Slug CLub

Ch. 73 Pansy/Theo

Theo straightened his wool coat as he stepped into the Leaky Cauldron. He'd never expected her to actually owl him, to actually be interested. But here he was, meeting Pansy for coffee. He'd been trying to wrap his head around it since he'd gotten her owl three days ago. I mean yea, he'd filled out a bit since graduating from Hogwarts. And he'd been apprenticing in Ollivander's for a few months now. And he'd managed to get out from under his father's past. But still...why him?

As he walked quietly across the pub, Tom looked up from behind the bar and gave him a curt nod. Theo returned the gesture and walked into the side room, away from the main traffic of bar patrons where it was quieter. He spotted her almost at once. Her dark hair was down and straight, just brushing the tops of her shoulders. Her emerald green sweater was hanging on the back of her chair and the black shirt she wore was fitting without being too tight. Her heel was bouncing slightly, making her emerald flat click lightly on the hardwood floor. He could see a hint of a silver chain hanging across the back of her neck beneath her hair. She was leaning on her elbows at the edge of a table near the window, a cup of tea in her hands. She was staring out the window, watching the shadows of people passing by the frosted glass. Theo took a deep breath and started toward her table.

*Pansy*

Was she crazy? How could she have thought he'd actually come here. Pansy rubbed her thumbs over the warm tea cup as she watched the shadows outside the widow of the pub. She was nothing, just a girl who worked in the robe shop learning to be a seamstress. Sure, she'd never taken the mark or had family that had officially either, but he was still...he was Theo Nott. He was brilliant, and he was good looking, and he was....so out of her league. She shifted her eyes from the widow to the tea in her cup. How could she have thought he would come here to have drinks with someone like her? Someone so hateful and ordinary.

"Um. Hi." Pansy's head whipped around and she almost dropped her tea cup. Theo was standing beside the table, hands clasped in front of himself as he looked at her. He looked almost....was he shy? His eyes shifted from hers to the floor and he scuffed a foot slightly. She blinked and mentally shook herself back into some semblance of focus. Setting her cup on its saucer, she stood up and held out a hand to him.

"Hello. Thank you for joining me. I was really hoping you would come." She wanted to smack herself. Desperate much, Parkinson? Seriously? Theo smiled at her and took her hand in his own, bringing it to his lips.

"Why would I ever turn down an opportunity to see such a beautiful woman?" Now it was Theo who wanted to smack himself. Laying it on thick aren't we? But she smiled up at him, and he smiled back.

"Please," Pansy gestured to the chair across the table from her own, "sit. Tom can bring you a drink....only if you want of course!" Again with the babbling desperation she thought to herself. But he smiled and nodded, then glanced over as a barmaid came scuttling over to take his drink order. Pansy watched him as he spoke to her, his manners perfect and his tone gentle. It was only after he said her name again that she realized she was staring at him.

"I'm sorry, what?" Pansy said. Mentally kicking her own ass. Theo chuckled, and it was the best sound she'd heard all day.

"How have you been? I'm sorry I've not reached out since our...yea I don't even want to think about that." Pansy's heart sank. He didn't want to think about the last time they'd seen each other? When they'd been together at...now that she thought about it, she didn't really want to recall being used as a pawn to get Draco his spot on the quidditch team 8th year either. Refocusing, she picked up what he was saying and went very still.

"...Not one of my proudest moments, honestly. I should have told Draco no when he came up with the idea. But I never thought you'd go out with me, so I figured what the hell. But you didn't deserve that. Being treated like livestock to trade. That was insulting and I'm....I'm sorry, Pansy." Pansy blinked at Theo in surprise.