Caught in the Lion's Den

"What the fuck!?"

Pansy groans inwardly - 'Stupid bint is going to wake the entire fucking castle' - for only a moment before adopting a calm demeanor and turning to face the Weaslette - and Granger and Brown. 'Damn, the Bookworm and the Gossip.' She plasters on a very bright - and very fake - smile as she pats her hair and adjusts her clothes.

"Good mornings, ladies."

Granger and Brown just stare, eyes wide and mouths slightly ajar. Pansy nearly laughs. Nearly. The Weaslette speaks up immediately.

"Cut the bullshit, Parkinson. What the hell are you doing here?" she demands heatedly.

"Well, I was on my way back down to the Slytherin dorms for a shower and a fresh change of clothes before you so rudely detained me," Pansy says with a sneer.

Granger finally finds her tongue. "But, why were you-" she cuts herself off with a gasp, eyes widening and face flushing violently. Pansy wants to roll her eyes. 'She would be the one to connect the dots first...'

Brown catches on next, eyes lighting up instantly at thris newest piece of gossip. Pansy wants to thump her in her throat. 'The whole student body will know I was here before I even make it to breakfast.'

"Oh, Merlin, this is just too good!" Brown squeals, taking a step closer. "Who is it? Who!?"

Pansy smirks. "Sorry, Brown. I do not kiss and tell."

The Weaslette finally gets it and narrows her eyes. "You're lying," she says. "No one in Gryffindor would touch you even if you were the last woman on the planet."

Pansy cocks a dark brow as she pushes her hair away from her neck, revealing the newly formed love-bites Harry left there not three hours ago. "I beg to differ."

All three girls gawk. Granger flushes once again with embarrassment, Weaslette with rage. Brown merely squeals again, making Pansy's ears ring, and begins begging.

"Oh, Parkinson, you have to tell me, please! This is too juicy to pass up! You wouldn't if our positions were reversed! You know you wouldn't!"

Pansy can't help herself and laughs outright, grudgingly admiring Brown for her tenacity.

The Weaslette snaps.

"You lying bitch!" she snarls. "Get the fuck out of here before I fucking make you. No one wants you here, you pathetic Slytherin whore!"

Pansy sneers. By now they have drawn a crowd, and she spots Harry over Granger's shoulder trying to hide his anxiety as he hurriedly weaves his way through the bystanders towards her. She turns her attention back to the Weaslette.

"Temper, temper, Weasley. That is no way for a young lady to speak. So crude."

The Weaslette lets loose an enraged shout and pulls her wand, a nasty - and surely painful - hex on the tip of her tongue. Before she can even begin to form the incantation on her lips, however, her wand is suddenly snatched out of her hand. She spins around, furious - only to stop dead in her tracks.

Harry is glaring down at her, her wand held aloft in his hand, anger flashing in his green eyes.

"What do you think you're doing?" Harry growls in a low, dangerous voice that makes the Weaslette shiver with unease, and sends tendrils of warmth up and down Pansy's spine.

The Weaslette does nothing but gawk, her entire body frozen in shock, as she attempts to fugure out why Harry looks like wants to hex her. She eventually finds her voice.

"H-Harry, what-"

"Shut up, Ginny," Harry snaps, eyes narrowed.

The Weaslette - along with the rest of the occupants in the room - gasps in shock.

Except Pansy. She squashes the smile that is trying to make its way onto her face and clears her throat, rather primly. Harry's eyes shift to her, softening slightly as the anger turns to a different kind of heat. Holding his gaze, Pansy slowly arches a dark brow once again. Harry considers her unspoken question a moment or two, then finally lets out a sigh, shrugging. Pansy smiles briliantly. Harry laughs.

"Thank you for coming to my rescue, darling," Pansy says to Harry as she steps forward and loops her arm through his. "But I really do need to shower before breakfast - as you well know. Walk me down, will you?"

The silence that follows is deafening - until Brown squeals once again, bouncing in place an pointing at Harry. Or rather, Harry's back, which is exposed - the hirt he had snatched up as he threw on his pajama bottoms when the yelling started was still in his hand - revealing the pale red scratches left by Pansy that trailed along its surface.

Pansy laughs and winks at Brown. Harry huffs as he pulls on his shirt and tosses the Weaslette's wand to Granger, then turns to lead Pansy from the common room as it bursts into a deluge of noise as everyone begins talking at once.