Pansy would never have believed that there could come a time when she didn't hate Harry Potter, and still wouldn't, but right now she was fairly close to at least being more amused by him than she was irritated by him. Recently, though, she almost wanted to give him a personal round of applause – him, Granger and Longbottom. In all, they'd lost one hundred and fifty house points for Gryffindor. It was like they were trying to force their house to lose the cup.
Naturally, Draco had gotten into trouble too, but the Slytherins tended not to mind – if it hadn't been for him, then the other three wouldn't have been caught. It was underhanded, but cunning was part of the Slytherin way. Besides, Draco wasn't allowing the thought of being pushed out by his peers to affect him. He was simply acting the same as always. Potter and his friends were mooching around with their heads down trying not to attract attention; really, they were bringing it on themselves for being so pathetic.
'Can't believe I still have to serve this detention,' Draco admitted on the morning he received the note telling him so. 'It's ridiculous. I ought to tell father, but he'd only tell me to keep my head down. It isn't prudent to publicly attempt to spoil people's views of Harry Potter. He's always said that.'
Pansy nodded, finding that to be very true. 'Your father's right, I think.'
'Yes,' Draco agreed absently, 'but it's annoying to have to serve this detention anyway. They'd better not put me with Longbottom or I swear I won't be held accountable for my actions.'
She smirked lightly, smoothing a thread from the shoulder of his jumper. 'You'd be doing us all a favour. Another favour.'
'A bloody annoying one,' he grumbled, glancing away to watch Crabbe and Goyle interrogating Daphne about her Herbology homework. As much as nobody in Slytherin was much interested in Vince or Greg, it was generally regarded as a collective duty of theirs to make sure they both passed their first year. It'd be poor effort to leave them behind – unless working to keep them up started impacting their own studies, of course. Then it'd be back to 'every wizard for himself'. Even so, that entire unspoken duty just went to show how Slytherin house was not as solitary and unpleasant as it was painted. Gryffindors weren't the only ones capable of moving as a pack.
'It'll be over in a few hours,' she reminded him after a pause, considering it. 'You'll spend a few wasted hours doing it and then it'll all be done with, except Gryffindor will still be in last place.'
'I suppose so,' he agreed, significantly cheered up by that, even if he still didn't smile. Draco tended not to, unless you counted smirking. She wasn't sure if that was something he'd learned from his father, but it seemed likely. She'd never seen the eldest Malfoy smile properly either, and she'd caught sight of him at several pureblood events over the years. 'Are you sure you don't want to serve it for me?'
'Positive,' Pansy said smoothly, but exchanged a look with him that passed on – or hopefully did, at least – an inch of sympathy and a whole cupful of amusement. 'Do give Longbottom hell, won't you? I don't feel he's had as much of it as Potter has, and that's just not at all fair.'