The Good Slytherin

Chapter Ten: Daphne

"Don't look so anxious," Mark told Daphne when he caught her looking over her shoulder for any sign of Malfoy. "Blondie's been busy making some naff 'Weasley is Our King' badges. With this weekend's Quidditch match against Gryffindor, he's got other things on his mind."

Striding briskly away from their Care of Magical Creatures class, Daphne couldn't help but give the departing crowd a once over. She wanted to make sure she was as far away from Malfoy as possible and it helped to be surrounded by Gryffindors. "Sorry. I haven't been able to relax in a week. In fact, I haven't been able to relax since I got back to Hogwarts," she said glumly.

It was quite cold and Mark rearranged his green and silver scarf in an attempt to get warmer. Thankfully his moodiness over Zacharias Smith was starting to soften. "Well, while Malfoy is busy, we'll have some distraction of our own. Don't forget what next Sunday is."

Daphne managed a faint smile. "How could I forget your birthday? I've had your present since Hogsmeade Weekend." They rounded up towards the castle. "So what's the plan?"

Every year since their second year, Mark and Daphne had made it a tradition of trying to celebrate his birthday in an unusual location. She had no idea how they were going to top last year's fête which involved sneaking up to the Astronomy Tower after hours to eat cake and open gifts. It was a good place to hold a birthday party but thir revelry was cut short--caught in the end by Filch. As for this year, she had been so mentally preoccupied that she hadn't given the planning any thought.

"Don't worry, I have it sorted," he replied with a smirk. "I've chosen a surprise location and you don't need to do a thing except look pretty and give me pressies."

"What, you're not going to tell me where it is going to be?"

"I said don't worry."

Daphne flashed him a look of skepticism as she was reminded of detention with Filch. The caretaker was less than pleased to find an illegal party in the Astronomy Tower and Snape was not happy either, even though he tended to be rather lenient with his Slytherin Students. Most of his ire, however, had been reserved for Mark that evening.

"Okay," she said cautiously. "But it is just that things are different this year. If the rumors about Umbridge are true, I don't want to give Filch any reason to send me to her office."

He winced, as if the thought of Dolores Umbridge was enough of a deterrent. "Well, they'll have nothing to fuss over. Everything will be perfectly within bounds this time around. You'll love it."

They maneuvered though groups of students in order to enter the Great Hall, which was busy with the lunchtime crowd. Marion was there already, but looked rather lost in thought and barely gave Daphne a flicker of recognition.

"What's with you?" Daphne asked as she set her things down and reached for a pitcher of pumpkin juice.

"Oh, nothing," Marion replied somewhat distantly. It was most unlike her.

Mark didn't seem to notice and instead started to prattle on about some rumor he heard about Umbridge. Marion poked aimlessly at her food and didn't look like she was listening much to Mark's story. Soon Tristan joined them at the table.

"Hey, mate," he said once Mark finished with his gossip. "I was wondering if I could bring someone along to your birthday this Sunday?"

Mark looked puzzled. "A date?"

Marion suddenly looked up with interest.

"No, he's a mate of mine from my healer class," Tristan said, looking sheepish. "I'll never meet a girl with the amount of homework that Snape gives me."

"Just warn him about last year's detention so he knows what he is getting into," Mark replied with a grin.

"Speaking of which, do we have a location? I'll be buggered if I have to have detention with Filch again."

"Mark refuses to tell me," Daphne offered sourly.

He didn't take to kindly to everyone's lack of faith. "You lot will just have to wait and see."

* * *

On Sunday, he gave the rather cryptic instructions to meet on the seventh floor by the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy at six o'clock. Once the appointed hour arrived, she followed Mark all the way up the marble staircase, still quite unconvinced of his secret plan.

"Er, Mark? Where on earth are we going?" she asked once they reached the tapestry. A couple of older Gryffindors eyed them suspiciously as they walked by. There was nothing around that would even hint at a possible birthday party location, which left Daphne baffled.

Mark seemed to be examining the empty wall opposite Barnabas the Barmy where the only object of interest was a very large dragon shaped vase contained within a niche. "Have some faith," he said. She watched him for a few moments, impatiently, before he muttered to himself, "Okay, I know it was here . . . oh, right."

"Bad sign when you start talking to yourself, mate," came a voice out of breath from behind them. She turned as saw Tristan carrying a birthday cake in one hand and a present in the other. He was followed closely by a black haired teenaged boy and assumed that this must be the friend Tristan was talking about bringing. "Bloody hell," Tristan continued between breaths. "There's got to be a faster way to get up here from the kitchen."

Tristan's friend looked equally pained. "Yeah, that was a brutal climb," he added.

Mark wasn't paying any attention. Instead he began to pace back and forth in front of the wall, seemingly consumed by some great thought.

"Uh, what did I miss?" Tristan asked Daphne.

Just as she was about to reply, a door suddenly appeared where only wall had been before. "How did you--?" she asked.

Mark gave her a knowing grin and said nothing, instead opening the door to reveal quite possibly one of the coolest rooms she had ever seen. Drapes of red silk with tiny gold stars lined the walls from floor to ceiling giving the impression that they had just entered some lavish arabesque tent. Large satiny pillows were tossed about and the room was dimly lit, illuminated only by small orbs of floating light. Closer inspection revealed that they were enchanted fairy lights.

They all gave a collective, "Oooh!" Even the Tristan's friend looked impressed.

"Nice work," Tristan said in awe as they entered. There was a low ornate wooden table in the center of the room, which contained a flagon of butterbeer, sweets, and crackers wrapped in brightly colored foil.

Daphne got the impression that Mark hadn't expected this kind of set up either. He walked around the room with a look of complete wonder, but soon he was back to his arrogant self. "So do you approve, Miss Oh-No-We're-Going-To-Get-In-Trouble?"

Normally she would have thumped him in the arm with her wand, but since it was his birthday, she instead gave him a kiss on the cheek. She had to step up on her toes to reach him--he was getting so tall. "Yes, it's fantastic. Happy sixteenth."

Mark blushed before turning to Tristan. "And who's your friend?"

"Oh right, my manners," Tristan responded boisterously. "This is Nathan Price. He's a sixth year Ravenclaw and he's in my Magical Anatomy class. I told him about your legendary birthdays."

Daphne snorted. "Legendary if you like scrubbing bed pans in the hospital wing."

"Well, Nathan, I take no responsibility for any ensuing detention or house points lost," Mark added slyly.

Tristan suppressed a laugh.

Nathan looked slightly embarrassed on having missed out on their inside joke. "No, you're all right," he said. "Nice set up, by the way."

"This is Mark Ferris, Slytherin fifth year," continued Tristan with the introductions. "And this is Daphne Gordon, also fifth year."

A curious expression came over Nathan's face that she was unsure how to read. It was kind of the look someone gets when they put two and two together. "Right, your family owns Gordon & Hollings in Diagon Alley," he said.

Daphne had a feeling that wasn't the mental connection he made. "Yes, my father and uncle run it," she explained. "I suppose this is the first time you have willingly spent time with any Slytherin students? I promise we are not all like Draco Malfoy."

Nathan smiled and laughed. "Figured Tristan was a decent enough guy."

"Great Merlin's bollocks!" came a gasp from door. Four heads quickly turned to see Marion standing open mouth, gaping at the room before her.

"And that would be Marion Avery," Tristan noted to Nathan. "Not one for subtleties."

Daphne giggled.

"Marion, why don't you come in and shut the door behind you. Time we get things started."

And so they proceeded to have a wonderful time--the best Daphne had had in a long while. She easily forgot anything to do with the return of Voldemort, Malfoy, blood traitor lists, and Death Eaters as they stuffed themselves with cake and butterbeer. It was the first time she had managed to relax since September--even Mario seemed to forget whatever had been bothering her the past few days. Mark opened his presents and he really liked the book on wizarding art that she gave him. The crackers proved a big hit once Tristan discovered that they contained some great prizes. He and Nathan had a go at one--it cracked open in a shower of gold sparks and out popped a deck of Exploding Snap.

"So how did you find this place," Daphne asked as she joined Mark on one of the large satin pillows. They had a good view of Marion, Tristan, and Nathan laughing as they fought over the last cracker.

He blushed. "It's supposed to be a secret, but it's called the Room of Requirement. It forms into whatever someone needs and, well, let's just say that Zacharias showed it to me."

Daphne didn't want to think too much about the implications of that comment.

"You can say he had his uses," he continued.

"I suppose he wasn't invited to your birthday party?"

Mark scowled. "No, not unless he decided to stop being a prat."

"So what happened between you two? You've said nothing."

"He didn't want to be seen with a Slytherin student. I called him a rude name and told him that he wasn't any different than what Malfoy gets on about. Needless to say, he didn't appreciate the comparison and we haven't spoken since. That was last week."

"Oi, Daphne," Tristan called out. "The peppermint flavored lip balm is all yours. Marion doesn't like mint."

She looked up to see him holding up a small round tin. "Cheers, Tristan."

"So what do you think of this Nathan guy?" Mark whispered to her after a few moments.

"Seems nice enough. I never get the chance to meet anyone beyond Slytherin."

"Tristan tells me that Nathan is half blooded. Father is a Muggle or something."

"Just another reason for us to be on Malfoy's blood traitor list, right?" She sighed, catching Nathan looking at her from across the room. "I really hate being in Slytherin."

"If you weren't in Slytherin, you would have never met me and then you would have had missed my fab birthday parties."

She smiled begrudgingly as they sat up to join the rest of them. It was getting close to nine and they would need to be heading back soon. Tristan was shoving a third piece of cake into his mouth and Marion was sipping on the last of the butterbeer. Nathan caught one of the fairy lights and was examining it closely in his cupped hands, light pouring out from the cracks in his fingers.

"This is brill, Mark. Hope you don't mind a Ravenclaw crashing your party," he said as he released the fairy light and watched it float back to the top of the ceiling.

"Thanks," Mark replied smugly.

As they began to gather their things, Nathan came over to her and said quietly, "Nice meeting you, Daphne. Not sure if you knew or not, but my gran was a good friend of your grandmother before she died."

"Oh," was all she could muster, caught off guard his sudden reference to her family. Having died right before she was born, Daphne had little reason to think of her maternal grandparents. It didn't help that her mother refused to talk about the deaths of her parents.

Nathan looked sympathetic after the prolonged silence. "It was such a awful tragedy. It happened not too far from where I grew up."

It was the way he said the word tragedy that suddenly made her quite confused. She opened her mouth to say something, but Mark was impatiently pointing at his watch.

"Almost nine, Daphne. We better hurry."

It would have to wait.

She took one last survey over the magnificent room, half wanting to take a fairy light with her, but knowing better. Tristan was gathering up the loot from the crackers in his arms and handed her the container of Madam Mellwhip's Peppermint Lip Balm. She took it even though she knew full well that it would all disappear by morning.

As they all headed out of the Room of Requirement in the direction of the stairs, the door disappeared behind them. Nathan said his goodnights as he headed in the direction of one of the towers. The rest of them waved back and headed down to the dungeons, sated and quite full of cake.

* * *

The feeling of post birthday merriment was short lived. Once Slytherin lost the quidditch match against Gryffindor, Malfoy's venomous behavior increased, even in spite of the fact that he managed to get Harry Potter kicked off the Gryffindor team--something he openly gloated about in the Slytherin common room. Daphne did her best to keep out of Malfoy's way, but it was difficult not to notice his taunts. Mark's patience was also wearing thin.

"I swear if I hear that sodding 'Weasley is Our King' again . . ." he snarled one day after Care of Magical Creatures, waving his wand threateningly at the back of Malfoy's head. Hagrid was back teaching their classes which proved another thing to get irritable about. They had enjoyed it so much more when Professor Grubbly-Plank taught lessons. "Oh by the way," he added as they trudged through the snow, "you should try and have a word with Marion. I tried to ask her for a favor yesterday and she didn't tell me to piss off like she normally does. Something must be wrong."

Daphne smiled mockingly. "Blimey. You mean you two are actually getting on? After three years knowing her?"

"We've always got on," he corrected. "More in that she thinks I'm a conceited prat and I think she's an opinionated shrew."

"If you didn't fancy boys, I'd say you secretly liked her."

Mark scowled as they approached the castle. "Please. We're about to eat dinner here."

Inside the Great Hall they found Tristan sitting alone with a couple of his textbooks open in front of him taking up space where they would sit. "Sorry," he said as they joined him. He moved the books back into his schoolbag. "I have some Charms to do later."

Marion arrived shortly after with the same distant mood that Mark had pointed out. She slumped down next to Mark and muttered a few words of hello. Tristan shot a puzzled look to between Mark and Daphne, eyebrows arched.

"Everything all right, Marion?" he asked.

"Huh? Oh yes, fine. Rough time in Defense Against the Dark Arts class today."

None of them bought her excuse, especially since the Dark Arts classes usually meant that they spent the whole class reading silently. The matter was dropped once Mark started making nasty comments about Hagrid's class.

Later that evening, Marion kept Daphne company in the Slytherin common room as Mark and Tristan worked in the library. Noticing that her cousin's preoccupation still hadn't let up, Daphne felt that it was a good time to get to the bottom of Marion's uncharacteristic temperament.

"Mark's been worried about you lately," she remarked as she watched her cousin leaf absently through her Transfiguration notes.

Normally Marion would have used this opportunity to make a snide quip about Mark, but she remained silent.

"All right. No use pretending that nothing is wrong," Daphne insisted rather exasperatedly.

Marion shifted awkwardly in her chair and sighed, "You're going to kill me for not telling you sooner."

"Why? What?" Daphne wondered what on earth Marion could have been keeping from her.

"I found out why we weren't on that blood traitor list the other day." Marion looked rather anxious as she said this and looked around the common room to make sure no one was listening in. "I was with one of my fourth year friends when Malfoy came up to her and just started talking Dark Lord recruitment right in front of me. Doesn't he know I'm friends with you, Mark, and Tristan? Then I got my nerve up and asked Malfoy jokingly if he thought I was a blood traitor. He's like, 'Oh yeah, Marion. I already know you are on the right side. Your family has always been loyal to the Dark Lord. And they give generously.' I didn't know what to say. I mean, I should have said, 'No Malfoy, you're a prat and I'd much rather snog a hippogriff than be on your side, much less the Dark Lord's.' But I didn't and I feel so bad that I didn't say anything. He only thinks this because a cousin or whatever through my father is a Death Eater."

"But what about me?" Daphne blurted out, fingers digging into the leather chair she sat in.

Again, she shifted awkwardly. "I asked him, 'What about my cousin Daphne?' to which he replied, 'Father says I have to be nice when it comes to family. Besides, she'll come over to right side easily enough.' He just had this look on his face."

"His father? Easily enough? What's that supposed to mean?"

"He must think you are easily coercible."

"I'm bloody well not! Am I a charity case for Lucius Malfoy because I'm a second cousin or something?"

Marion looked at her sympathetically, but she didn't seem entirely convinced of Daphne's protestations.

"I'm not easily coercible!" Anger rose up in her. Why would Draco Malfoy think that? "And what about you? You're going to have to make a stand."

"I know," her cousin replied weakly. "My conscience is killing me. I've got to tell Malfoy that I'm not the evil person he thinks I am. And no offense Daphne, but I really don't want to have to put up with the aggravation that you deal with. But I am going to have to once I set the record straight and I get put on that stupid list of his."

She felt herself starting to calm down a little, sinking into her leather chair. "I know one of these days Blondie's going to corner me like he did a couple weeks ago." The sheer thought of that impending confrontation was enough to cause Daphne's heart to race. Armed with the knowledge that Malfoy thought she could be easily dragged over to the dark side, she realized what she had to do.

She would prove them all wrong.