A/N: So this is my first Draco/Pansy fic in awhile. Takes place during Prisoner Of Azkaban.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters.
Friend or Faux?
"Nice one, Graham!" Nott exclaimed as he leaned back against the seasoned, fallen birch tree that was currently being used as a bench for some of our friends.
"Yeah, that story sure made an impact. Look, you've got Pansy shaking in her boots!" Draco threw his head back in a fit of laughter, his white-blonde hair shaking itself into an artfully messy state.
"Shut up!" I scolded, my voice chagrined as I dug my elbow into his side playfully attempting to hide my obvious fear.
He chuckled, his voice echoing through the clear night air. "Hey, I didn't mean anything by it! Besides, you know that I won't let anything hurt you on the way back to the school…"
I took a slight comfort in his words and calmed down marginally as he slung his arm around my shoulders.
"How sure are you that you'll even make it that far, Draco?" Goyle smirked ruefully, clearly enjoying the noticeably daunting atmosphere. I watched as his breath came out in sparse puffs of white, not having realized just how glacial it was out until now. By all means, it wasn't the best idea to decide to attend a bonfire in the middle of October, with the foliage turning striking shades of gold, scarlet, apricot and tawny henna. Even though autumn was rampant, any simpleton could tell that winter's frost was approaching us quick this year.
Every Friday since the beginning of our first year of Hogwarts, Nott, Graham, Millicent, Crabbe, Goyle, Blaise, Draco, and I have been coming out here to the Forbidden Forest to have a bonfire from the early hours of the evening, late into the night. Generally, what with the weather being this chilly, we would have held off until spring came our way again, but what with the cold pushing itself on us early this year, none of us could refuse getting in one last gathering.
This incredibly stupid decision, on my behalf anyways knowing full well that I should be back in the Slytherin common room writing my Potions essay that was due on Monday, was why we were camped out on fallen trees freezing our arses off while listening to ghost stories.
Normally, I never get even the slightest bit scared while listening to them, on the contrary, I'm usually the one who jumps right into a lengthy one including gory details that leaves the other girls shrieking their heads off, Blaise especially, when the guys use one of the many elements I created to frighten them. However, tonight was different for me; I could feel it in the brisk air, in the eerie silence that emanated from the surrounding forest.
Graham's ghastly tale about a mass murderer breaking loose from Azkaban scared the shit out of me. Truth be told, every tale that was told this night seemed to have a lasting effect of uneasiness and terror on me, their words still shadows looming all around me.
Draco, being my over-protective boyfriend, had been left with the task of comforting me after every story, whispering soft words of alleviation in my ear and soothing me with simple gestures of affection. Sure, he pulled a joke at my expense sometimes, but I never minded in the least. For the entire time since we first reached the clearing, he was as smug as could be but when Goyle popped his jest at us not being able to return to the car safely, he seemed to shiver with a tinge of dread for what may have been the first time since I met him.
"What are you talking about, Goyle? Have I ever given Pansy reason not to feel safe with me?" He replied, his tone tense.
"I don't think that Goyle was questioning your protectiveness," Blaise declared, reaching up and tucking a strand of mousy-colored hair behind her ear. "He's only talking about the actual threat of the thing."
"What thing?" I asked nervously, confused at her words.
"The fact that it wasn't just a story." Crabbe added.
"What? Of course it was." Draco input, although he was clearly paling by the second. "We always make up our stories! Not one of them have ever been true…"
"Think again." Millicent shuddered as she pulled a copy of The Daily Prophet from behind her seat on one of the two fallen trees. She handed it across the fire to Draco, the flames attempting to lick the thin parchment.
I stared at the front page, apprehension falling down on me hard as I read the headline in my head.
"Azkaban Break Out: Wizarding World In Danger?" Draco read aloud.
"No way," Nott exclaimed, staring dumbly at the paper from Draco's other side. "That's just not possible!"
"This was printed two days ago," Graham said, rubbing his hands together. "It's been the only thing in the news since. I thought it would make for a good scare."
"Yeah, and it looks like Miss. Fright Night herself was even wound up in it a little too tight." Blaise gleamed, obviously happy that someone was finally able to strike some real horror into me.
"What… ?" I trailed off, staring into the glowing eyes of my friend.
"Get off of it Blaise, this is no laughing matter." Draco snapped as he scanned the article.
"Yeah, if this guy is really out there, any one of us could be in danger." Nott continued as he too followed along with the article. "It says he's been spotted in Duff Town and that's only a few miles from here. We should all be back at the school…"
"Crabbe, you're the one who tracked us down and told us all that we had to show up tonight, what gives?" I questioned, thinking that I wanted to be back in the safety of the Slytherin common room, curled up next to Draco on the black leather sofa, in front of a nice cozy fire; not that our campfire wasn't cozy, but the one back in the dungeons was most definitely out of the reach of insane wizards gone wild.
"Millicent found me earlier and told me to round everyone up, and not to let anyone stay inside." He responded, his green eyes trained on the crackling fire in front of him.
"Millicent? This was your idea?" Nott cried, staring angrily at her.
"Oh, get off of it Nott! We had to find something that would scare her!" Millicent cried, pointing a chubby finger in my direction. "Little Miss Pansy Parkinson, queen of the horror scene herself! She's always like a wolf at these meetings, what with her uncanny talent for making us feel like we're back in first year, crying behind the greenhouses because some of the older kids scared us off; we just wanted her to know what it was like to be a lamb for once."
"We?" Draco emphasized the word, "Or you, Bulstrode?" Great. When Draco used a last name basis around his friends other than Nott, Crabbe and Goyle, something was seriously wrong.
"A mass murderer is on the loose and you made all of us come out here tonight to what very well could've been out last night alive!" Nott hollered, more frantic than ever.
"You're whack." Blaise muttered.
"Blaise, please-" Crabbe tried as he placed a calming hand on her arm.
"Yeah," Graham cut in, "What are the odds that the guy has actually made his way into the Forbidden Forest and plans to Avada us before midnight?"
I glanced nervously up at the moon hanging like a silver orb almost directly above us. It was closer to midnight than I had anticipated.
Gulping, I tugged anxiously at Draco's cloak. He passed The Prophet off to Nott and lowered his gaze to meet mine.
"Draco? Would you mind if we left now?"
"I was just thinking the same thing." He answered, standing up. I followed his lead, sighing as he claimed my tiny hand in his. "Well, it appears that we may have over stayed our welcome in possibly dangerous territory. We're out." He said, a tone of finality in his voice as he turned us around, trudging towards the dirt path that led out to the road after about a half-mile of hiking.
"What?"
"You're bailing on us?"
"I thought the prince of Slytherin was supposed to be fearless!"
"So much for that so called Slytherin ambition…"
Ignoring the condescending jeers and cackles coming from our friends at our cowardess, we entered the forest, leaving the bright light from the fire in the clearing well behind us. The crunching of twigs under our shoes unnerved me to no extent, my eyes swiveling feverishly around us into the engulfing darkness.
The walk was taken in complete silence. At one point, I could have sworn I saw someone running through the overgrown trees with a lit wand, but I quickly passed it off as a trick of the imagination thinking that Graham's story had affected me in more than one negative way.
Upon seeing that we were about twenty or so paces away from the forest edge, I ran ahead of Draco, dragging him along behind me. He laughed shortly at my anxiousness and followed me out into the field behind the Quidditch pitch, the way we always took in and out of the forest.
Once he made sure I was safely out of the impending trees, he lit his wand, the soft blue glow being the most reassuring thing I had seen all night.
"Ready to go?" He asked shakily as he reached his hand up to stroke my gossamer hair.
"More than anything." I breathed out, internally smiling as he began leading me off towards the school. I couldn't irk the feeling, however, that as soon as we stepped out of the forest, a scream could be heard off in the distance.
Was I terrified? Yes. Horrorstruck? Yes. Scared out of my wits? Oh yeah. Paranoid? I glanced over at Draco, noticing that his normally pale skin had gone even more pallid, his smoky grey eyes shifting instinctively over to look at me as well. Turning back to the out gates of the Quidditch pitch, I let out a final scream as we got splattered in a deep red, aqueous substance; staring me down was the used to be bright eyes of Nott, his face forever frozen in an expression of pain as the severed head landed at out feet, the goal post it had just flown through, now stained with blood.
"Oh my Merlin!" I cried, my free hand flying up to cover my eyes, salty tears already flowing from them.
"Nott…" Draco muttered, his voice cracking. Without a second thought, he began running towards the school, crying out "Help" over and over while he drug be along beside him.
From behind a big cedar, only a few feet into the forest, Blaise and Millicent cackled manically.
"Hey!" Graham called from a few feet behind. "We call your names over and over and you refuse to stop and now you halt and refuse to move along? What's with that?"
"Yeah, if you're not going to move, at least step aside so I can get out," Nott exclaimed as he pushed his way past them, out into the open. Before he could look down, Blaise waved her wand, making her illusion disappear.
One by one, the group trouped past them out under the bright moonlight. After deciding that they were a good ways behind to not be heard by prying ears, Blaise pocketed her wand and began towards the school, Millicent close behind.
"I can't believe they fall for that!" Millicent cried gleefully, referring to her friend's earlier spell to make it appear that Nott was dead. "But how did you actually get blood to splatter on them?"
"I didn't," Blaise smirked, "It was just another illusion, only this one made them think they could not only see the blood but feel it too."
"Where'd you learn to do that?"
"I got the spell out of a dark arts book my mother gave me for Christmas."
"Oh. Blaise?"
"Yeah?"
"Won't Draco and Pansy figured out they were tricked when they see Nott stroll into the dungeons?"
"Well, the only thing left for them to do is to decide whether out little show was actually their friend's death and that his ghost stayed back to haunt the Slytherin common room, or if it was faux."