What the Bloody Hell?

Chapter Two: It's A Date

The next morning, Pansy was accosted by Daphne.

"What was with all the screaming last night?" she asked, placing a sparkly silver headband in her dark red hair.

"Where did you get that headband?" Pansy pried.

"Granger gave it to me. She's been giving me lots of gifts lately. And don't avoid the question. Fess up."

"It was nothing. I just had a nightmare."

"What were you dreaming about?"

Pansy found her hairbrush and started brushing her hair. "Ron Weasley."

Daphne shuddered. "I'd be screaming too."

"He's not that bad," Pansy said.

"He's a Gryffindor. No thanks."

Pansy shrugged and finished getting ready. She, Daphne, and Millicent walked down to breakfast together. They seated themselves at their usual spots around Draco, Blaise, Crabbe, and Goyle. As Pansy helped herself to some toast, she looked around for Ron. She didn't know why she cared if he was there or not, but she needed to know.

To her surprise, and the rest of Slytherin house, Ron was walking towards Pansy. He stopped at the spot directly across from hers at the table, which had him standing right behind Daphne. Daphne looked back at him with a weird expression on her face.

"How's your head?" Ron directed towards Pansy, ignoring everyone else.

"Fine," she answered. "There's a little bump, but it's no big deal."

He nodded. "What time are you out of class today?"

"Two o'clock."

"Me as well. I'll meet you in the library then?"

Pansy nodded. Ron quickly walked away. The Slytherins watched him go, then as one turned to face her. "What?" she said. "We have to work on our Herbology project."

She received a skeptical look from Daphne, but everyone else accepted her answer.

~*~

That afternoon, Pansy and Ron actually managed to get some work done on their project. Neither mentioned anything of the night before. In fact, they only talked to each other when they absolutely needed to.

After working continuously for about an hour and a half, Pansy finally threw down her quill and stretched. Ron looked up at her, then down at his watch. "Wow," he said in surprise, "that went fast."

"Are you that surprised?" she asked in amusement. "What time is it anyway?"

"Why? Got a hot date with Malfoy?"

"Please," Pansy scoffed. "Draco and I are just friends. I would never date him."

"Zabini then?"

"Blaise is gay."

Ron was silent.

"Can't come up with any more names?" Pansy asked.

"Nah, everyone else is too good for you," Ron replied.

"Ouch, that hurts Weasley," she said with a smile.

Ron smiled back, then quickly looked away. "So, uh," he said, "I think we've got a good amount done on this project. Should we finish it up another day?"

"Sounds good to me," Pansy agreed, gathering her things. Ron grabbed all of his things as well and they left the library together. As they walked side by side down the corridor, Pansy pulled a box of chocolate frogs from her bag. "Hey, Weasley, have you tried the new flavor of chocolate frogs yet?" she asked.

"They have a new flavor?" Ron said in wonderment.

Pansy nodded. "Mmhmm. It's mint and chocolate. They're really good, here, try one." She held out one of her chocolate frogs to Ron.

He took it from her. "Thanks, Parkinson," he said.

"You're welcome, Weasley."

They looked at each other. Ron blushed and looked away.

"I'll see you later then," he said, before giving a wave, and walking off.

Pansy watched him walk off down the corridor, her gaze drifting to his nicely shaped rear end. She caught herself and quickly looked away, groaning. "Can't believe I'm slightly interested in a Weasley," she muttered, stalking away towards the dungeons.

~*~

That weekend, Pansy spent some quality time with Draco, Daphne, and Blaise. They had fun tormenting some first years, they teased the Hufflepuff Quidditch team at their practice, and they did whatever else they could find to do that would keep them from their homework.

But by Sunday afternoon, Pansy knew she had to get started on her homework or she'd never get it done. Especially her Transfiguration essay. She was about to fail Transfiguration as it was; she didn't need any more points taken away from her. So, apologizing to her friends, she grabbed her Transfiguration book and retreated somewhere nice and quiet where she would be able to concentrate.

Pansy seated herself at an empty table in the library. She sighed as she pulled out the start of her Transfiguration essay. It wasn't exactly how she wanted to spend her day, but the essay was due the next day. She got out her quill and inked it, then stared blankly at her paper. After ten minutes of staring at the piece of parchment, she threw down her quill and looked up. Ron Weasley and Harry Potter were walking into the library, talking animatedly to each other. Pansy rolled her eyes as she watched them.

They chose a table near hers, and like her, pulled out what looked like beginnings to their own Transfiguration essays. Pansy continued to watch them as they continued to talk instead of work. It looked like they were talking about Quidditch. Either that or Ron just liked pretending his quill was a broomstick.

Suddenly Harry's eyes met hers. Pansy didn't look away, even as he nudged Ron. Pansy's gaze drifted to Ron, who first looked up at Harry, then over to Pansy. Pansy held his gaze for a few moments before she finally looked away. She went back to concentrating on her essay.

Awhile later, Pansy looked back over towards Ron and Harry. Harry was concentrating on his essay, but Ron was staring at her. He burned red when their eyes met, and he quickly looked away. A few seconds later, his gaze met hers again.

Well, this was an interesting twist. He may not have realized it, but Ron had just invited Pansy to flirt shamelessly with him.

If there was one thing Pansy was excellent at, it was shameless flirting. And if there was one thing she would rather do than her Transfiguration essay, it was shameless flirting (granted, she'd rather do anything than an essay, but flirting was one of her first choices).

Pansy quirked an eyebrow at Ron. Ron watched her curiously. Pansy stretched, then slowly removed her school robes and draped them over the back of her chair. She smoothed her school shirt and skirt, then crossed her legs under the table. She slouched in her chair, then threw her arms behind it, stretching them and causing her breasts to strain against her shirt. She saw Ron's gaze drop to them and she smiled.

Ron quickly looked away, blushing maroon. But there he was, looking at her again, a few seconds later.

Grinning, Pansy stood. She slowly walked towards them, hips swaying gently. Ron watched her closely. As Pansy passed their table, she shot Ron a wink, then continued on into the shelves. She walked a few steps then looked back over her shoulder. Ron had turned in his seat and was watching her walk away, eyes glued to her backside. He glanced up at her face, and she threw him a 'come and get me' look. Then she disappeared into the stacks.

She paused a few rows in, settling into a darkened corner. To her surprise, a minute later, Ron appeared at the end of the aisle.

"Wow, Weasley, I didn't expect you to follow me," Pansy said with a laugh.

Ron glared at her as he stalked up to her. "What the hell, Parkinson?"

"What the hell what?" she replied.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm trying to work on my Transfiguration essay. What are you doing?"

"Looks to me like you're trying to seduce me in the stacks."

Pansy giggled. "Seduce you? Why would I do that? I'm not desperate."

"Then what are you doing winking at me and shoving those," he gestured to her breasts, "at me?"

"Do you have a problem with a girl stretching? Maybe you should stop staring at me."

"I wasn't staring at you!"

"Yeah, right," Pansy scoffed. "And I'm Professor McGonagall."

Ron's eyes burned into hers. "You are most definitely not McGonagall."

Pansy suddenly found it very hard to breathe. Ron leaned in closer to her. Pansy backed up until she ran into the shelf behind her. Ron inched his way closer. She looked into his eyes, noticing they were very dark. Apparently, she wasn't the only one who was good at shameless flirting.

Ron was standing mere inches away from her. Pansy could smell him. He smelled like soap. She liked it. She couldn't resist the urge to place her hand on his chest. Ron's breath hitched in his throat. Pansy could feel the hardness of his chest through his school shirt.

Someone coughed nearby. Pansy and Ron sprang apart guiltily. Without a word, Ron turned and headed back to his table.

Pansy collapsed back against the shelf, breathing a little unsteadily. What had just happened? Ron had just made her feel a little lightheaded, more aware of everything. He had set her pulse racing. All with simply a look. Did she have a crush on Ron? How had that happened?

"It's nothing," she muttered to herself. "I do not like Ron Weasley. I'm just feeling a little ill, that's all."

Deciding that that must be the reason, Pansy sucked in a deep, calming breath, then headed back to collect her things. She didn't give a second glance to Ron or Harry as she left.

~*~

Pansy had carefully avoided Ron for the rest of that day. She also managed to miss him the next day at breakfast (he was entering the Great Hall as she was leaving – it made for a very awkward moment as they squeezed past each other). Unfortunately, Pansy couldn't avoid him all day. Their first class was Herbology, and since they were still working on the project they were partnered on, they would have to sit with each other.

When Ron entered the greenhouse and sat down next to Pansy, he acted like nothing odd had happened. He shouted something to Harry and Neville, passed a quill to Seamus, and glared at Draco – the usual. In fact, Ron completely ignored Pansy until Professor Sprout left them to work on their projects.

Pansy sighed resignedly, and turned to face Ron. "We're about done with this project, aren't we?" she asked.

Ron nodded. "All we have left is the write-up, and the speech. What are you doing later? You wanna meet up in the library? I know of a quiet little corner . . ."

Pansy's eyebrows rose. She couldn't believe Ron was flirting with her in class! Maybe he was trying to make her feel uncomfortable. Well, if that was the case, then Ron Weasley had a thing or two to learn about Pansy Parkinson.

She turned toward him. "And what might we be doing in that quiet little corner?" she asked in a low voice.

Ron managed not to blush. "Studying," he said, simply. "Uninterrupted."

Pansy watched his eyes heat up and burn into hers. "I do love my uninterrupted study time." She could scarcely believe she was being flirty with Weasley of all people. That was twice in two days.

Ron cleared his throat. "Uh, let's get started on the speech part."

Pansy and Ron worked diligently on their project for the rest of class. They didn't get much done though, seeing as how they kept distracting each other. They didn't mean to, but every so often they would brush hands or legs and then look at each other and blush. Then they would try to focus but ended up spending some quality time daydreaming.

Finally class ended, and Pansy and Ron parted ways without saying goodbye.

They had every class together that day, but luckily they didn't sit near each other at all. Although, in the classes where Pansy sat behind Ron, she found herself spending the time gazing at the back of his head. Her behavior was starting to worry her. She had never acted like this before. And why now? Why with Weasley?

At dinner, Draco asked her why she had seemed so distant all day long. Pansy claimed she didn’t know what he was talking about.

And then Blaise asked her why Ron kept staring at her.

Pansy glanced over at the Gryffindor table, and, sure enough, Ron was looking at her. He quickly looked away, though, when he noticed Draco, Daphne, and Blaise were all glaring at him. The three of them looked towards Pansy expectantly.

"What? I don't know why he keeps staring at me," she lied. "Maybe he thinks I'm cute or something."

"Poor thing," Daphne said, shaking her head.

~*~

Ron was so embarrassed that he had just been caught by the Slytherins as he gazed at Pansy. He couldn't help it; his eyes just kept being drawn to her. He had to get out of there; he couldn't stay this close to her.

Ron excused himself from the table and made his way into the Entrance Hall, where he was bombarded by Pansy. "Did you run from dinner to catch me?" he asked her. "Whatever will your housemates say?"

"Oh I just told them I had to piddle really badly," Pansy replied casually.

"So what's up? Just couldn't spend even a few minutes without me, eh?" Ron didn't know what it was but lately he couldn't seem to stop himself from flirting with Pansy whenever he saw her. It was weird because he had never thought of her as a girl he could date before. Now that was all he could think about.

It almost worried him a little. It was Pansy Parkinson, Princess of Slytherin. Her favorite pastimes included tormenting Ron and the other Gryffindors, and, more likely than not, sacrificing small children to evil dark lords. And that wasn't the only thing bothering him. What would his mum say if she knew he suddenly had a crush (no matter how small it was or how much Ron denied it) on a Parkinson? Ron didn’t know why, but his parents hated the Parkinson family. He figured it was probably just because they had most likely supported You-Know-Who back in the day.

It didn't seem to matter, though, that Pansy was a Slytherin and a Parkinson to boot, Ron wanted to make-out with her.

"I think we need to talk," Pansy said, suddenly looking very serious. "Somewhere private."

"Okay." Ron let her drag him all the way to the dungeons. He leaned up against the wall in an empty corridor.

Pansy began to pace. "Look," she stated, "I think you know as well as I do that something strange is going on between us."

"It's not that strange," Ron began.

"It is for a Slytherin and a Gryffindor!" Pansy interjected. She sighed. "We're just not supposed to be flirting with each other. Merlin, what would my friends say? What would my parents say if they found out I was flirting with a Weasley!?"

"Parkinson, relax. It's not like we have to tell anybody," Ron reasoned. "We can keep this a secret."

"A secret?" Pansy murmured thoughtfully. "That would almost make it more exciting."

Ron rolled his eyes. "You Slytherins and your bad behaviors."

Pansy glared at him. "You haven't seemed to mind it lately."

Ron looked her over for a minute. "Do you want to go to Hogsmeade with me?" he asked.

"What?" Pansy squeaked.

"There's a Hogsmeade visit this weekend. Would you like to go with me?"

Pansy stared at him, unblinkingly.

After a whole minute of this, Ron tried again. "I thought it might be nice to go together and see what comes of it. We keep flirting with each other, maybe we like each other and are just denying it. Maybe a date would clear all of this up for us."

"A date? With you?"

Ron nodded.

Pansy cleared her throat and straightened her shirt. "All right then. I'll go on a date with you. But don't expect sex or anything."

Ron blushed. "Why would I expect sex?"

Pansy shrugged. "Boys seem to think that I'll put out for them."

"Oh."

"I only kiss on the first date. I've never even had sex."

"Oh," Ron said again, blushing even more furiously.

Pansy's eyes widened. "Uh, not that we're going to kiss or anything. I only kiss guys I really like. I mean, you're Ron Weasley. I couldn't . . . Merlin!" she muttered.

"Right," Ron said. "Erm, I'll see you later then." He quickly walked away.

~*~

The day of the Hogsmeade trip found Pansy sitting on the floor in her bra and a short black skirt rooting in a panic through her chest. "Where is it, where is it, WHERE IS IT?!" she shrieked.

"Whoa!" Daphne cried as she got hit in the head with a pajama shirt. "What are you looking for?"

"My lucky Weird Sisters shirt! I need it!" Pansy exclaimed.

"Got a hot date or something?" Daphne questioned, jokingly.

Pansy turned and faced her abruptly. "No!"

"Okay, okay, geez. I just figured since it's your lucky shirt and you're all in a huff trying to find it . . ."

"Well you thought wrong." Pansy turned back to her chest.

"What are you up to today then?" Daphne asked. "Do you want to hang out?"

"Erm, I can't," Pansy replied, uncomfortably.

"Oh. So you have plans, but it's not a date?"

"That's right." Pansy refused to look at her.

"Who are your plans with?"

"Aha! Here it is!" Pansy cried triumphantly, pulling out her dark purple Weird Sisters t-shirt. She hurriedly jammed it on over her head, then pulled on her knee high boots. She pulled on her cloak and checked her watch. "Shit, I'm gonna be late. Uh, maybe I'll meet up with you later?" she told Daphne.

"Okay, sure," Daphne replied, uncertainly.

Pansy rushed from the room. When she got outside she noticed that most of the students had already set out towards the village. Pansy looked at her watch once again, swore, and started walking quickly towards Hogsmeade. She didn't slow down until she reached the alleyway outside of the Three Broomsticks, where she and Ron had planned to meet.

She took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. She glanced at her reflection in the window and quickly fixed her hair. And then she waited.

And waited.

Groaning, Pansy checked her watch again. Ron was supposed to have met her fifteen minutes ago. If he stood her up, he was going to have hell to pay.

There was a noise behind Pansy, and she spun around quickly only to find Ron appear out of thin air. "How did you . . ." she wondered aloud.

Ron chuckled. "Remember how we were worried about people seeing us together? Well, I found the perfect solution."

It dawned on Pansy what Ron was holding. "Where did you get an invisibility cloak?" she asked incredulously.

"I have my sources," Ron answered cryptically. "Get under."

Pansy let Ron envelope her in the cloak. She let her eyes close for a second to savor the feeling. She could feel his warm body behind hers, she could smell they way he smelled of soap, she could feel his hard muscles as he grabbed onto her. Pansy was surprised by how easy it was for Ron to get her all hot and bothered. "Where exactly are we going?" she asked as he steered her through Hogsmeade.

"I figured we'd go to the caves. No one's likely to disturb us there," Ron answered. "Don't worry, I brought provisions."

Provisions indeed. Ron must have gone on a trip to the kitchens because he had bottles of butterbeer, turkey sandwiches, apples, and chocolate cake.

"This is shaping up to be the best date I've ever had," Pansy murmured, eyeing the cake.

Ron had spread out a blanket on the floor and sat down on it. He patted the spot next to him. "Come on, Parkinson," he said.

Smiling, Pansy sat beside him. He handed her a sandwich and she took it gratefully. "I didn't know you were so thoughtful, Weasley. I'd have figured you to be like all the other boys I've dated. None of them would have thought of something like this. I'd be stuck down at the Three Broomsticks, getting ignored."

"What do you expect when you date Slytherins," Ron said around a mouthful of apple.

Pansy shrugged. "I suppose you're right."

"And anyway," Ron continued, swallowing. "How could anyone ignore you?"

"The look on your face tells me that was an insult, but I'm going to pretend you meant to mean because I'm so beautiful."

Ron grinned at her. "Maybe I did mean it's because you're so beautiful."

Pansy felt her stomach drop. It was the feeling you get when the guy you like does something that proves he likes you too. Not that Pansy liked Ron. They were just friends. Actually more of acquaintances than friends.

So what were they doing abandoning their food in order to kiss each other senselessly?

Pansy didn't get a chance to think about it, because as soon as Ron's lips touched hers, she lost the ability to think. They were soft against hers, gentle at first, until Pansy groaned with need and Ron scooted even closer to deepen the kiss.

They stayed like that for a few seconds more, kissing hungrily. Then it sunk in what they were doing and with whom. They pulled away from each other abruptly. Ron blushed and Pansy straightened her hair and clothes.

"Where did that come from?" Ron asked quietly.

Pansy looked over at him. He looked so shocked and adorable that she couldn't help giggling.

Ron looked at her like she was crazy. "Pansy, I don't normally go around snogging Slytherins. I don't normally go around snogging anybody."

"You called me Pansy," she said, slightly surprised. Ron blushed and Pansy smiled at him tenderly. "Look, I don't know what's going on between us, but I don't mind it."

"You don't?"

"I don't," she confirmed. "And I wouldn't mind continuing this thing, whatever it is, to see where it goes. It'll give us something to do at the very least."

Ron nodded slowly. "We'll just take it one day at a time and see what happens."

"Exactly!" Pansy smiled widely at him.

Ron scooted closer to her. Pansy leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. And then they were off, kissing like there was no tomorrow. They collapsed onto the blanket, hands going everywhere. Pansy bent one of her legs to fit Ron more snugly between her thighs. Ron roughly grabbed onto her hips.

Pansy suddenly started giggling. Ron pulled away from her slightly, frowning. She reached underneath her and pulled out one of the apples. They both looked at it in amusement.

Ron took the apple from her and threw it over his shoulder. Pansy giggled again, but then Ron was kissing her. They were in the middle of fully ravishing each other when Ron's watch started to beep shrilly.

"Bugger," he muttered, moving off of her. "I told Harry I'd meet him in ten minutes."

Pansy stood up, nodding. She pulled her shirt back down and smoothed her skirt. Then she looked over at Ron and started giggling.

"What?" Ron asked, amused.

Pansy leaned down and smoothed Ron's hair. "You look very rumpled," she stated, giggling again.

Ron looked down at his wrinkled shirt and laughed. "You too," he told her. "You might want to fix your hair before you leave or everyone will know what you've been up to."

Pansy and Ron managed to straighten themselves out and clean everything up within a few minutes. Ron let Pansy leave ahead of him, then he headed out to the Three Broomsticks to meet up with Harry.

"What have you been up to?" Harry asked him when Ron finally arrived at the Three Broomsticks.

"Nothing," Ron squeaked, trying not to blush.

"Uh huh," replied Harry, giving him a look that clearly said he didn't believe him.

Ron glanced over at Pansy, who had also gone to the pub. She was talking with her friend, Daphne. Harry followed his gaze. "What are you looking at?"

"Uh, nothing. Let's go to Honeydukes."