Legal Disclaimer: I own my stuff, but not the original source material. That belongs to whoever. Also, the opinions and interpretations I use here may not reflect the same in said whoever that owns the source material. Look, I'm just a poor college librarian. Suing me isn't going to get you anything but tears.
Warning: This work may be offensive to some readers. Additionally there are frequent references to child abuse and a compliant justice system. Feel free to back out if need be. Also, feel free to check the FAQs on my FFN profile before leaving reviews about anything you dislike (including characterization or length).
Author's Note: So. This was supposed to be a fic about a camping trip. (Spoiler Alert: It is not a fic about a camping trip.)
Submitting Info:
Stacked with: Hogwarts 2.0 (T04); RAVEN (2024); MC4A (Fa-Yr7)
Individual Challenges: Re-Scaled (Y); Snake; Hush Now; Mutable; Student MC [x3]; Red Instead; Condiment Shelf; Flexible; Major (Y); Kettle; Delilah; Feather Head; Stacking Fool; Sap Bath; Ginger; Blood; Shield; Hogwarts MC [x3]; Magical MC [x3]; Sandbox (Y); Cinematic; Reader; Feathers & Such; Dreamers [x3]; Nonhuman MC [x2]; Shifter MC [x2]; Ethnic & Present [x2]; Neurodivergent; Rian-Russo Inversion [x3]; Short Jog; Bucket Listing; Eating Cake (Y); Exchange; Greatest Gift; Outer Limit; Two Cakes (Y); Vial Collector; Setting Sail; 3rd Rule; Castle Time; Traveler; Lunar Era; Hold the Mayo; Rainbow Connection
Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw
Assignment: Term 04 - Assignment 02
Subject [Task (Prompt): Quidditch [Task#1 (someone getting away with an act of violence)]
Other Hogwarts Challenges: Library [Haunting](Sapphic); Frenzy [Red#2](Castle); Center [136 - Sprout](Only Canon Slytherins); Pokemon [Minior](Pumpkin); Sept Bingo [F-2](Pumpkin)
RAVEN Challenges: A [64](Plotting); Traits [94](Wallflower); Colors [20](Copper); Items [83](Sweater/Jumper); Settings [92](Underground)
Other MC4A Challenges: Ship (Emeralds)[FaMic2 (Brown; Cold; Gray; Purple; Squishy)]; Chim [Patches](Protection; "Isaac" - Bear's Den; Creature AU); Fire [Major League]; Garden [Bricks (Creature AU); Achuffa (Kid Fic); Birds (Hot); Seeds (Blanket)]; Hang [Phrase#01](n/a);
Representation(s): Dragon Daphne Greengrass/Tracey Davis; 3-Plus-1; Chim Song Prompt
Primary & Secondary Bonus Challenges: Casper's House; Corvid Brain; Hot Apple; Professor's Torment; Seven Gates; Turtle-Duck; Second Verse (Ladylike; Not a Lamp; Persistence Still; Found Family; Middle Name; Spinning Plates; Unwanted Advice; Brooms Only; Clio's Conclusion; Lovely Coconuts; Most Human Bean; Muck & Slime); Chorus (Odd Feathers; Pocky Pockets; Wabi Sabi; Peddling Pots; Mouth of Babes; Tomorrow's Shade; Larger than Life; Unicorn; Creature Feature; No Touchy; Wind Beneath; Abandoned Ship; In the Trench; Surprise!); Demo 1 (Uncivil Obedience; Under the Bridge; Esbat; Over the Hills; Suddenly Audrey); Demo 2 (Call Me Dantes; Forked Path; Getting On; Hot Stuff; Mermaid; Tied & Died)
Tertiary & Generic Bonus Challenges: T3 (Terrarium); SN (Rail; Intercept); FR (Satisfaction; Affirmation); O3 (Olivine); HoSE (Schooner; Sanctuary); SS (Schooner; Seduce); Once (Santa Fe; Inchworm); CM (Yogin); War (Sanctuary; Ennui); TY (Ntaiv; Enfant); Mea (Ennui)
Space Address (Prompt): Ship 3A (Grand Romantic Gesture); SuB 3A (Lake/Pond); AU 5E (Musical/Play); FaB 4C (Bandage); Set 5B (New Moon)
Word Count: 1100 words
(ø)
Possession
(ø)
The first time Daphne saw her, Tracey was wearing black leggings with a jumper that was at least three times her size, despite how stifling hot it was in King's Cross. The pumpkin orange fabric sat crookedly on her shoulders. There was a pale patch spidering across the golden brown skin of her collarbone. Her dark brown curls sprung out from her head and bounced in perfect if uneven ringlets. There was a slight unevenness to her jaws, like one side was swollen from the hinge to just under the corner of one copper eye.
Tracey was struggling with a trunk that had seen better days, obviously inherited but not restored before being put back to use. The scuffed wood was unevenly polished and the leather was cracked. The metal brackets showed signs of not just tarnish but rust as well. The attached wheels kept locking up, making both trunk and girl jerk to a stop.
The noise of the busy train platform and the chatter of Daphne's younger siblings faded away. Even as unrefined as the scrawny girl was, she captivated Daphne entirely. Something inside of Daphne growled possessively.
This one, it whispered, is mine.
Ø
As a general rule, Greengrasses were either Slytherins or Ravenclaws. This was based as much on personality as it was their familial magic. It was like Potters going to either Gryffindor or Hufflepuff. As far as Daphne understood, neither of those families had any issues with a different sorting, unlike recent generations of Blacks. (Admittedly, that might have just been Wicked Walburga, instead of a House of Black thing.)
Thankfully, the Hat had quickly allowed Daphne to follow her new obsession into Slytherin. Being roommates with Tracey allowed Daphne to get close easily, even if it also meant needing to be in close proximity to Pansy Parkinson and her catty vanity. Tracey didn't seem any more inclined to be friends with the stuck-up girl than Daphne did.
Tracey was odd for a Slytherin. She seemed dedicated to being unseen and unremarkable. She rarely joined conversations or made eye contact. She showed none of the much-toted cunning or ambition of the house.
It wasn't until near the end of September that Daphne happened up Tracey in the first-year showers. Beneath the pumpkin orange washrag, Daphne could see silvery white scars criss-crossing Tracey's back and the still healing bruises along her ribs. Daphne understood then why someone as quiet as a mouse might be sorted into the House of Ambition. Being what she was, Daphne was already acquainted with ambitions that were outside the norm.
It took nothing to draft the Zabini heir to help. Of all of the other first-years, he would understand the need on both side. Of course, any of his mother's spouses who threatened him never lasted long afterwards, but obviously that wasn't going to be the case for Tracey. That was alright. Daphne could take over where others had failed.
No one messed what was hers.
Ø
A pair of eleven-year-olds, no matter what powerful creatures they will be as adults, were ever going to be a match for a fully-trained adult wix. They might have been able to take him if they were a little older. However, being an adult as well as the head of a noble house (no matter how small it was) meant that Trevor Davis also had the backing of the legal system. Thus there was nothing Daphne and Blaise could do to prevent Tracey from being summoned back home over winter break.
Going home themselves did give them the advantage of drafting their parents. Unfortunately, the legal system prevented both Claudia Zabini and the Greengrasses from being able to do much. Or at least doing much as quickly as Daphne's inner monologue demanded. Some combination of instinct and magic clamored that time was running out, that someone was going to steal her Tracey away.
Daphne paced the length of the platform when it was time to return to the school, restless and agitated. Only the sight of Tracey stumbling out of one of the Floo fireplaces soothed her. The peace lasted only a moment before the pumpkin orange swathe of Tracey's scarf slipped to show a fresh bruise on her brown cheek.
Despite her veneer of civility, Daphne was seething inside at the knowledge that someone had hurt the other girl.
Trevor Davis would pay for touching what was hers.
Ø
All of their planning and scheming and political maneuvering ended up being for naught.
Shortly before the spring break, Daphne found Tracey weeping. She was curled up beneath the stairs that connected the grotto dock under the castle to the school. Daphne might not have noticed her the deep shadow if it hadn't been for her favorite pumpkin orange sweater, the one that was still three times too large for her tiny frame. The bright color stood out just enough to catch the eye.
Shrouded with darkness and misery, Tracey looked so small, so vulnerable.
Something inside Daphne snapped like a string stretched too far. It broke with a shrill scream. By the time it had stopped, Daphne had fully transformed into the dragon that dwelled within her. Most of her kind don't manage even a partial transformation until after reaching adulthood. It took a lot of magic to transform and most children just didn't have it to spare. The priority use was for growth and replenishing what got used by lessons.
But sometimes, magic had a mind of its own. Sometimes a threat was so great that a transformation just happened. Sometimes that threat didn't even have to be imminent, apparently.
Instead of being frightened by the sudden appearance of a dragon, Tracey appeared fascinated. She uncurled from her miserable little ball, her entire being reaching towards Daphne. Maybe if Daphne had been an adult, if she hadn't spent several months with her instincts riled, she could have resisted the fingers of magic wrapping around her.
But that wasn't the case.
When Tracey laid her golden brown hand against Daphne's scaly snout, touching flesh to flesh and magic to magic, Daphne leaned into the touch. Between one breath and the next, the bond settled into place. Tracey laughed, her eyes still rimmed with red from her previous tears.
It was going to be costly to keep the scandal from being splashed all over the society pages.
It would be worth it just to see the look on the face of Trevor Davis when he realized that he had lost all power over his only heir.
Irrevocably and forever more, Tracey was hers.
