alisanne

Title: The Convergence
Author: alisanne
Challenge: Written for the May 2018 intoabar/intoabar Challenge. Prompt: Pansy Parkinson goes into a bar and meets... Erik Selvig (Thor)!
Fandoms: Harry Potter, Thor (specifically, Thor: The Dark World).
Word Count: 2390
Rating/Contents: PG; Nothing to warn for.
Characters: Pansy Parkinson, Erik Selvig, OCs.
Summary: Sometimes magic is unexplained science, and sometimes it's magic.
Author’s notes: AU for Thor: The Dark World.
Thanks to my betas, sevfan and emynn for looking this over for me.
And, as always, nothing you recognize is mine.


~

The Convergence

~

“He’s sending me out on a case at four-thirty on a Friday afternoon?” asks Pansy when Barnes drops the file on her desk. “Really?” She glances at the clock.

Barnes shrugs. “Should be a quick one. Some old Muggle coot is babbling about magic and Norse gods after wandering into the Leaky. Not sure how he found it, but he’s terrorizing the patrons.”

Pansy raises an eyebrow. “A Muggle is terrorizing a bunch of wizards? How?”

Barnes grins. “He’s taken off his trousers and is prancing about the place in his pants gesticulating. Anytime anyone gets near him, he threatens them with a shoe.”

Pansy stifles a giggle. “And they’re calling in the Aurors for that?”

“They’re calling an Auror. Which is where you come in.”

Pansy groans. “Why do I get all the shit cases at the end of the day on a Friday?” she mutters, standing up and grabbing her Auror robes. “Everyone else is assigned to that case investigating magical anomalies, and I get to sit here and babysit Muggles. Why?”

Barnes clears his throat. “You’re the junior Auror.”

Pansy glares at him. “Stop it. I know the real reason—” He raises an eyebrow and she lowers her voice. “For fuck’s sake,” she hisses. “I’ve proven myself over and over again. When are people going to let what I did at seventeen go? Potter’s even publicly forgiven me!”

“Of course he has,” Barnes says dismissively. “Potter forgives everyone.” Leaning in, he sighs. “Look, Parkinson. I like you, you’re a hard worker, you’re smart, and you have real aptitude for detective work. But you have this chip on your shoulder—”

“Wouldn’t you?” Pansy snaps. “No one ever gives me a chance. They all assume I’m the same person I was back then.”

Barnes shrugs. “The wizarding world can be unforgiving, and unfortunately, everyone’s heard about how you tried to hand Potter over to You-Know-Who. Not as many know how you’ve turned your life around and have become a decent Auror. It’s not fair, but—”

Pansy shakes her head, blinking back tears of frustration. “Oh, trust me,” she says, tone bitter. “I understand life not being fair.” And ignoring his attempts to stop her, she moves away.

Scowling, she stalks out of the Auror offices and towards the exit Floos. The only saving grace in the situation is it’s late in the day on a Friday, which means she won’t be expected back tonight and she can go home, tend her wounded pride in private, and deal with her incident report on Monday.

Her co-workers are also heading towards the exit, although they get to go home. Asshats.

She arrives at the Leaky three minutes later and it’s obvious something’s happening since patrons are hurrying out of the place looking scandalised. Tom must be beside himself. Pansy bares her teeth. Time to hunt a Muggle.

Walking in, she allows herself a moment for her eyes to adjust before looking around.

Tom’s at the counter, wiping the same spot over and over. Pansy’s sure that spot’s never been so clean. He’s staring at…Pansy blinks. Well, well. For once the report’s not an exaggeration. There really is an old coot prancing about in just his pants, gesticulating wildly.

Drawing her wand, she moves closer.

“…telling you, this has happened before and the ancients were there to see it! All the great constructions, the Mayans, the Chinese, the Egyptians…they knew! I bet it’s even what destroyed Atlantis! A gravitational effect on this scale could be, well, life extinguishing.”

“That sounds ominous,” says Pansy, pitching her voice soft and calm. “Excuse me, but…who are you?”

The man spins, staring at her, his eyes a bit wild. Pansy clutches her wand tighter. “Who am I?” he repeats.

“Yes.” Pansy nods in what she hopes is a reassuring way. “What’s your name?”

“Oh!” The man grins. “I’ve forgotten to introduce myself. I’m Dr Erik Selvig.”

“Nice to meet you, Dr Selvig,” says Pansy, sidling closer. “I’m Pansy and I’m just here to make sure you’re doing all right.”

“Are you the police?” Selvig giggles. “Wizards have police! Who knew?”

Pansy raises an eyebrow. “Did you just say…wizards? What makes you say that?”

“What—?” Selvig waves a hand with a shoe in it at her. “Look at you. You’re in robes, you’re carrying a wand, how could I not say that? Too many things happen unnaturally for there not to be wizards! I mean Norse gods are real, there are aliens and other dimensions, so why not wizards and magic?”

“Why not indeed?” Eyes narrowed, Pansy sizes Selvig up. “Look, Doctor,” she says quietly. “You’re disturbing the other patrons here. If you agree to put your trousers back on and move along to a Mu—non-wizarding pub, I won’t have to take you in and we’ll both be happier.”

“But you need to know about the danger! Everyone needs to know about the Convergence.” Selvig turns big blue eyes on her. “Just hear me out and you can do what you like with the information.”

Pansy sighs. “It’s been a long day, and I have no desire to go back to the Ministry to file a report about this. If you promise you’ll leave quietly,” her eyes drop to his bare legs, “and fully clothed, I will listen to you.”

“Of course, of course.” Selvig picks up his trousers off the floor and slips his shoe back on. “Where shall we sit?”

Gesturing to a corner table, Pansy says, “How about there? It’s nice and quiet.” And, if she ends up having to Stun or subdue him, it’s out of the way.

Selvig sits, Pansy settling across from him. “What would you like to drink?” she asks.

“Oh!” Selvig blinks. “Something typically wizarding perhaps?”

Pansy waves at Tom and holds up two fingers. Tom scowls. Pansy gives him a flat look and he hastily pours two ales and brings them over before moving away.

Selvig picks up his mug and inspects it. “Looks like regular ale to me.”

Pansy takes a long drink of hers, placing it on the table. When it begins to automatically refill, Selvig’s eyes get big. She smirks. “I believe you said you have something important to tell me? Something potentially life extinguishing?”

Nodding, Selvig tears his gaze from the mug to look at her. “How much do you know about the great constructions?” he asks. “Stonehenge, Snowdon, the Great Orme—”

“Some. Those places are where ley lines pool power.”

“Yes, of course!” Selvig smacks his forehead with the palm of his hand. “Magic users would see it that way. Well, we non-magic folk—”

“Muggles,” says Pansy.

“Muggles? All right, we Muggles see it as gravitational effects, shifts in energy. You know there are other realms, yes?” At Pansy’s impatient nod, he smiles. “It’s good to have an educated audience. Anyway, once every five thousand years, the realms all align, causing the boundaries between each realm to become thin. It also results in spacial anomalies including gravitational shifts and it makes travel between the realms possible.”

“Gravitational shifts?” Pansy scowls. “Meaning?”

“Meaning the laws of gravity as we know them no longer work.” Selvig picked up his mug and held it over the side of the table. “If I drop this, what happens.”

“It falls, it breaks, you lose your ale.” Pansy hums. “Although we can easily fix it if needed.”

Selvig nods. “With magic. But without magic, the mug is lost, yes? And the ale.”

“Yes.”

“So during the Convergence, gravity doesn’t work and you could pick up a house by hand and move it without magic. We believe the ancients used times of convergence for their construction.”

“Ah!” Pansy purses her lips. “That’s what you meant about Stonehenge and all the other places.”

“Yes, the Mayan pyramids, the Egyptian pyramids—”

“So you’re telling me this in case I need to build a pyramid?” Pansy raises an eyebrow.

Selvig huffs. “No! It’s not just gravity that goes crazy, it’s every physical law you can think of. In fact, it could be that magic won’t work. You could be in your home one moment and be transported to another realm the moment after. An uninhabitable realm where you’d die.”

Pansy sits up straight. “I see why you’re concerned. So when is this supposed to happen?”

“My calculations say the Convergence has already started and soon will be at its peak. We don’t sense it here yet because we’re not that close. I’ve calculated the centre to be Greenwich.”

“Greenwich?” Pansy gasps. “But that’s where—”

“Where what?” asks Selvig, his eyes suddenly sharp.

“It’s where magic has been going mad, all sorts of odd things have been happening there.” Pansy bites her lip. “Everyone who’s anyone’s assigned to that case. And you’re saying it’s this Convergence causing it?”

“Yes.”

“All right,” says Pansy. “Finish your ale and then you need to come with me. You need to tell my superiors about this.”

Selvig shakes his head. “Oh no, there’s no time for that. I have to find Jane and Darcy and hopefully Thor and tell them. You see, I’ve come up with a gravitational stabiliser that I think will—”

Pansy holds up a hand. “But no one’s going to believe me on this. You have to come.”

“Why won’t they believe you?” asks Selvig. “You’re a police officer—”

“Auror. We’re called Aurors.” Pansy exhales. “And I’m not in the best standing with the powers that be right now.” She snorts softly. “Nor have I ever been.”

“Why not?”

And to her surprise, Pansy finds herself telling Dr Erik Selvig all about the war, about Voldemort and the way he offered to leave everyone else alone if they simply handed over one boy. When she gets to the bit where she’d tried to hand Potter over, however, Selvig shakes his head. “It’s never just one person,” he says. “The demands of evil people never end. If you had handed him over, he would just have asked for more.”

Pansy nods. “I know that now, but I was seventeen then.”

“We all make mistakes at that age.” Selvig frowns. “That’s it? That’s all you did? People are still holding a grudge for something you did when you were seventeen? That’s ridiculous.”

“It was a big deal at the time,” Pansy says. “And it caused a lot of trouble for all my housemates and for me. I haven’t been able to escape that for years.”

Selvig shakes his head. “People can be unforgiving,” he says. “But this sounds as if it’s been blown out of proportion.”

“Thanks.”

“Of course, if you never forget it, neither will they,” continues Selvig, and Pansy freezes.

“Wh…what?” she stammers.

Selvig gives her a look. “Whenever anything happens to you, do you immediately return to this incident? Do you use it as an excuse for why you have not achieved all you want in life?”

“I…” Pansy pauses. Does she? “Maybe I do,” she mutters. “But it’s not as if people have forgotten it either!”

“How can they when you never let them forget it?”

The question slams into Pansy like a hex, making her sit back in her seat. “But I only bring it up so they won’t throw it in my face,” she whispers.

Selvig’s expression is sympathetic. “You’re protecting yourself, I understand. But I think you’ll find if you let it go, others will, too.” He smiles. “Give it a try, yes? It can’t hurt to try, especially since what you’re doing isn’t working.”

“I…” Pansy exhales. “All right. I’ll try it. Although I’m still not sure my superiors will believe me if I got to them with this story.”

“Try,” says Selvig. “You will be proven right and, should we all survive this, they will be more likely to trust you in future.”

Pansy nods, determination making her square her shoulders. “I’ll tell them, even if they don’t believe me.” She smiles. “What are you going to do?”

“As I said. I have to find Jane and Darcy and hopefully Thor. They are probably already there.”

Standing, Pansy calls over to Tom, “Put the drinks on my tab! We’re off.” And helping Selvig to his feet, she says, “Trousers!”

While Selvig dresses, Pansy plots what she’s going to say, who she’s going to approach first. And as she thinks about it, she knows what she has to do.

“Taking him to the Ministry?” asks Tom as they walk towards the door.

Pansy smiles. “Not exactly.” Once they’re outside, she turns to him and extends her arm. “Take it. I’ll get you to Greenwich, it’s the least I can do.”

“Magic?” asks Selvig, looking apprehensive.

She nods. “Yes.”

Selvig is shaking by time they arrive, and as soon as she lets go of him he leans over and sicks up, happily none of it gets on her. Sighing, Pansy Banishes the mess once he’s done. “Think you can find your friends on your own?” she asks.

Selvig wipes his mouth on his sleeve and looks around. “I…Oh, there’s Jane! Jane! Darcy!” He hurries off, waving his arms, and as Pansy watches, two women turn and smile when they see him.

“Well, that’s you sorted,” she mutters, turning away. “Now to see what I can do to warn our people.”

Drawing her wand, Pansy does a quick Point-Me and, following the direction, Apparates. She lands next to a group of Aurors with their wands out and pointing up at what looks like a hole in the sky. Inside the hole are…well, alien vistas.

Potter spots her immediately of course. “Parkinson? What are you doing here?”

Taking a deep breath, Pansy steps forward, feigning confidence. Time to let the past go. “I have information for you on the Convergence.”

Potter frowns. “What the hell is the Convergence?”

Nodding at the hole, Pansy says, “That’s the Convergence. Magic’s not following the rules, am I right?”

Potter regards her for a long moment, then, with a nod, he says, “You’re right, it’s not. Okay, since it’s clear you know something, come and fill us in on what you know.”

Giving silent thanks to Selvig, Pansy exhales. “Happy to.”

~