August 2001
.
She giggled with laughter as strong hands wrapped around her, lifting her up off the ground and spinning her around, causing the skirt of her dress to fan out.
"Blaise!" she shrieked, "Put me down!"
"Never, mia bella!" he roared, spinning her around again to her delight as her child-like shrieks filled the apartment.
"I have missed you, cara," he told her, planting a kiss on her cheek.
Pansy rolled her eyes "You only saw me last month!"
"Yes, and it was a month too long. We should be making up for lost time," he stated, nodding. "We shouldn't go that long again."
Pansy squeezed his hand in agreement, before standing up on tiptoes to kiss his cheek, giving him a watery smile.
"Where is Ronald?" he asked, glancing around the flat.
"The lease on the apartment runs out at the end of the week, so he's gone to give notice that he doesn't want to renew."
"Oh?" Blaise quirked an eyebrow, questioningly.
"Don't do that," Pansy admonished "You look scarily like Draco when you do that!"
Blaise chuckled "So what are you going to do? Will you take up my offer to come and stay at the Villa?"
Chewing her bottom lip, she considered the offer, for what must have been the hundredth time, before shaking her head. "No. I think we have both had enough of Europe," she murmured.
"Both?" Blaise inquired, trying and failing to sound casual.
"Yes, both. He and Granger basically spent the last two years bumming around Europe. It didn't end well. Obviously..." she murmured, fiddling with the hem of his shirt.
"Just as well for you" Blaise nodded at the quidditch shirt that she had taken to wearing when Ron wasn't at home, despite her new wardrobe.
"Shut it," she smirked.
.
Blaise handed the delivery boy a rather large tip before kicking the door shut with his heel. Dropping the takeaway bags down on the coffee table, he laughed at Pansy's feeble attempt to wrap the dragon figurine in the bubble wrap. She might have found it easier if she had known the counter charm to make the damn thing remain still. Smelling the food, Ron came out of the bedroom holding various quidditch items.
"I'm starving" he stated, dropping the gear on the floor and settling down on the sofa next to Pansy. He frowned at her as she tried, in vain, to get the dragon to sit still.
"Garrrgh!" she huffed, giving up. Ron took the creature gently from her hand, muttering the counter charm before placing it back in her open palm. "Present from Charlie when I graduated," he explained. Pansy looked down at the figurine. It was a hungarian horntail, just like Potter had faced off against during the TriWizard Tournament.
.
"How can you have so many clothes?" she groaned "Seriously, you have more than me. I mean, alright, I know that's not hard right now because I have bugger all, but what I mean to say is that YOU have more clothes than me, a GIRL," she rambled, blushing, as they packed the clothes into boxes.
.
Furious tapping at the window caused the three to look up sharply from their tasks. Frowning, Ron made his way over to the window, opening it enough for the Ministry owl to drop it's package before gliding away into the evening air.
"It's for you mate" he informed Blaise, handing him the rather official looking envelope.
With a small amount of trepidation, Blaise took the envelope and opened it. The tension in the room was palpable and Pansy could have sworn the other two could hear her heart beating. Blaise's narrow gaze scanned the contents, before handing it to Pansy.
"It's actually for you," he told her, "it's from Theo."
With a deep breath, Pansy took the letter, reading through the contents. "He did it," she whispered, shocked. "He actually did it," she stated a little more audibly. "He actually fucking did it!" she cried, scrambling to her feet, waving the paperwork at Ron for him to take. It was only then that she realised she was crying.
.
Having finished the bottle of champagne that Ron had run out to buy to celebrate, they had moved on to Firewhiskey. Pansy clutched her sides, laughing at Ron's joke, while Blaise looked on, presuming that you really needed to spend more time with Ron than he had to derive that amount of mirth from his humour. Tears rolled down her cheeks, not for the first time that evening, but at least they were happy tears, he mused.
"So where to now?" Blaise asked, glancing from Pansy to Ron. Pansy chewed her lip thoughtfully.
"Not Europe" Ron stated "But apart from that I haven't any idea."
Pansy's face lit up "Oh! Wait! I know!" she scrambled to her feet from where she had been sat on the floor. Reaching the other side of the room, she started moving the boxes they had packed earlier.
"What on earth are you doing?" Blaise asked, bemused.
"Hey! Don't start UNpacking" Ron complained, reaching across the sofa for a cushion & chucking it at Pansy, hitting her square on the bum.
"OI!" she shrieked, glaring at him. "I am looking for something I found earlier!" She turned her attention back to the box, leaning into it, all but disappearing. Rooting around, she chucked several guidebooks and maps, both muggle and wizard, out of the box, before pulling herself upright. Ron blanched a little at the sight of the little pile of books. He had forgotten he had them.
Gathering the little pile to her, Pansy made her way over to the coffee table, depositing the books next to the almost empty bottle of Ogden's finest. Settling down beside Ron, she grabbed the first one off the pile, catching the look on his face and hearing him gulp as he recognised the title.
"Oh yea, not Europe," she murmured, quickly stashing the book to one side, realising her inadvertent faux pas. Although Ron had never actually explained in detail the demise of his relationship with Granger, she had surmised enough to now realise that the book was one of hers, and that his insistence that they travel to somewhere beyond Europe was his way of putting her and their shared history behind him. It suited her as she felt she needed a clean slate, and what better way than to leave Europe behind for a while? While she was grateful to Theo, for giving her the option to return to Britain, it was not an option she wished to take for now.
Grabbing the next book from the pile, she smiled broadly realising it was an atlas.
"Ooooh!" she cried, leaping from the sofa, and heading into the bedroom. The two men sat staring, confused, as they heard what sounded like her rooting around the drawer of his desk. Moments later she returned, holding something aloft as though it were a prize. As if to punctuate this she cried, "Ta da!"
She held it out to Ron, who stared at it a moment before frowning, and looking up at Pansy.
"It's a pin," he stated, as though he was sure he was missing something.
Pansy rolled her eyes, "Yes, Ronald, it's a pin. And you are going to place it in the atlas and wherever it hits, that is where we will go."
Drunk or not, this seemed like as good a plan as any, Ron decided; grabbing the book he opened it and, taking the pin, he shut his eyes, stabbing it down into the page.
"Where did it land then, Weasley?" Blaise asked, intrigued.
Ron looked down, pulling a face that read "fair enough" before twisting the book around for Pansy to see.
Smiling at the result, she nodded to Ron before turning to Blaise, the grin lighting up her face. She really did look the best she had in years, he thought.
"Morocco."
FIN
.
A/N
As always, thank you to my beautiful friends xxDustNight88 and Torigingerfox for their brilliant support while I have been writing this series, especially xxDustNight88 who has beta'd P for Pansy and created the awesome cover that I is on my tumblr. You girls are amazing and I love you because without you two this series would still be in my head! Thanks also to my Mum who beta'd the last few chapters while my beta was on holiday so you lovely readers didn't have to wait for her to come home. I am overwhelmed by the amount of people who have read the stories, esp M for Murder! and those of you who took the time to review. I think it would be nice to come back and write a couple of one shots and of course Wizarding Law and Order needs an update or two but I think I am done with the multi-chapter fics for this series. That makes me feel a little sad because I have loved every minute of writing these characters :)
Much love D84 x