Dinner was a fun experience. After Draco's fierce challenge, Draco and Cedric had both stormed off - Cedric had because he was genuinely peeved, but Draco, Hermione suspected, had done so because storming off was a very dramatic thing to do after issuing a challenge. Blaise had hurried after Draco, presumably to make sure he didn't do anything else stupid, while Harry dragged Ron out of the side hallway to dinner. Hermione hastily reassured Ron she'd take his blood later and quickly parted ways to head for the Slytherin table, her mind all a-whirl. In her haste, it never occurred to Hermione to hide the things in her hands, and when she arrived at the dinner table holding two discs and a white rose, there was an audible gasp.

"Hermione?!"

Hermione looked up to see Daphne looking at her, mouth agape. Hermione gave her a quizzical look.

"You—you've got—" Daphne gestured at the things in her hand. "An honor duel?!"

"Oh," Hermione said, looking down at the discs as she sat down. "Is that what this is for?"

With a shriek of dismay, Daphne shoved Goyle out of the way to sit close to Hermione, and Pansy was across from her a moment later.

"What happened?" Tracey asked, astonished. "I mean, I've heard of honor duels, but none like this—"

Hermione ignored her, looking around the table. "Is Millie still in the Hospital Wing?"

Tracey faltered at the change of subject. "Err—yeah, she is."

Daphne was having none of it, immediately refocusing on the drama at hand.

"Hermione, you were being courted by Cedric, right?" Daphne said, excitement growing in her voice, and Hermione nodded. "Then Cedric must have said or done something to insult your honor, and someone of another family objected to it."

"So he's going to duel?" Tracey said, incredulous.

Hermione was examining the discs she had picked up, curious. The first disc was a large disc of a hard wax, it seemed, carved with the Malfoy family crest. The disk itself was about half an inch thick and colored an opaque silvery-blue. The second disc was similar to the first, but instead of the Malfoy crest, there was an unfamiliar crest, bearing an upside-down 'V' and a unicorn. This disc was a more golden-yellow color.

There was a movement next to her, and Hermione saw Blaise sitting down at her right, his lips quirked in amusement.

"Not enough excitement already going on tonight, Hermione?" he teased. "Had to stir up more trouble, didn't you?"

"I didn't—!" Hermione objected, face flaming, and Blaise laughed.

"I know, I know," he said, eyes dancing. "I'm only teasing."

Across the table, Draco took his seat regally, very poised.

"Theodore," he announced.

Theo snorted and turned to glance at Draco, eyebrow quirked. "Yeah?"

"I would request the honor of you as my second," Draco said formally, bowing his head, "to oversee my duel as I demand satisfaction tonight."

Theo groaned, while Daphne and Pansy gasped.

"Draco was the one to challenge Diggory?" Pansy hissed. "Give those here!"

Obliging, Hermione handed over the wax discs to Pansy, who looked over them with Daphne with barely restrained shrieks.

"I will be your second," Theo said reluctantly, sounding very put upon. "Who are we dueling?"

"Cedric Diggory," Draco said promptly, "in an honor duel."

"An honor duel?" Theo repeated, surprised. "Then why isn't your Dad—"

"Not for my honor," Draco corrected. "For Hermione's."

Theo sat very still for a moment, then he started to snicker, then outright guffaw.

"For Hermione?" he repeated, incredulous. "She can defend her own honor, Draco."

"She could, but so can another," Draco repeated stubbornly, folding his arms. "And while Hermione might be too kind to challenge him, I have no such qualms about holding him accountable for his abuse."

"Why don't we all take a bit of a step back," Daphne suggested, eyes alight, "and you tell us all about just what happened."

Hermione sighed, prodding the roll on her plate as Draco's eyes lit up, and he began to rehash the story of what had happened in the hallway with great drama and panache. To hear Draco tell it, Cedric had started attacking her and accusing her out of nowhere, insinuating nasty things about her character and her House. He had been arguing deliberately in bad faith, making malicious accusations about her, and Draco had been unable to hold silent much longer, so he had—

"Oh, for goodness' sakes," Hermione snapped. "Cedric accused me of being a Dark witch, and Draco took offense."

Draco shot Hermione an annoyed look, his dramatic retelling cut short, but Daphne and Pansy gasped obligingly.

"He didn't," Daphne breathed. "He's courting you, and he said such things?"

"They were heavily implied," Blaise said diplomatically.

"Why?" Theo asked, raising an eyebrow. "Why did he accuse you of being a Dark witch?"

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Because Ron Weasley is a fool," she said. "He interrupted a discussion between Cedric and I to ask when I would next take his blood."

Theo made a face. "You need Weasley's blood?"

Hermione shrugged. "Have to get virgin blood from somewhere."

Theo looked mildly impressed by this, while Blaise took up the story.

"Diggory then wanted to know why Hermione wanted the blood," Blaise said, "and he had some rather antiquated ideas about what types of ritual magic involved virgin blood. And when it came out that Hermione's in a coven—"

Daphne gasped.

"You're in a coven?" she breathed, eyes wide.

"Are you really?" Pansy demanded, keeping her voice low. "If you're just talking big, Granger—"

With a sigh, Hermione held up her hand with her coven ring on it, and Blaise did the same at her side as well. There was a murmur among the third years, whispers and shocked looks exchanged.

"Before you get any overdramatic ideas," Hermione said, "yes, we're in a coven. But Snape knows, and he's fine with it. We've also done precisely zero Dark magic, have no intentions of doing Dark magic, and if any of you dare to spread this around—"

"Diggory had even more antiquated ideas about what type of magic covens do than he did blood magic," Blaise continued, keeping his voice low. "When Draco demanded he take back calling Hermione a Dark witch, and Cedric refused, Draco demanded satisfaction."

There was a murmur amongst them all, eyes turning to Draco, who preened.

"It was necessary," he said. His attempt at coming off as humble and honored was massively spoiled by the smug look on his face. "Any gentleman of good standing would have done the same."

Blaise snorted and muttered something unflattering under his breath.

"Diggory, though," Theo mused. He looked worried. "He's two years above you, mate. Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"I can't exactly go back on a challenge now," Draco snapped. "Help me come up with a strategy to beat him then, yeah?"

Theo raised an eyebrow, but the two began to whisper and confer at the table as they ate their dinner. Crabbe and Goyle lurked nearby, looking worried, while Daphne and Pansy turned back to Hermione, Tracey, and Blaise.

"There hasn't been a duel like this in ages!" Daphne said, her eyes alight. "Oh, this is so exciting!"

"Selwyn challenged Lestrange two days after we got back from break," Pansy said flatly. "I wouldn't exactly—"

"That was for his own honor," Daphne said, waving a hand dismissively. "This is for another! A courting duel!" Her eyes were sparkling brightly. "This is practically the stuff of legends!"

"Is it really?" Hermione asked, curious. "Why?"

"Well, mostly because if a suitor offends a witch's honor, her father is the one to demand satisfaction," Daphne said. "And that most generally comes in the form of revoking permission for the wizard to court her. No duel needed."

"But with your situation," Tracey said slyly, "where you are the Head of your own House… and you are apparently unwilling to defend your own honor…"

"Another potential suitor can step in and challenge the offender to defend a witch's honor," Daphne said, "which is what Draco has done."

"Another potential suitor?" Hermione repeated, wincing. "Wait. So if he wins—"

"If Draco wins, your courtship with Diggory is dissolved," Pansy informed her. "You wouldn't be able to be courted by him until he bested Draco, or until a year and a day had passed from his defeat."

"It doesn't mean you'd suddenly be courting Draco," Daphne reassured her. "That'd be barbaric – wizards challenging each other all over the place, trying to take over a courtship with a witch without having to earn her esteem so she'd wear his token..."

Hermione found it ironic that that was where Daphne drew the line as to what was 'barbaric'.

"It's an honor duel, so there are rules," Daphne told her. She looked hesitant. "I—I think I know most of them, but it's probably a good idea to get someone to act as judge and referee."

"I'd suggest Rince," Pansy said dryly, "but she might have an obligation to turn everyone in, now that she's Head Girl…"

"Honor duels like this aren't against the rules!" Daphne objected, horrified. "Courting honor duels are one of the wizarding world's most classic traditions! They can't—"

"I'll just go and find an appropriate referee, shall I?" Hermione said. "I imagine this needs to be resolved today."

"By sunup," Daphne agreed, and Hermione rolled her eyes.

She sighed and stood, pushing her plate away from her and picking up the two wax crests and the flower from the table. The duel involved her coven, and there was one person she knew for certain who needed to know what was going on.

The Head Table wasn't far from where she sat, but it wasn't exactly close either. The professors sat up on a dais, looking down over all the House tables, and the older students sat on the closer end of the long House Tables, with the first years the furthest away from the teachers. Though it wasn't far to go, Hermione could feel her feet dragging as she made her way up to the Head Table, reluctant.

Professor Snape stopped his conversation with Professors Sinistra and Vector as she approached, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Is this urgent, Miss Granger?" he inquired. His words were polite enough, but there was a sharp undercurrent to his voice like a knife.

"I'm afraid so, professor," Hermione sighed.

Snape rolled his eyes.

"Well?" he prompted. "What is it? Spit it out."

Instead of explaining, Hermione set the two wax discs and the white rose down onto the Head Table in front of him. Snape picked up the Diggory disc, then the Malfoy disc, examining them both. Professor Sinistra's eyes went wide, and as Professor Vector leaned over to look, she started to laugh. Snape shot his colleague a venomous look, but she continued to laugh, uncaring.

"Very well," Snape said, sounding very beleaguered and put-upon. "After dinner, then."