She could feel the bitter cold stabbing at her as she sat outside on the cold stone steps of the castle, waiting, prolonging the inevitable that would come with entering those grand doors and accepting that this was where she was. She wasn't wrapped...
Pansy held her breath as he spoke, clinging to every word. Watching him so carefully, she could see the steady beat of his pulse point.
Draco, as well as Theo, Blaise, and a handful of other Slytherins had disappeared after the battle. Their bodies missing from the great hall, where they had kept the ill and deceased, had done little to calm Pansy or the other Slytherins that had been left behind.
Together
Before the war, before dinner when Pansy needed Daphne's comforting words, the Slytherins had always been able to get through their troubles together.
Whether it be a bad grade, parental abuse, and eventually the dark mark scarred on their skin, they bore the weight of each other's traumas together.
Draco spoke slowly, with only as much detail as necessary. His voice was clear and his words concise as if he had practiced in the mirror.
He told them that after Voldemort had been killed he went in search of his mother. They had planned to run, and start over somewhere new, had the battle not gone their way. But as he approached her, he noticed the pained look on her face and knew something was very wrong. Before he could move a step closer the Aurors appeared, restraining him. The last thing he saw was his mother, held back, in tears, before he blacked out.
Draco woke up in a dimly lit room, bare, with nothing but a cot. A few nights of restless, attempted sleep passed before the door to his cell opened. A man entered, wearing long purple robes, he summoned a chair and motioned for Draco to sit.
The lighting brightened, and the sudden change blinded him momentarily, and seconds later filled him with dread because he had to fully take in his appearance. He was still wearing his clothes from the battle, this he knew, but Draco was unaware of the dried blood and dirt covering large portions of his clothes and skin.
"I'm here to ask you some questions" the man spoke
Draco skipped ahead passed the interrogation. Making Pansy nervous, knowing how bad it must've been if he was shielding them from it. She now realized their juvenile promise to bear each other's burdens only extended so far.
Draco continued, skipping ahead to his trial. It was private from the press, a small showing of Aurors, a few ministry employees, his lawyer, and of course the minister of magic himself, Kingsley Shackelbolt.
His trial lasted two days, the second of which Harry Potter and Hermione Granger attended. Because once a hero always a hero. Their presence pushed Draco into new realms of self-loathing.
Harry spoke of the night Dumbledore died. He, a reputable witness, informed the court that Severus Snape had been the one to cast the killing curse on that fateful night, not Draco.
Hermione played to the court's humanity, telling them of their time in Malfoy manor, and that Draco had refused to identify them, which had saved their lives. She went on, concluding that had Draco truly been on the side of evil, on the side of darkness, the war would've been lost that night.
Soon after they spoke to the court Shackelbolt decided upon Draco's sentence.
His wand had been snapped, and he was given one that was ministry regulated, where they could track the spells he performed. He had been given a month. He would go back to Hogwarts, finish eighth year, pass his classes, and if within a month he caused no trouble Theodore and Blaise would be given the same deal.
Pansy's breath hitched at the mention of Theo, at the idea that in a month's time she would reunite with her twin flame.
"That is the story of where the fuck I've been," Draco said looking drained.
"But your back," Daphne said "you're back, here with us now" she smiled sadly at her friend.
Back, here, with us,
Together
"Yes"
"Stay here tonight," Pansy asked, begging nearly
"Pans, as much as I'd love to shack up with you and Daphne, it's against my terms" Pansy wondered how many rules had to follow that he'd refrained from telling them. "Besides, I have four posters waiting for me, in a room with," he paused "Potter and Weaslbe"
Her face went slack because of course. Of course, they would be bunking with Gryffindors, in the name of goddam house unity.
Draco reluctantly parted with them soon after. Which was when Pansy noticed the third bed in their room.
There was a knock on their door to which Daphne responded "Come in"
Lo and behold Hermione Granger, golden girl, hero, and friend to all came into view. She wavered at the door for a moment before entering the room fully.
"Well, I suppose we're roommates," she said with a small laugh and forced smile.
"You've got to be shitting me," Pansy muttered and sunk into her bed, the velvet curtains closing around her.
She refused to leave her bed until the polite chatter between Daphne and Granger died down and the lights faded. When she could hear Granger's light snoring she peered out of the curtains and tiptoed to Daphne's bed, crawling in.
"She's not that bad you know," Daphne whispered while tucking Pansy under her sheets
"She's a know it all swot" Pansy whispered back.
"She's one reason why Draco is here, and not in Azkaban, and that's enough for me"
"Where do you think Theo is right now, Daph? Or Blaise?" Do you think they're staying in a five-star hotel, no. She might've helped Draco, and that might be enough for you, but-
"Just go to sleep Pans" it was no use arguing with her. Because as much as she wanted to be mad, and somehow blame Granger for Theo's absence, she knew, logically she couldn't. She just might be the reason Pansy would be able to see him again.
One month, one month and your Theo will be back in your arms.
She told herself this again and again and somehow, for the first time in months she drifted into a dreamless sleep.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx I hope you enjoyed chapter two! Have a good day and stay safe<3
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