A Looping of the Scales ~ COMPLETED

Chapter 75 ~ Moving On

Draco collapsed panting on top of Pansy, taking her down to the mattress and resting on her back with a tired smile, his cheek resting against hers as they spiraled back to reality.

”I swear, Pansy, if you could bottle that, you’d make a fortune,” he breathed to the witch, who smiled, her black hair damp against her temple.

”You always say that, Draco,” she responded as he slid off of her, lying beside her as she turned to face him. He was a gorgeous wizard, especially wet and naked.

”That’s because I mean it,” he replied. “Whew, I’m hot.”

”You’ll get no argument from me about that, Draco,” Pansy replied, and he smiled at her.

Draco and Pansy were shag buddies and had been since their fifth year. Draco wasn’t allowed to have a girlfriend. It was his father’s rule. He could have dalliances of course, but Lucius felt he was far too young for a serious relationship and that there’d be time to be a relatively one-witch wizard when he was old enough to marry. He was expected to play the field until then, and even afterward, have a mistress or two on the side.

It was the Malfoy way.

Draco did have the occasional dalliance, but it was Pansy that he gravitated to mostly. She had always adored him and supported him, even in his darkest days when he was ordered to perform a task of Voldemort and he was torn. It was Pansy who stood by him, even though she didn’t know what he had to do, but she was a port in the storm for him.

Pansy was still a bigot, and still disliked Harry Potter and the rest of the Gryffindors, but her Draco could do little wrong. However, she was shrewd enough to see that their relationship wouldn’t go much further. His father didn’t approve of her. She wasn’t pretty enough or connected enough to be a suitable wife for his son. She overhead Lucius speaking about her in unflattering terms at the last Christmas ball and Draco, although he looked sullen, didn’t say anything to defend her except she was his friend.

”Keep her that way,” Lucius had told him.

Pansy wasn’t that pretty. She had a rather hard look about her, and Harry described her as being pug-faced. Draco had had prettier witches, but Pansy cared about him to the point where she’d stand by his side and fight with him against anyone. And he could talk to her about almost anything and she’d listen quietly and not ask intrusive questions, and comfort him when he needed it, whether it was just an arm around his shoulder or an all out shag. Whatever he needed, she was there for him, willing to provide it.

He’d become used to her, so didn’t take it well when she said what she did as she lay next to him, cooling off.

“Um, Draco. I’ve been thinking about something,” she said softly.

”Hmm?” he responded, his eyes closed.

”Jordan Cromwell asked me out,” she continued.

This didn’t bother Draco. Pansy got asked out quite a bit, because everyone knew she was sexually active. She always said no, however, because of him.

“The Ravenclaw?”

”Yes. I think he really likes me, Draco,” she told him.

Draco smiled.

”Any wizard would like you between the sheets, Pansy,” he said with a purr in his voice.

”I think it’s more than that, this time. He’s really nice. He even understands about you and me,” she told the pureblood.

Draco opened his gray eyes and turned them on her.

”Understands?” he repeated, frowning slightly.

“Yes, he really does. But he says that there’s not going to be a future with you and I should consider other options, like him. He’s quite handsome and very smart.”

”So, why does he want you then?” Draco said bad-naturedly.

Pansy let his cruel comment slip, and replied, “He has a thing for bad girls. He said he remembered when I suggested turning Harry over to Voldemort at the final battle and he said he believed that would have been the most logical thing to do. He said I’d shown great courage standing up to everyone like that, even though I knew the suggestion would be unpopular.”

Draco snorted.

”So, are you considering going out with him? Or just seeing him? I don’t have a problem with you seeing him. I see other witches,” Draco said to her.

”Well, Jordan doesn’t do ‘seeing,’ Draco. He wants me to go out with him, exclusively,” she said apologetically.

”Has he shagged you yet?”

”No, of course not.”

Draco brooded.

”I don’t like the idea. Where would that leave me?” Draco asked her, pouting.

“We’d still be friends. We’d still talk and I’d be here for you. We just wouldn’t shag. We don’t do a lot of shagging anyway, Draco.”

”But I like to know that I can shag you when I want.”

”I think that’s going to change. I really like Jordan and I think I can have something nice with him. Come on, Draco. You know after we graduate, this is going to be over anyway. I just don’t want to be by myself. I want a wizard of my own who is completely mine. You’ll never be that.”

Draco lay there, feeling miserable now. He didn’t actually love Pansy but she was—more than just his friend. The idea of someone else having her affection exclusively didn’t sit well with him. He was selfish, plain and simple.

“I don’t see why you want to rush into something like that. You have your whole life to fall in love, Pansy.”

”I’m not rushing. I’ve been thinking about it a lot, Draco. What we have is nice, but it’s not going anywhere.”

“You know, a couple of years ago, you wouldn’t have been interested in anyone other than me. The idea of not being with me would have devastated you,” he told her.

She smiled.

”Yeah, but I’ve grown up since then, Draco. I’m not as needy and as gorgeous and well-off as you are, there are plenty other wizards out here who don’t have their father telling them what to do and—who to do.”

Draco watched as Pansy sat up and slid to the end of the bed, grabbing her wand off his nightstand and Scourgifying herself. She stood up and slipped on her bra, knickers and then her robes, stepping into her slippers and turning to look at him.

He really was gorgeous lying there nude, his gray eyes resting on her soberly. She looked as if she were memorizing him as her eyes drifted up and down his body.

”This was our last shag, Draco,” she told him softly. “I’m going to tell Jordan, yes. And I’m going to mean it.”

She leaned down and kissed him lightly on the lips.

”You’re going to find a witch acceptable to your father, marry her and continue your line, Draco, like a dutiful son. There’s nothing wrong with that. But I have to look out for myself, you know? I’ll see you later.”

With that, Pansy exited his private room and Draco scowled after her.

”Jordan Cromwell,” he muttered, slipping his arms behind his head. “Bloody hell.”

Actually, it was probably a good thing that Pansy made this change in their relationship, because Draco had been considering asking her to accompany him to Boleskin House. That would have been an utter disaster.

As understanding as Pansy was toward him, it was in direct opposition to how she felt about Harry, Ron and Hermione. Hermione was still a Mudblood and Ron a Blood Traitor as far as she was concerned. She never forgave Harry for using the Sectumsempra spell on Draco in his sixth year either.

In fact, Pansy was known for her sharp tongue, snide remarks and tormenting others at every possible occasion, especially Gryffindors. Although her verbal attacks had toned down since the defeat of Voldemort, she still retained a deep dislike for those of that house and probably would do so for the rest of her days.

She talked about Snape constantly, although her comments never made it back to him. She couldn’t understand how he ended up friends with the Gryffindors until it became common knowledge that he and Hermione were an item.

”Ew. Granger’s disgusting. How can she shag her former professor?” Pansy asked Draco, looking as if she were about to puke. “And how can he stand being around them? I know he’s lost his memories, but he’s still a Slytherin. He must be whipped by Granger. That’s the only explanation. Ew.”

If Draco had brought Pansy along, no doubt Snape would have blasted her three ways from Sunday if she started in on him, and more than likely, it would have started an all out duel between all of them.

So, as sad as the situation was for Draco, it was much better this way.

He could always bring Blaise.

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Snape did show up to help his friends with their detentions, and was actually quite helpful because while they couldn’t use magic, he could. So the cleaning of the Thestral stables, the turning of soil in the gardens, the trimming of trees and cutting grass was not as much work when Severus was around. Of course, he helped Hermione most so everyone tried to get assigned with her, but it wasn’t always possible. But Snape did what he could and spread his time around. There were some evenings Harry, Ron, Ginny and Susan had to fend for themselves, but not that many. They were grateful to him.

The weeks passed quickly, Hermione having all of her NEWT presentations neatly bound and ready for presentation. She and Snape worked on brewing together, the wizard giving her a few neat little tricks he’d learned along the way to help improve her techniques. They also practiced their spell work, but had no more duels.

Snape nearly destroyed his Hell’s Guardian when it tried to swallow Hermione whole, acting as if it were dormant when she cast a cooling spell on it to add to her own Herbology knowledge, then pouncing when she came close to examine it. The plant was a horrendous sixteen feet tall now, and quite intelligent for a plant species. Unlike most plants, which simply responded to their environment, the Hell’s Guardian manipulated its surroundings as much as possible to insure a good meal. It almost got Neville, too, luring him into its proximity one evening by exuding a sweet smell similar to that of freshly baked Treacle tarts. Neville only escaped because he had good dodging reflexes and jumped back when it went for him.

Good thing it wasn’t Ron in the Herbology center when the plant issued the delicious scent. They’d still be looking for him.

With Ron’s help, Susan developed several wonderful magical foods to present for her NEWTS, excluding her Oysters Rockefeller recipe. Showing successful results could be quite—er—sticky.

The most interesting creation was her diet cookies. Ron called them her “Anorexia Cookies” because if a person ate one, they were no longer hungry. A person could literally waste away on a bag of them and Ron hated the whole concept, especially when Susan started using them herself.

“Susan, you’re going to lose your boobs and bum!” Ron exclaimed, snatching the bag from her. “On women, those are the first things to go!”

Ron knew this little detail because over the years Molly had dieted off and on, and his dad sabotaged her attempts to slim down every chance he got, simply because he loved her rounded.

Ron and Susan had a row about the cookies, one that ended up with them shagging madly, Ron determined to prove that he loved her as is and didn’t want her to lose even an ounce of her delicious, ample body.

Greatly convinced, Susan left the cookies alone.

Ron had compiled quite a bit of compelling information about the Animagi transformation and formulated a decent theory concerning intent and the release of passionate emotions as a catalyst rather than time. He not only used his experience for proof, but Susan as well although it was hard going describing how she found her form, since it had happened during a sexual encounter. Luckily for both of them, it had happened while Ron was changing positions so he wasn’t actually shagging her at the moment.

But, the bed broke.

He also did quite a bit of research on the Marauders, setting forth the premise that it was their desire rather than years of attempts that allowed them to find their forms so quickly. All in all, it was quite a ground-breaking piece of work, strengthened by the fact that both he and Susan were Animagi. Ron did lose some points for his enormous orangutan nads, however, although his ability to suck them in to form a cavity restored them adequately. The witch who was giving the examination turned quite red at the display, or . . . lack of it.

The NEWTs also consisted of difficult written examinations, but thanks to Hermione’s diligence and whip cracking, her friends and tutoring pupils were well prepared. She had managed to get hold of several old examinations and used them for practice. So, when everyone was seated, they didn’t find the tests daunting at all.

When Hermione presented Snape at the presentation segment of the Transfiguration NEWTs, and provided the thick, written information compiled, as well as a Pensieve of him learning to fly and hunting, the examiners were very impressed. Snape was the first mythological Animagi ever recorded.

Snape’s Hell’s Guardian plant was the highlight of the Herbology NEWTs. Just the size along guaranteed him an Outstanding. But what was amazing was the amount of intelligence it showed, and the plant was taken by the Ministry for further study and a sample of the growth potion, another feather in the wizard’s academic cap. Since Snape had it patented, he was going to make quite a bit of money off its use by the Ministry, and Lucius wouldn’t get a dime of the residuals.

Hermione garnered Outstandings in all of her NEWT topics, something that hadn’t been done in more than fifty years. It made her the most brilliant witch Hogwarts ever produced. It was satisfying to the witch, but mostly—she felt relieved. Snape was quite proud of her.

”I’m shagging the smartest witch in the wizarding world,” he said to her with a smile. “Not too bad at all.”

Snape also received straight Outstandings for his four NEWTs, and he was pleased with that.

Ron made an Outstanding in his Transfiguration NEWTS, and Exceeded Expectations in his other subjects. Not a bad showing at all. Susan did well, too, as did Harry, who got two Outstandings and two Exceeds Expectations.

Now, the friends were in Snape’s quarters, packing up all of his books, which was quite the job since they couldn’t be reduced in size. Boxes upon boxes were stacked and they could barely move through the small aisles they’d created. What made it worse was Hermione insisted they be sorted according to subject and in alphabetical order by author. This slowed everything down considerably. Ron was buried in tomes when he attempted a mass migration from shelves to boxes and they had to dig him out.

”Having this many books is obscene!” he complained once he was free.

”Knowledge is a heavy pursuit, Weasley,” Snape said with a smirk.

Finally, they got them packed away, and Lucius sent over a number of house elves to transport them to Boleskin House. But the little creatures wouldn’t enter the house itself and no amount of threatening or punishment would make them enter the doors. They were rented elves, so Lucius couldn’t punish them.

With graduation over, it was now time to set out on the next leg of their journey. Harry was on his own basically, so could do as he wished and didn’t have any problems going to Boleskin House. Hermione sat down with her parents and explained that she was going to take off a year or two to find out what field she wanted to pursue and would be working with potions at Boleskine House under the patronage of Lucius Malfoy. She made it sound as clinical as possible. Since Hermione had always been the independent sort, her parents didn’t object. She had made amazing marks at Hogwarts and it made sense she’d want to take time to decide what she wanted to do, and she couldn’t do that in the Muggle world, so they gave her their blessing. They had heard about Boleskine House, but since they weren’t magical people, and didn’t much believe in demons, they didn’t give much credence to the claim it was an evil place.

”It’s just an old house that was occupied by a strange man,” Hermione’s mother said. “Really, what people won’t say to stir up excitement.”

Getting permission for Susan to come was a bit more complicated. Everyone went to her home to meet her parents, who were quite stunned to see Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley in her group of friends. Snape was a strange addition as well. But, how could they say no when she would be in such illustrious company? When they found out she and Ron were an item, they were absolutely delighted. They had worried about her a bit socially, but it was clear their daughter was moving in marvelous circles.

Ron was the only one who had to fight to go to Boleskine. Despite him being the age of consent and having graduated, Molly didn’t want him going to a place with such a bad reputation to battle demons.

”Mum, you can’t stop me,” Ron told her. “Anyway, Harry, Hermione and Snape will be there, too. They can handle almost anything.”

”Ron, you’re talking about demons. Demons steal souls. Do you want to be dragged down into Hades, or wherever they go?”

”Mum, I’ve been in a war. I can handle a few demons.”

”No! Absolutely not!”

Molly tried to pull Arthur into it on her side, but all he said was, “Molly, he doesn’t have to ask our permission. He’s a man now.”

Molly had burst into tears and fled into their bedroom, Ron looking after her miserably before looking at his father.

”Why doesn’t she ever make anything easy?” he asked his dad, who shook his head.

”That’s just Molly, son. She loves you and doesn’t want anything to happen to you,” he told him. “But, you go ahead to Boleskine House and be careful. I’ll take care of your mum.”

So, Ron packed up his things, picked up Susan and met his friends at King’s Cross station. Draco was there as well, a small carry-all bag in his hand, and determined look on his face. They greeted each other.

”So, we’re ready?” Snape asked as the train pulled in.

”No, not yet,” Draco said. “Blaise isn’t here yet.”

”Blaise?” Hermione said in disbelief.

”Yeah. He’s going to help,” Draco explained.

Hermione looked at Snape with narrowed eyes.

”Blaise?”

Snape looked at Draco steadily, then turned his black eyes on Hermione.

”Draco asked if he could bring a companion. I said yes, since we are all paired off. I had no idea he’d bring Blaise. I thought—I thought he’d bring a witch,” Snape said, looking back at Draco, who reddened.

”I was going to bring Pansy,” he began. Everyone except Snape looked at him with horror.

“Pansy? She’d be worse than any demon in the place,” Ron said, frowning blackly.

”But, the situation changed, so I decided to bring Blaise. He’s good, as you all know.”

”Good and dirty,” Ginny muttered. “Severus, you aren’t really going to let him come are you?”

Just as Snape was about to answer, Blaise appeared, his brown eyes cool as he took them all in. He looked at Draco.

”I’m here,” he said shortly. He had a carry-all bag as well.

There was a pregnant silence as everyone looked from Blaise to Snape.

”Blaise, I didn’t know you were coming,” Snape said to him, “but I need you to understand that we are going to Boleskine House to set it up for my lodging and my experiments. We may encounter Dark forces and have to clear them out. We aren’t going there to engage each other. There will be no dueling.”

Blaise frowned at Snape.

”I know that,” he said flatly. “I’m only coming because Draco asked me and I’d like to face off with a few demons summoned by a Muggle sorcerer. I hear they’re different then the magical demons we normally encounter. Besides, I’ve already dueled this bunch.”

Blaise didn’t say it, but he gave off a vibe of disdain as if dueling them again would be beneath him.

”Very well. As long as you understand, you are welcome,” Snape told him as Hermione stared at him in disbelief. He needed to send Blaise packing.

”Let’s go,” Snape said, picking up his bag and catching hold of Hermione’s arm. They walked silently toward the train.

The tension was palpable.

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A/N: A transitional chapter. I know a lot of you would have liked a more detailed breakdown of the NEWTs but I felt I needed to move the story along. At 75 chapters, it’s pretty long and I never meant it to be so long. I added a little Draco/Pansy just because it popped into my head this morning. Draco’s so yummy. Lol. And I’ve never really written Pansy before. It wasn’t much characterization but I touched on her a little. Now, they’re on their way to Boleskine House. I have so much research to do. Sigh. But I hope you enjoyed the chapter anyway. Thanks for reading.