After the Christmas holidays began, I, Draco Malfoy, found myself with one more source of worry.
Naturally, it was not about me. Pansy, being a young lady of the Parkinson family that belonged to the Sacred Twenty-Eight, danced perfectly. Of course, Elaina was not causing any trouble either, and Daphne and the others were enjoying their dates normally and finding partners without issue.
The problem was…
"You still haven't found partners yet…?"
Yes, the source of my troubles was the two problem cases among the Slytherin boys: Crabbe and Goyle, who were stuffing their faces with sweets right in front of me.
"You know, even Nott managed to ask someone."
And his partner was Estelle Rosier, a Hufflepuff prefect. Granted, she probably found it hard to refuse since the introduction came from Cedric and Elaina, but the fact that she agreed to go with someone like Nott suggested she had poor judgment. That said, she was not from a distinguished family, so it was none of my concern.
"At least you must have someone you're interested in, right? I might be able to help, so just say it."
But both of them merely watched my expression and hesitated, clearly unwilling to speak.
"Don't be weirdly shy. You're not kids anymore. Even if you have a girl you like, nobody's going to make fun of you."
When I urged them impatiently, they both hesitantly opened their mouths.
"Fleur."
"Elaina."
"Say that in your sleep."
The two of them stared wide-eyed and looked utterly betrayed. I patiently lectured them.
"Alright, I get that you like silver-haired girls. But there are things in this world that can't be solved by feelings alone."
Elaina had already paired up with Cedric Diggory, and Fleur Delacour had finally decided on Roger Davies as her partner recently. While it was not impossible to apply later and steal someone away, considering who the opponents were, it would be far too reckless.
"More importantly, you've barely even talked to Fleur, let alone Elaina, have you?"
"But we're in the same house…"
"And the same age."
In any case, it was clear their chances were zero.
So, that was that.
"Sorry, but can't you do something about this?"
I brought the two problem children to the common room and bowed my head to Elaina and the others, who were animatedly discussing dresses.
"It's already one week before Christmas. Why did you leave it this long?"
"Well, that's…"
I glanced at Pansy, and our eyes met. My ears burned, and I instinctively lowered my gaze in embarrassment. Pansy blushed as well and quickly looked away.
"Ah, I see."
Elaina understood instantly.
Daphne and Tracy teased us with comments like "Ah, young love" and "Do your best, boy," until a bright-red Pansy snapped back with, "Shut up!"
Well, um… after all the twists and turns, since I had accepted Pansy's offer to be my partner, I had a duty to prioritize her at least until Christmas.
So when Pansy invited me with things like "Want to study together tonight?" or "Let's play chess, just the two of us," nodding in agreement was simply my obligation.
"Ahem… anyway, about Crabbe and Goyle."
I pulled myself together and got back on topic.
"Isn't there anyone?"
"If there were, it'd be a miracle."
Millicent shrugged, and Lily Moon wore a faintly mocking expression.
"I mean, with Christmas only a week away, there's no way any Slytherin girl wouldn't already have a partner, right?"
This may sound like boasting, but Slytherin House, being an elite house, has many popular boys and girls. That is no coincidence. We Slytherins understand that popularity translates directly into power.
If you can attract many high-caliber partners, your useful connections expand as well. If you catch the favor of a student from a powerful pure-blood family, rising in status overnight is not just a dream.
That is why children from pure-blood noble families are drilled in refined manners and conversation from a young age, and their spending power on makeup, fashion, and gifts is on a completely different level.
On the other hand, half-blood students, even if they lack inherited wealth, or perhaps because they lack it, often harbor ambitions of social climbing through romance or marriage, and they never neglect honing their beauty or their tactics.
Compared to clueless Gryffindors, all-talk Ravenclaws, or boring Hufflepuffs, this is yet another area where the difference shows.
"Draco is asking you! Do something!"
When Pansy shouted, the girls reluctantly began to think it over.
"Elaina, do you have any good ideas?"
"I've already introduced pretty much everyone I know…"
"Yeah. And even if there are girls left, we don't really know them."
Just as it seemed hopeless, something happened.
"Huh? Daphne, you're unusually quiet today."
Tracy Davis narrowed her fox-like eyes and singled out Daphne, who was hiding behind Millicent.
"That's not true at all?"
"Oh, wait. Come to think of it…"
Seeing Daphne try to dodge the issue with awkward, broken speech and a cold sweat, Tracy seemed to realize something. A mischievous, sadistic smile spread across Tracy's cunning face, and Daphne cried out in a panic.
"Wait, Tracy, not that…!"
But Pansy covered Daphne's mouth, and prompted by this, Tracy grinned broadly and said,
"If they're younger, aren't there still a few left?"
Daphne collapsed to her knees with a look of despair.
"T-that's cruel… my little sister is only twelve, and to offer such a child as a sacrifice…"
Daphne put on a strange village-folk act, but Elaina and Millicent merely replied, "Sorry, but please be a sacrifice for the sake of Slytherin Village," offering no help at all.
Only Pansy's eyes sparkled as if she had found the perfect solution.
"Tracy, you're a genius! If that's the case, I'll go get Astoria right now!"
"Hey, if Daphne doesn't like it, we don't have to force it that far…"
But before I could finish, Pansy had already marched off to the lower years' dormitories.
"So, here they are! Three beautiful younger Slytherin girls with no boyfriends!"
The ones Pansy brought back were Daphne's younger sister Astoria and the Carrow twins. All three were pure-bloods connected to the Sacred Twenty-Eight, with impeccable lineage and looks.
If anything, they were too impeccable, which made it feel impossible instead.
If they were half-bloods from ordinary families, they might reluctantly accept out of deference to Pansy, a member of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. But Astoria and the Carrow twins were of equal standing, so they had no reason to hold back.
"I see. I've heard the situation."
Astoria crossed her arms and narrowed her blue eyes, appraising Crabbe, Goyle, and then me in turn. Feeling awkward, I looked down and avoided her gaze.
But the words that came from Astoria's mouth were unexpected.
"I don't mind."
"W-what!?"
Her easy acceptance left both the boys and girls utterly stunned. Daphne rushed over in a panic.
"Astoria, are you sure? Are you being threatened with your parents' safety or something?"
"If it comes to that, Father and Mother would repel any assassin."
But, she continued, addressing Daphne's anxious look,
"I am also a member of the prestigious Greengrass family. If there are fellow housemates in need, stepping forward to help is precisely the duty of one born into a pure-blood noble house."
"…!"
Her honorable way of thinking and speaking, delivered as if it were only natural, left everyone from pure-blood noble families looking utterly shaken.
Astoria then swept her abundant blonde hair back and turned to the Carrow twins.
"Hestia and Flora, do you have partners?"
Hestia hurriedly spoke up.
"Um, actually, I have a boyfriend."
One of the trio was already eliminated.
"Oh? And who might that be?"
"Lucian Bole, a senior."
"You were dating Urquhart until summer, so that's fairly recent."
"Yes, yes. It's only been about two weeks, but we started going on dates last month, and I ended up falling for him."
Then Astoria turned her gaze to the remaining twin, Flora Carrow.
"Flora?"
"If Pansy-senpai really insists, then I don't particularly mind."
Flora replied languidly. Unlike Hestia, her energy was low, but the fact that she was willing to take on a troublesome matter out of familiarity suggested that she was a good person at heart.
"Then it's settled."
Astoria turned to face Crabbe and Goyle, stepped closer, and looked up at them.
"So then, though it would be presumptuous of me to say that we will serve as your partners, there are conditions."
Astoria sharply raised a finger and pointed it at Crabbe and Goyle. She was trying to look intimidating, but since she could not quite reach the two large boys, she had to stretch up slightly, which only made her seem childlike.
"If you are to be our partners, disgraceful dancing will not be tolerated. Do you understand?"
Astoria declared this in a tone that allowed no objections. After that, her actions were swift.
"One, two, three, four, turn here!"
Pansy's voice echoed through the empty classroom.
"One, two, three, four, boys lift your partners!"
"One, two, three, four, hold it right there!"
From the moment the Christmas holidays began, Astoria had organized dance lessons, and Crabbe and Goyle were being thoroughly put through their paces. Pansy handled the actual instruction, pointing out problems as needed.
"Goyle, your footwork is lagging behind!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
"Crabbe, did you even memorize the choreography properly!?"
"Yes, ma'am!"
Incidentally, it was not just the two problem children who had been gathered here.
"Nott, posture first. Straighten your back!"
"My apologies…"
"Estelle-senpai, please don't be unnecessarily shy. Halfhearted movements just end up being more embarrassing."
"Yes, I'll be careful…"
Right beside the two troublemakers, Nott and Estelle-senpai were letting out silent screams as Millicent tore into them. Many other students were also receiving instruction from Daphne and the other students from pure-blood noble families.
"Elaina, maybe put a bit more emotion into it?"
"That's a bit vague…"
"It's like you're dancing with your head instead of your body."
The one instructing the Elaina and Diggory pair was Daphne Greengrass. All three of them were powerful figures who sat near the top of Hogwarts' social hierarchy, but when it came to this kind of cultural refinement, the difference in upbringing inevitably showed.
"Watch for a moment, I'll dance a bit."
Leading her partner, Anthony Goldstein, Daphne executed a graceful turn. Her movements were so elegant that it was hard to imagine them coming from her usual frivolous demeanor, and once again I was reminded that she truly was a young lady of a pure-blood noble family.
Yet she was neither stiff nor showy. Her movements were natural and, for lack of a better word, practiced.
"For Elaina, I think you're trying too hard to follow the textbook, which makes your movements a bit stiff. It's fine if it breaks down a little, so next time try moving in a way that feels more comfortable."
"Understood."
"And Cedric-senpai, you're paying a bit too much attention to your surroundings."
"I know, but I'd hate to bump into another pair, and once I start thinking about that, it distracts me."
"In that case, just pull Elaina close with momentum so you don't collide, and keep a bold attitude."
"That tactic sounds like something Flint mentioned somewhere last year…"
"Alright! Let's take a break here."
At Pansy's signal, the members unaccustomed to dancing all relaxed at once.
"I'm so tired…"
"My legs are tighter than I expected…"
As the students who had pushed their bodies in unfamiliar ways collapsed onto the floor, I walked over to Astoria and spoke to her.
"Are you alright? Dealing with those two must be tough."
"Yes, it's more difficult than I imagined."
Despite her complaints, Astoria's expression was bright. I had to admire her.
I knew very well how difficult it was to look after Crabbe and Goyle. In fact, even I had nearly given up on them recently.
"I never thought you'd go this far."
I looked at her, who had grown just a little taller than last year.
She could have chosen to refuse dancing.
Originally, since she was not physically strong, she had planned to return home with the other lower-year students. That path was open to her too. So why did she deliberately choose the more troublesome one?
"You've always disliked these frivolous parties, haven't you?"
"Yes… a mistake of youth."
Thinking that her attempt to act mature was precisely what made her a child, I silently prompted her to continue.
"It's true that, with my physical handicap caused by the Blood Curse, one could say I'm not suited for this."
"I get tired quickly," Astoria added.
"That's why I tried to convince myself that things beyond my reach were not worth reaching for in the first place. But in the end, I realized that was nothing more than sour grapes."
Of course, even if you stretch out your hand with all your might, there are things you still cannot obtain. But those who do obtain what they desire surely kept reaching out until the very end.
"Right now, I want to enjoy my school life to the fullest. As if the Blood Curse never existed, I want to enjoy the things everyone else looks forward to, just like they do."
As if reclaiming what she had previously dismissed as worthless, Astoria was clearly giving it her all now.
"But that's not all."
Astoria looked straight at my face and smiled softly.
"If there is anyone still smoldering the way I once was, I want to extend a hand so they can step forward, just like you did for me last year."
"…That did happen, didn't it?"
Somehow, I felt like I understood why she had taken on the role of partner for Crabbe and Goyle. There was the noble cause of duty as a pure-blood family, no doubt, but it was surely not just that.
Probably, Astoria simply wanted everyone to enjoy themselves together. That would surely be more fun. She had learned that here at Hogwarts.
"When you put it like that, I can't exactly slack off on my own job…"
The job assigned to me was training another problem child. That one had been late from the very first session and still had not even shown up in the classroom.
"I'm sure you can do it, Malfoy-senpai. In fact, you should really astonish everyone around you."
"Yeah. I'll show Beauxbatons and Durmstrang what the true resolve of a pure-blood noble family looks like."
When I said it half-jokingly, Astoria smiled happily.
"…By the way, there's actually something I've been curious about for a while."
Suddenly, as if she had just remembered, Astoria changed the subject, leaning in closer.
"…What is it?"
"Well, um…"
Her refined face was slightly flushed, and on top of that she suddenly began fidgeting, which somehow made me restless too.
"Well, about Pansy-senpai…"
"Hm?"
"H-how far have you gone?"
Ah. She really is Daphne's little sister.
(End of chapter)
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