"Pansy, darling, it's been nearly two months and you still haven't introduced us to your beau," Theo said. "I'm getting tired of waiting."

"I'm not," Draco muttered.

Pansy glared at him. Things had been going well with Percy. She'd become very familiar with his flat since they'd gotten over the hump of sleeping together on a work night a month ago.

"What?" Draco drawled. "If I never see another Weasley again, it'll be too soon." He bent back to his plate, slicing through his steak and eggs with careful precision.

"Ignore him," Theo said, eyeing Draco with a grimace. "He's just grumpy because Astoria's holding out on him."

Draco's head shot up, and he narrowed his eyes at Theo. "Don't talk about her that way, and I never said that."

"You didn't have to say it; your pissy mood the mornings after your dates speaks loud enough. I'm not saying I fault her for it. Lord knows I wouldn't want your wand in my holster either. Anyway—" Theo spoke louder to drown out Draco's protest, "—this isn't about you, this is about Pansy and her refusal to introduce her new love to her friends.

"Now," Theo turned to Pansy, "I'm having a Halloween party and I insist you bring your boyfriend."

"No," Pansy said immediately. "I'm not subjecting him to this—" she waved her hand toward Theo and Draco "—idiocy."

At that, Draco's jaw dropped open. "You're dating a red-headed rodent and you have the gall to call us the idiots? I think you have it backwards, Pans."

She eyed him over their plates. "You know, I never noticed, but Theo's right. You are particularly grumpy the mornings after your dates with Astoria. Just because you have blue balls doesn't mean you have to take it out on me."

"Or me," Theo chimed in.

Draco rolled his eyes and bent back over his breakfast, apparently deciding a response wasn't worth his effort.

"Pans, I'm serious," Theo said, his voice dropping lower and the smile disappearing from his face. "You've been dating the man for two months now. Don't you think it would be nice for him to get to know your friends?"

"No."

"Why not?" he wheedled.

She sighed. "Theo, his family already hates me, and there's no love lost between his family and Slytherins in general. He knows how we all treated Ron and his friends at school. He doesn't really need a reminder of my shitty background by meeting all my friends."

Theo frowned at her. "You think we'll scare him off?"

"Yes!"

"Is he worth hanging on to if he can't handle being around your friends? Has he met your family yet?"

"No! And I haven't met his either. And I don't want to. Ginny was ready to hex me on sight when she saw us out together. I know they all hate me."

"Sounds like the makings of a great relationship," Draco remarked dryly.

Pansy had been thinking just that for weeks now, and she slumped back in the booth upon hearing it out loud.

"Draco, can you shut the fuck up?" Theo said, truly irritated. "I'm sure it's not that bad," he started, but Pansy interrupted.

"No, Draco's right. We're happy in our little bubble — at the Wizengamot and on our own — but I feel like anything outside of that will ruin everything." She didn't want him to see her acerbity around her childhood friends, even though it no longer held the bite it used to, and she knew his friends and family would only see the old Pansy and would be unwilling to see how she had changed. "It doesn't really make for a good start to a long-term thing together," she finished.

Theo said lightly, "You never know unless you try, Pans." He pointed a chip at her. "I expect him at the Halloween party, and if you don't confirm he's coming by next weekend, I'll send him an invitation myself."


Theo did, indeed, send Percy an invitation himself. Two Mondays later, Percy stopped by Pansy's desk, perching his blue tweed-covered bum on the edge of it, with a piece of parchment in his hands. "I got an invite from your friend Theo for his Halloween party. He said you were hesitant to invite me, but he'd like me to come." His blue eyes pierced down at her in question through his lenses.

Pansy closed her eyes for a moment, figuring out how to respond. She was going to kill Theo.

"Are you embarrassed to introduce me to your friends, Pans?"

She whipped her gaze to him in surprise and noticed the tight set of his jaw. Oh no. He had completely misinterpreted the situation. "No, that's not it at all!" She glanced around. Geoffrey was bent over his desk, concentrating on his paperwork, and the staffer's desk to her other side was empty for the moment. "Can we — can we talk about this in your office, instead of out here?"

He nodded, his expression still guarded, and she followed him out of the staffroom, unable to keep from admiring the cut of his blue tweed jacket spread across his shoulders.

"My friends can be a little obnoxious," she said when his office door closed behind them. "And I don't see any reason for you to have to be around them. They'll just be annoying."

"Because of who I am?"

"No! I mean, in part maybe yes, but not in the way you think. I'm not embarrassed to introduce you to them. I'm worried you won't like them if you meet them."

He raised a brow. "I'm sure your friends are fine, Pansy. But if I didn't like them, would it matter?"

How could she say she was worried they'd send him running away from her, without sounding needy and insecure? "I feel like it would reflect poorly on me if you don't like them."

His brows furrowed, the strawberry blond hairs disappearing below the metal frames of his spectacles. "I'm dating you, not your friends."

She held back a sigh. She couldn't tell him that she thought he'd be put off by their elitism and that she didn't want him to see her in the same light. "What if we spend Halloween together, just the two of us, instead?"

"What if," he countered, "we spend half the night with my friends and half the night with yours? We can start at Theo's and then meet up with my crowd. You've begged off every time I've invited you out with my friends —"

"I've had other things scheduled," she protested.

He raised a brow, not buying her statement, and her cheeks flushed. She had been lying when she'd turned down evenings with him and his friends, but she hadn't realized he'd known that. He went on, "And we could do it all in one night. I'm sure you'll like my friends, they're nice people."

Maybe to you, she thought, but I doubt they'll be interested in making nice with me. "Okay," she responded in a small voice, realizing that further protests were just going to make him suspicious of her motives.

A relaxed smile stretched across his face. "Great. I'll send a note back to Theo. Any thoughts on costumes?"


Pansy tried to quell the nerves flooding her body. She took a last look in the mirror, adjusting her gold Galleon costume, turning back and forth to view it from every angle. She and Percy had spent several evenings together this week perfecting their costumes, and she hoped their Niffler and Galleon were fun enough for compliments but bland enough to keep them from standing out in a crowd.

Taking a deep breath, she called out, "Percy's flat," and stepped into the floo.

Ten minutes later, Theo greeted her with an air kiss to each cheek, the gray hairs from his Merlin beard tickling her skin.

"Theo, this is Percy," she breathed out, thankful the background noise was loud enough to drown out the slight tremor in her voice. "Percy, Theo."

"Thanks for having me," Percy said, greeting Theo with a smile and a firm handshake.

"Thanks for joining us," Theo replied, blatantly sizing her boyfriend up. "I see why she likes you."

"Theo…" Pansy warned.

He gave her a wink before turning back to Percy. "We promised her we'd be on our best behavior tonight and not tell too many embarrassing stories about her." He put an arm around Percy's shoulders and moved him toward the crowd of people on the other side of the room. "Let me introduce you to everyone."

Percy looked over his shoulder at Pansy in question, and Pansy gave him a helpless smile. It was no use trying to deter Theo from his plans, and Pansy just hoped that Theo would keep the worst of her friends' behavior in check. She wandered over to Daphne and Tracey, keeping an eye on the introductions Theo was conducting twenty feet away.

Daphne followed her line of sight and gave Pansy a sympathetic smile. "Wine?" she asked knowingly.

"I think I need something stronger than that tonight," Pansy muttered.

"Here," Daphne said, "let's get you a martini, Halloween style." She clapped once, and a small house elf appeared in front of them. "Blinky, please bring Pansy a Corpse Reviver."

"Of course, Miss Daphne." The elf disappeared and reappeared a moment later with a yellowy-orange martini garnished with orange peel.

Pansy accepted the drink and took a sip; citrus flavors mixed with the smooth taste of gin, with a hint of absinthe in the background. She tried to sip slowly, but her stomach twisted in knots as she watched Draco greet Percy stiffly, his arm around Astoria's shoulders. Blaise slapped Percy heartily on the back and leaned in close, a conspiratorial smirk on his face; Pansy wondered what he was saying.

She barely paid attention to Daphne and Tracey's conversation, continually glancing at Percy and hoping she wouldn't regret bringing him to the party.

"I think Percy can handle himself," Daphne said gently. "Come on, why don't we go into the next room so you don't have to keep watching him."

Pansy let Daphne lead her away, Tracey following, and she tried not to think about what the boys might be saying to Percy, or what Percy's friends might say to her later tonight.


A/N: I haven't written the remaining few chapters yet; I haven't been able to make the time to write lately. I'm not sure when I'll post the last chapters, but I promise I won't abandon the story. Pansy and Percy are too cute together not to have their happy ending. Thank you for reading!