Written for the Houses Competition, Year 3 Round 8, and for Monthly Challenges for All (Fem Power Challenge; Sapphic September; Sky's the Limit)
House: Hufflepuff
Year: Prefect
Theme: Forbidden Love
Colour: Amaranth
Prompt: [Action] Dropping a glass object
Representation: Pansy/Astoria, Royality!AU, forbidden love, Pansy the duchess
Bonus Challenges: Second Verse (Clio's Conclusion (FPC); Not A Lamp (FPC); Schooner (SS); Shout (SS)
Word Count: 2852
Note: Royalty!AU
Pansy stared into the distance from atop the balcony outside her bedroom. She was trying her hardest to be happy, but her heart sank. She took a deep breath in defeat. It was no use, trying to fight her parents' decision.
She was just informed that morning that she, Duchess Pansy Parkinson of Wyntrboro, was to be married to Lord Draco Malfoy of Tuhtgreen. The betrothment came as a surprise yet she knew it was coming, she was eighteen now, time for her to be married off to some bloke from a place she'd never heard of and start a family, like every other young woman in England. Except with her, if she didn't marry the royal that her parents set her up with, she would most likely get disowned or possibly exiled. Her kingdom's future relied on her marriage to someone she would probably never love.
Her happiness never mattered, despite her parents always claiming that they put her and her well-being first and that they made decisions for what was best for her. Being royalty is quite the life, don't get her wrong. Having servants do everything for you from making your bed to cooking your food, to attending balls with the most extravagant dresses, of course the most magnificent worn by her, but it would really be nice if her input mattered.
Her sulking was interrupted by a light knock at the door, followed by a quiet voice. "Your Majesty, Duchess Pansy?" the voice squeaked.
"Come in," Pansy replied sternly. The door opened and Pansy's handmaiden, Astoria, walked in and walked up to the balcony.
"I heard what happened," Astoria said. Pansy looked at her handmaiden in defeat. No words would've needed to be spoken, Astoria knew what Pansy was thinking.
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty. If there's anything I can do for you, just let me know," Astoria said.
"Yeah, could you get me something to smash against the wall? Preferably glass, but I don't want to break any of the fine china, so if you could find a substitute, that would be lovely," Pansy requested. She needed to do something to get the frustration she held towards her parents out of her system.
"Of course, Your Majesty." Astoria muttered, giving a slight bow before turning on her heel and heading towards the door.
"And hurry, will you?" Pansy snapped. Astoria sped up and closed the door behind her as she rushed out of the room. Pansy walked from the balcony and planted herself face-first on her bed, her eyes seeing only the pink colour of the bedspread.
"Even they won't take my colour choices seriously; this is the wrong shade of pink!" she said, looking at the bedspread in disgust. She sighed and picked a loose thread on her baby blue dress, not really caring if she damaged it; her life is going downhill anyways, so what's a ripped dress? Nothing mattered anymore it seemed.
She smiled in relief as Astoria returned with an empty wine bottle. She placed the bottle on her vanity along with a small piece of parchment, and quickly rushed out. Pansy walked over to her vanity and picked up the bottle, only to find that the bottle was still full. Pansy growled before opening the note and softening her expression. She put down the bottle and walked out of her room, now feeling a little bit better, but only just a bit.
.o0o.
Pansy laid in her bed until she was certain she couldn't hear any sound coming from the rest of the castle. She slipped out of bed and pulled on her dress from earlier along with a pair of boots and a coat, grabbing the bottle of wine before she carefully and quietly opened her door and slipped out of her room. She crept down the staircase, stopping for a moment after each step to make sure that she didn't hear anybody.
Once she made it to the bottom, she ran silently across the marble floor to the kitchens. She crept through as to not knock anything over and make too much noise. She came this way due to the easy way out of the castle through the small door at the end of the big room. She approached rhe servants entrance, opened and closed it before she bolted out into the grounds. She ran, clutching the wine as she approached the wall surrounding the grounds. She, having lots of prior experience doing this, adjusted the wine in her arms so it wouldn't fall out of her grip and started climbing the wall, using bricks poking out as steps to help herself over.
Once she out to the other side, she made her way down to the stables, which weren't as enclosed as the castle was and were on the other side of the road. She took extra care not to wake the stableman, who was sleeping in the shack nearby. She crept into the barn and walked towards the stall where her prized mare was sleeping. Pansy lightly pet her face to wake her up, then slipped on her halter and took her outside. She tied the lead rope onto both ends of the halter and hopped on bareback using a fence to boost her up.
She quietly walked her horse out to the road after making sure the coast was clear, motioning her horse to break into a canter and head down the road, wrapping herself up more in her coat. She slowed down to a trot after around ten minutes of traveling north and coming down to a complete stop. This was her destination, where she came every time they met up after dark, to keep things secret. She slid off her horse and tied to lead rope to a tree before walking through the forest a bit and reaching the clearing she knew so well after years of coming here.
Sure enough, there was another horse tied up on the other side of the clearing, and in the center of the clearing, lying down and looking up at the stars, was Astoria. She sat up and smiled at the sight of Pansy and motioned her to come sit beside her. Pansy practically ran towards her handmaiden and sat down on the soft grass, planting her lips on Astoria's.
Two years this had been going on. Secret meetings in the exact same spot in the middle of the night. The two realized they had feelings for each other when they were sixteen, during Astoria's first year of working for Pansy. Pansy had always known she was more attracted to women than men since she was a young girl, but never in a million years would she think her lover would be her handmaiden. Royals even treating their servants in a friendly matter was frowned upon, never mind them being in a relationship with one.
They never even dared to show each other affection in any part of the castle, the risk was just way too high. The last thing they wanted to happen was for them to get caught. For sure there would be extreme consequences, especially Pansy, because of the taboo of same-sex relationships, she could possibly tarnish or destroy the reputation of her family.
The two spoke to each other for hours most nights they met, but they barely spoke this night, instead they stared at the stars and drank the wine straight from the bottle. They knew they would need to break this up eventually; they couldn't live like this forever, especially when Pansy would be married and would move to live with her husband. It hurt her to think about, instead she just leaned more into her lover and took another swig of wine.
"Oh!" Astoria said suddenly, reaching over and picking up a box wrapped in pink. "This is for you. I guess it's an engagement present, to remind you of me when we, you know…" she rubbed the back of her neck as Pansy took the box and had a closer look.
It wasn't wrapped in pink. It was wrapped in Pansy's favourite colour: amaranth. A lovely colour that was a strong mix of pink and red. It was almost fuchsia, but more bold, red and bright. She adored this colour so much that she requested every inch of her bedroom to be covered in amaranth, but nobody cared enough to get it specifically that color and just settled on plain dark pink.
Astoria was the only one who cared enough. She cared about the little things that always made Pansy smile. And that is exactly what Pansy did as she opened the box and pulled out a lovely gold necklace.
"How did you get this?" Pansy asked in disbelief.
"I have my ways." Astoria smirked.
"You shouldn't've! I already have so much jewe-" Pansy started, but Astoria put her finger over Pansy's lips.
"It's okay, love. Wear it whenever you need to think of me." Astoria smiled, but wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. Pansy didn't think twice about kissing her lover as a thank-you, and when she left that night, she was the happiest she had been in a long time and probably will be for a while.
.o0o.
Pansy looked out her balcony as the fifth carriage that morning entered the grounds. Her mother told her that all her friends were coming that morning, before everyone else, including her fiancé, arrived that evening.
Today was the day of her and Lord Malfoy's engagement ball, to celebrate her betrothment. Of course, she was dreading it beyond belief. Tonight would also be the first time she would meet her future husband. Most women would at least have known their fiancé for a bit before they got engaged, but Pansy had never even met anyone related to the Malfoys in her entire life.
Pansy sighed. She supposed she would need to go down and greet her guests. She was up here changing into her semi-formal dress of deep blue, specially made for today. Not the dress she would be wearing to the ball, no, that one was hanging in her closet. It was made of the finest silk and lace, carefully sewn with care.
The best part? It was amaranth. Astoria had close connections with the dressmaker and made sure that it was the precise shade. She had told her when they were alone in Pansy's bedroom after she had received the dress that it was one last gift as a thank-you for not just being her lover, but for being a friend. Besides, despite how much she dreaded going, there was nobody saying that she still couldn't knock everyone off their feet with the most extravagant dress there.
Pansy walked out of her bedroom and down the stairs to the sitting room, where her guests were all sitting and waiting for her. Pansy smiled at her friends. It had been a long time since the last ball.
"Pansy! It's been too long! Congratulations!" Lady Tracey Davis of Riverview Green, wearing a long dress of dark green, long brown hair reaching past her waist, leapt up and hugged Pansy.
"Thank you Tracey. You look dashing today." Pansy smiled. Tracey curtsied. Baroness Lisa Turpin of Saynor, clad in a flowing dress of lavender, greeted her next, followed by Duchesses Padma and Pavarti Patil from Willowbend in dresses of gold and silver respectively, Lady Luna Lovegood, ever the peculiar, wearing bright lime green, and finally, Princess Susan Bones of Calvar in a beautiful yellow dress.
After some gossiping and catching up on everyone's lives, Susan thought it would be a good idea to open a bottle of champagne and have a toast to Pansy. After calling Astoria in to fill everyone's glasses up, they clinked glasses in a toast.
"So," Lisa said after taking a sip from her glass, "Are you excited?"
"No, not really, to be honest." Pansy knew it was okay to express her feelings to her friends; they've known each other since they were children.
"Why not?" Luna asked. Pansy took a deep breath and looked around to make sure no one else was secretly listening in.
"Promise not to judge me, or get mad at me?" Pansy asked.
"Of course not, Pans." Susan smiled.
"There's not easy way to say this, b-but," she lowered her voice to a whisper, "I like girls." A few of her friends gasped lightly, but Susan smiled even wider.
"Call me crazy, but I knew all along," Susan said.
"Really?" Pansy exclaimed.
"Yeah, I figured it out a few years ago. So, who's the lucky lady you're going to run away with?" Susan joked.
"M-my handmaiden," Pansy whispered ever so slightly. Tracey spit out her champagne. The twins gasped. A shatter was heard across the room as Lisa dropped her glass in shock, hitting the floor and breaking into a million pieces.
"Please, please, please don't tell a soul," Pansy begged. "Astoria!" she called so the mess could be cleaned up. "And don't mention it to Astoria, whatever you do."
"How long?" Padma muttered.
"Two years," Pansy replied. Astoria walked in, quiet as a mouse as always, and cleaned up the glass as fast as she could.
"Well, Pans, I don't know what to sa-" Lisa started, but Pansy's mother's handmaiden popped her head into the room.
"Your Majesties, the ball is due to start in an hour. You are advised to get ready,." The handmaiden said, before quickly getting out. Pansy was the first out of the room, rushing upstairs to get her amaranth dress on.
.o0o.
Pansy came downstairs half an hour after the ball started so she could make her grand entrance. All eyes were on her and her dazzling dress. She felt more special than she ever had in her life, and that's saying something. She had to enjoy this while it lasted, because she wouldn't have this for much longer after tonight.
And then she saw him. Lord Draco Malfoy, standing at the staircase, arm out for her to take. She linked her arm with his as they made their way to the end of the room. He was sure a good-looking man, with white-blond hair and piercing grey eyes. She knew that almost every girl in England would kill to marry a man like him. Everyone was silent as Pansy and Lord Malfoy made it to the front, standing beside their parents.
"Tonight is a special night. We are all here to celebrate not only the joining of two kingdoms, but the engagement of Duchess Pansy Parkinson and Lord Draco Malfoy. Now, everyone clear the floor as the couple prepare to start off the night with the first dance." Pansy's mother announced to the room.
Pansy took Draco's arm again and the two made their way to the floor, but Pansy didn't even look at him. She looked at the corner, where Astoria was watching, and nodded in her direction while touching the necklace gifted from her. Astoria nodded back, and quickly left the room.
The music started playing and the couple slowly waltzed across the floor. Pansy wanted to get out of his tight grasp, but she also adored the attention that she was getting.
"You look amazing, darling," Lord Malfoy suddenly said.
"Thank you." Pansy pretended to blush.
"I've never seen that shade of pink before. It looks lovely on you, " Malfoy complemented.
"Thank you dear, it's called amaranth," Pansy replied.
"Ama-what?" Malfoy questioned.
"Nevermind," Pansy grumbled. He really wasn't that bright, she could already tell.
Pansy sighed in relief as she saw Astoria's face through the doorway, giving a thumbs-up. This was her chance. She waited until Malfoy was staring at another girl (she figured he wouldn't be very faithful), before breaking free from his grip and bolting out the room and following Astoria. The room broke into an uproar and everyone started following her.
Astoria had two horses tacked up and ready to run. The stirrups were set low enough so that they didn't need anything to climb up on, they could just swing up. They hopped on the horses as quickly as possible, the crowd following them outside. Pansy was shocked to hear a couple cheers, she quickly looked and saw every single one of her friends cheering her on.
Pansy got her horse in a gallop while Astoria did the same, the castle and crowd quickly fading in the distance. They continued running for a few hours before they reached a forest to spend the night. They thought that they were pretty far away that they wouldn't be caught.
They tied up their horses, Pansy staring at the mess her dress was. She sighed, but at least she was now with the one she loved.
"So, love, where to now?" Astoria asked.
"I was thinking we could hide away on a ship and settle in America. It sounds far enough away from this madness," Pansy said, sitting on the grass.
"I don't care where we go, as long as I'm with you." Astoria smiled, kissing Pansy under the moonlight.