Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not my boyfriend. I repeat, Harry Potter is not my boy- um, I mean, creation. Harry Potter is not my creation.

---------------------------------------------

Pansy

Pansy walked purposefully towards St. Mungos, unaware of the way her clothes hung off her trembling frame, and the way her face muscles convulsed every few seconds.

People frowned and flinched away from her. Someone in the distance muttered something that sounded very much like "Good for nothing Deatheater cretin... what's she doing in public?"

It was cold and she was shivering slightly and why was it so cold? Why?

She was shaking with relief when she finally arrived at St. Mungos. Breathing heavily, she tried to collect her composure as best she could before striding up to the counter.

"I'm here to visit Mr Draco Malfoy." She said imperiously, her face a mask of disdain and superiority.

The nurse looked up at her and froze in fright. "Ye-Yes Ma'am." She practically whispered, before flipping through a stack of parchment with shaking fingers. 

"Ma'am... He is contained in the psychological ward, and is highly unstable... we can't allow visitors at present... Ma'am." The nurse looked about ready to soil her knickers.

"Nevertheless, I must visit him." Pansy insisted, levelling her best glare at the stammering nurse.

The nurse started hyperventilating and kneeled over into a dead faint, her nose somehow becoming buried in a bottle of ink.

Pansy smiled grimly. She knew that Terreo* charm had been worth it.

"Point me Draco Malfoy" she whispered, and let her wand guide her to her destination. 

*Terreo: Latin for to frighten, terrify, scare, alarm, startle, daunt, etc.

------------------------------------------

Blaise

Astoria had woken up and was now staring at the ceiling, unmoving and unresponsive to all his attempts at conversation.

"Look, I bloody nursed you back to health, okay? You owe me an explanation at the very least for showing up uninvited and unannounced to ruin my carpet with bloodstains." He finally said, exasperated with her lack of reaction.

Her eyes flickered shut at his outburst.

"Come on!" He groused, slapping his hand against the wall.

She flinched slightly and finally looked at him. Her eyes looked like tunnels.

"Theo." She managed to say, as if with great difficulty. "He did this to me."

Suddenly it was as if a dam had burst within her, and she opened and closed her mouth like a goldfish, gasping for air before finally recomposing herself. Fat tears rolled silently down her pale cheeks. Words tumbled out from her mouth as if she could not stop them if she wanted to, so quickly he could barely keep up.

"I love him, Blaise, I loved him since forever. But I was hurt and afraid and I remembered you, and how safe you seemed back when we were younger. I hoped the wards were still keyed to me. I needed to feel safe and your house was the first place I thought of... somehow my magic took me here. Blaise... Theo is planning something. Something big with the remaining Deatheaters. My job was to get them funds. I... I gave them everything."

Blaise stayed silent, his face turned away to gather his expression.

"Blaise, please, don't be mad, please!" Astoria sat up and drew her knees to herself, looking at him with wide, wide eyes. "I knew you still loved Pansy. We weren't like most couples."

"I don't!" He almost screamed, the raw sound ripping from his throat like a particularly sticky BandAid. "I didn't. Stop. Stop, please, stop."

Astoria's eyes softened. "And you still love her, despite everything."

Blaise finally turned around, unable to master the boiling anguish in his veins, the bubbling anger on his face. 

Astoria trembled, but looked him straight in the eyes nonetheless. 

"I don't want to do this anymore." He finally said, his head making a dull thump on the wall behind him. "You're healed, now get out."

She nodded hesitantly. "And Theo?"

"What about Theo?" He ground out.

"What are we going to do about him?"

"Nothing." Blaise shrugged. "I don't want to deal with it, and I don't think you do, either."

Astoria frowned. "I wouldn't have told you all that if I didn't want to do anything about it, you know."

"This coming from a woman who claims to love Nott?" Blaise raised an eyebrow at her.

"I love him, yes, but I've decided that I love myself more." 

"Since when?"

"Since just now."

Blaise chuckled lowly. "Damn, Astoria. The Sorting Hat sure didn't make the wrong decision putting you in Slytherin, eh? I needed to hear that."

He sucked in a deep breath through his mouth, making a loud whooshing sound. 

"All the more reason not to do anything about it, though." he finished. "It's none of my business. Leave it to the Aurors."

Astoria's eyes narrowed. "If you don't do anything, I will go to Theo, right now, and tell him where you live. He's been wanting to get rid of you since forever, you know?"

Blaise smirked. "Nice try, Astoria. But I'm afraid you won't be going anywhere anytime soon. You're in the most well-warded room I have, which means you can't leave until I let you."

Astoria gritted her teeth. "I am telling you this, Blaise, because you are the only person who can do anything about it. I swore a loyalty vow to Theo --" At this, she raised her right arm, where a light purple band surrounded her wrist, appearing and disappearing occasionally.

"I'm telling you this while vehemently believing that it will do Theo good. Do you have any idea how difficult that is--" She choked out, almost spitting the words out as the purple band around her wrist flashed with greater and greater frequency. "I don't care what you do with this information, just do something with it, and..."

She grimaced in pain. "Make sure it benefits Theo." 

Her face immediately relaxed. She took in a deep breath. "I can't say any more. I can't even tell you what he's planning, just... do something. If you don't, he will."

Blaise closed his eyes. "Give me one good reason I should do it."

"I have it on good authority he's planning on recruiting Pansy soon."

Blaise's eyes shot open. "Where are they?" He asked helplessly, his hands curling into fists at his sides. "Where are they based?"

Astoria smiled grimly. "The old ministry entrance."

I knew he would fall for the bait.

-----------------------

Hermione

Draco slumped to the floor before her. She quickly slid a palm under his head before it fell on the ground.

"Expecto patronum!" She tried weakly, trying to summon to her any bit of happiness she could grasp. Nothing appeared from the tip of the guard's wand.

"Ex... expecto patronum." She tried again, searching desperately for a happy memory within her, and coming up with... nothing. She dredged up old happy memories of getting perfect grades, kissing Ron, laughing with Harry... but none of them made her feel happy anymore. It was as if someone else had done all those things, and all she could do was dispassionately review the events in her mind. She hadn't felt happy in so long, she realised. So long.

She slumped down bonelessly next to Draco, suddenly tired beyond belief.

Hurried footsteps echoed down the corridor. Someone was heading in their direction. She had to do something. She threw up a quick invisibility charm, her hand shaking ever so slightly as it held onto the foreign wand.