Draco Takes a Mark

Chapter 48

'Well, I'm not surprised the new Mr. and Mrs. haven't joined the rest of us for breakfast," Ron said, scanning the other tables in the Great Hall. "Can you imagine, getting married Sunday and then showing up in class as if nothing happened on Monday morning?"

Pansy salted the egg on his plate and mashed it onto his toast. "And isn't it odd to think they're having a honeymoon in here with all of us," she said. "It's not safe for them to leave right now, so they're here somewhere, in our midst, having -- a marriage. How are we supposed to keep from running into them? That map of yours would say where exactly they are, wouldn't it Potter?"

Still a little pale from the exertions of yesterday, Harry came shuddering into the conversation. "What? Yeah, I haven't been looking at the Map. I've been making sure not to, actually."

Ron murmured to Pansy. "The Map's little black footprints overlap when -- well, it can get quite graphic, if you're into footprints."

"Depends on whose footprints," she grinned into his face, nose to nose.

"Hey-a." It was Ginny, taking a seat next to Harry. "Might want to cool it, Ron. I've been seeing members of the Order all over the school this morning and I can't be sure Mum and Dad aren't here and all."

He sat back, out of Pansy's face, smiling a small apology, settling in to eat the rest of his breakfast without any more of her doting. Ginny, on the other hand, ignored her own advice and spent most of the breakfast hour with her forehead pressed to Harry's, massaging his temples, whispering things that were making him smile and blush.

Pansy stood up from the table first. "I'm off," she said, leaving while Ron was still fussing inside his bookbag.

"Wait a bit, Pansy," he said. But when he looked up, she was still walking toward the exit, waving without turning back.

The iciness of it froze him to the spot.

When he didn't move, Ginny and Harry broke apart, watching him.

Ron sprinted through the crowd in the dining hall, smaller students leaping out of his way. He caught up with Pansy in the corridor. "You didn't wait for me," he said, openly suffering.

She stopped, finally turning to show she was suffering herself. "We're not going to the same class right now anyway. And I didn't want to make you uncomfortable in front of your parents, if they're still here. So I'm off."

"What? No." He reached for her hand and though she let him take it, she left her fingers closed in a loose fist inside his grasp. "I would not feel uncomfortable for anyone to see us together, never."

"Oh, maybe you wouldn't if I was the Chosen One, or some such person. But as it is, I'm the daughter of blood purity sympathizer Prender Parkinson, not that there is anything I can do about it -- "

"Pansy, love," he cut her off, stepping closer. "You could be the daughter of You-know-who himself and I'd still be proud to be with you. As it is, I can hardly believe you took me on. And my parents already know who your dad is and that we're together. It's not like you weren't there yesterday when I introduced you. What's this about?"

She tossed her head. "Yes, I was there. And your mother was very polite, but not at all what I'd call warm to me. Though she was so nice to everyone else. And now Ginny's telling you to cool it, and you're doing just that."

He sighed. In a few weeks, he would be seventeen -- a fully grown wizard, and one who had never lived in a family where there was anything less than a mature, strong marriage functioning merrily away through all kinds of adversity. Teenaged Ron Weasley might have been a complete disaster at starting a relationship, but his years in his parents' happy household had taught him much of what he needed to know about how to maintain a relationship.