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Pansy wasn't at all what Harry had expected her to be.
Well, save for the fact that she was dangerous. He'd been so used to her sour expression or something more blank that her smile was… disarming, really. She was pretty, truly, genuinely pretty in a way most witches weren't.
She wasn't the same as she'd acted around the others either. He'd come to learn without a doubt that Pansy was intelligent and had a mind for politics — he didn't much care for them, but she did — and like Andromeda, she was more than happy to educate him in areas he knew little of. There were still a fair few of those 'areas' that stubbornly persisted.
He'd also found out more about her hobbies she was most fond of, which consisted of potion-making, and dress design, each of which related to a business her family ran. He was pants at the first, and knew absolutely nothing about the second, but he was learning.
Any effort made towards learning about each other would make things easier for the both of them; Andromeda had said as much and he knew he'd be smart to listen to her infinite wisdom.
Harry felt his throat tighten a smidge and so he pulled at the collar of his shirt.
That didn't go unnoticed by the only other occupant of the room.
"It's been two weeks since you've met her. Is she still the cause of so much anxiety?"
He looked Andromeda's way. "Just a hint," Harry would be honest with her. "We didn't get along all that well in Hogwarts — still see her as that Slytherin, you know? I keep thinking she'll revert even if I've gotten to know her a fair bit lately."
Andromeda all but glided across the floor, coming to a stop close to him whereupon she grasped his shoulder with a gentle, but firm hand. "An old lady I might be, I can tell Pansy has quite the crush on you."
Harry didn't quite believe that. She was just trying to make it less awkward. "You're not old — how can you tell?"
"How close does she sit to you even when she could just as easily take a seat elsewhere?" Andromeda arched a brow at him. "I believe she's also plucked at your shirt as of late, or brushed your hand when you two walk close to one another, isn't that right?"
"Yeah?"
"If you still don't believe me, I suppose you'll just have to wait and see." Andromeda withdrew her hand and stepped back, but not before herself fixing the collar of his shirt. Pleased, she moved a foot or two away, where she folded her hands and stood in-wait as he was doing for their guests. More words came after a few seconds of silence. "I can recall quite readily what Slytherin witches were like. Wait long enough, and she'll grow impatient enough to make you see."
Harry looked Andromeda's way, opened his mouth so as to ask her meaning… and then the Floo came to life.
Whatever he'd been about to ask was lost when Pansy emerged from the Floo access with her mother just behind her. The pair were dressed just as one might expect, that being in traditional witch garb with all the finery Hogwarts dissuaded one from wearing.
"Welcome," Andromeda dipped her head, and with an unseen hand, pushed Harry closer to Pansy. "Tea, dear? I was meaning to speak to you about the wedding whilst Harry and Pansy share a meal."
Harry was pulled from eavesdropping on Andi's conversation when Pansy grasped his hand. It was then he spoke to her too, and right as her mum responded to Andromeda. "Good to see you again."
Pansy rolled her eyes, but it was clear by the small little smile on her face that it wasn't done from some place of annoyance. "You say that every time I visit."
"Do I?"
"Yes." Pansy pulled him through the door without so much as a pause when she gave her answer; she was eager to get away from her mother's ever-watchful gaze. "You could mix it up with a compliment from time to time. Perhaps make mention of my hair, my eyes or the dress I chose."
Harry blinked at her. Maybe Andromeda was right after all. "Yeah?"
"I should hope so."
His eyes swept up and down her now that she'd made mention of the dress she'd chosen and now that it was visible after she'd shrugged off her topmost layer. "Looks good." He blinked. "Suppose you know you're really pretty, yeah?"
Pansy arched a brow at him and slid into the first seat they came within reach of. He'd never really paid all that much attention before, but she was graceful and fluid in a way most witches weren't. "You suppose I know?" She sounded amused, but there seemed an undertone of something else too. Something he couldn't place. "What else do you suppose I know?"
Harry plopped down in the chair opposite of hers, the table beside them bare whilst the snacks were prepared; soon enough there'd be all her favourite sweets, courtesy of her mother sharing such information with them. "Well," he swallowed, that familiar nervousness welling up in him. "You have nice eyes."
"Nice eyes?" Pansy blinked at him. "Oh… what else?" She leaned forward as her hands fell to her lap, where they neatly folded.
Merlin, her gaze was intense.
"You're just pretty, aren't you? Don't know what else to say — eyes, hair, dress, reckon you're just easy to fancy after all the time we've had together." Maybe it was his inner Gryffindor taking control, or that Potter luck making the words come from him, but he spoke his mind to her… if only in a very blokeish way.
"Easy to fancy?" Pansy sat up straight once more as a look of thoughtfulness washed over her. "That should mean you fancy me."
"Should it?"
"Don't you?"
Pansy's request was a fair one, he reckoned.
"You'll be my wife come soon enough, what do you think?" Harry imagined that was a fine answer.
She, however, did not. "A non-answer if ever I've heard one. Father would find that quite enjoyable." Pansy scrunched up her nose, and the result shifted her from pretty, to more adorable than anything else. As for her hands, they lifted up from where they'd been neatly stacked so as to fold and complete the haughty look she'd now begun to send him. "A straight answer, if you'd please, husband-to-be."
"Fine." Harry mimicked her by folding his arms. "I fancy you."
"Me too — wasn't so hard to say, now was it?" Pansy's words were bolder than his own, but he could see hers came with quite the noticeable caveat; a brush red blush on her otherwise porcelain cheeks.
That certainly made him put more stock into Andromeda's words, if Pansy's own hadn't.
"You do?"
"Naturally," Pansy rolled her eyes. "You're not like the type of wizard I've been forced to like. You're different in a much better way."
He'd have thought she'd make some mention of his fame or perhaps his 'feats', but she'd simply spoken about him. Not anything specific, he supposed, but she'd called him 'different in a much better way.' Those were words he'd never expected to hear from her just a few weeks back, but now, they meant more to him than if he'd heard them from just about anybody else.
"Better way, is it?"
Pansy narrowed her eyes at him. "At least I was bold enough to say I fancied you directly, wasn't I?"
"After I'd said it first."
"I'd already alluded to it before you'd come right out and said it straight, where I then did the same." Pansy raised a hand before he could open his mouth. "We each fancy each other, then. Splendid."
He nodded. That was pretty wicked now it was out in the open like that. Certainly made him feel more relaxed… and yet, somehow, more anxious and far more aware of their closeness.
Merlin, he'd have to get over that fast.
Pansy tutted. "That's not a tie you're ever going to wear once we're husband and wife, Morgana no," with deft hands that betrayed just how much time she spent around clothing of all types, she undid the aforementioned tie from around his neck and saw it tossed across the room where a magical trinket snatched it up.
He laughed. "It was a gift from Ron — pre-wedding, he'd said to tell you too. Apparently he and Hermione have decided to go in on something together."
"Surprise," Pansy said with a roll of her eyes; a common enough occurrence from her, and seldom a negative one. "It's a wonder he's not proposed a contract to her family."
Harry's eyes widened at the thought of such a thing happening. Merlin, Hermione would be likely to kill him if he simply walked up to her with a parchment and asked if she'd hand it along to her parents.
"What?" She was looking at him curiously, and with a tinge of amusement in the small smile she now had. "You don't think he'd do so?"
"Merlin, no," Harry shook his head.
"Strange." Pansy looked as if she had more to say, but then she shrugged, and contented herself in tying the tie she'd picked out.
Harry wouldn't say it aloud to her or admit as much to his mates, but he loved when Pansy fussed over him. He'd loved it even before Andromeda had told him it was a tell that she'd had a crush on him, when things had still been quite new — now a month later as it was from when first they'd found out about each other… it was almost like they were a normal pair of Magicals dating of their own volition.
"Thanks," He said when Pansy stepped back, her hands dropping from his tie, to his robes. "And I think they'd probably stick more to, well, Muggle customs, yeah? On account of Hermione's family."
Pansy shrugged, and then, happy with his appearance, stepped all the way back from him. He watched as her eyes roamed up and down his person, stopping to take in every detail so as to ensure it was 'perfect'; to him, the last few she'd had him try on were fine, but to her, not one had been the one she was looking for.
"Thoughts?" Harry was tempted to do a twirl if only to poke fun at her, but he knew how important this was to her; you only typically had one wedding in the Magical world.
Without so much as a word, Pansy ran a hand across his chest, feeling the material and the fit. She made a pleased noise, and then, equally as straight forward, brought a hand to his waistband. Before he had so much as a moment to react, he felt one dainty and cold finger slip therein and do a little wiggle.
Another content little noise followed.
"It matches my wedding dress, and you've the appropriate fit," Pansy gave a slow nod as she raised a hand to her face, where she chewed on one of her painted nails; a nervous habit of hers that seldom came out. "Yes… yes, I think this is it — your thoughts?"
Harry would repeat words Andromeda had taught him only a few days past — her infinite wisdom had shown again once he'd heard them. "I'm happy if you're happy."
Pansy lowered her hand from her face, and looked around. Her mother and Andromeda were in the same room, but beyond the divider that doubled as a dressing cover, deep in conversation.
"Wh—" Harry's word was cut off when Pansy, content with her look around, rose to the tips of her toes and pressed a hand to his cheek.
Her eyes bore into his, and he went silent, suddenly unable to speak.
She was searching for something in his gaze, her brow furrowing and her tongue swiping at her bottom lip… then, like before, she nodded.
Harry had all of a second to wonder what she'd concluded before her soft lips pressed against his own.
So this would be his life; he couldn't complain.