Heartchains

Chapter 7

***If updates are slow, please forgive me because school. Plus I have an AICE class.***

A week had passed and Pansy was shocked; Hermione had not kicked her out yet. Everyday Pansy awoke, preparing for Hermione to have packed all of her stuff and tell her that it was all a prank, that Granger really didn't want to push behind old rivalries and make friends. And yet, every morning, Pansy would get up and her stuff was still unpacked, Granger sitting at a table, scribbling at a piece of parchment. Pansy would walk as silently as she could to get dressed, trying not to be a bother. However, Hermione would always greet her.

"Good Morning!" She had said that morning, sounding far too happy for 6 in the morning. 

Pansy grumbled in respond but was secretly ecstatic to have a kind voice.

"How was your sleep?" Granger asked, just like she always asked. 

"Good." She mumbled, as always.

"Really?" Granger asked. This was not part of the script. Granger always would let Pansy go after the first couple formalities. 

"Y-yeah!" Pansy said, absolutely convincing no one. 

"You were mumbling in your sleep. Sounded like an argument?" 

Damn, she was good. Or Pansy was really obvious. In truth, Pansy had a dream about her mother. About the last conversation she ever had with her. Pansy's eyes twinged at the memory of it; She scolded her eyes for being so weak. 

"Is this what you want the Parkinson bloodline to come to?"  Her mother had yelled once she caught news of Pansy's relationship with a muggle-born Hufflepuff. She had been the only girl who didn't fear her. (And she was pretty good-looking as Pansy had told her friends when they asked.) 

"That's all you care about!" Pansy had yelled back. "Just the bloody blood-line. How about your daughter, huh? You don't care about her?"

"Of course I love you! How dare you insinuate otherwise!" 

"Prove it then!" Pansy had started to cry at this point. She could feel all the walls she had built coming down at once. 

"I don't have to prove anything to anyone. Now, come with me, you're due for the mark."

"No." She had said quietly, but Mrs. Parkinson had heard it.

"No?" She looked even more furious. "You are no child of mine!" She yelled and apparated away. 

The dream went differently every time. It was replayed in so many ways, Pansy wasn't quite sure how the fight really went down, and if it had gone down at all. 

Pansy sighed. "What time is it?" She couldn't see the clock; Granger seemed to be hiding it.

"We have time. You woke up early. I didn't even go down to the Great Hall yet."

Pansy was too uncomfortable going somewhere with so many people. Everyone hated her; they'd yell at her. Granger was too nice to her; every morning, afternoon, and evening she'd go down to the Great Hall, eat, and then bring food up to Pansy. Sometimes she'd even bring her own food with her and they'd eat in silence, silently (and not-so-secretly) enjoying each other's presence. 

Pansy sighed. "It's a long story." 

"Like I said, we have time."

"Well, you're spot on, for starters."

"Spot on? On what?" She gave Pansy a puzzled look that made her heart flutter. She scolded it once more.

"On the fact that it was an argument. My dream, that is. It's sort of a recurring nightmare." Pansy explained and then in an undertone, "That I shouldn't even be telling you."

Granger heard her and gave her a stern look. "Go on."

"It's the last conversation I ever had with my mother. She wanted me to become a Deatheater; I refused. She- she-" Pansy broke off, the mind-wound fresh and still bleeding tears. Granger watched, entranced by the short yet sorrowful tale. "She struck me. With a curse."

"What curse?" Granger asked, though one could tell by the brimming tears that she knew precisely what curse Pansy's mother struck her with. 

"The Cruciatus Curse." She said quietly, the pain still aching deep, deep within her, the way only true pain can. The way only pain that not only hurt you physically but mentally can.

"Oh, Pansy!" Granger shrieked. She rushed over to Pansy's side and wrapped her arms around her. Pansy allowed herself to revel in the warmth of Granger's body.

And once again, Hermione Granger and Pansy Parkinson were intertwined in a tearful embrace.

***Do you want a slow build up? Or can they have a cliche fluffy fast-fall? Comment down there lol***