Blimey, thought Seamus as he watched Pansy leave the store. What exactly just happened? Never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined that Pansy Parkinson, Slytherin extraordinaire, would have talked to him, and not just conversed, but made plans to go on holiday with one another!
The door opened, dinging the little bell that Gerald had installed last summer and Dean Thomas ran into the store out of breath.
"Mate, mate….listen you've got to check these out." He rested on the store counter and Seamus muttered 'fine' as he pushed his friend's sweaty elbow off the clean glass.
He was only half listening as Dean talked about Quidditch tickets and football world cups and the newest brooms that were coming out soon.
"Mate, are you alright?" Dean eyed his friend.
"Mm?" came the reply from the sandy haired boy.
"Bloody hell, I've been talking up a storm for the last ten minutes and you barely twitched when I mentioned the world cup tickets! Why are you all flushed?"
Seamus straightened up and looked in the mirror behind the counter. He was flushed, and he knew why.
He'd been thinking about Pansy again. To be honest with himself, he hadn't stopped since she left the store. She had grown up since he last saw her. He had always appreciated her beauty throughout the years, what guy hadn't? But this summer…blimey.
Her hair had grown to the middle of her back, and he wasn't sure, but he thought that he saw little curls. Her body was nice and toned and she had AMAZING legs… legs and curves and a chest that could kill. And her skin…he thought he smelled the sweet scent of peaches whenever she walked by him.
"Hello….mate? Blimey, what's wrong with you? I think you need to go on hols earlier. Are you excited for me to actually stay awhile with you? ha-ha!" Dean laughed and started looking at some exotic gems that were recently shipped in from Austria.
"Oh, that reminds me mate," Seamus said "I, erm…I kind of invited someone else along…is that okay? I thought maybe we could, give her a tour?"
"A her? Mate, have you found yourself a woman?!" Dean smirked at his friend.
"No" said Seamus, "It's not that she likes me or anything, she was just being friendly and so I offered for her to join us. Besides, you know I'm going with Luna."
Dean rolled his eyes, "Yeah, like I could forget. So…who is this mystery lady? Someone I know? Is it Katie Bell? She always seemed interested in…"
"It's Pansy." Seamus cut in.
There was a bit of silence before Dean spoke again.
"What, as in Parkinson?" Dean put the gem down and gave Seamus his full attention.
"Do you really know any others, Dean?" Seamus scowled and walked to the shelf of necklaces, rearranging them for the customers.
"She is rather gorgeous isn't she?" Dean hopped up on the counter, "I mean, there are some pretty girls at Hogwarts, but they seem to split the waves for her, don't you know?" He watched Seamus blush slightly, "Oi! You like her don't you?"
"What? Of course not. She's going with Malfoy, and she hates Gryffindors and muggles. Or have you forgotten that your own best mate is half?"
Dean jumped off the counter, "I think you do. I've mentioned Luna LOADS of times in front of you and you've never blushed. Not even once. Yet here we are in a lovely store with no customers today and you're STILL getting a red colour to your face."
"They were here together you know," Seamus pushed Dean off the counter.
"What like, friendly? Say, do you want an apple?" He offered an apple as Seamus shook his head.
"No…not friendly at all, I reckon. Luna came over to me and then suddenly, walked over towards Pansy. I don't know what they were talking about, but when Luna came back she had that—oh you know that face, the one she rarely gets. Then she starts talking loudly about what a …whore or whatnot that Pansy was. As soon as Luna left, Parkinson came over and before I knew it, I had invited her to Ireland with us…well, with you, I do live there after all."
Dean took a bite of his apple, "She's not with Malfoy you know. You're sure you don't like her?"
"She's not?" Seamus stopped and thought about what that meant. Could it be possible that Parkinson really liked him? It was the first time since they started Hogwarts that she had ever spoken to him, insults excluded. "Yeah, yeah…I've got Luna you know. Nothing to worry about. Why are you so intent on figuring this out anyway mate?"
"No reason," Dean threw away his apple core and picked up his artist bag, getting ready to leave, "I just thought since she's being friendly towards you, and she's not with Malfoy, I might go and chat her up a little too. I'll see you in a few weeks alright mate? Don't forget to owl what's going on, and don't send that bloody "Owl" of yours, he always runs into my mum's windows and she has a fit. Who names their owl "Owl" anyway?"
"Oi," said Seamus, "me little cousin did, sod off."
As Dean left Gerald's Gems, Seamus thought about Dean had said. Parkinson wasn't with Malfoy, and she was rather gorgeous. He thought about the way that she walked out of the store, with her arse swinging in that hypnotizing way. He thought about the way her slender hands reached for the earrings that he'd shown her, and how she got a tiny smirk of satisfaction whenever she saw something she liked. Did she smirk that way when she was talking to him? He could have sworn he saw a little rise of her mouth…no, that was ridiculous. Pansy Parkinson would never look that was towards Seamus, not after being with Malfoy. Plus, he was with Luna, and they had something he was sure of it. Seamus shook his head of these thoughts. He couldn't start fantasizing over some gorgeous girl just because she walked into the store. Luna wouldn't hear of it…
Then again…what Luna didn't know, wouldn't hurt her.
