House: Ravenclaw
Word Count: 1997
Category: Standard
Prompt(s): [Object] Family Heirloom
Year: Head
Warning: Strays a slight bit from canon to make the pairing work better within my storyline. It's almost AU-ish in a way and Pansy is a bit OOC.
- September 29th, 1991 -
Pansy Parkinson had just met possibly the most captivating person in her entire life. And that was saying something.
She'd run - quite literally - into the girl outside of the Charms Classroom a few weeks into her first year at Hogwarts, but the girl was a Gryffindor - as could be told by the red and gold blaring out at her. She seemed nice though, and so Pansy had helped to pick up her books. She figured it was the least she could do - it was her fault, after all.
They chatted for a short while, and Pansy learned the girl's name - Hermione Granger. It was pretty, though Pansy couldn't say she'd heard of that surname before. Later that evening she inquired about the surname in her Common Room. It was her first mistake.
She was aggressively advised to stay away from the girl. They said she was filthy, a mudblood, unworthy of magic. Pansy was taken aback - Hermione was the top of their class, how could she be unworthy? Everything Pansy had been taught screamed at her to listen to the other Slytherins, to despise Hermione for her blood status. She was a Parkinson for Salazar's sake, and Parkinsons didn't associate with people like Hermione Granger.
Yet, Pansy couldn't stay away.
- October 31st, 1991 -
To say that Pansy was worried would be an understatement. The pureblood found herself absolutely terrified - terrified for Hermione. There was a troll in the castle, witnessed by countless Slytherins as they'd attempted to safely reach their common room. It was moving towards the girl's bathroom, which was a relief. Well, until she remembered that Hermione was in there.
She knew about Hermione's whereabouts because she'd seen the bushy haired girl run in, crying, earlier in the day. She'd been tempted to go in after her - to give her a sense of comfort. The farthest she got was to the door before she stopped herself. No one could see her there or she'd surely get dozens of Howlers from her parents. Ashamedly, her and Hermione had been getting closer as friends, and she still couldn't muster up the courage to comfort the girl. She hoped to Merlin that Hermione was okay.
- November 15th, 1991 -
Schoolwork was quickly piling up on top of all Hogwarts students, though Pansy found herself more behind than her classmates. This was partially due to spending time with Hermione, but she wasn't complaining. Their time together was something she enjoyed - though their interactions were becoming more sparse as time passed. Hermione had been spending more time with Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley, and thus Pansy really only talked with the bushy haired Gryffindor in the library.
Hermione had called them 'study buddies' - Pansy had to admit she liked the term. She didn't know why, but whenever they hung out Pansy got this weird feeling in her chest. Did Hermione feel it too? What was the feeling? What did it mean? She tried to push the swirling questions out of her mind and focus on schoolwork. If she got too far behind, she would surely get more than one angry letter from her mother.
- September 1st, 1992 -
It was the start of their second year at Hogwarts and Pansy was feeling more confident than usual, her mood just a little bit more upbeat. Over the summer, her mother had given her a beautiful green and silver locket, said to be a prized family heirloom. She'd excitedly written to Hermione about it, who had responded with equal enthusiasm, imploring Pansy to show her once they both reached the school.
Pansy's good mood seemed unbeatable - and even though she saw Hermione sitting alone in a compartment, which was undoubtedly odd, she still couldn't shake the giddy feeling that filled her. Giddiness that dimmed when she saw Hermione at dinner, alone once again. Potter and Weasley weren't with her, as they normally were, and Hermione was visibly worried. Every now and again she looked around the room, presumably hoping to see the duo enter the Great Hall. They didn't. Hermione and Pansy locked eyes once, Hermione's gaze landing on the heirloom. She'd offered a smile, which made Pansy's stomach do a flip. She couldn't stop smiling after that.
- September 6th, 1992 -
Draco called them all to the common room so that he could regale them with his 'triumphs' of the day. Pansy fiddled with her necklace while they waited for him, and Daphne commented on it. She spent a few minutes asking if it was the actual heirloom and showing her own heirlooms off - a pair of earrings she'd gotten from her parents.
Draco finally arrived minutes later, full of adrenaline. Pansy's blood began to boil as he droned on, explaining in vivid detail how he'd called Hermione a mudblood and how her friends had tried to defend her. By the end of his speech she felt a strong urge to thank Ronald Weasley. She almost did - she even wrote a letter and everything - though in the end she decided against it.
- March 14th, 1992 -
Pansy was sure her heart stopped beating a week ago when she'd first heard the news. Students were whispering in the halls, saying that Hermione had been petrified. Pansy was devastated. She didn't eat as much, couldn't stomach the food. She and Hermione had been spending so much time together lately, that now her time in the library was lonely and quiet, and walking to classes without the rest of the Slytherins was unusually dull.
She couldn't help but be angry at Harry and Ron, and so she took out her dismal feelings by insulting them every moment she could. Pansy had this nagging feeling that it was all their fault - they should have protected Hermione when she couldn't protect herself. Perhaps it helped her ignore the guilt inside. She could only hope Hermione would be cured quickly.
- June 9th, 1993 -
Draco entered the common room that evening with a broken nose, though unlike when he'd broken his arm, Pansy didn't feel any sympathy for him. He'd supposedly made a remark - undoubtedly snide and insensitive - about Buckbeak's execution. She knew very well that the animal's death would ruin the gamekeeper. But she also knew that anything that hurt Hagrid would haunt Hermione. She and Hermione had rarely spoken over the previous summer, and they'd spoken even less during the year at Hogwarts. Even still, she couldn't help but feel a sense of pride and satisfaction when Draco told them that it was Hermione who had punched him. In her opinion, he deserved it.
- December 25th, 1994 -
It was now her fourth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and the Yule Ball was quickly approaching. She and Hermione rarely spoke - not that she could blame the Gryffindor girl, they were both far too busy - besides, Pansy hadn't made too much of an effort to talk to her either. Pansy still had feelings for Hermione that she doubted would dwindle anytime soon. She could recall the moment she knew they were more than just platonic.
She was sitting in the library, yet to be asked out to the Yule Ball, when Hermione stopped by her table. She'd changed a bit, Pansy noticed, especially with the way she spoke - but it was a good change. Hermione claimed the reason that she'd stopped by was because she wanted to let Pansy know that Victor Krum had asked her out. Pansy felt her heart sink as disappointment settled inside of her. She shouldn't have been feeling any of this, she was a pureblood and wasn't even supposed to be friends with Hermione, let alone be in love with her. She decided to go with Draco, who bought her a beautiful necklace to ask her out. Pansy accepted, but declined the necklace. She would wear her family heirloom with pride.
- November 7th, 1995 -
Hermione Granger sneaks out almost every single night - something Pansy picked up on her evening patrols through the hallways. Perhaps she's allowed to be, Pansy reckons, yet she still knows she's expected to report that to Umbridge as part of her duties for the Inquisitorial Squad. She doesn't.
They talk on their Prefect Patrols together, and it makes Pansy's life livelier again. Hermione is almost always out past curfew, and despite Umbridge's orders to report anyone that's out of bed and not a Slytherin - even prefects - Pansy doesn't. She's too infatuated with Hermione to do so.
- June 1st, 1996 -
School is chaotic, Draco is moody, and to top it off Pansy can't talk with Hermione as often anymore. It's because of sides, Pansy knows that much - she knows that if either of them spend too long together, it'll be like pledging their allegiance to another side in the eyes of their peers. When they do talk, it's in hushed whispers in dark, abandoned classrooms.
Hermione feels it too, the butterflies when they lock eyes - not that the Gryffindor lets on. Pansy is left to worry again when Hermione disappears later in the year with the two boys, and she desperately hopes that this fight will come to a quick end. She'll do anything to end this war.
- May 1st, 1997 -
Voldemort is giving them a choice. He will end the war and spare them all, if they just give him Harry Potter. The entire student body stands in the middle of the great hall, all four houses in their respective corners, waiting for something to happen. So she musters up all her courage and tries to out Harry Potter. Wands are immediately drawn towards her, and she can't ignore the look of betrayal she gets from Hermione. Her excuse is pathetic she's sure, but she only did it to end the war. At this point she's not sure anyone cares.
- April, 1998 -
She goes back to help rebuild Hogwarts with dozens of other students and staff. It's there where she sees Hermione again for the first time in what seems like years. The newly acclaimed war hero is hesitant at first, distant and almost cold towards Pansy. Soon enough, however, they fall into conversation and are later paired up to help rebuild the bridge. Pansy misses the way they used to be, and while they're civil, it still doesn't feel right.
Pansy can clearly see how devastated her betrayal makes Hermione, and one day, on the bridge, as she fiddles with the locket around her neck, she decides to put down her pride and apologize. The bridge is coming along nicely, and so she figures she should try and repair her broken friendship. She had only planned on a simple apology, explain that she'd felt like it was the only way and she knew it was wrong. But once she started talking it all spilled out, all the emotions, all the guilt, everything. She's absolutely elated when a tearful Hermione hugs her, a gesture she immediately returns.
- July, 1998 -
She and Hermione have finished repairing the bridge. Their friendship has grown into something more after the months they've spent working together. They sit on the edge of the bridge now, Pansy holding her family heirloom in her hand. The little locket that reflects her pride, her prejudice, her treacherous past. She remembers how much she feared damaging it before the war started, feared the anger it would bring her parents. None of that mattered now, she reasoned, she wanted to forget her past and this was the only thing tying her down.
Her thumb runs over the Parkinson crest on the front of the locket. She presses a kiss to the top of it before tossing it into the chasm below. She used to think she needed it to survive, needed it to be important. But now she's got real friends to help her, she's got Hermione who'll be there in the hardest times she faces. She smiles, taking in a breath of fresh air.
It's a new start for her, she doesn't need the locket anymore.