A Snake's Crutch Book 1

Part 17: Close Scrutiny

"Er...well..." Y/N looked sadly at the ground, just realizing how cold it was. "Can we go inside?"

Pansy looked incredibly suspicious, but blinked and was back to being happy. "Of course! Let me show you my room!" 

Grabbing both girls by the wrist, Pansy dragged them through her house, leading them to her room. As they went, y/n couldn't help but notice how empty and cold Pansy's house felt. Like no one lived there. With not much decorations, the house felt sad and there was very little color in the decorations, some of the only color being a sort of dark, almost black, green.

Pansy led the girls to two large double doors and threw them open. Inside was beautiful and extravagant with a massive four poster bed with leafy vines growing on it, green silk drapings, lush rugs, and plush armchairs. Surrounding the room were numerous beautiful plants, some of which were waving, even with no wind. The room had a rounded back wall with floor to ceilings windows, and from them one could see the most gorgeous view of the rolling hills surrounding the manor. To get to the window, one had to climb two small steps to a circular platform, upon which sat Pansy's bed. This room seemed much more alive than any of the rooms y/n had seen on the way to it. 

"Wow, Pansy! Your room is beautiful." y/n breathed.

Pansy, loving the attention, giggled. "Isn't it? I love it in here. It's the only room in the house that feels like someone's living in it. Mum won't let me decorate anywhere but in here. I swear, when I have my own home, I'll make sure it actually feels like a home."

"It looks gorgeous," exclaimed Sarah, walking around in awe. Half way through her wandering, Sarah yelp as a small creature crawled up her front to get to a necklace she was wearing. 

"Sniffles! No! I trained you better than to climb on our guests!" Pansy rushed over and scooped the adorable creature off of Sarah.

"You have a pet Niffler?" Sarah seemed shocked.

"He's absolutely adorable! Can I hold him?" Y/n wanted to cuddle the adorable Niffler. Pansy nodded, dropping Sniffles in her arms.

"Don't let him see any jewelry. You may never see it again if he gets his hands on it."

Sniffles went to y/n willingly and snuggled into her when he did. He looked up at her over his long tan snout and made a sound that reminded y/n of a baby giggling. Sniffles' black fur was so soft, y/n didn't know if there was anything she could compare it to.

For the rest of the night, the girls toured the house, playing games as they went. Y/N taught them hide and seek -- somehow they had no idea what that was -- and they taught her a game they called 'vanish' which was basically the same thing. Everyone got one magical item and they had to find a way to hide with it. It was really fun until y/n got a wardrobe as her magical item. 

The girls returned to Pansy's room after the tour and, after a few minutes, Lorddie reappeared with a pop to announce that dinner would be ready shortly. 

Sadly, the house elf's reappearance seemed to remind Pansy of when the girl had first arrived.

"Why where you acting so strange when you got here? You acted like you'd never seen a house elf before," Pansy said, brow raised.

Sniffles climbed onto the bed and curled up into her lap, seeming to sense her unease. 

"Well... I hadn't seen a house elf before then. I'm..." Y/N glanced at Sarah, trying to figure out how to tell Pansy. Sarah gave her a reassuring smile. "Pansy, I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, but... I'm a muggle born."

Y/N didn't look at Pansy for a moment, but regretted it immediately when she did. Pansy looked at her with a mix of shock and anger.

"What?! How are you a mud-blood?" Y/N winced at the nickname. "You're a Slytherin! Slytherins can't be mud-bloods! That doesn't work!" Pansy paused and angrily chewed her lip for a moment before the angry look on her face softened to sadness. Pansy took y/n's hand. "You know what? I don't care. If you're a Slytherin, it means your pure blood. Whether or not your parents are magic doesn't matter to me. You are one of my best friends, and I don't care if you don't have magical blood. You are probably the best Slytherin the House has ever seen, and by far the smartest. I'm not making myself one of the dumb ones because I stopped being your friend."