Re: Parkinson Home

[Draco Malfoy]

Draco watched Pansy eat the marshmallows, a spot of nutella right above her lip. He reached up and wiped it off, grinning at her as she reached for more marshmallows. Glancing around he saw some kitchen roll lying on the side. When she held out her nutella covered fingers he pressed a hand to her knee and got up. “I’ll get something for that, you’ve always been messy with those.” He remembered the first time they’d made them, she’d held hers wrongly and everything had fallen out all over her lap. He’d laughed and it had turned into a nutella’d marshmallow war. When it was over her parents had tried to find them and they’d panicked, diving into the pool to wash off all the food and for once their plan had actually worked. Grabbing the kitchen roll he turned back to her and grinned, she looked perfect right then, her fingers scooping another marshmallow through the nutella, her hair twisted over her shoulder, legs dangling off the side of the table. Walking back over he took her hand and wiped the nutella off it, then grabbing another marshmallow, neatly dipping it in nutella then offering it to her, “I’m obviously the expert eater here.”

[Pansy Parkinson-Malfoy]

Pansy shrugged, giving him a crooked smile. "Apparently I've forgotten how to eat since I've been spending so much time in the library and so little time in the great hall." Still wiping her fingers clean, she leaned forward and ate the marshmallow right from his fingers, successfully and cleanly this time. "Thanks, expert eater." She prodded him in the stomach. "Yep. Expert at eating alright. Look at all that flab," she joked, laughing as clearly there wasn't any fat over his abs or sides or... she looked away before she would be stuck staring at his muscles again, figuring he must have been either intensifying his Quidditch training or else working out outside of usual practice. She tried to move her thoughts away from the quite attractive body in front of her, so she sat the container of nutella aside and picked up a graham cracker, breaking it in half and half again, because Pansy is a compulsive food destroyer, mostly because Draco hates it and she's always found him lecturing her on her eating habits to be quite amusing. He'd done it for as long as she could remember, ever since he noticed she always ripped the crusts off her sandwiches, or tore things into smaller pieces before eating them, or just generally destroyed bits of food before she'd even consider consuming them. What could she say, Pansy always likes to play with her food before she eats it, just this time it's actual food we're referencing in that phrase, instead of her dueling victims that would have been referenced back in 1.0. Good times, good times. Her eyes flicked back up to his as she sat there, swinging her legs and nibbling on the end of the cracker a little.

[Draco Malfoy]

Draco smirked as she poked him in the stomach, knowing that there wasn’t any flab on him at all. Thank Merlin for concealment charms. He hadn’t been doing as much quidditch training this year but all the additional workouts he’d been doing during the summer and while they had been apart had really paid off. Draco watched as she crumbled up the cracker, getting twitchier every time he heard it crack. Why couldn’t she just put food in her mouth and eat it? He had never understood this odd quirk of hers and did his best to avoid thinking about it. It made him fidgety just thinking about it and Tam had issues typing this sentence because she kept twitching thinking about food destruction. “Pansy, please?” He knew that she knew exactly what he was talking about but he also knew that it was basically pointless saying anything. Putting his hand over the one of hers that was holding the crumbs he looked at the cracker piece in her hand, one of the larger ones still. “Must you destroy them? You lose half of your cracker to the ants that way,” and sure enough there were crumbs on their legs and the floor. What a waste. Grabbing his own cracker Draco took a bite, inhaling as he finished breaking it so that all the crumbs made their way into his mouth because that’s how people who don’t like to waste food, like Tam, eat. Eat and suck. Yes sometimes it is as dirty as it sounds.

[Pansy Parkinson-Malfoy]

Pansy laughed at him as he stilled her hands, nodding. "Well, yeah. It's how I eat. Divide and conquer or something. And they're not all going to the ants." She attempted to eat the crumbs from her hand, which worked quite a bit better than expected. The rest that had been on her legs though she just brushed onto the ground. "Besides, they've got to eat as well. Then again if it really bothers you I just won't eat anymore and we won't have a problem." She smiled up at him, knowing that would likely only spark another problem he had with her eating habits, but she didn't mind. She knew this was all in good fun and that even if he complained, he probably wasn't really all that upset about it. Regardless, she sat her destroyed cracker down on a paper towel, opting for a plain marshmallow instead because this was one food that she would not be tearing into little pieces or making a mess of. She stared out the window, tracing a half-moon shaped scar on her knee without really realizing she was doing it. Apparently Pansy is very accident prone and has a lovely collection of scars from her stupidity and recklessness as a kid. Because we've already got the one on her collarbone from falling out of a tree, one under her chin from something Draco did at the pool, and well, now one on her knee too. Cool. Turning back to Draco, she watched him a moment, just enjoying how happy he seemed to be right now. Finally she spoke up. "So what're we going to do with our two hours we still have before we should head back to the house for dinner?" It was sort of their last bit of time alone together before they headed back up to the house, because they'd leave from there after dinner to get back to Hogwarts for the night.

[Draco Malfoy]

Draco gave her a playful glare as she suggested not eating, "You do that and I will tie you up and force feed you until you explode. And your food will be in full sized pieces too." He pulled a cracker out of the box and dipped it in the nutella, putting more marshmallows on it. He watched her fingers trace the scar, he didn’t remember how she’d gotten that one, or was it that time when they’d both… no that was the scar on his ankle. Hmm. He was jerked out of his memories when she asked “Hmm? I don’t know. I think maybe we should head up to the house and shower then we can take it from there?” They might go to the library, or just hang out in his room again, or hers. He hadn’t actually been in her room yet this trip… then again they both always tried to avoid that pink monstrosity. He finished eating his last s’more then stood up and grabbed the crackers and nutella, leaving her to eat some more marshmallows while he put everything away. Walking back over he waited for her to hop off the table then grabbed the marshmallows from her and put an arm around her shoulders. “Okay, let’s go.”

[Pansy Parkinson-Malfoy]

Pansy glared back at him, unable to help smirking. "You wouldn't tie me up and feed me until I explode. You'd miss me way too much if I exploded and died of extreme food consumption." She nodded seriously, stopping to listen as he suggested what they could do. "That sounds fine, as long as I get the shower first. I'd prefer a little hot water. You know." She smiled at him and jumped down off the table as he came back from the cabinet, putting the bag of marshmallows in his hand and leaning into his side all nonchalant-like, even though just their skin touching was setting off the biggest hoard of butterflies in her stomach. They headed out of the pool house, closing it up behind them, and then slipped through the gate and wandered their way back through the garden to the door that led into the kitchen. Leo had disappeared from his usual spot by the table, but Pansy just figured he'd retreated to his rooms down in the basement, his office or workout room or something. She didn't go down there much, they mostly talked in the kitchen or the den. As soon as they'd made it through the kitchen and into the hallway, she took off at a run for the stairs, going up them two and three at a time and hoping Draco wouldn't try and grab at her ankle like he used to do so that he could pass her. He played dirty when it came to little races and competitions like this.

[Draco Malfoy]

Draco shot her a glare for her jab about the lengths of his showers. That wasn’t fair! Just because he enjoyed pampering himself in the shower didn’t mean that she got to mock him for it. Waiting for her to finish locking up the house he picked up their towels then wrapped an arm back around her. As they headed back to the house he continued snacking on the marshmallows, occasionally feeding her one or two. Walking back into the house he noticed the absence of her father with interest. Draco turned and laughed as he watched Pansy made a break for the stairs. As if she was going to win this. He took off up the stairs and halfway up, managed to grab her around the waist, taking them both down at once ending up with her on top of him. Leaning forwards and wrapping an arm around her waist he whispered, “You know we could always just shower together.” Saying that within potential hearing distance of her father was made completely worth it by the look on her face. While she was still shocked he rolled them over and dashed off up the stairs, certain his distraction had worked.

[Pansy Parkinson-Malfoy]

Typical. She felt his arm come around her waist but couldn't do anything about it as he dragged her down on top of him. She was already trying to get back up, which was difficult since he still had his arm wrapped around her, but her actions were completely frozen when he whispered to her. She turned to look at him, her eyes widening as she had no idea how to even begin to respond to that. Did he really jut suggest that? But as he got up and she was left on the steps, she quickly gathered herself again and took off after him, closing the gap as they hurried down the corridor. With everything she had, she put her long legs to her advantage and took longer strides, catching up to him and getting to the bathroom door just milliseconds before him. It seemed that the rule would be the first one to reach the shower could get it first, so she lunged for it with the intention of grabbing onto the curtain. Unfortunately, they had been so close coming through the door that their feet tangled up and she ended up grabbing the curtain and pulling it down with her as she tumbled into the massive tub, wincing as she got the breath knocked out of her, but laughing all the while. "Owww." She wasn't even sure who'd technically won this, all she knew was that was not exactly a pleasant way to land in the bathtub.

[Draco Malfoy]

Draco landed with a thud on the side of the tub, half on top of Pansy and mostly covered by curtain. Chuckling he pushed himself off her slightly so he was hovering over her. This could possibly be the funniest accident they’d ever had, rolling around in a shower curtain. Lifting the corner of the fabric he peered under it at her, “How’re you doing down there? I take it you took my words to heart.” He smirked at her and before she could reply he tossed the curtain over them both and leaned down to kiss her again. Slowly their lips moved against each other, the kiss no deeper than it was earlier in the pool. Pulling back he gave her a smirk carefully hidden as a smile then got up and magically fixed the curtain. Before she could get up or try to stop him he turned the water on, shooting her with a cold jet. Closing the curtain he laughed as he heard her jumping up to change the water. He walked over to the counter and sat on it, much like she had the day before. “How’s that warm shower going? You did ask for it first, after all.”

[Pansy Parkinson-Malfoy]

Pansy laughed as they recovered, smiling up at him as he picked up the curtain a little to peek in there at her. Before she could answer him with something witty regarding them in the bathtub together, he'd flipped the curtain over them and his lips were on hers, just as sweet as they had been a little while ago in the pool. Kissing after falling into an empty bathtub covered up by a fallen shower curtain. Well there was something most people couldn't say they've done. Her stomach flipped again and she decided she could definitely get used to days like today, at least as far as how things were going between her and Draco. She stayed where she was for a second as he fixed the curtain, still recovering from the excellently graceful fall. Just as she'd started to sit up, he reached in and turned on the water, freezing cold. She squeaked a bit in shock, hurrying to reach over and at least turn the water warm before she stood up and peeked around the curtain at him. "Draco!" She gave him a good glare before pulling the curtain closed again, taking off her swim suit. She turned the water up more, stepping under the hot downpour and closing her eyes, trying to get warm. "It's fine, now." She peeked her head around the curtain, her hair dripping on the floor as she threw her swimsuit toward him with a small smile that she tried unsuccessfully to hide. "No thanks to you."

[Draco Malfoy]

He smirked at her when she glared around the curtain at him, pity that after 17 years those glares didn’t work properly on him anymore. He caught her swimsuit as she threw it at him and smirked back at her. “You know you loved it.” He put the suit in the sink next to him, staring at the small amount of fabric pooling there. He couldn’t even believe there was that much of her covered by so little fabric. Shaking his head he relaxed back against the side of the shower, the steam enveloping him. “Where do you want to go after this? I mean we still have a ton of time so maybe the library?” He knew she had wanted to grab some books from home and hopefully by going with her he could make sure she didn’t take too many, or any particularly risky ones. And thinking about it there were a few books he wanted to grab, things that would be useful to him in the future. “Also have you seen your mother at all today? Do you know where she’s been? I wasn’t listening to her at all last night.” Draco had honestly been too busy making sure that Pansy ate and that he got enough food.

[Pansy Parkinson-Malfoy]

Pansy rolled her eyes as he insisted she loved it, though the expression was wasted since he couldn't see her anyway. "Library sounds fine. There are some books in there I wanted to bring back to school with me." She finished up rinsing suds out of her hair, picking up the soap. "I think mommy dearest went out shopping today. Hopefully she won't come home with something for me to wear to dinner." She groaned, hardly able to imagine what monstrosity she would have picked out after their little riff about clothes yesterday. "I think I'm just telling her to stuff it and I'll wear whatever I want to tonight." It seemed stupid that Pansy at seventeen was saying she was going to pick her own clothes for dinner, but that's just how things had been. Muffy dressed up her daughter ridiculously, and Pansy was tired of it. Enough was enough, and she'd hit breaking point. She wasn't bending to her mother's will anymore like she used to always do. It was high time she became her own person, and her clothes were just the first step. "I'll even introduce you to the wardrobe of doom." She shut the water off and poked her head out. "Can you get me a towel? I didn't exactly have a chance to get one. Someone sort of started my shower for me a little earlier than intended." She smiled at him, taking the towel once he held it out and wrapping it around herself before she got out. "All yours. Just come to my room when you're ready, if you want."

[Draco Malfoy]

“Telling her to ‘stuff it’? Because that’s such a brilliant plan, obviously she’ll just forgive you and apologize and everything will be dandy.” He rolled his eyes and handed her a towel when she asked for it, “I’ve waited my whole life for the chance to see inside that wardrobe.” He smirked as she stepped out of the shower, “I’ll be there, of course.” After double-checking the water he got in and rather quickly, for Draco, he finished showering and dried off. Heading into his room he found a clean pile of clothes, courtesy of the Parkinson elves. Slipping on the boxers and slacks he pulled on a clean t-shirt and slipped his arms into his shirt, leaving it undone for now. Heading out of his room he knocked on her door and entered, smiling at her as she sat on her bed in her pajama shorts and a tank top, braiding her hair. “So where is this monstrosity of a closet? Please don’t tell me we have to go into her lair… I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready to face that.” He shuddered dramatically and sat on the bed next to her, leaning against the headboard. “I take it you bought this ensemble yourself? It doesn’t look like anything she would let you have. Ever.”

[Pansy Parkinson-Malfoy]

Glancing up from her hair as he walked in, she laughed as he mentioned the lair. "No, no. It's in here. We won't have to venture over to her wing of the castle, thank goodness. She'd know if we were over there anyway, she probably brushes the carpet in very particular directions so she can see if there are any new footprints there that shouldn't be. I wouldn't put it past her." She finished braiding her hair, reaching on her nightstand for an elastic to twist around it. "Yeah. It's one of the good things about the girls dorms back at Hogwarts. It's always so messy, they won't notice if I happen to sneak a pair of unclaimed shorts and a shirt into my trunk at the end of the year. I think I can thank some fifth year for these, I don't remember exactly." She dropped her braid, leaving it hanging on front of her shoulder as she got up, holding her hand out to him. "Now off to the wardrobe of doom. As scary as it might be, I'm going to need you not to scream." She laughed, crossing the room to a smallish door on the other side. She stepped inside, tugging Draco along behind her, though it was still dark. "You ready?" She whispered to him, her hand still in his as they stood there in the middle of the massive and terrible closet, the door closing slowly with a menacing squeak.




Also, Ashley googled 'wardrobe'.
This came up.
I'M DEAD. I CAN'T BREATHE. I CANNOT. TEARS OF LAUGHTER ARE COMING.

Spoiler:

[Draco Malfoy]

Draco smirked as she mentioned stealing from the other girls, their loss. With a grin Draco took her hand and got up, “Onwards then fair maiden!” As they walked towards the doors to the closet Draco squeezed her hand slightly. He was certain that he wouldn’t make it out alive, not from that much pink and yellow. Especially if it was a talking closet… then he was doomed. WHAT IF IT SAID THINGS LIKE “FAB-U-LOUS!” AND “LOVE. IT.” … OR EVEN WORSE… “SCRUMPTIOUS!” He forced himself to step inside and held her hand even tighter when the door closed. What if they were locked in forever? Would anyone try to find them? As the lights flicked on Draco squeezed his eyes shut and buried his face in her shoulder, “I can’t do it. I can’t look.” And no one would ever be able to blame Draco. Because who wants to ever see this:



NO ONE.

[Pansy Parkinson-Malfoy]

Pansy turned on the lights, laughing as Draco hid his face in her shoulder. "It's bad. I know. You'll have to be brave." She stroked the back of his head for a second before she stepped away, her hand still in his as she crossed to the main area where clothes and dresses were hanging. Muffy had arranged the dresses together by color, and then by length and neckline. Shortest in the front, longest in the back, every color from white to black, yellow, green, turquoise, purple, and an alarmingly massive amount of pink. Other clothes were separate from the dresses, shirts together, jeans together, a few shorts, jackets, whatever. There was a whole room of shoes jutting off the side, but Pansy didn't like to go in there much. Too many terrifying heels. "Yep. This is it. The closet of doom. Usually I sit there," she pointed at an enormously round cushioned automan of sorts toward the center of the room, "and mum goes through until she finds something she thinks is satisfactory." Pansy rolled her eyes, flicking her way through some of the dresses, quickly shoving most of them away, disgusted she'd ever had to wear it, even only once. "Anyway. What'll it be tonight? Something Mummy doesn't like, but nothing to upset Dad. He'll be on my side as long as the clothes aren't too... risque." On that note she shoved a little silver dress back in between the others. "You're here, after all." Glancing over her shoulder, she wondered if he'd be any help or if he'd be too terrified surrounded by so much girly pink that he wouldn't know how to deal with it.

[Draco Malfoy]

As Pansy walked away Draco cracked his left eye open and almost squeaked. SO. MUCH. PINK. He stared around in horror, all that was moving was his eyes, the rest of him immobile in shock and horror. All those ugly dresses, with the flowers… and the fluff and taffeta. Staring at the wall in front of him, the purple dresses, he stepped forwards with his hand out, gently touching the silk. What the hell did anyone do with this much clothing? He was vaguely aware of Pansy talking to him so he pulled himself out of the purple fog and turned to him, “Hmm? Sorry, I was blinded by the amount of girly-ness in here.” He remembered her asking something about tonight so he headed towards the darkest corner of the closet, there were a few black things there. Pulling out a shirt he held it up, “Is this something she bought?” It didn’t seem like all that much fabric AND it was black. Behind the black he saw what looked like a cubby hole, “What’s this? Do you have stuff hidden back here?” He pushed aside what seemed to be a black ballgown that he thought he remembered from a party a year or two back and reached into the hole, waiting for Muffy’s cat to attack him. When nothing happened he pulled his hand out, holding some DENIM? “What, Miss Parkinson, is this?”

[Pansy Parkinson-Malfoy]

Pansy had been flipping through some silver and grey things, turning to look at Draco as he asked what something was. She draped the dress she'd picked up over her arm, as she walked over to him. Seeing that he'd discovered her hidden cubby hole, she laughed and squeezed up beside him, reaching in and pulling a bunch of things out. "Ohh, well this would be all my gift clothes, Mister Malfoy." She sat down on the floor and sorted them into piles, jeans in one, some leather in another, a few shirts and dresses her mother wouldn't approve of in another pile. She picked them up and looked at them, some of them just as ridiculous as the rest of her clothes, but some of it wasn't bad. There's this one from Daph, and then these that my mom would die if I wore around. Oh, I'd forgotten about this. I'll just... put that back..." She casually dropped it back on the floor, going through some of the other clothes searching for something good to wear to dinner tonight. Just enough to make her mother angry, but not so over the top that her father would disapprove as well. "Any thoughts?" She glanced up at him, not sure what to pick.

[Draco Malfoy]

Draco stared as she sorted through the clothing, DANG. Daph should be allowed to buy all of Pansy’s clothing from now on. When she picked up the green dress he smirked, then his jaw dropped. Were those? Yes. They were leather pants. He’d thought that he had seen it all but then she held up the leather dress. MERLIN’S SAGGY BALLS! Draco’s brain stopped computing normal information. He wondered if it would be possible for her to wear that one to dinner… when she dropped it onto the floor his eyes followed it. Why had he not known about that dress before? Muffy had a lot to answer for if she was the reason Pansy hadn’t been wearing that every day. When she turned back to him he ripped his eyes from the dress to focus again. “I don’t know, how about that black shirt? The button down,” he reached down and grabbed it, “It looks nice but nothing that your mother would EVER approve of.” Then he reached past her and pulled down a leather skirt, “With this? That’s not too outlandish is it?” He held them up to her, “I don’t think your father would mind that too much.”

[Pansy Parkinson-Malfoy]

Pansy wondered for a second why he was staring so intently at her floor, it not dawning on her yet that it could be the leather dress she'd discarded, having never actually worn. But she didn't think about it for too long as he looked up at her and suggested the black shirt. "Hmm. That works." She took it from him, holding it up and looking at it. She put her arms down to look at what he was suggesting to put with it, smirking a little. "I think that's brilliant." She took it from him and grabbed his wrist, pulling him along behind her to the horrible shoe room. "Okay. Shoes to go with it..." She stood there in the middle of the little room, glancing around at the shoes that were just as organized as her clothes were. Flats, heels, boots, sneakers, whatever else she had - which was almost any shoe you could imagine because Muffy was obsessed with buying them - all lined up by color and heel height. It made her just want to knock them all down and mix them up and give her mother an ocd aneurism. She let go of Draco and started around the outside of the room, looking for a pair of black shoes to go with this that her mother wouldn't exactly like paired with this shirt and a leather skirt.

[Draco Malfoy]

Draco laughed as Pansy dragged him into another part of the closet then, for what felt like the hundredth time that day, his jaw dropped. “Holy shit, I think your mother has gotten you more shoes than even my mother has.” He walked around the edges of the room, staring at the vast array of footwear. What would go with what she was wearing… hmm… “Do you really want to piss her off? Wear these.” He held up a pair of black chucks. Oddly enough shoes like those went well with the outfit they’d pulled together, well at least in the normal world they did, just not in Muffy’s. “All set now?” He sighed with relief as she nodded and he wrapped an arm around her, leading her out of the EVIL CLOSET OF DOOM and back into her room. Closing the door and killing the lights behind them, Draco beelined for her bed and fell onto it face down. “Never, ever let me in there again.” He was talking into the pillow so there was no guarantee that she had heard him but he thought she would get the general idea. Lifting his head slightly he muttered something about her letting him know when she was done changing then he dropped his face back into the pillow, trying to remove the colour pink from his mind.

[Pansy Parkinson-Malfoy]

Pansy let him pull her out of the closet, taking the shoes from him and glad when the door was shut behind them and she could escape the monstrosity. Luckily it was only her closet that was primarily pink, as she'd managed to paint her walls grey over the summer and hide her old bed quilts and such, swapping them out for something more plain and much less frilly. "I'll never make you go in there again against your will, I promise." As he put his head back into the pillow she quickly undressed and tugged on the skirt, putting on the shirt and buttoning it up most of the way up before she picked up her shoes and walked over to her dresser, grabbing a pair of socks out of it. She plopped down on the bed beside him. "I think this should do the trick." She tried to pull her leg up to put her socks on, but the leather skirt was a little less than flexible. "Dammit. Not used to this stupid thing." She tried a few different ways, finding eventually that the only way to reach her feet well enough to put on her socks and shoes was to just stand up and lean over. Tying them though was a totally other story, and when she got too frustrated with it, she sat down on the bed again, turning and putting her feet up by her pillow where Draco was still lying. She gave him a half pouty half smiling face. "Can you tie them?" Once he complied, she stood up and looked in her mirror before turning to look at Draco again. "So what do you think? Enough to piss her off?"

[Draco Malfoy]

When she dropped onto the bed beside him Draco turned to look at her and smirked as she failed miserably at putting the socks on. “I’m sensing success here Pans,” and he started to laugh as she stood up, still battling her socks. When she bent over he stopped laughing and stared. Well wasn’t this a lovely view. He pulled himself away and rolled onto his back when she sat up next to him, “If I don’t tie your shoes for you we’ll be here all month." He returned her smile and quickly laced up the shoes. He stared as she looked at herself in the mirror, she looked incredible. Dark and deadly, she was exactly as a Slytherin should be. He had never understood Muffy's obsession with putting Pansy in bright collies when she looked so much better in black, and when black was so much more appropriate of a colour in their social circles. When she turned back to him he smirked, "I am certain this will royally piss her off. Not that it takes much." Getting up, he walked over to he and took her hand, leading her out of the room. As an afterthought he added, "Nice knickers by the way, the black is a nice touch.”

[Pansy Parkinson-Malfoy]

"Perfect." She put her hand in his and followed him out of her room, only to freeze in the doorway at his final comment. "Draco! You can't just be looking up my skirt every time I wear one!" Luckily she knew well enough to keep her voice low, because that is definitely not something that should be shouted in this house, especially when she wasn't sure of the exact locations of her parents. On that note, she quickly recomposed herself and pulled him along toward the library, taking the secret staircase that was just around the corner from her room that would take them up to the smallish third floor where the library was. Though the Parkinson home was considerably smaller than Malfoy Manor, and most other pureblood homes for that matter, the money that hadn't been spent on the size of the home had been poured into the library. The main floor was elegant, but not overbearingly elaborate, simply nice enough to be presentable as the home of a well-off pureblood family. The second floor contained their bedrooms, studies, a few more parlors. Still, not over the top, just fancy enough to be more than acceptable. But the third floor library was where their wealth shone, and it just happened to be Pansy's favorite place at home, except maybe the Tower. She ran up the dark staircase in front of him, pushing the door open carefully. It would ruin everything if her outfit was discovered before dinner, but the hallway was empty as expected. Pushing the heavy library door open, she stepped inside the familiar retreat where they'd spent a lot of rainy days as kids, lying on the soft rug in front of the massive fireplace, reading their favorite books or playing games. Pansy sighed happily as she looked around and headed over toward the corner of the room, pulling the cool rolling ladder with her, like the one they have in Beauty and the Beast. Climbing up, she talked to Draco as she reached for a few of the higher shelved books. "I'd tell you not to look up my skirt while I'm up here, but I already know you'll do it anyway and you've already done it once today, so what's one more time?" She turned to give him another I-am-not-amused sort of look before she moved up a few rungs higher, tracing her finger along the spines of the books and searching for something interesting of benefit to her current studies on dueling.

[Draco Malfoy]

Draco followed her out the room, laughing at her comment about skirts. He was a teenage boy after all, it was second nature to try to look up the skirt of any girl, especially girls as good looking as Pansy and especially girls in skirts like that one. He was honestly just glad that she wasn’t parading around Hogwarts in it. Following her up the stairs he remembered all the times they’d snuck up here at night, coming to find a good book or a new game to play, even sometimes just to sit by the fire and talk. The library was by far the coziest room in the manor. Being back at the Parkinson’s brought back so many memories of Draco’s childhood and he was slowly realizing that almost all of his happiest moments were at the Parkinson’s, or somewhere else with Pansy. Draco had always known that he hadn’t had a golden childhood, that he was never going to have the perfect family, where his father came home and gave him a hug and asked about his day, where his mother cooked dinner and tucked him in at night, but he had never thought that his happiest moment would be with other families. Pushing those thoughts aside he walked into the library after her, all the tension seeping from his body as he did. This was one of those places where he would always feel safe, always. As she dragged the ladder over and started to climb up it he took the shelves below her, looking for a book he knew was here. It was an examination of the legalities of the dark arts and what made them dark. He’d never had an interest before but now that he had no choice he thought he should begin to prepare himself for the inevitable. As she spoke he looked up, indeed it was up her skirt. “Oh come on Pans! You take all the fun out of it that way. And you shouldn’t be climbing ladders in skirts anyway.”

[Sponsored content]