Pansy sat silently, waiting for the barmaid to finish serving them. But even after she'd set down their drinks (a cup of coffee for him, a double shot of the bar's finest Firewhisky for her) and left, Pansy found herself unable to speak, not knowing how or where to even begin.
Silence stretched between them until Harry finally put his cup down with a loud sigh. "I'm doing this as a favor to Zabini, Parkinson. If you don't start talking before I finish my coffee, I'm leaving."
Her lips thinned to a sullen line. Begging Harry Potter for help nauseated her, but she had no other options left. She picked up her drink and tilted the glass against her mouth, savoring the fiery taste of the alcohol. Carefully, she placed the glass back on the table.
"I didn't see anything at first," she began, her gloved hand tracing the whorls on the surface of the wooden table. "Just the faintest prickle on the back of my neck as I walked down a street. I brushed it off, telling myself that I needed to stop reading those crime stories in the back of the Daily Prophet. Then I started to see things. The flash of black hair at the edge of a crowd. The sweep of a familiar cloak around a corner. It wasn't long before I finally saw…it." Pansy paused, and then shook her head in disbelief. "I was in Hogsmeade, doing a bit of shopping. It had been a cold and rainy afternoon so I decided to stop for tea before going back home. As I looked out the window, I saw…myself…standing across the street. I dropped the cup I was holding in my hand. When I looked up from the mess, it was gone." She sighed and bit her lip. "I wish I could say that was the last I saw of it."
Glancing down, Pansy found that she'd pulled off her gloves and had been toying with the fingers, twisting the fine leather into wrinkled lumps. She shoved them aside irritably.
"Are you telling me you saw your doppelganger?"
Pansy's head shot up. Harry was watching her, curiosity and doubt shading his eyes.
"Don't bother telling me to just take myself over to St. Mungo's," she said with a shaky laugh. "I've already considered that option." Taking a deep breath, she added, "I don't know what's happening to me, why I'm seeing things. I feel like I'm slowly losing my mind, Potter, and I'd like to have it back as I'm very fond of it."
Harry was silent for a moment. Then he said, "I don't think you're crazy. Well, not that kind of crazy," he added with a wry twist to his mouth.
"How very flattering," she replied with a roll of her eyes. In a more quiet tone, Pansy asked, "Will you help me?"
Harry nodded. "I think we should start right away."