Father Needs a Nap

Perseus was watching her again, the glint in his eyes and the way his magic flared made her skin crawl. He had immediately dismissed Primrose when they reached the tent, wanting all the details of her day for the first time she could remember. Her magic was bubbling just below the service of her skin, wanting to lash out at the lecherous old man. Once she was done, he informed her that she would be joining the Malfoys in the top box, waving her away when she questioned him about her sister.

"Get dressed." He had looked over her outfit with more appreciation than any father should. The way his magic prodded at her made her want to take a scalding shower.

Pansy practically sprinted to her quarters, the tent had fifteen rooms. Which she thought was ridiculous since it was only the three of them and they would not be staying more than a night. Although, she was the only one who knew that, she supposed. Perhaps she should make a bet? She had a nice little nest egg in a moke skin pouch, the Room of Requirement was more than she could ever have imagined.

The only room that let the user keep items from was the lost and found. It had taken her an entire year until she was comfortable with her detection charms to actually be of any use. It would have been much easier if she could actually summon anything within the room but Pansy was forced to look through the towering piles by hand. She couldn't even summon her own private house elves because the wards would ping off their magic. Strumpet would be an amazing helper but she was forced to wait until she made Prefect or her father took up his seat on the Board of Governors.

"You're leaving me?" Primrose asked from her place on Pansy's bed.

"Of course not." She waved her wand summoning the silver robes that complemented her olive complexion perfectly. With a few waves of her wand, she was looking like an elf princess out of a Tolkien novel, pretty sapphire hair piece included. "As if I would let you miss the match after Father indulged too much."

"Really?" Primrose looked so excited watching Pansy spin in front of the mirror to check over her outfit change. "Can you make me pretty too?"

"You're already gorgeous, I think...your favorite green robes?" She waved a hand towards the vanity for her sister to take a seat.

The eight year old did not need any further prompting, rushing for the cushioned chair. Pansy stood behind her, waving her wand to summon the green robes and a matching hair piece from her own trunk. Her mother convinced her poor little sister to cut her hair into a harsh bob to match her own. Unfortunately there had not been enough time to brew a potion to fix the abomination her mother had caused. With a bit of magic she was able to braid the pretty emerald headband into her short hair, leaving a few strands loose to frame her face.

"I look like a princess." Primrose gushed, staring at her reflection with a wide smile on her thin face. Pansy just nodded and added a little tinted lip gloss to help her feel a little more grown up.

"You are a princess." She said firmly, holding up the dress robes for her sister to change.

"Can I wear a pair of your shoes?"

"Absolutely not, I'm not even wearing heels up those death traps they call stairs." Pansy snorted, wondering how such lazy wizards had no thought of an elevator system for the more expensive seats.

"How do I look?" Primrose gave a little twirl, her robes flaring out and showing the silver underneath.

"Absolutely gorgeous!" She pulled her little sister to stand in front of the tall mirror with her hands on her shoulders. They looked alike with the same hooded eyes and pouty lips, but standing side by side she could see the sickly white hue Primrose's skin had taken. "Are you feeling okay? It's been a busy day."

"I'll never be as pretty as you." Primrose pouted, resting solidly back on her older sister. They were never going to be tall, either of the Parkinsons. Which was strange since their father and mother were both over six feet tall, even her deceased brothers and sisters were tall before they passed.

"You'll be like Snow White, all porcelain skin and ruby red lips." Pansy smiled brightly, showing off the little gap in her teeth. "Just because you don't look exactly like me doesn't mean you are any less pretty than me with your little button nose."

"It's not little." Her little sister squeezed her nose with a frown.

"You just have to grow into it more." Pansy pulled her hands down so she could crouch down and rest her chin on her shoulder. They both looked at their reflections side by side with matching smiles. "It probably means you'll be tall like mother and father, all leggy and gorgeous like the Witch Weekly models."

"You really think so?" Her eyes were a little brighter when she looked between her nose and ears which their mother always said were too big. Hypocritical since just about everyone in their family was all ears and nose until puberty when they became giants.

"What're ya doin'?" Their father slurred from the doorway of Pansy's room, they both turned to him with different expressions. Primrose hopefully while the eldest was annoyed at the interruption. He squinted at them, for once he lingered on his youngest. "You look like Petal."

"Thank you, Father." Primrose's voice was full of happiness at the compliment and it was definitely a compliment since their father raved of his oldest sister's beauty often.

"What you dressed up for?" He demanded, shaking his head to focus. "The Malfoys are escorting you to the top box. Petal will stay with me since I'm feeling ill."

Oh. Fuck. No.

"How about I get you a potion, Father?" Pansy smiled sweetly, her hazel eyes practically glowing with rage. "I heard your friends are going to party at the end of the match, you wouldn't want to miss it, would you?"

"A revel." His sudden dreamy tone made her skin crawl, she had read about the so called revels in the war.

It was a perversion of fertility and harvest rites, they didn't even do much except give the participants a false magical high. From her late brother's journals, he had enjoyed them and at the end of the night there was always a mass sacrifice. Her father, even though he was never marked, joined in on the major holidays like most of the old Lords. How could they spout their bullshit about preserving traditions when they followed an orphaned half blood who was raised with muggles? Tom Riddle had very little knowledge of real ritual magic, at least from what she read, it sounded like he had used muggle stories and forced his magic to do the rest. What kind of sacrifice was an unwilling defiled muggle? It was useless, they might as well have burnt compost for all they cared for the sacrifices. There was only one muggle family in the entire site, maybe some squib relatives but how could they pick them out? Yes, Perseus needed to die.

"I'll do it, Father!" Primrose practically bounced at the idea of getting more compliments from their father.

"No, Pansy get your Father a sober up." He leaned against the door with his eyes closed, even from across the room it smelled like he had bathed in muggle liquor. "You'll probably slip me a lust potion, little minx. I know your games, Petal."

"Of course, Father." Pansy didn't even leave the room, just opened her potions trunk to pull out an unlabeled Dreamless Sleep. Thankfully, Perseus never was what anyone would call an academic, learning just enough to get by.

"Why do you have a sober potion in your room?" He demanded before downing the potion without even giving it a customary sniff. Every witch and wizard did, even if they were terrible at potions. It was meant to signify trust or competence or something like that.

"Father!" Primrose shouted when Perseus slid down the wall unconscious, rushing forward to check him over. Only to find their father already snoring loudly.

"Strumpet!" A small elf dressed in a maid uniform appeared beside Pansy immediately, silently looking up at her mistress for commands. "Help me put Father to bed, he's had too much to drink."

"What did you give him?" Primrose asked with suspiciously wet eyes. "And why did you have a sober potion in your trunk?"

"Prim." Pansy crouched down in front of her sister with the most serious face she could muster, thinking over her options. "If Father ever tries to get you alone after calling you Petal I want you to summon Strumpet right away, do you understand?"

"No, you're not answering my question." Primrose stood up, almost protectively in front of their unconscious father like she would hurt him. Pansy would, but never in front of witnesses.

"I gave him a little dreamless sleep so that you could come with me to the match." She figured she would attempt to be honest, first.

"Why? Father wanted me to spend time with him!" Her little sister looked so betrayed and Pansy would normally do anything to bring a smile back to her face, but not that. Never would she leave her delicate sister with their drunk father who was calling her his first love's name. "You were jealous that Father actually wanted to spend time with me!"

"Prim, calm down." Pansy reached out to her but her sister smacked her hands away, tears running down her cheeks. "That's not at all what's going on here."

"Then why?"

"Your tutors explained courting and marriage, didn't they?" She closed her eyes, not wanting to continue when she received a confused nod. "Well, Father has been getting impatient with Mother, it's been years since she's given him a living child. He was very confused and you know how much he loved his oldest sister."

"The squib?" Primrose asked with a scrunched nose, looking a little disgusted. "Why would he compare me to the squib? Why would it even matter? Mother will give us a brother someday and I'll marry him or maybe another sister."

"Petal was only a couple years older than you when they obliviated her and left her with muggles, Prim." Pansy said slowly, she had to forcefully swallow the bile in her throat. How could she have been won over in the short time she had been at Hogwarts? What the fuck had those tutors been telling her? "Mother is getting weaker, most of the time Father doesn't even allow a healer to treat her between pregnancies. They've repeatedly told him that she's too weak to carry to term so he ignores them now, they both do."

"Then, does that mean you'll be a real heir?" Primrose looked so adorably confused, even if she was red with tears. "Or will you marry Father? Will I marry Father? Is that why he was calling me Petal? But what about Cedric?"

"We'll have to finish this talk later." Pansy was in danger of being violently ill at her sister's sudden eagerness to marry their elderly father. She was going to torture those fucking tutors and the governess, her mother too if it was her putting those kinds of thoughts into her innocent sister's head. "Right now, I need you to swear you won't repeat what we talked about or what happened with Father."

"What will I tell him when he wakes up?" She pouted up at her big sister, obviously not liking that she wouldn't be getting her answers.

"Nothing because he drank so much he won't even remember." Pansy held her hand out to her little sister, feeling awful for what she was about to do. "Repeat after me."

It wasn't an unbreakable vow but it might as well have been, since she would spout gibberish if she ever tried to repeat what happened in that room. Pansy levitated her bastard father into his own room, not being gentle at all since she would ensure he didn't remember even coming into her room. What he was even doing there, she didn't want to know. All she could think about as she removed his memories was that she could not leave her sister alone with those monsters for another school year.

What kind of eight year old girl gets excited at the thought of marrying her geriatric father? The same father who killed off his first wife who was also his sister and their aunt. That he would go on to marry his great niece, pull her from Hogwarts just to be his broodmare and kill her slowly with pregnancies just made him even more sick. Plans would need to be made, she could claim the Ladyship by magic, it would be recognized by everything but the Ministry. That would require her to have at least one passing O.W.L. Currently, she could pass them, maybe. Fuck it, she'll take muggle studies. The books were so basic that it was a joke, as if muggles still used crank cars.

"I'll really get to come with you?" Primrose was waiting for her, Strumpet gave her a calming draught and fixed her hair. She was looking much more put together. "And you promise you'll explain?"

"Yes, soon." Pansy nodded, firmly closing the door behind her with a wave of her hand.

She had no idea how she was supposed to get through this night.There would be a stampede after the match but something else would happen and it was important. It was the reason why a Hogwarts student died next year. For whatever reason, no matter how much she tried to suppress it with her occlumency, their deaths stayed with her. Cedric Diggory. Sirius Black. Albus Dumbldore. Severus Snape. She knew from her notes that more people died but for some reason those people were important. Hello, Dobby the free elf!

In fact, she had tried to suppress all future knowledge before Hogwarts with Snape and Dumbledore roaming the halls. She told herself that she was a minor player on the board, Pansy might as well enjoy Hogwarts and become a powerful witch who could save her sister from death or getting her memories wiped before being dumped in the muggle world. Why pureblood families waited until the letter never showed up didn't make any sense to her. Elves could tell, she was sure healers had some way to know. Wouldn't it be kinder to find them loving parents right away if they would just dump them anyway.

Soon enough the Malfoys arrived, not even blinking when Pansy showed up with a dressed up Primrose. They enquired about their father but she had placidly let them know he was feeling ill with barely a blink. If they were put out about having an extra guest, they certainly never said so. It would be rude. Pansy was happy she had worn comfortable boots that were charmed to look like little silk slippers. Her respect for Narcissa Malfoy skyrocketed when she noticed the mile high stilettos the pureblood lady was wearing.

"The boy wasn't lying." Lucius uttered, looking stone faced at the large group that was in front of them. There had to be some kind of magic helping everyone along because they had been climbing for at least fifteen minutes and no one was out of breath.

"How common." Narcissa sniffed, her pretty face twisted into an expression of loathing at the sights off all those redheads.

"Probably would have had to take all their blood traitor children out of school to pay for their seats." Draco patted her hand as if she should be shocked at the sight or something. He had been a perfect gentleman under his father's watchful gaze, even allowing her to hold onto his arm while he escorted her.

"How much does it cost to go to Hogwarts?" Primrose asked curiously, tightly holding onto her sister's hand. Even with the calming draught, she was jittery with so many witches and wizards packed in the stairways.

"Not sure, I know it's a sliding scale though." Pansy answered absently, her eyes trained onto the massive quidditch pitch. It was nothing like school games or even muggle stadiums, everywhere was magic.

"What's a sliding scale?" Lucius and Narcissa looked back at her sister's question. She could see out of the corner of her eyes, probably wondering how she knew. It wasn't known much outside of Hogwarts staff and their board of governors.

"The sooner you apply, the less the cost of tuition is." She smiled down at her sister, squinting her eyes at the slight perspiration on her head. Without a second thought, she cast a glamor over her. If the magic only affected witches and wizards, no wonder she was out of breath. "Father put our names down as soon as we were born."

"Oh, why do they do that?" Primrose looked around in confusion, not noticing that the Malfoys weren't the only eavesdroppers.

"Well, Father wanted to guarantee that we both had a spot in the correct year and you know what they say about the early bowtruckle?" Pansy said smoothly, coming up with her bullshit answer on the spot. It was to gauge muggle borns and their families to bring more money into the community.

"That they get the flitterby!" The genuine excitement in her tone brought a bright smile to her face.

"Exactly, so responsible witches and wizards enroll their child early so they can get the most benefit."

"Yes, exactly." Lucius drawled, a pleased smile on his face when the sister looked up to see a lot of people watching them curiously. The Weasleys all looked perplexed like they couldn't believe she was spouting such nonsense. What the fuck did they think she would tell her sister?

"But what about the mud-" Primrose was about to ask further questions when Pansy squeezed her shoulder in warning.

"Look at the field!" She directed her little sister's attention to the pitch, stooping forward to whisper quickly in her ear. "Never use that word where others can hear you, especially people who would look for fault in you."

"Yes, Pansy." She pouted petulantly but quickly looked to the pitch, not seeing the pleased expression on Narcissa's face or the confusion on Draco's.

"Ah, Lucius!" Minister Fudge was the first to greet them enthusiastically once they reached the top box. His beady eyes flitted across Draco escorting Pansy to her little sister clinging to her side before turning to lay a slobbery kiss on Narcissa's hand. "Lovely to see your family again and the Parkinson sisters! To have such beautiful witches in your company, Lucius."

"Yes, with Perseus feeling ill we could not allow such respectable ladies miss out on the fun." Lucius even went so far as to pull Pansy and Draco forward to lay his hands on their shoulders. He was lucky she kept her arm securely around her sister or she would have thrown his ass out of the spectator box the next time no one was looking. "They are both the top of their class but we could expect nothing more from a Slytherin and Ravenclaw."

"Hermione's the top witch in our year." She almost wanted to sigh that a Weasley would of course answer to Lucius' completely unsubtle dig to the family who were close by.

"Maybe top of Gryffindor house." Lucius smiled that mean little smile when Arthur rushed to silence his son, no doubt his earlier comment about favors had landed the patriarch in enough trouble. "However, Perseus is keen to brag that his eldest daughter has stolen top spot for the past three years. Isn't that right, Draco?"

"We don't have many classes with Ravenclaw but the professors never stop raving about her." Draco attempted to imitate his father's drawl with little success but it was cute that he tried. "Even Professor Snape was disappointed she wasn't sorted into Slytherin."

"I've told you, Draco." She made sure his name came out with a slight purr, making his pale skin blush a bright red. "I look awful in green."

"Nonsense, I'm sure e-" He cut himself off but cleared his throat, his cheeks still blazing. "We can all see how beautiful you look in silver, just add a few green accents and you'd be right at home in the dungeons."

"And that's another thing, how could I possibly keep my complexion underground?" She smiled sweetly, very aware of all the eyes on them, even her sister was looking at her in confusion. "I quite like my tower with it's own private library."

"Ravenclaws have their own library?" Draco asked curiously, his slate gray eyes lighting up at the new information. There was an offended squeal from the huddled mass of gingers, a grin stretched across her face. Granger would be furious that a house had its own unique selection of books she couldn't access.

"Oh yes, there's even a room where previous students have donated their personal notes." Her eyes twinkled when she brought her finger to her lips with a coy little smile. "You didn't hear from me but I've read the personal journals of Laverne de Montmorency and it's rumored that the top students get to see the original spell on the great hall ceiling."

"Oh ho!" The Minister chortled, resting his hand on his stomach with a genial smile. "They won't hear it from me but love potions?"

"Oh, that's just what she was most famous for but in her earlier years she was actually very interested in mood stabilizing potions." Pansy lectured in the same tone she used when she was tutoring her sister and students in the Hall. "She didn't craft Amortentia until later in life when she figured out how to suppress emotions in her subjects. De Montmorency was able to synthesize many emotions like fear and sadness but never love. Sorry, I love tutoring younger students in the Hall, I tend to get a bit long winded."

"Well, it was certainly better than any lecture we received from the old ghost Binns." Narcissa tittered, looking at her with a strange expression she could not decipher.

"Well, we'll have to warn Severus that he's out of the job in just a few years." Lucius cut in smoothly, Draco suddenly jerked, drawing her attention to him with genuine concern at his pained grimace.

"Lucius!" Narcissa gasped, looking dreadfully offended and placing a firm hand on Pansy's shoulder. "Of course, Miss. Parkinson is meant for greater things than being cooped up in a dungeon. You heard her, think of her complexion!"

Pansy smiled prettily and pulled her sister closer as they lightly laughed. It was getting very uncomfortable, purebloods didn't touch casually. She could not remember ever being hugged by either of her parents and her governess lectured constantly of propriety. However, at school Susan Bones and Luna Lovegood were both very affectionate individuals. Before them, the only person she hugged or touched regularly was her little sister. There was a pointed throat clearing that broke the light atmosphere.

"Yes, yes, my apologies." The Minister straightened up and turned on the charm to introduce the dark haired wizard who had been partially behind him the entire time. He had heavy brows and a dark scowl on his face, probably from being ignored. "This is the Bulgarian Minister Oblansky....Obalonsk. Well, he doesn't speak English and we are still waiting for Crouch."

"Zdraveite!" Pansy smiled brightly, enjoying the sudden hush the developed in the top box. "Radvam seh da seh zapoznaem. Tova a edinstvenoto izrecheniye, coeto znam. Nadyavam seh da a vpechatlyavashcho." (Hello! Nice to meet you. This is the only greeting I know. I hope it sounds impressive."

"You know Bulgarian?" She couldn't help but grin a bit wider when the Bulgarian Minister tilted his head back in laughter while the English Minister was looking at her like she was the answer to his prayers.

"No, sorry Minister." Her tone wasn't the least bit apologetic because how often can you play a joke on a politician? "I knew that well, with the year ahead I would need to learn at least a greeting."

"Let's take our seats children, the match should be starting soon." Lucius had a very superior look on his face as he ushered them to their seats. Two rows higher than the Weasleys the man made sure to sneer at them before turning to Narcissa to whisper something in her ear.

"How come you didn't make the Minister a ring, Pansy?" Primrose asked a little too loudly, again drawing attention to them.

"I can't do magic outside of school, remember?" She looked at her sister with wide eyes, something she was sure no one missed. Except her sister of course because she raised her hand to show off the silver ring with a dahlia bloom made of sapphire.

"Oh, that's lovely." Narcissa cooed, glancing down at Pansy's own fingers which were covered in multiple silver and platinum rings. All seven of them matched the same flower and vine design with either sapphires or diamonds expertly cut into flowers.

"Pansy made it for me so I could understand all the foreign witches and wizards!" Her little sister preened, raising her hand higher to show it off, completely ignoring the look on Pansy's face.

"Oh, you made it?" Narcissa actually pulled the child's hand closer to inspect the ring with more interest.

"No, I just designed them." She smiled blandly, lying through her teeth. "It's one of my first enchantments, Bulgarian is taking longer than I'd like so I enchanted a ring with a general translation spell."

"We didn't learn that last year?" Draco mumbled, growing bold he actually lifted her hand to inspect her rings with interest. Her eyes widened in surprise at his actions but she couldn't exactly rip her hand away to wipe them on her robe like a child. "What other enchantments did you use?"

"A Notice Me Not." Pansy finally freed her hand after a long moment, not wanting to appear rude. "I'm looking into others but it's only in my spare time."

"Really, spare time?" Draco looked surprised, sitting back in his seat and glancing at his parents before turning back to her. Bagman entered the box but quite a few eyes were still focused on their seats. "You're taking all the classes and you run the Hall, right?"

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" Bagman's voice boomed, echoing through the stadium and being heard even over the loud cheers of thousands of fans. Luckily, it diverted everyone else to the pitch and she sighed in relief. "Welcome to the four hundred and twenty second World Quidditch Cup!"

Pansy pouted, seeing Bagman made her realize that she forgot to put her bet in with the goblins. However, after some thought she really did not want their scrutiny. They were worse than the books she read about them, tricky beings who would gladly rob a wizard blind if they could get away with it. Not like she blamed them, wizards were stupid and rude and after all their rebellions they had a monopoly on their gold.

"Look!" Primrose practically climbed into her lap, scandalous behavior but she wasn't about to scold her excited little sister.

The veelas were all gorgeous creatures and it was hilarious when Lucius flung out his cane to keep Draco in his seat. The rest of the spectators were not nearly as lucky. Although there were wards keeping them in the stands, they did nothing to stop weak willed wizards from dancing and shedding their clothes in an effort to attract the beautiful veelas. Pansy grimaced as she caught sight of Potter and Weasley fighting off Granger's attempts to keep them in their seats. Draco looked at her with wide eyes once his father slapped him out of the trance but she ignored him, cheering along with her sister.

"Look at them!" Draco jeered, obviously wanting to forget his embarrassment at being trapped in the veela's allure.

He pointed at Ron Weasley who was diving on the floor once the leprechauns passed overhead. Gold coins, so many that it was hard to see, rained down on them. Lucius was quick enough to cast an umbrella charm over them so they wouldn't be injured. Pansy was thankful she didn't didn't look like the minister who was practically hiding in his service auror's robes. The Weasley children were still on their hands and knees, getting bruised by falling gold but still shoving as many coins as they could in their pockets.

"Here, Prim." Pansy handed her two gold coins with a smile. "I'll cast the permanency charm after the match. No need to crawl on the floor for fake money. This will make a nice souvenir though."

"But Pansy the match could last days!" Primrose held the coins to her chest looking up at her with big hazel eyes.

"Remanenas." Pansy cast quickly very quietly, using her little sister as a shield so no one could see her using magic so obviously. After shoving her wand back into her sleeve, she glanced around trying not to be conspicuous. Unfortunately, Lucius, Draco, and Harry Potter of all people were watching her. "Keep those in your pocket and you never saw a thing, got it?"

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