HP Fic: It Just Took Ten Years (Pansy/Theodore)
It was strange to be back, Pansy decided as she walked through the grounds of Hogwarts. So strange to be standing there, before the double doors of the Grand Hall. Standing and feeling like she didn’t belong there anymore when, at one point, this place had been almost home.
How many years had it been? Ten? Only ten? So much had happened since then. When she left after the end of the infamous eighth-year she’d swore to never come back. Ever. There were too many memories connected with Hogwarts and she wasn’t sure which ones were worse - the bad once or the nostalgia-inducing good ones. Yet here she was, wondering right back to where she had left off the same week she crossed the British boarder after more than nine years abroad.
The petite brunette laid one hand against the doors and pushed slowly and firmly against the heavy, polished wood. The door opened to reveal the four long tables - despite all the activism in the years following the war, the traditional houses were not disbanded - which were empty at the moment with all the students in class in the morning hours between breakfast and lunch. Pansy stepped slowly into the expanse of the chamber, feeling a shiver of recognition and nostalgia run through her. Flashes, tinged green and silver, raced across her vision - memories that she had sworn to leave behind. It never happened like she’d meant it to.
“Parkinson?”
Pansy spun, her short hair sweeping across her face in the process. Before her, in the entrance to the Hall, stood a tall, slim man about her age with blondish-brown hair and soft eyes that peered at her uncertainly from behind a pair of glasses. “Nott?” she chanced uncertainly.
He nodded and took a step toward her. “Long time no see.”
“A-ha.” Pansy looked him over, from the tasteful robes to the matured and elegant lines of his face. She noticed that he even wore the glasses, that he had been so embarrassed of at school, with a sort of newfound confidence. The intelligence in his eyes and the decency and assurance that seemed to radiate off of him in waves was new and deffinetely attractive. Or maybe she had just changed herself.
“What are you doing here?” Theodore asked, seeming to look her over as well.
Pansy shrugged. “I don’t know,” she admitted quietly, almost helplessly. “I don’t know.”
Hr seemed to understand. “You just came back, didn’t you?”
Pansy nodded.
“Have you been to Diagon Alley yet?”
“Second day back.”
Another thoughtful nod. “Do you want to go grab some coffee or something? We could talk and catch up? I was just here on some business but I’m done now.”
Pansy nodded with a smile, tucking a strand of chocolate brown hair behind her ear in a girlish gesture of partial certainly about what she was doing. “I’d like that.”
*~*
Half an hour later, Pansy found herself sitting at a corner table outside one of Diagon Alley’s nicest coffee places, sipping daintily at a cup of tea and nibbling a peace of delectable cheesecake as Theodore dug into a chicken salad. She peeked up at him from over her cup from time to time, trying to read his thoughts.
“So, tell me, where have you been this whole time?” Theodore asked finally, looking up at her between fork-fulls of salad.
Pansy shrugged. “Paris at first. Then Germany.”
“Have you heard of Draco’s marriage?”
“Oh, yes.”
Theodore studied her for a moment. “What happened, Pansy? Everyone thought…I mean, you were practically engaged.”
She took a long drink of tea, closing her eyes briefly. “I needed to get away from here. He needed to stay. I was far away and Astoria wasn’t. Sometimes things just don’t work out.”
Theodore seemed to have forgotten about his food. “You didn’t want to fight for him? That’s so not you.”
Pansy shrugged. “I’d met someone too.”
Theodore’s eyes dropped to her hands. “Oh, are you…?”
Pansy looked down, expecting to see her engagement ring there. Of course, it wasn’t. She shook her head slowly. “No. Never got there. I moved to Germany to be with him but we just… It wasn’t right.”
“Who was he?”
“His name’s Alex. Alexander Rosier.” They were quiet for a moment. “So, I talked to Blaise. He said you and Daphne-“
“We’re divorced,” Theodore cut off.
Pansy hid behind her teacup. “You married her? Why?”
“After the war, we both needed someone. I know, I’m an idiot; I shouldn’t have let her talk me into a wedding. It was all very quiet, so was the divorce. I’d just rather not-“
Pansy reached across the small table and grabbed his hand. “You don’t have to explain, Theo. I get it.” She thought she really did. He looked up at her gratefully and twined his fingers with hers. They looked at each other for another moment; Pansy withdrew first. “So tell me about Millicent. She married Gregory, right? How is that working for her?”
*~*
Somehow they wound up at his place, drunk on fine red wine, sprawled out on the lush carpet in front of the fireplace, Pansy’s head on Theodore’s chest, his fingers running through her hair. They had discussed everyone they knew and some people they only knew about. She told him about her experiences abroad, he - about his research in the field of Magical Archeology. When the conversation about the present ran out they dived back into memories. The more wine they drank, the more they seemed to remember. When the conversation seemed to dry up, they fell quiet, staring up at the ceiling, each contemplating his or her own thoughts.
“You know, I had a huge crush on you back in school,” Theodore said suddenly.
Pansy’s eyes snapped wide open from their drowsy, relaxed, half-closed state. “Really? How come I never knew?”
Theodore scoffed. “You were Draco’s. He would have killed me. Or worse - you would have laughed.”
“Why would I laugh?” Pansy demanded, sliding out from Theodore’s arm and propping herself up on one elbow so she was facing him, soft strands of dark-brown hair falling over her similarly dark eyes.
Theodore looked almost hurt. “Pans? Did you even know I was alive back then?”
“Oh course I knew! You were Book-Boy-Nott, Nerd of Slytherin, everyone knew!” She stopped suddenly and bit her lip, watching him look away from her. “Oh.”
“Yea.”
She sighed and laid back down, her head now on his shoulder. “It’s not like that. You’re great, you know. I’m sorry if I didn’t see that back then.”
Theodore took a deep breath and ran a hand through her hair. “You’re still beautiful. Just like back then.” He looked down at her, meeting her eyes bravely.
Pansy raiser her head slightly and captured his top lip gently with hers. “You want to give me a second chance?” she asked after pulling back. “I don’t want to stay here, Theo. Here or Europe. I just want to disappear. You could take that job in South America that they’ve been offering you and we could go. Could give each other a second chance. Hmm?”
He didn’t answer, just smiled and kissed her.