A/N: This is written for the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition. The prompt was Forbidden Love between a light character and a dark character, I chose Harry Potter/Pansy Parkinson, which I had never even heard of before this. Enjoy!
An Unexpected Turn of Events
She wasn't entirely sure how she ended up meeting Harry Potter at Le Chat Noir for a dinner date. But nevertheless, Pansy Parkinson stood at the restaurant's entrance in deep purple robes with her hair curled and makeup done elegantly.
Harry hadn't shown up, yet; he was ten minutes late. Pansy began to wonder if he stood her up. As soon as she started to think about leaving, she saw the wizard casually stroll towards her. She was relieved he had worn black dress robes. They wouldn't clash with her purple ones.
He smiled nervously at her as he approached her.
"You're late," she greeted.
"I know," he said. "I'm sorry, things got a bit hectic at the auror office."
He smiled apologetically at her and offered her his arm as he led her into the restaurant. "Don't worry about the reservation, they'll have a table for us."
"Why did you pick the restaurant if you knew you wouldn't be able to read anything on the menu?" Pansy laughed.
Despite the rocky start, with him being late and the awkward silence that had filled the air, the two were getting along quite well, conversation flowing easily between them.
Pansy was somewhat surprised at how well they were getting along. After all, in school they were nothing short of enemies.
"I thought only the name of the restaurant was in French, I didn't think the menu would be too!" Harry defend himself, laughing.
"Yes, well, cela n'a pas été une trés bonne idée," Pansy said.
"What?" Harry asked, the confusion on his face easy to read. Pansy smirked and didn't answer him.
Their food arrived soon after that and their conversation began to lull.
"What's work like for you?" asked Pansy, moving the conversation away from how much bad luck a place could have if it was named "The Black Cat" even if it was in French. She knew he was an auror, but didn't know much other than that.
Harry shrugged, "I work in the auror office at the Ministry. There's not much going on right now, except there's been lots of rumors of a new dark wizard society with some old Death Eaters involved. They haven't done much besides raid a few muggle stores. No one's been hurt, thankfully."
Pansy did her best to look interested and clueless at the same time. She had heard about the new group through some of her friends that had joined them. She had been considering joining their ranks herself.
"Interesting," she said, smiling at Harry. "I'm sure you'll catch whoever's doing it."
Harry smiled back at her and moved the conversation on, which Pansy was thankful for.
"Do you know anything about the new Death Eater society?" asked Harry, a few weeks, and a few dates, later. The two of them sat in a park in the middle of the night, eating ice cream.
"No, of course not," said Pansy, casually. "Why do you ask?"
It was a lie; Pansy's friends were always trying to convince her to join through lectures about their plans.
"Well," said Harry, clearly uneasy, "some of your friends have been seen at their rallies. And most of them have ties to former Death Eaters, or were one themselves."
Pansy scoffed, "So? What does that have to do with me?"
"They're your friends-"
"Yes, I already knew that."
Harry shot her a small glare. "I just assumed they would've talked to you about it."
"Well, you assumed wrong," Pansy said. "They haven't."
She wanted to move the conversation far, far away from this topic. "How's your ice cream?"
"Fine."
Silence filled the air, but it was anything but awkward.
"I should go," he finally said, standing up. Pansy stood up, too.
"I'll get home by myself, tonight," she announced. She quickly finished the last of her ice cream and turned to say goodbye to Harry.
"Goodbye," she said.
"Goodbye," he said.
He pressed his lips to her forehead and then stepped back. A moment later he was gone.
Damn Harry Potter and his good looks, thought Pansy.
She stared at him from across the room. He looked serious and concentrated, completely different from how he was on their dates.
His wand held defensively in front of him, Harry watched as another auror arrested one of Pansy's closest friends. He glanced her way and caught her stare. His gaze softened and he frowned slightly.
"I'm sorry," he mouthed to her.
She didn't get a chance to respond as yet another auror asked her for her wand. It was checked for its history and came out clean.
Pansy was escorted from the premises without another chance to look at Harry.
It was the last time she saw him for over a year.
Pansy wasn't all that surprised at long it took her to get over Harry Potter. She didn't know if his had loved him, but he had definitely gotten attached. She had enjoyed his presence. She had moved on, dated other guys. Now, she was single, and fairly happy about it.
Then she saw him. And he saw her.
It'd been over a year since they'd last seen each other, though Pansy didn't really know why. She didn't know what to expect as he approached her.
But when he grabbed her face in his hands, kissed her, and muttered an "I love you" under his breath, she realized she had never really gotten over Harry Potter.
"I love you, too," she said. "I think I have this whole time."