Little Memories

That dinner, Daphne and Draco managed to pull themselves from the dormitory to show their faces to the student body of Hogwarts. They tried to freshen themselves as up as much as possible. Their hair was combed and returned to what ever style they had put it in, but the bright hickeys on their necks could not be hidden by mere makeup or collars. Besides, neither of them wanted to really hide them, since it let everyone else know what they had been doing for the past few hours. Daphne, much to Draco’s dismay, had her sleeves pulled up and was showing off the bracelet he had “given” her. He feared how Charlotte would react to this misunderstanding, but he was far too much of a chicken shit to tell Daphne who the true owner of the bracelet was.

As they entered the Great Hall, they barely noticed that the Gryffindors were still reveling in their victory at their table and made their way to their natural habitat of Slytherins. Draco sat down beside Gregory, who merely shot him a look before returning his gaze to his food, going still.

“What?” Draco asked as Daphne erupted into squeals with her friends as she showed off that damn bracelet. Gregory merely shook his head jerkily, only making it more obvious that he was hiding something. “What is it?” He asked in a low voice, staring hard over at the eldest Goyle. Gregory sighed heavily and closed his eyes for a moment, obviously trying to bring himself to say what he needed to. However, Melody stepped in for him.

“He told me that Charlotte and Theodore were totally snogging in the locker room after the game today and that he wants to deck the bastard,” she said honestly, nodding a bit without a hint of the smile that normally graced her features. Draco’s mouth fell open a bit as his brow wrinkled and he glanced between Melody and Gregory, who was now staring up at Draco apologetically.

“Ouch, Draco! You’re squeezing my hand too tight!” Daphne screeched and Draco quickly shot her a look that said now was clearly not the time to yell at him. She shrunk a bit in her seat as Draco let go of her hand and balled his hands into fists on the lacquered table top.

“What?” He seethed through gritted teeth, his body nearly shaking with anger.

“Well…you’re the one who ended it, Draco. She’s bound to move on sometime,” Gregory said softly and hesitantly.

“But with him?” Draco asked with a repulsed look on his face, shaking his head a bit. “I thought she didn’t like him,” he said.

“Why do you care about her anyways, Draco?” Daphne asked, suddenly very tuned into their conversation. Draco merely rolled his eyes and looked over at Daphne.

“I don’t,” he snapped sharply and defensively, when everything in him screamed that he did still care for Charlotte and that Theodore was only going to cause trouble for her.

“Fine…forget I said anything,” Daphne said, giving Draco an odd look before turning back to her friends and chatting away with them. He stared at her for a moment before turning back to Gregory and Melody.

“It also seems that Charlotte’s taken off that bracelet you gave her,” Gregory said with a poignant look to Draco. “She’s going to want that back whenever you two swallow your pride and get back together.” Draco pulled in a deep breath of air through his nose and closed his eyes, glancing over venomously to the bracelet that Daphne now wore before turning back to Gregory, who was staring at the cursed item with wide eyes before turning back to Draco. “She’s going to kill you, Draco.”

“Look…I’m not the one who left the thing on my pillow and…she just sort of…” He risked a glance to Daphne, who was far too immersed in the conversation she was having with her friends to be listening to Draco. “…she sort of assumed it was for her.”

“It’s your funeral,” Gregory said, shaking his head before he took a bite of his roast beef. “That’s all I’m going to say.”

“Speak of them and they shall appear,” Melody said softly, nodding her head frantically over to the Great Hall doors. Both Gregory and Draco turned and look, their expressions completely different. Gregory looked hesitant and as if he just wanted to dissipate into the ground beneath him. Draco, however, looked absolutely livid.

Charlotte and Theodore were walking into the room with not enough space to fit a single hair between their shoulders. Charlotte, they noticed, was dressed to the nines. She wore a pair of vibrant teal heels that put her just a bit taller than Theodore, but no one really paid that any mind. A faded, black biker jacket covered up a thin white t-shirt that exposed a sliver of her pale midriff and faded blue jeans clung to her shapely, yet slender legs. Her radiant blonde hair was straightened and sleek as it cascaded over her shoulders and down her back. Her eyes were rimmed heavily with black eyeliner and shadow. Her lips, which were curled back into a wide smile, were a deep red color.

Theodore had a smug look on his face as they sauntered to a spot at the table, his arm wrapped possessively around her waist and her arm was draped carelessly over his shoulder. He was merely looking ahead, yet her frighteningly blue gaze was wondering the Great Hall at all the people that were looking in their direction. It was obvious that she was eating up the attention that she was getting from the exposure of her new handsome boyfriend. They sat beside Jackson, maintaining their lack of distance. Jackson greeted them and then, as if to prove to those watching that they were watching something that was actually happening, they gave each other a short kiss on the lips before they began to fix their plate.

Draco seethed from his spot between Gregory and Daphne as he watched them talking cordially and occasionally exchanging kisses on the cheek or lips. It was sickening and by the time the dessert course had appeared on the table, he just had to do something about this obvious display and show they were making of themselves. Not once had she looked over to him to see if he were upset or bothered by this new discovery. She looked the most beautiful he had seen her in a while and it made him green that she wasn’t with him.

“Oi’ Goyle, you look like a Muggle,” Draco called smugly across the table to the blonde girl, who’s happy expression dropped suddenly as she looked at him sharply. She cut her eyes at him and slowly looked over his appearance, her eyes lingering for a bit on the bruise along the side of his neck. Her icy blues then cut into his as she brought her eyes to his and she leaned across the table toward him, giving him a tantalizing view of her small, yet tempting cleavage. Those red lips of hers curled confidently to the side and he knew that he shouldn’t have messed with her.

“And you look like a douche bag and a man whore, but you don’t see me pointing that out to you,” she said in a soft voice, inciting a whole chorus of “ooh’s” and laughter from the Slytherin table. Draco, at a loss for words at how blunt and sneakily angry she was, merely stared at her.

“Well,” Daphne started and Draco immediately let out a heavy sigh, closed his eyes and dropped his head forward. This was not going to end well if she was going to get into their little argument. “I didn’t see Draco giving you anything while you were dating, so that must mean you’re not as important as I am,” she said smugly, grinning widely as she thrust her wrist across the table, the fairy and dragon charms glittering in the candlelight and fires of the Great Hall. Charlotte’s black-rimmed eyes darted to the bracelet and her lips parted slightly. “See what Draco gave me just today,” Daphne added, nailing the last stubborn nail into that metaphorical coffin of hers. Charlotte stared at it before tilting her head to the side slightly, her long, shimmering blonde hair falling over her shoulder. Her eyes shot to Draco’s and if looks could have killed, he would have keeled over just then and there.

“Too bad your man hands and thick wrists totally ruin the look of it,” Charlotte spat back, her eyes turning back to Daphne sharply. The girl merely drew in an appalled gasp, an action mirrored by the friends that surrounded her. Daphne stumbled over her words stupid, causing Charlotte’s smirk to widen a bit. “And if you thought you were the fairy and he was the dragon, think again. You’re uglier than any dragon I’ve seen and Draco is definitely the most fairy-like excuse for a man I’ve met,” she added causing the students that were listening into their verbal kafuffle to laugh even more. Daphne merely stared at her with a slack jaw before turning to Draco.

“Make her stop, Draco,” she whined frantically in his ear. Charlotte merely glanced between the two of them before standing, bracing her hands on the table.

“If you want to get mean, be sure you know who you’re talking to first and get some better insults,” she said rather seriously before a wicked grin curled her lips and she winked at them. “Ta, loves,” she cooed as Theodore stood up and rewrapped his arm around her waist, her lanky arm immediately draping over his shoulder as they turned and began their slow walk out of the Great Hall. Much to Draco and Daphne’s surprise, a few of the students dared to applaud them as they left, approving of the verbal lashing that Charlotte dealt to the failure of a Quidditch Captain and his hooker, airhead girlfriend.

Daphne turned to Draco, her cheeks red and her eyes wild.

“Why didn’t you make her shut up?” She hissed through clenched teeth as she stared at Draco, waiting for his explanation.

“It’s not like I just stop whatever shit comes out of her mouth, Daphne,” he explained, shaking his head at her. Daphne merely scoffed before pouting dramatically and crossing her arms over her chest.

“Whatever. Don’t talk to me right now,” she said sourly before turning to her friends once more. When Draco finally found it in himself to turn back to Gregory and Melody, they were looking at Draco and biting in their lips at the humor of his situation.

“I know, I know,” Draco said before they got the chance to, “I just had to pick this one, right?” Gregory snorted a bit before turning back to his plate, Melody dissolved into little tittering laughs.

“Good luck on getting back into Charlotte’s good graces now,” Gregory murmured before taking a bite of the cake he had left over on his plate. “You’re screwed,” he added with a mouth full of food. Draco wrinkled up his nose, pushing his plate away with disdain.

“Don’t remind me,” he murmured softly.