they were just kids [draco malfoy]

Year 5 - 77

Hogsmeade trips had always been highly anticipated amongst the students of Hogwarts. 

For some it was the shops, for some a warm pint of butterbeer, for some it was simply the ability to leave school grounds for the day.

Astrid had come to enjoy Hogsmead visits for a highly different reason.

Pawning.

Ever since the previous Valentine's day when Daphne and Astrid had gone to the pawnshop in need of some money for the love potions, the two had been returning to the small place once every two or three visits, bringing in new stuff to sell. Astrid had developed a steady relationship with the pawner and whenever he saw the smiling girl enter, he already knew he had to put up his highest business game because the girl didn't come to joke around. 

Pawning was one thing Astrid really enjoyed because of the challenging back and forth she had to hold up, convincing the man of the worth of the object. And the girl truly was good at it. Not only could she sell Daphne's gifts for higher money than the average person would, but the girl could also convince the pawnshop owner to sell her things far cheaper than he had set his original price on them.

As much as the man hated it whenever the girl just came in persuading him of things that weren't even there, he just as much adored the younger girl and awaited her visits almost eagerly.

The scrawny pawnshop wasn't visited often and receiving visits from as talkative of a girl as that was surely always entertaining. Plus, not to mention that shortly after the girl left the shop, some other students liked coming in just to see what her visits were all about. 

Not many knew the value of the pawnshop for they considered it to be old, dirty, creepy or cheap. Astrid liked the understandable mess it held and more often than not found things there that she would not have found shopping in a regular shop.

Daphne and Astrid had a nearly flawless plot of making money. Daphne seduced things out of other people, Astrid opened her mouth and sold them. Both girls had their fun in it and thought it absolutely lovely.

Though Astrid couldn't help but notice Daphne's methods were getting a little out of hand - too many guys, too many unworn pieces of jewellery, too much of everything. Astrid was a little worried her friend would get lost in all of the mind games she played.

"Wait... you stole that?"

Take this moment for example.

The two were walking down one of the cobbled paths in Hogsmeade, nearing the pawnshop to sell the two new things Daphne had gotten. One was a golden necklace Daphne had gotten at the beginning of September off of some naïve third-year (as horrid as it sounds, Daphne had taken some richer younger lads under her wing as well, finding it easier to trick them while they were blinded by the fact she was an older girl interested in them). The other was this ring which as Astrid had just found out had been stolen.

"Don't you think that's taking it a bit too far?"

"It's just this one thing," Daphne sighed, rolling the object across her palm, recalling how she had gotten it. "He was being a knob alright." The lad had dropped her, rightfully accusing her of using him and rudely expressed how he was sick of the blonde. "It's not like I'm going to do it again..."

Astrid looked to the side at her friend to find her flawlessly shiny blonde hair hiding her face as she looked down at her perfectly manicured light grey nails. Astrid had learned Daphne watched her nails when she was either bored or nervous. 

The latter was the case in the given situation. 

"Wonder when I'll be obliged to snog them to make them stay," the blonde laughed, though her voice held little humour. It was a genuine concern of hers. "You know, they get more demanding as they grow up. Almost as if I'm obliged to give them something. I mean maybe I sorta am..." the girl kept picking at her fingernails trying to convince herself she wasn't entirely in the wrong. "But it's not like I told you I would snog you when you gave me that necklace. It was your idea."