don't bring flowers.

chapter 1.

The early morning brought scenery full of clichés. Birds chirped, the sun shone brightly, and everything seemed peaceful and serene. Pansy Parkinson chose to ignore the morning bliss and instead pulled her bed sheets over her head in an attempt to block it out. This denial of the fresh day had become a regular occurrence over the past two months, for she preferred to be asleep, and in sleep she didn't have to think of all the terrible things that had happened. Apparently today she wasn't allowed to sit and sulk in solitude.

"Good morning Miss Pansy!" Libby her house elf squeaked as she pushed open the door, effortlessly carrying a tray in the palm of her hand. The elf wore a sparkling silver pinafore, as Pansy wanted to set her free on several occasions, but even with clothes granted to her, she decided against leaving her home. That brave faithfulness reminded Pansy to at least sit up once she entered the room.

"What am I doing today then, Libby?" She asked politely with a clear lack of interest. Her focus was on the china cup now held carefully in her hand as she drank the lavender scented liquid. "Please tell me it's nothing major today."

Libby shifted away from her brown eyed stare. Clearly she was being extra sweet to soften the blow of what she was about to reveal. "Miss Pansy, do you not remember the letter from the Ministry you received three weeks ago?" Pansy nodded and watched her frantically start to pick clothes out of her wardrobe. "Your inquiry starts this morning at eleven." Holding up a pair of respectable heels, Libby turned to face her with a pained expression, desperate for her to take the news well.

Pansy's chest felt tight and she quickly disposed of the cup in her hand to wipe away a few stray tears falling down her cheeks. "Oh." Today was time to face the music over what she did at the Battle of Hogwarts, but more importantly, they wanted to talk to her about her associations with Draco during school. The new naive staff at the Ministry of Magic thought that keeping profiles of known Death Eaters would be useful, despite them having no obligations anymore. Draco especially. Not that she had seen him since that fateful evening. The 'D' word had been permanently banned in the Parkinson residence, yet now she was supposed to stand up in front of strangers and talk about the only person she truly loved.

Without another word, she slipped out of bed and into her en suite bathroom. To hide for a few minutes, she used a charm to lock the door and sat fully clothed in an empty bath with her knees tucked up to her chest. She sat sobbing in silence until her mother called to summon her. 

Tired and dreading her day, Pansy used magic to lazily help her dress properly and prepare to go downstairs. The only thing she took the time to do was her hair, twisting it up into a neat bun and using a very special emerald hair pin to keep it neat. On her descent down the staircase, Libby frantically polished her shoes and shined the slytherin crest she wore on the left hand side of her jacket. As soon as her worried parents laid their eyes on her, she was ready to leave.

"You look beautiful, Pans." Her mother Cecelia commented, as though sending her daughter off to an extravagant party or even her own wedding. She remained in her seat with clasped hands with visibly tearful eyes. Victor Parkinson leaned against the nearest wall in silence for a while, waiting until Pansy said good bye to her mother and Libby before escorting her outside to have a quiet word.

"You are being really brave for doing this today, petal." He flinched, realising the condescending undertones of his words. It was not his intention to patronise his daughter on a difficult day for her. "I need you to do something for us though." Pansy's curious head tilt was the simple 'go ahead' that he needed to explain properly. "Your mother and I have been talking about the future, your future to be exact." Together they walked across their front porch and across the path towards the large gates. "We know that you loved that boy, and we're still going to give you some space, but you have to forget him and move on." A reaction from Pansy was missed and that shocked him. She was a classy, respective girl and that meant hiding emotions, even from her own parents.

"Would that be all?" Pansy choked on her words, swallowing the bile that had risen into her mouth. She felt sick and dizzy in every sense and wanted to scream at her father that Draco promised to come back for her, but she didn't.

"Make sure you don't lie to protect him today, petal." He gave her a friendly smile which she obviously did not return. If anything, she was positively scowling by now. "Nothing is going to happen if you tell the truth. I'm guessing you haven't told us the whole story and I'd never use legilimens on my own daughter." A chuckle escaped his lips for a second or two. "You know your arrangements?"

"Yes. I'll see you later." She said hastily and disapparated on the spot. 

She arrived in a backstreet near the visitor’s entrance with ease and got inside without any fuss. The Ministry of Magic was unknown territory for her, and for a short while she stood in the main entrance, staring in awe at the vast space around her. Suddenly, a person walking into her jolted her out of the daydreaming and caused her to fall back a little.

"Merlin! I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." A guy in front of her scanned for any damage, and the unusual attentiveness startled her a little. "Are you alright?" He used his hand to comb away the long, brown hair in front of his eyes, and that caused Pansy to stare closer at his face.

"Yeah, fine." She brushed over the subject immediately. "Do I know you?" Her mind wandered through all the people she ever met to try and match up his face. Squinting, she pictured him wearing dress robes, rather than a school uniform, and that's when it hit her. "You took Fleur Delacour to the Yule Ball!" She exclaimed, having a typical female view on her recognition. That enthusiasm made him laugh, and her cheeks flushed in her own silly girl behaviour.

"That's correct." He didn't seem too offended because he offered a hand to her. "Roger Davies, I was a Ravenclaw two years above you, Miss Parkinson." An expression of sheer horror was soon pasted across his rather round face. "Please don't think I'm a stalker, your face was just pretty memorable, and that’s all." They were both embarrassed and that made the conversation far less awkward. He offered to escort her to the court room, explaining how he was an intern in the Sports department, but really wanted to be a professional Quidditch player. Despite the fact that she had no desire to talk to anyone, even Pansy had to admit that he was pleasant to be around, and certainly a fresh change from her morose thoughts.

He never asked her anything about Draco and hopefully hadn't heard about her faux pas on the most memorable day in their lifetime, so that made her relax. Time flew by and before she knew it, they were stood outside the room in which Pansy was required to be in. "Thank you for walking me here, these corridors are far more twisted and complicated than I first expected." She wanted to thank him for the company, yet she knew her guard needed to remain up at all times to stop her from cracking and breaking down like she did back at her house. 

Shrugging his shoulders, he started to plan his departure. "It's no problem; it's the least I can do for walking into you." He twisted his feet around before plucking an adventurous idea out of his head, and stopped to tell his acquaintance the plan. "I'm guessing you'll be done at 1 o'clock for lunch, would you care to join me for something to eat?"

It seemed a little forward, and in normal circumstances she would've politely declined in an instant. But Pansy was lonely, and it appeared that her loneliness would be permanent if she didn't do anything about it. "I'd love to." Quite childishly, his smile grew to an un-natural size as he vowed to meet her in the spot they were then. He wished her good luck and left her.

Feeling her heart beat in her ears, she took a deep breath and pushed open the large, black door, leading to what she had been dreading for so long.