Hermione felt guilt boiling in her gut when Goyle tugged down Susan Bones to his lap, wondering if she and Draco had started this trend, or if the girls normally fell into their laps after dinner. Theo Nott was the first one to offer his girl a bite of his cheese. And when she smiled at him in thanks, Hermione wondered if this was simply the second part of the evening. When the slaves ate the scraps from their masters' tables.

Two of the girls began clearing plates, and Hermione watched the table settings disappear entirely once they were taken to the credenza. Elf magic here as well, but she wondered at the distinctly Muggle task of clearing dishes, something no wizarding family did without magic. When one of them reached for Montague's plate, he stabbed at them sharply with the tines of his fork, and then made a show about eating one last bite. The intricacies of the power dynamics stunned her.

From the boisterous conversations in the middle of the table, she started to place the other three boys. Cassius Warrington, Terrence Higgs, and Miles Bletchley. The entire Slytherin Quidditch team, spanning over several years. The rings made more sense to her. Higgs seemed the least entertained with the evening, barely enjoying the blonde that had dropped into his lap.

The girls started reaching for their own cheese and fruit as the boys got drunker, several of them smiling and pretending to enjoy themselves. She caught snippets of conversation, something about Pucey's aunt in Liverpool, Bletchley's second home in Germany, Nott's injury last month. But nothing stood out as particularly important.

Draco kept to one glass of wine, but she watched the other girls drain the decanters into their masters' glasses. Hermione kept her hands folded in her lap and her eyes down, finding that when she looked around the table she would always catch the eyes of one of them.

"Draco," Flint called across the table, his cheeks flushed with the wine and his fingers playing with Penelope's curls. "Since we won't be getting a taste, tell us a bit about Granger. Is she just as fiery in the bedroom?"

A guffaw or two, then the table went silent. And Draco's fingertips twitched against her ribs. She felt the press of them as her breath exhaled slowly. She heard his throat click as he swallowed.

"What do you want to know?" He lifted his wine glass, draining it. Hermione felt her heartbeat against the champagne glass she held tightly between fingers.

"She just as swotty in bed?"

Laughter clattered against the spoons, and she lifted her head to find every eye on her, hungry with lust or cruel amusement. She blinked down again, her cheeks burning.

"In the beginning," Draco said finally, a low hum through her back. "Now she knows how to relax — to avoid punishment."

She felt a shiver at her shoulder blades, spreading outwards and sinking into her skin.

"What's her cunt like?" Montague asked, biting back a smirk.