Title: Bright Lights and Glittering Snowflakes
Author/Artist: ANON
Pairing(s): Ginny Weasley/Pansy Parkinson
Prompt:
#55 for
savagesnakesWord Count: 846
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Notes: I’ve never actually been to NYC, so I hope nothing’s too off. Enjoy!
Summary: Pansy takes Ginny to Rockefeller Centre for Christmas.
Pansy couldn’t help but smile at the look of wonder on her girlfriend’s face as they walked through the streets of New York City. It really was beautiful like this, all bright lights and glittering snowflakes, though Pansy was mostly immune to its charm. But Ginny wasn’t, and that was all that really mattered right now.
It was obvious the moment the entered Rockefeller Centre proper. There were suddenly even more Christmas decorations and lights everywhere, lighting up the sky so they could barely tell it was night. The crowds, too, increased, and Pansy muttered a quick spell to maintain a little space between them and the press of humanity. Being crushed among the Muggles of New York was not her favorite thing, especially when she was meant to be showing Ginny around.
A few minutes later they finally reached the VIP entrance to the ice skating rink, a large glass enclosure through which Pansy could see a few well dressed people milling about. A man was stationed outside the door, arms crossed over his chest. He looked cold standing there, even in his heavy winter coat.
“Tickets,” the man said as they approached, voice flat and dull.
Pansy pulled out a simple card from an inner pocket of her Muggle coat and handed it to him, smiling when his eyes went wide. He handed it back to her and opened the door, waving them in without a word. She could see Ginny looking at her strangely and she smiled.
“Family connections.”
Ginny narrowed her eyes. “Don’t tell me your family owns this place,” she said with a laugh. “I would have thought your father would turn his nose up at anything American.”
“Built by some distant relative,” Pansy replied with a vague wave at their surroundings. She hadn’t really thought about it in a long time, but she knew Ginny would be curious. “I think he might have been a Squib. No one much likes to talk about it, but we used to come here every winter and I heard a few things over the years, you know.”
“Now that I would believe, him not wanting to talk about Muggle relatives,” Ginny said, nodding.
Pansy hummed in agreement. Ginny had only met Pansy’s father once, but she’d come out of the occasion with a heavy dose of sarcastic irreverence and disdain. Pansy couldn’t really say that she minded, or really even that she disagreed.
“Enough about my family,” she said, leading the way to a bench in the corner. “We came here to skate, didn’t we?”
Pansy pulled two sets of miniaturized ice skates from her pocket, giving them a shake until she held two normal sized pairs. One she kept for herself and the other she handed to Ginny, showing the redhead how to tie the laces to get the most ankle stability. Ginny kept being distracted by the view of the rink through the window next to them, but in only a few minutes their skates were on and they’d renewed the warming charms from when they left the hotel. They were ready to go.
Pansy led the way out onto the ice, one gloved hand locked with one of Ginny’s. She went slowly, allowing Ginny to get the hang of walking on bladed shoes for the first time. Luckily for them both, Ginny was a fast learner and soon she was gliding on the ice like she’d been doing it all her life. Pansy was only a little miffed that her girlfriend seemed to be even better at skating than she was.
The snow began to fall even harder as they skated, huge snowflakes drifting through the air and landing in Ginny’s hair and eyelashes. Pansy couldn’t take her eyes off the way it made the other girl sparkle, the absolute joy on her face just adding to the picture. She was beautiful, skating hand in hand with Pansy like it was the only thing she wanted to be doing in life.
“I love you,” Pansy said. The words came without her meaning them to, but she couldn’t find it in herself to take them back. They were true, and they’d never been more true than now. Her chest ached with how much she loved this beautiful girl before her.
Ginny stopped them by the wall, lifting her hands to stroke Pansy’s cheeks. She smiled, soft and private, only for Pansy to see. “I love you too,” she said, voice equally soft. “So much.”
They leaned in to kiss at the same time, giggling as their noses bumped. Pansy shifted a little, straining toward the taller girl until the kiss landed perfectly. It stayed light, just the barest brush of lips as they breathed each other in, but Pansy thought it was the best thing she’d felt in a very long time. She never wanted this moment to end and in that moment, surrounded by the lights and bustle and snow, it sort of felt like it might not.
New York, she decided, was a much more magical place than she’d thought.