The Slytherin Princess

FIVE

The day had been a long one, and as Anthraxia sat down with Harry, Hermione, and Ron at the Gryffindor table, she felt as though her eyelids had weights on them. The story of Potions and what happened after had been recounted far too many times to count, but Hermione and Ron were still asking about it. Anthraxia stayed silent and let Harry talk. She didn't want to talk about the way Malfoy had played his little game with her, the way Malfoy's blood left stains on the floor, the scars on his wrists. Every now and then she would look up to see him staring at her intently. It was no longer the envious, respectful glare, but it had melted into a more addled, troubled look. His nose, albeit free of blood, was still a little crooked. Madam Pomfrey worked fast, but not that fast.

"So then Harry just socked him in the face?!" Repeated Ron, incredulous.
Harry rolled his eyes.
"Honestly, Ron, you make me sound like Superman. It wasn't that dramatic."
Ron looked wary.
"What's Superman?"he asked. Hermione and Harry, having been brought up in the muggle world, just snorted. Ron's lack of knowledge about things even as simple as tv remotes was hard not to find hilarious.

Anthraxia looked down at her food. The rich tomato soup gave off plumes of heavily scented tomatoes and cream, but she wasn't hungry. The table jolted next to her, and she looked up. Ambrosia swung her long, fishnet clad legs onto the bench and reached up to the ceiling to stretch, bones crinkling.
"Oh! Hello, Rosia! What brings you to the Gryffindor table? I thought I was the only reject." Anthraxia grinned.
Rosia smiled back, and gestured around lazily.
"Oh, this and that. The Slytherins are all talking about you, by the way. You're hardly a reject, they would kiss your feet if you asked them to. They're all having a conference on how to make Malfoy apologise. God forbid that they be in your bad books, huh?" She reached out to Ron's plate and plucked a French fry out of his mountain of food. Her nails were painted black and red.
Anthraxia was surprised.
"I wouldn't have thought he had told them what happened. I mean, would he not be even slightly embarrassed?" she pondered.
Ambrosia looked confused.
"Why would he be embarrassed? I mean, he only called you your nickname, and you got pissed off."
Anthraxia's jaw dropped. What a tosser! Just like him to try and keep his reputation. She couldn't believe he had lied to them!
"That is ridiculous! That's not what happened at all! When we got held back, Draco had to smell his potion as punishment for botching it, and it smelt awful. Then, he smelt Harry and I's, and he said it smelt of lime blossom and pine trees. I went for a walk in the pine forest this morning, and my perfume is lime blossom. Anyways, I think he's lying, because Harry thinks that Draco thinks that just because I'm in Slytherin, he's got some sort of ridiculous claim to me! So he probably said that to make me think he likes me, to gain my trust. So, we got outside, and he called me Thraxia, which was the last straw. I was about to hex him, and then he tried to bloody kiss me. I'm sure that that was just playing his stupid game; he would never do that. And then Harry broke his nose, and that's that. I can't believe he would lie!"
Anthraxia finished, breathless. Having finally got her side of the story off her chest, her appetite returned with a vengeance, and she set to aggressively slurping soup in Malfoy's direction. Meanwhile, Rosia looked dumbfounded.
"That is so like him, to want to save face even with a broken nose. I mean, you have a short temper, but I doubt even you would break his nose for calling you a nickname. What a tosser!" She shook her head, and turned towards Malfoy, glaring.
Rosia whirled back around, eyes gleaming.
"I have an incredible idea."
Anthraxia looked up from her soup, sceptical.
"Let's have a party. In the Slytherin common room tonight. I have firewhiskey, everybody knows about Malfoy's vodka mini fridge and if you're up to it, he'll probably have some coke, the Weasley twins are the school plugs, so we're sorted for most things, and, you can piss off Malfoy by having the time of your life. Without him!"
A smile cracked on Thraxia's face. She wasn't one to turn down a party, and honestly, she needed this.
"That sounds absolutely perfect. Let's spread the word. Hey, Harry! Party in the Slytherin common room tonight. It's a Friday, so no excuses. Invite anyone!" Harry grinned, and turned to Ron and Hermione. Hermione grumbled, but Thraxia could tell that it was just for appearance sake; Hermione couldn't help but laugh in excitement.
Ambrosia got up and beckoned to Thraxia, and they walked down to the exit doors, dropping past people on the way to tell them. Then, flashing one last double glare at Malfoy, they ran off to the Slytherin common room.