Her life was in a state of flux. When she woke up in the mornings it took her a few moments to remember which boundaries she had broken and which bridges she was currently burning. She was living a life she never imagined possible of her, but that feeling of danger brought with it reassurance that she was finally acting in her own best interests. She wasn't just leaving her old life behind, she was becoming an all new person in place of it. And this person was one she was determined she would be proud of. She had strayed from being The Ice Queen once before and it had led her down a path of misery. This wasn't going to be like that time. Now she was in control and she was making the decisions that mattered.
She took longer than needed getting ready, trying to mentally prepare herself for what was without doubt going to be a day spent far outside of her comfort zone.
She had finally stripped her arm of the bandages that sealed her mark as they were becoming too tedious to deal with on the regular. In their place was a thin, black long-sleeved vest she would wear under her robes. It was weak enough that she didn't overheat, while tight enough that she never was in danger of her arms revealing themselves. It didn't get rid of the problem that she still had a condemning symbol of race superiority permanently engraved in her skin, but that was a problem she was dealing with in other ways.
Checking the time once more before leaving her dorm room, she wrapped her house scarf tightly around her neck and ventured into the Slytherin common room. It was the rest of the students' first day back, though the new term was not due to start for a few more days yet. Most people took that as their cue to socialise and for once, Daphne was among them.
She had taken the first step to make things right over the holidays, now it was time for another one of those steps. Things didn't feel different yet, but she knew that would take time. She was so far in one direction, it would take a lot of time, effort and determination to push her back in the other way. To think the effects would be noticeable this early on was optimistic, which she didn't often make a habit of being.
She and Harry had a long talk over their meal - which had almost felt like a date - and now she was settled on the next issue she needed to tackle.
She traversed silently up into the castle, being ignored by most, but as she made her way out into the cold castle grounds she found herself quite suddenly being surrounded by a gathering of her housemates, all heading in the same direction. Although she was hardly on good terms with any of them, it was somewhat comforting that she wasn't travelling down on her own.
She was already out of her comfort zone attending a Quidditch practise, her self-doubt was running rampant, so the validation that her behaviour was normal so far was a reassuring one.
She was brought off her morbid musings by Dominique appearing by her side.
"Vous venez aussi regarder?"
She had spotted the girl coming and nodded, politely giving her practised answer.
"J'ai promis de regarder elle premier match. Je ne l'ai pas fait, alors je me rattrape maintenant."
The girl nodded, apparently liking the sound of that, but not knowing what more to say. It seemed she had finally picked up Daphne wasn't the most fond of her, but was mature enough to respect it and not fight against it. Instead, she took the lead heading to the pitch and they travelled in silence through the freshly-melted mush, left behind after the snow, and it wasn't before long they were seated in the near-empty Quidditch stands.
There were a number of others from their house also seated, but spaced out enough that nobody was crowded. A few members from other houses were also seated in their respective stands, probably to judge the competition. She directed her attention to the pitch, where the Slytherin Quidditch team looked to be dividing in two groups. The weather was damp and the visibility was low, so she strained her eyes to see the players - that was until she saw Tracey, whose cocky smile was visible even through the grey.
Daphne could apologise to her all she wanted, but she was rapidly beginning to learn that actions spoke louder than words. Tracey and she were back on good terms again after Slughorn's party, but now this would undoubtedly seal any lasting discrepancies the two had. It was some much needed bridge-mending.
The team captain, Graham Montague - someone she knew of but had never formally spoken to - acted as referee and brought the groups together to begin.
The game began with a whistle blown and all the balls broke from their prisons and spread out across the pitch. As soon as the snitch rose into the air, Tracey exploded off the ground after it. Daphne knew the rules of Quidditch, her father made sure of that, so she wouldn't have a problem following the game, but it wasn't the game she was here to watch. As the other seeker, Harper - she didn't know him well enough to know his first name - also raced after it, Tracey was able to make staying ahead of him look effortless and easy. Whatever effort he put into gaining speed was for nothing, as her attentiveness kept her up with the golden ball through all its twists and turns.
By the time she snatched the snitch out of the air and was tumbling back towards the ground, the other Slytherin team had barely scored its first point.
Dominique whooped and shouted next to her, catching Daphne unprepared and making her jump out of her skin. After a second she adjusted, and politely clapped along with the rest of her house.
Her interest was in Tracey, not in Quidditch. The whole game franchise was one she never cared for. She considered it quite a moronic sport, though that opinion would stay silent around the likes of her, Harry and her father, who shared it as a common interest. So while she found herself struggling to share her class's enthusiasm, she made the extra effort to clap along and not look out of place.
Minutes passed of them playing, and by the time Montague got everyone in place for their third round, Tracey was still in the lead. Even from this far away, she knew her well enough to tell when her mouth curled up into that trademarked seductive grin she had. The next match was again, over in a shocking amount of time. But it was in those seconds that everyone was zooming around the pitch that she felt she was witnessing a rare moment - seeing Tracey truly in her element.
"She is really good."
Times when she took anything seriously were few and far between, but apparently Qudditch was one of those special things. It was a surprise to her in the best way possible. Good faith that Tracey had lost over the years found itself coming back, even if it was only small quantities.
An hour passed before the game finally ended. Daphne had only zoned out a few times, but had paid attention during everything that mattered. As the captain dismissed them all, Tracey was quickly surrounded by her teammates congratulating her on her play. She had to admit, even she had been taken back by how skilled at it she really was. She even felt a bit of pride at seeing her be the centre of praise and attention. As two of them came down the stands and approached the team, Dominique began to slow, waiting for her to notice their presence. Daphne wasn't quite as willing to wait.
She waved her half-sister down and saw Tracey's face flash between a dozen emotions at once as she spotted them. She politely excused herself from her team and made her way over to them.
"Daffy…? What're you…?" she asked explicitly.
Though confusion was evidently at the forefront of her mind, there was a small smile on her lips that was stretching by the second. Daphne brought her hands to her hips and gestured around them plainly.
"I came to watch you practise."
Tracey looked around them, as though it was suddenly news to her that she was in the middle of practise.
"Seriously?" she asked in disbelief, but again, a vague excitement.
"Indeed. Harry told me you were having a Qudditch friendly and since I missed your first match, I thought that I would come along to watch this one. That is okay, isn't it?"
"Yes! Yes of course! I… wait… Harry told you…?"
"Yes, he did. We've been in contact, recently."
Tracey dropped her broom. At her words, the excitement inside her finally triumphed and she erupted, crashing into her with a hug, howling like Astoria at a concert. Daphne allowed herself to get consumed by it. She knew that was coming. She was relying on it coming.
"You're tellin' me everythin' later!" she squealed.
"Oh, I know."
At this point Tracey finally seemed to notice that Dominique was also with them. This delay was rare, as the exchange student was always the exclusive subject of her attention whenever the three of them were together. That just helped further cement in Daphne's head that deciding to come was as big of a deal for Tracey as she had hoped it would be.
Their hug was broken off and Tracey's obnoxious grin overtook her face again.
"How'd I look up there? I ride a broom like it's nobody's business, ay?"
Dominique beamed and clapped her hands together in response.
"Postérieurement magnifique!"
Daphne nodded in agreement, even though she knew the question was not intended for her.
"You did extremely well."
It didn't take long for the Quidditch team to follow their seeker and appear on either side of Tracey. Blaise, who she hadn't recognised earlier, was also apparently a member of the team, and took Tracey joyfully under his shoulder.
"Well? WELL!? She's the best bloody seeker we've ever had!"
Tracey grinned harder at this and seemed to actually deepen herself into his grip. Blaise continued, sounding like he was talking to the entire pitch, as opposed to just their small group.
"If I'd have known we were sitting on you the entire time, I'd have jinxed Draco's broom to fly him into the Whomping Willow in second year!"
The group all joined in laughter at his statement, all barring Daphne, Crabbe and Goyle. She kept her eyes on them, intrigued to see how they'd take his comment.
Crabbe simply shrugged gormlessly.
"'E has got a point."
Tracey broke away from Blaise's grip and brought herself out, standing in front of the group and turning to address them as though she was the captain.
"Draco was good for somethin'… could certainly use his daddy's money right now!"
The proclamation was met by cheers and this time, Daphne even found herself laughing along with them.
"These brooms are outdated as hell. They're the reason we lost to Gryffindor the first time. I did get to speak to Snape, but he doesn't seem interested in forkin' out the cash for us for new ones, so we're stuck with them for now. Which sucks for you guys, but not for me," she added with a chuckle.
Daphne had to do a double check around them. Tracey wasn't the Qudditch Captain, but she was holding the team's attention like that was exactly what she was. Then she saw the leader in question, and he was in line with the rest, listening to her every word.
Seeing her so readily take on a leadership role was again, another brilliant surprise. Tracey being the centre of attention and it actually being for good reasons sat very well in her mind. She was glad she came to this practise.
The team dismissed itself and dispersed, separating out to talk amongst themselves and bystanders. Blaise lingered in their vicinity a few moments longer before leaving to make his way up to the castle, to which Tracey then stirred them in the same direction.
"Don't suppose your dad will offer to buy us new brooms?" she asked with a laugh.
She shook her head.
"Not unless I'm on the team."
Tracey let loose a deep throat chuckle.
"I mean… we do have room for a third chaser?"
Daphne turned her nose up.
She had broken a lot of boundaries over the past few weeks, but that would be one she would take with her to her grave. Tracey seemed to realise that quickly.
"Right. Heights, I forgot."
Dominique moved in beside them.
"Zhat vas very nice of Draco's father to fund zhe team?"
Tracey waved her off with a laugh.
"Nah, he only did it to get him on the team. The Malfoy's are loaded."
"Really…?"
Dominique seemed particularly interested in that, but Daphne paid her no attention.
It didn't take long before they were reappearing through the bridge into the courtyard. Though they had protection in the stands, walking through the open grounds allowed the cold to worm their way inside their robes earlier than before. With Daphne and Dominique buckling slightly, but Tracey blissfully unaware of the cold due to her still wearing her Quidditch robes, the three came out into the courtyard and began towards the entrance hall.
"Yo, I think that's Sirius Black."
Frowning, Daphne followed Tracey's finger. Low and behold, she saw two faces she hadn't been expecting to see again quite so soon. Sirius Black was in Hogwarts and the annoying pink haired Auror, Tonks, was with him. They were talking to Professor Snape by the fountain in the courtyard. Though couldn't hear what they were talking about, but could tell by the faces of everyone involved that it was probably some kind of teasing at the Professors expense.
As her eyes lingered on them, Sirius whispered something to Tonks and both their eyes and snapped over in their direction. He offered her a friendly wave, Tonks seemed a lot less enthusiastic, but did still offer her a polite nod.
"Alright, Daffy!" he shouted across the courtyard.
A burst of whispers happened around her. Apparently not all of her housemates had completely dispersed. She did her best to ignore them, but couldn't fight warmth growing in her cheeks. She replicated Tonks movements and gave a polite gesture back to them, but otherwise carried on into the entrance hall with her house.
"Wanna tell me how you know Sirius Black?" Tracey asked quietly.
Her eyes flickered to Dominique, then onto the rest who hadn't quite broken off into their own groups yet.
"I'll explain later. It's a recent development."
Tracey chuckled knowingly.
"To do with your boyf, I get you."
Daphne rounded her neck around to snap at her, partially for her repeated use of that word, but also for discussing it in public, but was spoken over.
"Who was the pink chick with him?" she asked immediately.
As the three of them took a turn that led back to the common room, her face turned sour.
"Nymphadora Tonks. Draco's cousin. She's an Auror."
Tracey didn't have a snarky comeback, which was unusual for her. She turned back to her to question this, but saw a look on her face that answered her question.
"Oh for goodness sake, Tracey!"
"What?" she laughed. "She was fit!"
Daphne's nose scrunched into a disgusted scowl.
"She is at least ten years older than you!"
But she was waved off unceremoniously.
"Ahhh, I've gone older."
Her hands went numb. A splutter of words erupted in her mouth as though she was being sick.
"You are sixteen!"
Tracey bounded off her rage with a shit-eating smirk.
"But they didn't know that."
The two continued their usual bickering banter, it occurred to Daphne that Dominique hadn't said much since leaving the Quidditch pitch.
Her day had started off difficult, but had improved as time went on. Her good mood lingered up until evening, right up until she found herself closing her final revision book in the peaceful isolation of her dormitory. There had been a slight smile plastered on her face all night.
Bringing the book to a close, Daphne pushed herself back into the comfort of her emerald green pillows.
This was the mending she was striving for. Today had not been ground breaking. It hadn't even really been that much of a break from her usual routine, all things considered. But it felt like a great weight had been lifted, certainly. Today was the first day in a very long time that felt even remotely like something normal.
Things were going to continue getting easier, and that was because now she had people to help her along the way. Asking for help was against her very core of being, but now different things felt now. Every day she truly was becoming less and less like the girl she had entered the castle as in her first year.
Her focus slowly switched to the dresser that held her makeup mirror. Thoughts of the prophecy hidden within it leaked into her head before she had a chance to stop herself. She had them memorised so well now, she should probably do herself a favour and throw away the real thing just in case.
Revelations are underway. The change that was promised; from glory to glory.
Authority is Power. Influence is Responsibility. Redemption is Betrayal.
Is the terror of a wrong decision preferable to the risk of indecision?
One of the many things Daphne hated about Astronomy was how open-ended and uncertain things always are. The cryptic tongue did nothing but unnecessarily complicate things for dramatic flare. Those words could mean a lot of things to a lot of different people. Initially she suspected they were pushing her towards her father's future, egging her on to become the most powerful dark witch she could become, but with each step she took in the other direction she began more and more doubting that assessment.
A stack of letters from her father sat on her dresser. All unopened, of course. She hadn't read anything off him since he wrote asking her not to return for the holidays. Even her Christmas present, a large shoe-box sized parcel wrapped in silver paper, sat untouched on the floor nearby. He was a man who liked to be in-control, so she knew how much her lack of response would slowly drive him mad. It was a comeuppance that would eventually chase her up, she knew, but until then she had no problem making it worse for him every opportunity she got.
Her gaze lingering on the letters, a thought quickly popped into her head.
It was high time she wrote to Harry and tried to arrange some kind of private meetup between the two of them. They hadn't had a chance to see each other since the night they came back to the castle. She didn't know what their relationship was now, whether they were back to being friends or if it was deeper than that, but they made a promise to help each other through what was going to come now. Not to mention they had almost slept together a week ago, some kind of clarification over that would do her wonders. She should definitely feel shameful about almost breaking her own rules like that, but she absolutely didn't.
What she did feel however, was the guilt that she was almost certainly luring him into danger by even contacting him. It was talk of redemption and betrayal in her prophecy that was the reason she had tried breaking up with him in the first place. It wasn't he that she didn't trust; it was herself around him. Now though, it was a problem they were working together through it. And not even just herself and him, but Sirius, Tonks, Professor Lupin and Professor Dumbledore. She finally had people on her side once again. She had some of the best wizards of their time helping her fight against her father's future.
She moved herself onto the dresser, pushed aside her father's letters, brought out a pen and quill from her desk and began sketching Harry a short message out. It was too late to go all the way to the Owlery to send an anonymous message, but she could definitely have one of the house elves deliver something for her. Doing what she could to keep the message coded, on the off chance it was intercepted by someone other than its intended recipient, she quickly finished off her note and magically sealed it.
And so, just like they were this time last year, they were back to sneaking around behind everyone's back. This time it didn't feel degrading or shameful. This time it felt exciting.
Dragging her school cloak over her robes and wrapping it tightly, she brought herself out of her dormitory, into the communal corridor and out into the common room. Once there she found that peculiarly, considering the time of night, she was not alone.
Draco was sitting on one of the leather settees by the fire, looking anxious about something, but far more eye-catching was Dominique by his side, looking a lot more enthusiastic than he did.
"Zhat is so interesting! Do all brits do zhat, or are you just, how you say... special?"
Any and all thoughts Daphne had been having about her prophecy drained quickly and suddenly from her head. There was an overzealous tone about Dominique that couldn't be taken as anything other than flirting. She didn't quite know what kind of encounter was going on between the two, or what business they had together this late, but it was enough of a warning sign to make her interrupt them.
She stepped forward, making her presence loudly known.
"What is this?"
Both their heads snapped in her direction, Dominique looking quite shocked, while Draco kept his expression of grim annoyance.
"Ello, Daphne! Me and Draco were talking, would you like to join?"
Though she was quite cheerful in her answer, Draco on the other hand, stood up as soon as she opened her mouth and quickly made his leave to the boys dorm. His expression, combined with the pace he sped past her, almost made her reach for her wand. He had a look on his face that said without any doubt that she had just walked in on something. Her eyes came back to focus on Dominique, who was sitting alone on the leather settee looking quite deflated. She almost looked like she was about to say something rude to her for spoiling the mood, but she cut her off before she had a chance.
"Stay away from him. You don't want anything to do with the Malfoys."
After a moment, the girl eventually nodded. The way she did so was not unlike the way Astoria did when pulling one of her puppy-dog faces.
"Now go to bed. It's past midnight."
Dominique bowed shyly and also made her exit, now leaving her with the common room to herself. As the french girl disappeared around the corner, Daphne's eyes lingered on that spot.
She already didn't enjoy the girls company, but had brushed that off as a purely culture-based difference of tastes. Now though, a little bit too much of her behaviour was beginning to add up. Maybe her distrust of the girl had been a valid feeling? Her sudden and quite out-of-nowhere date with Harry, and now cornering Draco into something similar... It added together to paint the girl in a new, and less-than-positive light.
She would be watching what was said around her more from now on, that much was sure. For now though, she had a message to deliver.
