Title: Behind The Mask
Author: scarletladyy
Pairings: Pansy/Astoria, background Draco/Astoria
Word Count: 2,223
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Adultery, mentions of violence and torture, Voldemort Wins AU
Summary: Being a Death Eater wasn't for everyone, and Pansy had noticed that her lover was falling apart at the seams trying to mask her anxiety. In an attempt to save her from withdrawing any further, Pansy decides a lifestyle change is in order.
Author's Notes: Written for dexstarr for femmefest 2012. A thousand and one thanks to my beta, G, and to the mods for putting on a fabulous fest.

"You just don't have the stomach for this, do you?"

The question was simple, and Pansy already knew the answer. She asked only to alert Astoria to her knowledge because, as much as Astoria believed she was hiding it, she really wasn't. Not from Pansy, anyway.

Astoria shook her head slightly, but didn't say a word. That was fine with Pansy. As long as Astoria knew that Pansy knew.

"That's all right, my love," Pansy said, walking slowly over to her lover and kissing her on the cheek. "Your secret is safe with me."

"Thank you." Astoria smiled sweetly. It was the kind of smile that made Pansy want to ravish her. "Do you think anyone else knows?"

"No." Nobody else pays enough attention to you, Pansy thought, though she didn't want to say it aloud for fear of hurting Astoria's feelings. As much as the world may have seen her as a cold-hearted bitch, having no problem with forcing Mudbloods to work and sentencing them to their deaths, she wasn't really. To survive in this new world, the one Voldemort and his Death Eaters had created, Pansy couldn't afford to have feelings. If she cared about the people she tortured or killed, or even the ones she glared at, she wouldn't last very long. She'd be a crumpled mess, much like the way Astoria was headed if Pansy didn't do something about it. "I think you're more suited to the high society lifestyle, like the one Narcissa has."

"I know. I just got caught up in following you. Draco seems so enamoured with you that I thought if I were the same, if I were like you, he'd fall in love with me." Astoria looked away, ashamed with her revelation. Although Pansy had suspected this for some time, Astoria had never confirmed it before.

Pansy placed her arms around Astoria's waist, embracing her. "You have me now. Draco is nothing more than a trophy husband."

Astoria laughed. "If only he could hear you say that."

"As much as Draco might love me, even he wouldn't stand for that. Not the new Draco, anyway." Pansy wasn't the only one the new world had changed, either. Ever since they'd won the war, two years earlier, Pansy and Draco had almost drifted apart. What once connected them, the actual war itself, had now gone, and had been replaced with expectations for both of them. Draco had been expected to live up to the old Malfoy name, and become his father's son. He'd adopted the same mask in public that Pansy had, allowing him to right the wrong that was Dumbledore's death, and steadily rise up in Voldemort's ranks. As a consequence, he couldn't let his mask slip. Not even with his best friend.

The only person allowed to see Pansy's true self any more was Astoria. Draco's wife, Astoria, and best friend, Pansy, were left drifting aimlessly when he became the cold, calculated man everyone now feared, so naturally they took comfort in each other. Pansy had always been attracted to women but, for Astoria, it was a whole new journey. An enjoyable, if turbulent, one, for Pansy knew how much it took for Astoria to cheat on her husband, especially when she'd been so obsessed with getting him to love her.

"What will happen to the Ravenclaw girl?" Astoria said quietly as she pulled herself from Pansy's grasp and sat on the sofa.

"It doesn't matter," said Pansy sternly. She hoped Astoria would get the hint and leave off, as she really didn't want to discuss this sort of thing with her lover. Their time together was special and intimate, and Pansy didn't want to ruin that with talk of death.

"She'll be killed, won't she?"

Pansy nodded. "Yes. She was caught trying to escape. She knew the rules and the punishment; her death will not be a surprise to her."

"Still..." Astoria had tears in her eyes. She tried to blink them away, but that just made them fall.

"Hush, now," Pansy said firmly. She sat down next to Astoria and wiped the tears off her face. "We shan't talk of this any longer. I'll let Bellatrix know tonight that you've dropped out and decided to pursue life as a socialite. Considering your, shall we say, clumsy attempts at becoming a torturess, I'm sure she'll be more than pleased."

Astoria managed a smile. While Pansy had established herself among the high ranking Death Eaters, by creating a public mask, Astoria seemed unable to cope, and had done nothing more than make prisoners think she was a laughing stock. For every mistake Astoria had made, Pansy had had to up her game, so that captives left her presence far too afraid to even remember the woman who'd attempted to torture them at the beginning.

"You'll get to make friends with Narcissa too. This'll give you a great opportunity to get into her crowd, as you've always wanted."

"True," agreed Astoria. "Narcissa always did seem to want me to be like her. She seemed upset when it looked as though I was trying to be Bellatrix."

"Narcissa just wanted someone else she could shop with and gossip about." Though the life Pansy had chosen was hard, she'd always known she could never be a socialite or a trophy wife. Most Pureblood girls dreamed of growing up and marrying into a great family, but Pansy had always thought that sounded incredibly dull. She was more like Bellatrix, while Astoria was akin to Narcissa.

"How do you do it?" Astoria said after a few moments of silence. She looked into Pansy's confused face earnestly. "My husband loves you. My mother-in-law adores you. By rights, I should hate you. And yet, I love you too."

Pansy didn't know what to say to that. She never thought she was anything special, having always secretly suffered with confidence issues. There was a reason she'd bullied girls like Hermione in school. "Personally, I think you're all delusional."

"You're using humour as a defence again." Astoria sighed, and it took everything Pansy had not to roll her eyes.

"Well, what do you want me to say?" Pansy leant back against the sofa. "Most people in the world have more than three people who love them. And those people? They don't have hundreds or thousands of others wishing for their deaths. I know what those Mudbloods hope for, Astoria, and it certainly isn't me loving them."

"Narcissa was writing the invitations for her Spring ball this morning," said Astoria sadly. While Pansy used humour as as defence mechanism, Astoria often refused to tackle things head on. She hated arguments, unlike Pansy, who practically revelled in them. "I offered to help, but she turned me down."

Pansy squeezed Astoria's hand reassuringly. "Don't take it personally. You should know by now that it takes a very long time for Narcissa to accept someone new into her life. Besides, tomorrow's announcement of you becoming a socialite will certainly help. It'll give you something to bond over, and you'll find Narcissa's group a lot easier to handle than her."

"I certainly don't doubt that," Astoria agreed, smiling.

"I wish I could vouch for you, but I really can't risk us being connected too. If people start to look at us too closely they may suspect something, and I already have enough people to torture and kill as it is." Pansy could tell Astoria didn't like her little joke, but there she was, using humour to try and lightly justify the horrific actions she was forced to commit. If she didn't properly acknowledge how truly awful they were, it was as though they weren't as bad. Of course in the world Voldemort had created, nobody was going to tell her she was doing wrong bar the Mudbloods and Blood Traitors themselves, and everyone knew their opinion didn't exactly count when it came to such matters. If anything, she'd be told she was too soft.Trying Astoria's tactic to see how well it worked for her, Pansy changed the subject. "Where does Draco think you go when you come here?"

"In all the time we've been going out, you've never once asked that. You can't seriously expect me to believe you're interested now."

Astoria was right; Pansy had never asked that. She began to wonder why it had never tickled her fancy before now. "I'm genuinely curious. I'll be terribly upset if you leave me hanging."

Astoria raised an eyebrow and Pansy laughed. "Somehow, I doubt that."

"You know me too well."

"I tell him I spend all my spare time shopping, and he's no reason to believe otherwise. The only thing he cares about is making sure I don't clean him out. He's given me my own little vault, you know. Separate from the Malfoy one. He says he's doing it to make it easier for me to keep track of my spending, but I know that's not true."

"You must be falling in love with me," Pansy commented, and Astoria looked at her with confusion. "You don't appear sad any more. You seem to have accepted the situation between you and Draco. I remember when we first spent time together how you would cry for hours on end with your head on my lap. I liked the kissing it led to, but you made an awful mess of my robes. I think you've finally let go of Draco and embraced me." Pansy leaned in close, and trailed a gentle finger down Astoria's face. She found a stray lock and tucked it neatly behind Astoria's ear. A lady should never appear any less than perfect, after all.

"Perhaps," said Astoria breathily, "you are right." They locked eyes and Pansy saw the beauty and innocence in Astoria's. It was part of the reason she was so attracted to her. In this world, it was so hard to find anyone like that. Everyone was either wearing a mask like she was, truly inundated with madness, or suffering at their hands. Not even the children were safe any more. Thankfully, Pansy never had to deal with the children of the Mudbloods and Blood Traitors. She knew what happened to them, and she didn't think her mask would be strong enough if she were given that task.

"I am rarely wrong," Pansy said softly, planting a kiss on Astoria's cheek. Her eyes were half-closed as she trailed kisses down to Astoria's neck, around, and back up again until she found her mouth. Astoria's lips were soft and moist, a treat for Pansy to enjoy. How she wanted to explore Astoria's familiar body: caress her small and perfect breasts, pleasure her in the most private of places. But now was not the time and, as much as it pained Pansy to do so, she would have to wait until tomorrow evening to truly take her lover once more. "I must go, my love."

"Surely you can be a little late..." whispered Astoria. Her eyes were shut tight and her breath was hitched. She was ready to be taken, and Pansy knew that, as soon as she left, Astoria would pleasure herself.

"Usually, yes." Pansy kissed Astoria on the lips again, nibbling gently. "But I have a meeting with Bellatrix soon, and she's one of the few I cannot hold up."

"I see." Astoria pulled away; she despised Bellatrix, as did Pansy. Quite frankly, the woman scared her, but Bellatrix seemed to think she and Pansy were more or less on the same page. Not to mention that Bellatrix was basically Pansy's boss, so relations had to remain civil.

Pansy kissed Astoria on the forehead and stood up. "Tomorrow night?" Astoria nodded. "I'll have a surprise for you, to celebrate your first full day as a lady of wizarding high society." Reassured that Astoria was happy about the prospect of a life where she wasn't forced to torture anyone, Pansy blew her lover a kiss and left to meet with Bellatrix. Private meetings weren't usually held this late, but Pansy had a feeling it would be something to do with the Ravenclaw girl that had tried to escape. It would not be a pleasant evening, and going from an innocent, naive young woman to one at the other end of the scale would be trying enough.

Though, no matter how much Pansy had tried to prepare herself on the way, she was not expecting the sight that greeted her as she entered Bellatrix's parlour.

"Good evening, Pansy." Bellatrix smiled at her, but it wasn't a happy smile. It was an evil smile. "I see you recognise our guest."

There, on the floor in the middle of the parlour, was the Ravenclaw girl. She was barely nineteen years old and looked exhausted, but her arms, legs, hands and feet were all tightly bound. There would be no escape for her now. She was petrified, tears streaming down her face as she trembled. The stench of urine hit Pansy's nostrils as she walked further into the room, and the dark stain beneath the girl's crotch signalled that she was so terrified she had wet herself.

Knowing the only way to handle this situation, Pansy put on her mask, smiled coldly at the girl and said, "Good evening, Bellatrix. Looks like we're in for a very long night."