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Chapter 12 – Friend Or Foe

Ginny waited, simmering in her fury. They'd been outside for well over two hours, and everyone else had either said their goodbyes or gone to bed. Knowing that little pureblood bitch, she'd probably gotten down on her knees and…

Before Ginny could finish the crude thought, Percy followed closely by Pansy came through the archway, teacups in hand. There was no mistaking the cold veneer of indifference her brother had plastered on his face, or the utter dejection of the woman trailing behind him. Ginny couldn't help but wonder what had actually transpired outside.

As the couple sat themselves on the couch, Ginny marveled at the tense ten inches of cushion Percy had purposely set between them. Suddenly her mother came bustling in with a tray of assorted cookies and squares in hand, a look of deep concern etching its way across her features as her gaze shifted between the couple. Ginny caught her mother's eye and shot her a questioning glance. Mrs. Weasley offered a small shake of the head and mouthed the word 'later' in return.

Abruptly, Percy stood and made a beeline toward Molly. "Thank you, Mother. Those look delicious." He mumbled, taking one and moving off to the corner by the window.

Confused, Molly could only look back and forth between the two as Pansy all but crumpled in on herself at the dismissal and Percy focused intently on something outside.

"Cookie, dear?" Mrs. Weasley burst out as she crossed to Pansy.

Sitting up straight at the sound of her name, Pansy managed a quiet, distracted "Yes. Thank you, Mrs. Weasley. They look wonderful." as she mindlessly took one only to hold it forgotten in her hand.

Having had enough, Molly put the tray down on the coffee table, and offered a soft "Excuse me a moment, dear." She then headed over to her son for a very focused catch up session.

Ginny had watched in silence as these events unfolded. She knew her mother wouldn't out and out ask Percy what had happened outside, but was definitely going to have words with him about whatever she had witnessed in the kitchen.

Although Ginny knew this was her only chance to drive her point home with the little bint, the lost forlorn look on the other woman's face as she stared vacantly at her cookie made her falter.

Mustering her resolve, Ginny strode across the room and took up her brother's newly vacated seat beside Pansy. The only sign that the other woman was even aware of her presence was a slight tensing in her arms. Ginny glanced to the corner to find her mother chattering away as Percy, who was only half listening, watched them intently, worry marring his face. The look spoke volumes.

'So, he does still care. Interesting.' Ginny mused to herself.

Ginny pulled her eyes from the corner to study the woman next to her. Pansy was like a portrait in her stillness. The only signs of distress lay in the down turn of her mouth.

Without looking up, Pansy broke the spell by muttering. "You know, staring is rude."

"So is imposing oneself." Ginny shot back.

Pansy inhaled deeply through her nose, let the breath stream out of her, and then offered a brief nod. After a few moments she muttered. "I was invited."

"Well, you don't seem to be welcome now," Ginny bit out sarcastically.

"No, I don't, do I?" Pansy mumbled.

Unable to hold the tense eye line, Ginny tore her eyes away and looked around sharply. Try as she might, she wasn't going to be able to continue the intended barrage. Percy quite obviously was being his normal prat self, and as a result, this girl was suffering the consequences. Ginny couldn't ignore the similarities to another all too familiar situation.

"Listen, I'm…" Ginny began weakly.

Before she could say anything else, Pansy stood, "I need to use the ladies room. Excuse me."

Pansy was gone before Ginny could even formulate a response. She glanced to her brother only to find him up and out of his seat, having made a mad dash to the centre of the room.

"What did you say to her?" Percy blasted at her.

Ginny clenched her jaw, and glared daggers at her brother. "Nothing as bad as what she's already had to endure apparently."

Percy drove his hands into his pockets, and sheepishly gravitated back toward the window.

Molly, who had followed her son's impulse of jumping up at Pansy's hasty departure, briskly collected the cookies from the coffee table, and stated. "Percy, that girl needs to go home."

"Mother, she's not always like this."

"That's not what I meant, Percy dear. She's clearly upset, and no wonder! Take her home and make sure she has a calming draught." Mrs. Weasley said pointedly before heading off to the kitchen.

Ginny couldn't hold back, her curiosity getting the better of her. "What happened in the kitchen?"

"Nothing." Percy mumbled as he sat back down.

"I don't believe that for a second. What did you do?"

"It's not important, Ginny. Just… just drop it."

"Percy." Ginny reprimanded in a low voice.

What was he supposed to tell his sister? The truth? That he was dead gone for Pansy, but she only viewed him as a convenient snog while she waited for the man she really wanted to take up with her. As a man, how could he admit that he felt used and less than dirt under her feet? Any other bloke would jump at the chance to mess around with a gorgeous witch no strings attached. But he only felt a growing anger and bitterness at her callous misuse of him. She was selfish, and short sighted, and egotistical… and he adored every last inch of her.

On their way back through the garden, she had kept poking and prodding at him for a reason for his withdrawal… asking if anything was wrong. Not once did she clue in why he might be upset with her ability to kiss him so passionately without any kind of feeling behind it on her end. She just wanted what she wanted when she wanted it everyone else's feelings be damned. Selfish! Self-absorbed! Self-centered!

By the time they had reached the kitchen door, he finally snapped on her, calling her a string of unflattering names. He had regretted the words as soon as they had escaped his lips. Worse yet though, his mother was in the kitchen and had witnessed his nasty blow up.

Taking a breath, he reasoned part of the truth wouldn't be so bad. "I snapped at her and called her a spoiled, selfish, immature child… in front of Mum."

"You didn't." Ginny couldn't control the small giggle rolling through until she saw the look of agony torturing his eyes. "Why?"

"She wouldn't let me be. Kept prodding me. She was whining and pouting. I finally had it. Unfortunately, Mum was right there and saw the whole thing."

After a moment of digesting that piece of information, Ginny pressed on. "What happened outside then? You know, why was she nagging you?"

"That really isn't any of your business, Ginny," he managed, his cheeks flushing a deep crimson.

Based on his reaction, Ginny didn't want to know the exact details. "Right. Well… Wait, that doesn't make any sense. If it was that... um… nice… whatever, why are you being such a git now?"

Feeling suffocated by the current line of questioning, Percy stood and began to pace about the room. "I guess I realized she's… she's not my type."

"What do you mean she's not your type?" Ginny began to feel an unsettling agitation with the direction of the conversation.

"Well, she's…"

"She's what?" she snapped.

"She's a… a…"

"She's a what, Percy? A snob? A rich bitch?"

"No. No, she's not like that. Well, not all the time."

"Then what? Is it because she's a Slytherin? Why the hell should that make any difference?" Ginny was quickly becoming enraged with her brother. He was making excuses, just like another man she knew. Being a prick apparently wasn't reserved for the upper class or Slytherins for that matter.

"Ginny," he pleaded, "we're just too different. She's so high maintenance. It's not worth it. It's just not going to work out."

"That is just horseshit, Percy. You're in lo…"

Suddenly, another voice cut through their argument. "Percy, I'd really like to go home now if that's all right."

Brother and sister snapped their heads to the archway where they found Pansy wringing her hands, and looking quite pale.

Mortified that she might have overheard their conversation, Percy mumbled a quiet "Of course. Give me a moment while I fetch our cloaks." before scurrying from the room.

The two women stood in an uneasy silence as the weight of their discord settled over them.

"About before," Ginny began uncertainly, "I'm just a wee bit protective."

"Understandable." Pansy managed through pursed lips, not meeting her eyes.

"He's not the smoothest of blokes, is he?" Ginny tried to joke, offering a half-hearted laugh.

"It's fine." Pansy bit out as she glanced down at the battle her hands were waging for dominance over each other.

"Right." Ginny uttered.

Without warning, Percy rushed back in. "Here we are." He chirped with false lightness.

As he draped Pansy's cloak over her shoulders, his hands lingered a little too long on her arms, and Ginny noticed an odd kind of torment pass over his eyes. It was a disturbing sight, considering how stoic her older brother had always been. There had to be more to the whole thing because there was no denying he was completely in love with this girl, and she clearly returned his feelings, yet he was pulling away.

Pansy wrenched free of his hands and bolted from the room, leaving Percy to focus on his hands as he rubbed his fingers together trying to remember the feel of her. Ginny stared at her brother in dismay as he slowly followed Pansy's course out of the room.

"Goodnight, Percy." She called to him.

"'Night, Gin." He answered mindlessly as he disappeared down the hallway.

None of it made sense. Well, it did if she were to take into account the fact that he was a man, which in turn made him a complete and utter coward. Maybe he was scared of what he was feeling. Ginny resolved then and there to confront her brother about his seemingly idiotic behaviour at the earliest possible convenience.

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As they walked along her street in abject silence, Pansy felt the impending end of their day together looming closer, and her throat seized painfully at what that possibly signified.

His words from before kept coming back to her. 'Ginny, we're just too different. She's so high maintenance. It's not worth it. It's just not going to work out.'

Why had he said that? And why did it hurt so much to hear? Did he really think she was difficult? No, his words were high maintenance, selfish, and self-centered. The list of her many faults went on. Maybe she was too demanding. She'd always been given everything she ever wanted as soon as she made the slightest whimper.

She stole a sideways glance at him, and instantly regretted the decision. Although he kept his eyes firmly forward, his expression was unreadable yet unbelievably frigid. Pansy could feel the sting of tears burning her eyes, and a knot of emotion choking her throat.

"Well, here we are." She announced as they came upon her house, an edge of insecurity colouring her voice.

Percy inhaled sharply through his nose and looked from side to side as if searching for something to say. In truth, he was trying to gather his courage to begin the unsavoury task ahead of him.

"Yes. Well… goodnight then," he offered instead as he began to walk away, his Gryffindor bravery failing him miserably.

"Percy," she called quickly. He turned back to regard her, waiting for her to continue, and she squirmed under his intense scrutiny. She wasn't about to let him simply walk away. She wasn't ready for him to leave her just yet. Whether that was for the evening or for the foreseeable future, she wasn't sure.

"So, what's next then?" She puffed up flirtatiously, trying her damnedest to appear unfazed by his chilly manner.

"Next?" he asked dumbly, momentarily thrown by her playful smile.

"Yes, what's the next step? What do you think we should do? It's only a matter of time before Draco catches wind of this, and we should be prepared."

"Well, we've done everything, haven't we?" he started slowly. He knew this was going to be hard, but she'd unwittingly given him the perfect opportunity. "I've met your friends and you've met my family. We've gone to dinner and even made it into the "The Prophet". Malfoy seemed thoroughly put out by all of it. And as you said, this will drive him mad. What more is there really? I don't think…"

Ignoring the swell of panic gripping her, she stepped forward into him and laced both of her hands through his, cutting him off before he could end things. "Oh, there's a load more. I was thinking that perhaps now you should start coming over for dinner regularly… maybe every other evening after work. That would give the impression that we were inseparable. It could go on for… oh, I don't know… two or three weeks perhaps? And then one night, you could just stay over. Draco would go ballistic."

Shaking his head in dismay as she rambled on, Percy's mind reeled at the prospect of spending that much time with her. There would be no hope for him. He'd be completely lost to her by the end of it. Then when her last words hit him, a terrifying urge to either engulf her or tear himself away from her washed over him. If he slept over like she had suggested, he might do something truly moronic… like tell her he was in love with her.

"Pan… Pansy… Pansy!" He was finally able to interrupt her.

"Yes?" she replied meekly.

"There's no way I could stay over."

"Oh, you're so old fashioned." She swatted his chest playfully before moving off toward the steps. "Of course you could. You could stay in one of the guest rooms." 'Or with me,' she finished inwardly, and a thrill ran through her as the visuals of that particular scenario flitted unbidden through her mind.

"No Pansy, I couldn't. Nor do I think we should do this… this every night dinner thing."

"What? Why not?" she pouted, turning on him.

"What will it achieve?" he whinged.

"I just told you. Draco would be…"

"He's already jealous, Pansy." Percy cut her off, growing frustrated. "You have him just where you want him. This next step seems completely unnecessary."

"Don't you want to have dinner with me?" she simpered manipulatively.

'Not this again!' Percy ranted to himself. "It bloody well doesn't matter what I want and you know it!"

"What are you talking about? Of course it does." She went back to him, alarmed by his sudden upset.

"No. No, it really doesn't, Pansy."

"Then tell me what you want. What do you want, Percy?" She hadn't meant it to sound so pleading, but she simply couldn't help the desperation she was feeling.

"I… I want…"

"Yes." She urged him, stepping closer.

"I want… I mean I think it would probably be best if we started to wrap this plan up."

She blinked at him, stunned by his words. She knew they were coming, but hearing them was another matter entirely.

"What?" she blurted out.

He shifted on his feet uncomfortable at how pale she'd suddenly gone. Dragging his eyes away from hers, he began to ramble. "Well, from what you've told me, and what I've seen myself, Malfoy wants you back. He's made that abundantly clear."

"No, he hasn't. He's only a little miffed right now. He's certainly nowhere near ready to… to claim me. It's going to be weeks yet…. maybe even months. I think us having dinner every night will push…"

"This is ridiculous!" Percy tore away from her in a huff and began to pace. "Pansy, the man is livid. He caused a scene at Toparis and made a fool of himself for Merlin's sake!"

"Then maybe he needs to suffer a little bit more. Stew in the fact that he can't always have what he wants when he wants it. I'll give in after a few months."

He spun instantly on his heels to regard her with wide, pain filled eyes. There was the truth of the matter. It was still Malfoy for her… Probably always had been… He was nothing… He didn't even factor into her thoughts… He'd only guessed at her feelings before… But now she pretty much announced them.

"Fine. That's just fine! But I'm not going to sit here, wasting my time to indulge your need for revenge." Percy shouted, truly hurt.

He turned around quickly so she couldn't see the effect these realizations were having on him, and began to march away.

"Percy, wait! Please!" she begged, chasing after him.

"No Pansy!" he called to her over his shoulder.

"But I need you," she blurted out as she captured his arm.

Spinning violently, he drove his piercing gaze down into her. "For what?" he barked viciously.

"I need… I need you…" She mumbled, placing her hands weakly on his chest and focusing intently on the buttons of his cloak, unable to meet his gaze.

Involuntarily, his hands came up to support her. "What… what do you need from me?" he uttered desperately, his voice barely audible.

"I need… I want you… to… I can't do this without you."

"Can't do what?" he asked warily, standing a little straighter.

"I… I need you to be with me… for the plan. It won't work without you."

Percy went absolutely stiff, and jerked himself back and away from her. "Goodnight, Pansy." He seethed before turning his back on her and pounding his way down the sidewalk.

"What? Wait! No! Percy, come back here." She called to him, tripping a bit to catch up.

"Goodnight, Pansy," he shouted back to her more adamantly, without slowing his pace in the slightest.

"What about my goodnight kiss?" she pressed, unable to think of anything else.

He stopped abruptly and she accidentally ran into his back, hitting him full force. He was so rigid and tense in his anger though that the impact did nothing to move him. She, however, stumbled a bit but caught herself. He turned to glare down at her menacingly, and she felt a cold, nervous chill run through her chest. He'd never looked at her like that before. His eyes were absolutely storming. Without touching her in any other way, he leaned down and pressed a tight-lipped, unfeeling kiss to her lips and then stood back up.

"Goodnight, Ms. Parkinson." He hissed.

With that, he was off. She watched him stalk away powerless to make herself move. There was nothing in his kiss… No warmth. No fire. There wasn't the passion she was so accustomed to. Pansy felt her body begin to tremble violently at the loss of what she now recognized were his attentions.

What was happening to her? When had things changed so drastically? When had this whole ordeal stopped being about winning Draco, and instead become about needing Percy to… to what? To notice her? To touch her and kiss her as much as possible in the short outings they had with each other? When had she become all consumed with thoughts and fantasies of him taking her?

Pansy began to numbly wander back to her front steps, unseeing of her surroundings. As she dragged herself slowly up the steps, an idea started to bubble in her mind and she felt everything grow sharp. What she had to do suddenly became clear, but she needed a plan.

With renewed vigor and purpose, Pansy took the steps faster, unlocked her door, and stepped into her grand front hall. Shutting the door firmly behind her, she turned to rush up the stairs to continue the development of this new scheme when she bumped headlong into a solid body in her path. Surprised, she stepped back to take in the imposing figure standing before her.

"What the devil are you doing here?" she finally spat.

A/N: And the plot thickens...

Miss Anthrope: Percy had his reasons. Actually being in love with the person can make it rough.

Bellezza: Thank you :)

kalira: There really much out there on them. You have a very good grasp of what these characters are capable of ;)

stoneofpurity: Maybe she's not mean... just misguided.

denimwhale611: I love them too :D But they have a lot to get past before they can be together. Carla ColemanReally? Draco on the DL. Imagine that.

IHeartMCR: lmao. I love your reviews. I love even more that you get yourself that excited... lol. You should see what I have daydreamed up ;-)

ginger28: Oh, it's not Molly's fault this time. Oh, and you and me baby!!! Five days and counting.

Avanell: Oh, he's far too hung up on her to do that! lol.