Written for The Houses Competition Round 10
Title: With New Eyes
House: Slytherin
Category:
Prompt: [Theme: Regret]
Word count: 755
Beta: DaronwyK
"You have done well, my child." The Dark Lord extended his pale, bony hand and ran his long nails down her cheek. He looked down and she followed his gaze. The lifeless body of Harry Potter looked at her with a blank gaze in his green eyes.
Pansy Parkinson woke up screaming. The recurrent nightmare hunted her, since that night when Voldemort's voice in her head filled her with fear and she panicked, and the awful words blurted out of her mouth:
"But he's there! Potter is there! someone grab him!"
The world would never forgive her for that. Worst, she would never forgive herself for that. She rolled out of bed, threw a robe on, and went downstairs for some coffee. The house elves had set a place for her on the table with a steaming mug, some pastries, and the Daily Prophet. She wouldn't eat, she barely ate anything these days. The newspaper reports of bands of rogue snatchers that still roamed the country, half-arsed wizards that didn't cause a lot of damage, but caused minor injuries to unaware pedestrians, mostly muggles, that needed to be brought to St Mungo's to be healed and obliviated. The hospital was too short-staffed to handle it and asked for volunteers. A ray of light came to her and that same day, she signed up.
They had rooms for the muggles that they tried to keep as non-magical as possible, so the extent of the obliviations performed afterward was limited. The beds are done by hand and the volunteers helped the muggles take care of their daily routine the muggle way. Is was a humbling experience for Pansy, but very much healing one. A muggle grandmother asked her to come by for tea after her release. A muggle three-year-old told her she looked like a princess. Each time, Pansy needs to leave the room, tears rolling down. She doesn't deserve their kindness.
She performed well and was assigned to the burn unit. Some rogue snatchers managed to conjure mediocre fiendfyre, causing damage that wasn't irreparable but took a long time to heal. There were rooms for muggles and magic folk in this isolated unit, and she took care of both equally well. On her breaks, she grabbed coffee with her fellow volunteers and they passed around issues of Witch Weekly. He was always on it. The Savior of the Wizarding World. The most coveted bachelor in Britain, so the magazine followed him like the plague. At first, she didn't dare to look at his pictures. But then she did, just to reassure herself that he was alive and well. He'd joined the Aurors and captured the last of the Death Eaters. He'd broken his relationship with Ginny Weasley because she couldn't handle that he kept risking his life after everything.
One morning there was a commotion in the hospital wing. The head Healer called Pansy aside and told her she's the best at her job, so she will be assigned one patient, gravely injured, who needed to be cared for round the clock with most discretion. She was required to take an oath of secrecy. When she walked into the room her heart cringes. Harry Potter was lying on the bed, half of his body wrapped in magical bandages, his eyes covered too. A snatcher caught him with a blaze of fiendfyre, before been taken down. It wasn't lethal and he would heal, but it would take a long time and he'd be in isolation, only the healer and she would be allowed in. She asked the healer to keep her identity a secret, and he agreed, aware of their past.
She devoted herself to his care. At first, he was kept in a dreamless sleep and she was his sole support. When he woke up and asked her name, she hesitated. She said he could call her P. His eyes were still bandaged and he didn't recognize her voice. She took care of him, fed him, kept him company, read books, asked him personal questions, and got to know him. He grew fond of her and called her little Pea. The weeks went by and it was time for the blindfold to be removed. She trembled but was resigned. He could cast her away if he wanted to. He opened his eyes and called.
"Pea?"
"I'm here," voice quivering.
He looked at her, recognized her. Eyes widen.
"You!"
Tears roll down her face and she turned to leave. He called
"Please don't go."