The Crown of Thorns was a notoriously painful way to die. The wizarding way, that is. When placed atop a witch or wizard's head, it would dig in its poisonous spines and constrict its red vines slowly, always slowly. It hadn't been used for executio...
Draco Malfoy was the drunkest Eloise had ever seen him. Which was saying something, because, at the first three annual Ministry Christmas parties she'd attended, he'd had the same objective: Drink as much as possible and avoid the many women trying to introduce their daughters to him. The impatient women trying to auction their daughters of varying ages from appropriate to horrifying had died down a bit when he'd briefly dated Astoria Greengrass, a witch two years their junior from a fairly well-known wizarding family, but that had fizzled out along with the short-lived romance.
"Mate, you're aware you're hiding behind a tree, right?" Charlie asked, endlessly amused by Draco's antics.
"Bloody fuck," Draco waved around his hands extravagantly, shooting Charlie a positively murderous look that was only partially undercut by the unfocused nature of his grey eyes. "Announce it to the whole room, why don't you?"
Theodore Nott curled his lip in Draco's direction, taking a long sip from his flute of sparkling something-or-other before flicking a limp-wristed hand in the direction of Draco's emerald green dress robes that were gathering dust. "You're getting all dirty. Stop acting like an inbred - "
Eloise barked out a laugh, rubbing at her throbbing temples, "Please stop, Theo. I haven't drunk nearly enough to stand the needling comments yet."
"Everyone's a critic," Theo grumbled in that haughty tone of his. Letting his eyes drift around the ballroom until his eyes were caught elsewhere, he shuffled off with a flourish of his embroidered blue dress robes, a new prey in his sights.
Eloise and Charlie watched his retreat with matching amused expressions as Theo descended on an unguarded Percy Weasley. The friendship between those two had been nothing short of jaw-dropping for everyone. Eloise still had no idea how the hell Percy managed to stand in the presence of a constantly-preening Theo without laughing himself out of the room, let alone handling the moods the Slytherin went through before the full moon each month.
"Where's Zabini?" Eloise asked Draco absently, still watching Theo and Percy chat amenably across the room as if Theo wasn't as charming as a rich corpse. "At least he has a sense of humour."
"He's still avoiding you." Draco's voice was sort of muffled. When she looked back at him, the blonde was working his way into becoming one with the tree, branches shaking, and ornaments coming dangerously close to falling off.
"That's your fault, Malfoy, if I remember correctly." Draco just sniggered. Eloise sighed. "As much as I hate agreeing with Theo, he has a point. You're more conspicuous doing this than just telling the total of maybe five witches tonight that you aren't interested in marrying their daughter or granddaughter or cousin or whatever. You look ridiculous."
When he didn't respond but instead rustled into the tree further, Eloise turned an exasperated look on Charlie. Charlie who was so red from holding in his laughter that he could've been a tomato.
"Wait," He raised a finger like he was about to pull a rabbit out of a hat. "I have this." He cleared his throat and raised his voice just enough that Draco could hear it over the music and ruckus he was making, "Wait, is that Hermione? Merlin, she looks beautiful tonight, doesn't she, El?"
It was as if Draco materialized at Eloise's side, the glassiness in his eyes notably absent as he straightened his cuffs and smoothed the wrinkles in his robes. He didn't say a word, but both Eloise and Charlie stared at him expectantly, waiting for something. Some sort of acknowledgement.
But it never came. Eloise knew it wouldn't.
Draco's eyes scanned the crowd, eventually stopping his perusal as his eyes locked on the open bar, and he muttered some excuse before he was off to binge-drink once more.
"Hermione and Ron have been split for six months. Do you think he'll ever ... " Eloise trailed off, watching Charlie's thoughtful expression.
"That'll be the day. I don't think Draco Malfoy has seen a day in his life where it was acceptable to feel anything."
Eloise laughed a little awkwardly, her stomach pulling at the sentiment. Over the years her friendship with Draco had slowly flourished, along with the sympathy she felt for him at times. She'd never admit it to him; he wouldn't want her pity, but that didn't stop that tug of pain in her gut for him every time she saw him, and he was just as miserable as he'd always been.
"He keeps refusing Sprout's offer to hire him as a professor. Hell, we both know he'd be a head of house in no time. I don't know why he stays in that dingy basement." Eloise mused to herself.
"I would tell you that the Department of Mysteries isn't some dingy basement, but I've never heard anything denying it." Charlie clasped her hand in his and gave it a little squeeze. "Now, come on, let's dance and mingle. I have to be back in Wales in the morning, and you have classes to prepare for, and we haven't seen our friends in weeks."
Eloise allowed the warm smile to spread over her lips as she squeezed his hand in answer. "You get one dance. Then we need to track down Susan. I think I saw her by the refreshment table twenty minutes ago."
Charlie led her through the mingling groups of older Ministry workers and elites that couldn't be bothered to use the large dancefloor to its full potential, "Ah yes, I did too. She was in combat robes if I remember correctly, underdressed as always. I don't think I'll ever get used to that eye of hers."
Eloise snorted, "Don't let her hear you say that. She and Zabini have been on call for that new case of theirs. Greyback has been spotted three separate times this month."
Charlie's lips twisted in worry as he pulled her close, up against his large chest, leading her to the lilting music that played from the goblin string quartet in the corner. "Nowhere near Hogsmeade?"
"No, more so in Muggle settlements, which means even more of a headache."
He nodded, and his gaze turned down as he fingered the thin, glittering strap of her silvery dress. He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her jaw before murmuring in her ear, "You look lovely tonight."
Eloise moved her hand from his shoulder to brush over one of the fresher burns that licked over the corner of his chin, probably no bigger than her fingernail, but it had been the first thing she'd noticed when he'd returned home to their flat in Hogsmeade for Christmas break. "Handsome as always, Weasley."
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