Pansy was not in a good mood this morning.
She woke up to find her friends had left the dormitory without her and when she arrived for breakfast at her usual 7:45 time, found that only Tracy was still eating while the others-Daphne and Astoria, sat chatting to Nott. Crabbe sat next to his other side, too heavy into his morning pudding to notice anything and Goyle was laughing to himself, fidgeting with something suspicious in his bag. Pansy didn't fixate on him long to find out what.
Draco was nowhere to be seen, but as was the case the first two days of class, it seemed that Draco had become too busy in the morning to give breakfast much thought. And Blaise was not much fun anymore, having spent most mornings with his nose in a copy of the daily prophet.
Like it mattered if he was up with the times. Hogwarts had a habit of spreading interesting political and social gossip like wild fire.
It's personally why Pansy hadn't wasted a galleon on a Daily Prophet subscription recently, nor that of Witch Weekly-though seeing that filthy American on the cover didn't help matters.
"You look tired, Pansy," Tracy said, as she caught sight of Pansy's attempt to sit down across from Daphne. A group of fourth year quidditch boys were pushing each other a little too aggressively this morning and it was becoming increasingly difficult for Pansy to pass by them without getting an elbow to the ribs.
"Will you lot quit it!" She snapped, right behind one of them who had done just that to her stomach. The four of them froze, knowing too well the owner of that voice, but after a glance behind them to see her anxious face, they turned back around and started up again as before.
Nott was snickering at her as she finally managed to swing her legs over the bench and sit down.
"What's so funny?" She snapped, but Nott's grin only flashed as he took one look her way.
"It's a bit early to be so hot and bothered, Pansy. What's got your kilt in a bunch?"
"Nothing that involves you or anyone else for that matter! Where's Draco? Shouldn't he be eating?"
"I'm not his keeper," was his only reply before turning to Daphne who was grinning up at him like a golden retriever to a sheep's gun. Utterly oblivious.
"He's in the library." Astoria, who had resumed sipping gently at her cup, acted as if she hadn't spoken.
When Pansy first saw Astoria back on the train, she was struck by how much the girl had visually changed over the summer. Pansy knew, similar to Daphne, that the Greengrass girls were pretty and would always be so. But it was unsettling how Astoria knew how she looked and took advantage of it at such a young age. At least Daphne was stupid enough to be unsure of her looks but one look at Astoria's shiny long hair, dark red lips and trimmed brows was enough for Pansy to sense a rhythm to the rhyme.
"And how exactly do you know that?"
The lack of concern that radiated off Astoria as Pansy stared her down was infuriating. Her light eyes meet Pansy's as she answered.
"He told me."
"Half the time I think I stare off into la la land with the amount of things this one picks up in a room," Daphne jokes, nodding to her sister as Tracey looked between Pansy and Astoria.
"Or maybe you just don't snoop like others," Pansy summarized, snagging some toast from the rack.
If the words hit their mark, Astoria didn't show it as she pushed away from the table, grabbing her bag and standing up.
"Where do you think you're going?" Pansy demanded, seeing Tracey drop her last of her toast as if to follow. Daphne froze from grabbing her bag as Astoria lowered her jaded eyes to Pansy. A faint slant in her brow was all that changed from her otherwise calmly composed face.
There was something unnatural about the way that girl looked at Pansy. It was familiar and yet the coldness it issued from those heavily lashed eyes gave Pansy the feeling that she was being examined on a table by a skeptical surgeon.
"I have choir," was all she said before turning her eyes to Nott who was smirking down at his eggs, his eyes momentarily flashing Pansy's way before looking up.
"The quad? At ten?"
"Whatever you wish, Greengrass," Nott replied, before passing a wink toward Pansy's infuriated expression and returned to his breakfast.
"Why the rush?" Pansy questioned, looking to Tracey and Daphne. The girls shrugged it off, as if this change wasn't anything new.
"We've left the table earlier before, Pansy."
"Yeah, when we've all finished eating-"
"Eat while you walk," Tracey advised, stepping around the bench. She slung her bag over her shoulder, only clarifying that she was in fact leaving.
Pansy eyed the table, looking for any friendly faces she could stand having breakfast with, but there was only the likes of Millicent Bulstrode, who was looking our way like a helpless puppy dog. That and Theo Nott who was absolutely out of the question.
So with a knot in her stomach, Pansy stood up with her breakfast and grabbed her bag.
The walk to the choir room on the fifth floor felt continuingly unnatural to Pansy, as her first class was down on the third floor. The idea of wasting going up the stairs just to drop off Astoria felt wrong in so many ways.
But her friends were still walking with Astoria as she turned up the stairs and exited on the fifth landing, leaving Pansy to be the last one to avoid the door smacking her in the face.
She just kept up with the others as Astoria kept a fast pace while Daphne skipped a side-long step around a group of third-year Gryffindors on their way to Transfiguration.
The students didn't even give Pansy a second look as one of them brushed her arm in passing. She would have stopped to call after the tool-for-brains had Astoria not kept her pace.
Muttering a curse, Pansy picked up the pace just in time to see the door to the left side stair case open, revealing two figures that could only make Pansy's blood pressure increase.
Her long blonde hair was curled in easy ringlets that dropped low on her shoulder as she brushed them back to shift her bag on her shoulder. She held the door open for her dark-haired counterpart to follow after her, saying something in passing.
Ava Fountaine.
As if sensing her stare, Ava's dark blue eyes fixated on Pansy and to Pansy's displeasure, a flicker of clarity passed on the girl's face as if she understood why Pansy's shoulders tight. Her eyes shifted momentarily to Astoria, who lead Pansy and her friends with a look of indifference. All it took was Ava's raised brow her way for Pansy to hear roaring in her ears.
"We should put that Fountaine in her place again. Just like before," Pansy remarked, stepping closer to her friends who had halted around all the foot traffic. Tracey gave Pansy a confused look, not sure where the sudden topic had come from while Daphne, who was looking idly at the students, perked up.
Astoria didn't react as Pansy went on, adding "We made a mistake not going after her when she threw those pitchers at us. This time we do it early and we keep at it just so she knows not to step out of line."
"But why?" Tracey asked, her confusion still evident on her sour features. "She's not doing anything. It'd be one thing if she was threatening us or getting in our way but I haven't even noticed her this year, have you?" she asked, turning to Daphne who was blinking back who knows what.
"Who?"
"Ava Fountaine, you dim wit," Pansy snapped, going restless. "And she's right over there you know," she added to Tracey, nodding across the hall, as Ava and Sam made their way to the open classroom, deep in conversation.
They looked completely oblivious to us.
"So I say during lunch period later, we follow Ava on her way out of the great hall. She has a habit of walking alone during her free time between classes. We get her into the girls lavatory again."
"I don't know Pansy..." Tracey complained but it was Astoria who tsked, making Pansy turn her way.
"What?"
"I won't be able to make it during my lunch period."
"Why not?"
She shrugged, her eyes still following the endless crowd of students going back and forth between the classrooms and the door to the stairs.
"I'll be busy."
"With what? Nott?"
But before Pansy could hear a reply, Astoria was off, through the crowd of students and through the classroom door.
"I don't know where she gets the audacity!" Pansy snapped, turning away from the doorway with an aggressive turn. "And to think that she'd be that thick to go after Nott."
"What's so wrong about Nott?" Daphne asked, through glassy eyes.
Tracey rolled her eyes and shared the first knowing look between Pansy.
"He's no good is what he is," Pansy said. "Come on, let's get out of here."
Her friends turned to follow her as was usual, and for a moment Pansy thought all was right with the world again.
Except, with her back turned, Tracey and Daphne exchanged silent glances that told a different story.
Ava took one look at Astoria as she made herself comfortable on the stands in the choir before snorting.
"What was that?" Sam asked, looking quickly from Ava to those in the stands around her.
They were nicely seated in chairs on bleachers at the very back on the right hand side. Students were finding random seats for their first day of practice without much logic so Ava and Sam followed suit.
"Little Greengrass," I said, nodding ahead of me to where the slender dark-haired Slytherin made herself comfortable in a chair at the lowest level near the front. She sat alone and didn't start in on any of the conversations happening around her.
"Oh," Sam said, regarding the Slytherin with an unreadable glance. "She looks... made up."
"She looks great," I clarified, eyeing Sam knowingly.
"And that's a problem?" Sam frowned but I quickly shook my head, dropping the topic. "You didn't join choir just to snoop on her, did you?"
"Oh please," I quipped. "Absolutely not. I just missed singing from Beauxbatons and wanted another go at it."
"Sure," Sam said, unconvinced. "And I came to enjoy just another class with Flitwick."
"He isn't the worst of our instructors," I egged on with a grin but Sam's blank stare remained the same.
"Whatever this is about, best keep me out of it. I'm already stressed about OWLs and it's week one."
"I can brew you a calming drought whenever you need it. Just say the word."
"I think it's a bit early to jump straight to a calming drought but I appreciate the offer."
We heard Flitwick clearing his throat before we actually saw him, and that was saying something given he was standing dead center at the bottom of the bleachers.
"Welcome old and new to this year's school choir!" He squeaked and I felt myself innately smile as I caught Sam look up to the ceiling as if rethinking her actions that got her here.
"Let's get ourselves warm up here, shall we? And then we can start sorting our vocal ranges," Flitwick went on, flicking his wand stoutly, materializing a music stand from thin air in front of him. He tapped his wand on the metal and waved his arms up to us to stand.
"Let's begin!"
The next few classes went without error and I was letting myself fall into my usual routine again. It felt nice to be surrounded by my friends.
I was following Ginny and Ella out of Charms when I saw Sam waiting for us by the stairs leading to the first floor.
"How was Charms?" She asked, her voice sounding more optimistic than her facial expression, which remained subtlety melancholic.
"I regret Choir now that I have a double period with Flitwick," I admitted, walking in step with Ginny who grinned beside me.
"Why choir?" She asked and I didn't have the heart to answer as Sam shook her head darkly.
"Are we still all fine with spending lunch in the library?" Ella asked, avoiding a trio of second years as they darted up the stairs, almost knocking Sam back as they went by.
"Merlin, don't you just want to punt the small ones sometimes?"
"Samantha Spencer, keep it together," Ginny critiqued through a rapid growing grin as Ella choked back laughter and I watched the punt-able child in question disappear amongst the storm of other children. Sam looked back at Ginny without an ounce of regret before adding, "You're the baby of the family so you wouldn't understand."
"I assure you, not a day goes by when I don't wish I could jinx George," Ginny reminded Sam as we gravitated towards the stairs. Our lunch break had finally come and my stomach was singing it's song without a damper.
"Should we eat out on the grounds?" Ella asked, trying again as we cleared the stairs and started our way to the great hall. Students were already throwing down their bags on the tables where sandwiches lay wrapped in cut paper wrappings for all to take on the go.
"Actually I'll have to meet you all after," I said abruptly, catching the stares angled back at me. "Rain check?"
Pansy spotted Ava first in the crowd of students as they made their way out of the great hall. She didn't have her friends with her which, Pansy realized, was not as usual a routine as Pansy had originally let on to her friends.
Though it didn't matter either way. Tracey slipped out of last period without Pansy and Daphne was more a hindrance then help when it came to these operations. Pansy was doing this alone.
Ava made a habit of turning for the stairs, leading Pansy to follow after her without notice.
Pansy didn't fixate on how Ava went up the stairs instead of down to their common room. Nor when she paused on the third floor to check her hand watch before cursing and swinging open the door with some dramatics.
A pair of third year Slytherins avoided her as she stomped off leaving Pansy to just miss the door closing on her and followed at a closer distance as Ava turned the next corner.
Taking out her wand, Pansy glanced around the corridor for any on-coming students but apart from some Hufflepuffs sitting at a window with their lunches resting on their laps, no one paid Pansy any notice.
She rounded the corner and found Ava nowhere to be seen.
The door to the girls lavatory was a few steps to her left-an obvious choice of where the blonde went. Pansy's heart seemed to skip a beat at the idea that she could catch Ava in something she seemed to want to keep quiet. Even from her friends.
Pansy clutched her wand feverishly in her hand and quietly made her way to the door, pressing an ear to the wood for any noise. She heard nothing but that was to be expected from an out-of-service bathroom.
Never the less, Pansy rose her wand, and quickly threw back the door, her wand drawn out in front of her only to find the bathroom empty.
No sooner had this registered in her dull little mind, a figure appeared behind her in Pansy's side vision, and a step too late, she turned around just as Ava cornered her in the doorway, her wand pointed at Pansy's back as she whispered "Stupify".
"Look at you, Pansy. You've lost your touch."
Pansy blinked back the shadow and fog that often filled the mind of the victims of stunning curses. Her eyes widened and her mouth opened as if she were screaming at the sight of Ava standing over her with both of their wands twirling between her fingers. But no sound came out.
Ava sighed and lowered myself into a crouch-like position so that she balanced on her toes, directly eye level with Pansy's body that lay on the floor of the girl's lavatory. It was infuriating how elegant Ava looked, watching over her.
"If you thought you could be this brazen without your lackeys around to help you, then surely you're desperate. And if I didn't know any better, I'd think I know why."
Pansy's mouth was closed again, as if accepting the preverbal gag in her mouth. But her eyes were seething back to Ava who knocked her head to the side, her blonde hair fanning out onto her shoulder. It did little to hide the smug smile growing on her pretty face.
"It's that Greengrass girl, isn't it?" Ava asked, eyeing Pansy suspiciously. "Just because her sister is mud for brains doesn't mean she will be. You took that for granted didn't you?"
Even though their conversation was one-sided, the way Pansy looked at Ava, as if the words she had said were like snaps of electricity against Pansy's spine, was enough to keep Ava going.
"I'm sure by now you see that vindictive nature of hers. It hasn't taken me long, but even I am starting to see what Astoria's doing. Dark red lipstick on a Hogwarts girl? Oh yes," she sighed, looking at the mirror to the side of them.
Ava's red lips were in desperate need of a touch up, even if the color seemed to do its job in highlighting her blue eyes. Funny enough, Ava thought her eyes looked rather pretty in this light. Maybe it was her own vindictive streak creating the alure.
She turned back to Pansy slowly.
"I know a fan when I see it."
Pansy moved as if to kick in protest but Ava only snickered at the pathetic attempt.
"Move all you want. I have you bounded to the floor so there's no standing up or talking for that matter until the curse comes off. I have Ed's odd collection of books thrown at my door to thank for this new curse," She added with a grimace before shifting on her toes.
Pansy tried to kick again and found that her legs could move but her back felt glued to the floor. Her mouth was dry like sandpaper and a weight held her tongue from working.
"I was curious what you did to make Astoria take over so quickly," Ava went on, eyeing Pansy. "She detests me, of course, but I've known that for some time now." Ava was rotating one of her wrists methodically as she spoke but stopped abruptly as she caught Pansy's eye on her.
"Well," Ava said, sitting up again. She flipped her hair behind her shoulder and balanced upright.
"It seems you follow Astoria now whether you like it or not. And she didn't sanction this attack because unlike you, she has the common sense to see what you haven't yet. And your two fools you call friends decided to listen to her, didn't they? Otherwise they'd be here now."
A sound from the halls outside sent Pansy in another kicking fit that left Ava motionlessly watching her. Even if someone attempted to get into this room, they'd have to deal with the locked door first.
"Do I need to tell you? Or have you figured it out?" Ava asked, eyeing Pansy withering on the floor. She stopped moving only to give Ava a disgusted look, full of the usual dramatics she usually airs out.
"Simply put," Ava said standing up. "Last year I ended your attempts to overtake me by being a drama queen and flinging a pitcher of juice on your head. While it was dramatic, it also humiliated you and your friends. And you did nothing to save face which must have made your friends upset." Pansy stopped fidgeting and glared up at Ava's profile as she eyed herself in the mirror a second time.
"You didn't do anything after I put you lot in your place which made you look weak and subsequently Astoria must have started to say things behind your back that only made you look worse. Does that sound about right?"
Ava knew she wouldn't get a verbal response, but she knew how to read people somewhat well and Pansy carried her emotions on her sleeve. Her eyes, though still in a rage, were focused in on Ava's every word. As if she heard the truth in them.
"This time, however," Ava went on with a sigh, "Should you attempt to harass me again in any physical way, I will have no problem going a step past our fun little meeting today."
"And no-" she added, seeing the disbelief in Pansy's eyes. "I'm not worried if you decide to take my advice and come after me again because one," Ava lifted a finger and started to pace near the mirror. "Astoria would never help you and you obviously can't fight me alone. It's trashy in case you haven't already noticed," she added, waving her arms around the room to paint the picture further. Pansy's bag lay on the marble floor where she was attacked, the contents all over the floor near a puddle of sewer water. Ava started for it.
"And two," she went on. "Similar to why you attacked me this way before," Ava stopped by Pansy's bag and lowered down to pick it up. "One of the few benefits about Snape is that he really doesn't care what we do to each other."
She pulled out a smaller pouch of makeup from Pansy's bag and opened it with a curious glance. Pansy attempted to cry out a warning but was reminded that she was still mute as Ava turned on her toes toward the sink, ignoring the way Pansy tried to stomp her feet like a child.
"Even if Snape was to get involved," Ava turned on the faucet to full blast and unzipped the makeup bag. "It would perhaps have to be from maiming a student and even then," she opened a compact of eye shadow and snapped the mirror from its hinges.
"There has to be evidence for him to do anything about it." Ava tossed the powder into the sink and went on to do the same destructive tendencies with the remainder of the Pansy's makeup before turning back to the girl.
Pansy was in tears, her eyes angry like nothing Ava had seen before. She knew that when it came to where it hurt most, Pansy valued her looks over everything.
Ava turned from the running faucet and took a few steps closer to Pansy and stopped cold in front of her.
"Do you get it now?"
Ava saw another wave of tears fill Pansy's eyes before turning with the girl's bag still in hand and dumped the remaining books, notes and quills down the toilets.
She then walked back to where Pansy could see her.
"She's doing all this for one big reason. If you haven't noticed yet then you're a fool."
Pansy watched helplessly as Ava tossed Pansy's bag into the overflowing sink, letting it absorb the pink and brown cloud of makeup collecting at the bottom of the water's murky depths.
"She's in to Draco and knows that going after me wouldn't do her any favors. Even," Ava went on, pulling out her wand as she spoke," if he and I don't talk anymore. Our families are unfortunately linked--- as much as I hate to admit it."
She took a step over the draining water near the toilets and eyed Pansy. Pansy wasn't looking at Ava anymore. She looked completely dejected on the floor.
"But you are fair game." Ava took another step towards Pansy's figure and nudged her leg with her foot, like a child poking at roadkill.
"Tell me, how long did it take you to convince Draco to lay back on your lap like that? Was it worth it?"
Ava watched Pansy quietly for another moment as more tears erupted from the silent girl's face before Ava aimed her wand to the toilets, uttering a bombarda charm.
The water that erupted from the toilets had just hit the ceiling when she closed the bathroom door. No one was in the hall as she left and fall in with the student body on the stairs on their way to their next class.
Sam and Ella were by the wall outside the library when Ava finally made an appearance.
"That was a fast meeting. What did Snape have to say?"
"It didn't happen after all," she said, stopping short in front of them. "I wrote the wrong time down. Thanks for waiting for me though. Ready to go in?"