Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books, and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

AN: Side note, this chapter makes Black Silk officially over 20,000 words! (Not including any AN or Disclaimers)

Beta'd 7/11/21

Chapter Ten

Draco slowly left the Charms classroom, lost in thought. After he'd successfully banished his cushion, he'd let his mind wander to the following night. While his friends swore they had the polyjuice taken care of, he couldn't help but be worried; Crabbe and Goyle weren't the brightest, so he knew Theo would be taking care of the polyjuice potion.

Since he had a free period after Charms, Draco decided to go to the Slytherin common room. He planned on finding his friends and getting every detail out of them. Draco hated being in the dark, especially when the plan centered around him.

Reaching the Slytherin common room, Draco found Theo sitting in one of the corners, his nose in a book. Draco rolled his eyes at his bookworm friend, not surprised to find Theo reading. Draco leaned against the wall next to Theo's chair and cleared his throat. His friend looked up at him in shock, clearly too immersed in his book to notice his surroundings.

"Good book, I take it?" Draco chuckled and crossed his arms, tilting his head playfully at his friend.

"Always is." Theo shot Draco a half-smile, putting a bookmark in place and shutting the book. "What's up?"

Draco quickly looked around and, noticing the number of people in the room, nodded towards the common room entrance. Theo got the idea and stood up, banishing his book to his room with a quick flick of his wand. While Theo was only a fourth year, he knew more than most of his peers. Draco always thought Theo was smarter than he let on, but never pressed him.

The pair left the common room and walked in silence, not really paying attention to where they were heading. After a few minutes of walking, the pair started talking about the guests due to arrive that night.

"So, you gonna try and shag any of the girls tomorrow?" Theo nudged his friend with a chuckle. Draco shrugged off his friend's question with a small smile, enjoying that he had a second to breathe and joke around.

"Nah, I don't think so. They'll be here for a few weeks; I'm in no rush." Theo nodded in understanding. While Draco certainly wasn't the relationship type, he wasn't going to be tripping over his feet to find a girl tomorrow.

The two slowed their pace as they came to the top of the Astronomy Tower. They hadn't intended to go up there, but the snow covering the ground made Black Lake a less than ideal option.

Theo casually leaned on the railing, looking at the beautiful white landscape stretching out for hundreds of miles in every direction. Draco copied his friend as he took a deep breath, relishing in the crisp air.

After a few minutes, Theo broke the silence. "What's on your mind?" Draco sighed and turned, now resting his back against the railing.

"It just doesn't seem like it'll work." Draco shrugged his shoulders slightly after voicing his concerns. He didn't want to sound foolish, but he was worried his friends would get in trouble for their actions.

"Don't worry, Draco. I'm taking the polyjuice potion tomorrow and I'll go to detention in your place. I know you better than anyone else." Theo chuckled once more and nudged Draco, trying to relieve him of his worries.

"Yeah, I guess you're better than Crabbe or Goyle. But don't you want to go to the ball?" Theo shook his head in dismissal at Draco's question.

"Not a big partier." Draco nodded at Theo's short reply, not pressing him any further.

"Where are you getting the polyjuice potion anyways?" The question had been floating around Draco's mind since they first brought up the idea.

"Snape gave me some. He didn't ask what it was for and I didn't say anything." Draco was surprised at how forthcoming Snape had been. While Snape wouldn't question him if Draco had asked for the polyjuice, he hadn't expected such treatment for his friend.

"That's surprising… why didn't he bother you?" Draco raised an eyebrow at his friend in confusion.

"He might think that we're gonna try something on the Beauxbatons girls or the Durmstrang guys." Theo shrugged, having not asked Snape about his lenient attitude.

Draco cracked his neck, mentally pushing the questions away. With a sigh, he turned once again to look over the sloping hills and mountains in the distance.

"So, Pansy's been saying some stuff." Theo tried his best to subtly broach the subject. Draco snorted, not surprised that his friend had been gossiping.

"What's she saying this time? Trying to ruin some girls' reputations before Durmstrang gets here?" Draco let out a sarcastic laugh.

"Stuff about you…" Draco shot up at that. Looking at his friend with a wide-eyed expression, he motioned for Theo to continue. "She's saying you dumped her so that you could sleep with every Beauxbatons girl you can, and I quote, 'get your grubby little paws on'." Draco began swearing up a storm and started pacing the Astronomy tower.

"I sat with her this morning and she didn't say a bloody thing!" Draco's voice began steadily rising, his anger rising as well. "That slag!" Theo let his friend get out his anger, knowing that he needed to.

After Draco had paced and ranted for a few minutes, he felt his boiling rage dissipate, only to be replaced by a small grain of betrayal. Pansy had been one of his closest friends, and his closest female friend since he was in diapers; their parents were longtime friends so they had been around each other for as long as he could remember. Why would she do that to him?

Draco sank to the floor of the Astronomy tower, his mind reeling. He didn't think he knew Pansy anymore; he never thought she would do something like that to him. Why would she do it?

"I think she's hurting, Draco," Theo answered Draco's silent question. At Draco's incredulous look, Theo explained himself, "as far as Pansy knew, you two were going to get married after Hogwarts," Draco opened his mouth to protest, so Theo quickly continued, "I know you never said you'd marry her, but you were her first boyfriend. Even if she said she was okay with you guys breaking up, the fairytale is marrying your first boyfriend. I'm not excusing what she did, but she's hurting."

Draco laid back on the floor, letting Theo's words sink in. He felt a small pang of pity towards her, but wouldn't let that sway his emotions. Sure, she's hurt, but now she's messing up the reputation that he'd spent years building. Draco sighed, unsure of what to do.

"What am I supposed to do? I get that she's hurting, but now I am too." Draco sat up and looked at Theo, utterly lost.

Theo sighed. "I don't think there's anything you can do. You can confront her but you might regret it." Draco knew his friend was right. Every fiber of his being wanted to find Pansy and make her tell the truth, but he knew it wouldn't end well for him.

"You're right, Theo." Draco's voice was tired and resigned, conveying how tired he was of the situation.

"Feel like a fly?" Draco's head perked up at Theo's question, clearly happy with his suggestion. "I'll take that as a yes." Theo chuckled and pushed himself off the railing, giving Draco a nudge with his foot as he passed.

Draco hopped up, deciding to push the Pansy issue to the back of his mind and enjoy some much-needed flying. The first Quidditch match was next weekend, and he refused to lose to Gryffindors.

Draco and Theo didn't have much time to spend flying, as their meager hour of Draco's free period was dwindling. Just before Draco was due in his History of Magic class, the pair descended. It was a bland class that Draco begrudgingly suffered through at his mother's behest. She always regretted not taking it when she was a student at Hogwarts. If his father had asked he would've considered refusing, but he could never say no to his mother.

Flying with Theo was more therapeutic than Draco expected, as he put his broom away and made his way to class. Across the school, Hermione was leaving her last class of the day, as she had a free period before classes were done for the day.

Deciding to start on her scroll for Charms class, Hermione went to the library. Greeting Berdie as she entered, Hermione settled herself into her normal desk against the back corner and spread out her homework materials. Despite already knowing a fair bit of the Banishing Charm, Hermione decided to grab a few books to refresh her memory.

Hermione poured over her books as she took scroll after scroll of notes on the Banishing Charm. A small voice in her mind asked whether she could turn in the notes for extra credit, not like she needed more anyway.

Hermione hadn't noticed time passing until Berdie was making her way over to Hermione's study corner.

"Just letting you know, dear, that we'll be closing in 10 minutes; Dumbledore wants all students and staff present at dinner tonight for our guests." Berdie smiled and walked away, not expecting a response from the Gryffindor girl.

Hermione finished the sentence she'd been writing and put everything back into her bag. Slinging it over her shoulder, she picked up the books she'd been using, intending to check them out to finish the homework that night. Just because they were hosting guests didn't mean Hermione would put off homework.

Berdie checked out Hermione's books with ease, not bothering to give her the traditional lecture she gave students that the books must be returned in like-new condition, knowing that Hermione treasured books with all she had.

Hermione planned on heading back to Gryffindor tower, planning on dropping her stuff off and finding her friends to head down together. Fate had other plans, however, as Hermione found Ginny on her way.

"'Mione! There you are! I've been searching the whole castle." The Weasley girl appeared out of breath, clearly having been running.

"In a rush, Gin?" Hermione chuckled and started on her way to the tower again, but Ginny didn't follow. Hermione stopped a few feet away and turned to her. "Ginny? What is it?"

Ginny was practically jumping with excitement after she'd caught her breath. "Harry asked me out! Well, sort of. He asked me to go to the masquerade ball with him. But that's a date, right?" Ginny's voice got louder and louder until Hermione could hardly take it.

"Okay, first, lower voice, Gin. Second, that's totally a date!" Hermione walked back to her friend and looped their arms together. "Another reason to look as hot as possible tomorrow!" Ginny squealed, already thinking about what she'd do with her makeup.

The pair stopped at Gryffindor tower long enough to drop off Hermione's things before they were on the way to the Great Hall. The closer they got, the more Ginny began to talk excitedly about their guests, hinting that Ron might find someone from Beauxbatons. Hermione rolled her eyes at her friend's optimism, not believing her loud friend would interest the girls.