Valentine's Day Challenge Prompt 5: "Worth the Fight"
Title: Worth the Fight
Author: xfsista
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1,257
Notes/Warning: Prompt 5 (Pink / Kitten / Pensieve)
Growing up, I had spent nearly as much time in this house as I had my own. There was no need for any formalities, so I walked in without knocking. Taking off my cloak, I hung it on a nearby coat rack and dried the melting snow from my shoes with a flick of my wand.
I found my grandmother sitting in the conservatory that overlooked the snowy back garden. Her glasses were perched on the end of her nose. She didn’t appear to hear me approach. It wasn’t because her hearing was faulty, but because all of her attention was on the book in her hands.
My Nana was a voracious reader -- a love that she had passed onto me. Many of my fondest memories growing up was sharing stories and ideas with her. Everyone said I was just like her in so many ways, from bushy hair to stubborn attitude.
“Darling, it’s rude to stare,” she said without lifting her eyes from her book. At seventy-five, she was more sharp and observant than anyone my age.
“Sorry, Nana.” I trudged over and planted a kiss on her cheek. Her skin had aged, but she was still quite an attractive woman. “I was thinking.”
She looked up at my face knowingly and offered me tea. I helped myself to a cup and sat next to her on the sofa.
“What are you doing here, dear? Not that I don’t love seeing you, but I thought you had a Valentine’s dinner with your young man.”
“We had a fight,” I said. With a sigh, I turned to her. “Nana, he and I are just so different. I love him with all my heart, but we spend half our time arguing over the stupidest things. What should I do?”
Before she could answer, a voice interrupted. “I thought I heard someone out here. I thought your grandmother had finally gone mad and was talking to herself.” Nana huffed in annoyance at my grandfather’s teasing.
I grinned at him. “Hi, Granddad.”
“Hello, love. Didn’t expect to see you today.”
“I just came over for a little girl talk with Nana.”
“Girl talk? That’s code for ‘boy trouble’ isn’t it?” he asked as he shuffled over. “If it’s not, I’ll eat my hat.”
“You don’t wear a hat.”
“Cheeky,“ he said as he tweaked my nose like he did when I was a little girl before settling into his favorite armchair. “So, you’re looking for romantic advice? Don’t know why you’d ask your grandmother.”
“Excuse me?” Nana asked, clearly not amused.
“Darling, I love you, but you don’t have a romantic bone in your body.”
My grandmother was now affronted, her cheeks tinged pink with anger. “What do you mean?! Why would you say something like that?”
Ignoring her, my grandfather turned to me. “The first time I took her out for Valentine’s, she spent the entire evening telling me how the holiday was originally some werewolf festival--”
“Lupercali.”
“--and how there were blood sacrifices and it ended with a binding that led to sex between strangers.”
“Draco! That is not how it happened!”
“I may be old, but I remember things quite well. How could one forget a date when his girl spends the night talking about blood, werewolves, and sex? Not that I minded the sex bit--”
I shrieked. “Granddad!” I really didn’t want to hear my grandfather talk about sex.
“Sorry, Alex, but your grandmother’s mind is going. I think I need to pull out the Pensieve and refresh her memory.”
“I do not need my memory refreshed, Draco. Just because I imparted some facts about the less than romantic origins of Valentine’s Day to you doesn’t mean that I have no sense of romance.”
“C’mon, Granger! Who was the one who made all the big romantic gestures in our relationship? Me!”
I could see this was quickly going downhill and was one second away from hexes flying.
“My name hasn’t been Granger for fifty years!”
Just then, the doorbell rang. Angrily, Nana got up to answer it as an excuse to get away from my grandfather.
“Granddad,” I pleaded. “Why do you tease her so? Nana might not make grand gestures, but she’s still romantic in her own way.”
“Oh, I know. I just like to rile her up and she falls for it every time.” His smile was a cross between dreamy and mischievous. “She’s beautiful when she’s angry.”
There was something about the look in his grey eyes that touched me. After all these years, through all the teasing and spats, he was still in love with her.
He then turned to me and winked. “Make-up sex is really good, too.”
“Granddad!” I clapped my hands over my ears.
His laughter was interrupted by Nana’s voice. “Alex. There’s someone here to see you.”
I looked up and saw my boyfriend standing next to my grandmother. “Nick? What are you doing here?”
“Your mum said I might find you here. Can we talk?”
We left my grandparents and stepped into the lounge. Defensively, I crossed my arms over my chest. “Well?”
“Alex, I’m sorry. I really shouldn’t have said what I did. I was only teasing, but then you got so angry and it spiraled out of control.” He sighed. “I didn’t mean it.”
I dropped my arms in defeat and walked slowly over to him. Sliding my hands up, I gripped his biceps and pulled him into a hug. “I didn’t mean it either.”
Leaning back, he grinned down at me. “I have to admit, though, you’re gorgeous when you’re pissed off.”
Any other time, I may have smacked him or launched into another tirade. However, he had just echoed my granddad’s words from a few moments before, so I settled for a half-hearted glare.
“I brought you something.” He bit his lip and looked down to a package the size of a shoe box sitting on the sofa. Following his gaze, I sat next to the box and opened it.
“Nicholas Longbottom! She's adorable!”
I cooed over the tiny, grey kitten nestled inside the box. I picked her up and made silly kissing noises at the little animal while rubbing my cheek on her fur. I pulled her back and noticed a ribbon tied around her neck with a ring gleaming on it.
With a gasp, I looked up at my boyfriend. “Nick?”
Getting down on one knee before me, he slipped the ring from the ribbon. “Alexandra Malfoy? There are still lots of fine arguments to be had. Will you consent to be my permanent sparring partner?”
With a smile, I nodded my consent, and he slipped the ring on my finger followed by a kiss. We went to announce our engagement to my grandparents and found them sitting together on the sofa. My grandfather had his arm around my grandmother; the wrinkled hand of his free arm caressed her blushing cheek as he whispered something in her ear. The smile on her face made her seem more beautiful to me than she ever had.
I caught my grandfather’s eye and he winked at me. I waved my fingers at him and mouthed goodbye. With a turn, I took Nick’s arm and steered him to the front door.
“We’ll tell them later.”
Every day, my grandparents found a reason to fight with each other. But no matter how hard they fought, they always loved each other more.
If Nick and I could remember that, I think we’d be okay.
Author: xfsista
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1,257
Notes/Warning: Prompt 5 (Pink / Kitten / Pensieve)
Growing up, I had spent nearly as much time in this house as I had my own. There was no need for any formalities, so I walked in without knocking. Taking off my cloak, I hung it on a nearby coat rack and dried the melting snow from my shoes with a flick of my wand.
I found my grandmother sitting in the conservatory that overlooked the snowy back garden. Her glasses were perched on the end of her nose. She didn’t appear to hear me approach. It wasn’t because her hearing was faulty, but because all of her attention was on the book in her hands.
My Nana was a voracious reader -- a love that she had passed onto me. Many of my fondest memories growing up was sharing stories and ideas with her. Everyone said I was just like her in so many ways, from bushy hair to stubborn attitude.
“Darling, it’s rude to stare,” she said without lifting her eyes from her book. At seventy-five, she was more sharp and observant than anyone my age.
“Sorry, Nana.” I trudged over and planted a kiss on her cheek. Her skin had aged, but she was still quite an attractive woman. “I was thinking.”
She looked up at my face knowingly and offered me tea. I helped myself to a cup and sat next to her on the sofa.
“What are you doing here, dear? Not that I don’t love seeing you, but I thought you had a Valentine’s dinner with your young man.”
“We had a fight,” I said. With a sigh, I turned to her. “Nana, he and I are just so different. I love him with all my heart, but we spend half our time arguing over the stupidest things. What should I do?”
Before she could answer, a voice interrupted. “I thought I heard someone out here. I thought your grandmother had finally gone mad and was talking to herself.” Nana huffed in annoyance at my grandfather’s teasing.
I grinned at him. “Hi, Granddad.”
“Hello, love. Didn’t expect to see you today.”
“I just came over for a little girl talk with Nana.”
“Girl talk? That’s code for ‘boy trouble’ isn’t it?” he asked as he shuffled over. “If it’s not, I’ll eat my hat.”
“You don’t wear a hat.”
“Cheeky,“ he said as he tweaked my nose like he did when I was a little girl before settling into his favorite armchair. “So, you’re looking for romantic advice? Don’t know why you’d ask your grandmother.”
“Excuse me?” Nana asked, clearly not amused.
“Darling, I love you, but you don’t have a romantic bone in your body.”
My grandmother was now affronted, her cheeks tinged pink with anger. “What do you mean?! Why would you say something like that?”
Ignoring her, my grandfather turned to me. “The first time I took her out for Valentine’s, she spent the entire evening telling me how the holiday was originally some werewolf festival--”
“Lupercali.”
“--and how there were blood sacrifices and it ended with a binding that led to sex between strangers.”
“Draco! That is not how it happened!”
“I may be old, but I remember things quite well. How could one forget a date when his girl spends the night talking about blood, werewolves, and sex? Not that I minded the sex bit--”
I shrieked. “Granddad!” I really didn’t want to hear my grandfather talk about sex.
“Sorry, Alex, but your grandmother’s mind is going. I think I need to pull out the Pensieve and refresh her memory.”
“I do not need my memory refreshed, Draco. Just because I imparted some facts about the less than romantic origins of Valentine’s Day to you doesn’t mean that I have no sense of romance.”
“C’mon, Granger! Who was the one who made all the big romantic gestures in our relationship? Me!”
I could see this was quickly going downhill and was one second away from hexes flying.
“My name hasn’t been Granger for fifty years!”
Just then, the doorbell rang. Angrily, Nana got up to answer it as an excuse to get away from my grandfather.
“Granddad,” I pleaded. “Why do you tease her so? Nana might not make grand gestures, but she’s still romantic in her own way.”
“Oh, I know. I just like to rile her up and she falls for it every time.” His smile was a cross between dreamy and mischievous. “She’s beautiful when she’s angry.”
There was something about the look in his grey eyes that touched me. After all these years, through all the teasing and spats, he was still in love with her.
He then turned to me and winked. “Make-up sex is really good, too.”
“Granddad!” I clapped my hands over my ears.
His laughter was interrupted by Nana’s voice. “Alex. There’s someone here to see you.”
I looked up and saw my boyfriend standing next to my grandmother. “Nick? What are you doing here?”
“Your mum said I might find you here. Can we talk?”
We left my grandparents and stepped into the lounge. Defensively, I crossed my arms over my chest. “Well?”
“Alex, I’m sorry. I really shouldn’t have said what I did. I was only teasing, but then you got so angry and it spiraled out of control.” He sighed. “I didn’t mean it.”
I dropped my arms in defeat and walked slowly over to him. Sliding my hands up, I gripped his biceps and pulled him into a hug. “I didn’t mean it either.”
Leaning back, he grinned down at me. “I have to admit, though, you’re gorgeous when you’re pissed off.”
Any other time, I may have smacked him or launched into another tirade. However, he had just echoed my granddad’s words from a few moments before, so I settled for a half-hearted glare.
“I brought you something.” He bit his lip and looked down to a package the size of a shoe box sitting on the sofa. Following his gaze, I sat next to the box and opened it.
“Nicholas Longbottom! She's adorable!”
I cooed over the tiny, grey kitten nestled inside the box. I picked her up and made silly kissing noises at the little animal while rubbing my cheek on her fur. I pulled her back and noticed a ribbon tied around her neck with a ring gleaming on it.
With a gasp, I looked up at my boyfriend. “Nick?”
Getting down on one knee before me, he slipped the ring from the ribbon. “Alexandra Malfoy? There are still lots of fine arguments to be had. Will you consent to be my permanent sparring partner?”
With a smile, I nodded my consent, and he slipped the ring on my finger followed by a kiss. We went to announce our engagement to my grandparents and found them sitting together on the sofa. My grandfather had his arm around my grandmother; the wrinkled hand of his free arm caressed her blushing cheek as he whispered something in her ear. The smile on her face made her seem more beautiful to me than she ever had.
I caught my grandfather’s eye and he winked at me. I waved my fingers at him and mouthed goodbye. With a turn, I took Nick’s arm and steered him to the front door.
“We’ll tell them later.”
Every day, my grandparents found a reason to fight with each other. But no matter how hard they fought, they always loved each other more.
If Nick and I could remember that, I think we’d be okay.