A Gift for flipflop_diva: Make My Wish Come True (All I Want For Christmas), Pansy/Hermione
Author: flyingharmony
Recipient: flipflop_diva
Title: Make My Wish Come True (All I Want For Christmas)
Pairing: Pansy/Hermione
Rating: PG-13
Word Count/Art Medium: 1753
Summary: Alone in the castle with Hermione Granger. Wonderful. Delightful. A perfect Christmas, just as Pansy has always dreamed of. She might vomit.
Author's Notes: Wishing you the merriest of Christmases, dearest flipflop_diva! I really, really hope that you enjoy this - it was delightful writing for you, thank you so much for all these amazing prompts!
They could not. possibly. be serious. It was horrible enough that Pansy was stuck at Hogwarts over Christmas (she was used to her parents rejecting the holiday almost in its entirety for reasons that were far beyond her understanding, but did they really have to travel to India right when their only daughter was looking forward to coming home for a couple of weeks? She did not care that she was deemed ‘old enough’ to spend this time on her own, she missed her own bed! And her parents, too! … Sometimes, at least.), of all the people in the castle, she had to be stuck with… her.
The little Gryffindor know-it-all, who was as annoying as she was a boring, which, admittedly, was an interesting combination, would certainly make it impossible to at least attempt to enjoy the holidays… All the beautiful plans she had made… Ruined. Gone forever. It was a disaster. Au revoir, firewhisky (it had been nearly impossible to sneak the little flask into the school, and now?! Should it all have been in vain?!), au revoir, freedom, au revoir dignity… Pansy shivered.
She should not have returned to Hogwarts, she had always known that. Barely anyone had come back, not Draco, not Blaise or Daphne (none of whom had wasted even a drop of ink to write to her, lest alone invite her to their very own Christmas celebrations)… And not Granger’s little friends either. They were both lonely souls in a way, however nothing, nothing at all would ever make it even remotely bearable to spend more time than the absolute minimum with her… This castle was not big enough for the both of them, she had always known that.
There was no doubt that McGonagall would force them to spend time together in the Great Hall - and Slughorn, the old fool, would happily oblige as well as join, always in search of new trophies for his shelves, beguiling Granger to become one of his very own like he had done in their sixth year, when he had still lived in the belief his disgusting and ridiculous club to be thriving and desirable to join. It was a nightmare.
Oh, her sweet, sweet firewhisky… How she had looked forward to it… She drank too much these days, but it wasn’t of anyone’s business to judge her for her coping mechanisms. She was long seventeen, so why shouldn’t she allow herself to forget once in a while? It was what they all did, and her methods were certainly the safest. Perhaps she should take a little sip or two right now? Sober, this entire misery would be even more unbearable for sure.
Pansy nearly bumped into someone as she hurried down the corridors to make her way to the abandoned Common Room in the dungeons - what was left of it, at least - letting out a surprised squeal… Promptly followed by a groan. Granger. Of all the people.
“Can’t you pay attention for once?!” Pansy snapped, knowing full well that her own distraction was at fault for their encounter. “Get out of my way!”
For a moment, she believed that Granger would merely quietly brush past her in silence, but… Instead she decided to simply stare at her, as though she had never seen her before. Whatever the purpose of that may be.
“Please. Pansy,” she said after a moment, once again far too serious. She had always been like this, disgustingly serious and opposed to any kind of fun. Not that this was fun in the slightest. “We’re the only ones left in the castle besides Professor McGonagall and Professor Slughorn, and believe me, I’d rather be home, too. Can’t we just be peaceful at least for a couple of days.”
The only ones left in the castle. Wonderful. Delightful. A perfect Christmas, just as she had always dreamed of. Pansy felt as though she might vomit.
Granger, too, however, did not seem pleased. She looked less annoyed, but rather…. Sad. There was something about her eyes that caused Pansy to frown, to look ta her for longer than the brief moments she would usually look at her, to almost feel… pity… No. Ew! Why did she even consider…?!
“Why don’t you just go home to your precious Muggle parents then?!” she asked instead, quickly snapping herself back into her right mindset. “Drink tea by the fireplace, fill stockings with unnecessary things you all hate anyway, and spend delightfully boring evening no one but you people could ever enjoy?”
In fact… None of this sounded boring at all, but rather… Beautiful… Cosy… Secure… NO! NO WAY! Pull yourself together, Pansy! Merlin!
The sadness in her eyes turned into something Pansy could not read, and she immediately regretted her words. She could not stand Hermione Granger, no, but cruelty was a beyond her. The war had well taught her to grow out of it.
“They’re… still not quite back in their right mind…” Granger murmured, nearly silently, and Pansy wished to disappear into thin air right this instant. Please… Please, do not overshare… Oh please, just snarl at me and leave…“I... I thought I’d give them some time still… To recover… Without… Me…”
Pansy sighed. Great. She hated having to apologise, particularly to people she despised, but this time, she knew, there was no other choice. It was Christmas, after all, and no one, not even Granger, should spend it in the way they were forced to spend it.
“Sorry…” she said quietly, quickly picking up her bag from the ground “I’ll… I’ll see you at the feast later…”
She dared not look her in the eye again, quickly continuing her way towards the Dungeons. This Christmas was going to be even worse than she’d imagined, and she was to blame for it.
*
The Great Hall when empty was even greater, even bigger and nearly as intimidating as it had been when she was eleven. Pansy’s firewhisky had tasted like one of Draco’s forgetfulness potions that he could no longer sleep without, and she had nearly spit the precious liquid onto her bedsheets in disgust. The taste of shame was not a nice one.
They were sitting far apart on their respective houses’ tables now, and it was certainly for the best, yet Pansy was no longer capable of fighting the desire to… Oh Merlin. She was getting up. Her legs were carrying her beyond her control, and she was a… What was she doing?! Walking over to Granger, who looked up from her book in sheer surprise?! See? She was reading, she wasn’t lonely, perhaps she did not even want her to join…!
“It’s… freezing on my side…” Pansy could her herself ay, nervously clearing her throat and glancing around herself - as though there were anyone here to see them together. “I’ll just… sit here, I’m not in the mood to catch a cold or worse. Pomfrey is home for Christmas.”
Was that… a smile?! Did Hermione Granger ever-so-briefly smile at her?! And... Was she… happy about this!? Christmas Eve was known to do strange things to people, but this was a lot stranger than Pansy enjoyed. But she was here already, and might as well keep her company. Company. She would merely keep her company, not speak to her, not look at her, not… do anything at all. Silent company, nothing more, nothing less.
*
Five minutes. The entirety of five minutes had passed until they had started talking, ten more until the first laughter. It was embarrassing. McGonagall and Slughorn, despite contributing nothing whatsoever to the developments of the evening, had looked all too pleased with themselves and soon after withdrawn to their offices… Leaving their students entirely alone, and unsupervised.
They, too, had left, however, but they had left together and found themselves in the Slytherin Common Room, sharing the remnants of the firewhisky. It was surprised how well Hermione revealed herself to hold a drink, and how… very un-boring the bore actually turned out to be over the course of the night. She was much better company than Pansy had ever dreamed of imagining, for Christmas, and perhaps also for… Pansy! Goodness! This is still Granger we’re talking about!
“You know…” she said after a while, letting the empty bottle disappear with a quick flick of her wand. “This is… Actually not… quite as terrible as expected.”
Hermione grinned, hiccuping slightly. “I never thought I’d ever agree with you, but… I agree with you.”
It was actually quite adorable to watch her nibble on the little gingerbread man they had snuck out of the Great Hall, and… did it get warmer in here? All of a sudden? But that was absolutely just the firewhisky speaking, nothing else. Nothing else at. all. It wasn’t her eyes, the were finally sparkling again, the flushed cheeks, or the… childish giggle as she fiddled around with the bracelet on her wrist… Firewhisky. It. Was. The. Firewhisky. And perhaps the remnants of her bad conscience from before. What else could it be?! Certainly, she was not about to develop any kind of sympathy or… anything else… towards her… No! Shut up now! Shut up right away! You don’t even have emotions, remember?!
She was close to falling asleep now, all of a sudden, curled up on Pansy’s bed, looking even more ad… NO!
“I… I should go…“ Hermione muttered, yawning heartily „It’s probably almost morning…”
“Not like anyone will miss you in your common room,” responded Pansy with a shrug. Play it cool, Parkinson. You ARE cool. “You might as well stay here…”
She smiled again now, allowing their gazes to cross… And for second, only a split second, it felt as though they both had frozen into statues of ice… Motionless…
Time seemed to stand still as Pansy leaned forward to kiss her, as lightning struck her body and mind… Oh dear… Ohhhhh dear…
“I feel horrible…” Hermione whispered, looking just as lost as Pansy felt in this very moment… Didn’t they just… Only a few hours ago... and now…? That darn firewhisky… “We’re… celebrating Christmas together and I don’t even have a present for you…”
Now it was on Pansy to smile, ever so slightly, since she had not smiled in months... It felt so strange… “No need…” she said, so very quietly, closing her eyes only for a second, taking a deep, deep breath… “You’re my present…”
There were tears glistening in Hermione’s eyes, tears she quickly blinked away as she kissed her again… “And you’re mine…” she murmured.
Recipient: flipflop_diva
Title: Make My Wish Come True (All I Want For Christmas)
Pairing: Pansy/Hermione
Rating: PG-13
Word Count/Art Medium: 1753
Summary: Alone in the castle with Hermione Granger. Wonderful. Delightful. A perfect Christmas, just as Pansy has always dreamed of. She might vomit.
Author's Notes: Wishing you the merriest of Christmases, dearest flipflop_diva! I really, really hope that you enjoy this - it was delightful writing for you, thank you so much for all these amazing prompts!
They could not. possibly. be serious. It was horrible enough that Pansy was stuck at Hogwarts over Christmas (she was used to her parents rejecting the holiday almost in its entirety for reasons that were far beyond her understanding, but did they really have to travel to India right when their only daughter was looking forward to coming home for a couple of weeks? She did not care that she was deemed ‘old enough’ to spend this time on her own, she missed her own bed! And her parents, too! … Sometimes, at least.), of all the people in the castle, she had to be stuck with… her.
The little Gryffindor know-it-all, who was as annoying as she was a boring, which, admittedly, was an interesting combination, would certainly make it impossible to at least attempt to enjoy the holidays… All the beautiful plans she had made… Ruined. Gone forever. It was a disaster. Au revoir, firewhisky (it had been nearly impossible to sneak the little flask into the school, and now?! Should it all have been in vain?!), au revoir, freedom, au revoir dignity… Pansy shivered.
She should not have returned to Hogwarts, she had always known that. Barely anyone had come back, not Draco, not Blaise or Daphne (none of whom had wasted even a drop of ink to write to her, lest alone invite her to their very own Christmas celebrations)… And not Granger’s little friends either. They were both lonely souls in a way, however nothing, nothing at all would ever make it even remotely bearable to spend more time than the absolute minimum with her… This castle was not big enough for the both of them, she had always known that.
There was no doubt that McGonagall would force them to spend time together in the Great Hall - and Slughorn, the old fool, would happily oblige as well as join, always in search of new trophies for his shelves, beguiling Granger to become one of his very own like he had done in their sixth year, when he had still lived in the belief his disgusting and ridiculous club to be thriving and desirable to join. It was a nightmare.
Oh, her sweet, sweet firewhisky… How she had looked forward to it… She drank too much these days, but it wasn’t of anyone’s business to judge her for her coping mechanisms. She was long seventeen, so why shouldn’t she allow herself to forget once in a while? It was what they all did, and her methods were certainly the safest. Perhaps she should take a little sip or two right now? Sober, this entire misery would be even more unbearable for sure.
Pansy nearly bumped into someone as she hurried down the corridors to make her way to the abandoned Common Room in the dungeons - what was left of it, at least - letting out a surprised squeal… Promptly followed by a groan. Granger. Of all the people.
“Can’t you pay attention for once?!” Pansy snapped, knowing full well that her own distraction was at fault for their encounter. “Get out of my way!”
For a moment, she believed that Granger would merely quietly brush past her in silence, but… Instead she decided to simply stare at her, as though she had never seen her before. Whatever the purpose of that may be.
“Please. Pansy,” she said after a moment, once again far too serious. She had always been like this, disgustingly serious and opposed to any kind of fun. Not that this was fun in the slightest. “We’re the only ones left in the castle besides Professor McGonagall and Professor Slughorn, and believe me, I’d rather be home, too. Can’t we just be peaceful at least for a couple of days.”
The only ones left in the castle. Wonderful. Delightful. A perfect Christmas, just as she had always dreamed of. Pansy felt as though she might vomit.
Granger, too, however, did not seem pleased. She looked less annoyed, but rather…. Sad. There was something about her eyes that caused Pansy to frown, to look ta her for longer than the brief moments she would usually look at her, to almost feel… pity… No. Ew! Why did she even consider…?!
“Why don’t you just go home to your precious Muggle parents then?!” she asked instead, quickly snapping herself back into her right mindset. “Drink tea by the fireplace, fill stockings with unnecessary things you all hate anyway, and spend delightfully boring evening no one but you people could ever enjoy?”
In fact… None of this sounded boring at all, but rather… Beautiful… Cosy… Secure… NO! NO WAY! Pull yourself together, Pansy! Merlin!
The sadness in her eyes turned into something Pansy could not read, and she immediately regretted her words. She could not stand Hermione Granger, no, but cruelty was a beyond her. The war had well taught her to grow out of it.
“They’re… still not quite back in their right mind…” Granger murmured, nearly silently, and Pansy wished to disappear into thin air right this instant. Please… Please, do not overshare… Oh please, just snarl at me and leave…“I... I thought I’d give them some time still… To recover… Without… Me…”
Pansy sighed. Great. She hated having to apologise, particularly to people she despised, but this time, she knew, there was no other choice. It was Christmas, after all, and no one, not even Granger, should spend it in the way they were forced to spend it.
“Sorry…” she said quietly, quickly picking up her bag from the ground “I’ll… I’ll see you at the feast later…”
She dared not look her in the eye again, quickly continuing her way towards the Dungeons. This Christmas was going to be even worse than she’d imagined, and she was to blame for it.
*
The Great Hall when empty was even greater, even bigger and nearly as intimidating as it had been when she was eleven. Pansy’s firewhisky had tasted like one of Draco’s forgetfulness potions that he could no longer sleep without, and she had nearly spit the precious liquid onto her bedsheets in disgust. The taste of shame was not a nice one.
They were sitting far apart on their respective houses’ tables now, and it was certainly for the best, yet Pansy was no longer capable of fighting the desire to… Oh Merlin. She was getting up. Her legs were carrying her beyond her control, and she was a… What was she doing?! Walking over to Granger, who looked up from her book in sheer surprise?! See? She was reading, she wasn’t lonely, perhaps she did not even want her to join…!
“It’s… freezing on my side…” Pansy could her herself ay, nervously clearing her throat and glancing around herself - as though there were anyone here to see them together. “I’ll just… sit here, I’m not in the mood to catch a cold or worse. Pomfrey is home for Christmas.”
Was that… a smile?! Did Hermione Granger ever-so-briefly smile at her?! And... Was she… happy about this!? Christmas Eve was known to do strange things to people, but this was a lot stranger than Pansy enjoyed. But she was here already, and might as well keep her company. Company. She would merely keep her company, not speak to her, not look at her, not… do anything at all. Silent company, nothing more, nothing less.
*
Five minutes. The entirety of five minutes had passed until they had started talking, ten more until the first laughter. It was embarrassing. McGonagall and Slughorn, despite contributing nothing whatsoever to the developments of the evening, had looked all too pleased with themselves and soon after withdrawn to their offices… Leaving their students entirely alone, and unsupervised.
They, too, had left, however, but they had left together and found themselves in the Slytherin Common Room, sharing the remnants of the firewhisky. It was surprised how well Hermione revealed herself to hold a drink, and how… very un-boring the bore actually turned out to be over the course of the night. She was much better company than Pansy had ever dreamed of imagining, for Christmas, and perhaps also for… Pansy! Goodness! This is still Granger we’re talking about!
“You know…” she said after a while, letting the empty bottle disappear with a quick flick of her wand. “This is… Actually not… quite as terrible as expected.”
Hermione grinned, hiccuping slightly. “I never thought I’d ever agree with you, but… I agree with you.”
It was actually quite adorable to watch her nibble on the little gingerbread man they had snuck out of the Great Hall, and… did it get warmer in here? All of a sudden? But that was absolutely just the firewhisky speaking, nothing else. Nothing else at. all. It wasn’t her eyes, the were finally sparkling again, the flushed cheeks, or the… childish giggle as she fiddled around with the bracelet on her wrist… Firewhisky. It. Was. The. Firewhisky. And perhaps the remnants of her bad conscience from before. What else could it be?! Certainly, she was not about to develop any kind of sympathy or… anything else… towards her… No! Shut up now! Shut up right away! You don’t even have emotions, remember?!
She was close to falling asleep now, all of a sudden, curled up on Pansy’s bed, looking even more ad… NO!
“I… I should go…“ Hermione muttered, yawning heartily „It’s probably almost morning…”
“Not like anyone will miss you in your common room,” responded Pansy with a shrug. Play it cool, Parkinson. You ARE cool. “You might as well stay here…”
She smiled again now, allowing their gazes to cross… And for second, only a split second, it felt as though they both had frozen into statues of ice… Motionless…
Time seemed to stand still as Pansy leaned forward to kiss her, as lightning struck her body and mind… Oh dear… Ohhhhh dear…
“I feel horrible…” Hermione whispered, looking just as lost as Pansy felt in this very moment… Didn’t they just… Only a few hours ago... and now…? That darn firewhisky… “We’re… celebrating Christmas together and I don’t even have a present for you…”
Now it was on Pansy to smile, ever so slightly, since she had not smiled in months... It felt so strange… “No need…” she said, so very quietly, closing her eyes only for a second, taking a deep, deep breath… “You’re my present…”
There were tears glistening in Hermione’s eyes, tears she quickly blinked away as she kissed her again… “And you’re mine…” she murmured.