Greengrass Manor, side room away from prying ears.

“You know, you really fucked up.”

“Language!”

“Fuck no. If I hadn't basically claimed you, you'd probably be dead. Are you an idiot? What were you thinking?”

“I-”

“No. Be quiet.”

...

...

“Fuck. Daph, tell it to me straight. You think they'll leave me be after that?”

...

...

“Fuck!”

“What even led you to do something like that?”

...

All three of them blushed and avoided eye contact.

Nope nope nope. Not even with a 10-foot pole.

“Nevermind. *Sigh* So now what?”

Nobody spoke up.

We're gonna need to get our stories straight, I don't want to be outed as a prodigy AND a liar on the same day.

My excuse was pretty close to the truth by the looks of it. I imagine all three would act just like this if anyone else asked. Just convince them to slightly alter the story? But why would Tracy attack Pansy then? Maybe Pansy insulted me or something? Maybe she tried to break the betrothal talks? That could work...

How to convince her though?

Before I could even begin to formulate a plan, the girl was already bowing her head.

“I'm sorry! I didn't know you were betrothed... *sniff, sniff* I- I just... I'm sorry.”

Was she crying?

What should I do?

Surprisingly, it was Daphne who did something. She wrapped the Parkinson heiress in a hug, though her face showed exactly how much she wanted to be in that situation. I'm sure she's thrilled to have all this happen on her birthday too.

She must be thinking the same thing as me. We need Pansy’s cooperation if we don't want things to get worse.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“Pansy.”

She wiped her eyes before finally looking at me.

“We aren’t betrothed.”

“But y-”

“I was protecting Tracy, my friend. There is no Betrothal. There are no talks of betrothal between our parents. If I didn't make it seem like our houses were soon to be united, Tracy would've been in major trouble.”

“S-so you're not betrothed?”

That's what you choose to focus on?

“No.”

She visibly brightened at that. In fact, all three girls did.

Nope.

“Now that's out of the way, what exactly are we going to tell everybody?”

...

Nobody had any better ideas, so we went with my plan. Pansy also agreed to be the villain of our story for some reason?

-

Tracy was bragging to the other two girls about our ‘betrothal.’ Pansy was upset and threatened to have her father try to interfere and convince Lucius to break the contract. Tracy was furious and lashed out at Pansy.

It's not a great story, but it's believable and good for gossip. Love triangles are always popular.

-

*knock knock*

All of the parents were here.

Of course it was Parkinson who spoke first. Admittedly a lot calmer than expected.

“Would you please let us know what's going on?”

I mean, it's probably gonna be common knowledge soon anyway.

We (mainly the girls) explained to the parents the plan. I could visibly see Parkinson growing redder and redder as the story neared its end.

“I won't have this! You won't make my family the villain here. Why would we ever agree to this?”

Hahaha! You say that in front of Lucius “my family is better than yours,” Malfoy? The guy who allowed you and your wife to kiss his boots so you could join this party? Not to mention the Greengrass's, the actual hosts, whose little princess’s special day was ruined and now have an easy scapegoat?

“Is that so?” Lucius drawled.

Lucius, trying his best to outwardly keep calm while secretly plotting how best to ruin you. Sadly, Parkinson seemed to understand this.

The Greengrass's didn't even have time to say their piece before the Parkinson Lord did a complete 180.

“Of course if that's what Lord Malfoy requests, House Parkinson could be convinced.”

Eh? Is he still trying to get benefits out of this? You're lucky that Pansy was so cooperative, or you wouldn't even have a say here.

Is Lucius actually contemplating this?

“Haha!”

Everyone turned to the ‘innocent’ boy, laughing to himself like this whole scenario was hilarious.

“You! Haha! You think you get a say in how this will happen? You think you can get benefits from this? You ruined my friend's birthday, and you're still scheming?!”

In the eyes of the onlookers, the ‘innocent naïve boy’ slowly morphed into the visage of a malevolent demon as he continued.

“The only reason I put up with you being here was because of your daughter, and you dare ask for more?! Enough of this farce! You will do as we say and be happy for it. You should feel honored; you still have this little use.”

(An: I really hate to pull the “you dare?!” card, but it fits lol)

By the end of his rant, there was a dark aura surrounding Draco, and his eyes had become nearly black. Parkinson had been pushed to his knees by some unknown force, and the other occupants had been pushed back to the edges of the room.

As soon as the force had let up, Narcissa had her unconscious son in her arms.

Everyone soon left. Just in time to miss a figure pop into the room and cast a few unknown spells and pop away.

-

-

Draco woke up from his dreams of darkness and chains, to his mother once again scolding poor doctor Duncan for not instantly healing her son.