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Confusion Fall - The posh end of Diagon. 4pm on a Saturday afternoon.
...because there can still be war without the Dark Lord. |
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Though Daphne's dark red cloak obscured her outline, the long, blonde hair made it fairly obvious who she was from a distance as she walked leisurely down the nicer end of Diagon. She'd been quite busy this morning between meeting with the Malfoy PR witch, submitting some advertisements (a charity dinner for the incurables and openning applications for the annual Draco Malfoy Hogwarts Scholarship), and having tea with a few of the more sympathetic Prophet reporters.
The last few months has been a whirlwind of meetings, plans, parties, and strategy. Daphne was trying to get Draco a tactical and bloodless revenge on the Ministry while still having them both look wonderful in the public eye. She knew going in that making the new generation of Malfoys look innocent was going to be an uphill battle, but it was turning out to be harder than she thought.
The lawyers were amassing evidence about the flawed Ministry legal system and searching for previous cases of the wrongly imprisoned unable to seek restitution. The more cases they could find, the better. Draco's side of the story had been printed in the Prophet and been reprinted in a handful of other publications. The Malfoy Scholarship was unofficially earmarked for a half-blood. So long as some poor witch or wizard with a Muggle grandmother or grandfather applied, the money would be theirs. It was important to show some generousity to those of impure blood. They certainly weren't giving the money to a mublood, but a mixed child would be fine.
With all of these plates in the air, Daphne wanted to relax over an afternoon snack. To that end, she'd sent last minute owls to Mandy (with Harry's name for politeness), Draco, and Theodore, inviting them to meet her at the smart, new cocktail and appetizer restaurant that had opened in a loft above a luxury clothing store. If they didn't get the owls in time, she was sure she'd know someone who was there already.
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Theodore wandered into the restaurant a few minutes late. He wasn't in a very good mood, and he had considered not coming at all.
A young woman, probably just out of the Castle, greeted him at the door. "Good afternoon, sir. Will it be just yourself today or are you expecting guests?"
Theodore responded tersely, his mood shining through, "No, I'm meeting someone." Spotting Daphne, he continued, "I see her. I can show myself over."
He swept by the young woman and strode to Daphne. "Afternoon, Daphne," he said.
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Daphne stood up and hugged Theodore lightly. "Afternoon, Theodore," she said before sitting back down. She looked him over for a quick moment and said, "Is something wrong? You seem a bit out of sorts."
She gestured to the glass of Theodore's usual that she had taken the liberty of ordering in case he arrived. In front on her was the typical Posh Pixie.
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Double Goblin Gin and tonic was just what Theodore needed. A triple would have been better, but he couldn't expect Daphne to divine that he was going to be having a bad day.
"I fired our Head of Human Resources, today," he said and then downed half the glass. "And I might have to do the same to the Head of Magical Resources tomorrow."
He finished the rest of the glass and signaled the wait staff for another. "The stupid gits have mucked up the benefits plans for something like 40% of the employees in half of Not Commodities subsidiary companies. We're talking thousands of people. We'll be lucky if this doesn't hit the prophet tomorrow."
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"My word. That's awful. Nobody you know at the Prophet can smooth it over? Maybe I could talk to a few of my friends over there and get it swept under the rug." she'd pulled a lot of strings over at the Prophet as of late, but she still had some more to pull and Theodore was welcome to any she had.
"Do you have a backup for HR?"
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"We've got so many HR people, it's not funny. I put some middle-manager in charge until we can do a full job search."
The waiter brought his drink quickly, noting that Theodore was clearly in a bad mood.
"I've got a team of people working on the PR fallout. They'll get the story buried in the back of tomorrow's issue where no one will bother to read, or we'll be looking for a new PR staff, too."
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Daphne laughed under her breath at the do-or-die fate of his PR staff. "I'm even more pleased that you made time to come and have a few drinks with me, given the pressing nature of Nott Commodities at the moment. Take a look at the menu and help me choose a few flights," she said and slid the menu across the table. This place apparently specialized in flights of appetizers and desserts and all the flights were linked by types of flavors.
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"Well, my secretary strong armed me out of the office. She's really quite good at what she does and she keeps me sane, which is an extra benefit."
He glanced over the menu. "Hmm, the Moke flight sounds interesting."
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A waitress approached and Daphne smiled sweetly, "We'll be needing these three flights," she said, pointing to the menu. "Also, once I've finished my pixie, I'd like the bartender's signature cocktail, whatever it might be."
"Good secretaries are hard to find. Nearly as difficult as a decent housekeeper," Daphne said to Theodore, picking up the conversation where they'd left off. "I can only imagine what an ordeal it would be to replace Triny with a witch. Speaking of, Triny's asked me if I'd like to pair her with one of the manor's male elves. I don't think we need another elf, but she's smitten. Are you in the market for another?"
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"Merlin, no. The one I have is more than I can stand. He would be insufferable if I brought another elf into the house," he responded.
"Who else are we expecting?" he asked.
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Mandy spotted Daphne and Theodore as she checked her cloak with the hostess and waved. "See, Harry, I told you Draco wouldn't be here," she said softly.
Daphne waved back. "Well, Mandy and Harry have just arrived, so I believe Draco is the only other person I owled. It was rather last minute," she told Theo. "Oh, I don't believe they have an elf. That's an option," she said as Mandy approached the table.
Daphne stood and hugged Mandy. "Mandy, dear. So lovely that you could make it at such short notice. And Harry, so good to see you. Welcome."
"It was quite nice of you to invite us," Mandy said, taking a seat. "I've been wanting to give this place a try. Wonderful to see you, Theodore. How are things with you?"
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Theodore almost guffawed when Daphne suggested that Draco and Harry would be in the same room, at the same table, as each other. He didn't have time though.
Harry was not particularly happy to be there but he promised to play nice, at least as long as Draco didn't show up. He couldn't understand why Mandy couldn't understand why he didn't want to be around these people.
He did his best not to sound like a prat when he spoke, "Afternoon, Daphne, good to see you. Hi, Nott."
Theodore stood, gentlemanly, as Mandy took her seat. He said, "I've had better days, Mandy, but that's not important. Happy to see you."
He offered Harry his hand, "You can call me Theodore, Harry. We needn't stand on formalities."
Harry shook Theodore's hand, "Right, Theodore." Then, he took a seat next to Mandy. There was still one empty seat.
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Draco spoke quickly and forcefully to the hostwitch attending Reception; he strode toward Daphne's table in waves of black velvet and white silk. He was dressed up a bit, but he needed to feel good about himself today - after all, he'd talked himself out of drinking all day alone in his study; instead drinking in the company of his own wife. Quite an internal conflict there.
He stood stiffly as he greeted Daphne with a soft kiss on her cheek; he hadn't yet noticed the others, with the exception of Theodore, but that was expected.
Draco turned whiter than usual when his eyes were drawn toward the others. Harry.
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Daphne hadn't expected Draco to come. She had hoped but not expected. She also hadn't expected to see Harry. Still, this wasn't all bad. Draco would be seen socializing with a wizard who was undoubtedly on the 'good' side. So long as both boys kept their wands in their robes, this was excellent for the Malfoy image. She took Draco's hand, tugging very lightly to encourage him to sit down. "Draco darling, so glad you could make it. We have a few appetizer flights on the way, and the waitress should be by momentarily to get your, Mandy, and Harry's drink orders," she said sweetly.
Mandy took Harry's hand under the table and squeezed it reassuringly. She knew from Daphne that Draco hadn't gone back to the Death Eaters. Since Azkaban, he'd been quite well-behaved. Their squabbles in the castle were ages ago and it was time everyone just grew up and got along. "It's nice to see you, Draco. Lovely robes," Mandy said with the very wide smile she gave to almost everyone.
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Harry tried to think of something to say, but everything that he came up with sounded awful and insulting. So he just nodded in recognition of Draco and kept his mouth shut.
Theodore said, "It's good to see you outside the Manor, Draco. How've you been lately?"
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Draco ignored Mandy's comment on his robes, if a low growl-like purr was indeed ignoring. The Malfoy boy was staring at Harry; old hatred coursing through his veins like it all had happened yesterday. Deep within himself, Draco had blamed a large amount of his own personal suffering on Potter, and it was difficult - if not impossible - to keep it tethered now.
Draco wanted to answer "Drunk" to Theodore's idiotic comment, but suppressed the urge by drinking. He was keenly aware of the irony; Draco was not so aware that he was drinking Daphne's drink, since his own had not yet arrived. After a long draught, Draco nervously pulled his fingers through his white-blonde hair and spoke soft and low in a predatory voice that sounded eerily like his father Lucius.
"Harry Potter," Draco's manner was controlled, even silky; he could play this game if needs be. "How good to see you."
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Harry sighed, audibly. He really had no desire to get into a tiff with Draco. He really had no desire to be in the same room as Draco, but that was beside the point.
"Yeah, Draco, you too," Harry said despondently. If Draco wanted to go off on some rant, he wasn't going to give him much with which to work.
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Mercifully, the waitress came up, giving Daphne a new drink (this one was blue and had a haze over the top of the highball glass) and smiling widely, oblivious to the awkward atmosphere. "Can I get you drinks?" she asked the new arrivals.
"Yeah," said Mandy quickly. "I'd like a chocolate pumpkin martini made with Honeydukes white chocolate liquer, thank you." Hopefully, Harry and Draco would manage not to get into a fight while ordering drinks.
Daphne looked at her new drink, rather intrigued by it. At least, her first drink was almost gone thanks to Draco's little mistake. She took the last sip of her Pixie, and let the waitress take the glass.
The waitress smiled sweetly at Harry. "What can I get for you, Sir?" Her eyes flicked to his forehead and she blushed a bit, clearly excited about who she was serving.
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"Yeah, I'll take a pint of Bludger Ale," Harry responded.
Theodore finished his drink and waved his glass for the waitress to replace.
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"Well, Harry," Draco started as everyone else ordered their drinks, internally angry that he wasn't served first, "Funny to find you at my wife's table. I trust it's on Mandy's account." He did not say this as a question.
Draco was cautiously able to level insults without directly engaging in a fight with Potter. He turned to the Waitress abruptly.
"Since you would be so kind to take my order," Draco said with mockery, "I'll have a bottle of your best white sherry." Draco paused. "One glass." He did not want to remain sober long at this table of freaks.
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Daphne's eyes flashed angrily in Draco's direction for a second before she softened them and spoke sternly, "I invited Mandy and Harry at the same time I invited you and Theodore because I wanted to have a nice afternoon with my friends. I see nothing funny about finding the significant other of one of my dearest friends present at my table." She clearly didn't want a fight between her husband and anyone, Harry or herself. Some things were better put in the past, and Draco had to learn that harboring resentment and anger was good for nobody.
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Theodore wasn't dying to speak, but he thought he might attempt changing the subject in hopes that things would lighten up. He hadn't come to watch Harry and Draco fight. He had work he could be doing.
"Mandy, any new developments in the real estate sector?" he asked.
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Mandy was quite happy to see Daphne defend Harry's place at the table and was slightly surprised by Theodore's question. Nevertheless, she smiled widely and answered, "Oh yes, I've just had a family sell a lovely home near Sheffield and buy a penthouse in London from me... And there's a home I've been showing lately that I'm not sure I have the heart to sell. I've become quite fond of it, and am considering buying it myself. A 3-bedroom near bath with lovely large gardens."
Daphne raised an eyebrow. Mandy was buying a house? She'd definitely need an elf, then. Especially with gardens. Of course, offering an elf to Mandy and Harry in front of Draco wouldn't calm him down at all.
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Harry was confused and slightly surprised by Mandy's confession that she was thinking of buying a house. She hadn't mentioned it before now. "What does this mean?" he thought.
"I've heard good things about Bath. One of my department heads lives out there. She swears by it," Theodore responded. "She's been trying to get me to put a warehouse there. She seems to think the growing Magical community in Bath could support us there. What do you think, Mandy?"
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"The community is definitely growing and quite varied. Some of the middle class wizards have opened new inns and taverns to cater to tourists and are employing the lower middle-class. The upper middle class have been acquiring small summer homes there, and some nouveu riche are buying larger homes. As for old money, they're beginning to move to Bath from cities further north. The weather is quite lovely in Bath most of the time. I think a warehouse could do well. At least give the working class wizards more gainful employment than dish washing," Mandy rattled on. Having a thorough knowledge of British wizarding communities was a large part of her job. She completely forgot that she'd never told Harry about her home-buying ambitions and didn't notice the look on his face now. "Of course, moving from a flat to a home has its drawbacks. I'll have to hire a staff."
"Or buy an elf," Daphne chimed in.
"Yes, that would be easier. I wonder if anyone's breeding currently."
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Harry coughed a little and the thought of buying an elf. He wasn't particularly fond of them, but more importantly, if Hermione heard she'd haunt him daily until he dismissed it.
"An elf?" he half-asked, half-muttered.
"Oh, very interesting, I'll have to keep that in mind when I have our next expansion meeting," Theodore said in response to Mandy.
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