Spotting A Scorpion

Work had been fairly slack, which was a surprise given the drama that was unfolding in the wizarding world. Pansy wasn't worried though, she knew exactly when to drop her bombshell of a story that was lined up. Up to know her fellow reporters had only been able to report about the new educational decrees and the articles didn't say much besides what the decrees actually were. Being a death eater and in the know Pansy knew more. Not that she was going to share with her colleagues at the Daily Prophet she was going to wait for the clock to strike now.

Taking it upon herself that she needed a reward Pansy finished for lunch half an hour before her time was due. A luxurious lunch at Eli's was calling her name. Many of times she had almost been removed from the restaurant. No reports allowed. Well, just because she was a reporter didn't mean she was going to report anything that would happen - usually no drama occurred in the restaurant but when Pansy once whipped out her quill and parchment pad the waiter had been on her like a hippogriff. No reporting! Thankfully her interviewee was all in favor for the quotes Madame Parkinson-Nott was about to get and saved her neck.

Today, however, Pansy was dining alone and had left her quill on the desk at work. 'Table for one.' Pansy told the waiter by the door, a linen white cloth draped over his left arm. There was no need for a please, Pansy rarely said please apart from when she wanted to manipulate her husband. That was always fun. Oh how oblivious darling Nott was to the fact she simply didn't love the man whether he was the pure blooded, wealthy Father of her children. In all honesty she wasn't that Motherly towards her children either. Locked in Hogwarts, out of sight, out of mind.

'Actually,' She paused, raising a hand to the waiter who had began to take her to a table by the window. 'I've found myself a table.' And with that she pushed past the waiter, causing him to drop the cloth, and sleeked towards a table where two young blondes sat. For this was the table of the Malfoy children.

'Isadora not with you, Scorpius?' Pansy asked, her eyes pressed on the familiar face. He looked so much like his Father had, so devilishly handsome. It was a shame he'd chosen Astoria over her, their children would have been beautiful. Pug faced but beautiful. Then again, perhaps they would have inherited her darker features not allowing for their characteristic blonde.

(OOC: I couldnt remember if Draco knew Francesca was a Hufflepuff, if he doesn't know I can edit it )

((OOC: Draco knows about Cesca's placement. He's under the impression that she tricked the Sorting Hat, but there's no reason for Pansy to know that. Also, would you like to alternate which one of us posts, or have me post with both Scorp ad Cesca before it goes back to Pansy?))

Scorpius couldn't remember the last time he actually sat down to eat lunch. The last few weeks the wizard had just been eating on the go, or snacking over paperwork at the law office. The male was pretty sure that he'd never been this busy in his entire life. NEWT's hadn't been nearly this bad, then again, he'd hardly studied for those.

The blonde had stopped by Honeydukes for a quick check-in thirty minutes earlier, and had bumped straight into his youngest sister. He'd forgotten that she'd be working the Saturday morning shift, but had given her a tired smile and a quick peck upon her hairline all the same.

Francesca, sweet observant Francesca, had taken one look at him and raised a disdainful eyebrow. Dragging him into the back room without a word she'd fixed a steaming cup of tea and handed it to him. Scorpius was unsurprised to note that she'd made it just as he liked. Not even waiting for her brother to take a second sip, she'd immediately started quizzing him.

"How's Henry's case going?" she'd asked first, well aware that of all the things on his plate, that was what was stressing him the most. He'd shrugged in response, and she pursed her lips right back at him. "Did you eat breakfast?" was Cesca's second question, and Scorpius had tried to remember if he'd eaten but found himself unable to. He'd told her so, and she'd frowned, well aware of what that meant. "How much sleep did you get last night, then?" his sister had finally asked, voice tense with disapproval at the state he was in. Scorpius had tactically decided not to answer that one, and so the petite witch had grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the back room of his shop. He hadn't even been allowed to finish his tea.

Clocking out, and waving meekly at the manager of his store, Francesca led him to Eli's, informing the waiter that they'd need a table for two. They'd only been seated for a few minutes when Scorpius spotted Pansy approaching their table. Standing upon the other Death Eater's arrival, Scorpius rested a hand on her upper arm and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

"Do take a seat Pansy," he said with a smirk, well aware that she'd ben planning upon doing just that. "No, Isadora's back at the school, this was more of an impromptu outing," the blonde admitted, feeling the displeasure practically radiating from his sister at the other witch's presence.

(OOC: I don't mind it going Pansy > Scorp > Francesca, but I thought I may as well post now so I'm not leaving just an OOC message)

There really was no need for Scorpius to invite Pansy to sit, she would have sat even if he'd hinted her to leave. Not that he would? Who wouldn't want Pansy Parkinson-Nott interrupting their lunch with her childish cackle she never seem to grow out of. On top of that Pansy wouldn't miss out on any gossip about the Malfoys, after all, Draco and Astoria did mean a lot to her.

'Back at school already, how are you finding Hogwarts without the half breeds?' Pansy asked, raising a hand for the waiter to come over.

'I'll have a small glass of the Superior Red.' The death eater order, tilting her head with a smile at the Malfoys, after all it was the red wine produced by the Malfoy family. Her eyes followed the waiter as he left. He was rather handsome, perhaps she should visit Eli's more often.

Reverting her attention back to Francesca she crossed her right leg over the left and began to lightly circle her ankle. Pansy hated half breeds. They were nothing more than vermin and they were finally away from Hogwarts. In her day, the day of Dumbledore, half the staff had been some sort of half breed. There was the Oaf Hagrid and the werewolf Lupin, no doubt Dumbledore was on spice when he hired them. Of course Pansy had secretly relished this. Her, Draco and a group of other Slytherin's would call Hagrid in the common room, take the mickey out of his blubbering nonsense. A nostalgic smile flashed across her face. How childish they'd been. But why wouldn't they have been, after all they were children.

((OOC: I'm already adoring Pansy. Do you think we could alternate with you posting, one of my Malfoy's, and then back again? After all, I can control them both from one account if needed, and that way I don't have to write two short posts, and can just do one longer one?))

Francesca's shoulders tensed unnoticeably as Pansy sat down. Why Scorpius had offered her a seat was completely beyond the teenager. Then again, the vile woman probably would have sat down anyway, knowing her. The purpose of this lunch had been for herself and Scorpius to catch up, to spend time together. The young girl had been intending to make sure that her brother ate, and was taking care of himself. She wanted all of Scorpius's attention, and now she would have to share it with Parkinson-Nott of all people!

Of course, none of this showed upon the young girl's face. Despite her sorting, she was still a Malfoy. Nothing could change that, and nothing ever would. Cesca knew that the woman sitting at her table had always wanted her father. That, Francesca could tolerate. The way that the married witch looked at her brother, however, was not okay. Very, very, not okay.

There were very few people in the world that the blonde teenager hated. Oh, there were plenty of people that she disliked, and literally tons whom annoyed her. The number of people that she truly loathed though, was short. Pansy Parkinson-Nott was rather high on that short list. Horrific b!tch that she was.

Scorpius had never understood where her loathing of the family friend came from. Ever since she'd been a young girl, Cesca hadn't liked the witch. The Malfoy had always found her horrifically fake, and not in the way that most Slytherins were. Many people sorted into the serpent house were liers and manipulators who had their secrets and their masks and their walls. But Pansy had always been different in Francesca's eyes; like a doll make of plastic with secrets and lies woven in so deep that they were the only things inside her anymore, replacing the blood in her very veins. When her brother had grown up enough for Pansy to start looking at him the way she did now, the dislike had intensified.

"Quiet," Cesca responded to Pansy's question, willing to give no more than a single cool word. The witch didn't particularly care if the woman liked her. Besides, if she managed to irritate Pansy without Scorpius noticing, there was always the chance that the married woman would snap at her. And Scorpius loathed when people were mean to his favorite sister.

(Yeah that would make more sense actually haha, omg I love your replied I've had to give you karma for it)


Pansy simply waited her Francesca to reply, she always had been a quiet one, well whenever she'd seen her that was. Most unlike her brother and sister, Scorpius would hold a conversation and Isadora too but the witch had barely managed to get more than a sentence from the youngest of Malfoys.

Taking it upon herself to lead the conversation Pansy went head first into sharing her views on the matter, an isn't-it-wonderful gleam spread across her lips.

'I can imagine, half the students were halfbreeds. How they ever let that happen is beyond me, I'm surprised there was no uproar among the parents. Then again my children never told me, probably wouldn't want me to worry.' She exclaimed, concluding her thoughts were a girlishly forced laugh.

'Tell me, do you see a lot of *Pansy's youngest child who is a third year Ravenclaw but hasn't been claimed so I don't want to say a specific name* around the castle? I could imagine you'd spend a lot of time with each other if you were anything like me and your Father-'

At that point the waiter had arrived with the bottle of wine, asking if she wanted to taste a sip first.

'Just pour it right in waiter that's splendid. I know my fine wine.' She added her eyes flickering playfully to Scorpius

((OOC: Thanks! I really like the dynamic we've got here.))
 
Scorpius smirked back at Pansy in an amused fashion when she informed the waiter that she knew her wine. It was an obvious and unneeded complement, but the way that she had delivered it was what made the statement what it was. Scorpius would have to share the story with his father the next time he saw the man. Hopefully it would make Draco leave him alone for a while. The man could get rather demanding if Scorpius didn't find the time to visit every time a family member had a birthday.
 
Scorpius was well aware of the daggers that his sister was sending into him with her eyes. It was equally amusing and frustrating how much the youngest Malfoy child disliked their old family friend. The wizard really would need to get a straight answer on why Ces didn't like the woman, someday.
 
"Not really," Scorpius heard Francesca say in a cool tone, "there are few Ravenclaws I regularly associate with." The man was almost tempted to snort at his sibling's words. There were few people that Ces bothered to associate with in general, she could hardly be friends with more than two or three Ravenclaw's.
 
Scorpius lent back in his seat and took a slow but generous sip of his own drink. It was water, sadly, not alcohol like Pansy had. Cesca had all but forced him to order water, under the grounds that he was almost certainly dehydrated and alcohol would just make the matter worse.
 
"So Pansy, how have you been? It's been what, a month?" Scorpius asked with polite interest. Merlin knows that he wouldn’t be able to rely upon his sister to keep the conversation flowing.

Pansy's eyes narrowed as her lip curled at Francesca's shortness. That girl had quiet the sharp tongue, admittedly she hadn't used it but Pansy sensed that the youngest of Mafloys could be one to watch. Either that or her mere lack of interest in things would prove to be her downfall. Such a shame that Draco had offspring of that nature, luckily he had Scorpius and Isadora to continue the Mafloy legacy.

Raising the glass of Superior Red to her lips Pansy took a sip, completely ignoring Francesca's remark about the Ravenclaws she didn't associate. It was slightly saddening that her children didn't spend time with Draco's but none the less they were all protected from the half breeds now. That had to be a plus.

"So Pansy, how have you been? It's been what, a month?"

Those brown eyes turned animatedly to Scoprius as she set her glass down in a way that illustrated the fact she'd done that countless times before. She lingered on his high cheekbones and steel grey eyes before looking up girlishly at the ceiling to start her reply.

'Oh has it been that long?' Another girlish laugh escaped her lips whilst a hand gently fell onto Scorpius'. 'I've been well, have a few lovely reports coming up in the Daily Prophet. Of course the Theodore is once again rubbing his wand the wrong way. I ask him for money to buy a new quick-quotes-quill, they are expensive, and what does he do? Says he needs to go to work and leaves without another word.'

She'd removed her hand from Scorpius' at some point during her lengthy reply, but now it hand found it's way across the table to be reunited with the Malfoys, this time her index finger traced over his.

'You'd never ignore a wife like that though would you.' Pansy slurred. It wasn't a question, she knew what his answer would be - or what she wanted his answer to be.

Keeping constant eye-contact with Scorpius, and continuing to ignore the fact Francesca was even there, Pansy retracted her hand from the blonde and pressed another question on him. 'What are your thoughts on this ridiculous law? Hopefully it will be scrapped before you're forced to marry a mudblood.'

Pansy had thought about it a few times, divorcing Theodore. He wasn't the best husband. Sure he gave her whatever she wanted whenever she wanted in spite of receiving nothing in return, Pansy had even gave up pleasuring him, but she was through with the affairs. They gave her a rush yes, but she wanted something more permanent. Someone more permanent.  

If the law wasn't scrapped Scorpius could easily evade it, marry the pureblood he desired - or the pure blood Pansy hoped he desired. It wouldn't be a problem her getting a divorce and she doubted the children would be bothered, they were always away from home at Hogwarts anyway.

((OOC: I have literally no idea where this came from, but here you go.))

Francesca couldn't help but feel a wave of pleasure wash through her as Pansy's eyes narrowed in her direction. The girl gave no indication of feeling such, of course, but that hardly meant that the feeling was any less real. Cesca had always considered anger the ultimate weakness. The blonde had read the phrase "he who angers you, conquers you" in one of her father's books as a young child. She had not, at the time, understood what it meant, but it had stuck with her all the same.

Some people considered love to be the ultimate weakness, but Cesca knew better. Love could most certainly make one weaker at times, but more often than not it made one strong. Others argued that greed is most often the downfall of humans, but Cesca had never agreed with that either. Sure, greed caused problems, but it wasn't nearly as powerful as anger.

Everyone felt anger. No matter how calm or peaceful one was. Anger was so deeply engraved within the brain of every infant born that there was no hope of any human living without it. It was what one did with that anger, in Francesca's opinion, that made a person. When most felt anger, they got angry, and therefore weak. Anger is wild and unpredictable, strengthening spells but weakening the mind. The trick was, to accept the anger, and then dismiss it. Let it go.

Cesca was getting better at this, little by little. Most of the time that she felt anger, the girl would consider why, and let the emotion go. There were times, however, where she was unable to do that. There were times when she got just as angry as everyone else. There were times where the girl's anger was just too strong for her to be rational about the situation. There were times, where Francesca couldn't prevent herself from being weak.

So when Pansy made a comment about how Scorpius would be a much better husband than her own, Francesca couldn't help the irritation that began to build inside of her. And when Pansy ignored her presence to say something to Scorpius about the marriage law that might have been a little more suggestive than necessary, Cesca felt the irritation double. When Scorpius told Pansy that he agreed but that their mutual friends, clearly alluding to the Death Eaters, certainly already had a plan so they aught not to worry, Cesca had to take a steadying breath to keep her outward emotions in check. But it was the look in Pansy's eye as she surveyed her brother, the scheming that glimmered between dark lashes, that got Francesca angry.

The teenager stood abruptly, chair screeching as it was unexpectedly pushed swiftly away from the table. All of her energy focused upon keeping her face as neutral as possible, Cesca forced out some comment about the restroom, before fleeing as gracefully as possible.

She was already berating herself by the time she reached the bathroom.

The sudden motion of Francesca rising from her seat with scraping of the chair legs against the floor was enough for Pansy to finally tear her eyes away from Scorpius. It had been dramatic, out or character and slightly unnerving. Pansy wish'd that the youngest of Malfoy's had been present it only distracted Scorpius from herself, something that the possessor of a poisoned quill despised. 

Her eyes glistened and narrowed in the direction of Francesca as she headed to the bathroom. How unsociable. 

'You need to keep an eye on her, Scorpius.' Pansy stated, her eyes flickering to a wisp of blonde hair that his around the side of the toilet door. 'She seems a little off.' If it were Pansy's child, or sister in this case, she wouldn't know where to start. At first Pansy would probably hope the attitude slipped, then if not some sort of electric shock therapy or a good long talk would be needed. 

'You don't want her getting lost among the nobodies.' That wouldn't do well for the Malfoys reputation and from Pansy had gathered after every rendezvous with the youngest Malfoy was that Francesca displayed nothing special, she was plain, quiet and blunt. No personality to her, not compared to Scorpius anyway. 

(OOC: sorry it's a bit rubbish!) 

((OOC: It's wasn't, so no worries.))

Scorpius blinked, taken aback by his youngest sister's uncharacteristic display. Out of the three Malfoy siblings, Cesca was certainly the least outwardly emotional. Inwardly, well, the man had no clue what went on inside that brilliant mind most of the time, but that had definitely been unusual. One thing was certain, however, the girl would not want anyone to mention it. Like himself, Cesca considered cracks in masks of control both a weakness and a failing. To have it pointed out to her would be the equivalent of rubbing salt into an open wound.

Scorpius listened to Pansy's words, taking them in, only to chuckle softly as soon as she was done speaking. She wasn't laughing at her, and the Slytherin would surely be aware of that, but instead at the unspoken implications of her words. The very idea that Cesca could get truly lost in the sea of ordinary students amused him to no end. Even if the blonde didn't have the personality that she did, she'd still be a Malfoy, and Malfoy's were never overlooked. Unless, or course, they wanted to be, which was why Pansy's statement was so amusing. Cesca often went unnoticed among the nobodies, quite often in fact. But only because she found it easier to manipulate people that way. Pansy and Scorpius were very different from Cesca in that respect, the two elders manipulating through charm and words, where his sister used people's own assumptions against them.

"I intend to keep an eye on her, she is my sister after all," the wizard remarked with a nod of recognition, a small amount of affection that had seeped unnoticed into his tone. His eyes flickered in the direction that Cesca had disappeared to, before reconnecting with Pansy's own.

"She may be among the nobody's," Scorpius agreed after a moment, well aware that such was the way his sibling liked it, "but I have no fear of her getting lost."