Pansies for Draco

Of all of the people that she could have fallen in love with, she just had to fall in love with him. Of course.

Because really, how more cliche can it get? He's been her best friend for as long as she can remember and of course she just had to fall in love with him. And as if it couldn't get anymore cliche, he isn't aware of her feelings for him. Merlin, is her life really turning into one of those cliche Muggle romantic films?

Pansy thinks that she wouldn't have minded it all that much if her love was one-sided...only if the stupid disease wasn't threatening to kill her.

Pansy noticed that she had Hanahaki on the train ride to Hogwarts this year, her sixth year. Draco's head was in her lap and she was stroking his perfectly styled platinum blond hair. She remembered feeling a sense of pride and something else that she couldn't exactly pinpoint. After all, who wouldn't want to have the Draco Malfoy's head on their lap whilst combing through his perfect hair? Well, Potter perhaps, but he wasn't important.

She doesn't remember exactly how it all happened, but all of a sudden, Draco sat straight up from his position and turned to face Pansy, his eyes looking at her earnestly as he said the words that brought forth the beginning of the end.

"Thank you for being my best friend…"

...And with that, Pansy felt something in her throat threatening to claw its way out and it took all of her willpower to bolt out of the compartment and to the loo without vomiting. Once in, she was coughing and hacking until a red pansy fell from her lips and into the toilet.

She had Hanahaki. And it was only a matter of time until she died...

...Alright, so perhaps she's just being a bit too dramatic. The Hanahaki disease could be cured by two of the following ways - either by having her feelings romantically reciprocated or by curing it surgically. Considering that Pansy is in love with Draco "more interested in the downfall of Harry Potter than anything else in the world" Malfoy, having her feelings being romantically returned is an immediate 'no'. While curing the disease surgically would be the best option in her case, it came with a price - the surgery would remove her romantic feelings for Draco.

Pansy knows that undergoing the surgery would be the most logical solution, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Because that meant that she won't remember how Draco made her feel. She won't remember the rush of dopamine she feels whenever he lets her link her arm with his. She won't remember how giddy and light she felt when they danced the night away at the Yule Ball in their fourth year. She won't remember the sense of pride she feels whenever he laughs at an insult she throws towards the oh-so-perfect Golden Trio. And...she won't remember the sense of longing for him that keeps her going even through her toughest days. So to give all of that up, all of the emotions that he's ever made her feel...was something that she couldn't possibly give up.

Besides, wasn't there that saying that it was better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all or whatever? If losing her life meant that she was still able to remember loving Draco, Pansy would gladly give it up.

The first few days of having Hanahaki were...uncomfortable to say the least. She was able to suppress her coughs but not without some difficulty, although the pansy in her chest always seemed to bloom whenever Draco as much as looked her way. Merlin, was she always this pathetic?

As the days bled into weeks, it was getting harder and harder to conceal the flowers that were threatening to make their appearance known. It got to the point where Pansy had to carry a handkerchief whenever she coughed to hide the petals that escaped from her lips. It even got to the point where hiding the fact that she had Hanahaki was all that she did. For the past few weeks, all she could do was go through the motions of her daily life without any purpose behind it, hoping that no one could see past her facade, that she was going to die in a matter of days.

"Pansy, are you sure you can't come to Hogsmeade?" Her best girlfriend, Daphne Greengrass asks, pulling her head through her jumper. "You'll be missing out on so much fun."

"I'm...sure." The raven-haired manages to grit out through a hacking cough that is stifled through a clamped hand over her mouth. "Go have fun. You wouldn't want to keep Theo waiting." She waves dismissively.

The older Greengrass sister purses her lips together, hesitant. "Well...all right then. Would you like anything at Hogsmeade?"

Pansy pauses for a moment, thinking. "Some sugar quills would be nice."

Daphne smiles a bit. "Sugar quills it is. I'll see you soon, all right?" With a final wave, the blonde leaves the room, leaving Pansy alone in her dormitory room alone with her thoughts.

She wonders if her friends would notice that she wasn't coming. She wonders if they would care. She wonders if he would notice. The raven-haired lets out an exasperated snort as she pulls her blanket up closer to her chest. Who was she kidding? He hardly noticed anyone who wasn't Potter or part of the Golden Trio anyways. He would probably spend the rest of today trailing after the three Gryffindors, teasing and taunting them with Crabbe and Goyle by his side.

But, even if he did notice anyone, Pansy knows that she would be the absolute last person he would ever notice. There were so many beautiful girls at Hogwarts...not to mention the fact that she is his best friend. There was Cho Chang for one, the pretty Ravenclaw that Potter and quite a handful of boys were fancying quite some time ago. Pansy can't remember for certain if Draco ever spoke about her, but she wouldn't be surprised if he comes out one day and declares that he fancies her. After all, a girl who is both pretty and intelligent? Pansy can't compete with that. Not only is she pitifully unattractive to look at, she isn't smart at all, never mind that she got the title of 'prefect' despite not paying attention in class.

And even if he couldn't keep up with Chang's intellect, there was also Granger. Bloody hell, she can't believe that she would lose to sodding Granger of all people. While he made his disdain towards the Muggleborn witch more times than she could count on both of her hands, Pansy didn't miss the way he looked at her during the Yule Ball. The bushy-haired girl that she came to sneer at was no more at that time; instead, in her place, was a girl in a beautiful blue dress with her hair all slicked and shiny and up in an artful knot. Pansy supposes that if Granger had spent more time with her nose out of a book, she would have caught the attention of all of the boys in school long before the Yule Ball.

Knowing Draco's contempt towards Gryffindors, however, she is certain that he would want to date Granger...hopefully. Even then, Pansy knows that there are girls in their own house who would catch his eye. Daphne Greengrass is beautiful, with blonde hair and blue eyes and her younger sister, Astoria, is far more lovely than the raven-haired could ever be. Tracey Davis could be another contender, as is Millicent...actually, perhaps not Millicent. Bloody hell, is she really that low to be on the same level as Millicent Bulstrode? Bloody hell.

A cough interrupts Pansy out of her self-deprecating thoughts, causing her to grimace as she tries to swallow down a pansy that was threatening to rise up in her throat once more. How ironic - Pansy Parkinson, choking on a pansy for a boy who would never reciprocate her feelings. Ha, ha, ha.

The door to her dormitory room swings open, startling her. She ignores it, however, figuring that it must have been Daphne forgetting something-

"You're not going to Hogsmeade?" A familiar voice startles Pansy out of her reverie and she turns her head to find Draco Malfoy at the entrance of her dormitory room, looking as handsome as ever.

"I don't feel well." She coughs once more, hoping that it would prevent him from asking anymore questions and leaving her alone to wallow in self-pity.

But because nothing ever seemed to go right in her life, said blond rushes over to her side, his cool hands resting atop of her forehead. Without meaning to, Pansy closes her eyes, relishing in the contact of his hands on her skin. If there wasn't a flower already blooming inside of her chest, she is certain that one would have bloomed right in that moment.

"You seem a bit warm…" The Malfoy heir pauses in thought. "You haven't been close to Granger these past few days, have you? That Mudblood has been attending classes with a sodding fever, even when Madam Pomfrey specifically told her not to! Merlin, what a stubborn git. Come on, Pansy, get up. You're going to Madam Pomfrey right this instant." With that, he peels the blanket that was covering Pansy, causing her to squeak at the loss of warmth.

"Wait, Draco -" The raven-haired begins to say.

"Don't just lie there, Pansy! Get up!" Grabbing one of her hands, he pulls her up into a sitting position before throwing her a random jumper from Merlin-knows-where. "We wouldn't want you getting sick from what Granger got. Come on now, hurry up."

"Draco-"

"No excuses! If it makes you feel better, I'll walk you to Madam Pomfrey-"

"Draco."

The unusual seriousness of Pansy's voice startles Draco into silence.

"It's Hanahaki."

"Hana...Hanahaki." His already pale face becomes paler than humanly possible as he shakily takes a seat next to her on her bed. "You have Hanahaki."

Speechless, she could only nod.

"Well, fuck." He barks a mirthless laugh.

"Yeah, fuck." She parrots back coughing as she did so.

"How long do you have?"

"Less than a week?"

Draco's gray eyes widen in surprise for just a split moment before hardening into an icy glare, leaving Pansy feeling helpless as she looks down to avoid his gaze. She has seen Draco angry many times, from losing a Quidditch game to him not getting his way, but he was never angry at her. Never. Until now, that is.

"You didn't even bother to tell me about this until now?! What the bloody hell, Pansy?! Were you going to let me find out when I have to clean your petals?" He growls and she supposes that in any other situation, she would have found it hot.

"I wasn't going to tell you at all."

"Oh, so what, you were going to let me find out when Daphne and the other girls ran out of their dorm rooms screaming about how they woke up to find you dead?! Bloody hell, Pansy!" Draco releases his grip on her arms to bring a hand to run through his platinum blond hair.

"I was planning on going back home. Still am."

"No, you're not."

She raises a dark brow. "What? What do you mean, 'no'?"

"You're not going anywhere, not if I can help it." He takes her hands in his, his eyes are focused on hers with such intensity that she can't help but feel breathless. Well, that and the fact that there's a bloody flower that's growing in her chest that's choking her.

"Draco, please. Don't." Pansy pleads, wondering why he was so cruel to her to give her a fleeting sliver of hope when she knows that it's pointless.

"I can hardly care if you fancy someone else - I am certain that my love is enough for the both of us."

"Draco, please, I don't fancy - what?" She stops in the middle of her sentence, not believing her ears. "What did...what did you say?"

"You...You heard me." He snaps, a pretty blush slowly spreading to his cheeks.

"You can't just...just say that!" Pansy gets up from her bed, livid. She knows that Slytherins are stereotyped as being evil, but Merlin, how dare he say something like that to her. "Don't you dare play with my feelings like this, Draco Lucius Malfoy!"

"I'm not lying!" Draco stands up from the bed, his silver eyes looking down slightly to meet her gaze. "What do I have to do to prove to you that I'm not lying?"

The words leave her lips before she can fully comprehend what she's saying. "Kiss me."

And as soon as those two words left her lips, his lips were on hers, kissing her as if he doesn't ever want to leave. It didn't take long for her to kiss him back with just as much ferocity. As intense and passionate the kiss was, Pansy feels oddly light. She feels as if her body could float with how relieved she felt, as if all of the weeks of coughing out flowers were no more.

"O-Oh." Is all she can say as they break apart, his forehead touching hers with such tenderness that she doesn't want him to leave.

"You're a bloody idiot." Draco huffs, as his hands cupping her cheeks.

"What did I do?"

"Oh, I don't know, Pansy, staying quiet and nearly dying because you wanted to be dramatic?" He retorts, rolling his eyes. "And to think that everyone is calling me dramatic."

She snorts. "Right. Because I was the one who composed a song about Weasley and I was the one who made those 'Potter stinks' badges." She rolls her dark eyes fondly. "At least I was romantic."

"Oh yeah?" Draco gives an amused snort. "How so?"

"I gave you flowers. Technically."

"Merlin." He mutters as she lets out a laugh. "I've changed my mind; I don't love you anymore."

"How about now?" Pansy's voice is low and seductive as she grabs the front of his button-down shirt, pulling him towards her.

A smirk crosses his lips. "I'm...considering."

The End.

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Bonus:

"Draco?"

"Yes, love?"

Pansy blushes at the pet name, temporarily forgetting what she was planning on asking him.

"If you fancied me too, but didn't confess until today...then how come you didn't get Hanahaki?"

A small smirk is tugging at the corner of his lips as he shrugs rather nonchalantly, biting into a cauldron cake that he had just bought at Honeydukes.

"I always knew you were in love with me."

(2/4/21): So...what do you think? As you can probably tell by how out of character both Pansy and Draco are in this fic, this is my very first Draco/Pansy (Dransy) fic so please don't kill me. OTZ This is set during their sixth year at Hogwarts, the very first few weeks of the school year, to be exact. I've always felt bad for Pansy that she and Draco didn't end up together, especially with how much she cared about him so this is my way to sort of them get together...unofficially, that is, haha. In case you don't know what the Hanahaki disease is, it is a fictional disease that a character gets when they experience an unrequited love, resulting in a flower growing in their chest and forcing the character to cough up a flower that symbolizes their love. As mentioned in the story, there are two ways that you can cure Hanahaki: 1. your crush reciprocates your feelings or 2. getting it surgically removed, but you forget the feelings that you had for the person. Anyways, please let me know what you thought about it~! ٩(。•́‿•̀。)۶