Professor Slughorn's party was in full swing— the air thick with pipe smoke, the hum of conversation, and the rich aromas of food. But some time into the soirée, the atmosphere took a decidedly casual turn when the decorative Fairies somehow escaped their tiny lamps, dimming the lights as they clustered around Oleandra; casting her in a spotlight and everyone else in shadow.
"Shoo! Go away!" hissed Oleandra, waving about the rolled-up Marauder's Map in a vain attempt to scatter the swarm of Fairies excitedly buzzing around her head. "Just leave me be!"
"I wonder why they keep doing that?" said Tracey curiously. "Every Christmas, it's always the same story with you."
And just when Harry Potter's timely arrival had finally freed Oleandra from being paraded around and introduced to the various colourful personalities Slughorn had assembled, she was back to being the centre of attention…
"You're not the only one," remarked Daphne. "Your little acquaintance from France is also attracting flies. I wonder what's the connection..."
At the other end of the room, a second spotlight had formed around Mai's small figure. To Oleandra's mild annoyance, Mai seemed to have attracted even more Fairies than she had— though, truth be told, Oleandra would have preferred they'd all stayed in their lamps where they belonged. To anyone familiar with Fairy lore, this would have been an unmistakeable clue to her true identity…
"You don't smell like anything," came a man's voice from behind Oleandra, spoken in a vaguely Eastern European accent. She turned to find Sanguini— the vampire who had accompanied Eldred Worple, an author and one of Professor Slughorn's former students— standing there.
Oleandra didn't quite know what to make of that statement. It was true that she didn't smell like anything, though— body odour was yet another part of herself she had lost when she had gained a Dusk-Elf's physique. Even perfume seemed to magically disappear when applied to her skin…
"Just a taste, perhaps? A tiny bite?" asked Sanguini hungrily. "Something in my blood tells me—"
Oleandra was seized by a sudden daze, transfixed by the Vampire's gaze.
"Sanguini, heel!" said Worple sternly, noticing him slowly approaching Oleandra.
Worple's voice shook Oleandra out of her trance.
The man had already approached her earlier in the soirée, proposing to write her biography. If not for her inability to tell lies, Oleandra would have gladly accepted his offer. There was only so much she could say about herself before she reached the part of her life that needed to remain secret.
"Are you okay?" asked Tracey, and Oleandra blinked.
Quick as a flash, she plucked a hair from the Vampire's head as he turned to face his master, then tried to stash it… only to realise that her evening gown didn't have any pockets. Was she meant to hold on to this hair all night without dropping it?
"What was that for?" whispered Daphne, watching the Vampire whirl around, searching for the culprit, while Oleandra did her best to look innocent.
"Insurance," Oleandra whispered back. "Against the Dusk-Elf."
Judging by the Dusk-Elves' pale skin, Svartalfheim likely received very little sunlight. It was also well known that vampires abhorred sunlight. So, putting two and two together…
Vampires originated from the Dusk-Elf homeworld, and judging by how effortlessly Sanguini had stunned her, they were probably the Dusk-Elves' natural predators. That would also explain why Dusk-Elves evolved to eliminate their scent; in darkness, sight becomes less important than the other four senses.
Of course, that was just a theory. Oleandra had more than one back-up plan for her showdown…
"Miss Greengrass, I would like a word with you," said Professor Snape chillingly as he walked up to the Slytherin trio. "…if you would."
"What seems to be the matter, sir?" asked Oleandra tartly.
It had been a while since she'd last interacted with the former Potions Master. Honestly, skipping Defence Against the Dark Arts had been worth it— if only to avoid having to look at his infuriating face.
"Not you," snapped Professor Snape with even more acidity. "Your sister."
Daphne, who had been in the midst of eyeing the mistletoe strung overhead with visible distaste, turned slowly to face him… and was it just Oleandra's imagination, or did a flicker of fear pass through Professor Snape's eyes when he saw her face?
"What do you want?" asked Daphne dully. "Can't you see I'm with my friends?"
Professor Snape swallowed hard. If Daphne was enjoying her time at the party, then she was concealing it very well!
"It'll only take a moment," he managed to choke out. "Please."
Daphne considered the matter for a few seconds, before nodding. Looking awfully relieved, Professor Snape frayed his way through the crowd to the door with Daphne in tow, and together, they left Professor Slughorn's office.
"What were they talking about?" asked Harry urgently, elbowing his way through the crowd to Oleandra. "What did Snape want with Daphne?"
Oleandra, who'd been in the middle of unfurling the rolled-up Marauder's Map she'd been using to swat away Fairies, started.
"I'm not sure," she said, frowning. "He wanted to have a word with her."
"Mind if I take back the Map for a mo'?" asked Harry, glancing at Oleandra's hands. "I need to know where they're going."
The Marauder's Map belonged to Harry, so, of course, he had every right to take it back whenever he pleased. However, Oleandra needed it to check whether her runaway Lethifold was skulking about, so she was loath to give it up right now.
"How about this?" proposed Oleandra. "I'm coming with you, but I keep the Map."
The Lethifold didn't seem to be anywhere near Professor Slughorn's office at the moment, so it would probably be safe to take a break from looking. It would strike in the dead of night when all was quiet and everyone was sleeping, most probably.
"No problem," said Harry in a hushed voice. "Though we'll probably have better odds of remaining undetected if it's just the two of us…"
Much to Tracey's and Ginny's displeasure, Harry and Oleandra left their respective partners behind, and they slipped out of the party and into the dim corridor outside, using the light from the Fairies still buzzing around Oleandra's head to read the map.
"…Can you make them go away?" Harry finally had to ask after a few steps.