Life as I Knew It

Chapter 10--Meeting Moonshyne Riddle

Pansy made it all the way to the Slytherin common room before she remembered that she was not rooming in the dormitory. In fact, she had no idea where she was rooming. She stood just inside the doorway and watched the other students mill about.

Pansy knew that the only option available to her was to ask Professor Snape for help. The idea of being alone with him again was highly disturbing. He was there in the common room, too, leering at the older female students. Pansy had just about gathered the courage to speak to him when Draco walked up to her.

"Hey, Pansy." He smiled in a way that she had always thought was seductive. "I thought that, as head boy, I should show you to your room."

Was this what Moonshyne considered throwing herself at him? Pansy held in a smirk. "Oh, thanks, but I'm actually--"

He nodded. "Not staying here. I know. I meant that I can show you around the castle to where your room is."

That was definitely preferable to having Professor Snape take her there. Pansy was actually eager to get Draco alone so that she could discover the extent of his change in personality. She rather hoped the poetry bit was an exaggeration on Ginny's part.

"That would be great." Pansy glanced at Moonshyne, and was pleased to see the girl looked livid. Pansy gestured toward the door. "After you."

Draco was almost out the door when Moonshyne grabbed him by the arm. "Draco, I need you."

He looked at Moonshyne, then back at Pansy. The poor boy looked utterly confused. He pried Moonshyne's fingers off his arm and continued to look back and forth between the two girls. Pansy wanted to hear him choose her, but she knew she needed to play it cool. "Well, if Moonshyne needs you, you should go with her. I can find someone else to show me around."

Moonshyne smiled insincerely. "That's a great point. Thanks. Darling, can you wait for me by the couches."

Draco nodded. As he walked away, Draco looked at Pansy over his shoulder as if he was not sure what had just happened.

Moonshyne narrowed her eyes at Pansy. "I think we need to get some things straight."

Pansy smiled sweetly. "Oh, don't worry. Morag already ran interference for you. I know that I am not cool enough to be part of your little clique. So we got that settled. What a relief."

Moonshyne did not smile. Her voice was low and threatening. "I've seen a lot of girls come in here--"

Moonshyne eyes literally flashed, but Pansy refused to be intimidated. "Really, I've heard all this before."

Moonshyne ignored her. "And they have all wanted what I have, be it Harry or Draco. I'm not going to let you waltz into this common room and hang all over Draco in some disgusting display." Her eyes flashed again.

Pansy folded her arms. "I didn't touch Draco. I was standing here, and he came over to me. Maybe you should be giving this speech to him."

Moonshyne was clearly put out that Pansy was not reacting the way she expected. "No, I'm not worried about Draco. He loves me. And that's not going to change just because some skank hits on him. I'll show you."

She walked over to Draco. "Sweetie, tell me how much you love me."

Moonshyne looked Pansy right in the eye as Draco dropped to bended knee and said, "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day..."

There he was, actually reciting poetry for that freaky girl. "Why is it always Shakespeare?" someone whispered in her ear.

Pansy turned to find Daphne standing at her side. "Excuse me?"

"Draco always recites Shakespeare to her, as though he were the only poet in the history of the world. Shouldn't he at least quote a wizard?"

All the people around Draco and Moonshyne were laughing and having fun with it. A few younger girls on the sidelines were practically swooning. "I am so glad I'm not the only one who finds this disturbing."

Daphne laughed. "We're supposed to be Slytherins, right? What is that?" She gestured toward the display.

"So, are we friends now, Daphne?"

Daphne looked at her with amusement. "I never told you my name."

By this point, anyone could have told Pansy her name. In fact, Millicent had done so when she listed the seventh years. Pansy went in a different direction, though. "My inner eye is very strong."

Daphne snorted. "Oh, Pansy." There was a familiarity in this that had not passed by Pansy. "Yeah, we could be friends. You were able to make Draco hesitate before doing his mistress's bidding, so I guess you're all right."

Pansy made a mental list of people who had acted as if they knew her, if only briefly. Dumbledore and Daphne were the only ones who made the list. She tried to remember someone else. Draco had heard of her family, but that was it. Three people.

"Hey, have you ever heard of my family?"

Daphne looked at her with sad eyes. She had some sort of internal struggle that showed on her face. "No," she finally said, with a note of regret.

Suddenly, it was all too much for Pansy. She could be living in a world where her parents were gone, which meant for all intents and purposes, she was an orphan. Draco was making an idiot of himself over some girl with green hair. None of her friends remembered her. Any one of those things would have been bad enough, but together it amounted to a world where no one loved her or cared about her. Pansy walked out of the common room into the hall. She just need some space to breathe.