Parvati Prevails

Chapter Four: Malfoy Manners

Where you going honey

You got the flow

So why would you want to be leaving?

Think again honey

It's not the end

The loving that you've been receiving

Don't you know

You got it

Don't you know

I want it

Don't u know

I'm begging for more

Can't believe what I'm seeing

Cant you see what I'm feeling?

Tonight is our night girl for sure

'Ahem,' said Parvati unsteadily. 'Erm...yeah...we should really get going.'

Draco shrugged elegantly. 'If you like.'

The few students that were making their way down the steps were giving them odd looks. Parvati noticed Hermione and Ron coming out of the entrance.

'Hi Parvati,' Hermione greeted. 'Malfoy,' she added stiffly.

Draco ignored her.

'Hi Hermione,' said Parvati. 'Hey Ron.'

'Hi,' said Ron, staring at Draco rather coolly. Parvati was fairly impressed, he was being unexpectedly calm. Then again, she reflected, Ron had never really liked her all that much.

'Are you guys going in together?' Parvati asked innocently.

'What?' cried Ron, flustered. 'No! You mean-I- we're not-I-I didn't-'

'Harry's coming down to meet us later,' explained Hermione, looking mutinous as Ron's face turned into an unattractive motley of bright crimson and purple. 'We'd better get going. See you later.'

'Bye,' waved Parvati, holding back giggles as Hermione dragged off a thoroughly uncomfortable Ron down the path.

'You're being nice today, no insults or anything,' she remarked to Draco, once they had left. 'I'm impressed.'

'Yes,' agreed Draco sourly. 'I'd take it back if I could. I think I'm suffering from withdrawal symptoms. If only there was a Gryffindor handy I could pick on...

Parvati pretended to not be amused and carried on walking.

'Hufflepuffs!' cried Draco gleefully as they reached the line of students at the school gates.

'Hi Ernie, Hi Hannah,' said Parvati in her nicest voice. Ernie didn't even turn around, but Hannah tucked back her honey-blonde hair behind one ear and gave a thin smile.

'Hey Parvati,' she replied warily. 'Malfoy.'

Draco glared at her. 'Don't talk to me.'

'Draco!' snapped Parvati.

'What?' said Draco incredulously. 'It's a Hufflepuff!'

Hannah looked near tears. She and Ernie quickly moved away.

'You're absolutely horrible,' accused Parvati, unimpressed.

'Thank you,' Draco preened. 'I'm glad you noticed. It's intentional.'

'Insufferable git,' added Parvati, but her lips were already curving into a half-smile.

'You know, that's not the first time someone's said something like that to me.'

'And it won't be the last time either, I'm sure.'

Parvati turned to see who the speaker was. Who else but the lovelier, wittier version of herself? Well, possibly not. Ravenclaws weren't exactly famous for their great sense of humour, as they tended to crack jokes understood only by other Ravenclaws and Hermione.

'Draco, this is Padma,' said Parvati.

'Oh, the smart one,' said Draco.

Padma smiled modestly.

Parvati wanted to kick her.

'Padma, Draco,' she finished stiffly.

'But of course you've already heard of me,' Draco added to Padma.

'Yes,' she agreed. 'Nothing good.'

'That's a relief,' he answered. 'I was afraid you'd get the wrong impression.'

Padma laughed, and her sister suddenly noticed just how bloody irritating the noise was, even though she'd heard it all her life. Parvati wisely chose to ignore the fact that their laughs sounded exactly the same.

'It was terrible meeting you, Draco,' said Padma, still giggling. 'My friends are up ahead, so I'll see you later, Parvati.'

'Yeah. Bye,' said Parvati with a tad more enthusiasm than was necessary.

'Something tells me you're not pleased,' remarked Draco. 'Why not? I was nice to her. Isn't that what you wanted?'

'I wouldn't have minded if you had been horrible,' Parvati replied. 'But never mind. I guess it's a good thing you like my sister, anyway.'

'Of course I like your sister,' he smirked. 'Who wouldn't like gorgeous twins?'

'No one, I guess,' said Parvati, thinking that maybe Harry and Ron Weasley didn't count. Draco certainly would have said so.

'Where are we going?' she asked, as they reached the small, comfortable village and the crooked sign at its entrance: Welcome To Hogsmeade. Parvati recognised the familiar scents wafting over from a nearby bakery.

'That smells nice,' Draco commented, sniffing appreciatively.

'It's coming from the little bakery. They sell the nicest pastries there. Do you want to try?'

'Sure, why not?'

It was warm inside, and Parvati hadn't had breakfast yet. Fat, freshly baked loaves sat steaming in baskets, and beneath them were endless rows of sweet-looking cakes and slices. Parvati was starving, and there was a mouth-watering, swirly caramel and chocolate tart on display.

The pretty witch at the counter greeted them with a dimpled smile. Draco picked a custard square with lemon icing and Parvati, remembering what Lavender had said about chocolate and spots, asked if she could have a blueberry Danish pastry instead.

Draco smirked sideways at her.

'What?' said Parvati.

'Why didn't you get the chocolate tart?'

She flushed. 'Because I prefer the Danish. I like blueberry.'

'Liar,' he accused. 'I know you want the chocolate tart.'

'I don't want the chocolate tart!' she insisted.

'Get it.'

'No!'

'Get it.'

'Draco, I don't want it!'

'You want the chocolate tart. Just take it.'

'You can't make me take the chocolate tart!'

She ended up getting the chocolate tart. They sat at one of the small tables, away from the other customers and Parvati watched Draco finish off the custard square without spilling a single crumb. His table manners were immaculate, unsurprisingly. They polished off the caramel and chocolate pastry between them, and decided to head over to the Three Broomsticks for Butterbeers.

But as soon as they reached the doors to the small inn, Parvati felt a hand on her shoulder.

'What?' she asked Draco, wondering why they had stopped. Parvati looked in the direction that he was facing, and met the steady silver gaze of Lucius Malfoy.

'Draco!'

'Father,' said Draco. 'What are you doing here?'

'Your mother sent me out for chocolates,' replied Lucius, indicating the neatly wrapped packages in his hands. 'You know she won't have anything but the cream mints from Honeydukes for her guests.'

'You're having a dinner party,' said Draco disinterestedly.

'A small gathering. Nothing big. Your mother doesn't like to make a deal of our anniversary.'

'Of course.'

Parvati resisted the urge to shift from foot to foot, she settled for twisting her hands behind her back and hoped that maybe she had unknowingly blended into the door behind them. No such luck. Lucius lifted his piercing grey eyes and looked directly at her.

'You have been inexcusably ill-mannered, Draco. You have yet to introduce me to your lovely companion. Please, forgive my son his discourtesy, Miss...?'

'Uh, Patil,' she replied nervously. 'My name is-'

'Padma. This is Padma. Padma, my father Lucius.'

Parvati was so shocked that she could barely manage a dazzling smile. It was lucky she was a good actress, otherwise Lucius Malfoy might have been highly suspicious.

'Enchanté e, Miss Padma. Am I right in a assuming that you aren't in Slytherin house?'

'I'm a Ravenclaw.'

'Beauty and brains? I almost think you're too good for Draco.'

'That is true,' agreed Parvati, taking immense satisfaction in the way Draco's fists were clenching and unclenching at his sides. 'But I like to think I'm a good influence on him.'

Lucius laughed, as if caught surprised. 'Perhaps you could teach my son a few things, then.'

'I already have. He's a quick learner, Mr Malfoy.'

'That's good to hear. Miss Patil, you must come to the Manor sometime, Narcissa would be delighted to meet you. Isn't that so, Draco?'

'Naturally,' continued his son in that dull, indifferent voice.

'Well, then it's settled. You must come to our anniversary dinner. Draco, make sure she has all the details, and I'd like a quick word with you if Padma doesn't mind.'

'No, of course not,' said Parvati. 'I'll wait inside.'

'It was a pleasure meeting you, Padma.'

'Likewise.'

Leaving father and son behind, Parvati stepped into the Three Broomsticks and was greeted by the cheerful chatter of the Hogwarts crowd inside. She spotted Ginny Weasley sitting in a corner with...

Zacharias Smith?

'Are you two here alone?' Parvati asked disbelievingly when she reached their table.

'No!' said Ginny quickly. 'We're waiting for people.'

'Don't lie, Ginny,' smirked Zacharias. 'Our chemistry is undeniable.'

'Do you know what else is undeniable?' said Ginny in a dangerous voice. 'The pain you're going to feel when I jam this fork in your eye!'

'So feisty,' remarked Zacharias, eyes glinting.

'You're a nasty little boy who deserves to rot in hell.' Ginny turned to Parvati, 'what are you doing here? I thought you were with Malfoy.'

'She is.'

Parvati turned around to find Draco standing behind her.

'Well, if you both left that would be wonderful,' Zacharias noted.

'Another Hufflepuff,' sniffed Draco with distaste.

'Yup,' agreed the other boy genially. 'There's a surprising amount of us, you know. Sometimes it seems like we're not even there, Hufflepuffs have a tendency to blend into the background, you see. But what most people don't realise, is that if you take away the Hufflepuffs, than all of Hogwarts would be unbearably pointless. There wouldn't be anyone to fear the Slytherins, lose to the Ravenclaws, and least but most important of all worship the heroic Gryffindors. I mean, sure, there's always the Creevey brothers, but two losers can only do so much, you know.'

Draco gave Zacharias a look which seemed to convey both his disdain and loathing of the other boy without having to say a word.

'I think you should leave,' remarked Ginny pointedly.

'I see you've swapped Potter for a Hufflepuff,' Draco said to her. 'I don't know if that's better or worse, Weasley.'

'Oh, definitely worse,' Zacharias piped up mockingly. 'Why did you leave Harry for me, Ginny? That boy is so delicious. I would choose him over me.'

'Yes, we all know you want Harry badly. Do shut up,' snapped Ginny.

'Someone talking about me?'

They all turned around to find Harry, wearing an uncertain smile on his face which immediately disappeared when he spotted Draco there.

'Harry!' said Ginny, startled.

'Harry!' echoed Zacharias, in fake, over-excited tones.

'Malfoy,' snarled Harry, ignoring him. 'What are you doing here?'

'None of your business, Potter.'

By this time, Parvati was feeling only sightly left out of the conversation. She was also still angry at Draco for introducing her to his father as Padma. She was fairly sure he had done it on purpose, not because he'd forgotten her name again this time.

'I'm so sick of this!' she cried exasperatedly, leaving the table and storming off in true Parvati style.

'Now look what you've done,' accused Ginny.

'Oh boo hoo,' sniffed Zacharias contemptuously. 'She's such a drama queen.'

'Would it help you to understand the meaning of "shut up" better if I hexed you, Zacharias?'

Draco left them behind to bicker and stepped out of the door. Predictably, he found Parvati perched sulkily on the edge of a bench nearby. Draco went and silently sat down next to her. Parvati didn't tell him to leave her alone, because she knew he would.

'If you don't want to come to dinner next week, you don't have to,' said Draco. 'Don't let my father force you into it.'

'Why did you tell him I was Padma?'

For the first (and last) time ever, Parvati thought she saw Draco squirm uncomfortably.

'Oh,' he said in a would-be casual way. 'That's not your name?'

She scowled.

'Just kidding,' he added quickly. 'It sounded quite funny before I actually said it.'

'I would imagine that all your jokes do,' Parvati retorted.

'That's not fair,' Draco told her, crossing his arms. 'Come on, Patil. I'm trying to be nice here and I don't think I can last much longer. It's giving me a stomach ache, to be honest.'

Parvati rolled her eyes. 'Good. You deserve it.'

'Look, I just thought it would be a good idea if my father didn't know you were in Gryffindor.'

'So you're ashamed of me,' Parvati accused.

'No,' said Draco. 'I just didn't want you to end up locked away in a dungeon somewhere under the Manor as bait for Potter.'

'Oh,' Parvati stared at her hands awkwardly. 'Well...thank you. I think.'

'No problem.'

'Er...would your dad really have me locked up if he knew I was friends with Harry?'

'Well I wouldn't put it past him. He's a sneaky bastard, my father.' Parvati thought she detected a hint of pride in his voice. Okay so maybe it was less of a hint and more of a boast.

'You really look up to him, don't you?'

'Oh yes,' said Draco dryly. 'I've always wanted to be a dirty old man.'

Parvati laughed. It was proving impossible to stay in a bad mood for long when you were around Draco, unless perhaps you happened to be Harry or Ron.

'Well,' she grinned. 'As a dirty little boy, I definitely think you're halfway there.'

Draco looked at her and his lips curved into another smirk, and Parvati felt that familiar giddy feeling again, the one which seemed to begin somewhere from her toes and continued all the way to the tips of her fingers. There was no doubt in her mind; that smirk would never get old.

'I think you're right. We should celebrate.'

'With what?'

'Chocolate.'

Parvati felt it would be rude to protest, and allowed herself to be dragged into Honeydukes without too much struggle. It was only much, much later, in the dead of the night, that she woke up with the sudden realisation that something was very, very wrong.

'Lavender!' Parvati cried, waking up every single one of her dorm mates. 'What am I going to wear?!'