Pansy bounds happily around her dorm the next morning. Her body alight with a buzz of energy like she's never felt before. It tingles through her from the tips of her toes to the top of her head. She feels light as if every bit of negativity had been vacuumed out of her body as she slept.
"Someone is in a good mood" chuckles Millicent "Not so tense anymore hey"
"I wonder why?" giggles Tracey
"Can we please just get to breakfast?" says Pansy hoping to end the teasing before it starts, Merlin knows she was the subject of their taunts for most of the previous night.
"Ooooh" chime the other girls in unison
"Someone is eager. Something in particular, you're keen to sink your teeth into" laughs Daphne heartedly, overly amused by her own attempt at a crude joke
"Ha Ha, very funny, let's go," says Pansy walking out of her room.
The truth is, she was eager to get to the Great Hall. Her belly had been jittery all morning at the prospect of seeing Granger again. Her body riddled with nervous anticipation, the type that makes your soles of your feet tingle. For the first time in recent memory, she was genuinely elated.
With every thought replaying the tender kisses and touches from the day before, Pansy barely registers the whispers of what happened to Katie Bell that follow her to the Great Hall
"They performed an unforgivable on her...she could go blind...she may never walk, let alone fly again..."
However, the ludicrous comment that it had to be someone from Slytherin as a tactic to win the Quidditch Cup has her stopping in her tracks.
Before she can reply with a tirade of abuse Daphne clearly and loudly states for all near to hear
"I can't believe those Weasley twins have not been expelled yet. I mean, that was a horrible prank they played, on one of their own no less"
It takes only a moment for Pansy and her friends to realise what Daphne is doing. Suggesting another alternative to who attacked Katie Bell. Deflecting blame and therefore casting doubt to the stories running around the castle that it had to be a Slytherin. She is such a good strategist thinks Pansy
"I know right," says Millicent
"I'm sure their room is filled with all sorts of banned items," says Tracey
"Well someone was bound to get seriously hurt sooner or later with those two. Absolute no regard for people's welfare. Remember all those poor first years they experimented on and made sick with their homemade sweets." says Pansy loud enough for the group of Ravenclaws to hear
"Didn't Bell break up with one of the twins recently?" adds Millicent
Pansy can't help but smile to herself when she spies the Ravenclaws quickly whisper something to each other before running off to the Great Hall, eager to be the first ones to break this new theory to the rest of their House.
By the time they reached the Great Hall and were seated at the Slytherin table nearly half of the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were looking at the Weasley twins suspiciously and whispering amongst themselves. Their little plan worked beautifully.
Scanning the Gryffindor table Pansy's smile fades as she notices Granger, Potter and Weasley deep in a private discussion, oblivious to all around them.
She couldn't help but feel disappointed.
Pansy wasn't quite sure what to expect but she had hoped that Granger had noticed her enter the Great Hall or more importantly had been waiting to see her. Letting out a small sigh, her shoulders sag as she slowly pokes at her breakfast her mood suddenly darkening. Her heart sinking faster than boulder sinking to the bottom of the Great Lake.
Under that self-assured exterior, beneath her mask of confidence were layers of uncertainty. These feelings she had been experiencing were all new to her. She had never in her wildest dreams anticipated someone having this effect on her, let alone Granger. The pervasive thoughts that perhaps Granger isn't thinking about her like she is of Granger swirl through her thoughts feeding her doubt about the whole situation and what she and Granger are.
She doesn't know exactly how long she had been playing with her food pondering. Her thoughts taking her down a tunnel of insecurity when a small kick under the table from Daphne breaks her thoughts
"Ow" hisses Pansy bending down to rub her leg "what was that for?"
"I think Granger wants your attention" whispers Daphne nodding towards the Griffindor table
Sure enough, Granger is casting small barely noticeable sideways glances between Pansy and the entrance the Great Hall, indicating for Pansy to follow her. The gestures causing her heart to jolt happily. Nervous excitement pulses through her as she watches Granger casually collect her belongings and make her way to the exit.
"Pansy, don't forget to return your book to the library, or else you will have to deal with Madam Pince," says Daphne "Better go do it now, before class," she says smiling
Pansy wants to jump over the table and give Daphne a giant hug. She didn't have a book to return but Daphne had given her the perfect reason to excuse herself and go find Granger without raising anyone's suspicions
"Thanks for the reminder," says Pansy as she hurriedly gets up from the Slytherin table
Out of the Great Hall, her belly is filled with nervous excitement, Pansy looks left then right down the corridors pondering which way Granger went. She doesn't have to wonder for long when she feels something brush softly against the calf of her leg.
Pansy inhales quietly. As gentle as a whisper, a light green almost transparent cloud puffs twirls and curls around her ankle. She can only watch in awe, mesmerised by the beautiful snake-like movements of the clouds as they coil and caress her leg before skiting off down the corridor beckoning her to follow.
It has to be Granger thinks Pansy Her magic work is truly remarkable.
She follows the tiny sweet wisps of clouds as they carelessly curl and dance their way through the stone hallway leading her eventually to the old Charms classroom.
Suppressing a shiver of happiness as she pushes open the wooden door and enters the room ready and eager to be greeted by Granger and even more eager for an early morning kiss.
The smile fades fast from Pansy's face as Granger stands before her, hands on hips.
Her eyes were giving a glare that freezes Pansy to her bones. Her stomach drops.
"What do you know about Katie Bell?" demands Granger
She squints at Pansy through hardened eyes. Eyes that had regarded her with softness and longingly only the day prior now stare at her filled with unfounded accusations.
Every muscle in Pansy's body tenses, anger instantly simmers like a hot cauldron deep in the pit of her belly.
"Excuse me?" says Pansy, tone toxic as ever
"Katie Bell was cursed. What do you know?" says Granger, her words communicating intense mistrust
Blood thunders through Pansy's veins in anger. She knows exactly what Granger is insinuating, accusing her and her Slytherin housemates of cursing Katie Bell without any proof whatsoever.
Her knuckles white as she clenches her fist tightly, anger overtaking all other emotions. She was sick and tired of everyone blaming the Slytherins for anything that goes wrong. She had had enough of people assuming that if you were in Slytherin that you must automatically side with You Know Who, that you would be lining up to get the Dark Mark. But above angry she was hurt, very hurt and it was fuelling the anger like a hungry fire.
"Who in Merlin's name do you think you are Granger?" spits Parkinson "How dare you accuse me or my housemates of committing a crime, without proof I might add?"
And just like that Pansy feels that they back to a time before the bet, back to being rivals. Enemies. Pansy knows she should inject some calmness into the conversation but it isn't that easy with Granger. She has a way of finding every nerve and poking and pinching it until Pansy just wants to explode.
"How do you know it wasn't your precious Weasley twins with one of their stupid pranks?" the words coming out thick and fast
She holds her hand up defensively to stop Granger from interrupting
"You walk around all high and almighty, like you or your mates could never do anything wrong. Well let me tell you just because you're a Gryffindor doesn't mean you're automatically a good guy.
Do you honestly think that only a Slytherin could do such a thing? I bet you think only Slytherins were part of You Know Who's circle. Let me tell you there were plenty of wizards and witches from other houses who supported You Know Who, some from your precious Gryffindor House as well no doubt.
Pansy's chest was heaving, the words spilled from her mouth like an open dam
"So in answer to your question Granger," she says practically spitting out the words "I know nothing about Katie Bell being cursed, because..." she moves dangerously close to Granger, invading her personal space, making sure to lock eyes with her.
Her heart bounds towards her chest, her mind churning in overdrive.
" ...in case you had forgotten I was with you!". Pansy chides before swiftly turning and slamming the door behind her as she exits the classroom
Her footsteps echoing louder than usual in the stone hallways as she stomps towards her first lesson.
"Pansy. Pansy. Wait up"
Pansy turns swiftly, hands on hips. It is Daphne, Tracey and Millicent
"Woah," says Daphne, hands up in surrender her eyes widening in alarm "You look like someone who's about to commit an affray"
"Bloody insufferable, judgemental, Gryffindor..." Pansy puffs out
"What happened?" asks Tracey "I'm guessing you didn't get a good morning snog"
"Would you snog someone who accused you and your friends of cursing Katie Bell?"
"Serious?" says Millicent shocked
"Yes. Very" huffed Pansy.
"Why would she think we had anything to do with cursing someone?"
"We're Slytherins, so naturally it had to be us," says Pansy sarcastically
"That's preposterous," says Tracey
"I know" replies Pansy folding her arms across her chest still
"We're always getting the blame for things" complains Millicent
"What did you say to her?" asks Tracey
"I told her exactly what I thought of her and her accusations. I made it very clear that I didn't know what happened to Katie Bell because in case she had forgotten I was with her" says Pansy matter of factly
"Good on you Pans" says Millicent
"You tell her," says Tracey impressed
"Daphne? What do you think?" questions Pansy turning to Daphne a little surprised by her lack of input to the conversation so far.
"I expected better of Granger" shrugs Daphne softly in a tone that hints of contemplation and something else that Pansy can't quite put her finger on. They are interrupted before she gets the opportunity to ask Daphne what else she is thinking.
"Ladies," says a sharp voice. It was Professor McGonagall "Do you intend on attending your classes today?" she says peering sternly over her glasses at them.
"Yes Professor" replies Millicent
"Well perhaps you should end this festival of humdrum chit chat and be on your way then"
"Just on our way now Professor," says Daphne as they hurriedly make their way to their first class not wanting to be on the wrong end of the wand with Professor McGonagall. Even thou they had never heard of her being cruel like Professor Snape she gave off an air of someone you would not want to cross.
The swirl of anger still streaming through Pansy's veins as she attends her morning classes.
"Ok, we've got Transfiguration with the Gryffindors next. What are you going to do about Granger" asks Millicent as they conclude their third class for the day.
"We" interjects Daphne before Pansy could reply "are going to be very mature about this," she says rather matter of factly, looping her arm through Pansy's just above the elbow "and just ignore her, that's what we are going to do"
"Oh that's really mature" replies Tracey sarcastically following Pansy and Daphne to class.
"I'd rather ignore today's Transfiguration lesson all together" grumbles Millicent
In today's lesson they would learn how to change a hedgehog into a pincushion, something which Millicent found cruel and unnecessary, arguing that no one truly knew if the hedgehog felt pain during the Transfiguration process or still felt pain when someone stuck pins into their back. To be honest Pansy tended to agree with her, who needed a pincushion anyhow.
Granger is of course already seated with her parchment and quill neatly placed on her desk in anticipation for the start of the Transfiguration lesson by the time Pansy and her friends arrive.
Gauging by her demeanour Daphne was intent on making a point, capturing Granger's attention by purposely walking far closer to the front of Grangers desk than necessary, while obviously refusing to look at her by turning her head in the opposite direction. Lucky for Pansy she has years of practice maintaining a look of indifference or else she would have burst out laughing as Tracey and Millicent do the same, they looked like a pair of disgruntled ducklings, nose in the air following the footsteps of mama duck Daphne.
Daphne and Tracey sit Pansy between them. It takes every ounce of restraint not to peek sideways at Granger throughout Transfiguration, but the temptation eventually proves too strong. A quick glance out of the corner of her eye shows Granger doing the same. Heat swirls through her, her stomach jolts forward. She has never felt such a whirlpool of emotions at the same time anger, excitement, happiness and disappointment but at her core, she felt something she had never anticipated, she felt vulnerable. It occurs to her that never before had anyone caused such an array of emotions, that her happiness could be reliant on someone other than herself, and that was a scary concept for someone who had prided herself on maintaining a clear head when it came to matters of the heart.
"We are ignoring her" whispers Daphne beside her "remember? We're -"
"Miss Greengrass" chides Professor McGonagall, her hawk-like hearing catching Daphne interrupting her class "I trust you recall from our very first lesson I do not permit others to talk while I am talking?"
"Yes, sorry professor" replies Daphne quietly
"Then it must have been very important conversation you were having with Miss Parkinson," she says
Pansy feels a rush of heat flow up her spine, she can only image what Daphne feels being put on the spot.
"Oh, er I was just saying to Pansy that isn't it amazing how with Transfiguration things are not as it seems. What you thought was a pincushion was actually a hedgehog. It can be misleading, so you shouldn't make assumptions, we really need to keep an open mind in the magical world.
Pansy can't help but smile, Daphne has taken the opportunity to have a dig at Granger and her earlier assumption regarding who had cursed Katie Bell. If the way Granger has slunk down in her chair, head bowed in shame is anything to go by she didn't miss the point Daphne was making either.
"Indeed," says Professor McGonagall peering over her glasses "then perhaps you could let me finish my class without interruption, so I can actually teach you how to determine if something has been transformed from its original form?" she says before continuing with her lesson
The rest of the day followed similar suit, Granger attempting to catch Pansy's eye, Pansy trying her best to ignore her, Daphne, Tracey and Millicent doing a wonderful job of ignoring Granger and reminding Pansy to do the same. By the time they all retire to their dorm that evening, Pansy is utterly exhausted. Spending the day trying to understand your emotions, trying to comprehend the futile tussle of conflicting thoughts has worn her out. She slumps on her bed deflated,
"You ok Pansy?" asks Daphne with a look of concern
"Fine, I guess I -"
A rapid tapping on their door interrupts her answer.
"What in Merlin's name now" mumbles Millicent getting up from her bed to the open door.
In swooshes a tawny barn owl, one of Hogwarts many delivery owls. It glides in effortlessly dropping a letter in Pansy's lap before swiftly exiting the way it came.
Pansy doesn't have to open the letter to know who it's from, the crimson red envelope a dead given away that the letter is from Granger.
"Well open it then," says Daphne hands on hips
Pansy's fingers tremble ever so slightly as she gently prises open the envelope. Her insides stir in anticipation, heart caught in her throat, equally intrigued and fearful at what words are written.
Slowly she unfolds the parchment to reveal the words "I haven't forgotten"