Heaven Tastes Sweeter

Charter Eleven

Draco was already on his way out of the castle when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Wait!"

Draco turned round removing the hand off his shoulder with the sudden move.

"Potter…nothing you'll say will stop me...I need to go…I need to check Terry's story by myself…" Draco said before realising that Potter was there with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.

His tone of voice was still as strong as usual but had a shaken edge that no one was able to dismiss. No one had ever seen him with a darker expression. Not even after Voldemort had killed his father.

"Even if what I have to say is that I accept your offer?" Harry replied producing a confused look in both the Gryffindors. Draco's expression lightened up a tad.

"Would you?" Draco asked cautiously.

"Well…I've had some time to think about it and…you're right…it's our only chance…" Harry replied sounding honest enough to Draco.

"Well…things have changed though…" the Slytherin said, the darkness coming back to his face.

"Precisely…I think we ought to plan this a bit more carefully, don't you?" Harry said.

"Besides…rushing things won't do any good…and, if you're thinking of Pansy…well…it may be too late for her…" Ron added getting hit on his ribcage by Hermione's elbow for his stupidity.

"What Ron means is that we won't do any favours to Pansy should she still be in captivity…for all we know, she may have got away from the Death Eaters…" Hermione said still glaring at Ron for his total lack of sensitivity.

Draco observed the whole unspoken exchange and had to admit to himself that Hermione was truly a very clever witch, although he wouldn't publicly say so, not even under torture.

"Alright…I will tell you what I promised but first I need to go and get to Pansy…" Draco said with a tone of voice that left little room for negotiation.

"But you don't even know where Pansy is…" Harry said trying to talk some sense into the white blond young man.

"I have a very good idea…" Draco said mysteriously.

"Really, and where is that?" Ron asked challengingly.

"Terry said that it's close to Scarborough…near there I know a castle the Death Eaters used as a secret base during the in-between-wars period…I know because I've been there myself…" Draco explained with a neutral tone of voice.

Hermione and Harry exchanged a shocked look. Harry was about to say something but got interrupted by Draco even before he started.

"No, you can't come with me…I said I need to get to Pansy, for my plan to work, we've got to lure Voldemort to you…"

"But what if you don't come back?" Hermione asked feeling weird that she should be worried about Draco's welfare.

"Granger…do not underestimate me…after all, I am a Malfoy and some of my resources are very much intact" Draco said with a smirk that reminded the trio of the old times, before any of them said anything, Draco turned round and beginning to walk towards the door that led to the grounds, added "See you soon".

The trio was left to stare at Draco walking out of Hogwarts wondering what he had in mind, all knowing that whatever it was, it couldn't be good.

"Harry…when exactly do you plan us to tell us what you and Malfoy talked about?" Ron asked doing his best not to appear as offended as he truly was.

"Malfoy thinks he's come up with a way to kill Voldemort…he says that it's so stupidly simple that it's absurd we've never come up with it ourselves…" Harry explained.

"Is that all?" Hermione asked, as usual picking up more than anyone else.

"No…he said that he'll tell me only if I allow him to be there to see Voldemort die…he said it's the second best thing to kill him himself…" Harry said.

"That's a very Malfoy-like thing to say…" Hermione observed.

While the trio was having this conversation, somewhere else, not far away from Hogwarts, Pansy was terrified of what the future had in hold for her.

Her limbs, now tied up, were slowly recovering from the Freezing Charm and the rest of her body was regaining the ability to feel but, to Pansy, that wasn't a very good thing.

While kept anaesthetised, her body had not been able to transmit the pain of her injuries to her brain. Now, slowly, she started realising that it would have been better to stay frozen.

The gash on her back stung like hell and, being as dirty and dusty as she was, Pansy was sure that it, together with the rest of her injuries, would probably get infected and leave a series of ugly scars on her otherwise homogeneous, pale and perfect skin.

She realised though, that the worst scar would be the psychological one.

"As if you were going to make it out of here…" Pansy muttered to herself before letting out a harsh laugh.

She was definitely going nuts, now she was talking to herself and laughing at her own sick jokes.

"Were on earth is everybody?" Pansy asked aloud to no one in particular for as there seemed to be no one to talk to in the dark room where the Death Eaters had dumped her and where she was now sitting, leaning her right shoulder against one of the walls with her legs stretched in front of her.

"Now, who is it that you're talking to, I wonder…" said an extremely familiar voice, one that sent cold shivers all the way up Pansy's back.

"I asked you a question. Aren't you going to answer to it?" the male voice asked with more than a hint of annoyance.

"Who are you?" Pansy asked even though she already knew the answer.

"Oh…now you're hurting my feelings…" the voice replied with mock hurt, "and here I was thinking I was unforgettable…maybe I should remind you…"

Then two hands put next to each of her face's sides and a mouth crashed on hers. Then, just as abruptly, she felt the two hands pushing her away from the speaker making her fall backwards against the floor.

Pansy let out a scream of pain as her slashed back made contact against the cold floor.

"I trust you will remember me now…" the male voice said clearly showing that he was enjoying himself.

"Yes…I do…" Pansy said hoping she would not give in to the horrendous feeling that was compelling her to burst into tears.

"That's good…I've been waiting all these months to get revenge, did you know my little witch…" the voice said harshly, sounding a bit further away from Pansy.

"Zabini, what are you doing here?" Pansy asked while trying to push herself up back to her sitting position.

"Why don't you guess?" Blaise asked almost challengingly.

"You've joined the Dark Lord…" Pansy replied ignoring his tone and stating the obvious.

"Oh that's only the official reason…I naturally support his cause against Potter and that mad old man but, that's only our common goal…I have a more specific reason to be here…" Blaise said interrupting himself, as if expecting Pansy to ask. Pansy knew that but she couldn't help saying:

"And what is that?"

"Oh my Pansy…haven't you figured out? I want revenge on YOU! You got me expelled from Hogwarts and my parents kicked me out of their house because they couldn't live with the shame...I got approached by some of the Lord's followers and I was made a Death Eater three months ago…" Blaise explained proudly.

"How is it that I've been left with you? I've already escaped once…" Pansy started speaking but Blaise took some quick steps towards her and slapping her made Pansy shut up.

"I happen to be good convincing people to do what I say…I got the guards that are supposed to guard you while we prepare the 'welcoming committee' for Potter and his friends, to leave us alone for a few minutes…" said the former Slytherin sneeringly.

"And, what is it you want to do with me?" Pansy asked fearfully.

"Oh…unfortunately, for some stupid reason, they want you to stay alive…it looks like they're trying to use you as a bait for Malfoy…however, there are lots of things I can imagine doing with you that won't necessarily mean you have to die…" Blaise replied, his ice cold tone of voice sending Pansy to shake violently.

Given the alternative, she would have preferred to die.

To be continued…

A/N: Here you go…as promised…for all those begging for more Pansy/Draco interaction…this is a Pansy/Draco fic, and it's only the 11th chapter, be patient…you'll see it happening soon!!

Thanks for your reviews…as usual, you give me the extra push I need to start typing!

Yours,


Sanae