𝐋𝐎𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍: blackwood house, london !
𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐒: closed to @ofzvbini !
the paddy cap wearing house elf that answered her short rap against the door took just one look at the heavy catalogues she clutched against her chest before heaving a full body sort of sigh that would have been almost comical if he hadn’t looked so dismayed. “ miss parkinson is not home today, ” he told her before she could even ask, continuing on with the same confidence as someone long rehearsed in their spiel, “ you are welcome to come back tomorrow between four and seven pm, or, if these are not suiting, rodney will take your catalogues now and pass them along to miss parkinson at his nearest convenience. ” at that, he held out both hands, ready & waiting to take their full weight and send them both on their merry way.
hande had a funny feeling that this was not his first experience with the kind of wedding industry vultures who found it acceptable to chase a woman to her home, and it was only further confirmed when it proceeded to take five whole minutes to convince him that she simply couldn’t leave such expensive printwork with someone who hadn’t heard out her salespitch, something that a busy house elf like himself surely had no time for. in the end, she was forced to appeal directly to his heartstings with a manufactured sob story about a wicked employer & her willingness to have her head if she didn’t offload the catalogues before returning, and though it worked ( and rodney - now softened towards her in some crucial way thanks to her detailed life or death description of what was sure to happen - assured her that he would return with one of the young sirs before disappearing into the depths of blackwood house ), it left her feeling... grimy, to some extent. white lies were all well and good, but hande hated lying at the expense of another ; she hadn’t imagined actually feeling relieved when the elf returned with “ master zabini ” in tow, but it was better than the alternative of being alone with her thoughts in the marbled foyer for much longer.
“ i’m sorry for disturbing you, ” she even smiles apologetically, though it’s really more for rodney’s benefit, “ madam belby wanted me to drop these off for pansy, but i didn’t realise she wouldn’t be here... ” silly, really, to think it anything but painfully transparent. they both knew she could have just dropped by the ministry and saved them both the trouble, and the fact she hadn’t was wildly telling in itself. “ i’m meant to run through the bridal deals with her, maybe offer a special discount if she shows any interest...- you wouldn’t mind hearing me out and passing it all along later, would you ? ” and here’s where her pushy saleswoman persona so praised by dionisia jumps right out, “ maybe you have an office or something that we can commandeer ? i only need ten minutes, tops, and then i swear i’ll get right out of your hair. ”
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