RP: Short notice

[pb_rabastan]

Characters: Rabastan Lestrange & Pansy Parkinson
Location: The apartment/respective --> Pansy's apartment
Date: 26th April 2000
Status/Warning: Private/swearing
Summary: News gets around fast
Completion: Incomplete

Comments

[pb_pansy]

Pansy left everything as it was. She considered taking the Floo back to her flat. She only had about five hours to prepare. She would need to bathe, exfoliate, do her hair, nails, makeup, decide on an appropriate gown or negligee, and make sure her brandy and and cigar supply was adequate. On second though, she would solve the brandy and cigar issue before going home by picking up additional supplies first. It never hurt to have extra on hand. Rabastan was occasionally unpredictable.

At quarter to seven, Pansy was ready, dressed in a tasteful corseted dress of her own design in black and silver. The neckline was daring without being too low and the slit up the leg did not reveal too much thigh when she sat. She had opted to wear her hair down so that it could be tossed artfully as she laughed.

On the way to the kitchen to give last minute instructions to her elves, Pansy adjusted the lighting and closed the curtains so that Rabastan would not worry about anyone peeking in. "Fizza, it smells divine. You may serve as soon as Mister Rabastan and I are seated at the dining table. Otherwise I want the two of you to remain quiet and out of sight. Is that clear?"

The chorus of 'yes, mistress' pleased her. She took up the latest issue of a witches fashion magazine and turned to look at the layout she did in various bridal gowns. She was sure she could design better but it was a way to pass time while waiting for Rabastan.

[pb_rabastan]

Rabastan spent those hours continuing with his usual schedule -- drinking coffee, smoking, ranting to himself and trying to remember where else he needed to check for Rodolphus. Clothing became an issue only after Till politely and very humbly pointed out what time it was. Sleeves were rolled up, tie was loose and his top button was undone. Mostly because he couldn't be bothered fixing them. Travelling with Rod had rendered his usual dress code fairly lax. As for the suit jacket, it didn't fit properly, so it had been abandoned. Cigarettes and wand were stashed in charmed pockets. He still felt overdressed despite the fact this wasn't supposed to be a social call as much as the first chance at revenge he could get. And yet.

Faced with Pansy's door, Rabastan habitually rolled his shoulders and neck before knocking.

[pb_pansy]

Pansy composed herself. It was difficult considering how excited she was to be seeing dear Rabastan again. She knew he didn't like being gushed all over.

She opened the door and smiled brightly, inviting her guest in. "You look divine. Do come in. I'm very happy you weren't eaten." She closed the door behind him. "You weren't bit by one of those awful werewolves your brother was after, were you? I was terribly frightened," she batted her eyes as she reminded herself not to throw herself at him in relief. He looked healthy.

[pb_rabastan]

At the first remark, Rabastan automatically checked himself before giving her a look that really did question whether she had hit her head. Or if she had another reason for overcompensating. But since his return to 'civilisation' his social filter had come down again, so he didn't mention the possible concussion. He took a moment to look past her into the apartment for any sign of Aurors before stepping over the threshold. "Me too."

"No, I'm not a halfbreed," he answered with a touch of impatience. As if he would ever show his face anywhere ever again if that had been the case. 'Terribly frightened'? He snorted. "Running like that is not always the best of ideas," he remarked idly, looking for the exits. If she had managed to set a trap, he was going to kill her. "It is potentially very damaging."

[pb_pansy]

Closing the door, Pansy reclined against it in an alluring pose. She noticed his nervous glances around the flat. Pansy hoped to put his mind at ease. "Oh, pish. I promised I wouldn't tell anyone and I haven't. Didn't you bother to check the letter I wrote? I made it into a binding contract so you and Rodolphus wouldn't have to concern yourselves with me giving you away."

Pansy placed her hand on his forearm to reassure him of her regard. "Of course you aren't. You're as pure as they come." Rabastan snorted and Pansy realized she'd missed the sound. "Running? You had to run to get away from the werewolves? You're very brave."

"Where are my manners? Please, take a seat. Gully! Brandy for Mister Lestrange," she told one of her elves. Pansy led him to a seat. "Feel free to poke around if you need to. There are no Aurors lurking, I assure you."

[pb_rabastan]

"Promises don't mean anything," Rabastan answered right off the bat. They were only words that people only ever stuck to when there was something else holding them to their actions. He made no comment on the letter, giving her a sidelong glance while he berated himself internally for not even checking to see if the letter was cursed. Of course, he'd know by now if it had been cursed; Rod had picked it up first.

Her hand on his arm apparently upset his tattoos, and the ivy quickly relocated, stretching out to get back into the light. Rabastan just raised his eyebrow at it. "I don't run from halfbreeds," he drawled, "And I don't discuss my brother's business. If you'd stayed, you'd know the details." And she wouldn't have liked any of them. He entertained himself for a moment with thoughts of how she would have reacted to Ecclasia.

After casting a quick Homenum Revelio, he just frowned, the absence of extra blue auras proving that he was indeed just paranoid. He followed Pansy to the seat, but did not sit down. "Ladies sit first," he stated, dismissing the realisation that manners his mother hammered into him were never really going to bugger off and leave him alone. Brandy was a welcome idea,though.

[pb_pansy]

"I thought you might think that. It was why I added the binding contract spell. I've only cast it the once. I assume it worked. I haven't tested it to be sure." It would have been foolish to try. Pansy knew she could be rash on occasion but she wasn't foolish. Rabastan gave her a side-long look that spoke of his regard for her. Pansy felt her heartbeat quicken in response.

"No, no. I wasn't fishing for details. You know I how I hate to pry into your business." She was curious, certainly. To pry would be rude and she wanted Rabastan to feel at ease.

"Thank you, Rabastan. You're such a gentleman. The men my age are little boys with hardly any at all." Both Draco and Blaise were uncommonly rude. Pansy arranged her skirts so that he would have room to sit beside her.

[pb_rabastan]

"And if it didn't work? If you got the finer details wrong?" His eyebrow arched as he considered deliberately asking about the specifics to see if anything had gone wrong. "What kind of consequences would breaking that contract have?" Just out of curiosity.

"I wouldn't tell you even if you had been," Rabastan said with an open handed shrug. "This is Rodolphus' business, I'm just in it for the ride." Unfortunately, that ride included wolves and other equally... interesting individuals. Despite his complaints, they had kept him busy.

With a faint smirk, Rabastan shook his head. He knew how to behave like a gentleman when he needed to be (and occasionally when his internal monologue insisted he should be), but he would never in a month of Sundays have considered himself to be such. Still, he waited for Pansy to finish whatever she was doing with her dress before he sat. "I hope that statement doesn't include my nephew." Nephew in-law, nephew in-law once removed... Nephew in-law completely removed when I manage to disown Bellatrix. He wasn't keeping up with anyone's family status any more, and bringing in the fact Lucius was a friend just stirred up 'family politics'. Which Rabastan didn't have the patience for.

[pb_pansy]

"I don't know. It worked. I didn't tell anyone. I didn't even talk about you with Blaise when we ran into each other despite him knowing already." Rabastan arched an eyebrow, a mannerism of his she found frightfully attractive. "Consequence? It would bind me from saying anything even accidentally. Is that what you mean?"

"Forgive me. I care about you. I was only concerned for your safety and health." Pansy wasn't sure his brother's business wouldn't get him in trouble someday. She really did not want Rabastan to end up a werewolf or back in Azkaban because Rodolphus was only marginally sane.

"Draco Malfoy is among the worst," Pansy practically spit. Gully brought the brandy in a large snifter for Rabastan. She waved the elf off so he wouldn't be a nuisance. "Let's not bother with Draco Malfoy. His Mudblood is welcome to him. Tell me about what you plan to do next. Only in the most vague way, of course. I don't want to pry. I simply find you so fascinating, I can't help taking an interest."

[pb_rabastan]

"That lad needs to be belted upside the head," he grumbled, rolling his once-injured shoulder. The further explanation caused Rabastan to give Pansy an odd look that cleared in a matter of seconds when he realised what she was talking about. "That kind of contract." The handful of binding contracts he had ever out together ended in fatalities if the other party tried to break the deal. All had broken theirs, all were dead. It left him feeling a little less trusting, truth be told.

The words 'I care about you' echoed through Rabastan's head and for a moment he honestly wasn't sure whether to laugh or hit her. He could, however, control his facial features long enough to only allow a shadow of a smirk to pass. "My safety and health are... fine," he managed, though his tone remained a little bewildered.

"Draco Malfoy is my nephew and you will not speak about him like that," he stated, words clipped. One hand moved to pour a drink while the other tried to rub away the deep frown that was forming. His Mudblood. His. The thought was truly nauseating and is made his temper rise. "I plan to have a fucking cigarette," was his answer. No, he wasn't asking permission. Draining his glass, he searched for the cigarette case and lit up. "If you're that interested, try looking up the older publications of the Daily Prophet. More notably around 1980 to 1981."

[pb_pansy]

"Probably," Pansy confessed. She didn't want to tell Rabastan what Draco had told her about the two of them discussing bedding her before it had even happened, not to mention the two talking about it after. She wasn't proud of the way Blaise had roped her into giving him her virginity. He'd even torn her frock.

"Good. I'm glad you're safe and well. You're probably also hungry. Would you care to eat now? I did invite you for dinner." Not that he wasn't welcome to more but Pansy had begun to give up hope of him being attracted to her. She thought it was possible he liked men despite his denials.

"You asked. I answered. Had you not asked, I wouldn't have said a word. Draco did write to apologize," however insincere it was, "for his behavior. That's something." It was more than Blaise bothered to do. "Smoke all you'd like. I do have cigars if you'd like." Pansy made a mental note to check the Daily Prophet back issues.

[pb_rabastan]

"Ravenous, actually," he admitted with a slightly raised eyebrow, "Despite Till's best efforts." The elf could not cope with the fact he didn't see the point in eating when he wasn't hungry, nor when he was just about to have dinner elsewhere. "And about the inviting -- have you given any more thought to the term 'war criminal'? You did see fit to run from us."

"Nevertheless," Rabastan grated in a tone he feared he had adopted from his father, "I asked whether he was included in the statement, not for your opinion of him and while my question may not have come across particularly tongue-in-cheek, that is how it was intended." Tilting his head back, he blew a stream of smoke into the air, then turned to look at her again. "So I'll thank you not to speak about my family that way."

[pb_pansy]

"Then let's go to the table." Pansy stood. "I do understand that you and Rodolphus are war criminals. I do! It's only difficult to believe either of you would harm me." She wasn't completely sure of Rodolphus but thought he would have killed her already had he meant to do it. "I didn't run from either of you. I ran from werewolves. I also had to get back to my business. It was nearly ruined when I returned from having been away so long while shops were placing orders for summer." Pansy pouted. "I'd spent most of the money I earned as a Muggle model on this flat and setting up my business. I know I have what you allowed me to keep of Tony's funds but that won't last indefinitely. I had to get back to work," she whinged with a little touch of panic in her voice.

Pansy nodded curtly. "In that case, my response to your question of whether or not your nephew was included in my statement should have been to pretend you had asked rhetorically. I had already given my opinion on boys. I'm not going to start lying to you. I shall remain silent on the subject." Of course he'd stand up for Draco even though her former friend had insinuated to other people she'd been posing for pornography despite her doing no such thing. If Draco wanted to drag her down to make himself feel better she couldn't stop him. As always she was expected to keep her hurt feelings to herself. "Let's not quarrel. I hate when we're at odds. Come eat."

[pb_rabastan]

The phrase 'stark raving mad' was on the tip of Rabastan's tongue, held back only by 'pot, kettle and black'. Although he reassured himself with the knowledge that he, his brother and Bellatrix had not been jailed for trespassing on private property -- fourteen years earned you the right to that frame of mind. What was her excuse? Standing, he shrugged. "You're safe from us until we decide you're not," he said quite matter-of-factly. For some people Lestrange loyalty just happened over time, for the rest, it had to be bought. And the moment their services were no longer of use, connections could be severed. Rabastan had never liked loose ends. "The sympathy vote," he shook his head, eyebrow arched, "It doesn't work on me."

"We're always at odds," he pointed out, "Aside from our House and blood status, there is nothing about us that is ever even." Nothing that he could think of anyway. "And--" He waved one cigarette-laden hand around in a bemused arc. "--why do women always insist on using the term 'boy' for men they don't like? You're the same age as him." Nevertheless, he was following the last suggestion.

[pb_pansy]

"Sympathy vote?" Pansy stared at him blankly. "I'm not sure why you think I want sympathy. I did what I needed to do. Surely you, of all people, can understand that." She didn't understand him sometimes. Pansy didn't want him to feel sorry for her. She only wanted him to know why she left them. If she'd known they'd be gone so long she wouldn't have agreed to go with them. She would have been responsible and told him no. On the other hand, he was so very handsome, she had difficulty denying him anything.

"Stop teasing. You know we get along fabulously. You might be right about things not being even. Still, it isn't my fault I can walk around in public. I can be useful to you that way, you know." He needed someone like her that he could depend on. He asked about boys and she started to answer before stopping herself. "That's another one of those tongue-in-cheek questions you don't really want me to answer." Pansy was proud of herself for spotting it this time.

She began pushing dishes his way. "Try the tenderloin. It's divine."

[pb_rabastan]

Shrugging again, he tucked the cigarette into the corner of his mouth. "Fine. Then just don't pout at me," he answered. Any tactic employed by daughters to get around their fathers left him quite unmoved. Unless said father was a prat and the result was hilarious. Some of the girls of Slytherin house had been known to guilt their fathers into almost anything. Yet another reason for never marrying. No evil mastermind spawn.

"It's not my fault either," he muttered, glancing down at where his Mark would have been visible had he not had it thoroughly inked over. You couldn't expect a business to be successful if the management was a half-blooded, lying bastard. But the lady had a point, as much as he hated to admit it. He couldn't continue to be quite so cocky regarding security. Lips curving slightly in amusement at the remark about his question, Rabastan nodded. "It was. But having been subjected to it at least once in my youth, it would be interesting to know the answer." If she declared that boys became men the moment they developed manners, he'd laugh.

"Thank you." Hesitating, Rabastan quickly drew his wand and Vanished his entire cigarette. It was rude to smoke at the table.