A/N – Lately I've been experimenting with Draco and Pansy. Here is my first attempt.
Disclaimer – I don't own HP, any of the canon characters, settings or concepts. Don't sue.
In Confidence
"I couldn't kill him." He speaks the words quietly, in confidence; it is a truth that he would entrust to no one else. "I stood there over him, frozen – and I couldn't kill him."
Pansy watches him, noting his shadowed eyes. He will not meet her gaze. "I didn't think you would."
"Snape killed him," Draco says, swallowing fiercely. "He stood there and watched me freeze, and then he took it into his own hands..."
"You always were his favourite."
He turns on her. "He knew I couldn't do it! He saw –" He breaks off, ashamed.
"He saw through you?" she asks, greatly daring. "He saw that for all your bluster and big talk, you've never actually killed a man?"
"Shut up!" he hisses, his face contorting. His sudden rage does not disconcert her. She knows him too well. She's seen his temper before, and it is not dangerous – he is not dangerous. "I am a Malfoy! I should have been able to –"
"What? Look into Dumbledore's eyes and murder himin cold blood? You're sixteen years old, Draco. None of us – me, Bulstrode, Crabbe, Goyle, Zabini – have ever really killed or tortured anyone. The Dark Lord knew you would hesitate." She lowers her voice. "He set you up to fail, Draco."
There is a moment of silence as they stare at each other, not daring to speak.
"You can't know that," Draco whispers, suddenly afraid. "You can't say that."
She puts her fingers against his lips, an intimacy that he allows because they have known each other all their lives. "You know it's true. And I will say it, because it is only us, here, whispering in the shadows – I know that you'll never betray me."
He looks away. "I'm not worth your trust."
She touches his face, draws his attention back. "I think you are," she whispers, and knows that everything she's feeling is naked and exposed in her eyes.
But for the first time, she doesn't care.
