XXVII:

Over the next few days, Dorothea kept a close eye on the Slytherin house. To Draco's credit, the Malfoy heir attempted to be friendly with Pansy. Unfortunately, according to Dorothea's evolving understanding of social dynamics, he still fell short. Saying hello at the breakfast table was a start, but hardly the way to win over his estranged fiancé. Especially when he almost inevitably undercut the kindness by greeting Dorothea whenever he saw her. Dorathea kept her responses carefully neutral and never initiated contact, but saw that Pansy was holding fast to her strategy of playing the fluttery flirt. Clearly, Dorothea would need to intervene if the two had any hope of truly mending their relationship - and thus saving Dora from further machinations.

But before she could decide how best to approach the other witch, Pansy took matters into her own hands.

...

Dorothea entered the library and immediately began scanning for Theo. Unlike the other more studious students, her brother didn't have a specific table that he'd reserved for himself through sheer dint of sitting there each day. He tended to drift around to wherever there was an unused corner- an approach that might have worked fine before Dorothea but was a pain when she had to search him out every study session.

As her eyes passed over the gathered clumps of green and silver, a well-manicured hand rose and waved to her. Pansy and Daphne were sitting at one of the smaller study tables- normally meant for one person but three chairs had been pulled up to the round table. Dorothea approached with a sinking realization that the two Slytherins had been trying to engineer a meeting just as fervently as Dorothea.

"Dora!" Daphne beamed as Dorothea approached, which was a friendly overture except that Dorothea knew the young pureblood could use enthusiasm like a knife. Still, Pansy took her bag off the seat to free it for Dorothea and Dorothea felt she had no choice but to sit down. Though textbooks were perched precariously on the edge of the table, the focus of the two girl's study was a small pile of cosmetics. Dora's interest was piqued.

"Greengrass, Parkinson," She said with a smile, "How did you think you did on Flitwick's quiz today?"

Daphne gave an exaggerated eye roll, "Daphne and Pansy, please." She said, "I think we're quite beyond that level of formality."

"The quiz was easy," Pansy said, picking up a small pot of face cream and sniffing the contents, "Flitwick basically gave us all the answers in the last lecture. Daph- what is this one?" She held out the pot. While Greengrass launched into a long description of the ingredients and merits of that particular face cream, Dorothea studied Pansy. This was a very different girl than the one who had yawned all through class yesterday and complained to Draco today about how 'mean Flitwick was for assigning such a hard quiz.'

She was distracted from her considerations by Daphne holding out a tube towards her. "What do you think, Dora?"

"Sorry?"

"It's a new hand cream from Paris. Daddy's cousin is one of the top producers of beauty products on the continent and she'll send us samples to try. Here-" She leaned forward and squeezed a dab onto the back of Dorothea's hand. Dora massaged the lotion into her hand, admiring the silky texture.

"It's lovely," She said and held her hands up to her face to smell. Almond and something sweet, almost floral.

"I'll get you a bottle," Daphne promised. "It's perfect for these dry winters. I don't know what it's like up in the towers, but the dampness of the dungeons is not as good for the skin as you might think."

Pansy was peering at Dora's wrists and Dorothea realized with a start she was still wearing the lily bracelet from the Malfoy. It was so lightweight that she often forgot it was there. But though Pansy clearly noticed it, she asked about the other bracelets on Dora's wrist. "Both you and Theo wear those," She said turning her head to study the intricate braiding on one of them, "Is it a Nott thing?"

"It is," Dorothea agreed. It wasn't quite polite to ask about family magic- lest you be seen as prying into their secrets. But Dorothea was happy to explain about this small bit of magic. After all, if Daphne had connections to the continent, she'd be a good ally for Theo to have. She held up her wrist to show off the delicate braiding of the thin threads of one of her favorite gifts. "This one is for protection from cold and drafts," She explained, "Theo gave it to me after I mentioned that you can hear the wind howling around the Ravenclaw tower."

"So, it's mostly defensive magic," Pansy asked, reaching out to run a light finger over the plait. Dorothea shook her head.

"Not always. It's easy to weave protection or defensive magic into the bracelets, but you can also tie up offensive spells into knots and release those when needed. Theo's been doing a lot of study into those." He hadn't but it didn't hurt to have a few rumors circulating around the Slytherin Common room warning people away from her brother. The Slytherins, more than any other house besides maybe Gryffindor, valued offensive combat power.

"And what about this one?" Daphne asked, pointing to the apology bracelet with a faux-innocent look. Mentally, Dorothea rolled her eyes at the blatant change of topic, but she willingly took the bait.

"An apology bracelet from the Malfoy Family," She explained holding out her wrist so both Pansy and Daphne could admire the silverwork, "Delivered by Lady Malfoy herself." Both of the Slytherin girl's eyebrows rose in surprise at that pronouncement. Dorothea pressed her point. "They are very sorry about the misunderstanding," She said and turned to Pansy, "As am I, Pansy. If I had known what the hairstyle and necklace meant, I would never have worn them like that. And if I had known, I'd never accept them without making Draco talk to you."

Pansy nodded stiffly- clearly uncomfortable with the apology, but Daphne wasn't done. "And will you?" She asked leaning forward and allowing some of the poisonous cheer to bleed into her voice, "Make Draco talk to Pansy, that is?"

"No," Dorothea said and shook her head. "That's for them to discuss. I've no interest in being engaged when there is still so much to learn about the world." She ignored Pansy's not-so-quiet mutter of 'typical Ravenclaw' and made it look like she was debating saying more.

"I did ask Draco why he hadn't talked to you beforehand," She said and both girls fixed her with sharp stares. Dora took a breath and decided there simply wasn't any point in being delicate about their conversation. "Pansy, he said that you'd changed. That he couldn't talk to you anymore about the things you used to discuss, like Quidditch."

"I told you!" Daphne burst in, triumph bright in her brown eyes. "Pans, I told you your mum's tips weren't working!"

Pansy frowned, but it didn't seem directed at either of them. She played with the edge of her nail- an unflattering shade of blue for her skin tone- and twisted her lips. "But 'a witch is supposed to make a wizard feel like the center of her world. It flatters his ego'."

"Draco's ego doesn't need any more flattering," Dorothea pointed out, "Plus Crabbe and Goyle already blindly obey him. He needs someone to push and challenge him. Or at least be a friend on equal footing to talk to." Daphne nodded in emphatic agreement.

"Plus, I'm not sure he likes-," Dora waved her hand as if to indicate the heavy makeup that made Pansy's wide features look even broader. Draco hadn't said anything of the sort, of course, but it didn't hurt to pretend. Especially since Lady Malfoy had told Dora that young witches didn't need more than a hint of lip gloss at their age and that she didn't approve of witches who caked their faces in cosmetics. If she could guide Pansy away from the makeup pallet, she might make a better impression on Draco's mother.

"But it's the most popular look Witch Weekly has ever produced," Pansy was protesting, but luckily Daphne took up the argument.

"Yes, but darling, I keep telling you: different make-ups for different faces."

"But mum-"

"Your mother- as much as I love her- is not a good example to follow, darling."

Seeing Pansy's shoulders start to tense, Dorothea jumped in, "We can help you find one! And we can help you with Draco." She offered because it was much wiser to be part of the solution than the problem. Daphne gave her a grateful look as Pansy's shoulder began to unwind from around her shoulders.

But before she could respond, Pansy's gaze sharpened as she spotted someone beyond Dorothea's shoulder. Dora twisted to see Theo approaching them with a curiously flat look on his face. He nodded as he greeted his housemates. "Greengrass, Parkinson."

"Theo," Daphne beamed, "We were just having the best conversation with Dora here. She has excellent taste in hand lotions. Show him, Dora."

Dora obediently held out her hand for Theo to smell, sending him a private, amused look. Did Daphne really have nothing between her head but fluff and nonsense? Sometimes it seemed like that.

Theo straightened after making the barest attempt at sniffing the lotion and gave them both another nod. "Well. It was lovely to see you, but we have studying to do. Dora?" He held out his arm and Dora rose to her feet and threaded her arm through his elbow. She gave the two Slytherins a bright grin.

"I'd love to hear how our project goes," She told them because really, it would be too satisfying to be the reason Draco and Pansy mended fences. She waved at the enthusiastic goodbyes and let Theo lead her on a circuit around the library looking for a spare table. It was slow going, in part because Dora had to stop and wave or exchange a few words with first Draco, then Mandy and Padma. She returned an enthusiastic wave from Terry and a more sedate one from Morag- who was studying with the Hufflepuffs of all things.

"You've become popular," Theo remarked as they finally found a corner of a large study table dominated by a slumbering fifth-year. Dorothea rolled her eyes.

"Polite, maybe." She said, "It's funny how often that is mistaken for popular. Speaking of, you could do with a touch more warmth when talking to Pansy and Daphne."

"First name basis?" Theo asked, with a raised eyebrow, "I thought we didn't like them."

"We like them just fine," Dorothea corrected. She had of course told Theo every detail about her meeting with Draco- just so her brother didn't take it upon himself to hex the heir the next time Draco greeted her in the hallway. "Pansy and Draco are on track to being reunited and Daphne. What do you think of Daphne, Theo?"

"Don't," Her brother warned, looking up from his potions book. "Dora, don't. I don't want to get caught in your matchmaking net."

"Ok, ok-" Dora relented. It was probably for the best. Daphne's effusiveness would grate on Theo's nature all too soon. Plus their coloring was off. "It's just that she has family in France and she'd be a good ally- a friend to make." She corrected the word at the last minute, remembering Theo's comment on not needing allies. Her brother still gave her a strange look and then shook his head with an amused twist to his lips.

"I meant what I said before, sister," Theo said, pulling out a book that looked entirely unrelated to any of their classes, "You don't need to save the world. You don't need to make us allies."

"I'm not-" Dorothea started to protest but her twin cut her off.

"You just being here is enough." He said firmly, "So just keep doing that. Magic will do the rest."