Astoria Greengrass stumbled in her place and almost fell over had Prohyas did not rush to catch her.
Gasps of surprise can be heard from the audience, and soon, worried mumbles can be heard all over the place. Daphne has rushed to her sister as well, and was followed by Blaise. Pansy hesitated at first, but walked slowly towards Astoria like the others. Draco seemed to be rooted on his spot.
"Is she going to be alright?" asked Anthony, who stands behind Pansy. Mr. and Mrs. Greengrass took their daughter from Prohyas and they talked about leaving the place sooner than expected. Daphne turned to Pansy, her eyes close to tears. "I'm sorry, Pansy but we have to go. The dance must've exhausted her-I told you she's sickly-"
"It's okay," replied Pansy to save Daphne from thinking of other valid words to say. "It's okay, we understand. Happy Christmas, and be safe, okay?"
Daphne pulled her into a tight hug without warning and let her go almost immediately. "Thank you, Pansy." She hugged Blaise, too and wished him a Happy Christmas, gave Draco a nod of goodbye before joining her family and Dissaperated with them.
Prohyas pointed his wand on his throat and assured the guests that everything's fine and they can resume the party. Caspian, who was also busy watching them from above, snapped back into senses and gestured the band to resume the music.
"What happened?" Robin joined their group as they proceeded to walk out of the center of attention. "Why did you switched partners?"
"There was something wrong in the formation," replied Blaise, casually leaning in the tall table that had just reappeared out of thin air. "The boys should be outside the circle and the girls inside. Draco and Marcus ended up inside that's why maybe we reshuffled."
"Speaking of, where are they?" said Robin, taking a good glance at the surroundings. It was Anthony Goldstein who replied, "Marcus is probably pigging in the desserts. Malfoy said something about going to the bathroom."
Pansy smiled mockingly. "He doesn't know where the bathroom is, it's his first time here. I'll go and drag him back, wait right here."
Without waiting for another reply, she squeezed herself into the pool of guests, who's now dancing to a groovy music from the band. She was about to take a good look at the hallway that leads to the restroom when Draco's figure caught her eye. She saw him exit the front doors, and followed him. Pansy noticed that his mother is standing not far from the door, which seems to be observing his son from afar, obviously not paying attention to Perseus Parkinson who's blabbering endlessly beside her. When they locked eyes, Pansy smiled and waved, before exiting the front doors.
Outside, Draco is standing near the fountain, and appears to be observing the water intently. The night breeze is frosty to the bones, and Pansy have to summon Lola the elf to bring her winter coat over so she could survive the cold.
It took less than five minutes for Lola to Dissaperate, get her coat and to Apperate back to give it to her. Pansy wore it around her shoulders before walking her way towards Draco. He glanced at her the moment he sensed her presence, before diverting back his gaze on the water.
"Well, that didn't turn out well, did it?" she said, breaking the silence. Draco snorted. "Who thought about that stupid dance, anyway?"
"Who else?" Pansy sounded more annoyed than she intended to. "My father, of course. He's taking a great pleasure in annoying the hell out of me since I failed to follow his orders of 'staying out of trouble' when I started school."
Draco seemed to be pleased with what he heard. "You are the problem, Pansy so there's no way you can escape yourself-that's suicide."
Pansy turned to face him and raised an eyebrow. "Wow," she began flatly. "The only reason I can't be out of trouble is because of you-you always put me in constant distress."
"Don't blame me for your adversities, Parkinson."
"But being in trouble is synonymous with dating you, you little overdramatic brat." Pansy coughed and mimicked Draco's voice when he was attacked by the hippogriff Buckbeak in their third year. "It's killing me, it's killing me! I'm dying!"
"Look who's talking," said Draco with a smirk. "I'm not the one who cried overnight in the hospital wing because her boyfriend is 'dying because of a scratch.'"
"I did not cry overnight!"
"You did."
"No!"
"Yes, you did. Besides, if being with me means trouble, then I bet anyone would love to be in trouble with me," said Draco, while fixing his black and golden robe in what he perceives to be a handsome way.
Pansy laughed hard at this statement. "I can't believe that after three years, I still have to deal with that ego of yours."
Draco shook his head dismissively. "You can stop now. No one's holding you back."
"I know," replied Pansy casually. "But I never really gave up on you and I really don't know why. Must've been the most horrible decision I've ever done in my life."
Silence swathed the whole garden for a few moments. Caspian's "Groove Along Rictusempra" can be clearly heard from the palace.
"I really wanted to be free from all of this," said Pansy after seconds, her voice a little bit shaken as she stares at the night sky. "But I know I won't be until this is over. I don't care how this ends, or who will end this-might it be that-that Potter which they call 'The Chosen One' or whatever-I don't care, I just want this to end soon."
Draco was staring at her the whole time, and was thankful that she did not shed a tear, although he really doesn't know why. He took a deep breath, exhaled, and shifted his gaze back on the water. "But I must say-you should stop dealing with me soon."
"Soon, but not yet," said Pansy, smiling. "Not now. You need me, Draco."
Draco bustled to face her, and was supposed to say something when a silvery coyote began running around them, before being transformed into a ball of light and immediately cast itself between them. Pansy recognized it the moment it arrived.
"Artemis!" she cried.
Indeed, her sister's voice issued from the light like an echo, "Happy Christmas, Pansy. Follow the Patronus and you'll find me. Bring your dashing boyfriend only if he would want to, of course."
The Patronus zoomed away so quickly before Pansy could even blink. She looked at Draco inquiringly, who stared at her back blankly before replying, "No, thanks. Not interested."
"Fine," said Pansy, frowning. She wore the coat completely and summoned Lola who immediately appeared with a crack. "My Mistress called Lola?" she said, sinking into a very low bow.
"Please bring over my beautiful present to my dashing boyfriend-it's in my room. I'm sure he wouldn't mind if I borrow it for a while," she said, smiling as she cast a side glance at Draco who frowned in confusion.
"Surely, madame," replied Lola before Disapperating with a snap of her fingers.
"What is it?" asked Draco curiously.
Pansy waved her hand dismissively at Draco. "Save the talking-just wait."
Just as she finish talking, the elf reappeared, embracing the long Siberian Arrow in her frail body. Draco could not hide his amusement as Pansy took it harshly from the elf and brushed the area where Lola had contact with it. "Good, you're dismissed," she said.
Lola Dissaperated, and Pansy motioned to mount the broom when Draco held her back. "Wait a minute, is that-?"
"A Siberian Arrow, straight from the land of Siberia," replied Pansy, wiping her hand dramatically on the air. "Now if you excuse me, I have to follow that Patronus-"
"Don't fool yourself, Pansy, you aren't good in flying. You'll end up in pieces in less than a mile. Move over," said Draco, before jostling her out the broom and mounted it himself. He took a moment to admire the broom by touching it briefly in the handle where the words, "Siberian Arrow" is carved, before beckoning to the impatient Pansy.
"Come on, then."
Pansy reluctantly rode the broom behind him, and before she was able to breathe, Draco kicked hard from the ground and zoomed to the direction where the Patronus disappeared. Pansy just had enough time to wrap her arms around Draco's neck and scream as they zoomed towards the dark forest.
"Take-take your hands off-you're strangling me!"
"WHERE'S THE PATRONUS?"
"I can see it clearly from here, it's not too far-AND DON'T SCREAM AT MY EARS, LUNATIC!"
The two flew straight into the woods, with Pansy clutching at Draco's robes tightly. They casually dodged stray branches, flew into a *group of bats, and have shaken trees resulting to a shower of snow, before they got to see the Patronus clearly. Draco squinted through the cold night air, narrowed his eyes to the small ball of light, then zoomed faster. Pansy gave a loud yelp.
They reached the middle of the forest after a few minutes, and Pansy felt as if they passed an invisible barrier. Draco stretched his hand and the light was inches away from his grip. "Draco, that's not a Snitch," said Pansy, trying to inject some common sense in the situation. But it seems her companion chose to ignore her and continued zooming downwards until he finally grasped his hand around the light, just as it disappeared like a cloud of smoke.
"Nice dive, Seeker, but you can never catch a ball of light," says a witch with short, chestnut hair that's identical to her eyes. Draco, who just swooped down right beside her, frowned in frustration. Pansy jumped down behind him immediately and threw herself to the witch.
"Artemis!" she exclaimed happily; Artemis is the sister she is closest to, probably because of their narrow age gap; and because she is entirely different from her two elder sisters. She's really pretty and vivacious; she got her hair color from her mother and was the only daughter to be so; has a heart-shaped face and bold, scarlet lips.
"Thank good Merlin, you recognized me!" replied Artemis, giving Pansy a tight hug. "Now I can turn my hair back into scarlet just like what I want," she added, before tapping her hair with her wand which instantly transfigured into scarlet hue.
Draco kicked off the ground once more and decided to fly around the area. The two witches looked up to see him disappear.
"He's kind of rude, you know-did not even bother to say his name," said Artemis.
"As if you still need to know his name," replied Pansy, smiling. "I'm so glad to see you, Artemis. Though I'm surprised to know that you fancy scarlet."
"Well, actually, it's my husband," said Artemis, scratching her head and blushing. "He's been reading this some sort of colorful Muggle magazine that's full of pictures of people with super powers. He said his favorite goes by the name of 'Scarlet Witch' and I thought that it would be a good title," she added with a grin.
Pansy wasn't sure if she would be happy for her sister because she sincerely thinks the title is good, or to be disgusted because it came from the Muggles. She tried her best to grin, but ended in some sort of a grimace.
"Oh, come on," said Artemis, punching her playfully on the arm. "They're not that bad."
Pansy thought she reminds her of Prohyas for that moment, but chose to brush it off. "Anyway, Artemis, I am longing to know if you're okay! Are you?" she asked, her voice strained with concern.
"Yes!" cried Artemis enthusiastically. "Don't worry about me, I'm doing more than fine. Besides, I am more worried about you, how's living with dad and Rose and Athena with their-er-evil husbands?"
Pansy rolled her eyes in disgust. "Just as disgusting as you think. If not for Prohyas, I wouldn't last there for a day."
"But at least you're okay," said Artemis, smiling. She placed a hand on her shoulder and whispered, "I have good news for you, Pansqueak."
Pansy felt a rush of excitement inside her. "What is it? Is it my present?"
"Yeah! The truth is..." Artemis looked sideways to check if someone's around before continuing, "...I'm pregnant."
"What? I'm gonna be..." Pansy stared blankly at a distance, allowing the immense happiness to consume her. "I'm gonna be an aunt?" she asked excitedly to Artemis, shaking her by the shoulder.
"Yeah!" said Artemis, beaming gleefully.
"That's brilliant!" cried Pansy, and before Artemis could say anything in reply, Draco's whooping echoed through the forest and cut her off. Pansy looked a little bit embarrassed, but Artemis looked rather amused.
"He sounds so happy with a broomstick. I always thought he is hard to please," she said.
"Well-he loves flying," said Pansy casually. "Personally, I think he'd love to be a professional Quidditch player more than being a Ministry man. But you know his father. . ."
"Yeah, that evil Lucius Malfoy," said Artemis, frowning and punctuating the name with hate. "Your boyfriend needs to learn how to grow a spine and stood up to his parents like I did. In that way, he'd maintain that happiness forever."
"Oh, I believe he will, as soon as he found someone that would be worth the fight. I bet he will choose to stand up for them even if the Dark Lord himself would be on their way."
"You think so, huh?" said Artemis, nudging her hard on her side. "Are yoy referring to yourself, Pansqueak?"
"Oh, no, I don't think so," replied Pansy, before she could even realized she did. Artemis gave a gasp of surprise, but Pansy just smiled dismally and shrugged.
"That's unfortunate...I always thought you two would end up together because you both grew up in an abusive family."
"First, 'abusive' is an overstatement for Draco's situation because his mother loves him dearly, I know it. Second, he grew up as a spoiled brat, and believing he's the most important boy in the world. I, on the other hand, grew up with expectations set even before I was born, which includes failure. So I did everything to prove them otherwise. We both proved ourselves wrong when we entered school though; Potter's better than him in flying and Granger's better than me in academics. Draco saw his small paradise crumble to see reality, while I saw my self-esteem crumble because I failed to prove everyone I'm not a failure."
There was a long pause, before Artemis went down on her knees and held her in both shoulders. "You don't believe in that, Pansy. Mom chose to keep you as daughter despite her poor health-I think it is fair enough to say that she gave her life for you. Because you're always worthy of sacrifice."
Artemis gave her a sad, encouraging smile. "Beside, you don't have stay there, Pansy. You can come with me and live with us peacefully."
Pansy was glad for the invitation, but is reluctant if she can actually live her life with a Muggle. Artemis must've seen it through her, for she sighed dismally before speaking, "Believe me, Michael is a good person."
Before she could even reply, there was a distant scream, then it grew louder as a strange shadow began approaching them. Artemis immediately stood up, grabbed Pansy by the hand and hid her behind her back, her wand aloft. The shadow was diving towards them fast, and in a few seconds, Pansy immediately recognized her boyfriend and the Siberian Arrow.
"That's Draco! He's gonna fall from his broom!" cried Pansy, pointing her finger wildly at the falling figure.
"I'll handle it," said Artemis, before waving her wand and Draco immediately stopped falling; his face inches from the ground. She summoned the broomstick and examined it from her grip. "Wow, this is wicked!"
Draco fell after a split second, groaning in pain while clutching his left forearm. Pansy rushed to him, held him at both shoulders and struggled to meet his gaze. "What's happening?"
"They're here," he whispered breathlessly. "They're here!"
Pansy's mind was racing, unsure of what to do. It was Artemis's voice who snapped her back to her senses. "Pansy!" she cried, pointing to the sky. Pansy left Draco for a while and rushed to her side. Jets of black smoke are shooting north, and they both exchanged a look of horror.
"The Palace!" they both cried at the same time.
Draco staggered up his feet, still clutching his left forearm, and ran towards the direction of the Parkinson Palace. Pansy rushed to hold him back, "Are you mad? We're miles away from home!"
"But my mother-"
"Oh, don't be stupid, Draco we would not run, of course," said Artemis, zooming towards them while riding the Siberian Arrow. "Come on!"
Since the broomstick is longer and more durable than the usual models, it still maintained its spectacular speed despite being mounted by three drivers. It was Artemis who leads them, with Draco in the middle and Pansy in the back. Pansy was again clutching hard on Draco's robes, but this time, it is to prevent the latter from falling off the broom as he occasionally squinch because of pain.
Artemis was also skilled in flying that they arrived at the Parkinson Palace almost as fast as they left it in the first place. They were still half a meter above the ground when Draco jumped down, clambered for a while, before rushing towards the front doors. The guests have been running around wildly; Disapperating in every corner, or screaming for their company's names. Pansy followed Draco and Artemis did the same, keeping a good grip at the expensive racing broom.
"Mother!" Draco yelled above the commotion. "Mother!"
Pansy bumped violently into warlocks that are trying to escape; here and there, loud cracks of Dissaperation can be heard; glasses are being shattered; the curtains are being ripped though Pansy was relieved that she can't see a single body lying around. People continue to bustle around her as she scream Blaise's and Prohyas's name above the noises.
Artemis is casting and blocking spells everywhere, the broomstick still on her free hand. Pansy bumped and stumbled over a wizard who held her steady by the arm. "You need to go out, now!" he yelled. Pansy shook her head wildly. "No, I need to find Blaise and Prohyas!" she replied desperately.
"Mr. Zabini and his family Disapperated already to safety, I saw them earlier," he replied quickly, impulsively shattering a flying goblet by his wand. "Go out, now!"
Pansy bustled to search for Draco who had run away from them and disappeared into the mob. She also searched for any signs of Prohyas, but she only saw blurry figures of wizards in panic. Ignoring the wizard's warnings, she pushed past him and squeezed her way again into the bustling crowd.
"Prohyas! Prohyas!" she yelled, before crouching to avoid a spell. "Prohyas!"
"Pansy, wait! Wait for me, Pansy!" cried Artemis, tailing after her. Pansy shrieked loudly when somebody pulled her forcefully by the arm. She was surprised to see Draco's gray eyes illuminating under the faint light. He was already with his mother.
"Come with us!" he cried. Pansy shook her head again, grabbed the broomstick from Artemis and forced it into his hands. "Prohyas-I can't leave him!" she replied, before struggling to free from his grip. As soon as she succeeded, Draco Dissaperated with his mother.
She was about to run again when she was held back for the second time-it was Artemis.
"Pansy!"
"Let me go!"
"No!" Artemis pulled her closer and pointed to a clear area at the center. Perseus Parkinson was standing in front of Yaxley and Carrow, looking horrified. Loud cries of pain was heard and Pansy saw Prohyas writhing in pain on the floor.
"No!" she wanted to scream, but Artemis covered her mouth. She struggled to break free as she watch Yaxley advance towards her father.
"Tonight is your moment to prove your loyalty, Perseus," said Yaxley.
"You promised that you'd never harm anybody!"
"Yes but the Ministry is on their way and you know why is that? It's because of this traitor!" Yaxley pointed his wand at Prohyas who screamed louder. "Stop!" Pansy was able to break free from Artemis and ran towards them, bumping into several warlocks along the way.
"Pansy, come back!"
She elbowed and squeezed through the mob, her eyes focused on the Prohyas's wretched figure on the floor.
"Kill him now, Perseus," hissed Yaxley. "He'd be the only one to die tonight."
"No!" yelled Pansy, now standing a few meters away from them after successfully making her way out of the immense crowd. Carrow cast a spell towards her direction, but Artemis was quick to block it. She closed her eyes for a second, opened it to see her father's horrified image staring back at her.
The last thing she saw was Perseus Parkinson, his wand pointed towards Prohyas's direction, a flash of green light, before Artemis gripped her arm tightly that she's afraid she'd break it; then she was squeezed in a tight tube, the world twisted and swirled around her, she was being pressed in all directions that she can't breathe, her eyes bulging from their sockets, before being landed and stumbled in an unfamiliar ground, with Artemis sobbing loudly behind her.