Written for the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition round 2. This challenge was to write about a Slytherin x Slytherin friendship. Optional Prompts: (word) mirror, (word) partner, (opening sentence) It had been a very long day. Enjoy!
The Fashion of Friendship
It had been a very long day. Pansy breathed a sigh of relief as she finally turned the closed sign on her fashion shop for the night and took a moment to sit down at her desk in the back. She had been on her feet for what felt like days helping what felt like thousands of witches and wizards find the perfect set of robes or dress, and while the money and success were heartening, she couldn't help but be relieved the day was finally over.
After graduating from Hogwarts and surviving the horrors of the Second Wizarding World War, Pansy had desired nothing more than to get away from the people constantly pointing and staring as she walked around the streets of London. Yes she had been a Slytherin, yes she had made her fair share of mistakes, and yes her family had been questioned for Death Eater activity, but did that mean she didn't have the right to live her life?
Her on-again, off-again relationship with Draco Malfoy had ended with a scandal big enough to drown the whole country, and Pansy had just been done with everything. The reasons behind her break up with Draco should have been between them, but instead the entire female population of the Wizarding World seemed to believe they had a right to an opinion on it.
Pansy had given up on England after only a few months and moved to France.
Her fashion shop had opened up not long after, and Pansy had been enjoying the fruits of her own success ever since. In fact, she hadn't even heard from any of her Hogwarts classmates since she had left, but oddly enough, that fact didn't sting as much as she would have once thought. The only person she truly missed was…
"Ms. Parkinson?" Pansy's assistant Jeannine asked, knocking on the door to her office.
"What is it Jeannine?" Pansy asked with a tired smile.
"I'm sorry to bother you after hours, Miss, but this message came for you by owl, and I thought…"
"I'll take it, Jeannine." Pansy stood up and accepted the parchment. "Thank you, Jeannine. You may go home now. It's been a long day for both of us."
"Thank you Ms. Parkinson. I'll see you tomorrow."
Pansy waited until she heard the sound of her assistant's heels disappeared to turn back to the letter in her hand. Glancing down at the address, her heart leapt, and she tore into the envelope like a child on Christmas.
Dear Pansy,
It's been too long since I last saw you, and I've been thinking a lot about you lately. I was wondering if you would be available to stop and visit with me at my flat this evening? If not, I will just have to stop and see you tomorrow after your shop closes. Feel free to simply floo in at your convenience, and if I don't see you tonight, I'll see you tomorrow.
Your friend,
Daphne Greengrass
Pansy felt her smile stretch from ear to ear as she reread her friend's message and invitation. The weariness of the day dropped from her shoulders as she stood up and turned to her fireplace. She tossed a handful of floo powder onto the hearth and called out her friend's address.
A moment later, she was standing on a fine rug brushing soot from her dress robes as she heard a gasp of surprise from across the room. She barely had time to look up before she was engulfed in an embrace, and her vision had been reduced to a mass of shiny blonde hair.
"Oh Pansy, it's so good to see you again!" Daphne exclaimed excitedly. "How are you?" she added, pulling away and looking Pansy up and down.
"Busy but free," Pansy sighed with a smile. "It feels so good to get away from everyone who thinks I'm some sort of wicked witch and live," she explained.
"How's the shop?" Daphne encouraged.
"It's doing better than I ever imagined," Pansy grinned. "The papers say I may have the top shop in the country by the end of the year."
"Oh Pans, that's wonderful!" Daphne exclaimed, clapping her hands. "I always knew you'd do well. But forgive me, you must be exhausted! Please sit and I'll get us some tea."
Pansy gratefully perched herself on the nearest couch and looked around the room as Daphne bustled off to the kitchen.
Daphne's flat was modest but stylish and clearly showed the signs of a single woman who is not home enough.
"I'm sure you're used to better," Daphne sighed, noticing her friend's examination. "I'm sorry."
"Now why would you apologize? This is lovely!" Pansy assured her. "Daphne…what's wrong?" she added as she saw her friend continue to look uncomfortable. "We used to spend night after night sharing everything with each other – you can trust me."
"I know I can, and I have to admit I asked to see you partly to ask for your help," Daphne admitted. "I-I don't know what to do with my life at the moment, you see, and I thought…"
"You know I'll do anything and everything I can to help you," Pansy said quickly. "Tell me what's going on," she coaxed, pulling Daphne to sit beside her on the couch.
"My sister's getting married," Daphne whispered, staring at her hands clasped neatly on her lap.
"Astoria?" Pansy asked. "Wow…who's the lucky man?"
"Draco Malfoy," Daphne replied in the same quiet voice, still staring at her locked fingers.
"I don't understand," Pansy began hesitantly. "I thought you said he was an arrogant prat. Why are you upset?"
"I didn't want to marry him or anything like that," Daphne said, her hands beginning to shake. "I-I just…"
"You just what?"
"I…I just thought I'd be married by now," she admitted, tears leaking from her eyes. "I thought someone would have wanted me and courted me and loved me and-"
Pansy put her hand on top of her friend's hands firmly, stopping Daphne's rambling.
"I'm sorry," Daphne said after a moment. "I've been holding that in for a while."
"It's alright," Pansy smiled. "I know how you feel," she added. "We both envisioned our futures a lot different from how they turned out, but don't you think that's for the best? I mean, we saw ourselves becoming glorified jewelry with a husband that maybe cared enough for us not to cheat. Instead, we have the chance to live and make our own happiness."
"You have the chance," Daphne corrected. "You left, and Merlin how I wish I had too! My parents are ashamed of me. They keep threatening to cut me off if I don't get married soon, but I just want something more than they have planned for me. But then I look in the mirror and wonder if I truly deserve more…or if I'm suited for more."
"Daphne, you cannot think that way!" Pansy said sternly. "You deserve as much as you want for yourself. If you want a real marriage with love and honor, there's nothing wrong with that. Now, your sister may very well have landed a marriage like that, but that doesn't mean you have to take the same path. I'm certainly not going to! When I look at you, I see a woman who deserves to shine and be loved for the star she is."
"You mean it?" Daphne sniffed through her renewed tears.
"I promise, I do," Pansy nodded. "I won't pretend it was easy to pack up and leave, but I have never been more grateful for a decision in my life. Because I left here, I have a life and a chance at happiness, and I'm not saying you have to take my path either, but maybe a change is just what you need right now. If you could do anything, what would it be?"
Daphne thought for a moment. "I want to work in fashion like you, Pans," she finally announced. "We always loved to play around with clothes in school, and it would be the perfect escape from whatever this is here," she added, gesturing around her living room. "I want a chance to be on my own and find what I want, like you did."
Pansy beamed at her friend. "You know, I think this is fate and perfection rolled into one."
"How so?"
"Well, I've been thinking a lot about the shop and how much work it is for me all by myself. I started thinking that maybe I should get a partner to help me take care of the place, but until now I've never found anyone suitable."
"Until now?" Daphne repeated, her voice rising in hope.
"How about it, Daph?" Pansy asked excitedly, leaning close to her friend. "Want to be my business partner? Then we can be a couple of single witches with the best fashion shop in all of France. Men will be flocking to us in droves, and it will be because of something we did rather than what we were born with. What do you think?"
"I think that sounds like heaven!" Daphne admitted with a smile to match her friend's.
"Come back with me tonight, and tomorrow after work we can move you out of here," Pansy suggested. "It'll be just like our Hogwarts days again – except we won't have the annoying boys across the hall snoring all night and keeping us awake."
Arm in arm, the girls giggled as they moved towards the fire and flooed back to France and their future together as partners, and more importantly, best friends.