The next week passed slowly, Elodie found herself hating every second. Draco was going above and beyond to make Elodie jealous, and she was doing what she could to avoid him all together. Word got around quickly that the two had split, but every person that asked her about it seemed to have thought there was a different cause for the split.

"I heard you wouldn't put out."

"Is it true you split because he found out you were a mudblood?"

"He cheated on you, didn't he?"

"You cheated on him with Granger!"

That last one was the most ridiculous thing Elodie had ever heard, she nearly fell out of her chair in potions when Tracey Davis asked her that one. The worst part of it all was that Elodie truly felt stupid for their fight, as he was trying to be sweet in the only way he probably knew how, and she knew that. She came from money, she didn't need another person in her life making shallow attempts at winning her affections, and she wanted to stand her ground on that. On the other hand, she realized that this was probably the only way any person in Draco's life had ever won his affections, and probably what any girl that had ever been interested in expected of him.

She sat in the grounds outside, pulling her sweater tighter around her body, reading her potions text. Her mind was racing, and she wasn't sure how to manage her emotions. She had been so angry the first three days that followed their break up, especially when she saw him with his arm draped over the shoulder of some blonde Ravenclaw on the second day and an unfamiliar redheaded Slytherin on the third. The worst part of all was that her friends didn't have much to say about it to her. It wasn't that they were taking Draco's side, but more or less that they wouldn't talk to her about it at all when she would bring it up. They each would quickly change the subject whenever his name would come up, even when it was about him snuggling up to other girls so quickly. The only friend she had that gave her any comfort was Hermione, and she didn't offer much.

"Yeah, I'm not surprised," Hermione said, "He's always been a real prat, I'm surprised he didn't screw it up sooner."

"I just don't understand how he's moved on so quickly," Elodie sighed, throwing her hands up.

"Well, if it's any consolation, he's been a real nightmare to be around for me as well," She sighed, "I really could have gotten used to him being kinder to me, he's right back to making my life harder than it needs to be."

"It's probably only because you're my friend, Pansy and Daphne barely have spoken to me about what's happened. Everytime I try to bring it up they brush it off."

"They're only trying to avoid his wrath, don't take it personally," Hermione said, before changing the subject, "Now, let's discuss today's potions lesson."

Elodie sighed, recalling their conversation, not sure what to make of anything anymore. She was so lost in thought she didn't even notice when someone walked up and plopped themselves next to her on the ground.

"What are you reading?" the voice made her jump and drop her book.

"Draco, do not sneak up on people like that," She gasped, "And what do you care, anyway?"

"I thought you would have noticed, I wasn't exactly stealthy," He said, taking a bite out of the green apple he had in his hand.

"Well, I didn't. What do you want?" She snapped, picking up her book and flipping through the pages to find where she left off.

"First official quidditch practice is tomorrow," He said casually, "Just making sure you weren't planning on making it weird."

"It won't be weird," She said curtly, "I'll be there with bells on."

"I'm interested to see that," He stood, extending a hand to her, "Let's take a walk and talk for a bit."

"And why would I do that?" she said eyeing his hand skeptically, "Don't you have some little red haired creature to walk with today? What do you need me for?"

"Oh come off it," Draco said, rolling his eyes, "I just wanted to talk with you, didn't want to steal you off to my bed."

"Right, the red head is for that."

"Come on, Brodeur," he extended his hand again, "Just back to the common room, it's cold out here."

"Only because I'm heading in anyway," She accepted his hand and stood, skeptically.

They walked in silence for a moment before he briefly apologized to her and she rolled her eyes at the insincerity. It was clear that he was just a boy that was accustomed to getting everything he wanted, and did not handle rejection well. Elodie thought he was better than that, but she was clearly wrong.

"I just don't understand how you have decidedly moved on so quickly?" Elodie said, crossing her arms.

"I have needs, Elodie, and I've spent the last few months neglecting them for your sake," He said, "Moving on isn't even what I've done, more or less, I'm taking a detour."

"Well, I'll do my best to ignore my distaste for your detour and attempt to make things less awkward for you," She said, "Even though that in itself is more than you deserve after the way you've acted."

"Fair enough," He halted as they stepped inside the common room, "I'll see you tomorrow then, and don't forget your bells."

Elodie was even more annoyed with him after his pathetic attempt at reconciling with her. How could he be so thick, to think that was a reason to flaunt his flooseys in front of her so flippantly. Self control was clearly just not something Draco could exercise, so Elodie decided two could play that game.

The next day after classes, Elodie went to her room and began getting ready for quidditch. She pulled her long, dark hair back into a high, tight pony tail and began stripping out of her robes.

"You sure do seem like you are on a mission," Daphne chuckled, watching her struggle to find something suitable to wear.

"Oh, I am," Elodie smiled, "Draco apologized to me yesterday to save face for quidditch."

"Oh no," Daphne sighed, "He sure does not seem to understand women lately. All my years knowing him, he's always seemed to have such a handle on the fairer sex, until you strolled in to Pansy's home."

"Speaking of, do you know when Pansy will speak to me again?" Elodie plopped herself onto a chair and began pulling her leggings up her long legs, "I was worried that neither of you would ever come around, and don't get me wrong, I'm so glad that you've realized he was being a prat, but she still hasn't said much to me."

"Well, truthfully I knew he was the cause of your split from day one, because I know how much of a git he can be, but things in the Malfoy circle are tense sometimes. Even when he is wrong, you have to know when to bite your tongue. The first few days, he was a miserable bastard. If we hadn't stayed out of it, it would have just been worse. He's seemed to lighten up a lot over the last few, that's why I knew it was safe to come talk to you today. Pansy should have done the same, I'm not sure why she hasn't. To be honest, she hasn't spoken to me much either, I think Blaise is being an arse as well."

"Well, hopefully she bucks up soon," Elodie stood, striding over to where Daphne was sitting and grabbed her hand, pulling her from her bed, "I need your opinion. Come look, which do you think will make him really squirm?"

"It's ten after, where is this broad, Malfoy?" Crabbe huffed, "I thought you said she was some great chaser for Beauxbatons but she can't even manage to be on time?"

"Crabbe, you're just angry Malfoy doesn't keep you planted firmly in his arsehole anymore, tardiness and being a great quidditch player have nothing to do with one another," Blaise said, with a bored expression plastered on his face, "Besides, she's brand new, she's probably lost."

Draco was clearly angry at her tardiness, and Blaise knew Crabbe was only making him more angry. The man was dumb as a stump, and had no idea when to bite his tongue and keep his comments to himself. Blaise was not about to have the first practice of the year muddied by his inability to think before he speaks.

"Sorry I'm late!" the six men all turned to hear where the feminine voice came from and saw her now jogging down the hill, approaching them on the field, "I got a bit lost, sorry."

"What the fuck Brodeur?" Draco snapped, "What the fuck are you wearing?"

"What?" She snapped back, her french accent having never been as prominent as it was here, "This is what I always wear for quidditch, and I'll have you know, you'll be grateful when you see how much mobility I have in it, Malfoy."

The other five men all laughed at her quick retort, and at Draco's bewilderment at the witch. She looked downright delectable, and even in her bathing suit, Draco had never seen just how perfect her body truly was, not until this moment. She was wearing black shorts so tight, he could see the indents and curves of her hips through the fabric, and also see clear as day that she was wearing no underwear. The smooth skin of her stomach was exposed just above the top of her small shorts, all the way to the bottom of her forest green sports bra, that although exposed no cleavage, still showed the exact shape and size of her breasts.

"Well, you're going to have to start wearing something else, Brodeur," Theo laughed, "I think you broke Crabbe."

She looked over to Crabbe whose jaw was still agape and hadn't appeared to be breathing at all. She laughed with Theo while the other men stood around, unsure of what to do or say. Draco was very obviously fuming, and everyone but Elodie, Theo, and Crabbe seemed very weary of his temper.

"Alright, that is enough. Everyone can thank Elodie for this, start laps until I say stop," Draco glared at her and started jogging.

All the boys groaned and started jogging behind him, Elodie watched intently while she did a few warm up stretches. When they had a good 3 minute head start, Elodie sprinted after them full speed. When she caught up to Crabbe who was trailing behind the rest of them, she winked at him as she passed him and he shook his head in disbelief. She then caught up to Blaise who was just out of earshot of Draco, who led the pack of quidditch players, and started jogging beside him.

"Don't, you're only going to piss him off more and tire yourselves out," He said huffing, never breaking his stride.

"Well, now at least you can say you said it," She smirked at him, switching back to running and passing him.

She pushed herself, running a little faster than she had before to catch up to Draco, not pausing even for a second as she passed him, leaving her in her trail. He grunted, angrily, and sped up to catch her. She felt his presence come up behind her, and pushed herself further, breaking out in a sprint. She was the fastest runner of the entire team at Beauxbatons, and she wasn't going to let him catch up to her. She pushed on, and soon she was coming up on Crabbe again, almost about to lap him.

"Stop showing off Brodeur," Draco shouted behind her.

"What, can't keep up, Malfoy?" She laughed, pushing on, as she lapped Crabbe and Theo.

The rest of the team were not breaking stride, but were only jogging, watching the show that Draco and Elodie were putting on for them. Draco pushed on, breaking out into a sprint as she had, and was gaining on her. She pushed on, and it was only moments before she was lapping the other players again.

"Brodeur, stop," Draco snapped, gaining on her, "We've got a lot more to get done today, don't tire yourself to prove a point."

"Oh no," she turned, and started jogging backward to look at him, "Can't keep up then, Malfoy?"

They went on like this for a half an hour, chasing one another around the track, neither of the pair ever losing spunk or ceasing to make comments about how slow and tired the other was getting. The rest of the team stopped their lapping after only twenty minutes to simply watch them and they were so engrossed in their race that they didn't even notice the others had stopped. Eventually, Draco let up and stopped chasing after her, coming to a stop, bracing himself with his hands on his knees, panting heavily.

"I told you, you can't keep up!" She shouted back to him, having slowed to a jog.

Practice went on for another hour and a half, and Draco was making every attempt to get back at her for the scene she caused and the way she dressed. He drilled the entire team into the ground, and everyone was sweating and exhausted by the end of it. The entire team wondered back to the locker rooms, exhausted and dragging their feet, everyone except Elodie. His attempts at wearing her down were for nothing, she practically skipped back. The guys parted ways from her, and she went into the girls locker room alone.

She turned the knob on the shower and let the water get as hot as she could tolerate before undressing and settling under the stream of the shower head. She finally relaxed her body, and the practice started to weigh on her body now that the adrenaline was gone. She exhaled and bit her lip as her muscles started protesting her attempts at washing her body. After a few moments, she gave up and stepped out of the shower, wrapping herself up with a towel and using her wand to dry her hair. Soon she was dressed again, in a pair of leggings and a Slytherin t-shirt, walking out of the locker room with her bag.

"Do not pull that shit with me again," She jumped as she heard the angry blonde's voice cut the quiet corridor as soon as she stepped out into it.

"Gods Draco, you're going to give me a heart attack one day if you keep sneaking up on me like that," Elodie grabbed at her chest, "Pull what shit?"

"This is what you should be wearing to practice, not that get up from before," he motioned to her leggings and t-shirt, "And no more dick-measuring contests with me."

"Yes, sir, captain sir," She laughed, saluting him, "I didn't mean to upset you."

"You didn't upset me, you distracted the entire team," he folded his arms across his bare chest and glared at her.

"So, you mean to tell me you can wear literally no shirt at all, and I can't wear what gives me the most mobility and keeps me from sweating more than I need to?" She said motioning to his chest and raising an eyebrow to him.

"Correct, I'm aware of the double standard Brodeur but that is what happens when you're on the team with a bunch of men."

She rolled her eyes and turned to walk away from Draco, throwing her hands in the air.

Over the next few days, Elodie found herself sitting with Hermione more and more, desperate to be as far away from Draco as she could. She was still skeptical of Harry and his weird staring habit, which she noticed still happened from time to time whenever she would first arrive in their circle, but she found that she quite liked Ron and Ginny. She was also getting close with Cormac McLaggen, who was quite sweet to her. They spent some time talking about quidditch and music and whatever else they could come up with, and soon the rumor mill was spinning out tales of how they were seeing each other. Elodie was not even aware of the rumors until Pansy burst into their dormitory one night, furious with Elodie.

"A fucking Gryffindor Elodie, really?" She exclaimed, slamming the door behind her.

"Hello to you too, Pans," Elodie put her hands up in defense, "What are you on about? I've been friends with Hermione for some time now, I thought you were long over that-"

"Not the mudblood, El, Cormac," Pansy huffed, "And just when were you planning on telling us that you've got a new boyfriend?"

"A boyfriend?" Daphne gasped, "McLaggen, eh? At least he's cute."

"He's not my-"

"Well I've heard otherwise!" Pansy cut off Elodie, "He is bad news, and Draco-"

"Draco is not my concern," now it was Elodie's turn to snap, "He has been nothing but a prat to me for weeks and I'm not interested in his opinion."

"Fine, but once he gets news of this, he's going to be worse. And if you think Draco is a prat, don't piss off Cormac, because he is absolutely worse," Pansy folded her arms over her chest, "I'm just trying to look out for you."

"She does have a point, I'm surprised Hermione hasn't told you," Daphne commented, "I've heard her use some colorful words to describe that one."

"We haven't discussed him much, she's only told me that she thinks he's arrogant," Elodie bit her lip thinking back to the conversation. Hermione had a lot more to say about him than that, but told her it was ultimately her digging her own grave. Elodie had yet to see him be anything but wonderful, and didn't want the opinions of others to get in the way of that.

"The point is, he has a temper, so be careful," Pansy said.

"Point taken, but regardless, we are not dating."

Over the next few weeks, Elodie's opinion of Cormac only got better. She was definitely taken by him, and made it obvious to everyone that observed them. They were officially an item, but she was careful to watch for signs of the behavior that her friends warned her about. Hermione believed that Elodie brought out the better in Cormac, she had noticed the way he was when she was around and considered him better. Pansy and Daphne were not happy about their budding relationship, but they were happy to see Elodie cheering up. Things with Draco were worse every time she was near him. He did not take the news of Elodie and Cormac's relationship well, and every single quidditch practice that they had since was terrible and grueling. He was going above and beyond to torture her, but she never relented. She never stopped wearing as little as humanly possible either, just to make him squirm.

The first game was Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff, and Elodie sat in the Gryffindor stand to cheer on her now boyfriend. The game was a joke, Hufflepuff barely made two goals on Gryffindor before Harry caught the snitch and the game was over. Elodie and Hermione stood up and cheered their boyfriends and friends at a great and easy victory before parting ways to get ready for the second party, but first quidditch party, of the year.

In their dormitory, Pansy and Daphne were already getting ready when Elodie arrived.

"Oh thank Merlin, we thought you were going to get ready with the Gryffindors, I shuddered to think of what you'd be wearing," Daphne joked.

"Oh, hush, you know I love getting ready with you guys," Elodie plopped down on the bench at the vanity mirror that they all had to share for lack of space in the bedroom.

"You have to catch up if you want to walk down with us, we had a bit of a head start," Pansy commented, "I'm in a rush to get drunk tonight, Blaise has been insufferable lately."

"Well don't worry, I'm not doing anything all that glamorous today," Elodie giggled, fixing her makeup and hair a bit in the mirror, charming her hair into curls that cascaded down her back.

Pansy slipped into a red dress that fell just barely above her knees, accompanied by black pumps and a black kimono, her dark hair, now pin straight opposed to her usual wave, was pulled up into a high, posh pony tail. She walked over to the vanity to put the finishing touches on her make-up with a blood red lip. Elodie stood, finished with her makeup and hair, to get dressed. She looked over to Daphne and sighed, Daphne was the epitome of perfection. Pansy was beautiful in a classic way, Elodie was beautiful in an exotic way, but Daphne, she could very well be part Veela, she was so beautiful. Her long blonde hair spilled down her back, it was quite a bit longer than Elodie's, falling all the way to the curve of her bottom. For today's party, Daphne went with a different look, wearing skin tight, black pants, and a barely there green top, paired with knee high, black leather boots. Her makeup was a simple smokey eye, that made her green eyes pop and tied together her look perfectly. Elodie wanted to look somewhere in the middle of Pansy's proper, classic look, and Daphne's badass look. Elodie plucked a black dress out of her trunk and slipped it on. It was skin tight, showing every curve from her breasts to her hips, and ended halfway up her thighs. She pulled her look together with black stilettos and a black, velvet choker, with a small red rose that dangled down delicately. It was simple, but a fierce look, and part of her felt that it was a look meant to make Draco squirm more so than it was for her actual date to the party, Cormac.

"Well, Cormac is going to be a happy lad tonight," Daphne said admiring her friend, to which Pansy made a sound of displeasure.

The girls made their way out of their dormitory to find their friends waiting in the common room, already way ahead of the girls, drinking firewhisky. Elodie's eyes drank in every inch of Draco, completely enamoured by the man in front of her. He was wearing a black button up, but for once it wasn't buttoned all the way to the top, exposing the skin of the top of his chest. It was tucked into very expensive looking black pants, accompanied by a black belt and black dress shoes. He looked so formal, and yet so casual simultaneously, and the all black outfit complimented his pale, sharp features. He leaned against the arm of the couch, deep in conversation with Theo, Blaise, and Millicent, sipping out of his tumbler casually as they talked. Daphne didn't notice as Elodie inhaled a sharp breath, but Pansy did, and she elbowed Elodie lightly to get her attention.

"Don't know if you noticed, love, but that isn't Cormac you're drooling over."

"Drooling is a strong word, he just looks good tonight," Elodie sighed, "He's still a complete prat."

"Yes, but a good looking, rich, prat with a killer body and a huge-"

"Oy, I'm not here to talk about Draco's cock," Daphne groaned, "But I will say, I think it's funny that you both chose to wear all black tonight, Ellie."

The girls approached their friends and all walked to the room of requirement together, where Cormac was waiting patiently for Elodie outside. Draco looked annoyed as they approached him, but he said nothing about the matter. Elodie smiled when she saw him, but it wasn't the same feeling she got when she saw Draco in the common room. She was happy to see him of course, but her stomach was in knots earlier just at the sight of Draco.

Elodie walked quickly ahead of the rest of her group and threw her arms around Cormac's shoulders and greeted him with a kiss. Cormac was dressed much more casually than the rest of the group in a simple Gryffindor shirt and black pants. Elodie didn't mind, it was a quidditch party after all, but she wondered if this was the type of effort that he put into his appearance outside of school. Of course, she thought, I can fix that.

"You look fit tonight," Cormac said, drinking her in with hunger in his eyes.

"As do you, love," She said, pulling him in for another kiss.

"Alright, alright, on with it, we have mingling and drinking to do," Daphne said, playfully knocking into the couple as she walked past them.

The whole group walked into the room, it was set up exactly as it had been last time, the only difference being the red and gold decorations everywhere which signified Gryffindors victory. Cormac immediately forwent beverages from the bar and pulled Elodie onto the dance floor. Elodie found herself willing to do whatever she could to make sure Cormac was pleased with her tonight, feeling guilty for her earlier thoughts about Draco, but why the fuck were they dancing before getting drinks? That was not how it was done in her world, drinks were always the gateway to the dance floor.

She looked over at her friends, who were all chatting away, sipping on drinks by the bar, when her eyes met a steely blue gaze that cut her like a knife. Draco, and he looked miserable. His eyes snapped away, immediately finding a prize on the other side of the room and stalking away to go chat up yet another leggy blonde Ravenclaw. Elodie rolled her eyes and brought her attention back to her date.

"Can we go get a drink?" She smiled at Cormac.

"Oh, sure, sorry, I don't drink much, I don't think about it sometimes," He shrugged, taking her hand and leading her to the bar.

"Oh, sure, but at parties?" Elodie raised an eyebrow.

"I'll have a drink or two, but not much."

"I'll take a firewhisky, and he-" Elodie turned to the bartender and started before getting cut off.

"Just a butterbeer," Cormac shrugged.

"That's all? There's barely even any alcohol in that," Elodie raised an eyebrow.

"I get a little angry when I drink a lot, it'll be enough for me, El," Elodie cringed a little at the shortening of her name. It was one thing, of course, when girls did that, but her boyfriend?

"Fair enough," She grinned, to cover up her dislike of the entire conversation, accepting their drinks from the bartender, and motioned for him to already ready her refill, "And make number two a double, love," She muttered before knocking back the entire drink at once, and accepting the second round before Cormac even took his first sip.

...

Elodie was drunk very quickly, and Cormac had only consumed half of his drink before Elodie was starting to stumble. Elodie thought of what her mother would say if she saw her darling daughter at this party. Oh no Elodie, this is not how Brodeurs carry themselves. Such behavior is very unbecoming of a lady of your status. You shall never acquire a husband if you continue to act like this. She laughed at her thoughts, as she flung her arms around Cormac's shoulders.

"Take me away from here Cormac, I've grown tired of this festivity of poor quidditch players versus adequate quidditch players," Elodie laughed.

"No offence taken, I guess," Cormac grumbled, "We've only been here an hour, and my team is the team that won. I have to stay a bit longer, El."

"Oh, you know I didn't mean you, love, I just meant, the game was so short. Just wait until you see-"

"You and Draco play? Yeah, I know you guys are great together, you don't need to tell me, again," Cormac sighed.

"That isn't what I was going to say," She said, sobering a little, losing her playful tone.

"Right," He said briskly, standing up and walking away from her, leaving her very drunk and alone, in the middle of a party.