Hell Tastes Sweet
Chapter Twenty Three
"Draco…I need to tell you something…" Pansy said noticing, with horror, that her voice was trembling.
"Not now…you need to leave and hide…or would you rather stay and fight?" Draco asked making Pansy suppose that the second option didn't sound so bad…at least she would be with him. Unfortunately for Pansy, something in Draco's voice made her think that he wasn't offering alternatives.
"Come on Pansy…let's go…" Pansy heard Theodore say reminding her of his presence there.
"No…you stay here…" Draco said not giving Pansy time to reply.
"But…" Theodore started saying.
"No 'but'…Nott…do you think I'm stupid or what? I'm not having you anywhere near her…" Draco said making Pany realise he had to be very nervous to appear so transparent…the perfectly restrained Draco was actually showing his feelings in a shockingly shameless way.
He was jealous. That would have made Pansy feel so incredibly happy had it not been for the fact that a battle, THE battle was about to start.
"Draco…why doesn't he go inside…I'd rather stay with you…" Pansy said hopeful.
"Oh my…my…Draco…you are a real heartthrob…Miss Parkinson…really…what is your father going to say about this…"
Pansy, Draco and an increasingly frightened Theodore turned round to face Lucius Malfoy.
He looked terrible…his platinum blond hair, the same one Draco had, looked a lot less tidier than the last time Pansy had seen him bu, the biggest difference, was his facial expression: it was as if whatever he had to endure while in Azkaban had imprinted deeply within him…this was the face of a man that had known, for the first time in his life, fear and misery.
Pansy was so focused on his arrival that she almost missed someone a whole lot scarier. The Dark Lord was there. Standing right behind Lucius Malfoy.
The Slytherin girl couldn't believe her eyes. It was definitely Voldemort…Draco had described him well enough to be mistaken.
Theodore fell onto the ground with one loud thud. He had fainted. Pansy didn't really blame him for she was about to faint as well.
"What's going on Malfoy?" he hissed sounding just like a snake.
"Nothing…my son was just conversing with one of his classmates…or should I say…girlfriend?" Lucius said looking at Pansy with an amused look in his eyes.
"Let's get on with our plans…young Malfoy, if you want us to spare her life…you better ask her to hide…hide well…so we don't see her…" Voldemort hissed freaking Pansy out so much she wanted, not only to hide, but for the ground to split open and swallow her.
Pansy gave Draco a quick glance and realised he was almost as scared as herself. That was definitely not good. She was prepared to everything as long as Draco reassured her. Seeing him so scared was just too much.
"Alright then…you all know what to do…whoever finds Potter first must bring him before me…" Voldemort said and, forgetting all about Pansy, turned round to walk back to the boats.
"Yes milord…" Lucius replied with a light bow, then speaking to the Death Eathers that had gathered around them, added "We must go inside the school, try to get our kids out of there…Hogwarts will be ours before the end of the night. As for me, I'll go after Dumbledore…"
"Malfoy…What about the mudbloods?" one of the Death Eaters asked.
"Welll…there will be plenty of confusion…and…accidents do happen…" Malfoy replied.
"What do you mean?" Crabbe senior asked.
"Just do whatever you want with them…I personally think this place needs a good clean up…" Malfoy snorted and, beginning to lose his patience, said "Come on son…we all know what to do…"
Without bothering to wait, Lucius started walking to the school's entrance.
"Yes Father…" Draco replied starting to follow his father making Pansy think he had forgot about her too.
To prove her wrong, Draco turned briefly and said:
"Pansy…really…you need to hide…they're going to spare only the kids of the Death Eaters…and you're not one of them…"
"But Draco…I need to speak to you…" Pansy replied. She had ran towards him and was now following the blond young man's father as well.
"What is it?" Draco said finally paying attention.
"Hermoine has been reading my mind…apparently she's been taking Occlumency lessons…she knows everything you've told me…" Pansy said urgently hoping her stupidity would not get punished too severely by Draco.
He reacted in the very last way she expected of him. Draco started laughing.
"Pansy…Pansy…you really thought I would tell you anything important? Father said that it would be unwise to trust you with important information…we've been feeding you with whatever we thought would confuse Dumbledore and Potter…" Draco explained to Pansy leaving her feeling sick and speechless.
Draco left her side and went to talk to his father, Pansy saw them laughing out loud. If she had been upset before…she was now devastated. Everything had been a game…and she had been used as a pawn.
Pansy felt furious…she wanted to scream…to hit something or, even better, someone…instead, and not seeing any useful alternative, she started running to the castle completely ignoring Draco when the boy started shouting her name.
Had she stopped, she would have heard Lucius saying to Draco:
"Let her go son…it will be better for us…she may even be stupid enough to go and warn Dumbledore…"
"But Father…why would that be good?" Draco asked feeling confused and…yes…angry with himself…he hadn't liked seeing Pansy so distressed.
"Well, if he knows Voldemort is here…he and Potter will go to him directly…and that is exactly what I want…" Lucius replied whispering in his son's ear.
Draco looked at his father. The older of the Malfoys really looked determined. Draco then realised, for the first time that, even though his father's plan was almost suicidal, Lucius was definitely resolute to succeed.
That scared the platinum blond even more.
To be continued…
A/N: Just as promised…another chapter!! Yeah, I know...a bit short...I'll try to post one more this weekend though...
Ah…as usual, thanks for the reviews!! All your questions will be answered in the next chapters…do not fear!!! Love you all, Sanae