Personal Projects

Chapter 21: One Clean Cut

Saturday found them at Zabini Manor again. Them, Hermione thought, like the three of them were a group already. A unit. Like she was part of it. That seemed like a presumptuous thought, but maybe she wanted to be.

After all, that evening, there was no party, no event, no reason to be there. It was just Blaise, Pansy, Daphne, Draco, Theo, and her. They didn't all call her by her first name yet, but she was starting to call them by theirs. The six of them were upstairs this time, in the drawing room that connected Blaise and Pansy's bedroom suite to the rooms that Pansy considered hers. The five of them were sitting around the fireplace up there, because it was cosier than the big ballroom downstairs. Pansy was entertaining herself with the contents of her closet, showing off a seemingly endless variety of different outfits as they all visited.

The room Pansy kept disappearing into was the dressing room she, Daphne, and Hermione had gotten ready in on the night of Hermione's birthday party. The closet attached to it was big enough that it had probably been designed originally as an office or den, and it was full of more clothes than Hermione had ever seen in one place outside of a shop. She had to admit, she was in a little awe of the sheer volume of Pansy's wardrobe. Who could possibly need that many clothes?

"I did get some hate mail, but it was so worth it because I also got four orders. I managed to convince the old bat to let me work on my own designs out of the shop after hours, and I've already finished one. It was basically the same dress you wore. In fact, they're all rather similar. Everyone wants to look like Hermione Granger. Mordred, what I could do with your social capital. It's so wasted on you," Pansy rambled as she rejoined them in yet another outfit.

Hermione sipped from the tumbler in her hands, and wrinkled her nose as she swallowed. Not at the taste, but at Pansy's words.

"That's ridiculous. Why would anyone want to look like me?"

Blaise snorted. "Don't play daft."

"She's not playing. Silly girl actually doesn't think she's pretty," Theo replied.

Hermione blushed, and though she'd been thinking about what their very complimentary attention meant to her a lot lately, she still wasn't sure if she believed them on that particular point. Or at least, she believed they might think complimentary things about her appearance, but she wasn't sure she thought those sorts of things about herself. Being called silly for that wasn't something she wanted to address in that moment, even if she thought Theo meant well.

So, she waved a hand dismissively and said, "Let's talk about something else. What are you trying on outfits for, Pansy?"

"Oh, because I'm purging things to make room for new additions, so I'm trying on the maybes," Pansy answered. "What do you think of this?"

Daphne shook her head and said, "It makes your arse look even flatter than usual, babes."

"Bitch!" Pansy hissed, and kicked her in the ankle.

Daphne shrieked and grabbed at her, but as they slapped each other, it was obvious neither was trying to draw blood.

Everyone seemed used to it. The only reaction was Draco calmly lifting his tumbler out of the way when one of their elbows got too close. It settled quickly, and then Pansy was heading back to the closet to change again.

Daphne's comment about her arse aside, Blaise wasn't shy about watching Pansy leave. He looked to Hermione afterwards though, leaning forward to ask abruptly, "Why did you get Quentin O'Connor fired?"

She blinked. "I did? Who's Quentin O'Connor?"

There was silence for a moment, and then Daphne burst out laughing.