Fingers dug roughly into the sheets as she stretched her arms, toes curling and her neck cracking. Pansy Parkinson let out a yawn before dropping her face back into the sheets, letting out a moan. Her bare back felt chilled by the cool breeze and she turned her head, seeing the window was open. Pushing herself up onto her knees, she corrected her underwear and sighed deeply. Untangling the white sheet from her legs, she stepped off the bed and hurried shut the window, snatching up a forgotten shirt and pulling it sleepily over her head.

"Draco." Pansy called out in a groggy voice, and she quickly cleared her throat as she stumbled down the hall. Her insides felt dry and she still didn't know her way around the large, beautifully designed Italian summer home and it was starting to upset her mood. Making her way down the stairs, she looked around quickly. "Draco!"

"What?" Draco Malfoy grumbled irritably as he closed the back door. "I was outside. It's fucking freezing out there."

She narrowed her eyes, rubbing her thighs and wishing she had put on some pants. "Ugh, why the hell did we come to Italy in the fall? It's fucking cold. Damn Blaise for even suggesting this and then leaving early." She hissed as she walked across the chilled wood flooring towards the kitchen. "Did you make breakfast?"

Draco scoffed behind her as he followed closely. "Fuck no. Anyways, hurry and eat. I think it's time to head back home."

Pansy stopped suddenly and turned with her nostrils flaring. "Why?"

"Something is going on and I have work to do. We've been here for two weeks, isn't that long enough?" The blonde moved passed her and she stuck her tongue out at his back. "Seriously Pansy, it's time to be an adult and join the world again."

She huffed to herself and rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest and joining him in the kitchen. The rest of the day was spent packing and making sure the home was back in order. Flying back took the whole night. Draco slept. Pansy gazed out the window or fiddled with her cellphone but it didn't last long before she tried to fall asleep. They took a cab back to Draco's house, where she had kept her car and left without saying goodbye.

When Pansy arrived home, she dropped her bags and collapsed on the bed. She didn't know how long she had slept before her phone buzzed and she tiredly answered it. "What?"

"Good morning, sunshine." Blaise Zabini's soothing voice chuckled through the phone and she groaned- it was aching her head.

"What do you want?"

His soft friendly voice disappeared as he got to business. "I need you to run an errand for me." She cried into her pillow and just knew he rolled his eyes. "I know you just got home, but please. Go to Building 4 and find me any files on a Tom Riddle. I'll explain everything when you get here."

"And why the hell is Draco not doing this? The only reason we came back was because he said he had work to do."

Blaise didn't speak for a moment and she figured he was talking to someone. "Draco is here. He is working. No one can leave right now, so please do this for me."

Pansy sat up and started tugging her shoes back on. "Fine." She grabbed her keys, not even bothering to check her appearance, and walked out the door. "Who the fuck do I even talk to?"

"Well," He started, and she heard a click of his tongue. "You won't like it, but speak to either Longbottom or Granger. Tell them I sent you." He sighed and she could hear a voice in the background talking. "Okay, I have to go now. Please bring me anything you find. Thanks, sunshine." With that, he ended the call.

She dropped her phone on the passenger seat and banged her hands against the steering wheel. She was exhausted and hungry and she didn't want to do this right now, especially see either of her old schoolmates.

The gate to the buildings was heavily guarded; more than it usually was. When she tried to ask what was happening, the guards ignored her and told her to move on. Building 4 was too far luckily, but the speed limit was enough to make it seem like a thirty minute drive. Blaise and Draco were in Building 7 which was much farther from the entrance but thankfully closer to the archive building.

Pansy crossed her arms as she entered the building, waiting for the person standing behind the desk to get off the phone. Her narrowed eyes looked around the room casually, taking in the bland walls with occasional paintings and some plants that needed desperately to be watered. She sighed noticing some pictures on the wall, ignoring the way her stomach flipped when her gaze landed on a photo of a smiling girl with brown curls framing her face. She was holding a book close to her chest and standing next to the highly well known prosecutor, Harry Potter.

"Miss?"

Her attention snapped back to the lady at the desk, who was smiling impatiently. "I need to speak to, um," Pansy frowned before deciding on a name. "Neville Longbottom."

The woman tilted her head as she looked at a book in front of her. "I'm sorry. It's seems Mr. Longbottom left early today. Shall I leave him a message for you?"

"No." Pansy snapped, looking away and huffing. "What about Hermione Granger?" Just saying the name left a sour taste in her mouth. A taste she hated that she highly enjoyed. "Isn't she here?"

Taken aback by her attitude, the woman nodded and pointed to the right. "She's down the hall, take a left and you'll find her."

Pansy didn't even thank the woman, turning on her heel and walking in the direction she was told. She didn't want to see her, not now, but she was doing this for Blaise and when he asked you to do something, you'd better do it. As she got to the corner, she stopped, taking a deep breath. Hermione was sitting at her desk, writing away at something, her long hair pulled to the side and held together with a thick red hair-tie. She wore dark not-too-tight jeans, a white top and a red jacket that cut off just below her elbow.

Her jaw tightened and her feet were moving on her own. Before she could process it, she was standing beside the woman, her hands on her hips. "Granger."

Hermione's head shot up and brown eyes widened at the sight of her. When those eyes finished scanning her face, she swiveled her chair around to properly face her. "Parkinson. How can I help you?"

"Blaise sent me to pick up any information about 'Tom Riddle'."

She saw a quick flash of recognition in her eyes and watched as Hermione stood, her pretty little fingers typing quickly on the keyboard. She grabbed a set of keys and turned back to look at green eyes. "Um, follow me."

Pansy followed as she was told, wondering through halls, weaving around employees and occasionally greeting old friends. It was a wonder how many of them actually moved on to work here from college, but of course it was natural. Every one of them had taken the same classes, it was a government program after all. They reached a door, just a plain door, and she watched as curls bounced around and heard the jingle of keys.

The room itself looked just like a library with rows of selves stocked with books and files. The place was a mess, and she couldn't help but mutter to herself. "Don't you have better rooms for this shit?"

If she heard her, Hermione chose to ignore it. "Zabini called me this morning about the files, so I did some digging and was told to find them in here." Her fingers traced the shelves as she led the way and stopped at one.

"Oh? How did that happen? You two weren't exactly friends in college." Pansy sneered but thoughts of maybe the two seeing each other was on her mind. Blaise would have told her though. As she examined her some more, she noticed that she has changed a lot since her college days. Certainly, since grade school to their senior year, Granger was so,done who took study seriously and didn't bother with social rank. Her hair was messier back then and her fashion sense was that of an elderly woman.

Hermione's gaze lingered on a spine of a book for a moment. "People change, Pansy." The use of her first name cause her body to tense. "And besides, Zabini is tolerable." She reached up and grabbed the book, gently wiping the cover and opening it. "I think this is it." She stepped closer to Pansy and sighed as she flipped the pages.

Although Pansy had other plans, strangely irked by the girl's words. She snatched the book, slamming it shut and turned a sharp gaze to meet her brown eyes. "That will be all, Granger. There's no need for you to look at these files."

Hermione's eyes widened for a moment before her jaw tightened and she crossed her arms. "You haven't changed at all, Parkinson. You are still absolutely awful." She pushed passed her and opened the door, waiting for her to leave. "Tell Zabini he used up all of his favors. You may leave now."

You are still absolutely awful.

Pansy sneered and stormed out of the dusty room, weaving back through the people and the desks, and out the door to her car. She roughly turned the ignition and pulled out of the parking lot, wanting to give this over to Blaise and Draco and go home again. She ignored the speed limit, stepping on the gas and making it to Building 7 in five minutes.

Without stopping at the front desk, she went straight to Blaise and Draco, dropping the book onto the table. The two looked up, clearly startled by her entrance. "The fuck is wrong with you?"

"Granger. Stupid little-"

Blaise cut her off, holding up his hand and narrowing his eyes. "Stop right there. There's no need for name calling, Pansy."

Anger surged in her and she couldn't stop herself from snapping at him. "What, are you two dating?! She seemed to talk fondly of you."

Now Draco's attention was on his friend. He may have gotten over his insecurity from the girl beating him in grades during school, but that didn't mean he liked her. He'd always complain about her and it wasn't like it would just go away. Everyone always thought the blonde might have secretly liked her in a way. Respect? A crush? No one knew.

"We are friends. Is that such a hard concept for you two?" Blaise grumbled, picking up the book. "Can we please get back to work? Is this everything?"

Pansy shrugged and leaned against the desk, kicking her foot out. "I guess, it was all she gave me. It looks like there will be enough for you to go off of." She leaned her head back and let out a breath, wishing she had a cigarette right now.

"You two didn't look over it?" Draco growled out, giving her a look of disbelief.

When she shook her head, Blaise sat down and groaned. "Pansy, I swear to god. I asked Hermione to be apart of this investigation." Pansy felt her heart stop and inwardly sighed. "She's smart and I think she could help us out a lot. Did you just take it from her and leave?"

Bingo. She was getting angry again, it was boiling in the pit of her stomach and it was going to all come out. "You didn't tell me any of that! I didn't think she needed to know anything about it."

"She didn't say anything to you?"

"All she said was to tell you, you used up all your favors."

Blaise's jaw visibly tightened and his dark green eyes narrowed sharply. He wasn't a scary person, at least not until his plans were disrupted or something huge upset him. Now was when he was frightening, and Pansy knew she fucked up big time.

"T-Tell me about this Tom Riddle. What happened?"

Draco nodded and pulled out some papers. "While we were gone, Building 4 was hit by this Tom Riddle. He was in possession of a weapon but soon left and wasn't caught. Building 2 was hit the next day by supporters of this guy and several people got injured. Witnesses stated that Riddle wasn't with the group." He sounded disinterested and shook his head, dropping the papers back in the folder.

Blaise leaned back and closed the book, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Pansy, you can leave now. I'll talk to you tomorrow." Pansy was shocked, feet frozen to the floor and her mouth gaped. Draco groaned and left them, taking the folder with him. "I need to think."

"What the fuck?" When he didn't respond, she sneered and turned away, taking quick steps out of the building. She just wanted to go home. She had had enough of today.