Author's Notes
Hi everybody, Happy Bank Holiday Monday! (to those of you in the UK anyway, happy Monday to everybody in the rest of the world.
So, due to various tech issues, mainly my laptop dying, I haven't been able to upload the last update of Beyond the Sea to . Now I've figured out how to do that via a tablet, the good news is that we now have a double update planned for today!
Here we are then, update number one, chapter 12, which contains a rather eventful visit to Gringotts for Pansy!
Thank you as ever to champagneandliteratue for being the best writing partner ever, I appreciate you more than you will ever know.
We will be back later on today with the next update that brings us level with AO3. I hope you all have a wonderful day. Lots of love, Claire. (phoenix!)
Beyond The Sea - Chapter 12 - Gringotts.
Pansy
Pansy stood dutifully in place in the circle, making sure to keep her eyes downcast and her breathing steady. She felt panicked today, even more so than she usually did during Death Eater meetings. She couldn't help fearing that someone, most likely one of the loyal Death Eaters, would notice how tense and agitated she was. So far no one had said anything, but Pansy was on tenterhooks anyway. As Draco had pointed out, things were suddenly moving very fast all around them, and they were not yet fully prepared for what could play out.
She hoped that she was being overly paranoid and that she hadn't made the wrong choice by stopping Blaise from locking her mind to all potential intruders. She hated the memory closing spell with all of her heart. Draco had locked her mind with it twice before, both times for her own safety, and he had reversed it as soon as the danger they were facing had passed, but the feeling of not being able to control her own thoughts had stayed with her, making her reluctant to submit to it a third time. She hated not being able to access her own memories, but even worse than that, the spell forced her to stay grounded in the present, meaning that losing herself to her usual comforting daydreams became impossible.
She knew she wasn't the only one who was feeling edgy. She wasn't the only one who had experienced the energy shift of an elemental magic bond either. On the surface, nothing in her life had changed, and yet she knew that her magical core had transformed irreversibly the moment it had merged with Ron's. She felt different now too, and she knew that Blaise, Theo, and Draco also felt very different following their own respective bondings. Studying them critically as they stood in the circle, Pansy could admit that they all looked the same as usual, nothing in their outward appearances gave the impression that anything untoward had happened, but all three of the boys were far better at hiding their emotions than she was.
She knew they all felt different following their bondings because they had told her so, but she had also noticed shifts in their behavior. Blaise had been walking around with a soft, almost shy smile that Pansy had never seen before, while Theo, with a welcome return to his usual trademark brashness, had been practically shouting his happiness from the rooftops. Just that morning, he had made Pansy smile by picking her up and spinning her around in the lounge, then by singing loud, terribly off key rock songs in the shower. She had also spotted Draco staring quietly into nothing on several occasions, the dreamy look on his face morphing into a rather becoming blush when he had noticed her watching. For so long, her best friends had all been behaving like watered down, shadow images of their true selves, and Pansy was finding it wonderful to see them all coming back to life.
A sudden, terrifying realization hit her as she stood listening to Voldemort drone on about something that was bound to be horrifying, the others were giving no outward signs of the recent changes in their personal lives because they were all so good at Occlumency. She herself was terrible at it, and therefore anyone who was curious could simply delve into her mind and see exactly what she was thinking. Feeling slightly sick, she resolved to let Draco or Blaise lock her mind down as soon as was humanly possible.
Bellatrix broke through Pansy's daydream, starting to speak and gesticulating wildly with her hands as she did so. Pansy wrinkled her nose in disgust, then tuned her out, turning her mind back to more pleasant thoughts while she still could.
The sudden surge of renewed energy had been affecting Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione as well. However, Pansy supposed it wasn't so much of a concern for them because they didn't have to stand here surrounded by some of the most vile people in the wizarding world, in the way that she did.
She rolled her eyes, trying not to feel resentful about the way her life had turned out. She'd forgiven Harry for not killing Voldemort two years ago, and they were getting on much better now. In fact, Pansy had been pleased to see Harry, who had always been the most subdued of the group, starting to come out of his shell. She'd even gone so far as to accuse Theo of being a good influence on him, something that Theo had been comically mortified by. Pansy bit back a giggle as she remembered the look of horror that had crossed his face at her throwaway remark, it wouldn't do to randomly burst out laughing in the ranks.
Instead, she rolled her eyes at Bellatrix's seemingly endless monologue then turned her attention to Draco. She'd thought she had been imagining things when her Light Mark had prickled with her best friend's kiss bond, but the difference in him and Hermione had been apparent the moment she'd arrived home.
She had landed in the kitchen, fresh from her shift at Malfoy Manor, to hear the gentle plucking of Draco's acoustic guitar. Surprised, given that she hadn't heard him play for months, she had followed the sound out to the patio, then smiled at the sight of him playing softly while Hermione pretended to read beside him.
Not wanting to disturb their tender moment, Pansy had watched from the doorway, totally lost in the sound of Draco's playing. The covert looks that Hermione had been sneaking him had surprised her too. They were nothing short of adoring. It seemed that Hermione had fallen just as hard for Draco as Pansy had for Ron.
Ginny had been skipping around the cottage, looking the picture of happiness too. In complete contrast to the mornings Pansy had found her crying alone in the kitchen, she was now spending most of her free time in there with Blaise. Both of them loved to cook, and Ginny's frequent shrieks of laughter, mixed with Blaise's more reserved chuckles, were like a balm to Pansy's battered soul. She knew she would have to watch her waistline if they continued like this for much longer, but Ginny's cakes and Blaise's delicious Italian inspired meals were proving to be a very welcome distraction from the less wholesome side of her life.
And then there was Ron. Pansy smiled as she thought of him. She was still struggling to believe just how quickly and completely she had fallen for him. It would have been surprising to her to feel this way about anybody, but given her and Ron's long history of antagonizing each other at school, her current feelings for him were nothing short of miraculous. She knew she was falling head over heels in love with him, and there wasn't a single thing she could do to stop that.
Ron was quickly becoming the person she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. He asked for nothing, he put no pressure on her for anything, and he was the easiest company Pansy thought she had ever kept. He loved sitting in the garden with her, watching the chickens or petting the rabbits that Theo had once brought home. He made no mention of the fact that Theo had intended for them to find their way into the cooking pot, but less than an hour after they had arrived, Pansy had fallen in love with them, named them, and given them a permanent home in her fledgling vegetable garden. Two rabbits had quickly turned into seven rabbits when one of the pair had turned out to be pregnant, and Theo had long given up on the idea of ever seeing any of them on the table.
Ron didn't seem to mind Pansy's preoccupation with animal rescue, despite the fact that the Weasley family had always kept their own rabbits and chickens for food.
In fact, exactly how much he didn't mind it was slowly becoming clear. Just this morning Pansy had found Ron outside with Blaise, working on a secret project in the now much more bearable early morning sunshine. Pansy had been collecting eggs for breakfast with Ginny when peals of male laughter had caught their attention. Abandoning the chicken coop, they had followed the voices to a newly cordoned-off part of the garden. Part of her had felt bad for sneaking up to look at what they were doing, but that hadn't stopped her from doing it. She and Ginny had both peered through the bushes, then clapped their hands over their mouths, looked at each other, and given almost identical, highly theatrical swoons.
Ron and Blaise had both been working shirtless, building what appeared to be a new, wooden animal enclosure. Ron had had several smears of dirt across his muscular arms, and he had been holding a heavy piece of timber up in the air with apparent ease, while Blaise fixed it in place with what Ginny said was an electric screwdriver.
Ginny had flushed dramatically at the sight of Blaise's toned chest, and she had sucked in an affected breath as he'd turned away, his shoulder muscles rippling in the sunshine. "Fuck me," Ginny had muttered, and Pansy had giggled, feeling equally affected by the sight of Ron's naked chest.
The two men had been a complete contrast to each other, Ron's skin was as fair as Blaise's was dark, but as attractive as Blaise was, Pansy only had eyes for Ron. His red hair had glinted coppery gold in the hazy sunlight, and Pansy had longed to sink her fingers into its sumptuous lengths, pull him close and kiss his breath away. She had gazed at the muggle tattoos covering his strong upper arms and had attempted to reign in her wandering mind. "Oh my…" she'd whispered, her voice trailing off into an affected sigh.
"Pans, I'm really struggling with the way you're looking at my brother right now," Ginny had giggled, licking her lips as she'd continued to shamelessly ogle Blaise.
Pansy had smiled then cackled quietly. "Get used to it, Gin. if you get to stare at Zabini like that, I get to stare at my boyfriend the same way," she'd said while flashing Ginny a gleeful grin-
"Pansy, please, my Lord." A deep voice broke through Pansy's daydream, and she snapped back to reality with a horrified start.
"Very well," she heard Voldemort agree, and as always, his high pitched voice chilled her to the bone. Panicked, Pansy dipped her head in acknowledgment, wondering what she had just agreed to. She breathed a silent sigh of relief when nothing more was said.
"Meeting dismissed," Voldemort stated, sweeping his red tinged eyes around the circle, "Malfoy. Dolohov. Bella. You will all stay behind."
Pansy dropped into a deep curtsy, mirroring Bellatrix and Alecto, the only other women in the room, as everyone bowed their respect to the madman at the head of the circle. Draco, Antonin, and Bellatrix stayed obediently in place, and Pansy's heart pounded with worry as it always did when Draco or one of the others ended up in a situation like this. She stalled for time, waiting for Blaise or Theo to tell her what she was supposed to be doing.
Theo caught up with her at the door. "You weren't listening, were you?" he asked in a resigned voice. She shook her head as he snorted elegantly, not sounding the least bit surprised. "Gringotts inspection. With Thorfinn. Want me to sneak along with you?"
Pansy gasped. She knew exactly what Theo was really asking, even though she couldn't see his face under his mask. "But Antonin knows what we're doing!" she whispered, trying to make sense of her conflicting thoughts.
"Exactly," Theo agreed quietly. "That's why this is the perfect chance to push Finn for more information. None of them will be expecting us to be this bold. And Thorfinn won't expect me to sneak into Gringotts behind you, will he?" Pansy couldn't deny that was true. Of all of the targets she, Theo, and Blaise had used her seduction techniques on, Thorfinn Rowle was by far the easiest. "If you don't want to, though, I totally get it." Theo finished, guiding her into a quiet alcove.
Pansy stared wordlessly at his silver mask as Thorfinn crossed the hall towards them. She didn't know what to do. Her heart pounded as Ron's face hovered in her mind. He'd never once asked her to stop doing what she did, even when they'd talked about it directly, but right now kissing Thorfinn felt too duplicitous for her to even contemplate, no matter how genuine the reasons for doing it were. "I can't!" she whispered dramatically, feeling thoroughly shocked by the strength of her objection, "I just can't do that anymore!"
Theo shrugged. She wished she could read the expression on his face. "Not a problem," he said, turning to greet Thorfinn instead. "Afternoon."
"Alright, Nott?" Thorfinn clapped him heartily on the shoulder. "You coming with us today?"
"Coming with you where?" Theo asked easily while Pansy gulped. Had he heard their discussion?
"Chateau Lestrange. After Pansy and I are done at Gringotts. Bass is going to stop by Knockturn at some stage today."
"Oh, uh, yeah," Theo appeared to hesitate for a moment before answering casually, "I suppose I could. There's nothing else to do, is there?"
"Ahhhh, mate," Thorfinn said in what sounded like a caring tone, "still having a hard time, are you? Don't worry. We'll cheer you up. Meet you there at eight?"
"Yeah. See you later then," Theo said as he turned away.
Thorfinn watched him go, then offered his arm to Pansy. "Ready Princess?"
"Yep," she agreed, linking her arm through his, "and by the way, it's Queen to you."
Thorfinn chuckled. "You'll always be my Queen, baby girl," he chirped as they walked off down the corridor to the floo.
The Gringotts inspection was mind-numbingly tedious, but doing it with Thorfinn made it slightly more bearable. He'd always been a joker, and his terrible quips and puns helped to pass the boring vault and security inspections more quickly. Of all the high ranking Death Eaters, he was one of the ones that Pansy liked the most. "So," he asked when they were almost done and were waiting with the security goblin for the rail-cart that would take them down to the very deepest, most secure vaults of the bank, "who is he then?"
"Who is who?" Pansy asked, feigning confusion despite her suddenly pounding heart. She wished for about the millionth time that she could pick up some of Draco, Theo, or Blaise's subtlety.
"Your mystery man?" Thorfinn leaned back against the damp rocks, fixing her with his sparkling blue eyes. "Imperio," he said casually, pointing his wand at the security goblin, "You didn't hear any of this. This is private." Thorfinn's shaggy blond hair fell into his eyes, and he pushed it back with a grin as he turned around to study Pansy intently.
"Who says I've got a mystery man?" She tried her best to ignore the goblin who had walked away humming quietly with his fingers stuck in his ears.
"I do," Thorfinn asserted as the cart pulled up beside them. "I think that he's tall. I know you like tall men. I could go either way on his hair color, blond or dark. I've seen you with both, after all. He's not one of us, is he?" Thorfinn stepped into the cart as it pulled up beside them, then offered his hand to help Pansy in. "No, apparently not, oh that's risky, Pans, dating outside the fold."
He studied her intently, delighting in his ability to read her like a book. "No, you wait here," he told the still Imperio'd goblin as he made to get into the cart. "Oh okay, not a total non Death Eater then, someone with a link to the cause. Maybe someone lower in the ranks? Someone not marked," he grinned as she released the too-tight grip she'd taken on his hand at the thought of Ron receiving the Dark Mark. "Not a Death Eater at all then. Making a stand, are you? As I said, rebelling is a risky thing to do." He shifted position on the seat as the cart moved off, looking at her seriously now. "Be careful, yeah?"
"I, I thought I was being careful," she said with a cross frown as they lurched violently around a corner. Thorfinn put a strong arm around her to steady her, and she leaned her head against his bulky shoulder gratefully. "You shouldn't be in the ranks yourself, Pansy," he said. "I'm sure there's something I'm missing with you. I'm sure you're not here of your own volition. Since you are here, though, and you won't tell me why, accept a little protection, will you?"
"For fuck's sake!" Pansy exploded, trying and failing to pull away from him, "why does everyone think I need protecting? I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself! Ouch! What in the hell Thorfinn?!" she spluttered as he suddenly pushed her down and threw his cloak over them both.
He laughed, finally releasing her so she could sit up again. "Fancied a soaking, did you? You just set off the Thief's Downfall. That only activates if it detects concealment. You're hiding something from me, Pansy. I know it. The Dark Lord knows it too. That's why he sent you down here with me. I'm supposed to report back to him if you activated that thing. Which," he pushed his mercifully dry, straggly blonde hair back then shook the water off of his cloak, "as you saw, you just did."
The minecart pulled to a halt, and Pansy stepped shakily out onto the embankment. "Are you going to then?'' She asked, her attempt at a scornful voice dying in her throat as a tall, robed and masked figure stepped out of the shadows. Concerned, she turned away, bumping squarely into the solid wall of Thorfinn's chest as he blocked her escape. "Is this a trap?" her voice rose frantically as she wondered what to do. She couldn't press her Dark Mark for help, the last thing she needed was more Death Eaters swarming into the area, and she couldn't press her light mark either because Ron, Harry, and Ginny would follow its call.
"He was right then?" the tall figure asked in a familiar, slightly accented voice.
"Yeah." Thorfinn stepped out of the cart, and it lurched violently on the tracks. "What are you doing here?"
"Antonin was held back. Oh, Pansy, I hope whoever he is is worth it."
"Take off your mask!" Pansy demanded, forcing her voice to hold steady despite her terror. "Who are you?!"
"Surely you recognize my voice by now, Pansy. I'd be hurt if you didn't, after all this time," Rodolphus Lestrange said, pulling his mask up to reveal his shockingly handsome face.
"Well, with that accent, it had to be either you or Bass," Pansy said, rolling her eyes while doing her best to look unimpressed by his antics. "It's very dark down here, and it's hard to tell you two apart at the best of times. What do you want?!" she narrowed her eyes, glaring at him with all the malice she could muster.
"To see for myself whether you activated the waterfall or not."
She huffed. Genuine annoyance now mixing with her fear. "Oh fuck off Rod. You don't know that was me. It could just have easily been Thorfinn that activated it. We both passed under it."
"Yes, you did." Rodolphus turned, sweeping away down the corridor. Pansy followed him with her heart still pounding erratically. The only way she could see of getting out of this predicament was by fronting it out. Taking a deep breath, she summoned every drop of courage she possessed. She hadn't been known as the Queen of Slytherin for no reason, after all.
Rodolphus led the way to his and Bellatrix's vault then stopped outside the door. "Security seems to be intact," he said mildly, then turned away to check the other vaults in the area.
"So it does," Thorfinn agreed, strolling along as if he was merely out for a walk in the woods.
"Are you two going to continue like this isn't the most menacing act you could possibly try to pull off?" Pansy said crossly, "or are you going to tell me what the hell this is all about? Didn't your mothers teach you not to frighten women?"
Thorfinn and Rodolphus exchanged identical looks of amusement, and Pansy's temper finally snapped. She grabbed Rodolphus's arm and spun him violently around to face her. Glaring at him forcefully, she was amused to see him back up a half step in the face of her ire. "Stop it. That's enough," she asserted, beginning to see through their act. Rodolphus, in particular, was faltering for just a second too long each time she stood up to him. She watched them both closely as her mind spun once more. "You don't know what to do without him here to tell you, do you?"
Rodolphus reached for his wand, but she knew him well enough to see that he wasn't grabbing it aggressively. Instead, the opposite was true. This was a defensive move, he was concerned for his safety. The thought struck her as amusing, despite the seriousness of the situation she was currently facing. "Neither of you have the slightest idea what to do now that I'm challenging you because Dolohov's not here to tell you! Ha! Fucking hell, I'm right, aren't I? You can't prove that you didn't set that waterfall off yourself, can you, Rowle? In fact, I think it was you because you're hiding something too! And you," she spun suddenly on Rodolphus who stepped back once more, "you got sent here in a panic because Ant got held back in the circle. You weren't expecting me to work all of this out, were you?!"
The more she carried on, the more she could see that she was right. They were both acting far too suspiciously to be simply following Voldemort's orders. "So yes," Pansy finally surmised, delighting in her apparent victory, "I might be hiding something, but so are both of you. And you won't tell the Dark Lord that I set the waterfall off, that is, if he's even the one you're supposed to be reporting back to because I could just as easily rat you both out to him too! Ha! Gotcha, boys."
She knew she had them both cornered when both men merely looked at each other and gave a resigned shrug. Thorfinn chuckled while Rodolphus shook his head. "Fine. Come on then. You can tell Antonin that your little attempt at intimidation failed miserably. Let's get out of here and stop pretending that these orders came from the Dark Lord, shall we?"
Rodolphus heaved an enormous sigh as she turned away. "Big bad Death Eaters, my arse," Pansy grumbled as all three of them turned back to the minecart.
A movement at the end of the dark stone passage caught Pansy's eye. The goblin that had brought Rodolphus down in the minecart turned, his eyes glinting maliciously. "Plotting treason, are you?" he asked in a silky voice, "my, my, that's a reportable offense. I should hold you here for this. In fact I'll jus-"
But he never got to finish his sentence. "Thrown your Imperio off, have you?" Rodolphus mimicked the goblin's sing-song voice. "My my, that's a stupid thing to do, particularly when I'm already pissed off." Pansy couldn't stifle her squeak of horror as Rodolphus raised his wand. His killing curse hit the unfortunate goblin squarely in the chest, and he was dead before he hit the floor.
When Pansy finally apparated home, she was shaking. She landed in the mercifully deserted kitchen, grabbed a bottle of firewhisky from the side, gulped down a few hasty mouthfuls, dropped her robes and mask in a heap on the floor, then stepped into the shower. The house appeared to be deserted. Where everybody was, she didn't care. She was just intensely grateful that she hadn't run into anybody so far.
She stood perfectly still for a long time, letting the slightly too hot water run soothingly over her sun bronzed skin. Her tears came as she shampooed her hair. They mingled with the water and the sweet smelling soap as she washed the dirt and the trauma of her visit to Gringotts down the drain.
When she eventually emerged, she dressed in her most comforting pyjamas, even though it was still early in the evening, wrapped her hair up in a fluffy, white towel, then trudged through the house into the lounge.
Ron was sitting on the sofa, watching a black and white film on the TV. "I saw you come in," he admitted, eyeing her with concern, "You seemed upset. Pansy, what's wrong?" he jumped up as she burst into tears all over again. She stumbled forwards, blindly falling into his arms. "Hey, come on, it's all right. What's happened?" he asked, stroking her back as she sobbed helplessly in his arms.
When she had settled slightly, Ron led her over to the sofa. He said nothing as she unwound her towel, then started to brush the tangles out of her hair and finally began to talk. He looked ever more horrified as she recounted her eventful day. Pansy found it incredibly soothing to tell him everything, letting him take over her slightly aggressive hair brushing as she did so. When he was finished, she wiped her eyes, then leaned back against him, turning to nuzzle her face into his neck. His wholesome, outdoorsy scent filled her nostrils, and she sighed into his shoulder.
Ron was a good listener. He never pushed her to talk, but she always found that words came easily when she spoke with him. After a moment of hesitation, she told him that Theo had suggested accompanying her and Thorfinn that morning, to see if they could use Legilimency to get any more information out of his mind. Ron didn't comment when she admitted that she had seriously considered the idea, although he did look very pleased when she confessed that she no longer wanted to use herself as a distraction in that way. "Thank you for being so honest," he said, once she had finally talked herself into silence, "I really appreciate that."
Pansy nodded, resting her head on his shoulder. Ron's comforting arms were still strong around her, he hadn't faltered once, not even when she had spilled out her darkest confession, and as she finally plucked up the courage to turn and look at him, she saw that his blue eyes were soft and full of concern. She smiled, moving forwards to meet his soft kiss. "Because you're always so honest, I know I can trust you," he continued, and she nodded, twining her arms around his neck then turning to deepen their kiss.
She wanted to lose herself in him completely, to let him kiss the world away until all she could see was him. But, if she did that, she knew they would end up in bed together and in this new relationship, she was holding that part of herself back, at least for a while longer.
She wasn't sure why it was so important for her to wait, and there was a big part of her that just wanted to ignore her instincts, and just jump straight into bed with him. Given the chemistry that existed between them already, Pansy knew that sex with Ron would be mind-blowing, but as she settled back in his arms, she began to understand the reason for her reticence.
She'd always been swift to jump into bed with people, and for a very long time, she'd used casual sex as a distraction from her problems. She had been one of the first girls in her year to lose their virginity, to Draco, her very best friend of all people, and those first inexperienced fumbles had taught her how effective losing herself in another person could be. A few strong drinks and a night of passion always turned her mind away from the bad things in her life. Until very recently, she had never had any qualms about the number of people she had slept with.
That had all changed, however, when she had gotten together with Ron. Ron was different from the other people she had been with. He was special, and she wanted to savor the relationship that was growing between them. She wanted to wait before they slept together and to give him the sides of her that she had never been able to offer to anybody else.
She stared at the TV, transfixed by the black and white images playing out. A smartly dressed man was kissing a woman on the pavement outside a cafe, and Pansy suddenly understood what her problem was. She had never been in a conventional relationship. A scattered and steady stream of one night stands was all she had ever known, and even when the men involved were Draco, Theo, and Blaise, or a handful of other trusted Death Eaters, none of her liaisons ever had any romance to them.
She had always felt respected. That had never been a problem. Draco, Blaise, and even Antonin had always been the epitome of consideration, and Theo and Thorfinn had always made her trysts with them exciting. Still, the thing that had been missing from all of her previous encounters was intimacy.
Her new relationship with Ron was romantic. Just like the men in the old Hollywood films he loved so much, Ron had a way of making her feel special, and she wanted things to move slowly so that their first time together would be meanigful. Ron had happily agreed to take things slow. He'd told her that he had only been with a couple of girls, and was more than happy to wait as long as Pansy wanted.
She shifted against his shoulder, and he changed position, moving in to kiss her again. She felt his hand cup her cheek, and she whimpered softly into his mouth. His full lips paused against hers, waiting as if to check her meaning, but she just pulled him closer, twisting as he scooped her up so that she was sitting fully in his lap.
His hand strayed down her neck, across her shoulder, and settled half respectfully, half daringly on her side. Unable to help herself, she wriggled her position slightly more, and nudged her small breast into his palm. "May I?" he whispered, and she nodded, gasping as his fingers brushed lightly over her nipple.
Her pyjamas were thin, and the sensitive nub pebbled immediately under his touch. She heard the catch in his breath, felt the bunch of tension in his shoulders as he continued to caress her. "How does that feel?" he whispered.
Pansy nodded weakly, already questioning her previous desire to wait. "So good," she replied, mewling as he gave her nipple a very light squeeze.
"Sorry," he said.
She smiled at his hesitation. "Don't be sorry. Just do it a tiny bit harder."
She felt her cheeks heat as he raised his eyebrows, caressing her with a little more pressure. "Like that?"
"Oh, Gods!" She tipped her head back, arched her back and turned to kiss his neck. "Yes, just like that. That's perfect."
"Good." Ron kissed her for a moment longer than pulled back, settling her against his broad chest. She turned, snuggling against him to watch the film. A man was now playing a piano inside the same cafe, and as Ron accio'd a blanket from the opposite sofa with a rather impressive show of wandless magic, the final vestiges of her eventful day drifted away. The soft music of the television played in one ear, and Ron's heart beat steadily in the other, and Pansy closed her eyes, finally feeling calm enough to let herself relax.