#evening12

I find both the development of fanon Pansy and the question of her redemption arc a fascinating one. One of the things I did a few years ago after a reasonable period of writing Pansy femslash was revisit the times she appears in canon, and I realised I was miles away from writing her as she’s portrayed, because I had developed such a strong headcanon for her. One thing I forgot about Pansy after reading various iterations of her as a cool, suave, sophisticate, is how in canon she has a stereotypically 'girly' style, with her infamous pink frilly robes which she wears to the Triwizard ball. In canon, this kind of frilly girlishness is primarily associated with one other character: Dolores Umbridge. I take it from this and other steers from JKR that we’re not meant to like Pansy, any more than we’re meant to like Draco, although I don’t think the way the author intends the character to be read should be a barrier to the way characters are depicted in transformative works.

Pansy has a propensity to be cruel, with a serious nasty streak. In more Pansy-sympathetic fic, this nastiness, much like Draco’s, gets recast as dry humour which no longer has malicious force. She also spends much of canon giggling uncontrollably, simpering, screeching and shrieking, far from the cool, classy sort of wit I often associate with fanon Pansy. Hermione also doesn't seem to rate her intelligence, a damning callout from Hermione if ever there was one, yet she often seems pretty smart in fic. In contrast to Draco, there is little to no canon redemption arc for Pansy, while Draco gets more text devoted to the fact he exhibits serious doubts about the path he’s on. Both Draco and Pansy, in the end, demonstrate what I read as a desperate investment in self-preservation - Draco with his “I’m on your side!” and Pansy with her willingness to turn Harry in. We don’t even get a nod from Pansy in the dreaded Epilogue, as we do from Draco, so the books leave us with this last, damning moment of her wanting to turn Harry in.

On that basis, and moving on from canon to headcanons, I think you can take Pansy in any direction after the war. We don’t have the same foundations laid for a tentative redemption arc that we have with Draco and we don’t really need them because she’s a pretty minor character. Her experiences could change her so enormously she becomes someone completely different as she matures. I can’t imagine she retains any kind of Queen Bee status in a post-war world and that too must shape her post-war path. You could flesh out her story in a way which adds dimensions to her character, internal struggles, subtext behind the text and so on which gets her to a place which invites empathy and understanding. You could have her becoming more isolated, jealous, bitter and furious, and take her down a much darker, more self-destructive path. She could become a Lucius-esque sort of character, invested in ascending to a place of high social standing once again, without ever really altering her moral compass, or you could surround her with people who drastically influence the way she sees the world and help her see it through another lens. 

In terms of my personal headcanon, I tend to think the actions of those around her are important. I imagine the post-war Slytherins and those on the wrong side experiencing a massive shift in their social status and becoming ostracised. I’m back to Harry again, but one of my favourite redemption arcs for Pansy comes when a post-war Harry extends the olive branch to her or steps in when he sees her on the other side of bullying, in an attempt to mend fractures between those on opposing sides during the war. I read the hell out of down and out Slytherin scenarios which explore that kind of dynamic and see that kind of intervention as the point at which you could start her redemption arc. Having said all of that, I would also buy taking her character somewhere far less forgiving and would enjoy reading that too. Basically, I think if it’s possible to get Draco to a point of loved-up contentment with Harry, it’s possible to get Pansy there too, as they exhibit similar characteristics, with one simply having more importance to Harry’s story than the other.