Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me.

I

she didn't look back

Pansy Parkinson had quickly discovered that Nice inspired a penchant for light, fruity white wines she hadn't previously wanted nor cared for. It was so easy to stare down the streets framed with colorful house more suited for an Impressionist painting and wish for something to intoxicate her as easily as the very city had.

She didn't need a steady pub—no, simply the restaurants that stayed open long past normal hours, branching into the streets of Nice and enticing her to try their delicate wines. A glass here, a glass there, a bottle now; then she was nearly waltzing across the cobblestones, lighter than a feather and thinking she might have drank champagne to have the feeling of sheer bliss that was bubbling through her veins.

She spun, feeling the arms of the wind keeping her balanced and eyes making love to the stars, and then—she struck him. Like two fallen stars colliding, she struck him and felt an explosion of feeling that rocketed through her like a pulse. Pansy broke her gaze with the stars, eyelashes fluttering down to indicate her change in focus to the slimly muscled arms that anchored her securely.

"Excuse me," she murmured, trying to see if this was the greeting of an old acquaintance from another city or merely a stranger who stumbled and caught her. The arms shifted her until her nose was nearly touching the flat chest in front of her, covered by a stylishly knotted scarf. The movement made her pause.

She knew that move.

"No harm done," said the man, his voice so achingly familiar it tore her to the marrow.

For the briefest of moments, she considered closing the centimeters that separated them and sinking into his embrace like she would a warm safety blanket.

But that was too intimate a way to greet someone she hadn't seen in three years. Too intimate for two people who'd been shattered beyond repair.

"Thank you," she said stiffly, stepping out of his reach and tilting her hat downwards to stop herself from searching for his eyes. As she was turning she saw him lift a hand, as if to grab her and turn her back, but it faltered just as she lost sight of it.

She Apparated to her hostel as she turned the corner, breaking the line between them that she had felt from her core the instant she stepped away from him.

She pulled out her bottle of Firewhiskey she'd intended on saving and drank until Theodore Nott's face had mercifully vanished from her mind.

A/N: Hello again! Wanted to toss this out while I'm still in the mood. This is the first of thirteen different prompts (drabbles or ficlets, as per the LJ community rarepair_shorts' requirements) based on Pansy Parkinson and Theodore Nott's relationship. I've been meaning to do these two but just haven't ever had the time.

One thing you should know:

-they aren't chronological, but they're all in the same universe

Looked over by Kira (amethyst-rose) and beta'd by the sleepy Haz (Ha'niqua). Thank you both!

A little bit of a different characterization of the two, but I'm experimenting and if you could tell there are foreshadowing for future drabbles in my customary angst. I am just a cruel author. :)

Thanks for reading!

Roma