The next 2 months flew by in a blur. The whole time, Daphne and Tracey spent every waking moment trying to frame Draco for something that would make Pansy break up with him, but it was practically impossible! When Draco was attacked by Potter and Weasley after Quidditch, Tracey suggested that she try and get him alone, and then Daphne bring Pansy, telling her something along the lines of 'Tracey seems to be paying a lot of attention to Draco lately', but she never left his side! Pansy was playing the role of diligent, devoted girlfriend like it was her only way to live! That plan was soon abandoned.
A week or so later, Daphne missed the perfect chance when one of the Ravenclaw girls in their Care of Magical Creatures class was talking to Draco in a rather friendly matter. But she was too distracted by Theodore's confession that he could see the invisible 'horses' that Hagrid was trying to teach them about.
"You can see them?" Daphne whispered. Theodore nodded his head, pretending to pay attention. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I did," He said quietly; she stared at him, dumbfounded. "Remember the day we rode in the carriage? When you'd thought I smacked the air? These are the things that pull the carriages."
Daphne nodded her head slowly and looked straight ahead at the apparent nothing before the class. "So why can you see them and I can't." She asked quietly.
"Well Daphne, if you were listening to the lesson, you would know," he replied smartly, giving her a crooked smile. Daphne said nothing and stared at the front of the class again, but she had already missed the explanation, and the giant was already gabbing about something else. Theodore sighed and told her. "It's because I've seen someone die." He said shortly "My mother, remember?"
"How could I forget..." She mumbled quietly. At that moment, Blaise said something about the Ravenclaw girl talking to Draco, and Daphne cursed herself under her breath.
Thanks to Theodore being abnormal, I missed the perfect chance! she thought bitterly, pulling her jacket tighter around her. Winter was going to be here soon, and she had barely made any progress with her mission...
"This is ridiculous!" Tracey hissed at the Christmas Eve dinner "Have they left each other's side since Halloween?"
Together, she and Daphne had been watching Draco and Pansy's sickening public display of affection, and quite frankly, they were about ready to tear their eyes out if it didn't end soon.
"You know as well as I do that the answer is no." Daphne sighed, playing with her food absently.
Tracey signed and rested her head on her arms. "I'm not even the one after him, and already I feel discouraged."
"Thanks, Tracey." Daphne grumbled.
"There you two are!" called the woman of the hour.
"Speak of the devil..." Tracey mumbled as she lifted her head "Hey Pansy!" she said in an overly cheerful manner.
"I'm so happy you two didn't leave for holidays! I have a great plan for a girl's night out!" Pansy said, pushing herself between Tracey and the 4th year that was sitting beside her. "Meet me in the common room at midnight," She whispered.
Daphne and Tracey exchanged quizzical looks, but Tracey widened her eyes at Daphne, before turning back to Pansy "Ooo, what are we doing?" she said, her voice as fake as the Great Hall's night sky ceiling.
"Just you wait and see!" Pansy squealed with glee, and then dragged Millicent off with her towards Draco, who was eating his dinner a few seats down.
"What do you think she has in store for us?" Daphne smirked.
"Whatever it is, it's going to be torture if I have to spend time with her." Tracey made a face at her. "I hope you name me the godmother of your children after everything I've done for you!" she remarked, pouring herself another glass of eggnog.
"Only if their father is Draco," Daphne smirked.
That night, at exactly midnight, Tracey and Daphne walked into the common room together, only to find it apparently empty."Maybe she's burning all our clothes, and had to lure us out of our rooms to do it." Tracey suggested, poking Daphne lightly in the side.
"I wouldn't be surprised," Daphne mumbled quietly. But before she could add her own interpretation of where Pansy was, she appeared from behind them.
"Glad you could make it!" she said cheerfully, Millicent filing in right behind her.
"Where did you come from?" Daphne asked.
"Oh, we were up talking with the boys." Pansy smiled "But, it's girls night now!" she said, clapping her hands together. "Follow me!" she said, skipping out of the common room. Tracey and Daphne looked at Millicent, who shrugged her shoulders.
"Trust me, if I knew half the things that went on in her head, the world would make a lot more sense to me," Millicent said deadpan. Daphne and Tracey looked at each other in shock; Millicent hadn't spoken directly to anyone except Pansy in about two years.
"Are you coming or not! We have to hurry, or Filch will catch us!" Pansy hissed from the portrait hole. Daphne was the first to follow, with the others close behind her. Where ever Pansy was taking them, it was breaking the rules. This made it only that much more exciting...
Pansy led them up to the 5th floor, and stood before a dark doorway and whispered a password into it. The door swung opened, and she motioned for the other girls to follow. Daphne was almost floored when she saw what was inside the room.
"What is this?!" she breathed, amazed by what she saw. Could that possibly be an indoor pool? What was this doing in Hogwarts.
"Technically, it's the prefects bathroom," Pansy smirked, starting to take off her clothes. Tracey and Daphne gave each other very confused glances. "But tonight, it's going to be our personal retreat."
"Why are you taking your clothes off?" Tracey asked, very wary of what was going on. Pansy pouted a little and pulled off her school shirt, now standing in her bra and her skirt.
"A bra and underwear are the same as a bathing suit. Unless you wanted to go completely naked." She said smartly before she dropped her skirt onto the floor and scampered over to the taps at the other end. She turned on a bunch of them, which filled the huge bathtub in a matter of minutes.
Daphne gave Tracey a worried look, which Tracey returned by rolling her eyes. "Well, it's one way to get closer that we didn't expect, but it will do," she sighed in defeat before she too began to remove her clothing. Daphne stood there awkwardly for a moment, and then she too sighed in defeat and took off her robes, sweater, shirt, and skirt. Then, taking Tracey's hand, jumped into the now full bathtub.
The Slytherin girls swam around in the pool, talking about which boys they liked and who they hated more than anyone in the school. When it was Daphne's turn, she lied and said that she didn't like anyone right now and that she hated Padma Patil more than anyone. Tracey gave her a quick nod, telling her that Pansy had obviously bought the lie.
"Well I have to tell you, girls, that having someone like Draco is amazing!" she sighed, leaning against the wall of the tub.
Daphne gritted her teeth but smiled supportively. "I can only imagine," she said sweetly. She then leaned back and floated on her back, staring up at the ceiling dreamily.
That is, I can only imagine until he's mine!
"Well, you dated Blaise. Wasn't he a good boyfriend?" Pansy asked, dipping her hair in the water.
"Oh, we weren't very serious... It wouldn't have amounted to anything." Daphne said absently "Besides, my parents didn't approve of him."
"Really? Because he told me he's dating your sister now."
Daphne sat up so quickly that a jet stream of water flew off her hair and into Millicent's eyes. "What!?" she demanded. Pansy looked a little shocked by her reaction and looked over at Millicent for support. She was busy blinking the soapy water out of her eyes, though.
"He told us when we were upstairs in their dorm. They just started going out like 3 days ago," Pansy remarked slowly.
3 days. Daphne raved many illogical things in her head; she was going to kill her sister, and then Blaise, and then shove it in her parents' faces! "How dare she." She said under her breath.
"What did you say?" Pansy called from the other side of the tub.
"I said," Daphne paused and looked away from Tracey, who was trying to catch her eye "That it won't last long. My parents don't approve of him, so they'll make her break up with him soon." She said, reassuring herself.
Yes, that's right... there's no way they would let her stay with someone like that! If he was so disagreeable for me, then he certainly won't be good enough for precious Astoria.
"I thought for sure that Blaise would have told you by now," Pansy said lightly, scrubbing her nails with something. "Then again, I guess telling your ex-girlfriend that you're dating her sister isn't always good for your health."
"Something like that..." Daphne growled to herself, swimming away from the others.
She swam underneath the taps of hot water, letting the pour onto her head until she could feel her skull throbbing. When she stepped out of the waterfall, she saw 5 black figures walking across the room towards the pool. The others hadn't noticed, and she let out a high scream to signal the strangers in their midst.
"Who the fu-" Millicent started before she started to swim away from the edge of the pool. Daphne backed up against the wall and pulled down Tracey's wand, which had been sitting on the edge with her watch and necklace for safe keeping. She hid it under the water for a moment, waiting for the right moment to strike. The mysterious strangers didn't say anything; they just walked towards the edge of the pool very slowly.
Enough of this! Daphne thought, and stood up, pointing the wand at the nearest black figure.
"Locomotor!" she shouted, hexing the figure by locking his legs together. As she expected, the figure lost their balance and fell into the pool of water. After the victim was under the water for a few moments, she cast the counter curse and waited for them to resurface. He did a moment later, coughing and swearing.
"Christ Daphne, do you always do that to people!?" a familiar voice demanded. Daphne looked at the girls for a moment in disbelief.
"Theodore?" she breathed, dumbfounded. As soon as she said his name, the other dark figures laughed and jumped into the tub with them, causing a lot of wake and splashing. Pansy shrieked with joy.
"Oh my God, what are you all doing here?" Pansy asked, clearly not very surprised at all. When the others resurfaced, it was proven that in fact all the 5th year Slytherin boys had followed them here, no doubt a plan by Pansy.
"I can't imagine how they found out..." Tracey mumbled quietly, despite the glare from Pansy.
"We heard you were having a little get together, and couldn't resist tagging along," Draco smirked, swimming over to Pansy.
"Well, in case you haven't noticed, we are wearing significantly less clothing than you!" Pansy stated with a voice sounded very far from offended. There was silence in the room and all the girls felt very awkward.
"Well if they didn't before, they do now..." Daphne sighed.
"Well, that only makes it more interesting," Draco smirked at her, watching her intently as he put his arms around Pansy. Daphne felt her cheeks go slightly pink and turned her attention to Theodore to avoid a glare from Pansy.
"You alright?" she said quietly. The others had begun to splash and dunk each other in the water, leaving Theodore and Daphne relatively ignored.
"Aside from the cups of water in my lungs, yeah, I'm ok," He said sarcastically. Daphne frowned and swam past him to replace Tracey's wand on the ledge.
"Well, why were you all wearing your robes like that?" she quipped, making sure to duck her shoulders below the water. She didn't want her 'bludgers', as Tracey called them, to make an appearance, although the other girls had quickly caught up in the past year. Maybe that was why the guys had followed them here.
"Well, it's not easy to scare you when we're dressed in our pajamas, is it?" he teased, shaking his shaggy hair, causing water to fly into her face. Daphne accepted the challenge and whipped her hair over her shoulder, sending a quick jet of water from her long hair.
The battle ensued for a long time, well past the early hours of the morning. By the time 3 am rolled around, Pansy yawned, looking at Draco with dark, smoldering eyes and announced she was tired.
"Are you girls going to head back now?" Draco asked, nodding at Blaise, who jumped out of the tub and ran over towards the edge of the pool. It only too Daphne a moment to realize what he was doing; he had picked up every scrap of their clothes and was holding them hostage behind him.
"Blaise, what are you doing! Give them back," Daphne said in a low, warning tone. Blaise only smiled devilishly but said nothing.
"Blaise, if you want to live to see another day, you'll put the clothes down," Tracey warned, swimming over to the edge of the pool where Daphne had put her wand
"What are you going to do? Hex me?" Blaise laughed at Tracey. Then he held up the wand and waved it before them proudly. All the girls' jaws dropped open as they realized the trap they were now in; the boys had all their clothes hostage, along with their only weapon of defense.
"Give them back Blaise or I'll tell my parents," Daphne growled in a low voice. Blaise looked at Draco for a moment and burst out laughing.
"You sound just like Draco!" he laughed. Daphne crossed her arms and put on a very angry sneer."What are you going to tell them? 'I snuck out last night and the boys followed us as stole our clothes'?"
"I'm referring to you dating my little harlot of my sister." Daphne snapped. Blaise stopped laughing and made a face of knowing.
"Don't tell me you're jealous of your little sister, Daph." Blaise goaded.
"Call me that again and I'll hex your head off!" Daphne warned, "And no, I'm not jealous Blaise; may I remind you that you're old news to me."
"Old news that you barely read." Blaise sniffed a laugh "And I can tell you that your sister has read the news a lot."
The other girl's jaws dropped down into identical expressions of horror, but Daphne's glare was sharp and penetrating. "You're dead Blaise." She growled, so quietly that he could barely hear her.
"This problem can be easily solved!" Draco said, stepping between Daphne and Blaise's view of each other; Daphne instantly felt a wave of a different feeling wash over now that Blaise was out of sight, out of mind, if only for a moment. "One of you just has to get out of there and come to get them."
"Draco!" Pansy gasped. From what Daphne could gather, perhaps this part of the evening was not planned.
"It's not that much to ask, ladies," Draco said, stepping back again. Daphne saw Blaise and felt her rage rise again.
God, I want to strangle him! How dare he date my little whore of a sister after me! He's probably doing it just to make me jealous. Well, I'm not going to BE jealous... I have bigger and better things to go after...
"Surely one of you must be brave enough to skip out of there and grab your clothes." Draco chuckled a little. He nodded at Blaise, who dropped their uniforms on the floor as bait for the bargain. "We won't even be holding them."
Daphne looked at Tracey, who was ducked so far down in the water that her head was barely poking out. She remembered that Tracey had been wearing white, so there was no way she was going to get out. Millicent was far too reserved around her housemates to do such a thing. And Pansy-
Ah yes! She'll do it. But not if I do it first! She thought, feeling her courage rise to unprecedented heights. Her body was alright, and she happened to be wearing black underwear today, which made her the perfect contender. Plus it would give her the perfect chance to show off to Blaise and Draco. Since Hogwarts had nothing that resembled water that students could swim in regularly (except this, but only select members of the school got to use this), boys never saw girls wearing this little of clothing.
One thing mother taught me was to use my appearance... even if it isn't the best model around; 'Always act like you're the prettiest girl in the room, and men will start to think that you are.' She paused her thoughts for a moment Ok, maybe my mother told Astoria that, but I still overheard, and I still took it to heart... starting now.
Daphne sighed and looked at the other girls for last-minute movement. "Fine, I guess I'll sacrifice myself for the greater good." She mumbled, looking at Tracey and giving her a quick wink. "You boys better back up from the clothes!" she called as she waded towards the edge of the pool.
Pulling herself out of the pool and climbing to her feet, she felt all of their eyes on her (as expected and planned), but she told herself desperately to ignore it. Taking her time to wring her hair out of the water, she then walked over to the half circle of guys that surrounded the clothes. She was just about to bend down and get the clothes when a thought caught her mind that she couldn't let go of. Daphne turned her eyes and looked directly at Blaise, who was smirking slightly, clearly entertained by her.
"See Blaise? I have no reason to be jealous of someone who looks like a child." She remarked, smirking a little herself. The other boys stifled chuckles, while Blaise did a once over that would have made her blush under other circumstances, but she meant for it to happen this time.
"So I see," He remarked, his eyes locked with hers for a moment. Then Daphne broke the contact and turned back to the clothes, scooped them up off the ground in one arm, and turned back to Blaise, holding her arm out for the wand. He gave her another look that she hadn't been expecting and only turned a slight shade of pink. He handed the wand over slowly, not saying anything.
Daphne stepped back, still holding the wand, the pile of clothes now covering the majority of her "Well!" she smiled wickedly "I fulfilled my part of the bargain. I believe it's time for you to leave so we can get back to our dorms." The boys all looked at Draco, who smiled at her statement, and nodded for them to get their robes.
"Not sure why you need your clothes to get back to our house." Draco chuckled "I can imagine that the teachers wouldn't know what to do with you if they caught you."
"Umbridge would expel us for sure. 'Not following the Ministry's decree on proper dress code,' or something." Daphne smiled. Draco looked at her for a moment and then nodded her head slowly before he and the other guys snuck out of the prefects' bathroom with their hoods pulled over their heads again. Daphne stared at the empty doorway for a moment, then she dropped the clothes, turned back, and jumped into the pool of water again, laughing hysterically.
Even when they had returned to their dorm that night, and most of the girls were grateful for Daphne's 'sacrifice,' Pansy still had very unnerved feelings.
"Why they would ask such a thing is just unbelievable, but the fact that you let them win like that is ridiculous!" she raved once they were back in their dorms, changing into their ppajamasfor the night.
"Well, I didn't see you coming up with any bright idea, Pansy." Daphne pointed out lightly as she combed her wet hair. "And it's not like we were all naked!" she gave Tracey a knowing smirk that the others didn't see "What would have been far worse."
"Still! Letting Blaise get to you like that!" Pansy retorted, climbing into bed. Daphne frowned a little when she said that. True, it wasn't the wisest thing to try and make Blaise jealous or whatever she had originally intended, but now she would have to stay up a little longer and write that damn letter to her parents!
Now we'll see who's the favoured one, my little Astoria, she smirked to herself as she pulled out a quill and parchment from her trunk.
Tracey watched her with her usual smirk on her face as Daphne penned a letter to her parents, making sure to leave no room for mercy.
Dearest Mother and Father, I thought it would interest you to know that Astoria is now dating Blaise Zabini. They started seeing each other earlier this week, and I suggest that you steer her away from that path very soon, seeing Blaise has already laid claim that he and Astoria are physically involved. I know that you would never want something as shameful as Blaise to disgrace our family, let alone Astoria, so I suggest you act quickly. Daphne.
She held the letter up closer to the light, and then, very pleased with herself, nodded her head as she folded it up into an envelope. She put it on top of her trunk, making sure that she would see it first thing tomorrow and send it off as soon as possible.
"Do you think they'll do anything?" Tracey whispered, climbing out of her bed and jumping onto Daphne's.
"Well, if he wasn't good enough for me, then he certainly isn't good enough for her!" Daphne whispered, pulling her covers over her cold legs. "So tell me, Tracey, how was my little show received?" she smirked.
Tracey smiled like a cat, and glanced over to see if Pansy and Millicent were still awake; they were fast asleep, breathing rhythmically to themselves.
"It was very well received!" she whispered, her eyes wide with excitement and opportunity "All of them were positively hypnotized by you!"
"Who would have thought that my figure would ever come in handy?" she giggled. "I saw that Blaise was pretty shocked by what I did."
"Oh, obviously! It was very smart of you though; to get back at Blaise, but at the same time show off for Draco! Clever girl!" Tracey praised, clapping her on the shoulder.
"What did Draco look like!? I didn't even see his expression!"
"Oh, he was interested alright!" Tracey breathed, looking over at Pansy, who was still sleeping. "He didn't even look back at Pansy when they left; he just told the guys to leave with him! Your plan was brilliant! I'll bet they're all dreaming of you tonight!"
"Oh, I hope not that way... Well not all of them... just two of them." Daphne smiled contently and leaned back against her headboard.
"Two? Are we trying to make your sister jealous?"
"No! I just want him to know what he's missing, and that my harlot of a sister is nowhere near the girlfriend I was, even if she does give up the chance much sooner than I do."
"Do you really think they're that serious already? It's only been a few days!"
"I doubt if Astoria is. She may be a harlot, but I doubt she would shell out all the goods in under a week. Even she understands that that will get her a good hit from my father." Daphne said, looking absently out the dark green windows that looked out into the lake. Slytherin had the pleasure of having their tower underwater, like a mermaid castle, with the glass windows looking out over the actual mermaid castle down in the valley of the lake's floor. "But I wouldn't put it past Blaise. He was trying to convince me to go that route, but I refused. So he's probably trying to get some sort of childish revenge."
"Does he think that he can get back at you by ruining your sister?" Tracey laughed quietly.
"Well, he'll ruin my parents and our name, but everyone I care about will know that I have no association with her whatsoever. So it won't damage me too much..." Daphne said, turning back from staring out the black windows. "Hey, it's Christmas morning! We should get some sleep so Father Christmas comes tonight."
"Yes, I expect to see Draco Malfoy all wrapped up in bows sitting on the end of your bed tomorrow morning." Tracey teased, tickling Daphne in the sides.
"It was on my list," Daphne sighed dreamily, and then ducked into her bed and blew out the candle.
Daphne sent the letter out the very next morning, even before she opened her presents. She received three small boxes; one with jeweled hairclip (emeralds of course) from her parents; one with a set of fur-lined gloves from Madeline and Marguerite; and the last box was from her estranged cousin Malachi. His father (her father's younger brother) had cut off all communication with the family when she was 9 years old after he discovered the business that Lennox was involved in. But Malachi, who lives in Australia now, still kept in touch with Daphne once a year or so, and always told her that she was the only person in her whole family that he could ever tolerate.
"That branch cut off forever?" Tracey mused once Daphne explained, taking a seat on the edge of her bed. Daphne nodded. "Speaking of cutting family off, how long do you think it will be until your sister is screaming and crying in the common room again?" she smirked.
Daphne frowned a little; her sister's new habit of crying in the common room, where she was sure to get ample attention, was getting rather old to her.
"I'm going to say... tomorrow," Daphne sighed, looking out the window into the dark green water that was very faintly lit up from the ice above. "I hope you're ready for quite a show."
But the show never came.
Much to Daphne's horror, her parents never sent any word to Astoria that she should break up with Blaise. In fact, they congratulated her on finally settling on such a good match. Daphne was furious for days, and refused to speak with her sister as long as he was dating Blaise, which she was sure would only be a week or two...
But by the time Easter rolled around, and they hadn't broken up, Daphne was ready to send a howler home to her parents; how could they show this much favouritism!? And so blatantly!
"Now do you see?" Daphne mumbled one day after Easter Break. Theodore looked up from what he had been copying off her and saw what she did; Blaise and Astoria cuddled up on a single chair, whispering and touching each other.
"See what? Aside from something that makes me want to vomit." He remarked coolly, returning to copying out her Charms notes.
"That my family hates me and loves her?" Daphne grumbled, crossing her arms and slouching in her chair.
"I doubt that, Daphne," He chuckled a little, this time not even looking up.
"They do, Theodore," She said sternly "They deliberately shun me from the things that she gets! I did nothing to them, yet they seem to think of me as some burden on them!"
"Keep your voice down or the whole school will know." He chastised her.
"Oh, I would tell the whole world if I didn't think I wouldn't have a home because of it!" she sighed and glared in the direction of the happy couple.
"Two more years Daphne," Theodore reassured her, his eyebrows furrowing as he tried to read her writing. She sighed and leaned her head into her hands.
Two. More. Years. She thought slowly. I don't know how I'm even going to last two MONTHS!
"Two more years until what?" Draco asked, suddenly appearing beside her. Daphne jolted at the shock and attempted to look like she hadn't been frightened. But Theodore chuckling to himself was a bit of a giveaway...
"Two years until I'm legal age! And I can live on my own... or with my husband." she said, surprised that she had even said that.
"Two years and we're out of Hogwarts and into the workforce... Guess I'd better find out what I want to do with my life." Draco said, sniffing a small laugh to himself. "And you'd better find that husband you want."
"I already have." she said quietly to herself. But it apparently wasn't quite enough...
"What did you say?" he asked. Daphne felt her cheeks go red and she instantly looked down at her work to hide it.
"I didn't say anything important," she said quietly, picking up her quill and writing something. He stood there for a moment, perhaps waiting for her to say something else. Thankfully, she didn't have to, as they were interrupted at that moment.
"Draco! I finished writing out study notes for Potions!" Pansy called from the stairs. As Daphne expected, Draco instantly moved back to a reasonable distance from her.
"Good. Let's go get a seat in the library," he suggested, holding his arm out for her to grab. Daphne felt her happiness fade, and she was left staring down at her hands in her lap very awkwardly. "See you later, Daphne," Draco smiled before he led Pansy out of the common room.
Daphne's heart still raced. Had she imagined the entire thing? That look he gave her! It wasn't normal! It wasn't something friends give each other! She gripped the material of her skirt as she tried to steady her mind.
"What does this word say?" Theodore asked, apparently oblivious to the entire thing. Daphne blinked out of her state or shock, then suddenly felt sick.
"I-I don't know... I'll be right back!" she told him before she jumped up and ran to the bathroom. She needed to be alone for a few minutes to try and process everything that had just happened. Draco had just looked at her in a way that she had never seen before. And despite her inexperience with love and the opposite sex, that look wasn't something you give as a friendly gesture; it's was a signal.