Seven Steps || Drarry

Part 21

"His name was Tom."

Draco looked up from filling his glass, "What?"

Pansy tipped back the bottle in her hands and managed three gulps before she started coughing.

"You deserve that," Draco said, "Only a moron tries to chug champagne."

Pansy wiped her mouth. "It burns-" she choked out.

Draco rolled his eyes and sipped the very nice champagne Mother had gotten for them, leaning back on the couch he was sharing with Pansy in the sitting area in her bedroom.

"Draco! His name was Tom. Tom Marvolo Riddle," Pansy held up the book her mother had sent her about the wars. "No wonder he changed it to Voldemort." She gulped more champagne.

Draco skimmed over the page, his eyebrows rising, "An anagram? Oh, that is so tacky."

Pansy snorted and fell to another coughing fit.

Draco smirked.

"fuck you," Pansy said after another weak cough.

Draco picked up a glass from the table and offered it to her.

Pansy pointedly tipped the bottle up for another swallow, more successfully this time.

"If you want to get drunk that badly, I can get the fire whiskey," Draco said putting the glass back.

"Champagne first," Pansy said, "It's new years, you're meant to have champagne on new years."

"Not the way you're drinking it," Draco said, taking a sip and enjoying the bubbles on his tongue.

Pansy picked up her book again, "Can you imagine if he hadn't picked a new name?" She put on a snotty voice, "Hello I'm Tom, I like murder and blood supremacy, it gets me off."

Draco laughed.

Pansy grinned and flipped to the next page, "Fucking fuck-"

"What-?"

"-Tom was a half-blood," Pansy said

Draco blinked, "That's not- Wouldn't the papers have said something?"

Pansy dropped the book between them and tapped on the page, "See! His father was a fucking muggle!"

Draco read the section and then reread it.

"The papers are too busy beating off to Potter and his lot. Besides this sort of thing would have made it look like any wizard could go off their fucking rocker. It would completely ruin the evil pure-blood rhetoric they have going on," Pansy took another drink of champagne, and shoved the book onto the floor.

"Merlin," Draco sighed, leaning back.

"Do you think it's his fault?" Pansy asked.

"The war? I'm pretty sure it was," Draco said.

Pansy kicked at him, managing by sheer luck to clip him with her heel.

Draco batted her foot away with a glare.

"I meant-" Pansy took a deep breath, "I meant ruining it- Slytherin loyalty. Before him maybe it was loyalty, and he ruined it. He's why it's obedience now."

Draco took a rather larger sip of champagne and topped up his glass.

"Parents and Deatheaters and upper years all telling us to be loyal when they meant obedient, stupid and obedient," Pansy muttered, "It's too late for us to fix it. Isn't it? I mean, I could tell the younger years that loyalty means- should mean being loyal to those that are loyal to you but- but they wouldn't listen because it's me, the bint that tried to hand Potter over to the dark- to Tom."