Pansy Parkinson's feet hurt. She blamed her shoes. She needed new ones rather desperately. Four inch heels did not make walking through Hogwarts very comfortable or being on time to class very possible. It was definitely time to go shopping again.
Unfortunately, the next Hogsmeade weekend wasn't for a month, and shoes were not something she trusted anyone else to buy for her. Well, to be more specific, others could pay for the shoes as long as she did the selecting. No one else understood her particular taste in shoes. This pair was the proof. She had tried to instruct a house elf in the proper shoe shopping technique. Netty had listened intently, then apparently had thrown out all of Pansy's teaching and picked a pair that a house elf would like. To be more specific, a pair of four inch stiletto heels in a very bright teal.
"Pansy!"
She turned, hearing her name. Daphne Greengrass, her best friend at Hogwarts, was sauntering through the corridors. They'd been friends for years, ever since they'd both grabbed for a pink flamingo quill at the same time, proclaiming pink flamingo quills to be the hottest thing in school supplies. Pansy stopped at the side of the corridor to wait for her friend and immediately regretted stopping. Standing still only made her feet hurt more.
"Daphne. A pleasure," she greeted her, air kissing both cheeks as Daphne did the same. The French girls from Beaubaxtons greeted each other this way all last year. Daphne and Pansy had been quick to adopt it. Especially after one of the girls had whispered slyly that it drove the guys back in France wild. The Beaubaxtons group had occupied the classiest rung at Hogwarts last year, and Pansy and Daphne wanted that rung to themselves now.
"Pansy," Daphne said, getting in stride beside her - not a difficult task, with the teal shoes shortening Pansy's strides in half. "I thought we'd agreed those shoes ranked below even the Hufflepuff standard of fashion. Why are you still wearing them?"
"I know, I know. But my shoes from the Halloween Hogsmeade weekend are so out of style, and I don't even want to think about the ones from August."
"Pansy, darling, your current shoes were never even close enough to in-style to be classified as out. But the Halloween shoes, I agree, are so three months ago."
"That and a second year spilled ink on them right before the holiday."
"Right, the ink. I'd forgotten about that."
"And the next Hogsmeade weekend isn't until Valentine's Day, and you know how I feel about letting anyone else pick out shoes for me."
Daphne glanced at Pansy's shoes and shuddered. "Yes, and look how well that went. You know I'd loan you a pair, but your feet are so much daintier than mine."
This was unfortunately true. Pansy's feet were the exact wrong size to borrow shoes from anyone else in Slytherin House, as she'd discovered last year hours before the Yule Ball. She'd heard a rumor that the Patil twins wore a similar size, but due to one of the twins' Gryffindor-ness, any conversation was forbidden, much less any shoe sharing.
"Any luck convincing Professor Snape that an emergency Hogsmeade visit is desperately required in order to pass our exams?" Pansy asked, recalling an all- Slytherin scheme dreamed up three days ago. Daphne and Draco had been the two appointed ambassadors to attempt to sway the Slytherin Head of House.
"Didn't work. He sneered and said new clothes weren't vital to Potions exams, so therefore were not considered vital, period."
"What's about Draco's story of needing a back-up broom for Quidditch practice?"
"No luck there either. Professor Snape informed Draco that such things could be ordered and did not require a visit to the store."
"Well, there goes that plan. I thought the Quidditch part might sway him. We'll just have to think of a new plan."
"Pansy, Daphne, how nice of you to arrive," a bored voice drawled. They'd reached the Charms classroom, last as usual. Today, however, they'd beaten Professor Flitwick. Draco and the rest of their year were sprawled along the wall, waiting.
"Draco," Pansy said with a nod. "I hear your meeting with our dear head of house did not go well." Grateful to have stopped walking, she slipped out of her shoes and leaned against the wall by Draco.
"Pansy, how are you still wearing those things? Your house elf bought them!" Draco asked, ignoring her comment and choosing to focus on her abrupt change in height.
"As I just said, your meeting with Professor Snape didn't go well. I can't exactly go buy new shoes without going into Hogsmeade."
"Pansy, your shoes are no longer just the talk of Slytherin House," Blaise Zabini muttered from his place in line on the other side of Draco. "I've heard rumors that the Hufflepuffs are starting to joke about them."
Pansy froze mid-foot massage. "The Hufflepuffs are making fun of me?"
"Of your shoes, yes."
"Pansy, this must not go on. You must get new shoes. For the honor of Salazar Slytherin," Draco informed her coldly. "As your prefect, consider this a direct order."
She'd learned long ago how to handle Draco when he got all haughty (which was almost always), but in this case she agreed. It was one thing to be miserable and in considerable foot pain. It was quite another to have the rest of the school laughing at you for it.
Before Pansy could respond, Professor Flitwick opened the door and motioned the class inside. She replaced her shoes with a whimper and limped into the classroom with Daphne, Blaise and Draco.
"Today, class, we will be having a refresher on changing the appearance of items. Texture, color, anything related to how the object looks," Professor Flitwick announced as cushions flew about the room toward each small group. Pansy deftly caught hers, and laughed when a lime green one hit Draco in the forehead.
"This is so second year," Blaise yawned, pointing his wand and changing his own cushion to black velvet.
"I know. What a waste of a Charms class," Draco agreed, covertly sending his now pink pillow straight at Crabbe and Goyle on the other side of the room. The pillow bounced off Crabbe's shoulder, and it took far too long for him to find the pillow on the ground. Rubbing his arm where the pillow hit, Crabbe looked their way, but not before they'd smothered their giggles and pretended to be absorbed in their Charms texts.
"Any other bright ideas for how to convince Professor Snape that we have to go Hogsmeade?" Pansy asked, summoning the pillow now that Crabbe and Goyle had turned their attention back to their own work.
Daphne caught Draco's pink cushion, and turned it into black velvet to match Blaise's. "Maybe something about how the abnormally chilly weather we're having results in some of the first years not being adequately prepared, and as prefects, it's your duty to make sure they have appropriate winter wear, only to be found in Hogsmeade?"
"He'd probably shoot that one down with the same response as needing a new broom for the Quidditch team - you can order winter cloaks from a catalog and have them delivered," Blaise said, before yawning again.
"Late night, Blaise?" Pansy finally had to ask, changing her cushion to a pleasant green color.
Draco and Blaise exchanged a look. "No, not really," Blaise answered. The black velvet cushion became slightly larger, turning into a pillow for a very tired-looking Blaise.
"Oh, and what did that look mean? Was someone in the Astronomy Tower with a third year?" Daphne pulled away his pillow to compare the black velvet. Blaise's head landed on the hard desk top with a bang. A few people nearby looked up, but not many. Bangs and crashes were an everyday occurrence in Charms.
"Well, if someone was, that someone wasn't me," Blaise retorted, rubbing his head and glaring at Daphne.
"Was that someone Draco?" Daphne persisted, keeping a firm hold on both cushions as Blaise grabbed for his. "No, let me see it! I need to compare!"
Draco looked insulted. "As if I'd do anything with a third year!"
Pansy stopped listening to her friends argue and stared at the cushion in her hands. With her wand, she changed it from the pleasant green to a nasty shade of teal and back again, and then from its normal square shape to an oval seat cushion.
"Guys, shut up a minute," she interrupted eagerly, not caring whether they were done arguing about who had been in the Astronomy Tower or not. "I have an idea. These spells change the appearance of any object, right?"
"Yes, Pansy. That's the whole point," Blaise said, as if this were the most obvious thing in the world.
"That's why they're called Appearance Charms," Draco added in the voice he normally reserved for talking to Crabbe and Goyle.
"Then why don't we charm something other than a simple cushion? Why not a pair of really ugly shoes?"
"Of course!" Daphne cheered. "We should have thought of it weeks ago. We're the best at Charms, it'll be simple."
"It's only a charm. You're not changing the shoes themselves, Pansy," Blaise pointed out.
"But they'll stay normal shoes long enough, won't they? Especially since we can't get Professor Snape to authorize that Hogsmeade visit," Pansy said, placing her teal four inch stiletto heels on the desk in front of her.
"First, that color," said Draco. With a wave of his wand, the teal became the same pleasant shade of green as Pansy's cushion earlier.
"We can't change the structure of the shoes, but how about a comfort charm like the ones used on broomsticks?" Daphne suggested.
"Oh, that would be perfect," sighed Pansy, imagining it.
"What about the heels? Do you think a standard shortening charm would work?" Blaise picked up the left foot and studied it. "Or would shortening interfere with the balance of the shoe?"
"What balance?" Pansy grumbled. "They're four inch stiletto heels. Balance does not exist."
Ignoring her, Blaise spoke the shortening spell and waved his wand at the shoes. The heels shrunk dramatically.
To finish them off, Pansy waved her own wand, and the stiletto points changed to blunt wedge heels.
They stared at the finished shoes. They looked almost ... normal.
"Pansy, try them on," Daphne urged, looking excited.
She quickly slipped them on and stood up. "They feel great!"
"That'd be the comfort charm. Walk around in them," Blaise urged.
"And how is your practice going?" Professor Flitwick interrupted before Pansy could take a step.
"Fantastic," Daphne quickly answered, holding up the two black velvet cushions. "This is simply a remarkable set of charms to know."
Draco and Blaise nodded in agreement to Daphne's words as Pansy quickly sat back down.
"Any questions about the spellwork?" Professor Flitwick continued.
"How long do the appearance charms last if not removed?" Pansy asked.
"Depending on the scope of the charm, they have been known to last almost a full month if done properly. Anything else?"
They shook their heads.
"Fantastic! Carry on," the tiny professor said, and scurried to the next group.
"A full month. That's enough time until Hogsmeade," Daphne reminded them as Pansy stood up, took two steps and sat back down. "What's the problem?"
"The balance is off since we changed the heel length. I can't walk in them. I'll fall flat on my face." She placed the shoes back on the desktop.
"Well, I can fix that." Draco took them, tapped them twice, and muttered something under his breath that no one else heard clearly. "There you go," he said, and handed them back to her.
"Draco, what did you just enchant my shoes to do? Are they going to make me fall down every other Tuesday or something?" Pansy had learned long ago not to let Draco charm any of her things, not after a Slytherin scarf kept switching to Gryffindor colors every time she said the word 'gross.'
"No, I put a non-slipping charm on them. You won't need traction, and the balance of the shoe isn't a factor now. We can't have the Slytherin prefects falling down all the time. Just think of the reaction that would cause." Draco looked his most haughty as he gestured with the shoes in his still outstretched hands.
"Can't besmirch the honor of Salazar Slytherin," Blaise and Daphne intoned as Pansy put the shoes back on.
"Definitely not," she agreed, and walked around the table. "They're fantastic!"
A sudden hot point on her leg made her knee give out, and she stumbled, off- balance, into Draco's lap.
"Pansy!" yelled Draco as her elbow got him in the ribs.
"Daphne!" yelled Blaise, recognizing the seemingly errant spell's origin.
"Draco!" yelled Pansy as Draco tried to push her off.
"Blaise!" yelled Daphne as Blaise threw his black velvet pillow at her.
"Students! That's all for today!" yelled Professor Flitwick from the front of the classroom. "Please banish the cushions to the box in the front."
Pansy had just gotten on her feet when the cushions flying through the room knocked her back into Draco's lap.
"Pansy! Not again!"
Before Draco could push her off, Daphne was around the desk and pulling Pansy to her feet, ducking the four cushions Blaise was banishing. The girls quickly gathered their books and scurried out of the classroom before Draco could find a form of revenge.
"Another typical day in Charms, right Pansy," Daphne said through her giggles as they made their way to the Great Hall for lunch.
"Right, Daphne. Do you really think Draco put an anti-slipping charm on them?"
"Probably not, knowing Draco."
"Yeah, that's what I thought. But at least my feet don't hurt anymore."