Attention

Chapter Five

The fallout came at lunch.

'Draco, love...'

Dignity was such an inconvenience, Draco decided, fighting the urge to crawl under the table. At least the handprint had responded to the De-Bruising Charm.

'...has someone been bothering you? Has another girl been trying to get at my precious Draky-dum?'

Oh, dear. Pansy had to be furious to be calling him 'Draky-dum'.

'Who was it, darling? You can tell me; I'll get her...'

Oh, no you won't.

Draco finally looked up and around at Pansy, who was standing behind him as he sat at the lunch table. While part of his mind was occupied with the knowledge that his shepherd's pie was going cold, he stared into her close-set eyes and thought frantically.

'Never mind that, sweetheart,' he said quickly, 'it's nothing.' He pulled on her sleeve; to avoid letting her robes rip, she had to sit down, which she did, gracelessly. 'Want some of my pie?' He grabbed a fork from a nearby setting and offered it to her.

She didn't take it, but stared at him stonily, all the pretence of affection gone from her face.

'Look, darling,' Draco said cajolingly, 'it was just some random younger student--I don't even know her name--she tried to come onto me, I refused, and she slapped me.' He shrugged. 'Simple as that. It's over and done with. There's no need for you to worry about it,' he added comfortingly, and smiled winningly. He tried once more to put the fork into her hand.

Again she ignored it, still staring at him. What else did she want him to say?

With a fierce pang, his stomach reminded him of its needs. Tentatively, his eyes flicking between his plate and Pansy, Draco forked in another mouthful of beef and potato. When this action didn't provoke an outburst from his girlfriend, he continued to eat as quickly as he could without scarfing.

Pansy sat and watched him eat, her head tilted to one side so that her ear rested on her hand, the elbow on the table. Her sleeve had fallen away to reveal a soft, scrawny arm. The diamond bracelet he'd given her last Christmas glinted in the March midday sun.

As Draco scraped his plate clean, Pansy finally spoke, much more softly and reasonably than he'd ever heard.

'Look,' she said, so he did.

He turned around, wiped his mouth, and looked into her face. There were lines of tension around her lips, and her eyes were bright. She spoke evenly with the confidence of privacy in a public place. He was surprised to hear that the slight twang her vowels usually had was gone; she was for once speaking properly.

'We were promised to each other at four. I've spent my entire life dreaming of the great Draco Malfoy who was to be my husband, my companion, my provider, everything to me. I've spent the last thirteen years planning our wedding, planning our house, wondering what our children will look like... I would fall asleep envisioning you--funny how you always looked like your father in my dreams, but cuter--envisioning you whirling me around a ballroom, smiling at me, treating me like a princess, giving me anything I want--'

Draco opened his mouth to say, sulkily, 'I do give you anything you want,' but all he managed was 'I d--' before Pansy interrupted.

'Wait until I'm finished. I've been wanting to say this for a long time. I've been planning our life together for most of my life, Draco, and it simply isn't fair for you to go swanning off, having flings with other girls, treating me like an ignorant dog. It just isn't fair. Something's got to change.'

She was calm, emotionless. This was not the Pansy he knew.

'I know I act like an airhead, but it's just what girls do. We all do it--well, except Granger, but she--'

At Draco's nod, Pansy's slightly tired expression changed to one of deep suspicion.

'Was it her?' she gasped. 'Did--did she--did that--' Pansy could only gape at him.

'No, of course not!'

But Pansy's mouth stayed open in angry horror. Draco knew that she was putting one and one together in her own unique mathematical system.

'Pansy, I'm serious. I'd rather snog Weasley. I'd rather shag Potter than kiss Granger.'

He heard a titter on the bench behind him--those damned Ravenclaws again.

Pansy was still eyeing him suspiciously. 'The problem is,' she said with a slight tremor, 'that I know you've lied to me before, and for all I know this is just another lie.'

'When have I lied to you before?' Draco tried to inject just the right amount of hurt and shock into his voice, but it didn't fool her.

She started ticking names off on her fingers, her voice wobbling.

'First, Millicent: I know she asked you to cure her curiosity about boys; she told me all about it and wondered why you hadn't told me. Second, Daphne: both of you were missing from your dormitories that one night, and the next day Daphne had a love-bite and looked very smug; also, you hadn't combed your hair. It doesn't take much to put two and two together, you know. Then Parvati Patil--I saw you kissing her, you're terrible at hiding places. I don't know if you actually shagged--'

They had, but Draco wasn't going to tell her.

'--but I don't give a damn. Oh, and back in October you were providing stud services to any sixth-year who asked. Do I really need to name names?'

Draco was in shock. He'd been so careful, he'd thought. He'd sworn the girls to secrecy, made them promise not to tell. After all, he didn't kiss and tell. Didn't girls have morals? Didn't they have a code of honour?

Apparently not, he thought angrily, wondering how on earth he was going to make up for this one.

'Anyway, it doesn't matter anymore,' said Pansy tiredly, gathering herself up from the bench.

'Don't you want lunch?'

She shook her head listlessly. 'Snog Granger, shag Potter, do whatever you like. I don't care anymore, I just don't care. I've had enough of being treated like an idiot, pushed aside, being your backup. We're through.'

There was a very long silence in Draco's head; then a horrible rushing noise filled his ears. He was vaguely aware of the whispers at the Slytherin and Ravenclaw tables as the gossips eagerly slurped up the new drama.

His father would kill him.