pansy. (pugnacious) wrote in fourteenshades, @ 2014-09-06 22:20:00 |
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As she slowly made her way toward the Quidditch Pitch that Saturday morning, Pansy wondered yet again why she’d asked Draco to take her flying. It made her nervous. Maybe she could tell him she’d changed her mind, and they could go do something else. This routine of trying to talk herself out of flying wasn’t unusual — it always happened after she requested to be taken up in the air. Yet, even though she wasn’t that fond of flying, or being too high up, after each session in the air she was always glad she’d gone up. It was hard to explain. Just remember, you’ll be fine once you’re up there. It’s just getting up there that scares you, she told herself as the Pitch came into sight. She was a little bit early — the better to psych herself out, apparently — and she wondered if Draco had arrived yet or not. Raising a hand to shield the sun from her eyes, she looked around the area before glancing up into the air. “Draco?” she called out, hoping, if he was there, that he was somewhere on the grounds and could hear her. It seemed like many of the villagers went camping, but Draco had no desire to sleep on the cold, dirty, and wet ground. He didn’t care about those tent things either. Unless he was allowed to charm it into a heated wizarding version, he was staying home, thank you very much. Besides, he’d rather spend the time celebrating Pansy’s birthday with her. He already had his gift planned although he needed to leave it at home. He didn’t want to risk ruining it by shrinking it while he and Pansy flew. He woke up the second time his alarm sounded. He still had trouble sleeping so waking up was a chore. He ate something light before heading to the pitch since he intended to take Pansy out properly after their flight. He arrived on her tail. “Right here,” he called. “Look at you, beating me here. That excited?” He teased. He knew she was nervous so he was hoping to take the edge off. At the sound of Draco’s voice, Pansy turned around to see him approaching her. The hand that had been shielding her eyes lowered a bit to wave at him. “Oh, definitely,” she laughed. Despite the fact that he wasn’t late at all, she added, “I was going to leave without you if you didn’t show up soon.” She was obviously joking, since Pansy would no more willingly go flying by herself than she would degnome a garden. The nerves in Pansy’s stomach began to subside slightly, though she knew they wouldn’t go away completely until she was safely back on the ground. “It’s a nice day for flying at least,” she commented. The sky was a bright blue and was mostly clear except for a few clouds scattered here and there. Draco glanced up and found she was right. Thanks to Quidditch Camp, he was used to flying in nearly all weather again so he hardly noticed. Quidditch was the only time Draco didn’t mind getting dirty or feeling cold. Still, he was glad for a nice day. Pansy didn’t need stormy weather when she already didn’t fly much. He wanted her to feel the best bits of it. “I think it knew better than to mess with your birthday,” he replied with a smirk. “Pansy Parkinson deserves the perfect day.” Despite the levity of his tone, his eyes betrayed a hint of seriousness. There was a lot of shared history between them. He may have made other friends, but Pansy knew all bits of him and liked him no matter what. He hoped she felt that he returned the sentiment. “I brought my broom,” he continued. “So we don’t need to use any from the storage unit.” He held it out. At Draco’s words, Pansy let out a small laugh and shrugged, “If you say so.” Really, she didn’t want much of a fuss made about her birthday. It was just another day to her, though she appreciated those who’d remembered it. “Oh, that’s good,” she smiled, walking forward and closing the gap between them. She was glad he’d be using his own broom. He likely knew it better than the spare ones, and probably felt more confident on it, which made her feel more comfortable. “I guess I’m ready to go,” she added, planning to climb on behind him once he was situated. Draco once loved celebrating his birthday. Really, a day to honor him? Could there have been anything better? It was only the last few that he didn’t feel like celebrating for all the obvious reasons although he appreciated what his family and friends in the village did for his recent one. However, he always liked celebrating those closest to him and that hadn’t changed. He may not have always done right by those he cared about, but he did always note their special days. “Hop on then,” he said with a gleeful smile. After brewing, flying was his second most relaxing hobby. Sharing it with Pansy just made it better. “You know you call the shots,” he added as he positioned himself. Once Draco was settled, Pansy climbed on, her hands resting comfortably on her thighs. That was, until they took off. The second they lifted into the air, her hands shot forward and gripped the sides of his shirt tightly. Pansy squeezed her eyes shut and ducked her head as they rose higher and higher, only relaxing a little when they seemed to be coasting at a level altitude. Slowly opening her eyes and lifting her head, she gazed around them, but tried not to look down. Salazar, they were high up. Even so, she knew that to get the proper view of the village and surrounding area that she wanted, they would need to go even higher. “Okay, we can go a little higher,” she told Draco, loosening her grip on him a bit. “It really is pretty amazing up here.” Draco couldn’t ignore the feeling he got when Pansy gripped him. The feeling was instinctual. She was his first real girlfriend and like most teenagers, he believed he was in love. Older Draco knew he couldn’t actually love anyone properly until he mended his brokenness, but younger Draco had no idea he was broken. Did that make his feelings less valid? Draco wouldn’t say that then and he wouldn’t say it currently. His feelings were confusing. He cared about three different girls who all brought out very different things in him. He reminded himself Pansy was practically a married woman anyway. Astoria was a student. Fleur was dealing with him leaving and returning. He still had work to do on himself. He shouldn’t think about women and dating anyway. He wasn’t thinking of all that then. He just knew he felt comfortable and happy up there. He could enjoy the moment. “Higher? Don’t have to ask me twice.” He shot upward toward the clouds. “It is brilliant, yeah? Peaceful. And look at the cloud. I swear it looks like Professor Flitwick.” This time, Pansy didn’t duck her head, but instead simply looked upward as they ascended. “Okay, okay, that’s high enough!” she squeaked out before long. Once her heartbeat had returned to a somewhat normal pace, she dared to look around and even down. For about half a second. “Which cl— oh!” Pansy spotted the cloud Draco had been referring to before she could finish her question, and she laughed. “It does.” When she was younger, Pansy had imagined — like most children, probably — that clouds were like blobs of candy floss or soft pillows. Fluffy bunches of cotton-like material that she could nap on, should she ever get high enough to reach one. Releasing Draco with one hand, she reached her hand over his shoulder to point at another one. “That looks like a crup.” Looking down again, this time for more than just a few seconds, Pansy softly noted, “The water looks like glass from up here.” Draco laughed as Pansy yelled about the height. “Aw, don’t trust I won’t let you fall?” Despite his teasing, he steadied his broom and kept it level. His eyes searched for the cloud she mentioned. He was used to flying while keeping his eyes peeled for things. He did play Seeker for many years. “It does, doesn’t it?” Draco never noticed before. “Everything seems so far away up here. You realize how massive the world really is, you know?” It was bigger than Draco or Pansy, yes, but also bigger than the Wizarding World. Until recently, Draco’s world had been small, figuratively and literally. “I like seeing it like this with you.” “I know you won’t let me fall. I’m more concerned I’ll panic and accidentally knock you off the broom or something,” Pansy retorted in a playful manner. “I’m not sure I could do one of those spectacular dives to save you.” The world — or, at least, their little village-world — was indeed bigger than Pansy realised. “I like sharing this with you too,” she replied. Glancing behind her, she could hardly see the main part of the village anymore. Now there were just trees and water below them, almost as if they were somewhere entirely different. “Do you think if we just kept flying, we’d, I don’t know, hit a barrier of some sort?” They couldn’t keep flying forever, obviously, and now Pansy was curious what would happen if they reached the “end” of their world. Draco thought about her question. It was a sobering question. “You know, I always liked the idea of it just being endless sky, but here…” He trailed off. It was another moment before he spoke. “You are likely right. We have to hit the barrier at some point; otherwise, someone would have fled already.” He snickered. “It sounds like escaping Azkaban that way.” But it was a little bit like a prison too. Not a bad one, but finite all the same. “We can pretend it’s endless sky. It doesn’t seem as confining that way.” All in all, Pansy had to admit that this place wasn’t so bad sometimes. A lot of good things had come about in it, things that might not have happened back home. Then again, some things from home that would have been comforting to have just — weren’t an option right now. But things could quickly change. They had before. “It’s better than Azkaban, but I know what you mean. How have things been going for you lately?” Pansy knew that Draco had been going through a lot since his re-arrival, but it seemed to her that he’d made quite a bit of progress. “I like the idea. Endless sky, like it should be.” Besides he’d really need to fly quite a distance to hit the barrier so it was an easy game to play. “I am doing better, I think. I feel better anyway.” He did too. It wasn’t always easy and he still kept away from those who seemed standoffish, but he had his family and some very good friends. He couldn’t ask for more. “But today is about you, remember? Flying, good food, good presents...the best from me, of course. I have excellent taste.” Pansy smiled, pleased when Draco told her he was feeling better. It was always hard to tell, especially with close friends, how much you should try to help through difficult times. Pansy naturally felt the urge to be there for him as much as she could, but also wanted to give him space and not crowd him if he just needed to work through things on his own. Her grin widened when he continued on about today being about her. She was warming up to the idea more and more. “It is about me,” she agreed with an emphatic nod. “And there were some presents that had been delivered to my house, though I didn’t open any before I left. I’m sure yours is the best, though.” There was a pause of only a few seconds before she spoke up again. “And I’d really like to find out what it is. The others too. Do you think we could head back?” The thought of presents just sitting there, waiting to be opening, was too enticing for Pansy to resist much longer. Draco wanted to give her his gift so she didn’t need to ask twice. He slowly began the decline; he didn’t want to startle her with a sudden drop. “Your wish is my command, love.” |