And the second, this time Pansy Parkinson.

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Pansy hates it. Absolutely hates it, yet she watches all the same. It's like watching a broom-collision fifty feet off the ground: horrible, unavoidable, and yet she can't seem to find the strength or the will to look away

Draco likes to think he is the master of deception. He fancies himself a brilliant actor, always hiding his emotions and thoughts behind a blank expression and an arrogant smirk. She supposes that to most, he is exactly that; the two-dimensional, cruel and haughty Slytherin Prince.

But oh, Pansy knows him. She knows him better than he knows himself at times, and has known him since she can remember herself. She can read him like an open book, as the saying goes. Sometimes, she regrets the fact that she can see right through him; it hurts her so much to see him drift away from her, from them, wrapped up in a silly and impossible dream she can't comprehend.

Understanding is the easy part. Who doesn't want love? Pansy certainly does, although she knows the person she has in mind will never return her feelings. Not now, not anymore, when he's already so far gone.

The worst thing is that she can see what Draco finds attractive in Harry Potter. She wonders, at times, if circumstances had been different, whether she could have fallen for him herself, if she hadn't fallen for Draco long ago. Potter is handsome, certainly, and Draco had been brought up to appreciate beauty. But that's not it, is it? There are a lot of beautiful girls in the school, or, if that's really the way he's inclined, boys more good-looking than Potter.

It's the fire that burns in Draco's eyes every time he looks at Potter; it's the way Potter brings out the best and the worst in him. It's the way Draco strives to outdo himself all the time, just to have Potter look at him a second longer. It's the way Draco's fists clench when Potter dismisses him yet again. It's the way Draco actually smiles – a real, genuinely happy smile – when Potter defends him in McGonagall's class.

Afterwards, she can see a glimmer of hope in Draco's eyes, and there is a smile tugging at the edges of his mouth all day long. Pansy wants to yell at him, to tell him that it was nothing, that he can't take it as a sign. Draco can't possibly think there's a chance. She wants to hit Potter; first for making Draco feel this way about him, then for deluding him into thinking he actually stands a chance.

She hates Potter for being the only one Draco has ever paid so much attention to, for being the only one Draco deems worthy enough. If it would help, she would get on her knees and beg the Gryffindor to let Draco out of his hold. You already have so much, Potter, must you take Draco too? You'll only leave him broken, at the end. Nothing good can come out of this.She can't say that, of course. Potter would not understand, and look at her as if she was mad, and Draco … Draco would kill her.

Turn away, she wants to say to Draco. Leave those impossible dreams, abandon those false hopes. Don't throw away everything you have, everything you ever cared about, for a smile that will never come and for green eyes that will only ever look at you with hatred. There is no place for you in his world, she wants to tell him. But she can't. Draco is as stubborn as they come, and he'll burn himself out, but he'll never be able to give up. Since he first met Potter, Draco has never been able to turn away from the other boy, not once.

But sometimes, although she tries to ignore it, she sees Potter stare at Draco, too. And the thought comes, despite her efforts to ignore it: Then again, Potter has never been able to turn away from Draco, either.

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I see Pansy as a good person, really. She's not some whiner who only cares about money or makeup, nor is she a slut. She can be vicious, yes, but we're all vicious when someone attacks us, or hurts those we love. She's one of Draco's best friends, maybe his best friend. She loves him. As more than a friend, too, but in the end, she just wants him to be happy, and to keep him from getting hurt.