Who: Pansy, Hannah Where: DADA classroom, mostly What: Hannah is caught out after curfew and not at all shy or meek When: Nov. 30th, Sunday evening, close to 11pm Rating: PG-13 Status: Complete
Pansy and Dean were having an unusually tense patrol, exacerbated by recent Slytherin/Gryffindor fighting and the Gryffindor's self-righteous whining that had begun to grate on Pansy's nerves. Before they came to hexes, Pansy had insisted on separating, sending Dean off to patrol the towers while she covered the first floor classrooms. She was walking slow, wand in on hand, ring (on a chain) in the other, twirling it between her fingers as she became lost in thought. It was nice to get some alone time.
For the last twenty minutes, Hannah had been firing hexes at the magically-prepared training dummy in the Defense Against Dark Arts classroom - venting her frustration on a mostly inanimate object, since she had neither the opportunity or courage to face Bellatrix Lestrange in the flesh. She wasn't brave - she knew that. Sure, she could stand up to and Death Eaters on paper, especially when they'd been mentioning her friends, but to actually look one of them in the eyes and fire a spell at them? Her wand-hand shook just thinking about it. With the shaking came a misfire, and a spell gone astray, ricocheting around the classroom and knocking over a desk in the process.
The sudden noise startled Pansy, and after a quick search, she located the room it came from and threw it open, wand at the ready to curse whatever lurking evil lay behind the door. "Oh." She said, lowering her wand in disappointment as she took in the flustered looking girl. "Abbot, it's past curfew." She said icily, clearly delighting in her little discovery.
Oh hell. This wasn't at all what she needed right now. Slipping her wand into the pocket of her cloak, back still to the other girl, Hannah went over and righted the desk she'd knocked over. On the good side of things, at least the spell had the force to knock something over. "I know that, Pansy. I needed to practice."
"Well, unfortunately, I don't believe in flouting the rules simply so I can practice for dueling club. I'm going to have to report you." She said, clearly suppressing her glee. Oh, the girl was probably doing it so she could impress Archie or something.
On any normal night Hannah would have been able to roll her eyes and deal with Pansy's tone, but not tonight. She'd been through too much tonight, and she was on-edge and tired and angry. Turning around she glared at the Slytherin. "I wasn't practicing for the stupid club Pansy," she growled out. "I was practicing so that when your boyfriend's aunt comes to hurt me or the people I love, I can stop her."
"Abbot, consider yourself lucky I am not able to dock points from you, because I would do it and happily to you for lumping me in with murderers. It is unfair and I will not stand for it." She tossed her head angrily. "Come on, I'll walk you to Professor Sprout's room."
"Unfair?!" Hannah scoffed. "So Draco Malfoy isn't still your boyfriend, then? You're still not madly in love with him? Well, I shouldn't be surprised that you can just turn your emotions off and move on. How good of you to realize that he's a murdering piece of shite, just like the rest of his family, and get out while you could. It might save you from time in Azkaban, though it probably didn't earn you points with him, eh? Ever stop to consider that you could be next? I'm sure his Aunt wouldn't mind bleeding you slowly, either, if you've dumped Draco on his arse like yesterdays news." She knew Pansy couldn't take points from her, so whatever punishment she'd face was hers alone. Might as well get it all out of her system while she could. If she got expelled...well, at least she'd be with her dad.
Pansy closed the distance between them quickly, menacing over the girl, her wand centimeters away from the skin of her throat. Her face was ferocious, eyes crackling with fire as she said her next words slowly and deliberately. "Abbot, you would do well to watch. Your. Tongue." She narrowed her eyes dangerously, then stepped away and appeared to regain her composure. "Move. Now."
Hannah met Pansy's gaze, unwavering. "Lower your wand, Parkinson," she countered. "I have no intention of turning my back on you with your wand pointed at me. You think you fool people, but you're a conniving little bint and we all know it. So you lower your wand and I'll be glad to go with you to Professor Sprout and tell her exactly what I said to you. Word for word. Otherwise we can stand here and keep arguing all night for all I care. I don't have classes in the morning."
She lowered, but didn't pocket her wand, indicating the door with her other hand. "Be sure to include the part where you called me a bint. She'll adore that." Pansy said, sneering. "As if I would condescend to get myself expelled over you. Please."
"A conniving bint," Hannah corrected. "And, I'm sure she'll get a good laugh out of it, actually. It's not as if everyone doesn't think it." One hand on her own wand, Hannah strolled into the hallway, glancing back at Pansy before moving on.
"I am a respected member of the student body, young lady. I didn't become a Prefect by payoffs." She flipped her hair and began to walk the girl toward her head of house's office. "Faster, girl. Salazar, you Hufflepuffs really are little liars, pretending to be all innocent and shy, but get one of you alone and you unleash the vitriol."
"Young lady!" Hannah gave an angry laugh as she continued down the hallway. "Listen to you, Miss High and Mighty now, aren't you? You're not a teacher, Pansy, you're a student just like me. Well, except that your parents don't get killed by Death Eaters. But I suppose when you're involved with their family they leave you alone, don't they? You know what makes me 'unleash the vitriol'? People like Bellatrix Lestrange talking about my friends and saying she'll string me up to my bed and bleed me slowly, drip by drip, so that my loved ones can find me like that and never forget it. It's really things like that which make me angry. Going another Christmas without my mother, for no reason. Having to listen to my father crying when he thinks I can't hear him, because he misses her so much. For what? Because you all think you're so much better than us? We're not liars, but we'll be damned if we sit back and take the shite you throw at us anymore. You all wanted a war, and you're damn well going to get one."
Pansy reached out and grabbed the other girls elbow, spinning her around to bring her face to face. Her voice was deadly, calm. "Do not ever imply that I am involved with people like Bellatrix Lestrange. You have no proof. My parents are not and have never been involved with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. They were not investigated, they were not accused, nothing. You are spouting nonsense, and you need to learn your place and watch your damn tongue." She released her arm and pointed down the hallway. "Walk fast."
"Don't you ever touch me. EVER." Hannah stopped where she was. "Maybe you're not, maybe you are. I'm betting you are, though. Whatever the case, we're watching you and all your friends - you make one wrong move and we'll turn you over without blinking an eye." Arriving at Professor Sprout's office, she knocked and opened it when she didn't get an answer. It was empty this late at night, of course, so Hannah took a seat in front of the professor's desk. "I'll wait here if you want to go and wake her up."
She rolled her eyes, knowing she should never let a moron lead the way. "I believe I said room, you stupid cow. You get the pleasure of awaking your Head of House."
Hannah smiled and stood, moving past Pansy and continuing down the hallway. "That's fine. I'll be glad to add in that you called me a stupid cow, as well, and maybe that your little boyfriend was here the other night, and who was in the room with him at the exact same time. I'm sure she'll be interested in that. Might as well tell her everything, I think. I might get detention for all of it, but I'm betting Daphne will get far worse for associating with one of the most wanted people in the country. Expelled, to start with, then there's the questioning by Aurors, memory prying charms...it's worth it for a bit of detention."
"Draco was never here, girl. That's ridiculous. God almighty, you're thick." They finally reached Professor Sprout's door, and Pansy knocked loudly, stepping back so that Hannah would be the first thing the recently-awoken Professor saw. "I think it's best you keep tonight to your failings, and not add lying to it."
"I'm not the only one who knows the truth, and my friends will stand up with me. That's what real friends do," Hannah replied. "But thank you for confirming that Draco is your boyfriend."
Pansy rolled her eyes. "I confirmed nothing, Abbot. Although I'm sure you'll run off and tell your little friends otherwise.”
The door opened slowly, a groggy Professor Sprout peering out and pulling her robe around her to keep out the cold. "Miss Abbott?" she asked, clearly confused, glancing at Pansy behind her. "What on earth is going on, here? Do you know what time it is?"
Hannah took a deep breath and nodded. The weight of what had happened tonight, suddenly far more apparent. "Professor, I was out past curfew and insulted a fellow prefect. To be exact, I called her a conniving little bint, and called her boyfriend - Draco Malfoy - a piece of shite. I take full responsibility for my actions, even considering that Miss Parkinson likewise called me a stupid cow and physically grabbed my arm in anger."
After Hannah's little speech, Pansy took control. "Professor, I admit that I did take Hannah's arm, but it was only to stop her from ranting like a lunatic. She accused my family and myself of being and associating with murderers, and was getting quite hysterical. Out past curfew, using hexes and curses without supervision, and insulting a fellow Prefect who was only doing her job." She said calmly, her face impassive.
"I see," came the professor's reply, looking to both girls. "This is a very serious matter, Miss Abbott. I'm very disappointed in you, and expect a full explanation in the morning. Come see me before breakfast...I'll have to speak with Professor McGonagall about all of this."
"Yes, Professor. I will," Hannah answered dutifully.
Professor Sprout nodded. "I'll deal with this, Miss Parkinson. Well done. You may go back to your duties, now."
She nodded politely and gave a meek little murmur about "only doing her job," then turned on her heel and went back to her rounds. Oh, Abbot would pay.