"You can't." Hermione said flatly, crossing her arms in front of her.
Pansy sighed. It was the last day before she had to head back to Hogwarts for the second half of the year. They had spent most of the afternoon lounging in the parlor batting around ideas about undermining the Dark Lord's regime. Hermione leaned toward attempting to "liberate" a mudblood orphanage of the type she had grown up in. Perhaps her girlfriend intended to shut down the very orphanage she had spent ten years of her life inside of.
Pansy sympathized greatly, but there were a number of problems with the idea. Starting off with the fact that, even if they successfully executed a plan to free the occupants inside, neither of them could shelter possibly dozens of children of various ages. Hermione seemed to think that Pansy had all the money in the world, and therefore could buy some building or something to house them in. Pansy had to gently disabuse her of the notion. Pansy's father was the one who had all the money in the world, and while he might not mind his daughter spending Galleons like it was going out of style, Pansy thought he might have some questions to ask if Pansy wanted to buy some real estate for herself.
The idea was sound, and Pansy shared Hermione's desire to shut down mudblood orphanages, but they couldn't realistically accomplish much by themselves. They needed allies to help them. But who could they possibly trust not to betray them to the Dark Lord? The Death Eaters had informants everywhere. There was no one that they could fully trust. But maybe the dream world they shared over the summer could offer some clues.
In the dream world, Hermione had found out that something called the Order of the Phoenix existed. It was composed of overage wizards and witches who were dedicated to fighting the Death Eaters. If there was anyone they could possibly trust not to betray them to the Dark Lord, it was them. They likely existed in reality or at least did before the Dark Lord seized power. But how could Pansy and Hermione find their real-life counterparts? They had no information with which to do so. There was a way for Pansy to gain access to that information. The problem was that Hermione dead set against it.
"You keep saying that. But what other choice is there?" Pansy asked, sighing.
"We have to think of something else. You're not the Death Eater type." Hermione said with a slight laugh, shaking her head.
"I'm not?" Pansy asked coolly, wanting a little bit of clarification about why Hermione thought it was such a ridiculous idea.
"You know what I mean. You don't...I mean, you're not..." Hermione said hesitatingly, evidently having difficulty finding the right words as Pansy's eyebrows inched higher.
"You're not cruel! Or hateful, or a psycho!" Hermione finished in a rush, reaching out to clasp Pansy's hand.
"High praise." Pansy said dryly, not entirely mollified.
Hermione leaned forward on the sofa to give Pansy a quick kiss, which had the desired effect of mollifying Pansy completely. But it didn't really solve the problem. Hermione seemed to believe that Pansy was too nice to make a believable Death Eater.
"Love, you might consider the possibility that I'm uniquely sweet to you, and not necessarily to other people." Pansy remonstrated, squeezing Hermione's hand.
"Well, maybe. But what happens if you have to hurt someone innocent? I can't see you doing that." Hermione said skeptically.
"I wouldn't want to. But if I needed to do it to avoid suspicion, then I think I could." Pansy said with a touch of somberness.
Naturally, the conversation lulled there. Neither of them spoke. Hermione seemed to be thinking hard about possible alternatives, but judging from her continued silence, none were easily forthcoming. Pansy meanwhile, had nothing further to add. It wasn't as if she wanted to be a Death Eater. She simply wanted to help Hermione in her planned quest to destabilize the Dark Lord's regime. Accepting the open invitation to become a Death Eater that was offered to every graduating pureblood student seemed like the best way for Pansy to gain access to valuable information.
Pansy leaned back on the sofa in the parlor, entirely content for Hermione to be the one to decide on the merits of her admittedly risky idea, when she heard a faint metallic sound from outside the window. What was that? Pansy had heard that sound before.
Pansy leaped up from the sofa and hurried to the window in the parlor. She could see that the wrought iron gates of the Parkinson Manor were open, and Pansy's parents were walking down the stone pathway towards the manor. Hermione appeared at Pansy's side a moment later. As soon as Hermione saw Pansy's parents, a worried look appeared on her face. She was wearing one of Pansy's dark blue dresses. Hermione turned to head toward Pansy's room, no doubt intent on changing back to her more demure maid dress, when Pansy grabbed her wrist.
"I'm sorry, love. I don't know what they're doing here so early." Pansy said apologetically.
"It's okay. Let's just get through this." Hermione said with a shaky smile on her face.
This time, Pansy was the one to deliver a quick kiss to her girlfriend's lips in the hopes of making her feel better. A real smile showed on Hermione's face for a moment, and that was enough for Pansy to let her girlfriend go without feeling guilty. Pansy took a moment to compose herself, then left the parlor through the opposite door that Hermione had just gone through. She needed to delay her parents for as long as she could.
"Mother. Father." Pansy called out from the top of the stairs by way of greeting.
"Pansy, darling! It's so wonderful to see you." Pansy's mother, Delphine, called out cheerily from the main doors.
As Pansy walked down the stairs to greet her parents, she thought that she could learn a thing or two about deception from her mother. Delphine had no trouble at all acting as if the last thing she had said to Pansy hadn't been incredibly hurtful. Their last fight, after Pansy had dashed her mother's carefully laid plans to engage her to Draco Malfoy, had been a vicious one. Both of them had said things that couldn't be taken back. Delphine was of a mind to throw Pansy out of the manor when her father (finally) intervened. Phillip Parkinson, reasoning that Pansy needed to be closer to Hogwarts, bundled his irate wife off to their winter estate in the south of France. It was there that they remained for the duration of the summer. Pansy had fully expected them to continue avoiding her during Christmas break, and up until now, she'd been correct. So why would they come back on the last day of it, when they knew Pansy would still be here?
"You're looking well, sweetheart." Phillip said with a small smile as soon as Pansy came down the stairs, straightening his dark grey coat.
Pansy's father always favored suits over wizard robes. As he was first and foremost a businessman, it wasn't unusual, but Pansy thought that years of being slighted for his woeful magical ability had given her father more affinity for the muggle world. His dark chestnut hair was cut short, as Pansy knew her mother preferred. It was always amazing to Pansy that her father could be so decisive and forceful in his business dealings, and yet so supine and biddable when it came to his wife. He would generally only step in if Delphine lost her composure, and not before.
"Thank you, Father." Pansy said primly, giving him a hint of a curtsy.
Delphine beamed at Pansy, who did her best to return her mother's insincere warmth. Pansy had gotten most of her features from her mother, which meant they had the same jet black hair, pale skin, and light green eyes. Pansy had always kept her hair in a bob that was level with her chin, while her mother favored a longer style, with her hair straight down to her waist. Delphine's wardrobe was as extravagant as ever, as she wore an embroidered dark violet dress paired with some outrageously expensive platinum jewelry. Her mother always flaunted their family's wealth as much as she could, as Delphine preferred to deal with people after establishing how easily she could buy and sell them.
"Hello, Mother. It's been too long." Pansy said graciously, trying to practice her ability to flat-out lie to people who needed to be lied to.
"Absolutely, darling! I missed you so much. I told Phillip that we simply could not let our Pansy go back to Hogwarts without seeing her again." Delphine said sweetly, grabbing onto her husband's arm.
Her father's slight hesitation before nodding told Pansy that something else was behind their early arrival. Whatever it was, her parents would broach it later. Pansy certainly didn't mind waiting to hear it.
"Oh, but that Granger girl should have been here to take our bags. Where is she? Lazing around with a book, I imagine?" Delphine said with a frown, her voice suddenly dripping with disapproval.
"Oh, I asked her to clean out some of my closet space. She should be finished shortly." Pansy invented quickly.
"Honestly, I don't know about that girl. She used to show some proper obedience, but I swear, she was getting a hint of an attitude right before we left. I hope that mudblood hasn't given you any trouble, darling." Delphine said archly, looking at Pansy with sympathy.
"No, none at all, Mother." Pansy said firmly, settling for a simple denial instead of some choice words she much preferred to say to her mother.
The sound of a closing door above them drew all of their attention, and moments later, Hermione appeared at the top of the stairs in her demure maid's dress. Pansy watched as Hermione hurried down the stairs and gave her parents a deep curtsy. Watching her girlfriend debase herself like that made Pansy faintly nauseous, though she kept it from showing as best she could.
"Oh hello, dear. So good of you to come down. Take our bags to our bedroom, and then I think I'll have a small glass of sherry." Delphine said dismissively, already turning away from Hermione after issuing her commands.
"Yes. Mrs. Parkinson." Hermione said simply, curtsying once more.
"Let's go to the dining room, darling. We have so much to catch up on." Delphine said lightly to Pansy, steering her husband in the direction of the dining room.
Pansy swallowed the caustic words she wanted to say and nodded. If she was ever going to successfully infiltrate the Death Eaters, then she had to at least be able to ignore her mother's infuriating disregard for her social lessers. As far as Pansy was concerned, Hermione was brilliant, kind, and deserved far better than to have to smile and curtsy at the people who heaped disdain on her. Pansy longed to do what her mother was simply too lazy to do, which was to use a Locomotion Charm on their luggage, which would cause their suitcases to make a beeline up the stairs and into their bedroom. Instead, Hermione would have to lug them up the stairs herself. But doing that for her love would draw some unwelcome attention. As she followed her parents, Pansy turned her head slightly and mouthed "I'm sorry" at Hermione behind her. It was all she could do right now.
Pansy glanced at the clock for the second time in as many minutes. Over the last hour, Delphine had been regaling Pansy with the many leisure activities they had pursued together in Côte d'Azur. It was tremendously boring for Pansy to hear, or had been until she had gotten the bright idea to imagine herself there with Hermione. Suddenly, hearing her mother talk about drinking shockingly expensive wine while walking barefoot on the beaches of the French Riviera was not an occasion to roll her eyes, rather it was a very pleasant opportunity for Pansy to fantasize about being there with her girlfriend.
Hermione had come into the dining room a few times to refill their glasses, and each time Pansy had to keep herself from showing her girlfriend any warmth or kindness. It made Pansy feel terrible to lift her near-empty glass for Hermione to refill without even looking in her girlfriend's direction. But it wouldn't do Hermione any favors if her parents thought that Pansy was unduly fond of her. Hermione had placed plates and bowls of their finest porcelain, along with the silver utensils that had been in the Parkinson family for generations. After setting the table, Hermione had been in the kitchen preparing dinner for all three of them.
Delphine's meandering reminiscences came to a close as soon as Hermione entered the dining room with the opening course. Pansy was quite impressed with the minestrone soup and thinly sliced salmon on bruschetta that Hermione had come up with, as she had become briefly acquainted with the difficulty of cooking over the past two weeks. Her parents seemed to think it was nothing special, however.
"Well, darling. We did have something rather important to talk about." Delphine said carefully in between sips of her soup.
Now they were coming to it, judging more from her father's nod than anything her mother said. Delphine was quite capable of making minor issues seem major and vice versa, depending on what served her interests, but her father was more straightforward. Pansy couldn't help but wonder what her parents had up their sleeves.
"Pansy, dear, have you given any thought to your future? After you graduate, I mean." Delphine asked gingerly, putting her spoon down.
Pansy took her time before answering. She had made her feelings about getting married to some pureblood boy extremely clear. It couldn't be about that. What did her parents want her to say? As it happened, Pansy had been thinking quite a bit about her future. None of which she could talk about, of course.
"A little bit. Why do you ask?" Pansy said neutrally, finishing her soup as well.
"Because, darling, you'll need to do something after you graduate. You don't want to just lay around here, do you?" Delphine asked airily.
"Not particularly, but what would there be for me to do?" Pansy responded, by now having a vague idea about what her mother was getting at.
Delphine didn't answer immediately. Hermione had entered the dining room to gather up the remnants of the first course she had cooked for them, and that was when Pansy's father cleared his throat before speaking.
"As you may know, sweetheart, The Dark Lord is very open to having pureblood Hogwarts graduates join his organization. It could be a good opportunity for you." Phillip said with a measure of forced casualness in his voice.
Hermione gave Pansy a worried look despite herself. Thankfully, both of her parents were too focused on Pansy's reaction to notice. It was all Pansy could do to keep her expression blank as she thought about her response. A good opportunity for her? It was far more likely that her parents considered it a good opportunity for them as well. The Parkinson family had no representation among the Death Eaters. Money could only go so far to buy them respect. But how willing were they to put their daughter at risk like that? Pansy decided to find out.
"But isn't that dangerous?" Pansy asked vaguely, well aware of how much more dangerous it would be if she joined the Death Eaters with the intention of helping to bring them down.
"Not if you choose the right job, sweetheart. Something in Finance or Information would be fairly safe." Phillip answered quickly.
Though Hermione showed signs of wanting to linger, there was only so much time she could take to clear away empty dishes. Hermione picked up the last plate and vanished into the kitchen before Pansy could ask for further information. "Finance" had to refer to the Ministry's Financial Office, which ran Gringotts Wizarding Bank and oversaw the regulation of wands, among other things. Though they sounded like different areas entirely, the corrupt system the Ministry had set up had forced most halfbloods into taking out heavy loans in order to receive a wand, which meant that Gringotts was usually involved. As for "Information", that referred to the Ministry's Office of Information, which determined what could be published in books and newspapers. That and the fact that both offices were staffed with Death Eaters was all Pansy knew about them.
"What do you mean, exactly? I would get to choose?" Pansy asked her father slowly.
"Well, the ultimate decision would be up to the Dark Lord, but I understand that he generally grants requests when it comes to that kind of thing." Phillip answered easily.
Hermione entered the dining room again with the main course. Pansy was suitably impressed with Hermione's offering: beef medallions with mushroom sauce, as well as steamed asparagus and cherry tomatoes. It was quite a meal. Pansy had thought that she was perhaps getting a handle on cooking by now after Hermione had begun to teach her the ropes, but obviously, Pansy had a lot to learn. She hoped that Hermione would save some for herself, but for now, the only thing she could do was ask her father a question so that Hermione would hear while she was serving their food.
"What if I get assigned somewhere dangerous, though? I have to imagine there are some risky jobs." Pansy asked, picking up her fork.
"Maybe in Security Services, but I don't believe The Dark Lord would ever assign someone there who didn't want to be." Phillip said briskly, digging into his food.
"Well, I'll think about it, Father." Pansy said pensively.
Now that the only important topic of discussion was closed, at least for now, Delphine started up another anecdote about their year in France. Pansy mostly tuned her mother out and watched Hermione turn and leave the dining room. More than anything, she wanted to talk this over with her girlfriend. But for now, all Pansy could do was turn over the information she had gotten in her head and wait for this interminable dinner to end.
It was only once Pansy's parents were in their bedroom on the second floor together that she thought it was safe to talk to Hermione. Her girlfriend was in the kitchen washing the many dishes Pansy and her parents had gone through. Seeing Hermione continuing her multi-hour laboring over a dinner she never got to eat made Pansy feel a keen sense of guilt.
"Let me do that, love." Pansy said rather urgently, picking up the next plate in the sink.
Unfortunately, Pansy's somewhat overwrought mental state was not very conducive to dishwashing. The ceramic plate she was washing promptly slipped out of her hand and shattered when it hit the floor. Pansy, her face reddening slightly, took out her wand and whispered the mending charm.
"Reparo!" Pansy muttered, picking up the reformed plate.
"That's okay, I'll finish it." Hermione said briskly, an amused expression on her face as she gently tugged the plate out of Pansy's hands.
"I'm sorry, love. For that, and you know...everything today." Pansy said with a rather pained look on her face.
"It's not your fault. And believe me, it's nothing I can't handle." Hermione said easily, turning back to the sink.
Unable to do anything useful for Hermione at the moment, Pansy sat down on one of the stools at the kitchen table near the sink Hermione was standing in front of. She watched as her girlfriend quickly whittled down the pile of unwashed dishes without using magic faster than Pansy could likely do with magic. Pansy's brief acquaintance with physical labor had left her deeply impressed with Hermione's efficiency at it.
"So, what do you think?" Pansy asked softly, watching Hermione dry off the very last dish.
Hermione didn't speak immediately. She opened an upper cabinet, placed the dish inside, and closed it with a sense of deliberate slowness before turning around to face Pansy.
"I think you're right about joining the Death Eaters. It makes the most sense now. But there's no way I'm going to let you do that until you work on a few things." Hermione said severely, putting her hands on her hips.
"What things?" Pansy asked with a touch of wariness in her voice.
"Your expressions, for one. You have to keep a much better handle on your feelings. You looked so guilt-ridden and conflicted during dinner. Your parents probably thought it was all to do with them, but the Death Eaters will know something is up if you look sick every time one of them hurts someone." Hermione said firmly, looking Pansy in the eye.
"I...can work on that, I suppose." Pansy said, nodding.
"Second...well, let me start by saying I love the way that you look at me. But in the future, you need to look at muggleborns like they're furniture that talks. Like your mother does, basically." Hermione said wryly.
"I'm pretty sure I can pull that off with anyone else. But I'm also sure that I'll never be able to do that with you, love." Pansy said warmly, standing up from the stool to embrace her girlfriend.
Hermione hugged Pansy back, and they passed several long moments in the kitchen silently, both of them content to be in each other's arms. Eventually, Pansy pulled back and considered Hermione's maid outfit closely. There was no particularly easy way for Pansy to remove it, unlike the skimpier one Hermione usually wore.
"Don't even think about it. I need to wash up anyway." Hermione said, spoiling the sternness of her voice with the blush that had entered her cheeks.
"You're fine, love, believe me. And my parents are all the way upstairs..." Pansy said enticingly.
"Which means they could come down at any time! Do you really want to risk that?" Hermione asked in apparent disbelief.
"I'll tell you what. We can kiss for the next few minutes, and then we'll see how we both feel then." Pansy proposed with what she thought was a fair offer.
The scornful noise Hermione made told Pansy that her girlfriend didn't exactly see it the same way, but Hermione kissed her back quickly enough when Pansy leaned forward to kiss her. Not wanting to proceed any faster than Hermione wanted, Pansy was content to keep her kisses soft and rather chaste. After a few seconds of this, Hermione lost her patience and began using her tongue.
Making out with Hermione was satisfying enough for Pansy at the moment. Pansy was really just craving some honest interaction with her girlfriend after the stilted, awkward conversation she had endured with her parents. Hermione, though, seemed to want to work a little bit of her aggressive feelings out on Pansy. It couldn't have been easy for her parents to talk to her like that after Hermione had just started to get used to being treated like a human being. Pansy found herself being slowly pushed back until she made contact with the table behind her. Hermione then broke off the kiss and turned Pansy around so that she was facing away from her girlfriend, then began to long process of unbuttoning Pansy's dress.
"These buttons take forever. If I had my wand..." Hermione said distractedly.
"Where did you hide it?" Pansy asked, feeling her dress loosen.
"In your knicker drawer." Hermione said with a definite note of amusement.
Pansy did her best not to burst out laughing, as she didn't want to make too much noise. Hermione finished unbuttoning Pansy's dress and let it drop from her shoulders, leaving Pansy in only her midnight blue bra and knickers.
"Because someone wanted to do this here, I can't really afford to strip too. I guess that means you get all the attention this time." Hermione whispered into Pansy's ear.
The next thing Pansy knew, her knees had weakened slightly from the feeling of Hermione kissing her neck. Pansy was never as glad that she kept her hair short as when Hermione was delivering soft kisses to her neck. Softer than usual, but then, it wouldn't do for Pansy to be seen with a hickie or two on her neck.
Hermione reached around her and began to rub Pansy's nipples over her bra. After feeling them poke out from behind it, Hermione slid her hands inside Pansy's bra and stimulated her nipples directly. Pansy tamped down on her natural impulse to cry out from the burst of pleasure that Hermione's fingers were suddenly giving her. Pansy had to hope that Hermione was listening for the sound of anyone approaching, because Pansy was finding it harder and harder to do so herself. Pansy wanted to start touching herself very much, but she kept her hands on the table in front of her. Hermione would decide if and when her pussy got any attention. In the meantime, Hermione kept pinching and rolling Pansy's nipples with her fingers.
Pansy could feel a small wet spot forming on her knickers. Something about having her bra still on (no doubt Hermione would simply say that she couldn't risk removing another article of clothing from Pansy) while her girlfriend teased her nipples underneath it was surprisingly hot. Pansy's previous commitment to keep from touching herself was being tested sorely. So much so that Pansy felt like she couldn't deny herself for long. The only alternative was to plead with Hermione to give her pussy some attention instead.
"P-Please, love." Pansy said breathlessly, knowing that Hermione would understand exactly what she was talking about.
Hermione let out a melodramatic sigh before pulling her hands out from inside Pansy's bra. With her hands free, Hermione was able to turn Pansy around again so that they were facing each other. Hermione leaned forward to deliver a slow, lingering kiss to Pansy's lips before sinking down in front of her. Pansy, despite her active attempts to keep herself from making noise, couldn't help but gasp when Hermione began licking the wet spot in front of Pansy's knickers. She was just hoping that Hermione would touch her there a little.
Although Pansy longed to stimulate her now neglected nipples, she put her hands back down on the table behind her. Pansy had a feeling she would need them there to help hold her up soon. Hermione continued to lick the wet spot on Pansy's knickers, and as a result, it got steadily larger. Pansy kept expecting Hermione to move her knickers to the side at some point, but it seemed that her girlfriend was interested in seeing just how wet she could cause Pansy's knickers to become.
Pansy began to squirm with her hips from the increasingly pleasurable sensation, and Hermione got a grip on them soon after, intent on keeping her girlfriend still as she continued to lap at the front of Pansy's knickers. The small area covering Pansy's pussy, and where Hermione using her tongue the most, was starting to get soaked. Pansy could feel her orgasm approaching, which caused her to instinctively buck her hips. Hermione noticed this immediately and redoubled her efforts at licking the large wet spot on Pansy's knickers.
Right before Pansy climaxed, she had the wherewithal to use one of her hands to cover her mouth. She couldn't afford to shriek like she usually did, and hopefully, that would serve to muffle any noise she couldn't help but make. Hermione's rapidly moving tongue drove Pansy over the edge a moment later, and the first muffled shriek Pansy let out forced her to use both hands to cover her own mouth. She remembered hoping that Hermione would hold her up, and that was when the electrifying feeling spreading from her pussy to the rest of her body completely overwhelmed Pansy and drove all other thoughts out her head.
Pansy had no real recollection of how long her orgasm had lasted. It had to be minutes, but time had mostly lost its meaning for the duration. Pansy started to catch her breath as her orgasm winded down. She looked downward to see that Hermione was smiling at her from where her girlfriend was sitting. Hermione gave a quick kiss to the absolutely soaked front of Pansy's knickers before standing up from the ground.
"That was fun. You might have to change those before bed, though." Hermione teased.
Pansy laughed, or tried to. She'd had a rather emotionally exhausting day, and was looking forward to going to bed with Hermione beside her before heading back to Hogwarts. Pansy, a touch unsteadily, started to put her dress back on. Hermione helped her button it, and together they got Pansy looking respectable again. If her flushed cheeks could be ignored.
"Come on, love. Let's go to bed." Pansy said tiredly.
"Wait. Are you sure you want to risk that? I was going to sleep in the maid's chambers down here." Hermione said cautiously.
"I won't have you sleeping on that rickety cot in there, love. Besides, it's our last night before I have to go and my parents always sleep in. We'll be up before them, easily." Pansy answered, reaching out to hold Hermione's hand.
"Alright. But keep your wand ready. If we have to use a Memory Charm, you're the one doing it." Hermione said sternly, in contrast to the gentle way she held Pansy's hand.
They had managed to get through an unexpected situation, but it was only going to get harder from this point on. Hermione was undoubtedly ready, but Pansy could only hope that she herself was.
(Alright! I'm thinking about moving forward with the plot as the focus from here on out. That means the smut will have to take a backseat if I do decide to do that. What do you guys think? Leave a comment/review if you have a particular opinion on it!)