Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harry Potter. Angela Barry is my only character. Everyone else belong solely to J.K. Rowling.
Rating: G
Genre: Drama
Summary: Angela Barry doesn't like Draco Malfoy. Sometimes she despises him. So why does she dislike Pansy Parkinson so much? Besides the obvious of course. Takes place after my GoF fic. Part of my Oneshot Color Series.
Fervent Green
My first thought was "what kind of a name is Pansy?" It wasn't like she was new. She has been going to Hogwarts since Harry's first year. It was just that I had tried not to notice her. It was hard. Her shrieking voice and sarcastic comments were heard by everyone. She liked to hang around Draco. I didn't know how much until after the Yule Ball.
Apparently she had wanted to go with him. She was not very happy when he took me. I had heard from Padma and that she hooked up with him after I left early, so I didn't know what her problem was.
I wasn't sure what my problem was either. There they sat together in the same train compartment on the Hogwarts Express on our way to Hogwarts for my Seventh year, their Sixth year.
I had grown accustomed to traveling to and from Hogwarts alone. Cedric's death was still hard on me, but I was working on moving on. It was difficult but not impossible. I was now thinking not of Cedric, but of the smug expression on that Pansy's face as she sat with Draco's head in her lap. She was stroking his hair and every once and a while she would glance at me and smirk.
I bit my tongue to keep from sticking it out. It was fine when I was fifteen and as hotheaded as I was, but now I was seventeen and near graduation. I had to control myself from falling back into childish habits. But something about the way Malfoy looked so comfortable with that Pansy's fingers in his hair made my stomach turn.
Why was this so unnerving to watch? I didn't even like Malfoy. I thought that after the Tournament there might be something between us, and we had even tried going out a couple of times. But the problem was we fought too much and every date ended with me slapping him and storming away. Once we stopped, Pansy latched on with full force. Now, for some reason, that bothered me.
I watched as Pansy caught my eye again and leaned down to whisper something in Draco's ear. His eyes opened and he looked over at me. His lips slowly upturned into a smirk. I glowered and turned away, the weird feeling in my stomach increasing to the point where it almost hurt.
I stood abruptly, opening the compartment door. My eyes met Pansy's and again that smug smirk appeared on her hard-faced features. I turned my back on her stiffly and made my way down the aisle. Blimey, she wasn't even pretty.
I found Ginny Weasley's seat and asked if I could sit by her. She looked at her seating partner Neville Longbottom. He nodded and she turned to me with a smile.
"Sure, come in."
I smiled back gratefully and felt much better. For the rest of the trip we swapped jokes and tales of our summer adventures real or imaginary. Ginny had me and Neville almost rolling on the floor laughing at her accounts of the twin's antics. When the train reached its destination we were all wiping tears of mirth from our eyes. I hugged Ginny and thanked her for lifting my spirits. Neville turned bright red when I thanked him. They exited the compartment and made their way to the doors arm in arm.
I picked up my things and left as well. Unfortunately I ran into Pansy on the way to the doors. I tried to ignore her. It was hard.
"Get over it Barry," she said in a smug tone. "He's over you. He likes me now."
"So you'd like to think," I muttered.
"What did you say?" She asked, trying to look menacing but looking more like a chicken with its neck stretched out.
"Malfoy just likes the attention you give him. I wouldn't get my hopes up for anything romantic."
She flipped her hair and turned away. "You're just saying that because you're jealous that he likes me now instead of you."
I ground my teeth together but refrained from saying something I would regret later. We reached the door at the same time. She pushed in front of me and stood, waiting for Draco who was coming up behind us. He nodded at me and smirked.
"Barry."
"Malfoy."
Pansy held out her hand to Draco and after a few seconds he took it, leading her off the train. I followed with a stiff neck and a hurting jaw. Was I jealous of Pansy's relationship with Draco? Maybe. Would I admit it? Never.
I left the train in a huff.