Until the End ~ A Dransy Fic

II- The Red Car

(a/n: To enhance your reading experience, I'd recommend listening to this song during part of this chapter, you'll know when to hit play)

~Five Years Later~

Draco leaned against the cold gate outside of Malfoy Manor and fidgeted with one of the wrought iron snakes protruding from it, awaiting the arrival of his carpool to take him to Platform 9¾. He absentmindedly drew circles in the gravel with the heel of his dress shoe, stopping abruptly when he remembered how many galleons the shoes had cost. Dark grey clouds made their way across an equally dark and dull sky, and they matched the clouds swirling around the inside of Draco's head.

Ordinarily, he would be excited to board the train and leave his arguing parents behind behind, but this year he dreaded it, for he possessed a burden to bear, a task to perform he couldn't tell anyone about. Not even you, dear reader. 

He looked up from his sulking to see a blood-red muggle Volkswagen Beetle pull up in the driveway. The driver's side window rolled down to reveal a smiling Pansy, wearing black eyeliner and lipstick that matched the blood-red colour of the car. She waved and honked the horn at him to hop in. All of his worries were temporarily relieved at the sight of his best friend in the whole wide world pulling up to his house. Throwing her a quick smile, he picked up his trunk and set off at a trot toward the small car. 

When he opened the door, not only had the back seat expanded to easily three or four times the size it looked on the outside, but Blaise Zabini, Theo Nott, and Crabbe and Goyle were already comfortably positioned in it. Crabbe was scarfing down chocolate chip cookies from a tin and Blaise snatched it away from him before he could take anymore.

"Oh hey, fancy seeing this lot today," Draco said, surprised to see his other friends in the carpool. Blaise and Theo scooted apart to make a spot for him to sit in. "Nice ride ya got here," he added, sitting himself in between the two.

"I know, right?" grinned Pansy. The others nodded in agreement. "I got it for my birthday, and our neighbor helped me charm it in order to fit you losers." 

"I thought your parents hated muggles, and muggle things," Draco said.

"Yes, all of our parents hate muggles," Blaise pointed out. "But notice that she never told us where she got it from."

"That's... fair." Draco nodded.

"Yeah, thanks unknowing-next-door neighbors!" Pansy laughed sadly and fiddled with the knobs on the muggle radio that was fixed at the front of the car for a bit, until an acoustic guitar riff signaled the beginning of a muggle folk song. Apparently deciding it was the perfect soundtrack for the ride, she hit the gas and took off down the Malfoys' long driveway.

Despite the happy introduction, nobody said anything for a while they were listening to the song, even Crabbe and Goyle were too busy eating to make noise. Draco stared out the window and sighed as they drove through the grey countryside, and let the haunting harmonies fill his ears, the tone of the song matching the energy of the dreary day.

He looked up at Pansy's face in the rearview mirror. He noticed that she'd changed a lot over the years. Not only had she taken to wearing makeup, but her puggy, squished-up face had gone away, revealing surprisingly pretty bone structure and wide brown eyes. His stomach flipped when she caught him staring, and he quickly looked down at his hands.

What will those eyes look like when she hears about what he's going to do? Will salty tears roll down from them like rain? Or will fire and anger cut like daggers through them? A scary thought popped into his head. What if she leaves me? He worried silently. What if I become alone without her? A knife seemed to slash Draco's heart as he was picturing his life without Pansy in it.

Feelings of anxiety, guilt, and sadness formed tornados inside his brain, bringing his overall mood down substantially from what it had been. He wholeheartedly wished he could tell Pansy about this issue, but he'd sworn to secrecy with Snape, his mother, and the Dark Lord himself.