A/N: Hello people and thank you so much for your support!
A big thanks to my Betas and Discord Staff - Alec, Fox, Metzger, BaptismByFire and Zevoros!
Special thanks to Discord users: 5Firehawk, Guiding Moonlights, Kovacs, Dr Maou-Senpai, Post Mortem, Denduck, Wumjumba, Ac, R3, Shirokama, TrustTube, Zachary, JDH, Avatar, CJ07, Echoh, Elizabeth Wilbrooke, Jacks_, Kappe, Kryn_Womble, Mr. E, Pat, Plut0, Presno, Shawnjohn120 and Trop C'est Trop for supporting my writing and commissioning works!
Feel free to join my Discord for updates, giveaways (for those who actively chat), early access and information, link on my profile. Without any more rambling from me, I hope you enjoy the story!
(Sorry if you don't like the work!)
THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR THE KIND REVIEWS. We now get so many that it's impossible to respond to all of them, but each and every one of you taking the time to speak your support mean the world to me. Please, by all means, speak with me in Discord!
December 18, 1993
Pansy huffed as she threw her satchel on the covers of her bed and followed the item shortly thereafter. Draco was in one of his moods, and as a result, he was expecting all those who typically walked with him to follow his every whim and agree with whatever he said, regardless of how stupid he could be; most wizards were far from smart, and that was the reason they needed an eloquent, intelligent witch behind them. Her mother had said as much, and prior to this year, Pansy had seen Draco in nought but the most wonderful light… she should have known better, but at the very least, this year had been most illuminating thus far.
"What're you doing back so early? Weren't you meant to be with Malfoy?" Came the ever-inquisitive and frequently bothersome voice of Tracey Davis, the girl who never knew when to shut her Half-Blood mouth.
"My time is my own, Davis," Pansy shot back before promptly closing the curtains and removing herself from the conversation, lest one truly began.
Pansy wished to be on her own for the next hour or so, for it wasn't required that she was always hanging onto the sides of Draco. He was enamoured with her, and if she continued to act as she did, he would continue to be so without her having to invest even half as much time as she currently was. That day could not come any sooner. If he wasn't fuming in regards to something that Potter 'did', Draco would be so terribly poncey thanks to something that his parents had informed him of. It was as if he took credit for all of the success of his family, and yet, in the rare instances with which something went poorly for his family, he wouldn't so much as acknowledge it. Blame would be tossed around to whosoever he could assign it and his attitude would be poorer than any Muggleborn.
"Parkinson. Your cousins are here for you," Greengrass' even voice called to her, the lack of care evident in her voice.
With a sigh, Pansy opened the other side of the curtains so that she could avoid Tracey Davis, and after doing so, she swung her legs so that they were off of the bed once more and onto the soft, carpeted ground below. The Slytherin dorms were… adequate if she were in a generous mood when reviewing them. There were no personal baths or rooms, but the mattresses were of the utmost quality, the carpet was always clean and soft, and the privacy screens between each bed were mostly ideal. Mostly.
"Flora, Hestia," Pansy called whilst she stayed seated on her bed with her legs hanging off. "Hurry yourselves along. I'd like to rest, so whatever you've got to say, do it quickly, dear cousins."
Hestia and Flora were visible within seconds. The two were identical in every way down to the way with which they wore their hair or did the little bit of make-up that they wore. Those two second-year girls were oddly mature, Pansy would credit them with that as they strolled over to her with blank expressions and with no bounce in their steps; Davis would do well to learn a thing or two from the younger girls.
"Hello, Pansy," the two said in sync as they halted nought but a few feet away from her, their eyes unblinking as they took in her appearance. "May we conversate with you?"
They're as mannered and strange as ever. I should have held my tongue when I offered to spend time with them last Yule. It would save me from having to deal with them… still, perhaps they could prove to be useful. Nobody minds them wherever or whatever they're doing, that could be useful.
"You already are, little cousins," Pansy drawled as she held up her left hand to examine her nails, and with her right, urged the two onwards with whatever it was they had come to say to her. She may not be exceedingly busy — a fact that neither of the twins would know — but she was incredibly serious about having time for herself. That was something she seldom had and wished to use more frequently, especially in the instances when Draco was angry, particularly bratty or when she simply couldn't stand to be in his presence.
"There was something we wished to tell you, as we've overheard Malfoy speaking whilst he loitered near the fireplace with Goyle and Crabbe," said the twin on the left, her head cocked to the very same side as her sister started whence she had left off.
"It's regarding how he sees you, and as our family, we thought to mention it to you," the second sister said, and with a glance that was done at nearly the same time from the twins, she finished her 'announcement' that the two had wished to convey to her. "He sees you as beneath him and said that you were his 'greatest follower' in the girls' dorms. His mother also mentioned in a letter that she wrote to him fairly recently that talks are underway for a proposal between your families. He bragged about how he would have you as his wife and Greengrass or another witch as his mistress."
Pansy snorted. Draco was truly in one of his moods if he had said all that, and whilst it may bother her to some degree, she knew where she truly lay when it came to the circle that Draco had formed… all thanks to mummy and daddy. Seldom, if ever, would he show initiative and do something on his own. If it wasn't for his friends, family or Professor Snape, Draco would be but a normal student in all meanings of the word.
"May I?" said twin number one, the twin that had spoken first as she nodded her head towards one of the two seats near Pansy's bedside.
"If you'd like," Pansy said, barely concealing a roll of her eyes as she motioned with no true sense of care for the two younger girls to seat themselves. "Was there something else you wanted to say? I'd suppose there is if you're grabbing a seat."
Twin number two looked at her sister, and they seemed to stare into one another's eyes for ten seconds, possibly more, until the aforementioned girl looked back at Harry, her gaze and visage as queer as ever. "We spoke in regards to your affiliation with Draco and thought that, whilst it isn't our place to say this, it would be best if you removed your person from his group. His reputation is far from decent, and in the eyes of many, he's Potter's nemesis. You also, when in his company, tend only to echo his viewpoints and shrink into yourself—"
When twin number two paused — Hestia, Pansy finally thought as she spied a tiny, embroidered H on the girl's sleeve, Flora picked up where she had left off. "When you're away from him, in our company or in Astronomy, we hear that you're your own person. It's far better than being nought but a follower of his."
"I agree! Malfoy sucks!" Piped up the loud, obnoxious voice of Tracey Davis once more from the area that marked Greengrass' bed; if Pansy were truly vile, she would curse the stupid girl, but she saw not the point in making an enemy of Davis' friend group. Perhaps, in time, that friend group would become a secondary one for her. If Draco continued with his… trivial issues and childlike behaviour, she would seriously consider that as an option.
"Fine," Pansy said quietly, and as she leaned in closer to the two twins. "If it makes you happy, I'll limit my time with Draco. He was a means to an end, but if you think the ends won't be half as good as I think they will, I'm willing to give your point of view a chance. You'll have to help me with my work in place of his circle. I'll not have my grades degrade on account of me limiting my ties with useful people."
Flora blinked at her. "Doable. We've studied as far ahead as we could."
"Mother told us it was necessary if we wished to secure a good future for our family," Hestia added on, the girl's lips now barely raised, in the mimic of a smile or something of that sort; Flora did much the same. "We're glad that you'll finally limit your time with him. He's nothing more than a bad influence."
Pansy rolled her eyes openly for her cousins to see this time around and finally shooed the two away as she crawled back into the middle of her bed. She wouldn't tell the two that she had already been in the process of cutting back on her Draco time, she would let them think it was wholly their idea… but their encouragement and offer to aid her would be more than taken advantage of.
Perhaps, finally, and against her better judgement, she would spread her wings so to speak. It could end quite poorly for her, perhaps it would too, but there would be a net to fall back on and family to use as a crutch should she need to do so. Morgana, she imagined she would, but for now, she liked the thought of having a truer sense of freedom. In time, Draco would realise what her lack of company meant and she imagined he would come crawling right back to… her…
Wait a minute. She went over the twins' words in her mind and came to a startling conclusion. They were a year behind her, so how could they know about her performance or acting in Astronomy?
Pansy's eyes sought out where they had once been in the hopes of catching a fleeting figure of one of the two so that she could call them back to demand answers, but they were now long gone. She would keep an eye out when next she went to that class, and even during it, she would look around from time to time to ensure she wasn't being watched by her unique, to be polite, cousins.
If they weren't family, the words and thoughts she would have in regard to them would most assuredly have been different.
Perhaps I'll put that new plan into motion now so that I can see if Draco truly does come to miss my company, Pansy thought to herself before she slowed her pace and moved purposefully near Draco, but not close enough that he would outright call to her. She would for him to make the first move, perhaps even attempt eye contact, at which point she would continue right on past him.
"... Potter thought he would have gotten an A or O on his potion, he was sorely mistaken," Draco said with a laugh that the other wizards nearby echoed until his laughter stopped, at which point, so too did theirs. "You should have seen the look on his face. It was like his mudblood mother had died. Again."
Pansy rolled her eyes at the crude, boyish joke and continued to stroll right on past him. He didn't seem to pay her any attention whatsoever, and seeing that, she flipped her hair over her shoulder and turned the corner of the hallway that she finally came upon. It was his loss, and for the first time, she didn't seek out his company or words of praise for trashing Potter or his ilk whensoever they managed to see them.
It was an odd first. Her stomach felt a bit uneasy at the lack of company at her back in the event that those she wronged wished to confront her, but Pansy was strong and had a good head on her shoulders. She would not allow herself to be intimidated or confronted by any fellow student inside of Hogwarts. Gryffindor or Slytherin, Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff, she'd challenge them back with a superior smile on her face, for she knew they hadn't the history, prowess or eloquence that she possessed.
That was, again, something Draco would come to miss in short order and she would enjoy the sight of him grovelling when the realisation struck him. If he thought she'd return short of pleading and truly gentleman-like behaviour, he would have another thing coming.
Pansy couldn't contain the sneer that came to her face when she passed a group of Hufflepuff first years. They were boisterous beyond reason, friendlier than any person could truly ever be and larger than any self-respecting Magical being would let themselves be. Overall, they were bothersome Half-Bloods or Muggleborn, and whilst some views might not be truly imprinted into her, there were some words that nearly always rang true in regards to the mixed-blood Magicals.
When it came down to Purebloods of her ilk, they were far removed from the new arrivals. They had a truly amazing lineage, history, traditions an—
Pansy turned another corner, but this time, she ran directly into somebody. It had to be a boy based on the build, though he felt scrawnier than many others even if he was broad-shouldered.
"You're walking on the wrong side of the hall," she said immediately and without looking at whoever it was that she had run into; no Slytherin would be pressed into the corner, they would be walking down the centre of the hall.
"Sorry, I didn't see you," came the boy's voice in response to her words, a modicum of true apology within as the voice dawned on her; as soon as it did, she looked ever so slightly up to see his face to ensure she wasn't wrong. She wasn't.
In response to what she saw, she narrowed her eyes without even meaning to do so. "Potter," she said, her tone accusatory even if nothing else followed her one-word remark.
"Yeah?" he asked after nearly five seconds had passed and he was still doing nought but looking at her, a curious, unreadable expression on his face even as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I really am sorry. I didn't mean to run into you, I was just inside of my own head and thinking about something… I'm surprised you're not with Malfoy."
"Why should it matter who I'm with?" Pansy asked, only just managing to keep anger or the like from her tone; she truly didn't want an argument or confrontation with Potter, but it was nearly second nature to her after all the time in Draco and his circle's company. It was as if there was some sort of disposition to hate any Potter, Mudblood or Gryffindor on sight. "I… accept your apology. Perhaps I was quick to anger and accuse you of walking like a giant buffoon. You wouldn't know to walk down the centre of the halls as most self-respecting wizards and witches favour."
Potter didn't know what to say to that based on the way he opened and closed his mouth multiple times, and truly, she didn't care so long as they avoided coming to an argument or verbal sparring match. She didn't wish to put him in the dirt any more than he likely wished to have his ears filled with his own ineptitude given voice by her.
"Malfoy is down the hall, one turn to the left and a second to the left afterwards, if you wish to avoid him," Pansy found herself saying. "I'm sure he's probably still there, speaking about you and your friends. I half-wonder if you're as fascinated with him as he seems to be about you."
This time, Harry's brow furrowed before he shook his head adamantly from side to side. "Malfoy's trouble and I try to avoid trouble whenever I can. I don't see the point in fighting with him, and I don't understand why he's always coming after me. Thanks, by the way, for the warning… and, well, I suppose by, Pansy. I'll see you in Astronomy. Right."
"You're lucky enough that you will," Pansy agreed as she flipped her hair, and straightened out her uniform after he had so rudely caused wrinkles to form from when he had walked into her. "Bye, Potter. Try not to run into me again when you next see me."
January 23, 1993
"What?" Pansy asked with her brows raised in indignation and surprise. "You're forcing us to change partners? Does the Headmaster know about this?"
Draco championed her cause, not a second after her words were completely out of her mouth, for as she thought, within a few weeks of her doing as she'd done, he was sorely missing her company even if he hadn't approached her thus far. "I'll have my father and the rest of the board reverse this decision and see to it that there's no forceful change midway through the year, Professor Sinistra."
The Professor snorted. "Do as you wish, Mister Malfoy. You'll find that such rulings are mine to make, enforce and change as I see fit. The Headmaster doesn't need to know about this, Miss Parkinson, for my word is law within the confines of this tower — now move to your newly assigned seat and vacate the one alongside Miss Bulstrode, or you'll find yourself explaining why you couldn't perform such an easy action in detention come tomorrow evening."
Pansy snorted, and nearly fired a response back at the Professor, but stopped short. With anger on her face and as she purposefully moved slowly, so as to waste time, she packed up her belongings whilst sighing as often as she could. The other Slytherins that were forced to partner with their fellow students from other houses did much the same, for their standards, stenches and self-love were far and away from the Slytherin standard. Finally, and as all things must, Pansy's time packing came to an end as she moved to her new 'partner' for however long the Professor wished to be problematic.
"Hi, Pansy… I guess we're partners now, huh?" Potter's look was hopeful and welcoming, but after the sudden and problematic change, Pansy didn't care all that much for his eagerness or friendliness.
Her parents had wanted her to get in close with Malfoy and thanks to this Professor, a portion of their already-strained 'bond' was removed. If that wasn't bad enough on its own, Professor Sinistra had decided to partner her with Potter of all people. Sure, she didn't hate him as badly as a few others in her year did; Malfoy, Goyle and Crabbe especially, but she still didn't want to be overly close with him. His friends save for Hermione were lackwits and had a glaringly apparent lack of manners whilst Potter himself wasn't all that perfect despite what many people seemed to believe.
The Twins did tell me to distance myself from Draco, and I have. I suppose so long as I don't alienate myself overly so, this can't be too bad. I'll have to ensure that I don't seem too eager to speak with him, nor should I be the one to act first.
"We're partners until the wonderful Professor decides to change that," Pansy responded as she went about withdrawing her few possessions that were directly related to their Astronomy class. "I'm sure you're already well aware, Potter, but we're not friends. I'll apologise for a few past distasteful actions at the behest of those I was with at the time, but that'll be all."
Harry shrugged. "We don't have to be friends, all I care about is getting a good grade and I'm assuming you want the same. Bad grades don't help anybody out."
"Correct. I'd like a good mark in this class just as I've received in all of the others, and so long as you're agreeable, we won't need to do more than the minimum so as to avoid bothering one another," Pansy nodded at the Professor, the older woman was speaking and gesturing to the stars above, but neither Pansy herself nor Potter seemed all that interested in what was being said. "I suppose you avoided Malfoy the day I told you where he had been loitering?"
He shook his head. "I walked past him with a few friends so he'd know I wasn't afraid of him in case it was a test… he didn't say anything, so I guess it wasn't. He's seemed out of it lately. Hermione's said the same, that he's been acting strange and hasn't been focused on us."
"Does your little Muggleborn friend think about Draco and how he acts often, or just when you ask about him?" Pansy inquired with a self-satisfied grin on her face. Whensoever the chance came about that she could take a dig at the mudblood Granger, she would take it.
For Pansy, it wasn't a matter of pride in regard to her blood or anything else directly related to blood supremacy. It did, perhaps, play a small role but it wasn't remotely close to being the driving force. What it came down to, very simply, was the arrogance and behaviour of Granger the insufferable. She would have to get the last word in, she would have to be right and should she be corrected, there would be a meltdown. Honestly, Pansy's fellow witch should spend far more time with cosmetic charms and magazines regarding style instead of solely educational books. If she did just that, perhaps some boy might take an inkling of interest in her.
"Hermione," Harry responded after a few seconds of silence that Pansy had chosen to fill with thoughts, his voice terse as he looked at her with a visage of near-anger. "Call her Hermione, 'Mione or even just Granger since you don't seem to like using first names. Muggleborn isn't as bad as what Draco calls her, but she's more than her blood, yeah?"
Instinctively, Pansy wanted to respond that she would call Granger whatever it was that she wished to and that there was nothing he could do to stop her from doing exactly that. The urge was strong just the same as her willpower was, but, if only for the sake of what her cousins the Carrow Twins had said, she refrained. There was no need to close off Potter and all those who seemed at his beck and call over something as trivial as a mudblood's name. If need be and as her mother had taught her, Pansy would be the superior Magical and rise above petty name-calling.
"Granger," Pansy said with a roll of her eyes, the latter action required if only to show Potter that she wasn't entirely submissive to his demands at the behest of a weird sense of 'decency' that seemed to manifest in most Gryffindors.
"Thank you. Is there any reason you're so opposed to calling her Hermione or me, Harry? The other Purebloods like Ron or Susan use our first names, and they definitely don't act like any of you in Slytherin… there's got to be a reason for that, and I'm interested in learning about it from you. I guess that's assuming you'd be willing to speak with me since we didn't really talk all that much when I bumped into you in the hallway that one time," Harry finished with a hand on the back of his neck rubbing at the scruffy hair thereon.
Pansy would be polite and ignore the sign of his nervousness even if she wasn't totally aware of why it was present beyond her own innate beauty. There had never been a boy that seemed as nervous as Harry would sometimes be in the presence of others and without his two stalwart companions, but in that same air, he could rise up to be as immovable as Hogwarts herself. He was an enigma, and when Pansy turned to look at the stars, she caught Draco watching her and Potter together.
Perhaps Potter would prove useful after all. If Draco was acting strange around the same time she had chosen to distance herself from him, perhaps the cause of the issue was the lack of proper feminine company that had kept him grounded. Her mother had said often that every wizard needed a strong, resolute and beautiful witch at his side to save him from his own eventual ineptitude, and it seemed as if poor Draco was learning that very early on in what could still be their eventual relationship.
You could just snag the boy-who-lived sitting next to you. The Twins would be happy, mother and father wouldn't be able to complain and you'd be rich beyond belief with fame to match it.
She shook her head at what a deeper part of her mind conjured up and focused instead on the desk before her as well as the stupid Professor that had caused the newest problem in her life. Potter wasn't the type of boy she should like, and he wasn't, but… he wasn't unattractive as far as Half-Bloods came, and whilst he wasn't cultured, he could be worse. Far worse.
Perhaps she could test the waters and see how he compared to her dearest Draco. Some manner of competition wasn't uncommon when it came to wizards wanting their witch, and to have the two of them compete for her would be most enjoyable. It would seem that this little partner exchange might not be as horrible as Pansy had thought it would be, after all. Not if something truly enjoyable and beneficial could come about from it.
February 5, 1993
"You'll all have until our next class to complete this chart with accurately spelt constellation names and a near-perfect placement of each of the major stars we've learned about with one another," Professor Sinistra said loudly and as she strolled throughout the entirety of the Astronomy tower, her eyes shifting from person to person as she moved around. "If I were you, I would spend the remainder of class going over the details with your partner and the logistics of working together despite being in different houses — why are you waiting? Move."
As if they had all been waiting for the woman to give them permission to speak or shift about, a great many of Pansy's peers began to huddle closer together as they discussed the assignment they had been given. It would undoubtedly eat up a great deal of time and the accuracy of the spelling, whilst not problematic, could only be left to Pansy. She knew that Potter's writing wasn't remotely as attractive as hers and not only that, but a great many of his past grades, from what Draco had said, hadn't been as excellent as one would think when it came to the 'greatest wizard' of their generation. Dumbledore, it seemed, was letting down his favourite student.
"I can handle the project. I'd like to receive more than an acceptable mark and if we work together, I'm not sure we'd be able to manage that," Pansy stated with a small, kind smile on her face as she looked at Potter, her hands already deftly moving to put away her belongings.
"No," Potter said resolutely. "We should do it together. Professor Sinistra will know if it's only you that works on it and I don't want to get detentions from her because she thought I wasn't pulling my weight."
Pansy fixed him with a glare that would typically shut Draco up when he grew a bit too large within the confines of his own mind. "I've seen your writing, Potter. It leaves a lot to be desired and, unless you've memorised the precise locations of each of the stars that we've studied, I'd like to ensure that I see to that major detail too. If you'd like, you can grab the paper, draw a few of your own and if they're wrong, we won't lose as many points."
"Pansy. I don't know how you've done projects in the past, but when I've worked on them with Hermione, Ron or just about anybody else, we did them together and got the grade together, thanks to both of us. We can do the very same thing," Potter nodded at the large, dark parchment that had been given to every team. "Why don't we start right now and get a base for our project? This'll only take a few hours at the most and if we get half of it done tonight, we'll only have to see each other one more time between now and our next class. That should make you happy."
Do you presume to know what makes me happy and what doesn't, Harry Potter?
"Do you grow tired of my company, Potter?" Pansy asked instead, batting her eyelashes and pouting her bottom lip out at him as she scooched herself a few inches closer.
Potter's eyebrows went confused as his eyes squinted whilst looking at her. "What're you doing?"
Pansy cocked her head at him the same way that her little cousins would often do. The effect likely wasn't as unnerving as when they did it on account of there being two of them and only one of her, but she liked to think that it was still not all that visually appealing to whosoever saw her… perhaps visually unappealing wasn't accurate, but moreso a sense of intimidation or something similar. Yes, that was better worded. Pansy didn't do anything that was visually unappealing and when she did, whatsoever it was would turn visually appealing in an instant.
"What's wrong? Hasn't a witch ever pouted at you before, Potter?" Pansy asked with a sniffle as she brought one hand up to rub at her eye. "It's hurtful to think this doesn't work on you… don't you… don't you think I'm cute?"
Out of the corner of her eyes, Pansy saw that Draco was watching her and completely ignoring the daft Gryffindor bird he was next to. Her name was Purple or Turquoise… or something else that was colour-based. Pansy didn't particularly care so long as Draco was watching her, for her little show was double-edged. She wished to throw Potter off-kilter and to see what he thought of her based on her words, and at that same time, she wanted Draco's eyes to be on her.
If he thought Potter had hurt her feelings or done something of that sort, he was more apt to approach her with a proper apology as he'd be prompted to do so based on the honour his parents would have instilled in him. If not for that, then for the Slytherin pride that was in every witch or wizard who wore the colour green.
"I… we'll work on it tonight and tomorrow so we can… uh, get it over with," Potter cleared his throat, looked away and brought a hand up to loosen his tie as he looked into the night sky. "That works for me and I'm going to guess that it works for you too. So why don't we get started?"
Pansy grinned to herself when she saw Draco sneer and leave his desk, intent on exiting the tower as soon as their official time of class was over. She was equally as pleased with Potter's stammering and ineptitude when it came to dealing with a pouting witch. Each of the two would be enjoyable to mes—
"I guess you're kind of cute too… if you really wanted an answer before we began our project," Potter muttered so quietly she half thought she had misheard him.
She nearly asked him to repeat what he had said, but he was intent on looking anywhere but at her and with that alone, she realised that he had, in a way, called her 'cute' despite the fact that she had been jesting with him. Not even. She had been jesting at his expense and teasing Draco all at the same time, and yet he still thought that she wanted an answer and he had given what seemed to be a truthful sort of one.
When that realisation struck her, Pansy felt her own cheeks heating up at what his words meant. It was stupid. Very stupid. She wasn't some blushing, stammering and stupid witch from those stupid books that the stupid Davis girl read. She was a Pureblooded witch from a long, ancient and powerful line. How dare he make her of all people blush. Before the year was over, she'd show Potter that she wasn't some witch he could mess around with like that.
"We can work on it together, but I'm looking over where you put the stars and I'm definitely going to be the one that writes their names," Pansy raised her nose despite the faint hues of red on her cheeks. "Come on, Potter. You wanted us to start here so you don't have to see me more than once during the week, so you better get a move on. I don't plan on losing out on much of my sleep because you wished to get a head start on this assignment."
"You won't. We'll place half of the stars and that's all," Potter said with a nic— an alright smile or smirk on his face as he looked at her. He looked like he was in pain or something of that sort, but she supposed it wasn't too atrocious, and so Pansy huffed, folded her arms and motioned for him to start.
She would watch what he did, correct and help as required — she was certain that would be a huge factor — and when she brought the parchment to her room later that evening so that he couldn't meddle with it, she would add the rest of the names of the constellations. It didn't matter if the stars were or weren't placed correctly, for Pansy knew exactly where all of them would go, for the night sky and the beauty of it was a favourite vision of hers. It nearly matched the view into the depths of the lake from the girls' dorms.
Nearly.
May 9, 1993
"Potter," Pansy greeted with a huff as she settled in beside him and began to take out her many belongings for the work they'd be doing with one another.
There had been a lot that had happened lately, and at that same time, nothing at all. Pansy wasn't sure when it had come to pass, nor was she certain of how but it was all traced back to the day that Professor Sinistra had forcefully changed partners in Astronomy. Potter and she had been working together from that day up until the current one, and whilst they weren't exactly friends, the frigidness and nervousness that was front and centre during their earlier conversations were, by and large, gone. There hadn't been a breakthrough or revelation, conversation or relationship, nought but time had passed. Time with which they had spoken to one another repeatedly all the while a jealous Draco watched them, seething, but he didn't interject or even so much as speak to Pansy in the privacy of their own common room.
He was pathetic if he refused to come to her first. It was his fault that she opted to stay away from him and those foolish followers of his. If he couldn't accept that and come forth to seek her out for a change, then as far as she was concerned, she didn't need him. Her little cousins were right. The fact that Pansy was acting more independently and spending her time how she liked to instead of alongside Draco so that they could torment Potter, his friends or the other random peers of theirs at Hogwarts felt as if the school had changed even if the only true change had been within her.
"Afternoon, Pansy. Did I hear a few other people with you?" Potter asked in an attempt to make light conversation, and for a change, she opted to answer him and satiate his curiosity lest he bugs her incessantly about who she had just been speaking with.
"Yes, you would be correct. I was speaking with a few of our classmates — a few of my dormmates, Daphne and Millicent. You'd know them as Greengrass and Bulstrode. They're the same as me, I'm afraid… I don't suppose I ever answered your question from a couple of months ago either, did I?" Pansy tried to recall if she had when she brought up her friends, but she failed to remember all that much of that meeting. If she were being honest, all she remembered was how frustrating that first assignment had turned out to be.
Potter looked thoughtful and confused for a few moments before a look of realisation dawned on him, and afterwards, he shook his head. "No," he said to her. "No, you never told me why you and the other Purebloods prefer to use your last names and the last names of everybody else. I didn't think it was all that important if you didn't say why."
"It's polite. The Professors call me Miss Parkinson and you, Mister Potter. In a way, it's similar to that, do you understand?" Pansy began to tap idly on one of the books she'd withdrawn as she found herself gazing into Potter's eyes. They were a vibrant, energetic and wholly enjoyable shade of green to look at.
Malfoy's eyes weren't bad either, but the more she thought about it, his attitude wasn't as refined as Potter's and his manners were sorely lacking when he lost control of himself. Still, he had table manners the likes of which Potter didn't possess and he knew the true formalities that Potter likely had no clue about.
"I think I do. It's like you calling me Mister Potter, just without the Mister?" he asked curiously as he leaned in closer to her, his face more innocent-looking and friendly than when Draco would try to steal a kiss on her cheek or at the corner of her lips; those were the times when he was acting especially greedy or like the world owed him far more than it truly did.
Those times were when he was at his most insufferable, and Potter would constantly be brought up… Morgana, he must be incredibly angry for Har— Potter to have stolen her away as he's currently done.
"In a way, I suppose that'd be correct. I would never call you Mister Potter. It would make me sound as if I were some lowly house elf instead of a Princess," Pansy moved away when she realised just how close they had gotten to one another, the scraping of her chair made him jolt and Potter, upon realising much the same, leaned back and away from her with an awkward look shot her way that she sorely wished she could have ignored. After a bit of silence and a flick of errant strands of hair over her shoulder, she flipped open one of her books on Astronomy and prodded him in the side with the tip of her pointer finger. "We're meant to draw the shapes of the constellations we've previously named and fill in the stars on our chart that are missing but required to make said constellations. You're ready to start, aren't you?"
Potter nodded rapidly. "Yeah. Yeah, let's get this going."
Pansy nearly thanked Morgana out loud. Things had gotten to be a bit strange between the two of them recently, and whilst she wasn't sure exactly why that was, it seemed to grow stronger and stronger as time past whilst they were partners. She wasn't fond of the weird feelings that arose.
"We'll start wit— sorry," Potter said immediately, his right hand grabbing her left and holding it in the air with their hands essentially holding one another; he had knocked over her ink, and as a result, nearly got it all over the sleeves of her uniform, but his Quidditch reflexes saved that from happening… at the cost of more awkwardness between them.
"You're acting stranger than usual," Pansy said as she gently pulled her hand away from his larger, warmer and stronger one, the warmth especially proving a bit appealing on account of the coldness of the castle and her tone lacking any true bite.
"Sorry," Harry said again as he whisked his want and sent the ink back whence it came, extracting the droplets that had been absorbed into the desk they were using in some old, musky and abandoned classroom from when Hogwarts had hundreds of extra students. "I, uh, it's been a bit of a rough time, lately. If you want, we can work on this tomorrow… I don't want to bother you or risk spilling anything else."
Pansy snorted and shook her head. "Should the need arise, I'm sure I could instil a better sense of caution and awareness in you, and no, tomorrow would be very difficult for me to find the time to work with you — I've promised Greengrass, Bulstrode and the baby Greengrass our Hogsmeade trip for the entirety of the day."
"Oh," Potter said, his voice going so far as to sound downtrodden before he shook his head, blinked his eyes a few times and adjusted himself in his seat. "I'll try and be a bit more aware then. Yeah. What constellation were we starting with again?"
She sighed and side-eyed him. His hair was slightly more ruffled and there were bags under his eyes. He looked incredibly tired and whilst she didn't really care, he was her partner and if they were going to do well for what little of the year remained, she should show a modicum of compassion and care for the boy. It was only polite and courteous. She'd do the same for anybody.
Potter's a person too. He's a Half-Blood with a Pureblood's name, and he's a skilled Quidditch player despite what Draco says, and he's proven kind thus far… fine. I'll be the better person.
"Fine," Pansy said with a nod as she folded her hands in her lap and gazed at him through ever-so-slightly narrowed eyes. "We'll continue this project the day after next, is that agreeable with you, Potter?"
"We can do it no—" he started, but Pansy cut him off with a roll of her eyes and a pointed look as she spoke once more.
"Sunday," she said firmly as she whipped her wand about and the many items she'd only just unpacked, began to repack themselves. "Sleep well, for a change, and make sure that when you arrive, you come ready to work for three hours instead of one and a half. We don't have time to waste and we'll need to catch up on what we've missed. I'm sure after these past few months you can put up with me for twice our normal time, can't you?"
Harry laughed at that. "I don't think you have to call it putting up with you anymore. I know you don't think of me as your friend, but I think after a few months that you've grown on me."
Pansy stood up and threw her satchel over her shoulder. "I'm glad I've grown on you. It'd do you some good to have a proper friend with a storied lineage and who's aware of the formalities and customs of our society. If you'd ever like to learn more about them, I'd be willing to teach you. You're not half as bad as I thought you were."
"Am I still bad?" Harry asked with a bit of cheek despite a yawn following his words shortly thereafter.
Pansy pondered his question, and she chose not to answer him. There was the truth that she could share with him, or she could leave it all up in the air. She chose to do the latter, for Potter wasn't quite worthy of any real friendship quite yet. She still saw him in the light that Draco had cast on him for so long, but that was quickly diminishing as she got to know him as unwillingly as it had been for the first couple of months.
Unwillingly, she thought as she made it to the door. I gave him a chance and he's not done anything to make me regret having done so. He's proven himself to be kind, polite, stubborn and only annoyed when I prod him or insult him. There are even times when I think he might just possess a modicum of cunning.
"You're not horrible, Potter, but that's all. Don't press your luck quite yet," Pansy said, and with those words, she was gone. There was more that she could say but it wasn't necessary. He was a smart boy, he could figure out just where they left off and what she thought of him, and if he couldn't, then he was as stupid as all boys.
Pansy had only just taken a left at the end of the first hallway that would lead her away from Harry and her classroom of choice when two people appeared from out of thin air. Two very familiar people with matching hair and cocked heads with near-blank expressions worn.
"Hi, Pansy," the Carrow twins greeted.
The left one, Hestia, she thought, spoke first. "Did your time with Potter go well?"
"We know you've been working together on various projects," Flora interjected, and when she paused, Hestia spoke once more, until the two went on to finish together.
"... and that progress isn't always as fast as it could be thanks to how often you get off topic,"
"But we're certain that you've come to form an opinion of him with your own thoughts rather than those of others. We've spoken with him a few times and he's been very kind. He doesn't think of us as strange or believe us to be odd. We thought that you'd grow to like him, even, given enough time."
Pansy blinked at the two and shook her head. "Was this something that the two of you planned and how do you know that we're often off-topic… have you been spying on me?"
In sync, the twins shook their heads. "No. We've watched and observed when the two of you have been in public. We believe he has feelings for you and we're aware that you don't seem to have them nearly as strong as he does."
Flora continued alone, moving an inch ahead of her sister. "We're with you. Greengrass and Bulstrode would be too, if it came to it."
"Draco and the others are walking a darker path than you should ever care to join them on," Hestia added, her words and look making her seem as if she were Pansy's senior rather than a girl a year below her in age and Hogwarts.
"Thanks, Hestia and Flora, but I'll continue doing what I currently am. I won't make Draco too angry with me, I'll continue to spend a bit of time around him and the others while I work with Draco — this is what you wanted and apparently something my parents aren't too angry with me about. I'm spreading my wings, building ties with those that are outside of Slytherin and all in the hopes of eventually furthering my position when we've graduated from Hogwarts," Pansy gestured around at their solitude as if it were an example of what she meant. "See? I'm not hovering over Draco's shoulder. I'm doing as I care to, when I care to and how I care to."
The twins slowly nodded, and after exchanging a glance with one another, they cocked their heads to the opposite side as they took up positions on either side of Pansy.
In sync, they spoke again.
"Ideal. Ice cream?"
Pansy huffed and hung her head. They could be so serious, so mysterious and finally, so childlike. They were lucky she put up with them, that she loved them as any self-respecting Lady of House Parkinson would when it came to family.
Yeah. Potter was lucky too. Lucky that she put up with him. Stupid Potter, bratty Carrows and meddlesome parents…