(AN: Trigger Warning; this chapter deals with attempted sexual assault)
There were no more dramatics that evening after Voldemort had left the room. Daphne wasn't sure if the Dark Lord ever slept, or even rested, but he apparently understood that most normal human beings needed too, and allowed for them all to return to their ascribed rooms.
The Malfoy Manor, which apparently had somewhat expected something like that, had a charm on it so that the guest rooms were duplicated to whatever number was required. In this case, the number was 47.
"Miss Daphne Greengrass, your room is going to be down at the end," Minnie the house elf told the Greengrass family as she showed them to their rooms.
"Why is our daughter's room so far away from ours?" Medea asked suspiciously.
"Young Master Malfoy had requested that his classmates be near him, so they won't disturb the other guests as they visit each other throughout the night." The tiny house else remarked as she shifted her rag-dress uncomfortably.
"Makes sense," Lennox said in a gruff voice. "The last thing I believe any of the other guests want, especially to the Dark Lord, is to be disturbed by a bunch of teenagers running about." His wife did not look so convinced and gave her daughter a suspicious eye that made Daphne squirm in her skin a little.
"I trust that not all of them will be visiting people's room late at night," her mother stated to no one directly, although it was clearly a warning meant for Daphne. "Well, show her to her room. No point in just standing about like a suit of armor in the halls." And with that, Lennox and Medea Greengrass disappeared into their room and closed the door firmly.
"I don't understand why you get to be away from mother and father, and I have to sleep in the same room as mother and father!" Astoria sneered at her sister once their parents were gone.
"Because I'm friend to the heir of this house, and you're just another mouth to feed as far as they're concerned... and a big mouth at that," Daphne sneered back before she turned and followed Minnie down to her room.
"This will be your room, Miss." The tiny elf said, waving her hand at the door, which opened on its own. "It was requested that you have this room specifically." She squeaked quickly.
"I can't imagine why..." Daphne mumbled as she noticed whose door was across the hall. "Thank you, Minnie, that will be all," She remarked absently as she stepped into her room and closed the door.
It was a lovely room, as she expected. It had a fairly obvious colour scheme (emerald green and silver) that was pretty reoccurring in the Malfoy Manor, but this room was an extravagant example of the wealth and prestige that the Malfoy's have.
Had... If things are really as bad as Draco says, then I'm surprised they can afford to have all of this stuff... She walked over to the bed, which had linens of emerald green with intricate vine embroidered into in. Mind you, it's not like they have much of a choice.
After about half an hour of sitting in her room, reading the newest edition of Witch Weekly (which, frankly, had gone downhill since the end of the last school year) as she sprawled out on the top of her queen-sized bed, she heard a very soft, almost silent knock on the other side of her door.
"Come in." She called with a smirk on her face.
As expected, Draco strolled in and closed the door behind him."Are your accommodations to your liking?" he remarked as he slowly crossed the room. Daphne, trying to play coy, simply nodded her head slowly, pretending to be too absorbed in her magazine to answer. "Not quite the answer I was looking for, Daphne."
"Hmm, and what answer were you looking for?" she replied smartly, still not looking away from the magazine.
"Attention for one thing," Draco chuckled as he climbed on the bed beside her.
"But I'm reading..." Daphne smirked, looking slightly over her shoulder and smiling at him. He chuckled to himself, and as she mildly expected, she felt a cool hand resting on the back of her naked thigh. She was still wearing the navy blue shirt and dark green sweater, but when she jerked away from Nagini, she had put a run in her tights, and had to take them off.
"Can't you read some other time?" he asked, his head leaned right up beside her ear, with his hand stroking her leg. Daphne had to close her eyes for a moment to try and concentrate, to make a decision of whether or not this was a good idea.
"We can't do this here," She whispered back, not turning her head still. "The chance of my mother, or father, or even sister, just barging in on my room is high. They always do at home, and they will feel no different doing it here."
"Are you saying they would have the indecency to walk into any room in my house?" he laughed, still stroking her leg. As he planned, her facade of being cool and in control was fading away.
"Not any room, just mine," she sighed, now staring at the coloured pages of the magazine, but couldn't even register what it said or even pictured.
You knew this would happen here. It was obvious to you from the moment you received the invitation.
"Well, then let's go for a walk," Draco whispered in her ear. Then, as quick as lightning was standing from the bed and now standing in front of her. "We'll find somewhere that we can, where no one can interrupt us." He remarked coolly and stood before her with his hand extended in her direction. Daphne stared at it for a moment, then at him, before she sighed in happy defeat, climbed off the bed, and crossed the space between them to grab it.
She didn't ask where they were going until the exited the house through the glass French doors of the drawing room (where the energy of the room that still lingered gave her chills)."Draco, do you intend on telling me where we're going?" she whispered to him as he closed the glass doors behind them leaving them standing on the marble balcony overlooking the grounds. It was a gorgeous night, with a bright moon, lighting up the entire lawn as if it was only dusk. All the stars were shining brightly above them, and Daphne paused from her questions for a moment to marvel at the beauty of the night sky.
"Trust me, Daphne," Draco remarked, before he took her hand again and started towards the marble staircase that led down to the lawn.
I guess I have to... I mean, it's not like he's going to- Her own thoughts were broken off when she saw the course that Draco was taking.
Oh, no! Not again!
"Draco, wait!" she breathed, tugging back on his grip a little. Draco stopped and rounded on her quickly, his expression one of irritation. "You know I don't like the forest! Isn't there somewhere else?"
"No, not really, unless you wanted the Dark Lord to walk in on us instead," Draco remarked sharply. "Daphne, there's nothing in there! We have a 15-foot wall all around the property to keep anything and everything out."
"Some creatures are bigger than 15 feet... And what if that snake it out there, slithering around and waiting to crawl up my legs again!?"
"Nagini never leaves the Dark Lord's side, Daphne," Draco stated in a low voice. "Look, we can't stand in the middle of the lawn all night; someone is sure to see us out here." He remarked, starting to walk again with Daphne in tow "Nothing is going to hurt you, Daphne; it's just the forest."
Just the forest...JUST the forest.
Daphne's mind protested, but she bit her lip to stop her. Although her common sense and intuition told her that the forest was not the greatest place to have one of their trysts, her heart felt in the same spell she always felt, not to mention a little thrill of doing such a thing outside.
Can't say I've ever been much on an exhibitionist, but if it's with Draco...
Her mind trailed off again as they stepped into the tree line, and Daphne took a deep, calming breath as she continued to follow.
They didn't stop walking for another 10 minutes. When they finally did slow to a stop, Daphne saw why he chose this place above all others. It was an oval shaped clearing, with such a thick boarder of trees that she could have sworn it was a wall, and short grass like it was part of the Malfoy's immaculate front lawn. There was nothing in the large span of grass, which spanned about 50 metres across; just an empty span of lawn in the middle of a thick, overgrown forest.
"My father used to use this area to practice dueling." Draco explained at a normal volume at last. Now that they were out of earshot of everyone for almost half a mile in all directions, they could speak at whatever level they wanted... not to mention do whatever they wanted. "Now I use it to get away from my house. Come out and stare at the sky all night just to get away from them all."
At the mention of the sky, Daphne looked up at an even clearer sky than before. The lights from the house were no longer dulling their beauty, and she couldn't help but give a very small, almost silent gasp at the sight. Draco laughed and gently turned her head back to him and kissed her quite fiercely. The only thing Daphne could think to do to prevent herself from fainting was to wrap her arms around his shoulder, and she kissed him back with the same passion. But only a minute into their first unbridled kiss since the end of 6th year, Malfoy vanished from her arms, causing her to fall onto the cool, dewy grass. In a brief moment on panic, Daphne scrambled to her feet and looked around in desperation.
"Draco, where are you?" she called, her voice shrill with a slight panic. From across the clearing, she could hear a low laugh, and she felt a quiet sigh escape her.
"I'll race you." He called to her, unbuttoning his shirt and tossing it onto the ground. Daphne laughed and looked behind her at the thick brush behind her, clearly shielding her. She shook her head and laughed, then began to remove her clothes, starting with the green sweater, then her navy blue skirt, and finally the yellow tank top that she wore as an undershirt. Now she stood in only her underwear, staring across the field at a now also practically naked Draco. "Well? Are you coming?" he asked as he took a few steps forward into the clearing. Daphne looked down at her feet, which still had her brown shoes on them. She kicked them off and realized how cold the dewy grass was.
"How about you come and get me?" She called, smiling crookedly.
Draco paused in his walk, then disappeared for a moment. As she expected, she felt his hot breath on the back of her neck, but then felt herself being apperated with him, and all within a few moments, they were together in the centre of the field.
"Happy?" Draco smirked, clearly impressed at what she was wearing.
"Yes," She breathed before she leaned in and kissed him, standing on her tip-toes to reach him comfortably. They kissed for about a minute before Draco dipped Daphne back onto the wet grass, slipping at the last moment in his bare feet and dropping her onto her back and falling beside her. "Very suave Draco!" She laughed, cuddling up against his warm body.
"Mmm, I thought so." He chuckled before he pulled her on top of him and kissed her again.
The sunrise that morning was glorious, filling the clear sky with a continuum of pink that extended across one half of the sky. As Daphne and Draco snuck back into the house, careful not to slam any doors or step on any creaky floorboards, their flushed sky was cold with the morning air. They snuck up the stairs, careful to walk on the edges of the steps, where they were less likely to squeak, and when they reached the far end of the massive hallway, paused outside of their separate doors."Well, that was certainly different." Daphne whispered quietly as she leaned against her door. Draco smirked and looked down the halls, which were dimly lit with the rising sun. Once he was sure the coast was clear, he leaned in towards her, his arms on either side of her, smirking with satisfaction.
"Well, I figured we should take advantage of having so many options," He remarked smoothly "Tomorrow will be somewhere else."
"Tomorrow? Well, aren't you sure of yourself." Daphne teased, raising her eyebrows dramatically.
"I always have been," Draco chuckled, leaning in and kissing her neck. Daphne couldn't help but feel her heart race and the world fade away from around her again, and she started to close her eyes at her incoming fantasy world.
"Well, this is interesting." Said a low voice. It took Daphne a moment to register that it wasn't Draco, and she instantly took in a sharp breath; they had been caught!
HIDE! She thought furiously. As soon as she finished thinking that one word, she felt a sudden change of air around her... literally. She opened her one eye cautiously and found that she was no longer standing in the hallway of the Malfoy Manor; she was now on the roof!
"Oh fuc-" she started, panicking at the location she had subconsciously apparated herself to. She started to lose her balance, and she fought the cold morning breeze to stay standing. Her foot slipped on the damp slate tiles, and she felt her whole body slam onto the roof and begin it's sliding decent towards the edge. Closing her eyes again, she thought of her room in the Manor, and much to her luck, she felt the carpeted floor meet her a moment later, as opposed to the 20-foot drop onto the stone patio below.
"Oh shit..." she breathed to herself, lying on her back on the floor, panting from shock.
What the hell just happened? She thought, putting her fingers up to her neck to check her pulse. As she rewound her thoughts, she found the spark to the dramatics; someone had seen her and Draco.
"Oh shit!" she repeated again, standing from the floor and running to the door, pressing her head against it to try and hear. Draco was still there, speaking very forcefully at whoever the spy was. Daphne couldn't tell whose voice it was, but it was speaking in a reasonable tone, meaning that he wasn't angry.
Well, at least it wasn't Pansy. Daphne sighed with relief, leaning against her door again and sliding down onto the floor.
No one else matters to me... I would tell the whole world if I didn't think she would rip my eyes out for it. Not that it would matter; I would still have the satisfaction that Draco wants me, not her...
Daphne slept for a few hours, until about 10 am, when her parents were finally fed up with waiting for her to make an appearance for breakfast, and pounded on her door.
"Honestly Daphne, this isn't like home where you can sleep all day!" Medea hissed when she flung the door open without knocking or asking for permission to enter. Daphne groaned and pulled the blankets over her head.
"It's not like you need me for anything! Let me sleep..." Daphne grumbled sleepily from under the covers.
"You need to appear with us, as part of our family, not some occasional accessory!" Medea quipped sharply, yanking the covers off her daughter. "Now get up and get dressed. And how on earth did you get grass stains on your knees?"
"What?" Daphne asked sleepily, sitting up and looking down at her legs, which indeed still had smears of green and brown on them. "I slipped last night, I think. I was on a walk with Draco," she lied. In order to avoid meeting her mother's gaze, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and began to stumble towards her trunk to grab fresh clothes.
"Just clean yourself up," her mother replied. "And you need to tell me what colour you want your dress to be so I can charm one of my old ones," Medea added absently as she picked up her sweater from last night dropping it into a basket in the corner of the room.
"A dress? What for?" Daphne called to her as she shuffled into her en-suite bathroom. There, she got a better look at not only the grass stains on her legs, as well as her back, shoulders, elbows, and even her cheek. She smiled a little at the memory of how she got those stains but then bit her lip a little when she realized that her mother was still in the room.
"The Dark Lord wants a ball here. Tonight." She remarked dully as she came into the doorframe, leaning against it as she spoke.
"Since when does the Dark Lord enjoy dancing?" Daphne mumbled grimly. The thought of the last ball she was at suddenly ran through her mind. Although she was pretty intoxicated, she was sure that it wasn't something Voldermort's would enjoy...
"He wants entertainment... and what's more entertaining than watching his subjects do his bidding?" Medea said, picking up the tassel that held the curtains of the window closed and pulled them open, letting the bright, summer sun beam into the small bathroom. "Now what colour do you want your dress? And don't say green; everyone will be wearing green, and as much as you should probably blend in while dancing, it would be nice to get a suitor for you or something."
"Well, thank you, mother." Daphne smiled sarcastically, "How kind of you to think of someone other than Astoria for once. I assume she gets a new dress?"
"No, she does not, Daphne. And watch your smart mouth," Medea warned, tossing her red hair over her shoulder "Are you going to tell me the colour or not?"
"I want purple, or yellow since you won't let me have green." Daphne sighed before she picked up a brush and began to comb through her hair, where she found even more grass and dirt. Her mother had to suspect something; she looked like she was a forest imp!
"Fine," Medea said snootily. "Now hurry up, Daphne; your father is waiting for all of us in the drawing room with some family friends."
"Joy..." Daphne remarked, rolling her eyes once her mother and turned away and was walking out of her room. Once she was alone, she sighed and began brushing the other side of her hair, slowly pulling out the knots and debris from the night before. The thought of having another ball here, and with her parents around, was not something she was looking forward to.
Being forced to listen to her parents speak with family friends, such as the Avery's and the Macnair's, was more torturous than listening to Professor Binns go on about some Goblin rebellion in the 2nd century! All they talked about was how this person was a blood traitor, and how that person would surely be killed so if they didn't stop talking so much.
"Keep note, my daughters; someone with a big mouth that doesn't know how to control it will surely find themselves dead... like Octavius Pepper did last night," Lennox remarked before he and Macnair broke out into almost identical, booming laughs.
"Mother, can I please go talk to someone else?" Astoria whined quietly to her mother.
"Yes, fine," Their mother told her daughter gently. As her sister rose and walked away, Daphne stood and followed, despite Medea's hiss of disapproval.
"Having problems listening to father chat about the life you love?" Daphne remarked as she passed her sister in the hallway, just before they started to ascend the stairs.
"No, I just want to write to someone while they thoughts are fresh in my mind. Why are you leaving? Going to sit in your room and mope over how useless your existence is?" Astoria replied in a fake voice of innocence.
"Oh no, I wouldn't give you that satisfaction," Daphne sneered, kicking her foot backward and hitting Astoria in the shoulder a few steps bellow. To her disappointment, her sister did not tumble down the flight of stairs, but she did not turn and try again.
She continued down to the end of the long hallway and entered her room in silence, not listening to the shouts Astoria was hissing at her. Once she entered her room and closed the door firmly behind her, she noticed there was a pale yellow tea dress, which a slightly flared skirt that ended just above her knee, and a sweetheart, halter neckline. Across the waist of the dress was a purple sash, which even when tied into a bow at the back extended well past the hem of the dress.
Well, it looks alright I suppose...although I really wanted one colour or the other; not both! Daphne thoughts, holding the dress up before her in the mirror. Although she wasn't thrilled about wearing her mother's old gowns, at least this way she wouldn't have to wear the same dress robes from the Yule Ball 3 years ago!
No sooner did Daphne hang the dress up and curl up in her bed again for a quick nap did her father burst into the room without knocking.
"Daphne, get out of bed already! It's 6:30, for God sakes!" he said sharply the moment he saw her. Daphne had not been in as deep of as sleep as she wanted, so she rolled over and instantly sat upright.
"You know, I could have been changing or something, father..." she pointed out in a low, even tone. He only gave her a warning glare, but did not reply. "Well, what do you want?"
"The Dark Lord wants the Ball to start in half an hour. I suggest you get out of bed and into the dress your mother got for you." Lennox said in his low, God-like voice, picking something out of his pants pocket. "And wear this." He added, tossing what he had just pulled out to her. She managed to catch it and instantly paused in getting out of bed to look at it. "Will you hurry up!?" her father hissed, causing her to jump from the bed and run into her bathroom, still trying to see what the necklace was. Now that she had it in a better light, she could clearly see what it said; it was a sterling silver locket with her initials engraved into it with fancy, swirling writing. On the back, it had the Greengrass family crescent carved in the same fashion.
"Thank you fa-" she started to call, but he was already gone from her room. She sighed and put on the necklace, carefully examining how it looked on her in the mirror.
I never understand why everyone picks Astoria... I'm not bad looking at all! I'm actually quite pretty, now that I think about it. She turned in the mirror as she pondered, making calm and reserved faces in front of her bathroom mirror as if she were a model for Madame Malkin's robes in Witch Weekly. Just because I don't have blonde hair and blue eyes, and a waist the size of a broom handle doesn't make me ugly, does it? She sighed as she looked down at her accessories that were permanently attached to her chest. "And you two really don't help me as much as I thought you would..." She mumbled as she walked out of her bathroom to put on the second-hand dress that her mother was making her wear.
45 minutes later, Daphne ran down the halls of the house in the small, silver flats that her mother threw at her only minutes before. Everyone was running late (thank goodness for Daphne), and she was not the last person to run into the Malfoy's ballroom.
The sun was just setting, and as was becoming a regular appearance, another body was being shoveled away from the dining room and into a hole in the wall. As all the guests stood or sat in the room, waiting for Lord Voldermort to finish up his business with whatever his last victim was for the evening, Daphne couldn't help but notice the large, wing-backed chair down by the fire, perched at the end of the room like a great throne. She tried to stretch her neck around to see if there were any other chairs around it, but her vision was abruptly cut off by a figure wearing black walked in front of her.
"Drink, Daphne?" Theodore asked, holding out a crystal goblet filled with a dark red liquid.
"What's in it?" she asked, carefully taking it from his hands.
"It's wine. Which means it's meant to have alcohol in it." He chuckled, more or less falling into the seat beside her on the ottoman.
"What is it with alcohol and dancing for you?" Daphne remarked lightly, smiling a little as she took a small sip of the red wine she had been handed "Mmm, but it is rather good, whatever it is."
"I found these on the buffet table across the room, Daphne; I didn't make these myself." He chuckled to himself "And I just find I'm much more comfortable dancing when I have a bit of liquid courage." He said before he tipped back the goblet and emptied it into his throat.
"A bit?" Daphne remarked smartly before she took another sip of her drink.
Certainly looks like he's had more than a bit...
He gave her a quick glare like he could read her thoughts, but didn't say anything "So, do you know why we're having this parade of formality tonight?"
"Aside to torture people like me, I'm not sure. I can't say my father has ever told me that the Dark Lord has a love for dancing or something, but perhaps he does. And it is, after all, an entirely Pureblood tradition." He mumbled with half-opened eyes, setting his crystal glass on the window ledge behind them. "Besides, perhaps he enjoys watching lots of girls dance around in front of him or something." He said, poking Daphne unnecessarily in the side.
"Thank you Theodore for putting that thought into my mind..." Daphne mumbled as she took a bigger swig of her wine.
It was only a few minutes later that the Dark Lord entered the room without speaking to anyone but Bellatrix, who was accompanying him throughout the house lately. The guests all stood around anxiously, waiting for him to make some sort of command. After he was seated in his apparent throne, with Nagini slithering around the legs of the chair, he whispered something to Bellatrix, who smiled and turned to the company.
"You may begin," she announced in her shrill voice that reminded Daphne of her mother. There was a moment of scrambling as the band tried to gather their instruments and music together, but then there was harmonious music that filled the room, instantly calming in the atmosphere... for a moment.
"Well, shall we get this all over with?" Theodore sighed, running his fingers through his hair lazily and almost falling backwards off his seat when he did.
"Is that your way of asking me to dance?" Daphne laughed, taking the last sip of her wine and setting it on the window ledge as well.
"Well, I wouldn't want to torture you if you don't want to." Theodore made a face at her as he fixed his dress robes.
"Are you sure you're able to dance, Theo?" she asked carefully, trying not to draw any attention to one of her dearest friend's already obvious condition.
"Of course!" he laughed and jumped up from the chair, managing to not fall or knock anything over. He spun on his heel twice in a circle, then bowed at his performance. "Satisfied?"
"I don't have much of a choice, do I?" Daphne giggled at his antics, then stood and fixed her dress, smoothing out the wrinkles from sitting. "I don't know anyone else here, and I'm not about to dance with a stranger."
"I'm going to pretend that didn't sound so insulting." Theodore smirked as he took Daphne's arm and led her onto the ballroom floor.
The first dance was a very generic waltz, which was lucky for Daphne because she was beginning to wonder how many drinks Theodore really had had to be able to stand this sort of activity. At the end of their second dance, he was forced to excuse himself. Daphne tried to follow him to make sure he didn't get into any trouble (or fall into a toilet and drown himself), but he disappeared as soon as he was out of the ballroom doors.
"Oh, hello Daphne." Came a voice like a cat.
"Hi, Pansy..." Daphne replied in a less-than-enthusiastic tone. "Have you seen Theodore? I think he might be sick."
"Oh, that might be from the 8 glasses of wine Millicent and I saw him downing about half an hour ago!" Pansy laughed.
"What!? Why didn't you stop him!?" she hissed, her face suddenly contorted in anger. "He could die from drinking so much! I mean, look at the size of him!"
"Oh, stop your crying," Pansy rolled her eyes. "Theodore is fine. And if he isn't, he deserves it for having that much to drink." She stated haughtily "Now come dance, Daphne," she insisted, holding out her hand, her expression practically daring her to accept it. Pansy's distrust of Daphne was still obvious, and Daphne made no mistake of it. But if she refused, then she could also end up in a similar position if she accepted.
Trapped no matter which way I go...she thought gloomily. With a small, forced smile, she reached out and took Pansy's gloved hand and stared at their interaction for a moment, she was waiting for a scorpion to crawl out and bite her. From a distance, they could hear the all-too familiar song that made Daphne's ears cringe. "Oooo, I love this song!" Pansy cried excitedly, taking Millicent's arm and dragging both her and Daphne with her back onto the dance floor.
"I hate this song..." Daphne mumbled under her breath as she felt her body being pulled against her will towards the mass of people.
This song was of course one of the traditional dances that had been passed down for God-knows how long through Pureblood families. Used as an excuse to mingle strangers together, thus bringing the families closer together, this was one of the many Courting dances, as her mother had once told her.
As Daphne tried to remember exactly how this dance went, she was reliving the memory at that very moment. Being forced into a large ring of all the girls, all joined in hands and facing the centre, spinning in time with the music as a group. On the outside ring were the guys, who did not hold hands but somehow danced around in a circle in the opposite direction (Daphne never paid attention to them; she was more concerned in getting her own footwork right). Then, at a specific chord of the song, the girls would extend one arm back behind them, without looking, and wait for the guy who was in line with them to take it. Her mother had made it clear that it was a great insult to not have one's hand taken, and that if (God-forbid) no one took her hand, she should leave the ball immediately, or face embarrassment for the rest of the night. Lucky for Daphne, however, someone took her hand. And like dandelion seeds floating away from the stem, all the girls turned in a single spin and into the arms of their partner chosen by fate.
"Blaise!" Daphne laughed, grateful that it was someone she knew.
"Funny how we always end up dancing with each other," he smirked as he led her through the steps of the dance.
"Yes... funny..." she replied awkwardly. "Have you seen Theodore? I'm worried he's had too much to drink," she asked, hoping that he would know where his friend had gone.
"Sorry Daph, I can't say that I have..." He replied absently, looking around the room at the other dancers that were whirling by.
"How many times do I have to tell you to not call me that?" Daphne growled. Blaise laughed, but didn't respond to her implied threat.
They continued to dance, and much to both their surprise, Daphne managed to keep up with even the most complicated of moves that Blaise was throwing at her.
"Daphne, I dare say you've learned how to keep a rhythm since the Yule Ball!" Blaise teased. Daphne felt her face go slightly pink and simply shrugged. "I think I know how you've managed that." He whispered in a low sultry voice.
"What?" Daphne asked, chuckling a little in confusion. Blaise smirked and leaned forward so he could whisper in her ear.
"I saw you and Draco together this morning," he said, with a voice that reminded her of Voldemort! Then, he leaned back from her ear, and his eyes locked with hers. "I daresay that's one way to learn how to keep a beat."
"Wh-what are you talking about?" she tried to pretend to be calm, play off what he was saying as a mistake, but the damage was already done.
"Daphne, you may have apparated yourself out of there in one second flat, but this-" he held up a lock of her hair, still dancing with her like they were simply chatting about the weather "-is unmistakeable. There are only two red heads in the building. One is your mother, who I know for a fact would not be out at sunrise with Draco. And not to mention your shade of hair is one of a kind." Daphne could hear her heart beat in her ears as he spoke, but Blaise's voice was still overpowering her mind "I would know that head of yours anywhere."
"Blaise, you mustn't say-" but she didn't have time to finish grovelling to him; their solo portion of the dance had finished, and she was gently pushed back into the circle of all girls again. Everyone else was laughing and smiling, but Daphne looked as though she had just been slashed across the stomach and was slowly bleeding out.
How could I not know that was Blaise! Draco surely must know it was him! What did he say to him!? Oh God, what if Blaise says something to Pansy!
Her mind was frantic, and at one point she thought she was going to faint. She feebly tried to leave the spinning ring, but the iron grip of the brunette girl beside her, and Millicent on the other kept her tightly locked in the chain of femininity. Just when she was about ready to scream out at them and push them all away, and then run out of the ball to throw up somewhere, the ring stopped spinning, and all the other girls put their left hand behind them, blindly waiting for a partner. Although delayed, Daphne did this at the last second and felt someone's fingers instantly wrap around hers. And then, as if the nightmare couldn't get any worse...
"Draco?!" she breathed, pausing in the dance for a moment in shock and fear. For a very brief moment, her fear of Blaise was erased and the fear of Pansy came flooding back out of instinct. "God, it must be your goal to get me killed." She muttered, making brief, shy eye contact.
"I've never danced with you in my life, Daphne. If Pansy is jealous of this, than she can go stuff it... I see her dancing with Flint right now..." he said, his head turning as they danced passed Pansy and Marcus Flint, whose looks had yet to improve.
"Well, you are a good dancer... for the record," Daphne replied meekly, only smiling to herself as she tried with all her strength to keep up with his moves. Like Blaise, he was a very skilled dancer (coming from all the lessons his mother had forced him to take, no doubt), and he was able to make Daphne's dancing look effortless and graceful to anyone watching. But, then she remembered they had more important things to discuss.
"Draco, Blaise saw us this morning!" she whispered frantically. His face froze momentarily, and like lightning, his head turned to see Blaise, who had looked over the shoulder of his new partner at that very moment, almost like he overheard Daphne, and smirked right at Draco. He cursed under his breath and gripped Daphne's hand harder out of frustration.
"I tried to steer him away from it... play it off that it was Pansy or something, and that he shouldn't say anything because her parents..." he muttered to himself, and then he looked up at Daphne, his grey eyes slightly suspicious. "How did he know it was you?"
"My hair... apparently I'm unmistakeable," Daphne sighed, and for the first time in her life wished she was blonde like her sister; easy to overlook in a sea of blondes and brunettes.
"Damn, I thought you apparated fast enough..." He cursed under his breath, now carefully looking at Blaise again. He was dancing with some thin girl with sandy blonde hair down to her lower back. But he paid no attention to her; he just watched the two of them. "That was very quick thinking, by the way."
"Oh, thank you... I ended up on your roof!" Daphne sniffed a quick, ironic laugh at their situation.
The dance was at last coming to a close. As one last phrase played, Draco ended their dance by dipping Daphne low, holding her there while he glared at Blaise across the room. When he pulled Daphne up again, she could see the expression on Blaise's face; his arrogant satisfaction made her anger start to boil again.
"Come on," Draco barked quietly to her, pulling her in the direction of Blaise, before he released her hand to avoid any other suspicion. Daphne followed obediently, and wasn't surprised when Draco pretended to walk up and whisper something to Blaise, but to her eyes only, she saw the death grip Draco had on his arm, pushing him out of the ballroom and down a hallway. They stopped a few moments later after walking in awkward silence, and Draco pushed Blaise into what Daphne assumed was a sitting room of some sort, where Blaise instantly burst out laughing.
"Well this confirms everything in my mind now!" he cried in hilarity "And now it all makes sense; how Pansy sneers at her, how she knows so much about you-"
"Shut up Blaise, you prat!" Draco hissed, giving Blaise a shove down into an old chair that creaked with the sudden pressure. "I told you to keep your mouth shut about what you saw." He growled through a locked jaw.
"Correction Malfoy; you told me not to tell Pansy's parents," Blaise replied with a smirk of satisfaction on his face. "Come to think of it, I could tell Pansy if I wanted-"
"NO!" Daphne and Draco both shouted at once, their desperation obvious. Blaise's face was one of maniacal pleasure at their reaction, and he stared at them both as he waited for them to make their next move.
"Zabini, what do you want?" Draco growled at last. Blaise smirked and put his fingers to his chin as he thought, his smirk still showing them that he had all the control in this negotiation.
"Hmmm. Well, for starters, I want one of your brooms." He replied smoothly.
"Excuse me!?" Draco shouted indignantly
"And not your old Comet either! I want your Nimbus."
"You're right off your rocker if you think I'll give you my broom, you piece of-"
"And I want money," Blaise added calmly, his eyes lit by a devious fire that only he could see. Whether he had done this before or not, Blaise's attempt at blackmail was working very well so far.
"Money!? Are you joking!" Draco sniffed a laugh in disbelief. He looked over his shoulder to make sure no one else was near, then added "God, I'd almost rather tell her then give you all of that! It's not worth it!"
"Oh don't worry; if you two don't pay up, I'll be telling her myself." Blaise chuckled, watching them contently.
"Two? You're going to blackmail me as well?" Daphne asked through gritted teeth. Blaise was far too greedy for his own good, and either he would walk away with all the power, or destroy them both; it was a lose-lose situation.
"Of course." He smirked even wider. "It only works if I get you both."
"You're a real asshole Blaise, you know that right?" Daphne glared at him, but he was not even swayed by her expression or words. "Well, what do you want from me?"
"I don't know. I'll get back to you later on that one." He said before he turned to Draco "So, do we have a deal? Or should I go fetch Pansy and see what she thinks?"
"How do we know you're not lying? That you won't just turn around and tell her?" Daphne pressed, her eyes set on him like she was trying to dig at his soul.
"Well, you're just going to have to trust me, aren't you Greengrass?" Blaise smirked at her before he turned to Draco "Are we in agreement, Malfoy?"
Draco cracked his knuckles, but knew that violence wouldn't solve anything. He didn't say anything for a few moments, and Daphne knew what he was most likely thinking; it's better to cover it up, and shut him up, rather than deal with the repercussions now.
"Fine, you have a deal." He growled at last. "How much money do you want?" he grumbled in defeat. Daphne was surprised he gave up the fight so easily, but maybe he knew that it was better to not anger Blaise and just give him what he wanted.
"95 Galleons." He replied smugly at his victory.
"WHAT! I am not throwing you 95 Galleons!" Draco shouted, his temper starting to get the better of him now.
"Fine. Make it 50 and we have a deal." He replied smartly.
"Fine. Then the deal is you keep your mouth shut or I'll curse your whole family," Draco growled.
"Why didn't you think of that before..." Daphne muttered quietly under her breath. Draco gave her a sideways glance, but said nothing.
"Alright, fine. As soon as I get my money and broom, I'll pretend like I never saw it." Blaise smirked, standing from the chair, his smug expression enough to make Daphne want to rip his eyes out. "I'll talk to you later about your payment, Daphne. My silence is an expensive commodity, but I trust you both know how very necessary to keep your lives running smoothly." He said as he passed both Draco and Daphne and opened the door. "See you back in the ball," he smiled, his eyes laughing at them.
He exited the room and closed the door behind him, giving them some privacy that could have saved them from this whole ordeal if they had done this early that morning. Daphne felt so foolish now; why hadn't they come back earlier? Why did they stay out until the sun came up?!
"What do you think he'll make me pay?" Daphne whispered after a minute of silence between then, Draco cracking his knuckles and staring out the window into the sunset beyond.
"I haven't a clue. Right now, I'm concerned with how I'm supposed to pull 50 Galleons out of my ass as soon as possible." He said in a sharp tone. "I'm going to go back and make sure Blaise hasn't run off to find Pansy... and while I'm at it, I think I'll make him make an unbreakable vow, too."
And with that, Draco swiftly walked passed her, opened the door, and also exited the room, leaving Daphne standing alone in the empty, dimly lit room.
She didn't feel like going back to the ball after that, and the wine she had was starting to make her feel a little queasy. So she made a quick entry, told her parents she wasn't feeling well, and went back up to her room unnoticed, but not before grabbing a quick glass of punch on the way out, which apparently had alcohol in it as well, because she instantly felt more nauseated. Once she was upstairs, she immediately stripped off the dress that she felt was constricting the life out of her now, and pulled on a pair on long, blue cotton pants and an old, white tattered tank top.
With Blaise now in on the secret, we're going to have to be extra careful, she thought as she pulled out the same issue of Witch Weekly she had been trying to read last night. But now I'm going to have to walk around on eggshells, trying not to piss of Blaise... I know Draco believes that a death threat will shut him up, but I don't think he really cares!
The next time she looked up at the clock on the desk in the far corner, it was 11:30 pm. She had now been hiding in her room for almost 4 hours. The ball was most likely drawing to a close now, and she was starting to hear people running around in the hallway. She could hear Pansy yelling something obscenely loud outside her room, and Daphne rolled her eyes and climbed into bed; clearly, she wasn't missing anything at this ball, except a bunch of her drunken housemates. Once she was under the covers, she tossed her magazine on the floor beside her bed and turned out the light. This night had been more dramatic than she ever imagined it would be, and not even in a good way!
It was only about half an hour later that Daphne was awoken by the creak of her door opening, and the light from the hallway flooding into her room. She stirred from her sleep and tried to focus her eyes against the bright light. She couldn't see who exactly it was, but it was for sure a man.
"Doesn't anyone ever knock in this house?" she mumbled, assuming it was her father, then set her head back on the pillow with a angry flop.
"I wish I could tell you the answer."
She recognized the voice immediately; Blaise. Her eyes flew open in shock, and she tried to find her wand on the table beside her bed.
"You are the last person I want to see right now," Daphne growled, frantically slapping the table as she tried to find her wand in the dark. "Get out of here, now." She demanded.
"Well, aren't you rude," Blaise laughed as he stumbled across her floor and jumped onto her bed. He then reached over and grabbed her wand from wherever it had been hiding, and threw it across the room. As he moved past her, she could smell the alcohol on him. Daphne rolled her eyes in annoyance, giving him a firm kick in the side through the covers.
"Well, aren't you drunk!" she hissed as she delivered another kick to him "Get off my bed, Blaise!"
"I wouldn't be attacking me since I hold your fate in my hands, remember?" he said firmly. Daphne stopped kicking him for a moment and glared at him. Even with her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could still only see him in shadows from the full moons light outside her window. His dark skin made him blend into the darkness like a true demon.
"Blaise, get out of my room," she demanded in a low voice, sitting up now to give herself some distance from him. But he just moved closer.
"No. I came to tell you I've figured out how you're going to pay for my silence," He drawled as he crawled up so he was sitting at the bottoms of her feet.
"Oh, I'm waiting with baited breath," Daphne sneered at him. "You can tell me in the morning, now get out!" she demanded again, but he ignored it.
"I'm thinking you can show me what you and Draco do together," he stated in a low voice. After a moment of silence, she couldn't help but laugh when she repeated what he said in her head again.
"What, you want to watch? I'm afraid I don't like having an audience." She laughed, shaking her head in disbelief at what he had just said.
"No, that's not it. Here, I'll rephrase it." He said, stumbling off of the bed and taking 2 steps forward so he was standing beside her head. "I want you to do to me what you do to Draco." He added in the same sultry tone he used on her earlier.
"I'm not following... you want me to what?" she asked, her brows furrowed in confusion; Blaise didn't make a lot of sense when he had a few drinks in him. Or maybe it was just because she was sleeping until a few moments ago that she didn't understand what he meant.
"Do I have to spell it out for you?" he remarked, finally catching her eyes in the light of the moon. It was an expression she hadn't seen from Blaise since they were dating; desire. Then, it suddenly hit her.
"Excuse me?!" she breathed in shock. "Are you asking me to sleep with you?"
"Actually, I'm not asking; I'm telling you." He replied smartly, a coy smirk on his lips as he took another step closer. "It's not as bad as what I'm making Draco do. And this is apparently nothing to you now, so I figure it's a decent agreement."
"Absolutely not!" she snarled, turning away from him to climb out the other side of the bed, but he just apparated to that side like he was there the whole time. This isn't going to be good...
"See, the way I see it, Daphne." He started, moving closer to her personal space. "You more or less owe me. You denied me for months, and then I find out that you end up handing it all over to a guy you're not even dating." He paused, looking down at her with dark eyes. "And since now you owe me again, I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone."
"Blaise, this is ridiculous... You're drunk, and you haven't a clue what you're saying," she tried to reason, pushing him back slowly and gently as she swung her feet out of the bed. She was preparing to run or attack him if necessary, but she really hoped that it wouldn't have to come to that. Especially since he threw her wand out of her reach! "If only you could hear your reasoning, you would-"
Blaise cut her off when he suddenly snatched her wrists into his hands. He gripped them so tightly that Daphne hissed in pain, but no matter how hard she pulled them, she couldn't even get his hands to budge.
"Nice try," he said patronizingly "And by the way, I believe it is your reasoning that is flawed. This is not a complex task; you either do as I say or lose all your friends and reputation to the wrath of one very jealous and possessive girlfriend."
"Blaise, my answer is no. I am not doing this." Daphne replied firmly. She continued to try and yank her hands-free, but each time she did, he only gripped them tighter. "Now, please leave me alone!"
"C'mon, just pretend I'm Draco," he said in an even tone. "What if I do this?"
And then, like he was moving at high speeds, he gave her a firm shove backward, pushing her back onto the bed again. Before she even had a moment to realize what had happened, he was on top of her. He still held her wrists in his hands, but now they were pinned above her head, leaving her in shock as she tried to get his weight off her chest.
"Blaise, I said no!" she cried helplessly. She could barely breathe, he was so heavy and crushing her lungs. She felt panic as she started to fear what he was going to do next; was he planning on taking what he wanted by force?! "Please, don't do this!"
At this, Blaise leaned back and laughed. He still held down her wrists with his long reach, but he pushed himself off of her chest. "No? That's not how he does it?" he released her hands and leaned back so he was just straddling her waist and laughing down at her. "Well, that's just too bad... for you!"
And with that, he let out one more booming laugh, before he leaned back too far, and fell backward off the bed, slamming his body on the floor like a sack of rocks. Daphne panted and scrambled to the edge of the bed to see what happened to him. He lay there, passed out and breathing heavily on the floor, one leg caught in the sheets and propped up against the bed.
Did... did that just happen!? Daphne rolled off the other side of the bed and fumbled as she picked her wand off the floor. She then slowly crept around to the other side of the bed, her wand pointed and at the ready as she approached him. He... he almost attacked me! Was that what he was going to do? Or was he playing some sick game with me, trying to see if I would just give in to him if he tried extra hard?!
Daphne now wanted to flee the room. She didn't care where she went, but she couldn't be here with him. She was so disgusted with him, and not to mention the smell of the wine that he had managed to bring into the room, that she couldn't stand to be in that room for one more moment. So, without even thinking of where she could go, she turned on her heel and ran out of the room, not even stopping to close the door.
She saw Draco's door and instantly flung herself at it. But, when she turned the handle, she found it locked. Panicking, and fearing that someone would see her trying to get in, she headed in the direction of her parent's room. She didn't know what she would tell them, but she knew that they would at least keep Blaise out of the room if he tried to follow her.
I don't think he's going to get up any time soon... Daphne stopped running and listened to the sounds of the house. It was eerily quiet, but she didn't hear anything that sounded like Blaise. Instead, she heard the sound of wrenching from behind her. There was a door, open just enough to see the now-dying fire in a dark room. Curious to see who it was, she silently crept forward and pushed the door open more.
When she opened the door, she saw Theodore, crouched over a bucket in the corner of his room, vomiting violently. Daphne covered her mouth to prevent herself from throwing up herself once the smell reached her nose. But at that moment, pity took over, and she fought through the smell and entered his room, closing the door behind her and locking it.
"Oh, Theodore..." Daphne sighed, feeling suddenly desperate to take care of him. She stepped forward and knelt down beside him. He was so shocked that his one hand shot out and grabbed her shirt threateningly. "It's just me!" she breathed, reaching out and placing her hand on his back. "I just wanted to make sure you're alright," she said quietly. Theodore looked at her as if he didn't recognize her for a moment. His face was as white as the pages of a book, but his eyes were sunken and red. He looked like death warmed over. When he finally did realize that it was Daphne, he released her shirt and then chuckled to himself as he turned back to his bucket.
"I'm sorry," he mumbled before he threw up again into the bucket. By now, the smell had no effect on her, but she still cringed at the noise.
"There's nothing you need to be sorry for," she whispered softly as she rubbed his back soothingly while he emptied the contents of his stomach. "You have no idea how happy I am to be here with you right now..."
When Theodore stopped throwing up an hour later, he collapsed beside the bucket from exhaustion. Daphne made sure he was on his side (in case he threw up again), and then prodded the fire to give the room a little more heat. Then, she pulled the blankets off the bed, covered Theodore with one, and curled up behind him with the other. She knew that she was safe here, and so after a few minutes, she managed to drift off to sleep.