Guurrrlllll :: Daphne and Vivian Showdown

[VIVIAN HOPE BLACKWELL]

”I dont know what you’re talking about.”

Vivian was walking by the lake, and she was bored.

Not that this was new. Vivian was always bored. But she didn't often go for a walk. That was something new. But she had wanted to think, and although she usually avoided thinking things over too much, she was making herself face the boredom. Because she was confused about what had happened in the dungeons, with Theo.

Since then, Vivian had gone back to feeling nothing. But at the time she had felt, and it had been horrible. She didn't know what had caused her to feel, when for so long there had been nothing, but there it was. She hadn't liked it, not one bit. It had been painful, and gut-wrenching, and she had felt like nothing would ever be ok again. But Theo had helped her through it, and tried to explain a few things to her, and slowly the tears had stopped, and she had gotten back to her old self.

No one but Theo knew what had happened, and Vivian wanted it that way because she didn't want questions. Most people didn't realise that Vivian felt no emotions. She could fake them, and had spent most of her life doing so. If you showed absolutely no emotion, people got freaked out pretty fast. And freaked out people would't do what you wanted.

And then there had been the whole thing about Vivian kissing Theo that he hadn't liked. That was strange, but whatever. Vivian had just done what she wanted to do. But now Theo had asked her not to, because it was confusing and weird, or something like that. So Vivian was going to try not to, even if she wanted to. That was a lot, coming from Vivian, and it was only because Theo was her friend that she would agree to it.

She looked out over the lake, thinking that that had been quite enough quite time for one day. Vivian was now really bored. Something had to happen, or she'd do something extreme.

[daphne]

Word traveled fast at Hogwarts. That was one thing that was absolutely certain. These days, it felt like no one could say or do anything without an entire house knowing about what had happened the very next hour. Not that Daphne minded of course - she was accustomed to doing back things all the time and loved the attention that they brought her. But when the rumors were floating around and they weren’t about her? It was needless to say that Daphne got a little jealous.


But for the time being, she had holed herself up in a remote corner of the Library and she was going to get some of her studying done. She tapped her quill against the page that was in front of her, her eyes running over a sentence in her Potions book. Something about Wolfsbane. She didn’t care about wolfsbane...she wasn’t a bloody werewolf. And she would never be a bloody werewolf. Daphne groaned and then threw the book in front of her closed. She leaned back and folded her arms across her chest. Her eyes scanned the rest of the library, looking for something or someone to distract her, but she came back empty handed. It could be the fact that the person that she was looking for was out at the Quidditch pitch practicing for the afternoon and she knew it. Daph bit down on her lip, suddenly aware of just how much she thought about Theo. He was like a drug. A drug that was very very bad for her, but at the same time she couldn’t seem to stay away. She was half lost in thought when her attention was taken by someone talking rather loudly at the table next to hers.

”Did you hear about Vivian and Theo last night in the dungeons?”

[/b] A Slytherin 6th year gushed to the girl sitting next to her, ”Full. Blown. Make-out!”[/b] She giggled. Daphne’s ears pricked up, a tingle went down her spine and she felt her hands gripping the book that she was holding a little too tightly, ”Something about that stone cold B**** that makes every guy run after her, you know? I bet she could teach me a thing or two about-”[/b] The girls started giggling again until the older one noticed that Daphne was staring at her. Immediately the merriment died down and the pair of them went back to studying whatever it had been that they were studying before they had so rudely decided to gossip around her.

Daphne stood up and threw her bag over her shoulder. She leaned over the girls’ table and stared at them alternately, ”You should watch where you talk about the latest gossip ladies. Wouldn’t want someone finding out that you two were rolling about in the sheets after the last Slytherin rave now would you?”[/b] Her voice was tight and strained, the anger bubbling to the surface as she pushed some of their books off of the table and then walked out the library door.

---

She wasn’t sure how she was going to find her, but Daphne’s bet was that she wouldn’t have to. Vivian wasn’t a very smart girl and tended to follow a habitual pattern: Tried homework, get bored. Try to snog Zeke Maxwell, get bored. Walk by lake, get bored. Repeat. So since she wasn’t in the Slytherin Common room or trying to snog Zeke Maxwell, she figured that her next best shot was the outdoors.

Daphne rolled up her sleeves as she walked, mentally egging herself on. It was like a mental pep-talk. She didn’t deserve him. It can’t be true. Theo would never do something like that to you. She had to continuously remind herself that she and Theo weren’t a thing so she technically had no claim over him, but it seemed as if her mind wasn’t listening. She was out for blood and by Merlin, she wasn’t going back inside without it. It was then that she saw her, looking as if nothing was wrong in the world. Daphne’s eyes narrowed at Vivian Blackwell.

”Oye,”[/b] She said as she walked closer, pulling her satchel even further onto her shoulder, ”Yeah, you, Harpie.”[/b] Her voice was just as loud and obnoxious as ever. She finally reached Vivian and stood next to her, eyes boring into the side of her head, ”So is it true?”[/b] She asked, narrowing her eyes even more as she stared at the blonde hair of the part Veela that was before her.[/blockquote]

[VIVIAN HOPE BLACKWELL]

"Yeah, you, Harpie."


Vivian smiled as she heard the term. 'Harpie'. Just another reference to the fact that she was part Veela. Just another reference to the fact that she was beautiful beyond reason. Just another reference to the fact that she was ferocious and deadly when threatened.

She turned to see who had spoken, and saw the older Greengrass- Greengrass one, as Vivian referred to her in her mind- stalking towards her like a puppy dog trying to start a fight. This was the one that Theo was so interested in, and that sparked Vivian's memory; this was Daphne. She was in the year above her and in Slytherin. Vivian watched her with her hands on her hips, interested. She looked angry, though Vivian couldn't tell why. This was exactly what she needed to alleviate the boredom. This could be fun.

”So is it true?”

Vivian was confused, and her nose wrinkled slightly. She didn't know what the girl was talking about.

Daphne Greengrass was obviously angry, and wanted some angry, defensive response from Vivian. And Vivian could have easily imitated anger, especially with such a perfect example standing right in front of her. She could have imitated Daphne's narrowed eyes, her furrowed brow, her intense manner of speaking. But Vivian could tell that Daphne was out for a fight, and in such instances Vivian found that being herself worked best. Her cold, calculating, emotionless self. It was off-putting. It was disturbing. It screamed 'predator'. For most people, it would work to scare them off and avoid a fight. But in Daphne Greengrass's case, Vivian was sure that when the 'flight or fight' response that would be triggered by undiluted Vivian kicked in, the girl would pick 'fight'. And Vivian was bored. She was so, intolerably, bored. And fighting could be fun.

"I don't know what you're talking about." she said, in a sweet, even toned voice. She sounded bored. But Vivian always sounded bored. Bored and alluring. Bored and 'come and get me'. Or at least, 'come and get me... if you dare'.

[daphne]

Ugh. That smile was probably what annoyed Daphne the most. The way that she was so sickly sweet all the time. She couldn’t understand how she got away with it with such ease. Every guy falling at her doorstep. Couldn’t they see what was lying underneath? A deadly snake that was about to poison them? Then again, she supposed that’s what all the Slytherin girls were...they all had their secrets, they all had their dangerous sides. And Vivian Blackwell was about to see Daphne Greengrass’. She watched the girl place her hands on her hips and then wrinkle her nose as if she was an innocent little bunny rabbit. But Daphne knew better than to trust the Slytherin 6th year. She was just about as innocent as a shoplifter in the most expensive parts of town.

”I dont know what you’re talking about.”

[/i]

”Bull s**t.”[/b] Daphne spat eagerly as soon as the girl denied the idea even before Daphne had said what it was that she was accusing her of. Perhaps she was really oblivious, or perhaps she was just trying to get even more of a rise out of Daphne...either way, it was working wonders, ”Everyone around here talks, Veela.”[/b] Daphne could feel her angry growing, despite the fact that Vivian was giving her nothing to feed off of. She was like a stone cold slate. And that’s when it hit her. The reason that she hated Vivian so much wasn’t because of what she had done to Theo, it was because the girl was like a dead body. She was completely void of emotions...blank even when you looked in her eyes. Daphne wondered what all the guys saw in her. Who wanted to date a member of the living dead?

Plus that voice! It was just so...so incredibly dull. As if she had something better to do with her life! Vivian Blackwell did the same things over and over again and then complained that she was bored. Well of course she was bored! Maybe if she spent more time finding something worthwhile to do as opposed to following her habitual snogging routine then she would actually sound excited sometimes. Daphne rolled her eyes.

”Theo. Last night. The dungeons?”[/b] She growled low, clenching and unclenching her fists, ”Is it true?”[/b] She asked again - this time it was more demanding. More of a need to know rather than a want. Somewhere deep down she was hoping that Vivian denied it and told her that it was all a misunderstanding, but somehow she sincerely doubted that would be the case.[/blockquote]

[VIVIAN HOPE BLACKWELL]

Daphne Greengrass was getting so worked up. She was swearing, she was close to shouting, and Vivian could see her anger written across her face like a big neon sign, saying 'YOU GOT TO ME'. It was so undignified. Vivian never yelled, unless she was imitating anger. She sighed as Daphne refused to just tell her what the problem was. It was irritating. Vivian had no idea what was getting the girl so worked up. She just stood and listened with mild interest.

Then Daphne spoke about Theo. Well, Vivian could have seen that coming, considering Theo was the only thing linking the two of them.

”Theo. Last night. The dungeons?”

Well, really, a lot of things had happened in the dungeons! Some of which Vivian was sure Daphne Greengrass didn't know about. Because she knew Theo, and Theo didn't gossip. If that was supposed to clear things up for Vivian, it wasn't working.

Then Daphne asked if 'it' was true, and there was a hint of desperation in her voice. Well, that was just disappointing. The girl was already showing weakness. Vivian had no idea what she was talking about, and she was quickly losing interest.

"Daphne," she said, in the same calm voice she always spoke in "if you're not going to be clear about what it is you want to know, I really can't help you." she was getting impatient, and looked around, wondering if maybe she should just leave and go find something more interesting. She wondered where Theo and Eli were. Maybe Theo would have a more interesting take on Miss Greengrass's distress?

She had thought that this would be fun, and interesting, but it was turning out to be anything but. And she had so wanted a fight. Fights could be so interesting. Nobody ever fought Vivian. Perhaps they just sensed that there was something different about her, the same way sheep could sense a wolf. Many people who were like Vivian made hunting other humans a sport; the muggle police called them 'serial killers'. The Auror office didn't call them anything, they just took them down as quickly as possible. Maybe it was because Vivian, as she was now, had been made, not born, but she had just never leaned that way. Blood and guts weren't her thing. Fun was her thing. And right now Daphne Greengrass wasn't providing any fun.

Vivian looked back at Daphne, expectantly, but it was clear that unless Daphne got to the point, and quickly, that Vivian wouldn't hang around much longer.

[daphne]

Daphne could see the gears turning in Vivian’s head. She wasn’t sure what it meant, though. For all she knew, Vivian could have been gearing up to rip her eyes out and make her bleed all over the ground. Perhaps kill her even...She knew that the girl would probably strangle her with her bare hands if she thought that it was ‘fun’ enough. She wasn’t sure why she thought that, but it just seemed so...so Vivian to her. Blackwell was all about what was fun and what was interesting these days. The girl was an exposed copper wire, threatening to electrocute anyone that touched her...And Daphne knew that in order to keep her away from Theo, she was going to have to sumbit herself to be willingly electrocuted.

Balls, She thought grimily and then stared at Vivian’s hair again. Perhaps if she didn’t make eye-contact then she wouldn’t feel so threatened by the Veela girl.

”If you’re not going to be clear about what it is you want to know, I really can’t help you.”

[/i]

Daphne scoffed. As if Vivian was ever helpful in the first place...she was a regular stone cold b***h every time that they had ever conversed. Daphne had once asked her if she would be interested in playing a rousing game of strip-wizard’s chess with the rest of the Slytherin gang and she had informed her that she wasn’t able to play because it wasn’t as ‘fun’ as something else she had in mind. Probably Zeke Maxwell. Daphne gagged at the thought. There was something off-putting about Zeke, but something that she couldn’t put her finger on. She could see the spark in Vivian’s eyes starting to fade and she growled low, ”Seriously, Veela.”[/b] She said, clenching her fists one more time for emphasis, ”Did you kiss Theo or not? Because the entire west wing of Hogwarts is a-buzz with the happy happy news!”[/b] She threw her arms into the air, being as over-dramatic as always.

Her hand instinctively reached up and grabbed a tuft of that blonde hair that she hated so much and yanked it toward her so that Vivian’s ear was next to her lips, ”You’d better hope that it’s not true, Harpie.”[/b] She growled quietly, the anger starting to bubble up again. She wanted her to deny it. Say something that made it not true...but she was also preparing herself for a fight.[/blockquote]

[VIVIAN HOPE BLACKWELL]

Oh, so Daphne wanted to know that Vivian had kissed Theo! Well, yes, she had, and it hadn't been a big deal. Why hadn't the girl just said that? It would have made everything so much easier. The world for Vivian would have been an easier place if people just said what they meant. The mind games and the cryptic conversations tested Vivian's patience.

Vivian had been about to answer Daphne when she grabbed her hair, and Vivian saw red. Greengrass was muttering some sort of threat, but Vivian didn't hear it. Without making the concious decision to do so, she grabbed Daphne's arm, the one that was holding her hair, and twisted hard and fast. Her other arm pushed the girl to the ground, and Vivian came down on top of her. She had moved so quickly that Daphne had pulled out a chunk of Vivian's blonde hair, but she barely felt it. She was on top of the girl, still twisting her arm, pushing Daphne down into the ground.

Most people would experience blood pumping, rage, anger... but not Vivian. She had acted on instinct, an instinct unhindered by emotion; most people were afraid of the consequences of hurting someone else, and so didn't do what their bodies were telling them to do. But Vivian didn't feel, so her instincts ruled. And when Daphne had grabbed her hair, her instinct had been to hurt her.

Still, she should let the girl get up; Vivian would get in trouble for this, if any teachers saw, and she didn't want to spend an afternoon stuck in detention. That didn't serve Vivian's purpose at all. She was about to let go and stand up, when she thought of something.

"Oh, yeah, I kissed Theo." she said, as though it was an afterthought. She thought it was best to answer her question, since that was what Daphne obviously wanted, and if she let her get up first then Daphne might start talking about something else all together, and they'd never get to the point! Dealing with girls could be exhausting. That was why Vivian's only friends were boys.

After she had said her piece, she let go of Daphne's arm and stood up. She started walking away, when she saw some other students looking at her horrified. Oh dear, well it really wouldn't do for them to think she was a monster. She ran a hand through her hair, and gave a sweet smile and a shrug, as though to brush off the incident.

((Let me know if this post is ok, and obviously Daphne goes after Vivian and then the fight happens, that wasn't the fight lol! If you want me to change anything PM me))

[daphne]

Daphne knew as soon as she grabbed Vivian’s hair that she had crossed an unseen line. The girl reacted with what seemed to be cat-like reflexes, twisting her arm around and then throwing her face-first into the ground that was before her. Daphne managed to cough a little bit to clear her mouth because it was now half-full of grass. She managed to look down at her hand and saw some blonde strands hanging from her fingers. Lovely. Now she was going to have to shower to get Vivian’s DNA off of her. Greengrass definitely wasn’t expecting Vivian to come down on top of her then, but the girl’s full body-weight seemed to drop down on her stomach and she made an ‘ooof’ sort of noise.

”Get off you crazy b****!”

[/b] Daphne yelled, her voice a little weak from the surprise of the attack. She knew that Vivian was crazy, but she didn’t know that the girl was going to go completely insane on her. She hadn’t even been expecting. But it didn’t even look like Vivian was paying her any attention. The girl’s pale eyes above her were void of any emotion whatsoever. There wasn’t even a sign that she was living. Dead eyes. Daphne felt a shiver run down her spine as she tried to buck Vivian off of her. But the girl sat there, unmoving, her lips parted ever so slightly as if she was laughing at Daphne without doing anything at all.

That made the rage in her veins all the more prevalent. She felt like she wanted to tear out the rest of this girl’s hair. Make her suffer even though she had neither confirmed nor denied what she had been talking about. It wasn’t fair that Vivian Blackwell got everything that she ever wanted in life...She got to kiss Theo, she got to be a Veela, she got to have the entire rest of the school trailing after her like she was the most beautiful thing in the world. And what did she do? Constantly complain. About everything.

”Oh year, I kissed Theo.”[/i]

Dammit. There it was. Like a knife to the back of the skull, Daphne suddenly felt defeated. She let her limbs relax, hardly feeling the twisting of her arm anymore. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Of course, she had known that was the truth, but it still hurt nonetheless. Then, as if nothing had happened, Vivian got up and started stalking off. There was no way that she was letting her just walk away like that. She had quite possibly ruined the best thing that had ever happened to Daphne. She had kissed the guy that the eldest Greengrass sister actually had feelings for. Who did stuff like that? Only stone cold b****es. That’s who. She growled low, her body now on fire with dangerous heat.

”Hell no, you don’t!”[/b] Daphne yelled, suddenly overcome with the anger that had momentarily disappeared from her mind. She managed to scramble to her feet and - ignoring the stares of those around her - wend tromping after Vivian. She grabbed the girl’s hair again and pulled her back so that she could hook her arm around her neck, ”I don’t think you can get away with tramping where you don’t belong. Theo and I have...something!”[/b] She pulled that evil blonde hair of hers a little tighter and then pushed her out of her arms, sending Viv forward. She continued walking toward her, her eyes all lit up with excitement. Pulling her sleeve up as she walked, she raised her arm and sent a punch heading directly for Vivian’s nose.[/blockquote]

[VIVIAN HOPE BLACKWELL]

Vivian was surprised when Daphne came after her. That was the only reason the girl had been able to grab her like that. Daphne grabbed Vivian's hair, and pulled her into something like a headlock. Vivian was annoyed with herself, because she knew it shouldn't have been a surprise. If she had been paying more attention to the girl, she would have realised that Daphne wouldn't just let it be. She was too angry, and her pride was hurt. She wasn't going to take that lying down. But predicting what other people would do based on their emotions was a lot of work! Normally, Vivian didn't bother. Normally it worked out fine, but this time it hadn't.

Before she could even try to get free, Daphne had pushed her away. Vivian whirled around, this time ready for an attack.

Something in Vivian had snapped. Maybe it was the Veela in her, making her into exactly what Daphne had called her earlier; a Harpie. Vivian had seen what happened when Veela got angry. Not to mention her own mother, a half Veela, who had been jealous of the attention her new husband had given her daughter. Her mother had gotten angry, and beaten her daughter. She had said Vivian was bad. She had said she would hit her until she was ugly. And she had succeeded. So Vivian had seen the ugly side of Veela, and knew what she was capable of. Her emotionlessness only made her more deadly. She didn't feel anger, but she could feel adrenaline. The Veela was in 'Harpie mode'.

She couldn't block Daphne's punch; Vivian wasn't exactly trained in hand to hand combat. But Daphne was fairly weak, and clearly hadn't gotten much training in either. Her anger was the only threat to Vivian. Vivian knew how to take a punch; she'd taken a lot of them. But still, she dodged slightly so that Daphne's punch landed hard on her cheek as opposed to her nose. Well, she didn't want to ruin her face!

Vivian barely stumbled, and almost laughed as she thought that maybe she had been 'trained' after all. She didn't waste time with punches. Vivian didn't have the technique or the upper body strength. Instead, she just jumped on Daphne. That was the simplest way she could put it. She slammed the brunette down onto the ground, and weighed down on top of her, so she couldn't get up. Her knee was digging hard into Daphne's leg. She held her arms down by the wrists, her nails digging into the soft flesh. She tossed her hair back, getting it out of her face.

"Give it up." she said, coolly. Her voice was still even. She was breathing slightly harder, but not much. Vivian hadn't wasted time getting herself worked up, throwing punches like she knew how; she had simply put Daphne out of action. And into some pain. Vivian knew the girl would feel her knee digging into her, and the pressure on her wrists. Vivian placed her other knee on Daphne's stomach, and leaned into it. She was going to make Daphne Greengrass surrender.

She still couldn't understand why Daphne was so upset. She wasn't with Theo, she knew that. Theo would have told her something. Vivian made a mental note to ask Theo about all of this later. She was sure he would have some better answers.

This had been interesting, after all. This had been just what Vivian had needed.

[daphne]

As soon as Daph launched the punch, she realized that she was seeing something in Vivian that terrified her completely. The girl looked like a live-wire...like something in her had snapped completely and she now was an entirely different person. Daphne wondered if that was what it was like when all Veelas got angry. But she didn’t have much time to think about it, considering that her hand collided with the girl’s cheekbone, ”Dammit!”

[/b] Daphne felt herself yelp involuntarily. She hadn’t been expecting it to hurt so bad. But she supposed that’s what happened when you hit an immovable solid piece of bone like Vivian Blackwell’s face. She cursed the girl for moving, she would have rather seen that perfect little nose of hers snap and blood gush from the wound. But she supposed that a nasty bruise on her face would do her some good...maybe men would start to see her a little differently after that.

There was a split second where nothing happened. Vivian stumbled slightly and Daphne shook out her wrist, trying to gain some feeling back in her fingers, but it felt futile. And then, a glint in Vivian’s eyes and she had launched herself at the elder Greengrass sister.

She felt her body being forced down to the ground, a loud scream emitting from her lips as she crashed onto the grass beneath her again. She should have expected it from Vivian. It was such a cliche, girl-fight move. Daphne was sure that she could buck her off if only-

No. Viv’s knee was firmly planted on her thigh, giving her no escape. She had to give it to the Veela, she knew how to properly pin during a fight. She rather hated her for it. Daphne wished all of a sudden that she had opted for a claws out kind of fight instead of trying to punch her. It had been a stupid and reckless move. Daphne tried to pull her wrists from Vivian’s grasp, but her nails were digging into the skin, causing claw marks and neatly drawing blood from a few parts of her small wrists. Those were going to hurt later. But right now, she couldn’t feel any of the sting. All she could see was Vivian’s face above her and she wanted to tear that stupid bloody blonde hair of hers out of her head, ”Get. Off.”[/b] She managed to say, her voice loud and clear despite the fact that she was on the bottom of this equation. Her knee slammed into her stomach and Daphne immediately gagged.

”Give it up.[/i]

The suggestion was tempting. It was very tempting. End all the agony of losing by just giving up. Daphne felt her muscles beginning to relax, her body opting to lose the fight. But she wasn’t ready to make this stop yet. She didn’t want to lose. There was too much at stake. Waiting for a lull in the moment, Daphne pushed her head from the ground and loudly slammed it into Vivian’s. The moment of created from the surprise head-butt was all that she needed to push Vivian off of her and regain some of the power in this situation. Daphne immediately grabbed Vivian’s hair and pulled her to the ground again, clambering on top of her, ”You stupid Harpie.”[/b] She growled, pulled out a handful of blonde hair and then throwing it back in her face, ”Don’t meddle where you don’t belong. He doesn’t want a sadist like you.”[/b] She growled, her teeth clenched behind her lips. She pushed her knee into Vivian’s stomach like the girl had done to her a few seconds ago and then let up. She stood and stared at Vivian for a long time, almost tempted to give the girl a hand up. But instead, she kicked a bit of grass into the girl’s face, ”Go back to hell.”[/b] She growled and began walking toward the castle. [/blockquote]

[VIVIAN HOPE BLACKWELL]

Damn it!

Damn Daphne Greengrass to hell! Somehow she had managed to get loose from Vivian's grip, and before she knew it she was on top of her, pulling at her hair like a child. Vivian was frustrated, because she had just wanted to end the thing! She didn't care about Daphne! She didn't care about fighting her. She didn't want to waste any energy fighting her. Vivian barely felt anything as Daphne pulled at her hair, and generally tried to attack her. She just took the pain.

If Vivian had time to think about it, she would have realised that her ability to take so many hits was born from years of being hit by her mother. She didn't really feel the pain, because she was in 'take the hit' mode. That, and 'harpie' mode. Vivian knew that winning a fight was as much about taking the hit as it was throwing them. Daphne was saying something about 'him' not wanting her, but Vivian wasnt paying enough attention to figure out what she meant.

She was waiting for the right moment, the moment when she could get Daphne off of her, but before much time had passed Daphne got up off her, spat some generic insult, and started walking back towards the castle.

Vivian stood up, rolling her eyes. She wanted Daphne to leave her alone, but she couldn't very well let her get away with attacking her like that. Vivian reached into her pocket, thinking that she should have done this from the start. She was done with rolling around in the dirt, lowering herself to Daphne Greengrass's level. She and her sister Astoria thought that physically fighting people made them tough. They thought it made them bad ass. Vivian didn't see it that way. It was pathetic, and it was what cowardly people did.

No one ever expected Vivian to be any good at spells. She did terribly in class, but that was down to severe dyslexia, not lack of talent or brains. She stayed cool, and was about to shoot a hex right at Daphne's back. But that would be just as cowardly as Greengrass had been. Vivian wasn't growing a conscience, but she had her pride.

"Greengrass," she said, in a carrying voice. When Daphne turned around, Vivian gave her a second before shooting a hex straight at her, one that would knock her flat on her back, take the wind right out of her, and hopefully leave an ugly scaly mark right where it hit.