another fuckibg pansmione draft

19

Hermione had dragged Pansy back to the library immediately, eager to get started. It was going to be a push to get it all done before the end of the year but this was another challenge that she was determined to go at. They sank back into their seats and she eagerly pulled out a huge ring bound folder stuffed with parchment. 

"I've organised it chronologically as I followed the steps and there's a timeline I wrote for myself when I was working on it. I went through my supplies and I've got a list of ingredients we'll need to get, and dug out a few pages summarising the transfiguration theory you'll need to know. I spent a month or two making sure I was certain about everything but time is not a luxury we've got here so you're going to have to learn as you go. I'll be here to help of course. Using the original timeline as a rough guideline and assessing the time we have, you've got a week to go over everything if you wish but thats the limit of consideration time. You might wanna really think it through. It's not fun. Believe me." Pansy stared blankly.

"You're thorough." Was all she managed to say, taking in all she'd been told.

"Well, of course. I have to be if I want this to work."

"Also, I'm already sure. I'd like to start as soon as possible. Get straight to it. I'm gonna have to use every second." Hermione seemed reluctant.

"A-are you sure? You've only had a short time to take all this in, and really - it's awful. Like, really bad. You have to keep this filthy leaf in your mouth for a month and everything. And I was lucky in that I already knew a lot of the theory. Its a lot to go through. Are you completely sure?" Pansy grimaced.

"Honey, when you're as desperate as me you don't question good things. And no pressure, but I need this. I-" she lowered her voice. "-I can't join the dark side. I simply can't." Hermione's face changed to one of determination.

"Right. If you're sure, then we begin now."

They formed and revised plans, altering the original timeline to their situation seeing that it worked so well the first time. They allowed some extra time here and there for Pansy to get to grips with the theory. They judged that to gather all of the necessary ingredients, they would need about 3 days. Of course, the ones they were short on were the most obscure ones. All in all the process would take about five months. Pansy thanked her lucky stars that she had Hermione. It would literally take her years to manage it herself. 

Luckily, Hermione still had spare mandrake leaves and an extra vial of dew that had been kept in a sealed container, hiding it from sunlight. The hardest ingredient to source would be the moth chrysalis but a trip to the apothecary and an order made in advance should cover that. A number of smaller-scale ingredients, like boomslang skin, they could gather from the potions store and the greenhouse. they could make much quicker work of it all because it was still the holidays. Pansy could spend more time on the theory too, especially now they'd gotten all her work done. 

Since time was their main enemy here, they had to cut corners and keep their fingers crossed. Hermione would have liked to spend a lot more time working everything through but Pansy knew that it wasn't a good idea to dawdle on technicalities. They needed to get it all done and fast.

Hermione spread the several scrolls summarising the theory out in front of Pansy and immediately began composing a letter to the apothecary. If she could snag the marauders map and get into the passageway leading to Honeydukes, she could get into Hogsmeade no problem. keeping the map, she could deal with the potions store and pansy could go to the greenhouses. If everything lined up they could be done getting ingredients in just about 3 days. 

Plans were finally moving along and Hermione was ecstatic to be taking on another challenge.

It was the next day early in the morning. Their plan was set to begin. Hermione sent Pansy and anonymous owl message with the location of the bathroom and the rendezvous time, 6 am. Pansy was lucky to be an early riser. Hermione sat in the bathroom with Myrtle, who was bouncing around manically to have more company. Hermione was beginning to lay out a large array of ingredients on a cloth laid out on the floor when the door creaked open to reveal Pansy peering around doubtfully. Her confusion cleared as she spotted the girl and the ghost sitting further in. She looked around as she made her way over.

"This place is... convenient. No one else comes in here I guess, right?" Myrtle cackled deviously.

"I have my ways of putting people off coming in here. Theey work most admirably, don't you think?" Hermione scoffed.

"That's enough Myrtle. Off your high horse. We're here to work, not listen to your shenanigans. Come sit, Pansy. We've got to go over the plans." Pansy obediently made her way over and sat down on the corner of the blanket. Hermione's voice became strict and teacherly.

"Everything we have is laid out on the blanket here. As you can see we only need a few things which is why we are here. I've allotted us 3 days to get everything together and it'll be a squeeze but I'm confident we can do it. So, here's what we have to do." She locked Pansy in an intense gaze.

"Your job will be to go to the greenhouses and collect these." She handed over a list with little annotated diagrams drawn on it. "These are all things we need right at the beginning of the brewing process, so we should get them out of the way. These-" She had another list to hand, "-I've sent an order for, and I should be able to collect them tomorrow. And lastly, these-" the final list made its way into Pansy's hands. "-I will be getting from the potions stores. And yes, I'll have to do it, not you, because I have a way of knowing when slughorn won't be in his office and when I'll be safe to sneak in. So, today you go down to the greenhouse. I will begin setting everything up in here and when you get back we can spend some time going over some more notes. Any questions?" Pansy sat still, dumbfounded at the detail put into these plans. 

"You're cute when you're focused." Hermione flushed pink and Pansy couldn't help but laugh.

"No matter what, my slytherin brain will always take great pleasure in making other people uncomfortable."