How to Save a Life

“I don’t get it,” Blaise whined, as he pouted in a way that was both sexy and cute – or at least, that’s what his bathroom mirror told him!

Draco and Pansy looked at each other over their friends head and rolled their eyes, sometimes Blaise could be so dense!

It was the weekend of their first week back at Hogwarts and the three friends were currently in the boy’s dormitory, sprawled out on Blaise’s bed – because Draco had thrown a hissy fit when Pansy had lounged on his freshly made one.

They had tried relaxing in the common room but found it far too full of excitable 1st years to be good for any of their nerves. Draco had bitched about it and Pansy had snarled in return that he only had himself to blame since he had the Slytherin’s on virtual house arrest, for their own safety!

Draco had impatiently dragged his two best friends into the dormitory and evicted a thoroughly disgruntled Theodore in the process. He had become increasingly frustrated all week by his proximity to Potter, and by the lack of progress he was making towards winning the boy round.

The two ex rivals were at the point where they would acknowledge each others existence and exchange polite greetings but other than that, Operation: Get Potter, could be considered a grand failure. And, as Draco told himself, if there was one word not in the Malfoy vocabulary, it was failure. They always got what they wanted – ok, so there had been that one time when his father had followed a madman and ended up in jail, but Draco chose to ignore that.

Loathe as he was to admit it, Draco was at a loss. How to piss Potter off, that Draco knew, but the information that Draco had gleaned about the green eyed boy during 7 years of animosity was no use in this situation. How to make Potter fall in love with him? Draco hadn’t got a fucking clue!
He had never had to work for it before; he was a rich, good looking, pure-blooded Wizard, who had, up till now, been able to have anyone he damn well chose. But he knew that none of that mattered to Potter, the boy wore his heart on his sleeve and his every emotion in those vivid green eyes and Draco had a sickening feeling that nothing less than this from him in return would convince Potter to give him a chance.

Which was why he had holed up in this room with his friends; well, it was the reason that Pansy was there. Blaise... well right about now, Draco was wondering exactly why he had invited the Italian boy along.

So Draco and Pansy had plotted and schemed to their hearts content and Blaise had listened and tried to look interested. But right now he was confused.

“I don’t get it Pansy,” he whined again. “Draco wants Potter, but why do we have to try to be friends with him too?”

Pansy patted Blaise’s head and spoke in a slow, patronising tone.

“Because Blaise, Draco is our friend and he wants to be with Potter, so we are being supportive. Besides, it would be awkward for Draco if his friends didn’t get on with his boyfriend.”

Blaise looked first at Pansy and then at Draco, confusion evident on his face.

“Boyfriend?” he gasped, his mouth hanging open.

Draco looked back at him through narrowing eyes.
“Yes Blaise, boyfriend! Or at least, I hope so. Is that a problem for you?”

Sensing the barely concealed menace in his friends voice, Blaise shook his head, his dark curls bobbing as he did so.

“No Draco, of course it’s not a problem. I just didn’t realise that was what you wanted.”

“You know how I feel about him.” Draco’s grey eyes looked searchingly into his friends dark ones.

“Well, Pansy said you liked him, but I guess I just figured that meant you wanted to fuck him. I mean, you were never one for relationships Draco!”

At this point Pansy took pity on the two boys, Draco’s face had flushed bright red and his fingers were twisting nervously in his robes, and Blaise was just looking confused still.

“Draco’s in love with him Blaise, that’s why we’re doing this. Do you really think he would go to this much trouble just for a fuck – Merlin, he’s got you for that!!” Pansy flashed her friend an evil smirk as she finished.

“Hey, that’s uncalled for,” Blaise squealed, but upon seeing Pansy’s face, he added “ok, so it might be a little true, but it’s still uncalled for. You make me sound like a slut, I’m not Finnigan.”

Blaise looked at his friend, but Draco wouldn’t meet his gaze. His drooping head caused his blonde hair to shield his face in a platinum curtain, which shone like silk, even in the gloom of the dungeons.

“I’ll help,” he said simply.

He was rewarded with a beaming smile that was rarely seen on the face of the Slytherin Ice Prince.

Pansy clapped her hands excitedly, “right, now that we are all on board, this is what we are going to do.”


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Harry couldn’t remember the last time he had felt so free. As he circled the sky over Hogwarts, the wind rushing through his hair, he felt completely at peace.

It was the Saturday at the end of his first week back at school and he had bolted his breakfast down that morning in his eagerness to be in the air. He had been flying for well over an hour now and he still wasn’t ready to go back down.

Ron had offered to come with him but Harry wanted to be alone and had said so. He also hadn’t missed the flash of relief that crossed his friend’s freckled face at his refusal. Ron and Harry had made their peace again but it was a fragile one, and only the unspoken agreement not to mention certain topics was keeping it in place. Besides that, Ron and Hermione were becoming increasingly joined at the hip, leaving very little room for a third member of the group.

Harry no longer had his firebolt and couldn’t help but feel a twinge of regret when he thought of it, which naturally led to thoughts of Sirius. However, not even riding one of the schools beaten up Cleansweep’s could spoil Harry’s mood. In fact, he thought that nothing could. That was until a quick glance downwards revealed to harry a lone figure standing right next to where Harry had left his robes. Squinting through his glasses, he recognised, with some trepidation, the red head of Ginny Weasley.

Harry had managed, quite successfully, to avoid her for most of the last week. It had been made easier by the fact that she was still angry with him. In fact, they had barely acknowledged each other’s existence since the incident on the train. Harry wasn’t sure if she was still mad at him for that or for spurning her advances back at The Burrow.

Classes had been easy since the returning 7th years were kept as a separate group from the new ones. And Harry had found that by getting up early he could be down in the Great Hall and finished with breakfast before she had even stirred from her dormitory. He had also spent a lot of the last week; ducking into empty classrooms (and the odd full one!), running in the opposite direction and, on one memorable occasion, hiding behind a suit of armour.

The evenings were more difficult, but Harry did have the advantage of having his own house elf at Hogwarts. And Kreacher was only too happy to bring food to Harry in Gryffindor Tower whilst his friends were all at dinner. Before the other students returned, Harry would disappear to his dorm. This was much to the amusement of Seamus, who knew exactly what Harry was up to and would come, with Neville, to keep him company most nights.

However, this was one confrontation he wasn’t going to be able to avoid. Summoning up his ‘Gryffindor courage’ he slowly returned to the round. Ginny stood with her arms folded and a glare on her face. Harry thought how much she looked like Mrs Weasley did when she was about to shout at one of her kids, but he figured this probably wasn’t the time to mention it!

“Hi Ginny,” he said, keeping his tone neutral.

“Are you avoiding me Harry?” Her voice had a touch of shrill to it, which was also very reminiscent of her Mother.

There went all hope of this being an easy conversation and Harry realised, with a sinking feeling, that this was probably not going to end well. Shifting from one foot to the other nervously, he looked into her accusing eyes.

“No Ginny,” he lied.

“Then why have you been hiding in your dorm every night, and don’t say you haven't Harry. I know Seamus has been lying for you!”

Thinking quickly, Harry spoke:
“It’s not you Ginny. It’s just that I can’t handle everyone staring at me or the constant questions about things I want to forget.” Strictly speaking it was truth, Harry did feel that way. So it wasn’t really lying he told himself, trying to ease his conscience.

Ginny’s face softened at that and she reached out a hand to touch his arm. It took all of Harry’s self control not to twist away from the contact, but he managed to remain still.

“Oh Harry, you should have said. I thought that you were still angry at me about what happened on the train. I should’ve known better, you would never fall out with me over something as trivial as that.”

Harry opened his mouth to speak at this, to tell her that actually he was still pissed at her for that, that it hadn’t been trivial to Pansy. But Ginny was talking again before he could form the words.

“I should have realised when you were arguing with Ron about Malfoy.”

“Realised what exactly?” Harry questioned, his voice calm, hiding his growing irritation.

“That you were just confused,” Ginny explained in the slightly patronising tones that one would use when talking to a small child.

“I’m confused?” Harry repeated, not knowing what else he could say to that.

“Yes,” she nodded, smiling. “But its ok Harry, I forgive you. I know you didn’t really mean what you said.” With this she flung her arms around his neck and pulled him into a suffocating hug.

Instinctively, Harry took hold of her hands and removed them from around his neck. He did hold onto her hands though, thinking it might prevent him from getting the slap that seemed was inevitable now.

“You forgive me?”

“Oh yes Harry” Ginny smiled eagerly, completely missing the dangerous calm of his tone.
“I could never stay mad at you. Besides, I don’t want us to fall out just as we are getting back together.”

“We’re getting back together?” Harry’s anger was now replaced by a mild sense of panic and he couldn’t stop himself from repeating her words, seeing if they sounded less crazy when he said them.

“Of course, there’s no reason for us to be apart now that Voldemort is gone. You did it Harry and now we can be together.”

She moved to hug him again but this time Harry stepped back from her embrace.

“Harry, what’s wrong with you? You just stand there repeating everything I say like an idiot. I thought this was what you wanted?”

“It was,” he said quietly.

Ginny’s eyes narrowed dangerously.

“Was?” she snapped. “What the hell are you trying to say? Are you breaking up with me?”

“No, I’m not breaking up with you” Harry began.

Ginny smiled again but it didn’t last long when Harry continued.

“I’m not breaking up with you Ginny, because I already did that. We’re not together and we haven’t been for a long time.”

Ginny reeled from this as though Harry had slapped her. He noticed that her hands were shaking and felt instantly guilty over upsetting her. It wasn’t until she raised her head again and their eyes met that he realised she was actually shaking with anger. Her eyes blazed as she stepped towards him.

“You think you can just dump me like I’m nothing? I’m not nothing Harry,” she screamed.

Harry cast a quick nervous look around, praying that there were no other students around to witness this scene, before answering.

“I didn’t say that Ginny, I know you’re not nothing.”

“So why don’t you want me?” Her hands were now grabbing onto his jumper, her eyes wild.
“Why don’t you love me anymore Harry, what did I do wrong?” she begged frantically

Harry sighed, realising he would have to tell her the truth, she deserved that at least.

“I do love you Ginny, I’m just not in love with you, I don’t think I ever was. It’s not your fault – it’s not you, it’s me.”

He didn’t notice Ginny raise her hand until he felt the sting of it against his cold cheek.

“Bastard,” she spat, “is that the best you can do? Ron was right about you, you just think you’re too good for us now.”

Harry gaped at her, shocked by the venom in her voice. Ginny took his silence as a sign that his resolve was weakening.

“Don’t do this Harry,” she wheedled. “Everyone expects us to be together, don’t disappoint them. Mum has her heart set on you really becoming one of the family.”

Harry shook his head tiredly.

“I can’t be with you to please other people Ginny; it wouldn’t be fair to either of us. Your mum would want you to be with someone who loves you, not someone who is with you out of some twisted sense of obligation.”

Realising that her words had no effect, her anger returned.

“How dare you! We supported you, believed you when no one else would, fought by your side, risked our lives, Fred died and now you want to turn your back on us. You owe us Harry!”

Harry took a deep breath and fought to hold onto his temper, all the while reminding himself that she was a girl and couldn’t be hit, no matter how much she might deserve it. He stepped away from her with a cold look in his eyes.

“This has nothing to do with your family Ginny, don’t you dare make this about them. It’s over, any feelings I had left for you just ended. Now I would appreciate it if you stayed away from me in future.”

Harry turned to walk away, his fists clenched at his sides. But before he could leave, Ginny grabbed his arm and pulled him round to face her.

“I’m not done talking to you, don’t you dare walk away from me!” Harry was sure that they must be able to hear her up at the castle by now and he just wanted it to end.

“I think you’ve said enough. There’s nothing left to say, just accept that it’s over.”

With that, Harry strode away from her, determined not to look round. He had got only a dozen or so paces when he heard her screaming after him.

“It’s not over just because you say it is Harry!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pansy watched with narrowed eyes as Ginny Weasley slapped Harry around the face. She couldn’t believe the girl had the nerve to tell Harry Potter of all people, that he owed her. Stupid little bitch, the Slytherin thought. Pansy was no Gryffindor, but even she realised just what the Wizarding world owed to their saviour.

She was relieved to see Harry walk away from Weasley girl, not that she wanted to see him hurt, it just meant that there was one less obstacle between him and Draco. Pansy was amazed with the speed at which she had come to think of him as Harry. He had been Potter for 7 years and yet in less than 7 days that had all changed, or rather he had changed it. She would have made the effort to like him for Draco’s sake anyway; but when he helped her on the train, rescued her from his ex girlfriend, Pansy had been fairly overwhelmed with conflicting emotions.

Pansy started to walk towards Harry, trying her best to make it look casual. She would have been absolutely terrified of being out in the open like this, were it not for the fact that Draco and Blaise had hidden behind the nearby changing rooms, watching over her till Potter arrived.

“Hey Pansy”

“Hi Harry,” she smiled, “you ok? That sounded quite messy.”

Harry blushed; he had really hoped that no one had seen the argument. He gave Pansy a wry grin.

“You caught the performance then?”

“Just the end bit. You know it’s not true don’t you? You don’t owe her anything, hell; you don’t owe any of us anything. We couldn’t be more in your debt if you tried.”

Harry didn’t think he could blush anymore than he already was. Pansy Parkinson, the pug faced bitch of Slytherin had just paid him a huge compliment. And even though Harry was heartily sick of people singing his praises, he found that somehow he didn’t mind when Pansy did it.

He took a quick sideways glance at the girl, his eyes running over her features. He thought, on reflection, that she really didn’t look like a pug at all; it was just that she had an upturned nose that made people see it. Also the hard edge that had once been there was gone and had been replaced by a softer expression that held hints of the vulnerability that Harry had witnessed on the train. He realised just how much the war had changed them all, hell, even Malfoy wasn't really being an arse anymore.

Unable to think of a suitable response to her compliment, Harry decided not to say anything. And strangely enough, Pansy didn’t seem to expect him to either. Just then a thought struck Harry.

“Pansy, should you be out here on your own? Is it safe?” Harry cast a quick look over his shoulder and Pansy knew he was looking in the direction that an angry Ginny Weasley had just gone.

“Probably not,” she admitted, “Draco will probably kill me, if someone else doesn’t get to me first. But it’s just so frustrating being holed up in those dungeons all the time. Drakie means well, but he’s driving me crazy.”

“Drakie?” Harry smirked at her, one eyebrow raised in question.

Pansy slapped her hand over her mouth in horror at her slip.
“Shit, he really will kill me now. You won’t tell him will you Harry?”

Harry chuckled, “I’m starting to see Malfoy in a whole new light.”

Then seeing the genuine concern on the Slytherin girls face, he relented.

“Ok I won’t say anything. I just hope you realise how much of an effort it will be not to aggravate him just a little bit. It’s not like he wouldn’t do the same to me.”

Pansy nodded in agreement and grinned her thanks at him.

“Are you going back up to the castle?”

“Umm, I think it might be best if I avoided Gryffindor Tower for a while. I don’t really want to run into Ginny right now or Ron for that matter.”

“Coward,” Pansy teased, “where’s this famous Gryffindor courage I hear so much about.”

“Must be the Slytherin self preservation coming out in me then,” Harry smirked, and then shook his head at the question in her eyes. “Ask me another time.”

Pansy took a deep breath before speaking her next words.

“Well, if you can’t go there, why don’t you come back with me?”

Harry looked at her in shock, had he imagined it or had Pansy Parkinson just invited him into the Slytherin dungeons. But then, Harry knew what was coming when he finally entered Gryffindor tower and he really wanted to put that off as long as he possibly could. Plus, his noble side was already insisting that he would have to walk Pansy back there anyway. What harm would it do to go in for a bit, it’s not like any of them were going to try and attack him anymore. And the worst that they could do to him would still be significantly better than what two very angry Weasleys were probably planning right now. And then there was that whole responsibility crap that McGonagall had dumped on him, Harry figured this was probably the best chance he would have to make a start at building bridges between the Slytherin’s and the other houses.

He gave Pansy a quick nod and smiled.

“Ok, why not. It might be quite enlightening to see you Snakes in your natural habitat.”

He paused here for a moment before adding, with hint of concern in his voice, “Won’t Malfoy object to you bringing in the Gryffindor Golden Boy though?”

Pansy smirked back at him, “I have Draco wrapped round my little finger, I could bring your Weasel friend in and he would let it go if it’s what I wanted. Besides,” she added conspiratorially, “I happen to know that Draco will be in the library all morning!”

Pansy took hold of Harry’s arm, before he changed his mind and began leading him back up to the castle. They made their way down to the dungeons and paused before the entrance to the common room. Pansy could feel Harry tense as he stood in front of the door, hardly surprising really she thought. Not like anyone in Slytherin had ever been anything but mean to the boy. She turned to him with a smile.

“Ready?”

Harry just nodded in reply. His stomach flipped with nerves as Pansy murmured the password and swung the door open,

“Welcome to the snake pit!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~