The Great Hall was lit with floating candles, giving off a soft, warm glow – a relief for the eyes after the severe lights of the train. Brightly colored banners fluttered gently in the air above the long tables. Noise reverberated pleasantly around the Hall; the older students had moved to their respective tables and were chatting happily with each other (Ravenclaws about some new theory of transfiguration book; Gryffindors relating their summer adventures to their friends; and Hufflepuffs greeting one another amiably.
Draco and Daphne came trooping in from the carriages (chilled by the evening air), glad for the warmth of the hall. Draco looked the table up and down for a few empty chairs and finally managed to find three together, while Daphne spent the time grumbling about the fact that Alex had not been allowed to join them.
The pair sat down side by side. Draco nodded a brief hello to some of his acquaintances but Daphne had her eyes fixed on the double doors of the Hall, ready to wave Alex over as soon as she should arrive.
Finally, after waiting for Alex for the better part of an hour ("it was only two minutes!" Draco insisted) Daphne dug some leftover sweets out of her pocket in an effort to distract herself. Draco reached over and helped himself to some of the chocolate frogs, unwrapping one immediately and popping it into his mouth.
However Daphne was slower; she took her time biting off the legs and then the head of the chocolate frog and then, instead of looking at the card (as her male counterpart had done) she read the list of ingredients and chewed thoughtfully.
"How would you feel," she said slowly, "if I made Pansy feel so completely disgusted that she wouldn't come near you for the rest of the night?"
Draco swallowed before replying, "You'd have my eternal gratitude. But I really don't think it's possible… that girl doesn't know how to stay away. Must be my natural charm."
Daphne snorted in a very un-lady-like way. "Sure it is. You've got as much charm as my Uncle Augustus has tact… he's the one that always amused you at funerals. Remember the time he brought his bagpipes?"
Draco smirked, "Ah, yes…. He was quite the hit at parties."
"Yeah…" Daphne grinned and popped another frog into her mouth. "Alright, well, I'll keep Pansy away from you, but you have to promise to play along. Got it?"
Draco nodded, thinking this would be another of Daphne's harebrained schemes.
He was right.
"First to get Miss Prissy's attention," Daphne muttered.
She turned herself so that her voice would carry down to where Pansy was sitting (obliviously) four chairs away.
"So Draco," Daphne started loudly. "Continuing from a previous conversation, do you prefer being on the top or the bottom?"
The people sitting around them began laughing raucously.
Draco's eyes widened.
"Erm… well, um."
Pansy was looking over at the pair, a very intrigued look on her face.
Daphne cocked an eyebrow at her friend. "Get ready, Drake, I'm going to be an angel."
He rolled his eyes at her.
"What! I can see this isn't a topic you'd care to discuss in such a public place—that's ok with me. We can talk about it later—tonight, if you want," Daphne said, her voice growing progressively louder.
The laughter went from storms to gales as it were.
Daphne waited a moment before continuing, making sure to catch a glimpse of Pansy's horrified face.
Daphne threw in a wink at Draco, which was the pumpkin icing on the pastry for Pansy and the other Slytherins.
"Let the disgusting begin," Daphne whispered to Draco. Raising her voice once more she said, "So since you want me to change the subject…. Have you looked at the back of a chocolate frog package lately?"
Draco froze, halfway through unwrapping yet another of the aforementioned sweets.
"What about them?" He asked warily.
"Well, just looking at the ingredients… do you think that mandrake liver has anything to do with the deliciousness of chocolate frogs?"
Draco looked from Daphne to the chocolate frog that was in his hand. Swallowing hard, he set the frog down and pushed it towards Daphne, a look of disgust on his face.
Daphne accepted it and broke off a piece, munching on it before continuing.
"I mean, I never really considered the role that a mandrake could play in the confectionary business…. But then again, I'm not one to pay attention to what goes into my mouth as long as it has some sort of sugar in it. But when you think about it, I bet that each of these has about a hundred calories worth of mandrake liver in it! Isn't that crazy?"
She stuck the rest of the frog into her mouth and chewed, a silly grin on her face.
"Is—is there really such a thing as mandrake liver?" a girl to Daphne's left asked timidly.
"Oh yeah," Daphne said gravely. "Just look at the package."
She tossed it to the girl.
Daphne smirked as she heard whispers of "it's true!" go down the line of girls at the table.
"Problem solved," she told Draco, a triumphant look on her face.
"You did almost nothing."
"Oh contraire, deary. I happen to know that Pansy consumed the sickening amount of four boxes of chocolate frogs on the train this afternoon. How, I'm not sure. But now that I've planted the seed of one hundred calories, she won't come near you until she's sure that she's worked off any potential fattening substances".
Ten seconds later they heard a shriek from the general Pansy-vicinity.
"Mission accomplished," Daphne said with a crocodile smile.
Sometime between the massive helpings of treacle, fudge, and peppermint toads that Daphne managed to consume, her ingenious plan went wrong.
Draco choked on a large spoonful of pudding when he felt a hand slide across his chest and felt a body standing behind him.
He almost inhaled the food when the purring voice of Pansy penetrated his poor ears.
"Drakieee," she simpered. "You know I'm much more skilled than that Greengrass bint, right?"
Daphne cleared her throat loudly. "I'm right here, Parkinson."
Pansy ignored her pointedly. "She's such a slut, you're not really going to show her which position you prefer, right? You know that if you need anything, I'm here for you?"
Draco went pale and went into a coughing fit. Daphne narrowed her eyes.
If the Prissy Pug wanted to play dirty, she'd play dirty too.
"Allow me to field that one, Draco darling," Daphne said lightly, flipping her hair behind her shoulder. "You see, Pansy, dear, you've rather a lot to learn about Draco here. He's not going to show me" — she paused, seeing a look of relief flash across Pansy's face— "he's going to give me a first hand experience. But if you want, I'll tell you all about it tomorrow at breakfast."
She smirked as Pansy's eyes bulged out.
"Just you remember, Greengrass," Pansy spat after a moment of sputtering, "Almost everything that he lets you experience, he learned from me."
Draco finally swallowed his food, though he had a hard time keeping it down once he finally got it down his throat.
Daphne adopted a thoughtful expression. A look of understanding dawned on her face.
"Then I'll have to thank you later for that great thing he does with his tongue," she said with a smirk.
Pansy's face was a picture of disbelief and horror.
"Draco," she screeched, rounding on the boy. "You didn't—you—you couldn't have!"
"Alright!" Draco bellowed, "That's quite enough! Pansy… just go. Go away. And you, Daphne, shut it!"
"Yes, darling," Daphne said meekly, reveling in the furious glare Pansy shot at her.
Draco rolled his eyes.
A moment later Daphne squealed loudly, causing him to cover his ears with the palms of his hands. Glancing up he saw Daphne waving at the grand oak double doors.
Alex must be done with her sorting… he thought vaguely. Hope she's in Slytherin….
Alex smiled wearily as she saw Daphne bouncing up and down excitedly at what she could only assume was the Slytherin table.
She walked over as casually as she could with the majority of the Hall staring at the latecomer.
She surveyed her friends before sitting down; Daphne wore her uniform without the tie, her skirt a few inches higher than standard, and a sequined green headband in her hair. Draco, on her right, wore his own tie loosely and his sleeves rolled up to the elbows. The epitome of this Slytherin "cool" I keep hearing about, she thought suddenly.
Daphne bombarded her as soon as she sat down.
"Have you had a chance to eat yet? Are you hungry? I saved you some pie… here it is; you really should eat—"
"Daphne!" Draco interrupted the stream of non-stop chattering. "Honestly, you'll make her sick with all your talk!"
"Oh! Right, sorry," Daphne smiled apologetically.
"It's fine, really," Alex reassured her. "I've already eaten—got some sandwiches. But," she said slyly. "Some pudding sounds delicious right now."
"Done!" Daphne said eagerly. She pulled the serving bowl close and spooned up a generous helping for her friend.
"That's plenty, Daph," Draco said as the girl dipped into the bowl for the third time. "What are you trying to do, fatten her up?"
Daphne dropped the spoon abruptly. "Draco Julian Malfoy! What have I told you about insinuating anything about girls being or becoming fat?!"
"Well," Draco said slowly. "You've said it's wonderful when I'm referring to Pansy… other than that you haven't said much, which in and of itself is nothing short of a miracle."
Daphne stopped, mouth open. "Yeah, ok, you have a point."
Alex smiled slightly, "It's Daphne, you don't have to defend me."
She took the pudding spoon and scooped some off her plate and back into the bowl, causing Draco to grin triumphantly at Daphne.
Daphne ignored him.
"So… you excited to be in Slytherin?" she asked Alex cheerfully.
"Um, I guess I would be… but under the circumstances…" Alex replied uneasily.
"Yeah. Wait 'til you see the dormitories! They're pretty great, green velvet curtains around the beds, stuff like that…."
Daphne continued, oblivious to the fact that Alex was no longer paying any attention to her.
"She doesn't get it does she?" Alex asked Draco hollowly. "I'm not in Slytherin…."
Draco's eyebrows shot up. "Well," he said in a would-be calm voice. "It's not like you gave her obvious hints."
"What did you say?" Daphne said quickly, finally turning to her friends.
"Nothing," Draco said immediately.
"I wasn't talking to you, Dung-head," Daphne said, a smile on her face. "What did you say, Alex?"
"I said… I'm not in Slytherin," she mumbled.
"Sorry?" Daphne said, a slightly confused look on her face.
"I'm not in Slytherin," Alex muttered again.
"What?" Daphne replied, still looking like she was in the dark.
"Oh for Merlin's sake, she's not in Slytherin!" Draco said loudly.
A number of people glanced curiously at them. Daphne smiled and waved at them to mind their own business before turning back to Draco and Alex.
"What?" She said, in a scarily quiet voice.
"I'm not in Slytherin…."
"Oh. Well, I guess Ravenclaw's not so bad…" Daphne said slowly, trying to remain positive.
"I'm not in Ravenclaw either," Alex told her.
"Oh, please tell me you didn't get in Hufflepuff, did you?" Daphne asked, a grin sliding over her lips.
Alex shook her head. "Gryffindor."
Daphne's jaw dropped. Draco's wasn't far behind.