Title: A Tale of Two Birthstones (1/1)
Author: Leigh Adams
Characters: Ron Weasley/Pansy Parkinson
Rating: G
Word Count: 1,012
Summary: Pansy loves shiny gemstones, but only a few have real meaning to her. These are their stories.
Author's Notes: This was written for Carrie's June contest, where the prompt was 'birthstones.' My version of Pansy has a December birthday, and I've also incorporated her PS backstory into this. As for the birthstone, I went with blue topaz since apparently, December has two. There is also a Sex and the City reference. Please don't shoot me, I couldn't resist. Carrie, I hope you enjoy this!
Pansy loved gemstones. While it was true that she had a taste for expensive, beautiful things, her love for gemstones trumped her well-documented fondness for designer robes and Christian Louboutin shoes. She felt her most confident- and that was saying something- when she wore a diamond ring, an emerald bracelet, or a sapphire hair clip. They were exquisite, one of a kind pieces, and a bit too much.
Much like Pansy herself.
Over the years, she'd amassed quite a collection of priceless jewels. Some had been left to her by her mother; others had been given as tokens of affection from former suitors. She could wear a new pair of earrings every day for a month and still have pieces that had yet to be worn.
Yet despite all that, very few of the jewels had real sentimental value to her.
Her mother's diamond tiara- Pansy had worn it to her own debut at the Daughter's of Merlin debut gala, the winter she'd turned sixteen. It was the last memory she had of her mother before Voldemort, enraged by her father's failure with Lucius Malfoy, had killed her as punishment for her father's mistakes.
Her emerald bracelet- She couldn't remember the piece's history, but the bracelet had been one of the pieces she'd worn at her trial. When she'd been sentenced to Azkaban, it- along with the rest of her outfit- had been held by the Ministry until her release. The bracelet, however, had never been returned; she had been told it had been seized as reparation for her crimes.
She'd considered it lost until six years later. Astoria- working as Edward's representative and the director of White Chapel- had spotted the emerald piece at a Ministry auction. Though it wasn't art, she had bought it for the gallery nonetheless. There had been no need for a note; when it was returned via elf courier the next week, Pansy had known who to thank for its safe return.
There were two more pieces that Pansy considered to be invaluable. Neither of them were particularly large or flashy, nor were they the most expensive or made of the rarest materials. But what they represented for her could not be estimated for value.
The first piece was a ring. It was simple: a silver band with a small blue topaz set in a princess cut. Ron had given it to her on her sixteenth birthday, shortly before her debut.
Ron tugged her into the small classroom off the fifth floor corridor. His hands were slightly clammy, and Pansy could feel the dampness seeping onto her own palm as he shut the door behind them.
"What's all this about?" she asked. "I'm going to be late to Charms, and you're going to miss History of Magic." She didn't particularly care about being late to class, but questions would arise. Uncomfortable questions that neither she nor Ron wanted to answer. Their…relationship was a secret, and a secret it would stay.
"I know, I just…" Ron trailed off and swallowed, and Pansy watched his Adam's apple bob in his throat. With a sudden movement, he stuck his free hand in his pocket and pulled out a small box, thrusting it at her. "Happy birthday, Pansy."
Her face softened, and she was about to give the box back to him- she couldn't accept a gift from him, it was too risky- but the shape of the box caught her attention. Disentangling her hand from his, she took the box and slowly opened it. "Oh,Ron…"
There, nestled inside the worn velvet pillow, was a small ring.
Pansy hurried blinked, willing the sudden tears that had sprung to her eyes to stay at bay. "Ronald, you shouldn't have." What this small, simple ring had probably cost him…
"I wanted to," he said, taking it from the box. As he slid it on her right hand ring finger, he said, "Blue topaz. It's your birthstone, yeah?"
"Yes," she whispered, watching him place the ring on her finger. No one had ever given her this particular stone before, and insides warmed with pleasure at the knowledge that he had done enough research to know what her birthstone was.
He certainly hadn't pawnedthatoff to the Mudbl… Granger.
His task done, Ron brought her hand up to his lips and pressed a kiss to the smooth skin there. "I love you, Pansy Parkinson," he murmured, "and one day-"
"Shhh," she said, placing one finger against his lips. "Not now." She didn't want their time together to be taken up by talk of tomorrow. The Dark Lord was back, and neither of them knew what the next day would bring. All she wanted was to be here, with him, in the moment.
"I love you too, Ronald Weasley," she whispered.
She'd given the ring to Astoria after her arrest for safekeeping. Even though her schoolgirl relationship with Ron had failed when he'd gone off with Potter and Granger, the ring's mere presence could still soften her icy façade, make her remember all the happy times they'd had together.
Now, it was returned to its rightful place on her hand. This time, though, she'd moved it to nestle above her diamond wedding ring. Diamonds were simple, classic, and would eternally be considered the stone of choice for weddings. It had been a long, hard road of it; between reconnecting with her former love, fighting over the time that had passed, and relearning one another, Pansy hadn't even thought they would make it this far.
Oh, how wrong she'd been.
And here, in the nursery at Parkinson Manor, with Ron's hand on her swelling stomach and his rings on her finger, Pansy let a soft, knowing smile grace her stomach. They would soon welcome a new addition to their small, fledgling family. A little girl with her father's eyes- and hopefully, her mother's hair. The Healer had said she would be a spring baby, to bring new, good fortune to the Parkinson-Weasley household.
It was only fitting that a diamond was also April's birthstone.