The first week of school passed on in relative silence—mostly everyone had forgotten about the fox and the ferret, but there were still those few who would snicker whenever Talia and Draco were sighted walking through the halls. In such instances, Talia would duck her head and pretend to pick something off the front of her robes, while Draco would sneer and glare, which quickly hushed anyone who dared to make fun of him.
Talia's first lesson of Defense Against the Dark Arts (which landed on a Friday), had been pure torture. She'd taken a seat at the very back, away from Professor Moody. He'd introduced that days lesson, which had been about Cornish Pixies, and all throughout the lesson, Talia could feel his eyes (both magical and non magical) staring at her clinically.
She had all but run out of the classroom when the bell had rung, taking refuge in the dungeons, where she now tried to pitch her soapbox routine to Draco.
"Spew?" Draco asking for what seemed like the millionth time, quirking an eyebrow at Talia, who sat beside him in the common room in front of the fireplace.
"No, not spew," corrected Talia with an irritated sigh, "S-P-E-W!"
"Same shit," shrugged Draco.
"No it's not," said Talia, "anyways, do you want to join? We have four people right now. It'll be two Sickles to join, which also buys you a badge—I'm co-treasurer!" and to prove her point, Talia brandished a little empty tin, with the letters "S-P-E-W" scrawled on it messily in marker. The tin was where she'd collect her money, since she was, as she'd said, co-treasurer.
"Who's this 'we'?" asked Draco with a wave of his hand, silently telling Talia to elaborate.
Hesitantly, she answered, "Well, there's me… and the president, and the other treasurer, and the secretary."
"Names, Talia."
"Hermione, Ron, and Harry," mumbled Talia, playing with the tin nervously.
Draco was silent for a moment, before asking, "What's it stand for again?"
"It stands for the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare," said Talia smartly.
"So you and your little… group, would be fighting for house-elf rights?" asked Draco.
Talia nodded.
"Not interested."
"Oh come on!" exclaimed Talia rather loudly, "it's for a really good—"
"You're being a hypocrite, you know," said Draco nastily, a smirk pulling at his lips.
"How do you mean?" asked Talia, genuinely confused.
"You own a house-elf," said Draco simply.
"But Widget is a free elf!" said Talia incredulously. "She can come and go as she pleases—we take care of her, and mum let's her take Sundays off—"
"But do you pay her?" asked Draco, biting his lower lip to keep himself from laughing.
"No, but—"
"Hypocrite!" exclaimed Draco, laughing loudly and pointing a finger at Talia.
Talia glared and nearly threw the empty tin at Draco's head. What had she even been thinking, trying to recruit Draco, of all people? He was her best friend, so obviously, she felt the need to include him in all of her little adventures, but this one had certainly been a long shot—it hadn't hurt to try, though.
Ugh, I hope Hermione let's me out of this one easily, thought Talia as she put some thought into what Draco had pointed out. Widget was a free elf, but she was not being paid for her services—it wasn't Talia's fault that the elf refused to accept nearly everything that was given to her out of the goodness of their hearts!
"How'd Granger come up with all this crap, anyway?" asked Draco, the remnants of a smile on his lips.
"It happened when we got back from summer holiday. Gryffindor's house ghost informed her that there were house-elves living here at Hogwarts—she didn't know that, because the house-elves always tend to stay in the kitchens, or come out once we're all sleeping. Of course, Hermione didn't take it well. She couldn't believe that there were so many elves working here, without being paid and all that—so she created S-P-E-W."
"And you decided to join?" asked Draco incredulously. "You—Natalia Snape—owner of a house-elf—decided to join a group that boycotts the—"
"I get the point!" Talia said haughtily, waving a hand angrily at Draco. "I'll admit, I didn't think it through."
Draco just snorted, lying down along the length of the couch so that his feet were propped up against the armrest, while his head lay on Talia's lap. Without missing a beat, Talia began threading her fingers through his hair, a pensive look in her eyes as she stared into the crackling fireplace.
"You're not going to tell her about Widget, are you?" asked Draco with a little smirk.
"… Maybe."
Draco just chuckled and closed his eyes, enjoying the feel of Talia's fingers playing with his hair.
Unbeknownst to them, Pansy was watching from the foot of the stairs, a murderous expression on her pale face.