Better Be Slytherin
LXVIII
Pansy was dressed in champagne silk as Draco walked into her bedroom at her manor house in Essex. She was standing on a velvet foot stool by her huge wardrobe carefully browsing through her selection of colourful dress robes.
"Is it horribly boring to wear this?" she said nonchalantly and without looking at Draco. He smiled wordlessly at her and walked closer without taking his eyes off her.
"Not at all my love," he said and held out his hand for her. She took it and stepped down from the foot stool. "You'll be the most gorgeous girl there."
Pansy's face was a mixture of pride and disbelief, she scoffed at him "You've never said anything like that to me before."
"I've never called you gorgeous?" he said, smiling slightly and pulling her towards him. She smirked and placed her arms tenderly around his neck.
"Definitely not."
He smirked too, "I'll need to change that."
"Yes, you better," she said and raised her eyebrows daringly.
"Ok," he said, "I've got something for you to show you I care."
Her eyes lit up like lanterns. "What is it, Draco?" she said, childishly.
"Your Chrismtas present," he said and pulled away. He reached into his robes and pulled something out. "Well, presents."
Pansy clapped her hands and giggled. "What is it, Draco!" she repeated, more excitedly. He handed her the first parcel and she ripped it open. It was a thin gold bracelet with a small yellow diamond.
"Ah, it's beautiful!" she said, and handed it to him expectantly, while holding out her wrist for him to put it on. "What else?"
"Fifty Enchanting Recipes for the Busy Witch," said Draco while holding up a book.
Pansy laughed loudly. "Is this your way of saying you would like me to cook more?"
"Just trying to domesticate my girl."
"Oi, be careful with what you're saying now!" she mock-slapped his chest, and he pulled her in for a kiss.
"You want to show me you care, buy me diamonds and dress robes," she said with a glint in her eye.
"So I got the first part right then," he sniggered.
"What did Zabini give you?" Pansy asked Tracey a few hours later at the party.
Tracey suddenly felt nauseous. "Nothing."
Pansy looked a bit shocked and so Tracey quickly added, "Well, I mean, not yet. I'm sure he'll give me something. It's not Christmas Day yet."
Pansy looked to the side and said quietly, "It is Christmas Eve though..."
Tracey pretended like she didn't hear her and changed the subject.
It was the Ministry Christmas Ball - Tracey had invited everyone. Everyone except, of course Theodore and Millicent who were both in Azkaban along with Miles Bletchley and the rest, and Crabbe who was dead. Of course, Tracey and Daphne weren't friends anymore, but she was still there with her sister Astoria (Tracey had definitely not invited them, they must have been invited by someone else). She had only really invited Pansy, Queenie, Malfoy and Blaise. It was an awkward group with obvious missing people, just like it always was these days. Blaise was late as usual, with a jolt of anxiey she hoped he'd turn up at all.
"Have you heard about the Diagon Alley attacks?" said Queenie, as she clinked her Fire Whiskey glass with Tracey.
"Yes, it's so scary isn't it!" said Pansy. Malfoy suddenly looked slightly nauseous.
"It's almost like they're not accepting the Dark Lord's defeat, they just keep fighting for the same cause."
"Who is it?" said Pansy and sipped her drink.
"All the Death Eaters that haven't been caught, I guess," said Queenie. "It's sick, they killed people while they were out doing their Christmas shopping."
"Tragic," said Pansy loudly. "Isn't it, Draco?"
"Hmm? Oh yes," mumbled Malfoy.
"Oh wow, look," said Pansy. "It's our hero and saviour." She nodded towards the entrance of the hall, where Potter had just entered with Ginny Weasley on his arm.
"All hail Potter," muttered Queenie.
"He looks poor," said Pansy in a cold dismisse tone.
But Malfoy was already nodding at Potter when he strode past. "Potter."
"Malfoy," said Potter and nodded. Weasley looked less impressed.
"All right, scarface?" said Malfoy, for old times sakes.
"Good, thanks, how are you?" said Potter in what could only be described as a polite, bored tone.
"You hold no resentment towards us?"
Tracey didn't know whether Malfoy meant him and Pansy, or him and his parents. She supposed both.
"I don't," said Potter. "All of that stopped mattering the night Voldemort died. Now," he said, while Malfoy looked pleasantly surprised, "if you excuse me, I'm going to get my fiancee a drink."
They walked on, smiling slightly. Malfoy and Pansy immediately began whispering together about these turn of events, and suddenly Tracey felt a warm presence behind her. The familiar jolt of anxiety - or was it butterflies in her stomach? - hit her again and she felt his fingertips on her arm where goosebumps appeared.
"I would be honoured if I could have this dance," his smooth voice said in her ear. For her to hear only. She was instantly filled with warmth and a smile appeared on her face.
"Of course," she breathed as she turned around to look at him. Tall, dark, handsome, mysterious, but most importantly hers. She felt tingles all through her body as he smiled at her. He led her onto the dancefloor and she felt like the luckiest girl in the world.
The weeks flew by in a blurred sequence - it was a blur of cuddles, arguments, and memories of dancing with him at the party. Whenever he pulled away and she didn't hear from him, she thought of it and it made her want to stay, want to fight for him. How his strong arms had felt around her at the Ministry Ball. How she had felt like the only girl in the room, the only girl he had eyes for.
Sometimes when she was crying for hours straight hidden in her bedroom, she thought that maybe he was too much like his mother. Maybe he didn't want just one partner. Maybe he had a genetic disposition to go through them like they were disposable. She certainly felt disposable. He wanted space, and she wanted him more. It was a sick game, that he didn't even know he was playing. Nothing else mattered, not her family, not her job at the Ministry. She just wanted to be loved by Blaise. She had thrown so much away to be with him. She didn't even speak to Daphne anymore. She had been friends with Blaise for years so she had to fight for him. She couldn't just throw the relationship away, even if maybe she should?
She told herself it was normal when he went on his nights out, and drinking binges. They were young after all. Life was about having fun. He was having lots. She was pretending to as well. But every time he didn't show up to stay over at hers after a night out she cried herself to sleep wondering where he was.
On New Years Eve they were at The Wicked Wand in Chelmsford along with a hundred other wizards and witches. Everyone had bought fireworks from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, and were shooting up sparks in the air with their wands. It was blurry again, as everyone was turning around to cheer and hug and kiss, while snow and sparks fell rapidly around their heads. And Tracey saw Malfoy turn to Pansy. 3...2...1 and they kissed, laughing loudly.
The fireworks shone like diamonds down on Pansy, and Tracey was aching because Blaise was nowhere to be found.
When the interview with Rita Skeeter didn't go down as planned, Draco decided to write a whole book. An interview extended into an autobiography, about how he was in between.
He called it The Traitor and it was published late February.
Surprisingly, it was very well received. It seemed as though the hateful stares and whispers decreased whenever he was out in public these days. He even started receiving fan mail.
Draco and Pansy went out for a celebratory dinner at a fancy newly opened restaurant in Diagon Alley called Enchanting Dining. They shared a bottle of elf made red wine and shared their first ever dinner date at a restaurant. They spoke about Hermela Herbatius, Pansy's scool, and his article which had already received some positive feedback. Draco was obviously in better spiritis after this. Perhaps it was the fact that the whole wizarding world didn't hate him anymore. Altough, the majority probably still did. Or else they didn't care enough.
When they stepped upstairs to his Diagon Alley flat later on, Draco looked at Pansy and realised she had emerald green eyes. Just like Slytherin. It made him proud. He stepped over the dark wooden floor towards her.
Slightly drunk, he said "Why don't you move in here. With me."
Pansy laughed. "Live here?! This whole flat is the size of my bathroom."
"Yes but I'm here," he said flirtily.
"You can't be serious? I couldn't live here! Where would all my robes go? And you don't even have a House Elf here!"
"You can do magic can't you? tidying up takes a second using your wand."
"Tidying up?" Pansy said as if she'd never heard of such an astrocious thing. "Me - tidying up? who do you think I am - a Weasley?"
"Grow up," he said and kissed her. "The whole point is to be independent."
Pansy looked around with a wrinkled nose, "I am independent. I have my own manor and my own House Elf. I don't need my parents."
"Thats not being independent my love," he threw her down on the bed. "That's just being the same as you have your whole life."
"As if you're one to talk. You love your inheritance just as much as I do."
Draco smirked. "There's a sort of satisfaction in working for your money, though I must say."
"Well, you keep doing that, but don't expect me to change."
"Fine," he said. He kissed her and pulled his shirt off. "But you stay here every other night anyway."
"That doesn't mean I want to live here."
"I hate sleeping alone."
"Don't be clingy," she warned him and pulled down his trousers. She proceeded to go down on him passionately.
"Pansy..." he sighed a couple minutes later. "You've got to stop..."
"Why?" she looked up at him mischeviously. "You're going to come like a school boy?"
She quickly jumped up to start kissing him instead. "I can't help it," he mumbled between kisses. "It's been ages."
"Then fuck me," she whispered. He didn't have to be told twice. He roughly tore off her skirt and knickers and entered her with ease.
"Fuck-" he grunted not long after, "Gonna come." And before she registered what he'd said he'd already come inside her. That boy could not hold it. Still, she felt a smug satisfaction.
As March arrived, Tracey was still living in some sort of limbo. Parts of her knew Blaise was bad for her and had done something to her, turned her into this weak, insecure shell of the confident girl she'd once been. But he had her hooked, it was somewhat of a drug. He was the one that hurt her but she was also proud of the fact that she was the only girl he'd ever let close to him. Surely, that must mean something, right?
Between her work at the Ministry and seeing her few friends regularly, but mostly prioritising her time with Blaise, she tried to think of new fun things for them to do. To keep him entertained? Perhaps.
She knew that Pansy and Malfoy often went out on date nights, like cinema where you used Omnioculars to get the best experience of the film, got dressed up in their nicest dress robes, sipped champagne and mingled before the film and went to the few restaurants and night clubs in Diagon Alley. So she booked in a double date with the old married couple. But Blaise pulled out last minute.
She was standing outside the cinema in Diagon Alley when his owl reached her. With some bad excuse, once again. Her stomach dropped, and she panicked because she saw Pansy hurrying up to her from the other side of the road. She closed her eyes. She didn't want to tell Pansy that Blaise had cancelled - Pansy had never liked Blaise anyway and this wouldn't help change that.
"Hello my darling!" exclaimed Pansy and ostentatiously air kissed both Tracey's cheeks.
"Hiya," she said dully, struggling the hide how she felt. What was Blaise doing instead? Or who?
"What's wrong?" said Pansy loudly. "You look like shit!"
Tracey sighed and turned to walk towards the cinema. "Nothing, I'm ok. Just a long day at work."
"Yeah?" said Pansy suspiciously, following her. "Where's Zabini?"
"Not coming," said Tracey shortly.
"You've gotta be joking," said Pansy and stopped in her tracks. Tracey turned to her, ashamed.
Pansy tutted and said, "What a plonker! Honestly, Trace, I don't know what you see in him."
"He's well sweet sometimes."
Pansy pursed her lips. "Sometimes? Is that enough?"
"I don't know. Has Malfoy always been the perfect boyfriend to you?"
Pansy looked slightly indignant. "Well, no, but..."
"Exactly. You didn't just leave him when he treated you badly once."
Pansy actually looked sympatethic, which made Tracey feel less hostile to her.
"Is it just once though?" she said slowly, looking at Tracey sincerely. "I mean, he shagged Daph, didn't he? And what about Lucretia?"
"What about Lucretia?" said Tracey quickly, on the defense. "He didn't do anything with her."
"Supposedly."
"What do you mean?" Tracey narrowed her eyes, the familiar jolt of anxiety hitting her stomach.
"I don't know, all right," said Pansy exasperatedly. "You don't seem very happy though. You're always thinking he's with other girls."
"No I don't!" she said hastily. "He's not with other girls. He loves me."
"Where is he tonight then?"
Tracey resented the judgement in her friend's voice. "He had to work late."
Pansy raised one eyebrow. "What does he even do?"
"He's been interning at his stepdad's law firm."
Pansy pondered this, then shrugged. "Fine. Just trying to look out for you."
"I'm a big girl, I can make my own decisions. And I know Blaise loves me."
Pansy smiled bitterly. "Not sure he loves anyone but himself, that boy."
"Hey, that's my boyfriend you're talking about."
"I know, I know. I hope it works out."
Tracey took a deep breath. "It will. No need to worry. Everything's fine. Anyway let's drop it now."
Pansy looked at her with a hint of pity in her eyes. Then she said, "Ok. If that's what you want."
"Yes, that's what I want."
"Ok, let's go get a glass of champagne. Draco will be here soon."
"Actually, I think I might just go home. Got a long day at work tomorrow and I've got a bit of a headache."
"You're no fun anymore," pouted Pansy.
It was hard to be fun when your whole headspace was taken up by a boy.
