Challenge Five: Gold Voting!
Time to Vote!
Please read the voting rules:
1. Do not vote for yourself and do not ask others to vote for you.
2. Vote for one LONG and one SHORT favorite drabble.
3. Please vote for the NUMBER or LETTER of the drabble, not the name of it.
4. Voting will close Friday at 11:59pm EST
5. Please remember the prompts when voting:
"Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay."
AND/OR
Pyrite: Fool's Gold
Results will be posted Saturday. Have fun!
1.
Author: persephone33
Title: Fool's Gold
Words: 459
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Ron had known it wouldn't be forever the moment he'd given her the gift.
It was only a tiny antique paperweight, pockmarked but gold. He'd proudly presented it to her only to have Malfoy dismiss it as rubbish. The blonde had sneered that it was, "appropriately enough, 'fool's gold,' and worth nothing."
Pansy silenced Malfoy the way she always did, with a raised eyebrow and a glare that would make lesser men quake. Malfoy merely sniffed and sulked. Normally, this would have pleased Ron. Instead, the exchange set him into Deep Thoughts, a place he didn't like to visit often, let alone stay.
Their relationship had always been easy. It shouldn't have been, not with their upbringings and the gaping chasm of their finances. But her sense of humor, dark to the point of being caustic, made him laugh. She was beyond beautiful. Her curves made him mad, she'd a mouth he loved to kiss, and he had to admit, he loved it when she shut Malfoy up.
Pansy had him wrapped around her perfectly manicured little finger, and Merlin help him, he liked it there.
Their differences were getting increasingly hard to ignore, however. After weeks of stewing about the Paperweight Incident, he decided he had to address the situation.
"Pansy, we need to talk."
"Do we?" she asked, yawning as she turned her back for him to unfasten her dress. "I thought we might have sex and then go to sleep."
Ron's fingers skated across her skin, increasingly tempted. This woman was every man's dream. No, he chided himself, Must see this through.
"As fantastic as that sounds," he hedged, "I've been thinking."
Her lips curved and her fingers trailed along his back. "Always a dangerous business."
"Yeah." His brows pulled together, but he soldiered on. "We're different, you know? And that isn't going to change."
"God, I hope not," she said sleepily. "I rather like our differences. We wouldn't fit together nearly as well without them."
"That's not what I-" he began, and exhaled heavily, running a hand through his hair. "Our families. Our jobs. The fact that your best friend is Draco sodding Malfoy, for Merlin's sake. I just don't think we're going to be able to hold onto this, Pansy. Not forever."
She stilled, eyes drinking him in. Finally, she said, "Nonsense. You don't know that."
"Pansy-"
"Ronald," she said authoritatively. "Enough. This is about Draco and that gold heart you gave me."
"Fool's gold."
"Appropriately enough, yes."
"Listen, it's one thing for him to say it, but you-"
"Ron," she interrupted. "Draco was absolutely right. I'm a fool for you. Only you. As long as you'll have me."
He blinked.
To hell with the talking, he thought, lips meeting hers. We're both fools.
2.
Author: cassie_black12
Title: All That Glitters
Words: 499
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None
"Isn't this the most beautiful dress you've ever seen?"
Even as she turned, Pansy knew it was a mistake. "It's nice," she replied evenly.
"Nice?" Narcissa demanded incredulously. "Darling, you've obviously spent too much time amongst those Weasleys. It isn't nice, it's exquisite."
Pansy smiled weakly, ignoring the slight to her in-laws. It wasn't that she no longer appreciated beautiful things, but when you couldn't afford to buy them, it wasn't worth the disappointment.
Moments later, as she was pressed into a changing room, arms full of expensive silks, Pansy wondered how on earth she'd managed to get herself into this situation.
What she'd agreed to was a harmless trip to help Astoria choose her wedding dress. What she'd ended up enduring was a full scale shopping expedition. And Pansy had never been able to say no to Narcissa.
*
"We need to talk."
Pansy's breath caught at the words; Ron sounded so serious. "What's the..." She tailed off as she saw the paperwork spread on the table.
"I don't understand," he said slowly. "How can you have spent so much?"
"It was just a dress." Pansy couldn't help the defensive tone creeping into her voice.
"A dress?" Ron demanded. "You spent half our savings on a dress?"
"You don't understand. Everyone else was buying things, and it's been so long since I've had something new, and...Astoria spends like that all the time."
Ron laughed bitterly. "That's what this is all about - keeping up with the Malfoys?"
"At least Draco buys her things."
"Malfoy can afford it. We can't."
"And whose fault is that?" Pansy regretted the words as soon as she'd said them, but there was no taking them back.
*
Several weeks passed, and though they were back on speaking terms, Pansy could feel something had changed. She knew she'd hurt Ron, but she couldn't bring herself to apologise.
Every time she came close, Astoria would bring out yet another trinket that Draco had bought for her, and Pansy's resentment increased. Pansy loved her husband, but she was tired of making do.
It was Astoria's hen night that finally opened Pansy's eyes. A few drinks too many and suddenly the bride-to-be was tearfully confessing the sordid details of her arranged marriage.
"Draco's gay?" Pansy was stunned.
Daphne snorted. "Gayer than Lockhart himself. Honestly, Pansy, how blind are you?"
Pansy was left reeling by this information. Not only had she spent years dating someone who was gay, but the relationship she'd idealised, had unfavourably compared her own to, was nothing more than a sham.
*
"I'm sorry." Pansy knew the words weren't enough, but she didn't know what else to say. "I'm so sorry."
"It's okay." Ron's arms held her tight.
"It's not." She shook her head, tears in her eyes. "But it will be."
"Hush," Ron murmured.
Pansy closed her eyes, and a smile curved her lips. She understood what was important now. Ron loved her, had forgiven her, and she wouldn't swap that for all of Astoria's fool’s gold.
___________________________
Please remember the prompts when voting: "A man is not an orange. You can't eat the fruit and throw the peel away."
AND/OR
A.
Author: persephone33
Title: Clichés
Words: 245
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None
The situation began as these things usually did for Pansy. There was uncontrollable physical attraction, alcoholic consumption, bad decisions and drunken Apparition. Instead of the typical morning after, however, there was breakfast in bed, quiet conversation and a much needed Hangover potion.
A single night together somehow turned into a week in paradise.
The seventh day, she found herself strolling hand in hand down the beach with him, the water lapping at their toes.
Pansy was disconcerted and suspicious. "It's all sort of a cliché, don't you think?"
"What is?"
"The sunset. The water. You holding my hand..."
Ron brought her fingers to his lips. "You don't like holding hands?"
Truthfully, Pansy hadn't had much experience with hand holding. She shrugged indifferently.
Ron pressed on. "The sunset isn't pretty?"
"Of course. It's beautiful."
"You don't like the sound of the ocean?"
"No, I do."
"Then it's me."
It had always been easy for Pansy to discard lovers. Men were disappointing once you got past the outer wrappings to discover the person underneath. Ron Weasley, however, proved to be different. He was handsome, if unconventionally, but better even than that, he was kind.
Funny.
Smart.
And he talked to her as if he cared about what she had to say.
Suddenly, kissing him seemed the only course of action, as there were no words to explain. She would regret it if she cast him aside.
Pansy then decided that perhaps clichés might be a bit underrated.
B.
Author: cassie_black12
Title: Al Fresco
Words: 249
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None
"Budge over." Ron clambered into the hammock, causing it to sway precariously.
"There isn't room," Pansy replied, clinging on for dear life. "Get your own."
"We're supposed to watch the sunset together," Ron complained. "Separate hammocks aren't exactly romantic."
"Nor is having your knee in my kidneys," Pansy grumbled.
"Sorry." Ron shifted carefully. Pulling Pansy's back against his chest, he slid one arm around her waist, holding her close.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Pansy murmured.
Ron gazed at the vivid sunset, like flames dancing across the sky. "Not as beautiful as you," he replied.
Pansy chuckled. "Someone's looking to get lucky."
"Maybe I just wanted to pay my wife a compliment."
Pansy turned slowly. "So you're not interested in getting lucky, then? Because this," Pansy slid her hand down his torso, "says differently."
Ron gave up all pretence; he rolled them over until his wife lay panting beneath him. The hammock gave several alarming lurches before pitching both of them over the side.
"Idiot," Pansy muttered, attempting to extricate herself from under Ron's body.
"Sorry," Ron mumbled, his lips busy kissing her neck. When his fingers began unfastening her blouse, Pansy's protests became vocal.
"Don't even think about it," she said firmly. "I'm not shagging out here like some drunken teenager."
"But, Pansy..."
"No." Pansy remained unmoved. "Sand in...delicate places is not my idea of fun."
Ron didn't reply; there was simply the loud crack of Apparition. Only the swaying hammock remained, bathed in the glow of the glorious sunset.
___________________________
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