By the end of June, Harry and Pansy were meeting every other day to study, but Harry wanted to see how she would react to muggle places. Through Lord Parkinson and Andromeda, he arranged for both families to spend an afternoon at the National Gallery. Hermione had recommended it after learning that Pansy liked art.
Teddy was bouncing when the Parkinsons Flooed in. Harry didn't trust the purebloods to know much about modern transportation and was happy to show off the little muggle knowledge he had retained from growing up in the mundane world.
Lord Parkinson came through first and held out a hand to the Floo to support his wife, who Harry had never met, and Pansy. His older son was in Germany studying to be a Potioneer, only one grade beneath Potions Master.
"Douglass." Harry acknowledged with a nod. It was still odd to him to call a man twice his age by name, but politically they were ranked the same so to do less would be admitting that he saw his Houses as subservient.
"Berry," He nodded back and moved to introduce Lady Parkinson. " This is my wife, Ellanora."
Harry bussed her knuckles. "Charmed."
He turned to Pansy and bussed her knuckles as well, given the more formal nature of the moment. He looked into her dark and glossy brown eyes and smiled over her hand before standing.
He was wearing a semi formal wizarding outfit, a suit resembling something from the 1900s. It was the most muggle outfit he owned now. Lord Parkinson was dressed similarly and the ladies were all wearing modest sundresses. Teddy was dressed in a muggle onesie with Elmo on it, drawing confused and curious glances from the Parkinsons.
"Shall we?" Harry offered. Then they trouped out of the house and down the sidewalk to the Tube station a few blocks away. Harry had warned the Parkinsons there would be walking ahead of time.
"Now what kind of establishment is this we're going to, Berry?" Ellanora asked, looking around the subway car with not a little disgust.
"We're going to the National Gallery. It's the largest art gallery in the country with several world famous pieces." He explained calmly. He was lucky they had decided to do this outing at a time most people were at work, but there were patches of young people throughout the car. Hopefully there wouldn't be crowds at the Gallery.
XX
They arrived at the stone building made resplendent with tall grecian columns and a dome reaching high into the sky. The Parkinsons we awed and paused mid step to gawk at the Gallery. Harry had had an idea that they would be struck by muggle ingenuity but didn't think it would be because of architecture.
The group made their way in, Andromeda handing Teddy over to Harry and purchasing tickets for them all. And with that, their tour began.
The Parkinsons commented sotto voice to Harry that they kept expecting the portraits to talk or move. Pansy would tell all of them facts about historical painting trends. SHe stopped cold when she saw Sunflowers by Vincent van Gogh. Harry looked over and saw tears forming and stood beside her, grasping her hand gently.
"It's so beautiful. I never imagined…"
"Imagined what?"
"Imagined that muggles could create things of beauty even beyond magical works. It doesn't need to move. It moves you."
He bumped their shoulders together in a show of support.
Then, as they were walking into one of the collection rooms, a large group of Latino tourists cut Pansy and Harry off from the rest of their collection. Pansy was struggling with being near so many people, so Harry pulled her into an alcove to wait.
"Do you always have an issue with crowds?" He asked lightly, pushing to know more about his fiancee.
She pursed her lips, face ghastly pale, and nodded. "Ever since I was a girl. It…it overwhelms me to be encircled by so many strangers."
He held onto her shaking hands until the tourists were gone and they were able to look for their group again.
As they walked, they talked lightly about the other art they'd seen.
"I know you said in one of our study meetings that you like to paint. Is it just a hobby?"
She looked around for her parents. "I'd like to be professional, but that would take time away from my duties to my family, so it's just a dream for now."
Harry frowned. "If it's something you'd like to do, I'd support you. I mean I haven't seen any of your art but the knowledge you have? I've learned more about nineteenth century art than I ever knew before."
Pansy paused and turned to face him. Leaning up on her tiptoes, she kissed his cheek. "I'm really starting to see a future with you, Berry."
And then Douglass Parkinson spotted them and came rushing over to check on Pansy. He shook Harry's hand vigorously, thanking him for watching over her in a moment of struggle.
Once they rejoined the party, Teddy was crying for a nap and Ellanora was looking tired as well. So with that, they decided to end the outing. Harry and Andromeda walked the Parkinsons to a nearby alley where they could apparate from and watched the alley entrance to make sure there were no Statute breaches. Then they apparated themselves and Teddy back to Grimmauld Place.