Chapter 34: Malfoys, and Dancing (1/2)
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It took a while before Quinn could make Daphne talk to him again. Quinn felt embarrassed because of his reaction towards Daphne's mother, Sophie Greengrass, and apologized to Daphne for them.
'But, she is absolutely gorgeous,' he thought but didn't say it out loud in the fear that the only person he could talk to at the ball would not speak to him again.
”So, Daphne, tell me about Slytherin common room; I want to know the difference between all four houses' common room; if you tell me, I will tell you about the Ravenclaw common room, ” asked Quinn, hoping to break the ice and keep the conversation going.
Daphne took a moment to compose her words before saying, ”Our common room is a dungeon-like room with greenish lamps and chairs. The dungeon extends partway under the lake, giving the light in the room a green tinge.”
Quinn stopped her and asked with wide eyes, ”You are saying that the Slytherin common room had windows that show an underwater scene?” It fascinated for him to hear about such architectural design in Slytherin's common room.
Daphne lightly nodded and added, ”The water near the windows is never murky, allowing a lot of light to pass through, and because of the lake, the color of the light is a really bewitching green. The common room has lots of low-backed black and dark green button-tufted, leather sofas; and dark wood cupboards. It is decorated with tapestries featuring the adventures of famous Medieval Slytherins. It has quite a grand atmosphere, albeit quite a cold one.”
”Have you seen the giant squid from the common room windows?” he asked, genuinely excited about the scenery. Daphne looked at him, her eyes shining, ”Yes, I have seen the tentacles of the giant squid, often they would pass by the windows, and the sound of swishing water created is quite relaxing, especially at night.”
She looked at Quinn and asked, ”Your turn.” Quinn smiled and revealed, ”Hmm... Ravenclaw common room has an exclusive library that is furnished by Professor Flitwick; he makes sure that they are relevant to the current topics in the class and quite a few interesting reads outside of the classroom material.”
”That sounds like a significant advantage to the Ravenclaw students,” said Daphne, showing a glimpse of her competitive side.
Quinn shrugged and countered, ”Professor Snape gives private Potion and Defense Against Dark Arts lessons to Slytherin students; that is also a significant advantage. I have heard that a lot of Slytherin students perform well in exam practicals.”
”How did you know that? We aren't allowed to reveal that to anyone outside the house,” Daphne asked with suspicion evident in her turquoise-blue eyes.
Quinn scoffed, ”Not all Slytherin are secretive. Some of your housemates can be quite braggy when they think no one is listening.” When Daphne quirked her brow, Quinn winked mischievously.
Quinn looked at Daphne and said, ”My grandfather said to show up to see him once in a while. How about we go see him? You seemed interested in meeting him.”
Daphne nodded, thinking about when her mother asked Quinn if he was related to George West.
”Excellent, let's see... where is he?” Quinn looked around the hall, spotted a small group, and saw his grandfather standing tall among the people. ”There is he, let's go.”
- (Scene Break) -
George West was mingling with other people at the ball, listening to their offers of so-called once-in-a-lifetime business opportunities with one ear and zoning out their actually third-rate business plans with another ear.
”Grandfather,” he heard the familiar voice of his grandson and turned back to see Quinn walking towards him. It greatly surprised George to see Quinn walking with a girl.
”Grandfather, let me introduce,” Quinn gestured towards the girl with him and continued, ”Daphne Greengrass, a... friend of mine from Hogwarts.”
Quinn turned to Daphne and repeated, ”This is my grandfather, George West.”
'A Greengrass, huh,' thought George as he smiled towards the girl and said, ”Happy Yuletide, little lady.” After greeting her, he asked, ”Are you related to Jacob Greengrass?”
Daphne Greengrass nodded while courtesying, ”Yes, I am Jacob Greengrass's daughter.”
Speaking of the devil, Jacob Greengrass appeared with Sophie Greengrass just as Daphne finished introduced herself.
”A happy Yuletide to you, Mr. West.” said the man as he strolled to the group with a smile on his face. Jacob Greengrass was a tall man with black hair and blue eyes; he had traditional aristocratic features with an angular face and a strong jawline.
Quinn observed the man named Jacob Greengrass and noticed, 'His legs are aligned with his shoulders... five inches apart, weight is distributed equally, and his whole body is projected as a straight line. Standard body language for confidence.'
Jacob had a glass in one hand, and his other arm was looped with his wife's arm. Quinn moved his eyes to look at the Greengrass couple as a whole and saw comfortable chemistry between the two, none of the pair overshadowing each other.
'Yeah, this guy is set.' thought Quinn as he concluded studying Jacob Greengrass.
George greeted the man with a firm handshake, ”Jacob.” Jacob freed his arm from his wife's and shook it back. George looked at Sophie and smiled while kissing her knuckles, ”Sophie.”
He looked at the pair greeted them together, ”A Prosperous Yuletide to you as well.”
”Did you meet my eldest daughter?” said Jacob while glancing at Daphne with a warm smile.
George nodded in response, ”Yes, my grandson introduced me to her.” He patted Quinn's shoulder.
Quinn stepped forward and shook hands with Jacob Greengrass, ”Happy Yuletide, Mr. Greengrass. My name is Quinn West.” He turned to Sophie Greengrass and smiled, ”We meet again, Mrs. Greengrass.”
”So, I hear you study at Hogwarts. How are you finding studying?” said Jacob as he observed Quinn.
”Yes, sir. I am a second-year student, Ravenclaw. As for studying, it is quite exciting to learn magic every day. The teachers are talented and helpful... well, most of them are.” When Quinn said that, Daphne almost snorted, thinking about the droning Binns and stuttering Quirrell.
”Good, good, Sophie was a Ravenclaw when she was studying at Hogwarts, and I was a Slytherin,” said Jacob as he looked at his wife.
Quinn nodded, and a stray thought passed his mind, 'Beauty and Brains...' he thought about Sophie and then mentally shook his head, 'Focus, Quinn!' Though he did brightly smile towards Sophie when he heard she was a Ravenclaw.
Jacob glanced at Daphne before asking, ”How did you get to meet my daughter?”
Quinn smiled while recalling the train ride to Hogwarts, ”I met her during the train ride to Hogwarts. She and Tracey Davis came to my compartment looking for a space to sit.” His interactions that day made him chuckle, ”It was quite the fun train ride.”
- (Scene Break) -
After talking for a while, Quinn and Daphne decided to leave the adults and talk amongst themselves, but just a minute after leaving the adults, they heard,
”Greengrass, fancy meeting you here.”
Both of them turned back to see a slender boy with sleek platinum-blond hair that were slicked back tightly. He had cold-grey eyes, a pale complexion, and rather sharp and pointed features.
When Quinn saw the boy, a smile appeared on his face while Daphne sighed in exasperation.
”Mr. Malfoy, indeed, it is quite a fancy meeting you here,” said Quinn as he grinned at Draco. Looking at the smiling Quinn made Daphne calm down and made Draco frown.
”You!” Draco immediately recognized Quinn and was shocked to see him here. ”What are you doing here?”
Quinn looked around the hall before answering, ”You know, attending the ball, enjoying some delicacies, what people do at balls...”
”I mean, what are you doing at the ministry ball!” Draco's eyes narrowed, ”Who would invite someone like you!”
Quinn shrugged, ”It is the ministry ball, so I guess the ministry... why where did you get your invitation. Mr. Malfoy, you might not like to hear this but, if you got your invitation from somewhere else, it might not be valid. It could get you into trouble.” By the end, Quinn had a look of fake worry on his face. He thoroughly enjoyed Draco's red face.
”Greengrass, why would you like to hang with someone like him. He has no respect for his betters,” asked Draco, not answering Quinn's retort.
”Better him than you,” was all she said in response. Hearing that, Quinn voiced his discontent, ”Hey... that makes it sound as I am on the same level as him. Not cool, and I bought you a drink.”
Daphne said nothing in response, and Quinn crossed his arms in mock-anger.
Seeing the two ignore him, Draco stomped in rage and stormed off.
Quinn looked back towards Draco, not hearing him, but didn't see him in front of them. ”Where did he go? I didn't get to wish him a happy Yuletide.”
”He left when you were being dramatic,” Daphne replied. Quinn quirked his brow, ”Dramatic? You hurt me, Greengrass. I am not dramatic; I just have a colorful personality.”