HP drabble: "thin" prompt for 100quills

[catsintheattic]

Rating: PG
Category: Drabble
Era: Hogwarts, HBP
Main Characters: Draco Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson
Ship(s): none
Keywords: thin
Summary: Draco is on a mission, and Pansy worries.
Author's notes: Prompt no 25 - thin of the 50.3 set of the 100quills. Thank you, waterbird, for the patient beta and for all your helpful input to this drabble. As always, all remaining

Comments

[fourth_rose]

Oh, that is lovely - bittersweet, and very touching!

[catsintheattic]

Thank you! *beams* I'm so glad that you like it! &hearts

Poor Pansy doesn't stand a chance against Draco's fear for his family.

[mordyn4]

Yes.

I really, really like this.

Argh, I have no words.

[catsintheattic]

I left you speechless! *happy grin*

Thank you so much! *hugs*

[waterbird]

Yay, you've posted! Very good. I really like how this one turned out. :)

[catsintheattic]

I'm very happy with it, too! :-)))

As you've noticed, I didn't chose the clock imagery. But I had to think it through. Thank you again for all your patience. Du bist ein Schatz!

It's such a pleasure to share this whole process of writing and editing with you!

*BIG HUG*

[blonde_cecile]

Wow, Cats, this is great. My heartstrings were definitely tugged. &hearts

[catsintheattic]

Awwww! Ferret icon! *loves*

I'm so glad that the story moved your heart. &hearts

Thank you! *hugs*

[jaelle_n_gilla]

Ah, here she goes again :-)
Am I guessing correctly that you are referring to the time that Draco tries to repair the vanishing cabinet?
You said you didn't use the clock imagery, but I felt you did. The arm coming closer, but couldn't stop time. I know "hand" is for clocks, but the image forced itself in nevertheless.
I can't see Pansy that genuinely worried, the old bitch *grins* Neither would I think of her as Draco's "friend" in HBP. But it's nice to see her in a "human" shape.
What is it he's doing "again"? Worrying his sleeves?

[catsintheattic]

Thank you for you detailed comment! :-)

Yep, this is about Draco trying to repair the Vanishing Cabinet.

I had another clock imagery, a much stronger one. I'm so glad that the wording I used still created this image for you! *dances*

But it's nice to see her in a "human" shape.

It's that we never see the Slytherins from another perspective than Harry's, which makes it so difficult to see them as humans. But I'm convinced that Slytherins have friends as well, and not just minions.

Draco's just sitting there, lost in thoughts, not eating. Pansy touches his sleeve, because she wants to emphasise how thin he is. And she touches his wrist, because she wants to actually hug him, which she doesn't dare to do. She wants to take care of him, but all she can do is ask him to eat a little bit. It's this feeling of being totally helpless when a friend suffers which is the core of this drabble.

[jaelle_n_gilla]

Yes, that feeling is certainly transparent. It's just that the words "You are doing it again" sound like there is a bad habit that they've talked about before. Something she needn't spell out for him to know. I wouldn't have guessed it was something like... well... not-eating. It would be something active rather than passive.
Other than that you captured the mood smoothly (as always).

I am sure Slytherins have friends. It's jsut that Pansy in HBP seems more like she's with Draco because it raises her status and her self esteem than because of love or likeing. Maybe it's just Harry's perception again. It seems fitting, though.

[catsintheattic]

I didn't want to be too clear about what Draco is actually doing, wanted to leave it to the reader's imagination. Maybe he is also mumbling to himself, and this is actually something "not to be done", especially not in Slytherin. :-) But just sitting and staring about himself would be fine for me as well. Feel free to imagine what you like him to do! :-D

It seems fitting, though.

Like "fitting that she would be with Draco because of selfish reasons"? Aren't we always together with someone because we get something out of it? Even love or liking is "getting something out of it". Yes, I know, it's considered to be on a higher moral level than the social status stuff. ;-)

I guess we really cannot say much about her motivation because, like with all Slytherins, we never see her genuine actions. It's all filtered by Harry's perception. Why wouldn't she like Draco? Even if she is happy with his social status, she could still like him. These things are not mutually exclusive. :-)