CHAPTER SIX:
Harry let out a frustrated growl before he began tailing after Pansy. This was the first time since she'd arrived that she had shown there was something more to her besides calm and understanding; that she had emotions beneath her rigid surface.
He watched her disappear behind the silver metal doors of the elevator and immediately headed left towards the stairs. Taking two at a time he barely reached the ground floor in time to see her disappear again into the pouring rain outside.
She's crazy, he thought as he picked up his pace so as not to lose her. No one in their right mind would think about walking in this weather.
Running to stay up with her now she turned right into an alleyway, and fortunate for Harry, stopped there. He rounded the corner with apprehension; perhaps she wanted him to follow her so she could trap him and hand him over to Voldemort or his Death Eaters. A surprise attack, this is what this was.
But Harry was wrong. The only thing in the alleyway was Pansy leaning against a wall with her own guard down which wasn't the wisest thing in the world.
"You followed me," she said in a quiet voice that Harry almost didn't hear over the thunder.
"You never answered my question," he returned as if that was adequate reasoning for following an alleged Death Eater into a dark alley.
Pansy nodded in agreement. "Rent," was all she said. Her eyes were still closed and Harry could tell she was taking great care in concentrating on her breathing. Her chest was rising and falling beneath her robes in a steady beat and she alternated between using her mouth and nose to inhale and exhale.
He shook his head. What did rent have to do with anything. Pansy continued, "You don't honestly think I would encroach on your hospitality without paying you? That would be improper."
Harry realized that was a good point and wasn't surprised that a pureblooded Slytherin, even if on assignment for the Dark Lord would do what was proper.
"Harry, when will you believe me. I am not on some mission for Voldemort; I don't even like the man."
Harry's eyes widened. How the bloody hell did she know what he was thinking all the time? Every single time Harry had a wrong thought about her or something dealing with her purposes at Hogwarts, or every time he thought a question, she answered.
"You should have really listened to Professor Snape all those years ago; close your mind. You are open for attack."
Silence fell in the alleyway for a few moments and nothing could be heard except the steady beat of rain drops on the pavement and the steady breathing of Pansy. Somewhere in the west the sun was beginning to dip behind the horizon casting gold and purple hues along the wall behind Pansy causing her features to take on a strange glow. Something most men would notice made her look beautiful. Cars and people made their way hurriedly past the alleyway not noticing the two standing on a few feet away.
Outraged, Harry stormed forward towards Pansy grabbing both her arms and pining her up against the wall she had been leaning against. This time, however, Pansy didn't say anything and kept her eyes closed waiting for Harry to speak.
His breath was hot against her face when he spoke in a low, strangled tone. "Don't you dare speak of that man in front of me. Severus Snape was a traitor and a horrible man." Pansy couldn't tell if Harry was spitting on her due to the rain, but she had a feeling he was. "And don't you dare you use Legilimens on me. You have no right to read my thoughts."
He was breathing hard, clearly worked up, and his grip on Pansy's arm was getting tighter and tighter, but she refused to open her eyes. The pain she could mask, but looking into his eyes, eyes no doubt filled with hatred, would be much harder to handle.
"Did you hear me, Parkison," he demanded, his voice laced with contempt, after she had spoken a reply for quite some time.
Pansy nodded and added in a weak voice, "Yes, Harry."
If there was one thing that could floor Harry it was hear Pansy speak his name as if pleading for him to back away. All defenses were down and he knew this; and he had just enough time to use it. He instantly released her arms a took a few steps backwards to give her breathing room. Pansy opened her eyes and looked upwards towards the sky letting the rain pound down against her face.
"Do you know what today is, Potter?" she muttered quietly. It was getting harder to hear her as the storm grew in intensity over London.
He shrugged his shoulders. When she didn't respond he remembered she couldn't see him and said no.
"It's the three year anniversary of the start of the war." Harry looked at her incredulously. This war had been wagging on a lot longer than that. Since their fourth year if you wanted to get technical, and since the first rise of Lord Voldemort if you wanted to get philosophical.
"No, Pansy. It's been going on since fourth year." Pansy shook her head and lowered her eyes to meet Harry's. In those sage colored eyes he saw pain and fear and sadness, and something he didn't quite expect: determination.
"No, Potter, their war has been going on that long. Those who are only involved by being a witch or wizard or muggle, thats their war. My war has been going on since Draco was-" Pansy took in a gulp of air and forced back tears. "murdered." She finished lamely. Her eyes were wet with unshed tears and Harry took a step closer to her. "My involvement in this war dealt with Draco, I was always beside him, I would have done anything for him. The day they killed him," she spit out 'they' as if it was some sort of foul swear word, "my whole life changed, my involvement in this war became proactive. Three years ago today I got involved in this war, it became my war, and I'll be damned if anyone gets in my way."
Harry took another step forward expecting her to continue, waiting for her to slip up and reveal why she was really here, but the look in those eyes made him question himself. Those sage green eyes made his heart drop and a knot in his stomach tighten; it was a feeling he had forgotten he could feel, a feeling he couldn't put a name on at the moment.
Pansy shook her head and leaned up from against the wall, tugging at the hems of her sleeves to make sure her black robes were hanging properly. Harry saw the defensive walls spring up around her and with a familiar 'pop' she was gone, presumably back in Hogsmeade and making her way up the rocky path towards Hogwarts.
Harry stayed rooted to the same spot for almost half an hour as the rain poured down soaking him to the bone and as the lightening lit up the failing night sky. One thought ran around his head leaving him completely dumbstruck.
"She called me Harry," he whispered to the darkness that was beginning to surround him as the sun dropped fully behind the horizon and streetlamps began to flicker on, "and I called her Pansy."
