Disclaimer: The characters of Harry Potter all belong to JK Rowling, I am just taking them out to play.
Pansy, in Italy
By Claidibabaa
Chapter 1
This short story is part of the Dragon Tamer universe; it follows what happens to Pansy Parkinson after the events of the final chapter.
There were many in the Wizarding World who would have considered me a bitch of the highest order.
Well, they would have been much mistaken. Bitch did not even begin to cover what an awful person I was, and I, Pansy Parkinson, knew this very well myself.
I was mean, cowardly, vain, greedy, sneaky and scheming. Mine were all the worst traits in the Slytherin spectrum; and of course, many of my misdeeds at Hogwarts had been well documented by stupid Gryffindors and wet Ravenclaws in countless post-war tell-alls: I colluded with Rita Skeeter, I collaborated with Dolores Umbridge, and, horrors of horrors, I demanded for Harry Potter to be handed over to Voldemort to save all our skins.
The public hated me. Well, what did I care? Was what I used to think. Let them think the worst of me. After all, I was rich, fabulous, beautiful, and had a body to die for. I had a gorgeous fiancé, a fantastic best friend, a diamante tiara for my wedding, and all the galleons I wanted to buy whatever I wanted. Why would I care what a bunch of plebs thought?
Of course, that was before said fiancé dumped me at the altar to go off with a mudblood.
I let him go, but it was humiliating. I was embarrassed and devastated, and could not bear to face all my friends and enemies who had gathered at the Manor to watch what was supposed to be the happiest day of my life.
So right after Draco left that oak-paneled room, I grabbed an emergency portkey, and, in all my wedding finery (including the tiara), ran away to an Italian villa in Chianti, Tuscany that belonged to my best friend, Blaise Zabini.
The Zabini family had countless properties dotted all over Italy and England. This was an inconsequential one, a tiny (well, by my standards) place tucked away in the Tuscan hills that used to be a 15th century farmhouse, converted lovingly into a set of apartments by Mrs. Zabini. It was staffed by only one house elf, and the portkey had been given to me by Blaise to use as a refuge, in case I ever needed one.
Well, I had never needed one more. I had no one to turn to. Mother would have been beside herself with hysteria and accusations; Father would have stared at me blankly and then suggest I go out with Thomas Mott, whom he had always liked; Daphne, well, that girl couldn't be trusted with anything, and anyway I knew she was probably laughing at me secretly; Blaise…well, at any other time, he was the first person I would have turned to. But things were different, now that he had shacked up with Potter. It would have been complicated.
With a feeling like being pulled out by my navel, I fell into the villa on my bum, in front of the bewildered house elf.
'Well, what are you looking at?' I barked at it. 'Go prepare my bath and get me some clean robes!' It disappeared with a squeak. House elves knew pureblood authority when they saw one.
The next few days were spent moping around the villa and shouting at the incompetent house elf. Twinky, I think its name was. It was utterly depressing. Blaise tried to firecall a few times, but I always rejected him. My eyes were so red and puffy from crying, my hair was a rat's nest, and I was too proud to let anyone see me this way.
After a week or so, I grew tired of my surroundings, and finally decided to venture outside for some fresh air.
Naturally, I had always been one to appreciate beauty, but the great outdoors were never my thing. However, the view that confronted me took my breath away.
I now knew why Mrs. Zabini had decided to buy this godforsaken place.
Reds and yellows streaked across the sky as the sun set above a vast, green valley. Grape vines swayed gently in the wind, and cypress trees dotted the lands like little dwarves standing up to attention.
It was beautiful. It was perfect. And I started crying, because I couldn't believe such beauty existed when my whole world was falling to pieces around me.
I sat down on the fresh grass and sobbed like a child. Why me? Why did this happen to me? Oh of course I had done many unsavory things in my lifetime, but who hadn't?
My sobs finally quieted down to a whimper. Why did it hurt so much? I now realized that I had made a grave mistake.
I should have gone down to the apothecary's for a potion to numb my feelings before I traveled here. I wonder if the locals had one such in stock?
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They didn't. In fact, to my horror, they didn't even have a Wizarding village anywhere near by. I had to go into the place they called the 'Faramacy' where they asked if I had a 'Pleasecription'. Of course I had no such thing, and to my indignation they booted me out after I threatened to curse them with boils.
I walked along the Piazza, my head downcast. A sad fountain spurted water in a lackluster fashion.
What was the point of life, really? I had always imagined that Draco and I would be together, forever. I had named each one of our perfect, pureblooded, blond children (Draco II, Petunia, Abraxas and Salazar), and in my mind we lived happily ever after in a sprawling mansion, with a garden full of roses. Obviously this was not going to happen. So what was I going to do with the rest of my life?
I leaned against a railing and sighed. There was a dull ache in my heart, and I didn't think it would ever go away.
'Hallo, what's a pretty lady like you looking so sad?'
An elderly gentleman had popped up beside me, seemingly out of nowhere. His face was as crinkled as a tissue, and his head was sprinkled with sparse white hair. I dismissed him immediately as a crazy muggle.
He leaned in closer and said in slightly above a whisper, 'Did you know that I am a very powerful wizard?'
My eyebrows shot up. Wizard? But I didn't feel any sort of magical aura from him. He didn't even have a wand, and in his tweed pants and oxford shirt, he seemed entirely like a normal Muggle.
I opened my mouth to question him, but he shushed me with a finger to my lips.
'Shh…it's a secret, but I can do magic!'
I rolled my eyes. Yeah, you and all the rest of us, what's new?
Then he made a few complicated hand movements above my head
'There! I have taken away your pain. You will now feel no pain whatsoever.'
He beamed at me happily and I couldn't help but burst out in laughter. Real, honest to goodness laughter. I laughed like I hadn't in weeks.
Oh, Merlin! What a strange, dear, man he was! If only he knew that he was speaking to an actual Witch! Magic indeed!
He grinned at me. 'Cheered you up, haven't I? There, there, that's better. A beautiful girl like you shouldn't be crying. You should be laughing and smiling happily, what a pretty picture you make when you do.'
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