Shall We Dance?
By: Snarky Granger
AN: This little one-shot is written for Bunney. It was her birthday recently and I thought this would be a great gift. Enjoy. Snarky
Harry Potter was sitting, at a table of six, with Hermione Granger. They were attending a Black and White Charity Ball. It was to raise money to aide in tuition for the struggling students at Hogwarts.
Ever since the war ended, the Magical community had been besieged with financial troubles. The financial issue pervaded the magical community and affected the rebuilding efforts. Some families had lost their fortunes due to their involvement with the war and many Muggleborns struggled to attend Hogwarts due to the rising cost of tuition.
Harry was currently listening to Headmistress McGonagall rave that this Ball allowed her to help some more families in need. He leaned over to Hermione and whispered, "Remind me to make another donation from Sirius's account." Hermione nodded in understanding.
"Now I would like to recognize the young man, who brought all of this…" Minerva waved her hand around the room. "together. Draco Malfoy, the head of the committee." Thunderous applause as Draco rose from his seat and gave Astoria a kiss on the cheek before he walked away from his and Harry's table.
Hermione turned to Harry and smiled, "Thank you, Harry, for coming with me. With everything going on after our messy splits with Ron and Gin, I didn't want to be alone."
"No problem, Hermione." Harry smiled back as he gave her once over. She was wearing a black dress with capped sleeves and white trim along the bottom. "Did I tell you that you look beautiful tonight?"
Hermione beamed as she gave him a quick hug in gratitude. "Thank you, Harry and you look smashing in that penguin suit. I love a man in a bow tie." He was wearing a black tuxedo suit, with a crisp white shirt, vest and tie.
"I should thank you for getting me out of the house. I needed to stop dwelling on the fact that Ginny cheated on me with Marcus Flint of all people. They must have run into each other on the pitch."
Hermione looked at him sympathetically. "I couldn't believe she would do that since she was 'so in love' with you." Hermione put her hand up for the air quotes. "And Ron's behavior was inexcusable too."
"True," Harry agreed. "It is time to put the House wars behind us and start working together like we did tonight, just like the Sorting Hat wanted." He shook his head in disbelief. "Too bad, it took until after the war to do that exactly."
Harry glanced around the room and was amazed at the décor for the Ball. Each table had six places, with black and white chequered table linens that alternated black and white linen napkins. Their table setting had white plates with crystal goblets. They had two carafes to drink from: ice water and Golden Elven wine, which the Malfoys had generously donated for the event. The ceiling was showing a starry night sky with flashes of red, blue, green and yellow amongst the white stars. Harry smirked, and nodded, as he looked overhead. 'Impressive. I wonder if they asked the Headmistress to do that for them.'
He glanced at his tablemates and saw that Susan Bones seemed to be having a lovely time with Anthony Goldstein. He snorted when he realized that all four houses were represented at most of the tables.
He glanced at the next table over and was stunned to see a gorgeous woman chatting to Daphne but he couldn't see who it was. He leaned over to Hermione and whispered, "Who is that beautiful woman talking to Daphne Greengrass?"
Hermione darted a quick glance over to Daphne and was surprised to see it was Pansy, who looked smashing in her black little number. It was a backless, glittery dress, that showed off her muscular back.
"Harry, you know her."
"I do?"
"Yes, that is Pansy." Hermione looked at Harry with a bemused look. "You know Pansy Parkinson."
"Really?" Harry looked at Hermione in shock. Hermione dipped her head. "Wow! I guess I haven't seen her in a quite some time."
Hermione looked at him in surprise before she gave him a nod of understanding. She noticed that Pansy and Daphne were also sitting with Neville Longbottom, who attended with Hannah Abbott and Luna Lovegood with Rolf Scamander. Neville and Luna were part of the committee that she could hear Draco naming off for his gratitude for helping with the Charity Ball.
"Now, I would like Astoria to please join me at the dais to make one last announcement before we start the dancing." Draco threw out his hand for her to grab when she met him at the podium. They looked stunning as a couple. He was wearing an all-black power suit and she was wearing an all-white dress, with black and white pearls around her neck.
Hermione's breath hitched, because she realized what Draco was going to announce due to her seeing the ring on Astoria's finger.
"What, Hermione?"
"Just wait for it," Hermione hushed Harry.
"I am pleased to announce that tonight, before we came to this gala event, Astoria has agreed to become my wife." Draco beamed as he kissed Astoria's hand.
Hermione heard a few gasps of shock and surprise. She quickly turned her head towards Pansy's table and saw that she and Daphne were arguing. Daphne was shaking her head no. "LIAR!" Pansy stormed away from the table. The rest of her table was shocked by the reaction.
"Harry, please be a dear and check on Pansy for me."
"What?" Harry looked over to her table and saw that she was gone. "What happened?"
"I think she was still pining a bit for Draco."
"But everyone knew that it was just a matter of time before he popped the question to Astoria."
Hermione sighed. "Yes, I know but I don't think she had given up hope."
"Alright, Hermione, I will go before I get swamped by well-wishers for those two." Harry laughed.
"Right, and remember her name is Pansy."
Harry gave her an annoyed look and retorted, "You know that I am NOT Ron." Harry made to get up when he felt her hand on his arm. He looked over at Hermione.
"I am sorry." Hermione looked sad. "I tend to forget that you are better behaved man than him."
Harry patted her hand as he rose from his seat. "No worries, Hermione." He flashed a smile. "This won't break our friendship." Hermione let go of the air that she was holding.
"Thank you."
Harry flashed her another smile before dipping his head towards Susan and Anthony as Draco and Astoria approached the table. "Congratulations to you both. Now I need to take care of something."
"Thank you, Harry." Draco bowed his head in gratitude. They had buried the hatchet shortly after the war. They realized that the issues from the war weren't going to be resolved unless they worked together.
As Harry started to walk away from his table, he noticed that Daphne was going to get up. He pressed his hand down on her shoulder to stop her. Her head snapped up in surprise. "Let me go see to her, Daphne. Hermione asked me to check on her."
Daphne looked over to Hermione and saw her give her a subtle nod. "Okay, Harry." She squeezed his hand as he let her shoulder go. "I was going to congratulate my sister first."
Harry bobbed his head. "Yes. Go and see Draco and Astoria! If you see me come back in the room under ten minutes, then look for Pansy."
"I will do that, Harry." Daphne gave him a warm smile. "Thank you. I was slightly torn, which direction to go in."
Harry patted her shoulder one last time before he flashed a smile to the rest of the table. "Enjoy yourselves." Harry turned towards one of the entryways to the garden.
He was amazed at the beauty of the pavilion. There were fairy lights scattered all over the place and it didn't take away from the beautiful warm, starry night. It reminded him of the night of the Yule Ball back in his Fourth year. He paused to listen for Pansy. He walked a bit farther into the garden before he heard some sobbing to his right.
He turned towards the sound and found her sitting on a stone bench with her face covered as she was crying. "Pansy?"
She kept on crying louder.
'She didn't hear me.' Harry shook his head solemnly. "Hey Pansy, do you need anything?" Potter stood there awkwardly until she realized that she wasn't alone.
"Go away, Potter!" she mumbled into her hands.
"It's Harry, Pansy."
"What?" Pansy looked at him strangely.
"My name is Harry, Pansy." Harry tried to flash a smile, but failed.
Pansy looked at him in surprise for moment before she shook it off. "Did Hermione have to remind you my name?"
"Forget it, Pansy. I came out here to check on you because I was concerned for you." Harry got up and moved away from the miserable witch.
"Wait Potter!" Pansy yelled out. When he kept on walking, she realized her mistake. "Harry, please don't go." Her voice cracked.
Harry closed his eyes at the sound of her pain and came to a stop. He slowly turned around to look at the beautiful witch. She had her hair in an up-do, with a few tendrils loose that fell around her face. It was done tastefully light, but her tears had smeared her makeup. He walked back towards the bench and stood there for a second before he took a seat. Pansy started to cry again.
"Oh, Pansy, please don't cry." Harry carefully wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "I hate seeing a lady in distress."
Pansy snorted at the last comment. "I am no lady!"
"Yes, you are." Harry softly chided her. Pansy shook her head in disbelief. "Yes, you are." Harry raised his voice a tad. Pansy snapped her wide eyes towards him at his slightly raised tone. Harry took a slow, deep breath and tried again. "Sorry, Pansy but I am trying to tell you that you looked beautiful in this black number. I actually didn't recognize you at first, because all I saw was your backside. Hermione even looked at me strangely when I asked her."
"I am sure that she did, Harry." Pansy gave him a slight watery smile. "Thank you." She gave him a quick look over and realized that he, too, cleaned up nicely. She had forgotten that from the Yule Ball during their Fourth Year. "You look splendid in that suit, but I have a question for you."
"Go ahead."
"Why are you here? Aren't you seeing Hermione?"
"No." Harry chuckled. "We came as friends because we just suffered a terrible break-up with Ginny and Ron."
"Seriously?" Harry nodded. "Damn, I never liked them."
"Pansy…" Harry dragged out her name before stopping at her upraised hand.
"No, it has nothing to do with the issues from the war, but it always seemed that they were lap dogs to you. I think I heard somewhere he deserted you and Hermione a time or two, correct?" Pansy looked at him.
"Yes. The first time I thought the desertion during the Triwizard Tournament was bad until he did it again while we were on the run." Pansy's eyes grew wide. "Yeah, it was bad. Hermione was a mess during the time he was gone. We grew even closer each time he deserted us. I consider her as my sister and I am sure that she feels the same way but you would have to ask her." Pansy nodded.
"And Ginny?"
Harry sighed as he thought about his words. "I knew that she loved "THE Harry Potter" but she never took the time to get to know the real me. I should have realized that before we got back together the second time. I thought we could give it a chance, but she was too much of a loose goose. She just liked the attention from men a bit too much. I should have realized that after our sixth year. She was with two or three others before she decided to kiss me." Pansy nodded in understanding. "I just took the affection like a moth, because I really didn't get much of it at my Aunt's home."
"Really?" Pansy looked at him in surprise.
"Yes, really," Harry laughed. "Draco had it all wrong. I didn't have an easy life living at my aunt and uncle's house. My cousin was a bully although that changed after I saved him from a Dementor." Harry grumbled something under his breath.
"What was that?" Pansy's eyebrow arched.
"I was cursing out Umbridge, because she was the one that sent the Dementor my way in hopes to get me expelled from the wizarding world. It didn't work as planned." Harry laughed at the comical face that Pansy pulled.
"WHAT?" Pansy shook her head. "I don't even know why I followed her or joined her crazy IA group."
"Oh, I do." Harry gently bumped her shoulder. "It was to be closer to Draco."
She sighed. "Yeah, you have that right."
"Listen, Pansy, I know that you had your heart set on him for years." She sighed. "I just wanted you to know that you are a beautiful woman and there is some lucky guy out there waiting for you; to snatch you up."
"Yeah, right," Pansy muttered as she looked down.
"PANSY!"
Pansy's head popped up looking at Harry. "What?!"
"I am serious." Harry gave a her a slightly smoldering look.
"Really?" Pansy panted. "You find me attractive?" Harry nodded. "But what about me ratting you out just before the Final Battle?"
"Pansy, I can't let actions that happened during a war control my feelings. If I did, I would be a recluse with just Hermione, Luna, Neville as my friends. Ron and Ginny wouldn't have made it into my inner circle."
Pansy bobbed her head. "I can understand. I was scared for myself and the school. It was a hellish year, with the Death Eaters there, especially the Carrows." Pansy shivered. "I thought that Professor Umbridge was bad, but those two topped the cake."
Harry dipped his head. "Yeah, I heard about the stories after the war. Neville and I had a pissing contest during our birthdays and just swapped stories. I think we came out even." Harry chortled at the memories.
They sat there for a few minutes enjoying the quiet evening as the music started to filter through the doors. Pansy looked at Harry as she thought about what he had just said.
"Harry?"
"Yes?"
"I know that I told Headmaster Snape where you were, but in all honesty, I was happy to see you alive when you came through those Great Hall doors with Hermione and Ron."
Harry smiled. "Thank you, Pansy. I was relieved to be back at the school, but I knew at the time it wasn't long before He joined us. He knew that we were going to the school before his followers did. Do you want to know how?" Pansy dipped her head easgerly. "We had a connection through my lightning scar." Harry pointed to the slightly fade scar on his forehead.
Pansy's eyes popped wide open.
"Yes, you heard me right. He had given a slight piece of himself when he tried to kill me the first time."
"Bloody Hell!"
Harry clapped his hands together. "Alright, can we talk about something a bit lighter?"
Pansy saw his troubled look in his eyes. She realized that he had some demons just like she did and everyone else that fought in the war. "Sure." She gave him a slight smirk. "How do you like working for the Auror division?" Harry looked at her in surprise. "What? You didn't think I knew." Pansy laughed.
"No, I guess I shouldn't be surprised since there was a huge spread about it." Harry rolled his eyes.
"You don't like the fame, do you?" Pansy looked at him puzzled.
"No, I never did despite the fact that Draco and certain professors thought that I did." Harry groaned.
"I should have realized that when you tried to pull away from Professor Lockhart."
Harry snorted. "He was a piece of work."
"Oh?"
"Yes." Harry nodded. "He tried to cast a memory charm on us, but the downside was that he tried to use Ron's broken wand."
Pansy cringed and laughed at his fate.
"That served him, right?"
"Yes, it did since that is how he got the information for his books."
"Bloody Hell, Harry!" Pansy looked at him in disbelief. "Alright, we need to sit down and compare notes, because something tells me that your version of our schooling is different from my rose coloured version."
"Sure thing." Harry smiled as he heard the first notes to a Cyndi Lauper song called True Colors. "Wait!"
"What?"
"Is Cyndi Lauper a witch or are they playing Muggle tunes in there?"
"No, Cyndi is an American witch."
"Awesome!" Harry rose from his seat before he held out his hand, "Would you do me the honor, Pansy?"
Pansy looked up into his green eyes and saw that he was serious. "Alright, Harry, I would be honoured." She slid her hand into his before she rose from the bench and glided into his arms.
Harry carefully wrapped his arm around her waist as they slowly rocked back and forth to the song. Harry decided to glimpse into her eyes and was surprised to see that they were a different shade of green than that is his. "Oh wow, I never noticed that your eyes are green like mine." Harry started to look down, but stopped when she put a finger under his chin.
"Look at me, Harry." Pansy patiently waited for him to look back up. "Listen, Potter… um I mean Harry, I never gave you a reason to want to look at me. Not in that way at least." Harry went to object when she stuck a finger on his lips. "No, listen to me." Harry sighed. "I was a bitch over the years, picking on you and your little crew. I had some time to think after the war and realized what Draco was trying to tell me once the war ended was right."
Harry nodded in understanding.
Pansy took a deep breath. "I have slowly tried to be cordial towards Hermione at the meeting for this Gala event."
"Yes, she mentioned it. It bothered Ron for some reason." Harry shook his head.
"He's an Arse." Harry laughed when he realized that what she said was completely true. "Well, he is but Harry," Harry's face slipped back to neutral. "it is going to take time for me to get out of this blood purity crap out of my head."
Harry and Pansy stopped dancing.
"I know, Pansy, but just take it one step at a time. Hermione and I will help you through it and I am sure that your tablemates will too."
"You mean Luna and Neville?"
"Yes, Luna is actually a wise person underneath that airiness and Neville has gotten into his own since our fifth year. I trust them completely."
"I can handle Neville but right now, Luna has to be in small doses until I can get used her speak." Harry laughed "What?"
"You can never get used to it. It took Hermione until after our battle at the Department of Mysteries before she even gave Luna the respect that she deserved."
Pansy nodded. "And Neville?"
"Don't you remember she tried to help him find his toad, Trevor?"
"Oh yes, now that you mention it," Pansy laughed at the memory.
"They have been friends since that train."
"Got it."
Harry noticed that she has calmed down considerably since he came out to talk. He felt that she was ready to go back into the Great Hall. "I am happy to see you smile again. Would you like to go back into the room for refreshments and maybe some more dancing?" Harry held his arm out for her take it.
Pansy was startled to realize that she would be fine without Draco. "You know what, Harry?" He shook his head. "I think in the back of my mind, I realized that I wasn't going to get him and I started to heal without realizing it. Thank you." Pansy kissed him on the cheek, making him blush. She slid her hand around the crook of his elbow. "Let's go inside. I am a bit parched."
"So am I," Harry agreed. "I do have one question though." They started to walk towards the entryway of the castle.
"Yes?"
"Who did the ceiling? Did you need the Headmistress's help?" Pansy shook her head. "Who then?"
"Shame on you, Harry. You don't recognize your best friend's handiwork."
Harry stopped just inside of the door in shock, but snapped out of it quickly as he started to chuckle. "Silly me, I should have realized that it was her work. She was always good with Charms." Pansy nodded. "Does Marietta still have those spots?"
Pansy giggled. "Yes."
Hermione walked up to them with Daphne. "Are we okay?" She looked at them both.
Pansy gave Hermione a genuine, warm smile. "Thank you, Hermione, for sending Harry out." She gave her a quick hug before she dragged Daphne away to apologize for her behavior.
Harry snickered at Hermione's reaction to Pansy's hug. Hermione wacked him on the arm. "Harry, let's dance like we did in the tent."
"Sure, Hermione." Harry held her hand as he led to the dance floor. "Nice work on the ceiling." Hermione beamed at Harry.
"Pansy told you." Harry sputtered in surprise. "Don't worry, Harry, one of these days, you will remember that I can do magic."
"Very funny, Hermione." Harry shook his head. "I can't forget from the many times that you saved me and Ron."
As the song ended, Hermione felt a tap on the shoulder. It was Neville with Pansy next to him.
"Hermione, may I have the next dance?" Neville asked politely.
"Sure, Neville, I would be delighted, old friend." Hermione slipped into Neville's arms. She bobbed at Pansy. "Pansy, he is all yours."
"Yes. Yes, he is." Pansy's grin turned into a smirk as Hermione laughed at Harry's reaction to Pansy sounding possessive.
"Is Pansy going to be alright?"
"Yes, Neville," Hermione smiled to her friend. "I think we are going to see more of her." They danced away from the other couple.
"Earth to Harry." Pansy waved her hand in front of his face.
"Oh sorry, Pansy." Harry tapped his head to shake the cobwebs away before he held out his hand for her to take. "Shall we dance?"
"Let's!"
They spent the rest of the night enjoying each other's company.
AN2: Thank you Bunnyhops for betaing this story and Herroyalgoddess for Brit picking. Thank you ladies! 3 😊