School day memories
Angie stood in the centre of Hogsmeade, feeling like she had to be crazy to have come back here. 'Perhaps I should have asked Ali to come with me,' she thought. Ali could have pushed her through the door. 'ugh get a grip,' she thought. This wasn't the hardest thing in the world she had ever had to do but it was one of the hardest. It took a great deal of grit from her to cross over the frosty ground towards the joke shop.
She pushed the door of it open, for a moment seeing an old scene of two red heads looking up with a grin.
Pansy was looking at the vomit pellets when she heard the door open, glancing over she saw a familiar pretty black woman come strolling into the shop. The witch looked almost frightened. Pansy cleared her throat, calling attention to herself discreetly and the girl's brown eyes flickered over to her. "Hello. Angelina, right? You were on the Gryffindor Quidditch team at Hogwarts right?"
It was a little known fact that Pansy loved watching Quidditch. She loved watching the female athletics and tended to ignore the men. She had stared at the witch, Angelia Johnson she recalled, the whole time the girl was on the team when Pansy attended the school. Once her school days had ended, she had mostly fallen out of touch with the sport. It had been too hard to follow when she was up all night and sleeping during the day.
Angelina's brow furrowed for a moment as she placed the other witch. The other witch's reputation made up for the lack of time they had even spent talking and she could at least put a name to her. She nodded her head and said, "Pansy isn't it?" She crossed over the floor to talk properly to Pansy, ignoring the gawks that tended to follow her since she had been been made captain of Puddlemore United. "How are you?"
"I'm well, thank you for asking," Pansy said politely, leaning against the shelf so her hip jutted out to the side. "How are you? I hear you actually made it pro. You were wonderful in school so I'm not surprised."
"Thanks," Angie said with a slight grin. "I really wanted it. It's a great way to make a living, flying most days." She glanced around the shop just like Fred and George had made their living doing what they loved best. "Still I guess this is what George would say about this place. I haven't been here in ages."
Pansy noticed her new frown and knew that the girl didn't even know she was frowning. There was a sadness in her eyes. Pansy hated it most when beautiful woman were sad -- it was worse when they cried though; a woman's tears broke Pansy's heart. She tilted her head to the side, saying, "I haven't been here in ages either. I just wander in. They have... interesting merchandise to say the least." Picking up a package of the pellets she held them up. "Now why couldn't these have been sold during my school years?" she asked with a playful grin.
Angelina laughed, "They are great but also the bane of my life." She pointed over at Skiving lunchboxes, "I have had to put a ban on them coming anywhere near the practices. A sniff of the bad weather and they want off the pitch...anyone would think they had learnt that trick at school."
Pansy grinned. "Oh the hardships of a Qudditch captain!" Pansy took another moment to survey her as she was waiting for a response. She was beautiful. Tall, athletic, and her brown eyes were clear and lively. If she didn't know she was straight she would have actually hit on the witch.
Angelina nodded her head, "You try telling boys they can't have them," she shrugged, "They immediately want to have as many as possible on them. And what about you, what do you do now?"
"I live off my inheritance. Basically, I do whatever the hell I want whenever the hell I want."
Angelina raised an eyebrow, "Doesn't that get boring?" she asked. All her life she had been aware of the money she had. Her family weren't poor but she had been taught to value it and buy the luxuries for herself. Even the house she lived in had been paid with only a little help from her parents. And she had admired George...and Fred for what they had done building up from scratch. She couldn't imagine just resting on money, even Alicia still worked (Quidditch was work even though it was fun."
Pansy shrugged. "It gives me freedom and time to think of what I really want to do. I'm sure I won't be living off my inheritance all my life. I fancy starting something of my own, but I dread the time it would take from my... playtime." She smiled suddenly, thinking of her playtime.
Angelina had to smile, she knew well what Pansy's playtime was and found it amusing that she would try to phrase it politely. "Perhaps you could do something that doesn't interfere with it, be a party host or something."
Pansy scoffed. "I'm not a 'party' girl. I'm a club girl if you want to know." She sighed, glancing down. "You seemed to think you know what I mean by playtime... I find that amusing since we probably haven't spoken... ever. Am I that infamous?"
Angelina raised an eyebrow, "I guess it does spread around but," she added softening the blow, "Alicia Spinnet is my best friend, of course I was bound to hear something."
"Right, Alicia. Did she tell you about the wedding?" Pansy leaned against the shelf again, looking at the girl seriously.
Angelina nodded her head. The details Alicia had related had been funny. "Sure," Angelina said, "And I must say well done! That would have been something to see."
Pansy grinned. "The guests had a show that's for sure," she paused, "So, being Alicia's best friend and all, can you let me in on her intentions with Draco? I'd hate to see the man waste his time..." She couldn't care less if Alicia was wasting her time, but if Pansy had her way Draco never would.
"Her intentions," Angelina shrugged, what a formal phrase. She struggled with it for a second. Only George had asked her that and it had been a complete joke when she and Fred had started going out. Ali hadn't made any open declarations or anything. "She thinks that he is good looking and she seems to have a good time around him."
Pansy frowned. "That's good enough I suppose..."
Angelina looked hard at Pansy, "What more do you want from Ali? Some big grand gesture towards him?"
"I didn't say that. I was just concerned for my friend," she snapped back, crossing her arms around her chest and glaring at the girl.
"Well some am I," Angelina retorted. "I don't want anyone poking in and guessing at her. Ali will do as she wants. And she doesn't muck with people."
Pansy raised her eyebrows in response. "She better not be mucking around with Draco."
Angelina took a deep breath, determined not to lose her rag. It was bad enough being back here without an argument to compound the memory. "Ali's never mucked with people in her life," she said loyally. "Even with friends." She glanced across towards the back room where she assumed George was and back at Pansy. "You would be a fool to think she would play him in any way."
Pansy smiled, practically smirking. "I like it when people defend their friends. It shows loyalty. Now, I'm not going to apologize, but perhaps I shouldn't have asked you about Alicia since you aren't her and clearly cannot know what she is thinking in the least."
Angelina calmed down a little, "You should just ask her straight out when you see her," she said. "She will answer you...I just get riled when people question my friends."
"I will be sure to ask her. Not that I see her often. Perhaps I'll pay a stop to Draco's next time he mentions he's seeing her... I can always get the information out of him." She grinned. She liked the shift of atmosphere; Angelina was warming up to her she could tell. Too bad she's so straight it hurts, Pansy thought bitterly, still grinning.
"You sound like the over protective big sister," Angelina said recognising the symptoms she had displayed herself. "Just don't duel Ali into the ground or anything or I will have to come after you."
"I think Draco might disown me if I did anyway. He doesn't like me butting in in his life."
Angelina smiled, "Sounds like a male alright," she commented. "I butt in and out of Ali's all the time."
"Ah, he doesn't keep me from butting into his life. He just doesn't like it. He's like my brother... He can't get rid of me; he's stuck with me." She grinned, thinking fondly of Draco.
Angelina noticed how Pansy was most passionate and the most informal when she spoke of Draco. She grinned back, "I guess I can see why you are over protective of him then. But he always sounded like someone who could handle himself.
"He likes to think he can handle himself. If he can or not... that's up for discuss another time."
Angie raised an eyebrow but tried not to pry. It sounded as though Pansy was not keen to talk about something a little closer to home. Which made sense since in some ways they were all but strangers. She smiled, "That's why we have friends, right, to keep an eye on each other."
Pansy shrugged. "I suppose that's true." But Draco is the one one I'd call a friend if I were asked. But Draco is a good friend. "Sometimes having friends is just a pain in the neck," she added in a mutter.
"That doesn't sound good," Angie observed, "I wouldn't even have called Fred and George pains in the neck, even when they driving everyone nuts."
"I would have called George a pain in the neck." Pansy was cautious not to speak ill of the dead, even if she never liked the deceased person. "But I suppose that is why you are his friend and I am a humble customer."
Angie's smile was warm, "I suppose if you were on the end of the jokes it wasn't the same." she laughed softly, "Not that friends are immune but the humour was always different."
Pansy shrugged yet again, picking up a bottle of something called "Out of Your Head" tablets. "What in the world?" she whispered, holding them up to her and grinning. "At least it's not out of your body." She wanted to turn the topic to something light, something they might actually understand each other on.
Angie squinted at the bottle, "Either its going to get you incredibly drunk or it is going to ..." she shrugged and smiled, "It could be anything. Dare we try them?"
Pansy laughed. "I can use alcohol to get extremely drunk if I want." She placed the bottle back on the shelve and looked around the shop. It was quaint despite the fun atmosphere.
Angie's eyes drifted to the back room and Pansy again. She led the way towards shelves nearer the counter. "Do you remember the fake wands," she said with a laugh, "They were everywhere around the school before I left."
Pansy laughed at the memory. "We used to get a kick out of stealing out friends' wand and replacing it with a fake one."
"The Gryffindor common room became quite a dangerous place to be in," Angie said with an amused smile. "Imagine what you saw scattered all over the school compacted into one room. It was wild. No one trust any random present that they were given."
"Wise students despite their house," Pansy said. She clamped her mouth shut after the words were omitted. It had been such a reflex to insult the Gryffindor house on the sly. She wondered if the other woman actually caught onto the insult. She picked up one of the wands. "This was one was my favorite," she told her the girl, smiling. "Draco hated it. He used to go on and on about how immature it was, but he was also the one who gave Crabbe the canary cakes."
Angie shrugged off the insult. She was sure House rivalry continued on far after school. Instead she grinned, "You should buy one now and get him with it later." She thought about getting something to lighten the mood with Oliver, but he would probably take it all the wrong way.
"He'd probably hex me these days. He has no sense of humor. Or, well, he has very little sense or humor," Pansy amended. She frowned. Glancing up she saw George coming out of the back room, carrying boxes and grinning broadly. "There's your friend," she told Angelina who was facing the opposite directly and nodded toward the wizard.
Angie spun around, some of the colour leaving her face. "George," she said quietly, for a moment forgetting Pansy's existence. "Hi."
Pansy nodded to the Weasley. "Miss Johnson," Pansy interrupted them before they started a conversation, "It was nice talking to you. Mr. Weasley, a lovely shop here." She grabbed a fake wand and said, "I think I'm just going to purchase this and leave." She turned away, wanting to give the old friends time.
Angie turned back for a moment to Pansy when she heard her voice. "I'll send you an owl," she suggested, "If you want to see our next match, I can get you a good ticket."
Pansy grinned. "I love that! I look forward to hearing from you." She backed away, walking backward. It was a miracle she didn't run into something, but thankfully, she was able to swing around right before she hit a shelf and brought her hands out to brace herself. She smiled to herself. Perhaps I can turn the beautiful woman still... Her thoughts drifted to Luna who was now probably giving her father the check from the Parkinson Foundation and she smiled. She had time for two beautiful woman in her life especially when it was clear they were both completely opposites.
Angie gestured towards the back room to George. She wouldn't forget what she had told Pansy. But right now she had some catching up to do and she did not want to do it in front of a pile of customers.
She pushed the door of it open, for a moment seeing an old scene of two red heads looking up with a grin.
Pansy was looking at the vomit pellets when she heard the door open, glancing over she saw a familiar pretty black woman come strolling into the shop. The witch looked almost frightened. Pansy cleared her throat, calling attention to herself discreetly and the girl's brown eyes flickered over to her. "Hello. Angelina, right? You were on the Gryffindor Quidditch team at Hogwarts right?"
It was a little known fact that Pansy loved watching Quidditch. She loved watching the female athletics and tended to ignore the men. She had stared at the witch, Angelia Johnson she recalled, the whole time the girl was on the team when Pansy attended the school. Once her school days had ended, she had mostly fallen out of touch with the sport. It had been too hard to follow when she was up all night and sleeping during the day.
Angelina's brow furrowed for a moment as she placed the other witch. The other witch's reputation made up for the lack of time they had even spent talking and she could at least put a name to her. She nodded her head and said, "Pansy isn't it?" She crossed over the floor to talk properly to Pansy, ignoring the gawks that tended to follow her since she had been been made captain of Puddlemore United. "How are you?"
"I'm well, thank you for asking," Pansy said politely, leaning against the shelf so her hip jutted out to the side. "How are you? I hear you actually made it pro. You were wonderful in school so I'm not surprised."
"Thanks," Angie said with a slight grin. "I really wanted it. It's a great way to make a living, flying most days." She glanced around the shop just like Fred and George had made their living doing what they loved best. "Still I guess this is what George would say about this place. I haven't been here in ages."
Pansy noticed her new frown and knew that the girl didn't even know she was frowning. There was a sadness in her eyes. Pansy hated it most when beautiful woman were sad -- it was worse when they cried though; a woman's tears broke Pansy's heart. She tilted her head to the side, saying, "I haven't been here in ages either. I just wander in. They have... interesting merchandise to say the least." Picking up a package of the pellets she held them up. "Now why couldn't these have been sold during my school years?" she asked with a playful grin.
Angelina laughed, "They are great but also the bane of my life." She pointed over at Skiving lunchboxes, "I have had to put a ban on them coming anywhere near the practices. A sniff of the bad weather and they want off the pitch...anyone would think they had learnt that trick at school."
Pansy grinned. "Oh the hardships of a Qudditch captain!" Pansy took another moment to survey her as she was waiting for a response. She was beautiful. Tall, athletic, and her brown eyes were clear and lively. If she didn't know she was straight she would have actually hit on the witch.
Angelina nodded her head, "You try telling boys they can't have them," she shrugged, "They immediately want to have as many as possible on them. And what about you, what do you do now?"
"I live off my inheritance. Basically, I do whatever the hell I want whenever the hell I want."
Angelina raised an eyebrow, "Doesn't that get boring?" she asked. All her life she had been aware of the money she had. Her family weren't poor but she had been taught to value it and buy the luxuries for herself. Even the house she lived in had been paid with only a little help from her parents. And she had admired George...and Fred for what they had done building up from scratch. She couldn't imagine just resting on money, even Alicia still worked (Quidditch was work even though it was fun."
Pansy shrugged. "It gives me freedom and time to think of what I really want to do. I'm sure I won't be living off my inheritance all my life. I fancy starting something of my own, but I dread the time it would take from my... playtime." She smiled suddenly, thinking of her playtime.
Angelina had to smile, she knew well what Pansy's playtime was and found it amusing that she would try to phrase it politely. "Perhaps you could do something that doesn't interfere with it, be a party host or something."
Pansy scoffed. "I'm not a 'party' girl. I'm a club girl if you want to know." She sighed, glancing down. "You seemed to think you know what I mean by playtime... I find that amusing since we probably haven't spoken... ever. Am I that infamous?"
Angelina raised an eyebrow, "I guess it does spread around but," she added softening the blow, "Alicia Spinnet is my best friend, of course I was bound to hear something."
"Right, Alicia. Did she tell you about the wedding?" Pansy leaned against the shelf again, looking at the girl seriously.
Angelina nodded her head. The details Alicia had related had been funny. "Sure," Angelina said, "And I must say well done! That would have been something to see."
Pansy grinned. "The guests had a show that's for sure," she paused, "So, being Alicia's best friend and all, can you let me in on her intentions with Draco? I'd hate to see the man waste his time..." She couldn't care less if Alicia was wasting her time, but if Pansy had her way Draco never would.
"Her intentions," Angelina shrugged, what a formal phrase. She struggled with it for a second. Only George had asked her that and it had been a complete joke when she and Fred had started going out. Ali hadn't made any open declarations or anything. "She thinks that he is good looking and she seems to have a good time around him."
Pansy frowned. "That's good enough I suppose..."
Angelina looked hard at Pansy, "What more do you want from Ali? Some big grand gesture towards him?"
"I didn't say that. I was just concerned for my friend," she snapped back, crossing her arms around her chest and glaring at the girl.
"Well some am I," Angelina retorted. "I don't want anyone poking in and guessing at her. Ali will do as she wants. And she doesn't muck with people."
Pansy raised her eyebrows in response. "She better not be mucking around with Draco."
Angelina took a deep breath, determined not to lose her rag. It was bad enough being back here without an argument to compound the memory. "Ali's never mucked with people in her life," she said loyally. "Even with friends." She glanced across towards the back room where she assumed George was and back at Pansy. "You would be a fool to think she would play him in any way."
Pansy smiled, practically smirking. "I like it when people defend their friends. It shows loyalty. Now, I'm not going to apologize, but perhaps I shouldn't have asked you about Alicia since you aren't her and clearly cannot know what she is thinking in the least."
Angelina calmed down a little, "You should just ask her straight out when you see her," she said. "She will answer you...I just get riled when people question my friends."
"I will be sure to ask her. Not that I see her often. Perhaps I'll pay a stop to Draco's next time he mentions he's seeing her... I can always get the information out of him." She grinned. She liked the shift of atmosphere; Angelina was warming up to her she could tell. Too bad she's so straight it hurts, Pansy thought bitterly, still grinning.
"You sound like the over protective big sister," Angelina said recognising the symptoms she had displayed herself. "Just don't duel Ali into the ground or anything or I will have to come after you."
"I think Draco might disown me if I did anyway. He doesn't like me butting in in his life."
Angelina smiled, "Sounds like a male alright," she commented. "I butt in and out of Ali's all the time."
"Ah, he doesn't keep me from butting into his life. He just doesn't like it. He's like my brother... He can't get rid of me; he's stuck with me." She grinned, thinking fondly of Draco.
Angelina noticed how Pansy was most passionate and the most informal when she spoke of Draco. She grinned back, "I guess I can see why you are over protective of him then. But he always sounded like someone who could handle himself.
"He likes to think he can handle himself. If he can or not... that's up for discuss another time."
Angie raised an eyebrow but tried not to pry. It sounded as though Pansy was not keen to talk about something a little closer to home. Which made sense since in some ways they were all but strangers. She smiled, "That's why we have friends, right, to keep an eye on each other."
Pansy shrugged. "I suppose that's true." But Draco is the one one I'd call a friend if I were asked. But Draco is a good friend. "Sometimes having friends is just a pain in the neck," she added in a mutter.
"That doesn't sound good," Angie observed, "I wouldn't even have called Fred and George pains in the neck, even when they driving everyone nuts."
"I would have called George a pain in the neck." Pansy was cautious not to speak ill of the dead, even if she never liked the deceased person. "But I suppose that is why you are his friend and I am a humble customer."
Angie's smile was warm, "I suppose if you were on the end of the jokes it wasn't the same." she laughed softly, "Not that friends are immune but the humour was always different."
Pansy shrugged yet again, picking up a bottle of something called "Out of Your Head" tablets. "What in the world?" she whispered, holding them up to her and grinning. "At least it's not out of your body." She wanted to turn the topic to something light, something they might actually understand each other on.
Angie squinted at the bottle, "Either its going to get you incredibly drunk or it is going to ..." she shrugged and smiled, "It could be anything. Dare we try them?"
Pansy laughed. "I can use alcohol to get extremely drunk if I want." She placed the bottle back on the shelve and looked around the shop. It was quaint despite the fun atmosphere.
Angie's eyes drifted to the back room and Pansy again. She led the way towards shelves nearer the counter. "Do you remember the fake wands," she said with a laugh, "They were everywhere around the school before I left."
Pansy laughed at the memory. "We used to get a kick out of stealing out friends' wand and replacing it with a fake one."
"The Gryffindor common room became quite a dangerous place to be in," Angie said with an amused smile. "Imagine what you saw scattered all over the school compacted into one room. It was wild. No one trust any random present that they were given."
"Wise students despite their house," Pansy said. She clamped her mouth shut after the words were omitted. It had been such a reflex to insult the Gryffindor house on the sly. She wondered if the other woman actually caught onto the insult. She picked up one of the wands. "This was one was my favorite," she told her the girl, smiling. "Draco hated it. He used to go on and on about how immature it was, but he was also the one who gave Crabbe the canary cakes."
Angie shrugged off the insult. She was sure House rivalry continued on far after school. Instead she grinned, "You should buy one now and get him with it later." She thought about getting something to lighten the mood with Oliver, but he would probably take it all the wrong way.
"He'd probably hex me these days. He has no sense of humor. Or, well, he has very little sense or humor," Pansy amended. She frowned. Glancing up she saw George coming out of the back room, carrying boxes and grinning broadly. "There's your friend," she told Angelina who was facing the opposite directly and nodded toward the wizard.
Angie spun around, some of the colour leaving her face. "George," she said quietly, for a moment forgetting Pansy's existence. "Hi."
Pansy nodded to the Weasley. "Miss Johnson," Pansy interrupted them before they started a conversation, "It was nice talking to you. Mr. Weasley, a lovely shop here." She grabbed a fake wand and said, "I think I'm just going to purchase this and leave." She turned away, wanting to give the old friends time.
Angie turned back for a moment to Pansy when she heard her voice. "I'll send you an owl," she suggested, "If you want to see our next match, I can get you a good ticket."
Pansy grinned. "I love that! I look forward to hearing from you." She backed away, walking backward. It was a miracle she didn't run into something, but thankfully, she was able to swing around right before she hit a shelf and brought her hands out to brace herself. She smiled to herself. Perhaps I can turn the beautiful woman still... Her thoughts drifted to Luna who was now probably giving her father the check from the Parkinson Foundation and she smiled. She had time for two beautiful woman in her life especially when it was clear they were both completely opposites.
Angie gestured towards the back room to George. She wouldn't forget what she had told Pansy. But right now she had some catching up to do and she did not want to do it in front of a pile of customers.