Once again, sorry for the short chapter.

Next chapter will be rather long, I promise, as I'm going to try my hand at actually writing out a Quidditch game. Wish me luck!

Oh and shout out to my book husband, Ron Weasley. He turns 37 today. Happy Birthday, Love!

On with the fic :)


Chapter 32: A New Beginning

Pansy couldn't believe herself. As much as she promised herself she would never speak to Harry another day in her life, here she was, holding a practice broom in her hand, heading up the stairs of the quidditch pitch, Gryffindor side.

As the Lovegood girl had said, Harry was indeed sitting by himself on a bench. Her heart started pounding so hard, she thought it was going to leap out of her chest. She felt like turning around. She wasn't a brave a bold Gryffindor, she was a Slytherin who didn't like to put herself in a compromising position unless she absolutely had to. Still, she felt that she needed to be near him and at least speak to him.

She stood in silence, observing his position. The way he was sitting was how he did when he was in deep thought, mostly when his thoughts plagued him, and he wanted to be able to get them out. It led her to believe that maybe, just maybe, he was just as troubled with the situation as she was.

Pansy slowly approached the distracted boy. Harry heard the wood creak and looked over to see the girl, holding the broomstick. He got up swiftly, running his fingers nervously through his hair, causing Pansy to want to giggle.

"Hi."

"Hi."

"Care for a fly? You steer?" asked Pansy, holding out the practice broom.

Harry looked at the broom and back at her. "Sure." he said, taking the broom out of her hand and mounting it. He then took Pansy's hand and helped her onto the broom. Not that she needed the help, it just felt like the right thing to do.

He put one protective and careful arm around Pansy's waist, the familiarity of it sending delightful waves through both their bodies, only they didn't want to let on. He put his other hand on the broomstick and they kicked and rose into the air.

Pansy's long charcoal hair blew in the rushing wind as they flew, mixing in with Harry's own blowing raven locks. For the first time since their last flight together, they each felt exhilaration as Harry zoomed around dipping above and below the clouds.

Harry went a little above the clouds, where they could see the moon in all its fullness, casting an eerie, but beautiful glow upon them. If the two of them were still together, one would call the scene hopelessly romantic.

"I'm sorry." said Harry in Pansy's ear. Pansy turned her body around to face him. As they were on a practice broom, there was no worry of her falling off.

"I should have told you about the bet. Hell, I shouldn't have even made the bet in the first place." said Harry looking into Pansy's glassy light green eyes. "I thought that maybe if I told you, I would lose you."

"What do you mean by lose me?" asked Pansy. "You only asked me out because of it. We wouldn't have even happened if it wasn't for the bet. You only asked me to get even closer, thinking that maybe I would give it up quicker being your girlfriend."

"That's partially true." said Harry. "While yes, I figured that with dating you, we would shag without you thinking yourself a slag or anything, but really, I did and still do have feelings for you."

Pansy felt her stomach tighten. " harry, please don't lie to me."

"I assure you, I'm not lying. You're brilliant, Pans. You're beautiful, smart, witty, you're a fantastic listener, you know more about me than even Ron knows. I feel...you make me feel like I actually mean something. I've never had anyone make me feel like that before."

Pansy felt tears form and she mentally threatened them to not fall. She suddenly felt quite venerable, a feeling she hated to have, but at the same time, felt was needed for her to remain open to what Harry was trying to say to her.

"I can't even be mad at you for stringing me along like you didn't know. I deserved that. I just wanted you to know that."

Pansy could tell that Harry was being sincere. "Thank you." she said.

"You're welcome."

"And even though you said you aren't angry, and even though I really shouldn't apologize, I will. I should have told you I knew. We could have talked about it and worked things out."

"Can we still?" asked Harry, taking Pansy's hand into his.

"Can we just take it slow for now? Rebuild our friendship?" she asked, moving her hand to where it was in a handshaking position.

Friendship. The word cut Harry deep. However, she was talking to him and flying with him so if all she wanted was a friendship for now, he was more than happy to give her one.

"Sure. Whatever you want." he said, shaking Pansy's hand.

Pansy smiled and turned back around, facing the moon. She leaned back against Harry's body. Despite going back to being just friends, this was something that she really missed. Being surrounded by him. No matter how much she had tried to train her brain to dislike it, her body and heart thoroughly enjoyed it. He always made her feel safe when she was cuddled up against him like that.

Even though Harry was unsure about how to feel about her actions, as part of him really wanted to kiss the cheek that rested against his, he welcomed the warmth her body brought and put his arm back protectively around her waist.

Friendship would be hard, but if moments like this came with it, he wasn't going to complain.

The rest of the time, they spoke quietly about the things they had missed out on while not speaking, which wasn't much. Soon they had descended to the ground, making their way back to the castle.

"So I guess I'll be seeing you tomorrow?" asked Harry as they approached the separation point where Harry would be heading up to Gryffindor, and Pansy down to her dorm.

"See you tomorrow. Oh and Harry?"

"Yeah, Pans?"

"Be prepared to lose Saturday. Slytherin won't be holding back just because of relationships." said Pansy with a wink.

Harry gave her a playful smirk. "You're on, Parkinson." he said shooting her a wink back.