Pansy walked around the group, saying hello to friends and smiling at those she knew. She was a little distracted because she hadn't brought Polly. It wasn't the time or place for a baby, she knew, but she had to admit to feeling a bit like odds and ends without her daughter.
But Polly was at the house with Ella, and the girls would be fine with Wicksy's supervision. They had all the wards raised around the house, Harry having added Ella to them the first time she stayed with them so that she wasn't unceremoniously ejected the moment they raised them.
Harry, of course, had arrived first. She'd questioned it....suggested they take turns being first. But Harry had pointed out that she was known for her late entrances, and she'd had to accept that because...she was. It would be odd for her to arrive early unless she was hostessing, which she wasn't.
She'd seen Percy and reminded herself that she intended to give him a big hug at her first opportunity. He would get used to hugs. Then she would work him into snuggling. It might take years, but she was nothing if not persistent when she was determined.
She'd seen Antonin and Macdougal earlier and considered speaking to the woman, but it had taken no few minutes to talk herself into it. But Percy liked her, and Cass had asked her to be nice, so she would.
Finally, she had herself talked into it, and she pasted a smile on her face and swept over to the couple.
And promptly blanked on the girl's first name....
'Darlings, how are you?' she exclaimed as if they were all old friends. 'Antonin, handsome as ever,' she said as she hugged him and kissed his cheek, her smile momentarily warmer and more genuine.
Then, and for this Cass was going to owe her in a major way, she hugged Macdougal and kissed her cheek, too, as she exclaimed softly, 'My dear, you look wonderful! Motherhood seems to agree with you. I seem to remember most people being afraid to even be in the room with me by this stage of the pregnancy....' Well, that last part was true, at least.
She used her wand to pull a chair over for herself and settled on it gracefully. 'So how are you feeling? Antonin said you were having a girl? Have you named her yet?' She could talk about babies.