Starlight, Prologue
Two days after May 2nd, 1998
Hogwarts Express, somewhere in Northern England.
"But, he's there! Potter's there! Someone grab him!"
"Before Harry could speak, there was a massive movement. The Gryffindors in front of him had risen and stood facing, not Harry, but the Slytherins. Then the Hufflepuffs stood, and almost at the same moment, the Ravenclaws, all of them with their backs to Harry, all of them looking toward Pansy instead, and Harry, awestruck and overwhelmed, saw wands emerging everywhere, pulled from beneath cloaks and from under sleeves."
Pansy and her fellow Slytherin students who were forced to evacuate immediately after the battle of Hogwarts were on the Hogwarts Express, taking them home to their families. . She did not know what awaited her at home, but knew due to her stupid mistake thinking she could convince everyone to give Harry Potter over to Voldemort to secure their safety, she felt uneasy in her stomach. Her mind began to panic as she worried for Draco's safety, and the safety of her parents. She knew that they would answer their call as Death Eaters and serve Lord Voldemort at the battle, but hoped they had made it out safely.
The train arrived at King's Cross at about half past ten, pulling into the near empty Platform 9 and 3/4th, a few parents stood on the station waiting for the arrival of their children. The train was bringing home as many kids who left Hogwarts after the battle was over. Many parents had taken their children directly from the school and got them home on their own means. Pansy stared out the window in the hopes she would see her Mother and Father, but did not see them mixed in with the few people that were there. 'Maybe they're running late' she said to herself, thinking that somehow they had survived the battle and had gotten away without being identified. The train halted to a dead stop. 'Please make sure you take all of your belongings left in the carriages before exiting the train' said the voice over the intercom in the train. Pansy gathered up the bags she had in her compartment, and took the one large suitcase from above the entranceway to the compartment and made her way off the train. She rolled everything to a cart on the platform and began to make her way to the entryway to get off 9 3/4th's and back into the muggle world. There was no sight of her parents anywhere on the Hogwarts platform, nor on the King's Cross platform. Without giving up hope, she got a train to take her back to her region of England, and took the long ride home without anyone coming with nodded off to sleep for another long train ride.
The train stopped at station in Southampton, and Pansy gathered everything once again and got out of the station as quickly as possible. Instead of waiting for anyone to show up, she grabbed ahold of all her belongings and apparated home.
A few seconds later, Pansy was standing on the doorstep to her home, snug in the countryside that was calm and quiet. She entered the house and it was completely silent inside, no movement on the first floor. Rolling her bags through the door, she heard movement from upstairs. A figure came down the steps and paused midway through.
"Pansy? Is that you?" a voice rang out quietly, Pansy replied
"Yes Rose, It's me, no need to worry." The figure came gliding down the steps and ran directly into Pansy's arms.
"Oh I'm so happy you're home! Mum and Dad said they went to pick you up from Hogwarts on the 2nd! Are they with you?"
Pansy knew right then and there that her parents had gone to fight at the battle, and they still weren't back yet. She felt light inside her head at the idea that her parents would leave their youngest daughter home alone. What if I never came home? She would be sitting here worried sick about all of us. I can't believe they would lie to her. " Pansy said to her sister "They went out for a bit, and they didn't say when they would be home. But don't worry, I'm here now." Rose looked up at her, with a slight worried look on her face, but she smiled none the less.
Pansy eventually got all of her belongings back up to her room, within a hour she was unpacked and back to her normal home life. She looked out the window that was perched on the third floor of the narrow house they lived in, and wished her parents would come home soon.
Two years later, and she was still waiting for that day.
August 16th, 2000.
Two years after the events of May 2nd, 1998.
"Rose! Get up already! We need to go get all your supplies!"
Pansy was standing in the kitchen trying to wrap up a boxed lunch for herself and her sister's journey to Diagon Alley. Rose came down the stairs and grabbed her bookbag, and waited for Pansy to finish up. Once the lunch was wrapped, she hurried herself and her sister out the door and apperated to the entrance way of The Leaky Cauldron.
I started to resent my parents a week after I had gotten home. I knew they wouldn't come home. They were probably dead, and no one bothered to identify them, probably just threw them in a pile and let them rot. I could care less, they werent coming back. Did they really think I would be able to take care of everything at home with them gone? Both sisters had to adjust to life without their parents, even Rose had caught on that her parents weren't coming home, and it resulted in a few teary nights that Pansy had to deal with. And in the time she had been home, Pansy had gotten one letter from her 'friends' from Hogwarts. A letter that wasnt even signed, only describing how much of a disgrace she was for what happened at The Battle of Hogwarts. She pushed the memory of the letter to the back of her head and both herself and Rose proceeded into The Leaky Cauldron, hoping for the best.
The pub had not changed since 1991, a damp feeling was in the air and Wizards and Witches huddled around tables and stools around. Bartender Tom was still in the center, tending to the various patrons standing at the bar. Pansy hurried her sister passed everyone, trying not to attract attention to the back entrance to Diagon Alley. A quick tap of the bricks and they were both in the confines of the alley. This wasn't what Pansy imagined her sister's first year at Hogwarts would be like. No parents, a sister with a bad reputation, she hoped she wouldn't be picked on or bullied because of it. It was no secret with what Pansy said to Harry Potter. Pansy never regretted what she had said that night, but the repercussions grew to become an overbearing blight on her life. Her parents had drilled into her from the moment she was able to talk that muggles were absolute scum of the earth, and she should not treat any of them with respect. The naive child she was, she followed what her parents said, not realizing what it would cause all these years later. The sisters walked slowly down the center of Diagon Alley, trying to blend in with the large crowd that bustled about. They first stopped in the re-opened Flourish and Blotts, and gathered the necessary books needed for Rose's first year. Pansy had to tell her sister that she could not buy a book that was placed in the clearance bin that was on sale for a single silver Sickle, an old copy of Magical Me by Gilderoy Lockhart. Rose exclaimed "But he looks like he might know stuff i may need to know!" Pansy sighed and ignored her, knowing the fraud he turned out to be. As the day progressed on, the crowds in the alley grew bigger and louder. The duo progressed down to get Rose her first wand, selected by Ollivander himself. When they entered his rebuild store, it was barren. A family stood in the back corner looking at Wands. Ollivander was standing at the front desk, looking tired, wrinkles around his face. Pansy was surprised after the events in 1996 where the Death Eaters kidnapped him, that he still continued to create wands. They approached the desk, and the old man smiled gently.
"Ah yes, First year at Hogwarts?"
Pansy had opened her mouth, but Rose interrupted her.
"Yes! I'm so unbelievably excited!"
He laughed heartily and looked at Pansy, the smile slightly faded from his face, but was still visible.
"Ah, Mrs. Parkinson. I remember the day you stepped into my shop for the first time with your family, Cherry with Unicorn hair, 9 inches, correct?"
Pansy nodded, gulped and spoke
"Yes, it was. It's still in great condition to this day."
Ollivander spoke again
"Good, good. Now then, lets get your sister her set up with this wand."
Less than a half hour later, they walked out of the shop with Rose's new wand in hand Ash, with Dragon Heartstring, 8 and a half inches. Rose clutched the box tightly in her arms, and was beaming. Pansy was just thankful her sister was enjoying her time out, but was still on edge with how Ollivander reacted to her in his shop. She never expected him to be cold, but she felt a facade over every word he spoke. He hated what the Death Eaters had done to him, it nearly broke his spirit. Pansy remembered what Draco had told her during their 6th year that he was being tortured by Voldemort. For what reason she was unsure of, but one can assume why he would want information from him. Quickly hurrying to make the last stop to get Rose's cauldron needed for potions.
"Why cant we get a new owl?"
Rose sighed as they browsed for the right sized cauldron, Pansy took one look down at a standard-sized pewter cauldron, and she said
"We already have one, we don't need a new one."
"But all the first years will have an animal of their own!"
Pansy sighed loudly, and hissed
"Rose, we are not buying an animal. Now take this cauldron here and bring it to the counter."
Rose pouted, and grabbed a hold of the cauldron that was a tad bit bigger then her head.
It wasn't long before they had gotten back home, they both brought the supplies into the house and placed them in the cupboard closet for the time being. They both quickly washed up and ate dinner in a somewhat deafening silence. This wasn't something Pansy was cut out for, she had always been a good sister to Rose, but she wasn't cut out to be a sort of mother on top of being a sister. She just wanted Rose to be happy, but Rose couldn't see that the world around her wasn't as pleasant as she believed it was. No book could prepare her for what the wizarding world would eventually mold into in the coming years.
Things were about to take a drastic turn in a completely different direction.
