Author Notes: Oh my gosh! Chapter Three! Aren't you proud. Thanks to Rosie for reading this para moi; and yes, I just mixed three different languages in one sentence.
CHAPTER THREE:
Harry watched as she sat down in one of the leather chairs in the Headmistress' office and made herself comfortable. He could not believe that a woman who had loathed all those years in Hogwarts, a women who was known to be in line with Death Eaters, had been allowed to step foot in this castle.
Harry cast her a glare and she held up her hands as if in surrender. "No worries, Potter, I come in peace."
Hermione snorted from the corner and Remus nudged her with his elbow as if telling her to be quite. There were five of the most top Order members present at this meeting, excluding Minerva, for protection. None of them knew what to expect when someone like her showed up on their doorstep.
Professor McGonagall stepped around the desk and leaned back against it crossing her arms in front of her. She looked down at Pansy as if she had broken a school rule and was awaiting a proper detention.
"Tell us, Miss Parkinson, why are you here then?"
"Shouldn't it be Mrs. Malfoy," stated Harry from by the fireplace.
Pansy whipped her around and was out of her seat faster than any of the Order members could pull out their wands. Harry held up his hands and the four delayed wands that were pointed at Pansy's back were lowered.
Pansy held up her left hand. Her left ring finger was empty. Turning around she moved back to her seat leaving a very confused Harry standing near the fire. After a few moments he huffed and crossed his arms turning his head towards Professor McGonagall. What gave her the right to come in here and act as if she owned the place again.
"Miss Parkinson," pressed Professor McGonagall.
Pansy sighed and reached for her bag. She glanced up slightly only to see that all five of the Order members, Harry, Hermione, Remus, Fred, and George, had their wands on her. Sitting back up, bag clutched to her chest, Pansy looked at them.
"Do you honestly think I would try and attack when I have six Order members breathing down my neck?" she asked looking at each one of the individually. She reached into the side pocket of her bag and pulled out a pony tail holder. "I am not that stupid."
This time one of the twins snorted as she pulled her grimy blonde hair into a messy ponytail.
"Miss Parkinson," Came Professor McGonagall's stern voice. Pansy could tell she was beginning to get annoyed. "Please tell us why you are here."
"Yeah, or we'll throw you out in the cold," said Hermione glaring down at the blonde hair Slytherin thinking that was the best idea.
Pansy turned her head and smiled. It was a smile that made everyone in the room nervous and from where he was standing Harry he could see something in her eyes glint.
"You can't throw me out, Miss Granger, or rather, Mrs. Weasley. Dumbledore offered protection for anyone who sought it. I doubt he would want to find out you are throwing those of in need of it out on the streets."
Harry crossed to the room and leaned against the arms of Pansy's chair, his face mere inches from hers. "You know nothing of Dumbledore or his policies; and I doubt you are in need of protection from us. Can't Voldemort offer you ample protection from harm?"
Pansy pushed Harry's hands off the chair which caused him to stumble backwards into Professor McGonagall. Her voice took on a cold edge as she stood up and crossed to the fireplace where Harry had been standing only moments before. She felt everyone's eyes follow her movements, but at this moment didn't care.
"I know more than you think, Potter," she said, staring down into the fire. The orange flames licked the logs that never burned down. She turned around to face the room and took a deep breath.
"Professor," Pansy stated addressing the gray haired witch, "I am willing to tell you and Potter why I am here. The rest, I'm afraid, have no business knowing my secrets."
The room was instantly in an uproar, but after a few minutes of protesting Professor McGonagall managed to get all the Order members out into the hallway, with their ears pressed against the door of course. She turned back around to see that Pansy had sunk to the floor in front of the fireplace while Harry was leaning against the arm of the chair she had vacated.
Harry looked at Pansy closely wondering just what she was doing here. He meant what he said earlier when he thought the Dark Lord could offer her all the protection she could possibly need, but it seemed that maybe he was the very thing she needed protection from. Though, for the life of him, Harry couldn't figure out why.
It was no small known fact, especially after Malfoy had been killed, that she had been engaged to him. He always figured they would end up married and always believed rumors that the only reason they were together was because of power, sex, and money. There was nothing more important to pureblooded families like theirs.
"Well, Miss Parkinson, can we end this charade now?" asked Professor McGonagall, taking a seat behind her desk and lacing her fingers together.
Pansy nodded her head slightly but refused to look up at either of them. She raised her hand up in the air and flicked her hand and her bag suddenly flew from Harry's feet to her arms.
"Wow," said Harry before he could stop himself. Pansy looked up at in him surprise, the tear stains evident on her cheeks. "How did you do that?" he asked a little more poised than a few seconds earlier.
Pansy raised her eyebrows. "I've been living as a muggle for two years Potter. I can do simple magic without my wand. It is a bit harder to trace."
Living with muggles? That was definitely the last thing Harry or Professor McGonagall expected to hear. As Pansy dug through her bag Professor McGonagall shared a confused glance with Harry. He shrugged. He had no idea what she was talking about.
"Living with muggles, Miss Parkinson?"
Pansy nodded. "It was arranged by my father after Draco's murder." She let a sigh escape as she pulled what looked like an old shoebox out of her bag and opened the top frowning at what she came face to face with first.
Harry was speechless. He was in shock. This girl was a Death Eater. She was engaged to the son of the most ruthless Death Eater of all time. There was no way she would live with muggles unless it was to infiltrate something important and kill them.
Pansy seemed to sense Harry's unspoken unease. She twirled a piece of paper in her hands that looked a lot like a newspaper clipping. "I'm not going to lie to either of you. I was a Death Eater." With that sentence she slid up her left sleeve to reveal a shadow of the Dark Mark burned into the skin on her forearm. Professor McGonagall winced and Harry looked sickened.
"Then why come here? Why seek help? You just admitted you were a Death Eater!" shouted Harry standing up to his full height and yelling down at her.
Pansy stood up quickly and took a few steps forward. She wasn't any where close to being as tall as Harry was, but she was menacing when she needed to be. "There is something about watching the man you love being tortured to death. It makes something snap inside you, makes revenge the foremost thought in your mind. But that would have made me like them and at that point. I never wanted to be like them again!" Pansy jerked her sleeve up more and shoved her arm in Harry's face. "We all make mistakes, Potter. I plan on fixing mine!"
Harry took a few steps back and looked at Pansy; a filthy Slytherin. He didn't trust her. She was definitely up to something. Her kind just didn't feel remorse or loss, they killed without a thought, and there was no doubt in his mind she was here to do the same.
"Here," she said, shoving the piece of paper into Professor McGonagall's hand without ever taking her eyes off of Harry. "That will appear in the Daily Prophet in a few weeks time. Now do you mind if I stay here for the night?"
Professor McGonagall's eyes quickly scanned over the curly text and her eyes bulged. She quickly shook her head. "You can stay up here tonight, Ms. Parkinson," said Professor McGonagall suddenly, dropping the article on her desk and motioning her hand to a door adjoining the office. "It is all fixed up for any unexpected visitors that might have shown up."
"I suppose I count," said Pansy following the Headmistress into the adjoining room with her bag and shoebox in hand. The newspaper clipping lay disregarded on the desk.
"Liam Parkinson, aged forty-seven; Molly Parkinson, aged forty-four; and daughter Sophia Parkinson; aged nine, were found dead in their home when long time family friend Lucius Malfoy showed up for afternoon tea. According to Mr. Malfoy he was invited over for tea to discuss the engagement of the couple's eldest daughter, Pansy Parkinson, aged nineteen, to another pureblood wizard by the name of Blaise Zabini. Since Ms. Parkinson was originally engaged to Mr. Malfoy's son and heir it was his job to hand her over to another, deserving family.
"They were covered in blood; it looked as if they just had been cut to pieces, except their bodies were still fully intact. It's sickening. I have no idea who would do this. They were a wonderful family," stated one source, who seemed truly upset about the loss of the Parkinson's.
Pansy Parkinson, it seems, has not been seen since the death of her fiancé, Draco Malfoy, and it seems no one knows where to find the girl…"
Harry picked up the newspaper clipping and noticed a small note flutter down from behind it. The edges were burned away in a perfect manner and a black wax Black family seal had been carefully opened so as not to tear it.
"You're next, Pansy" Was all that it said. Harry threw the item back on the desk, disgusted, as if he might contract some disease just by touching it. He let out a deep, un-amused chuckle; this was all some twisted plan to get her to infiltrate their higher ranks. Harry knew the dirty woman was up to something, he just knew it.
He stormed out of the office past all the worried faces of friends and didn't stop until he was in the sanctuary of his room.
