In the Shadows

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot, as usual.

A/N: For Lea, who loved this at first read, and Julie, who loves unconventional shipping.

"I never would have thought it would be you, Weasley," she drawled, carefully hiding her surprise at the person who'd entered her flat.

Pansy Parkinson lazily uncrossed her legs and stood from the comfortable over-stuffed chair shadowed in the corner of the room. She slowly crossed the room to the red-haired man, who shifted his weight nervously from one foot to the other.

"Come to join the resistance, have you?" she asked. Her long dark hair swished back and forth as she continued to walk towards him, and her violet eyes bore into his blue ones. "I would have expected your brother to cave before you."

"Which brother?" he asked, finally finding his voice. There was no denying that Pansy was beautiful, but she was not the reason he'd come. Well, she wasn't the only reason.

"The older one, the one that disowned your family," she answered. "The prat that works for the Ministry."

"Percy?" he spat. "He wouldn't have the balls."

"And you do?"

He raised his head defiantly. "I'm here, aren't I?" Cocking his head to the side, he raised an eyebrow in challenge to her.

"The question is, Weasley, why are you here?" she asked, gesturing to a long sofa for him to sit. She sat next to him, stretching her arm across the back, dangerously close to his shoulder. "What made you turn?"

The man sighed and looked at his interlocked fingers in his lap. The moment had come, the moment when he would have to audibly voice everything he'd rationalized in his mind over the last several months.

"I'm tired of being overlooked," he said quietly. "No one expects anything of me; my family assumes I'll follow what my brothers do and what they tell me to do, but that isn't true. I'm my own person. I don't just want to be 'one of the Weasleys' or 'good friend of Harry Potter' anymore."

He paused and looked up at her. "I'm sick of being overshadowed by my family. Bill's the great curse breaker; Charlie's the dragon tamer; Percy's the political prat. Hell, even my sister is more significant than me."

Pansy made a derisive noise, interrupting his rant. "That's only because she's bedding Potter. But really, there isn't enough room in your family for you. It's time for you to move on to something… greater."

At her words, his lips parted slightly, and his tongued reached out to moisten them slightly.

She looked at him thoughtfully. "I never thought I would have found a Weasley attractive, but I guess there's a first time for everything. You're definitely more attractive than your brothers."

"That's impossible," he denied.

"No," she replied. Pansy allowed her hand to dance lightly over his shoulder, inciting a jolt in his body. He jumped unconsciously, and she removed her hand.

"Sorry," she mumbled.

He shrugged and continued to gaze at her. She really was quite lovely, he decided. Though she'd mercilessly teased his family in their school years, her striking appearance hadn't gone unnoticed by him. He'd searched her out all these years later, hoping she would accept him and help him ingratiate himself into the world of darkness with which he was unfamiliar.

Without giving thought to his actions, he abruptly leaned over and kissed her petal-pink lips. She began to pull away on impulse, but he reached a hand up to her cheek, caressing it gently as his tongue darted out to deepen the kiss. When she opened her mouth to him, he moaned quietly.

Moments later, he broke the kiss and planted a soft peck on her forehead. "I need you," he breathed. "That's why I'm here."

"You don't mean that," Pansy stammered, backing away from him. "You're just saying things."

He shook his head, his shoulder-length auburn hair brushing across his face. "No, I want you, Pansy," he insisted.

She stood, shoving him harshly. "You want me in the same way Draco and his father wanted me? Is that what you've heard, that I'm an easy lay? It isn't true. That's just what they said to justify what they did."

Anger stormed his blue eyes as they narrowed. He stood and took her by the shoulders. He gripped her fiercely and shook her to force her face to look at his.

"What did they do to you?" he demanded. The tone in his voice did nothing to hide the anger and hatred on his face.

"They only did what you want to do, Weasley," she sneered. With all her might, she pushed him away from her back onto the sofa. "Here," she said, unbuttoning her robes and hastily shoving them to the floor. "Let me help you. Shall I lie down on the floor and spread my legs for you? Would that make it easier for you?"

She was pushing his Weasley temper, and it was all he could do to remain calm. He watched tears fill her eyes as her shaking hands began to unzip her dress behind her.

He took a deep breath, stood and walked towards her slowly. He leaned down to her, and she instinctively closed her eyes, awaiting the harsh bruising kiss that always came. Instead, however, he softly brushed his lips across her cheek as he reached behind her and pulled her zipper up to its original position. Leaning down, he pulled her robes from the floor and placed them gently around her shoulders.

"Why would you think I'm like them? I don't want anything from you that you aren't willing to give," he whispered. "You asked why I was here. I told you. I don't want to live in my family's shadow anymore, and I needed to be with you."

Try as she might, Pansy couldn't contain the tears that spilled over onto her cheeks. She leaned into him and sobbed against his strong chest as his arms encircled her waist, and his hands rubbed slow patterns on her back.

Sensing her vulnerability, he began to question his own decisions. "Do you really want to be a part of this, Pansy?" he asked softly. "Is this really what you want?"

"I don't know anything else," she said sadly. "I'm not good enough for anything else."

"Shh, that's not true," he said, tightening his grip on her. He was pleased when her arms wound their way around his neck. "You're so much better than all of this; you can do anything you want."

"Anything?" she asked, pulling away to look up at him.

"Yes, love," he replied, bringing a hand around to wipe her tears away. "What do you want?"

"Peace," she said. "I want peace. Can you give me that?"

"I can try, Pansy," he replied. "What else do you want?"

Pansy sighed loudly and spoke honestly. "I want a husband, children, a nice little house with flowers in the garden, and only enough money to make it through the month. I want to love, and I want to be loved. I've never really known what that's like.

"Can you give me that, George?"

"I can try, if you'll let me," he said. "But you have to trust me."

She brushed her thumb over his lips. "You know I do."

"Then let's go," George said simply. Before she could answer, he Apparated them away.

When the world stopped swirling around them, he released his arms from around her. Pansy opened her eyes and looked around, puzzled.

"Where are we?" she asked.

He shrugged carelessly. "I've no idea," he confessed. "Somewhere in Italy, I'd gather. That's where I was thinking of when I Apparated."

"But why are we here?" she questioned.

"To start over," George stated simply. "As Muggles," he added.

Knowing she'd left her wand in her flat, Pansy's eyes widened as he held his wand up between them and snapped it resolutely.

A/N: This was a challenge to myself to see if I could write Pansy, a character I don't usually like, with a character I loved. I'm happy with it, and I hope it works for you!