For the purpose of this fic- The Trio is returning to Hogwarts to finish their 7th year after Voldemort's demise.
_DISCLAIMER: I do not claim ownership over Harry Potter or its characters. They are not of my creation.
With that being said, Read on..
in·sou·ci·ant
free from concern, worry, or anxiety; carefree; nonchalant.
As the Christmas holidays steadily approached, the Christmas spirit heightened by each passing day. Teachers, students, and ghosts alike were prone to smiles and festive feelings. Each year, it was as if the students had never before seen a Christmas tree, with all the sounds of excitement they made upon discovering the decorations in the Great Hall. The buzz in the air, and the tingle of excitement that was almost palpable put everyone in a cheerful mood.
Christmas was a time to put aside past differences, to embrace the spirit, and maybe even to fall in love… What better setting could be asked for? A castle- forbidding to those who don't know the comfort its interior brings- rises above a glittering lake, frozen solid for the winter. The snow that graces everything with its airy touch, also seems to blanket the grounds with a sense of hope, like something out of a picture book story.
Any burdens of the heart were lifted, worries were pushed to the far recesses of everyone's minds, and everything was done with an newfound vigor; an extra oomph. As for most students, the upcoming exams did nothing to squelch their moods, they simply went about their everyday things pretending not to realize that they still had to take a few tests before they were officially free for the holidays. Those with a more studious nature were often seen sitting in the library, poring over texts and notes, but even they could be caught staring dreamily out of the windows at the drifting snowflakes. Each House at Hogwarts was unique and vastly different, but if a stranger were to stumble into any one of the four common rooms, they would see the same scene in each. Students, lazily sitting around tables, warming up by the fire. Friends, whispering excitedly, laughing giddily. Classmates, all feeling the invisible whisper that seemed to hover above their heads: Christmas is coming.
Harry Potter, the boy who carried more titles than he wished to think about (The Boy Who Lived, The Chosen One, etc),and his best pal Ron Weasley, were only two out of the many Gryffindors who spent evenings sitting in front of the common room fire, inventing new combinations of candies to melt together and consume.
"Fizzing whizbees and licorice dipped in Butterbeer?" an incredulous Harry stared at Seamus, as he laughed raucously, waving his wand to bring his creation toward his open mouth.
The common room had emptied as the combinations became more and more unique smelling, and soon the group had diminished to Harry, Ron, Neville, Ginny, and Seamus.
"Mmmm mm mmm," Seamus chewed in delight, relishing in the disgust on Harry, and a few others faces. Neville blinked at a lump of sizzling orange something, and grimaced as it started bubbling. He threw it into the fire with a flick of his wand. Ron slouched against a cushion taken from a plush couch, a smudge of chocolate on his chin and a smile on his lips.
All in all, the lot of them were having an enjoyable, typical Friday night, when light footfalls echoed around the room, and a shadow appeared on the staircase to the girls dormitories, soon replaced by the night-robed figure of Hermione Granger. Her brown eyes, blinking quickly to try to dispel the sleepiness from her head, took in the sight before her.
Ginny's lips quirked in a smile, already anticipating her friend's reaction to the scene before her:
Neville, wide eyed, trying to sneak a bit of chocolate from Seamus. Harry, his hair in its usual disarray, sitting in the middle of a pile of chocolate frog wrappers. Ron, still lounging by the fire, not concerned with Hermione's appearance. Seamus had stuffed the rest of his candy in his mouth and started chewing to avoid any sort of quarrel.
Hermione simply stared at the group of them, absent-mindedly running a hand over the mass of hair on top of her head.
"Hermione! Fancy a melted chocolate frog with- What was this Neville? Toffy?" Ron had looked over to Neville, and then back to Hermione, a relaxed look on his face.
Hermione, for her part, did not react how she instinctively would have. Her first response would've been to tell them that they should be going up to bed, and didn't they have better things to do then eat sweets around a fire? She instead remained quiet, and frowned at Ron. They had been through so much, all of them, and although she never forgot that only a year ago, they had been on the run for their lives, or forced to stay at Hogwarts, and endure what had become of their beloved school, sometimes she slipped into her old, bossy ways. She wasn't Head Girl, or prefect, and she didn't have any responsibilities, for the simple fact that as a War Hero, the Professors wanted her to have a relaxed year.
And even if she did have duties, the boys plus Ginny weren't doing anything wrong. Nevertheless, Hermione had wanted to order them around, just to have something to do. Always the busy body, Hermione was not used to being free from worries, nothing to be in charge of, and no one to set in line. She reminded herself that they were just having fun, and almost begrudgingly, she smiled first at Ron, then Harry and Ginny.
"I just heard noises, and came down to check-"
"Hermione, sit, have a butterbeer!" Ginny had interrupted, moving aside to make room for Hermione.
"No, no, I just wanted to-"
"Oi, it won't kill you to loosen up." Ron said, fondly, but with a tone that was reserved for friends who knew each other too well.
Hermione had heard it many times before, Ron and Harry had used that tone on her on other occasions, but it had never struck the part of her as it did now. His words hit a deep part of her heart, and her brain clicked into place, and she frowned, feeling the full force of the words hit her. It was true, truer than Ron had even intended. Why had she come down? To check to make sure that they were all right? Or to make sure they weren't doing anything too fun?
She nodded at Ron, not wanting to give away how much his words had affected her. She glanced at Ginny, and saw her friend glance at her brother, then to Hermione, then back to Ron and purse her lips. Ginny frowned at Hermione in question, but Hermione shook her head slightly, letting Ginny know that nothing was wrong. She didn't even know what was wrong herself… Something had changed though, she knew.
Hermione wished each of them a goodnight in turn, and walked up the stairs back to her bed, and with each step came a ringing finality.
Loosen…. Up…..
"As if we haven't already done that a thousand times over," a bored Pansy said, twirling her wand idly in her fingers, and watching as it issued a spark every now and again.
"I rather like the game though!" Astoria Greengrass argued back to her fellow Slytherin.
"Muggles invented it, you realize that, don't you?" Pansy shot back condescendingly.
"Besides, letting a bottle choose who you kiss is absolutely stupid," She added.
"What do you suggest, then, hm?" Astoria stood up and looked at Pansy briefly before flicking her gaze over to a figure hunched over a piece of parchment, the blonde hair standing out in the darkness of the room.
Pansy regarded her for a moment, before turning her gaze up to the ceiling and replying:
"You could fetch us some more Firewhisky, and then we could have a right good party."
Astoria huffed in frustration at Pansy, with whom she was friends with, but the latter didn't always tolerate the former.
Pansy was always up for drinking on a Friday night, and the other Slytherins usually went along with whatever was happening.
Astoria looked toward the pale blonde hair again, and spoke, saying, "Draco? Anything you'd like to do tonight?"
The sound of quill on paper stopped, and Draco looked around to face Astoria. He raised an eyebrow, and looked down pointedly toward the source of his attention.
"I was doing something, actually. And it is something I like." He glanced around the room, smirked at Pansy, and returned to his paper.
Astoria attempted to flit over to Draco and look at what he was writing, but he drew his wand from his robes and rolled the parchment up with a movement of his wrist. He got up and grabbed Pansy by the wrist roughly, dragging her upstairs to the boys dormitory, which was vacant, since few Slytherin boys had chosen to finish their seventh year at Hogwarts. Draco's mother had gotten a notion in her head that by sending her son back, he might somehow befriend the right people, and become a 'better person.' A laughable thought, if you asked Draco.
By taking Pansy upstairs with him, he had hoped to dispel Astoria's hope for a relationship with him, but Astoria was seemingly not fazed by the allusion he was making by going to his room, alone, with another girl.
As soon as Draco had shut the door behind them, Pansy shrugged off her robes and went over to his bed and sat on it calmly, watching his face. She sighed after a moment, and scooted towards the pillows at the head of his plush bed, and reclined there.
"I don't think she believes that we're doing anything X-Rated up here, Draco," Pansy said while idly playing with the fringe of a decorative pillow. It was rich green in hue, and like anything owned by a Malfoy, picked with expensive taste.
"Even though we mess around, and act as if we get up to naughty things when we're alone, everyone knows that we're friends, just friends.." Pansy trailed off, her fingers still playing with the pillow.
Draco still stood by the door, leaning his back against it.
"I can't deny that, Pans," Draco said with a slight smile, walking over to her.
"Everyone also knows that I am not interested in Greengrass, even she herself must know I'm not interested, but the girl won't quit." He sat on his bed next to Pansy, and also leaned back on his pillows.
"You know I'd help you if I could, I don't really enjoy Astoria hanging around us all the time either. I'm waiting for the day you walk in your room and find her sprawled on your bed, naked," Pansy grimaced.
Draco's lips turned down in dissatisfaction at the thought of Astoria's bare body touching his sheets.
"I have to do something to get her interests elsewhere. Maybe a bribe to a 6th year could be made? Well, maybe not a bribe, I suppose I could order one to-"
Draco paused at the malicious grin on Pansy's face. He raised an eyebrow in question, a smirk already starting on his mouth.
"You have an idea, I'm guessing? Let's hope it's a good one, and involves humiliation."
"Tons of humiliation," Pansy purred, "And oh, this idea's a good one." Pansy's eyes met Draco's and her grin widened.
"You get Hermione Granger to sleep with you, or at the very least, make her spend the night with you, and when Astoria sees her climbing down the stairs in the morning, I bet the shock will hold her at bay for a decade, at least." Pansy finished, her grin still in place.
Draco, however, had stopped laughing.
"The Mudblood? When I said I hoped there would be humiliation, I didn't mean I wanted to humiliate myself!" Draco hissed, standing up.
"I'll have someone give Greengrass a love potion so she can follow Blaise around, or something. I will not associate myself with Granger." He sat back down on the bed with a finality.
Pansy was looking at Draco with a calculating look in her eyes, and Draco's short temper had not yet recovered from the insult of Pansy suggesting he seduce the Mudblood..
"What? What the hell are you looking at me like that, for? Your idea was bloody stupid, and if you don't want to be helpful, the door is right over there." He narrowed his eyes at her, but she only chuckled lightly.
"You're getting awfully wound up over a simple suggestion of mine. I never said you had to get married to the filth, did I? Just use the Imperius curse to bring her up here for a few hours," Pansy said with a roll of her eyes at Draco's silliness.
Draco frowned even deeper, however.
"So you're implying I couldn't even get a Mudblood like her to want to come into my bedroom of her own will?"
"No, I think you are scared of that yourself," Pansy shot back.
Draco snatched the pillow from underneath Pansy's resting elbow, causing her head to hit the headboard of the bed with a loud thunk.
"I don't know what you're playing at, suggesting something like that. " He spoke to her with a dangerous edge to his voice.
"I'm only saying that I've thought of a solution to your problems, and you refuse to consider it because you're afraid of rejection," Pansy said to his back, as he had turned away from her.
Draco's head snapped around to look at her, and he pulled himself on the bed so he could crawl closer to her.
"Rejection," Draco snarled in her face, his lip curling in distaste.
"Ha!" He laughed derisively. "I don't know what it's like to fear rejection. If dirt like her had the chance to be seen with me, she'd jump at it. Come to think of it, if anyone had that chance, they would, " He paused, and sat back on his bum, still looking at Pansy. His anger was dissolving as he smirked and said, "You did."
Pansy's jaw clenched once and she drew an angry breath in.
"You just love to lord it over me that I thought I was in love with you. But how could I ever be in love with someone who was only interested in themselves? It's over with, anyhow," She closed the subject as she slid off of his bed, and rearranged her skirt.
Pansy smoothed down her collar and replaced her robes, careful to avoid Draco's eye, but he was already lost to the outside world and was instead stuck inside his own head, quarreling between two very opinionated parts of his brain.
One part was vehemently set against any notion that he couldn't attract the attentions of any female he so desired; the other part was a sad, depleted voice that questioned if actually could get someone like the Gryffindor Princess, who people liked more because of her amiable ways, and who was, he begrudgingly admitted, smarter than he was, to fall in love with him without the help of magic.
He snapped his eyes shut, and they rolled back into his head of their own accord to try and stop the impending headache. A conclusion had been reached without his consciously knowing it, but it was also at this moment that Pansy chose to place her index finger under his chin, her nail slightly digging into his flesh, so the fleeting decision that had been coming to the surface was lost.
"It's a shame we're such good friends. I wouldn't mind pretending to have shagged you," Pansy smirked in a way reminiscent of Draco's own.
She flounced out of the room, appearing to all the world as the smug Slytherin she was known to be, but internally, she was distraught. Distraught with the memory of Draco's ease when he spoke of her past affections for him. Obviously, he wasn't aware that she wished he really was taking her upstairs so they could be alone together, instead of seeking her help in bringing about the heartbreak of another poor unfortunate soul who had been entranced by the charming, notorious, Malfoy heir.