Chapter 7: The Ancient and Noble House of Parkinson
"If you had told me at any time during my seven years at Hogwarts that Harry Potter would marry Pansy Parkinson, I would have laughed in your face. Out loud. In a really, really obnoxious way. She insulted Neville Longbottom in the very first flying class of the year and things went straight downhill from there.
"The Parkinson family was a line known for basically being there while other people did infamous things. They were the sidekick to the superhero, or supervillain depending on your point of view. Pansy's uncle, Pendleton Parkinson, was a right bastard. He was a selfish, ruthless, egotistical bastard. Worse for Pansy, her father was a spineless coward.
"Before she started school Pansy's father Perseus, as ordered by her uncle, told her to get as close as possible to Draco Malfoy in an attempt to bring the families together. Pendleton had two sons, Palmer and Poltock, so Pansy was the only one available to him to seek a union with the Malfoy family, who had been slowly gaining power and had been a more recent elevation to the status of Ancient and Noble House. Pansy's mother was a Blishwick, not a noble house but one that held a Wizengamot proper seat anyway, and she knew it was an idea destined to fail, but gave what assistance she could.
"Draco never loved Pansy, but he protected her throughout school. The Malfoys had power, so if Draco said leave her alone, she was left alone, even by the older years. When Voldemort returned, things changed. Most families left at least one male member unmarked to protect against any legislation that might be affected by the mark. The Parkinsons, in their arrogance, decided to mark all the males of their line, and with Pendleton's wife dying after the birth of their second son, Pansy and her mother were the only unmarked members of the House of Parkinson.
"During our sixth year, Draco was given a task by Lord Voldemort as punishment for Lucius's mistakes. Draco was a spoiled, arrogant, sixteen year old child and immediately it went to his head. He began to blow off Pansy, and shortly after Christmas it was pretty clear that she wasn't protected anymore. Since she was failing to accomplish the task her father and uncle asked of her, she couldn't exactly write home to complain about the situation that she found herself in. And what a horrible situation it was.
"I distinctly remember the day that Pansy stumbled loudly down the hall where the sixth year girls had rooms bawling her eyes out. She was bruised and bloody, but refused to be taken to the hospital wing. She started keeping to herself, and the bruises never seemed to go away. I never put together why until later.
"If you were to tell me that Pansy lost her virginity to Greg Goyle in February of 1997, I would tell you that you're a liar because I believe you lose your virginity the first time you choose to have sex. And it wasn't just Goyle who abused her for the next several years. Vincent Crabbe, Teddy Nott, Peregrine Derrick, Clinton Flint, Owen Jugson. The worst of the worst that Slytherin House had to offer, and I'll readily admit that we were easily the worst of the houses at Hogwarts.
"The Battle of Hogwarts left Crabbe, Flint, and Jugson dead, and Derrick, Nott, and Goyle in hiding. Only Goyle and his father, his mother had been dead for a number of years, went into hiding with the Parkinsons. And her uncle decided that Pansy and Greg made just the perfect couple. She was to marry her rapist.
"Pansy had finally reached the end of her line. She needed to escape and managed to apparate through wards that were supposed to trap her at Parkinson's Crossing, a medium sized home that was operating as their hideout. She broke through the wards, which had to have taken an absurd amount of willpower because she definitely didn't have the raw magical power for it, and found Draco at his shop in Diagon Alley. Draco contacted Harry. And Harry prepared for war.
"Most people question Harry all the time about why he keeps his Hit Wizard license active. He says that it's to protect his family with as much force as he deems necessary. And I've never seen him as angry as he was when Pansy finished telling her story. He slowly and cautiously put his arms around her and wrapped her in a hug and whispered a single question in her ear. 'Pansy,' he said, 'do you want to be there to watch me take revenge for you, or do you just want to know it's done?'
"Pansy made him a portkey to the property, but didn't tag along. Harry went alone, but he showed the pensieve memory to the Wizengamot when they questioned him about it. He walked right up to the front door and knocked on it. Pansy's mother opened the door and he put her in a body bind and walked right in.
"He yelled out, 'Pendleton Parkinson, Perseus Parkinson, Palmer Parkinson, Poltock Parkinson, Marvin Goyle, and Gregory Goyle, you are under arrest for crimes committed against magical Britain while serving the Dark Lord Voldemort. You have exactly three seconds to surrender or I will take great pleasure in inflicting pain upon you in ways that would make you scoff at the idea of being held under Voldemort's cruciatus curse.
"Two spells flew at him, Harry dodged and one of them hit Pansy's mom instead. They were both killing curses and that took things to a whole new level. Harry blasted through that house like I have never seen in my life. There was such grace and such destruction at the same time. He was like an emerald green cloaked harbinger of death who moved through that house with finesse that shouldn't have been possible in that situation throwing blasting curses, cutting curses, and bone breakers with speed and accuracy that would make your jaw drop.
"When it was all said and done, Harry left without a scratch and all six men who attacked him lay dead. Most of them in more than one piece. Harry called the DMLE, retired to his estate and arranged for Pansy to be brought to him. He told her the story and she collapsed in tears of joy and relief. Being the last of her line, Pansy had a few options, but being 'un-pure' meant most families wouldn't give her the time of day.
"Astoria gave Draco permission to take her on as a consort. Both I, as the first wife, and Katie, as Lady Potter, gave Harry permission as well. They let her choose, and she picked Harry.
"When Kingsley Shacklebolt first came into office, he pledged to move our society forward while retaining our culture, history, and tradition. One of the things he did was rebrand the Department of Magical Sports and Games as the Department of Magical Sports, Games, and Culture. The first sub-department created was the British Magical Historical Society. The second was The Wheel of the Year Committee.
"Pansy volunteered to serve on and was instrumental in setting up The Wheel of the Year Committee and ensuring it operated successfully. The Committee is responsible for handling the funding and organization of the magical community's public celebrations of Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Litha, Lughnasadh, Mabon, and Samhain. Pansy has been the chair of the committee for the past thirty years, a semi-full time job. She also spends quite a bit of time at the Axminster Daycare Center after realizing that, according to her, children were able to bring her happiness for the first time in her life.
Lady Pansy Ophelia Parkinson, Consort to Lord Potter decided to keep one family tradition, no matter how much she hated her family. As you may have noticed, her family all had a first name beginning with the letter P. She would go on to have three children. Pearl Savannah has taken over running the Mortar & Pestle Apothecary location in Diagon Alley from Draco so he could dedicate himself to other business ventures and his seat on the Wizengamot. Patience Magnolia did a six year stint in finance at Gringott's bank. She found one area where they always seemed to be behind the curve, real estate. Patience started her own real estate business, intending to be an agent working with Gringott's to find properties for clients. It's expanded well beyond that and is now known as Image Real Estate, Brokerage, and Property Management. Pansy's son, Prescott Godfrey, opened Pewter & Brass Cauldron Shop right beside his sister's apothecary."