Chapter 14

Harry lead them to a small muggle café. It had little tables that were covered in a table cloth. The wooden floors were a light stain wood while the chairs and table were dark. The lights were bright and drew the eyes towards a board that listed all items for sale. Pansy decided she would get the raspberry tea and the large sugar cookie, and probably the turkey sandwich. Harry trailed behind her, looking at the food behind the glass. His hand rested on her lower back, he did most of the talking at they paid. Pansy didn't get muggle money, it was so tiny and they used paper and coins. Everyone seemed to have a different name for the muggle money too.

They sat towards the window- though the window seats had been taken. One of the girls from the counter brought their drinks and food out quickly before moving to clean another table. Pansy liked the hustle of the café. Wizard cafes could have servers, but they had wands unlike the muggles, and unless you went to a fancy café were not likely to find many people to help you. It was a nice change.

"What's your fondest memory of Hogwarts?" Harry asked. He had broken the silence after a few moments of eating quietly. Pansy thought for a moment.

"This one time, Daphne and I decided to sit out by the great lake when some Hufflepuffs decided to mess around and the Giant Squid got annoyed. We got soaked and tried to get back at them." Pansy smiled. Harry chuckled.

"What about you?" Pansy asked.

"I think it was my time exploring the castle. Fred and George gave us this map in our third year. Also going to the kitchens." Harry told her.

"You found the kitchens? I never got to go. Draco and everyone had parents sending them packages all the time," Pansy told him. Harry scowled for a second before shaking his head.

"Yeah, we didn't go often," Harry told her. Pansy shrugged.

"Beside Defense Against the Dark Arts what was your favorite subject? I really liked Charms and Herbology. History was a disaster!" Pansy said. Harry smiled at her before replying. Everyone at Hogwarts had known Harry Potter was the best at Defense Against the Dark Arts, even Draco.

"Hermione liked History," Harry quipped. Pansy tried not to roll her eyes or say something mean. Granger and Potter had been friends longer then he had been friends with her.

"You know there was a rumor that you and Granger were together," Pansy told him. Daphne had started the rumor to annoy Weasley's sister who Blaise at the time had a crush on.

"We kissed once, but no…" Harry said. Pansy shrugged and took a bite out of her sandwich- she hadn't meant for things to get awkward.

"Well everyone thinks that Draco and I were a couple, so I get it," Pansy sighed. Harry stared at her before he took a bite of his sandwich.

"And?" Harry asked.

"I've known his since he was a baby. Our mothers use to be very good friends. It's hard to find someone who you've seen as a brother as a romantic option." Pansy said.

"What were we talking about?" Harry asked as the conversation lulled.

"Favorite school subject?" Pansy answered.

"Oh right, besides Defense Against the Dark Arts," Harry muttered.

"Right," Pansy agreed.

"Transfiguration? I dunno, Potions was better after Snape stop teaching." Harry said.

"I didn't go for an O.W.L in Potions," Pansy said proudly. She'd not liked or had been good at potions. Charms had been her best subject followed by transfiguration.

"Really," Harry frowned before asking, "Did you go back to do your seventh year again?"

"Yeah, Nott and I dated that whole year. Lost my virginity to him and then he broke up with me. He left England after Hogwarts. I think he works for his uncle or something like that," Pansy told him.

"I lost my virginity to Cho Chang. After the battle and everything I took off for a month. Just travelled around, she was in Dublin and looked her up. I went home afterward and Ginny and I started dating." Harry told her.

"Does Weasley know?" Pansy asked.

"Yeah, back then we talked about everything. The four of us thought we'd ride happily into the sunset and all that. But then Hermione wanted to change the Ministry, Ron wanted kids. Ginny wanted to get married have some kids in a couple of years. I broke it off with her, Hermione and Ron really broke up. It was weird. I may have worked a little too hard…and fucked around a little bit. But I missed Ginny so we got back together." Harry sighed.

"That sounds…" Pansy didn't know what to say. She remembered Potter telling her they'd been on break and then officially broke up because she was jealous and there were trust issues. She had always thought the trust issues were because Ginny had cheated.

"Yeah, though this time when we were together she was jealous. I don't get it though. She dated a guy while we were broken up." Harry sighed.

"Were you all in the second time?" Pansy asked. It sounded like he'd just missed the comfort of having Weasley around and no matter how much Pansy didn't like her Pansy got why she'd confront his flings and Harry. Weasley deserved someone who wanted to be with her and have children with her, Harry had been an asshole.

"I wanted to be," Harry told her. He looked guilty. Pansy wondered if this had strained his relationship with the Weasley family or if they had tried to stay out of it.

"But…?" Pansy hedged. Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"I thought the jealous thing was hot and she'd get jealous we'd fuck. I guess I thought she'd grow out of it. And then I didn't really talk about getting married or where I saw us in like five years. So we took a break. Six months to figure things out." Harry shrugged. Pansy wanted to shake him.

"And you couldn't tell her how you were feeling?" Pansy asked. Though she avoided sharing her feeling with her close friends Pansy still felt the need to judge. Harry fucking Potter had totally led someone one.

"I tried, but Ginny sometimes wouldn't listen. I mean I had the world on my shoulders and then I'm finally free. I just wanted some time. I didn't know how much time and that's what got her. And when we were on break and I started talking to Luna…she lost it. And then she got to you…" Harry sighed.

"You're an asshole Potter," Pansy told him. Harry gave her a small smile but nodded.

"I know, I want the things she wants but not now, and she wants them now. I love, loved, her but…" Harry looked away. He looked sad and Pansy felt sad for him. She wondered if he even knew what he wanted anymore. He'd defeated the Dark Lord and worked on bringing everyone who shared his values down, she could tell Harry still wanted to do that. But Pansy wondered if he knew what else, outside of The Boy Who Lived, he wanted.

"You need to apologize for wasting her time though. If you weren't all in the second time…why even try again? You knew she had a different time line," Pansy said.

"I…I know," Harry said. He again looked out the window. Pansy remembered all the times her mother had tried to change her, or thinking she could change for her mother. It sucked, it sucked big hippogriff balls.

"Do you even know what you want?" Pansy asked. Harry stared at her, a frown on his face. Their tea was cold now but Pansy took a sip anyway. It distracted her from Harry's intense stare.

"Do you?" Harry deflected. Pansy wanted to laugh but she was afraid she'd sound too bitter.

"I want stability. I want a relationship and friends. I want to feel loved. Maybe one day I'll get married and have kids," Pansy told him, "but right now I want stability."

"Well at least one of us has got their sit together," Harry joked.

"I guess," Pansy shrugged.

"At least we aren't Hermione and Malfoy," Harry smiled. He lighten the mood and Pansy was grateful.

"True, I'm not dating until after the fundraiser is finalized," Pansy told him. She wanted to ask how he figured Draco and Granger out but decided they weren't good at keeping it a secret.

Lavender Brown sat in her office. She wore regular robes, meaning today was her day off. Pansy racked her brain trying to remember if they had a meeting set up or not. Maxine was good about reminding her when she had meeting or papers to sign. And half her staff was out doing official visits or checking up on new families that had either been referred or placed on their list.

"Sorry, didn't know we were meeting," Pansy told. She knew she'd written an owl earlier in the week or was it the week before?

"Oh, I can go…" Lavender began.

"No, it's fine. Let, ah, find some paper," Pansy smiled. Lavender nodded and sat down. Pansy knew she need some more pictures and paintings for the wall.

"I just have some updates, and notes and just, ah, wanted to keep you informed. I heard about the poop being sent to you," Lavender told her.

"And teeth," Pansy sighed. Lavender gave her a quick smile before nodded.

"So, I gave your assistant a list of families who have doing better and who still need therapy. St. Mungo's has asked me to start a ward for the mentally ill. I was wondering if you would want to have some input?" Lavender asked. Pansy stared at her for a second before trying to remember if she'd heard about this.

"Yes, of course, when did this happen?" Pansy asked. Lavender smiled, which looked painful, and shrugged.

"Only a couple of days again. I think they'll probably tell Clearwater tomorrow or today." Lavender told her. Pansy thought about what Harry had said about Parkinson Manor. She would probably never set foot in that place again. Her mother was barely staying afloat with her bills and had trashed the place, Pansy would keep her out.

"Would…if I donated Parkinson Manor would it influence how you set up the ward?" Pansy asked. Lavender stared at her with a frown, which also looked painful.

"Maybe, but I know you don't want to give the Manor up," Lavender told her. Pansy nodded, it had been her home for so many years.

"I'm trying to clean it up myself, you should join me one time. Tell me what you think," Pansy said.

"Maybe," Lavender said. She looked uncomfortable and Pansy wondered how often she went out. She remembered at school Lavender had been a social butterfly, and not just in her house. But Pansy hadn't been that social after the Great War had ended and she didn't really listen to gossip.

"I'll owl you my home address, we can go together." Pansy began, "Sometimes Harry come with me, to help."

"Harry Potter?" Lavender asked. She looked as though she wanted to ask a thousand more questions but stopped herself. Pansy wondered if Harry had to defend his time with her or the confusion of it all.

"Yes," Pansy said. If Lavender came because of Harry she could live with that. But Pansy thought she might be looking for a friend too.

"Right, well, I'll talk to a couple of people about some of their case while I'm here," Lavender said. She got up gracefully and walked towards the door slowly. Pansy wondered if she was supposed to say something more, but she couldn't think of anything else to talk about.

The rest of the work week went much of the same. Meetings after meetings after meetings about cases, the fundraiser and the growing politics that the department was being dragged into. Apparently, Granger was pushing several cases in front of the Wizengamot, many witches and wizards were for the reforms, but some felt she was going too far with her new cases. Pansy hadn't stayed up to date on most of the reforms- she didn't want to get into politics with anyone. No matter where Pansy stood someone would always remember her for trying to get Harry to the Dark Lord.

Friday, she sent Lavender her home address. Maybe she'd come with her, maybe she wouldn't. Pansy checked her mail after she changed out of her work robes. She stared at her bookshelf before deciding to just make herself some dinner. Pasta was the easiest and fastest thing to make. A quick jab of her wand and the water would boil in no time. She could chop up some garlic and sauté some broccoli and spinach to go with it. If she'd thought about dinner properly, she could have made some pepper chicken.

Pansy was half way through preparing the vegetables when there was a knock on her door. She frowned, kept her wand down and looked through the peep hole.

"Sorry, I just needed to see you, about a few things, you know," Draco said. He was dressed in his causal wizard robes. Standard black with slacks and a white oxford shirt. Draco's hair looked like it had been put back into place after being messed up. Pansy wondered if he'd seen Granger before this.

"Right," Pansy said allowing him into her flat. He walked towards the kitchen and looked at her dinner. She'd only just gotten the olive oil into the pan.

"I heard a rumor that someone been stalking you." Draco said. He wasn't looking at her but the food. Pansy remembered their fight and how he worried about her. But Draco at least would owl ahead of a visit. Pansy thought about the mess in her room, the ashes still in the fireplace and other things that needed to be tidied up.

"Yes and no. I haven't gotten anymore creepy letters or mail and I haven't been sent poop or teeth again…" Pansy shrugged. She knew this was thing somewhere, and usually Draco would have just come out and said it. It was worrying that he was dragging this on.

"Good…" Draco said. Pansy watched him, and her food, while she waited for hm to say something more. Pansy flicked her vegetables into the pan, the sizzle and aroma filled the kitchen.

"Is there a reason you stopped by? Besides checking up on me?" Pansy asked. Draco sighed and looked at her. He looked nervous and she wondered if he was finally going to tell her about Granger. Or if he and Granger had finally called it quits.

"I…was talking to my solicitor about some business matters. My mother and our properties in France…when ah…" Draco looked at her before quickly looking away. Pansy wasn't sure what was wrong, but she knew it was something. She wondered if Narcissa had lost some of the family gold, the Malfoys had accounts in several wizarding banks which weren't taxed by the Ministry of Magic in Britain. Other wealthy families did the same but sometimes they got caught, paying fines and back taxes wasn't fun.

"What? Granger change her mind or something?" Pansy asked. She tried not to laugh as Draco looked at her in confusion and shock. She wanted to tell him about Harry but thought Draco should see it coming a mile away and she'd enjoy that surprise drama when it happened.

"Your mother died last night, her solicitor owled mine today. They need you to confirm by viewing the body." Draco told her.

Hi All, hope everyone is safe and doing okay. I will try not to forget to update! Thanks for readying!