Chapter Twelve: Reunion
"Come on Harry, we're going to be late!" Ginny complained, as she put her bright red lipstick away in her beaded cream colored purse. Unfortunately Harry was going to be Ginny's escort to the Hogwarts five year reunion. He wondered idly about who Pansy might be bringing before shoving her face out of his mind. They hadn't spoken since the custody hearing and only exchanged overly formal hellos and goodbyes when picking up and dropping off Emilia.
"Hold on a minute Ginny, I have to make sure Reed knows what he's doing," Harry said, rushing into the guestroom in his flat which was converted into the perfect room for Emilia. Reed was sitting at a tiny wooden table being force fed tea and pink sugar cookies. He was the only person Harry could get on such short notice to watch her and he was eager for the job. "Are you sure you don't mind doing this Reed? I could be back late, you might have to crash on the couch," Harry said, running a hand through his hair.
"It's not a problem Harry I love taking care of kids, I watch my niece all the time. Emilia and I will be fine and I don't mind crashing on the couch," he said, a faint blush appearing over his flustered cheeks.
"Well thank you so much Reed, I will be doing you a big favor come Monday," Harry said before squeezing his shoulder gently and kissing Emilia's forehead.
"Uhh uhhh th-thank you Harry!" Reed sputtered, as Ginny grabbed his arm and led him out. Reed watched as an annoyed Harry was dragged by the crazy red-head. Ginny had been angered by the whole Harry has a daughter with Pansy thing but that did not stop her from begging for him to take her to their reunion. And so, dateless…Harry agreed.
~*~Hogwarts~*~
"Oh look, there's Dean and Lavender," Ginny said, pointing at a very pregnant woman and his old roommate. Lavender looked beautiful her once curly blonde hair was now a dark shiny brown and cut to her chin in shimmering waves. She was glowing. She looked more mature than she'd been when Ron had dated her. Ginny dragged Harry over to say hi to a surprised Dean and Lavender. It was no secret to the entire wizarding world that Harry had dumped Ginny two years ago and that he has a daughter with Pansy.
"Hey Harry….Ginny. I didn't know you two were back together," Lavender said, looking from Dean to Harry to Ginny and then back to Dean. Lavender and Dean gave each other quick awkward glances.
"We're not. Congrats, having another kid, eh?" Harry said, turning away from Ginny. Ginny crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently as Harry, Dean, and Lavender talked about Dean and Lavender's upcoming baby.
Another moment later, Harry was in a discussion with Luna and her husband Rolf about their newest discovery while they cradled both of their twin sons, Lorcan and Lysander. Neville was talking to Seamus and Parvati who were also expecting a child. Seamus was a Chaser and Captain on Ireland's top Quidditch team and Parvati was a MediWitch for his team. Ginny continued to look impatient as Harry continued to ignore her.
Hermione was in the corner talking to Marcus Flint, Slytherin's former Quidditch Captain from their first few years at Hogwarts. About two years ago, Hermione had helped Flint regain custody of his three children. They had been friends ever since. Harry also noticed that Adrian Pucey, also a former Slytherin was chatting along as well. Another friend.
Draco and a few of the other Slytherins he now considered family had yet to show up. He knew Draco all too well and knew that he would wait with his wife to make an entrance. Draco's hard work as a Law Wizard and Muggle Lawyer had shown the wizarding world that he was not at all what they had painted him to be. He had completely redeemed the Malfoy name in the course of five short years. Harry wasn't really waiting for Draco, Pansy was the cause of his anxiety.
How would she react to seeing him there? Would she just snub him because he had shared custody of Emilia? He hoped not. He hoped that they could talk it out, maybe even be friends again. "Harry, aren't you going to ask me to dance?" Ginny complained as she sat at the table next to him.
"Not really. I'm not in the mood," Harry said, looking toward the entrance again. At that moment, camera's started flashing as Draco and Astoria made their way into the Great Hall. Ginny scowled as Draco and Astoria, along with baby Jackson went to sit down at Harry's table.
"What took you so long, Draco?" Harry asked, as Astoria deposited Jackson in Harry's waiting arms. Harry bounced Jackson on his knee while Ginny looked appalled but unable to hide her awed expression toward the perfect baby boy.
"I'm the one with a pregnant wife and a toddler, Harry. Besides, did you really think I would come here on time? Malfoy's always arrive fashionably late," Draco said, sounding smug.
"You really need to get off of that Malfoy's always or Malfoy's never stuff Draco," Harry said as they laughed together. "So…is she coming?" Harry asked, handing Jackson back to Draco. Astoria looked at Draco and then to Harry, biting her lip as if trying to hold back something she knew. "Tori, what do you know?" Harry asked, turning to look at her.
"Nothing, Harry," Astoria said, looking back to Draco and Jackson. She took a sip of pumpkin juice before looking subtly toward the entrance. Harry opened his mouth to speak when he snapped his jaw shut. She did show up, and on the arm of an extremely handsome male. It was the owner of Hogsmeade's newest and hottest nightspot called The Dungeon. All of the most famous young witches and wizards were always there and it was harder to get into than a Nun. His name was Dimitri Dantes. He apparently had graduated from Hogwarts ten years ago. He was also a published author working for the same publishing company as Pansy's. How else would they have met? Dimitri was extremely handsome, tall, lean, and an unfortunate resemblance to Edgar Crane.
Except that Dimitri's eyes were not the brown Crane's were, his were an icy grey and his hair was slightly longer with golden brown highlights. He had a superior smile as he and Pansy spoke to the reporters and posed for a few pictures. Harry didn't like him one bit. Pansy smiled and ran a hand through her growing dark tresses and they walked away from the cameras. "Hello Draco, Astoria. You remember Dimitri?" Pansy said, deliberately ignoring Harry and Ginny.
"Why yes of course, Mr. Dantes is Hermione's client at the office," Draco said, standing up and shaking the git's hand.
"It's nice to see you again Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy. Mr. Potter, Miss Weasley it's an honor to meet you both," he said, making Harry feel bad. All he wanted to do was punch the guy's lights out and he was being extremely polite.
"Eh right," Harry said, not hearing the pleasantries exchanged between everyone else. He was silently watching Pansy as she interacted with Dimitri. She was too close to him, her hand would touch his arm or his shoulder, she would smile and lean over to whisper something in his ear and he would smile. The smile of a veeeeery happy man. Pansy was young, beautiful, and a successful Author. She was probably just another trophy for his collection. At least that's what Harry thought as he watched them get up to dance.
"Harry, can we please go and dance?" Ginny whined, pulling Harry out of his violent thoughts. "No, I'm good," Harry muttered, making Ginny scoff. She tapped her shoe impatiently again, and took a large gulp of Fire Whiskey. Harry watched as the git pulled Pansy close and uttered what could possibly be sweet nothings in her ear. Wasn't she with Crane? The Pansy he knew was not some slag and yet here she was flirting shamelessly with some other bloke.
Maybe Harry was wrong about her. Maybe she was a slag for successful and famous men. Only, the Pansy he had had lunch with didn't seem like that. Not one little bit.
~*~Pansy~*~
"Can you believe the look on his face?" Dimitri whispered, chuckling softly. Pansy smiled having accomplished her goal. As childish as it was, Pansy had wanted Potter to feel utter jealousy. Despite the fact that she was now seeing Edgar, Pansy wanted Harry to be a jealous monster. It had surprised her when she had found out that Dimitri was in fact the fraternal twin brother of Edgar and the only Wizard in his family. Also the man (Dimitri) was as gay as a unicorn but, only behind closed doors as he had a reputation to keep up in the public eye. Dimitri had changed his name as soon as he had graduated Hogwarts and had made a name for himself.
Despite owning a club/restaurant in Hogsmeade, he also owned a few club/restaurant/bars in Muggle London. He was the perfect date, and he didn't expect to get laid either. Edgar now knew that Pansy was a Witch and that her penname not her real name was Scarlett. He took it better than she'd thought he would and they still continued to see each other. Why just the other night, Pansy had spent the night in his large London townhouse.
"I know, he looks so beside himself," Pansy sniggered, as Dimitri twirled her around the dance floor. Pansy watched, somewhat regretful of what she was doing. If she was dating Edgar, then why did she still feel a yearning for him? Edgar was perfect, why did seeing Harry still make her heart wobbly and her knees weak?
"Still, just because you're dating my brother, doesn't mean you can't make up with the bloke. I mean, he is the father of your child. It would be better for Emilia if you two were on better terms. It's not too late to repair the damage you've done," Dimitri said, as they walked away from the dance floor and out into a secluded courtyard.
"I can't Dimitri. I hurt him and it's not going to change anything. He can find someone who will be perfectly nice and never hurt him. Besides, I am with your brother," Pansy said, as she leaned her head against his shoulder.
"Oh please, if I'd had that attitude, Anton and I would never have gotten back together," Dimitri said, referring to his partner.
"It's so easy to say but, not so easy to do. It's better this way Dee," Pansy sighed. Dimitri shook his head inwardly and the two just sat there. That is, until Dimitri had excused himself to go to the loo.
A few moments later, the person Pansy did but, didn't want to see walked over and sat next to her. Although he sat at the edge of the stone bench, Pansy could still feel the warmth of his body and it gave her goosebumps. They sat there for a moment, before Harry finally had the nerve to speak. "Pansy I…I'm sorry," he apologized, turning to face her directly. The burning of his emerald eyes was enough to make the shivers crawl up her spine. Still she said nothing, waiting for him to go on. "I'm sorry I overreacted about Emilia. But, you know that our fight was not entirely my fault," Harry said, in a soft voice. Soft but, she could still hear the tremor in his voice.
He was as upset as she'd been. She'd had no right to keep Emilia from her father and yet she had not been thinking the way a mature adult would have, had they been in her position at the time. Pansy knew she was in the wrong, though she'd be damned if she'd cave in and beg for forgiveness. "I'm sorry too," Pansy said, not going any further than the small apology. She would not offer friendship, until he did. It was stupid, but it was the Slytherin pride in her.
"Will we ever be able to push these feelings aside, and be friends?" Harry said, surprising her.
"What feelings?" Pansy asked, pretending to have no idea of what he was speaking.
"The feelings we get when we're around each other," he said, making her eyes widen slightly.
"I have no idea what you're talking abou-", her sentence was cut off with a kiss. A kiss that would ultimately seal their colliding fates.
A/N: I hated to leave it there and end it so cheesy but, my mind is fried and I have dishes to wash. I'd like to apologize many times over for the long time it's taken me to update.