Me, Pansy, and a bottle of bubbly by the shore.

[_draco_m_]

He wasn't really paying much attention to his classes and all that other rubbish, the usual goingons of the beginning of term. He was far too preoccupied for things of that nature

Comments

[pureprincess_p]

Pansy was trying to stay awake on her rounds... it was a very blah kind of night. She was at least hoping to confiscate something interesting to keep her occupied, like some alcohol or a sparkler or some Weasel toys (not that she'd ever admit that.)

As she turned the corner, suddenly she saw a small light flying towards her. It piqued her attention, and she lit her wand brighter.

"Lumos maximo!" she whispered, which ended up being useful, for as the note approached Pansy, it shone brighter until it reached her hand-- then the light extinguished.

Using her wand, she read over the note. Thirteen minutes, really Draco? Luckily she wasn't too far from the dungeons. She would just have to stall a bit. Perhaps stop by the kitchens on her way down? Often Prefects could score a bit to eat or drink to keep awake.

[_draco_m_]

Draco descended the Potions staircase, flew through the dungeon corridor, and closely inspected the hall outside of the Advanced Potion's classroom. Upon further inspection he found himself alone, at least for the moment. His wand had been drawn this whole time and he took one last look up and down the strip before his closed the door of the classroom behind him at 12:55.

From his bag, he took out the book he had rented from the library, Shh Spells for Sordid Secrets, and started to ward to the room with silencing charms and other protective measures he'd bookmarked within as he waited for her.

[pureprincess_p]

It was 12:59. Pansy could sense that there was magic afoot, and she wondered what Draco was up to in there. Silently fixing her hair, then uniform, she confidently approached the door and knocked quietly, twice. Not that it mattered, but she'd been knocking that way for years, and the two close friends knew these sorts of random facts. She knew Draco was expecting her, but the added consistency always helped.

[_draco_m_]

Never being daft enough to use a twoway silencing charm, he heard her knocking. But she wouldn't hear him if he were to say "come in," so he finished casting his Muffliato and opened the door to usher her in quietly, taking another look down the corridor and shutting the door behind them.

He was uncharacteristically dead serious with her, for a hard moment.

No one followed you, right?

[pureprincess_p]

Pansy was probably more taken aback than she should have been by the question. Resisting the urge to search frantically, she simply recited, "Revelio."

When no one appeared, she looked back at Draco. "Merlin, Draco, what's going on?"

[_draco_m_]

I've been desperate to speak with you privately, he began, walking his way over to a trapdoor, which led to the potion's supply cellar beneath the classroom.

My very skin crawls with secrets. You are the only person I can really trust.

He pulled the door open leading to the narrow stone stairway, which would lead into the room stocked with glass jars, etc.

I need you. He let his silver-eyed stare punctuate that sentence, a bold sentence that is rare for one to hear from a Malfoy, and he descended the steps.

[pureprincess_p]

Now Pansy truly was taken aback. "Well of course you can trust me," she nearly scolded, following him down the steps. She hadn't guessed that Draco could be so... desperate. Desperate to speak with her. Hm. She could get used to that.

As they approached the bottom, Pansy straightened out her skirt a bit, and silently ruffled her flat, flat hair.

Now truly on their own, Pansy finally replied, "And of course you need me. I'm a Parkinson. Our families have been intertwined for centuries." Though it sincerely was a reminder, she couldn't help put line it with a bit of flirting.

ooc: If you don't want the part about the families bit feel free to scratch it. I just assumed most pureblood families have been associated for years, and it can be taken however you like.

[_draco_m_]

Her flirting was always welcome, nothing like being reminded of your status when it was really, really tops. But he wanted to work quickly; he was no Auror and the wards would become feeble soon, his magic [although well-learned, thanks to having a family obsessed with magic as an elite object] was still immature, nowhere near as strong and sure as it would be eventually. What if someone came by? What if they heard these chilling tales he intended to divulge?

What if... Snape?

Yes.

Just, what if SnapeHe suffered a chill in his spine, and again he drew his Hawthorne wand, casting more silencing charms here beneath the classroom, acting very strangely indeed. But no matter, her reaction to it was irrelevant, these charms absolutely necessary. When he was finally satisfied with his task, a full minute or so of casting later, he rounded on her. He put away his wand before both hands made contact with her shoulders, which he urged forward as he met her in the middle

[pureprincess_p]

Pansy silently helped him surround the room with spells. Trying to work in conjunction with her friend, her worry only grew as she saw the real look of fear in his eyes.

It was worse than she thought, wasn't it?

As she approached the blonde, she could smell his soap... It smelt so entirely familiar-- clean and... Pansy was jerked back to the present, as Draco's lips touched her ear. Goosebumps were already forming before the words emerged from his lips, and she was almost grateful that he said something so completely shocking, so that she could blame the shiver that ran down her back on the monstrosity of his statement, rather than the feeling of his touch.

She jerked her head back to look at him in the eyes. Pansy was reading her best friend for a hint of exaggeration. Any hint would do. No? Well...

Returning to his ear, she whispered, "Exactly what do you mean by primed?"

[_draco_m_]

He caught her searching look, and with purpose he rivaled it with a stone cold stare. This was not a joke.

As it were, no silencing spell could relieve him of this tension. So his words returned to her ear, quietly as ever. His hands remained unmoved from the top of her arms.

Remember, over the summer...? He began, his pause more for himself than for dramatic effect, Snape is busy with his work here. He much emphasis on "He", meaning the Dark Lord, needs a potioneer. A very good one, and with haste. Once dear old dad caught wind of my potions prowess, thanks to Snape's buttering up no doubt, he jumped into the first fireplace he could to tell Him how eager the Malfoys are to be of service.

The words "to be of service" shook out of his mouth with some thinly veiled disgust, that of which he simply could not hide, that perhaps eluded to the other ways he may be expected to serve, if not to brew dark potions. Worse fates existed. Worse fates, by far.

[pureprincess_p]

"I mean, your brewed drinks were amazing," she admitted, "But what exactly do they expect you to brew? We haven't even passed our OWLs yet, let alone reached NEWT level potions."

Pansy took pride in her pessimism. It enabled her to be ready for anything, because she always assumed the worst was yet to come. She couldn't help but doubt that Malfoy had any serious skill that would surpass one of the adults... It just wasn't making sense to her.

"Or are you working as Snape's assistant?" she realized quietly, the words much softer, as she thought that Draco and Severus would be a brilliant team.

[_draco_m_]

It's true. The term blanketed over much of what she'd said, I'm nowhere near where I need to be for this. But they want to start me young, working very closely with Snape from now on to be sure of my accuracy, and although i'm not too sure exactly what I will be brewing, I can take a good guess. His thoughts run rampant momentarily with those guesses,

I'll need to perfect common-use potions like healing elixirs, and I mean to absolute perfection.. And then of course, his voice was cast into a shadow of darkness, probably poisons.. Complicated work like Veritiserums.. Polyjuice.. And i'm positive there will be things we've not even heard of before.

[pureprincess_p]

Pansy nodded intently, even though his voice was at her ear. It was all starting to make sense, and Pansy was a great listener. She couldn't help but nod.

And I'm positive there will be things we've not even heard of before...

We.

Miss Parkinson couldn't believe her ears. Draco still trusted her the most. She was still his go-to. It made her beam inside. It made her want to shove it in Daphne's perfect little face.

"Do you have an assignment right now?"

[_draco_m_]

None yet.. but its in the post, that's for sure. I've already been to work with him, he indicated Snape with a nod to the ceiling, for some time now, learning the simpler stuff. And there will be more simple work before any real challenge begins. His hands dropped to his sides and he took to stalking slowly up and down the narrow aisle, in front of some wall-units filled with gnarly looking objects and the like. As long as he didn't outright say Voldemort's name, or any other specifics too loudly, he imagined he couldn't say anything worse than what he already had. Still, when he went to start again, he was whispering closely to her.

I have, however, already qualified for an O in my Potions OWL, according to Snape.

His hands wouldn't stay still, so he crossed his arms tightly.

I'm just a handful of potions off from completing the entire 5th year Potion's curriculum.

Which was true. Snape hadn't had him sitting around grading papers all summer, by any means.

[pureprincess_p]

"It makes sense now, you easily could finish an extra years worth of work with all of that tutoring from Snape," she praised him, wondering why the fact was sort of turning her on.

Already her mind was whirling, imagining the possibilities of all of the potions Snape could teach Malfoy. The Malfoys were always so ready and eager to serve him... they would gain so much power by this move, but also were setting themselves up for a much greater fall. There it was again, the negativity.

"How does Snape feel about this?"

[_draco_m_]

All for it, of course. He drew his wand and cast a good Lumos Maxima after reinforcing a couple of silencing charms.

Teaching away happily, one could even mistake it for eagerness. Or anxiousness, but Draco didn't know that much. He sat down on the floor and elbowed a supply barrel to make some room for her.

In the new light, he could make out the letters DPG OIL on the wood of the barrel, in dark lettering. He didn't even think of the cake of dust upon everything, he really just needed to sit down.

But.. I'm going to do it, you know. He glanced up at her invitingly, his eyes slanting to the space next to him.

I know that I can do this, and well. Besides Pans, his voice was grim, to back out would be..