The Hogwarts Express
Daphne yawned as she made her way onto the Hogwarts express, she had become way too accustomed to waking up late over holiday that even getting up for the train station felt like hell. Luckily for her, Pansy Parkinson was the exact opposite and seemed to wake up at the crack of dawn. Freak. But did this mean she was always the first one on the train, so her friend group always got the best compartment. Daphne made her way down the train pushing through crowds of nervous first-years and older students who insisted on loitering and blocking the walkway. She couldn't control her happiness when she saw Pansy, rushing into the compartment and giggling as she practically attacked her. She hadn’t seen the other girl all summer - of course they tried to regularly write to each other but after a while writing letters starts seeming like a chore, even when it’s with your best friend.
"GODDAMN DAPHNE, I missed you too but a warning would be nice!" Pansy exclaimed as she readjusting their position to a more comfortable hug before taking the seat next to her. She fixed her stark black hair, which now included bangs which were growing out a bit too long for her liking and stopped bluntly at her shoulders. Quite the opposite of Daphne, who had vowed to keep her hair long after cutting it once in second year and instantly regretted it. It was also quite blonde, almost to the point that it looked like she had bleached it, but it suited her pale skin tone. Like most others on the train, both wore Hogwarts robes.
"Wowww, you don't see your best friend all summer and that's the first thing you say? And I was expecting flowers" Daphne replied pouting "Anyways, how was France! tell me everything, even the food you ate!"
"The usual: boring, over-romanticized, anticlimactic. You know, all the bad adjectives." Pansy replied as she picked lazily at her nails and Daphne rolled her eyes at the sarcastic antics when she suddenly heard someone near the door.
"Well that's cuz you Europeans are lame as fuck. I can't relate though, going back to the Philippines was perfect." Both girls looked up excitedly to see Adrian Pucey smiling down at them before sliding across from them and lurching forward to embrace the girls. He too had distaste for writing letters, no matter how much he missed his friends.
“Well since Pansy just loves nihilism and won’t tell me anything about France, maybe you could entertain us with your trip?”
“Dear God” She groaned back in retort “It’s not that I wont tell, it's that there's nothing worthwhile to tell anyways! My family goes to France every single summer and it's not even to do anything, my parents just like the opportunity to brag about the fact that it's ‘practically a second home’!” She said the last part mockingly “But Asia does sound much more interesting so do tell Adrian. How's your family there”
“Oh it was great! Nice break from the city, my grandparents are good, and my cousins too. Luis is just starting school but I think he's already sick of it.” He snickered “Anyways Daphne what about you?"
“Ugh you guys don’t know how lucky you are to travel, I would love for a summer anywhere away from England, even if it is France! I had to mostly spend weekends circulating around different house parties to ensure my dad’s business interests. It was worth it for mum and dad but SO fucking exhausting!”
Adrian was about to reply before Pansy started laughing and signaling outside the window. Outside the train was Blaise Zambini looking anxious, exasperated, and still wearing his sleeping clothes along with his mother scolding him and trying to get all his luggage inside. He said goodbye hurriedly and ran after the train entrance, which at this point was starting to move along slowly. In the background, Pansy and Adrian were shouting through the windows cheering him on. Luckily, he made it onto the train and quickly found the compartment.
“Do NOT fucking laugh. I thought that this was supposed to be tomorrow and didn’t start getting ready until like an hour before I was supposed to leave!”
“Idiot” Adrian giggled.
“Ugh I didn’t even pack everything properly, my mums are gonna have to send the rest by owl” He said, covering his face with his hands. “Speaking of Adrian, you're
gonna have to let me borrow a set of robes.”
“Totally”
The rest of the ride went by as usual, the Slytherins laughed and ate every type of sweet the trolley offered. Daphne and Pansy were comforted by the fact that they were both offered Prefect and Head girl roles for Slytherin so they would get to handle their responsibilities together which would make them much more enjoyable. Adrian and Blaise on the other hand kept trying to convince Daphne to reject the prefect position to join the Quidditch team instead, while Pansy pretended to be offended for not being considered. Some people just weren't born to be athletic.
It’s not like either of them would take the deal anyway. Prefect and Head roles are the most prestigious roles one could be offered at Hogwarts, with Quidditch captain at a close second (which Adrian was honored with this year). Both of them were met with adoration and congratulations from their families after sharing the news, it would be too disappointing if they were to reject the offer. Besides, they would have the responsibilities of organizing the major school functions - dances, quidditch games, Hogsmeade schedules - and enforcing the important rules, which honestly, Daphne didn’t think she trusted anyone else to do. I mean, If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. Overall though, she was pleased with the selection for Slytherin: her and Tracy Davis for prefects and Pansy and Theo Nott as Heads was a dream team. All of them were just relieved that someone incompetent like Malfoy couldn’t buy out a spot this time.
Her thoughts were quickly interrupted by Adrian.
“Ok don’t make it obvious that we’re talking about her but why is Mahi Kaur staring into our compartment like that?” He noticed.
Daphne blushed and looked away, not wanting to acknowledge the Hufflepuff in any way. But Blaise spoke up for her, the bloody git. “Probably looking at Daphne, they hooked up at one of the Kaur-Singh brunches.”
Immediately the other two started questioning her.
“How’d it happen this time!”
“I didn’t know she was into girls!”
“So how was it?”
“Do you fancy her?”
“OK OK calm down! Don’t make it obvious my arse! First of all, I just didn’t really have anyone at that brunch since Blaise left me alone to go talk to Theo all evening, and I don’t think she really cared for anyone there either and we had talked in charms because of that one project so we kind of just spent the brunch together. And I didn’t know she was into girls either but she looked so fit in her sundress that I couldn’t pass up the opportunity so I started flirting and she started flirting back, and one thing led to another and eventually we got to her room. And yeah, it was really good." Daphne felt an intense feeling overtake her stomach as she recalled the memory of Mahi's mouth on her own... and her neck, and breasts, and countless other places she shouldn't be thinking about near her friends. "She was really sweet… she even fixed my hair afterward.” She rambled quickly, saying the last part a little more sheepishly.
“But do you fancy her?” Pansy pressed on further
“Well, I fancy kissing her.”
Disappointed, Adrian commented. “Not that I think that you should pursue anything if nothing there, but poor girl, I think she’s actually into you now and you just wanted to hook up.”
Sighing, Daphne tilted her head down, looking ashamed. She felt like she had to make the confession eventually, so quietly she admitted “She said that she fancied me a little because of the project and that It- It was her first time.”
“DAPHNE!” everyone scolded in unison.
Blaise continued, “No hate to you for liking to hook up, but now you’ve gone and made her first time with someone who doesn’t even fancy them!”
“Well I feel really guilty about it ok! And it’s not like I knew either! She decided to let me know the next day through owl post! I wouldn’t have made a move if I had known that!”
“And? What did you say?” Blaise wondered while the other two listened intently.
“I didn’t reply back.” She grumbled through her teeth. Adrian was about to say something but Daphne cut them off. “And before any of you say anything, I didn’t know what to say ok! And I think cutting her off is a lot easier for the both of us. This way she gets her answer without having to be outright rejected and I don’t have to deal with it!”
They glanced over to see Mahi turned back to her friends looking somber, seemingly now aware of Daphne's unrequited feelings for her.
Pansy sighed, “Daph, I love you, and you can try and rationalize all you want, but face it, you kinda suck in this situation love.” When she saw her guilt overtake her friend's face however, she had to concede. “Whatever, don’t beat yourself up about it. It was probably just a little crush and you're right, it’s not like you knew anyway. Besides she’s cute, she’ll probably get plenty of other girls this year and forget about you.”
Just then, the Hogwarts express pulled into the castle and everyone rushed off to start off the new year. The quadruplet laughed at how small Adrian’s robes looked on Blaise, who was easily the tallest of the group, and excitedly made their way to the great hall. Daphne was suddenly too aware of the way that the castle - which seemed infinite when they were all first years - felt smaller every year. The feeling of getting older slammed into her forcefully and was only exacerbated by watching the first years make their way into the boats to prepare for their sorting ceremony.
She smiled and waved to her own sister after finding her, even though the dimly lit lake, but Astoria seemed too occupied and excited to notice. Of course, she and Blaise had assured her that it wouldn’t matter what house she got sorted into, even if it was bloody Gryffindor (though they did warn they would make fun of her for at least a semester if that happened) and that her academic focus was much more important. But secretly Daphne hoped it was her own house, it would be easier to keep an eye on her that way.
Finally, they adjusted into their normal spots on the Slytherin table and prepared themselves for the coming year.