Hi guys, sorry it's been a while. Here's the new chapter, enjoy! :)

"Wakeup Dickwad,"

Theo had pulled the curtains back on Draco's bed, to reveal a lurid intensity of green light emanating from the walls, marking it as morning.

"Urgh," Draco Groaned and rolled over. He did not feel like getting up today. He thought blearily back to last night's events- Maybe he should wait an hour until the Slytherin girls had left the dorm. No, that wouldn't work. Theo was too much of a ladies man to leave the girls alone while they went up to breakfast and Blaise was all for sticking together as a group. Besides, he usually went down with the girls, it would be weird if he didn't today, just because of Pansy. He thought about this for a moment before reconsidering. There was no way his recent ex could keep him hidden in his room, he was Draco Malfoy for God's sake. He was a man. He would just have to grow a pair and face the music.

But on the other hand he didn't know how Pansy would react upon seeing him and he knew how the Slytherin girls could hold a grudge. Grimly he thought back to the last time one of the girls had found themselves slighted by a guy. Poor Michael Corner still couldn't stand the sight of flobber worms.

And it wasn't just Pansy's reaction that worried him. The other girls were fiercely protective of her, especially Daphne, who had been witness to almost as many of her breakdowns as Draco himself. Although Pansy was an exceptionally private person, there was little space to hide in the Hogwarts communal dorms and eventually her friends had started asking her what was wrong. She had refused to tell them at first, but eventually Draco had persuaded her that having other people to confide in would help as he couldn't always be there for her.

He smiled bitterly at that last revelation. At least he had assured some part of Pansy's security, before breaking her heart and dumping her for that Gryffindor bimbo. He hoped she would be ok, despite his actions. Draco wasn't the stone-cold guy he claimed to be and, aside from them getting back together, he genuinely wished the best for his ex. He just wished he was man enough to break up with her in the conventional sense, instead of sleeping around until she got the message.

No, he wouldn't go down just yet, Pansy needed her space, he thought. Sod Theo and his whining, he would go down when he felt like it, even if his best mates left him and he was forced to enter the main hall with Vinny and Greg.

He told Theo this in as much words and was relieved when the pale boy listened to Blaise and left him in peace. He could briefly make out muffled voices from the common room and thought he heard Daphne utter a biting remark about his absence.

He sighed. She could think what she wanted, he didn't think Pansy would want to see him today, and he knew her a lot better than her blonde mate did.

He waited until the voices had quieted to low grunts and, figuring that it was only Vinny and Greg left, went down to join them.

Pansy had woken up in a state that morning. Her hair was a mess and she could feel the tear stains still tracking her face.

She had got back quite uneventfully last night and had cast a disillusionment charm on herself before sneaking into bed, so none of her friends had noticed how upset she was. They had nearly all fallen asleep anyway, only Daphne was awake, nervously lighting her wand, on and off, on and off.

She hadn't noticed Pansy sneak in through the open door, but had heard her collapse on her bed and the not-so-silent 'muffliato' charm she had cast, before breaking down in a heap.

Daphne neared her and Pansy thought for a moment that she was going to disturb her much needed solitude, but she didn't and instead shut the door, distinguishing her wand light as she did so.

"Goodnight Pansy," She had murmured, before getting back into her own bed and shutting her eyes.

Pansy's own response was muffled by her spell, but Daphne didn't seem to mind.

"Wake up Honey; we've got to get you some breakfast,"

Daphne had nudged her awake early, no doubt giving her time to look presentable before the others woke up. She smiled weakly at her pretty friend, before her lip trembled and she let out a shaky sob.

"Hey, I can't have that, Parkinson, you're a strong girl, you need to keep it together."

Pansy swallowed the next sob that was on her lips and angrily brushed at her eyes. She thought she was done with her crying yesterday. Clearly her body had better ideas.

"I look a state Daph," She whispered helplessly.

"I know," her mate said, but her brutal honesty didn't surprise Pansy. It was one of the things she liked about Daphne, she didn't do bullshit. Instead the pretty blonde brought out her wand and pointed it at Pansy.

"Now time to make Loverboy jealous."

She muttered a quick incantation and watched with satisfaction as strands of Pansy's hair started to curl of their own accord. With her other hand she passed Pansy a box of wipes which she gratefully accepted. The wipes were enchanted to remove most blemishes and worked their magic on the redness of her face. Next Daphne passed her her makeup box and Pansy, feeling more composed, began to apply her makeup. First she covered the remaining redness with a healthy dose of concealer, before using a makeup brush to blend in her foundation. She set the look with powder and had started on her eyes when the first of the other girls began to stir. Daphne meanwhile was still trying to fix her hair, frowning occasionally as Pansy's naturally straight locks resisted her magic.

"I don't know how you do this every day Pansy, it's a nightmare," she glowered. Daphne wasn't used to doing hair, Pansy realised. Her own natural princess locks didn't require much maintenance so sorting out Pansy's lifeless strands was a new process for her.

"Well not all of us were blessed with the hair of a veela," Miliscent Bulstrode piped up, having just woken up.

Pansy thought this was a somewhat ironic statement as Milly's own hair was naturally gorgeous, hanging in chestnut beach waves that framed her heart shaped face. Nevertheless she agreed with the sentiment, managing to grin across at Milly, who gave her a friendly wink.

"You alright, Pan?"

Pansy nodded, and luckily the subject didn't continue. On any other day Miliscent would be berating her with questions, not being the particularly tactful sort, but this morning she seemed to sense that Pansy was not in the mood, so let it drop.

The girls made their way down to breakfast together, after Tracey had also gotten ready and Pansy was relieved to see that Draco had not joined their usual group and it was just Blaise and Theo that came down. Vinny and Greg were always late down, so they didn't wait for them. Daphne did ask where Draco was, and Blaise, after glancing uncomfortably at Pansy, said that he didn't feel well.

"What a surprise," Daphne stated sarcastically, gripping Pansy's arm to show her they were all behind her. There was an awkward pause, before Theo broke the silence.

"Shall we go?"

The rest of them hastily agreed, exiting the common room and making their way up to the Great Hall.

As soon as she sat down she felt better. Daphne sat on one side of her, with Milly on the other. Tracey was opposite them and they had insisted that Pansy sit on the left hand side of the table, so as to avoid the nosey glances of other houses. Still it seemed these weren't even that bad. True, most of the Slytherins knew about the crap that had gone on, but they didn't tend to gossip with the other houses. The only noticeable look she received was from Lavender Brown, who stared at her with something resembling fear.

She was pleased to note that the Gryffindor blonde looked almost as bad as Pansy felt. Clearly hooking up with guys who were already taken took its toll on your sleep pattern. Huge Bags hung under Brown's puffy eyes and her hair was lank and greasy where it usually shone. As Pansy turned around to look at her, Parvati Patil put a protective arm around the girl, glaring at Pansy with a look of disgust.

Well, this changes things, thought Pansy. She and Parvati used to be good friends, before Hogwarts, and even though the other girl had been sorted into Gryffindor they still chatted amicably at family gatherings and in the corridors. She wouldn't have thought that Parvati would stick by the side of a girl like Brown. Still she had always preferred Padma, she conceded to herself- much less two-faced.

Daphne glared across at the two Gryffindors with a glare to rival Parvati's and Pansy was once again glad of her friend.

Glancing away from the Gryffindor table, she saw that Brown and Parvati weren't the only ones looking at her. Loony Lovegood was staring vacantly in her direction. She frowned at the girl, wondering whether she had interpreted their night time chat as more than it was. She knew Lovegood didn't have many friends, as evidenced by her space at the end of the table, a few seats down from the majority of the Ravenclaws. Even so, she couldn't face the embarrassment if Loony started trying to hang around with her.

Seeming to focus suddenly, Luna Lovegoods eyes came up to meet Pansy's and Pansy with a jolt realised that it was her who had been caught staring, not Loony. The younger girls face lit up with a smile as she saw Pansy, seemingly for the first time. Pansy sent a scowl in return, regretting it almost as she did as the poor girl's face dropped in surprise. Yeah, she didn't want Lovegood trailing around after her, but she was only being friendly and now Pansy had just shot her down.

Lovegood turned back to eat her meal and although Pansy tried to catch her eye and mutter, "Sorry," she left without glancing up.

Feeling like a bitch, Pansy picked at the half empty bowl of fruit in front of her, toying with the idea of eating some, before getting up and leaving the Great Hall, in more of a mood than when she had come in.

Draco baulked with surprise as he nearly ran headlong into Pansy storming out of the Great Hall.

"Watch where you're going!" She said furiously, before turning an angry shade of red when she realised who she had bumped into.

"What do you want?" she glowered, though Draco could see the hurt flash beneath her angry exterior. He felt awful for what he'd done and couldn't blame her for acting this way. Even so, he was with Greg and Vinny and they expected him to act a certain way towards Pansy. He didn't want to be a prat, but with the two lads behind him, judging his every move, ready to report it to their fathers if they saw even a hint of weakness- No, Draco needed to be ruthless. He could make it up to her later, if they ever started talking again, but right now the lads needed to hear some of his usual, Malfoy pig-headedness. So all he said in reply was-

"What's the matter Pansy, not found someone else to bang yet?"

This time the hurt on her face was clearly evident, but Vinny and Greg found it hilarious and set off guffawing into the Great Hall before Draco could even step out of Pansy's way. They were no doubt after whatever cake the poor first years had started digging into. Grimly, Draco sighed. He didn't think the first years would have much chance with those two gluttonous pigs after them.

He turned his attention back to Pansy, just as she tried to sidestep him. Oh no you don't, he thought and grabbed hold of her wrist before she could move away.

"Let go of me Draco," She yelled, obviously close to tears.

"No," He said calmly, not wanting to cause a scene, "You need to listen to me."

"Why on Earth would I listen to you?" She spat. Heads were beginning to turn now and Draco didn't like it.

"Because you're clearly not ok, and I don't want to be the cause of that"

He regretted the words as soon as he had said them. He knew how much Pansy hated her vulnerabilities being thrown out in public, and here he was, doing just that in a pathetic attempt to make amends.

"I'm sorry Pan," he muttered, but already it was too late.

"Sorry? You're Sorry?" She yelled incredulously. "I don't give a shit if you're sorry. You have no right to say that to me!" He looked at her with a pained expression, willing her to keep her voice down.

"And what's more, I don't need to be told that I'm not ok, by a fucking cheater!"

With her last sentiment expressed Pansy tore her arm out of Draco's grip and stalked away, leaving him standing at the entrance to the Great Hall, alone and with half the students staring at him. So much for maintaining his reputation.

"Glowering, he strode over to where Theo was sitting silently laughing at him. He sat down with a heavy thud, ignoring the expectant faces of his house mates. Theo opened his mouth to say something, but before he could Draco had his wand under the other boy's nose.

"One word Theo, and I swear I'll shove this up your nostril"

Pansy wandered about the corridors aimlessly. Originally she had planned to find Lovegood and apologise, something that was so unlike her that she felt almost unnerved by the prospect. But then that whole argument with Draco had happened and now she was walking to God-knows-where, trying not to give in to the tears that were lying just under the surface of her composure.

Eventually she found her way to the library. Luckily it was pretty quiet as most students were still in the Great Hall, or in their common rooms, preparing for lessons. She walked over to her same secluded spot from last night and was surprised to see Luna Lovegood sitting there.

Crap. Seeing Lovegood had seemed like such a great idea half an hour ago, when she could reasonably apologise for her behaviour. Now though- she didn't want to repeat last night again; it was bad enough Lovegood asking about her arm then, in the dark. She couldn't imagine what it would be like talking to the girl in her current emotional state. Heart beating, she began to edge away. Slowly, slowly. She really didn't want another emotionally charged interaction with the loony bin. She was almost round the corner when-

"Hello, Pansy, fancy seeing you here again."

Oh God.

"Hi Loony, how've you been?"

The blonde girl didn't answer for a few seconds. Instead she stared at the floor, her fingers tracing absent minded patterns on the woodwork. Shit, had Pansy really upset her?

"Listen Loony…"

"I wish you wouldn't call me that." Lovegood's head snapped up and she gazed at Pansy through her over-large eyes. Perturbed, Pansy took a step back. Girl looks like a fucking house elf, she thought to herself, unkindly. It wasn't true of course. A house elf could never look so reproachful.

"Everyone calls you that."

"Yes," she replied thoughtfully. "I tell them not to, but they do anyway. It's strange."

Poor girl, thought Pansy. It wasn't strange, it was sad. If Lovegood had been a Slytherin, no one would be calling her loony, even if she was a bit of a head-case. Even Pansy, with her own erratic moods had avoided anything worse than the occasional insult by Weasley and Potter. The rest of the Slytherins stood up for her. To them, reputation was everything. Clearly this was not the case for Lovegood, whom she had witnessed being bashed by fellow Ravenclaws on more than one occasion.

"Why doesn't your house stand up for you Luna?" She asked it softly and realised that this was the first time she had used the younger blonde's name. Moving forward, she sat down opposite the Ravenclaw prefect, close enough to touch her, and met her eyes with her own. Silver-blue, Pansy hadn't noticed before.

"What did you do to your arm?"

Pansy drew back and looked away, but Luna's eyes were still on her.

"Hey," she smiled through her soft lilt, "a question for a question."

At this, Pansy had to smile, but her expression was still guarded.

"I'm sorry I glared at you at breakfast."

Luna nodded, slowly, but didn't reply.

"I had to Luna, I didn't want to seem soft in front of my friends. Especially after what happened yesterday-" She broke off. She hadn't meant to say that much. She started to lean back, but before she could move Luna reached out and grabbed her arm.
"Pansy froze.

"I…I don't think…"

"You've been hurt Pansy." The Ravenclaw's grip on her arm was soft but firm; with her other hand she began to trace the scratches that Pansy had so carefully glamoured. Her eyes flicked up and met Pansy's startled expression. Luna's statement was so sudden and so honest that Pansy couldn't control it anymore. She felt her lower lip begin to quiver, then her whole body began to shake and she broke down collapsed into the arms of Luna bloody Lovegood.

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