This is a rewritten, re-edited, (hopefully) improved version of the first fanfiction I ever wrote. This story, and the journey it began for me, is everything to me, and Darkened Skies houses my heart and soul. In fact, this is probably the closest I'll come to creating a horcrux.

Taking the leap into fanfiction gave me so much more than I could ever have dreamed, and I don't think I'll ever be able to truly express my gratitude and love for all I have, all thanks to the fact I started writing this little tale about one misunderstood Slytherin, and the lion who became her everything.

This was what started the journey to meeting my best friends, being able to create a home for myself in a world I always looked in on from the sidelines and gave me the creative outlet I had no clue how much I needed.

Darkened Skies started as a tiny idea when all I knew of fanfic was popular pairings I couldn't relate to; it was my but, what if?

This story developed and grew my Pansy, the same Pansy I've now written in a multitude of scenarios I could never have imagined when I started this. It's not a secret that she's my favourite character, but without DS I wouldn't have the her that I'm known for, but this, where it all began, is my truest and the rawest version of her, and I hope you love her.

If a scene is entirely italicised, it is a flashback.

Both Freyja Greengrass and Tula originally came from my friend Avis1765, from a story she is no longer writing, I asked her permission to use these names and utilise these two characters as my own

Please do be aware that the following subject matter appears in this story: sexual situations, violence, torture, sexual assault and alcoholism. During the chapter where the sexual assault takes place, there is an A/N with a link to a censored, alternate version of the scene, with the exception of this, I will not be providing warnings throughout the story. This story is meant for mature readers only and is rated as such.

Acknowledgements:

oblivionbaby, for believing in this story from the beginning. Thank you for the time and effort you gave it. You taught me a lot about being a writer and I'm so grateful this granted me your friendship.

RooOJoy, I don't quite know how to express how much I love and appreciate you. Thank you for wanting to be a part of Darkened Skies. This story is better because of you. You've never not believed in me and you've never doubted me, you're one of my best friends in the entire galaxy and if all DS ever gave me was your friendship, then it'll have given me so much more than I could ever have imagined.

JEPierre, every list of thanks I make will probably always include you. Thank you for loving this story and for encouraging my Pansy. Thank you for everything you do as my best friend, soul sister and wife! Thank you for asking me to create that little ol' group just for rare pairs, that has grown bigger than either of us could possibly dream. You support me every single day and I'll never be able to tell you how much you mean to me.

Habababa, thank you for following everything I write. Every review and comment you've ever left me means the whole world. I love that you let DS into your life and I love that you're now a permanent fixture in mine. I love you, you beautiful broccoli, please never change.

SandraSempra, I don't know how we became so close, so fast, but you don't know how happy I am to have you in my life. Thank you for making me decide to change the side pairing in this and for giving the fandom the Millie it deserves. You are a breath of fresh air and I need you to know how much I love that you make me laugh every single day.

To all of the members of Fairest, for giving me a place in this fandom I feel at home. Thank you for accepting us at our most vulnerable, and for loving us at our craziest.

& to you, reader. Thank you for reading, if you read the entire story, or just stay for a few chapters, or one, please know that I value you so, so much.

Love, thewaterfalcon

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Part One | Strike the Match

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One. The Game

Absentmindedly, she petted the owl's head as she removed the scroll, which was wound tightly and bore the all too familiar wax seal of Hogwarts and she watched, a slight frown present upon her pale face as the barn owl began its descent towards the window. She had been waiting for the letter to appear and yet its arrival, combined with the knowledge that not only was the school's headmaster no more, but the overwhelming and unmissable number of unnerving changes that had been taking place around the entirety of the Wizarding World made the school's seal seem achingly familiar and yet entirely different, all at once.

Dear Ms Parkinson,

Please note that the new school year will begin on September the first. The Hogwarts Express will leave from King's Cross Station, platform nine and three-quarters, at eleven o'clock.

I would also like to offer my congratulations as you have been selected as Head Girl; your new badge is enclosed.
You will be expected in the Prefects' carriage of the Hogwarts Express no later than ten past eleven to meet with the new Head Boy and greet the new and existing Prefects. As you are aware, patrols for the new school year begin aboard the train.

A list of books for next year is enclosed.

Yours sincerely,

Professor M. McGonagall

Pansy blinked before re-reading the letter. Head Girl? She stared at the two words written before her. Is this a joke? Must be a joke. Merlin, is Granger dead?

"Pansy?" Pansy started. Her eyes flashed to her mother's face before scanning her letter once more. "Pansy!" Lilith Parkinson repeated, her voice steely. "You look as though you've seen a ghost."

I have! Granger's!

"I'm Head Girl," Pansy answered, a tad blunter than she had intended as her eyes scanned over the letter again.

Lilith appeared to poorly imitate a smile, the corners of her mouth were raised slightly, but her lips remained in a poker straight line. "I know."

"I don't- what?"

"Pansy, things are going to be vastly improved this year for you with that bearded maniac finally," Lilith paused, her gaze unreadable, "deceased."

Pansy dropped her attention to her palm and shook the envelope which had contained her letter and found, just as promised, her new badge. 'Head Girl' was emblazoned in silver on a background of Slytherin green. She became vaguely aware that her mother was still talking.

"-more than happy to accommodate your wish to become Head Girl."

"What?" Pansy asked, bluntly. She was fairly certain she had never expressed any such wish to anyone, let alone her mother. "Who? What are you talking about?"

Lilith inhaled deeply through her nose, her eyes closed and when she began to talk again she did so slowly, emphasising each syllable. "Amycus and Alecto," Lilith enunciated, taking another breath, this time closer to a sigh than anything else.

The first thing she's said to me this week, and she's bored already. Pansy narrowed her eyes and sighed back, her demeanour defensive.

"As I was saying, they are old friends of your father and they, along with Severus, will be ensuring Hogwarts is far more efficiently ran."

"So, I'm only Head Girl because my father asked these-"

"Carrows."

Pansy blinked. "What the hell is a carrow?"

"Amycus Carrow. Alecto CARROW!" Lilith's tone had sharpened and the volume of her voice had increased tenfold. Pansy could see her mother's patience had all but departed. Good. Pansy rolled her eyes.

"The letter is still from McGonagall," Pansy mumbled, distracted, once more, by the parchment still clutched between her fingertips.

"What's that?" Lilith's tone was sharp.

"The letter. It's still signed by McGonagall."

"Mmm, well that's unsurprising, the Carrows were never particularly studious from what I remember."

Pansy snorted. "It's a good job they aren't in charge of my studies then."

Lilith pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and index finger, her eyes closing as she let out yet another sigh. "Oh, Pansy, do stop being dramatic, it's awfully exhausting."

Dramatic? Pansy's mouth opened, the Slytherin intent on answering Lilith back, when the tense exchange between mother and daughter was brought to a stark standstill with the hearth on the opposing wall lighting up in a billowing of bright green flame which, once subsided, revealed a pale, dark-haired and sallow-skinned figure. Pansy took a deep breath and steadied herself for the greater argument she predicted would be imminent.

Cassius Parkinson stepped from the hearth, brushing the front of his robes with the back of his fingers as he did, his eyes, a deep, deep brown colour that was so dissimilar from Pansy's own, bright green iris', swept the vicinity of the room.

"Your daughter is Head Girl of Hogwarts," Lilith rattled off, her tone irate, before Pansy had any chance to speak. "And it would seem to me that she couldn't be more ungrateful for that if she tried."

Oh, fuck you!

Pansy crossed her arms, awaiting her father's response. Cassius raised an eyebrow, his eyes meeting Pansy's for a short second before he turned his attention almost entirely, to a nearby drinks cabinet. "Congratulations, Pansy."

He almost sounds like he means it. Pansy, taken aback by the lack of snap in her father's tone, watched him march towards the black, glassy cabinet. Her mouth had opened and her eyes were narrowed in suspicion; even the short amount of time that he'd been in their presence was enough to show Pansy that her father was acting entirely out of character. She knew how it would usually have gone, Pansy recalled a dozen separate scenarios where he, Cassius, had asked Lilith for more of her, usually exaggerated, information on Pansy's misgivings. The details Lilith provided would usually be used by Cassius to berate his daughter further than Lilith had already done. The lack of this usual parenting tactic had caught Pansy off guard, and she took a step towards him, manoeuvring her body so she no longer had to see her mother's face.

"Thanks. Uh…" she stammered, "how was your day?"

This time, her father's eyes did not meet her own, not even for a short second. Instead, Cassius fixated his look somewhere level with Pansy's shoulder, to nothing in particular. "Busy. The new Muggle-Born Registration Act is now in place."

Gods, that was for real!?

"What happens if a Muggle-Born doesn't register?" For the second time that afternoon Pansy's thoughts drifted, fleetingly, to Hermione Granger.

"They get taught a lesson."

"What sort of lesson?"

Pansy watched as Cassius regarded her, his expression unreadable. She shifted her own features into the typical look of defiance she so often saved just for her parents.

Sighing deeply into his newly acquired glass of firewhisky, Cassius unsuccessfully attempted to hide a smirk, a look of reminiscent pleasure crawling across his pale face as he spoke. "That the Dark Lord does not take kindly to those who oppose him." He continued, "Nothing for you to worry about, our blood is as pure as they come, you know that." Pansy's eyes followed the flecks of light that bounced across the surface of her father's whisky.

"It wasn't me I was thinking about," Pansy murmured. It was a raw statement that came from someplace deep inside Pansy that held no word of a lie. Hearing the words emanate from her own mouth had surprised even herself. Compassion towards Muggle-borns was not a sentiment Pansy had ever expressed, nor, if she were to be entirely honest with herself, particularly thought of before. Yet, nonetheless, as the faces of numerous others from her year washed across Pansy's mind, Hermione Granger featuring annoyingly prominently, Pansy knew it was one of the most real sentences she had ever said aloud. "Do you agree with the Act?" Pansy asked.

Cassius regarded his daughter. "My stance on the matter is irrelevant. This is the game we must play, Pansy," he stated, nonchalantly.

"The game we must play," Pansy repeated her father's words. The agreement of the Muggle Registration Act, and whatever lessons awaited those forced to register didn't seem like any kind of game Pansy wished to play.

"Precisely."

The only difference being, you look as though it's a game you want to play.