The Allure of Darkness

Devotion

Great Hall [December 21st]

Daphne placed her bag carefully on the bench as she sat down, resisting the urge to throw it across the table in her anger. She smoothed down her skirt as she took her usual place beside Hadrian, refusing to look at him as she reached for a slice of toast.

"Good morning," He smiled at her, and it took everything in her power not to slam his face down into the plate of food in front of him. Instead, she simply smiled back at him forcefully, but made no other move to acknowledge or respond to his greeting.

Shockingly, it was Draco who picked up on her sour mood and he raised an eyebrow in question. She shook her head subtly, and he frowned.

Daphne was perfectly content seething in her own thoughts in silence as she tuned out the conversation around her, but then he spoke.

"Daphne, Padma wanted me to thank you for the pair of shoes you helped her pick out. She said she had a great time and would love to do it again," Hadrian almost purred at her, watching her face carefully for any reaction.

She stopped stabbing at her strawberries and gritted her teeth together, forcing out a pleasant, "It was no problem, Hadrian. Hermione and I had fun."

His resulting smirk was absolutely wicked. "I'm pleased to hear that." He took a bite of his food and chewed thoughtfully for a moment before adding, "Perhaps next time we could make it a double date, of sorts. Me and Padma, of course, and you and­– "He paused and pretended to frown, "Who was it you decided to attend the ball with, again?"

Daphne almost snapped her fork in half.

"Funny you ask that, actually," She said flatly. She turned to Draco with a neutral expression on her face, "I think I might accept your invitation to escort me to the ball after all, Draco. Seeing as I received some terrible news about my original date just this morning, and unfortunately, he is no longer able to attend."

"Oh?" Hadrian made a sound of polite interest, "If you don't mind me asking, what happened?"

Her shoulders stiffened as she reluctantly said, "Ivan suffered a dreadful fall down an entire staircase. Madam Pomfrey said he was lucky to be breathing after it."

He shook his head sympathetically, "How awful. Those second-floor stairs can be quite tricky if you aren't used to them moving on you."

"Why, Hadrian," She fixed him with a cool look, slowly setting down her fork, "I don't believe I ever mentioned which stairs he'd fallen down."

His eyes glinted with some kind of underlying sick amusement as he shrugged, "Lucky guess, I suppose."

Slytherin Dormitory [December 25th]

Someone pounded on his door for what felt like the billionth time that hour, and Hadrian audibly groaned in frustration. He reluctantly grabbed his wand and dropped his wards, allowing the door to finally swing open. Draco Malfoy stepped through immediately with a peeved expression on his face, looking perfectly coiffed and ever the pureblood prince in his tailored black dress robes.

His eyes briefly lingered on the crisp silver tie that hung around the blond's neck and he frowned, "Aren't you supposed to be wearing a black tie?"

Draco faltered in his steps, momentarily forgetting his annoyance, "Well, you're–uh–supposed to match your date's dress color, you know?" From Hadrian's blank expression, Draco quickly deduced it was something his friend did not know. He averted his gaze and mumbled, "And since Daphne and I are together– "

"You're just going together, you mean," Hadrian interrupted with a raised brow.

"Yes, of course," Draco corrected himself. "Doesn't your tie match Padma's robes?" He asked.