CHAPTER EIGHT: Christmas Party, part 1
Pansy Parkinson hated any form of social gathering. And especially the crowded sort, where a lot of people would be.
She's been standing for almost an hour before the mirror, getting more and more irritated. On the one hand, she truly wanted to go there, on the other… she'd rather stay in bed and never go out anywhere ever again. If it wasn't enough – Hogwart's social scene was to appear at the party – that meant Potter, Granger and Weaslette. Pansy didn't feel like quarrelling with anybody, and those three were expected to start bantering themselves. But she had more important things to focus on now.
She's sighed for the hundredth time and for the thousandth time she tried to tie her hair up, just to let them down again. They were rather short, but she still couldn't decide. And if Granger looked at least half as good as at the Yule Ball, Pansy really had to give her best. She was not going to look worse than… some mudblood.
After a while, she gave up and decided to keep her hair down, but with the help of her wand, she curled them slightly. When it came down to the dress, it was much easier to choose. She decided on a silver one with long sleeves – it felt Christmassy enough.
She still couldn't do anything about her nose, though. It was horrible, it made her look like a pug. And although she found herself overall pretty, this nose destroyed everything. If it wasn't for the people's whispers – she knew they were calling her pug-faced – maybe it would be easier to accept that she was not perfect. She scolded herself in thought. Why would she care what others think? They were all idiots.
She sighed with defeat and went down to the Common Room where Zabini had already been waiting for her. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Draco sitting by the fireplace, whose pale face remained indifferent. Although she could swear, he did glance at her for a second.
'Well, well, well, look at that,' smirked Blaise.
'What?' she asked aggressively, taking her eyes off Draco.
'You look pretty.'
She seized him up, but he just laughed.
'Nobody can tell you don't know how to receive a compliment,' he sneered.
She rapidly headed out of the Common Room, hoping to put this fast behind her.
'Hey!' he shouted after her.
When he managed to catch up with her, he added, 'Hey, I know you're not very keen on this party, but I've got a good feeling about it.'
'Well, that makes one of us' she replied grumpily.
'I know we're doing it for the greater good, but please, at least try to have fun, okay?'
She sighed irritably but nodded afterwards.
'Great. Let's go.'
They headed for the stairs where they ran into Daphne, going back to the Common Room.
'Pansy!' she said with a surprise.
She acknowledged her with a nod, also slightly shocked. They didn't really talk from the beginning of the year, at least not that often as they used to.
'You look beautiful, Pansy. Oh, and have fun you two!'' she added with a smile and continued down the stairs.
It was only then when she remembered that Blaise told her that Daphne had visited her in the hospital when she'd been knocked out by Milicent. And now –she was nice. Even though Pansy always liked her the most out of the Slytherin girls, she accepted that Daphne hated her just like the others once she stopped talking to them.
'You look like you've gone through the ghost,' said Zabini with the slightest smirk.
'Well, I guess I'm quite shocked.'
'Told you she's not so bad.'
'Since your taste is so demanding, I guess I might've listened to you,' she agreed. 'But I thought she wouldn't talk to me after… well, after I started ignoring the rest of them.'
'She… might be smarter than you think, no matter how it pains me to admit.'
They finally arrived at the party, where most of the guests had already shown up. The room was really nicely arranged, she must have admitted that. The ceiling and the walls were decorated with the emerald, scarlet and gold fabric which gave it a festive vibe – but at the same time, it looked a bit like an enormous tent. Slughorn noticed them at once and hurried to greet them, like usual, with great excitement, which – according to Pansy, was rather fake. And even though she quite liked the old guy, it made him annoying at times.
'Oh, Mr Zabini! And you've brought miss Parkinson! Brilliant!' he grinned, holding a goblet of wine in his right hand.
'Hello, professor,' they greeted him.
'As I've always told you, Mr Zabini, you've got quite the taste!' he added, winking at him.
They shared sceptical looks but did not say anything.
'Well, have fun you two!' he encouraged, pushing them in the direction of the table that was full of food.
Blaise went on to make rounds, and Pansy looked around the room – it was really nicely decorated, with a holiday spirit. In the corner stood a Christmas tree and there were candles which were floating in mid-air. Slughorn remembered even about a mistletoe, underneath which she noticed McLaggen talking to Granger. When the girl looked up, her eyes rounded up in fright. But the Gryffindor boy didn't seem to notice - he kept talking, or more like rattling on.
Pansy was amused by the situation. When he noted that they were standing under the mistletoe, he was getting closer to her as she was backing away. A moment later, she pointed to something behind him, and he turned around to see it. When he did, she took a chance and ran away, leaving McLaggen completely dumbfounded. Parkinson almost cried with laughter at this scene. Why did she go with McLaggen anyway? He seemed way more interested in himself than her, and Granger loved the sound of her own voice. It seemed like a poor choice.
She continued observing the other guests. In the corner was standing Ginny Weasley, apparently talking to the group of friends. At the entrance, Slughorn was greeting Potter, who – to Pansy's surprise – came with Lovegood. She'd also seen Trelawney and Snape, but no sign of Draco.
As Zabini rejoined her, bringing punch with him, he asked, 'Have you seen him?'
She shook her head, uneasily. They stood in silence for a second, while she kicked her heels.
'He'll come,' he said comfortingly, putting his hand on her arm. She looked at him with a surprise.
'Christmas spirit is getting to you, Zabini, or do you have a death wish?'
'I can be nice once in a while,' he replied, offended. 'And even you can appreciate it once in a while.'
'Yeah, right, but you're not usually obvious about it,' she fired back, but he left it without comment.
'It really is a wonderful party, isn't it?' said a soft voice behind them. They turned around just to see Luna Lovegood looking like her usual, dreamy self.
'I do like parties, you know,' she continued. 'Especially the Christmas ones. There are fewer nargles at Christmas. But watch out for mistletoes, though. They're hiding in there during that time.'
Blaise and Pansy shared astonished looks. Apart from the fact that they had no idea what the hell nargles were, they didn't really know how to behave at the moment. Parkinson was almost sure Luna didn't even know who she was talking to, as her voice was dreamy and her eyes rather unfocused.
'It's good to know you're nice now, Pansy,' she said, and Blaise didn't even try to stop the snort. 'Well, merry Christmas to you both!'
And she smiled genuinely and waved to them.
'Merry...' said Pansy.
'Christmas,' added Blaise.
They shared, once again, surprised looks.
'That was uncomfortable,' admitted Parkinson.
'She really is weird, Nott was right. I thought he was just… well, Nott.'
And then, there was some kind of a commotion at the entrance. Pansy recognised Draco's blonde hair at an instant and her heart started racing. He was dragged by his ear by Argus Filch. What was going on?
'What on Salazar did he get himself into?' whispered Blaise urgently.
The caretaker dragged Malfoy to the teachers who were standing and chatting in the middle of the room.
'Professor Slughorn,' wheezed Filch. 'I discovered this boy lurking in an upstairs corridor. He claims to have been invited to your party and to have been delayed in setting out. Did you issue him an invitation?'
Pansy tried moving closer to the centre, but Blaise stopped her with a short movement of his hand. Draco set himself free out of Filch's grip, looking furious.
'All right, I wasn't invited!' he shouted angrily. 'I was trying to gatecrash, happy?'
'No, I'm not!' said Filch, but his expression suggested otherwise. 'You're in trouble, you are! Didn't the Headmaster say that night-time's prowling's out unless you've got permission, didn't he, eh?'
'That's all right, Argus, that's all right,' hurried Slughorn, waving his hand. 'It's Christmas, and it's not a crime to want to come to the party. Just this once, we'll forget any punishment. You may stay, Draco.'
Pansy was quite shocked – Filch was obviously furious, but why Draco was, too? He's just gotten away from punishment.
And she noticed Potter was watching him carefully and his previous satisfaction was slowly fading from his face. She had a bad feeling about this.
The caretaker left the room grumpily and Draco, smiling formally, thanked Slughorn for letting him stay. Snape, standing next to them, seemed to have been really displeased with something, although he had his usual poker face on.
'It's nothing, it's nothing,' said Slughorn, waving away Draco's thanks. 'I did know your grandfather, after all...'
'He always spoke very highly of you, sir,' he said, nonchalant as ever. 'Said you were the best potion-maker he'd ever known...'
But Pansy was watching Potter studiously now. She considered him a threat before, and now… The way he looked at Draco made her considerably uneasy. He looked as if he was looking for something – anything – to confirm his theory. Theory no one believed in, nonetheless – if he set his mind on something, he'd surely find something out. Something he shouldn't.
'I'd like a word with you, Draco,' said Snape suddenly.
'Oh, now, Severus,' interrupted Slughorn, hiccoughing. 'It's Christmas, don't be too hard –'
'I'm his Head of House, and I shall decide how hard, or otherwise, to be,' said Snape curtly. 'Follow me, Draco.'
When they headed out, she found Potter in the crowd again, only to see him whisper something to Lovegood and go after them.
'What the fuck does he think he's doing?' asked Blaise, clearly terrified. She didn't even bother to reply and hurried after him.