Just Like Me

Still dedicated to and written for Michi. This, as you may have noticed, is chapter two. My muse is disgruntled; he's not used to writing things that are this long. Poor baby. Ending of this chapter will probably be deleted and completely changed. I don't like it.

Disclaimer: Same as first chapter: Harry et al are property of not me.

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December 21, 7:43 AM

BANG.

Pansy sat straight up in bed as her door slammed open and a figure walked in. The figure tossed something onto Pansy's bed and pulled out its wand.

"Lumos," the figure drawled.

Pansy's heart rate returned to normal. "Draco, you are a horrible, horrible person," she snapped, picking up the box that he had thrown at her.

"Thank you, Parkinson. Thought I'd just say happy Christmas before I leave." Draco put his wand away. "Open your present."

Pansy started on the wrapping paper. Knowing Draco, there would be at least seventeen layers, and half of them would be epoxied to the box. She leaned over the side of her bed, reaching into the drawer of her bedside table. "Your present is under the bed, in the green paper," she said as she pulled out a knife.

Draco knelt, and pulled out a large, beautifully-wrapped present. "Eurgh," he said, wrinkling his aristocratic Malfoy nose. "Don't you ever dust under there?"

"No," Pansy replied. "I leave it all there, just for you." She sliced through the layers, sawing as she hit one that was covered in epoxy.

"You're too kind." Sarcasm dripped from Draco's voice. "Hand me that knife."

"I'm using it. Transfigure something else." Pansy broke through the hard layer and ripped it off. A pile of wrapping paper landed beside her bed.

Draco picked up the wrapping paper and transfigured it into a knife. He neatly sliced the sides of the present open and pulled the paper off.

"A book. How original," Draco said, studying the cover. He turned it over, reading the spidery text on the back.

"You're welcome," Pansy replied, sawing through the third epoxy layer.

"Where did you get this?" Draco opened the book gingerly. "Last time I checked, they didn't carry books on ancient Dark magic in Flourish and Blotts."

"Knockturn Alley, of course." Pansy broke through the fourth epoxy layer and ripped the rest of the paper off. The black box that sat in front of her was the size of a small novel. Pansy lifted the lid, and looked inside.

"You bought me a lock?" She looked up at Draco, whose eyes twinkled with mirth. "Happy Christmas," he repeated, and went back to thumbing through his book.

"A lock," Pansy repeated, eyeing the offending object with exasperation. "Well, thank you."

"It's more than just a lock, actually. It'll keep out only those whom you don't want to come in. Everyone that you want to see will be able to get in. It's better than your padlock, anyway." Draco whistled in admiration as he found an especially interesting hex somewhere around page 143.

Pansy picked up a small silver-rimmed booklet, labelled "Instructions". She opened it, skimming through the basics.

How to Lock your Parents Out but Let your Cat In.

That one was going to be particularly useful. "Thank you," she said, glancing up at Draco, who waved it off. "Do you have anything in here I could try some of these on?" he asked.

Pansy pointed at Millicent, who was a lying under her covers like a giant lump, snoring noisily.

Draco stood up and pulled his wand out.

"Draco," Pansy said. "No Dark Arts in school. Wait until you're back home. They probably have detectors here."

Draco nodded in affirmation and put his wand away. He glanced at his watch. "It's almost 8. Father will be waiting for me. See you after the holidays." He turned to leave.

"Have fun at home," Pansy said quietly, watching him open the door. "And say hello to your father for me."

Draco nodded, quirked a smile, and was gone.

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Three Slytherins stayed over Christmas holidays: Pansy, a fourth-year named Graham Pritchard, and a first-year boy whose name she didn't know.

Most of the other students stayed; evidently, their parents felt that it was safer for them to be under Dumbledore's watch than at home.

It was painfully lonely at meals. Pansy sat, pretending to eat, while the Gryffindors (Ron Weasley, mostly) threw various pieces of food at the Slytherin table, then pretended they hadn't. Evidently it was hilarious to them.

Pansy and Graham stuck together. Both of them had enough experience to know that lone Slytherins were targets for nearly every other house. The first-year boy learned the hard way; he staggered into the common room the very first evening, nursing a black eye.

Pansy learned a few things that night. One, the boy's name was Adam. Two, kids were cruel even when they were eleven years old. Three, if they couldn't use hexes, they used fists.

From then on, all three stuck together at all times. If one of the boys wanted to leave the Slytherin dungeons, Pansy would come with them. They all avoided injury that way.

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December 24, 11:18 AM

Pansy moved her queen. "Check," she said.

Graham chewed on his lip thoughtfully, before moving his castle to block the queen's advance.

Across the room, Adam lay on a sofa, reading. He glanced over at the board, studying the game. Adam was a small, wiry boy with dark brown hair and equally dark eyes. His family was the stereotypical Slytherin family; well-off and pure-blooded. He was, of course, not as well-off as either the Malfoys or the Parkinsons, but few were.

"If you move your bishop forward – yes, there – checkmate," Adam said, and returned to his book.

Pansy moved her bishop. "Checkmate. Good game." The bishop gleefully decapitated Graham's king.

"Good game," Graham echoed. He flopped back into the sofa with a sigh. "There's nothing to do around here. I'd suggest another game.." he gestured at the chessboard, "but-"

"But we've already played six games this morning," Pansy said, cleaning up the rubble on the board. It quickly reformed into the usual chess pieces.

"Exactly."

The door to the common room creaked open. All three of them looked up at it, as Professor Snape walked through.

"An owl has come for you, Ms. Parkinson," Snape said, indicating the eagle owl perched on his arm. It took flight, and dropped a letter in Pansy's lap. Pansy picked it up. It was addressed to her in Draco's elegant, sloping script. Curious, she opened it.

Parkinson – Mother and Father want to know if you would like to come to the Manor for Christmas. Father would come to collect you this afternoon and you could stay the rest of the holidays if you want. It's really bloody boring here. Help.
-Draco Malfoy

Pansy smiled. She picked up her quill from the table, turned the letter over, and wrote a quick reply.

Draco – See you this afternoon. It's really boring here too. Played chess six times this morning. Won all games. Help.
-Pansy

She tied the letter to the owl's leg and thanked it quietly. It hooted, and flew out the same way it had come in, which was being held open by Professor Snape.

"I'll be going to Malfoy Manor this afternoon," she said in reply to his questioning look. "For the holidays. Draco invited me."

"I see. I shall inform Professor Dumbledore," Professor Snape said. He nodded to the two boys, and left.

Graham looked at her, his eyes pleading. "Now we're going to be even more bored."

"And I won't be," Pansy said. She got up and made her way to her room to pack her things.

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Malfoy Manor was always spectacular in winter, this year being no exception. Pansy sat in the carriage beside Lucius Malfoy, as it trundled down the snow-covered pathway towards the house, which was positively massive. Trees, branches bending under the weight of the snow, lined either side of the road.

Pansy took this all in, feeling distinctly nostalgic. The last time she had seen the Manor in winter was during the Christmas holidays in her second year, when the Parkinsons had been invited over for a Christmas party.

The carriage drew closer to the house. Through the windows, she could see house-elves bustling about with decorations. A tall, blonde woman stood near a mammoth-sized Christmas tree, directing the placement of ornaments.

The carriage pulled up beside the steps leading to the door. Pansy carefully got out, and began to walk up the staircase, flanked by Lucius and two house-elves carrying her things. She reached the door, which opened when Lucius tapped it with his cane.

Quite suddenly, something shot past her legs and hurtled down the steps, followed by a cry of "Perdita, NO!"

Draco appeared in the doorway, looking exasperated. "Hello, Parkinson, excuse me." He brushed past her, nodding at his father, and ran down the staircase.

Pansy stared after him, bemused. She turned to Lucius, opening her mouth to ask what Draco was chasing. He answered before she could ask.

"Narcissa and I made the mistake of giving Draco a dog for Christmas," he said, raising an eyebrow at his son. "It has broken three of Narcissa's favourite vases so far."

Pansy winced, knowing how protective Draco's mother was of her vases. On the vast lawn, it seemed that Draco was beginning to catch up with the dog.

"He is quite a good runner, is he not?" Narcissa spoke from the doorway, looking amused. "Come in, Pansy dear. Let's get your things put into a guest room." She swept into the main hall, motioning for the house-elves to follow her.

Twenty minutes later, Pansy was comfortably set up in a large suite near Draco's own. Her clothes were put away in a dresser, and she was exploring the spacious sitting room that the suite had.

She pulled a book down from the bookcase, opening it. The Malfoys had a spectacular collection of books of all sorts, scattered throughout the house. She flipped through the book carefully, knowing that it was likely very old.

"Parkinson? There you are."

Pansy turned around as Draco walked into her room. "Hello, Draco." She smiled. "Thank you for inviting me here. It's already more interesting than school."

Draco shrugged dismissively. "Of course it is." He straightened out his robes, which were more than a little mussed from his impromptu race.

"Your father told me that you have a dog," Pansy said, putting the book back on the shelf.

Draco grimaced. "Perdita. She's half a year old. Husky. Can't seem to stop moving...Mother is going to have a conniption fit if she breaks anything else."

"Where is she right now?" Pansy asked.

"Being subdued by house-elves," Draco said, smirking. "Come on, I've got to show you the decorations." He walked out of the room. Pansy followed, closing the door as she left. "I'll never be able to find my way back here," she commented, looking down the vast hallway.

"You'll get used to it," Draco replied, walking ahead of her. "If you can figure out Hogwarts, you'll be fine here."

"Do you have changing staircases too?" Pansy asked, raising her eyebrow.

"We can, if you want them," Draco shot back, turning left and continuing down another seemingly-endless hallway.

"Yes, I do so love it when I find myself going in a completely wrong direction," Pansy said, rolling her eyes.

"Just the other day, I was trying to get back to the common room and ended up bumping into a horde of Gryffindors," Draco complained loudly as he turned another corner and began walking down a large staircase. "It was almost enough to put me off my dinner. Someone should outlaw Gryffindors, for the good of the cultured students. Oh – here we are."

They arrived in the main hall, and Draco stopped in his tracks as a shriek came from the next room, followed by a loud bark.

"MY CHAIR!"

"Oh dear," muttered Draco. "Maybe now is not the best time. Is there anything else you want to do, preferably far away from my mother?"

Pansy nodded vigorously, staring apprehensively at the doorway to the next room. "Could you show me the grounds? I haven't seen them since I was twelve."

Draco agreed. They hastily made their way to the door, where a house-elf fetched their cloaks for them

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Pansy shivered, drawing her cloak tighter around her. Behind her, the mansion stood out starkly against the cold, grey sky. "Where are we going?" she asked Draco, who was melting a path through the snow with repeated Incendio charms.

"The lake. You always liked it when you came here before," Draco replied. "Incendio!"

Pansy smiled. "Is it frozen over yet?"

"Yes, but you – Incendio! – can't walk on it. It's not thick enough. God, you'd think the house elves would have the pathways cleared off, but no, we have slacker elves!" Draco pointed his wand at the snow and blasted it away.

"Such a pity that you have to do all this manual labour yourself," Pansy said, her tone teasing. Draco wheeled around, glaring. "You mock me, Parkinson. This means war." He leaned down, and scooped up a handful of snow.

"You wouldn't," Pansy said, backing away from him.

"Want to bet?" Draco said, eyes twinkling. He balled up the snow.

"You are a terrible, horrible – eeeeagh!" Pansy made an effort to duck he snowball, but it was futile. "You will pay for that, Malfoy."

"Please, don't, I'm ever so frightened," Draco taunted. A split second later, he found a snowball heading straight for his face.

Pansy giggled.

"Parkinson," Draco said, his voice dangerous. He wiped the snow off his face, glaring malevolently. Pansy smiled sweetly, turned, and ran towards the lake.

"Get back here, Parkinson!" Draco yelled, sprinting after her.

Pansy fairly flew down the hill towards the lake, followed closely by an irate blonde, who was firing snowballs at a rapid pace. She reached the bottom, slipped, and skidded out onto the ice.

Draco stopped at the edge of the lake. "Parkinson, you should probably get back onto shore. I don't think the ice is thick enough to support you."

Pansy turned to face him, planting her hands on her hips. "Are you saying that I'm fat?" she asked, mock-sternly.

"I'm serious. It's not thick enough," Draco said, a slight frown on his face.

"Why, Draco! I do believe you're worried about me!" Pansy said, her voice delighted.

CRACK.

Pansy froze.

"Okay, come back here slowly," Draco said quietly, watching the ice. Pansy, staring wide-eyed at the ice beneath her, didn't move. "Parkinson," Draco called. "Snap out of it."

Pansy looked back up at him.

"Damn it all, Pansy!" Draco snapped. He ran out onto the ice, grabbed Pansy's hand, and dragged her to the shore. The ice gave an almighty crack and collapsed.

Pansy stood, rigid with shock, watching the snow sink slowly under the surface.

"Parkinson. Look at me. How many fingers am I holding up?" Draco asked, holding up his index and middle finger.

Pansy looked from the ice to Draco, her eyes wide. She looked at Draco's hand, and back up at his face. Draco sighed. "Come on, let's get back to the house, I'll get you something warm. You're okay." Pansy opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. She nodded.

Draco led her up the hill to the house, his arm around her waist, supporting her. When they reached the house, he snapped at a house-elf to fetch a blanket and some hot chocolate, and led her back up to her room.

The house-elf was waiting for them when they got there. Pansy curled up in bed, wrapping the blanket around herself, and took the hot chocolate gratefully. "Thank you," she said quietly.

Draco nodded. Pansy sipped the hot chocolate.

"Well, welcome to Malfoy Manor," Draco finally said with a wry smile.

Pansy smiled, and took another sip.