Title: Missing
Rating: T
Pairing(s)/Character(s): Hermione/Pansy
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: Don't own 'em - not making any money off 'em. Dern it.
Word Count: 850
Summary: Their nightmare is coming true.
Notes:
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry: Music Club - [setting] Playground, [dialogue] "She's better known for the things that she does on the mattress", [word] revenge, [word] cheater, [emotion] pity
Fanfic Dominoes Game: Table 7 - Pairing Used - Hermione/Pansy
The Getting Around Challenge
LIFE Game Challenge: Sued by Rayne - Prompt - A Character's Worst Nightmare
LIFE Game Challenge: Prompts Used - Prickled, Cobblestone
Hot or Cold Competition: Prompt Used - side table
Ultimate Battle Competition: Matching Accessory Pack
Non-Traditional Pairing Bootcamp: Unexpected
365 Days of Drabbles Challenge: Prompt Used - Shattered
Hermione dropped the galleons on the side table when she felt the unexpected vibration against her leg. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a coin, something reminiscent of her DA days. Now, only Pansy, Ron, and Harry had connecting ones. She knew Pansy wouldn't activate it unless it was an emergency. None of them would use theirs unless it was an emergency.
She closed her eyes and focused on the local playground, where the coin was pulling her towards, apparating to where she knew her wife and daughter were spending a few hours.
When she arrived at the playground, she immediately spotted Pansy but didn't see Denise right away. Hermione ran to her clearly distraught wife and took the trembling woman into her arms. "Where is Denise?"
Pansy shook her head. "I don't know. She was there, and then she wasn't."
Hermione looked around and sure enough, she couldn't see Denise. Their daughter knew better than to go with a stranger or even go somewhere without telling one of them first. Still...
"Is it possible Denise went to the bathroom?"
Pansy sobbed uncontrollably, too upset to formulate a response.
Hermione's heart clenched. It wasn't often that Pansy showed such raw emotion, and it made the fear bubbling up within her even realer. She couldn't help but think that this might be some revenge plot. Not all of the lower level Death Eaters had been captured – there were just too many of them – and maybe they were finally getting back at one-third of the Golden Trio, the mudblood, and the daughter of a Death Eater who betrayed their cause and married aforementioned mudblood.
Still, Hermione couldn't dwell on why this was happening. She placed Pansy on the bench but hated to leave her alone while she was so completely shattered. Only the determination to find Denise was holding Hermione together, and she needed to stay strong for Pansy.
She saw nearby adults looking at the two of them, pity in their expressions. "Can you stay with my wife, please?"
A brunette came over and sat down next to Pansy, placing a gentle hand on Pansy's lap while the woman continued to sob. "Of course, dear. You go do whatever you need to do to find your little girl."
Hermione nodded and raced on the cobblestone path towards the bathroom. She had no idea if Denise would have gone by herself, but it was her best chance right then. She entered the girl's bathroom and called out, "Denise? Denise? Are you in here?"
Unfortunately, there wasn't any answer and when Hermione looked underneath the stall doors, she didn't see any little feet or swinging legs, indicating a small child was inside.
She left the bathroom and brushed a hand over her hair. She saw two women on a bench, watching some boys, probably their sons, having fun on the tire swing.
She rushed over to them. It was the other side of the playground, so maybe they had seen Denise when Pansy hadn't.
"She's better known for the things that she does on the mattress," the blonde murmured snidely.
The redhead nodded. "She's a cheater. Once a cheater, always a cheater."
Hermione felt irritation prickle her spine as these two women talked about something so trivial compared to what she and Pansy were going through and quickly butted in before they could continue their inane conversation. "Excuse me? I'm looking for my little girl. She's about three foot six. She has curly brown hair and a button nose. She was wearing a blue polka dot dress. Please, tell me you've seen her."
The blonde blinked. "I was pretty sure a little girl who looked like that ran behind the bathrooms."
Hermione looked towards where she had come from and with only a nod as a thank you, she hurried back over to the bathrooms. This time, she went around the building and looked near the bushes.
Her pulse rate decreased almost instantaneously when she spotted Denise playing with a toad. "Denise!" Hermione yelled, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Mummy!" Denise exuberantly yelled, not realizing what she had done. "Look at the cute toad. I followed it all the way here. Isn't it so cool?"
"Come with me Denise and leave your friend."
Hand-in-hand, Denise and Hermione walked across the playground and when Pansy saw them, she practically flew over to them, grabbing Denise in a fierce hug as her once-terrified sobs now turned to sobs of relief.
Hermione bent down and looked Denise in the eye. "You are never to go off on your own like that again without telling anyone! Do you realize how scared we were? It was our worst nightmare becoming a reality."
"I'm sorry, mum and mommy."
Hermione put her arms around the two most important people in her life. She kissed Denise's forehead and then pressed her lips to Pansy's cheek. "Everything's okay now."
Pansy nodded and happily leaned into Hermione's side, letting the gentle breathing from both people sooth her upset nerves.
Everything was okay now, and everything was going to stay okay.
