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"Daffy?" Pansy had woken up to find that her best friend was no longer in the bed next to her. Instead all she found was a glass of water on the bedside table that hadn't been there when she had gone to sleep. She took a slow breath as she sat up, trying to ignore just how rotten she felt as she looked around the room. She realised now that maybe drinking two bottles of champagne mainly on her own the night before wasn't exactly the way to go, but she had enjoyed herself and that was what mattered most, wasn't it?
She drank the glass of water down before she dragged herself out of bed. She didn't even know what time it was or if the others were still here at the Greengrasses, but she felt weird lying in her best friend's bed when she didn't know where her own best friend was.
She all but crept down the stairs when she heard voices in the living room. One of the voices was Daphne's, she knew that almost right away, but the other did not belong to her boyfriend, her fiancé or her fiancé's boyfriend. She swallowed thickly as she paused outside of the room. Part of her knew that she shouldn't eavesdrop on him, but she knew that she couldn't leave without saying goodbye either. Pansy thought about moving into the kitchen to maybe find some food while she waited for Daphne to finish talking to who she assumed was her mother but she found that she couldn't seem to get her feet to cooperate.
"Watch your tone, Daphne." It was definitely her mother, no-one else ever spoke to Daphne in such a way, and Pansy was instantly reminded of her own mother. "You and your sister are very lucky that we've managed to make any sort of amends with the Malfoys. They won't take your or that wretched thin-"
"That thing is your grandchild!" Pansy had never seen or heard Daphne so angry before, but she knew that it wasn't unfounded. Pansy was already all too aware of how much Daphne loved her baby.
"Whatever it is, they won't take it. They'll take your sister."
"No! She's a child! You can't just sell her like that!"
"I'm fixing the mess that you created, you lady!"
Pansy felt sick to her stomach. Of course they would make Astoria marry Draco. Now that she thought about it, it was obvious. She took herself away from the living room before she could hear anymore, she knew that Daphne wouldn't want her to hear anymore after all.
She didn't have to wait in the kitchen for too long, though Pansy was quite content to calm down with a cup of tea that she made until Daphne took a seat at the wooden table next to her.
"They've sold me to the Pucey family." She heard her whisper, though Pansy wished that she wouldn't phrase it that way, even though it was the reality of the situation. "I'm starting out this year strong… Come February I shall be married to Adrian Pucey and they'll tell the world that my baby is his."
"Is that what you want?" Pansy asked quietly, though she knew that it had very little to do with what Daphne wanted. That was the curse of being a pureblood, the things that you wanted were never considered. She just hoped that when they were all parents, they wouldn't dare force their children into marriages. She hoped that they would become better people than their own parents - Pansy for one knew that she was going to learn from her parent's mistakes.
"I just want to get a house out in the country with you and whoever you want to bring along. I want to disappear from this world and never look back. But that isn't possible. Without my parent's money, I can't afford to have this baby. Not to mention the fact that if I turn my back on them, then I lose Tori. She'll never leave; she'll always be a daddy's girl." Daphne gave a small shake of her head. She sounded defeated and Pansy hated what this whole situation had down to her best friend.
"So you'll go through with it?" Pansy bit her lip slightly as she tried to think of a way to get Daphne out, but she knew that her mother wasn't going to let her use Parkinson money to support an unwed mother,and she couldn't ask Theo even though he was Daphne's friend too. They'd both be there for Daphne no matter what anyway.
"Yeah. I don't really have a choice."
Pansy gave Daphne's hand a squeeze, trying to let her know that matter what, she would be here without saying the words again. She knew that she was beginning to sound like a broken record but until Daphne began acting like someone who wasn't a lone island, she would continue to try to hammer it home.
"I don't even know anything about Adrian Pucey." Daphne groaned after a few moments of silence. "But I guess that will change tonight.. His family is coming over."
"So I better make myself scarce…" Pansy hummed softly as she contemplated just leaving then and there, but her head was still pounding and she didn't think that she would manage to apparate home just yet.
"No, no. Stay. Please." Daphne sounded desperate and it made Pansy's heart twinge, which in turn made the nausea that she had been attempting to ignore.
"Can we get some air?" She asked as she abandoned the cup of tea she had only managed to drink half of. "I'll stay with you, meet with the family. I suppose having me here will act in your interest, or at least I hope it will."
"Honestly Pans," Daphne began as she headed towards the back door, grabbing what Pansy could only assume was her father's jacket on her way, "I just want you there to hold my hand. I don't care about making a good impression. I don't particularly care if they decide to back out after meeting with me. That wouldn't be my fault exactly. "
Pansy let the freezing January air fill her lungs as she stepped out the backdoor. She was still wearing her dress from the night before and it was a little strappy number that lead little too the imagination and even less in the way of providing any sort of coverage from the elements. She was shivering quite violently but she felt like that was something much needed in order to sober herself up again.
"Just…" She shook her head slowly as she tried to think of how she could either talk Daphne out of this or talk her into.at least being on her best behaviour. Whether Pansy liked it or not, they were both going to be forced into their marriages, and so she wanted to be sure that Daphne was going to get the best out of this just as she was, especially as there was a baby involved. It made sense that the Pucey family would be the one to take on Daphne and the baby - they were a Pureblood family but they weren't in the inner circle. If Pansy knew anything about the politics that she tried her best to avoid then it was that families like his would use anyone that they could to climb the social ladder.
"I know, Pans. I know." Daphne said softly as they walked down the path, the same one that she had walked under the night sky with Neville. She realised that it must have rained in the early hours of the morning as puddles that hadn't been there the night before decorated the path.
The two of them were silent for a while, Pansy trying to keep herself from puking in Mrs Greengrass' flowers. She watched Daphne out of the corner of her eye, worrying for her but also wondering how Daphne could remain so calm.
"Remember when we were kids and our biggest joy in life was to jump in the muddiest of puddles?" Daphne asked, pulling Pansy back out of her thoughts.
Despite her inner turmoil, Pansy gave a soft chuckle. "My mother flipped out every single time." It was no secret that Verbena Parkinson hated when her daughter did anything to besmirch the family name and this included allowing herself to get filthy in any way.
"Mine too." Daphne paused for a moment. "I think that might have been the last time that we truly got to be ourselves though. Before they started planning our whole lives, before they started making all the decisions for us."
"You're going to be better than that." Pansy said softly. "I promise you, you'll be better than that."
Daphne gave her the smallest of smiles in reply. Pansy wanted to believe that meant that Daphne believed her, but she had a feeling that they had a long way to go until they were there.