oh my gosh I am so sorry for leaving y'all hanging like that for so long! I was having difficulty getting the motivation to finish this dang chapter but it's here now! Enjoy :) Beta love out to SandraSempra
Pansy could see the terror written across every single face in the bedroom. She was sure if she tried to take a deep breath she would choke on the fear that quickly took over the room. Another crash from downstairs brought her back to reality. They needed to move, they needed to hide, they needed to be safe. And they needed to go now. Without a second thought, she summoned Sprinkles; the tiny elf appeared as the last syllable died on her lips. She must have been waiting for someone to call for her.
"Isn't she supposed to only come when Theo calls for her?" Harry stood awkwardly in the center of the room. It was clear he wasn't sure what he should be doing in that moment, obviously uncomfortable with this new development. From what Pansy had heard, most of Potter's adventures were thought up on the fly, hoping nobody died along the way. Well, that stupid idea would end here and now if she had anything to say about it, which, she usually did. Pansy gave The Reckless One a glare. He really could be quite thick sometimes.
"You really think any of us could stop her from doing whatever she really wanted? Sprinkles has always answered to any of us when we needed her - sort of a mother hen and her baby chicks idea, I guess. Sprinkles has probably done more to raise all of us than any of our actual parents ever did. Now, are we done with useless questions, or are we going to actually have a plan before we just start blasting things to bits and hope we all make it out alive?"
Potter looked away sheepishly. Good, maybe the tosser would learn to think before words just poured from his mouth. It would increase the odds of getting them all to safety at least.
Pansy turned her attention back to the elf awaiting orders. "Sprinkles, I need you to take everyone down to the nearest safe room. Stay as quiet as possible. We can't let our new guests know that they are here. Alright?"
"Of course, Missy Pansy! I be taken thems to the yellow rooms!" Before anyone could so much as object, Sprinkles had already grabbed hold of Theo and Draco before popping away.
"What's a safe room, and how does Sprinkles know where yours are?"
"Merlin's saggy pants, Potter! Do you ever actually stop to think how stupid you sound before letting the words burst free from your gaping trap? Please, take a moment to realize why that was a stupid question."
Pansy found herself panting heavily after her rant. She wasn't really all that mad at Potter. This entire situation was bizarre and leagues outside her comfort zone. Not to mention her friends were being targeted, and if she had anything to say about it, they would never be held prisoner again.
She heard Daphne explaining quietly to Harry that most of the prominent families had safe rooms they could escape to in case of attack, ensuring their line would continue by means of escape. Most house elves knew where the rooms were in other houses in the event their masters were attacked while visiting. It was also one of the few things an elf could never reveal, even if their master ordered them to do so. Pansy couldn't suppress the eyeroll that needed to be set free as she realized just how naive the Savior of the Wizarding World still was.
Sprinkles popped back into the room, causing its occupants to jump at the sudden, loud sound. She had taken longer than Pansy had expected, so she assumed the elf must have made sure Draco was comfortable before coming back for the rest of them.
Pansy called out just before the elf disappeared with Potter and Granger, "You don't need to come back for me and Daph, Sprinkles. I'm going to need her if our ruse is to be believable."
Sprinkles gave a tiny nod as she disappeared, dragging the two Gryffindors with her.
"What can I do, Pans?" Daphne's face was set, determination written on her features.
"If we want them to believe it's just you and me here, they need to see you. It would look too suspicious if they know you came through the Floo and you weren't around. I'm sure someone probably saw you. Either way, I don't think I could keep this up on my own. C'mon."
The two Slytherins headed back towards the drawing room, the voices from below slowly growing louder the closer they got. One voice became more distinguishable above the din when the man became visible on the landing.
"Oi, you there! Place your wands on the floor, place your hands above your head, and slowly walk towards us."
Giving each other a steadying look, they both withdrew their wands before placing them on the tiled floor.
"You realize I actually need my arms in order to make it down the stairs in these shoes without my face becoming intimate with the floor, right?" The owlish blink gave her a warm sense of satisfaction. Queen Bitch forever, baby. She snorted, playing on the Auror's obvious uncertainty.
"No appreciation for fashion I see. Tut tut, how ever are you supposed to get a girl worth keeping if you can't even offer an honest, and informed, opinion on what will make her look fat. You're dying alone, darling."
She noticed the corner of Daphne's mouth twitch upward as the Auror's face flamed red. She was quite impressed with herself, having achieved that colour to appear so quickly.
"Now now Pansy, he's just doing his job. Why don't we simply put both our hands on the railing as we descend. Will that suffice?"
The Auror took a gulp, but nodded, grateful for the easy out. "Right, both hands then on the banister if you please, and descend slowly."
Pansy rolled her eyes. What on earth did he think they would do? Lunge back up the stairs for her wand? Throw themselves down on top of the waiting Aurors? Not in this dress.
Once they were on level ground the Auror that had given them instructions, who must have been in charge of the search, seemed to regain his confidence. Poor bloke must have a serious inferiority complex. He's probably got a raise riding on the outcome of this search. Not today unfortunately for you, darling.
"Now, care to tell me why there are several Aurors barging into my home and tromping about the place like a herd of erumpents?" She tapped her toe, hoping she could see him colour again. He didn't disappoint. Colour flooded his cheeks as Pansy kept his gaze locked on hers, using every trick her horrible mother had ever taught her in order to keep the upper hand - especially when dealing with a man.
"There was a disturbance reported as originating from this establishment. The outpour was deemed unsafe, and warranted further investigation." The idiot sounded like he was reading out of his handbook. Snore. He was awfully fun to play with, though.
"Oh, was there? Silly me, that must have been the incident in the potions lab. What do you think, Daph? Would that have been a big enough explosion to register on Ministry scanners?" She couldn't help the dig at the Ministry insinuating they were monitoring closer than they had any rights to do.
"It wouldn't surprise me. There was certainly a large amount of Wild Magic bouncing around the lab afterwards. It wouldn't surprise me that the Ministry's paltry scanning spells had picked up on it."
Pansy watched, silently seething, as the three other Aurors sacked the drawing room. Everything was being upturned and tossed aside. She may not be overly fond of her family, but this was still her home.
"Why don't you follow me and I can show you the lab. You do need to get closer readings do you not?" She had purposely phrased the question so that any denial would make the Ministry look incompetent. He had no choice but to go with her suggestion, which he did of course, the slimy git.
The Auror cleared his throat trying to sound like he knew what he was doing as he gestured down the hall, "Lead the way then if you please, Miss Parkinson," he turned quickly to two of his companions, "You two check the rest of the house. Scan for any other magical signatures present."
Daphne gave Pansy a subtle smirk as they turned and headed down the carpeted hall towards the potions lab. Pansy desperately hoped the elves had enough time to make the damage correspond with the perceived level of magical output. Stalling further would only raise further suspicions.
Pushing open the heavy doors, Pansy led the way down a short flight of stone steps. Like many of the grand houses belonging to the Sacred Twenty-Eight, the potions labs were situated adjacent to the dungeons, so as to try and dampen the damages incurred by any explosions.
The Aurors pushed roughly past her, probably to ensure she didn't have time to hide anything or disrupt the "evidence". The room had been completely trashed; the elves having done a fantastic job of making an explosion look realistic. There was a mangled cauldron still smoking on the floor, surrounded by scorch marks, and what appeared to be remnants of whatever potion had been inside it. The wooden beams running along the ceiling had scorch marks and bits of metal embedded in them. The work table where the cauldron would have sat was still smoldering, two of the legs having collapsed from underneath it. The place was an absolute wreck, and Pansy couldn't have been more proud. The elves had really outdone themselves making the destruction believable. There were even scraps of parchment floating through the air, fluttering large ashes skimming across their faces as if to display any notes on the disastrously failed potion had gone up in flames.
The Auror who shouldered past her made a slow circuit of the room, a prominent frown on his face. It was obvious he didn't like what he was seeing, the evidence too obvious to ignore - the magical spike really had been a potions explosion and not a witch losing control of Dark Magic. He opened his mouth, but was cut off by the reappearance of the other two Aurors.
"Our scanners only picked up on house elf magic. No one else is here, sir." Pansy slowly let out the breath she had been holding, trying not to draw attention to herself. Sprinkles had successfully managed to mask the magical signatures of the others. Now all that was left was to get these idiots out of her house as quickly as possible with as few questions as she could get away with without looking suspicious.
Her internal relief was cut short as the Aurors produced extendable sacks from their coats and began to raid her potions cupboards. All of the ingredients presented on the shelves were unceremoniously dumped in, along with any finished potions lining the walls.
"What do you think you are doing? You've checked the house, I'm obviously not harbouring any fugitives, so what in Merlin's name are you doing with my potion stores?" Pansy could hear the shrill edge her voice had taken, but she didn't care. They needed those ingredients to help Draco's healing, and with two Gryffindors in the house, the odds were ridiculously high that one or both of them would get into some kind of trouble in the near future.
"You don't have the clearance or certification for this level of potions experimentation, Miss Parkinson. You're lucky the least we are doing is confiscating your supplies, or you could be fined a large sum if you aren't cooperative." The Auror was smug, finally feeling as though he held some power over her. "Anything that could have created this kind of an explosion is more than just household potions. People might get the wrong idea and think you're up to something Dark, Miss Parkinson." With a final sneer, he strode back up the stairway, the rest of the Aurors following.
Shooting Daphne a quick look, Pansy followed behind the last Auror, not daring to believe they had actually pulled off such an extreme ruse. Her heart was still pounding wildly inside her chest, knowing it wouldn't subside until every Auror had gone. She felt Daphne reach over and give her fingers a supportive squeeze as they rounded the final corner into the drawing room, but stopped short as the Auror directly in front of them suddenly turned to face them.
"We'll be in touch if we have any further questions for you, Miss Parkinson. I wouldn't plan any sudden trips outside the country if I were you." With a parting sneer, the final Auror vanished in a flash of green flames.
Pansy didn't have a chance to relax her tense shoulders before the blonde beside her barreled into her side in a crushing hug. Amazed at how much force was put behind the movement, Pansy never would have expected her friend capable of that much strength as she had always thought of her fellow Slytherin as 'dainty'.
"I can't believe we just pulled that off!" Daphne's voice sounded winded, as if she had forgotten to breathe the entire time the Aurors had been present. Which, Pansy supposed she very well may have. Merlin knew she almost passed out holding her own breath from the anxiety - not that anyone would have known. On the outside, Pansy and Daphne had been the perfect balance of slightly annoyed with the intrusion and innocent indifference.
"Come on, Daph. Let's go tell everyone its safe enough to come out now. I'm sure they're just as anxious as we were." Linking arms, the two witches set off to tell the other occupants of the house their success with the Aurors.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Once Draco was settled back into his room to rest, it was decided almost unanimously that everyone else felt the need for a quick lie down as well. They all felt the drain on their bodies as the adrenalyn left their systems. Before Pansy could show the newest Gryffindor addition to their motley crew, Harry had grabbed Ron's arm and towed him away with the excuse they still had things to discuss about what had transpired between them. The ginger hadn't put up much of a fight, even if he did look paler than usual at the prospect of the conversation. Of course, he found no sympathy from any of the Slytherins, and Hermione seemed too preoccupied to realize her friends had already left.
Just as Theo was about to enter his own room, he noticed Hermione walked right past her door, instead, heading back down the stairs. As tired as he felt, he found himself intrigued by the prospect of what the Gryffindor girl could be up to. Forsaking the comforting call of his bed, he decided instead to follow the curly-haired witch and find out what she was up to.
Following the fading sound of her footsteps, he found himself heading down the staircase and taking a sharp left. Turning the corner, Theo realized exactly where she must be heading, and wondered how she even knew where to find the library in the first place. He was sure Pansy hadn't had a chance to show her yet, not that she would have bothered to take the time to show the Gryffindor girl anyway.
Theo's guess was correct as he entered through the library doors to find Hermione already scanning the shelves.
"Looking for something specific?" Hermione jumped at the sound of Theo's voice, unaware that he had followed her.
She gave him a sheepish look before returning to her search, addressing him over her shoulder, "I won't be able to relax just yet. I am tired, but my brain is buzzing far too much to bother giving sleep a try right now. I figured now was as good a time as any to start trying to do some research into our bond and the nature of the Dark Magic. I don't understand enough of either to be comfortable with not finding out as much as I possibly can on the topics. I just feel like we're missing something - something that should be obvious - and it's been itching at the back of my brain for awhile now."
She gave him a look over her shoulder to make sure he was still there and hadn't scared him off with the intensity of voicing her thoughts. She was pleasantly surprised to note he had shifted closer and scanning the opposite shelves.
"So, looking for anything on the nature of Dark Magic and forced bonding?" Theo quirked a brow at her as he waited for an affirmative answer to his question before he continued perusing the shelves in front of him. "Well, it seems you'll find your answers a lot faster with a little help. Lucky for you, I happen to know this library almost as well as my own at home." He shot her a cocky grin and Hermione couldn't help but laugh lightly at his playful tone. It certainly would make her research go faster if she didn't have to waste time trying to understand how everything was organized in the Park Hall library.
"Thank you, Theo, really. I appreciate your help, even though you really don't have to-"
"Nonsense, what are friends for? Besides, your research has just as much impact on me and Draco as it does you. And since he is currently incapable of long hours spent hunched over dusty old books, the least I can do is offer my own assistance."
The two fell into a companionable silence after that, the only sound being heard when they removed a promising looking book to add to the ever growing pile or the subtle flipping of a page.