It was still a bit dark out when Draco left the room. He couldn't take Blaise's snoring and was almost happy he could leave early. What he was not expecting was to find Lana sitting at the kitchen table, surrounded by papers and one odd silver contraption in front of her.
Upon hearing his footsteps, Lana looked up and then very quickly realized what was happening, or rather what she had missed. "Shit, is it—?" Her head whipped at the clock hanging on the wall. "It's 7am? It's 7am!" She was like a hurricane the way she jumped from her chair and spilled the other pile of papers on her lap then somehow managed to knock a set of books on another chair at the table.
"How is it that I'm the one going to be interrogated but you're the one who looks nervous?" Draco watched her try to gather all her things together. Why she didn't just use magic to collect her things, he didn't understand.
Lana scoffed at him. "Please, you never get nervous!"
Draco shot her a look for her comment that sounded a bit too certain. "How would you know that?"
Lana stopped only to deadpan him. "I was in your fucking classes! You never got nervous about anything! Where did my — agh!" She found her favorite pen underneath the table. "Anyways, just give me 5 minutes and I'll be ready to go!"
"Did you even sleep?" It was a funny question to ask knowing he hadn't slept a damn minute.
"Oh, I'm sure I dozed off at some point…" Lana dropped all her papers on the table. She would sort them out later. "There's a bunch of random letters between the 7th and 8th page of my essay."
"You're, what, 24? Why are you at school again?"
"Twenty four and a half to be exact. And it's a long story that I'm sure you care nothing about so let me get changed and then I'll take you to MACUSA."
"I don't need a bodyguard," frowned Draco, watching Lana hurry past him to the hallway.
"And I don't need you escaping on me!" She called, and missed his initial deadpan face. "And," she called just as he turned around, "I have class right after so it's sort of a two-fer for me. Drop you off, then go to school. Will they be waking up before noon?" She pointed behind her to signify Blaise and Pansy.
Draco scoffed. "If you're smart, you'll answer that on your own."
"Touché," nodded Lana. "Five minutes!" She pointed at him then disappeared into her room.
Draco had to resign himself to wait, just like with everything else in his life. He eyed the messy stack of papers on the table and, against his better judgment, wandered over. It was nothing he could really understand as it seemed like it was all muggle related. There were some words that stood out, amongst them 'theory, hypothesis' and other terms related to the area of research. Even the odd silver device on the table had similar words. It seemed like Lana took this research of hers very seriously.
He spotted the mess of random letters on the screen of the device, figuring that was when Lana had slept for a bit. He wondered why she didn't sleep at all. He knew why he didn't sleep but usually normal people did sleep through the nights.
"Don't touch it!" Lana's sudden appearance, and yell, did honestly startle Draco.
He jumped back from the device, eyes wide for a moment until he realized it was Lana and quickly composed himself (the only way he knew how).
"I wasn't touching any of your stuff!" he said defensively.
Lana came running to the table, making sure her laptop didn't shut down on her. "Good!" She furiously tapped the mouse pad to keep the screen on. "Because I haven't backed anything up yet!"
"Back — what?"
Lana saved her essay then turned the laptop off. "It means I haven't saved it to the computer yet. Computer being" — she gestured at the laptop on the table — "that."
"I'm not interested in whatever that thing is," said Draco pretty quickly and rolled his eyes.
"Didn't seem like it," Lana said. "It's fine if you're curious. It's school stuff and a laptop is really useful, trust me. It's like a quicker way to write things down and it gets you into the internet."
"The internet?" Draco wasn't really understanding yet the questions came out of his mouth anyways. An instinct of the new world, he supposed.
Lana nodded. "Oh, it's amazing! You can search for any kind of information on it. You can see funny videos, chat with people from across the world. And it's all in a snap" — she snapped her fingers — "of a finger. Really convenient."
From a stranger's perspective, it did sound pretty convenient. God knows how long owls take sometimes to send and bring things back.
"I…guess…" Draco reluctantly agreed. Lana laughed. "What the fuck are you laughing at?"
"You!" Lana didn't hesitate to say. That only further irritated Draco.
"Why?"
"Because it looks like admitting that some muggle inventions is like life or death to you! Why does it have to be like that? Why can't you just admit that they're pretty cool things and you might want to actually try some of them."
"Because I don't," Draco said automatically. There was the instinct again. Deny, deny, deny. "I don't need to try anything."
"You should always try something new," Lana said. "You never know what it could do to your life. I mean, look at you now. Isn't the whole point of going to these summonings to prove that you're trying to do something better than what you did before?"
The conversation was reaching a point that Draco didn't want to be anywhere near. His face said it all.
"So you want to get going?" Lana ultimately asked.
"Unfortunately, that seems like my best option."
"Ouch."
Was she just trying to rile him up? For his own sanity, he kept his mouth shut and just didn't engage with her anymore. Lana seemed to understand his intentions as she quietly went around gathering her things. With her wand, she put away her things inside her bag.
Everything was fine until she told him to take her hand.
"Why?" He frowned.
"Because we're apparating there, unless you want to take the bus in New York which is, first of all, always crowded and that's if you can even get on one considering traffic is hell and—"
Draco heard enough and, with an audible groan, grabbed Lana's hand.
"I thought you'd see it my way," Lana said with a triumphant smirk.
"I don't enjoy this," he muttered.
"I'm enjoying this a little bit."
They apparated with Draco glaring daggers at Lana. They landed in another alley, unsurprisingly, but it was only a block away from the MACUSA building. They made it substantially early.
"Okay," Lana said once they were in the correct department (they may have taken a wrong turn), "You're supposed to be done at 4 today so I'll be here to pick you up."
"I don't need anyone to pick me up. Believe it or not, I'm not a dog," said Draco with one of his usual scowls.
"It's the fucking process, deal with it," Lana said dismissively then turned towards the secretary outside the precise office Draco would he called into. "Save the scowls for the interrogation. I'm sure they'll love it."
"You're—"
"Sh!" Lana walked up to the secretary and introduced herself then told the woman why they were there.
Truthfully, Draco didn't pay attention. He was exhausted, actually, and it wasn't all from the lack of sleep. He was beyond done with the systems and all its processes. It was Lana's sharp 'hell no' that brought him to the conversation.
She had gotten angry in such a short span of time. "He's supposed to leave at four," she reiterated.
"What's going on?" Draco walked up beside her. He didn't regard the secretary and her disdainful eyes on him.
"This lady," Lana spat at the secretary, "thinks she can fool me."
"I'm not sweetheart," the secretary said with an overly sweet smile. "I'm just telling you what the schedule is and he," she pointed at Draco, "is scheduled to leave until 6pm today. Deal with it."
"No," Lana said sharply. "Listen woman, I know how this works. I used to be a secretary so I know that the schedule is just an estimate—"
"And is subject to change," the woman said curtly. "So I don't understand your behavior towards me."
"Oh, I bet you do, you little—"
Sensing how that sentence was going to end, Draco yanked Lana back and blocked her way to the secretary. "Are you fucking insane?" He gritted his teeth. "You're supposed to be helping us but all you're going to do is get me an overnight interrogation."
Lana peered around him to glare at the secretary. Draco took the necessary step to block her view again.
"She's playing us!" Lana exclaimed, frustrated. "I know what I'm doing, trust me. I have this."
"I don't want you to 'have' anything!" Draco hissed but she had already side-stepped him.
Lana planted the palms of her hands on the secretary's desk and lowered her head to meet the woman's eyes. "The summoning dates don't change. And even if on the off chance that it did, he has a right to know at least 24 hours before. Which he wasn't."
"Well—"
"No, no 'well' about anything. I've done my share of summonings and each time there's been a mistake, the accused has the right and means to overturn their charges. We wouldn't want MACUSA to be the reason that such a long, long, case has suddenly been halted, would we?"
The secretary's lips pursed into a thin line. Her dark eyes kept flickering from Lana to Draco. The latter was genuinely a little curious about Lana's words. He didn't remember anything like that being mentioned at the start of his trials and summons. Then again, no one really bothered to explain how the whole process would go. He just showed up when demanded and answered when asked.
So he was quite stunned when the secretary muttered that he could leave at 4pm as previously scheduled.
Lana smiled widely, and smugly, as she lifted her hands off the desk. "Thank you. Please remember that when I bring in the other 2 summons tomorrow."
"He needs to come in now if he wants to make it out on time," the secretary said.
"Of course. Let me just have a word real quick." Lana pulled Draco a few steps away from the desk.
"How did you—?"
"Never mind that. You're on thin ice with these people—"
Draco scoffed. "That's not news to me, darling. I know what these people think of me."
"Then shut them up. The smart way," Lana said, throwing a glance at the secretary. The woman had gone inside the office for a moment.
"Is what you said true?"
Lana's attention shifted back to Draco. "About the summon dates? Yes. Why?" Her brows furrowed. "Is this not the first time it's happened?"
"I lost count," Draco admitted. "Sometimes the dates got switched and I missed the whole summon or the times changed and I was late."
"I'm sorry." Lana's genuine apology made him shift. "That's unfair and unjust but don't worry, that's not going to happen here. I'll be back at 4 sharp."
Draco knew that he didn't actually know Lana but he felt her sincerity. She would be here at 4pm. "You don't have to…"
"I will," Lana reiterated. "So just…watch your mouth and keep your head down. Two more of these and you're done."
The secretary emerged from the office and cleared her throat, drawing the two's attention over to her. "He needs to come in," she repeated. "Alone."
"Wasn't planning on joining," Lana shot the woman a look. "Unless you're planning on throwing in other shady shit. By the way, I'll need a copy of the interrogation dialogue."
"That's not for the public eye," snapped the woman.
"I'm not 'public eye, I'm the Testimonial writer for this case as well as for my other 2 summons tomorrow. I'm happy to provide my previous testimony writings for their cases as proof. Therefore, I'm gonna need to make sure everything was by the book."
The secretary's gaze was full of contempt for Lana. However, she did not refuse Lana's request which gave Draco the impression that Lana did indeed know what she was doing. His gaze lingered on her even as he started walking for the office.
Lana smiled lightly at him. "See you at 4," she waved.
He had to quickly rid himself of his startled face before anyone in the office saw it.
~0~
When Lana returned home from school, she found Pansy rummaging through the kitchen. There were several canned foods and boxes on the counter and things from the fridge outside.
"Uh, can I help you?" Lana left her things on the table then walked around.
Pansy let out a frustrated groan. "You don't have anything good! What the fuck is this?" She grabbed a box of girl scout cookies and carelessly tossed it behind her.
"Hey!" Lana frowned. She pulled her wand forwards. "Accio cookies!" In a snap, the box flew into her hands. "These babies are delicious. Chocolate mint cookies!"
"Where's your booze?" Pansy demanded.
"Well, at least you're straightforward." Lana set the cookies on the counter. "Assuming you just woke up, can I interest you in some breakfast?" Pansy's death stare was a clear answer what she thought about 'breakfast'. Lana's eyebrows raised slowly. "Do you…do you just not have breakfast at all, then?"
Pansy rolled her eyes. "If you mean do I have breakfast at a table" — she flapped an arm at the round table behind Lana — "and make idle chat with myself, then no."
"Because you live by yourself," Lana said knowingly, earning quite the look from Pansy. "Your trial was for the public, Pansy. It only became private when the interrogations started."
Pansy muttered a few things under her breath that, although Lana didn't hear perfectly, were no doubt curses. Her gaze swept the kitchen disdainfully. "Your kitchen sucks, and so does your food."
Lana shrugged. "It's no mansion, but it's home. Would you like some breakfast?"
Pansy rubbed her stomach, shifting on her feet as she felt a growl. "Maybe," she begrudgingly said.
Lana laughed lightly. "I'm gonna go on a lamb and say that I'll bet some pancakes will fill you up more than booze."
"Clearly, you haven't tried the good kind," Pansy said, watching Lana use her wand to clear away the mess she made.
"The expensive kind? Yeah, probably not," Lana said, leaving her wand on the counter. "My dad was very strict even when he was a wholeass ocean away from Hogwarts. If he ever heard that I took one sip of alcohol underage, I wouldn't live to tell the tale."
Pansy leaned back on the counter as Lana started moving around gathering the ingredients for pancakes. "Your father was the strict kind, then? Hard ass?"
Lana scoffed. "That's an understatement. Sometimes I'm sure he sent me to Hogwarts to keep me away."
"From him?"
Lana grabbed a bowl and a measuring cup from the lower cabinet. "Pretty sure it was more to keep me away from my mother."
"He really hated your mother enough to do that?"
Lana returned to the fridge for the milk, eggs and butter. "Yup. Apparently, he had no idea she was a halfblood until after they were married."
"She duped him?" Pansy sounded a little impressed.
"She loved him," Lana said, hard, and glanced at Pansy, "but my dad doesn't love anyone."
"Story of everyone's life, Alana," Pansy said dismissively.
"That's not my name—"
"I mean, do you really think my parents love each other?" Pansy snorted. "Don't even get me started on Blaise's mother."
Lana knew Blaise's family story very well. His mother was very famous, after all. "Didn't it ever bother you?" She asked Pansy.
Pansy shrugged. "I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know? My parents used to argue all the time. It bothered me and when they divorced and my dad kept me away from my mom, I definitely felt a little bit bothered."
Pansy rolled her eyes, something that irritated Lana. "Oh, Alana, if I wept every time my parents argued, I would have cried rivers. We don't cry."
"Who's 'we'?"
"Isn't it obvious? The rich. We don't cry."
Lana blamed herself for walking right into that. She dumped two cups of flour into the bowl and then cut up a slice of butter.
"Course," Pansy decided to hop on the counter and make it a seat, "right now I'm not rich but I'm hoping that'll change soon."
"Yeah, guess changing life styles like that must have been pretty rough." Lana had already slid the butter into the microwave to melt it a bit and was now cracking eggs. "Your assets were frozen but the ministry did give you, Blaise and Draco a modest allowance per month."
"A right old insult is what they give us!" Pansy didn't hesitate to say, slapping a hand on the counter. "My father used to give me more as a weekly allowance!" Lana chuckled. Pansy had a lot more to say about the matter but a new thought struck her. She looked at Lana curiously, and then suspiciously. "The monthly allowance stuff was after the public trials. That information wasn't public. How'd you know about it?"
Lana had started mixing everything in the bowl. "Well…early in my testimonial writer days for MACUSA, one of the first assignments that leads you to becoming a lawyer is to pick a case that you're going to follow from start to finish. You're supposed to read everything you can on the case if it already started and when they gave me the list of ongoing cases I was eligible for…your, uh, names were there…"
Pansy lifted an eyebrow at Lana. "My name's on some ruddy school assignment list? For MACUSA?"
"More precisely for the Ministry. After Hogwarts, I went into the Ministry and then to MACUSA. Kind of like another exchange program, only this time I'm actually from New York and, more precisely, from MACUSA." Lana turned back to the stove to turn it on and then brought up the pan.
"Why'd you pick our case?" Pansy asked, this time sheerly out of curiosity. "And, well, isn't it technically 3?"
"You, Blaise and Draco are under the same case," Lana said. She grabbed a large spoon and started spilling the batter into the pan. "And when I saw your names, I knew exactly who you were."
"So, what, you did it as a high-skilled tease?" A frown started spreading across Pansy's face. "Way to get back at us for making fun of you back then or something?"
"See, it's the fact that you assume that you were mean to me back in Hogwarts tells you" — Lana pointed at Pansy with the spoon, dripping some batter on the floor in the process — "that you should have been a better person."
Pansy didn't like admitting defeat and it showed. With a contemptuous glint, her eyes flickered to the side.
Lana felt like being nice so she went ahead and told Pansy a secret. "No, you never even crossed a word with me, Pansy. Even when I pulled the niffler off you, you never even said 'thank you'."
Pansy admitted that sounded like her. She wouldn't even try denying it. "If you weren't a pureblood, I probably never even looked your way."
Lana laughed. "And now look at you here, in my kitchen, waiting to eat some pancakes. Who would've guessed, huh?"
"How low I've gone," Pansy sighed, absentmindedly tugging one of her short black strands. "What I'd give to have all my money back."
"And to go home?" Lana's assumption was, apparently, wrong considering Pansy snorted quite loudly.
"Are you kidding? Back with my parents? The fuck not! Those two turned their backs on me the moment the Ministry charged me! The only reason they got to keep their money is because they never actually committed any crimes during the war."
"Technically, neither did you," Lana's passing comment made Pansy pause. Lana was busy settling a new pancake on a plate.
"What do you mean?"
"C'mon Pansy, when you've had your interrogations, they haven't exactly been about any precise crime you've committed." Lana almost sounded like she was amused that Pansy hadn't figured it out.
Pansy slid off the counter and marched over to Lana, taking the spoon out of Lana's hand. "What do you mean by that?"
"C'mon Pansy, haven't you ever wondered why most of the questions they've asked you are about Draco and Blaise? I have your dialogues from previous interrogations."
"I just thought they wanted to figure out what our stories were…" Pansy said, trailing off as she began to think about all her previous interrogations.
Lana reached over to take the spoon back. "I'm almost a lawyer, Pansy. Your charges are, at most, suspected accomplice."
And so, very quickly, a great and deep scowl marked Pansy's face as she cried out 'those idiots!'. "All these fucking years of constant interrogations and trials and all because they think that I helped Draco and Blaise? I could just—" she balled her hands into fists in front of her.
"You could technically sue," Lana said, flipping over a pancake. "After you're set free, of course. The ministry should have told you straight away what your charges were."
Pansy's eyes darted from side to side, her mind spinning with ideas about what to do when that glorious freedom came. "First, I'm going to kill Draco and Blaise and then I'll sue." Lana quietly laughed. "It's not funny!" Pansy snapped, turning away to start pacing. "I have always been at those idiots' side and this is what I get!?"
"Yeah, you guys were always like glue…" Lana nodded. She couldn't really remember a time where the three Slytherins weren't together in school. "Rumors flew about you guys, that's for sure." Pansy 'hmmd' during her pacing. "A lot of people thought you and Draco were going out."
"We weren't."
"Well that's just what I always heard—"
"It was, at best, casual sex."
"Ah, well, I did not ask about that. Very sure I didn't ask about that, actually." And just as Pansy turned around, Lana flicked a little bit of batter at her face.
"Hey!" Pansy shrieked and quickly wiped the batter off her nose while Lana laughed.
"All is forgiven now!"
Pansy shot Lana a glare. "You're really annoying, you know that?"
"Yeah, it's like your favorite thing to say about me," Lana said, "Draco said it at least 10 times this morning and I'm sure that Blaise will say it another 10 when he wakes up. Speaking of, should we check in on him? It's past one in the afternoon and he's still asleep?"
Pansy grabbed the top pancake of the stack and ripped it in half. "He usually wakes up in the afternoon. He'll need coffee, by the way. Do you have sugar? He likes it sweet."
"You sure seem to know his wake-up routine well."
"I should. I live with him," Pansy said, "And Draco. It's the best we could do with our miserable allowances."
Lana smiled. This, she had already known from an early interrogation. The ministry was very curious to see how the three would use the money after receiving it. It was a tactic while also being decent and not leaving the three to fend for themselves. "You guys really are glued together."
Pansy shrugged, though this time her expression wasn't snarky nor irritated. "After the war, many people despised us even more. There weren't many we could trust in except between us. My parents turned their back on me, Blaise's mother didn't even think twice about him and Draco left his parents after everything. It's just us three."
"Solidarity between friends is a very lucky thing to have, Pansy," Lana said, "I'm glad you guys have each other's backs."
"Still gonna kill them, though," Pansy muttered before taking a big bite out of her pancake.
Lana started chuckling again. "Just don't say that tomorrow at your interrogation, alright? We gotta make sure you're on your best behavior. In the meantime, why don't we go out today?"
"Seriously?" Pansy seemed less than convinced that would actually happen.
Lana nodded. "Yeah. I'm done with class today and I have to go back to MACUSA for Draco at 4 so we have 3 hours to kill."
"What'd you have in mind…?" Pansy squinted her eyes suspiciously at Lana. "It better not be some fucking charity thing or a weird muggle thing."
"I was going to say shopping but—"
"Sold," Pansy blurted then blinked, having caught herself too late.
Lana's lips curved into a smirk. "Long time since you've been to the stores?"
Pansy reluctantly nodded. "Even without the war, I can't exactly go shopping with Blaise or Draco."
"Right," Lana didn't even want to think how that would go. "What about your other friends, though? I know you used to hang out with, uh, Daphne Greengrass? And Milicent Bullstrode?"
"Milicent flaked the moment I was arrested," Pansy said with a scowl on her face. "And Daphne's fine but she's kind of…well, her style and mine don't compliment each other."
Lana couldn't really remember what kind of style Daphne Greengrass favored considering they were always in their Hogwarts uniforms. After they graduated, they didn't exactly see each other again.
"Well, if you tell me your style, I can take you to some stores that will compliment your style," she said.
Pansy still didn't seem to really believe Lana. "Why would you do that?" she ultimately asked. "You just heard that my money is lousy."
"Yeah, but that's wizarding money, Pansy. Here in New York, we use dollars and with your galleons, you will have a substantial amount. Plus, the stores I'll bring you to won't be that expensive. Sorry there's no richy-rich stores for you right now."
"Yeah, but why would you do it in the first place?" Pansy insisted on a straightforward answer. "You said that I never crossed a word with you when we were at Hogwarts. Why would you want to help me now?"
"For the same reason that I picked your case," Lana replied. Pansy raised an eyebrow, waiting to hear that oh-so-good reason. "I picked you, Blaise and Draco because I wanted to see if you had actually changed. That you wanted to change."
Pansy's lips pressed together. For a moment, Lana wondered if she would yell. She wouldn't be surprised if Pansy did.
However, a few minutes later, Pansy quietly asked her something else. "Do you think we have?"
Lana smiled. "You're here having breakfast with me, aren't you? And we're going shopping afterwards? Would you have done that with me when we were teenagers?"
After a few minutes of a stare-off, Pansy began to smile.
~ 0 ~
After their breakfast, the women got ready for their day out. Blaise woke up about halfway through their preparations and found one warm mug of coffee with extra sugar waiting for him at the table. Lana was putting on her coat when she heard Blaise thank Pansy for the gesture. Pansy had even saved him two pancakes for him to eat.
Lana stood by the hallway watching the small exchange. They did have each other's backs, and were more than complimentary living together.
"Ready?" Lana strode into the living room, acting as if she hadn't caught sight of anything.
"Yeah," Pansy nodded.
Blaise's eyes flickered between the two women curiously. "Where are you two going? Pansy hasn't been summoned today."
"We know that," Lana said, adjusting the collars of her coat, "We're going to do some shopping."
Like Pansy at the start, Blaise didn't believe them. "You two?" he pointed at Lana then at Pansy. "Together? Willingly?"
"What is this? 21 questions?" Lana remarked then drew even more attention to herself. With a sigh, she said: "Muggle thing. Yes, Blaise, we're going out. Would you like to come?"
"Part of me wants to say 'yes' just to see how long it'll take for you two to want to kill each other…and the other part of me wants to stay right here enjoying silence."
"Wow, broody much?" Lana made a face.
"You would want some silence if you lived with her" — Blaise nodded at Pansy — "and Draco. They're like cats and dogs."
"So are you two," Pansy was happy to say. "You think I enjoy hearing you two bicker over the stupidest things?" Before Blaise could answer her, Pansy glanced at Lana. "Last week, they argued to the point of almost avada kedrava-ing each other over a missing apple."
"Which you ate," Blaise pointed an accusing finger at Pansy. "And you were going to let us bloody fight over it."
Pansy smirked. "Men are so stupid."
Lana thought it was a good time to leave. "So, Blaise, make yourself at home. Watch some t.v. or something. We'll be back before 4."
Blaise raised a hand at them, making it clear he was quite alright seeing them leave. Lana then took Pansy's hand and apparated them out of the apartment.
~ 0 ~
It didn't take Lana very long to figure out what Pansy's style was. Pansy was a tall girl with an admittedly nice body. It didn't matter what she tried on, she would look good in it regardless. She favored dark colors and leather. Once Lana figured that out, it was a lot easier to find things Pansy would like.
"What are those?" Pansy did a double-take at the fishnet stockings that Lana had brought her.
"They're in style right now," Lana said, "And they would look so cute with that black dress we found."
Pansy knew exactly what dress that Lana talked about. It was a tight black dress with a scalloped neckline that, actually, Lana found. Pansy had already tried it on and despite having a hard time admitting that she liked it, she had not let it go since.
"You think it'll look nice?" Pansy said, her voice full of doubt.
Lana nodded fervently. "Yeah, and then you can pair it with some boots. Oh! I know a store that's having a sale this weekend! We can go there after!"
"A sale?" Pansy was less than impressed with the news, making Lana laugh. "Oh, this is what my life has come to? I have to shop in the sales section?"
"You are so fucking spoiled," Lana shook her head, still laughing. "So what if something's not that expensive? Did you know that actually leaves you with" — she pretended to gasp and even brought a hand in front of her mouth — "more money?"
Pansy deadpanned Lana and snatched the fishnet stockings out of her hand. "Fuck you, honestly."
Lana snorted and laughed all over again.
Afterwards, they hit the shoe store as planned. Lana helped Pansy find two pairs of new shoes, though Lana had to explain what the term 'bogo' meant and nearly died of laughter with Pansy's reaction.
"I've hit rock bottom!" she almost wailed in the shoe section.
Lana dragged the woman out of there nearly in tears but Pansy calmed when Lana offered to buy her some coffee.
"I don't know what you're complaining about," Lana said while they waited for their order to be called. "You got a nice dress, a blouse, and two pairs of shoes. Sounds like a good day to me."
Pansy let out a long sigh. "I'm just not used to it."
"Shopping anymore or shopping and saving money?"
Pansy deadpanned Lana for a long minute. "Are you sure you're not doing all this just to tease us?"
"I'm sure," Lana said, smiling, "But it's funny seeing you come out of your privileged bubble. That's where the real people live."
"It sucks!"
"Yeah, that's about right." Lana heard her name at the counter and rushed to pick up their coffees. It was when she was handing Pansy her coffee that she saw the time on her watch. "Shit, it's almost four!"
Pansy glanced at the clock hanging on the wall. It was 3:45pm and Lana was rushing them out of the crowded place. "You're making me spill!" Pansy exclaimed as Lana dragged her into the nearest alley.
"We gotta head back, Pansy. I gotta go back to MACUSA," Lana reached for her wand tucked away in her pocket. "I told Draco I'd be there on time."
Pansy scoffed. "Please, he was hardly ever punctual before all this stuff."
"Doesn't matter, I'm always on time," Lana said. "Now hold on cos we're going home."
Pansy rolled her eyes and grabbed Lana's arm. "If I drop my coffee, I'm going to kill you," she warned Lana.
Lana apparated them in the same alley that would lead them home. The coffees survived the apparation, something Pansy was pretty happy about.
"Blaise, look what I got!" Pansy said as soon as they were inside the apartment. "And I got you something too!" She called extra loud despite Blaise being in the living room.
"Oh, you figured out the t.v. then," Lana said as she helped settle the bags on the kitchen table.
Blaise was holding the remote in his hand when Lana looked his way. "It's…interesting," Blaise said, turning the remote over and over, "I don't get what half of these buttons do. And I don't know how I keep changing what's on the box."
"T.V.," Lana corrected him and walked over to the side of the couch, facing the television. "And it looks like you're watching Jeopardy…"
"Yeah, I have no idea what I'm doing," Blaise admitted defeat and tossed the remote to the side. "So, guess you two survived. How was it?"
"I'm going to let Pansy answer that because I gotta head to MACUSA," Lana said. She reached for the remote on the control and flipped it to a different channel. "Watch that, I think you'll like the gimmicks."
Blaise looked at the screen again, finding two teenagers in some kind of basement. "That place looks filthy as fuck," he remarked.
Lana snorted. "Just wait till you see what they smoke in it." She gave him the remote and quickly taught him about the volume buttons. "I'll be back in a bit," she said afterwards. "Don't kill each other while I'm gone."
Pansy waved her off without much interest. She was going through her shopping bags. Lana left the apartment feeling quite proud of herself.
~ 0 ~
It was 4:05 and Lana was ready to argue with the secretary again. They had been having a silent stare-off since Lana arrived. Even when Draco finally emerged from the office, the contest didn't end. He walked over to Lana and followed her gaze to the secretary.
"What the fuck are you doing?" he sounded tired. He was.
"Staring at my new enemy," Lana said bluntly, her nose scrunching. "And plotting."
"Well, could you do it on your time? I don't want to suddenly be called back in because of you." And just for cautionary reasons, Draco grabbed her arm and pulled her even further from the secretary's desk. "Can we go now?"
Lana finally tore her gaze from the secretary, though she hated that the woman probably thought she won the staring contest. "Yeah."
The two left MACUSA as quickly as possible, neither one trusting the other not to screw things up.
"How'd it go?" Blaise asked as soon as they walked in.
"Shut up," went Draco within the second.
Blaise seemed to expect as much. It always happened when they were questioned individually.
"Are you hungry?" Lana thought it was a rhetorical question given how long Draco had been away. She doubted he got a lunch break.
"Not really, no," he muttered and started walking towards the hallway.
"Oh c'mon, yes you are," Lana called after him. "Stop being an absolute grump and come back."
Blaise snorted on the couch. "That'll be the day."
Draco stopped in the hallway and turned around, a glare already on his face. "Shut the fuck up, Zabini. I am not in the mood. I've been questioned from here to there and I am not going to take any extra shit from anyone today."
Even after all that, Blaise still didn't seem very phased. It almost made Lana laugh had the situation been better.
"Okay, how about we take a different avenue then?" Lana said, backtracking towards the kitchen.
"I'm not in the mood for your antics either," Draco warned her.
"Can I interest you in some wine?" Lana's question led to a brief silence.
Ultimately, Blaise looked at her incredulously. "You told Pansy you had none."
"I wasn't going to let her drink before breakfast," Lana said.
"I bet that one hasn't eaten anything either," Blaise countered, pointing back at Draco.
"Yeah, but Pansy wasn't interrogated for 8 hours straight." Lana then met Draco's gaze. "So? How about it?"
"I doubt it's anything I've tried," he said, his tone implying he would eventually agree, "But beggars can't be choosers, right?"
"Now you're getting it!" Lana laughed. She went into the kitchen for the wine bottle. "Although," she said when she returned with the bottle and glasses, "this one's actually from my dad. He sent it to me last year for my birthday."
"And you didn't open it?" Blaise stood up from the couch, turning the television off (he had finally mastered the remote).
"I don't exactly get along with him and that," Lana nodded down at the bottle, "feels like a bribe to me."
"Because it is." Draco walked over to the table and picked up the bottle to inspect. "Lana, this is a good kind. It's French." He sounded and looked surprised. "What does your father do again?"
Lana seemed reluctant to answer. "He works for MACUSA, specifically as the consultant of the president."
A flicker of recognition crossed Draco's eyes. "Adler? Hold on, is your dad Jameson Adler?"
Lana begrudgingly nodded. "It's why I was invited to Slughorn's club…" She glanced at Blaise. Slughorn had immediately learned that her father was one of the most important consultants to the MACUSA president and suddenly she was completely favored by him.
"Why didn't you say that before?" Draco asked.
"Because I wanted to avoid that look!" Lana gestured to his dumbfounded face. "Everyone's always suddenly nicer and helpful when they know who my dad is. I don't like that, and I don't like him, and I don't like any presents he sends me! So do me a favor and either finish the wine or take it home with you! I don't want it here." After her outburst, the only sound was her heavy breathing.
"Are you done?" came Draco's quiet drawl. She shot him a glare while Blaise laughed.
"I fucking hate you."
"Not the first nor the last." Draco took out his wand and opened the wine bottle. He grabbed a glass and started pouring into the glasses.. "Drink." He held the glass to her, expecting her to do as he said.
"You think you're so great, huh?" Lana still took the glass from him.
"I've been interrogated for 8 hours. I am fucking amazing for not cracking," he countered, and honestly made a good point. For that matter, Lana stopped arguing and took a drink out of her glass.
"Alright, it's not poisoned, serve me one," Blaise said as he approached the table.
"Hey!" Pansy exclaimed as she walked out and saw the scene. "I thought you said you had no booze!"
"I didn't say that," Lana shrugged. "I said 'do you want breakfast?'."
Pansy stalked over and plucked the glass that Draco was going to give Blaise and drowned it all in one go.
Lana's eyes widened as Pansy then asked for another serve. "You guys are experts, huh?"
"Pretty much," the three said simultaneously.
"Hey, this stuff's not bad," Pansy said as she watched her glass being refilled. She then saw the wine bottle's print and gasped. "You do have something expensive in this house!"
"Okay, that's just fucking rude," Lana pointed at the woman.
"Oh, Alana, take a joke." Pansy turned away with her new glass in hand and walked to the couch.
"Is she—?" Lana pointed after her, eyes flickering between Draco and Blaise. "We went shopping and grabbed coffee and she still calls me 'Alana'?"
"That's Pansy," Draco said with a smirk that matched the one that Blaise wore.
"Thanks for the wine, Adler," Blaise clinked his glass against Lana's. "You just went from a 4 to a 10 in my book."
"A four?" Lana gawked. Draco began to snicker. "Don't you fucking dare laugh!" Lana snapped at him.
Draco slid the wine bottle in front of her. "I think you'll need this more than I will."
Lana could have said many things back but her instincts kicked in and she drowned her entire glass instead.
P.S. As always, I have an AO3/Wattpad account under "noblecrescent" and a tumblr account under "saiilorstars" if you'd like to follow :)