Heaven Tastes Sweeter
Chapter Seventeen
Almost a month had gone by and, for some unknown reason, aside from several small attacks in some minor villages, nothing major had happened.
With only six days left till they all went home for the Christmas holidays, and the relative peace that was currently reigning, some students were starting to relax a bit too much.
For this reason, the faculty's biggest concern was to keep everyone's motivation as high as possible and to ensure that everybody was ready for the fight.
One of the tools used to accomplish this difficult task was to perform drills at random times of the day and night and, even though they were quite annoying, everyone acknowledged the fact that they were very useful.
Even so, the members of the Defence Committee, as it had been officially dubbed the D.A., had their hands full sorting out training schedules, assigning rooms for said training and generally keeping things as organised as possible.
Pansy herself couldn't believe how very busy she was.
"I would have never thought I'd say this but, Sonia, I would rather study for the finals…" Pansy said to her friend while the two were walking towards the Great Hall to get some breakfast.
"I know…I'm exhausted too…I can't wait till all of this is over so we can finally get a full night's sleep…" Sonia said while yawning, as if to stress how truly tired she really was.
Pansy just laughed out loud and was going to reply with some of her witty remark when her eyesight went all black in front of her and she felt Sonia's hands trying to hold her up.
An eternity later, she found herself sitting on the cold stony floor with Draco and Sonia, both looking at her worriedly, crouching by each of her sides.
"Hey? You're ok?" Draco asked her, his voice full of concern.
"No…yes…I don't know" Pansy replied with a small voice.
"What's wrong?" Sonia asked with an equally concerned tone.
"I don't know…I think I had another premonition…I really should try to get better at interpreting them…" Pansy said trying to get up but finding Draco's hand pushing her back down.
"Stay still…we've called Professor Snape…" Draco said.
"No, no…I'm fine now…honest…I…" Pansy tried to say but the Professor's arrival interrupted her.
"What's the matter?" she heard the Professor say.
"Professor, Pansy says she had a premonition…" Draco started explaining.
"I'm afraid I'm not going to be of much use then…premonitions are outside my area of expertise…you really should ask Professor Trelawney…she's the one who can help you interpret those premonitions of yours…" Snape said and, by the looks of him, he believed in the Divination's teacher just as much as everybody else…
"Oh…I'll check with her tomorrow then…I'm fine now, honestly" said Pansy feeling very embarrassed by it all.
"Are you sure?" Draco asked her fiancée.
"Yes…please, stop fussing so much…" Pansy replied whispering while feeling a blush come up her face.
"Ok…sorry…" the blond young man said helping her to get back on her feet.
"We're sorry for bothering you Professor…" Draco said.
The professor just muttered something like 'G'day' and, turning round, started walking back to his office.
"So, what was in the premonition?" Sonia asked curious as always.
"I'm not sure…the first ones are very hazy…it's difficult to say…I saw something like a veil, or a curtain…and sadness…I felt very sad…and regretful…and then, darkness…nothing else…sorry…" Pansy said feeling truly sorry for not being able to get better at these things.
"I think you should really see Professor Trelawney…she may not be very good but I've heard that she's a true seer…she may be able to help…" Sonia said trying to be helpful.
"Yeah, I will…now, let's get some breakfast, I'm starving!" Pansy said noticing that she no longer felt embarrassed to admit certain un-lady-like things in front of Draco.
"Yes, me too" Sonia and Draco replied at the same time making the trio of Slytherins laugh.
People were definitely relaxing now that Christmas was so close, and Pansy knew that she wasn't the only one that thought so.
Harry was definitely trying very hard to keep people alert and, so was Draco. The laughter they had shared in the morning was now, at almost dinnertime a distant memory and he was now every bit as concentrated and determined as the bespectacled Gryffindor.
After the last training session of the day, they were all going to get their dinner when someone came running towards the group of students that were, more or less quietly, walking to the Great Hall.
"They've been sighted! They've…bee…" the small boy, a first or second year by the looks of him, was either short of breath or extremely nervous. A combination of the two, Pansy decided.
"Ok…David, you need take it easy…what are you trying to tell us?" Harry asked the boy putting both hands on his small shoulders.
"Everybody gather around here…" Professor Dumbledore's voice interrupted whatever the boy was trying to say. Needless to say, everyone did what the Head Master said.
"Students, the Ministry is currently under attack, Voldemort has been sighted there with his army of Death Eaters and, some of them have already made it to Hogsmeade…they're obviously heading this way so, we all know what to do. This is not a drill, I repeat, this is not a drill. Students, professors, this is the real thing, this is what we've been preparing ourselves to face in the past few weeks…"
"Let's show them we're ready!" Harry shouted interrupting the Head Master.
"YES!" everybody shouted back and the Head Master allowed himself a very small smile.
"Slytherins! Everybody head to your positions! QUICKLY!" Draco shouted and Pansy saw that both him and Harry were already taking their roles as leaders of the student body.
She was feeling so much admiration that she almost forgot to feel as terrified as she ought to feel in that situation. However, one look at a very scared Sonia, brought everything back into the right perspective.
Taking a deep breath and letting it go slowly, she set herself up for the battle ahead. In the few instants that had gone by, Pansy saw that all the youngest students were already on their way to the common rooms, that the fourth years were following them to cover their entrance and the fifth and sixth years were spreading throughout the school to take up their battle stations.
Pansy saw Draco approaching her and Sonia accompanied by Gregory Goyle.
"Goyle…you know what your job is, don't you?" he said before speaking to Pansy.
"Yes…I won't let you down…" Goyle replied looking uncharacteristically serious and determined.
"Good. Pansy, er…" Draco started saying but stopped seeing that Goyle and Sonia were standing nearby.
Sonia, ever the smart girl, noticing this, took Goyle by his thick arm and pulled him away from the couple.
"Pansy," Draco started again seeing that they were alone, even if it was only for a few seconds, "I want you to play it safe…if you see that things get out of hand, I want you to run…run as fast as you can and hide as far away from Hogwarts as possible…I want you to take cover somewhere safe and stay there till everything is over. Then try to make it to our London house. My mother is there and will be waiting for either of us. She has received very clear instructions from me. If by tomorrow night neither of us have made it to London and there isn't any good news coming from the Ministry, she will leave the country by herself….is that understood?"
Pansy nodded…she felt panic knotting her throat and damned herself for it. She wanted to say so many things to Draco and she knew she wouldn't have time to do so.
"I love you Pansy. I love you so much…I'm sorry I took so long to realise how important you are for me and…I promise that our lives will be much better after this war…"
Finally, Pansy managed to speak:
"Promise to me that you'll come back…" she said.
"I promise. You won't get rid of me that easily…" Draco said using one of his trademark smirks. Pansy wanted to laugh, to tell him she loved him, to damn him for doing this to her. She wanted to do many things, but not knowing which one to choose, she stood on her toes and pulled him down so she could kiss him.
"Draco, we've got to go…" Harry Potter's voice came from somewhere behind her.
"Yes, let's go…" Draco said pulling away from her and walking towards Harry, all without breaking eye contact with her till the last instant, when taking a corner, he disappeared from her sight.
Only then Pansy realised that she hadn't said it. She had almost started running when Sonia's voice reminded her that they had a job to do.
"Sonia, I need to go to him…I didn't tell him I love him" Pansy said almost childishly.
"Pansy…don't worry, he knows…" Sonia said comfortingly.
"Come on girls…we need to go…" Goyle added.
Pansy took two seconds to make her mind up and said:
"Oh, let's go…"
During their way to the grounds, to the station near the lake that had been assigned to their group, Pansy could see numerous students, all trying to remember exactly what they were supposed to do. Pansy felt grateful of all the dull drills that they had all been put through. She felt that the whole school was now thinking as one single mind and, the almost complete lack of panic from the students meant they were all thinking with a clear head.
Pansy and her group saw Ron and Hermione, together with Terry. The teachers had made an exception to the rule, the one that said that only one Defence Committee member could be put in each group, and had put the two Gryffindors and the Ravenclaw together, despite the fact that all three were members of the Committee. The reason being that they had the most difficult position. They, together with a few other students, had to guard Hogwarts entrance and they were to lead the first line of attack. Their job was to get rid of as many Death Eaters as possible.
Even though they had Professors Lupin and Snape with them, their mission remained the second riskiest. The first, obviously, was the one led by Harry and Draco.
The worst case scenario had Professor Dumbledore as a back up to confront the Dark Lord. The prophecy though, said that only Harry could kill the Dark Lord but the Head Master hoped that he'd be able to stop him, albeit temporarily, should Harry and Draco's mission fail.
Pansy hoped that the back up mission would just remain a clever plan and that they would not need to put it into action.
The three Slytherins reached the stone bench where they were supposed to hide. The plan for them was to stay hidden till they heard any Death Eater approach them, then, with the surprise factor assisting them, they were to ambush them and, hopefully, get rid of them.
"No killing curses. Remember, using the unforgivables will put you at their level" Harry had hammered them with this concept during every training session.
Pansy didn't want to be at the Death Eaters level but, she decided that, if it was a question of her or them, she had already made her choice and it didn't involve her dying.
"Say Goyle, were did you leave your girlfriend Crabbe?" she heard Sonia whisper to the big Slytherin.
"Quiet!" Pansy whispered back. Their surprise would be ruined if they were heard.
"I was just teasing him…" Sonia complained in an alarmingly high tone of voice earning a glare from Pansy.
They stayed quiet again, then they heard it. The attack had begun. The first hexes had started flying all over the place near the school entrance.
Pansy tightened her grip on her brand new wand, having had her old one destroyed, and felt her body getting tense. She was ready for the battle and, she prayed for all that was holy, that so were her two companions.
Their lives depended on it.
To be continued…
A/N: No note this time. Only a huge thanks to the people who are reading this and an even bigger thanks to those who drop a line of encouragement. Yours, Sanae.