The most important part of the history of angels, they say, starts at the end of a great war.
"Parkinson, Harry? Parkinson? I got why you wanted to get Malfoy off of his sentence, but Parkinson? She tried to turn you over to You-Kn – sorry, Voldemort," Ron asked disbelievingly.
"You know why I'm doing this Ron," Harry replied, a tired expression on his face. "I'm trying to avoid another war here."
"And I get that, Harry, I really do. But still, Parkinson? No one would blame you if you let her rot!"
"I know," Harry said in a low voice. "But she was just a child Ron. In many ways, she still is. The Slytherins – all of them – they just went along with what their parents told them to do. They didn't really make their own informed decisions. I can't let her suffer for no fault of hers."
At that, Ron finally became silent.
"I know," he said, sounding chastised, "but you can't expect me to ever like her."
"Now that would really be the sign of the Apocalypse," Harry laughed. "I'm not telling you to become best mates with her, or any of the returning Slytherins for that matter. I just need you to promise me you won't make life unbearable for them."
"I guess I can do that for you," Ron conceded reluctantly. "But I'm still not going to like them."
Soon, the once warring sides were forced to interact by circumstances out of their control.
"And for the final project for you NEWTs, you will be divided into pairs chosen by the Headmistress," Slughorn announced with his usual bluster. "Now let's see…Miss Granger, you will be paired with Mr MacMillan, Mr Boot with Miss Perks, Mr Potter – Draco Malfoy for you, my boy. I tried to get you another partner, but Minerva insisted."
"That's okay, Professor," Harry replied convincingly. "I'm sure we'll get along fine."
"Yes, yes," Slughorn said, sounding doubtful, "I'm sure you will. Now, where was I? Ah, yes. Mr Weasley, you will be paired with Miss Parkinson, Mr Zabini, you –"
"Professor, there must be a mistake," Ron yelped out in shock. "I can't – not with her – there has to be a –"
"I'm afraid there has been no mistake, Mr Weasley. I did try my best to sort you'll into more suitable pairs, but Minerva insisted on picking them herself. Said it would be good for house unity," the professor said, frowning at the memory of his conversation with the Headmistress. "As it is, it is out of my hands. Your partner remains the person I announced. If you want to do well on your NEWTs, I would advise you to find some way to get along. Now, if you don't mind, I need to get back to announcing the rest of the pairs"
"Oh shut it, Weasley," Pansy said lightly as she dropped down into the seat next to him. "I know you're not thrilled about it –"
"Of course I'm not! You're a bloody Death Eater!"
"If you'll take the time to notice, I don't actually have the Mark. At most I could be labeled a sympathizer, not an actual Death Eater. And you need to get off your high-horse, your best mate doesn't look too put off at being paired with Draco, who's the only one of us actually Marked. Besides, I'm not too chuffed at being forced to work with you either."
"But –"
"But," Pansy continued, ignoring Ron's interruption, "I plan on doing well on my NEWTs. So it would be best if you just sucked it up like a man. No one's asking you to interact with me outside of the time we need to work on our potion."
"Fine," Ron grumbled. "But any funny business –"
"Yeah, yeah, you're keeping an eye on me. I know," Pansy said, sounding utterly bored. "Can we get started now?"
Before he knew it, the general of the light was being drawn in by the dark caress of his enemy.
"Can you believe her?" Ron ranted, "She said I didn't care about the project! Me! I'm the one who's been slogging his ass off these last few weeks, skipping out on meeting my friends just so I can make it on time for our bloody meetings for that bloody project, and then she has the balls to go and say that I don't care about the project!"
Harry watched his friend from his place on the armchair near the fireplace, amusement growing with every word that came out of Ron's mouth. As soon as on paused to take a breath, Harry pounced.
"You seem rather obsessed with Pansy, mate. She's all you've been able to talk about for the last few weeks."
"She's just so bloody annoying!"
"Are you sure that's the only reason?" Harry asked slyly.
"Of course it is! What other reason could there be?" Ron asked, clueless as usual.
"I don't know," Harry teased. "Maybe something more – intimate?"
"Intimate? What are you talki – Oh bloody hell!" Ron exclaimed, sounding disgusted. "Of course not! What the bloody hell is wrong with you?!"
"Well, you sound exactly how Hermione used to about Charlie, and we both know how that turned out."
"I'm telling you, there's nothing there Harry! Stop giving me material for nightmares!"
"Well…if you're sure…"
"Of course I'm bloody sure, you idiot!"
"Fine, fine!" Harry said, raising his hands in surrender. "But don't come crying to me when you realise there's something more there."
"I won't," Ron replied. "Because there isn't anything more there!"
The time came, however, when the general could not deny his growing attraction. He felt himself being pulled closer and closer to the dark angel, until one day…
Ron caught himself before he started staring at Pansy. It was all Harry's fault, he thought as he pounded his Venomous Tentacula seeds with excessive force. He hadn't seen Pansy as anything but an annoyance in his well-ordered life until Harry had put the seed of doubt in his mind.
And now he couldn't stop thinking of her! Couldn't stop thinking of Pansy Parkinson, was was practically the dictionary definition of a supporter of the Dark Side! He could only imagine what his parents and brothers would say if they could see him now - he could already hear the twins.
"Well, my brothers, it appears poor old Ronniekins has finally lost his marbles. Maybe mum will let us experiment on him if we promise we can bring him back to his senses."
Bloody hell, he was obsessing over pug-face Pansy! She wasn't even pretty enough that he could excuse his fascination!
"Well, have you finished staring to your heart's content Weasley?" Pansy sniped, pulling him out of his thoughts. "If you're done, we can actually work on the potion, that's the only reason I asked. I wouldn't have said anything otherwise – I have no doubt you've never had the luck to be graced by someone as beautiful as me."
"What?" Ron squeaked, sounding alarmed. "I wasn't staring at you!"
"Oh, stop sounding so horrified. I don't mind, really," Pansy said. "But we really need to get to work, or all of our hard work brewing to get the potion to this stage will be ruined."
"Of course," Ron answered. "But I wasn't staring at you!"
"I don't care, Weasley. Will you get that through your thick head? I'm not going to jump on you for staring; it's actually kind of flattering. The great general of the Light, stooping down to stare at one of the commoners."
"But I wasn't staring!" Ron continued to insist.
"Oh for Merlin's sake," Pansy said, sounding completely exasperated. She put down the metal rod in her hand before turning to face Ron. "I was going to give you some time to find your balls, but it's rather evident that that's never going to happen, so I guess it's up to me."
"Wh – What's up to you?" Ron asked, sounding nervous.
Pansy took a deep breath. "Do you want to go to Hogsmeade with me the next Hogsmeade weekend?" she asked.
"As – As a date?" Ron asked, sounding completely incredulous.
"No, as a bloody prelude to putting me in Saint Mungo's. Of course as a date, you oaf," she snapped.
Ron simply stared at her, jaw hanging open.
"And stop gaping at me like that. I'd like an answer sometimes today, and I can't wait forever – I need to concentrate on the potion. So – what will it be?"
"Of – of course," Ron answered, picking his jaw up from the floor. "I would love to," he concluded, a smile starting to spread across his face.
"Good," Pansy sniped. "I was getting tired of you acting like a pre-teen girl. Hopefully you'll find your man parts by the time we get to playing Quidditch."
"By the time we – wait what?!"
A laugh answered him.
The history of angels is filled with many strange and wondrous things, but the most incredible of them all is the fact that the history of angels is never finished. In fact, the latest part is being written as we speak.
an: I hope you guys liked it! As always, please don't forget to drop a review on your way out :)