as they walked down the staircase along with the rest of their classmates. "What electives are you taking this year?"

"I'm taking Divination, Care of Magical Creatures, and Ancient Runes. What about you?"Tracey questioned curiously.

"That's exactly the same schedule I have!"Theo exclaimed in delight.

"Really; that's so cool! We're in all of the same classes together this year!"Tracey cheered, earning her some glances in her direction but she didn't care.

"Actually, since for the core subjects at Hogwarts everyone who is in the same year and house have the same classes together, so we've always had all of the same classes together. Don't you remember you set my robes on fire during Potions that one time back in first year?" Theo chuckled.

"Yeah, sorry about that again."Tracey flushed, laughing nervously.

"It's okay, I know it was an accident; no hard feelings."Theo laughed it off. "Even though I was scared at the time, it was actually quite funny once I knew there was no possibility of me being burned alive." He smiled and Tracey found herself smiling back in earnest.

The two continued to talk for a bit before reaching the Great Hall.

"Do you want to sit with my friends and me at lunch?"Tracey suggested.

"Okay," Theo complied willingly.

They sat down next to Arla, who was already at the table along with Blaise Zabini. Daphne noticed Astoria entering the hall and motioned for her to join them. "Hey, Astoria!"

Astoria, who was chatting with another first year girl, waved to Daphne and smiled but sat at a different end of the table with the girl.

"You should give her time to make new friends first," Arla advised.

"I know, "Daphne sighed.

"This is your entire fault, Greengrass, "Malfoy griped from nearby."If you hadn't attempted to sneak her into Hogwarts without telling her she'd be sitting with us now!"

"Oh keep your Slytherin green shorts on Draco! You're just pissed because I predicted your death today in Divination." Daphne rolled her eyes.

"Wait, what?"Arla was not sure which she was more surprised about; the expression Daphne just used or the fact she prophesized Draco's death. Daphne explained the situation that had happened that morning. "And I don't see why he's so hacked off at me right now; it's not like I did it intentionally or that it's actually going to happen. Besides, Tracey predicted Theo's death along with several other unpleasant things and he's handling it well, aren't you Theo?"

"Yes, "Theo, who had been quiet during this entire conversation, acknowledged.

"Also, I would like to point out that if someone," here she glared at Pansy."Hadn't let slip that I snuck her along with me last year, she would still be sitting with us because even though I did that she would not have known that I did that."

"I'm amazed that she even acknowledged you earlier," Draco drawled. "If I were in her position, I'd pretend that I didn't even know you. Why would you even do something like that?"

"Because I thought she'd be happier here," Daphne exploded. "God, is it so bizarre to smuggle your sister into school under the influence of a Sleeping Potion and keep her in the dark about it?"

"YES!"Everyone within the vicinity chorused.

"Oh… all right then."Daphne mumbled.

"Look Daph, it's great you want to help and spend time with your sister and you care about her happiness, but you need to let her be independent sometimes."Arla reasoned.

"Yeah," Daphne admitted. "I'll make sure she sits with us during dinner though; I'm dying to know how her day's been."

S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S

After Herbology, the Slytherins had Care of Magical Creatures. On their way to the area where the class was scheduled, Arla ran into Sally-Anne Perks, who along with several other Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws had just had the Care of Magical Creature lesson before the Slytherins and Gryffindors.
"Guess what we looked at in class today?"She said in excitement."Hippogriffs!"

Upon finding out they were going to be working with Hippogriffs, Draco let out a loud groan. "Greengrass, if your prediction turns out to be correct, I swear to God, I will sue."

Daphne ignored him before an idea struck her. "Say Malfoy, let's make a bet."

Draco raised an eyebrow. "What did you have in mind, Greengrass?"

"If you die today at the hands of a Hippogriff, you owe me 5 Knuts." Daphne proposed. "If you live, I owe you 5 Knuts."

"Are we actually having a bet my life depends on Greengrass?"Draco clarified.

Daphne nodded."What do you say to that?"

"I say you're on, "Draco challenged, being as even if he died he would not be able to pay her.

"Oh and Malfoy, when I say you owe me 5 Knuts if you die, I mean that your family will be the ones to pay me." Daphne knew she would not win the bet, hence the small amount of money she was bidding.

"Hey Malfoy, cheer up," Blaise joked."You said Trelawney also predicted Potter's going to die, right? Maybe that'll be today."

Malfoy let out a low chuckle. "If only."

They approached Hagrid's hut, the owner of which was waiting. Daphne, Tracey, and Arla did not know Hagrid very well;, they had seen him around school before and he seemed nice enough, but that was all they knew about him really. Once everyone was there, Hagrid instructed them to follow him and lead them to an empty paddock.

"Everyone gather round the fence here!"Hagrid called. "That's it. Make sure yeh can see- now firs' thing yeh'll want to do is open yer books-"

"How?"Draco drawled coldly.

"Eh?"Hagrid seemed taken aback by this sudden question.

"How do we open our books?"Draco repeated.

The class took out their books, many of which were bound together with tape to keep from biting them.

"Hasn'-Hasn' anybody been able to open their books?"Hagrid asked crestfallenly.

Everyone shook their heads.

"Yeh've got ter stroke them," Hagrid informed them , as if pointing out the obvious." He then proceeded to show them how to open their books, by taking Hermione Granger's, ripping the Spellotape off of it, and stroking it.

"Oh, how silly we've all been!"Draco sneered sarcastically. "We should have stroked them! Why didn't we guess!"

"I-I thought they were funny," Hagrid mumbled uncertainly.

"Oh, tremendously funny!"Draco's voice dripped with sarcasm. "Really witty, giving us books that try and rip our hands off!"

"Shut up Malfoy," Harry Potter spoke.

"Righ' then," Hagrid intervened, trying to get the class back on track." So-so ye've got yer books and now yeh need the Magical Creatures. Yeah. So I'll go an' get em'. Hang on…" Hagrid disappeared into the forest.

"God, this place is going to the dogs, "Draco opinionated loudly. "That oaf teaching classes, my father will have a fit when I tell him-"

"Shut up Malfoy," Harry spoke again, and a certain trio of Slytherin girls silently agreed. Hagrid was not making a good impression so far, but that was no reason for Draco to try and make him appear to be even worse.

"Careful, Potter, there's a Dementor behind you-"

Draco was cut off by Tracey and Lavender Brown saying simultaneously," Oooooh!"

A dozen Hippogriffs were now within the paddock, and they were quite an impressive sight to behold. Hagrid explained to them about Hippogriffs and how to treat one as the entire class held onto his every word; everybody that is, except a certain trio of Slytherin boys, who were foolishly not listening. Hagrid then asked for volunteers, and Harry offered to fly one. As Harry mounted one, he held the class's attention and continued to do so as he actually flew the great beast.

"Good work Harry!"Hagrid roared once Harry returned to the ground as everyone exempting Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle cheered. "Okay, who else wants a go?"

The class entered the paddock and the girls stepped in front of a Hippogriff, which did not bow to them regardless of how hard they tried.

"I'll give you a Galleon if you bow for me," Arla attempted but the bird did not move a muscle.

Suddenly a scream resounded and Malfoy laid curdled in the grass, a long bleeding gash on his arm his sleeves. "I'm dying!"He yelled. "I'm dying, look at me! It's killed me!"

"My God, I just may win this bet after all."Daphne breathed, but not happily. Annoying though Malfoy undoubtedly was, losing him probably wouldn't be too great either. Hagrid escorted Malfoy to the Hospital Wing while they very shaken Care of Magical Creatures class went inside. Pansy, who was actually crying out of concern for Draco, ran up the marble staircase to see if he was okay. As the Slytherins retreated to their common room, a thought occurred to Daphne. "I'm going to check up on him too; I hope he isn't dead, even if it does mean I'll get money."

"Daphne, I'm sure he's fine," Arla attempted to reason.

"Daphne, what are you talking about?" Astoria had been walking nearby unbeknownst to them and overheard them.

"ASTORIA!" Daphne squealed, enveloping her in a hug that actually resulted in the younger Greengrass gasping for breath. "How's my favorite little sister? How was your day?"

"First off, I'm your only little sister, and second of all, what do you mean by someone may be about to die and you'll win money if they do?"Astoria demanded firmly.

"I'll explain to you on the way," Daphne told her, grabbing her by the hand and running up the stairs, away from Tracey and Arla. Daphne recapped the situation to Astoria, who actually burst out laughing, much to Daphne's shock.

"Why are you laughing at a time like this?" Daphne gaped at her.

"Sorry, it's just that I can't believe he actually insulted a Hippogriff! I mean, who is actually arrogant enough to even think of doing such a thing? And I'm going to tell you now Daphne, he isn't going to die; you said he had a minor gash across his arm? I'm sure the school nurse will be able to fix that up in a matter of minutes. I'm sure that the worst that could happen is that his arm will be broken, which certainly isn't very pleasant, but I can assure you that there is no way he's actually going to die." They had reached the door to the Hospital Wing now, and Daphne found herself laughing too.

"Well, maybe we should just go in anyway."Daphne was looking for any excuse to stay with Astoria.

"Okay," Astoria consented once they composed themselves. They then entered the room. Malfoy was on a bed while Madame Pomfrey stood over him, and Pansy Parkinson was seated in a chair next to the bed, and was weeping ludicrously dramatically.

"Hello," Astoria greeted casually, walking along to where Draco was, pulling up two nearby chairs and placing them by the bed. "Daphne told me what happened and we wanted to make sure you're okay. Hello Pansy." She added to Pansy, who sniffed in reply.

"So, Draco, erm… you're not going to die or anything, right?"Daphne confirmed as Pansy cried harder than ever at that.
"I don't know girls, "Draco moaned as Madame Pomfrey inspected the wound. "Madame Pomfrey is doing everything she can but it may not be enough-"

"Oh Mr. Malfoy, for heavens' sakes, you are not going to die," Madame Pomfrey interrupted. "At the very worst your arm may be in a sling for a couple of weeks, however being as I can Heal bones in a heartbeat, even that seems to be unlikely. Would you kindly stop putting on airs; you are worrying Miss Parkinson, Miss Greengrass, and-"

She looked at Astoria, recognition clear on her face but instead she said, "I'm sorry dear, I do not know your name."

"Astoria Greengrass," Astoria reminded her."My sister attempted to smuggle me into Hogwarts last year, do you remember? Because I certainly don't."

Was it my imagination, or did she actually just glare at me for half a microsecond? Daphne wondered.

"Oh, you found out about that I take it."Madame Pomfrey smiled grimly."Yes, you are quite right. One does not forget a thing like that, especially when that's the first time thety have ever heard of it happening within their lifetime."

An awkward silence fell as Madame Pomfrey continued attending to Draco.

Daphne was the first to break the silence. "So, Malfoy, it er, looks like I owe you 5 Knuts now."

"Yes, you do." Daphne dug into her bag and handed him the money.

"Well, "Astoria smiled cheerily."That's one good thing that's come out of today."

There was some more silence- well, silence apart from the sound of Pansy sobbing- before Astoria solicited to Draco in genuine concern, "Does it hurt terribly Draco? You're arm, I mean."

"Oh the pain, the terrible pain," And needless to say Draco carried on like that for the rest of the time remaining. Pansy kept, between fits of weeping, insulting Hagrid rudely and vehemently. Daphne wanted to yell at the two to shut up, but it appeared as though Astoria did not. Astoria listened with endless patience, never showing signs of anger or annoyance once, and even went as far as offering Pansy a tissue or words of comfort once in a while, not that she listened. At dinner time however, the two sisters decided to leave.

"In that case then, how about I bring you two some dinner?" Astoria offered.

"That would be a very good thing for you to do, Greengrass Junior," Draco let out a long, exaggerated sigh. "Lord knows I need all the strength I can get. I only hope I'll be alive when you return."

Pansy let out a loud wail at this.

"Pansy, I'm sure he'll still be alive by the time I come back-"Astoria began but Pansy would not listen to reason, instead practically bawling her eyes out.

"Oh Miss Parkinson, get a grip on yourself." Madame Pomfrey was thoroughly irritated at the girl's constant whining; she had kept insulting Hagrid for over an hour and was overreacting in the extreme to Draco's minor injury. Then turning to Astoria, she added," That's a kind offer Miss Greengrass, but you and your sister may go. So can you Miss Parkinson. There is food in the here that Malfoy may eat."

"NO!"Pansy shrieked. "I'm not leaving Draco even for a moment!"

"Fine," Snapped Madame Pomfrey. "In that case, you will receive food here as well."

Daphne and Astoria then exited the room, and after Daphne closed the door, she let out a loud whoop.

"Sexy Salazar Slytherin, thank God we made it out alive! I thought I was going to die of boredom! How were you so damn calm and patient when handling those two, Astoria? You were more patient than the nurse! I was ready to tear out their hair!"

"Years of practice," Astoria muttered under her breath.

"What did you say?" Daphne could not make out what exactly Astoria had just said.

"Oh, nothing." Astoria gave a rather forced smile. "I was rather annoyed at them too. My God, it's understandable to be upset, but not that upset! If someone were to have walked into that room not knowing what had happened, I'm sure they would have thought he actually was dying!" The two went into a giggling fit after that.

They now reached the entrance hall. "You're sitting with me for dinner tonight, since you did not at lunch." Daphne ordered her sister.

"No." Astoria responded as though Daphne had just asked her a question about the weather.

"No?" Daphne echoed, shocked. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Well Daphne, no is this little word that means to not do something." Astoria stated sarcastically.

"I know what the word means," Daphne was put off by this."Why won't you sit with me is what I'm asking."

Astoria took a deep breath and then sighed. "Daphne, I only found out this morning that you smuggled me into school over a year ago when I was unconscious the entire time without even telling me after the whole ordeal was over; that's not exactly a normal turn of events."

"So I've heard,"Daphne grumbled.

"I just … I really think maybe we should spend some time apart for a little bit, all right? It's been a very eventful day for me, to say the least, and I really just need some time to let everything sink in."

"I see."Daphne comprehended now. "That's fine. You go make friends while I eat with mine."

Astoria smiled. "Thank you, Daphne, that sounds like a fine idea."

Daphne grinned."I do have some rather brilliant ones occasionally."

A/N: The way I imagine Astoria in my head is a little hard to put onto paper, so I'll just explain a couple of things: The first is that in my head she actually is a fairly complex character, and therefore a fairly difficult one to write. She is a very good person; however she does have a snarky/sarcastic side to her as well. She is an especially good person, but she's not perfect either. Btw, she's not just pretending to be nice: She honestly is very kind, but she, like everyone, does get annoyed with people from time to time, she just tries not to show it, and when she does she expresses herself in small ways you might miss if you're not watching carefully. She does have a tendency to bottle things up a bit sometimes however, which probably isn't a good thing…

Author's Questions: What do you think of Theo? What do you think of the way he and Tracey were interacting? In this AstoriaxDracoxPansy Love Triangle that may start to emerge, who are you rooting for? What do you think of Daphne?

Most importantly though, have a Happy Halloween, and please review! Reviews give me motivation for writing, and I want to see if I can post again before November! :D