mágoa ( ✓ )

chapter seven

LOVE IS PAINFUL, especially when you're in love with someone you know will never love you back — someone who would never dream of loving you back. Pansy Parkinson thought about this fact woefully as she wandered the castle late in the night. She hadn't been able to sleep, and Millicent's snoring wasn't helping the matter in the least. Eventually, she'd decided to take the risk and make her way out of Slytherin House and enjoy a midnight stroll. She prayed Filch or Snape wouldn't catch her: she always knew those two were the most likely to be making their rounds about the castle at this time.

The clocktower in the courtyard chimed midnight, and the short-haired girl walked daintily so as to make her footsteps go unnoticed if encountering any unwanted company. Then, she heard three whispering voices as she neared the kitchens, but as she peered her head around the corner, she noticed that nobody was there. Odd. A ghost, perhaps? Three of them?

Then, before her very eyes, three students popped into existence: the middle one holding a shimmering cloak in his tanned hands, black hair ruffled more so than usual. The Golden Trio. She let out a surprised gasp, and the three turned their heads at once, though she had been quick to pop back around the corner and out of their line of vision.

"If we're going to do this, Hermione," Ron Weasley claimed. "We need to hurry. This place gives me the creeps at night."

"You're such a baby, Ronald." Hermione's voice chided, and Pansy risked another poke around the corner. The boys were watching as the brown-haired girl stepped towards a painting of a bowl of fruit and began to tickle the pear. Suddenly, a passageway exposed itself into the kitchens, and the three made their way through it. Pansy stared after them in wonderment. What were they doing in the kitchen? How had Potter come into possession of an Invisibility Cloak? Why couldn't she be friends with them?

————— ↯ —————

The next time Pansy caught sight of the Gryffindor trio, they were making their way into the Great Hall for breakfast and Granger was carrying a small box. She watched as the three sat down at their table and the bushy-haired girl began to pull what appeared to be pins from the box and talked avidly about them, gesturing to them as if they were the most important things in the world.

"Two sickles for one of those?!" Weasley cried out loudly enough for the entire student body to hear him. His cheeks became as red as his hair, and he lowered his head onto the table sheepishly. The Gryffindor girl scolded her friend. Though Pansy couldn't read whatever had been written onto the pins, she knew she'd be willing to pay any price for whatever Hermione Granger had to offer.

She figured that she might just get herself a little collection of pins; she'd certainly gotten enough from Draco's whole 'POTTER STINKS' ordeal earlier in the year. However, she knew she couldn't just go walking over to Gryffindor Table with two sickles in hand: she needed to figure out just what the pins were for, and if they were in any relation to the Golden Trio's midnight trip to the kitchens the night prior. She found herself listening intently for any indignation as to what was going on, but as Gryffindor and Slytherin's tables were on opposing sides of the Great Hall, the noise of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff soon drowned out the noise. Damn Salazar and Godric for their rivalry!

Breakfast ended and the black-haired girl found herself being whisked away by Blaise Zabini, who had a tight hold on her arm and was looking at her knowingly. "You couldn't keep your eyes off of her during the whole meal. It quite looked like you were wanting to eat her."

"Granger's up to something, Blaise." She responded simply. "They all are. She's selling something: a pin of sorts, and I intend on buying one."

"What if they say 'PANSY STINKS' as retaliation for Draco? Or perhaps a reference to Potions class and the whole Ugly Incident?" He asked, an eyebrow raised.