* I would have put this up sooner, but I kept getting an error message. Thanks to KJmom, problem solved :)
I had a few requests to put Ron and Pansy together, so I did. I felt that since she'd been with so many boys, Ron had to do something a little extra to catch her attention. Plus, he's a good guy, which she's not used to. I wasn't sure how that last chapter would be received, but even though there weren't a lot of reviews, they were positive. THANK YOU. I hope you like the way this chapter turned out.
Thanks to those that faved and alerted recently
Rikkautro Efaltia: Don't count McGonagall out yet ;) and remember, we don't know exactly what Draco wrote in his report hee hee
xoRetributionox: I love a good game of truth or dare too! Glad you liked my twist on it
thanks as well to Keke Koorime, Ellen Draper, Crashing Down Lovely and Jasmineprnc for your kind reviews
on a side note, i just found out last week that come the end of the school year, I'm out of a job :( so I may be concentrating on finding a new job rather than doing a lot of writing. If anyone knows of any jobs in Eastern PA working with autistic kids, let me know lol
The following morning, Hermione and Draco awoke to find that Ron, Pansy, Harry and Ginny had all left. They walked down to the Great Hall and parted ways at the door.
Draco sat down with Pansy, Blaise, Harper, Tracey and Theo He took Pansy's pensive mood for a hangover.
"You're uncharacteristically quiet this morning, Pans. A little too much firewhiskey?" he grinned.
"I'm fine," Pansy scowled.
Blaise and Draco briefly acknowledged each other, both feeling self conscious about a certain event at their Slytherin/Gryffindor get together.
"We should definitely do that again," Harper said cheerfully as he stuffed a huge forkful of pancakes into his mouth.
"You're awfully chipper. Hangover potion?" Draco questioned.
"I really didn't drink that much last night. I didn't want to miss anything." He winked at Draco. "Very interesting evening. The kind that's chock full of blackmail potential."
Draco's eyes went wide, along with Pansy's.
"Just kidding, mates," Harper smirked. "You got dirt on me too. But next time we play, I say we get to shag the person instead of just kissing." He nudged Blaise in the ribs.
Blaise sat up a bit straighter. "And who would you have wanted to shag that you didn't?" he asked, frowning.
"No one. Just you, dimwit. I was speaking more from a watching point of view."
"Perv," Blaise said.
"Yes. And don't you know it," Harper replied.
"Please, I'm trying to eat," Tracey spoke up. "So, you're finally out then, Zabini? Took you long enough."
Blaise glared at her. Then he turned toward Draco. "Did everyone know?"
"Yeah, pretty much," Draco answered, avoiding eye contact.
Changing the subject to take the focus off himself, Blaise nodded to Pansy.
"You were fairly far gone when we left. Did you find your way back all right?"
"The rest of them stayed the night. Everyone was beyond pissed," Draco answered for Pansy.
"Aw, too shit-faced for any fun, eh?" Harper snickered.
Draco tried to suppress his grin. "I wouldn't say that. Weasley got lucky."
Pansy gasped, "How do you know that?"
"You were loud enough. It was hard not to notice."
"Ugh. You wanted to shag Ron?" Tracey asked, with a hint of disgust in her voice.
"What's wrong with Ron?" Pansy became defensive.
"He's a bit boring. I just don't find him attractive in the least. Lavender got off easy if you ask me, making me shag that-boy." Tracey wrinkled her nose.
"That was some performance, Pans," Draco couldn't help commenting. "A bit over the top, though. Don't you think?"
"What do you mean?"
"It's one thing to try to boost the boy's ego. But crikey, Pans, he must have known it was a put on. I mean, it had to be, right?" Draco casually went back to eating his breakfast, as did the others. Except Pansy. She sat with her mouth hanging open like a bass.
Draco looked up and blinked when he felt her stare. "Somebody call Rita Skeeter. Pansy Parkinson just blushed," he laughed.
"Sod off, Draco." Pansy got up and walked out of the Great Hall, leaving her house mates puzzled.
"What's got her knickers in a bunch?" Blaise asked no one in particular.
"Knowing Pansy, she's not wearing any," Tracey deadpanned. Blaise and Harper burst out laughing.
Pansy started to make her way down to the dungeons when a hand grasped her arm. She spun around, reaching for her wand, ready to hex the son of a bitch that grabbed her. She stopped short when she saw it was Ron.
"Are you okay? You looked upset when you left. I, uh . . . I'm, um . . ." he stammered. "Did I . . . hurt you?" Ron avoided eye contact at all cost. "I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me."
They stood in uneasy silence for a moment.
"I'm fine," Pansy finally said quietly and turned away from him.
"That's all then, I guess." Ron shrugged and headed back up the stairs. He paused without turning back around. "You know, if you didn't like it, you could have just said so. I would have stopped. I know I'm not the brightest bloke around, but I'm not an idiot." He continued walking up the stairs to his common room.
Once again, Pansy stood alone, dumbfounded. Had he thought she was faking? Draco basically said the same thing. Very rarely had she resorted to exaggerating her enjoyment. Normally, if she wasn't satisfied properly, she would leave a frustrated, humiliated partner to take care of it herself. It wasn't worth a repeat (poor) performance just give a guy an ego boost. Draco was right about one thing-Pansy was always in control.
Except the night before. The combination of alcohol, strange new experiences and perhaps the smell of Ron's sweaty skin caused her to lose her grip on that control. She felt vulnerable and almost powerless. She was certainly powerless to stop the wails and whines form escaping her lips.
What had possessed Ron to do what he did? Why did she like it? Well, she knew why she liked it. It was the most intense, longest lasting orgasm she ever had. It made her lose herself, if only for a moment or two, to a partner. It was something that never happened before, not even with Draco, who admittedly was the closest thing to a real lover she had. She had loved him, in a way, but she never gave herself over to him the way she did with Ron.
Ron.
He scared the hell out of her.
But she desperately wanted to feel the way he made her feel again.
hhhhhhhhhhdddddddddd
Hermione, Ginny and Harry found Ron sitting in the Gryffindor common room studying by the fire.
"Are you studying?" Harry asked, sounding a bit more incredulous than he meant.
Ron made a face at him and went back to reading. Lavender walked in and paused, practically wincing at the dirty looks she received.
"Oh, this day just keeps getting better." Ron slammed his book shut. Lavender ran to the girls' dormitories.
"What's wrong?" Hermione asked. "Besides the obvious." She nodded in the direction Lavender ran.
"Mione, can I talk to you?" Ron stood and took her by the arm. He led her to an alcove away from the others.
"Ron, what is it?"
He swallowed, then sighed. "I want to ask you something. About us. I mean, when we were together. And I want you to be completely honest."
Suddenly, Hermione wished she hadn't asked what was wrong. "Okay," she said tentatively.
"When we . . . was it . . .all right? Did I do . . .okay?"
"Why are you asking me this?" she blushed. They didn't talk about it much when they were together, but under the current circumstances, she felt beyond awkward. Especially after what she heard the night before.
"Did Pansy say something to you? What did she do to you?" Hermione forgot about the awkwardness and began to feel protective of Ron. "I'll jinx that little slag so hard she'll see stars."
"Hermione, she didn't do anything to me. Just answer my question."
Hermione looked around to see that no one was listening, but cast a silencing spell anyway.
"This is a bit uncomfortable. Can't you talk to Harry about what's bothering you?"
"Harry can't answer my question, only you can. You're the only one I trust."
When he put it like that, how could she resist? "Ron, please remember that we were both inexperienced when we got together." She noticed Ron's shoulders slump. "That said," she glanced around again. "Being with you was lovely."
"But was it any good? Did you ever, you know, have to pretend it was better than it was?"
Her eyes went wide. "You mean, fake an . . . no, I've never done that." She felt her face flush. "There was no need to." She didn't think she could be more embarrassed.
"Are you sure? Because I think Pansy faked it last night. Or at the very least, greatly exaggerated." It was his turn to blush.
"You really think that was an act? It was somewhat . . . dramatic, but fake? I don't think so."
"Oh, Gods, you heard her?"
"It was hard not to."
"Do you remember Zabini's question last night? It's one of the few things I do remember about the game."
She remembered too.
"I remember how she answered, well, how Malfoy answered it."
"Don't remind me," Hermione said. She knew it was silly to be jealous of Pansy. "Hmm, well she was a screamer last night."
Ron blushed brightly again.
"I'm sorry, Ron. Did you ask her about it last night?"
"No, I just left," Ron explained.
"Oh." This was getting more uncomfortable by the minute.
"Is that bad?" he asked. "That's really bad, isn't it?"
"Yeah, that's bad," she answered.
"I felt humiliated, Hermione. Who could get off after that?"
"Theo would," she said and they both laughed, cutting some of the tension. "But why are you worried so much about Pansy? I mean, she doesn't seem to get overly attached. Does she even like you? You deserve more." She put her hand on his arm to emphasize her point. "None of those other girls really cared until you became a hero."
"Except Lavender, ironically," he pointed out. They laughed again.
"And me," Hermione added. "But talk to her if it means something to you."
Ron hugged and thanked Hermione for putting up with his awkwardness.
"As a matter of fact, Pansy said she liked that about me," Ron told her.
"That's actually kind of sweet," Hermione admitted. She took off the silencing charm and they began to walk back toward the fireplace where Ginny, Harry, Luna and Pansy were all sitting and talking. Ron stopped dead in his tracks. He thought he would have some time to prepare what to say-to think about wether or not he even wanted to pursue anything with Pansy. But there she was. In his face, as usual.
Pansy stood and addressed Ron. "Hello."
Somehow, he expected her to say something more clever or sarcastic.
"Hi." Ron was equally articulate.
Pansy and Ron became very aware that the others were watching with interest.
"Can we go somewhere to talk?" she asked. Again, Ron was puzzled by her lack of wit and innuendo.
"Okay." He wondered if he would be able to speak in anything but one word sentences.
They left the Gryffindor common room and walked down a hall to sit on a wide window sill. Pansy still hadn't made direct eye contact with him, which was disconcerting to Ron, to say the least. As she looked out the window, he watched her profile lit up by the late morning sun. It was then he realized she wasn't wearing any of the heavy eye make up she usually wore. Actually, she appeared to be wearing no make up at all. Her expression seemed softer without it. The eyeliner she normally sported gave her somewhat of a harsh, almost mean look. Her eyelashes, though not black, were still long and thick, but soft looking instead of spiky. Ron never took much notice of her nose before as his attention was always drawn to her eyes-or breasts, but it was pleasantly sloped and upturned a bit more than most at the end.
She was vaguely aware of him observing her and she normally didn't mind. She liked attention. Right at the moment, though, she felt scrutinized.
Pansy turned to face Ron. Her eyes focused on his face but not his eyes.
"It occurred to me, after you left the stairwell earlier . . . I think there was a misunderstanding."
Pansy was speaking most un-Pansy like. After giving her a second look, Ron realized everything about her was un-Pansy like this morning, including her clothing. She wore a jumper, which Ron was sure he'd never seen her wear before. Not that he noticed clothing in particular, but he always noticed her breasts, which were usually on display. They were decidedly not on display at the moment.
She waited to see if he would offer anything to the conversation. When he didn't, she continued as she directed her gaze out the window again.
"I know what you were thinking last night-that my um, reaction wasn't genuine."
"It was a bit much," Ron agreed. He had stopped looking at Pansy and began inspecting his nails. "I really am sorry. I've never done that before. I, I should have asked first."
"I would have said no," she admitted.
Ron hung his head just a bit lower. "I'm sorry."
"I'm not looking for an apology, Ron."
"Are you gonna hex me?" he asked sheepishly.
She smiled for the first time since they began talking. "No. I'm not going to hex you." She paused. "Actually, I liked what you did." She said the last part so quietly Ron wasn't sure he heard her right.
He raised his eyebrows. "Sorry?"
"I said I liked it. It was the best shag I've had in a long time. I only wish you hadn't left. Although now I understand why you did."
"You mean, it was all real? I really did that to you?"
She nodded her head. "And I want you to do it to me again," she confessed. "If you still want to."
"Of course I bloody well want to," he said, perhaps a little more eager than he wanted to. Not that he really cared. She said it had been the best shag she'd had in a long time. He didn't know how long. And he didn't know how many other blokes she was comparing him to. As far as he was concerned, even if it was just one, he felt pret-ty fuck-ing good about that.
But he couldn't get rid of the nagging feeling that something was off. The things she said didn't match the way she looked. And Ron, being the Gryffindor he was, couldn't let it go. Sometimes he wished he could be like Theo and just be out for a good time. He was just a sap, looking for more. More than the girls he'd been with anyway.
"Pansy? At the risk of totally fucking this up for myself-are you sure? You seem . . . sad or something."
"I'm not sad. I feel, I don't know exactly. Exposed? Vulnerable? I've never let go. I've never given up control before. Nobody ever made me feel completely free. Even if it was for only a moment."
"Really? Never? All those blokes?"
"I never trusted any of them enough."
He smiled and sat up straighter.
"That's right. You said you never had a Gryffindor. But, you didn't trust Malfoy? He's your best friend."
"Yes, but he was still a Deatheater who ended up playing both sides of the war," she pointed out. "Maybe I'd trust him now, if it came down to it. Maybe."
"And you trust me? You barely know me." Then Ron's eyes widened and a small gasp escaped his lips. "And I left you. Oh Pansy, I'm so sorry. You were upset because I left you, not because of what I did to you. I'm such a tosser," he chastised himself. "I won't do that again. I promise."
He wanted to hug her. He wasn't sure she was the huggy type, though, and hesitated. Ron decided to follow Hermione's advice and screw it. He wanted to hug her, so he did. And surprisingly, she let him.
Pansy closed her eyes and let Ron's arms encircle her as they sat on the window sill. His chest and arms were firm and warm. She had always prided herself as being the type of girl who was strong. The kind of girl that didn't need a man to take care of her. But in Ron's arms, she felt good. He was just holding her. She didn't know why it should make her feel so good. He wasn't even trying to make a move on her. He was holding her the way Draco used to sometimes try. But she always dismissed him. Now she didn't understand why. She could stay like this forever . . .
"Pansy? Pansy?" She heard Ron's voice and felt her shoulder being shaken.
She pushed up and sat an arms length away from him. Momentarily disoriented, Pansy blinked a few times trying to recall what she was doing there in Ron's arms.
"Sorry," Ron said. "I didn't want to wake you, but they'll be serving lunch soon and my bum's falling asleep." He laughed softly.
"I fell asleep? How long?"
Ron looked at his wristwatch. "Almost forty-five minutes."
"Crap. We've been sitting here that long? Why didn't you wake me sooner? I've got things to do today."
Ron smiled his closed mouth grin. The one that made him look much more innocent than her really was.
"Because it was nice. And you seemed to need it. I didn't mind."
"I've got to go change and put some make-up on. I must look a wreck." Pansy tried to get up, but Ron held her hand down so she couldn't stand.
"I think you look prettier without it. And your clothes are fine for lunch. Walk down with me."
Pansy giggled. "Most people ask me if I'm feeling all right if I'm not wearing make-up. Do you really think I look okay?"
"Definitely. You don't look as . . ." he searched for a word that wouldn't offend her.
"Slutty?" she finished.
"I wasn't going to say that," he protested.
"But that's what people think. They're right of course," she laughed.
"Aw, isn't this sweet," a sarcastic voice interrupted them. A bitter Lavender stood in front of the pair.
"Go away Lav," Ron said.
"Putting the moves on her now? She's out of your league," Lavender spat.
"Jealous?" Pansy grinned, putting her hand on Ron's knee. "At least I didn't have to trick him."
Lavender gasped. "She knows? Oh, Gods, you screwed her, didn't you?"
Neither Pansy nor Ron replied.
"But we were supposed to meet two nights ago. We were going to . . . and you just shagged her instead?"
"I wasn't going to do anything with you," Ron told her. "Even before I found out what you did, I wasn't all that interested. I only kept it up because I didn't want to hurt your feelings."
Lavender huffed. "You prat. You led me on." She looked at Pansy. "You deserve this slag."
Pansy remained nonplussed. "How's Tracey, by the way?"
Again, Lavender huffed, but this time had no response. She turned on her heel, squared her shoulders and stomped away.
Ron and Pansy looked at each other and burst out laughing.
"She's mental, that one. Remind me to thank Malfoy later. Blimey, did I just say I wanted to thank Malfoy? I don't know what's going on anymore." Ron shook his head.
"You might want to do more than thank him," Pansy suggested.
A flash of Malfoy letting Blaise kiss him popped into Ron's head.
"What do you mean?" Ron asked in a panicked voice.
"He kind of tried to shake your hand last night during the game. Don't you remember?" He shook his head. "He and Harry put their differences aside, to try to be friends. For Hermione's sake, I guess."
"Like, actual friends?" Ron asked disbelieving.
"Yeah, and you sort of just got up and went to the loo. You left him hanging. Hermione tried to smooth it over for you," Pansy told him.
"I don't remember that at all. I'm sure Hermione's thrilled with me," Ron said rolling his eyes. "I wonder why she didn't mention it. I suppose I ought to apologize. You know, for Hermione's sake."
"And mine?" Pansy asked hopefully. She elaborated when Ron looked confused. "I thought maybe if we're going to be spending a lot of time together, you're going to be around Draco, too."
"Are we? Going to be spending a lot of time together?" He bit his lip. "I don't get it. There are so many other blokes you could be with. Better ones than me-smarter, with money, better looking . . ."
"And they all just like me because I'm easy. I give them what they want without commitment. But I don't care about money, I have enough, and you're plenty smart. You've done some amazing things. And I've already told you I like your face," she smiled.
"I thought that was because you were drunk and it was kind of dark," Ron snickered.
"Besides, it's me that's not a great catch. Doesn't it bother you that I've shagged half the boys around here?"
"Well, it is a bit intimidating," Ron said shyly. "You're going to stop, though, right? I mean . . . you're not going to shag anyone else if we . . . are we . . . are you gonna be my girlfriend?" He scratched his head.
"You want me to be your girlfriend?" she asked incredulously.
"If you want to," Ron said. "I wasn't sure you did that, except for Malfoy. You don't have to, it was just a thought." He laughed nervously. "I don't know what I was thinking."
"Ron."
"Why would you want to be my girlfriend? Forget I said that."
"Ron."
"What an arse. Just tell me to shut it."
"Shut it, Ron," Pansy said with a smile. "Of course I want to. There's something . . . about you." She leaned forward and kissed him softly in his full lips. He pulled her onto his knee and deepened the kiss.
Giggling in the corridor brought the pair back to reality.
"Ugh, gross," Ginny said. "I didn't need to see that."
Hermione grinned at the two. She thought they were actually kind of cute together. "You two going to eat?"
"You bet," Ron said.
Harry joined them and the five students walked together to the Great Hall.
*Thanks for reading! Feel free to review