ghost stories - h. potter

Fifteen

Once Belle had finished introducing Pansy to the creatures in the house and promising her that she'd introduce her to the rest of them tomorrow, Belle finally noticed how deprived the house was of Christmas decorations.

"It's nearly Christmas Mum - where are the decorations?" Belle asked.

"I thought maybe you two would like to decorate the house yourselves. If not I can just-" Collette pulled out her wand but Belle stopped her quickly.

"No!"

"We'd love to," Pansy stated, earning a warm smile from Collette. 

"It's late now so you can always do it tomorrow. Are you girls hungry?"

Belle glanced over at Pansy who smiled sheepishly and the brunette nodded her head.

"Go on up and get settled, I'll whip something up for you." As Collette turned to enter the kitchen, Belle gestured for Pansy to follow, who still had Nixie asleep in her arms.

"Aren't you getting tired of the cat?"  Belle asked as she lead Pansy up the stairs and the Slytherin girl raised an eyebrow. She watched as Belle transferred the Demiguise, Dopey, from her back into her arms. She gave it a slight smile and ticked it's stomach before she turned to Pansy, who looked down at the black cat in her own arms.

"No. She loves me, I love her, why should we seperate?" Pansy asked. Belle only shook her head, an amused expression on her face as she pushed open the spare bedroom that had been set up for Pansy. It was silver and green - Slytherin colours, which surprised Pansy greatly.

"Clarice was a Slytherin when she was at school. We never got around to changing the colours so it's all yours." Pansy smiled and set Nixie down on the bed before she did something that surprised them both. She threw her arms around Belle, bringing the girl in for a hug. Belle's eyes widened and she laughed before she returned the hug.

"What was that for?" She asked when they eventually broke away.

"Thank you. For everything you've done for me this year. I owe you, Frenche. And I would really appreciate it if that could stay between us. It may ruin my reputation if it gets out that I hugged you." 

Belle simply laughed again, causing Pansy to roll her eyes.

"Your secret is safe with me. Come on, I'll give you a tour." 

Just next to Pansy's room was Belle's. Pansy had half expected her walls to be blue and silver, but was pleasantly surprised to see that the walls were a soft, sunset orange. She wasn't surprised to see that plants littered every surface of the room where there weren't stacks of books - both muggle and wizarding ones alike. Hand-painted illustrations covered the walls, each piece just as magnificent as the next, illuminated by the golden fairy lights that rimmed the top of the room.

"It's very... you," Pansy stated and Belle smiled as she dropped her trunk down in front of her bed.

"What are these?" Pansy asked curiously, her eyes going to the odd, featherless quills that sat on top of her bedside table, next to an overflowing sketchbook, full of loose papers and sketches.

"Pens," Belle announced as she picked it up.

"They're the muggle version of quills." 

"But... where's the ink?" Pansy asked curiously.

"Click it," Belle said, deliberately ignoring the question. Pansy jumped as she pressed her thumb down on the top of the pen, causing the nib to appear.

"Go on," Belle encouraged the girl, passing her over the sketchbook that was open on a fresh page. Looking at her as though she were crazy, Pansy pressed the tip of the pen to the page and scribbled with it, shock blanketing her face at the black line that appeared.