Epilogue

Pansy noticed a few heads turned her way as she approached the breakfast table the next morning, a few whispers not hushed quite quick enough, but much less of a to-do than she ever would have expected. Pansy supposed she must admit at some point that she was not actually the center of the universe. Not that she'd ever thought that, really.

Draco and Millicent (who had never returned to the dormitory last night, at least judging by the fact that she hadn't been there when Pansy had slipped back in at a quarter past six) were conspicuously absent from the Slytherin table, though Pansy wasn't sure whether they were taking cover from the gossip or simply involved in an activity that would rather not be interrupted.

She'd rather not think too hard about it, come to that.

Pansy was about to join Daphne at the table when she noticed that Daphne had her head bent low next to another ash-blonde head, talking quiet. Astoria. Pansy felt a brief flash of guilt that surprised her a little. She hadn't even considered how Astoria finding out about her and Malcolm would make the younger girl feel.

As Pansy watched, Astoria and Daphne lifted their heads and Astoria swung off the bench, giving her sister a smile and a tinkling laugh as she pranced down the table to sit at the opposite end. Pansy slid into her vacated spot.

"She all right?" she asked Daphne, jerking her head toward Astoria.

"Oh yes, I think so," Daphne answered. "Take a look for yourself." Pansy turned her head to see that Astoria had already turned her smile and her arm touching on Graham Pritchard, not seeming too terribly bothered about anything at all.

As Pansy helped herself to toast, she let the snippets of gossip wash over her. It seemed as if everyone was relaying the story of how Millicent and Draco were secretly dating, had been since they snuck off to snog on the first bonding Hogsmeade trip of seventh year, and it seemed clear that this was the gossip that would reign today and probably for the next month, until it was revealed that somebody had snuck off and done a shoot for Playwizard or something. Pansy had never considered before what a lucky, lucky person she really was, or how grateful she was for having such an unlikely scandalous friend like Millicent.

And Daphne, it transpired, had known all along.

"Really?" Pansy boggled later in the common room. "I mean, I understand how you figured out about me and Malcolm; he is utterly without subtlety. Sickeningly obvious, really." She tried to make her tone superior but could feel the smile creeping into it as she remembered the embarrassingly large carnation Malcolm had dropped on her toast this morning, just before he'd dropped a kiss onto the top of her head and plopped down beside her. "But how did you know about them?"

Daphne shrugged. "I see a lot more than people think I do, probably because people don't think of me as being someone who sees things." She was possibly attempting to go for a mysterious smile, but Pansy knocked her shoulder into hers.

"You're so strange, Daph," she said. "You're lucky I love all my friends unconditionally, or I'd be sidling away from you right now."

Daphne laughed, bringing up a hand to cover her mouth. "Also I saw Millicent sneaking into the seventh year boys' dormitory one night just as I was sneaking out of it, see. Nothing gets past me," she said, tapping the side of her head.

Pansy laughed too. "Ah yes, all-seeing and all-knowing, that's you."

Daphne leaned into Pansy's side. "But you're all right? I mean, you're happy?"

"Yeah," Pansy said, turning her head to look toward the fire, where Malcolm sat playing Gobstones with one of his weedy little friends. Pansy supposed she'd have to learn their no-doubt annoying names one of these days if she and Malcolm were really going to make a proper thing of it, a thought which made Pansy want to blush but also, even more embarrassingly, made her want to stand up and cheer. She didn't cheer, but she did stand, turning and beginning to make her way over to join him as she said over her shoulder to Daphne, "Yeah, I think I really am."