2000
"Yeah. I suppose I could use an adventure."
Pansy hadn't known from whence her words had come, only that they had, and were now irreversibly existent.
Like her voice, the woman appeared abruptly, suddenly materializing in what appeared to be a blank field at the foot of a low green hill. The apparition must have taken them quite far indeed, as the sun which had set back in London was now once again dallying just above the horizon.
"Tell me," spoke the fae witch "...do you suppose you'll be able to make it to the top?"
She glanced head to toe over her counterpart inquisitively, apparently appraising the needlessly high heels and ostentatious flowing gown.
Pansy scrunched her nose, squinting her eyes slightly in something like a wince, as if the mere thought of mounting the small hill sent worms writhing through her belly.
"Can't we just apparate?" She said in a tone of disgust.
The blonde woman's laugh was a chime in the wind.
"We could, yes." She replied. "But it would take most of the fun out of it."
Pansy snorted. Anything aerobic was not considered "fun" by her definition, nor remotely enjoyable.
"Well I'm certainly not making it up there in this." the dark witch gestured to her attire. "And I'm shite at transfiguration, so unless you have any better ideas, I'll be keeping myself here."
The fae-witch kneeled down, examining the offending footwear.
"These aren't suitable for walking, much less hiking." She ascertained, mostly to herself. She tapped her bent knee. "Foot?" She requested.
The dark-haired witch gave her a wary glance before setting one spiked stiletto atop her strange companion's leg.
Luna gingerly unfastened the myriad straps and buckles, releasing her counterpart of the unnecessary confines.
"Other foot." the blonde intoned with a grin. Lady Parkinson obliged and was subsequently relieved of her right shoe.
"There," Luna stated with smug satisfaction, standing up and looping the straps of the footwear around her middle finger. "Let's go."
She cast a quick protection charm for Pansy, on the off chance she might step into something unseemly.
As the fae-witch set off, Pansy remained at the foot of the hill, staring dumbstruck.
"You don't seriously expect me to walk up there barefoot?" She yelled incredulously after her companion.
Luna sighed as she turned around to look right through Pansy with a faraway stare.
She sat down on the grass, unlacing her muggle trainers to reveal rainbow-striped socks with swirling silver threads wisping up and around her lower leg. Pulling a drawstring knapsack from her back, she shrunk down her trainers and the stilettos to stow them away.
"Better?" she questioned.
Pansy gave a withering sigh, complete with a defeated glare.
"This will be fun," Luna whimsically reassured her. "I've been here many times. If you don't like it, I'll carry you. Ok?"
There wasn't much the disgruntled Parkinson could argue with in that statement, other than her traveling partner didn't appear to have enough fortitude to lift her. Perhaps she was adept at lightening charms from carrying around cameras and such. Pansy decided to give it a go.
"Ok." she resolved, as her hand found itself pulled up and away towards the beckoning adventure.
She imagined they must appear like two lost schoolgirls frolicking over the hillside. Her in her flowing gown and Luna in her odd muggle accouterments, both shoeless and holding hands in a gut-churning wholesomeness Pansy would typically find extremely unpalatable. Adventures, she supposed, would necessarily be initially unpalatable, as that would be the adventure-y part. Exiting one's comfortable complacency to embark on something new.
It hadn't been all unsavory experience for the Parkinson heir. Not that she had ever made a habit of being outdoors, but from her limited experience, the grass was the softest she had ever felt. It was nestled with the tiniest dew drops, cooling her skin gently as it caressed her soles. The Earth hummed it's magic straight through her being, relaxing her mind and body as they ascended. Soon, something strange began to occur as the greenery swayed flexibly to and fro beneath them: Tiny glints of light were left in their wake as they passed.
"What… what are those?" Pansy stuttered at a whisper, stopping in her trek while releasing her companion's warm hand.
Pansy turned around to look down the hill, gasping involuntarily at the trail of iridescent splendor twinkling wonderously in the purple glow of twilight.
Luna paused as well, turning to investigate the question further.
"This," she knelt, placing a tiny bit of the glittering powder onto the pad of her finger "is fairy dust." Her eyes widened as she said it, in the tone of a little girl telling her closest friend where to find a secret stash of chocolate.
Her smile was not one of far-away contemplations as was her usual, but complete presence as she locked eyes with Pansy.
"F-fairy dust?" the dark witch stuttered.
"Yes. There are many uses for it, but this isn't the best of the surprise!" the enchanting blonde remarked cryptically through widened eyes and a gleaming white smile.
The childish, optimistic look of anticipation on her counterpart's face was enough for Pansy to squelch the disturbing inquiry of what part of the fairies the dust came from. She was intrigued enough by the prospect of the awaiting surprise that she decided to swallow her disgust (ignorance is bliss and such) to continue stepping through the mysterious substance to find out what would greet her at the summit.
As they neared the top of the hill, Luna once again turned to her date to assess her attire, staring silently at the gleaming purple gown.
"Would you quit looking at me like that? Salazar!" Pansy cursed, crossing her arms violently over herself at the continual silent appraisals.
She had long been used to the leering stares of wizards and the constant judgementalism of her pureblooded peers. (See: every word uttered by Daphne "you would be a stunning witch if..." Greengrass and Draco "you've lost weight everywhere but your face" Malfoy).
Luna's gaze, however, felt nothing like theirs. It wasn't picking her into pieces, segmenting her attributes for dissection and analysis. It wasn't evaluating and assigning merits to her every feature. Instead, it was absorbing. It was taking in the entire picture that was Pansy Parkinson and simply viewing. Seeing what was there, what was her, without continually trying to improve it. Pansy had never been looked at in this way that she'd noticed, and her lack of inherent reaction deeply aggravated her Slytherin sensibilities.
The affronter of her morale spoke again.
"When will your glamour charm run out?"
"Midnight, our time."
"Did your glamour team give you the cancellation spell?"
"I'm sure she did. Not that I was listening."
The glittering ring of Luna's laugh lingered on the wind.
"If you will wait here a moment, I'll go talk to them."
She walked off muttering "imitation fairy lights" while shaking her head, as Pansy wondered who "them" entailed and if she had made a wise decision in following the eclectic witch to unknown territory.
As she watched Luna disappear over the summit, she heard a cacophonous ringing of high-pitched bells. It was the sound of celebration, the welcoming home of a prodigal daughter. Minutes passed as she listened to the music, impatiently anticipating the return of her enigmatic companion.
No sooner had she debated on apparating home did Luna appear followed by a tiny ball of golden light floating above her left shoulder. The bells, she deduced had to be a form of language, as Luna opened her mouth to present the musical sounds to the shining orb.
As the light floated closer to Pansy, she felt a warm blanket of calm cocoon her in cozy surrender. She noticed mutely the floating glow contained a tiny being, no larger than the palm of her hand. She couldn't tell if it was male or female, as the short-cropped hair and slender figure could have been either. She felt compelled to speak to it, but wasn't sure if it would comprehend her human language. In an uncharacteristic moment of sincerity, she offered a genuine smile in hopes it would know she was greeting it in peace.
The being shook it's head in confusion, sneezing the most brutal wind directly in Pansy's face as all of the imitation fairy lights went dark. The being nodded it's head first to Pansy, then Luna, as if to communicate "My work here is done." before flitting off to assumedly join the anonymous "them".
"Come." Luna requested, once again encasing Pansy's hand in her own.
The warm and soggy feeling enveloping the Lady Parkinson brooked no room for argument as she docilely floated with her counterpart across the precipice.
The sight before her was glorious. Spectacular in it's simplicity; striking in it's minimalistic beauty.
Thousands of glittering orbs strung high throughout the blackening sky, disappearing amongst the stars and galaxies making themselves known in the crystal-clear night. Shining in pinks and turquoises, violets and greens, colors Pansy couldn't accurately describe in words, the shifting arrangement was brighter than the most prestigiously cut diamonds in her vault; more iridescent than the surface of muggle children's soap bubbles.
Luna leaned to whisper in Pansy's ear, sending an unbidden shiver down her spine.
"These… are real fairy lights."
oxOXOxo
The witches sat languidly in the soft grass, listening to the chattering bell-language and being caressed by the gentle breeze. They had been silent for most of the encounter, taking in the breathtaking demonstration. Their hands which had long since grown sodden and wrinkled lay still intertwined on the grass between them. Neither seemed to notice, as the serenity of the other's embrace was enough to quell any plausible discomfort.
The calming feeling emitted by the one fairy had been heightened many times over by the lengthy time spent in the presence of the hoard of them, and now Pansy's skin was blissfully buzzing with delight and her mind was a serene picture of tranquility. As such, her thoughts began to flow like music from a songbird; uninhibited, and never abashed.
"These…" She gestured to the fae-lit sky with her unencumbered hand. "These are your people?"
"They are." Luna replied nonchalantly. "From my mother's side, but our familial structures are different."
Pansy didn't question further, as her blissed-out mind knew it couldn't comprehend a Ravenclaw facsimile of a Pureblood family tree in this state.
"Oh." she replied instead. "I didn't know fae were people... I mean, I didn't know fae could be humans."
The blonde arched a quizzical eyebrow at the other witch, imploring her to continue painting herself into a verbal corner. As suspected, Lady Parkinson did just that.
"It's just… I didn't think they could be our size, you know? All through school, I thought you were part veela or something."
Luna laughed at this development, and Pansy's eyes stung with tears at the beauty of the sound. She wasn't quite sure when she had devolved into a Hufflepuff at such sentiments, but endeavored to listen nonetheless.
"If I was a veela, I suspect I would have attracted more attention." the fae-witch noted.
"Oh, you attracted attention!" Pansy concluded, snorting hard before landing flat on her back in the grass.
"I suspect I did." Luna lay beside her, propped on one elbow. "But not the kind a veela gets. You got more of that, I suspect."
Pansy fell somber at the remark, not wanting to ruin her new friend's high with the sobering thoughts of her inadequacies.
"Yeah…" she mused aloud, anxious to switch topics. "Hey, what was in that jar you had?"
"Oh, this?" Luna inquired, Accioing the jar of nargles from her backpack. It still glowed blue, with the black cloth now seemingly suspended in the air within. "It's a piece of a dementor's cloak."
Pansy sat up abruptly, choking on her own saliva. Luna patted her back graciously until she regained her oxygen.
"Dementor's cloak?! Shaggy Merlin's sodding beard! How the hell did you get something like that?"
Luna shrugged, propping herself back onto both elbows as she looked off into no particular place in the distance.
"I asked."
"Asked who?! The Ministry?"
The fae witch shook her head in exasperation before breathing a chuckling sigh.
"A dementor. I asked a dementor."
"You asked. A dementor. For a piece of it's cloak." Pansy restated incredulously.
"Yeah, why not?"
"But WHY?!" Pansy yelled, once again sitting up to stare down at her companion.
Luna sat up as well, sandwiching both of her hands between her own.
"Are you going to trust me enough to let me explain? Without interrupting." she clarified.
Pansy nodded acquiescence.
"Good, now…" she began, pointing to the inside of the jar.
Pansy's brain melted as she languidly noted that she inadvertently signed herself up for the exact type of Ravenclaw explanatory prowess she had explicitly been avoiding.
"Dementors feed on negative energy. They have to use force to blow all of that positive energy away to get to the juicy little depressive bits they like. That's why when they are around, it feels like all of the happiness and warmth is drained away from you."
Pansy nodded to illustrate she was listening to the best of her inebriated ability.
"That's where the nargles come into play. Nargles can keep negative energy channels open. That's supposedly why they steal your socks and such. These little irritations add up and give the dementors more streams of sustenance to work with."
"So, innocent little Lovegood is helping the dementors fuck up people's lifeforce? Quite snakey of you if you ask me." remarked Pansy, arching an appreciative eyebrow at the dastardliness of it all.
"Oh no, not quite." Luna replied levelly. "See, dementors don't need humans to feed on, they just need the bad vibes. The dementor gave me a piece of it's cloak to attract nargles, and once I catch them, I drop them off by the dementors' breeding grounds. Win-win. It helps keep the nargles and the dementors away from us."
"Wow." was Pansy's only sentient thought. "I had no idea. That's brilliant." Talk about simple inconveniences easily solved. Who would have ever considered negotiating with the embodiment of evil? And yet, it worked splendidly. "What would you have done if it would have kissed you?"
"Died, I suppose."
"Yeah." Pansy agreed, suddenly regaining the fuzzy feeling of contentment which had somewhat abated with the aforementioned conversation. "You did hang out with that idiot Potter. I suppose all of you were a nervy lot."
"I suppose so." replied Luna, sighing into the wind. "Stupidly so at times. But you were nervy as well if I remember correctly."
"You obviously don't remember correctly." Pansy huffed. "I was Draco's sycophant," she stated with no inflection. 'How did those words make it out of my mouth?' she wondered. 'Must be the fairy dust.'
"Yeah, Malfoy was a demanding little brat, wasn't he?" Luna mused flatly. "But on the contrary, I thought offering up Harry as a sacrifice was quite bold, if misguided."
Pansy cringed and folded in on herself, the air in her lungs suddenly escaping as her airway stood silent.
The fae-witch spoke softly.
"For what it's worth, it would have been a smart tactical move. I don't blame you for it."
If Pansy had any illusions of her resolve being intact, they were ultimately broken in that moment. Those may have been the kindest, most understanding words ever directed at her. The decision she had been ridiculed and vilified about for the better part of a decade was suddenly vindicated. The shame that had been thrust upon her and carried deep in her heart was lifted off her countenance with one nonchalant comment.
"Thank you." she murmured, pulling in the blonde's hand to lay it over her now pounding heart.
She pressed it there with both hands, for once, cherishing the laying aside of her identified persona. She closed her eyes and breathed the sweet aroma of fairy dust while listening to the fading tinkering of bells in the sky.
"Can I kiss you?" she muttered, as a nearly identical "May I kiss you?" echoed from her left.
Pansy opened her eyes smiling as she looked into fields covered in snow and unhampered reality.
"Yes." they said in unison.
A/N: Ha! A/N's at the end this time! Gotta keep y'all guessing!
All hail Tempest E. Dashon, Queen of Lemons, for reading through this chapter and endlessly cheering me on.
I've received lots of positive feedback from the Pansy/Luna dynamic, and I must say they are fun to write. Since I am trying diligently to improve my writing, I have a teeny tiny request for you, dear readers.
Can y'all please let me know how Pansy translated to you? I'm trying to see if the themes I'm trying to convey are coming across well or getting lost in translation. Gratitude for your efforts.
Thank you, as always, for sticking with me through this fic.
We have some action-y stuff coming up soon.
Stay tuned!
All my love,
Vine