Invite
Pansy Parkinson's black leather boots clicked against the sunlit stone path that led to Malfoy Manor.
It was May, and she had counted two weeks since she'd sent her last letter. To which she received no response. And if there's one thing these men should've known about Pansy Parkinson, it was that they should not keep her waiting.
She stepped through the door, not bothering to knock.
William, the Malfoy butler took her coat and hung it up in the coat room before scurrying off to find another equally daunting task.
She showed herself down the hallway of the ground floor to Draco's study. From outside, she heard mumbled voices.
"Prats," she whispered to herself before throwing the large oak doors open.
Theo was the first to look at her, scanning his eyes up and down her frame before standing up from his place on the settee beside the roaring fireplace. His deep brown hair was rather frazzled looking.
"Speak of the devil," he grinned maliciously, licking his lips. His arm was propped against the back of his seat and he held a toothpick between his lips like he was on the set of a twenties flapper film.
"Please, hold your applause for the end," Pansy rolled her eyes, slamming her Prada bag onto the couch before taking a seat herself.
Draco was watching them with silent amusement before she turned her attention to him. His blonde hair was still close to white and his face was chiseled like stone along with the rest of his body. He wore a dark grey collared shirt that showed every inch of his biceps. A log way from the scrawny teenager who'd been on trial at the Ministry a few years before. He fiddled with the quill in his hand.
"Okay, out with it," he finally said when Pansy only stared soullessly at him.
"You haven't replied to my latest letter. And you know I do hate to be kept waiting for a reply."
He sighed, leaning back in his leather chair. "I haven't decided yet."
Theo looked between the two with obvious confusion. "I want to know!"
Pansy rolled her eyes. "The Ministry wants to throw a gala to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the defeat of Voldemort. They have, certainly intentionally, invited me to attend. I supposed it's their way of making a fool out of me. But I asked Draco to be my plus one. He still has yet to give me an answer, and the gala is tomorrow, so I figured I would stop by." She folded her hands in her lap.
Draco pondered for a moment. Then he pushed his chair back slightly, opening the main drawer to his desk, pulling out a cream colored envelope with a broken red seal. All without uttering a word about what he'd pulled from the drawer. Pansy watched him with both anticipation and annoyance at his lack of explanations.
But then she recognized the envelope as the same one she'd been sent. Pansy scoffed. "You could've told me you've already been invited. I could have found a replacement by now! Anyway, I was just being nice when I invited you, but this is all the more reason to go. They want you there."
Theodore, who had not been invited, though his father had been a part of Voldemort's regime, seemed quietly offended that he had not received an invitation. From the Ministry or from the girl dressed in designer to his left.
Draco shook his head at Pansy, throwing the envelope on his desk and pulling the contents out. Inside was a folded piece of thin parchment.
"'Dear Mr. Malfoy,'" he began reciting it's contents. "'In honor of the fifth anniversary of the defeat of the Dark Lord, we would like to invite you to attend a gala held in the Reception Hall at the Ministry of Magic. Your presence would secure the idea that witches and wizards alike who fought on opposing sides are now fully reconciled. Please send your RSVP as soon as possible.' Signed, Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt." He threw the letter lazily on the desk as he finished, leaning back in his chair.
Pansy leaned back. "Mine said the same thing."
"Of course it did. They don't really care about reconciliation, they just want to make a show of us."
She folded her arms. "Well, I think we should go anyway."
For the last few months, Pansy had seemed to adopt this new personality of sorts. She wanted to change the way people saw her. She had started making friends with Half-bloods and even some Muggle Borns. She wanted to be involved in politics. She took a new liking to Quidditch, though she never did care for it as a Slytherin. For Pansy, it was trying to turn a new leaf. Rewrite the wrongs of the past. But to Draco, it was all an act. She could do all the Gryffindor things, but she would always be a nasty Slytherin to the rest of the world.
Perhaps his hatred of these newly adopted ideals stemmed from Draco's trial after the war. He begged and pleaded not to be sent to Azkaban. He told the judges of the Wizengamot of the abuse he and his mother endured at the hands of Voldemort. They knew he had been blackmailed and threatened, yet it wasn't until an anonymous witness testified on his behalf. No doubt it was some brave Gryffindor who thought he needed saving. He never found out who it was, but he hated them somehow.
After his trial was acquitted, the Wizarding officials had made a spectacle of him and other children of Death Eaters. Blaise hadn't been so lucky. He'd had to endure two and a half years in Azkaban just for associating with his mother during the war.
All to show who was really in control, and if they wanted you gone, there you'd go.
"Draco, I know you think this is some kind of circus, but I really do think it would be good to get out and meet new people and make amends. You've been cooped up in this mansion for years. You can't just let the past define you forever."
Draco snorted. "It's not me who's letting the past define me. What do you think they see when they look at me? I'm not just a Malfoy anymore. I'm the one who let Death Eaters into Hogwarts, which was the turning point in the war. Because of me, some of their children are dead. Some of their friends. Their family. How am I supposed to make amends when what I did to them was unforgivable?"
Pansy just sighed. "If that's what you think."
"They'll remember you telling people to grab Potter and turn him in to the Dark Lord that day. They won't forget that about you, ever."
She pushed herself off the sofa. "I'll be there, in case you decide to change your mind."
Theo stood up abruptly. "I'll be your date."
Pansy rolled her eyes. "Plus one. And fine."
Draco watched pensively as Pansy showed herself out. Once she was well out of ear shot - he knew because he could still hear her boots clicking - he looked over at Theo, whose eyes were still trained on the large dark oak doors where Pansy had last stood.
"Very subtle."
Theo snapped his head to face Draco. "Shut it."