Quiet Revolution

Chapter 11 - Pansy's Lesson

Eyes are feeling heavy but they never seem to close
The fan blades on the ceiling spin but the air is never cold
And even though you are next to me I still feel so alone
I just can't give you anything for you to call your own

"The Mudblood is out of the hospital, did you hear?"

There were rare, golden occasions when Professor Snape chose to be late for his own class. Usually, on those blue mooned days, that time would be reserved for gossip, as stated above. Snape liked to quietly pounce on his students an exact three minutes after the said time of the beginning of the lesson. He was never, ever later than three minutes.

Right now, they were on the first minute.

Ron tried to block out what Pansy and her gang was saying about Hermione. But seeing as how, traditionally, the Gryffindors and Slytherins on the high pedestals liked to sit near each other just for the sake of pissing each other off, this was very hard.

Pansy had changed.

She was still irritating as anything, and she was still snotty, but without Draco at her side... she had lost a spark of confidence and rarely picked fights with the Gryffindors anymore. A part of Ron was relieved but a small speck of him, maybe freckle sized, was sympathetic. He knew how it felt to lose your best friend and he didn't feel nearly as confident anymore without Harry around, and that's to say that what he was before could even be deemed confident.

He met eyes solemn with the black-haired Slytherin girl and she merely held onto that gaze for a split second before turning back to her table where Millicent was in the middle of telling her something - undoubtedly more nasty things about Hermione.

Ron sighed and turned back to his own table where Seamus and Dean were so obviously being cautious around him.

"So did you...visit her yet?" Dean asked. "Ginny says she went to see Hermione earlier this morning and Hermione's holding up great."

"That's really good," Ron said in a rushed tone.

And he meant it more than anyone would ever know.

Ginny wasn't speaking to him either. It must have been the Universal Sisterhood's rule or something. Ironic as it was, Ginny being his actual sister. .

Snape had loomed over them just now, so class was beginning. Everyone shut up.

* * *

"They're talking about you in Snape's class."

"They're also talking about me during lunch, and dinner, and breakfast, and every other time a student sits down to eat," Hermione said as she stuck her nose high up in the air and made her way out of the Infirmary. Draco followed her closely behind, shoving his gloved hands into his jacket pocket.

"Why, Hermione Jane Granger, you don't care what other people say about you?" he asked casually, swaying closely next to her.

"I can't control what they say about me," she said quietly, biting her bottom lip and concentrating hard, it seemed. "It's not as if I don't care. I obviously have to care. But I can't do anything about it. And...how did you know it was Jane?"

"Hmm," Draco clucked his tongue, ignoring her question.

She gave him a rueful smile and turned to face him. "Say it, Draco. I know you want to."

"Say what?" He had a playing smile on his lips. It was amazing how much this girl thought she knew about him.

"I should defend myself, right? Like the great Gryffindor that I am? I mean, I did take the time to defend just about everything last year and all the years before that."

"Those years were different," Draco said.

"How?" she asked curiously. "Besides you and Harry being alive."

"That's everything. Me being alive helped you hate, and Potter being alive helped you love."

"I never hated you," she said softly as they continued walking down the empty corridor. The early afternoon sun was beaming down hotly on their faces.

Draco couldn't feel it.

"I don't doubt that you felt some sort of deep loathing for me as I did toward you."

"Be that as it may," she said, smiling ruefully. "Like you say, things are different now. We're working together and if you need to hear it again, I'll say it. I trust you."

"What I was going to say," Draco continued. "Was that you shouldn't care about what these little shits say about you at all because the ones who actually know you aren't talking."

"I know for a fact that Lavender and Parvati are talking about me."

"Right, and they know you...?"

She paused. Who wasn't talking about her? Who actually knew her, then?

Ginny, probably.

And Ron.

She shook off any thoughts she had of him and turned to face Draco.

"Well, good point. People are talking about you, too, you know."

"Well, naturally," he said carelessly, default smirk in place.

"It doesn't bother the great Draco Malfoy?"

"The great Draco Malfoy doesn't care about one damn person in this school. And the ones he does care about, he knows aren't talking about him. So the great Draco Malfoy is perfectly content with the sods in this school talking all they want." There was a pause. "They'll amount to nothing, anyway."

She smiled a little. She would have imagined that this was what Draco would have said to his Slytherin friends during lunch had he still been alive. And a part of her felt like she was being let in.

"Anyway," he continued. "I'm fine. And that's what matters to me right now, so let's just move on."

"What about me?"

"What about you?"

"Really, Draco. Your compassion is just overwhelming."

He sneered at her. "Aw, really? Hug me!"

And to his sheer and utter shock - before he could protest, she did just that. Hermione promptly fell forward and sighed softly against his chest as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He stood there awkwardly but eventually hugged her back lightly.

"Thank you." Her voice was muffled. "For saving my life."

* * *

Being inconspicuous at Hogwarts was much easier when your best friend had an invisibility cloak.

It was too bad that was in Hermione's possession right now, Ron thought bitterly as he crept past the entrance of the Infirmary for the fifth time.

Six times, now.

"You're a bloody coward," he mumbled under his breath as he darted a glance in the ward from the side of his eyes. But there were two Hufflepuff Quidditch players and that was all he could see.

He looked ridiculous. He looked like he was doing a slow mating dance ritual.

Or something.

Ron sighed and decided it was futile and possibly immature and childish. So he began walking away.

"Watch it," Pansy seethed as he walked right into her.

What a sight to feast on in the early morning, he thought.

"Look at me funny again, Weasley, and I'll show you what profits your eyes can make."

"As if I'd want to be looking at you in the first place," Ron spat out viciously before heeling in the other direction.

Hermione and Draco both watched this from far away in the corner of a corridor and Draco clucked his tongue.

"Ah, Pans," he said softly, almost affectionately.

"Poor Ron!" Hermione huffed. "Pansy's rudeness was completely uncalled for! What a co--"

"You've got to be kidding me!" Draco bellowed quietly.

She opened her mouth to argue, but decided against it. "No," she said pompously. "You did save my life, so I'll keep my opinion to myself."

"My, my, Christmas came early for me," Draco said absently.

Hermione looked at him carefully.

"You're not insulting me as much today, Draco."

He finally turned to look at her. "Are you complaining or am I missing something?"

"What's wrong?" she blurted out.

Silence.

More students passed them in the corridor on their way to their rooms.

"Tell me. Maybe I can help," she insisted.

"How very Gryffindor of you," Draco said nastily. She sighed but to her surprise, he continued. "But I might just take you up on that offer."

He grabbed her wrist, pulling her into a deserted corridor.

"I'd like to talk to Pansy," he finally said hesitantly, leaning against one wall and loosening his collar a bit.

"...Pansy?" Hermione croaked. "But you're dead!"

"Nothing gets past you, does it?" Draco retorted.

She placed her hands on her hips and gave him a haughty look.

He rolled his eyes. "I meant through you."

"Me?" She was still croaking. "Pansy?"

"Go tell Pansy that everything's going to be okay," Draco said. "And let her know that I love her," he said hesitantly, but finally.

But Hermione had not even registered that much yet.

"Pansy... Parkinson?" she whispered, suddenly developing a dry throat.

"No, Pansy the flower, the ones that are blooming by the lake. I want you to tell each and every petal." Draco said dryly.

"You... love her. You two...?"

"No," Draco said in a hard voice. "We were never romantically involved like that. She's just one of my best friends, even though the concept of a Slytherin having something in common anyone else is hard to grasp."

"Fine," Hermione finally said haughtily. "But why?"

"She's important to me, you know. She was my comrade in life. I want to tell her I care before it's too late. She never really knew, I don't think. It might be too late for her if you don't tell her now."

"I don't believe you," Hermione said flatly.

"You don't have to," he said coldly and rather harshly, cool eyes grazing down on her.

"But Draco--"

"You don't have to believe that junior Death Eaters and Slytherins have hearts. You don't have to believe that I can care about other people besides myself and Potter's death day."

She pursed her lips flat. He kept talking.

"But you still owe me."

"Wait," she hesitated. "This doesn't need to be done in the first place if you truly believe we're going too succeed in this spell. You should be alive and well to be able to tell her yourself. Don't you believe in us mastering the spell?"

"It's called insurance." He never took his eyes off her.

She thought about it for a long time. The fact that he was staring at her so hard and waiting right next to her didn't make it any easier.

"...Okay."

A slow smile crept onto his lips.

"Fabulous. The password to the dungeons is 'No leather allowed',"

She gave him a look.

"What? It's so distasteful!"

* * *

Blaise Zabini and Theodore Nott were sitting on the couches in the dungeon, going over Potions homework. A fire was crackling in its fireplace and the air was rich with comfortable heat.

Theodore looked up first and raised an eyebrow, then jabbed Blaise, who looked up leisurely. His dark hair fell into his eyes slowly as he wrinkled his nose disgustedly.

"You've got to me kidding me," he murmured lowly. "What the hell do you want?"

"I...is Pansy here? We have to work on an assignment together."

Nott looked doubtful but a slow smile crept onto Blaise's face. "You only have one class with that wench and it's Potions. And we know Snape isn't fond of group projects. The man isn't fond of anything that involves companionship."

Did Blaise just call Pansy a wench?

"I have Care of Magical Creatures with her too!" Hermione insisted.

"Oh. Pardon," Blaise said darkly. "But how about if I still don't believe you, Granger?"

"Just tell me where she is, please," Hermione closed her eyes. How dare Draco ask this of her. He's probably collapsed in a fit of pure giggles at this very scene.

"Zabini! There you are, you little scab! I've been lo---"

Pansy, Millicent and Daphne had arrived.

Hermione continued standing, eyes closed.

"Who let the Mudblood in?" Pansy snapped.

"Hey!" Daphne, a half blood, protested.

"Says she's here to work on a school assignment with you," Blaise murmured in a bored voice as he flipped a page and showed a line of ingredients to Nott. Nott nodded and jotted them down, ignoring the highlighted conversation that was occurring before him.

"Well that's a load of shit if I've ever heard!" Pansy exclaimed, screeching slightly.

"My thoughts exactly, Parkinson, except I had a little less squeal in my tone of inner voice."

"Shut up, Zabini," Pansy snorted. And then she paused. "Can you and Theo leave for a few minutes?"

"We're creatures of territory though, surely you knew that, wench!" Blaise exclaimed as he and Nott made a huge fuss about clearing their things. He brushed past Pansy and whispered something into her ear.

"Be careful," perhaps it was. Or maybe "don't make a mess when killing her."

She nodded curtly and Nott nodded at her as well as he passed by her.

"I'll talk to you girls later," Pansy said curtly. Millicent and Daphne both sighed but disappeared as well.

Pansy turned to Hermione and then promptly laughed in her face - a loud, satisfying heap of a laugh.

Hermione turned deep red.

"Really, Pansy! It was hard enough for me to come here by myself! You could at least--"

"I could?" Pansy narrowed her eyes. "I could at least have kicked your arse out of here because you're in my space now, Gryffindor. So you should be glad that it's a Thursday evening and that I'm tired off my bloody skull and don't have the strength for that."

"You were always a girl of so much class," Hermione said sarcastically. She quickly clapped a hand over mouth. She could feel Draco's eyes on her from somewhere.

"You fucking bitch," Pansy seethed. "If you came here to insult me, you can be sure I'll get---"

"No!" Hermione said quickly. "I... no! I'm sorry. I didn't come here to do that. This is about Draco."

Pansy flinched and her eyes grew dark. "Draco's dead."

"Yes but, I...I just wanted to say, first of all, how sorry I am about that. I want to make peace with you. You know, I always was a huge fan of Interhouse Unity, it's why I never liked Quidditch to begin with. Also, with S.P.E.W---"

"Will you make your damn point and leave already?" Pansy snarled.

Yes, Hermione thought to herself, blood boiling, a girl of such class.

"I just hope you're going to be okay, with Draco's death. I know it's not easy to battle... the loss of him must have been horrible to deal with. I know Harry's death has had that effect on me. And I just... I hope you do realise that even though... even though I barely know you. Well, you and Draco. I could see that he cared a lot about you."

Pansy stared at Hermione and simply gawked for a full minute.

"Pansy..." Hermione trailed off.

"How dare you!" Pansy screeched. "You don't fucking walk into my common room and treat me like one of your fucking charity projects. Do I look like a needy elf that's lost its raggedy hat? Fuck you!" she spat out.

She was yelling. She would not stop. Hermione knew Pansy to be a girl of a temper but she really didn't know how to handle it. Hermione raised her hands and covered her eyes.

Oh, Draco, you idiot. This was such a bad idea.

But then a silence loomed over the room. It pierced Hermione's ear drums until she was forced to clam open her eyes again.

Pansy had fat tears rolling down her face. Her eyes had squinted up, in an effort to slow the flow of tears.

Hermione was horrified. She had made Pansy Parkinson cry.

"I miss him so much," Pansy whispered, her voice barely audible. She sat down, knees curling, onto the velvet cushioned couch that the common room held.

"Pansy, I'm really sorry about his death... I truly am." Hermione cautiously placed a hand on Pansy's shoulder. Pansy let it stay for a second before she jerked away suspiciously. "I really do understand, I mean... I lost Harry, I know how much it hurts."

"Were you best friends with Potter like I was with Draco?" Pansy snapped, her breaths often hitching in between her words. "Was he the only thing that kept you alive here at Hogwarts? Were you the only one who loved him? And did Potter strive in life just for people to notice he was alive?"

No, Harry had been none of those things. And Hermione suddenly felt very, very small.

"I see Weasley," Pansy spat out. "See him laughing and being stupid and prideful. Do you see Vince and Greg? Do you see how they don't know what to do with themselves? How they don't eat? How they've realised that there will be no more holidays at the Malfoy Manor to help them escape from their abusive parents and no one else to push them to actually study?"

"I--Pansy."

"Why did you come here, Granger?" Pansy whispered. "To remind me of what I've lost? Or to be a self righteous Gryffindor and tell me that you want to be friends because you can relate?" She sneered.

"I---"

"Because I was doing okay before you came along and fed me all this bullshit, Mudblood. So stay away from here and don't ever come back to stir up my old shit. I'm going to be fine without Draco and I am fine. I'll forget about him soon enough if you stay out of my life so fuck off."

"I will!" Hermione cried, anger bubbling in her blood. She despised Pansy Parkinson so much; even from day one she saw nothing good of the girl. But her anger now was not because of that. It was because she didn't know what to say. She didn't know why but it turned out that Pansy Parkinson was always going to hate her and for once, she didn't want that. For once, she cared. Just a little bit.

Hermione quickly gathered her books and felt her knees trembling from underneath her. She knew Draco was watching her from afar and she didn't know what to do except turn to face Pansy from the entrance of the common room.

"He loves you... and I hope you never forget that," she said quietly.

Pansy didn't respond. She didn't even look at her.

"And... I finally realise that what I thought was wrong... it was all wrong. I don't know anything and I was so, so wrong."

And with that said, she tore away.

Draco took a moment to let his stare linger after Hermione before he exhaled loudly and looked at Pansy.

"You have so much pride, Parkinson," Draco said softly. "But I guess I don't blame you, since all we've believed in about Granger was that she's out to destroy us."

He took a few steps toward her and noticed her trembling as she pressed her palms against her face and pulled her knees more tightly to her chest. "But she's not out to destroy us. Nothing can destroy us. Well..." Draco trailed off. "I guess something did destroy me in the end."

Pansy finally let her palms loosen as she began to cry freely now, looking at the entrance to the common room. "I hate you, fucking Mudblood," she whispered fiercely through her tears. "Why did you have to say that?"

Draco felt his chest throb as he moved closer to her. "But nothing will destroy you, Pansy. You're the girl whose screech can break windows and whose attitude is like fire."

Her cries were so violent, the tears were spewing out and her mouth was turning upward and her face was scrunched in a painful lock. Her emotions bled through her eyes and her whole body ached. "Come back, Draco, please."

He felt himself letting so and growing desperate beyond words. Draco placed his hands on her shoulders and then moved them down. He then cupped her face in his hands and pressed her hot forehead against his cold one. "Merlin, Pansy, please. Don't cry, you're killing me and I'm already dead." Draco sighed. "Don't cry, love."

But of course, Pansy could feel none of this and was only crying harder. Draco let go and promptly got up, feeling more invigorated than ever. "I'll be back, okay? I promise. Tell Crabbe and Goyle that they're going to be okay."

It was only seconds after Draco left that something compelled Pansy to stop crying. Crabbe and Goyle, having just entered the common area, were looking down at her, curious expressions on their faces.

"Do you two want to go get dinner?" she asked suddenly, snapping out of her cry spell.

They nodded, not saying a thing about her tearstained face and bloodshot eyes.

"I heard it's chocolate mousse for dessert," Goyle said and didn't miss a beat before he spoke his next words. "That was Draco's favourite."

Crabbe smiled faintly.

"Which is why we should eat enough for him," Pansy said, wiping her eyes with the back of her hands. This was the first time they had talked about Draco Malfoy so casually.

"Okay," said Crabbe and handed her a handkerchief from his pocket.

Pansy took it and they set off.

* * *

"I'm so sorry!" Hermione cried. "I messed up! I just... I never liked her, you know that Malfoy! I didn't realise... I... I'm sorry!"

"Pansy," Draco said to himself more than her. "She's a tough girl. She'll be okay."

"I mean... if this all works out, you'll be back with them again right?"

"Well obviously it's going to work out and naturally I would be back with them again," Draco said.

Hermione plopped down on her bed and Draco sat at the foot of it, musing to himself it seemed.

"I failed," she said, her face buried in her hands.

"There's a first for everything in life, wench," said Draco effortlessly as he lounged about on her bed.

She sat, legs crossed, and continued shaking her head back and forth.

"And, you know. Just for the record... you haven't failed at anything yet. The job got done, didn't it?"

There was a silence that spread itself across the room suddenly, a peaceful appreciative type of quiet and Hermione smiled hesitantly at Draco.

"You handled Blaise especially well," he snickered.

She swatted him with her pillow and he ducked.

"By the way, did you just call me a wench?"