CH 71: Daphne and Nott

{[Last Time in Tainted Desire]}

A storm of laughter exploded in the room as I passed, no doubt to a joke made at my expense, but I ignored it.

They were lucky that I was afraid of getting Snape's attention, because, it would have been fun to kick the prefects out of their room, staking my dominance with one simple move.

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{[Now]}

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Pity, as I would have liked to see whether it would break the legendary calm of the Ice Queen Daphne Greengrass.

Since I had to maintain a low profile until the first step of my plan -one I couldn't wait to deliver because it was explosive enough to throw the whole country into chaos- I needed to disappear before the Slytherin students could find me in their misguided attempt to establish dominance.

I slipped into the nearest empty compartment, then used the invisibility cloak before stepping out once more before walking towards the end of the train, and picked one of the worst compartments, willing to use their emptiness.

Normally, these rooms would have the occasional first or second year trying to avoid the crowds, but with muggle-born students absent, even they were in better rooms.

Willing to use the opportunity, I pulled a book from my book, memories of one of the Black Ancestors who had a very successful career as a Dark Lord for twenty years before finally being taken down by a coordinated assault by a trio of heroes, each stronger than him.

I liked the book, because not only he had a great selection of simple but effective spells, but also it had great insights on strategic usage of runic traps and devices prepared beforehand, the only reason he was able to resist against mages well-above his weight class.

I wanted to prepare, because, with all the changes I made, I could no longer assume that Harry would be able to destroy Voldemort, and I wanted to be prepared in case things went awry.

I wanted to focus on my book, so I started to get annoyed when my door started to open every five minutes or so, a Slytherin student looking inside before slamming it back again.

It was the second and third years at first, doubtlessly looking for me, but when they failed to get any result, fourth and fifth years joined, their search assisted by detection spells.

A thorough, well-planned effort fitting to Slytherins. Unfortunately for them, they lacked the power to see through one of the Hollows, enhanced through additional spells from the Deathstick.

After an hour of pointless research, my 'hunters' finally disappeared, leaving me alone with my book.

At that point, I was sure I could focus on my book without distraction, hence my annoyance when the door was opened once more, and Nott walked in.

How the fuck they managed to find me, I thought while my wand appeared on my palm ready to blast him off, but he surprised me by taking the central seat of the compartment, his legs spread comfortably, not even looking at my way.

Curious, I delayed my assault, and soon, a few more Slytherin students walked inside -all-male, all sixth or seventh years other than the fifth year prefect- and took their seats as well, though I cast a small aversion field to prevent anyone from sitting on me.

I realized that their presence was nothing more than a lucky stumble, and I could have slid away without being noticed easily. But seeing the excitement on their faces, I decided to stay put and listen since they were kind enough to allow effortless spying.

"Today, we take the first step to a new age," Nott said before starting a pompous, pointless speech he claimed to be a plan. He talked for twenty minutes, but when all the self-aggrandizing bullshit and pointless posturing was cut out, his plan was to use his Head Boy status to dominate the Slytherin House before moving to other houses, then use the advantages to accumulate favors from Noble Houses, mostly by whoring out the girls that belonged to light and neutral houses.

I couldn't help but shook my head in disappointment, unable to understand Nott believed doing something under Snape's watch was possible.

Nott claimed that Carrow twins' support was enough to neutralize Snape, which was very incorrect.

Though Nott would never receive Snape's counterplay, because his plan was destined to die prematurely.

His first step was to take control of the Slytherin house, and to do that, he needed to take me down. Bored, I was about to leave to find a different compartment, when Crabble and Goyle walked inside.

Neither their presence, nor the respect they showed Nott was anything out of the ordinary, they were nothing more than hired muscle. However, the blonde girl that they dragged was quite a surprise.

"Nott! What's the meaning of this!" shouted Daphne, her struggles to get away from Goyle's hold in vain.

He might have the intelligence of a troll, but much to Daphne's despair, he had the strength of a troll as well.

"Oh, Daphne," Nott murmured in amusement. "You have lost the right to ask for anything when you rejected to rule by my side as my queen," he murmured even as he raised his head to caress her face, ignoring her flinch. "Now, you're going to help me demonstrate the cost of going against my will, and give a show as well."

"You wouldn't dare," Daphne spat out as his finger slid toward her neck, but her outrage didn't prevent her from paling in fear. Still, it would be a lie if I said if I didn't admire her display of courage.

Alone, without a wand, surrounded by a horde of men that watched hungrily as Nott ripped off the first button of her robe. She paled further.

Such a display of courage deserved a reward, I thought, annoyed that I had to reword all my plans just because Nott was a pathetic brute drunk with power.

Even if I hadn't interjected, there was no way that Nott would survive the night. Daphne was a part of the Neutral faction, and wasn't without support.

Even more importantly, she was vicious and vindictive, and she would have not to rest before Nott reached an ignoble end.

Luckily for him, I was a possessive bastard, and didn't want Daphne to be soiled by his pathetic touch.