A/N: This story was written as part of several events - #SchoolsOut23, #DenBingo23, #WCCBingo23, #MMFBingo23, and #CastTheDice. For the Den, this was my piece for the School's Out For Summer Fic Exchange as a gift to xxDustNight88 and it fulfilled #DenBingo23's square G2 -The Catacombs, Paris, France. For #WCCBingo23, it fulfilled square G5 - "Fifteen seconds. That's all it takes to completely change everything about a person - Everything." - It Ends With Us, Colleen Hoover. For #MMFBingo23, it fulfilled square N5: "Is this one of those times you want me to lie to protect your delicate emotions?" . For #CastTheDice, I used the trope Proposal. Yes this is a non-traditional version, but it fits in my head.
Grammarly was my beta for this piece. Otherwise the mistakes are mine and they don't' bother me.
I do hope you enjoy!
Love always,
~starr
Pansy stared at the letter in her hands from the French Ministry of Culture - she had gotten the coordinator position at The Catacombs - a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity dropped at her feet. This would open a million and one doors for her to travel all over the world and give her a chance to visit her parents from time to time. She hadn't seen them since she left London to pursue a museum studies and education degree at Culver University in Willowdale, Virginia, four years ago.
Coming to Culver University was Pansy's easiest decision ever made for herself. A world of opportunities had been open to her that wouldn't have been available to her if she had stayed in London, not to mention she would never have met Darcy. Had she stayed in London, Pansy would have taken up residency in Parkinson Manor and been married off to some other member of the Sacred 28, pretending that the war hadn't changed the Wizarding World like many of her former classmates.
Her heart sank at the thought of Darcy's name and the realization that she would be leaving her best friend behind if she took this opportunity after graduation. Pansy folded the letter up and tucked it into a drawer of her desk. "Maybe Darcy already has some big elaborate plans for after graduation," she muttered to herself as she opened the lid of her laptop and set to work finishing on her last anthro paper of the year. Pansy set her fingers to the keys and began typing away furiously. This was the last thing that stood between her and walking across the stage at graduation.
"I am finally free," Darcy exclaimed, kicking the door closed behind her. She dropped her backpack at the foot of her bed and collapsed onto it, resting her head against the pillows. "No more finals. No more school. No more nothing," she sighed, closing her eyes.
"Must be nice," Pansy groaned, glancing back at Darcy over her shoulder. She laughed, shaking her head at the sight before her. Darcy was leaning against the pillows with an arm tucked behind her head and one leg propped up on her knee, her foot waving aimlessly in the air. "Comfy over there, Darcy?"
"Hell yeah," Darcy laughed, lowering her legs to the bed and propping herself against the pillows with her elbow. Her eyes fluttered open, and a smile pulled at the corners of her lips when she met Pansy's eyes. "Aren't you done yet?"
"Almost," Pansy replied, reaching behind her to grab her laptop and making her way over to her bed. She dropped the laptop onto the mattress and laid down across the bed, grabbing a pillow to tuck under her chest. "Just need to finish this paper for anthropology."
Darcy grimaced and shook her head. "No fun. How long do you think it'll take you to finish that?"
"Is this one of those times where you'd like me to lie to protect your delicate emotions?" Pansy asked, flashing a smile at her roommate from behind the screen of her laptop.
Darcy tugged the pillow out from beneath her and lifted it in the air, tossing it across the room. Pansy screamed as she blocked the pillow with her laptop, and both girls burst into laughter as the pillow collapsed on the ground.
"I want to go out and celebrate being done," Darcy said, pouting her lip, "the same way we always do after our last class for the semester is done. Besides, it's the last time we'll be able to do this. We graduate in two days."
Pansy's heart broke a little at the reminder of their time together coming quickly to a close. In two very short days, they would no longer be roommates, Pansy would be on her way to France to begin her work at The Catacombs, and Darcy would be god knows where. "Speaking of graduation," Pansy said, typing aimlessly on her keyboard, "do you have any post-graduation plans?"
When she looked up from the screen, Pansy noticed that Darcy was lying on her back with her eyes closed. Pansy let out a defeated sigh and focused her attention back on her paper. Maybe by the time she had finished it up, Darcy would be awake, and they could really talk about what was going to happen after graduation. As much as it pained her, Pansy knew they needed to have this conversation regardless of the outcome.
A few hours later, Pansy closed the lid on her laptop and returned it to her desk. She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand and rose from the chair to collapse on the bed next to Darcy. Darcy groaned but rolled onto her side to make more room for Pansy on the bed.
"You have your own bed, you know," Darcy groaned, pushing against Pansy's shoulder.
"Yours is already warm," Pansy laughed, tossing an arm over Darcy's middle and rolling closer to her to nuzzle against her shoulder.
"I hate you sometimes," Darcy replied, resting her head against the top of Pansy's.
"You love me," Pansy teased, allowing sleep to take over.
. . . . . . . . . .
Pansy looked down at her watch and let out a sigh. "Where the hell is she?" she huffed, fidgeting with the tassel hanging down from her cap. "I'm going to kill her."
Just as she pulled her mobile out of the pocket of her gown, Pansy heard a familiar click of a heel against the marble floor. She sighed in relief, slipped the device back into her pocket, and crossed her arms over her chest. Pansy turned toward the sound and waited patiently; as Darcy rounded the corner, a smile pulled at the corners of Pansy's lips.
"Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" Pansy exclaimed, tossing her arms around Darcy's neck and pulling her into a tight hug. "We are going to be late for graduation."
Darcy furrowed her brow and glanced up at the clock on the wall in the distance. "No, we aren't," she replied, shaking her head as she pulled back from the hug. "Are you feeling okay, Pansy?"
Darcy reached up to brush the back of her hand against Pansy's forehead, only to have Pansy brush the hand away. "I'm fine," she said, rolling her eyes. "We need to talk before graduation."
"That doesn't sound good," Darcy said, eyeing her friend up and down. "Do I need to sit down?"
Pansy laughed, shaking her head. "No, I don't think so, but we can if you'd like."
"You're scaring me," Darcy said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Just tell me what's going on."
Pansy took a deep breath, reaching out to take Darcy's hand and pulling it to her chest. "Over the last four years, we've gone from strangers to roommates to friends. Now, we're practically like sisters."
"Get on with it, Pansy," Darcy replied, rolling her eyes as she squeezed Pansy's hands gently. "You always do this when you're nervous."
"Do what?" Pansy asked, cocking her head to the side.
"Talk in circles around your point," Darcy laughed. "You can tell me anything; you know that."
Pansy closed her eyes and hung her head, nodding it slowly. "I know I can, but I'm afraid of your response."
"Out with it, Parkinson," Darcy said, squeezing Pansy's hands. "Otherwise, we will be late for graduation."
Pansy lifted her head and took a deep breath, holding it for a moment before exhaling loudly. "I got a job offer," she began to say, only to be cut off by Darcy's excited cheer.
"That's awesome! Where is it? When do you start?" Darcy exclaimed, wrapping Pansy up in a hug.
Pansy closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around Darcy's waist, basking in the comfort of the hug. "The Catacombs and I'm supposed to leave tomorrow." Pansy grimaced when she felt Darcy's hand quit moving against her back.
"As in France?" Darcy asked, pulling back from the hug.
Pansy nodded her head and opened her mouth to speak but stopped when she saw the tears starting to well up in the corners of Darcy's eyes. Her heart broke at the sight, and she stepped forward to embrace her friend, but Darcy took a step back as she shook her head.
"I'm super happy for you, Pansy," Darcy said, reaching up to wipe the tears away from her eyes. "But I'm gonna need to take some time to come to terms with this. You're my best friend. We've been living together for the last four years, and come tomorrow, you're going to be living in a completely different country. I just.."
Her voice trailed away.
Pansy tilted her head back and blinked her eyes quickly to stop the tears from rolling down her cheek. They both didn't need to be crying - especially not right now. Today was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives. That was when the idea struck her. "Come with me."
"What?" Darcy asked, furrowing her brow.
"Come with me to France," Pansy repeated, ignoring the chime of the bell behind her telling them that they needed to get to the graduation ceremony. "We can find a chateau, and then once we're there, we can work on getting you a job. I can cover our expenses for the first couple of months until we both get our feet under ourselves."
"I," Darcy said, pausing as she shook her head. "I don't know."
"Just say yes," Pansy said, grabbing her head as the bell chimed again.
Darcy pulled her hand away and shook her head. "I don't know. Can I give you an answer later?"
"Sure," Pansy sighed, hanging her head in defeat. "We need to get to the ceremony."
. . . . . . . . . .
Darcy took a deep breath and painted a smile on her face. Her name was about to be called, and everything in her life was about to change. She'd have her fifteen seconds of fame to walk across the stage and accept her diploma; then the honor would be on to the person standing in line behind her. She couldn't help thinking that they probably had their life together and knew exactly what they were going to do after graduation.
"From the school of Political Science, Darcy Lewis."
Darcy took a few steps across the stage and listened to the roar of the crowd behind her. She accepted her diploma from the Dean of Students and shook hands with the other people as she made her way across the stage. It warmed her heart to feel the love of complete strangers. As she moved down the ramp on the far side of the stage, she caught sight of Pansy waiting to hear her name, still clapping and screaming for Darcy.
Darcy laughed and shook her head. When Pansy's eyes met hers, she knew what she was going to do. With a smile, she mouthed her answer to Pansy and watched as her best friend's face lit up with joy. Happy tears started to roll down Darcy's cheek as she waited in the wings for Pansy to make her way across the stage.
"From the School of Museum Studies, Pansy Persephone Parkinson."
Darcy screamed, tossing her hands in the air as she clapped her hands over her head. She watched as Pansy made her way across the stage quickly before practically running down the ramp toward her. Darcy braced herself for impact, and when the two collided, Pansy's arms wrapped around Darcy's neck as a scream of excitement escaped both of their lips.
"You mean it?" Pansy asked, pulling back just enough to see Darcy's face. "You'll come to France with me?"
Darcy nodded her head quickly. "I can't have my best friend going on all these new adventures without me."