{ 8 }

One's place in Slytherin is determined by three things: blood, money, and power. Having one of these was like placing one foot through the door of Slytherin society. Having none was painting a target on your back, but having all three? You were automatically respected and ranked accordingly.

This, as Daphne Greengrass noted, was something Draco Malfoy had been betting on for their first year batch. He was a Malfoy, and his family thrived off making smart investments — both in businesses and in people. He had yet to show how skilled he was at a wand but he likely had training from various tutors over the summer. He was clearly poised to be their year's Prince.

Daphne's blue eyes flickered over to the other boys in their year.

Theodore Nott's father may have been placed in Azkaban for supporting the Dark Lord, but his grandfather, Ivan Nott, and his mother, Erika Nott nee Cavanaugh, had their own family businesses that Theodore would one day become the heir of. Yet, the Cavanaugh and Nott heir seemed to prefer to keep to himself, and was unlikely to try to be Prince, so with him, judgment had to be reserved.

Less was to be said about Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, who were exact replicas of their stoic but bulky fathers. It was inevitable that Draco Malfoy would be in control of them, just like their fathers before them.

That left the unknown factor, Blaise Zabini. His mother was notorious for going after rich, elderly men, who would die of natural causes mere months after marrying the beautiful black widow. In the past two weeks of school, she had only seen him positively interact with one person — some random Italian girl from Hufflepuff, a family friend, perhaps. Blaise, much like Theodore, had yet to display any show of power.

His friend, on the other hand…

Daphne scowled as the Italian girl sitting across her easily turned her matchstick not just into a needle, but into a needle with delicate floral designs wrapping around it like a tattoo. She looked to her own needle, which held only the basic form.

"Oh, an excellent needle, Ms. Vongola," Professor McGonagall gave a once-in-a-blue-moon, proud smile to the black haired girl. "Fifteen points to Hufflepuff."

The girl puffed up slightly at the praise, sharing a grin with Zabini.

Vongola had potential power.

Now, she just needed to know how beneficial it would be to associate with her and Zabini.

After all, she had heard Adrianna Vongola was only a—

"Filthy half blood," Pansy Parkinson grumbled from beside her, brown eyes tearing into the oblivious black haired Hufflepuff. Like Daphne, she, too, had accomplished the spell, but had been unable to layer additional designs into it. "It's a shame Zabini likes her. He would've been a good ally."

Daphne hummed. "Surely Zabini wouldn't associate with her if she didn't have anything going for her."

"You think her family's important?" Pansy asked with a frown. "Do you think it could be from her mother's line?"

"Could be. At this rate, only Zabini would know."

"Is it even worth trying? We could just get Nott."

"Or Davis."

"Tracey Davis is a half blood," Pansy scrunched up her pug-like nose, shooting a glance at the blonde haired Slytherin sitting by herself two rows down.

"So is Vongola."

"Vongola's actually good at class," Pansy rolled her eyes. "All Davis is good at is drawing star charts. What will we get from that?"

Daphne said nothing but spared a glance towards her secret friend. She had warned Tracey about this before the school year started. Why couldn't she just have gone to Ravenclaw or Gryffindor instead? "Let's see if we can get anything from Zabini. For all we know, Italy might have their own Sacred Twenty-Eight, and she could be one of them."

"Fine, let's corner him this week."

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Transfiguration classroom, Zacharias Smith looked at Adrianna and Blaise in disgust. "Look at those two."

"Who?" his seatmate, Ernie Macmillan, asked.

"Vongola and her pet snake."

"Uh," Ernie grimaced, "what about her and Zabini?"

"You know his name?!"

"I mean, he's our classmate, Zach."

"It's shameful she's hanging out with a Death Eater wannabe."

"The Zabinis aren't even linked to You-Know-Who."

"Who?" Justin Finch-Fletchley, who was sitting on Ernie's other side, asked.

"The Dark Lord who caused a wizarding war just a decade or so ago because he wanted a society made up of only purebloods," Ernie gently explained. "We don't say his name, though. It's cursed."

Justin looked mildly terrified about that. "But what does this have to do with Vongola?"

"She's sitting with someone from You-Know-Who's house," Zacharias scowled.

"So?"

"So," Zacharias crossed his arms, "it means she's spending time with the wrong sort."

"I don't know about you, but I don't think it's fair to judge Zabini like that," Justin pointed out. "I mean, I wouldn't want people talking about me because of an ancestor or something. Because that's not me. And the Slytherins in our class aren't You-Know-Who, though some of them can be pretty mean."

"Oh, my naive little friend," Zacharias rolled his eyes, "just you wait."

Up front, Adrianna's eyebrow twitched. "Is it just me or are people staring at us?"

Blaise subtly looked around to see Slytherins and Hufflepuffs sneaking glances at them. He smirked. "Maybe they think we're cute together."

Adrianna fake vomited. "Barf. But seriously, why are we the only ones sitting together? Professor McGonagall said we could sit anywhere, but everyone's so grouped into Houses."

"People tend to want to be with their Housemates."

"Why aren't you?"

"Because you're my friend," Blaise sent her smile number six, which she couldn't quite interpret the meaning of yet.

"Just focus on your needle," Adrianna insisted.

Her ears were turning pink.

Hi, everyone!

Second week of classes is finally over. I think I'm really liking Transfiguration. Our homework is to read up on the theory of Transfiguring like materials. I'm guessing we can only do so with objects of the same size, but maybe I can go beyond that limit once I'm stronger? Matches to needles make sense, but what is the possibility of making m, I don't know, boulders from coins? Need to ask Signore Lupin about that over the break.

Charms is okay. It's very practical but it doesn't really give me a rush, you know? I'm starting to think I want to enter wizarding combat. It's a scary realization that I'm actually craving a fight... blame Fran! Kidding... kind of…

I really do want to fight, though. That's why I'm excited for Defense Against the Dark Arts. Apparently our professor's pretty skilled, so after a month of theory, we'll be practicing spells already. Can't wait to try some on Fran. I'm coming for you. Watch yourself…

Astronomy's boring and they hold the class on Wednesday evenings. Like, I get that students need their Friday nights but being in the middle of the week makes me so sleepy the day after. Herbology's boring right now too but the homework is usually useful. Did you know there's a plant where if you give someone a certain number of leaves to eat they'll keep sneezing until they suffocate? The only cure is by feeding them the little fruits of that plant. It's pretty cool.

Potions would have been fun but our teacher likes picking on students outside of his House (Slytherin). He also doesn't teach well. He just tells us to brew a potion with instructions. Though, maybe I'm too mean. Maybe that's how Potions is really supposed to be taught?

I don't even want to bring up History of Magic. In fact, I'll buy a more interesting, well-written book on the subject.

We have Flying class for the first time tomorrow. Did you know we can fly on brooms? Crazy. Can't wait to try some stunts. I'll let you know how it goes.

During breaks, I'm usually with my Housemates, Susan and Hannah. They're pretty nice and they include me a lot in their conversations. Susan's aunt is the head of DMLE, like a chief of police. She probably shouldn't ever find out about our family... anyways, Hannah's mom is a Healer and Potioneer. She mainly works as a nurse but she invents medicine, too. Susan and Hannah are best friends though so it's hard integrating myself into their dynamic.

That's why I also hang out with Blaise Zabini. Yeah, yeah, you can say 'I told you so'. Zabini's fun to hang out with, and I don't know what his Mama is saying, but he's not my best friend! I told him we have to be in a life-or-death situation first. There's also this other acquaintance, Ron Weasley. Blaise and I met him on the train. He's a bit shy but he's also funny. He's a Gryffindor, so people look at us weirdly for being in different Houses. Weirdos.

Anyways, that's all for this letter. Oreo says thank you for the treats, Luss-nee!

From,
Adi

Flying class was with Ravenclaw. It was funny watching a group that mostly consisted of bookworms discuss the technicalities of flying a broom — all the way from how to sit down to what kind of angles they should be forming when making turns. While she understood the importance of the theory, some things just had to be learned from experience.

"Up!" she said, her outstretched hand easily catching the broom that flew up towards her. She could feel some sort of connection to the broom, a kind of invisible, thrumming connection coursed through her hand to the handle of the broom.

Hannah and Ernie were also successful in claiming their brooms. Adrianna glanced next to her, where Zacharias Smith was turning pink as his broomstick kept flopping awkwardly on the ground.

She snorted when his broomstick finally lifted up from the ground and hit his head.

Susan chided her gently, but Adrianna didn't miss the small amused smile on her face. The redhead on Adrianna's other side was struggling to get her broomstick as well, but from the nervousness in her eyes at the prospect of handling the broomstick, it was likely due to a fear of heights.

"Maybe you should ask Madam Hooch to let you sit out, Susie," Hannah told her best friend.

Susan looked anxious, biting her lip before shaking her head. "No, no, I have to. Auntie will worry."

"Susie..."

Eventually, Susan's broom gently went up to her, but despite the proud smile on her face, the thought of rising above the ground was worrisome.

For Adrianna, it was exciting. She followed Madam Hooch's orders to kick off from the ground and it felt amazing. She could feel the wind on her face, and even though her stomach felt like dropping from being so high in the air, Adrianna laughed at how good it just felt.

"Lean forward slightly," Madam Hooch instructed. "This will tell the broom that you want to go forward. Gentle turns to the right or to the left to go in the direction you want. Remember, gentle movements only. To stop in place, simply lean back and steady yourself."

Adrianna did as she was told, leaning her body a bit closer to the broom, and watching in wonder as the broom pushed on forward with a bit of a pace. Both of her hands clutched the broom as she made small circles around the posts of the Quidditch hoops.

Only she, Hannah, and a few other pureblood students who owned brooms at home easily got the hang of the exercise. Susan chose to remain hovering close to the ground, but she was at least allowing herself to move forward ever so slightly.

"Hey, Vongola!" Zacharias called out, grinning as he noticed that Madam Hooch was preoccupied with helping several Ravenclaw boys who refused to fly until their detailed questions about how to fly were answered.

Adrianna steadied herself before turning to the left, watching as Zacharias slowly made his way towards her. She raised an eyebrow as she noticed the smile on his face. They had never directly spoken to each other before. "Yes, Smith?"

"What's with you and Zabini?"

"What about it?"

"You two are actually friends?"

Adrianna's eyebrows furrowed. "What's it to you who I hang out with?"

"I'm Zacharias Smith. My family's directly descended from Helga Hufflepuff, and I think she wouldn't be proud of one of her Puffs hanging out with a slimy snake."

Adrianna blinked her eyes in confusion. "So you've talked to Helga Hufflepuff?"

"Huh? Well, no, I haven't but—"

"You've seen her being mean to Slytherins?"

"Well, no, but—"

"She's told you directly that hanging out with Slytherins is bad?"

"No, but—"

"Are you my mom?"

"Wait, what? No, of course not—"

"Then why should I care about your opinion?" Adrianna sighed in frustration, rubbing the back of her head with one hand.

Zacharias was speechless, his mouth opening and closing as if he was a fish. It was unsightly.

Adrianna rolled her eyes before turning around. "When you have sense again, Smith, then we can talk."

"Hey, wait—" Zacharias reached out to harshly tug on her left arm.

It was an unexpected move — his hand gripping the crook of her elbow. Because she had only been holding the broomstick with her right hand, she tightened her grip on the broom in surprise as she felt herself tilting backwards.

Zacharias squeaked, letting go of her and flying out of the way to avoid a collision, which left enough space for her to try and maneuver herself to remain upright. It took a lot of core strength to combat gravity and pull her body in the opposite direction, but it worked.

It did make her realize though that she was too light and vulnerable on a broom if she didn't watch her back. She had yet to experience tipping over backwards on a broom, but she wasn't going to try that when she was over six feet above ground. If she hadn't reacted quickly, she might have been doing endless backflips in the air because she couldn't control the broom, and that was assuming she hadn't slipped off somehow.

She threw the surprised Zacharias a disgusted look before shakily flying herself towards Hannah for some peace of mind.

"He did what?" Blaise hissed as he glared at Zacharias Smith. He had heard from Daphne, who had heard from Pansy, who had heard Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil talking about it in the girls' bathroom because they heard Hannah and Susan complaining about Zacharias and his attitude. Once he heard, he quickly made his way to the Great Hall and sat next to Adrianna on the Hufflepuff table, ignoring the surprised and worried looks other Puffs were giving him because of his green lined robes.

When she confirmed the rumor, he scowled and gave Zacharias Smith the stoniest look an eleven year old could give.

"I'm okay, Zabini," Adrianna assured him. "It was an accident."

"He's not supposed to be grabbing you like that, especially in the air."

"It was just a disagreement."

"About what?"

"He didn't understand why I was friends with you," Adrianna shrugged. "Frankly, it's none of his business."

Blaise frowned. "Would it help if we kept it a secret?"

"What? No. What did you plan — stage a pretend fight so we could get on with our lives in our different Houses then meet for hot cocoa in secret at night?" Adrianna rolled her eyes when she saw him look away in mild embarrassment. "Look, we started out getting to know each other because of, you know, but fourteen or so days of constant exposure to you had warmed me up to the idea of getting to know you more. Why would I let some stupid bloke stop me, especially when I can see past his head?"

At that, Blaise snorted. Zacharias Smith had an ego twice as tall as he was, but all the girls in Hufflepuff House were currently taller than him. "Not very Hufflepuff of you to say."

"And your plan wasn't as Slytherin as you wanted it to be," Adrianna pouted. "Isn't it better to be more ambitious about this rather than take a coward's approach?"

"But if this whole thing is going to cause problems for you, won't it get difficult in Hufflepuff?"

"Yeah, but are we going to let our Houses dictate our lives?" Adrianna asked. "In only two weeks, I've seen people break the stereotypes. Smith is far from a loyal Hufflepuff. Granger is a terrible Gryffindor. Malfoy isn't even ambitious because he keeps talking about 'my father this, my father that'.

Aren't you and I better than that, than falling into that hole?"

"You got all that in just two weeks?"

"I've been bored and observing has become a hobby."

By then, the tables in the Great Hall had already filled up for lunch, with more and more students shooting Blaise an odd look. Susan and Hannah sat in front of Adrianna as usual, though both were too shy to say anything to Blaise, who was still deep in conversation with Adrianna.

Draco, too, had noticed, and his irritation spiked. He strode over to them, a smirk on his face. "Hey, Zabini. I'd be careful about your girl, if I were you. I heard she almost fell for Smith."

Adrianna glared at him in annoyance. "Did Mummy never teach you manners?"

"At least I have one! Heard you only have a father so you wouldn't know what it's like."

"Don't cause problems, Malfoy," Blaise said as he stood up and looked Draco in the eye.

"Excuse you?"

"Don't you remember? If you're going to instigate something, at least don't get caught," Blaise said quietly so only Draco could hear, reminding him of Professor Snape's speech to the first years at the start of the term.

Draco scoffed but listened and went back to his own table.

Blaise faced Adrianna, who looked at him worriedly. "I'll head back to my table now. I'll catch you later?"

Adrianna nodded and watched as he joined the table of snakes.

Over the next few weeks leading up to the last week of October, tensions in Slytherin House were growing, at least, for the first years. Alliances weren't forming yet. It was much too early, but Daphne already had an idea of what would happen.

Draco would easily absorb Crabbe, Goyle, and Millicent Bulstrode. The well-built girl's mother had been friends with Narcissa Malfoy back in the day, so this little alliance was no surprise at all. That made four for the Dark faction, ardent supporters of what You-Know-Who and Grindelwald stood for.

Daphne and Pansy were currently the only members of the Grey faction. The Greengrasses have always remained neutral, even with two dark lords in the past few years. On the other hand, the Parkinsons had been strongly Dark up until Pansy's father had been locked up in Azkaban for being a Death Eater. With her mother, Vanessa Parkinson nee Baudelaire, now taking charge of House Parkinson, Pansy had been ordered to be Grey. She had until she was fifteen to formally decide which faction she would support.

Daphne had been worried at first, but Pansy was an alright individual. She just had to do something about her pureblood supremacy mindset. Then and only then could she recruit Tracey to join them.

Until that happened, Tracey was going to be an outcast, ignored but at least not bullied.

That left the two unknowns: Theodore and Blaise. If she could recruit them, she would have equal power as Draco in Slytherin House, and when she gets Tracey, Daphne would be their leader and eventually rise to become the Queen of Slytherin.

First, she just needed to find a way for her to connect with Zabini and Vongola.

"Hey, Zabini!" Draco shouted, whipping out his wand and pointing it in between Blaise's eyes. Blaise rose an eyebrow from the velvet chair he was resting on, closing the book he had been reading and sighing.

"What do you want, Malfoy?"

"You embarrassed me in public!" Draco seethed. "Uncle Sev said Slytherins have to show a united front, but you sided with your little girlfriend!"

"First of all, Malfoy, she's taller than you, so she's not little, and she's not my girlfriend," Blaise rolled his eyes before narrowing them at the blonde. "Second of all, Professor Snape also said not to fight with anyone in public."

He quickly dropped low and swept his leg out towards Draco's knees. The impact made the blonde tumble and lose his grip on his wand, collapsing onto the floor.

"What the bloody Merlin is wrong with you, Zabini?! You fight like a Muggle!" Draco snarled as he tried to grab his fallen wand.

Blaise kicked away the wand, and it rolled towards a wall in the common room. "Hey, if I can beat you with mere Muggle fighting, then that says a lot, don't you think?"

"You'll pay for this, Zabini. My father will hear about this!" Draco shakily stood up and pointed a finger at Blaise. Then, he glared at Crabbe and Goyle. "And why didn't you two defend me?!"

Crabbe and Goyle looked at each other before Goyle spoke, "You said to defend you only outside the common room."

Crabbe nodded. "You didn't say anything about doing that inside the common room?"

"Idiots!" Draco hissed before making his way up to his room.

The upper years, who had watched the little squabble as a break from their studying, resumed their work, though some third years like Adrian Pucey and Graham Montague began to take notice of Blaise.

All of this did not escape Daphne's observations, so one Monday morning, she approached Adrianna and Blaise in the library. "Good morning. I'm Daphne Greengrass, Heiress to the Most Ancient and Noble House of Greengrass, and this is Pansy Parkinson, Heiress to the Most Ancient House of Parkinson. We were hoping to study with you."

She directed her gaze at both Adrianna and Blaise. Interestingly, Blaise glanced at Adrianna and waited for her cue.

Adrianna raised an eyebrow at them. "Why? We don't even know each other."

"We've introduced ourselves so that's a start. We also acknowledge that you're one of the top students in our year. We could learn from you."

"And what would we gain from you?"

Daphne smirked at this. Spoken like a Slytherin.

Daphne quickly held Pansy's gaze as a warning before the other girl could respond with something snappy. She replied, "We're very familiar with British wizarding culture, which Hogwarts does not teach its students. It may help you form connections."

"With the right sort?" Adrianna drawled.

"With the powerful sort."

Adrianna mulled this over, locking eyes with Blaise before nodding. "Please join us, Heiress Greengrass, Heiress Parkinson."

"Daphne," Daphne corrected as she took a seat across from Adrianna. "I'm quite good at Potions and Herbology."

"Pansy," the girl reluctantly stated, sitting next to Daphne. "I excel at Herbology and History of Magic."

At that, Adrianna's eyes widened. "You can stay awake in Binns' class?"

Pansy tilted her chin upwards in pride. "Yes, though my mother herself was a historian back in the day. She specialized in the age of alchemy."

"That's amazing," Adrianna said with stars in her eyes. "Back at home, er, well, there are some Muggle shows about alchemy."

"Oh... do tell." Pansy looked mildly disgusted at the thought.

"Well, one of them talked a lot about the principle of equivalent exchange."

"Really now? How did Muggles know about that?"

"Is it a wizarding secret? It's actually well-known by Muggles who've seen the show."

As Adrianna began to introduce an initially reluctant Pansy to Fullmetal Alchemist, Blaise looked at Daphne skeptically as she began to write the Potions essay Professor Snape had set for them. "Why did you approach us, Greengrass?"

"It benefits both sides."

"Does it really? We'll see about that," Blaise said.

Daphne nodded and continued writing on her parchment.

It went exactly as she had planned.

"Did you hear? Draco and Weasley are in detention after the Longbottom incident," Pansy, ever the gossip, shared with their budding quartet in the library.

The sole Hufflepuff in the group tilted her head. "Longbottom? From Gryffindor? What happened?"

Pansy leaned forward and whispered, "Draco got caught bullying him during Flying class. He stole Longbottom's Remembrall. I heard Weasley defended him and they ended up fighting. They're both doing chores with the giant tonight."

Ah, she was speaking of Ron Weasley, who they met on the train.

"Is Weasley okay?"

Pansy sniffed. "I guess so. Gryffindor's been treating him like a king ever since."

"Well, Malfoy deserved it. He's not acting like a proper Slytherin at all," Daphne said as she worked on an Astronomy paper. "In fact, he's acting like more of a Gryffindor."

"Right!" Pansy groaned in agreement. "It's embarrassing that my family once wanted an alliance with his. It seems like every time he's mentioned, it's because he's gone and done something absolutely idiotic."

"Let him be," Blaise shrugged. "The more he acts like himself, the easier it will be to convince the others that he's not worth it."

Adrianna zoned out the conversation as she worked on her last paragraph for History of Magic. Her key takeaway from the Battle at the Orange Tree Mountain was to never enter into a love triangle. Not only was it messy but it was very costly on resources, especially on time and effort. She didn't think she would ever understand why Graham the Immortal would ever risk his career for Blair the Temptress when it was obvious that she would never get over her on-and-off relationship with Mungo the Healer.

"—right?" Blaise poked her shoulder.

"Sorry, what?"

"We asked if you'd like to sit with us for lunch today," Daphne said, watching as Adrianna pondered over the offer. "I heard our table has crinkles for dessert..."

"Sold," Adrianna nodded sagely.

They completed their essays before heading to the Great Hall, where they were once again met by incredulous stares, more so when Adrianna sat next to Blaise. Susan and Hannah, however, were unsurprised with their roommate's choice.

"You again?" Draco sniffed as he sat next to Daphne, sending Adrianna a dirty look.

Adrianna raised an eyebrow at him. Blaise also gave him a warning look that had him hesitating.

"Did you start writing to daddy yet about how a little half blood annoys you, Draco-poo?" Adrianna asked with a smile.

Draco scoffed. "You're not worth writing about."

"I'll keep that in mind," Adrianna continued beaming at him as she piled her plate with several slices of bacon and eggs.

Blaise looked appalled by her plate and started piling pieces of lettuce and diced carrots on her plate. "Does your family not insist on veggies?"

Adrianna gave the vegetables a mildly disgusted look. "I was supposed to eat what I want over here."

"An unhealthy diet leads to sickness," Blaise scrunched his nose. "Avoid it while you can. They're just plants."

"Plants," Adrianna grumbled but listened and made a face as she chewed.

Blaise just rolled his eyes at her as he created a more balanced meal on his plate: a tomato omelet, mushrooms, sausages, and a salad.

Daphne and Pansy shared a look before Pansy asked, "Are you two related?"

Blaise blinked. "No, not at all."

"I'd rather not be," Adrianna said.

"You seem to be close, though," Pansy gently prodded.

"Perks of being friends," Blaise grinned at Adrianna, who just pouted.

"Whatever," Adrianna said, brightening when crinkles finally appeared on the table. She easily took a third from the plate in front of her, happily munching away.

"You eat like a rodent," Blaise remarked.

"Excuse you. Are you calling me a rat?"

"More like a chinchilla."

"Still a rat."

"Eh, cuter, though."

Adrianna glared at him, cheeks turning pink as she munched.

Draco couldn't help but say, "Both of you are disgusting."

"What's disgusting is you, Malfoy."

Everyone turned to see Ron Weasley standing in front of them, with a scared Neville behind his back. "Say sorry to Neville."

"I don't think I will," Draco leaned back with a smirk. "Fat arse deserved it."

Ron stepped forward with a clenched fist. "Say you're sorry!"

"Can't you understand, Weasley, or has the lack of food at home addled your brains? No means n-o."

Ron stopped himself from lunging at Draco when he spotted Blaise and Adrianna staring at home. "You both siding with him?"

Adrianna snorted as she served herself some orange juice. "Slytherin would get a major upgrade without him."

"We're not friends," Blaise shrugged.

"Good," Ron nodded, biting his lip before turning to Draco. "You'll pay for this, Malfoy. Neville's done nothing to you!"

"Well, now, how about we settle it with a duel, Weasley? Trophy room at midnight?"

"You're on," Ron growled.

"Alright. Crabbe's my second. And you?"

Ron floundered for a bit.

Adrianna watched the exchange before smiling, "I'll be his second."

"What? Adi—" the nickname reserved for special persons in her life slipped out of Blaise's mouth. He shook his head saying, "Adrianna, that's dangerous. You know why there are seconds, right?"

"Sure," she smiled.

Ron and Draco looked at her with matching expressions of shock.

"Ha! A girl as your second? As if you could sink no lower. See you tonight, Weasley," Draco said with a grin as he stood up with his trio of followers and left the Great Hall.

"I can't believe you did that," Daphne told her with her mouth slightly open in shock.

"That's not proper, Adrianna!" Pansy scolded her.

Adrianna shrugged then turned to Ron. "Hey, come here."

A confused Ron leaned forward and Adrianna whispered, "Let him show up alone. Don't even go to the duel."

"But I said yes!"

"So? There's no magical promise involved. He'll be the one getting detention. Not you."

Ron looked at her, and she was unsure what he was thinking, but he bit his lip and nodded. "Let's go, Neville. And, uh, thanks for backing me up, Vongola."

"We're cool. Call me Adrianna."

"Adrianna, then," Ron smiled at her before leaving with Neville.

"I can't believe you're going," Blaise frowned.

"I'll tell you all the plan later," Adrianna assured them.

After their afternoon classes, Adrianna gathered the three Slytherins in an empty classroom. "I'm not going to fight. I told Weasley not to show up. That should teach Malfoy a lesson."

"Devious," Pansy nodded approvingly.

"It's a good thing no oath was involved," Daphne sighed.

"Malfoy's annoying to pick a fight with in your shoes," Blaise advised her worriedly.

"I'll be fine."

"I'm surprised you defended Weasley, though. His family is full of blood traitors," Pansy grumbled.

"At the end of the day, it's not which family you're connected to that's important. It's your choices that make you who you are, and I like that Weasley's been choosing to protect his friend from bullies."

Adrianna didn't seem like she thought too deeply about what she just said. Maybe she genuinely believed in it, and maybe it wasn't too big of a deal to her, but for Daphne and Pansy, it meant that there was hope.

A/N: Still going to reply to reviews in the next chapter — I wrote this when I unexpectedly went on a road trip and had no Internet for a few hours, so I ended up yapping away on my notes app to come up with this chapter. This is very unedited, but I wanted to share it with you guys c:

Some notes:

[ 1 ] I've come across many stories where, at eleven, Harry and the Slytherins already have certain political machinations going on. I find those highly enjoyable, don't get me wrong, but when I was writing this chapter, I guess I felt that at the end of the day, they're just eleven and too young to really care to think that way. That's why here, the way I wrote Daphne is that she's doing what she can about Tracey, and she thinks she's doing what's best. Pansy, though stll somewhat prejudiced and rude, is also just a kid trying to find her way.

[ 2 ] Adi on the other hand is just vibing and uncaring of any political repercussions but that's because, unlike Daphne's optimism that everything will work out as she planned, Adi simply doesn't value blood or political power. She's just a kid here to learn and have friends c:

[ 3 ] And yes, disclaimer, I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist. I do simp for Roy and Greed / Ling, though xD

[ 4 ] Harriet Potter not 'existing' in Hogwarts is making waves. Daphne and Pansy, and Ron being protective of Neville, is just the start. Some of these changes may or may not be developed 'on-screen' in the chapters.