Good Monday Everyone! I just wanted to thank everyone who reviewed. It may take me a while to get back to you but I really appreciate you taking the time to not only read my work but to comment as well! Also I must apologize for any grammar error, I am dyslexic and I might not catch all of my mistakes. I hope everyone has an awesome day, peace guys.
Pansy Parkinson loitered in the hallway before Professor Umbridge's class and by proximity, office. Here feet steadily eating up the floor as they paced back and forth, unable to stand still. She had taken up muttering to herself the half hour prior, and now just seemed to be repeating the same question to herself.
"What in the world am I doing here?"
She had given up on pretending she was only helping the young Gryffindor girl. If that were true she wouldn't be late for her "tutoring" with Draco Malfoy because she was stuck waiting on one, Harry Potter. Subconsciously Pansy started to swirl her wand around her fingers while she muttered, that tip glowing ever so slightly with the excess magic held just below the surface. She would only have one chance to hex Potter before he would get suspicious.
Hearing footsteps other than her own, Pansy quickly retreated to one of the recesses in the wall, carefully hiding in the shadows. As the steps rounded the corner, Pansy pushed from her hiding spot, her shoulder connecting heavily into an adolescent male's chest. She curved her body around her wand hand and quickly muttered the numbing hex, sending it into Harry's right hand.
He gave a garbled gasp before pushing her heavily back, awkwardly her heels caught and she found herself sprawled out on the marble floor.
"What the hell, Pansy?" Harry threw at her, shaking his hand as if that would restore the feeling.
"Trust me Harry, it hurts," Pansy said softly, picking herself up off the ground. Then louder, "Watch where you're going, Potter. Next time I won't let you off so easily." Her feet quickly carried her out of the hall before Harry could ask any more questions.
By the time she made it to the Slytherin common rooms she was already twenty minutes late. A point she was sure Malfoy would exploit. Rounding the corner, she was surprised to find the common room empty, more than half expecting to find Malfoy sitting in a cushioned chair in the middle of the room. Frowning at Draco's missed opportunity at theatrics, she slowly made her way to his door, knocking softly.
The door opened almost immediately, a hand shooting out, clutching her collar, and dragging her in. She almost laughed when she was thrust into an arm chair on the other side of the door. The fire call Draco had going made her grateful she didn't though. Putting on her unperturbed face, she straightened in the chair and crossed her legs as Bellatrix's cackle filled the room.
"Awe, pet wasn't expecting me, was she?" Bellatrix giggled merrily, her face contorting in the fire. Pansy's mind raced but she couldn't figure out the purpose of her call. Instead of rising to the taunt, Pansy turned away in indifference. "Oh, hu-hu" Bellatrix chortled, "I do so love your attitude girlie."
"Aunt Bellatrix, was just about to tell me what we could do for the Dark Lord this year," Draco said, obviously aware the attention had been off him for long enough. Pansy happily allowed him to take the lead. The less she was noticed the better.
"Yes, yes I was. We will talk about your appalling manners later, my lovely squire." Pansy's flinch at the name almost went unnoticed, Bellatrix's cackle proving her failure at camouflaging the involuntary movement. "You need to find it. Yes, find it," she continued more to herself. Her recent escape from Azkaban still prevalent in her looks and mannerisms. At the beginning of the summer she had been weak, gaunt, and was probably the only reason Pansy was alive today as she hadn't held back, taking her anger and frustration from Azkaban and bringing it all down on Pansy, with her excessive "training.". Even now months later Ballatrix still hadn't shaken the habit of talking to herself.
"Find what, Auntie?" Malfoy asked with a hint of exasperation in his voice.
"The prophecy of course, if we don't get it first. You must get close, he will see it first, before he must find it." Bellatrix laughed again, she was in one of her episodes. The ones where she almost seemed stuck in her own world, repeating what had been told to her. Pansy could always tell by how jumbled her words got, how everything sounded like a divination lecture. There was an abrupt shuffling before Narcissa Malfoy's face burst through the flames, pushing her sister out.
"Draco?" She called, her emberd eyes quickly scanning the room.
"I'll see myself out," Pansy murmured to Draco, allowing him to talk to his mother in peace.
"I'll convey your regard to your parents, Pansy dear," Lady Malfoy called to her as she closed the door. She smiled slightly, Lady Malfoy wasn't trying to be spiteful she was just being genuine.
It wasn't long before both Pansy and Draco were walking the darken halls. A lumos guiding their way through the dark corridors.
"You aren't doing a good enough job," Draco finally said after they had walked most of the hour in silence.
"What?" Pansy asked having no idea what he was talking about.
"Three more years, Pansy, three more years and you'll be seen as an adult and can finally move out from under your parent's thumb. But in those three years, you have to at least lie better if you want to survive." Pansy glanced sidelong at the shorter boy. His shoulders were tense, forever holding the burdens his father placed upon him.
"Okay, Draco. Okay," Pansy murmured not wanting to add to that weight.
No matter how many times she has woken up to it, the first few seconds are utterly confusing. Something softly, yet roughly touched her cheek, just under her eye. The sandpaper tongue, lightly brushed across her skin. When Pansy finally opened her eyes they were greeted by a small black nose, and a light pink tongue peeking out from a black muzzle.
Her familiar, Bean, purred loudly in greeting before rubbing his cheeks on Pansy's face, spreading his scent. Smiling slightly, she gave Bean the attention he deserved before moving out from under the covers.
Even before she became apprenticed to Bellatrix she had a predisposition for dueling. Defense Against the Dark Arts, was always her favorite class, she enjoyed the chance to practice the spells and movements she learned in her studies. So when she first entered the prefect room she was pleasantly surprised by the amount of room in it. Now it wasn't large enough to house a whole dueling stage but it was enough for half. The end lined up with a floor to ceiling mirror, allowing her to practice positions. The mirror was also charmed to act like the standard shield charm except the spells would bounce straight back and not be shot off willy-nilly or could even be absorbed all together. It allowed Pansy to practice without the need of a partner. Pansy would be forever impressed by the magic held within the walls of Hogwarts.
The stage dominated the first portion of the room, leaving her bed, desk and wardrobe to occupy the last quarter. Not that she minded, she rather enjoyed the setup Hogwarts had provided her.
Moving through her morning routine quickly, finishing with feeding Bean before heading out. She meet Draco and the rest of his gang in the common room, reset the password, and moved towards the Grand Hall for breakfast.
She was in an oddly good mood, as Draco's posturing did little to dampen it. He was currently trying to convince Crabbe and Goyle that the Dark Lord personally requested him to be His inside man at Hogwarts. Which wasn't un-true but it was less the Dark Lord asked him and more his weasel of a father, Lucius. Draco's father using anything and everything in his arsenal to try to get in better with the Dark Lord, even his own son.
"What has you all smile-y?" Crabbe grumbled to her, obviously losing interest with Draco's continuous talk.
"Yeah you hardly ever smile, Pans," Goyle stated matter of factly. Even that God-forsaken nickname, that the two pig heads insisted on calling her, didn't ruin her mood.
"Just excited for class," she said filling her plate with her usual.
"Geeze, Pansy, anymore and you might as well be that Granger girl," Malfoy said snidely.
"And what's wrong with that Granger girl?" she snapped, before actually thinking it through.
"Uhm, she's a mudblood," Malfoy answered, his voice slightly raised in pitch, his eyebrows drawn together in fake confusion.
"Right," Pansy murmured.
"Girls," Draco snickered, covering for her. Crabbe and Goyle agreed ignorantly and laughed along with Draco. Once both boys were occupied with stuffing their faces Draco faced Pansy, "He had detention last night." She looked over at the boy, he was looking out to the Gryffindor table. "He looks ridiculous trying to eat with his left hand," he continued with another laugh. She added her own lilting contribution, maintaining the cover over the conversation. Snide comments being said, but actually concerning points being brought up. Harry Potter wasn't telling his friends what happened in detention, at least, not yet.
When Pansy entered her first class, she was again the first in the room, student that is. She immediately noticed the silver tabby that was scaling the crown molding around the ceiling. Nodding politely to the Professor's animagus form she took the seat she was sitting in yesterday.
It wasn't long before first Hermione and then the rest of the seventh year students arrived. Pansy noticed how Hermione and a Ravenclaw student immediately spotted McGonagall, the boy pointing her out for the rest of the class.
Each student gave an envious sigh as the teacher gracefully descended to her desk and slid almost liquidly through forms.
"Good Morning class," Professor McGonagall began, "As we discussed yesterday, you were all picked for your skill in transfiguration, though that skill doesn't automatically transfer to animagus. This class is designed to give you the opportunity to explore that route if you so choose. But be warned, it is a long arduous journey. For some it will take but a month of continuous training, others may find they still need time by the end of the school year. For my two fifth year students, you are taking O.W.L.s this year, and for my seventh years, your N.E.W.T.s. Please take into account the time commitment needed to excel in this class. You still have the opportunity to drop, just because you have the skill doesn't mean this is the path you want to take." McGonagall's eyes roamed over the class, stopping on one or two students, neither Pansy.
"Why would we not want to be an animagus?" a Ravenclaw questioned.
"Quite simply put, there is not much that can be done with the form except in deception, concealment, or personal pleasure. And even then the form your animagus takes may not even be helpful to you. You see you don't get to choose your form, it is predisposed to fit you and your own personality traits. Your patronus may be your only hint to your form, though that isn't always the case. But to further answer your question, let's say you work at the ministry," McGonagall's voice took on a tone of disgust, probably because of all the non-sense it had been spewing lately in regards to the Dark Lord. Or in their case, the lack of him, "and your animagus is a doe, see there isn't much use for a doe in the everyday workplace. Now, let's say you're an aurora, now a doe form could be plenty helpful in gathering intelligence or even chasing down suspects."
"Is it dangerous?" the other Gryffindor asked.
"Very, there is every chance that the spell could backfire. In some instances, it has caused death, in others it has been said to be more excruciating than a crucio."
Pansy doubted that, there couldn't be anything more painful than laying under Bellatrix's crucio. Professor McGonagall continued her lecture on the decision the students would have to make, they had up until the end of next week to decide. Pansy didn't need that time; she was sold on the concealment aspect. She could care less what form she took, as long as it aided her in her eventual escape from her parents. She wasn't misguided, she knew they wouldn't let her go easily. Especially as Bellatrix's apprentice.
"In fact," McGonagall was saying, "there are only a limited amount of animagus in the registry, less then there are students in this class. So my expectations are simple, you will all fail."
Fail? There was no way she could fail. She needed this, she would succeed even if this class was the only class she passed this year.
That night, after dinner, and before Potter's detention, Pansy found herself scouring the bookshelves for anything and everything on animagus training. If this was going to take as much time as Professor McGonagall was leading her to believe, she would need to get started right away.
Altogether she shouldn't have been surprised when she found Hermione in the library with the same mission in mind.
Found, probably wasn't the best word. Collided, was more accurate. Books in hand Pansy was quickly making her way out of the library, when rounding the corner had her intimately meeting Hermione's hair. A brief whiff of vanilla was all she got before she was rebounded back. Being taller than the Gryffindor, she tried to compensate for her added force and ended up on her knees, her books scattered everywhere.
"Oh my gosh!" Hermione chimed, "I am so sorry, I didn't see you there." She quickly reached for the books on the floor, pausing as she read the titles. They gathered the books in silence and then stood next to each other awkwardly waiting for the other to talk first. Almost panicked, Pansy adjusted the sleeves of her blouse, pulling at the cuffs at her wrists, and then tightening her tie to almost choking so her scars were covered. These quick, and stuttered movements not going unnoticed by the Gryffindor.
"You can use them once I'm done, or if you want we could read them together?" Pansy finally spoke up, wanting to distract Hermione. She knew there weren't many duplicates in the library and probably no duplicates on animagus as it wasn't as popular a subject.
"Uhm," Hermione said, drawing out the sound like she was looking for an excuse to say no without sounding rude.
"Or not, no worries," Pansy spoke softly before turning towards the exit. She didn't want to make the girl uncomfortable. Just because Pansy wanted to be different didn't mean the world around her did. And definitely not the wild haired Gryffindor girl who had been on her mind the whole week, even if the girl had been preaching inter house unity just a few days ago.
"No!" Hermione burst out, reaching out slightly and catching hold of Pansy's sleeve. "That sounds nice, I've never had anyone keep up with my studies before though."
"Is that a challenge, Granger?" Pansy asked with a smirk, though not a malicious one.
"Uhm, uh, no?" Hermione stuttered her brows drawing together as if she didn't know how to respond.
"Relax Hermione," Pansy said softer, "I was just teasing you. I have utmost faith in myself to keep up with you." The bushy haired girl looked down at her feet and then off to the side not knowing what to say. Probably wondering why, she hadn't taunted her yet, Pansy thought. "I don't have any ulterior motives, if it makes you uncomfortable to work with a Slytherin I understand." Maybe Hermione had only stopped her out of courtesy and not with actual want to work with her.
"No, I think it will be good to work together," Pansy watched as Hermione stood straighter and her chest puffed up with a sense of accomplishment. Hermione probably saw this as an opportunity to lead the way to better relations between Gryffindor and Slytherin. If the two prefects from the separate houses could get along, why couldn't everyone else?
Pansy gave the girl a strained smile, she already felt like she was going to be used as some sort of poster child for peace.
"Did you want any of these for tonight? Otherwise we can meet up here at lunch tomorrow?" Pansy questioned. She needed to make her escape while she could. She had a self-righteous boy to hex.
"Oh, tomorrow is fine," Hermione said smiling up at Pansy. Her happiness almost infectious, almost.
"Wait let me give you these," Pansy put her bag down and reached around inside for her small containers. She had the ingredients for the potion directions she had given Hermione yesterday. Once she had handed over the assortment of roots, and a single stand of centaur hair she had stolen from Snape's personal stores, she turned to make her way to the exit, only to be stopped by a low voice again.
"Is this some sort of scaring tactic?"
Surprised Pansy just stopped in her tracks. She wanted to not be hurt by the words, the amount of hate someone would need to do what Hermione was suggesting… Turning she meet amber eyes, her old mask was so tempting to put back on.
"No," Pansy finally said, "Though someone you know needs it." Pansy rubbed at her hand absentmindedly, feeling the raised flesh there. Which of course didn't go unnoticed. Pansy had a lot of experience with scars and had she found the potion this past summer. She almost wished she had found it her first year at Hogwarts, maybe then she wouldn't have so many. Before Hermione could question who Pansy was talking about, the taller girl was gone.
Twice in as many days Pansy found herself loitering outside the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom with an internal struggle. She should just keep to herself, drift through the background and patiently wait for the escape she desperately wanted, but the slight sting of phantom pains in her hand prompted her to be here. Umbridge was a terrible person, and no one deserved one of her "detentions," not even the-boy-who-lived. Distractedly, Pansy listened to the chatter that still permeated the halls, students were still moving through them even at this late hour.
When Harry finally made his way into the hallway, Pansy stood in the middle determined not to be ignored. She knew he was going to try to tough it out, but she wouldn't let him. He needed this even if he wouldn't admit to it himself.
So here they stood, on opposite side of the hall, calmly staring each other down, frowns on each of their faces, until Harry gave almost the faintest of nods.
Pulling her mask on Pansy began her spiel.
"What did I just tell you, Potter? You think you're better than me because you're the-boy-who-lived? Do you really think you'll be able to do this on your own?" Pansy was trying to be convincing for anyone listening in, but she also wanted him to understand what she was telling him.
This battle could not be won alone.
"I told you what would happen yesterday," she shot of the hex wordlessly, but flashy, allowing anyone trying to sneak a peek, a glimpse of the powerful beam of red that shot from her wand, grazing Harry's hand. "Consider that your last warning, you are out-matched here. Maybe you should talk to that mud-" her tongue tangled on the word, mask slipping, "-blood of yours for the help you most definitely need." Quieter, just for Harry's ears she said, "you need your friends."
The whole moment couldn't have lasted longer than ten minutes but it left Pansy almost exhausted. She left her second Gryffindor of the day confused and with more questions than when she had arrived in their lives. This was quickly becoming her style. Dropping in with unwanted help, then leaving before questions could be asked of her.
Not too overly concerned about how Harry might take their interactions, Pansy made her way to the dungeons. She had a lot of reading she needed to do tonight. Though it wasn't because she wanted to impress the bushy haired girl when they met up tomorrow. No, that definitely wasn't the reason.