Just Around the Riverbend

Okay. Well....the thing is...I wrote WAY too much for this chapter, so I\'m splitting it up into two, that I\'ll be posting simultaneously. So don\'t forget to read both new chaps. Kay? Awesome.



VOracious Reader

hairsprayX12

angeles

Anathema

Citten

Alina

gypsy_rhodes

HannaB

HarryGinny4Eva (x2)

Serin Blackmoon





Okay, my lovlies. You all liked the repentant Draco. He\'s just a poor spoiled rich kid who isn\'t used to sharing his toys...or gold...or whatever. I don\'t think he\'ll be mellow overnight, but for now he has a tentative truce with Hermione. Okay, don\'t forget the second chap. It\'s full of goodness. ^_^



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Daisy stood in front of the mirror, looking at the girl in front of her. She had the thick, arched eyebrows of her mother, and her father’s full lips. She had the stunning, glacial blue eyes of the Malfoy family, and her tribe’s dark skin. Her mother’s raven wing hair, down to her waist, and her father’s long fingers. All in all, she felt it made for an awkward appearance.



She ran her hands over her face, and sighed. She wasn’t pretty. She wished she had the traditional looks of the girls around her. She wished she had the cream-colored skin, and light colored hair. She was short, downright stumpy. She had a huge ass, and no boobs.



And she didn’t deserve someone as wonderful as Phelan. She’d been finding little gifts from him all day. Several times during class she’d opened up her books to find a little packet of seeds. He knew she’d slice his hand off if he tried to give her cut flowers, and so he’d given her the seeds of several rare and beautiful plants, and a couple herbs. And with the weather starting to warm up, she’d start a window box soon.



Daisy ran the brush through her hair, brushing until her hair shined like wet ink. She parted a handful of hair from the rest, and made a quick braid on one side, and fastened one white and one red feather to the end. Then she retrieved her dress. Upon closer inspection of the dress, she had discovered it was not all one color.



When she pulled it out of the box, it had revealed a parting in the material to reveal a white underlining that the turquoise curled away from, and was lined from the bottom of the bodice down in a swath of red.



She shimmied into the dress, pleased with the way it fit. It was sleeveless, with broad straps, and cut straight across the bodice.



She preferred a natural look, and so she spent the next half hour buffing and shaping her fingernails and toenails. The sandals Phelan had gotten for her fit perfectly, and were very comfortable. And the necklace hung in two strands, giving a bit of illusionary length to her rather short neck.



She had very subtle makeup skills. For the summer ball, she had been playing around with a brush and some strangely colored shadows for her role as Puck. For tonight, she merely lined her eyes, and put on a thin dusting of sheer glitter shadow, and then a dusting of fine body glitter for her chest and arms. On her lips she had tinted shimmering lipgloss.



She emerged from the bathroom feeling self-conscious and jittery. And her jitters multiplied tenfold when she caught sight of Phelan. His outfit that morning hadn’t been the only surprise addition to his wardrobe, apparently.



He was wearing a white dress robe suit, with fine black pinstripes. He even had on a matching pinstripe vest. His shirt was new, bright white, and he had on a diagonally striped tie that had black and grey striping, with a thin swipe of turquoise every few stripes to tie his suit to her dress. But, in Daisy’s opinion, the piece de resistance was the black fedora hat that was perched crookedly on his head.



Her mouth dropped open in shock.



“Spirits of the Earth and Sky!” she whispered. He grinned at her, revealing teeth that had been chemically whitened. “You look like sex on a stick!” she exclaimed, then blushed furiously. He came close to her, his eyes closing as he inhaled the fresh scent of her. He didn’t like for her to wear perfume, as it irritated his nose if he got too close. The only scents he could live with were her lightly scented body lotions, and her scented shampoo. She always smelled like apples. And Phelan liked apples.



His nose twitched, and he moved even closer, and Daisy began to shiver at his proximity. He sniffed gently, and then looked at her shimmering lips. He reached up and removed his black hat, and then leaned forward and kissed her. He pulled back after a few seconds, and smacked his lips gently.



“Mmm, strawberry.” He said, and replaced his hat. She stood dazed for several moments, before her eyebrows furrowed.



“Hey! It took me five minutes to get my lipgloss right you stupid tard!” she snapped, and disappeared into the bathroom again. He gave a low chuckle as she left.



“Sex on a stick, indeed…”



~~



He walked beside her to the ball, starting to feel a bit self conscious himself. All of the girls they’d met on the way were staring at him like a particularly tasty meat kebob. And he didn’t like it.



“Merlin, what I wouldn’t give to have him pin me down and nibble on me!” he heard one girl say to her friend, who dissolved into grating giggles. But he also saw some of the other boys staring at Daisy. He linked his hand with Daisy’s, and intertwined their fingers. She looked up at him, and gave a shy smile.



“You look lovely.” Phelan said, finally remembering some of the advice Lucius had given him. She’d blushed so much that night Phelan was sure her face would catch flame.



“Thank you. You’re so handsome tonight.” She replied. He smiled at her.



“I did this for you.” He added. “I don’t normally get all dressed up, you know. I’m used to rags.” He spoke softly.



“I still love you.” Daisy said. She felt him squeeze her hand gently, right as they walked into the Great Hall, which was done in a spring garden motif, with red and pink and white flowers. The rose buds woven into the greenery above the door bloomed wide as Daisy and Phelan passed through, and a few people looked over as they entered.



Daisy’s night was fantastic. Phelan danced with her, even for a few fast ones, and they talked amongst themselves. Phelan separated from Daisy halfway through the night.



“I’m going to go get some punch. Do you want some?” he asked. She nodded, and made her way over to a table with only one inhabitant. Upon getting a bit closer, she realized that the lone party go-er was Tom, sitting at the table with his head on his hand. Lucy was wrapped around his other wrist, and at present had her little wedge-shaped head in his punch glass, using her forked tongue to imbibe the fruity drink.



“Hey, Tom. I didn’t know you were coming here tonight.” She said, and sat beside him.



“Yes. I even brought a date.” Tom said, and pointed across the room. “Jenna Farthing.” He said when Daisy turned her head to see. Daisy blinked when she realized who he was talking about. Jenna Farthing was a very nice girl, but she was a bit on the heavy side. Many of the boys only approached her because they felt she was an easy shag.



“Why?” Daisy asked genuinely. Tom flashed her a fanged grin.



“Because she wanted to go, and I was the only guy who would take her. Ain’t I a stinker?” he asked, and chuckled. Daisy heard the clack of heels, and looked up to see the last three faces she wanted to see tonight. Freeda Tindle, Darla Rose, and Kathy Durkee were the biggest bullies in the school. They were Gryffindors, and often found ways to annoy Daisy. She just ingored them, which was probably why they made her such a target.



“Well, well, well.” Freeda said. Daisy rolled her eyes, and let out a groan.



“And here I thought this night would be unspoiled.” Daisy said.



“The little yank decided she would come down and ruin our perfect night with her presence.” Freeda started nastily. “And she even dressed up!” Freeda added, affronted.



“Well, you know what they say: you can put lipstick on a pig…but it’s still a pig.” Darla added in her nasal, high pitched voice. The three girls broke into annoying giggles. Daisy frowned.



“Hey Darla, the whore you stole that makeup off of called. She needs it back before work tonight.” Daisy replied boredly. Tom watched the girls with interest. A bitch fight always made dances better…



“Well, I’d start a few ‘your mother’ jokes, but they’d be ineffective.” Darla returned.



“You know…I kinda feel bad for you, Darla. I mean…at least my mother, for the short time I knew her…at least she liked me. You’re so ugly your mom has to tie a porkchop around your neck just so the dog will play with you.” Daisy shot back. Tom snorted, and Lucy poked her head out from his glass to see what was going on.

“Your birth certificate is an apology from the condom factory!” Darla snarled.



“Stupidity is not a crime, so you’re free to go.”



“Why don’t you crawl back across the pond you filthy redskin savage!”



Daisy looked at her, shock written across her face. No one, but no one, had called her that to her face the entire time she’d been in this country. That…of all of the other insults…that one hurt. Daisy slid her chair back, and stood up.



“You know what, Darla? You’re a bitch.” Daisy said softly. She started to walk past the older girl, and brushed her arm in the process. Darla reached forward and grabbed a handful of Daisy’s thick black hair, and pulled her back.



“I’m not done with you, you wolf-whore!” Darla snapped. Tom stood from his seat to intervene, just as Phelan was getting back from getting the punch.



“Hey!” he snarled.



Daisy twisted in Darla’s grip, and swiped at the girl’s face, catching her across the cheek with her nails.



“Girl fight!” Someone called, and the entire Hall turned to watch.



Darla let go of Daisy’s hair, and Daisy grabbed at the front of Darla’s dress, taking hold of a gaudy broach. The broach was easily torn away, and Darla looked at the ripped place on her dress for all of two seconds before she turned and spit in Daisy’s face.



Daisy pulled back in shock and disgust, and Phelan shoved his punch into someone’s hands, and moved forward to intervene between the two girls. Freeda saw him coming, and reached into her purse. She pulled out a small phial filled with fine gray glitter, and stepped right up to Phelan. He glared at her with baleful yellow eyes, and she put the phial in his face and squeezed the neck. It exploded outward in a shimmering cloud, and Phelan gasped as he stepped back. He waved at the cloud once, before he put his hands to his face. He cried out in pain, and then went to his knees.



Freeda stared at him in horror when he pulled his hands away. He coughed once, and blood began to dribble down his chin. He tried to open his eyes, and howled as red tears began to stream down his face.



It was this time that the Headmaster swooped down on the group.



“Professor Hagrid!” the Headmaster called, and the large professor parted the group of students standing around.



“Yes, Headmas’er?” Hagrid asked.



“Get Mr. Greyback to the Infirmary, now!” Headmaster Denebola barked. Hagrid leaned down and started to pick Phelan up. Phelan swatted at him once, before Hagrid shushed him.



“C’mon now, Greyback. Gotta take yer ta Madam Pomfrey. She’ll fix yeh right up.” He said. Phelan didn’t fight, but he howled when he was jarred as Hagrid picked him up.



Denebola grabbed Freeda’s arm, and turned her towards him. “What was in that phial?” he asked. Freeda blinked back tears.



“I don’t know!” she said. Denebola pinned her with his crimson gaze for several seconds. She was telling the truth.



“Where did you get it?”



“It was sent by mail this morning. It had a note attached. The note told me if I had any problems with the resident werewolf tonight, to use that on him…” she said, and began to cry.



“Professor McGonagall will take you to my office, where she will contact your parents. I think a week at home is in order.” Denebola said, and McGonagall took hold of both Freeda and Darla. Daisy wiped her eyes, and tugged on Denebola’s sleeve.



“Can I go?” she asked. Denebola looked down at her, and she shrank a little under his intense red glare.



“Yes. I’ll be talking to you later.” He said, and she ran off in the direction Phelan had been carried. Denebola looked around at the horrified faces of the students. Then he looked down, where some of the grey powder had settled. He knelt, and picked some up with his finger, and sniffed it. He shook his head.



Powdered silver. Phelan would be in for a long, and painful night.



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Aw....pumpernickel. Just when things were going well, too.



Well, don\'t forget to review, or read the second part.