Cursed Masquerade

By silverstorm93

December 31, New Year's Eve

I don't know what it was that night.

Her beauty?

Her smile?

Her eyes?

She was neither the prettiest nor the most attractive.

And yet, she stood out from the crowd.

She glowed so bright with radiance.

She glided across the crowded dance floor and sat in a chair, hidden in the corner of the Great Hall.

I followed her, making my way through the dancing couples.

I cleared my throat nervously. How did I get there and why did I go there?

My mind was blank.

"Erm, is that chair taken?" I asked sheepishly.

"No, feel free to take it." She said plainly with no emotion. She didn't even look up to see who she was talking to.

"Thank you." I said as I sat down.

I started to play with the handkerchief. I didn't know what to do next. I crumpled it up and squeezed it. I looked to my right to see what she was doing.

Her small gloved hands were fumbling with the round white pearls around her wrist, and then, she let out a soft sigh.

"So, are you here with a date?" I asked unsurely. I was never good with words.

"He stood me up earlier this evening." She replied softly.

Who would be in the right mind to neglect a girl this beautiful, I thought.

"I'm sorry." I apologized, but for nothing in particular, really.

"It's nothing." She said. "I'm not as pretty as the girl he took with him anyways. I can't blame him or her."

"Well, that was rude of him." I commented.

"You know, you seem like a really nice guy and all but I really don't need your sympathy." She told me.

"Why would I sympathize for a beautiful girl who got stood up by a jerk?" I questioned.

I was so pleased when I heard her laugh so I continued.

"It's that guy I should sympathize for. He lost you to probably some ho bag."

Her laugh chorused through my ears, like a soft and gentle song of a phoenix.

"Thanks." She said.

"For what?" I asked.

"I thought tonight would be dreadful, after I got stood up. But I think it's going to be ok." She explained.

"That's the spirit. Don't let one bastard affect you." I said.

"Why did you come here?" She finally asked me. "To me, I mean."

"Because I thought you were very pretty." I said simply. Man, I'm cheesy.

I could sense that she was blushing behind that laced white mask that covered half of her face.

The silence between us was deafening and so I decided to break the ice.

"Would you like to dance?" I asked as I stood up and lifted my hand in mid air.

She gave a small smile and nodded as she took my hand.

I never expected me, Ronald Weasley to dance with a girl this beautiful.

It's funny how one small and simple conversation lead to what happened next.

I wrapped one of my hands around her waist and held her hand in the other.

We stayed quiet, dancing to the slow music being played by the band.

She stared at me with her beady blue eyes. I smiled back.

I pulled her closer to me and I was surprised that she didn't squirm her way out of my arms.

What happened next was unexpected.

She leaned her head against my chest.

I placed my chin on top of her head. We continued to sway from left to right.

While we slowly danced, I felt as if I've known her my whole life. She was a dream. A perfect one.

"You're a really sweet guy you know." She said, looking up at me.

"That thought never crossed my mind." I said. Really, it never did. I never thought I was sweet.

"You're really beautiful you know." I commented.

Her pale face turned pink once more.

And then, it happened.

I leaned towards her and I enveloped her lips in a soft gentle kiss.

She didn't push me away. She allowed me to kiss her.

The kiss never did turn passionate or fiery, but it lasted long enough.

I broke the kiss when people started counting backwards from 10.

"10!"

She stared at me again. I could see happiness I those baby blues which made me happy too.

"9!"

She smiled, I smiled.

"8!"

We stopped dancing.

"7!"

Our fingers intertwined.

"6!"

She whispered "Good bye."

"5!"

I stared at her with confusion. Did I say anything? Was it the kiss?

"4!"

She let go of my hand.

"3!"

She stepped away from me.

"2!"

She turned around and looked at me one last time.

"1!"

She ran towards the door.

" HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

She was gone…

Couples started to kiss and people cheered as colorful fire works burst out from the pitch black sky.

And I just stood there frozen.

Who was she?

I still don't know.

And I don't think I ever will.

88888888

January 1, 12:00 noon

I combed my black hair, gazing at my reflection.

My mind was still filled with last night's events, especially him.

All it took was one look.

One smile.

One touch.

To fall in this sea of confusion they call love.

I never believed in love at first sight, but the made me.

I never thought a man could make me fall in love in an hour, but he made me.

I never thought that I could recover from my break up with Draco, but he made me.

And the funny thing is that he didn't even know me.

And I also didn't know who he was.

And this scared me.

My name is Pansy Parkinson.

Sometimes people call me the Slytherin Slut.

Sometimes they call me daft.

Sometimes they call me desperate.

But I'm not a slut.

I'm not stupid.

And I'm not desperate.

I'm just like any other girl; any other human.

I have feelings and emotions too.

Which people seem to forget.

I didn't want him to know who I was.

I didn't want to know what he thought of me.

I didn't want to find out if he was one of those who perceived me as a daft, desperate slut.

And so I ran.

But I needed to know who he was.

I needed to know if it was reality or just a dream that's meant to stay a dream.

After putting my clothes on I left the Slytherin dorms and began my search.

Finding him would be life finding a needle in a hay stack.

The only problem was that I wasn't sure that he was even a needle.

Hardly anyone was out side.

Probably hung over, I thought.

I walked around the castle for hours.

Every time I took a step, my desire to find out who he was increased.

My feet ached.

I probably searched on every floor by then.

I decided that I needed a breath of fresh air.

So I went out side.

88888888

The strong air blew my red hair behind me as I flew over the Quidditch pitch.

Did I forget about her?

I was trying my best to.

I didn't want to remember last night.

Probably she already realized that I'm just some other guy.

Another ordinary bump on the road.

Because that's what I really am.

I flew fast, round and round the pitch.

I flew as high as I could.

And made a sharp dive.

But a picture of her masked smiling face stayed in mind.

I was surprised when I saw some one enter the pitch.

I didn't expect any one to be outside today.

I lowered my self to the ground only to find Pansy Parkinson.

She was sitting down on the grass, leaning against the wall.

She didn't even notice that I was there.

I cleared my throat. I wonder what she was doing here.

Probably to meet up with her boy friend, Draco bloody Malfoy.

I wouldn't want to bump into him. Not now,

Her head turned in my direction.

"Hey Weasley. What brings you here?" She asked soberly.

"Long story short, I'm trying to forget." I answered. I was really surprised that I wasn't greeted with insults or glaring daggers.

"Oh." She muttered softly.

"How bout you?" I asked. I was actually having a civilized conversation with a Slytherin.

"I'm trying to find someone." She replied simply.

"Who?" I asked.

"I don't know." She said as she tucked her loose black strands behind her ear.

And then, I saw something very familiar.

Around Pansy's wrist was a string of pearls.

The bracelet identical to the one the girl I kissed was wearing during the masquerade.

"Not Malfoy?" I asked. I had to be sure before I jumped to conclusions. A lot of other girls had pearl bracelets.

"Nope. Didn't you hear? We broke up last night. I was expecting you to taunt me about it actually." She said followed by a small laugh.

Her laugh was exactly the same as the girl's.

It all fit.

She was looking for someone.

And that someone was me.

I was trying to forget someone.

That someone was her.

"Oi Pansy." I said calling her attention away from her bracelet which she was playing with again.

Pansy was definitely her.

"Yah," She said.

"You're really beautiful you know." I said, repeating the exact same words I told her last night.

Pansy gasped. Tears began to fill her blue eyes.

"Are you-?" She asked. Her tears were falling down now.

I just grinned sheepishly in reply.

What happened next definitely surprised me.

She ran towards me and wrapped her arms around me tightly.

She sobbed against my chest.

"Hey." I said as I cupped her cheek in one of my hands and wiped away her tears.

"I need to know why you ran away."

"I didn't want you to know who I was." She hiccupped.

"Why?" I asked puzzled.

"I didn't want you to know me as the Pansy Parkinson everyone knows." She sobbed.

"Well, the Pansy Parkinson I know is smart, beautiful and everything else that's present in a perfect girl." Man, I'm really cheesy.

She placed her arms around my neck and it was she who kissed me this time.

And this kiss did become longer, more passionate and fiery.

And to think that I found my true love in just two days.

I bet you can't beat that.

And it was all because of that cursed masquerade.

Fin

A/N: My first Ron/Pansy one shot. Please review. PLEASE! Just take one minute of your time to hit that review button over there. I don't care if it's a really short one. I just want to know what people think. I'm a Slytherin/Gryffindor shipper. Feel free to R&R my other fics too. Most of them are D/Hr. Thanks a whole bunch!

Silver :D