A/N: I don't own Harry Potter

This is for the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Assignment #7 Transfiguration - Task #1: Transformation: Write about someone undergoing a change (this can be emotional, physical—whatever you'd like).

Word Count: 665

Pansy lifted up another slab of castle wall, throwing it into the pile with the rest. Right now, clearing a solid path, seeing what was salvageable and what wasn't the current task. She had volunteered to help rebuild Hogwarts out of both a sense of duty and remorse.

She knew she wasn't directly responsible for any of this, that it had been the Death Eaters, but she would have been lying to herself if she didn't admit that in a year or so, she might have been at least somewhat inclined, well forced, to take the Mark.

She stretched, her tank top sliding up revealing the butterfly tattoo on her lower back. Pansy reached down to fix her shirt when someone grabbed her hand. She turned to find Ron standing directly behind her. She smiled slightly thinking about the time she'd danced with Ron at some party, maybe it had been Slughorn's?

"You're staring," she stated, pulling her shirt back down and covering the purple wings.

"You're my butterfly," Ron whispered, tracing his fingers over Pansy's lips. She gave him a slight smile. She couldn't help but feel the way her heart pounded in her chest. Once upon a time, Ron had been given advice that he'd find true love if he followed the butterflies.

It had been a joke then, they'd almost dated, but things had gotten in the way. Now, she was face to face with him again, nothing stopping either of them. Pansy wasn't with the Slytherins who had refused to return. Ron wasn't with his friends who thought all snakes were evil. It was just the two of them.

"I'm not a butterfly, Ron," she commented. "It's just an image on my back, that's all. I'm nothing like some winged creature."

"You are, you started as one thing. You were a stuck up snake who delighted in causing pain. Now, you're something different. You came back. You're trying to make amends for who the world thinks you. You're so much stronger, so much more than what you were before. You became something so bright, so amazing," Ron stated, tilting Pansy's face up and kissing her.

She almost kissed him back. She wanted to, but could she do it, could she act on these feelings she'd hidden before. She was so tired of being judged for who everyone thought she should be. Slowly, she gave in, letting her lips mingle with Ron's. It was a moment of pure bliss.

"Why?" she asked, breaking the kiss. It hurt to do so, but she had to know why. She had to know if he honestly wanted to pursue this now. Her feelings for him hadn't changed, but she had. "Why now? We both know it couldn't work then, why now?" she asked.

Ron nodded.

"I know, I had a lot of growing up to do too, Pansy. I think, maybe part of what was holding me back then was that back then, the stupid colors we wore meant something. We were led to believe they meant something."

"Are you saying you don't think that our houses define us anymore?" Pansy asked, wondering just how freeing it would be to no longer care about that part of herself, the Slytherin part of her.

"Yes," Ron whispered. "That's exactly what I'm saying. Pansy, I know I should have said something years ago, should have realized this before the world turned upside down, but would you consider, you know, giving me a second chance?" Ron asked, looking hopefully at Pansy.

She blinked, biting her lower lip, a strand of her blue black hair falling across her face. Ron reached out and tucked it behind her ear.

"Sure, why not?" she answered after a moment. "Why don't we head to the Hog's Head and grab some drinks?" she suggested, ignoring the hustle and bustle around them. Ron nodded, letting her take his arm and lead him from the remains of the place they had both once called home.