Hell Tastes Sweet
Chapter Fifteen
When Pansy finally woke up, the Slytherin realised a few things. One of them is that it had to be sometime in the middle of the day, judging by the amount of light that was coming through the windows. Another was that she wasn't in her dorm and she was not wearing her silk pyjama but something made out of cotton (what if her mother saw her dressed like that?).
The most disturbing thing, however, was to find a very familiar looking Gryffindor looking at her.
"Granger…" Pansy said with a very raucous voice that made her realise she was desperate for a drink of water.
"See you're finally awake…how are you feeling?" Hermoine asked looking genuinely concerned.
"I…" Pansy started but stopped when all the previous night's events came back into her memory.
Breathing deeply, she tried to restart the sentence.
"I…I'm alright…I guess…Granger…why are you still here? I mean…not that I don't appreciate what you've done for me but…I…I've been a complete bitch to you all this years and now…" Pansy said feeling quite ashamed of herself.
"Well…call it sense of duty…or maybe it's just that I'd have done it for anyone…I am a school prefect after all…" Hermoine said frankly.
"Well…that's probably the strong sense of honour you Gryffindors are so famous for…" Pansy said without any trace of sarcasm in her voice.
"Guess so…Parkinson, you really have to consider quite seriously reporting the guy who has done this to you…" Hermoine said cautiously not wanting to upset Pansy.
Pansy seemed to consider the whole thing but, Hermoine, realising that the dark haired girl was not going to say anything, said:
"I realise that you'd rather tell one of your friends…" then, getting up from the chair where she was sitting, started to walk away.
Pansy suddenly remembered Draco's instructions and called out:
"Granger…I…."
Hermoine turned around and looked at her with interest as if trying to encourage her to speak up.
"If I tell you…you'll have to help me to protect myself…otherwise he'll kill me…."
"Alright…you've got my word…" Hermoine promised.
"It was Blaise Zabini…he's been after me ever since Draco left…" Pansy said feeling an odd sensation going down her spine that made her shiver.
"What? Blaise Zabini? But…he's a prefect!" Hermoine said.
"I know…but I swear it was him…" Pansy said sounding quite desperate, as if getting Hermoine to believe her was even more essential than finding a way to punish the bastard.
"Alright…I believe you…we've got to tell Professor Dumbledore…Zabini will surely get expelled…this way, you won't have to worry about him anymore…" Hermoine said smiling.
"NO!!! He knows where I live…don't you think he'll want revenge if I report him?" Pansy said looking positively freaked out.
"No…I'll be showing you a few muggle tricks that will help you…" Hermoine said.
"Muggle tricks?" Pansy asked very confused.
"Yes…it's just some self defence muggles use…they're particularly helpful for women…" Hermoine explained.
"Ah…I see…" Pansy replied not sounding very convinced about the fact that some muggle thing could help her to defend herself.
"I'm going to let Madam Pomfrey know you're awake…" Hermoine said, then, considering the visit over, she started walking to the door.
"Granger…" Pansy called out for the second time.
"Yes?" Hermoine replied without turning around.
"Thank you…" Pansy said with a bit of an effort.
"You're welcome…"Hermoine said leaving the room.
Pansy left the hospital wing that same afternoon, after promising Madam Pomfrey that she would take care of herself.
The school nurse had not asked any questions regarding the attack. Pansy assumed that she had either talked to Hermoine or she was just the most reserved person on earth. In any case, the girl was just grateful she could postpone the whole thing until she was ready to talk about it.
The Slytherin was walking towards the common room when a voice behind her made her stop.
"Miss Parkinson…I need a word with you…."
Turning around, Pansy saw Professor Snape waiting just outside his office. Not wanting to upset the head of her house, she walked towards him following the professor into his office.
"Sit down…" Professor Snape said walking around his desk to take a seat himself.
Pansy did as she was told and sat down quietly waiting for the professor to speak.
"Miss Parkinson…I must address this very delicately…and, as you all know…I'm not famous for my delicacy…I've heard that you've been to the hospital wing?" Professor Snape asked.
"Yes…" Pansy replied knowing that she would now have to explain the whole attack.
"Are you feeling better?" Professor Snape asked giving a clear impression he didn't really care.
Pansy just nodded.
"The rumours are that you were involved in some kind of fight…" Professor Snape said.
"What? No…I was attacked…" Pansy started saying very confused.
"That's not what I heard…Mr Zabini has come to my office this afternoon and has told me that…well…you know what happened…" Snape explained utterly shocking Pansy.
"What did he tell you?" Pansy asked fearing the worst.
"Wel…apparently…you cornered him after last night's meeting and…well…you were a bit insistent…you told him you felt lonely and that you have always fancied him better than Mr Malfoy…and then, when he rejected you…you just got violent and tried to hex him…he had to hit you in order to defend himself…"
Pansy was speechless…she had a boiling mixture of feelings raising up her throat…anger, shame, and a huge urge to really hex Blaise Zabini and turn him into the rat he was.
To be continued…
A/N: Here you go…really late but…it's better later than never (very pathetic attempt to quiet down the little voice in my head that keeps telling me off for not having updated in a whole week!!!) I will really try to post another chapter tonight though…I hope! Thanks again for the reviews…you're fantastic!!!!