A/N: Hey guys, how are you? Thanks so much for the encouraging reviews! I love them! Keep em coming please. ;)


When Pansy was in distress, there was always one place she could run to: the Malfoy Manor. The moment she'd arrived through the floo, Mrs. Malfoy was already standing there as if she'd been expecting her.

The sun shone through the windows of the sitting room, burning Pansy's sensitive eyes as the curtains were drawn open. Her sniffles and sobs had finally died down and she was able to tell Narcissa and Draco the events of the day. She didn't miss Draco folding the newspaper he'd been holding so she couldn't see the cover.

"Pansy, you are sodramatic," Draco sighed. "Of course you're not homeless; don't even pretend you ever will be." Pansy huffed and wiped her red-rimmed eyes.

"My sweet, you will always have a place here with us," Narcissa Malfoy said pleasantly, handing Pansy a cup of tea. "You can even have your own permanent room here."

"You are so kind, Mrs. Malfoy," Pansy sniffed. "As always."

"Think nothing of it. Of course, it will be so nice to have a girl around the manor, don't you think Draco?" Draco snorted. Narcissa never skipped a beat. "You do know that your father is under so much pressure from his family, Pansy. But believe me, he would never, ever, do anything to hurt you."

"He put me out! Out of my own house," Pansy said, her voice sliding up an octave higher than usual. "He's gone mad, just because that stupid woman threatened to disinherit him. Don't you think family should take higher priority than money?"

"Think clearly, Pansy," Draco interjected. "You father hasn't had to do a day of real work in his whole life." Pansy was about to object, but he went on. "Could you imagine him trying to make a living with his experience? Working at a low-end book shop or something, trying to pay rent and support your high-maintenance arse—er, self?"

"Draco!" his mother admonished for the swear. "Pansy, my dear, you can just stay with us. Draco, as you must be able to tell, is in need of some female company. Just listen to him swearing. It's all I ever hear lately, but I imagine that if he spent time with a more delicate friend," she pointed a look at Draco, whose face was turning a deep shade of red, "he may regain some of his manners. You two always bring out the best in each other."

Pansy simply smiled and took a sip of tea, secretly and intensely disagreeing with every word the older woman said. It was obvious that Narcissa wanted Draco and her to fall in love, it had been that way since they had first begun to grow close all those years ago in Hogwarts. But that ship had sailed and sunk quite brilliantly.

"I'll be going to my drawing room," the matriarch said with a sigh. "I had better go check on your father, too. Have a good afternoon, you two, and take your time getting settled. Draco, you must help Pansy up to her room."

The woman was rushing out so Draco had to call out to her, "Where is her room?"

"Right next to yours!" She said before the door shut.

A moment passed before Pansy cleared her throat. "Well, that was…"

"Brilliantly awkward," Draco said quickly. "You have no idea how bad it's been, Pans. She talks about you constantly these days. I can't take it anymore."

"Oh, I'm sorry," she responded quickly. "I didn't know it was so miserable to talk about me."

"Oh, Merlin, it isn't that!" He waved his hands and stood up to shove his hands in his pockets and pace. "The woman sings praises to you, it's literally all she talks about. She's going to try and get us to marry or something, and that," he pointed a finger at no one, "is never going to happen."

"I'd rather marry a troll," she quipped, stung. It wasn't like she was in love with him or anything, but it didn't feel good to hear someone talk about marrying her with such… strong objections.

"Likewise," he said, and she had to fight her hardest not stand up and stomp on his foot.

Instead she said, "Sit down. I hate when you pace like that, it makes me nervous." He sighed and sat. "Don't worry, I'm not going to stay here too long anyway." She sighed and tried to sip her tea, only to find it was all gone. She'd been guzzling the stuff lately.

"Oh, Pansy," he said quickly. "I didn't mean it like that. You can stay with us, of course. Come on, everyone likes you. Even Father acts more civil when you're around."

"It's not that," Pansy said, fresh tears escaping her eyes into a tissue. "I just… I don't know. I've been thinking… and I really don't know what it's like to be on my own. I've been thinking about it, even before all this."

"Pansy, you don't have to be on your own. You have connections and family money. Well, not until your grandmother dies, but you know." He leaned back and crossed his arms. "You're one of the lucky ones. You'll never have to work."

She shrugged. She disagreed, but she didn't know why. He had a valid point, so she didn't know how to argue with him. "I just think I'd like to see if I can do it."

He ran his hand through slick blond hair. "I don't know, Pansy. It's worth a shot. You would probably have more privacy if you could find your own flat." His tone didn't fool her for a second and she felt like laughing, which was funny considering her circumstances.

"You mean you could have some more privacy," she said with a smile. "I know why you've been swearing so much lately. Astoria is such a bad influence."

"Don't even go there, Parkinson," he warned. "She is not a bad influence, although Mother certainly seems to think so."

"The girl drinks like a fish, smokes like a chimney and swears like a sailor, of course she's a terrible influence. Not to say that I'm not fond of her," she added quickly when she saw he was going to shut her down. "She's fun to be around."

"Whatever. So where would you stay? Have you even looked for a place yet?"

"I'll stay with you until I find somewhere, alright?" she asked. "A job and a flat. I think I can accomplish those two little things."


It turned out that a flat was impossible to get without a job. And a job was nearly impossible to obtain without graduating from school (which hadn't exactly been a priority for Pansy in her seventh year). On top of that, no one who read the Prophet was ever going to hire the girl who tried to sell Harry Potter down the river just eight years ago.

I'll probably never live that one down, she thought with a wrinkled nose. It was a sunny Thursday afternoon. She'd kept Draco and Astoria company (without Narcissa's knowledge. Pansy felt slightly guilty for letting her only mother figure believe she was alone with him) and the three had begun a walk in Diagon Alley.

"You two go ahead," she'd told them just a few minutes before. She wanted to walk slowly, and she felt like a third wheel anyway. She sighed and looked at the street. There were a few people out but there weren't crowds of people like usual, and Pansy liked it. She figured that on an early summer day like this, people would want to go out to the countryside, not to a dusty old alley.

Draco and the lovely girl were walking just a few yards ahead of her, looking through the glass windows of the stores. The sun beamed brilliantly down on the two of them, illuminating their blond heads. Pansy sighed and watched them. Astoria was such a pretty girl, with her golden curls and blue eyes. Her eyelashes were so thick and natural that Pansy doubted she wore make-up or used a glamour. Draco himself was also pretty, in the way that a boy could be sometimes, and she knew that there really was no other way to describe him. They were a good couple.

Pansy almost felt plain compared to them. She knew that her long brown hair and brown eyes were nothing special, and that her nose was pushed up a little (like a pig's, she thought woefully) but she did try her hardest in the morning. Her hips were a little too wide in her opinion, and her breasts were too small, which was the reason, she assumed, no one ever asked her on dates these days. There could be other reasons, she thought despondently, but she really didn't want to think about it.

Oh Merlin, she needed to steer herself away from this type of thinking. She was just feeling frumpy today, that was all. With a breath she looked into one of the windows of the shops to see her reflection. She wiped some sweat from her forehead and fluffed her flat hair until she was satisfied.

Looking up, she noticed that Draco and Astoria had disappeared. "Oh…" she muttered, looking around. She didn't see the couple anywhere, but something else did catch her eye.

Longbottom's Botany. Longbottom? As in Neville Longbottom from school? There was no way, she thought. They were only in their mid-twenties, how had he started his own business? It must be a different Longbottom… but really, how common was a surname like that?

With another look-around, she crossed the street to the shop. It was quite empty, except for one or two people inside. A fresh, botanical aroma wafted out the entrance and Pansy sighed and breathed in deeply. She hadn't even entered yet and she liked it. She looked in through a window and saw the shape of a man picking something up.

Wiping the window a little with her hand, she looked in closer; he was picking up a huge pot with some wriggling plant inside it. The man's face was obscured, but his arms were showing and his sleeves were rolled up so she could appreciate the muscles moving underneath the skin. She felt a low, embarrassed laugh coming up in her chest and she couldn't help but crack a guilty smile.

Finally, the mystery man set down the pot and she could see his face. He wiped his hands on his apron and smiled at whoever was in there with him, shaking a customer's hand. His eyes swiveled to meet hers and at that instant she knew.

It was Neville Longbottom. She gasped and whirled around, her cheeks completely flushed. She couldn't believe it was him. And he'd seen her! As juvenile as it was, she ran down the street away from the shop only to run right into Draco and Astoria.

"Where were you Pansy?" Astoria asked.

"Oh, I think I just lost track of the two of you," she breathed, smoothing her skirt. "I think I'm going to go home now. I just got so tired."

"What are you going to tell my mother?" Draco asked.

"I'll just say… I don't know, that I got tired and you wanted to shop for a few things. I'll see you later. Goodbye, Astoria!"

She rushed home, embarrassed and shaken, the image of Neville's face etched into her brain for the rest of the night.


Wow, hey guys! I am actually pretty proud of this chapter. I hope you like it as much as I do! Please feel free to leave a review or give me some constructive criticism! I also LOVE hearing your ideas.

AH I edited as best as I could, but I'm sure there are some mistakes here that I missed.

Fun fact, my version of Pansy is based off of the most recent actress that has played her, Scarlet Byrne. She is super pretty, in my opinion! I've noticed that a lot of fics describe her as either blond or black-haired, so I wonder where all of the diversity comes from? Was she blond in the books?

Anyway, please review. :)