Year 3
The morning of September 1st had been more chaotic than ever; everywhere Daphne stepped, there was someone pushing past her or shoving her out of the way... and she hadn't even left for the train station yet.
"Has anyone seen Astoria's hair ribbon? The dark green one?" Medea called frantically from the living room, having torn open her daughter's trunk for the 3rd time today. Daphne rolled her eyes and glanced around the room lazily. Over in the corner, she could see Astoria's new cat toying with what looked like a long piece of string.
"Found it," Daphne called very unenthusiastically. Within seconds, her mother appeared in the doorway, looking to where Daphne was now pointing.
"Oh, this thing!" she huffed as she ran over and pulled the long ribbon from the cat's mouth. The animal looked up with eyes like candles, narrowed and angry at Medea. "Astoria, I hope that you're going to train this..." she paused to crinkle her nose in mild distaste "Thing to behave itself!"
"Mummy, she's just a kitten! She'll learn, won't you Pandora?" Astoria soothed as she picked up her Siamese cat and petted her gently. Daphne rolled her eyes and checked her watch.
"Can we go now?" she asked, but no one appeared to have heard her.
"Darling, Astoria wanted a cat, and this just happened to be the only cat they had." Lennox reminded his wife. He glanced over at Daphne and the similar animal sitting in her lap "Well, the last two that is."
"I don't understand why you had to buy two of them in the first place! We only needed one." Her mother narrowed her eyes at the cat that was sitting in Daphne's lap.
"They were on sale, Medea. And besides, Daphne's marks were high enough to deserve a reward." Lennox nodded his head at Daphne, who stroked her cat again. Her cat was also a Siamese and happened to be Pandora's sister (ironic to her father, but not so amusing to Daphne).
"Eris hasn't caused nearly as much trouble as the other one," Daphne mumbled as she stroked the back of her cat.
Astoria narrowed her eyes at her sister briefly "The other one has a name!" she sniffed before she walked off, calling for something else from her parents.
Daphne sighed and looked at her watch again; 10 am. "We really need to be going!" Daphne called, putting Eris in the wicker cage her father had bought for his daughters. Medea appeared in the doorway after a few seconds of silence.
"Did you say something Daphne?" she asked, frustrated with the amount of packing and re-packing that had to be done.
"We're going to be late! No point in packing her up if she's going to miss the train." Daphne rolled her eyes. Medea now looked at the clock above the fireplace.
"Oh, we are going to be late! Lennox! We have to leave now!" she called shrilly. Daphne cringed at her mother's high pitched yell, but continued to drag her trunk towards the fireplace. Lennox appeared a few seconds later with his wife's coat and bag.
"Shall we then? Where's Astoria?" he asked in his low, booming voice. Astoria appeared a moment later, feeding Pandora a little milk from a glass. Medea sighed and gently asked her not to feed the animals from her good china.
"But Pandora was thirsty, and I didn't have the time to find another dish" Astoria said lightly, setting the glass of milk down on the end table. Medea smiled and turned to her husband, apparently dismissing the subject.
If that were me, I would have had to polish all the silver and clean the dishes for that... Daphne remarked in her head. She rolled her eyes at her sister's spoiled treatment.
"Can we leave now!? I want a good seat on the train," Daphne groaned, watching her sister take her sweet time as she put her cat in her cage.
"You have to sit with Astoria on the train, Daphne," Lennox said as he passed the Floo powder jar over to his wife.
"What? No! I have my own friends to sit with!" Daphne complained, looking at her sister with contempt. There is no way they are going to make me babysit her!
"Daphne, that's not fair! How did you feel on your first day?" Medea scolded, putting her arm around Astoria's shoulder as she handed her the jar of Floo Powder next.
"I met people and sat with other first years, like you're supposed to!" Daphne pointed out in a low tone. Medea looked at her husband for back-up.
"Daphne, your sister isn't as outgoing as you-"
"Are you joking!? She's twice as outgoing as me! She'll be fine!" Daphne shook her head in disbelief. "I won't be babysitting her all year, so she may as well get used to it now." She added, taking a step towards the fireplace. Her father put his arm out to block her way.
"Don't get smart with us, Daphne. We are just asking you to watch out for your little sister on the way to the school." He said in a low voice, clearly struggling to be calm. Daphne crossed her arms angrily and looked at her sister, eyes narrowed. Unlike her parents, she knew how her sister would act on the train; she would be obnoxious and try to embarrass Daphne as much as possible to attempt to like witty or cute in front of her friends.
"She'll be fine. And she needs to make her own friends like I did." She said angrily.
"Daphne, do as we ask!" Medea glared, holding the jar out of her reach threateningly. Daphne looked at her sister with contempt, and then reluctantly agreed, holding out her hand for the powder.
Daphne said nothing to her family once she arrived at the train station. Knowing that her mother would surely give her one last order, backed up by her father's threatening voice, she decided it was best to leave them to say goodbye to Astoria. It also gave her a head start to get away from her.
"What's your rush?" Theodore laughed, catching up to her just as she was about to board the train. Daphne gave him a quick hug for a greeting, then pulled him onto the train with her.
"I'm trying to get away from my sister. My parents made me swear to sit with her, but I'd rather sit with a dragon than her!" Daphne said shortly as she yanked over the first car she found and threw her stuff, and then Theodore, inside.
"Is she really that bad?" Theodore asked, rubbing his elbow from where he had hit the doorway.
"Yes." She grunted "Whatever she asks for, she gets. Whatever she does is forgiven. She's perfect!"
"Are you really jealous of your 11-year old sister?" he asked, sitting down and propping his feet on his trunk. Daphne stopped her rant short when she heard that. Knowing he was right on, she sighed and sat down with a flop on the seat.
"Pathetic, aren't I?" she sniffed. "If you had siblings, you'd understand."
"Probably. But lucky for me, I don't." He smirked. "So, summer wasn't so great?"
"Oh, it was alright..." she sighed, letting Eris out of her cage and holding her in her lap. "Aside from Astoria whining every 10 seconds about what she needed for Hogwarts, I spent the majority of my holidays at home, reading and swimming at the beach."
"I didn't know girls with your fair skin could go to the beach," Theodore smirked again. "Don't you fry in the sun?"
"Not if you use this potion my mother got when she was in Greece last April. Stops the sun from burning my skin, but gives me a nice tan." She smiled proudly, extending her one arm to show how brown her skin had gotten over the past 2 months. Theodore took an extra long look at her skin like he was scanning every light freckle he could see all along her arm.
"When did you get the cat?" he asked without breaking eye contact with her skin.
"Just a month ago. Astoria wanted one, and they were on sale together, so my father got me one too." She replied faintly, still watching Theodore. He sensed that she was watching him because he suddenly tore himself away from her skin and now looked to the cat.
"Named?" he asked as he scratched the animals behind the ear.
"Eris," Daphne said quietly, scratching the other ear gently. Eris purred at the attention she was receiving "She must like you. Normally she only lets me touch her. But then again, I wouldn't let my family pet me either." Theodore said nothing, but he smiled contently to himself.
There was tapping at the door and their eyes shot up with surprise. Daphne felt her mood change instantaneously from relaxed and at ease to burdened and annoyed in a mere second. There stood her blonde-haired little sister, pouting angrily at her through the glass.
"Will you excuse me for a moment?" she grumbled, handing Eris over to Theodore before he could reply. She yanked open the door and glared down at her shorter sibling.
"You promised mother and father," Astoria said curtly.
Daphne let out a brief laugh. "Astoria, you have to find your own car. I am not about to give up one of my friend's seats just so you can pretend that you're scared and vulnerable."
"But I can't find anywhere to sit!" Astoria whined, contorting her face to look like she was sad and neglected. Daphne rolled her eyes.
"The train's not that full! Keep walking, and you'll find somewhere!" she hissed.
"How do you know! I could end up sitting in a hallway!" she cried dramatically.
"Good! It will harden you up a bit! You need to learn that the whole world isn't designed for your benefit. Now go away!" She said, glancing down at her sister's hands, which were empty. "Where's your trunk?"
Astoria continued with her antics, then slowly let a small, evil smirk cross her face "In another car."
"So you're just here to annoy me? You have found somewhere to sit!?" Daphne demanded, annoyed at her attempt to guilt her.
"And people to sit with too," She smirked wider.
Daphne narrowed her eyes and smacked her hands off the frame of the door. "See why I didn't want to sit with you, you little liar?" she growled in frustration. She had dealt with these tricks all summer, and the fact that they were going to continue into the school year made it that much worse. "You may have mother and father wrapped around your finger, but I'm not so easily fooled." She warned in a low voice. "Now leave me alone and stop trying to torment me." She finished, stepping back and preparing to close the door, but her hand flashed out like lightning and stopped it.
"I'm going to tell mother and father." Her sister threatened, her smirk even more devilish. Daphne laughed again.
"Please do! And tell them whatever story you want! By the time they see me again, they'll have long gotten over it. You see, you're not home under their noses anymore; out of sight, out of mind. They'll forget all your little tricks and games while you're away; you'll have to start all over again at Christmas." Daphne grinned, watching her sisters smirk fade into a frown.
"Who's the guy? Boyfriend, Daphne?" Astoria cracked, looking past her sister. Daphne let out a quick laugh at her attempt to stir up trouble, but Theodore beat her to the punch.
"No, I'm Theodore Nott, son of a cold-blooded killer." He said in a low, serious voice. Astoria looked at her sister for some sort of reassurance, fear in her eyes.
"And he hates first years." Daphne added, grabbing the door again and this time succeeding in almost closing it. This time, however, another hand stopped it.
"Get out of here Firsty!" Tracey said dully, pushing Astoria out of her way and stepping into the car with her trunk. "Ah, Daphne! How was your summer?"
Daphne smiled so wide at her friend's treatment of her spoiled sister. "Same as usual; Horrid." She said, gesturing to an empty seat for her to sit in. "And that is the reason; you've now met my sister." She said, nodding her head towards the door.
"Oh, that's Astoria?" she said, looking the girl over. "Sour looking thing, isn't she?" she remarked coolly to Daphne.
"Yes, she's putting on a show of abuse and tears, as you can see." She said, nodding her head to her sister, who was silently working on her fake tears. "Once again Astoria, those may work on our parents, but not on me." She repeated, taking the door and closing until there was just half a foot gap for an entrance. "Now, go back to your car and stop bothering me... or I'll set Nott on you." She added before slamming the door closed in her face. Daphne took her seat back beside Theodore and took her cat off his lap. As she resumed petting Eris, she noticed Theodore still staring out the glass door, eyes as dark as a demon. From out the corner of her eye, she saw Astoria make her dramatic exit.
"What a charming child," Theodore spoke, removing his look of death.
"Isn't she? I can't believe I'm stuck with her for the remainder of my Hogwarts years..." Daphne sighed.
"Well, we could dispose of her in the Forbidden Forest." Tracey offered.
"No, my home life would be worse if my parents lost precious Astoria." She grumbled.
"And tragic, I'm sure." Theodore teased.
About 10 minutes later, the remainder of their 3rd-year housemates joined them in the now very crowded car. Pansy was practically sitting in Draco's lap, and Crabbe and Goyle were rammed up against the window of one side. Daphne now found herself wedge right against Theodore (practically in his lap as well) and Blaise, who had taken more than his fair share of the seat. Millicent's cat was playing with Eris on the floor, running around their feet."I never expected you to be a cat person." Pansy mused, lightly setting her hand on Draco's leg. Daphne felt a small heat building up in her chest, but ignored it.
"Neither did I. But when my spoiled sister got one, my dad got me one too. I fell in love with her on sight." Daphne smiled, reaching down under Theodore's leg and scratching Eris's ear.
"I know just how you feel," Pansy smirked, glancing in Draco's direction. He appeared to not have noticed her advances and was looking at something across the car.
"Looks like it's going to rain soon. It's pretty dark up ahead." He said absently. Tracey rolled her eyes to Daphne, making a face to resemble Pansy. Daphne and Theodore snickered with laughter until Pansy shot an angry glare down to Tracey.
The train began to slow abruptly. Draco stood up, pushing Pansy off him to look out the window."What's going on?" he wondered. Blaise also stood and pressed his face against the glass.
"We've stopped right under this lovely thunder cloud... this will be interesting." He said, flopping back into his seat. As soon as he sat back down, the train jerked to a shortstop, launching Theodore, Daphne, Blaise, Millicent, and Tracey onto the floor unexpectedly. Draco had also tumbled over and was now lying on top of Blaise and Tracey.
"What the hell was that?!" he shouted, scrambling to his feet and climbing over everyone to look outside the car door. As soon as he reached the handle, however, the train jerked sideways, launching him back onto the pile in the floor... this time, landing on top of Daphne. She now felt that familiar heat rising in her chest again, and her stomach began to churn and twist. No doubt, her face was a red as a tomato now...
The lights went out, and Pansy and Millicent let out small screams. As they all struggled to get back into their seats, they felt a cold wave come across the car."What's going on?!" Tracey whispered frantically as the air got colder. Daphne shook her head slowly.
Then, movement from the corner of her eye caught her attention. Theodore had seen it too; there was a dark figure coming down the hall. She felt suddenly very sad and empty, on top of freezing cold. They all watched as the dark hooded figured floated past without so much as a second glance into their car. The farther the figure got, the better she felt.
"Impossible," Theodore said barely above a whisper. The others looked at him for an answer, which he reluctantly gave. "I think that might have been... a dementor." He said, his voice shaking a little. Daphne noticed that his hands were shaking slightly, which he hid away in his sweater pocket a second later.
"Dementors? On the Hogwarts Express?" Draco said, barely breathing it. The others all sat in silent fear.
A moment later, the lights were back on and the train was moving again. Daphne shifted uncomfortably and then noticed Eris and Millicent's cat cowered still in the corner under Crabbe's seat.
"Here Eris, come here," Daphne called, her voice cracking a little. The others all started to relax as well, and Pansy was the first to speak.
"Eris? What kind of name is that?" she asked, resuming her fawning over Draco as if nothing had happened.
"It's an Ancient Greek name. She was the goddess of discord." Daphne replied, petting her cat once it jumped onto her lap.
"How pleasant," Pansy smirked. Tracey rolled her eyes.
Flint now appeared at the glass door, tapping on the glass and motioning for Draco to answer the door. "Probably Quidditch business." He said in a proud tone; now Blaise and Theodore rolled their eyes.
"Potter fainted!" he burst as soon as Draco opened the door.
"Fainted? From what?" Blaise and Draco asked at the same time.
"The Dementors! I was walking down the halls right after they passed, and I saw Potter just lying there on the seat! There was some guy in there trying to help him, but Weasley and Granger looked really upset."
"Potter fainted!" Draco laughed.
Daphne felt like telling them that it was perfectly logical for someone to faint with such a creature nearby, but when Flint added that he was the only one on the train that did, she wondered if perhaps it wasn't so common after all. Then she remembered how Theodore shook, and although she wanted to ask him while she remembered it, she knew that it would be like throwing him to the dogs if she did.
"How close are we?" Millicent wondered out loud.
"Well, we can't be far; why would they put those things close to London? We must be near the school." Blaise theorized. Daphne craned her neck to look out the window and recognized some familiar surroundings.
"I think we're about 20 minutes off. Maybe we should get into our robes." She stated, grabbing the bag that she had stashed under her seat. "C'mon Eris, back in your cage for a little while." She called. The cat jumped up onto her lap again but looked very unhappy upon seeing the cage.
"Let's go steal the bathrooms Draco." Pansy smiled widely. Draco followed along, once again apparently not noticing her throwing herself at him. Either he is truly blind or he wishes he was... Daphne thought, shaking her head slowly as they left the car, followed by Crabbe, Goyle, and Millicent.
"She may as well beat him over the head with it," Blaise grumbled as he opened his trunk and grabbed his robes.
"He doesn't seem too willing, does he?" Tracey mused, looking directly at Daphne.
"What?" she asked, feeling her cheeks turn pink again; she knew what her friend was alluding to. She quickly turned around and pretended to fumble around in her bag.
"Apparently not... or maybe he really doesn't know she's trying," Theodore added, saying the first thing in what seemed like ages.
Blaise laughed sharply "Oh, believe me, he's going to know after tonight." He nodded at Theodore "No way are we going to let him live any of that down; we'll tease him all night probably."
"It's true; nothing better than making fun of a guy for liking a girl." Theodore cracked a small smile.
"Does it happen often then?" Tracey asked, smirking a little.
"Oh, once in a while. But we're not saying who." He said, looking at Theodore knowingly. Then they made their exit towards the washrooms as well.
"Interesting..." Tracey mused from behind Daphne "I wonder if they know about your little secret."
"I still don't know what you're talking about," Daphne replied stiffly. Tracey laughed at this.
"Oh yeah, I'm sure you don't! Really Daphne, could you be any more obvious? Turning red at every mention of him towards you?" she said, taking her arm in hers and starting out of the car "I'm surprised you don't keel over every time he looks at you."
This time Daphne said nothing. She was beginning to realize that her friend was indeed right. She really did fancy Draco. Everything else all made sense now; the strange feeling in her chest whenever he was near, how she wanted to pull Pansy's hair every time she saw them together.
Great. Just great. She thought, sighing outwardly.
When the train had stopped and all the students were piling off, Daphne had somehow managed to lose everyone except Theodore. The rush of students, all chattering about the Dementors or Sirius Black, it was impossible to pick out any of her other housemates.
"Well, I guess it's just you and me." Daphne sighed lightly. Theodore smiled briefly, and then it faded into his normal, un-amused expression. They managed to find a carriage that wasn't filled with students yet, and to Daphne's surprise, Theodore reached ahead and smacked the air. To even more of her surprise, the carriage lurched forward. "What was that?" she asked, an odd expression on her face.
"You can't see them?" he asked, turning and gesturing to the blank air ahead.
"Uh, no... what am I supposed to see?" she asked quietly. Theodore sighed and sank into his chair, telling her it was nothing. She nodded her head and then remembered what she was to ask him. She cleared her throat and leaned forward, just in case there were any other carriages nearby.
"Theodore, I noticed that you were... shaking when the Dementor came in." She said quietly. He said nothing at first, and in fact pretended not to have heard the question, looking out into the forest they were passing through. Daphne leaned back awkwardly and also looked out at the surroundings; clearly, it wasn't the right time to ask that question. But then he sighed loudly and turned back to face her.
"My father is terrified of going to Azkaban because of them." He said in a low voice "And he's told me time and time again about what they do to people... how they make you feel, how they leave you mindless and empty if they- " he stopped short and looked out in the forest "I guess some of his fear transferred to me..." he added, sounding ashamed of it.
"Had you ever seen one?" Daphne asked without thinking. He looked up with a blank expression "Of course not... What a stupid question." She mumbled to herself.
"No, not really." He corrected "No, I've never seen one. I gather my father has though; his description of one was almost exact."
"Almost?" she asked, her voice barely audible.
"He didn't quite describe how cold it would get... maybe he saw them from far away. From what he said, it wasn't something he wanted to get close to..." Theodore looked up and directly into her eyes "He's seen people die from them... well, not die, but cease to exist. People become empty shells after they-" he broke off again before mentioning what exactly a dementor did. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat across from her.
"I'm not going to tell anyone, Theodore," Daphne reassured.
"I should hope not," He sniffed lightly "Otherwise I'll be laughed at too, like Potter..."
"I doubt that," Daphne replied instantly, but knew in her mind that it was quite possible. "But it doesn't matter because no one is going to know," she reassured him again. Theodore smiled slightly and turned to see the castle approaching fast. He stood and helped Daphne up as well, taking her hand and helping her down off the still moving carriage.
"Better go find Draco," he mumbled. "Before he gets himself jinxed by Potter."
"Or before Pansy smothers him to death..." Daphne added quietly.
The opening feast was only interesting for one brief moment; when Astoria Greengrass took her seat on the stool at the front and waited to be sorted."Anyone we know?" Draco nodded his head in her direction. Daphne rolled her eyes and slumped her head onto her hands.
"My sister." She mumbled into her palms. She listened carefully as the hat was no doubt thinking, and then without more than 3 seconds delay, called 'SLYTHERIN' out to the Hall.
Damn, she thought, letting out a long sigh. Then, out of what little sibling respect and love she had for her spoiled sister, she joined her housemates in their applause for their newest member.
"Since when do you have a sister?" Pansy asked over the applause and cheering. Daphne noticed that her beauty of a sister was already attracting some attention from the nearby 2nd year and 1st-year boys.
"I never mentioned her because she needs no introduction. She has a way of getting attention all on her own," Daphne replied, looking down the table at her sister. Her blonde hair was now tied up in a high ponytail, letting her loose curls cascade down onto her back and shoulders. She smiled graciously as she introduced herself to the boys that were sitting around her, and batted her eyes like the little vixen she was.
And so it begins... she remarked silently. She watched Astoria for a few moments more, carefully noting the young men she was now taking an interest in; she knew none of them by name.
Lucky for you; I would be writing home to father with every single one of their names if I did... make sure he knows what you're up to...
"So Daphne, do you fancy a quick game of Exploding snap when we get back to our dorms?" Tracey asked from her left side. Daphne shook her head clear of her mischievous thoughts of all the things she would write to her father about Astoria.
"Uh, sure! Did you get a deck for your birthday?" Daphne asked, now immersing herself into this conversation.
"Yes. It was more or less a bribe, actually. I caught Dad sneaking into our backyard one night, and she essentially paid me off with a good haul this year. I got a new deck, plus a bunch more clothes-"
"Where did you get your clothes, Tracey?" Pansy interrupted a small smirk on her face. Daphne knew that she was trying to bring up the old news that Tracey was a half-blood and that she couldn't afford the magical things that she could.
"Well, I got some at Madame Malkins, and others stuff at a store in New York, where my mother was on business last month," Tracey replied smartly, knowing that she would have no idea what to say about any store she named off; Pansy had barely left England, let alone the continent.
"Well, you must show me what you got. I'd love to see what the Americans are wearing." She replied, almost sounding honestly interested. Tracey smiled sarcastically, but Pansy took no notice; she was already lost in Draco... again.
"How long do you think this is going to last?" Tracey whispered to Daphne, a coy smile on her lips.
"I don't know, but if she's this revolting all the time, I think I'll kill her before he does," Daphne whispered back. It really was appalling how Pansy was throwing herself at Draco (more than ever) and he seemed to either not be taking notice or was ignoring her completely.
"With your luck, he'll actually take to her," Tracey said in a low voice. Daphne looked oddly at her, searching her face for the meaning of her words.
"What do you mean with my luck?" Daphne asked, a little louder than before. Theodore was now listening in, and they were both conscious of it.
"I mean that he'll start dating her, and you'll be out of the runnings," she said, nodding her head to Pansy discretely. Daphne felt her cheeks turning pink again; she really wished she would stop bringing this up! Panicking, she let her red hair fall onto her shoulders and into her face a little to cover her cheeks.
"I really have no idea what you're talking about..." she mumbled, now distracted by Dumbledore starting his speech. Never have I been so thankful to hear this old man speak...
"... our school is presently playing host to some of the Dementors of Azkaban, who are here on Ministry of Magic business." He announced, feeling a wave of silent fear and curiosity spread over the Great Hall. Daphne felt Theodore tense beside her, and instinctively, she placed her hand on his knee for a moment, reminding him that she was on his side.
"Don't worry; nothing will happen." She whispered soothingly. He nodded his head and managed to keep up the appearance that he was completely unshaken by the announcement.
"Wonder who they're trying to keep out." Draco pondered aloud, attracting the looks of several students from the Ravenclaw table. "Or maybe they're trying to keep someone in... Potter probably; causing enough trouble as it is without wandering about the country." He added. The students who were listening had now turned away, bored with the subject already.
"Let's hope for our sake it's someone on the outside..." Daphne mumbled. Draco looked down at the table in cynical interest "If this person is so bad that they need the Dementors to guard us, I'd rather that person be out there than in here with us."
The first day of lessons was one that Daphne had been dreading all summer. This year she had to take Care of Magical Creatures (of which she was afraid of 75% of said creatures) and Divination later that week (not with the Gryffindors, thankfully), which her mother was a master of at her age, and of course expected Daphne to be as well.
"Like your mother would disown you if you failed Divination, of all things," Pansy said lightly at breakfast that morning. "My mother seems to think it's a bird course; the one you take to bring your grade level up." She was twittering, shoveling eggs onto her plate.
"Yes, well, my mother is convinced that intelligence is passed on through birth... I would hate to prove her wrong." Daphne sighed, tossing her croissant onto her plate again, no longer hungry.
"Ready to face these things?" Tracey said, holding up her Care of Magical Creatures book that was chained shut. Daphne nodded her head silently and tapped her hand on her own book, which was wrapped up in twine.
"Wonder how we're expected to study from these if we can't even open it..." Theodore said drearily, flopping into his chair, clearly tired.
"What's wrong with you?" Draco asked, looking up from his food briefly. His mother's most recent package had contained his favourite sweets, which he had decided were a better option than the breakfast Hogwarts was serving today.
"I couldn't sleep," Theodore said, glancing at Daphne; she instantly understood why. "My stomach was upset from the food last night." He added.
"Yes, I know what you mean." Draco agreed, pushing his hardly touched food away from him. "I can't even stomach this crap, let alone expect that I have to eat this every day; what's happened to our staff this year!? First, we have that great oaf teaching, and then our food is so horrible that we'll starve? I'm beginning to believe that Drumstrang is a better option with each passing day." Pansy looked up desperately and tried to think of something to say.
"We should head down to class," Blaise suggested, picking up his buckled-shut book under his arm. Draco nodded his head, and the others all followed suit, gathering their things for class.
Daphne managed to separate herself and Theodore from the others as they trudged down towards the hut at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. He wasn't looking any better in the sunlight, and Daphne was beginning to wonder if he could seriously handle having these creatures on the grounds.
"You should say something to Dumbledore." She said, taking his arm to stop him from trying to catch up to Blaise, who was calling him.
"About what?" he yawned. Daphne gave him a stern look.
"About that. He can't seriously expect you to put your health at risk in order for-"
"The entire school to be protected from whatever he wants to keep out?" Theodore interjected. Daphne paused, trying to think of something to say to that. "Look, as selfish as I may be, I am not so selfish to put the whole school, and therefore myself, at risk of whatever the Ministry is trying to keep out of Hogwarts."
"Well, maybe you should ask him-"
"Daphne, I appreciate the effort, but honestly, I don't need any therapy sessions about my fear of the most terrifying creature in existence. If that were the case, I'm sure half the school would be asking for the same favour," He then starting to walk again. Daphne ran a few steps to catch up.
"Ok, it was just a suggestion! I just don't want you to get sick or something... the last thing I need is to have my personal tutor getting ill," she joked, nudging him in the ribs lightly.
"Then you and Tracey would have the teach me, Merlin's beard!" He teased back, now catching up to the others. Upon hearing her name, Tracey turned around to face them.
"What about me? And where did you two get to?" she said, eyebrows raised in a quizzical way, examining them both curiously.
"My book went a little crazy." Daphne lied. "Thing was snapping in between the ropes, and Theodore helped me tie it back in."
"I can't understand why on earth we should have books like this!" Draco interjected loudly so others could hear. Theodore rolled his eyes at Draco's love of making a scene.
"Obviously, someone was hoping that it would take off your big mouth, Malfoy." Seamus sneered as he passed by. Draco was about to shout something after him, but Hagrid had now appeared at the front of the class, trying to get everyone's attention.
The giant went on about how to open the books (which Draco made a snide remark about), and then disappeared into the forest to get whatever he had for the lesson (which left Draco another opportunity to make more comments, this time helped by Pansy). When Hagrid returned with a Hippogriff, Daphne felt herself moving instinctively backward.
"What's the matter with you, Daphne?" Blaise asked, noticing her fear.
"Not a big fan of big animals." She said weakly, pushing herself to the back of the crowd.
"What do you mean by 'big' animals?" Tracey asked, joining her at the back.
"Anything bigger than a dog is pretty much out of the question for petting, riding, and having within 20 feet of me." She said, nervously rubbing her arm like she was cold. "Don't worry, I'll just watch from afar, thank you."
By this time, Hagrid was loading Potter up onto the beast, and he was off riding it around the grounds. Pansy, although she looked amazed, said that she hoped he fell off into the lake and the squid got him; this was received by several glares from Gryffindors.
"Certainly is hard to make friends with them, isn't it?" Blaise chuckled to his friends at their reaction.
"Like we would need them as friends," Theodore said, loud enough for at least one Gryffindor girl to hear. She gave him a nasty look at walked across the crowd.
"Here comes Potter again," Tracey grumbled, nodding her head up in the sky. About 15 seconds later, the Hippogriff and Harry had safely landed on the ground. A few of the students were cheering and clapping, but none of the Slytherins look thrilled.
"Oh please, he didn't even do anything! And people think that he's amazing for it..." Draco hissed before he stepped forward.
"If I didn't know any better, I would think that Draco is jealous of Potter," Tracey said quietly. Pansy still heard and shot a look of death at her.
While Pansy was preparing to say something very strong to Tracey, there was a sudden commotion, and before any of the Slytherin's knew what had happened, Draco lay on the ground, screaming in pain.
"I'm dying! It's killed me!" he cried, waiting for attention from Hagrid, who was tying the Hippogriff back.
"DRACO! Oh no! What happened!" Pansy shrieked, looking like she was about to burst into tears. Daphne too felt herself run forward to his aid, but then when she heard a loud growl from the creature, and felt herself stumble back in a panic, taking out Blaise in the process.
"What happened?" she asked him as she scrambled to get back up, feeling a sudden rush of fear and panic.
"Draco walked up to it and it just went insane! Tried to take his whole arm off!" Blaise said loudly.
"Oh no! Is he alright?" Daphne asked, pulling herself up on Tracey and Millicent's arms just in time to see Hagrid carrying him off towards the castle with a giant gash on his arm. "Should we follow them?" she asked, the panic quite clear in her voice.
"He should be sacked straight away!" Pansy cried, now with real tears falling from her eyes. One of the Gryffindors shouted something back, and then Crabbe and Goyle stepped forward in defense. Daphne just stared at the giant, getting smaller and smaller in the distance, and hoped that Draco would be ok...
The entire class made their way up to the castle, now without a teacher or a lesson. Pansy ran up towards the hospital wing, leaving the Gryffindors and the Slytherins staring at each other awkwardly.
"Well, I'm going back to the common room," Blaise announced to his housemates. Without a word in agreement, the others began to follow him back down towards their house. Daphne wanted to go with Pansy to check on Draco, but Tracey had warned her of what she would see when she got there.
"A lot of blood and Pansy crying and smothering him, thinking that he's dying, which he certainly isn't," Tracey said, entering the common room before Daphne. She now stood outside the door, looking back up the empty, dark hallway that would lead her to the hospital wing. She thought about going up to see him for a moment but then realized that seeing him in a state like this would upset her more.
When she finally entered the common room, she sat by the fire and felt her insides turning with anxiety.
He could be dead by now... or he could be so injured that he can never use his arm again... Oh, poor Draco! He may never be able to play Quidditch again! She looked up from the fire, over at the other students who had witnessed the incident; they were all laughing at something Tracey had said, enjoying their free period. It was like nothing had ever happened, and that Draco and Pansy were just off for a stroll or something.
Am I the only person who cares about Draco's welfare? She thought, almost disgusted by her friend's behaviour.
Then it hit her like she'd flown into a brick wall on her broom.
Merlin, Tracey's right; I am in love with him!