A/N:I don't own Harry Potter or any related characters
This is for the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Word Count: 1451
Pansy ignored the whirl, the click, the clink as she sat up and put her feet on the hardwood floor. Her right foot felt the cold. She shivered slightly, glad at least part of herself could still feel. She looked at her left leg, at the mechanics that made her foot, her ankle, upwards to her knee and thigh.
The battle had been brutal and she'd lost nearly everything. The metal was a constant reminder that she could never, would never, be whole again. The cybernetics were magically fused with her own flesh, moving as though it were her own flesh, but Pansy would always feel that it was alien. Rising, she ignored the click of her hip, ignored the sound of her metal foot on the floor. She shuffled to the loo, ready to start another day of being stared at, another day of trying to pretend she was still human.
The mirror didn't lie to her. She could see her long black hair brushing against her face, her left eye moved on its own, searching the loo for risks. Pansy ignored it. She was safe in her own flat. Threat detection was one of the many upgrades her family had sprung for in Pansy's reconstruction. She wished they hadn't, that they had just let her go. Now, she wasn't even sure if she was even Pansy anymore. She pulled her hair up, clipping it back with a thistle claw clip. She stuck a pair of ornamental sticks into it. They were decorated with small pink and violet flowers while small chains of diamonds dangled down.
She remembered the day's itinerary. There was a ball for a foreign diplomat she was to attend. She was the protection, the security they hired for these events as to not waste actual resources. Pansy didn't care. She wasn't anything anyway. She was just a robotic person who once upon a time lived. She left the loo, sliding into a sparkling navy gown glittering with silver stars. The theme of this particular ball was astronomy. Pansy smiled thinking about the time she'd been studying late at night at the academy.
Astronomy had been one of her favorite subjects. The stars were a constant, always there, even if they moved across the sky. Constant, there was nothing constant about Pansy's life now, unless one counted the numerous mechanical noises every time she moved. She didn't, pretending they didn't exist, that sometimes she was still the same girl she had been. She slid on the silver flats, ignoring how close the color was to her mechanical skin.
She finished dressing and then stepped onto the transport pad. Pale blue light shone around her causing her dress to shimmer even more as she was taken apart and reassembled atom by atom.
"Good morning, Miss Parkinson," a dull voice greeted her. Pansy merely nodded. She knew the greeting was nothing more than a recorded voice, activated by her transportation. She stepped off the pad and opened the door to the lobby of the firm for which she worked.
The Gringotts Security Firm was one of the best, also known for being the best in hiring altered people. Pansy knew of at least thirty other cyborgs, twenty- three demi-humans, and one very intelligent giant squid.
"Good morning, Pansy," the receptionist said, looking up from her tank. Pansy smiled slightly.
"Morning, Whelk. Boss here yet? I'm supposed to be getting a partner for the ball assignment?"
Pansy asked. She'd never had a solo assignment, and she knew that attending a ball required a 'date'. She wondered who the boss was going to pair her with today, she hoped it wasn't Corner, he was a git.
"He's in his office with a bloke they sent from somewhere. I think he's the personal bodyguard of our visiting diplomat," Whelk answered, swishing her tail through the water of her tank.
"Great," Pansy sighed. She'd be working with a completely unknown element, still, he couldn't be any worse than Corner, right? She waved a good bye to Whelk before stepping over to her boss's office. The door was closed. Pansy knocked with her human hand, she knew if she knocked with her other one, it could break the door down completely. She'd made that mistake before, underestimating her strength.
The door swung open and Pansy felt her entire body freeze. Standing in front of her was the man Whelk had meant. He was wearing a suit matching her dress, navy with shimmering silver constellations. What shocked Pansy was his face. Half of it was metal, a cybernetic implant similar to the one on her own face. He must have been hurt in the same war as she.
"Ahh, Miss Parkinson. This is Mister Weasley, he will be your escort to the ball and your partner for this assignment."
"Good morning, Miss Parkinson."
"Good morning, Mister Weasley," Pansy responded, the gears of her heart spinning. She wondered if either of the men in the room could hear it whirling.
"Please, call me 'Bill', Mister Weasley is my father," Bill stated giving Pansy a smile. She returned it shyly. She'd met plenty of other cyborgs before, but Bill was different from them in some way she couldn't explain.
"Pansy then," she replied.
"Pansy, are you ready to go to the ball then?"
"Yes," she answered, allowing him to take her human hand in his. Her heart whirled loudly as they walked to the transportation pad. They stepped on it together, letting the light bathe them both in pale blue. Soon they were standing outside a large manor house.
"There haven't been any threats, but it is still a good idea to keep any eye out," Bill stated. Pansy gave him a look. He still had both his human eyes. He wasn't nearly as damaged as she.
"It's an expression, I didn't mean..."
Pansy burst out laughing, laughing for the first time she could remember since the war, since she'd become this. Bill seemed to relax slightly.
"I never know what to say, and often find myself putting my foot in my mouth," he said softly.
"It does take a lot of work to navigate polite conversation nowadays," Pansy agreed as they stepped through the door, providing the invitations provided. Their job was mingle, to watch everyone and everything. The diplomat had body guards stationed with him as well. Pansy and Bill were crowd control on this assignment.
"How about we avoid it altogether?" Pansy suggested, eyeing the dance floor. There were a handful of people dancing. Her eye told her none of them were a threat, but the floor did have a good view of the room.
"And what do you propose we do instead?" Bill asked.
"Dance, better view and you can see the balconies overlooking the room," Pansy answered. Bill smiled.
"Very well then, Miss Parkinson, may I have this dance?" he asked, causing Pansy to giggle. She'd never been treated like this, never been asked to dance.
"I would love to, Mister Weasley," she answered, as he took her hand once again and ushered her to the dance floor. They'd only danced through one song, when Pansy's vision filled with red. She put a hand on Bill's shoulder, whirling her head to determine the threat. There!
"Over there, man in the black suit, blond hair," she whispered. Bill nodded.
"What do you want to do?" he asked.
"I've already alerted the guards in the North wing," she answered, watching as two men in black apprehended the target. Pansy's vision returned to normal and she felt her body relax in Bill's arms.
"Good job," he commented.
"Just part of my job, that's all," Pansy answered, wondering if that would be the only threat. She hoped so, dancing in Bill's arms made her feel something she hadn't felt in forever, she finally felt human.
"Yes, but a failed assassination attempt always makes for an interesting first date," Bill said, as they finally slipped from the dance floor and into the main room. No threats detected here.
"You want to consider this a date?" Pansy asked, her heart whirling loudly again.
"Only if you do," he answered. The ball was winding down, soon the assignment would be over. Pansy would go back to do her paperwork and Bill... she had no idea where Bill would go.
"I...I would like that very much. Does that mean there could be a second date?" she asked.
"Would you want one? One without a mission attached to it?" Bill asked, his blue eyes meeting Pansy's brown ones.
"Yes," she answered, wondering how it had taken another cyborg, a man with a facial implant to finally make her feel human again.