Shut up, Pansy!
By A Sort of Wing

Disclaimer: I don't own HP. Boo, hiss.
Author's Beginning Statement: Just so everyone knows, this is pretty much ignoring the story line. AKA, Draco never killed anyone, yadda yadda. It's just a regular year seven at Hogwarts.

Chapter One – Collapse

Draco Malfoy, a boy of high privilege, sat in the Slytherin common room. Not surprisingly, he chose the large refurbished armchair closest to the fire as his spot to rest. It had almost acquired the exact shape of Malfoys bottom from the number of times he had sat in this chair throughout his schooling. He thought in it, he schemed in it; he did his homework in it. Sadly, each year a non-suspecting first year student would choose this chair to do their daily biddings in, only to be shunned from Malfoy the next time he came into the room. After a while, no one bothered trying to sit there any more until the cycle resumed next year. So, it was not surprising to see him here – what was surprising was that he was alone. He had always been trailed by at least one person for as long as he could remember. If it was not one of the two buffoons' who followed him night and day, it was that girl, or that Potter nuisance. This moment, a moment of pathetic serenity, was one that he had longed after for days.

Strange things had begun to happen – weirdly, right under Draco's nose. In the old days, he had enjoyed being fond over by Pansy. What with the complements, the bragging, the midnight snacks snuck from the kitchens, the love notes... The attention was enough to keep any guy at bay. Draco remembered his father once mentioning that the decision to ask Pansy to the Yule Ball was "clever". Her family was in good standing with the other pure blooded families Lucius associated with at the ministry. That night was the beginning of their relationship. It continued beyond their fourth year, fifth and sixth year up to this very moment. That's roughly three years! But, nowadays, he found that he could not return the affections he received from her. They seemed almost... common. Fake.

He had noticed it almost accidentally in Potions class the other week. Draco was, of course, paired up with Pansy. When wasn't he? In retrospect, Draco now wondered why she had no one else to be partners with. Was Draco really the only friend Pansy had? No; there was always Millicent Bullstrode. It was always the same: Crabbe had Goyle, Malfoy had… Pansy.

In class that day, he had gotten up to get more troll toenails. Pansy had, once again, measured wrongly and gotten less of the ingredient that the text called for. She seemed to do that a lot with particular ingredients. It was almost as if she didn't want to get them because they were gross and didn't want to touch them. She had scraped by her O.W.L. by the lucky coincidence that Slughorn accepted "Exceeds Expectations" and was planning on doing the same with her N.E.W.T. this year. Draco was quite sure her minimum success was because of his partnership. She didn't learn from the textbooks, she copied him.

He ended up in line behind the Mudblood, Granger. He was quite a bit taller than she was, but found it hard to look above her bushy mane all the same. Snape was at his desk, flipping through their homework assignment from the previous night. Draco rolled his eyes and sighed, impatiently. As much as he liked Snape, he couldn't understand why he went into the teaching career. Sure, having the influence on children while they were young was great… but having to deal with some people and what they thought was "knowledge" day in and day out was beyond his patience.

He moved up one step and glowered down onto the top of the Granger girls head. He might as well have some fun while he was in line…
He leaned forward quietly and whispered to Hermione, very close to her ear,
"Hey Granger. What ingredient are you looking for? You might try looking for it in your hair – anything could be hiding in there."

Hermione turned her head slowly, stopping when her nose was inches away from Malfoys. She was giving him her dirtiest look. It was in that moment that something unorthodox struck Draco. He had always kept his distance from her because of her heritage, but found now that the Granger girl wasn't that bad to look at. She wasn't stunning, no way, but not bad. The sound of Hermoine's irritated voice snapped him back into reality.

"Malfoy, next time you think of something witty to say, forget it. It won't be funny." She said, turning her head to look forward quickly, leaving Malfoy in a face full of hair. Draco pulled away, but not without getting a hint of Hermione's shampoo. It smelled faintly like green apples and vanilla. It was kind of refreshing, compared to Pansy's predictable scent of well… pansies. He was left there dumbstruck of how to reply, but decided best to drop it, giving Hermione a dirty grin as she passed him on the way back to her seat, ingredient in hand.

He returned to his desk with small cup full of toenails, placing them down in front of their smoky cauldron. He glanced over towards Pansy who kept their notes for the session and noticed that she was full out staring at him. Draco's eyes shifted from side to side, uncomfortably. Even Pansy was usually never this direct, and well… rude.

"What?" He asked, sitting up straight.
"What was that?" She asked, immediately.
"What was what?"
"That, with Granger."
"What with Granger? I was getting toenails!" Draco whispered, harshly trying to finish this impromptu session of twenty questions.
"I watched you", she began, unshamefully,
"Well, that's a surprise" finished Malfoy, mostly under his breath.
"What did you say to her? I saw your mouth moving."
"I told her that her hair was as big as a zoo and could probably hold as much crap, alright? What did you think I told her?" He whispered, becoming aggravated, "Stop watching me like a hawk! You never used to."
Pansy didn't remark back, but let her incredulous look linger on Malfoy before returning to finish their experiment for the day. Malfoy also returned to their work, but not without the clear, lingering feeling of déjà vu. This was definitely not the first time Pansy snapped at him because of her low self confidence issues.

After that awkward, insignificant revelation in potions, Hermione came up everywhere. It was usual practice to see her frantic hand wiggling in class, but she also began to pop up in the corridors between classes more frequently. Malfoy could spot her almost immediately at dinner and found that whenever someone mentioned the name "Hermione", he could hear it – even if it was coming from the other side of the corridor.

His disposition towards her had not changed completely, however. During their shared Charms class three days after, he bewitched a paper horse fly to zoom annoyingly around her, causing her to swat exasperatingly around her head, knocking random supplies to the ground. Trying to get rid of it with expulsion charms only made the little pest more resilient. Malfoy grinned inwardly while he watched her struggle. It was too easy to pick on her.

Comparatively, Pansy Parkinson was loosing more and more of the little affection Draco held for her. During the end of the last term, the summer, and the start of this term, the lovely things that had attracted Draco to Pansy had withered and died. Not only was Pansy an irritating, stuck up nag, she was beginning to loose her figure – practically the only thing that had kept Draco around for so long. They were seventeen and had dated for three years; even her body was no secret to him anymore.

She had gone downhill in this matter mostly during the summer holiday. They had visited each other at the beginning of the summer holiday with their mothers, who became friends out of obligation. She seemed normal then. Yet, when he met her in the usual Slytherin train car, he had to do a double take to make sure he was in the right place. Her hair was shorter (something that Draco always hated) and it seemed like her whole body had become a little rounder. When she got up to hug him hello, it was all her could do to stay on his two feet.

So, that brings us back to Malfoy – who was finally receiving peace and quiet. He would pay for it later, having missed dinner to be alone, but did not feel hungry and did not want to see Pansy. He lied on his back on the armchair, closing his eyes and sighing softly. He was in thought.

This newfound awareness of Hermione Granger was absurd. How many times had he seen her in class and how much of that time was dedicated to making her miserable? It was a fact that feeling any sort of attraction toward her was only a one way ticket to trouble. And whats more would be the shame! His mind worked very fast: she was muggle born, in Gryffindor, and forbidden. On top of everything, she was constantly in the company of the two nitwits, Weasley and Potter. He even had a slight sinking feeling that she may have liked the Weasley boy! Draco's eyebrows furrowed – he was much more of a catch than dirty, hand-me-down Weasley.

His firsts clenched. What a stupid situation to be in – feeling jealous over a Weasley. He decided in that moment that a stupid insignificant close-up encounter with the Granger girl was nothing to think about any longer. Ever.

But even before Malfoy could delve any deeper into self-destruction, the door opened with a startling BANG! He practically flew off his chair, his hand fumbling to grasp his wand. He pointed it shakily towards the door, seeing only a silhouette against the lights of the hallway of the dungeons.

"W-who's there? Make yourself known at once!" he demanded, regaining himself, his grip tightening.
"Don't point that thing at me, Pal!" answered a shill voice.
Draco sighed, putting his wand away. He stood up straitening his shirt sleeves and collar.
"Pansy, how many times have I asked you not to sneak up on me? One of these times… "
"You might what, huh? Attack me? Not on your life." She said, slamming the door and walking over to him. She seemed to be carrying a basket.

"Besides," she continued, her voice becoming sickeningly sweet as if nothing had even happened, "I've brought you dinner since you weren't there."
She came inside and shut the door loudly. She turned and strolled towards her one and only, offering him the basket, which was brimming with dinner left overs. The smell of food alone mixed with the stress he was feeling made him want to turn a delicate shade a green.
"I'm not hungry." He said, pushing it aside, but managing to give her a halfway decent thank-you nod.

Pansy frowned. She stared at him for a moment before putting her hands on her hips and furrowing her brows at him. He set the basket down next to his feet and looked at her in the middle of the prolonged silence, agitated.
"What? I didn't ask you to get me food." He said, truthfully. He didn't feel bad for refusing the grub. Why should he?

"That's right, you didn't." She said through pursed lips, "But you could be a little more grateful to me for all of the things I do for you."
Malfoy, down in his subconscious, felt a crack snapping all the way up a pretend dam, holding back all the water he had built up from the last year to extinguish the flame of their relationship.
"Things you do for me? Like what? All you've done since the beginning of term was nag at me! 'Draco, do this.', 'Draco, do that.', 'Draco, tell your father…'"
He was in her face now, no longer pretending to smile.
"Well, I'm done. We're done. I have enough prats in my life without having to date one, too." His tone was stern.

When he finished, he was staring at Pansy. He wondered if she was going to cry. After a moment though, she did not. She merely glanced at him savagely. Draco broke their hateful gaze and sidestepped her, heading for the door. His hand was upon its handle when Pansy spoke.

"It's that Granger girl, isn't it?" She said, almost in a whisper.
Draco stopped and looked over his shoulder.
"What?" he said, honestly confused. He was sure he didn't do anything out of character even though his mind was sometimes flooded with foreign thoughts.
"I have no idea what you're talking about. You're just upset.."
"I've seen you. You flirt with her constantly – Perking up every time someone mentions her name in the halls?"
Draco watched her back as her arms folded. Of course she would see these minute changes in his demeanor; she must have watched him closely for ages. He said nothing.
"It's pathetic. You know as well as I do that she's a mudblood. You seem to take joy in reminding her every day. You don't see me fawning over that Weasley boy – I know my bounds. At least he is pure blood. And that Harry Potter boy, sure, he has looks but-"

Draco bit his lip, rage rising from within as he listened to Pansy's irritating voice babble on. Of course she had to have the last word, even though he was the one breaking it off with her.

"DAMN IT, PANSY!" Spat Draco, his hands balling, red faced with rage, "Don't you ever SHUT UP?"
With that, he turned on his heel and wrenched open the door. He sped down the corridor, knocking a group of full first years over. He didn't look back as he sprinted toward a place he knew no one would find him.

Authors Note:
Okay. I started this fic a long time ago, right after the 7th book came out, I think. Well, im kind of re-reading the series with a friend and it gave me the inspiration to visit this story again. So, I rewrote parts of it, making it more grammatically correct and adding more meat to the story. Hope all readers enjoy the updates and we'll see where this story goes now that I have a fresh look on it. Yay!