Disclaimer: I do not own and of the characters or aspects of the wizarding world created by the marvelous JK Rowling, only the plot I twisted these characters belongs to me.
A/N: Please bear with me as this is my first attempt at putting my scattered mind onto the page in front of you, and yes I am yet to find a wonderful beta of my own so until that lucky day please read and review but I beg you to be kind, as we all know how powerful words can be.
These Days
Chapter 1
As Pansy walked through the large cold manor pitched in darkness hearing nothing but the soft sounds of her bare feet on the hardwood floors she wondered how long it would be until he returned home, no point in waiting up she though and turned back towards the master bedroom when she heard a stumble coming from study at the other end of the hallway. She ran her way toward the fading green light reaching it just in time to see her husband stumble through the fireplace and land in a pile on the floor, she rushed down to him holding his scarred face in her hands, fresh blood dripping on the rug wounds that even after almost 24hrs weren't showing any sign of healing.
"there's my sunshine" he said to her, struggling to sit up, despite his scarred and damaged body the glimmer of light left in his eyes she knew was purely for her.
"Sweetheart sit up so I can get these wounds cleaned" she spoke gently "Jilly" as she called to the small house elf who appeared at her side bowl of Murtlap essence, cloth and pain potions at the ready. "Mistress need not worry, Jilly will have Master right as rain in no time" placing her supplies at her Masters side and pouring the potions into his mouth as if he were still a small child, she brushed his sandy hair from his sweaty brow and offered him a sweet proud smile. "that's better now isn't it Master, Jilly always look after you" since the death of his mother when he was a small boy the little elf had taken it upon herself to help turn him into the man her beloved mistress would have wanted and not like that man Jilly thought to herself, shaking her head to rid herself of the thought. Once the wounds had been addressed she levitated his drowsy limp body to float down the hall to the master bedroom laying him gently on the bed, Jilly turned to Pansy "Mistress need only call should Master need anything at all" and with a graceful bow she disappeared.
"Tell me how bad was is" she said as she settled down next to him on the bed, running her hand gently over his bare chest now that the elf had removed what remained of his torn t-shirt, knowing how sensitive he would be.
"I've had better nights" he said to her with that smirk that melted her every time.
"Theo… I really think we should talk to someone, it's getting worse and I…" he put his finger to her lips to silence her "The wolf had his time and now because of that I need to rest, we will talk about this later Flossy" he reached for her hand still on his chest and kissed the inside of her wrist.
Defeated she lay down next to him watching in the dim light, his brow furrow and eyes darting under the lids in fighting the last traces of his demons until his breathing slowed and with deep even breaths and he drifted off.
Hours later she jolted awake as Theo tossed and turned next to her, his body ridged and dripping in sweat, she tried to shake him to wake him from his terror "THEO! Theo wake up! It's just a nightmare" she reached for her wand lighting the room and turned to face the bright gold eyes and bared teeth of the wolf within. All colour left her face as her breath hitched in her throat with a sharp inhale, with wide eyes she lowered her wand slightly to reduce the threat of the beast "Theo" she said softly tilting her head slightly, offering the sight of her bare neck as a sign of submission to the alpha. His tongue ran across his lips and over his sharp teeth, eyes flashing gold again and he went to lunge at her but she was quicker a silent Petrificus Totalus hit him and knocked him flat wide eyes looking livid at her.
"JILLY!" she screamed panting hard, the elf appeared looking at her Mistress and the with horror at her beloved master "its ok Mistress, it will all be ok" the small elf said taking her hand to stroke the back of it until Pansy's breath returned back to normal "Jilly will go fetch some Dreamless sleep for master and it will all have passed in a few hours" the elf turned and left returning seconds later with the small bottle to pour down Theos throat and his rigid body lay trapped under the spell cast by his wife. Pansy stroked the side of his face as his angry gold eyes seem to still and change back to their normal blue-grey and look at her with a sorrow that seemed to shatter her soul.
Pansy removed the spell and as Theo looked at her with the deepest shame before he rolled onto his side and with great effort pushed himself of the bed and staggered down to the basement, throwing up wards behind him as he went so she couldn't follow. Pansy slumped to the floor and burst into tears, deep sobs racking her entire body "there, there Mistress" Jilly soothed "Jilly will go and keep Master company until morning" and with a small stroke of her hair the elf left the room.
Pansy could not control herself and wept harder, this was not how her life was meant to turn out, what happened to the happily ever after. It turned out when all your dreams came true there would always be reality there to kick you down and remind you that this was life; cruel, harsh and bittersweet. She curled herself into a ball on the soft rug hugging her legs tight to her chest until she cried herself to sleep.
She dreamt of all the happy times and all the hopes they shared together, hopes that all seem to be fading faster that she could try to stop them.
When she woke the next morning sore and stiff from sleeping on the floor, she stretched herself out like a cat twisting her tight muscles in the hopes of releasing some of the tension there. She heard a shift in the space behind her and spun around to see Theo staring at her with a look of peace mixed with something that looked like regret before he looked down. She crossed the room to stand in front of him before he caved and pulled her to him, she melted into his tall muscular frame breathing in the smell and warmth of him. He kissed the top of her head and signed deeply "that can't ever happen again, I could have hurt your or…. Worse…. Merlin I'm so sorry Flossy can you ever forgi…." She looked up to his face and silenced him with a kiss. She wrapped her arms tight around his waist as he took her face in his strong hands as he peppered it, her neck and shoulders with small feather light kisses while the both aimed to push the memories of what had happened away, deep down where they couldn't do any damage.
They never had a hope of a traditional start, the war had damaged them all. Being on the losing side of the war was never going to end well for any of them even if it wasn't a side they necessarily chose to be on, never the less after the fall of Voldemort the remaining death eaters who had not been captured or killed raced down to release their children who had been taken down to the dungeons, branded as traitors for no other reason than being Slytherins. Theo stood watching as Pansy rocked quietly in the corner feeling trapped and hopeless and remembering wanting to hold her until her pain went away.
She felt so stupid, they were going to throw her in Azkaban for yelling at them to give up their golden boy to the dark lord, all hope was lost and they had no chase of winning so the best they could all hope for was that the rest of them might be able to live out their lives in relative peace. Then eventually when they heard the fighting stop for a second time they all stood huddled together collectively waiting with baited breath for the outcome. Suddenly there was a rush of cloaks down the corridor as death eaters called out to their children and sense of relief that the order wouldn't be coming after them was quickly squashed by the cries of "Quick… Go" "We have to get out of here" "RUN!" mothers and fathers screaming for their children in the hope of escaping together before they were captured.
A familiar blonde hair stood out to Pansy the most as Draco ran towards her wrapping his best friend into a tight hug, then the broke sobbing hysterically into his shoulder, he called over her head "Theo! Quick help me, I've got to get her out of here!" and as the wards had been so severely damaged, the two friends moved to disapparate "follow me" Draco said with a nod to Theo and with the small girl held tightly between them they turned on their heels and left the devastation of the old building behind them.
"How is this place even standing" Theo said looking around in awe "I thought the Dark Lord destroyed every Death Eater dwelling except Malfoy Manor so he could keep tabs on everyone?" Draco looked at him and Pansy with a proud smirk on his face "Great Uncle Alphard left this place to mum as a secret getaway when she was young and made her the secret keeper. Before I started school, she made me secret keeper, destroyed all the paperwork and had me take over the house, don't ask, a bit of blood magic may or may not have been involved but basically its completely off the grid, if he never knew it existed he never knew to take it and as dear old dad doesn't know anything about it he couldn't offer it up to fix his many mistakes. Plus, even if they did know it was here it's far too close to mudbloods and blood-traitors for a death eater to be happy with" he stopped to look over in the distance pointing at a shadow in the moonlight sitting high on the hill a dozen or so miles away "See that building in the distance, looks a bit like a chess piece" Pansy squinted and wrapped her arms around herself in the cold. "that is the home of the editor of the Quibbler and his looney daughter" Theo and Pansy looked at each other and then back to Draco before saying in unison "Lovegood!" with a roll of his eyes Draco turned heading towards the front door "You two coming or what?" as he stepped in to the cottage.
The next few weeks passed by in a blur as the three of them settled into a routine but constantly on edge, Pansy was the worst jumping at the smallest things. However, Draco's' mother Narcissa had clearly prepared for the worst-case scenario by stocking the cottage to the rafters with supplies, Draco couldn't help but feel she had planned that this was where she would run into hiding with her only son, protected away from the horrors of the world until it was safe for them again. He blinked back tears remembering her eyes locked on him, the last thing she would ever see after the Dark Lord threw the killing curse at her, furious she had fooled him as Harry Potter, not dead as she claimed, but running very much alive over to his friends. He had just stood there next to his father without even a second to react as the green light hit her fair in the chest he felt his heart in his own chest break mouth open in a silent horrified wail unable to move or make a sound. His father however didn't show any hint of emotion, he had long since given up thinking of his own self-preservation no sign of the fierce loyalty that truly made you a real Slytherin. Wiping tears angrily from his face his scoffed at though hoping wherever his father was he was suffering.
It was at the end of their third week of hiding Draco started getting restless and increasingly irritated at not knowing what was happening in the outside world "Draco come sit, you're making Pansy more anxious with your pacing" Theo called out to his old friend and Draco completed another lap of his well-worn path between the kitchen and lounge room. As Draco slumped into the couch next to Pansy she kicked the end of her feet out throwing the end of her afghan rug to cover his legs, settling back to continue reading her book now that she was able to concentrate on the words on the pages again.
The three sat in silence, Theo eyes closed but not asleep, Draco watching as the flames danced in the fireplace forcing himself to take deep breathes to relax It will all be ok, it will all be ok, I'll keep them safe he thought to himself over and over until he almost believed it himself. That was until he felt his forearm burn white hot as hard as the day he was branded, he and Theo both cried out looking at each other with terror in their eyes. Before anyone had a chance to say anything both Dark Marks glowed blue and the young death eaters vanished from sight, leaving the screaming Pansy clutching at where her friends had once stood.