Ch 23
Draco stumbled through the dark streets of Dublin. God, was there a place that wasn’t infested with drunks around this city? Checking his pristine wristwatch, he noticed that he had been walking for about… an hour, maybe an hour and a half. Lovely. No sign of any pub or of any Agyness. The grimace on his face deepened as he continued to make his way down a particularly nasty block, filled with various homeless people, prostitutes, and con artists. Draco made a point to try and avoid these certain unwantables before he heard his name being called in the distance. “Draco!” A whiny female voice called from behind. “Draco Malfoy! Oi!” Stopping and turning around, Draco turned to see his old crony, girlfriend, classmate, whatever the hell she had been, Pansy Parkinson. “What in the worl-?” Draco had begun to say, but before he could finish Pansy had reached him and given him a squeezing hug. “Erm, hi to you too,” Draco grimaced, simply patting her head as she embraced him. Was it just Draco, or had Pansy become a bit more jubilant over the past few years since he had seen her?

“Where have you been, Draco?” Pansy pulled away to get the measure of him. “Hiding, I take it?” “No, Pansy. Working, that’s all.” He stiffly replied, smoothing out and brushing off his suit after she had contaminated it. “Oh, you couldn’t have been working all of these past years, now could you?” Pansy’s pug-like face was ecstatic and flirtatious as she spoke, “I was a bit worried. No owls, no presents over the holidays, nothing. I was frightened that you had gotten married.” At her last statement, her large, brown eyes traveled to his left ring finger. “Well, I presume you’re not, seeing as there’s no ring. Besides, what wife of yours would let you roam these nasty streets?” Draco was fuming; she was wasting his precious time, breathing his precious air, yet there was almost nothing he could do about it when they were surrounded by muggles, “I’m working, Pansy. I’m just out here for Ministry work. I could say the same for you, being out here with this filth.” “Oh,” Pansy quickly replied, “I’m just in Dublin for the wedding of a friend. Anyways, I didn’t believe it when I heard that you had become an auror. Really, the Ministry and Potter did ruin all of our fun. And here you go, working for those prats. But I guess…” Draco tried to block out her constant stream of talk. If she was here for a wedding, there was no way in hell that the Pansy he used to know would be amongst these bums. But maybe Pansy had changed? Perhaps gone slightly madder than she had already been?

Realizing that he wasn’t paying the slightest attention to her rambling, Pansy grabbed his forearm, bringing him back to reality. “Draco, let’s go to a pub!” She whined, giving him her trademark puppy dog eyes. They made her look even more pug-like than before, Draco thought. “No, really Pansy, I can’t-” “Nonsense,” Pansy interrupted, her grip tightening on his arm as she led him down an alley, “Don’t ruin the fun, Draco. Now, come on!” And before Draco could loosen himself from her iron grip, she apparated and took him along with her.

Once they had arrived at their destination, which happened to be another alley, Draco found that her hand was still glued to his arm. “Pansy, what the bloody-!” “Let’s go,” She robotically answered, “Some muggles just had a party here and they’re clearing out, so we won’t be interrupted by that scum.”

“But-!” Draco made a point to keep his mouth shut as she rushed through the alley towards the street. He could survive this torture for at least an hour. Hopefully once it was over, Potter would have a new patronus sent his way.