This is for the Hogwarts Games Competition with the prompts echoes, panic, BlaisePansy, coffee shop, and Transfiguration. This is all my muse could come up with… -_-
Ordering coffee should not be this awkward. It should be a mindless activity; you stand in line, place your order, take your cup, and leave. No eye contact is made, and there is no obligation to make fumbling attempts at small talk. But as much as you believe this to be true intellectually, you won't deny that it is a bit jarring to see Pansy Parkinson behind the till at the coffee shop in Diagon Alley.
There's an odd uncomfortable feeling in the pit of your stomach. If there is a word for it, you'd really like to know what it is for future reference. You suppose it is like shock or panic but for no other reason than because something did not turn out the way you expected and so now you are at a loss as to what you should do. Because something just seems all wrong and you have to step back and reexamine the way you thought about things. It's when you see someone and wonder how they went from being a person you know to a person you used to know. When you realize they are suddenly just a person you knew. Past tense.
It's foolish really. You were never friends with Pansy. Not even in school. She didn't have friends; she had acquaintances and you had no interest in being one of them. Maintaining neutrality has always been your priority and it suits you just fine.
Now that you see her though, you have to admit it's amusing to watch her do such menial tasks - taking orders and straightening shelves piled high with the Daily Prophet or Transfiguration Today. She was never one to get her hands dirty, but you suppose she doesn't have a choice; she doesn't come from money. Not all Slytherins do though she'd always done her best to distract your peers from this fact in school. Her Ice Queen persona had certainly discouraged anyone from making derisive comments. But to see her go from Ice Queen to this?
Her usually perfect hair is wispy and pulled back in a messy bun on top of her head to keep it out of the way. Her pug-like features are even more exaggerated without makeup and someone to look down on. Coffee stains adorn the front of her apron, and you think that this is not the Pansy you know…used to know… knew…
This Pansy looks defeated.
The only resemblance you find is in her shrieking voice as it echoes throughout the shop, calling for the boy in the back to get off his lazy arse. And you smile a bit, but then she looks up and she sees you, so you try to compose your face into an expression that is passive.
She doesn't try at all.
"What do you want, Zabini?"
You clear your throat and the words come out mechanically. "Coffee. Black. To go."
Nothing says 'get me out of here' like going to a coffee shop and ordering nothing but black coffee.
She rolls her eyes and gives you your change before turning away from you. In a moment she puts a travel cup in front of you and you are sure if it wasn't full of hot coffee she would have slammed it.
"I…er…"
She puts a hand on her hip, and you stop mid-mumble. It's as though she's daring you to say something rude, but you don't even know why you said anything at all. Nothing witty comes to mind so you toss a few Knuts into the tip jar and swiftly make your way out the door.
And the part of you that cares but doesn't know why can only think that it's a shame about that Pansy Parkinson.
"A damn shame."