Written for the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition
Wigtown Wanderers, Chaser 1, Round 5
Main Prompt: (flaw) Laziness
Optional Prompts: (object) pocket watch, (object) bottle of wine, (pairing) PansyDaphne
Deviation from Cursed Child canon (as in, we're ignoring the CC timeline).
Warning for alcoholism, implied alcohol poisoning, mentions of canon character death, swearing, implied depression, grief. Slightly OOC (?) characters.
Thanks to Dash and Gen for betaing!
"Honestly, we both saw this coming, Pansy," Daphne said, gazing at Draco, who'd descended into another bout of listlessness. His eyes were glassy and emotionless, staring blankly at the pocket watch in his clenched hand. The last gift Astoria had given him before she'd —
"I know," said Pansy wearily, her expression troubled as she tried to reconcile this version of Draco to the one she'd known before Astoria — well, to the Draco she'd known in the past. So much had changed.
"Dad!"
Including this. Pansy stepped aside as a white-blond blur barreled past her, latching onto Draco who paid him no mind. Her heart squeezed painfully in her chest. Scorpius, gray eyes wide with a plea for his father's attention, was enough to make anyone melt — anyone except for his father.
Pansy was a tough girl — she liked to consider herself one — but she couldn't deny the ricocheting pangs of dismay and fondness for the young boy. But it was soured by Draco's lack of attention, treating Scorpius as if he was no more than a particle of dust in the air and ignoring him, no matter what Scorpius did to gain his notice.
They were all mourning, but that didn't give Draco the right to neglect his son.
Just yesterday, Pansy had found him passed out on his bed, a shattered, empty bottle of wine on the floor, and the fragrance of Astoria's perfume permeating the air. The man himself had been sound asleep, slumbering fitfully; he'd been in the fetal position, moaning and shaking and crying out his wife's name in his sleep.
As much as Pansy hated admitting it, her friend was going mad with grief. And it had rendered him completely useless.
Scorpius gave up on his futile efforts to rouse his father and with a dejected look on his face, dragged himself over to Pansy and Daphne, the latter of whom patted him sympathetically on the shoulder.
Pansy felt a surge of anger — Daphne was just as affected, possibly more than Draco. After all, Astoria had been her sister, but here she was, putting on a brave face and dutifully carrying out her obligations as an aunt, being a stand-in parent. It wasn't so much an obligation as it was genuine affection for her nephew, born from love of her sister. Daphne only wanted what was best for Scorpius.
Draco… Draco was being selfish, wallowing in his own misery, not understanding that his son needed him too. He was being negligent, apathetic — irresponsible — Scorpius didn't deserve any of this. No child did.
Daphne's free hand rested on Pansy's arm, instinctually sensing her rising fury, and Pansy reluctantly let out a breath, turning her head to gaze at her girlfriend. She always had had an uncanny ability to calm Pansy down with a simple touch — it was the unwavering gentleness of the gesture that caused Pansy's temper to burn lower, though it was not extinguished completely.
"C'mon, Scorpius," she said, softening as her attention turned to her godson. "Let's go see what the house-elves have made for lunch, shall we? There might even be a surprise for you."
One good thing about Scorpius was that he bounced back quickly, or he could pretend to bounce back — Pansy wasn't sure which one he'd inherited, the former had been his mother's tendency and the latter his father's — and he brightened up immediately, his father's dull rejection forgotten. And just like that, he'd sped out of the room.
Now. With Scorpius no longer in the vicinity, she could...speak to Draco, but Daphne's hold tightened almost painfully, her nails digging into Pansy's skin. Pansy yelped. "What are you —"
"Not right now," murmured Daphne softly, staring intently at Draco. "Not while you've got a prior commitment waiting for you in the dining room. He'd be terribly distraught if you were to abandon him now."
Right. Pansy sighed. It was never the right time. She knew sooner or later she'd have to confront Draco but because of Daphne, she was refraining from doing so. Draco needed to recognize the weight of his negligence and answer for it and Merlin help her, if she had to, she would knock the sense into him.
Draco may have been her friend and a former fancy, but she'd be damned if she let him hurt the most precious person in his life.
Six months later
Daphne had been gone more often than usual lately, citing the excuse of "visiting Draco," and Pansy had believed her, despite her lingering misgivings.
She had believed Daphne right up until this point.
"Daphne?"
Daphne looked up from the pile of clothes she'd been folding — Pansy spotted a few pairs of boxers and pursed her lips, trying to withhold her confusion. Why in Merlin's name was Daphne folding boxers?
"What are you doing?" she asked bluntly.
Daphne glanced down at the pair of pants suspended from her hands. "What do you think?"
"...Housework," Pansy said, narrowing her eyes. "Why are you doing it? What happened to the house-elves?"
"Oh, the house-elves?" Daphne smiled nervously; Pansy could tell she was unnerved from the way her hands shook and the cloth quivered. "Draco...freed them. There was another incident, not unlike the one a few months ago, when we found him in a...in a state. This time, he was awake." She paused and Pansy's impatience grew.
"And?"
"And what?" Daphne raised her eyebrows. "They're all gone. Draco got drunk, and he gave them clothes. I don't think he even remembers doing that — hell, I don't think he's even noticed that his house-elves are gone." She eyed Pansy curiously. "Why are you here?"
Pansy started. "Oh, I came to check on Scorpius. I thought I could surprise you and spend the day with you and him." And perhaps have a little chat with his father...
"...Nothing wrong with that," murmured Daphne, smiling. "Come join me." She tossed the pants at Pansy.
One year later
A loud, reverberating crack from the sitting room alerted Pansy to Daphne's arrival. Sufficiently roused from her sleep, she pulled on a bathrobe and hurried to the sitting room, stumbling to a halt when she saw how haggard her girlfriend looked.
Daphne looked ill; she was pale and breathing with difficulty, a sheen of sweat on her forehead, and her hair was in disarray. The spark in her eyes, which Pansy had become accustomed to, had dulled, and led Pansy to one conclusion — Daphne had overworked herself.
It's for Astoria, she kept saying, she would have wanted me to take care of Draco and Scorpius and Pansy had backed off because she'd truly believed Daphne was doing something honorable and humane. But as time had passed, the feeling had faded and been replaced by irritation.
Not at Daphne.
"What happened?" Pansy asked, concern spilling into her voice and masking the surfacing displeasure. She couldn't afford to express her resentment towards...him, not with Daphne in this state.
"I —" Daphne shook her head slowly, nibbling her lower lip. "I found him again. While I was...tidying up his home. Wine and rum everywhere. Him on the floor. I had to fetch a Healer, I couldn't wake him."
Pansy couldn't reign in her gasp of shock in time, but her voice was carefully controlled the next time she spoke. "Oh, Daph…"
"It was…" Daphne wrapped her arms around herself and with growing horror, Pansy realized she was shaking. And she — was she crying?
Pearly tears rolled down Daphne's white cheeks and Pansy… Pansy's heart shattered. Emotion rose in her chest, poignant and fierce, but she tamped it down, instinctively reaching for Daphne. Daphne offered no resistance as Pansy embraced her, burying her face in Pansy's shoulder.
"I'm so sorry," was all she could say as Daphne fell apart in Pansy's arms, quaking and sobbing and clinging to Pansy desperately. There were a thousand more things she wanted to say, smoldering on her tongue, but she swallowed them back.
Now was not the time.
Once Daphne's tremors had subsided, Pansy felt safe enough to disengage from her. Clasping Daphne's shoulders, she steered her girlfriend over to the sofa and helped her sit. She swiped the pads of her thumbs underneath Daphne's eyes, wiping away some of the moisture.
"Tell me when you're ready to talk," she said quietly, surprising herself again with her patience. "I'll listen."
By the time Daphne had finished, Pansy's palms had crescent-shaped indents in them and she was barely restraining herself from Apparating to St. Mungo's, breaking into Draco's hospital room, and throttling him — her bare hands would work better than any spell she could think of.
Merlin, this had gone too far.
Now was the time.
The doors burst open with an ear-splitting bang, slamming into the wall behind it, but frankly, Pansy didn't give a damn. No, all of her attention was focused on the pair in one of the beds on the far side of the room — the man in the bed and the boy sitting next to him.
Pansy crossed the room with purposeful, angry strides. She wasn't going to hold back anymore. No, she'd sat on the sidelines for too long. Far too long. She'd sat back and watched the two people she cared about most — watched her girlfriend crumble and her godson wilt, all because of him.
No more.
Daphne hadn't even tried to stop her; she knew Pansy had reached her breaking point and it was futile trying to change her mind. Once she'd heard the news from the Healers that Draco was awake and in recovery, she hadn't hesitated.
If looks could kill, her glare would've burned Draco to a crisp, but she was deterred by Scorpius. The young boy, who must've glimpsed Draco's change in expression, glanced over his shoulder and smiled brightly at her, oblivious to the heightened tension. "Aunt Pansy!"
"Hello, Scorpius." Pansy's tone softened as she halted beside Scorpius and gazed down at him. "Mind if I borrow your fa — your dad for a moment? I promise it won't be long." She pulled out a handful of Sickles. "Here, go and get something to eat."
"Okay!" Scorpius was more than thrilled to take the money from her, and he raced away.
Pansy waited until the doors had shut behind Scorpius before rounding on Draco. "You'd better have a good explanation, Malfoy," she said coldly.
Draco blinked slowly, cocking his head and his skin paled even further, but his eyes were clear — clearer than they had been in a while, even if they were rimmed with red. "Malfoy?" he echoed.
Pansy clenched her fists. "Using your first name implies that we're still friends."
"We're...not friends?"
"Not recently, no," Pansy growled, taking a step forward. "You haven't been much of a friend...or a father."
"Pansy…"
"No, let me finish." Pansy unclenched her fists and crossed her arms, her glare intensifying. "Since Astoria died, you've been nothing but lazy. You drink your weight in alcohol and then some. When you're not drinking, you're utterly useless. You mope around all day, expecting others to take care of your home, of your property, and fucking hell, Draco, your bloody son. Your son has also been suffering since his mum died, and he tried to turn to you for support, but what were you doing? Holed up in your bloody room with Astoria's bloody pocket watch and bloody ignoring Scorpius as he begged for your attention. You didn't give a damn about him, you didn't care about anyone or anything. You didn't even try to understand his position — you of all people should know what it's like.
"You have no idea how tempted I was to report you, Dra — Malfoy, for being an unfit father. I should have. You're lucky I didn't because some part of me gave a damn about you, even though you didn't give a damn about anyone — not me, not my girlfriend, not your son. I don't know why I held back."
All out of steam, her words running dry, Pansy stopped to gauge Draco's reaction. It was almost amusing to see him speechless — he always had a quick, scathing retort or a bald-faced lie on his tongue, but it appeared that he, for once, was rendered speechless.
At the least, she knew her words were sinking in.
"Tell me, Draco, was it worth it?" Her voice was soft, resigned. "Was it worth doing this to everyone at the cost of your health? Let me tell you something, Draco. Astoria… Astoria would've hated to see you like this. She loved Scorpius more than anyone in the world and she loved you just as much. She wouldn't want you both to be like this."
Draco hadn't blinked for a little bit, listening raptly to Pansy's tirade and confession, and he seemed to be mulling something over. His eyes went in and out of focus and he was twitching slightly, though Pansy suspected it was because of whatever medication was in his system. He looked marginally appalled, which was reassuring.
"...You're right," he said, his eyes refocusing on Pansy. "Yes, you're right. I haven't been a good father these past few months, have I?"
"Try more than a year."
Draco grimaced, shifting in his bed so he could sit up properly. "Trust me, it's hard to admit. I've been a — a —"
"An irresponsible, lazy, selfish blockhead?" suggested Pansy dryly.
A moment's pause. "I'll accept that." He looked as if he wanted to say more and Pansy waited, arms still crossed but a little mollified.
"I know I've been a bit...out of it," he began awkwardly. Pansy snorted.
"No shit, you clod."
"Let me try," said Draco crossly. "I loathe apologies, so forgive me if it doesn't meet your standards."
"True." Pansy nodded. "Try again."
Draco visibly steeled himself, closing his eyes and exhaling. "Look," he said quietly. "I know my behavior was inexcusable. I know I shouldn't have...closed off as much as I did. I know I should've been there for my son. He...we were all grieving and I had no right to be selfish and abandon the people I love most. Scorpius needed me, and I made the worst mistake of my life by turning him away. I will forever regret this mistake and I won't make it ever again."
Pansy would never admit to feeling as relieved as she was, but she let a fraction of it seep through as she replied. "Better. Much better."
It wasn't the best apology, but it was a start.
The door creaked behind her and she turned to see Scorpius entering the room, carrying a small platter of food. "Dad, Aunt Pansy, I got —" He broke off as he approached them, noticing the expressions on their faces. "What happened?"
Pansy and Draco exchanged a look, wordlessly agreeing to never reveal the subject of their conversation to him, and with a nod from Pansy, Draco spoke up. "What did you bring, son?"
As Scorpius rattled off the list of food items he'd brought, Pansy started backing away, ruffling her godson's hair affectionately as she passed. It was a strange sight, seeing them interact as father and son for the first time in a long time, and it was pleasantly heartwarming. She watched as Draco mimicked her gesture from a few moments before, ruffling his son's hair, and Scorpius seemed to light up at the touch.
They were healing. That's what this was. And as Pansy watched them, she began to heal too.
This was only the start of what would be a long road to redemption, but it was satisfying to watch Draco take the first step.
All was not lost, and it was about time Draco found himself again.
2652 words
Written for:
Assignment 9, Travel & Tourism Task 1 - Write about taking something for granted.