It doesn't matter what place you come in, Narcissa Malfoy said in a letter to Hyacinth about the whole ordeal, so long as you survive. As for Drisana, she isn't cross with you. She's just distracted right now. Don't pay it any mind.

. . .

The next Defense lesson was the lesson in which Moody had decided he would teach them the Imperious Curse. Due to poor scheduling that year, the entire fourth year, from every House, had that class together.

They took turns, some students being more or less resilient than others to whatever funny, awkward, or embarrassing thing the professor tried to have them do. Drisana lasted for about a full minute before Moody had her dancing like a chicken.

Shortly thereafter came Hyacinth's turn.

"Imperio!"

It felt like a blanket settled over her mind.

Tell Susan she's pretty.

What? I'd rather not.

No, you want to. You fancy her.

Shut up.

Well then why don't you go slap Ron Weasley?

That was tempting, and she felt herself walking towards the ginger boy.

I shouldn't.

Who's going to stop you?

I shouldn't. You don't go around giving people reasons to hate you.

He already hates you. Just a slap, it won't even be that painful.

Yeah but if I hit him he'll be justified in hating me.

In his mind, he already is.

Yeah but who cares about his mind? My mind is what matters, and if I go hit him, I can't blame him for hating me.

Just do it.

The urge got stronger and she took another step forward.

No.

After a moment, the mind-blanket cleared entirely.

"Good job, Potter."

Hermione had a similar result, and the last student to go was Athena.

She stepped forward, and Hyacinth could sense the raw energy emanating from her. Athena hated Moody more than Lockhart, wished desperately Lupin had stayed, and they all knew, imagined killing him on the daily.

Perhaps he was no longer her greatest fear, perhaps he had morphed into her greatest enemy.

Perhaps they were the same thing.

Moody raised his wand, but it flew out of his hand as soon as he spoke the curse, his body blasted backwards by the sheer magical power rolling off of Athena in waves.

Her face appeared entirely calm, smooth tawny skin settled into a placid expression.

Moody appeared taken entirely aback.

"Rosier, stay after class."

. . .

Great, thought Athena, now I have to be alone in a room with my father's murderer.

The door closed behind the last student, but she knew Daphne would be waiting for her right outside the door.

"You were instructed to try to resist the Imperius Curse, not assault your professor," said the murderer gruffly.

It took everything she had, but she made her mouth move. "I apologize, sir. I didn't intend it."

"Don't you think you're getting a bit old for accidental magic?" he snarked, turning and taking a swig from his flask.

Was he drinking alcohol? No, he couldn't be. He drank from that thing constantly and never appeared even tipsy. In her experience, people tended to be less paranoid and analytical when drunk, not moreso.

So what was it?

Murder juice? The blood of those he'd killed? The tears of men who had families back home to get back to?

No, she knew these were ridiculous and unhelpful suggestions from the sarcastic department of her mind. So, then what? It had to be something strange, no one would carry pumpkin juice in a flask.

Some sort of potion, then. But what? Well, the man was rather old, and it was her understanding that older people tended to require certain potions and tonics rather frequently, at least unhealthy ones. And a man missing a limb and an eyeball probably classed as unhealthy.

Good. Let him get sick and die. Let him finally repay his debts.

He turned back to her, his robotic eye focusing. Revulsion rolled through her.

"Alright then, but I want you to work on controlling your emotions. Accidental magic doesn't come out of nowhere."

She left, and it was all she could do not to slam the door behind her. Daphne was waiting, eyes wide with concern, and took her hand immediately.

. . .

The night before the first task, Fred and George Weasley came barreling into the library, both out of breath.

"Hya -cinth," huffed George.

"The -first -task," continued Fred.

"Slow down, take a breath," said Hermione, "The first task is tomorrow, we know."

The twins took her advice and caught their breath. George leaned in, his voice low, while Fred looked around them to be sure no one was listening in.

"The first task is dragons," George whispered.

"Dragons?" hissed Hyacinth.

"Dragons," he confirmed.

"Our older brother Charlie works with dragons in Romania and he was part of the crew that brought them in. He told us, and we've just seen them with our own eyes," continued Fred.

"Does she have to fight one?" asked Hermione.

"Don't know," said George, "But I doubt she'll have to sing it a song."

Hermione looked at her, eyes filled with alarm. "Are you ready for a dragon?"

Hyacinth searched her memory. Dragons had very few weak points, but they were the eyes and throat. If you could catch it with its jaw open you might be able to damage it. There was a fireproof charm as well.

"Maybe? Probably enough not to die."

Hermione checked the time. "It's already seven."

"You might as well go get some rest," said George. "If you're confident in your ability to survive this, a good night's sleep wouldn't hurt."

Fred nodded his agreement, and even Hermione thought it best.

"Studies show your reflexes and improvisational skills work better when you're well-rested, which is kind of common sense anyways."

She went to sleep early that night, taking a sleeping draught she'd brewed by herself over the summer because she knew otherwise she'd be up all night thinking about dragons.

. . .

Morning came too soon, and before she knew it she was eating robotically, reviewing every spell she knew that might help her not die.

Susan came up to her, wearing a black jumper with her long red hair falling in waves around her.

"Good luck today, Hyacinth," she said with a smile, and then she was gone.

Shortly thereafter, Cedric Diggory walked past, caught sight of her, and stopped.

"Good luck today, Hyacinth," he said with a smile.

Does he know?

"Cedric!" she called just as he was walking away. She gestured to the side and he stood next to her.

"I know this is kind of late, but the first task is dragons -I only just found out last night, I'm sorry," she confided.

His eyes were golden, and they grew wide. "Dragons? Do -do you think Krum and Fleur . . .?"

"I don't know. I just wanted to make sure you were ready, we've still got a few hours."

He nodded. "Thanks, Hyacinth."

. . .

The morning passed, and it was time for the first task. Hyacinth was directed into the Champions' Tent, where she and the others had a few last minutes to prepare themselves, and would be given their task.

Hermione got her attention, standing just outside the tent.

"Hyacinth. Are you absolutely sure you're ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

That seemed to break Hermione, for she leapt straight into the tent and engulfed Hyacinth in her arms. Hyacinth was just hugging her back when the distinct sound of a camera shutter clicked, and the pair snapped apart in alarm.

"Oh, young love!" cried the abominable voice of Rita Skeeter, whom Hyacinth had met exactly once. Hyacinth was wondering if it was even worth it to point out that she and Hermione weren't in love, that they were both interested in completely different people, and that it was really just a hug. But since that would probably only make them look guilty, she said nothing, and Viktor Krum quickly shooed the woman away.

Before long, Dumbledore, Crouch, and the other Headmasters came in. Hermione ran off, and they were assigned their dragons.

Hyacinth was pretty sure there was something distinctly unfair about her getting the biggest and fiercest dragon, but there wasn't much she could do about it.

An egg? she thought. I can get an egg.

It was a bit harder than that. The dragon was about a billion times bigger than her, and didn't seem at all pleased about her being there.

"Infernium repelus!" That was the fireproof spell, but she wasn't keen to test its limits, so she quickly dashed behind a six-foot tall boulder, breathing heavy.

Thinking, thinking, thinking -what could she do? She'd have to sneak past it to even get close to that egg. She knew of an invisibility spell, the Disillusionment Charm, but that really only worked if it was dark or shadowy, and of course the sun was shining bright today.

She did, however, have an invisibility cloak that worked without fail, and she knew of a summoning spell.

Wouldn't that basically tell the whole school that she had the cloak of invisibility?

No, it was commonplace for people to make or buy cheap invisibility cloaks, that's probably what everyone would think hers was, and it was the best option for her to complete this task.

"Accio cloak of invisibility!"

It took a minute or two, but soon the translucent cloak was flying into her hands, and she covered herself with it even as she heard the dragon stomping towards her.

She stepped out, watched the creature look behind the boulder. It turned around, puzzled, eyes darting across the arena, nostrils wide.

Right. It could probably smell her, so best to snatch the egg before it pinpointed her. She ran forward to where the egg was tucked into a nest, glistening gold, and plucked it out. It was solid and heavy, and she removed her cloak, revealing for all to see that she had indeed completed the task. The stands erupted into cheers, and she was quickly pulled from the arena while the dragon tamers came to subdue the Hungarian Horntail.

Scores were tallied and she came in second, just behind Fleur, who'd beaten her by about ten seconds.

. . .

Hyacinth sat in the Slytherin common room that night, golden egg on her lap.

"I never took you for the Mother Goose type," drawled Blaise with a smile as he sat next to her.

"And I never took Pansy for your type," she teased.

He shrugged. "It's fun. Might as well have some of that while we can."

"I guess you're right."

"Speaking of which, how about you and Bones?"

She froze. "Bones?"

"Susan Bones? The redheaded one with all the freckles that came by the Slytherin table to wish you luck, even though the other Hogwarts champion is from Hufflepuff."

"Ginny also wished me luck this morning, and she's a redhead with freckles."

"She's a Slytherin who had every reason to wish you luck. And besides, she's had a crush on you since she met you. If that was going to happen, it would have by now."

"Fair point."

"Almost as fair as Susan Bones." He had a sly look in his eyes that accentuated the smile perfectly.

"Oh, shut up."

"Anyway, did you figure out what the clue is?"

"No, I tried to open it a while ago and it just made this awful scream. Incomprehensible."

"Maybe that's the clue. You know any creatures that like to scream at the top of their lungs without stopping?"

"Not off the top of my head."

Drisana came into the common room then, and looked Hyacinth directly in the eyes for what felt like the first time in weeks. Hyacinth stood without realizing, or knowing why.

Drisana had hit a growth spurt over the past several months, and now stood a few inches taller than Hyacinth, who was already taller than most of the girls in their year. Hyacinth was looking up at her, at platinum hair and quicksilver eyes and fair skin, even her lips were pale pink. It was like all color had been drained from Drisana, but it was never there to begin with.

"Hi," said the blonde.

"Hey."

"You did well today."

"Thanks. I tried."

"I -Hya, if you -if something happened to you, I . . ."

What, did the giant dragon screeching at me finally get you to tear your attention away from the Bulgarian girl for half a moment?

It was a bitter thought.

"I know."

Drisana looked at her feet before squaring her shoulders and shoving her hands in her pockets. She had taken, recently, to wearing trousers rather than skirts, and the look suited her. Narcissa had had a fit, of course, but even she couldn't deny that her daughter's height and frame made her look even better in trousers than she had in ballgowns.

And she did look good -but the Malfoys always did, and really the socially elite in general had a tendency to be presentable.

Drisana had never been one for public affection, and so it took Hyacinth quite by surprise when she hugged her. But she hugged back, wondering if this was some symbolic way of patching up their friendship.

The taller girl smelled like lemon. It was a fresh, clean scent, and Hyacinth wouldn't have minded if the hug had been longer.

But it was nice to have Drisana acting like she cared again. Maybe Narcissa had been right, and this Yana thing was just a distraction -after all, she couldn't say thinking about Susan Bones didn't distract her sometimes (especially during Ancient Runes).

They would be fine.

. . .

Early in December, Professor Snape called a House meeting with the fourth-years and above, in some classroom that was big enough to host all of them.

He was, as per usual, dressed in all black, his hair greasy as ever. Hyacinth wished he'd just wash it a little bit more frequently, but it did very little to diminish the respect she had for the professor who had managed to teach her the ins and outs of potions in just a couple of years.

Said professor was now looking at them all like they were the bane of his existence.

"The obligation has fallen to my shoulders, as your Head of House, to inform you that we will be hosting a Yule Ball this year. It will take place the night before you hooligans are released for Christmas break. You are permitted to bring dates, and your headmaster would like me to encourage you to seek companions from one of our guest schools, although personally I am not at all concerned with who you bring." He was looking quite uncomfortable here.

"Furthermore, you will notice there are no students beneath fourth year here. Any student third year or lower cannot attend unless they are specifically invited by an older student, and said student must request permission from their Head of House. Finally, should any of you take it upon yourselves to embarrass me, this House, or the legacy of Salazar Slytherin, I will make every single day of the rest of your career at Hogwarts agony. You are expected to behave with the class and dignity this House is built upon."

He swept the crowd of students with a long, measuring look. "Am I absolutely clear?"

A singular "Yes, sir," spoken by many voices responded.

. . .

"There's a ball! And we get to bring dates!" Lavender and Parvati were going absolutely mental the next time Hyacinth saw them, which was how she knew the word had reached Gryffindor.

"I know who Hermione's going with," said Parvati with a friendly sparkle in her eyes.

"Oh, everyone knows who Hermione's going with!" replied Lavender, smiling knowingly.

"Everyone knows?" asked Hermione.

"We all saw it coming, to be fair," Hyacinth pointed out. The Gryffindor gossip girls nodded in agreement.

"Is that so? And who are you going with, Hya?"

Her cheeks were instantly aflame. "I don't know."

Lavender and Parvati caught this, however. "Oh, Hyacinth, you like somebody!" shrieked Lavender.

"No -I don't know, it's not like we're dating."

"You could be," argued Parvati, "Who is it?"

Hermione was looking at her with curiosity, just as Fred came bounding over and looped his arms around her in a hug from behind.

"Ladies," he greeted, "What are we talking about?"

"We're trying to figure out who Hyacinth's got it bad for," confided Parvati. Hermione nodded in confirmation, the fool grinned.

"I bet I know."

Hyacinth's heart picked up speed. "How would you know?"

"Well, maybe I don't know who you like, but I know who's interested in you, and ideally they're the same person."

"That could just be wishful thinking, though, and then you could expose some poor soul for no reason," brought up Hermione.

"Fair enough. How 'bout I tell you, my love, and you tell me if you think it's the same as the person Slytherin's princess is after."

Hermione agreed to this scheme, somehow, and Fred leaned in and whispered something to her.

The problem was that Hermione didn't actually know who Hyacinth was interested in anyways, so how could this work?

Hermione's mouth dropped open into an O shape, and then she smiled. "They would be cute together but how did you find out?"

"I know people."

"Who is it?" demanded Lavender, giggling.

Hermione, seemingly possessed by the devil, leaned to Lavender and told her, who told Parvati, and soon they were all giggling and agreeing that Hyacinth and this mystery person would make a cute pair.

Is it Susan? But even if she did, how would Fred know that?

Hermione pulled her forward, making sure no passersby would hear.

"Cho Chang."

Cho Chang?

She was a Ravenclaw, Hyacinth knew. A year above her. What did she want with Hyacinth? They only knew each other in passing.

"Oh, look at her face," murmured Parvati, "It's not who she wants."

Fred shrugged. "In that case, who cares? Cho'll get over it, I'm sure. Anyways, who do you have your eye on?"

"Nobody," Hyacinth muttered.

. . .

"So Cho Chang has a thing for you?"

It was the next day, and she was spending her free period with Theo and Tracey.

She shrugged. "I guess so."

"Not quite who you were hoping for?" Theo asked.

"You know it wasn't. Anyways, I don't know what to do. You think I should just ask her to the ball? I mean, at least that's a sure thing, right?"

Tracey chewed her lip. "I don't know, Hya. It's not like we have these every year, you know? You might as well try to go with who you want to go with."

"Well, technically, we do have these every year," pointed out Theo.

"Yeah, but those are just our circle, and we can't exactly bring dates. I mean, maybe, but we don't."

"Regardless, I think it might be smarter to just save any potential embarrassment and go with the safe bet."

Tracey shook her head. "I think you should follow your heart."

Well. That didn't help her at all.

"So who are you two going with?"

Tracey beamed then, the kind of signature smile that radiated. Her teeth were dazzling white and her lips were full, coated in lip gloss. "It's not guaranteed yet, but I've got an idea someone might be asking me soon."

"And you, Theo?"

"I don't know. Pansy and Blaise are going together, Daphne and Athena, you can be sure Drisana and Yana will wind up there together. In our House, that leaves you and Tracey, and you've both already got other ideas."

"You could go with Ginny," suggested Hyacinth.

"Or Astoria," added Tracey.

"Fine girls, truly," Hyacinth continued.

"Absolutely lovely," Tracey finished.

Theo laughed, it was a rare, sweet sound. "I suppose. Although, if I go with Astoria, Merlin knows Daphne will be on my tail about it."

"Ginny's also got six older brothers," Hyacinth said, "And most of them aren't fond of Slytherin to begin with."

"Yeah, but she's at least got a personality. Astoria just hangs around and parrots whatever you say back to you. It makes for the dryest conversations."

"What, you don't care to be reminded of yourself?" teased Hyacinth.

"I sure don't," said Theo seriously.

. . .

Tracey did, in fact, get asked to the Yule Ball two days later, by none other than Fleur Delacour.

She came into the common room clutching a bouquet of roses, earning raised eyebrows from Hyacinth, Blaise, and Athena, who were sitting in some armchairs in the corner.

She had that radiant smile again, and she came over and squeezed herself next to Hyacinth.

"I've just been asked to the Yule Ball."

"By whom, exactly?" asked Hyacinth.

"Fleur."

Blaise's jaw dropped. "Fleur Delacour?"

"How many other Fleurs do you know?" retorted Athena.

"Yes, Fleur Delacour," Tracey confirmed.

"I didn't know you were so friendly with her?" Hyacinth was confused. She'd never even noticed the two speak, but she supposed she wasn't with Tracey every hour of the day, and the girl had plenty of time to flirt with French girls.

"We started talking one day, she needed directions to the Potions classroom and I walked her there, and we've just been talking ever since. She's quite nice. Passionate. I think if she were a Hogwarts student she'd be a Gryffindor."

"A Gryffindor? Merlin, Tracey, don't insult the girl, I thought you liked her?" cried Blaise.

"Oh, come off it, they're not all bad."

"I suppose one or two of them may be tolerable. Anyhow, Hyacinth, out of all of us, that just leaves you without a date."

"I'll find one," she assured him, but she still hadn't made a choice. Was it better to go with head or heart? What she wanted, or what was easier?

For one thing, she only had a couple of weeks left until the ball. The next Hogsmeade weekend was coming up, and Narcissa had gotten permission to take the group of Slytherins shopping for formal attire outside of Hogsmeade, which meant she'd have to find a date soon so they could coordinate clothes.

So, then. Decide. Cho or Susan?

Well, she could always just say screw either of those options and go with Theo. It'd be less of a headache. But she was fairly certain he'd already asked Ginny, and the girl deserved to get to go to the Ball. She really was a nice girl.

That left her back at square one. The thought of asking Susan made her stomach somersault. Cho was easier. She would ask Cho.

She checked the clock. They had a few minutes until lunch, and she could probably catch her outside of the Great Hall and ask. Easy.

When they went down to lunch, she waited outside the doors, and soon enough she saw Cho, walking beside her friend who Hyacinth was pretty sure was named Marietta, but otherwise knew nothing about.

"Cho!"

The girl with raven hair stopped and her eyes locked on to Hyacinth, and she smiled and walked to her.

"Hyacinth! How are you?"

"I'm alright. Listen, Cho, I was wondering if you would, er, go to the ball with me?"

Cho's smile fell. "Oh, I would, Hyacinth, it's only, somebody's already asked me, and I told him I'd go."

Well. That left her with only one option, which was not being a coward.

"Oh, okay. No problem. See you, Cho."

"I am sorry, Hyacinth." And she did look genuinely sorry, which served as evidence for what Fred said about the girl having a crush on her.

"It's alright."

She walked to the Slytherin table and reported her failure to Tracey, who was torn between sympathetic and smug. "I told you, you should've went with your heart. You'd better ask Susan before somebody else does."

"Fine, fine. I'll ask her tonight. It's a little bit rude to ask somebody five minutes after you've asked someone else."

"But a few hours makes a difference?"

"A bit of one."

. . .

"Lucius, dear," called Narcissa, "Don't forget, I'm taking the children tomorrow to get their clothes for the Yule Ball at Hogwarts."

Her husband smiled and nodded. "I recall. Who, exactly, is our daughter taking?"

Narcissa frowned. "Some Bulgarian girl. Yana something or other. Pureblood, of course, but an awful name. Drisana and Yana. The rhyme is quite tacky."

"Well, it's only for this year, and you know how Drisana is, she'll forget about her within a week."

"Of course, dear, but I'm afraid it's been quite distressing for Hyacinth."

"I would imagine. They're inseparable."

"She's going with the Bones girl."

"Bones?"

"Yes. She wrote and told me all about it, of course. Apparently she's quite taken with the Hufflepuff."

"And Drisana?"

"I doubt she's noticed yet, if it's true that she's clinging to this Durmstrang one, but I'm sure she will. And Merlin help the Bones girl when she does."

"We raised Drisana to be many things, but I don't think patient was one of them."

"No," Narcissa agreed. They had certainly not raised a patient girl. And when she did notice Hyacinth giving her attention to someone else, she wouldn't be happy, however hypocritical that was.

. . .

"You're going with Susan Bones?" Drisana was just hearing the news, the night before they were all going shopping with Narcissa.

"Yeah," Hyacinth informed her with a small smile. "I asked her like a week ago."

"Oh."

"She's sweet."

"I'm sure. She seems very nice. A Hufflepuff would be, though."

"There's nothing wrong with being a Hufflepuff."

The rest of their roommates were watching the exchange silently, pretending to be minding their own business.

"No, but they seem so dull."

"Well, Susan's not."

"I suppose."

"Not even a Ravenclaw?"

"I can go with a Gryffindor, if you don't like Hufflepuff."

"No! Hufflepuff is fine!"

"And, for the record, not that you noticed, I did ask a Ravenclaw, and she already had a date."

"Who?"

"Cho Chang."

"And she said no? I thought she had a crush on you?"

Hyacinth was exasperated. "Did everyone know that but me?"

The other girls all chimed in with assent.

"Oh, whatever. Like I said, she already had a date. And I'd rather go with Susan anyway."

Drisana frowned, and went to bed.

. . .

The next day was a flurry of excitement, which started out with all of them meeting Narcissa in the Headmaster's office to take the Floo.

They stepped out onto a busy street lined with expensive-looking shops, and they were led by the Malfoy matriarch into one with ballgowns and suits in the window.

Pansy, of course, went with a juvenile shade of bubblegum pink, picking out a pink tie for Blaise. Ginny and Theo were going with simple black. Athena and Daphne chose coordinating gowns of silver and emerald. Drisana mentioned that Yana wanted to wear lavender, so she got a suit with lavender accents, and Hyacinth, for some reason, felt annoyance at that.

Speaking of Hyacinth, Susan wanted to wear gold, and Hyacinth found a lovely white gown with gold detailing through it. It was perfect and would match the other girl flawlessly.

. . .

"I want to get this right," came the desperate confession to her best friend later that night.

"You'll be fine, flower. It's just a dance," was Hermione's response.

"I know, but it's a whole night, what if I do something wrong?"

"You won't. And she's lucky to even go with you."

"It's the other way around."

"I would think you'd have a little more pride after three and a half years of Slytherin."

"I do have pride but she's so pretty."

"So are you."

That stopped Hyacinth short. She never much thought about whether or not others considered her beautiful, more or less she just knew she wasn't ugly and that was as much as it had ever mattered.

Did that mean Susan thought she was pretty?

"She probably does," Hermione assured her when she voiced the question.

Wow. That was a nice feeling.