A/N: I am so sorry for the late update (and I've been saying this for the nth time). I've been busy with school again, and more recently with preparing for Christmas. Anyway, I'm just going to save the rest of my notes at the end of the chapter, but be sure to READ AND REVIEW! I now give you Chapter 10!
"Apollo, comb your hair, would you? And Poseidon, change your shirt, it clashes horribly with your hair. Hades, haven't you found your shoes yet? Arty, be a dear and help your brother find his shoes. You look dazzling, by the way."
"Thanks, Dad. You don't look too shabby yourself."
This was the usual scene in the Malfoy Manor a few hours before the annually held Christmas dinner takes place. The house elves and their masters and mistress were busy running around doing the last-minute touches before their guests arrived. The manor itself was ready for the party; almost everything was blue and silver, the chosen theme for this year's occasion. Garlands with Christmas balls and sparkling fairies that gave off a blue-and-silvery glow covered the many doorframes and corridors. Ready to greet tonight's guests in the receiving room is an enormous Christmas tree adorned with crystal beads and more of those lovely fairies. Crystal icicles hung from the chandeliers, and the grand staircase couldn't have looked grander. Draco gathered the children on the entrance to the receiving room to welcome their guests.
"Okay…" Draco said, eyeing his children to make sure they looked alright. This is the problem when you have an obsessive-compulsive father, the children thought as they shared looks. "Alright, we're set."
He opened the door to reveal an already jam-packed room. Most of their yearly guests were there: the Zabinis (yes, even Elliot and Daphne came), the entire Weasley clan (almost, Bill and Fleur, together with their four children, were spending the Holidays with Fleur's folks in France), the Potters and most of the members of the Order and DA. Serena approached Draco and placed a light kiss on his lips, muttering, "Happy Christmas, love." While Draco looked like he had reached Seventh Heaven, the children barely managed to stop themselves from strangling her. As they scanned the crowd, they immediately realized that their most important guest had not yet arrived.
"Guys, chow time!"
The younger generation stayed in a separate room from the adults because, first of all, they all wouldn't be able to fit into even the longest dining table. Secondly, the topics their adults usually talked about only bored them to death. They rejoin the older group after dinner in the Grand Ballroom, where they would give and receive their gifts. Draco noticed his children weren't going out of the room with the others so he approached them.
"Hey, the others are already waiting for you. What's wrong?"
"You remember the guest we told you about? She's not yet here," Poseidon replied.
"Well, maybe she had other plans for tonight and decided not to come," Draco shrugged. Seeing his children's faces, he sighed. "Alright, five minutes, then head off to dinner, with or without your guest."
"Thanks, Dad," Hades called out as he exited the room.
And so they waited. Every tick of the clock made them even more anxious. When five minutes had already passed, they decided to follow their father, losing all hope that their guest would come.
"It's a pity, really," Apollo said with a sigh. "And to think, I've never been this excited for Christmas to come. All our efforts have gone down the drain."
"Let's go, guys," Hades said. "We still have other guests to entertain."
As they turned to leave, they heard the firewood rustle, then a sigh coming from a person emanating from the fireplace. When they turned around, they saw Pansy brushing the soot from her robes. Their faces suddenly lightened up at seeing her.
"I am so sorry! I was held up at S-er-somewhere and I completely lost track of the time. I hope I'm not terribly late."
"Don't worry, Professor. You're right on time," Apollo said, grinning.
"They just went to the dining hall," Artemis added. "I'm sure you'll make the appetizer, that is if we get going right now."
"Thank you for inviting me, by the way, and for waiting up for me," Pansy said as they walked in one of the main corridors. "Could you do a favor for me? When we're not in the class setting, just call me Pansy. Being called 'Professor' all the time makes me feel old."
"Will do," Hades replied. "We'll be showing you to the Conference/Dining Room. That's where the other adults are."
As they turned a corner and walked to another corridor, Pansy looked at the cold faces of the portraits on the wall. Every generation of the Malfoy line had a portrait. Not much has changed around here, I see, Pansy thought. The manor just had more light. It used to look like a haunted house, from what I remember. She nodded her head in acknowledgement of a portrait who waved his hand at her and apparently remembered her. I hope the children didn't notice, or else they'd start asking. They reached the end of the corridor, where there were two doors on either side. Hades opened the door on the left and peered through.
"Dad, I hate to interrupt but our guest has arrived."
Slightly abashed by the grand entrance, she meekly stepped into the room, only to be met by what seemed like a hundred pairs of curious eyes wondering who it could be. But what got her on cold feet were a certain pair of steely grey eyes staring, or rather glaring at her, full of shock and anger. So much for telling him in advance. Happy Christmas indeed, she thought bitingly.
"Draco, you have really outdone yourself this time," Hermione praised when everyone had already settled into their seats along the dining table. "The manor looks absolutely splendid!"
"It's nothing really. Just like every Christmas, I want this night to be perfect," Draco replied.
Blaise chuckled at his reply. "You've always been a perfectionist, Draco. But Hermione's right, the house looks fantastic. Looks like you have something planned for us."
"It's a surprise," Draco glanced at Serena with a knowing smirk.
"So you do have something planned for tonight? What is it?" Ron piped in.
"I told you, it's a surprise."
"Aww, come on! Tell us!"
Soon enough, all the guests present in the room were chanting along with Ron. After a while, he stood up and held his arms up to stop them.
"Okay, fine, I'm telling. Well, the fact of the matter is-"
"Dad, I hate to interrupt but our guest has arrived."
Draco let out a sigh of relief upon seeing Hades peek inside the room. Thank heaven for little miracles, he thought.
"Oh, usher her in then. The food's about to be served."
Seeing his guests' curious faces, he explained. "The children decided to invite someone from school to join us tonight. It seems she was a bit late, but it's good that she came. The children were ecstatic because of her. Although why they brought her here and not in the other room is beyond me."
He saw that his audience wasn't listening to him anymore. Instead, they were focused on the person on the door, so he also glanced to see who their special guest was. What in the name of Merlin is going on? It can't be…
"Pansy!" Blaise jerked him out of his thoughts, and confirmed what he was seeing. He watched as she gave back an ambiguous smile and proceeded to the seat next to Blaise. Glancing at his children, he saw mischievous smiles and thoroughly amused eyes looking right back at him, mocking him. There goes the perfect night I was hoping for, he thought dourly. As he sat back down, and at the same time trying to control himself from doing something stupid, he saw Hades going in his direction and lowering himself just so his lips were hovering above Draco's ears.
"Dad, please take good care of our guest. If she suddenly leaves without any reason at all, we will hold you responsible, and I quote from Apollo, 'We will do whatever it takes to ensure that no wedding will commence, by any means necessary'. Enjoy you dinner."
Draco watched Hades' retreating form, his eyes gleaming with anger and disbelief. He had just threatened me. Unbelievable… why the hell did they invite her in the first place? I'm going to have a long talk with them when this is all over. Finally ending his musing, he turned his attention to the various conversations going on, and after a while initiated one with Serena, who was seated beside him.
"Where in Merlin's name have you been all this time, Pansy?" Daphne asked, inwardly sighing in relief that she had chosen to sit between her and Blaise. "You just up and left right after the war, and you didn't even bother to write!"
"Well, I-"
"Hey Malfoy! Don't think you're off the hook yet! Spill!" Ron's voice cut Pansy off just as she was about to answer.
"Oh, yeah, I almost forgot," Draco said, standing up. He gestured for Serena to stand up as well. "I just want everyone to know that Serena and I are engaged."
Cheers and applause erupted from the guests as Blaise stood up and clapped his hands on Draco's shoulders and congratulating him and Serena. Daphne glanced warily at Pansy's direction as the other guests stood up to shake hands with the soon-to-be-weds. Pansy struggled to maintain an apathetic face, but inside she felt a lump forming at her throat. She followed Daphne at the head of the table, and all too soon she found herself face to face with Draco.
"Congratulations," she said with as little emotion as possible. "Best wishes to the both of you."
"Thank you," Draco replied just as icily. "I'm glad you can make it, by the way."
With a nod, she made her way back to her chair, as the house elves had already started to serve the food. No interaction had taken place between them since then. Not even so much as a glance in the other's direction. Dinner was relatively quiet, except for the raucous laughter caused by the Weasley twins. When dinner was almost through, Pansy suddenly stood up.
"Where are you going?" Blaise asked her.
"I'm just going to wash my hands," Pansy replied. Blaise only shrugged in reply, and she went out of the door connecting the dining room to the kitchens. Upon entering the kitchens, the house elves all scuttled around her.
"Miss Parkinson!" a house elf she recognized as Flimsy exclaimed. "You is not been visiting for a long time! What will Miss Parkinson be needing?"
"Don't worry yourself, Flimsy, I'm just here to wash my hands, and then I'll be off," she replied. Flimsy bowed and went to do her chores. She looked around for a moment. Nothing's changed after all, except for the master of the house, she thought as she proceeded to do what she was there for. When she was drying her hands on a towel beside the sink, she noticed that the kitchens became eerily silent. Turning around, she saw that the house elves were all gone. The only person behind her was the very person she had been trying to avoid the whole night.
"Hello, Pansy," Draco greeted coldly. She opened her mouth to reply, but she had suddenly lost her voice. She just pursed her lips back together and crossed her arms over her chest.
"Tell me something," Draco started as he approached her. "What the hell did you do to my children to make them like you this much?"
"I beg your pardon?"
"Why did you come back in the first place?" Draco continued as if she didn't say anything. "Did you really think that I would welcome you back with open arms after what you did to me?"
"Draco, I-"
"And you didn't even have the decency to tell me the reason why you left! Not even a single note!"
"Draco, I wanted to tell you! Merlin knows I wanted to tell you, but I cannot tell anyone my full reasons for leaving. Not even Blaise knows, and to think I work with him!"
"So Blaise has to know first before you tell me? That only goes to show how insignificant I am, or should I say was, to you!"
"You are being unreasonable, Malfoy! And you'd know all about being insignificant, wouldn't you? You have no right to lecture me about insignificance, that's one of the reasons why I left! Because every time I approach you, you shove me away. You ignore everything I do for you. I was always second to your list of priorities, and I hate it!"
"How dare you tell me that when it was you who left me! For all I know, you already eloped with some random guy you've been having an affair with! You swore to me that you'd always be with me, that you'd stay with me through thick and thin, but where were you when I needed you? Where were you when Mother died and I needed someone who can understand me? I was planning on spending the rest of my life with you when the war is over. I loved you even more than life itself, but when you left, I think you made yourself quite clear. I never meant anything to you, and I never will!"
The response Pansy gave was none that Draco expected. He expected her to shout right back at him, just as they had been doing for quite some time now, or to even begin hurling the different utensils on the counter, but he did not expect her to slap him. He felt his cheeks stinging with the impact, and when he looked back at her, he could see the tears that were threatening to leak out of her eyes. He quickly replaced the obvious shock on his face with something akin to anger and was about to say something but Pansy beat him to it.
"How could you say that to my face, when even though I left you still occupied my thoughts? Every single day, I wonder how you were, what you were doing, if you were eating three times a day, if you were recovering well-" At this point, she sniffed, the tears had already down to her cheeks. "Everything I did when we were together, it was all for you. Even my disappearance, I did it because I didn't want to burden you any longer. I'd rather die than be with someone else, so how could you think I had an affair when we were together? I have never been this insulted, not even by those who looked down on our kind, and now I realize that I just wasted my entire life on someone who will never love me back the same way I love him."
Looking at Draco with disgust, disappointment and regret, she strode past him to go back to the dining room. Stopping in front of the door to wipe the tears from her eyes and compose herself, she added in an apathetic voice, "Don't worry, I'll be leaving in June, at the end of term, and after that you'll never see me again. I guarantee you that." And Draco heard the creak of the door, and then a click. Closing his eyes, he remained rooted to his position and massaged his temple. What the hell had just happened?
Pansy emerged from the kitchens looking… well, looking like hell. She looked miserable; although she already wiped the tears, it still looked like she was crying since her eyes were all red and puffy. She immediately went to her seat to grab her bag, and then headed for the door.
"Pansy! What happened to you? And where are you going this time?" Blaise called out to her. She stopped and faced him to answer his questions.
"I just had a chat with the master of the house. And I'm going home," she said with such firmness that even Blaise seemed stunned at her tone. I wonder what Draco did this time. Speak of the devil, he thought sarcastically as he saw Draco come out of the kitchens as well looking at Pansy with eyes void of any emotion. Pansy just stared right back at him with the same expression.
"Thank you for the meal, it was superb. But I have to get going. Thank you for inviting me, Mr. Malfoy."
"The pleasure's all mine, Professor."
And with that, Pansy made a sharp turn and exited the room. Everyone looked at Draco to know what had happened. They watched him sit back down with a sigh and look at everyone.
"Nothing happened, I assure you. Let's just forget about that episode and continue with the party, shall we?"
In the other dining room, the party was already in full swing, and the night was just starting. As of the moment, a food fight between the girls and the boys are taking place, and it was started by none other than the Weasleys (sons and daughters of Fred and George Weasley). You cannot see a single person inside the room that was tidy. Good thing there are people in the room who are already of age; they can just clean themselves and the younger ones when they're done.
"Hey Apollo! How dare you run away from a battle!" Theodore Lupin called out mockingly.
"I'm not running away! I have to go, if you know what I mean!" Apollo shouted back.
"Then by all means, go! We don't want you cluttering around here, won't we?" The rest laughed with him.
"I'll be back in a jiffy!"
When he opened the door, he saw Pansy exit the other room and head out to the receiving room, the nearest room that has a fireplace. His mind began to race, and he did the first thing that entered his mind.
"Hades! Arty! Poseidon! Come out here, quick!"
"What happened?" the three asked in unison when they were out of the room with Apollo.
"Pansy… I saw her leaving just now."
"Let's go."
They reached the receiving room just as Pansy was about to throw the Floo powder into the fireplace. They neared her with mixed expressions on their faces.
"Pansy, why are you leaving?" Artemis asked.
"Someone has made it clear that I'm not welcome. It would be rude of me to impose, so I decided to leave."
"It's Dad, isn't it?" Apollo said bitterly.
"What did he say to you?" Hades asked.
"It doesn't matter. And I didn't say it was your father. Anyway, that isn't the only reason why I'm leaving. Do you remember what I told you, Hades, when you asked me what I planned to do this Christmas?"
"You said you'd visit you-"
"Yes, that. He needs me, you see. He's not exactly feeling well, so I need to take care of him. Thank you for inviting me, it was so thoughtful of you. Off you go now, I don't want you to be held up because of me. Have fun, and happy holidays."
With that, she took a pinch of the Floo, stepped into the fireplace, threw the Floo and was gone in a burst of green flames. The children looked at each other. This is gonna be a long talk with Dad tomorrow. He will never marry that scumbag of a woman. Over our dead bodies.
Pansy appeared at the fireplace of a building almost entirely covered with white. She made her way to the top floor, where she was greeted by the nurse in charge for tonight.
"Good evening, Miss Parkinson," he said in his thickly accented voice. "Come to spend the holidays here with us, I see."
"Yes, Harold, good evening to you too. How is he?" Pansy asked.
"He's been asleep most of the day, but he woke up shortly after you left earlier. He's still awake, I believe."
"Thank you." And with that, she entered he door to a private ward. She took off her coat and set it down on a chair beside the bed along with her bag. She gently stroked the stray strands out of the face of the man lying on the bed. The man took her hand and held it firmly in his.
"Happy Christmas, Pansy."
"Happy Christmas, Rowan."
A/N: So, that was my attempt at angst. It took me long to formulate how the fight would end up, which is one of the reasons why I only updated now. Tell me if it was great or if it sucked, alright? Don't forget to READ AND REVIEW! Ciao, folks!