With the start of the Quidditch season in November came another clear sign that Draco was working on something momentous, for he elected not to play. The privilege of representing his house and the chance to beat the Gryffindorks obviously just were not as important to him as they once were, and Maya witnessed her team lose mainly due to a stellar performance by none other than Ron, who made one spectacular save after another. Slytherin had one unexpected chance to win it, but Draco's substitute, the fourth year Harper, hesitated just a second too long, enabling Harry to get the best of him and by extension the whole team in green. Maya did not care as much as she used to, however, if she had ever cared much about Quidditch at all. There were more important things to focus on, even if your name was not Draco Malfoy.

One such thing was Slughorn's Christmas party. The Potions teacher invited Blaise to it at the end of class when almost everyone else had left already, causing Maya to turn on her heel and shamelessly hang back. "Just for the Slug Club, but not to worry, you're allowed to bring a guest this time!" Slughorn said brightly. Blaise just shrugged and left, but Maya spotted an opportunity and boldly walked towards the professor.

"Hi, Professor Slughorn," she said politely. If she were to obtain an invitation to his exclusive party, she would have to turn on the charm.

"Hello, miss..." Slughorn started, considering her. Maya resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Yes, she was very aware of the fact she was not famous or anything, thank you, but he had been teaching her for the better part of three months now. Come on.

"Dursley, sir. Maya Dursley."

"Ah, yes. Harry's cousin. Amazing how people who are related to each other can be so different, isn't it?" Slughorn said jovially.

Maya was quite sure she just got insulted, but she valiantly ploughed on. She was a girl on a mission and she would not settle for anything less than completing it. "Er, I suppose so, sir. I was just wondering, is there any way I could go to the party too? I mean, as you know, I am Harry's cousin..." Maya said in the sweetest tone she could muster. Never had she thought she would ever say the words 'Harry's cousin' herself, but like so often the end justified the means. If that was what it took, then that was what it took.

"Well, actually... I think I have an idea that works for the both of us. How about you'll give me a little hand? Set up decorations, serve drinks, that sort of thing," Slughorn said, beaming at her as if he had just offered her something that was normally reserved to only the luckiest of people.

Maya thought for a few seconds. "Sure, Professor. You can count on me," she said, forcing a smile. It was not ideal, but she considered it like taking one step backward to take two steps forward. Even if she would manage to establish one important contact it would already have been more than worth it.

December arrived, and if Maya had not been able to 'attend' Slughorn's party she might actually have gone back to her mother for Christmas this year. She spent so little time with Draco and even though she did not blame him in the slightest, it did inadvertently make her feel a tad lonely at times. She had never connected with anyone like she had with him, and she still was not exactly a social butterfly so she very much cherished the connections she had. The vast majority of her time was spent studying, and getting out of the castle for a bit was not the bleak prospect it normally was. Slughorn's party had better be worth it. When Maya had told Draco, he had merely given a derisive laugh before telling her that he would just slither his way in. "Our house is not called 'Slytherin' for nothing, you know."

Snow began to cover the grounds around Hogwarts and Hagrid had already delivered the usual twelve gigantic Christmas trees for the Great Hall. Holly and tinsel could be found all over the school and, much to Maya's annoyance, great bunches of mistletoe had been hung along the corridors, causing significant hold-ups as large groups of giggling girls liked to converge underneath them. Maya wished she could put all of them in detention, not least because they could then learn how to spend their time in a productive way.

Finally it was the night of the party, the day before the vast majority of the student population would return home for the holidays. The party would start at eight, but Slughorn had told Maya to be there at six. It was with a certain amount of apprehension that she knocked on his door.

"Ah, you're here, great! Ms Fawcett is present already as well!" Slughorn greeted her enthusiastically. He was already wearing his party suit; a tasselled velvet hat that matched his smoking jacket. Maya found it rather impressive to see that there existed smoking jackets in his massive size.

"Yes, happy to be here, sir," Maya said politely as she entered his office. It was much larger than the usual teacher's office, and Maya wondered whether Slughorn had worked his magic or was a really good negotiator.

"Hello, you're serving detention too?" Fawcett asked her.

Maya looked at the Ravenclaw. "Er, yes, sure," she muttered, having more and more doubts about the entire thing.

"Yes, Ms Fawcett, don't think all of your detentions will be such a party! And as for you, er..." Slughorn said jovially.

"Maya Dursley."

"Ah, yes, Dursley. When you and Ms Fawcett are done setting up decorations, I'll give you your uniform for the night."

"Wow, you've got to stay the whole night? Now I really want to know what you did," Fawcett said gleefully.

Maya ignored her, looking at Slughorn instead. "Uniform?" she asked blankly.

"Oh, yes! You've got to look sharp!" Slughorn said with a smile. Maya, who had already spent over an hour making herself as pretty as she could, including picking her favourite clothes, sighed inwardly and rolled her eyes when Slughorn was not looking.

For the next hour and a half or so Maya and Fawcett draped the ceiling and walls with emerald, crimson and gold hangings. Maya held a ladder that Fawcett climbed onto to install a golden lamp on the ceiling in which real fairies were fluttering, and more than once Maya seriously considered taking her hands off of it. Slughorn, in the meantime, set up mandolins that played by themselves. Just before the party started, a dozen house-elves appeared carrying silver platters of food. Maya briefly left the office to change into the white formal shirt, black tie and black trousers that Slughorn had handed her. When she saw herself in the mirror of her room, she felt like she was wearing a clown suit. She heavily considered not returning to the party, but ultimately she decided she was still on a mission here.

Slughorn put her in a corner of the office, behind a small table loaded with a wide variety of drinks. Her job was as easy as it was boring; just to stand there all night and serve thirsty attendees. At eight, people slowly began to file into the room. The party was evidently for his favourite students, the Slug Club and their dates, as well as former club members and various other associates. Before long, the sounds of laughter, music and loud conversation filled the entire office. Maya scanned the crowded room and spotted various people she knew. To her immense relief, potential party pooper Pansy was not present.

First there was Harry, of course, who appeared to be with the quirky Ravenclaw girl Maya had seen before. The girl was wearing a set of spangled silver robes and had her dirty blonde hair in an elegant bun. The girls around Harry and the Ravenclaw girl all shot the latter resentful looks and Maya too wondered why Harry had decided to go with her. She hated to admit it, but Harry could probably have gone with just about anyone these days. If she had been in his position, she would shamelessly have shunned the unpopular students, fearing that associating with them would reflect badly on her. But, who am I Maya thought bitterly, just a nobody serving drinks...

She also spotted Hermione, who, much to Maya's pleasure, seemed to be having just as bad a time as she did; twice Maya saw Hermione desperately attempt to get away from her large, wire-haired partner. There was Blaise, seemingly by himself, and Maya suddenly realised she could have tried and convince him to take her along as his guest. Why did brilliant ideas so often come after the fact? She noticed two members of the Weird Sisters as well. Maya had hated their music at the Yule Ball (and the Yule Ball itself, yuck, she had not been emotionally ready for that!) and was rather relieved to see the band members had not brought their instruments. Then there was a vampire, who was eyeing a group of nearby curious girls with a rather hungry look. Maya's blood did not run cold when she looked at him; there was already bad blood between herself and many of the party's attendees. Establishing contacts in this setting and in her position was very much like getting blood out of a stone and it frankly made her blood boil.

Maya seemed to get a lucky break when Gwenog Jones and a man made their way towards her. Jones was captain of the all-female Quidditch team, the Holyhead Harpies, and very well-known indeed. She was so famous, in fact, that even Maya as fervent Quidditch hater knew just who she was.

"Gwenog Jones! I've heard so much about you!" Maya said, smiling broadly and very much hoping to initiate a conversation.

"And I've heard absolutely nothing about you. Two Butterbeers!" Jones spat at her, as if Maya had just deeply offended her.

"Yes, ma'am," Maya muttered, her smile disappearing like snow before the sun.

Her mood did not improve when professors Trelawney and Sinistra walked over to her table a couple of minutes later. They came to a halt right in front of Maya but kept talking to each other, completely ignoring the Slytherin. "Er, hope I'm not wasting your time here, but can I get you anything?" Maya asked, failing to completely conceal her annoyance.

"Oh, yes, two Firewhiskeys please, dear," Professor Trelawney said. Judging by the smell of her she had already consumed a lot of alcohol before the party had even begun.

"Oh, what was I even talking about, they teach Divination and Astronomy, they already waste their own time," Maya mumbled to herself in disgust when the two of them had left, tightly clutching their glasses.

Serving complete strangers was somewhat tolerable, even if most of them did not even bother to say 'hello', 'please' or 'thanks', but serving people she knew and disliked was the worst. When Ginny (who, according to Maya, had no business being here in the first place) came over, Maya felt very tempted to transform into an anaconda and slither away. "Nice costume, Dursley. Very... unusual," Ginny said cheekily, shamelessly taking in every inch of Maya's appearance.

"Like your face. What do you want?" Maya spat.

"Oh, nothing from you. Just wanted to admire this funny situation up close," the Gryffindor said with a smug smile before turning away, leaving Maya to curse inwardly.

The very most humiliating moment of the whole thing was obviously to serve Harry and his quirky date. "Oh, hello Maya, didn't see you there. What are you doing here?" Harry asked her casually.

"Trying to make useful connections, duh. Not everyone has a VIP pass on their forehead, you know!" Maya snapped at her cousin.

"Then why are you all by yourself in this cute little corner?" Harry asked.

"I didn't say I was doing a good job!" Maya retorted.

Suddenly the Ravenclaw girl Harry was with spoke up. "I genuinely like how you act all tough to hide your insecurities. I'm sure you can fool most people so good job," the girl said pleasantly. Maya was too taken aback to respond and after a few seconds she decided not to.

"Er, so, anyway, what can I get you, Harry? I've got Butterbeer, wine, mead and I'm more than willing to personally brew you a glass of lethal poison," Maya said, valiantly trying to sneer.

"Aw, you want to make a personal drink for him? That is such a nice gesture! You are a lot nicer than people say about you," the Ravenclaw girl said serenely, even smiling at Maya, who again did not know whether she was being insulted or whether this girl just sucked at paying compliments.

Some distraction came when Argus Filch entered the room, wheezing and dragging Draco by the ear. Wow, so much for 'slithering your way in', Draco Maya thought, observing the scene as best as she could from where she was standing. She was unable to hear anything over the party noises, but Slughorn had evidently decided that Draco could stay, considering Filch left looking very angry and disappointed while Draco just stood there talking to Slughorn for a bit, undoubtedly expressing his gratitude and sucking up to the professor like he always did to Snape.

Maybe it was due to the light from the golden lamp hanging from the ceiling, but it suddenly struck Maya just how badly Draco looked compared to everyone else around him. She numbly watched how Snape dragged him away from the party. It made her feel awful, even if she did not know exactly why. Surely she was just worried because he was her best friend? Someone she could trust and rely on? There was no way she could possibly have developed real feelings for him, self-centred Maya Dursley simply did not fall in love with people... but then why did she feel this awful about his state, so awful in fact that she had completely forgotten about her own misery?

"Hello?! Hi?! Two Butterbeers, please!"

"Oh, yeah, right..."