Harry/Pansy: Connect by MeLi
Title: Connect
Author: MeLi
Pairing: Harry/Pansy
Rating: PG
Summary: Harry and Pansy's first date.
AN: This fic was written for the Rare Pairings Fuh-Q-Fest
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HP_Rarepairs. Challenge Pairing: Harry/Pansy
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all characters in this fic belong to J.
K. Rowling, Warner Brothers and many publishers including, but not
limited to, Bloomsbury, Scholastic, etc.
Harry thought he was probably going mad. Either that or he really
liked putting himself in situations where he could be easily
humiliated. He was fairly sure the last wasn't it. There was just no
reasonable explanation for what he was about to do - at least to his
friends there wasn't.
"Have you thought this through, Harry?" Hermione's tactful way of
putting what from Ron had been, "Are you completely barmy?!" was
still in his mind as he approached the sixth year Slytherins, but he
didn't back down. No; he had come to a decision and he was going to
stick to it. He would ask Pansy out in front of her friends in order
to show them he was serious about it, or he wouldn't ask her at all.
The latter wasn't an option.
This was why Harry, praying to any Deity that would listen that his
Gryffindor courage didn't falter, found himself approaching a wary-
looking group of Slytherins on a fine spring morning. He sighed.
Well, at least he was on a first name basis with all of them. And
the fact that he hadn't been in a fight with the Slytherins all year
should mean something.
"Hi, Pansy," Harry greeted her as he reached the Slytherin cluster,
nodding to the rest of the group and receiving a nod as an answer.
"Hey, Harry," Pansy greeted back in a sweet tone.
It made Harry feel warm inside that Pansy would be nice to him even
when surrounded by her friends. It was one thing being civil towards
each other, the way Harry and the Slytherins had behaved since the
beginning of the year, but being nice and warm and sweet was
something completely different. Of course she had said she would
treat him in public just as she did when they were alone, but Harry
now realized that he hadn't really expected her to keep her word.
"Pansy, there's something I'd like to ask you..." And how should he
phrase it? The Slytherins were fine with Harry and Pansy's
friendship, but would it be pushing them too far if he pursued a
relationship with her?
"Yes?" Pansy prompted when Harry stayed silent after his comment.
Harry took a deep breath, not wanting to stammer through
his `speech', and said, "Unless you have already planned something
with your friends, Pansy, and only if you agree, of course, I would
like to take you out for dinner this Saturday."
Harry took a deep breath as he awaited her answer.
"Are you asking her out on a date?" Draco asked before she had a
chance to answer.
"Yes. I am," Harry answered firmly.
"And you thought it would be a good idea to ask her in front of us,"
Blaise this time, his comment not quite a question.
"Yes," Harry repeated. "I wanted all of you to know that I'm serious
about this. It's not a joke, nor is it some trick I'm planning to
play on you. I sincerely like Pansy and it would be a pleasure if
she accepted to go out with me."
Harry was glad he had anticipated these questions - his answers
wouldn't have been quite so well phrased otherwise.
"Very well. Have fun on Saturday," Draco said in his arrogant drawl.
"Don't you think you should wait and see whether Pansy accepts my
invitation before saying yes for her?" Harry asked, an amused smile
tugging at the corners of his mouth. Draco just smirked. It was hard
to believe how well they got along after their truce. They weren't
exactly friends, but they were no longer enemies. They were just...
able to coexist in peace.
"He's right, Draco. You're treating her as if you were her father
and had just set her up on a date with a worthy candidate,"
Millicent admonished softly.
"All I did was get Harry here to show he indeed cared about what
Pansy thought and prove he wasn't just interested in going out with
her but in her wanting to go out with him," Draco replied calmly,
his smirk sill in place.
Harry just smiled at the remark. It was true, after all.
"Well? Will you keep him waiting much longer? It's not such a
difficult question, after all," Gregory told Pansy.
"All right. I'll go out with you. Just promise you won't take me to
the Raven Room," Pansy answered finally.
"I wouldn't dream of it!" Harry replied with a mock-affronted
gesture. "Nowhere we can run into a member of the R House."
"They're still giving you a hard time?" Vincent asked with a
snort. "And people think they're the smartest House at Hogwarts."
"They do have a small thing to account for, though."
All the Slytherins turned unbelieving eyes to Harry.
"They were the reason Pansy and I became friends."
"Sappy Gryffindors," Draco muttered as Pansy smiled sweetly at Harry
and the others rolled their eyes and shook their heads.
"So, back to the date. I say you pick her up around seven at the
Slytherin Common Room," Blaise said after a short silence.
"And wear something nice," Millicent added.
"Do not dress in Gryffindor red," Draco continued.
"And bring her a stylish corsage or some appropriate gift," Vincent
finished.
"Would that be all?" Harry asked dryly, raising an eyebrow at
Pansy's amused smile.
"No. Try to do something about your hair," Gregory said.
"There's no point. This mane is untameable," Harry said, signalling
his hair.
"Then arrive at the Common Room half an hour early. Draco will fix
your hair for you," Millicent said with a smile and an evil glint in
her eyes.
Harry sighed. He knew it was no use complaining - he'd end up doing
as they suggested, anyway. Oh, how he hated being outnumbered!
"Fine," he said finally. "I'll go to your Common Room at six thirty
on Saturday."
Before turning to head back towards the castle, he smiled at Pansy
and added, "I'll look forward to it."
"So will I," he heard Pansy say as he walked away.
* * * *
"Enter," Harry heard Severus say through the door to his office
shortly after he knocked. Harry did and found his Professor sitting
at his desk, rolls of parchment scattered over it.
"Mr. Potter. To what do I owe this pleasure?" Funny how merely one
year before those same words would have been flooding with sarcasm.
"I'm sorry to disturb you, Sir, but there's something I need to ask
you for," Harry answered, standing in front of Severus' desk.
Harry had thought of going to someone else with his request, but
finally decided Snape was the one he should ask. He knew Severus was
the only one that understood his friendship with Pansy and his
feelings towards the Slytherins in general. The man was the reason
his attitude towards the Slytherins had changed, after all.
"I need for you to create a portkey to Zoe as well as your
permission to take Pansy there on Saturday evening," Harry continued
with a slight blush.
Severus' eyebrows shot up. Zoe was one of the fanciest wizarding
restaurants in Great Britain, as Severus had told Harry when he'd
asked about elegant wizarding places to go on a date. Located in the
Lake District, it floated 150 metres above ground, giving its
customers a spectacular view of the beautiful lakes below. Numerous
concealment charms not unlike those placed on Hogwarts hid it from
Muggles. All this made it a favoured place among wealthy wizards and
witches.
After pondering the request for a while, Snape finally spoke.
"You must understand, Mr. Potter, that it would not be wise were we
to allow you to go alone to such a place. Not few of Voldemort's
supporters will be found there."
"I know, sir. But you see, I never asked to go alone. It could be
arranged for a discreet teacher to accompany us. They could sit at a
nearby table to keep an eye on us. I believe they could use a break
themselves, however short it might be," Harry explained with a smile.
`Will I ever stop wondering why you were not placed in Slytherin?'
Severus mused as he regarded the young man in front of him. `You
knew Albus would never indulge such a request, much less if it
involves you dating a Slytherin, yet you found the way to make sure
you would be allowed to go. You know I cannot deny you anything
after this summer."
"Very well," Snape said at last. "I will chaperone you and Miss
Parkinson on this date under one condition."
When Harry realized Snape wouldn't continue until he acknowledged
this fact, Harry prodded, "Yes, Sir?"
"We will now go together to the Headmaster's office and you will be
the one to inform him of this arrangement."
Harry's face fell. He was hoping he would be able to avoid talking
to the Headmaster if he went directly to Severus. He should have
known better. After all, if he didn't look forward to talking to
Dumbledore about it - and he had the date with Pansy as a reward -
then why would Severus?
"All right," Harry said finally, not finding a way out of it. "Let's
go, then."
* * * *
"Normally, you would need a note from your legal guardian to do
such a thing, but considering he is right here and appears to agree
with this, I do not see the point," Albus said, finally admitting
defeat.
It had taken Harry half an hour - not to mention more cunning than
he'd used in his entire life to avoid falling a victim of
Dumbledore's employment of the Socratic Method - to convince the
Headmaster that yes, it would be perfectly safe, and no, Severus
wouldn't let them out of his sight. Another three minutes were spent
assuring him that Pansy wouldn't try and hurt Harry just because she
was a Slytherin - a point that would have taken infinitely longer to
get across if Severus hadn't been in the room.
"You should go to Gryffindor Tower now, Harry. It's well past
curfew," Dumbledore said, showing them to the door.
"Severus, please make sure they're safe," Harry heard the Headmaster
say as they exited his office.
* * * *
Harry nervously stood by the door to the sixth year boys' room as he
waited for someone to let him in. He had been allowed into the
Slytherin Common Room by a fifth year friend of Pansy's. The door
opened a few minutes later and a flustered Blaise Zabini motioned
for him to enter.
Upon entering the room, Harry noticed Draco standing in front of a
mirror, smoothing his somewhat wrinkled robes. That, put together
with the love bite on Blaise's neck and the fact that they seemed to
be alone on the room, told Harry that he didn't want to ask what
they had been up to when he knocked on the door.
"Hmm," Draco said as he inspected Harry. "At least you dressed up."
"Oh, shut up, Draco. You look good, Harry, never mind what Draco
says. He'll always find a fault in others."
Harry was wearing tight-fitting black robes and a classic black
tuxedo under them.
"Sit here," Draco commanded, signalling a chair in front of what
appeared to be a dressing table.
"Why on Earth is there a dressing table in this room? I thought this
was the boys' dorm," Harry asked as he sat where Draco told him to.
"It's not a dressing table," Draco sniffed, offended. "It's a desk
that happens to have a mirror."
"And a comb and brush set on it, and hair products..."
"He's right, Draco. You want to be vain? Fine, but call things by
their name. That is a dressing table."
"Fine," Draco pouted. "It's a dressing table. Happy now?"
"Oh, come on, babe. You know I wasn't making fun of you. It's not as
if I said you had a boudoir, so I'm not saying you're girly. Just
vain," Blaise said as he wrapped his arms around Draco and nibbled
at his lower lip. "Besides, I like your narcissistic side. I haven't
the faintest idea why, but I do."
Blaise started kissing Draco passionately then, and Harry didn't
know what to do. They had never acted this way around him. He didn't
want to interrupt, but they seemed to have forgotten that he was
even there. Finally he coughed to get the couple's attention.
"Go, Blaise, go to the Common Room. Otherwise, Harry will never be
ready on time," Draco said as he pushed his - well, boyfriend seemed
like an accurate term - towards the door.
As Draco moved to stand behind Harry and started studying his hair,
Harry decided to talk about what he had just witnessed.
"I didn't know you two were... involved," Harry said, catching
Draco's gaze in through the mirror.
"No one outside Slytherin does. You should feel honoured you do,"
Draco answered with a shrug, grabbing a brush and gently passing it
through Harry's shoulder-long locks.
"Why did you stop hiding it from me?" Harry asked.
"Blaise likes you. He wanted to tell you, but I wasn't so sure. I
think it was when you asked Pansy out that I realized it wasn't just
a truce that we had going on, but that we were actually becoming
friends. By asking her in front of us you didn't only prove that you
sincerely cared about her, you also showed that our opinion was
important to you. Now stop distracting me if you actually want your
hair to look acceptable."
Harry said no more. He was glad Draco thought they were becoming
friends since that had been his intention when proposing the truce
in the first place. And if Draco, king of sceptics, thought that,
then probably the other Slytherins did as well.
Two spells and a free amount of wizarding gel later, Draco deemed
Harry's hair looked presentable enough for Pansy to be seen with him
in public. Harry was grateful Draco hadn't slicked it back; instead,
it fell tidily to the sides of his face, framing it neatly.
"Come on, let's go downstairs. Pansy's probably there already, and
you don't want to make her wait," Draco said, moving towards the
door. Harry followed.
As they entered the Common Room, Harry saw Pansy was indeed already
there. He also noticed how beautiful she looked. She was wearing a
long, black dress with a low neckline and an open back. Harry later
learned from Draco it was made of crepe georgette. Her straight
black hair fell softly over her shoulders.
"You look beautiful, Pansy," he said when he realized he was gaping.
"Thank you," she said with a smile. She was one of the few girls
that didn't blush when paid a compliment. "You don't look too bad
yourself. I like your hair."
"Thank you," Harry, unlike Pansy, did blush. "Here, this is for
you," Harry said as he handed her a small box with silver wrapping.
"You shouldn't have," Pansy said as she took the box, clearly
delighted. She opened it carefully and gasped when she saw what was
inside.
"Oh, Harry, it's beautiful!," she said, taking the necklace out of
the box. It was made of sparkling silver stars. "Thank you, I love
it," she said with a smile.
She handed it to him and he placed it around her neck, brushing away
her hair to do the clasp. They stared at each other for a while,
smiling.
"Shall we go, then?" Harry said finally, offering her his arm.
"We shall," she said, taking his arm.
Harry and Pansy left the Slytherin Common room and headed to Snape's
office, where the three of them took a portkey to Zoe.
* * * *
Upon arriving at Zoe, Harry and Pansy were immediately amazed by the
sheer elegance of the place and its customers. Severus, having
already been to the restaurant before, smiled inwardly at the kids'
awe.
"This place is wonderful," Pansy said.
Right then the maitre d' asked their names and led them to their
tables. Harry and Pansy sat a few tables away from Snape but well in
his vision range. The maitre d' left them with their menus and went
to greet more incoming customers.
"Do you know what you'll have to drink?" Harry asked before opening
his menu.
"Carbonated water would be fine."
Harry touched the small crystal that lay in the middle of the table
and ordered two bottles of Ty Nant - one carbonated and one still,
since he didn't like bubbles. It was the best mineral water - it was
famous even in the Muggle world.
Harry was glad Severus had explained to him how the service worked
in this kind of place. He never would have guessed that he had to
speak directly to the elves in the restaurant kitchen through a
piece of crystal. He would have waited forever until a waiter came
their way!
Not a minute after Harry ordered their drinks, two bottles appeared
on their table. Harry poured some for Pansy and then for himself and
grabbed his menu.
"Everything sounds delicious," Harry said as he looked over the list
of continental dishes. They seemed to serve food from every country
in Europe. Of course, he wouldn't have understood a thing if the
dishes hadn't been translated into English next to their original
names.
"What would you like to have?" he asked Pansy.
"Hmm... I think I'll have Ungarisches Gulasch und Spätzle." Who knew
Pansy could speak German so well?
"I'll have the flayshweegan," Harry said.
"You pronounce it Fleischweggen," Pansy corrected with a smile.
Harry smiled back.
"I think you should be the one to order. I don't want them to bring
us some strange stuff instead of the meat roll and Gulasch we intend
to order."
"All right," she said and placed their order through the crystal.
* * * *
Harry and Pansy were finishing the Caprice Chocolat and Croquant
Praliné they had respectively ordered for dessert when they saw a
tall blonde man rise from a nearby table approach Severus Snape. It
was Lucius Malfoy. They hadn't noticed he was in the establishment.
He left after a quick exchange with the Potions Master. After a few
minutes, a period short enough to be safe but long enough to make it
seem unrelated to Lucius' talk to him, Severus looked at them and
signalled the three of them should leave.
"I wonder what that was about," Harry said as he placed 25 Galleons
on the bill tray that had just appeared on their table.
"He'll probably explain when we're back at Hogwarts. Come on, let's
go," Pansy said, getting up from the table and, with Harry close
behind, making her way to their Professor's table.
"Are you ready to go?" she asked Severus. She knew they should make
it look as if they were leaving because they were finished and not
due to some outside reason.
"I am if you are," Severus answered politely.
Pansy and Harry nodded and followed Snape to the lounge to portkey
back to the school.
* * * *
"What was that about?" Harry asked as soon as they arrived at
Snape's office. He and Pansy were looking expectantly at their
teacher.
"Lucius informed me a group of Death Eaters was about to arrive at
the restaurant," he answered. That they would be going there to take
Harry was left unsaid.
Pansy gasped at Snape's explanation. She wasn't aware that Harry
knew Lucius Malfoy had turned his back on Voldemort.
"Harry knows," Snape said before Pansy had time ask.
Harry, Pansy and Draco were the only students that knew Lucius
wasn't a loyal Death Eater. For security reasons, they hadn't been
allowed to tell anyone about it and hadn't been told that the others
knew. If they didn't know who was acquainted with the situation they
had no one to talk to about it, and there were no risks of them
being overheard.
"Now, may I suggest you both go to your respective dormitories? Even
if tomorrow is Sunday, it is late."
"Right. Goodnight, Professor," Pansy said, heading towards the door.
"Goodnight, Sir," Harry said as they exited the Potions Master's
office.
They heard a faint "goodnight" as they closed the door behind them.
"You knew, didn't you?" Pansy asked as they made their way through
the hallways to the Slytherin Common Room.
"Yeah... I wasn't allowed to tell anyone about it, that's why I
didn't tell you. I had no idea you knew," Harry said.
"I had no idea you knew. I was surprised Professor Snape told me in
front of you, but I guess I should have realized straight away you
already knew. He wouldn't have been so careless as to go about
saying, `Hey, did you know this man turned into a spy for the Order
last summer, when he realized Voldemort is a madman and staying
loyal to him would be suicidal?'" she said. Harry noticed how
careful she had been not to say any names. "It still surprises me
that he let us know the other knows."
"You would have realized I knew if I had accepted to leave without
an explanation - which I undoubtedly would have - and it would have
been the same with me. Professor Snape must have realized that,"
Harry said.
They stayed silent until they reached the entrance to the Slytherin
Common Room.
"I had fun tonight, despite the abrupt ending of the dinner," Harry
said.
"So did I," Pansy said with a smile.
"We could do it again some time?" Harry said, a question rather than
a statement.
"I'd like that," Pansy said. She leaned forward and gently brushed
her lips against Harry's.
Harry placed his arms around Pansy's waist and pulled her close,
deepening the kiss. Their first kiss. It was everything Harry had
wished for it to be. Sweet and gentle, yet sensual. Pansy put her
arms around Harry's neck and they stood there for a while, kissing,
giving the evening the perfect ending that the dinner had been
denied.
When they broke the kiss, they just gazed at each other. Neither
knew how long they'd been there until finally Pansy spoke.
"Goodnight, Harry," she said before speaking the password and
disappearing inside the Common Room.
"Goodnight, Pansy," Harry said before making his way to Gryffindor
Tower with a smile.
End
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