Hi everyone!

WARNING: This chapter has a serious tone to it...this is because of the nature of the assignment and how it affects Pansy, just warning you now; this is not a humorous chapter. I went with the flow, and this is where Pansy wanted me to go! Also, some language...but I realised it's a T, so I'm warning you, but you should expect it!

Thanks to everyone who contributed an idea! They were all great but one really stuck out for me, and that also enables me to elaborate Pansy's background and deepen her character. Also, from the feedback I got, only one guy reads this story...bless his heart : )

This chapter is dedicated to: Ayriannah because her idea is the one I went with : )

So many people reviewed this chapter! We're so close to 400 reviews, can we reach it? I bet we can! Thanks to: Ash-Varnei, sweet-tang-honney, missygrace101, kama674, x8jessica8x, Pineapplepeople, Ayriannah, CFCRockAngel, evergreeneyes, SilverOnBlue, mirifaery, nmbr1potterfan, Sparkie3222, Fan1EdwardCullen, Adurna Rider of Kveykva, cheerluver, Sesshoumaruluver01, vampiregirl292, reina13, cyn23, voldyismyfather, cullen's pet, 11xNaNx11, mygirl756, firstEveningStar, BustyxxxxWizard, tfobmv18, mustang2207, x-hermalfoy, martshi3, GlaudioseGoddess, VoiletDhaliwal and scarredprincess. You're all awesome!!!!!!

Chapter 19: The Assignment

The pattering of rain on the window woke Draco earlier than he would have liked. He yelped and sat up straight as he heard the low rumblings of thunder. He looked down to Hermione, expecting her eyes to be open. She looked restless, her eyes scrunched up and a slight frown resting on her features. Draco remembered early on in their relationship, Hermione hadn't been sleeping well. A recurring nightmare?

He gently shook Hermione, but she didn't wake up. Instead, she started whimpering in her sleep. Damn.

"Hermione," he whispered, "wake up."

No reply.

"Hermione," he said louder," wake up!"

She rolled over and started whispering, "Not again. Please. Stop it, I can't-" Then Draco froze. Hermione let out a piercing scream. He immediately knew where she saw in her nightmare. His manor. He couldn't think about that night without the most incredible amount of guilt slicing through his body. He knew why he didn't stop it; his father and Voldemort would have killed him. But he tried to protect them as much as he could. He pretended not to recognise Harry when his face was puffed up. He didn't put much of a fight up when Harry and Ron fought him in the dungeon. Sure, he was punished afterwards, but he was pleased the trio had gotten away. They were the only chance of stopping Voldemort.

The door opened and Harry, Ginny, Blaise and Pansy stumbled in.

"What's going on?!" Harry cried, ignoring the fact Draco was half dressed under the sheet.

"I don't know! I woke up to the thunder and tried waking Hermione up but she started whimpering and then she screamed. I think it's her recurring nightmare." Draco explained quickly. He didn't know what to do, she wouldn't wake up. She screamed for what seemed like hours. Ginny rushed to the side of the bed and stroked Hermione's hair. Draco put his head in his hands, he was at a loss. Blaise and Pansy stood awkwardly by Ginny's side, like Draco, they were unsure of what to do next.

"Should we take her to the Hospital Wing?" Draco asked. Harry shook his head.

"She should wake up soon, once the torture part is over. She's been having this nightmare ever since we were taken to the Manor. Maybe seeing your mother again reawoke it tonight." Harry said.

Ginny continued to stroke Hermione's hair. She started humming a lullaby tune and Hermione visibly started to calm down. Draco looked on in amazement.

"When Hermione comes to stay at the Burrow, she sleeps in my room. I know how to stop them, seeing as it happened almost every night," Ginny explained quietly.

A few minutes later, Hermione opened her eyes.

"Thank Merlin," Draco muttered, before pulling Hermione into a hug.

"Whazzagoinon?" Hermione croaked, baffled by the group that was assembled in their room.

"You had a nightmare, you screamed; everyone heard and rushed in to see what the matter was. Ginny sung to you and you calmed down. Then you woke up," Draco summarised, he didn't want Hermione to know that he had been at an utter loss.

"Oh," Hermione blushed, "can someone get me a glass of water please. What time is it?"

Pansy went into the bathroom as she was closest, conjured a glass and poured tap water into the cup. She returned and handed the glass over to Hermione.

"It's just gone six in the morning. We might as well get up now, breakfast will be starting at seven," Harry answered.

Hermione nodded and then said, "If it's ok, I might just stay here and get a little bit more sleep. Is that ok Draco?"

"Of course it is, whatever makes you happy," Draco smiled.

The four left and Hermione snuggled up to Draco. Draco leant his head on hers.

"I'm sorry for all the fuss; I didn't know they were all going to rush in. I'm glad they did, I didn't know what to do," Draco confessed.

"It's alright; I should be used to it by now. Seeing your mother yesterday brought it all back to me," Hermione said slowly.

"That's what Harry thought. Maybe we should ask Madam Pomfrey for her advice. A potion you could take or something like that," he suggested thoughtfully.

Hermione murmured, her breaths getting deeper and slower. Soon she was fast asleep. Draco stroked her hair, in an attempt to keep the nightmare at bay. It seemed to work.

An hour later Ginny knocked on the door to say they were going down to breakfast. Draco asked her to bring some food up for them, as he didn't want to wake Hermione up. Ginny nodded and closed the door quietly. Draco managed to reach for his bedside draw and was able to take out his book. He might as well occupy himself while Hermione slept.

Ginny came up half an hour later with a rack of toast and a jar of raspberry jam.

"Thanks," Draco said, as she put it down on his bedside table.

"That's alright. I put a heating charm on the toast so it won't get cold. How is she?"

"Good, she hasn't woken up yet. And considering PRC has been switched to the first lesson today, I don't see any reason to wake her up."

"Why do you think they switched it?" Ginny asked, sitting down on the bed.

Draco shrugged, "something to do with the assignment? Maybe they have to go somewhere after the lesson or it will take a full day to complete. I guess we'll find out later."

Ginny nodded. She stood up and said before she left, "Blaise and I will be in our room. If you need us, please knock and wait for one of us to reply this time. Don't want a repeat of yesterday now do we?"

Draco pretended to shudder and Ginny laughed as she closed the door.

Harry and Pansy walked to the classroom where PRC was held. They were one of the first to arrive. The pair sat down at a table near the front because Harry and Pansy both wanted to know what this assignment was going to be.

Dean and Padma arrived soon after them. Harry greeted them and pointed to the table next to theirs.

"Why are you here?" he asked once they'd sat down.

Padma looked at Dean snidely and replied, "a few weeks ago we were fooling around and then the idiot said the name of my sister. My twin sister! I refuse to be in the same room as him, and what makes it worse is we're sharing a room with her and Justin! I've asked for a room transfer but Dumbledore hopes this 'assignment' will cure Dean's crush on my sister."

Harry and Pansy gaped at one another. What were they supposed to say after that...although, in all honesty, what was Padma going to say? Were there any other reasons that couples weren't getting along besides cheating on your partner with someone else or having feelings for another person?

Dean blushed as if he didn't think Padma was actually going to have said the true reason.

"Padma..." he said under his breath.

"What?" Padma hissed, "You don't think I'm going to lie about why we're having problems? It's your fault, I'm not putting any blame on myself thank you very much."

"But you haven't listened to what I've been trying to say! You haven't tried to fix us, you've just refused to move on and let this small incident ruin what we did have," Dean replied quietly.

"Small incident? Dean Andrew Thomas, do not dare-"

A loud cough interrupted their argument. Harry and Pansy gratefully turned their attention to Professor McGonagall, because all the couples had arrived and there was no time to waste in the bonding assignment.

"Thank you everyone for your co-operation. I hope that this assignment will do what it is designed to do and help you troubled couples bond. You have most likely seen your friends happy with their partners and I'm sure that you all want the same."

Padma snorted and Professor McGonagall glared at her.

"If you kindly make your way through this door, I will explain on the other side what your assignment involves."

Shooting each other quizzical looks, Harry and Pansy stood up and made their way to a door on the left.

Harry saw the inside of the room first. There were about twenty pensieves, one for each couple, surrounded by a thin partition. His mind rushed through all the possibilities of what this could mean.

When everyone was inside, McGonagall continued. "This is your assignment. Each couple will take a pensieve and put their three most important memories into the pensieve before performing legillimency on your partner. The memories in the pensieve are memories you want to stay hidden. The idea of this is to see what makes your partner tick and hopefully invoke feelings of trust. After this, you must talk about what you see whilst you are performing legillimency. This is to invoke feelings of understanding, safety and possibly sympathy. Please choose a pensieve with your partner and place your memories inside it. Then wait for my command and the female will perform legillimency on the male. Or-" she nodded to the two sixth years of the same sex." -number yourself one and two, then one perform first on two. Do I make myself clear?"

Everyone nodded and Harry followed Pansy to a pensieve near the back of the room. They closed the partition so they wouldn't be disturbed.

"Nervous?" Pansy asked. Harry shrugged, trying to concentrate on the memories he didn't want Pansy to see. Which three of his vast collection of memories were the most important? After a few minutes, Harry used his wand and placed three memories into the pensieve. Pansy did the same. They then waited for McGonagall's voice.

"Now. There is a twist to this. You will not perform Legillimency; this was only said so you would feel safe hiding the memories you don't want the other to see."

Gasps were heard all around the room. They had been deceived. Harry looked quickly at Pansy, who looked shocked but not as troubled as Harry expected her to be. Pansy accepted that this was a logical thing to do, as it would make them closer, to see the things that Harry didn't want her to see. Harry was worried of how she would react. He didn't want to share those memories with Pansy. They were private...

"The female in the partnership, or number two, whichever you prefer, must put their head in the pensieve and see your partner's memories. After you have seen all three, you must talk about them before letting your partner see yours. There have been enchantments placed on the pensieves so you feel what your partner was feeling in the moment the memory took place." Professor McGonagall continued. Harry sighed but accepted it would happen, even if he complained or had a strop. Whatever McGonagall says, it goes.

"Please start...now."

Pansy took a deep breath before flashing Harry a smile. At least she could see his first. She had learnt to hide her feelings well, and was extremely worried of the memories she had wanted hidden from Harry. No-one knew about her true life before Hogwarts, the inner workings of her family.

She dipped her head into the large bowl. Immediately she felt herself falling, falling into Harry's first memory.

When she landed, she looked around to see an eleven year old Harry alone in a large room. The only object in the large room was a mirror. She felt curious, and walked closer. Harry stood in front of the mirror, gazing at it with adorning eyes. He seemed transfixed. Moving closer, Pansy stood directly next to Harry and turned her direction to the mirror. She gasped. There were people standing in the mirror. She felt her heart beat faster and hope flooded her body. She looked at the young Harry and saw him smile wildly, before moving forwards to touch the mirror. What is this? Pansy thought to herself. She had never seen anything like it. Harry reached out and touched the reflection of a young woman, with long auburn hair and eyes...eyes the colour of Harry's. This was his mother.

"Mum?" Young Harry asked, astonishment reflecting in his voice. The woman in the mirror nodded. Pansy felt happiness seep through every pore in her body. This must be what Harry is feeling right now...

Pansy blinked, and when she opened her eyes, the scene had changed. Now she was standing in a graveyard. Harry was there, holding a cup, along with a boy she recognised as Cedric Diggory. This must have been in fourth year. Where Harry had claimed to have been transported to. The night...the night Diggory died. Instead of happiness, she felt adrenaline pumping round her body. She also felt exhausted, as if she had run a mile up a hill. She watched Cedric examine the cup as Harry looked around nervously. She felt scared, she knew Harry would come out alive, but she didn't want to see what happened next.

"Someone's coming," Harry said. Pansy looked in the direction Harry was looking and saw a figure. She knew without a doubt that it was Pettigrew carrying the form of He Who Must Not Be Named. She didn't want to watch but when she tried to move, she realised she couldn't move. Harry didn't show it, but she knew now how petrified he was. She understood, and what's more. Pansy feared for him.

Harry suddenly dropped to the ground, appearing to be in agony. She wanted to rush over to him, to comfort him and protect him. But she knew this was just a memory. She watched in horror as a high, cold voice said, "Kill the spare."

A flash of green light erupted from Pettigrew's wand, and Cedric died before her eyes. She felt her eyes brim with tears, and she blinked them away.

She opened her eyes and saw the final memory. It was an extremely recent one. This was before the whole Draco incident. She watched as Harry sat on the bed waiting for...herself...to come out of the bathroom. She wondered why Harry hadn't wanted her to see this memory. The bathroom door opened and she saw herself run out of the bathroom in a towel and desperately rummage through her trunk, searching for some clothes. Then she realised why Harry had hidden it. Pansy looked at Harry, and saw him see the memory Pansy. The look on his face was content, and happy. The look that appeared on someone who liked someone else. Harry had liked Pansy. She gasped, before feeling herself be pulled up, into the ceiling. She pulled her head out of the water, still gasping. She stared at Harry, who had his face in his hands.

"You-you-liked me," Pansy stuttered.

Harry nodded, not looking Pansy in the eye.

She hit him. "Look at me, Harry!"

Harry teared his hands from his face, he was burning with embarrassment. Pansy had seen him at his most vulnerable. She had seen his parents, she had watched Cedric die and, she had seen evidence that he had indeed, liked her.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Pansy asked him softly once Harry looked at her.

A pause, then Harry sighed. "I didn't want to admit to myself that I liked you. We hadn't been a couple very long...and I wanted to get to know you better. And then you had to go and flirt with Draco and I thought you didn't like me. That's why I hated you for so long. Because you had rejected me."

Pansy bit her lip.

"I'm sorry. I should have known. I was just caught up in my own little world, and I wasn't used to really being in a relationship. What me and Blaise had... that was just physical. I had never been with a guy who actually talked to me before. I don't know how I could have been so happy with that. What we had, or I hope to have in the future....nothing is better than that, and I never want to go back to having a purely physical relationship. I hope in time, we can get things back on track, and we can respect each other."

Harry nodded again, before pulling Pansy into a hug. Pansy leant on his shoulder briefly, then let go.

"It's your turn now. And, I'm sorry in advance for what you have to witness."

Harry looked at her, but she didn't say anything more. This time, Pansy hung her head, and Harry wondered what on earth was he going to have to watch?

He bent his head down and emerged himself into the bowl. Harry plummeted down, feeling both a sense of dread of what to come, and also relief that he and Pansy were on the same page again.

When he stood up, he saw a young girl sitting on the sofa by the door. She was alone, staring out of the open window. The sun was high in the sky, and he could hear birds whistling from the nearby tree. He knew the girl next to him was Pansy, who else could it have been? He guessed she was around six or seven years old.

A male voice shouted from somewhere upstairs. Pansy stiffened but didn't move. Harry felt fear creep slowly through his veins. Who was this man? He sounded threatening, and Pansy appeared to fear him. Harry felt protective of young Pansy.

The voice bellowed, "Pansy! You ungrateful little bitch! Get here now or I swear to Merlin you'll wish you were never born!"

Harry was stunned. No-one had the right to treat a young girl like this. This was abuse, in basic terms. The young Pansy bit her lip and exited the room. Harry followed her, unable to stop, but he felt unable to watch what he knew was going to happen.

Pansy went up the stairs and into the first room on the left. She was trembling, and Harry wanted to stop her from going into the room. She reached for the door, and Harry blinked. When he opened his eyes, the scene changed. He was relieved to not see what was behind that door.

Now Pansy was alone, again, but this time in the garden. It was snowing and extremely cold but Pansy didn't have a jacket on. She was wearing a black dress, nothing else. No scarf, no gloves, not tights. Her fingertips were white and her legs were red, Pansy was obviously frozen solid. She seemed a few years older, Harry thought, as the young Pansy doodled in the snow. She looked up at the sky, and Harry noticed she had cuts on her cheek, and a black eye. She was still being abused? Why? Wasn't there anyone to care for her? No-one had healed her wounds or even bothered to give her a jacket?! And I thought I had it bad...at least I wasn't beaten by the Dursleys.

Pansy seemed to feel that she had been outside for long enough. Harry felt sad, and also apprehension. This was what Pansy was feeling as she made her way back to the house.

She walked up the path and Harry saw a crowd by the front door. They were all wearing black. Was this a funeral? Are they the same as Muggle funerals?

Pansy stood at the edge of the crowd as the doors opened, and a coffin was carried outside. As the coffin passed, Harry felt immense sadness rip through him. The coffin had a glass top, and Harry saw an elderly woman lie inside.

"Goodbye Grandmother, I'll miss you," Pansy whispered softly. Harry stared, as tears began to fall down her cheeks. Maybe her Grandmother was the one to care for her...

A shadow formed behind Harry, next to Pansy. A man leered down at her and Harry knew this was the man who abused the young girl.

"Upstairs, now," he sneered. Pansy whimpered and walked through the crowd and into the house.

The scene changed for the last time.

Pansy was dressed in her school robes, sitting on a toilet. She was crying softly, holding something in her hand. Harry immediately wondered what had happened, in school to make her cry. All Harry wanted to do was hold her, and tell her everything would be alright. But, he was in a memory, and this had clearly happened already.

To him, Pansy had always seemed bullet-proof, she was tough, much like Ginny was. But the same girl was crying her eyes out in a public toilet. Pansy wiped her eyes and stood up, adjusting her robes. Harry was allowed to look away while she did this.

She opened the cubicle door and light fell onto the object in her hand. Harry gasped as he realised what it was. It was a Muggle pregnancy kit. And the blue line indicated that she was pregnant.

Harry felt himself rise from the floor, and realised in mere moments he would face Pansy, the girl was had had such a tragic life, and he had to talk to her about it.

He fell out of the bowl and looked around for Pansy. She was sat on the floor, her head resting on her knees. He sat himself down next to her and Pansy rested her head on his shoulder instead.

"I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry," whispered Pansy. "I never wanted you to know about that, let alone see it. That's my past, and I don't want people to pity me. Please say you forgive me."

"I don't need to forgive you. You did nothing wrong. We can talk about this in more detail later, but just answer me this. Who was the father?" Harry asked, praying it wasn't Draco or Blaise. He wondered if they knew about it.

"It-it was a friend of the family. The man you heard shouting at me was my father, he wanted me to keep his friend happy," she spat. "That was the day I arrived to H-Hogwarts in September, my second year. I went to Madam Pomfrey and she did a proper scan. I was a month along. I asked her to get rid of it, and begged her to not let anyone know about it, not even Dumbledore. I felt so used; it was the most awful day of my life. That's when I was determined to not let anything affect me again, I became a changed person, and I never went home again unless I absolutely had to. I was a punch bag to my father, my mother took a blind eye and got blindedly drunk instead, and when father had his little parties I was-" she choked, "-the entertainment. I'm so sorry you got stuck with me. I'm tainted-"

Harry shushed her and said, "It wasn't your fault. What they did to you was awful. But I'll protect you. You're safe with me. I'm sorry you had to go through that."

Pansy sniffed, and then said, "I bet McGonagall didn't expect memories like this did she?"

Harry laughed, and changed the subject. They would wait until they were in their room before sharing their lives with each other, truthfully.

They opened the partition and McGonagall saw them.

"Finished? Did it help?" She asked.

The couple looked at each other, and then both said, "Definitely."

Heavy stuff huh?! I just kept writing, and that's where I got! I knew there had to be a reason behind Pansy's attitude, and then I thought, what if she was abused as a child and the only person who cared for her had died? What would happen to her, and how would that affect her? Don't you feel sorry for her? They've definitely moved a step in the right direction!

Next chapter will be the shopping trip with Narcissa for the majority (hopefully) and then I'll see where it goes. Chapter after that will probably be Hermione/Draco engagement party... don't take my word for it though!

Please tell me how you thought about the chapter, was it too serious? Disturbing? Or a good reason for why Pansy is the way she is?

Plus! What do you lot think the them for Hermione/Draco's engagement party to be? Luna and Rons were wedding colours...so go wild! I have an idea for Ginny/Blaises so that's good : D

See you lot sooooon! And don't forget to review, let's make it past 400!