A Taste of Magic

Chapter 11: 11th Course - Changing Direction

"Pansy," Padma said. "Pansy Parkinson."

"Do you know any other Pansies?" Parvati asked.

"No, but you can't blame me for being surprised," Padma said. "Pansy is coming to the club. She wants to come to the club."

"Apparently," Parvati sighed.

"Why?"

"We don't know for sure either," Harry said.

"She either is doing something to cheese off Draco, which will work considering how upset he looked today," Lavender said, "or it's a plan for something later on."

"Could be both," Parvati brought up.

"Could be both," Lavender agreed.

"Or maybe she is interested in household charms?" Padma suggested. She snorted at the looks the other two girls gave her. "Right, I knew that was weak as I was saying it."

"She was really pleasant to work with today during Potions class," Harry said. "Like actually nice to work with."

"That's true," Lavender admitted. "And I mean, who hasn't wanted to stick it to Draco?"

"Maybe she's sick," Parvati said. "Isn't Bulstrode out because she's sick? Maybe it's contagious?"

"What does being sick have to do with her wanting to come to club?" Harry asked.

"Just saying. Some kinds of sicknesses addle your brain. One of our cousins got sick and turned bonkers, started doing things really out of the norm-"

"He got hit with a Concussion Curse," Padma explained, glaring at her sister. "And he wasn't too bright to begin with. He cast the curse on himself."

"Why?!" Lavender exclaimed, eyes wide.

"Something about 'knocking the cough out'," Padma sighed.

"He thought that would work?" Harry asked.

"Like I said, wasn't too smart to begin with," Padma said.

Harry and the girls started laughing. "Well, let's just see how it goes," Harry said when the laughter subsided. "If she's rude and mean, she won't be welcome back."

"That's fair," Padma said. "Still, it's kinda weird."

"That's what we said earlier," Parvati said.

-0-

Pansy stood at the closed door, staring at it. She had arrived minutes ago and had stopped just shy of opening the door. She knew she was in the right place; she could hear them talking within the classroom. Normally she would never be this shy.

However, what she did today would not be considered to be 'normal' behavior.

She would never have stood up to Draco quite like that before. She and Draco have argued many times in the past, usually about what they were doing or what to do, but she had never stood against him in such a way. She would never have made a spectacle of herself in front of others before. Then again, she had never been pushed to the point where she did that sort of thing. She had never been bothered to such a degree where she felt like this.