Author's Note: I have received quite a few inquiries both here and by email about the kiss that Pansy and Draco share in Part I and their relationship in general. Apparently, it has come across that Draco is cheating on Pansy with their kiss, and it has made some readers uncomfortable. This was never my intention, so I thought I would include some background insight for the readers on Pansy and Draco's relationship. I sent a response to a reader with this information, and she really enjoyed reading it and said it was helpful in understanding the unique dynamic between Pansy and Draco.

The Slytherins are among my favourite characters in the hp series; however, since they are so underdeveloped I find it necessary to create a background and character study of my own.

Chocolate is for Lovers is complete after Part II, but if you were either uncomfortable with Pansy and Draco's relationship or just want to read more about their character back-story, then read the details I've included below.

Enjoy!

On Pansy and Draco's Relationship

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First, I would like to thank everyone that has read this story and has enjoyed it so much that they want to read this extra information about the story's universe and character background. I plan to write several more stories that in some way involve Pansy and Draco's relationship, and I always see them being extremely close as they are in this story. Now, I will be addressing several issues that a reader brought up to me.

As for the Draco and Pansy kiss...

I apologise that it made some readers uncomfortable because it was never meant to. At all. I think that perhaps I didn't make the kissing scene between Pansy and Draco clear enough. It wasn't a really passionate kiss; it was closed mouth, tight-lipped, and just a kiss between friends that shows how close they are. But more importantly, their kiss was a Slytherin thing.

To me, the Slytherins are a really tight knit group; they have been through a lot together, including living with murderous Dark Lords and distrustful schoolmates, so they are more like a family than just housemates. Thus, as a family, they share kisses between friends as greetings. You can look at it as a members only thing or a secret society, in this case—Slytherins only. For this reason, Pansy would also greet Blaise and Theo with a kiss on the lips, in the same manner she shared with Draco. Therefore, Draco wasn't cheating on Hermione, and Hermione's fully aware that Draco kisses Pansy and the other Slytherin girls on the lips. It made her uncomfortable at first, but eventually, she accepted it as just one of those strange pureblood traditions that she'll never quite understand.

Since there isn't a lot known about Slytherin and pureblood traditions, I like to elaborate on it and create it on my own. And I believe that since Slytherin is a house built on the ideals of greatness, purity of blood, and tradition, then it would be easy to almost compare its supposed "exclusive" membership to that of a secret society. I'm not claiming that they deserve this superior treatment, but much like the secret societies in universities that think they are better than fraternities and sororities, I believe that the image Rowling presents of Slytherin house coincides with this notion. Slytherins, past and present alike, would probably believe that they were lucky and privileged to be a member of the most "exclusive" house, especially since it does house the least students. Of course, the other students see Slytherin house and all it represents in a different light, but that doesn't seem to matter to them.

So—as an exclusive membership/society, Slytherin house, would have customs and traditions, primarily practiced by the older students and former members. These traditions would be passed down through generations, including formal greetings/acknowledgments between their members by most traditionally a kiss on the lips. In this case, a kiss on the lips is friendly, a sign of respect—proclaiming, I love you and acknowledge you as one of the family. It also marks the recipient of the kiss as an equal. Draco wouldn't kiss one of the younger Slytherin girls on the lips; instead, he would kiss her on the hand. The hand kiss would still be a sign of respect, but it would show that in the Slytherin hierarchy, the younger Slytherin holds a lower ranking than he does.

As for the boys, during any formal rituals or meetings, they would also adhere to the ancient tradition and kiss each other on the lips (very briefly) and would also bow and kiss the Slytherin signet ring of the head of house in reverence, but this isn't necessary when casually greeting each other. Instead, two Slytherin boys who regarded each other as equals, like Blaise and Draco, would greet each other with a kiss on the cheek. This again, might appear strange to outsiders, but that's exactly how the Slytherins would want it to be. They don't need outsiders to understand or even accept their traditions because they aren't a part of the group anyway.

Even if it's not right, most Slytherins seem to have somewhat of an elitist attitude. Luckily, Hermione is helping Draco tone his down. I hope that clears up the platonic kissing situation between Pansy and Draco and the Slytherin nature behind it.

And as for Pansy...

Well—she's just a really sexual person and was messing around with Draco for fun. That's why she teased him and held her kiss a little longer than she should have. She's not the smartest of witches like Hermione, so she uses what she sees to be her greatest asset—her sexuality—to her advantage. It's only a game to her though and a means to an end.

Even if she'll never admit it, she's desperately in love with Ron, but at the same time, she sees a little kiss as no big deal—just a small token of affection. In fact, if she notices that Hermione is uncomfortable by her greeting Draco with a kiss, then she'll probably lay a big, unchaste kiss on Hermione at the Halloween party in order to make her point that the kiss didn't mean anything. I'm sure Ron and Draco wouldn't object.

And as for Draco describing Pansy as his "sexy step-sister"…

The last concern that a reader brought up to me was when Draco refers to Pansy as "a sexy step-sister and my Pansy". The reason for that is that besides both being Slytherins, Pansy and Draco have known each other their entire lives. I'm actually working on another fic right now that explores this relationship between the two of them further, particularly through a lot of flashbacks of Draco's childhood. Since Pansy and Draco are greatly underdeveloped in cannon as characters, I felt that in order to write them well, I had to develop their back-stories for them.

So—in my mind, both Pansy and Draco suffered a lot at the hands of their fathers, both in childhood and adolescence. But—they always had each other to turn to, which is why they have formed this higher type of bond that is beyond friendship. Besides, Pansy was Draco's first love and vice versa; your first love will always have a small piece of your heart, and for Pansy and Draco that piece is a little bigger since they continue to love each other and be a constant presence in each other's lives.

Basically, I believe that even though there a million different reasons why a romantic relationship wouldn't work between the two of them, Pansy and Draco are still soulmates—just in a different fashion. They aren't two halves of a whole that complete each other because they are too alike, so alike in fact, that they could complete the same half. Draco sees a lot of himself in Pansy and Pansy feels the same way, which is why they understand each other so well. However, they still don't harbour romantic feelings for each other.

~End

A/N: I hope that clears up any misunderstandings about Pansy and Draco's relationship, and if you've actually read all of that extra character information—I thank you. As a fairly new fanfic writer, I make up in depth character back-stories and plots all the time to aid me in the writing process, so I loved being able to include one of my back-stories as an answer to a reader. I love getting feedback and will always be willing to answer any questions readers have about any of my stories.

Look for more stories from me soon!

Cheers!

~Icicle