If having Beauxbaton and Drumstrang around wasn't weird enough for Hogwarts students, being told that there was going to be a ball, as in a dance, was even stranger.
"I hate dancing," Tracey grumbled. Daphne found that she was actually very excited to go to this ball, not only because she had never been to an actual ball, but that it was a chance to dress up!
"Well, surely it won't be all waltzing!" Daphne giggled "I mean I can't imagine anyone waltzing to The Weird Sisters!"
"Well, that's true, but everything else is going to be all stuck up and formal!"
"Yes, because all muggles learn to waltz in school and frequently dress up in ball gowns to go out for the evening," Daphne rolled her eyes. "Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if half of them don't know what dress robes are!"
"And that's supposed to prevent it from being all stuck up and formal?" Tracey inquired sarcastically, crossing her arms and body checking a Hufflepuff 2nd year out of her way. "Honestly, some people have no manners! Just walking down the middle of the hall like that?" she said incredulously.
"Well, I'm not saying that some people won't make it seem like that-" Daphne was interrupted by a short laugh from Tracey.
"Your sister being one," she smirked a little. Daphne ignored her and continued.
"But there are going to be hundreds of students who have never been to a ball, like us, so it's nothing to get worried about!"
"Oh, I'm not worried, per say. I just hate the thought of dressing up and prancing around like a fairy," She trailed off as she looked across the hallway at a Beauxbaton girl chatting to a Ravenclaw "Or a French Ninny like her," She chuckled.
"There are more important things to worry about then looking like a fairy!" Daphne said, feeling her excitement fading when she came to the trouble with this ball. She sighed and leaned against the wall beside her Ancient Runes classroom. "We have to find dates for this thing!"
"And I bet there's only one person you want to go with, right?" Tracey teased, turning up her nose and giving her a glare to resemble Draco. Daphne smacked her in the arm with her book to stop the charade.
"Yes, well that's a given!" she hissed under her breath "But how exactly am I going to achieve such a feat?" she sighed, leaning her head back against the cold stone wall. It was now late November, and everyone was racing around, trying to find dates for the Yule Ball.
Lucky for Daphne, Draco had yet to ask Pansy, which meant she still had a chance. In fact, none of the Slytherins appeared to have dates. The only person that Daphne knew did have a date was Astoria; she was going with a 15-year old Drumstrang named Yuri Zanzibar, whom she had met one night in the Great Hall during dinner. He had become her newest companion, one of about 12 she had had already that year; Daphne was beginning to think that she really would date the entire school before she graduated...
"Well, there's still time to kill Pansy," Tracey joked, mimicking strangling an invisible neck. Daphne laughed and closed her eyes, shaking her head slowly.
"Despite how much I hate her for having all of Draco's attention, I don't hate her enough to kill her... hex her, maybe, but not kill,"
"Really? Because I would have no problem killing her..." Tracey said in a low voice, glaring down the hall at the topic of conversation, which was walking towards them with Millicent in tow on her arm.
The four Slytherin girls had split into doubles since the day Drumstrang and Beauxbaton arrived. Tracey and Daphne no longer felt the need to include Pansy or Millicent in any of their conversations, and Pansy no longer felt the need to acknowledge Daphne when they were both around Draco; her mind was set on stealing him away and sealing the deal of officiality with him. Tracey told Daphne that she had overheard Pansy telling Millicent that she was positive that she and Draco would be dating soon because he was closer to her than ever. Daphne then felt the need to take a walk outside in the snow after that conversation.
As Pansy approached, she narrowed her eyes very briefly and whispered something to Millicent before she put on a very fake smile. "Hello, Tracey and Daphne! Found your dates for the ball yet?" she purred like a cat. Daphne felt a very tight knot suddenly form in her stomach; Pansy would only bring this up if she already had a date.
"We're working on it," Tracey answered in a tone that sounded sweet but had an acid meaning behind it. "We don't want to go with just anyone, do we, Daphne?"
Daphne rolled her eyes; sometimes, Tracey could be about as subtle as a flying brick!
"Well, you'd better get a move on! Millicent and I already have dates," She beamed, smiling at Millicent, who has far as Daphne was concerned was lucky enough to find someone to stand near her at a ball with a face like that.
"Oh really? And who are you going with?" Tracey asked, faking her curiosity very well.
"Well, Millicent got asked by Crabbe this morning, lucky girl!" Pansy smiled at her companion, who didn't look as amused by it as she did. Daphne and Tracey both fought back their laughs; Now there is a match made in heaven!
"And who are you going with?" Tracey continued after a second. Pansy's smile was very wicked, and she took the opportunity to give Daphne a look of victory before she spoke.
"Draco, of course." She said smoothly "He asked me this morning after breakfast. What a sweet boy, he is." She beamed with her white teeth bared in a sharp smile. As expected, Daphne felt her heart sink into the school dungeons. "Well, we'd better be off to class then. Hope you girls find dates soon! Get them before they're gone!" she said, calling the last two lines as she and Millicent were walking away, giggling amongst themselves. Daphne felt her another sigh escape her and she hit herself on the head with her book several times.
"Plan B then, I assume?" Tracey asked as she scanned the halls.
"There was no plan B," Daphne mumbled between hits. Tracey rolled her eyes, grabbed the book out of her hands and gripped her shoulders firmly.
"Oh please, Daphne! There are plenty of other boys in this school, not to mention Drumstrang, to go with! So Draco has decided to go with that dimwitted witch; who cares?!"
"I care, thank you. She's such a nasty piece of work..."
"He could have gone with your sister; which is worse?" Tracey remarked.
"Pansy," Daphne replied without hesitation "My sister I could hex without feeling slightly guilty for it."
"Well, when you put it like that..." Tracey trailed off, watching a Drumstrang boy walk by and giving him a quick glance over "What about Aleksey? I bet he'd go with you!"
"You would let me go with him?" Daphne sniffed a small laugh.
"Well, it's not like I'm going to go with him! I'm afraid that sort of thing isn't really my style." Tracey laughed. Daphne chuckled, but finally relented that she wouldn't mind going with her cousin if he was free. "I'll talk to him later today and see if he's going with anyone."
"And who are you going to go with then?" Daphne asked, glancing at her watch; Tracey had exactly 2 minutes to get to her next class or she was going to be late.
"Oh, I'll ask Theodore or something. Unless you want to take him," she smirked.
"Don't ask him yet; I just may have to if I can't find anyone else," Daphne sighed, taking her book back out of her best friend's hand.
"Finders keepers Daph!" she smirked, scurrying off before Daphne could smack her with the book for calling her that.
By the time Ancient Runes finished, and Daphne had been through a double Defence Against the Dark Arts class, she had almost forgotten the drama at hand. It wasn't until she saw her sister chatting up Yuri in the Entrance Hall that she was reminded of her mission. As she passed the blonde beauty who shared little resemblance to Daphne, she gave her a disapproving glare and continued on with her nose held high.
Let the family harlot have her fun... I will be laughing at my grave when mother and father find out.
Tracey immediately waved her down once she saw her in the Great Hall. Daphne speed walked over to sit beside her at the table, waiting for whatever news she was apparently bursting to tell her.
"I've got a date!" Tracey blurted out as soon as she sat down. Daphne couldn't help but groan out of despair.
"Great! So now I'm the only girl who doesn't have a date?" she sighed, burying her head in her arms on the table and sighing again. "Story of my life, I suppose..." She mumbled.
"You're not even going to ask me who I'm taking?" Tracey pouted dramatically.
"Let me guess," Daphne sat up and pretended to think for a moment "Theodore?"
"I shouldn't have told you before; that was too easy!" she smiled "But we're only going as friends; to save each other from the trials of finding an actual date."
"Care for a third wheel?" Daphne mumbled, playing absently with her hair.
"Oh come now! Surely there is a guy in this place that will take you!" Tracey sniffed with laughter.
"You don't sound very convinced," Daphne said quietly "What happened to Aleksey?"
Tracey bit her lip for a moment before she flashed a comforting smile. "He may or may not be taking Madeline Roux to the ball."
"Oh perfect! Once again, I'm overlooked by my own family!" Daphne cried before she slammed her head onto the table in frustration.
"Ouch, that looked painful..." Tracey grumbled "Well, I'll help you if you want," she offered. Daphne shook her head and sat up, rubbing the sore spot on her forehead.
"That was a little harder than expected... And no, I'll be fine. If worst comes to worse, I'll be the only student who will go home for Christmas holidays."
"You'll get the entire train to yourself! Excellent!" Tracey mocked. Daphne narrowed her eyes before she set her head on her arms again.
"Shut up Tracey."
Daphne moped around in the common room that night, sighing every few minutes as she stared at her Charms homework, making no effort to start it. Lucky for her, Charms had turned out to be her best subject, and she knew that she could procrastinate until at least tomorrow at breakfast.
She watched as her sister skipped in with her best friend, a girl named Regine Coutts, who had the face like a great round pumpkin. Astoria, of course, barely even noticed her big sister, and continued to chatter away rapidly to the girl. And as if to add to Daphne's current annoyance with her sister, the girl's cat Pandora jumped up and started screaming in her ear for food. Unfortunately, Astoria was halfway up the stairs of the dorms, so Daphne couldn't shout at her to take care of her animal.
"Poor thing; she must never pay attention to you," Daphne sighed, petting Pandora stiffly. "But I suppose every spoiled child does that; get's what she wants and then is bored of it within seconds..." She added, pulling a small treat out of her bag. The cat purred with happiness as she fed it, and then bounced away towards the girls' dormitories. "Bloody thing is just like Astoria... cries to get what it wants and then buggers off." She mumbled to herself as she turned and resumed staring at the blank parchment before her.
"Don't suppose you want to do my homework too?" a familiar voice drawled, dropping books beside her on the table. Daphne looked up slowly from her work to see Blaise and Theodore both smiling smartly at her.
"Hello, boys..." She grumbled before she turned back to her blank page. Apparently not noticing her tone of voice, they sat down at the table with her.
"What are you working on? Snape's killer Potions essay or the deadly Defence Against the Dark Arts assignment?" Blaise asked, picking up her quill and turning it absently in his fingers. She rolled her eyes and grabbed it out of his hands and sighed, irritated by their presence.
"Neither; Charms. Now please go away so I can work," she grumbled, tapping the quill in frustration. Blaise and Theodore exchanged looks of intrigue and made no move to get away from her.
"You seem a little on edge Daphne," Theodore offered, smirking a little at the sight of her very angry eyes glaring into his.
"I sort of am, so can you please leave me alone?" She replied dully.
"How come? Anything we can help you with?" he asked again, picking up her textbook and sneering at the title on the front cover.
"It's not Charms, Theodore. And no, you can't help me." She sighed "Unless you happen to have a twin brother that doesn't have a date for this stupid ball..." she added before she bit into the end of her quill, which she forgot was not flavoured. She instantly spat out the piece of feather and coughed a little to rid her mouth of the taste.
"That was attractive..." Theodore said under his breath, laughing quietly to himself.
"Well, it's funny that you should mention that Daphne because I actually don't have a date either," Blaise said smoothly beside her. After she finally got the last piece of feather out of her mouth, she looked at him with an odd expression.
"What? You mean Blaise the player doesn't have a date with some French Heiress or something?"
"No, I'm afraid I'm off the Frenchies right now... I've had enough trouble with them already to know that I don't want to take anyone who doesn't speak my language to a ball," he shrugged. "So what do you say, Daphne? Wanna go to the ball with me?" he asked, now smiling a much smoother and attractive smile.
Daphne felt the light at the end of the tunnel suddenly brighten; Blaise was quite attractive, even he was occasionally a complete ass. And he certainly was of a sufficient bloodline and house. He was a very good option actually, and it wasn't like there were hundreds more lining up to take her...
"Sure," she smiled, and then turned back to her work before they could see her cheeks going slightly pink "Well, that solves one of my problems." She said quietly.
"Can I help you with number 2?" Theodore asked, laughing a little with Blaise.
"Unless you want to hex my sister's date, then I doubt it." Daphne chuckled a little, tapping her quill on the page a little as she looked around the common room for any sign of her "He's way too old for her, and I know my parents are going to somehow make it my fault that she's such a tramp."
"Just give me the name, and I think I can arrange something," Theodore smirked, his eyes clearly intrigued by the challenge. Daphne stared at him for a moment, measuring in her mind how much trouble she would get in if they were caught.
Technically, Theodore would get in the most trouble... and I doubt he would turn it all back on me. She weighed her options mentally. After a few more moments of thinking, her smile now matched his and she tore a piece of parchment off her blank page. In the centre in big, bold letters, written in her loopy, curly writing, she wrote out the name Yuri Zanzibar and pressed it into his hand.
"He's in Drumstrang." She added. Theodore opened the paper and smirked a little.
"Of course he is, with a name like that..." he mumbled to himself before he showed Blaise. "I think I can arrange something. But there is one condition, of course." He said, glancing at Blaise for a moment.
"What do you want? Money? Me to do your homework?"
"Good Lord, I wouldn't want you doing my homework!" Theodore teased. "No, you have to save me one dance at the ball, if Blaise will agree of course," he said, now looking at Blaise. "I want to see if Daphne can dance. If she can, I'll have fun; if she can't, I'll have lots of fun." He told Blaise, who laughed heartily.
"Only if I get to be in on the planning of taking down this kid!" he agreed.
"Then that's settled," Daphne beamed brightly "I'll go to the ball with Zabini, and you'll take care of my sister's date!" she now sighed, satisfied on how well this evening worked out "How very productive you two have been for me."
"We try to be," Blaise laughed "And Theodore is just trying to break into the family business of offing people."
"That's not funny, Zabini," Theodore said in a warning tone. Blaise only made a face at him, and then picked up his books to continue on to the dorm. "Stupid git..." he mumbled as he too picked up his books and followed.
A week before the ball, a very large package fell from the sky at breakfast. Daphne had been dozing off as she tried to eat after pulling an all-nighter on a transfiguration assignment that she couldn't understand (or complete), and the sudden thud of her family owl dropping a box in front of her had startled her.
"Ooh, someone's dress robes are here!" Pansy squeaked excitedly, tapping the table anxiously as she waited for Daphne to open the box. Since their dates had been sorted out, Pansy and Daphne had been on better terms and were now speaking to each other rather frequently.
"Well, hurry up." Tracey poked her in the side "Let's see it then!" Tracey had also had a change of heart and was now very excited to go to the ball. She wanted to see everyone's dresses and compare makeup and jewelry; she was acting very much like Pansy lately.
"Fine, fine..." She mumbled, half asleep as she pulled the ties loose on the package. She pulled the brown packaging paper off and opened the box to see a metallic navy blue fabric in the box. Her face instantly expressed her disappointment and anger. "This isn't the color I ordered!" she growled under her breath.
Leave it to my mother to screw up a dress order... she thought bitterly, her face growing hot with anger. She yanked the dress out of the box and held it up in front of her; it wasn't even the right size.
"Little small, isn't it?" Pansy remarked oddly, taking a piece of the fabric and examining it for quality. Daphne felt her teeth grind with fury.
"Did you look in the box, Daphne?" Tracey asked sweetly, a knowing smile on her face. She snapped her vision over to the box and saw the green material that she had ordered. Daphne suddenly felt very foolish; the dressmaker had sent her sister's dress with hers, most likely to save money and packaging.
"Right..." she mumbled quietly. "Astoria!" she called down the table. Several other people looked up and Astoria gave her a momentary glare of death. But when Daphne waved the dress around a little in her hands, her face lit up with glee and she leapt from her seat and ran over to her.
"Mummy got the order right! Oh, look how pretty it is Daphne!" she said in a frenzy of high pitch squeals of happiness.
"Yes, yes, it's lovely..." Daphne mumbled as she handed the dress to her little sister, who held it in front of herself like she was wearing it.
"Oh, it looks so eloquent!" she sighed as she ran her hands over the smooth satin material. "What's yours look like?" she asked suddenly, her tone more suspicious than curious.
Figures that she would be worried I copied her... or outshine her.
"We want to know, too!" Pansy pouted tapping her fingers on the box anxiously. Daphne rolled her eyes a little and pulled the forest green gown. Unlike her sister, who had gone for a halter-style, backless dress (guaranteed to draw the attention she wanted for the evening), Daphne went for something a little less modern. Her dress was floor length, made of forest green organza fabric, with the skirt slightly billowing around her. It laced up the back in a built-in corset, with off-the-shoulder sleeves and a low neckline. Daphne's favourite part of the dress was the detail of dark green vine, stitched in with tiny beads that extended from the bottom of the skirt to just below the neckline of the dress, making it look like she had a forest growing up from around her. When she held the dress up in front of her to show the girls, Pansy and Astoria gasped a little; Tracey being Tracey let a low but impressed whistle.
"You must give me the name of robe maker you go to!" Pansy breathed, holding the skirt to examine the details of the beadwork.
"Her name is Rhiena Janvier, and she makes all our clothes!" Astoria piped up immediately. Daphne rolled her eyes and started to fold her dress.
"Astoria, don't lie," she chided, placing her down gently back into the box it came in. "She made all of our mother's clothes; she does not make ours." She pointed out, now holding her hand out for her sister to hand over her dress as well. Astoria looked at her sister's hand like it was holding the head of her cat. "Astoria, you'll ruin the dress if you drag it all the way back to the common room." She sighed in frustration "I'll take it back in the box so it doesn't get dirty."
Astoria finally relinquished the dress and strode away to rejoin her friends at the other end of the table. Pansy was still fascinated by the gowns, even after they were in the box and closed away again. Then her expression changed to something much more normal for Pansy.
"Well, at least it will look alright beside my robes. It's the most gorgeous color!" she started. Daphne caught Tracey's eye as she sat down again; she rolled her eyes, now being forced to hear Pansy go on again about her dress robes...