"Pansy," Padma said. "Pansy Parkinson."
"Do you know any other Pansies?" Parvati asked.
"No, but you can't blame me for being surprised," Padma said. "Pansy is coming to the club. She wants to come to the club."
"Apparently," Parvati sighed.
"Why?"
"We don't know for sure either," Harry said.
"She either is doing something to cheese off Draco, which will work considering how upset he looked today," Lavender said, "or it's a plan for something later on."
"Could be both," Parvati brought up.
"Could be both," Lavender agreed.
"Or maybe she is interested in household charms?" Padma suggested. She snorted at the looks the other two girls gave her. "Right, I knew that was weak as I was saying it."
"She was really pleasant to work with today during Potions class," Harry said. "Like actually nice to work with."
"That's true," Lavender admitted. "And I mean, who hasn't wanted to stick it to Draco?"
"Maybe she's sick," Parvati said. "Isn't Bulstrode out because she's sick? Maybe it's contagious?"
"What does being sick have to do with her wanting to come to club?" Harry asked.
"Just saying. Some kinds of sicknesses addle your brain. One of our cousins got sick and turned bonkers, started doing things really out of the norm-"
"He got hit with a Concussion Curse," Padma explained, glaring at her sister. "And he wasn't too bright to begin with. He cast the curse on himself."
"Why?!" Lavender exclaimed, eyes wide.
"Something about 'knocking the cough out'," Padma sighed.
"He thought that would work?" Harry asked.
"Like I said, wasn't too smart to begin with," Padma said.
Harry and the girls started laughing. "Well, let's just see how it goes," Harry said when the laughter subsided. "If she's rude and mean, she won't be welcome back."
"That's fair," Padma said. "Still, it's kinda weird."
"That's what we said earlier," Parvati said.
........
Pansy stood at the closed door, staring at it. She had arrived minutes ago and had stopped just shy of opening the door. She knew she was in the right place; she could hear them talking within the classroom. Normally she would never be this shy.
However, what she did today would not be considered to be 'normal' behavior.
She would never have stood up to Draco quite like that before. She and Draco have argued many times in the past, usually about what they were doing or what to do, but she had never stood against him in such a way.
She would never have made a spectacle of herself in front of others before. Then again, she had never been pushed to the point where she did that sort of thing. She had never been bothered to such a degree where she felt like this.
Confused, elated, concerned, frightened, and confused. It was worth mentioning that state of mind twice.
Before she could talk herself into leaving, she opened the door and stepped inside, looking about nervously. The conversation faded when everyone turned to look at her. She flushed, turning bright red, and hated herself for it. "Hello," she said as calmly as she could.
"Come in, Miss Parkinson," Flitwick said with a wide smile. He always seemed to be smiling though, so she was unsure if it had anything to do with her being there or not. "Welcome to Household Charms."
"Thank you," she said and walked quietly over to the other four students. "Potter," she nodded to him. "Hello," she said to the others.
"Hello Parkinson," Harry said kindly. The others did the same with differing degrees of friendliness. "Nice to see you," he added, somewhat awkwardly.
"Nice to be here," she replied, definitively awkwardly.
Flitwick clapped his hands gently, as if physically dispelling the awkward air. "Now then, what would we like to cook today?" He grinned at Harry. "Instead of asking what we would like to do, I figure we should dispense with pretense and just get right to it."
Harry laughed. "I would like to make chicken soup today." He turned to Pansy. "You said your friend was sick, right?"
Pansy blinked. "Yes, Millie, I mean Millicent, she's my best friend and she has a cold."
"Chicken soup is something Muggles make when someone is sick," Harry said. "There's no medicine in it but I think it has a lot of good stuff in it that helps a person feel better and get well better. Plus it's tasty."
"You would make that for her?" Pansy asked, staring at him. "Without you knowing her?"
"Sure, why not?" Harry replied.
"Because you do not know her," Pansy repeated dumbly. "Why would you?"
Harry looked at his friends for a brief moment. "Doesn't mean I can't help in some way if she isn't feeling well. It's only right."
"Oh." Pansy flushed again. "That sounds really nice, thank you."
"I have a good spell for helping us with that then," Flitwick said, once again clearing the air. "It's a modified cleaning charm. It's a sanitizing spell that is specifically for cleaning produce."
"Only for cleaning produce?" Padma asked. She huffed when Flitwick nodded. "That's annoyingly specific and mundane again!"
"Oh do not get me started on this spell array I found that differentiates between cleaning cotton socks and wool socks," Flitwick smiled, making Padma scoff out loud.
"What happens when you cast the wrong one on the different material?" Lavender asked.
"The cotton becomes ruinously sodden and the wool catches on fire," Flitwick said.
"That makes no sense," Parvati giggled.
.....
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