Tracey adjusted the strap of her bag on her shoulder. She wasn't exactly nervous, she'd had lunch with Pansy nearly every week for five years... before that it had been nearly every day. They were friends. There wasn't anything that could change that. It didn't matter that Tracey knew she'd never be as fun, as witty or as exciting as her beautiful friend. It didn't matter how many boys got in the way, they were sisters. Besides, Pansy didn't even know that she knew.... right? Then why am I so nervous? she wondered as she followed the waiter to their regular table.

Pansy sat in the restaurant, fidgeting like a fourth year at the Yule Ball, waiting for Tracey to show up at their appointed lunch date. It'll be all right, she told herself. It has to be.

As soon as Tracey saw her friend the little flare of self-doubt was gone. Pansy showed a bored and uninterested face to the world, but as soon as she turned to her friend, Tracey could see the light spark in her eyes and she knew that this was just another storm to weather through.

"You haven't started without me, have you? I wasn't late this time despite staying up way too late at the bonfires last night." Tracey grinned as she sat her bag down on the next chair.

Pansy looked up at Tracey. "No, of course I haven't started without you." She smiled tentatively at her friend. "I'm glad you're here." She waved the waiter over. "Draco might be joining us, darling. I hope that's all right." Pansy wanted more than anything for the horrible feeling between the two of them to just go away. Please let it be all right, she thought.

"Draco's coming shopping? Brilliant. I always thought he'd look great in women's shoes. He may be 'delicate' but he's always had nice legs." Tracey grinned before telling the waiter to bring her a Scotch. She wasn't used to the harder liquor, but something told her that white wine wasn't going to be enough today. Much like lunch yesterday with Hannah, Tracey wanted to prepare herself.

Pansy giggled. "Oh, I don't think we'll be lucky enough for him to let us dress him up like a girl; although, there is always that hope." Pansy gazed at her friend and placed her hand on Tracey's arm. "Trace, I hope that you know... I-" She sighed and shook her head, pleading with her friend mentally to understand what she meant.

Tracey's smile became a bit more forced and she tried not to let any pain show in her eyes. She nodded. "I know. Pans." She tried to think of happier things, of less important other things that would make this suddenly all better and less awkward. Pansy had never hinted that she'd known how much Tracey had looked up to her. How by just being her was a reminder to Tracey that she wasn't as pretty or witty or strong, that she'd always fall short. It was now becoming clear to Tracey that there were reasons she'd kept her adoration of Theo in school to herself. Greg always knew, but he'd watched her like a hawk and was probably practicing Legilimency just to keep tabs on her. But they were not in school any more, and Theo had told her that he loved her. There wasn't anything to be afraid of any more. Gathering up bravery that would make even Harry Potter proud, Tracey decided not to skirt the issue, "Last night Theo and I were at the bonfires, you know the ones the Muggles do every year? Well, we were at the bonfires and I thought about the Dark Mark. It wasn't really you with all your plans of world domination, that did the peacock thing and you're just not telling me, right?"

Pansy looked horrified. "No! No, neither the Mark nor the Peacock was me. I don't know who it was. I swear. Draco said he doesn't know, either. I owled him about it." She pursed her lips and looked concerned. "Do you really think I'd do that, Tracey? That I'd use something like that for my own gain?" Saddened, she took a sip of her drink and looked across the restaurant, a bit relieved to see Draco was winding his way through the tables.

Tracey knew right away that she'd said the wrong thing, but before she could apologise they were interrupted by their 'delicate' friend.

Draco sat down silently. He was having the worst week. His mother almost had not let him out for lunch. His mother. She was being a bit... fanatical. He was also becoming increasingly alarmed at his ideas that she had been responsible for the light show in Hogsmeade. He looked around suspiciously, expecting Alecto Carrow to pop up again. When the waiter noticed a third to their party and sided up next to Draco, he actually jumped and reached for his wand. Paranoid was never a good look on a Malfoy. They were a hex-happy lot anyhow.

"Firewhisky please. And make it a double."

Draco forced a smile at Tracey and Pansy.

"Afternoon, ladies."

Pansy glanced at Tracey and frowned at Draco. "Darling?" she asked. "You look like shite. And I say that with all the love I possess in my heart, you know." Ignoring the scolding that Tracey was about to start, she continued. "What's happened to you?"

Draco sighed. Dare he tell them? They'd only worry. Then again, if they found out later and he had not told them? Well, Tracey would take it badly, and Pansy would take it worse.

"It's nothing. I'll handle it. That isn't why I'm here today."

There were looks, so Draco sighed again. They would not be appeased with that explanation apparently.

"Fine. Alecto Carrow tried to kill me on Sunday. I sent her brother to Azkaban, he died there, and she's a bit pissed." Draco snatched his Firewhisky as soon as it was set before him and drained it. "I'll have another please."

Pansy held a hand up. "Make that two - er, three," she said with a look at Tracey. "Alecto Carrow," Pansy mused aloud. "I really abhor that woman. Tell me you cursed her with something magnificent, Draco. Tell me you made her hurt."

Tracey looked concerned. "She tried to kill you? Did you call the MLE?"

Draco gave both of them a look. "I'm not sure if I hit her. I was trying to get out of there. She's a bit... crazier now, so she probably wouldn't have felt anything I did to her anyhow... or would've liked it. And like the Ministry gives a shite about a former Death Eater getting offed by another. Though Mother's in a bit of a rage about it. Look, I'm all right. Let's just speak of something else. Please. Like Greg and why he's going about hitting Nott in his face. He won't tell me. And also, I know I have my head up my own arse most days, but knowing he sort of tried to kill himself might have been nice. I wanted to throttle him, but he looked a bit puny still."

At the stricken look on Tracey's face, Pansy answered quickly. "Gregory asked me not to tell anyone. It was silly of him, and I oughtn't to have indulged, I know, but there you have it. I found him, I took him to your healer, who is just charming, by the way, and when he recovered enough, he owled everyone himself." She shrugged. "And he is still a bit delicate, as ironic as that sounds. If he doesn't watch himself, I'm going to go stay at his house and tie him to the bed. And not in the way that you like, darling."

"Well, with threats like that, why's he going about hitting Theodore then?"

Not a sound, and everyone looked vastly uncomfortable. Draco looked from one girl to the other. He was missing something here. He'd been missing a lot lately. It pissed him off.

"Fine. Don't tell me. See if you get any of the divvied up ashes when I get offed."

"Quit being dramatic, Draco," Pansy scolded. "Alecto Carrow is not going to kill you. She's not smart enough by half, for one thing. A blathering idiot, and a horrible complexion, as well." She wrinkled her nose in distaste.

Tracey spoke softly. "Draco, please don't talk about ashes. It's good you came today, we're here to take care of you. What else are proper sisters for?"

Pansy nodded. "You could come stay with me, if you'd like. Not to hide, though. I'd like a go at the old girl. It's been a long time since anyone's needed a comeuppance from me."Yesterday notwithstanding, she thought. She put her hand on Draco's arm, and her tone softened. "If you need anything, darling, you know you can come to us."

If he were made of less stern stuff, Draco would have started crying. That right there took him right back to how things used to be when he thought life was good. Pansy caring about him was never a bad thing. He wished he'd been better to her. He knew they weren't meant to be, not like that, but he could have been less of an arse about it.

"I never gave them your father," Draco whispered. He glanced at Tracey, then back to Pansy, not sure where this was coming from.

Then he abruptly changed the subject. "If the old girl had been trying to kill me, I'd be dead right now. She only hit my arse like fifty times. Mostly innocuous stuff to slow me down. I know she wanted me to suffer first. That's her mistake. You want someone dead... just do it. I think I'm safe at the Manor. I hope the old girl shows up. Mother was less than pleased about this, but do let's talk about something else."

Tracey began to argue that he was most certainly not safe at the Manor when Pansy stopped her with a raised finger. "Trace, Pardon."

She stared at Draco wide-eyed. "What?" she asked in disbelief. Pansy felt her face flush and her traitorous eyes fill with tears. Stop it, stupid girl, you will not cry, you will not cry, you will not cry. She took a shuddering breath and willed herself to calm. He didn't. He didn't give us over. She let out her breath slowly.

She'd spent the past five years thinking that her oldest friend had betrayed her, and to find out that he hadn't was overwhelming. Tracey was looking at her plate, and Draco at his drink. Pansy decided to handle this like she would any other problem. She shook her head slightly and replied softly, "Of course you didn't, darling, how silly."

Draco looked up at her and nodded. He couldn't have said anything just then. He had needed her to know that though. He needed to say it out loud. She was playing it off, but he knew what she had thought. Draco had seen it in her eyes. He would never give away family like that. Never. Him not giving them his Aunt Bella was what had kept him in Azkaban as long as he'd stayed there. Draco silently prayed they could change the subject now.

Pansy frowned. This is Tuesday lunch. Tuesdays are fun, damn it. She decided to bring up Tracey's slip of the owl. "Speaking of not being informed of a friend's goings and doings, why did no one tell me that Blaise was going around with a Muggleborn? A Hufflepuff Muggleborn? Hm? Anyone like to answer for that one?"

Tracey flipped her head up so fast her hair ended up in her face. "Pansy! I told you not to mention Blaise's Mudblood." She certainly didn't want it to get back to Blaise that she'd let it slip to Pansy in an owl of all places. Draco was not the best when it came to keeping secrets from Blaise. Hell, they all knew that Blaise had a way of getting every little thing out of the man. "We had lunch yesterday and she's actually really nice, quite cute. Reminds me of me - which in a way is a little creepy. As appalling as it is to say it, I actually approve - Hufflepuff or not. I didn't want to scare her, but I figured I'd drag her to one of our lunches one day too."

"Don't call her a Mudblood," Draco said quietly, earning some surprised looks. Yes, he used to love that word. Used it often. Lindsay was Muggleborn though. He'd hexed a bloke for calling her that once. Yes, him. Him who called Granger that in school regularly. He, Draco Malfoy, did not like the word Mudblood any longer. "Maybe that's why I like her. She reminds me of you Trace, but with a whole heaping of sugar on top."

"She reminds you of our Tracey?" Pansy asked. "When do I get to meet her? I feel as if this has been kept from me somehow. I'm not horrible to everyone, you know. I wasn't the least bit nasty to your girl, Draco. Not even a little. I'd like a bit of credit, if you please."

"You've got to see Weasley already? I haven't even got to see Weasley yet." Tracey pretended to pout as she looked at her two friends.

Draco raised a brow at Pansy. "You are a pit viper, and we love you, but you tend to be a bit rough, Pans. We don't want Hannah to cry. She very sensitive, and I think Blaise likes her a great deal." He looked at Tracey. "Go by the Healing Hands and meet Gin then. She does good work. Bet you can't tell I took a stinging hex to the face two days ago."

Pansy put her finger under Draco's chin and lifted his face to be examined. "No, I can't. She is very good at what she does." Grasping his chin a little more firmly, she growled, "Pit Viper? I never!" she exclaimed incredulously. She released his face and took a sip of her drink, frowning. "Well, I sometimes," she conceded, shrugging slightly.

She waved her hand in the air dismissively. "But if the nice, cute, sensitive Muggleborn Hufflepuff is important to Blaise, then I won't carve her up for lunch. I promise. Cross my little black, stunted heart." She eyed Draco. "What there is of it."

Draco rolled his eyes. "That's good to know. About the carving, not the heart."

Tracey grinned at her two friends as the waiter finally arrived to take their order. She'd always loved the banter between her friends and hearing it felt like home again.

"Oh, dear Merlin, look at her. She's going all sappy." Pansy turned to the waiter. "I'll have a salad, he'll have chips with vinegar," she continued contemptuously, glaring at Draco, "and the lady with the silly grin will have..."

"I'll have the Lemon Rosemary Chicken with a Strawberry Torte for desert." Her grin didn't falter at Pansy's dirty look. "You know, it doesn't matter how rough life treats us, when we have family around it can't help but turn out okay."

Draco looked at Tracey with furrowed brows for a moment before making a vomit noise.



{SUMMARY} Draco crashes lunch with his two favourite Slytherin girls. Pansy and Tracey are both appropriately awkward, considering, but no one ends up hexed.