And Then He Was Gone

Talk is Cheap

"You never value your money...until you get out of your parents house. Then you REALLY learn how to stretch that dollar."

~Ashley LeeAnn Fredrick

"Who needs a man as long as you have a drink?"

~Ashley LeeAnn Fredrick

"No man is worth your tears, and when you find one that is, he won't make you cry."

"Go away, Malfoy," Pansy said stirring the toothpick idily in her margarita glass at the bar.

"I just want to talk, Parkinson," he said sitting in the stool beside her.

"I don't have enough money," she said.

"What?" he asked confused.

"I don't have enough money to get so drunk that when you talk it'll actually appear I'm listening and putting up with it."

"Well, then," he said unaffected. "By all means, let me."

"Listen," she said turning to him. "What do you want? I've spoken my peace, and you can't make me change my mind."

"I'm not trying to change your mind," he said turning away from her. "I'm trying to change mine."

"What?"

"I'm trying to convince my mind that you're a stuck-up bitch and that I really don't like you. But it seems it's very hard to fall out of love, Pansy."

"Oh, don't give me that shit," Pansy said turning back to the bar. "You don't love me, Malfoy. You never have, you never will."

"And how do you know, Pansy? Last time I checked you weren't skilled in mind-reading."

"You can try to convince me all you want, Malfoy; but I'm not going to just believe what you say."

"All I have are my words," he said trying to tempt her to turn back to him.

"Talk is cheap," she said finishing off her drink.

"Then how can I prove it to you?"

"You can't. It's hard to fall out of love, Malfoy, but not impossible. After all, I did it once."

"With whom?" he asked drowning a shot.

"You," she practically whispered sliding off the stool. "We can be so crazy about somebody and spend our whole lives waiting for them to come around. But then, when they do, we realize that we're not so crazy about them anymore; that we've just given up on them."

"Don't give up on me," Malfoy said daring her to look at him.

"Why not?" she asked, turning to look at him. "You gave up on yourself. Did you actually believe that I could possibly love Harry? You think that I would actually fall for the golden boy?"

"It appeared that way," he said.

"Okay, let me rephrase that. Did you actually think Harry would like someone like me?"

"Pansy, anyone who wouldn't is a fool."

"I told you, trying to sweet-talk me with your words isn't going to do either of us any good. Because I could fall, time and time again, into your charm. But in the end that still leaves me guessing who you are."

"You know who I am; better than anyone, better then myself."

"Do I?" she asked. "And do you know me?"

"I do, better than anyone."

"Okay, so what do I do in a situation like this?"

"You shut up and let me kiss you," he said smirking.

"Oh, really?" she asked feeling the tension grow as he leaned closer to her. "And what if I didn't want to get hurt again?"

"It won't happen," he said mere inches from her face now.

"And how can you be so sure...."

For the first time since the war, and for the first time in five years, the world melted away from Pansy Parkinson as her lips met Draco's. Perhaps she was stupid to open up again, to allow herself to be hurt again; but, right now, that's not what she was thinking about.

Pulling away she whispered to him," talk is cheap; you can't just tell me what it used to be like."

"Then let me remind you what it felt like," he said. Smiling he leaned back into her lips wrapping his arms around her waist and dragging her off the barstool.