Chapter Five
Pansy
Pansy was still fuming after the welcome feast. She was so livid with that Weasley twat that she forgot to be cross with Graham.
"He's probably just trying to scare you," Graham said, unpacking things from his trunk. Slytherin prefects got their own rooms so as not to disturb the other students with their late hours. Rumor had it they were the only house that did such a thing. Pansy thought it was nice, though. Now she didn't have to hide Lizzie under her bed in fear that someone would find her pet and make fun of her.
"I think I might've scared him more," she said with a grin. "You should've seen how quick he got out of there when I went off."
Graham smiled – Merlin it was a charming smile – and she was reminded of the early days in their relationship. It made her swoon a bit. "I might need you to protect me, then," he teased.
Pansy's heart thrummed despite her better judgement. Their relationship was…complicated to say in the least. There were certainly more sour moments than good, but the good – along with the pressure from their parents and the fear of being alone – kept them together.
"I do think he meant it, though," she said, hoisting herself up onto his bed. "Why would he go through all the trouble of making those counter things just to frighten me?"
Graham refolded a shirt and sat it next to her, rolling his eyes. "Who knows why they do anything? Trust me, I've grown up with them. They'll go to amazing lengths just to trick people. You shouldn't be so gullible, Pans."
She thought on that for a moment, brow tucked. "Yeah," she started, "but why would they come to me? I'd never so much as said a word to either of them until the other day."
Graham froze in place, shirt half-folded. When his lips tightened, she felt a pang of dread. "When did you speak to them the other day?" he asked in a careful tone.
Pansy chewed the inside of her lip. "I ran into one of them at Flourish and Blott's. Not sure which one. I can't tell them apart."
One of Graham's eyebrows shot up and she knew she was in trouble. "So you decided to have a conversation with one of those Weasley twins out in public where just anyone could see you? When you have a boyfriend, no less. I thought you'd be a bit more careful after this past summer. They might start saying you're just like your father."
Heat was crawling up her neck, but she did all she could to control the nasty words threatening to spill from her mouth. "No," she said. "The entire shop was empty except us and the shopkeeper. No one saw."
That apparently wasn't the right thing to say. Graham's ears were going red at an alarming rate. Merlin, how did he just make her heart pound a few moments ago? How on earth did she find this terrible human being attractive? "So you were alone with one of the Weasley gits the other day and now you're telling me you were alone with one again tonight?"
Pansy sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Yes, Graham, and I snogged them both because I'm such a slut," she spat.
After that they fell into a tense silence. Graham just kept folding shirts and Pansy sat there fuming. Honestly, what did he expect? How could he get angry over the Weasley twins? Did he really think she'd stoop so low?
"So what could you have possibly talked about the other day?" he said, finally breaking the silence.
Pansy shrugged, her sour mood evident. "I had to climb a shelf for a book and he tried to get it for me. I basically told him to sod off."
"And that's it?" Graham pressed, tone unbelieving. It took all she had not to roll her eyes at him.
"Then he was a total prat, stole my school list, knocked one of my books to the ground, and told me he'd see me in class."
The last folded shirt was piled next to her and he turned, giving her a quizzical look. "In class?"
Oh, that's right. Pansy never answered any of his letters. Or read them, for that matter. "I tested out of O.W.L. Herbology. They're letting me take it with seventh years."
Graham's eyebrows shot sky high. "And when were you planning on telling me this?"
Oh, she'd had about enough of his I'm-the-master-of-the-universe shit, but she reined in her temper.
"It slipped my mind. Sorry," she said, refusing to look at him.
There were a few beats of silence before Graham reached over and nudged her chin up. When Pansy met his eyes, they didn't seem nearly as angry as she thought they would.
"Doesn't matter now. I've got you all to myself for the rest of the year."
Pansy grinned, though her heart wasn't really in it. "Yep," she said, letting him give her a small peck on the lips. When he lingered, she pulled away with an apologetic smile. "It's getting late, I should go unpack."
"You should come back when you're done," he said with a grin, bending to kiss her once more. Pansy held back an irritated sigh.
"Maybe tomorrow," she said, giving the most amazing fake yawn she'd ever mustered in her life. "I just want to unpack and crash."
Graham groaned, but agreed to let her go and Pansy found herself on the way back to her room. When she got there and closed the door, there were a series of metallic clicks signaling that it was locked. A relieved sigh blew from her mouth. Finally alone.
This year she'd been allowed to get a new trunk as her old one was scuffed to pieces. She was used to the old brown one and so when she saw the new black trunk sitting at the end of her bed, she had a moment of confusion where she thought she'd gone in the wrong room. Pansy shook her head as if unscrambling her brain. It couldn't have been someone else's room, anyway. Only the touch of her hand could open her door. All the prefect rooms were like that.
Having a room to herself was going to take some getting used to. There would be no more late-night gossip fests with Millicent and Daphne. Now her late evenings would be spent trying to dodge those animals Fred and George.
Just the thought of it worsened her mood, but she found herself idly wondering whether she'd talked to the same twin twice or a different one each time. What if each time was different and they didn't even know the other had spoken to her? Did twininess extend that far? The thought of it creeped her out. There were only three sets of twins in the school – Weasley, Patil, and Carrow. Of course, as the Carrow sisters were Slytherin, Pansy knew of them most. It wasn't difficult at all to tell them apart. Hestia beamed with the prospect of a bright future. She had a well-kept appearance, good grades, and a shiny sixth year prefect badge. Flora, on the other hand, seemed to model her hair routine after Professor Snape's and spent many of her evenings scrubbing floors for Filch.
The Patil girls were in Pansy's year, so she had classes with them from time to time. Both seemed quiet, but were in different houses, so they were easy to tell apart.
The Weasley twins, though…it was almost as if they were one and the same person. During her heated glaring at the welcome feast, Pansy noticed that they synchronized a lot, saying the same things at the same time. It wasn't difficult to hear them as they were the loudest, rudest people she'd ever encountered. They practically screamed when they talked.
"Attention whores," she muttered to herself, popping open the trunk and beginning to unpack.
And even beyond the talking, they had the exact same mannerisms. She was nearly sure they did it on purpose to avoid being told apart. It wasn't uncommon to pass them in the corridors and hear them say, "Oi, I'm Fred!" or "He's not George, I am!" So it wasn't as if the year and house distance made any difference – even their close friends had difficulty deciphering one from the other.
"They probably share one brain," she said out loud, then rolled her eyes at herself. Merlin, talking to no one, she was going mad, wasn't she? Even wasting brain space thinking about those gits was mad.
With a huff, she pushed the two from her mind and went to unpacking. The single rooms were nice. They were furnished with a single canopy bed made with dark wood. There was a matching bedside table, which Lizzie was snoring on, and a mirrored wardrobe. The walls were thick stone and only amplified the suffocating fact that the Slytherin commons had no windows. It was always so cold down there, too, and she thought they must be near the lake underground, but never bothered to find out.
Pansy felt deflated when she put away the last of her things and had nothing left to do. It was probably getting late anyway. The other Slytherins typically began the year with catching up in the commons, staying up all night telling summer stories and sipping smuggled Butterbeer. That just didn't seem appealing to her. In all honesty, Pansy had been feeling down all summer and didn't want to have the past three months brought up, lest she have to talk about her father's affair. The feast was bad enough – she'd been subject to stares and behind-the-hand whispers. Worst of all the houses was her own.
No, she didn't want to even deal with it. Instead she changed into her night clothes and found herself staring at the empty Chocolate Frog box. Pansy grimaced, guilt gnawing at her for caving and eating his stupid peace offering. Not that she'd ever let him know that in a million years. Right after she'd lost her reserve on the train and shoved it down her throat, she was on the hunt for the trolly lady. The empty box sat next to Lizzie on her bedside table and the new, unwrapped Chocolate Frog sat right next to it. Right, so the next day she was just going to march it over to him, drop it in his lap, and leave without a word.
Once Pansy extinguished the light and laid in bed, she tried to calm her mind, but just couldn't. No matter how hard she tried to push the image away, that twat's stupid face came into her head. The more she thought about it, the less she thought giving the Chocolate Frog to him in person was a good idea. Maybe she'd just owl it and avoid talking to him altogether.
Pansy groaned at her cowardice and turned onto her belly, trying to get comfortable. Forcing her mind onto other things, she thought of Graham, but that only made her think about him being angry over the Weasley twins.
Next. Merlin, what else could she think about? Tomorrow was going to be a big day, wasn't it? And she needed to talk to Draco about prefect duties. Plus she had to figure in time for a run when other people wouldn't see her. Probably in the early morning.
Pansy was just beginning to drift into sleep when she replayed that Weasley git telling her she looked like a little kid. Ugh, she did, didn't she? Irritated, she rolled over onto her back and let her hands find her lack of bust. Merlin, small in all the wrong places and too big everywhere else. No matter how hard she ran, her thighs still pressed together and the baby fat clung to her belly. And there were probably second years taller than she was.
Again, she urged herself to think of the next day to get her mind off things that wouldn't allow her sleep. But, that just got her wondering about her class schedule, which had her fretting over Herbology. What if she got stuck with the twins? What if she wasn't with her fellow Slytherins? Each class usually only consisted of two houses. But since she was a fifth year taking a more advanced class, she wasn't sure how that would work with her schedule. Ending up with Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws would be better than getting stuck with the twins.
Pansy rolled over and screamed into her pillow. That was how much of her evening was spent. Each time she grew close to sleep, she'd think of the Weasley prats and instantly wake herself up.
"Fuck it," she finally said, throwing the covers back and snatching the new Chocolate Frog off the table. Hours had to have passed and dawn would probably be there in the next hour or so. It was apparent she was getting no sleep, so she might as well be productive.
First night back at Hogwarts and she was already sneaking out afterhours. Well, if she got caught, she could always pull the prefect card, though it'd be hard to believe she was doing rounds on their very first night.
Oh well. She'd snuck out plenty of times and never been caught. First she'd head to the Owlery and send the frog to…oh, which one was it? Fred. Yes, she remembered him talking about George on the train, which meant he had to be Fred. Right, so she'd send the frog to that git, go get her run, and be back in time for breakfast.
When she stepped out of her room, she heard a girl's muffled giggle. Strange. Hestia's door was open, the light still on. Nerves twisted in her stomach, wondering if some older years were still up in the common room. But, when she peeked out there, all the lights were extinguished and not a soul was out of bed except her.
Pansy thought of how Hestia smiled at Graham on the train and how he smiled back. Then she pushed the thought aside and went on her way, despite the feeling of inadequacy flooding through her.