Pansy Parkinson used to lie.

She lied to her parents about her "happy" life at school, to her teachers by pretending to be a diligent student, to Draco and his gang of thugs by pretending to be fascinated by him just to be accepted into a group and be protected, but above all she constantly lied to herself.

It had been a couple of days since the incident with Harry Potter in the hospital wing and she was brooding over it over breakfast in the Great Hall, raking her fork over her scrambled eggs.

She thought back to the gryffindor's sad, lifeless look and the fear she felt seeing Draco hurt him.

He had exaggerated but she was afraid to tell him, he would have rejected her as a "friend" and she would said goodbye to those few privileges of being close to him.

But what if professors suspected something?

What if Draco had accused her to save his own skin?

What if Harry hated her even more now?

"Are you OK?"

The raging river of her thoughts was interrupted by the question of a tall, ebony-skinned, black-haired boy who had sat down beside her and whom she knew very well.

Blaise Zabini was her best friend, she met him when she was little in one of the hardest time of her life and from then on they became inseparable.

Pansy considered him her only true friend, who truly loved her and didn't consider her a mere ornament like in Draco's group, of which he wasn't a part of.

He was the only person in the world that she could trust and that she couldn't lie to in any way... actually yes, but he was the one that she lied to the least.

"Um? Oh sorry Blaise, I'm fine..."

She lied.

Another lie.

"Draco being an ass again? Because this is the right time I can introduce him to my right friend." He said shaking his fist in the air.

Pansy turned to the blond boy who was obviously surrounded by his gorilla bodyguards as he humiliated himself in public trying to make his popular and fabulous classmate Daphne fall at his noble feet.

"...No, it's not that." she said as she played with her fork.

"I just, I don't know… You think I'm awful?" She asked looking into his eyes.

"Don't you think they are right to hate me and that I should just disappear from this old castle?"

"Pansy, you're the sweetest awful person I know. You should stop caring about other people's opinions, especially those of that arrogant snake or know-it-all Gryffindor. You're a wonderful person, only they're too dumb to notice it." He said as he squeezed her trembling hand.

"Now give me a nice smile? I hate seeing you down." He added, making her smile genuinely.

"I didn't mean to depress you, it's just…" she hesitated.

"No matter what you worry about, it won't make me stop being your friend."

"Well it's...it's about Harry Potter." She answered very hesitantly.

"Harry Potter? What does Harry Potter have to do with it?" Blaise asked confused.

"Don't tell me that with the excuse of hospitalization he touched you?! Because in that case I would give him a good reason to end up in nursing." He said angrily as he thrust his wand inside his pocket.

"No, you know perfectly well that he's too kind for that. It's just that..."

He broke off as he saw Professor McGonagall approach her.

Draco had noticed her too and had turned white as a ghost.

"Miss Parkinson, I would like you to come to my office."

The blond heard those words and his color returned to his face and he watched the scene with a stupid smile.

The boy understood that he had gotten away with it again.

"I-i..yes professor. See you later Blaise."


She greeted her friend as she followed the professor out of the Hall.

"Perhaps I could show her the memory of what happened in a pensieve? Then she would believe me! No, he could say it is a fake memory.

Maybe I could ask Harry to tell her the truth! No, I don't think he was really conscious during what happened and then I don't think he would want to help me..." she thought about this and other solutions as they were about to enter the headteacher's room.

"Please come in. How would you like your tea?"

"...s-sorry?" She asked shocked.

"Tea, how do you drink it?"

"Oh w-well, with a little milk, t-thank you." She told her as the old professor added milk to a cup on the tray.

She tried to drink some of her tea as elegantly and politely as possible.

"Miss Parkinson, I'd like to talk to you about Harry Potter."

The girl almost choked hearing that sentence.

She immediately placed the cup on the tray trying to keep that shred of dignity intact.

"R-really? W-what happened?" She asked politely with feigned interest, her anxiety escalating to cosmic levels.

"Lately Mr. Potter has suffered a minor accident and, I am sorry to say, he is suffering of amnesia."

"Perfect, the first thirteen-year-old girl they spit straight to Azkaban." She thought scared as her nails scratched at her knees.

"He has yet to remember many things, many details but..." and for a moment she could swear she saw a smile on her stiff professor's lips.

"He asked for you, Miss Parkinson. He would like your help in recovering his memory."

The girl's eyes widened in amazement.

"The headmaster told me that he needed time and to be alone to recover but this time I can't not help that boy."

"I think that if you give him a tour of the castle or you stay a bit close to him, he could recover his memory more easily. Obviously it's not an obligation or a punishment but only if you wanted to help him." She told her professionally.

"Oh no professor, I want to help. I just didn't expect him to remember or ask about me, yes I mean... I thought he hated me, that's it." She admitted sadly lowering her gaze.

"Miss Parkinson, Mr. Potter is a very lonely student who never talks about his past or his family. I have seldom seen him smile or laugh carelessly, even with his friends. But when he asked me about her, he had a smile I've never seen from him in the three years he's been here."

"I'm sure he if he hated you, he would never ask about you." She added as she handed a handkerchief to the watery-eyed girl.


Blaise waited around a corner for Pansy to come out of McGonagall's office. He didn't care about losing points or other nonsense, also because by now the victory of the gryffindors was certain, he was just scared that his friend would end up in trouble. After a while he saw her go out eating a biscuit, while the professor dismissed her smiling.

He ran towards her.

"Pansy, you got me worried! What happened?" He asked as she finished eating and wiped the crumbs from her lips with the back of her hand.

"Nothing of serious, but she entrusted me with a secret mission." She said with a mischievous smile on her face.

"Really?" The boy asked sarcastically crossing his arms.

"Yeah, and it's about our Harry Potter." she said cheerfully as she looked away from him.

"Harry Potter again? What is it, he asked you on a romantic date in the chamber of secrets?" He teased her even more.

"Sort of, I'll tell you all about it later, I really have to go now." She replied, enjoying the shocked face of his friend.