A/N Little baby chapter (even for me!) I know, but another is coming probably on Friday ;)
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Velvet & Lace
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Chapter Twenty-Five | How Much to Lose
Had she been asked to describe Narcissa's expression at the exact moment Pansy blurted out the very thing she knew she ought to never utter aloud in this time would have been an impossibility. The older witch's face somehow held both absolute calm and complete terror, all at once.
Regulus is going to die!
The statement hung in the air like a great big neon sign flashing above their heads. Pansy didn't say any more, and for a long moment, during which, had she paid attention, Pansy would have sworn the fight in the street below had become quieter, for everything had quietened for them. Everything except the memory of Pansy crying out the very truth she desperately wished was a lie.
"N-now? Is that why you were-"
"No!" Pansy interjected, her voice sounding breathless and odd even to herself, as though the wind had been knocked from her metaphorical sails. "Well," she began, "I don't know when," she explained, standing, willing herself to her feet in spite of the shakiness she felt, needing to see that Regulus was still standing, still…
The place where he had been duelling was empty, and as her eyes darted to every and any part of the street she could, Narcissa's soft, yet clearly shaken, voice, drew her attention. "He's there," she heard Narcissa say, and as the older woman pointed, Pansy was able to follow the line of sight more to her left, where a small huddle of Death Eaters could be seen, and right enough, near the back was a figure half a head shorter than whoever he was next to.
The breath Pansy let out was woven with two things: a coughing fit, and relief.
"But...if you don't know when," Narcissa queried, "couldn't it be years from now?"
Pansy gently shook her head. "Dr-I...there's someone who. Ah!" she cried out in frustration before steeling herself, "I can't tell you who...but he's never mentioned Regulus and I know that won't make sense, but if he had years...I'm 99% sure I'd have known him. And I didn't, at all," she ended, her heart heavy.
It seemed both sides were retreating somewhat, both the Death Eaters and the Order had formed tighter knit groups on far sides of the street.
From somewhere behind her, Narcissa's voice startled her. "Pansy?"
Pansy didn't turn, needing her eyes to remain on Regulus' too far away form. "Yeah?"
"I know I shouldn't ask, and you shouldn't tell me, but…" her voice lowered further, "Lucius?" she asked in a shaky breath.
"Survives," Pansy replied, curtly. Knowing in that moment that Narcissa needed the reassurance that Pansy could never have, and not caring at all whether it was the right thing to do. "Lucius survives, you both do."
Narcissa took a second to answer, and when she did her tone was laced with understanding. "That was why you freaked out when we realised you didn't come here to change anything."
Pansy swallowed yet remained silent, not seeing any need to clarify that Narcissa was correct.
"I'm so sorry."
Breathing through her nose, Pansy forced her gaze from him and turned. "I am too," she spoke with a sob she wished weren't there. At once, Narcissa's arms wound around Pansy's shoulders as a tiny fraction of the huge weight she was carrying was, for that small moment, transferred. It was in that moment that Pansy truly understood how much she had to lose from this time.
And it wasn't solely Regulus.