Splinched
The Life and Times of Tracey Davis
Chapter Four
By Granny Adams
Ages, perhaps several eternities later, I found my wand and ran off as far away from Adrian Pucey as I could manage. A large part of me wanted nothing more than to flirt up a storm with him, if only to spite Daphne. That part of me would've won over too, had it not been for my better judgment. No matter how much I wanted vengeance- justice in its purest, most unadultered form- for everything that Daphne had ever put me through, the truth remained that Adrian Pucey was a disgusting mess and I just couldn't bring myself to think of him in romantic fashion.
Many may wonder 'What is so bad about Daphne?', after all; I was technically the villain in the situation. Daphne fancied Adrian and he only had eyes for me. I should've told him right on the train that I had no interest in him. In my own defense, I will say that the incident on the train was quite thorny and that I was in no way prepared to deal with it.
For clarification's sake, and for posterity, of course, I will record the events that transpired. It went as follows:
Daphne and I, along with two fourth year Ravenclaw girls, were seated in the same compartment. Why we were in a compartment with two perfect strangers, I don't know. Circumstance had fated it that way, apparently. I did not know these two other girls- I think Daphne might've known them though, but frankly, it's really quite immaterial to the story. Just know that they were there. So, whilst we and the Ravenclaws were healthily ignoring each other, Daphne and I were catching up. We had seen one another exactly twice; once at the very beginning of the summer hols, and then a few weeks after that. From then on, we mildly corresponded via owl post. Certainly, that was no way to communicate completely and apparently, there was much gossip to catch up on by September the first.
We discussed how Gregor Urquhart was most likely a homosexual, this stemming from a story she told about how she and him went out to lunch. I think it had something to do with the fact that he started tittering madly and practically drooling over her shoes, although he may just have a vigorous appetite for fashion. Come to think of it, she was the one that suggested that he was gay, not me. I don't think it's possible, really. I mean, I've heard loads of stories about him and considerably younger students (girls, I might add). And he plays Quidditch, it just seems very untruthf- well, anyway.
After exchanging that bit of information, Daphne told me that she had other things to tell me, other things that she was not at a liberty to share with anyone besides me. So at that point, we left the compartment so that the two Ravenclaws wouldn't overhear. I never actually heard this fascinating bit of information, as just as we walked out, Adrian Pucey and Clem Warrington came by and insisted that we join them in their compartment. As previously stated, Daphne fancied Adrian and as such, it was my duty as a friend to accompany her. I had never spoken to Pucey before in my life- just a note.
Pucey slid the compartment door open smugly, and inside were Nicholas Vaisey and Gregor, two Quidditch-playing fifth years. Bear in mind that these compartments can house four relatively small girls comfortably. We were now six, although with the sheer bulk, it was more like eight people. Gregor, being the gentleman that he was, stood and let me take his seat. Daphne sat on Pucey's lap. Have I mentioned that she isn't the chastest person to ever attend Hogwarts?
Needless to say, it was.. quite the situation to find oneself in. I sat closest the window, crushed between Gregor's legs and Warrington, who sat next to me, while Daphne sat on Pucey's lap. Vaisey, thank mercy, sat across from me rather than next to me. Vaisey doesn't seem to be the most 'sanitary' person, which is a nice way of saying that he is a complete slob. I'm not sure if he smells, but I wasn't eager to find out.
It was all quite strained. Daphne was keeping herself occupied by playing with Pucey's hair while whispering things to him, though he didn't seem very interested at all. I made polite conversation with Gregor, who didn't seem homosexual in the least. Vaisey and Warrington were having some sort of staring match. This continued for a little while, punctuated by small fits of giggles coming from Daphne. It was during this period of time that I first noticed Pucey looking at me.
He was the one that started it all, really. He caught my eyes a few times and must've taken it as a 'go-ahead', because he proceded to ask me how my summer was, completely ignoring Daphne. I responded curtly, that it was well, thank you very much. Daphne then tried to talk to him again, but he shushed her and kept looking at me. By this time, Vaisey and Warrington had stopped their staring contest and were now focused on the interaction taking place. Daphne wasn't too happy to have been shushed, in fact, she wasn't pleased about not being the center of attention either. My eyes flicked between Pucey and Daphne's increasingly resentful expression. I could almost see what was flashing across her mind, the different strategies she could use to win back the interest.
"Oh, Adrian, I hear that Quidditch will be simply wonderful this year!" She quickly added during what would've been a slight pause in conversation.
"Yeh," he said lamely and then returned to me. At that point, Daphne must've found that it was necessary to make a scene, because all else had failed.
"HOW DARE YOU DISREGARD ME!" She shrieked. All eyes snapped on her, including Adrian. He must've been fed up with her, so he, and these were his precise words, told her "Bugger off, you monkey". I couldn't help but let out a bit of a chuckle- primate was a shockingly accurate way of describing her physique. I don't mean to say that she is ugly. But her eyebrows are rather dense and dark, her nose is sort of short and high up, which in turn makes her upper lip seem sort of flat and protruding. She has long brown hair, mud-brown eyes and her general appearance is rather hairy.
Unsurprisingly, she didn't take it well, not well at all. She gave me the ugliest glance ever assembled and took off, slamming the compartment door behind her so hard that the windows rattled. I wanted nothing more than to go after her, but it just seemed wrong, so I didn't. I rode the rest of the way with the four boys.
Perhaps I should've followed her and apologized right then, because waiting it out was certainly a horrible idea- thus, what could be observed from then on in school.
I shouldn't have laughed at her, that's obvious. It was horrible of me, but shouldn't she have been happy for me that I had someone pursuing me? Shouldn't she have behaved less like, well, an animal? The ethics of this entire situation still boggle me to this day, but as I had found, morality simply departs when Daphne becomes involved. Right and wrong cease to exist- only what she considers to be good. Even that fluctuates to her, in order to suit her needs. Who needs someone like that anyway?
Right?
(Since it's the summer now, I'll try and keep these updates fairly frequent. If you've any comments, complaints, suggestions, secret hopes and desires, please let me know. Feedback is pretty much my BFFL. Thanks for reading!)