House: Slytherin
Position: Head Girl
Category: Standard
Word Count: 862
Prompt: [Last Line] Next time she/he would listen to _.
Additional Requirement: Draco, Pansy, Narcissa.
o0O0o
"Dear, are you alright?" His mother laid a hand on his shoulder, and for a moment, Draco almost allowed himself to think everything was going to be okay. Above him towered the remnants of Hogwarts castle, and around him stood the hundreds of wizards grieving for their dead, but his family was together again, and the Dark Lord was gone. Perhaps they would finally have their happily ever after.
But that wasn't true, and it never would be. Not when he bore the skull and snake. Draco almost began to cry, but then he took a deep breath and said with a small smile, "I'm fine, mother."
"You're lying." Pansy appeared beside him, and she spoke with utter conviction. She seemed haunted, which was no surprise; she had nothing left to lose. She was the woman who had spoken in the silence and offered Potter to the Dark Lord.
He couldn't be seen associating with her. Not now, not if he wanted to rebuild his family name after the war. Fear made him caustic. "How would you know?" he retorted with a particularly malicious sneer.
She paused, then she lifted her chin and tossed her hair over her shoulder."I love you, Draco. I always have." She reached out toward him, looking so broken it made something deep inside him break a little, as well. "Please, Draco," she whispered.
She needed him, she had always needed him, but it seemed when she needed him the most - he couldn't be there for her.
"Get away from me!" he snapped, batting her hands away. "I can't- we can't- just leave, Pansy. We can't do this, not now."
She flinched, lowering her eyes to the ground. Then she took a deep breath, as if steeling herself. When she looked up again, Draco could see the anger in her eyes. "Just who do you think you are?" she snarled. "Because I know who you are - the entire world knows who you are! You're Draco Malfoy, a scared little boy with a Dark Mark tattooed on your arm." She began to laugh. "You think you're any better than me? We'll see about that - I'm not the one who antagonized Potter in school, or had the Dark Lord's mark engraved into my very being!" She grabbed his wrist, twisted it upwards, and pulled back his sleeve, exposing the blackened flesh for the world to see.
"Get the fuck away from me!" Draco shouted, ripping his arm out of her grasp and savagely backhanding her with his other hand. "You're dirt beneath my feet, Parkinson, and I won't dirty myself with the likes of you."
From the ground, she gave a gasping laugh. "I'm dirt now, aren't I? That's funny, very funny, Malfoy. From pureblood to mudblood in a day - but I think you'll find that most of society finds former Death Eaters far worse than even mudbloods. Especially now with Granger. But you can still save yourself! We can still be something, Draco. We can still have our happily ever after. I can help you redeem your family name!"
"You're insane." Draco turned away from her, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in his gut. Pansy was probably right - who would trust a reformed Death Eater? - but he wouldn't think of that now. Today was a day to be grateful to be alive.
But behind him stood his mother, who had been watching the exchange with narrowed eyes. Draco had forgotten she was there.
"Can we go?" he said, taking her arm.
She pursed her lips. "We may, although you botched your handling of Miss Parkinson. You may need her, Draco, and it is never acceptable to hit a lady. However, we shall talk of this some other day."
Draco nodded, and together, the two of them began to make their way off the battlefield, and to where the dead and grieving were gathered.
. . . . . . . . . . .
From the ground, Pansy watched them go. Draco walked with a sharp, stuttering step, with his hand always hovering over his wand, as though he expected to be attacked at any moment. Meanwhile, his mother walked with calm, unhurried grace. However, that wasn't particularly surprising; Pansy would expect nothing less from a woman who had lied to the Dark Lord's face to save her son. The Malfoys didn't have much, but Lucius was bound to realize he'd botched the last thirty years and stained the Malfoy name almost beyond repair. With luck, he would give Narcissa command of the rebuilding their reputation, and the woman was a force to the reckoned with.
The Malfoys had fallen, but they were bound to rise again. Potter believed in forgiveness and second chances, after all. The Malfoys still had their monstrous vaults, but more importantly, they had Narcissa. Pansy's own family was ill-suited to such political maneuvering, and she knew she herself was not as adept as Narcissa. However, if she could tie herself to the Malfoys, she would be saved.
And if there was anything her parents had taught her, it was that the wife always had the last say. She would marry Draco, no matter what it took.
Next time he would listen to her.