Later that night, Draco was released from the hospital wing, moaning and wincing all the way back to the Slytherin Common room, where his classmates greeted him.

"Draco, you lived!" Blaise teased, walking over casually to examine the damage. Pansy, who had stayed by his side the whole day and had walked him back, recounted the entire story of all the agony that he had been through and that no one should tease him for it.

"My father's going to get that oaf fired," Draco smirked proudly. Tracey exchanged a quick glance to Daphne before she spoke.

"What will happen to the animal?" Tracey asked casually. Draco sniffed a laugh and winced a little at his own movement. Pansy instantly flew in to soothe him.

"It might get executed if the courts find it dangerous." He said as he slowly adjusted his wrapped up arm. The sling limited how far he could move it back and forward, but he was still able to move his hand.

"And by if, you mean that it is sure to happen." Theodore finished his train of thought.

"Yes, well, when you have the amount of influence that my father does, I don't need to worry about things not going my way," Draco said lazily. Theodore narrowed his eyes at the back of Draco's head, which was now focused on Pansy and her fussing over him.

Daphne was momentarily distracted by the sight of her sister, giggling with glee at whatever one of the boys her age was saying. Astoria had, as she expected, fit in almost automatically, and had yet to speak or even acknowledge Daphne as her sibling.

As I expected her to...

Eris suddenly jumped up on the couch beside her and meowed for attention. Pansy gave the animal a small sneer as she moved farther away from it.

"I hate cats." She announced sourly, fixing Draco's hair as he discussed something with Crabbe and Goyle, not even noticing her gesture. Daphne said nothing to Pansy and tried her hardest to ignore the feeling she had of wanting to shove Pansy over the back of the couch and take her spot beside Draco.

"Just ignore her." Daphne smiled at Eris, pulling a treat out of her pocket and putting it in her hand for Eris to eat. Just as the cat finished, her identical sister jumped up on the couch too, screaming for food and attention. Daphne rolled her eyes and pet Pandora, feeding her a treat, which the animal gobbled up in seconds.

"Are you becoming the cat lady, Daph?" Pansy teased.

"Daph? Since when do we call her Daph?" Draco chimed in, now watching Daphne as she tried to pay attention to both cats. Daphne felt her cheeks go a little pink.

"Please don't," She said shortly "And this one isn't mine." She remarked, looking up across the room at her sister, who was now tossing her blonde hair over her shoulders as she laughed at her own joke.

Payback for Princess... Daphne thought, smirking to Tracey.

"Astoria!" Daphne called sternly. She watched with silent glee as her sister turned her face and expression of horror and embarrassment on her face.

"What!?" she growled, her eyes showing that she was not happy at being interrupted. Daphne felt her insides go from holding a thousand butterflies to almost bursting with bottled laughter.

"Do you ever feed this animal that you whined and cried all summer for? The thing is starving!" she remarked slowly, an evil smirk crossing her lips. For once, she could tease and get her back without their parents coming down on her. Astoria gave her sister a look of rage and stormed over to her.

"I did not whine and cry!" she hissed, picking up Pandora (who tried to dig her claws into the couch unsuccessfully) and glaring at her sister. Daphne, however, only smirked wider as she watched her little sister, who was about a foot shorter than her, tried to size her up.

"Oh, is Astoria a big girl now?" she teased, picking up her own cat gently and petting her. "Might I suggest you feed her more often then? You wouldn't want father to think twice next time he gives you something you don't deserve," she remarked, now taking a seat on the couch beside Tracey. Astoria stood there, now looking at each of Daphne's friends one by one (with a look of particular fear when she saw Theodore). "You can go now." Daphne said in a low, dismissive voice. Astoria gave her sister one last glare before she stormed off towards her dorms with Pandora meowing loudly.

"Did I ever mention that your sister is a sweet little angel?" Tracey remarked sarcastically. Daphne sniffed a quick laugh as she fed Eris another treat.

"Did I ever mention that I'm happy I have no siblings?" Theodore chuckled.

That night at dinner, Pansy made a fuss about how Draco was going to eat and even offered to feed him, much to the disgust of Tracey.

"Merlin, she may as well just snog him here and now." She whispered to Daphne, causing her to choke on her drink. Once she cleared her throat, Daphne passed the message on to Blaise, who was sitting beside her. He also laughed.

"Well, we teased him mercilessly about it last night, but he didn't seem bothered by it at all... I think he wants her too." Blaise said in a low voice. Daphne felt like someone had just thrown cold water on her.

"Are you sure? Maybe he just doesn't want to upset her?" she offered. Blaise looked at her like she was crazy.

"This is Draco we're talking about; like he cares what happens to anyone else." He chuckled before pouring himself another glass of pumpkin juice.

"True..." Daphne sighed. She watched with bitter jealousy as Pansy fawned over Draco, and Tracey stamped on her foot to draw her attention away.

"So, Daphne? Have your parents written you yet?" she asked, her fake smiling telling her that she was a dead giveaway; Daphne went a shade of pink briefly.

"What?" she asked, puzzled for a moment. Tracey nodded her head towards the other end of the table, where the first person who caught her eye was Astoria, and then she remembered. "Oh that... not yet, although I imagine they won't fret; what can they do when I'm hundreds of miles away?"

"Not to mention when she adds in the letter 'I've met lots of boys, and they're all so nice to me', I'm sure that little problem won't matter a bit to them," Tracey added, smirking a little.

Daphne sighed a little, embarrassed for her family and Astoria (despite her best efforts). "So I'm not the only one that noticed it?"

"That your sister has flirted with everything male her age and a year older and she's only been here for a full day? Nope, I noticed it too." Tracey chuckled. Daphne hung her head over her plate, trying to think of what she could do. Chances are, Astoria wouldn't listen to her, and most likely call her jealous of all the attention she's receiving.

But if I leave her to it, she'll just make a fool of herself... and Merlin knows what effect that will have on us... she thought, trying to think of a way to bring up her sister's manners.

"I think I'll write to my parents tonight," Daphne said suddenly, raising her head and looking down the table at her sister. "I wonder if they will be so pleased to know that their precious daughter is having a hay-day."

Defense Against the Dark Arts was the lesson that Daphne had most dreaded since school had started; last year, she had barely passed, and this year was not looking to be any better. When Daphne and the other Slytherins were walking towards their first DADA class of the year, Daphne had a strong feeling of helplessness.

"I'm likely to die in any one of these lessons..." she grumbled to Tracey, who patted her on the shoulder.

"There, there. If anything happens to you, I'll take care of Eris," she promised, a devilish smile on her face. Daphne laughed a little and gave her friend a quick shove, which of course passed on into Pansy.

"Watch where you're going!" Pansy scolded them "If Draco had been here, can you imagine the damage you would have done!?" she added before she scurried to catch up with Draco, who wasn't even paying attention. Tracey watched her run ahead and rolled her eyes.

"Yes, because he's such a cripple..." she grumbled.

"Well, he is pretty injured." Daphne said quietly "I mean, what condition do you think you would be in if you had been mauled by a giant... thing!"

"Oh, I forgot; you feel the same way that she does." Tracey teased; Daphne poked her hard in the ribs for that remark.

"Shut it! Do you think I want her knowing that?" Daphne hissed. Tracey laughed loudly.

"I would think you would be more concerned about him knowing about it, but I'm sure you have a point." She pointed out lightly, now stopping to join the rest of the crowd as they waited outside the classroom.

Before Daphne really understood what was going on, the entire class was traveling up towards the staff room, where they were told they were going to face a boggart. Daphne felt her anxiety growing a little stronger.

"Great. Everyone gets to see what I fear most, and I don't even know what that is." Daphne grumbled. Theodore and Blaise turned to her, Blaise holding his hand out towards her.

"We'll protect you Daph." He offered. Daphne smacked his hand away from her."Don't call me that, Zabi." She hissed. Blaise's face turned dark, and he shook his head and turned back to the lesson. Theodore laughed and took a step back to stand beside her.

"What do you think it will turn into?" he offered. Daphne sighed and shrugged her shoulders.

"Something big, like a troll or something... I don't like big animals." She explained.

"Why?" he asked, watching Professor Lupin whisper something to Neville.

Daphne sighed. "I have horrible luck with animals, is all. My Grandfather worked with magical creatures all his life and used to keep a bunch in a barn out behind their house in France. He used to drag me out there to help feed them and stuff, even when I was little. But then, when I was 8, I was bitten by a Red Cap," she paused for a moment. "I think that was the first time my parents showed that they somewhat cared about me, to be honest. They made him stop taking me out there, and then a couple years later, he got rid of all the animals."

Theodore said nothing for a moment, then figured out something. "Well, let's hope that you don't intend on taking a job in that particular Ministry department."

"Thanks, Theodore," she grumbled.

Daphne watched carefully as the other students stepped forward and were met by what they feared most. She stayed close to the back of the crowd, watching and waiting for either class to end or for her turn to come up. She watched as the Boggart turned into a spider, a mummy, a snake, and then a silver ball. Then, before she knew it, the class was over.

"Well, that was short lived. I didn't even get to set my evil Boggart of bees on anyone." Tracey smirked as she walked up to Daphne, taking her arm as they walked out on the staffroom and towards their common room.

"Only you would find your own fear funny," Daphne teased.

"I find all human weaknesses funny... I'm like a Greek God," she laughed.

"And what weaknesses do you laugh at in me?" Daphne asked, eyeing her friend carefully.

Tracey stopped her from walking any farther as she glanced her over. Then, with a content smile, she looked up and gave her answer; "Jealousy."

"What!? You can't be serious! I'm not that bad, am I?" Daphne said in a low but frantic voice. Tracey laughed hard and continued to walk with Daphne.

"Daphne, if I didn't know you, I would never have noticed," she started "But because I know you, I can tell when you're giving someone the glare of death, and you give it to her almost daily now."

"Well, what can I do? Stop talking to her? Stop talking to him?" Daphne pointed out smartly.

"No, you have to beat her," Tracey said simply. Now Daphne laughed.

"Beat her? You mean to beat her off of him, right? How can I show her up if I can't even get him alone?" she whispered.

Tracey looked over her shoulder and saw that Draco, along with Crabbe and Goyle were coming their way "You tell me," she whispered back.

"... What good are you two going to do me?" Draco said as he started to walk at the same pace as Daphne and Tracey. "I can't write, and you two have worst marks than I do, so how can you expect me to get any work done?" he added, giving Crabbe and Goyle a snide look "I'm going to have to get Nott to do it or something."

"I'll do it!" Daphne said, perhaps a bit too enthusiastically. Draco looked at her and appeared to be thinking "I have all the same classes as you, and I have good penmanship." She added cheerfully. He still appeared to be thinking, which was a bit wary for Daphne "And my spelling as improved, too."

Draco smiled, satisfied by her offer "Alright, sounds good. At least I'll get a decent amount of homework done with you." He agreed. "I'll meet you in the common room after dinner," He said matter-of-factly, not even giving her the option of disagreeing to that time.

"Sure!" she said, once again a little too enthusiastically. Crabbe and Goyle made faces at each other before they followed Draco, who was now walking away.

"Well, that was even better than I expected!" Tracey congratulated Daphne, her arm around her shoulders.

"What can I say; spur of the moment decision..." she said quietly, realizing that now she was going to have to go through with her offer... and her marks were probably as bad as Crabbe and Goyle's to start.

For the next 2 weeks, Daphne helped Draco write out his homework after dinner. Much to Daphne's surprise, Pansy seemed to have no interest in watching Draco dictate to Daphne, and therefore left them alone for most of the nights. This gave Daphne unlimited access to Draco and everything she could think to say to him.

"Wonder what it would be like to be as poor as the Weasley's are." She pondered aloud one evening as she noticed that the library book he had taken out for his Potions assignment was once checked out by Percy Weasley. Draco gave her a look of disgust before he took the book and flipped through the pages.

"Horrid, I should think. Imagine being so disgraceful and having to live in a shack like theirs... Honestly, I would almost feel pity for them if they weren't the Weasley's." He replied as he continued to flip through the pages. "Lucky for us, we don't have to worry about any of that." He added.

"Well, as long as your family likes mine," Daphne sniffed a small laugh. Draco smirked at this thought and looked at Daphne.

"Then it's a good thing you volunteered to help me," he pointed out. Daphne flashed him a quick, shy smile before she dipped her quill, ready to take down whatever he was going to dictate to her. The deal they had struck was that Draco would dictate what he wanted his essay to say to Daphne, who would write it all down. On one of her sulkier visits, Pansy had suggested a quick-quotes quill, but Draco told her right away that they were all sold out in Hogsmeade and that his parents were too busy with the case against the Hippogriff that attacked him to go to Diagon Alley just to buy him a new quill. Daphne thought this sounded a bit suspicious, since his mother still had the time to send him sweets every day as usual, but said nothing since it gave her the opportunity to be alone with him.

"What's with you and Pansy?" she asked randomly when he took a break in his dictation to find another page. Draco looked over the book at her oddly before he went back to scanning the book.

"Nothing. Why, did you think there was something?" he drawled, clearly not too interested in the topic.

"Well, Blaise seems to think so... as does the rest of the house. Pansy practically lives at your side, but you don't seem to notice her." Daphne remarked, feeling her cheeks go a light shade of scarlet.

"Blaise would say something like that," Draco muttered. "I haven't made up my mind on what to do about her yet. I've written to my father to see what he'll say."

"Do you ask him about everything?" she said quickly, and then regretted it, thinking it may have been a bit too forward.

"Of course I do! He's the only competent and capable wizard I know!" Draco said seriously, giving her a much sterner look overtop of the book. "Besides, my family would never stand for me embarrassing myself, so I prefer to ask their permission in almost everything, as to make sure I'm living up to my family name."

"Oh right... that makes sense." Daphne mumbled quietly. Draco looked over the book again at her, as if he was trying to see if she had any visual signs of madness. Instead, then the only things he would have seen were her bright red cheeks and her eyes evading his.

"What do you think I should do?" he asked. Daphne felt her chest tighten; she couldn't think for a moment. If she told him not to date her, then she might get her chance... unless he guessed that that was her motive and chose to ignore her because of it.

Think think think! She shouted in her head What can you say to him that won't sound like a lie or a desperate plea?!

"I think you should choose for yourself," She managed at last. "Your family may have a great influence on your decision, but when it comes down to it, you're going to be the one dating her."

"So you think no?" he asked, a little confused by her answer.

"No, I never said that! I only meant that the final decision should be yours," Daphne said quickly, trying not to sound too obvious.

"Ok, I will... But what is your opinion? Or do you have a better idea on who I should do out with?" he asked again, now looking back at the book, casually reading. Daphne felt the silence grow thick between them as she pondered an answer again. She knew that either way, she was going to have to either lie through her teeth or create an enemy out of Pansy Parkinson, which was not wise for anyone to do.

"I, uh..." she started, clearing her throat awkwardly "I like Pansy, but I don't think any of us are... old enough to be dating now..." she rambled. Why are you saying this!? You're ruining your own chances too! She scolded herself again.

"Not old enough?" he repeated, eyeing her oddly. He almost looked slightly offended.

"Well, I mean, do you really know how to keep a girlfriend..." she replied, trailing off a bit at the end.

Good job Daphne... now you look like a complete moron.

"You know what, just forget I even mentioned it; it's not my business anyway..." she said, trying to end and change the subject once and for all; there was no way she could talk about this without the conversation ending badly. "Where did we leave off? Right, you were saying 'if your potion turns bright orange instead of bright green, it means you've added too many rat spleens or leech juice.'" She continued. He glanced at her, chuckling a little at her sudden change in conversation, and then found his place again in the book, returning to reciting his essay for her to copy down.

"I still can't believe you had the nerve to ask him that in the first place." Tracey laughed as she paid the waitress for her butterbeer. It was the first weekend at Hogsmeade, and Daphne and Tracey had managed to escape everyone else and hid away in the Three Broomsticks.

"Well, it certainly wasn't one of my brightest moments of life." Daphne sighed, taking a sip of her own drink. Having just retold Tracey the events of only a few nights before, Tracey was now taking the time to ridicule and advise Daphne.

"What did he look like when you said that?" she asked.

"Merlin, I don't remember! I was trying to hide my own face after I said that, let alone try and read his!" Daphne groaned, taking another sip of her drink. She hadn't dared to look at Draco since, and because his arm was now better, she no longer had to help him write out his homework. "I can't believe I asked him that! And I asked him if he asks his father for permission for everything! Oh, what an idiot I am... I may as well call myself a dimwitted troll from now on."

"Oh, c'mon Daphne! It isn't that bad! I mean, you could have offered yourself as his replacement."

"No, I told him that none of us were old enough to date yet if you can believe I would say that!" Daphne glanced around the pub "Afterall, there aren't people our age that is dating already, are they?"

"Not many, so you had a good point. But we know that Draco isn't one to really follow the rules." Tracey pointed out.

"Except his father's..." Daphne mumbled. "With my luck, he'll write back and tell him that he should date her or something... "

"Well, at least you made a move!" Tracey told her, pausing for a moment "Well, not that move, but you offered to help him! You're gaining ground already!"

"Ground to where? And I can only imagine the things Pansy is helping him with..." Daphne muttered, glancing around the pub again. To her horror, Pansy and Draco were now there, and steadily walking towards them "Oh no! Here they come!"

"Hello Daphne, Tracey," Draco said as he helped himself to the seat beside Tracey. Pansy did the same and pushed herself onto the seat beside Daphne.

"Hey!" Daphne said too brightly. Tracey rolled her eyes and stifled a giggle.

"What are you two hiding in here for? The candy shop down the street has a big sale on now." Pansy announced, holding up a giant bag of candy for them to see. "Draco bought it for me, isn't he sweet?"

"Yes, very," Daphne said quietly. "Well, perhaps we will go to Honeydukes-"

"I'm not done my drink," Tracey said, eyeing Daphne.

"Fine, hurry up. We don't have a lot of time left." Daphne said reluctantly.

"You know, I'm surprised that they even let us come here, what with Sirius Black on the loose," Draco said after he ordered a drink for himself. Pansy pouted a little when she had to pay for her own drink.

"But the Dementors are all over; it's not like he's going to just waltz up to the bar and ask for a drink," Tracey said, taking a very deliberately small sip of her butterbeer.

"True, but apparently they don't affect him too much. How else would he have gotten out of Azkaban if they did?" Draco retaliated. "All I know is that if I saw Black in the streets, I'd ask him what he's looking for and point him in the right direction." He added in a lower voice so that no one around would here. Daphne and Tracey looked at him like he was insane, but Pansy only smirked.

"Not afraid of anyone, are you Draco?" she said in a low voice.

"I like to think so," he added before he took a giant swig of his drink. Daphne looked at Tracey and then moved her eyes towards the door. Tracey deliberately then turned to the waitress who was walking by and ordered another drink for her and Daphne.

"Does anyone know why Sirius Black escaped?" Daphne asked, finishing her current drink.

"No one. Except for Black, of course," Draco said, looking around the pub "My father told me that he was the one who was arrested for giving up Potter parents to You-Know-Who. He reckons that he's coming to finish off the whole family or something."

"What, come after Potter? Really?" Pansy asked, a little too loudly. Draco shoved her elbow and told her to keep it down.

"Why not? He caused the Dark Lord to lose all his power, which in turn lost Sirius everything too! I mean, if I were him, I'd go after Scarhead too!" Draco said quietly.

"But to come all the way to Hogwarts? Why not just wait until he goes home for the summer to live with those Muggles or something? He'll be easy pickings then." Tracey wondered.

"Well, Black isn't exactly an easy man to miss. I mean, his face is plastered all over every building and newspaper in Britain. It's only a matter of time before someone catches him again, so he's got to do it fast, right?"

"You're so smart Draco," Pansy said, her eyes glazed over with longing; Daphne had to grip her hands onto her chair to prevent her from pushing Pansy off hers.

"Well, do you think he'll be able to get into the school?" Daphne managed as she tried to fight off the urge to attack Pansy.

"I doubt it. He probably thinks he'll get him out here or something. Too bad he can't go." Draco said, taking another swig of his drink.

"Not allowed?" Tracey asked, taking the drinks that had just arrived from the bar.

"No, those Muggles he lives with didn't sign his form. I heard him asking McGonagall if she would sign his it, but she told him no," Draco explained

"Poor little Potter isn't going to get any candy," Pansy mused, smirking like a cat. Daphne smiled as well at the thought of Potter being cooped up in the school all by himself, waiting for his friends to get back.

"And neither are we if we don't leave soon," Daphne announced, standing from the table.

"We have to finish our drinks," Tracey repeated again, still smirking at Daphne.

"Fine," Daphne said stubbornly, picking up the drink and draining the cup into her mouth. In a matter of seconds, the glass was empty and she was ready to go.

"Impressive," Draco remarked before taking a drink of his own butterbeer.

"Gross..." Pansy muttered under her breath.

"I'll meet you there?" Daphne asked, pulling her black sweater on; her jeans and green tunic would have normally been sufficient if it weren't such a cold day.

"No, I'm coming just hold on." Tracy sighed "I've never met anyone so anxious to leave a pub for a candy store," She added as she too pulled on her sweater. "See you two back in the common room."

When they exited the pub, Tracey took another opportunity to laugh at Daphne."Well, if looks could kill, Pansy would be dead by now," she said, taking Daphne's arm.

"Yes, and I thank you for forcing me to sit through that!" Daphne grumbled.

"Well, you can't escape them forever; they do live in the same house as us," Tracey said, leading her down the street and into Honeydukes. "Besides, how can you learn how to weasel your way in there if you know nothing about your competition?" she added, patting Daphne's hand patronizingly.

"What? Like that helped me at all?" Daphne laughed, reaching for the door of the shop.

"Well, we already know that Pansy clearly cannot chug an entire glass of butterbeer, which gives you points in the drinking games category." She teased.

"Victory!" Daphne replied sarcastically, opening the shop door, ready to indulge herself in sweets galore.

That night, after the Halloween feast that filled all the students with lots of food and candy, they all headed back to their dormitories. Pansy was feeling in a particularly good mood and continued to refer to the story over and over again as the girls got ready for bed that night.

"... He's just been so sweet these past few days. I'm starting to think that we might actually become a serious couple!" she said, squealing with glee with Millicent as she jumped onto her bed. Tracey and Daphne exchanged looks.

"So he bought you candy? What else has he done?" Daphne asked in a low voice. Pansy looked at Daphne carefully, like she was sizing her up, then walked over to her bed.

"Well, first he offered to walk with me down to Hogsmeade, leaving Crabbe and Goyle to walk behind us. Then he bought me the candy at Honeydukes, and at dinner, he saved me a seat beside him! I just can't believe the change that he's gone through since his arm was healed."

"Neither can we," Tracey smirked from over at her bed. Daphne smiled at Pansy in agreement and then pulled her pajamas out from under her pillow.

"I'm going to be the envy of every girl in Hogwarts," Pansy sang as she gazed at herself in the mirror beside the door. Daphne tried to ignore her as she pulled on her purple flannel pants and her yellow long-sleeved shirt and tied up her red waves into a ponytail. Pansy continued to babble about how much she loved Draco and how she could imagine their future together after they finished school, and Tracey made a gagging face behind her hand.

Suddenly, there was someone pounding at the door. All the girls jumped and stared at the door. Thoughts of Sirius Black ran through Daphne's head, and she felt her pulse grow faster.

"Girls, get your pillows and follow me!" called their Slytherin Prefect from outside the door.

"What? Why!?" Pansy shouted, not happy that she had to pull her perfectly organized bed out of order.

"Just do it! And quickly!" the girl called, and then they could hear her footsteps running further down the hall towards the next dorm.

"What's this all about?" Millicent wondered aloud as she grabbed her pillow and slippers and opened the door. Outside, all the Slytherin girls were filing past towards the common room. Daphne, now worried and curious, grabbed her own pillow and slippers and ran to catch up with the others.

When she got to the common room, the room was filled with the entire house, all of them whispering and rubbing their eyes sleepily. Daphne found the boys from her year and ran over to talk to them."What's going on?" she asked them.

"Dunno; all the prefects got us out of bed and made us come down here. Boy, when my father hears about how rudely..." Draco replied spitefully, but she wasn't really paying attention anymore; she took a moment to note that he was wearing what appeared to be black, silk pajamas, and they looked fantastic on him

"Draco! What's happening? Why are we all here?" Pansy breathed, trying to put on a show of fear.

"No idea," He repeated, his tone a little more annoyed this time. "There's Snape. I'll bet he's going to tell us," he added, pointing across the room towards the head of house, who had just strode in.

"You will all follow me to the Great Hall. There has been a security breach, and for your safety, you're all going to sleep in the Great Hall tonight." He announced. The entire room started to whisper in frantic.

"Do you think it's Black?" Tracey said quietly to Draco, who didn't look like he wanted to talk about the escaped mass murderer at that point in time; he now looked slightly white with fear.

"You will all be sleeping by house, and boys and girls will sleep on opposite sides of the room," Snape added, which a 7th year yelled something rather vulgar about keeping each other warm, which Snape gave a warning glance. "Now follow me, and stick close," He said before he turned around and headed towards the door. There was a brief moment where no one moved, and then the entire house all flooded forward, trying to stay as close to their head of house as possible.

That night was the most uncomfortable sleep Daphne had ever endured. The make-shift beds that the staff had made for all the students were nothing short of useless, and Daphne spent the whole night shivering under the small blanket that they had given her. Before they were all instructed to sleep, and the Great Hall was still filing in with students by house and sex, Daphne caught sight of Astoria, who was huddled up beside her roommates in a corner. She looked up and caught Daphne's eyes for a moment, and then looked away quickly, clearly ashamed of whatever emotion she was showing.

As Daphne listened to the sounds of people snoring and talking in their sleep, she wondered how the rest of Hogwarts could sleep so soundly; did no one else realize that there was a crazed killer running around the school? That he could burst into this very room and slaughter everyone in their sleep?

Clearly, some people have no sense of reality... Daphne thought as she pulled her blanket tightly around her, shivering at her own thoughts.

When her eyes finally did fade shut, she found that she could still hear distant whispered conversations. She focused her attention on the whispering voices and found that she could pick out only a few words.

"...like Daphne?"

Daphne felt her eyes open and she slowly rolled in the direction of the voice, hiding her face behind her blanket. She couldn't see who was talking, but she could tell that it was across the room in the boy's section. She felt her heart skip a beat as she started to wonder if it was Draco or not. At this point, Snape was passing by on his rounds, and she couldn't catch the last part of the conversation, nor the person's response to their suggestion. Sighing to herself when there was no sound after Snape had passed, she admitted herself back into a nervous sleep... this time for different reasons.

For months, she didn't make any advances on Draco (despite the advice from Tracey), nor did she lose any ground. She was quite content with being the close girl-friend until she felt she was ready to date him seriously, and then she would surely beat Pansy out of the running. Although she kept the outward appearance of being one of Pansy's closest friends and hung out with her every chance they had, she was inwardly plotting her demise. She noted everything that she hated (like how she hated being forced to watch Hogwarts Quidditch games, even though Draco was on the team, and that her family was all sick of the Dark Lord and his failed plans). These were facts that she had shared in complete confidence to her roommates, but Daphne knew that facts like this could bring her down just enough to have Draco chose her instead.

"But that won't be for a year, I would imagine," Daphne explained as she and Tracey walked to class together one day.

"If you say so," Tracey shrugged.

"What does that mean?" Daphne demanded, tightening her grip on her books.

"Well, I can't imagine you lying in wait for an uncertain number of months or even years. For all we know, Lucius may tell him he's not allowed to date or something."

"You don't seriously think he would do that, do you? He's almost 14!"

"And not an adult yet." Tracey pointed out "And Draco would do anything to please his father."

"Well, then I'll just have to prove to his father that I am a better girlfriend then Pansy," Daphne said stiffly, tossing her red waves over her shoulder.

"By doing what? Offering to take Lucius out for dinner?" Tracey laughed.

"No, I'm going to offer to go to tea with my father this summer, and I'll introduce myself as she sweetest, classiest, and the smartest match he could ever find for his son. And of course, I'll visit Draco while I'm there."

"And how do you intend on pulling that off? You're just going to ask your dad if you can come along?" Tracey asked, interested in how her plan would work.

"No, something much more interesting." Daphne smiled "My father has never told me what exactly it is he does for Lucius. I'll ask him one day, and he'll, of course, tell me that he can't tell me, and then I'll sigh and say 'Oh, I just thought that if you were always working with Lucius that I might get a chance to see Draco', and he'll naturally get the hint that we're friends."

"Yes, but you'll still have to invite yourself over to the Malfoy Manor, which I think is frowned upon by most wizarding households," Tracey warned her lightly.

"Well, I'll let my father figure out the date and time! I don't care when it is; I just need to meet Lucius, present myself as a lovely young lady" Daphne flipped her hair dramatically once again and smiled sweetly to show Tracey how she would do it "And then I'll get to be with Draco, uninterrupted."

"Well, I suggest you cut the hair thing; it's too obvious." Tracey laughed "And perhaps you want to tell Draco this in advance? Not the entire plan, but the fact that you might be visiting him this summer? He may want to know in advance so he doesn't get his plans with Pansy mixed up."

"Shut up, Tracey," Daphne frowned and smacked her lightly in the arm. "I swear, after I'm done this exam, I'm going to hex you into the sun," she said, shaking her head and laughing quietly. Tracey laughed even harder at the empty threat and followed Daphne into their Transfiguration exam.

The last dinner of the year was that night, and all the students gathered for their year-end feast. Blaise was already complaining about having to go to Romania this summer to visit his mother's new fiancée, who was a Romanian Quidditch Player.

"I've given up trying to learn their names; my mother changes fiancées and husbands so often, there really is no point." He said as he passed the plate of chicken to Theodore, who Daphne felt she hadn't seen in weeks. Exams had really tied up everyone, but lately, Theodore seemed to prefer hanging out with Blaise, and not Daphne and Tracey like he used to...

"Do you even know who your father is, Zabini?" Pansy asked, her voice sounding sweet, but the meaning not-so-sweet. Blaise gave her a dark look and ignored her.

"Advantage of this is that I get to see all the Romanian games, and I might get a chance to talk to Krum." He added smartly, making sure to give Draco a smug look.

"Krum eh? I'll probably see him at the Quidditch World Cup this year; the way that team is playing, they're bound to make it to the finals." Draco replied civilly.

Now's a good chance Daphne thought, as did Tracey, who poked her in the thigh under the table.

"What else are you doing this summer?" Daphne asked lightly "I might be spending some time with my father to escape my mother and sister; perhaps we can meet up for an afternoon?" she said in a very calm and practiced manner; she and Tracey had been rehearsing that speech for a week before she could say it without blushing or stuttering.

"A few things: Quidditch World Cup, visiting my grandmother. I'll probably be home other than that." Draco said, not aware of the look that Pansy was giving Daphne. "I'll speak to my father about it; I'd give anything to have someone my own age around the house once in a while!" he added, giving Daphne a feeling that could only be described as an anxious bliss.

"Excellent! I'll speak to mine, too." She said calmly before she turned back to her food. Pansy look frantically at Millicent, who shrugged her shoulders.

"I might visit too, Draco!" she said quickly so that Daphne could hear. She watched his reaction out of the corner of her eye but pretending not to be listening.

"If you can find the time, sure." He answered, pouring himself a glass of pumpkin juice. Pansy's face expressed the horror and anger of being put off with such an easy phrase. Then, she turned her gaze at Daphne at gave her a look that could chill to the bone. When Daphne turned her head slowly and truly evaluated her look, she returned a smug smirk and then returned to her food once more.

"And so it begins..." mumbled Theodore across from her. Daphne looked up, surprised to see that he had seen that, but then Dumbledore stepped forward to announce the winners of the House Cup.

So it begins indeed...