Pansy sat in the small room on the fourth floor of St Mungo's Hospital. She had been having tea with her mother and Narcissa Malfoy earlier that afternoon when she had collapsed after a walk around the gardens, something that was highly unusual for her since she held all the stamina of the quidditch player she was. The two elder ladies had demanded she be seen at once, and though Pansy was in her twenties and more than capable of looking after herself, she couldn't deny that she had been feeling slightly off recently. So she took the floo to St Mungo's and now here she was, an hour later and shaking like a leaf because some idiot in healer robes had just told her she was pregnant. Pregnant. As if!

Pansy stared at the healer, Kevin she noted was his name and silently made the connection to his obvious muggle heritage before telling him he was wrong. Because Pansy Parkinson couldn't be pregnant. Not on Merlin's grave.

But, what if...she had missed a period, and she had been feeling a bit odd for the past few weeks, but she put those down to stress. She couldn't be pregnant; she wasn't married, not even close. She didn't have a boyfriend, and the one man she was having sex with always cast a charm. Except...there was that one night where they were both drunk. Pansy couldn't really remember much besides waking up naked the next morning. She hadn't thought much of it at the time, drunk sex was something they participated in often, and they always seemed to remember in the past. They were safe. She thought they were safe.

"We can cast the charm here if you would like so you can see the results for yourself, but I can assure you Miss Parkinson, you are most definitely pregnant, and about eight weeks by our calculations."

Pansy nodded, eager to prove the stupid muggle-born healer wrong even though she knew, deep down, that he was right.

When the charm was cast and a golden light filled the room, silent tears fell down her face because as much as she knew she was pregnant, she also knew she was alone; the last thing a girl of her status needed was an unexpected out of wedlock pregnancy without a man around. She would be fed to the wolves just for the implication. Merlin, she was positively screwed.

Pansy went home that evening to the flat she shared with best friend Daphne. The girls had 'rebelled' against pureblood custom and had moved out of their respective family homes as soon as they graduated from Hogwarts. They even had jobs! Part-time jobs but jobs nonetheless. Pansy was a backup Chaser for the Holyhead Harpies. She had been offered a full time position on numerous occasions but had always let it go for fear of sending her mother into an early grave. Part-time quidditch was bad enough, but Merlin, everyone knew how rough a full-time position on the team would be and her mother was worried that a girl as pure as herself, with cheekbones and lips like hers, could end up worse for wear. So she settled for part-time because, frankly, she probably played just as many games as she missed.

For the next fortnight the brunette witch kept her news to herself. She set up a silencing charm so her bouts of morning sickness weren't heard and brewed a potion that enabled her to eat at least something and keep it down, but when the Harpies floo'd her one day to fill a spot on the team, she obliged without thinking. She later cried herself to sleep over her stupidity. Bludgers and pregnancy didn't mix, and she had taken a hard one to her left side causing at least bruised ribs. The team healer had managed to fix them, but it was obvious from the look Pansy received that she knew of the pregnancy. After making sure nobody was around to hear, Pansy demanded the healer check the baby was fine and later resigned for her dream job.

Since her diagnosis she hadn't once met up with the father of her child, too afraid of the what if's if she did. Too afraid of rejection from the one man she sought acceptance.

Pansy dragged herself out of bed one day a few weeks later though only because she was sick of Daphne's incessant moaning. She trudged up to the breakfast bar in their open kitchen-living space and poured herself a cup of coffee. She didn't care if she wasn't supposed to drink the stuff. Some days you couldn't function without coffee, and today was one of them. As Daphne fiddled around with the mail, Pansy picked up the paper that had been thrown to one side.

'GOLDEN TRIO BACK AGAIN' Pansy groaned as she skimmed the piece about the Ministry ball and flipped the pages to see a picture of Hermione and Draco dancing and smiling and waving at the cameras. Even though the world had long ago accepted the pair as a couple, they were still a spectacle to dear old Rita Skeeter to get her mitts on. She turned the page to see a newly wedded Harry and Ginny Potter dressed to the nines in what could only be new robes. Pansy, being a team mate of the Weasley witch, had been invited to the couples wedding the month before but unable, and unwilling, to chance a wedding at the Weasel coop, she had turned the invitation down, even if it was the biggest society event of the century.

As she turned the page again she was met with the laughing, and smiling, image of Ronald Weasley and Lavender Brown. Lavender-Fucking-Brown. After everything the bitch had done to the man back in Hogwarts he was dancing with her. In the paper. Pansy screwed the edges of the Prophet up in her hands as Daphne eyed her curiously.

The two friends were close, really close, but Pansy had never told Daphne all about how she had started sleeping with the youngest Weasley son back in sixth year, or how they had continued to fuck pretty much every week since.

"Everything okay Pans?" Daphne asked as she watched, knowingly, as her friend's face filled with hurt and anger. She knew it wasn't okay. She knew Pansy was in love with Ronald Weasley and had been for years. Merlin, she knew Pansy was pregnant,but if she wanted to pretend she wasn't for a while longer then Daphne could go along with it.

"They look so happy it makes me sick." She tried to joke with a halfhearted laugh.

Pansy went back to her room not long after that and cried herself to sleep.

The next morning a tiny chirpy owl arrived with a letter addressed to Pansy. She recognised the script immediately and set the thing to light, feeling only slightly better with herself though it didn't last long.

oOoOoOo

Pansy and Daphne were out in Hogsmeade one day when Pansy's bladder all of a sudden felt like it was about to burst. Daphne rushed her friend into the Three Broomsticks to relive herself. It had been another week since the article about the Ministry ball had been released, and Daphne was starting to lose her wits over the whole situation.

As Pansy relieved herself in the bathroom, Daphne went to find them a table.

"Where is she?" A voice almost spat out behind her as she sat. Daphne turned to see a very put out looking Ronald Weasley who looked to be drowning his sorrows.

"Who?" Daphne asked feigning interest.

"Don't act like you don't know."

"Fine. She's in the bathroom," Daphne answered with a sigh as she watched the ginger haired man down the last of his drink and head in the direction of the ladies' toilets.

Pansy was just walking out of the door of the ladies' bathroom when she bumped into him. The one man she didn't want to see. The one man she so desperately needed to see. The man who sent butterflies to her stomach just from looking at her the way he did. She almost fell over in shock, but he reached out and grabbed her before she hit the floor and, with the pub as packed as it was, they ended up being squashed up against a wall.

"Are you okay?" He asked softly, his arm wrapped around her protectively.

"Wh-what? Yes, of course I'm fine."

"Really? You don't look fine." He replied, and she was surprised that the concern she saw cross his face was genuine.

"Well I am."

"I've been waiting for you."

"Why?"

"It's Saturday, Pans." He said as though that made it obvious.

"Don't-don't call me that," She almost begged. "And in case you hadn't noticed, since I haven't been here the last five weeks, I'm not interested anymore," she said this time with more confidence.

"I've noticed, I come every week-"

"You're an idiot."

"What did I do Pans? Just tell me. I know I've upset you but let me fix it."

"You can't! It's too late for that." Pansy answered as she looked away as the image of a laughing and smiling Lavender Brown played in her mind, again.

Ron moved one of his hands from where it was on her side and, gripping her slightly more firmly with the other, he tilted her chin with his fingers so she had no choice but to look at him. He noted the tears that were building and felt a knot form in his stomach; he felt sick. Whatever he had done was bad enough to make Pansy Parkinson so upset she was verging on tears. "Look at me Love," he whispered, "Please."

Pansy obliged but only because he left her no choice and just as her dark eyes met his bright blue ones, he kissed her. It was their first kiss in nearly two months, and she couldn't help but kiss him back.

Ron moved his hand to cup her face as their lips met, and when she parted hers instinctively just as she always did, he took that as a sign and carried on. He sucked her lower lip gently between his own before slipping his tongue in her mouth, and they fought the same battle of dominance they often would.

The kiss was as if a volcano erupted inside of her. It touched her everywhere fast, flowed through her magic and veins, and she could feel it in her toes as they curled up without warning. When the kiss that had started out tender and full of hope turned into something hot and passionate, heat pooled in the pit of her stomach as she felt his growing hardness pressed against her thigh. His lips found the column of her neck, and she barley cast a glance at the rest of the pub before walking backwards, dragging him with her as they entered the bathroom.

Ron didn't notice what was going on around him or that he was still in public. He hadn't seen Pansy in nearly two months, and he missed her. Needed her. As Pansy ordered a couple of young girls out and raised her wand to ward the door, Ron continued down to her collar bone, kissing his way to whatever exposed skin he could find. He gripped her waist tighter and slammed her hard against the wall. The moan that escaped the witch was almost inaudible as she wrapped her legs around his waist trying to create friction that would ease the almost painful need she had for him. He held her up with barely any effort as his mouth claimed hers again. Hard, fast, rough. She was breathless and heady, but she carried on as if it was their last kiss because it was. It had to be.

Just as the thought crossed her mind the tear that had been threatening for the last few minutes finally fell down her cheek and before she could play it off, Ron was already tenderly wiping it away with his thumb and his lips slowed their ministrations. He kissed her soft. He kissed her slow. He kissed her so full of love that she almost believed it was true. When it was over, he kissed first her nose then her head and finally rested his forehead on hers, pulling her closer and wrapping his arms around her. "I'm sorry Pans, whatever I did, I'm sorry Love," he whispered into her hair.

Pansy tightened her grip on him for just a second and, as she gathered up the courage, something she had never really had a hard time with in the past, she turned her head away from him, breathed in his scent just one last time and said "Why? Did she cheat on you already? You need me back so quickly? All I'm good for is a quick fuck isn't it? I've had enough Weasley. Go and find someone else to screw around with because I'm done being second best." Her voice grew louder, her tone harsher as she shouted at him, and Ron stood stock still having absolutely no idea what she was talking about.

Tears poured down her face but she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing her so upset. She turned and disapparated without waiting for Daphne, who was already getting through the wards.

"What just happened?" He asked in disbelief as he stared at the spot she had been standing in just seconds before.

"You need to sort this mess out."

Ron turned to see Daphne Greengrass staring at him with what he thought was pity.

"How? I don't even know what I'm supposed to have done. And it's not...she's not that to me...she's-" Ron struggled with himself to say exactly what she was because honestly, he didn't even know himself.

"I know," Daphne sighed and started to rummage through her bag. "Look I better go after her but here," she said thrusting a folded up piece of parchment in his hands. "Sort it out. Trust me, the sooner this is fixed, the better. If she eats anymore ice cream...just sort it!" Daphne rolled her eyes in annoyance as she followed Pansy's lead and disapparated after her best friend.

oOoOoOo

"Bloody Fuck!" he cursed loudly, his hands twisting into fists automatically as he stared at a picture of him and Lavender dancing at the Ministry Ball.

He hadn't wanted to dance with his cheating ex-girlfriend. He didn't even want to look at her let alone be close enough to dance, but Lavender Brown had become a prominent figure in fighting for Werewolf rights since the end of the war and for one political reason or another, they had been at the same ball, which was fair enough. He couldn't exactly ask the Minister to un-invite the witch because she was easy and liked shagging Slytherin's in broom closets. Especially since said incident had happened nearly a decade ago back in sixth year. No, he had pulled on a fake smile and got on with the boring ball he had been roped by his friends into going to. He'd not seen Pansy in two weeks by that point and was desperately missing her. He'd moped so much that Harry, Ginny, Hermione, and Draco had coerced him into going. When they had played the wizarding waltz he was so drunk on the offered firewhiskey that he had actually joined in when an old lady asked him for a dance. He didn't realise it was a changing partners type of waltz until it was too late and the sweet old lady was replaced by none other than Lavender bloody Brown. He wore a fake smile as she tried to engage him in conversation. She flirted openly and freely, but he ignored her advances and, as soon as he was able, he passed her off to the nearest wizard he could find and exited the dance floor for another drink and to wash his hands because just the thought that he had touched her made him feel violated.

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"

oOoOoOo

Ron was too pissed off at himself, the Prophet, and Rita bloody Skeeter to apparate home safely. So instead he walked to Grimmauld Place, giving no fucks at all that his sister and best friend had not long ago gotten married and probably wanted to spend some time together, alone.

Thankfully when he knocked on the door to the ancient house of Black, now Potter, for the first time in forever in all the years he had been going there, Harry and Ginny knew something was off right away and dragged him inside without complaint.

"What's happened?" Ginny asked Harry in a hushed voice.

"How the bloody hell should I know? I've been with you all day." Harry answered with a roll of his eyes as they walked into the kitchen and used his wand to sort out some tea.

Ron looked as white as a sheet. His hands were still in fists, and there was something caught between his fingers. Ginny managed to free the offending parchment from his grip and smoothed it out before skimming the article. It was about her and Harry, and she couldn't find anything amiss.

"The other side," Ron muttered reluctantly as Harry set a sober up potion and cup of tea in front of him.

Ginny turned the paper over and was met with a picture of Ron and Lavender. The Potter's didn't buy the Prophet anymore; it wasn't a reliable source of information, so they generally stuck to the Quibbler. Sure there were a few dotty articles here and there, but if you were smart enough you could find the real news in the Lovegood's paper while the Prophet was paid off by the government and Wizengamot to appear exactly as they wanted it too.

"Urgh," Ginny grimaced as Harry looked over her shoulder. "You danced with her? After what that slag did to you back in Hogwarts?"

"Wasn't left with much choice. Stupid blasted waltz."

"I hope you had a wash afterwards. Merlin knows where she's been."

"I need to tell you somethingm," Ron said as he stared down into the mug he was holding and wishing so desperately it was something much stronger.

"About what?"

"Me…"

"And...?"

Ron took a long drink from the tea and said, "And Pansy Parkinson."

"Oh." Ginny said, a little deflated.

"Oh?" He asked as he looked between his sister and best friend. "You know?"

"Well, to be fair everyone knows. You're not exactly secretive about her. You took her to the beach near Shell Cottage Merlin knows how many times. Bill and Fleur saw you besides, we knew before that anyway. Haven't you been shagging her since you had to redo seventh year?"

"Sixth year," Ron corrected. " We've been...since sixth year. She was there when Lavender...she was with me when we caught her in the boom closet, and well, ever since...-"

"You've been shagging her since sixth year? Bloody hell Ron!" Ginny cried.

"What does it matter anyway? She hates me. She saw the paper and went mental. Stopped coming to meet up with me and everything. I don't know what to do. I hate Lavender! She knows I do."

"What does it matter? Oh for Circe's sake Ron! You've been shagging her every chance you could for nearly a decade without introducing her to your family or friends, without her being your girlfriend and every week she was there, and what do you do? Get snapped by Rita Skeeter dancing with your cheating ex. You seriously don't know a thing about witches do you? She doesn't hate you. Merlin, I can't believe I'm having to spell this out for you - she loves you, you idiot. She loves you, and you've been treating her like a fuck buddy this whole time."

Ron paled as Ginny laid into him, not because he was scared about her implications - though he was - but because he desperately wanted them to be true. He'd first realised he loved Pansy back in seventh year, but the witch had been determined to prove her mother wrong and be independent for a while. When she had taken a part-time job as a quidditch player he had worried, not because she wasn't good but because she was brilliant, and brilliant players were generally knocked out first. He went to every game she played and was able to cheer for her without anyone knowing since it was his sister's team. He hadn't told her he loved her because once Posy Parkinson started talking to her daughter about settling down Pansy would use their time to bitch about her mother and tell him exactly how that was the "last thing she needed" and how "love was just so unpractical" and that she "didn't have room for it in her life." So he kept his mouth shut. When the war was over and she was safe, they carried on their secret meetings; after graduation they would meet once a week. In all the years they had been doing it neither of them had used the 'L' word. Hell, neither of them had even said they explicitly liked one another let alone love. They pretended it was a mutual beneficial agreement though neither of them ever dated anyone else. Truth was he was terrified. Terrified of losing Pansy. Terrified of them never being anything more than what they were. Terrified of never being able to tell her how he really felt.

"Can you help me? I need her back Gin. I'm going mad without her."

Ginny sighed helplessly before she agreed. "I'm going to floo 'Mione and Draco. I think we need all the help we can get here."

oOoOoOo

Daphne didn't apparate home, she knew Pansy well enough to know she wouldn't be there. Instead she apparated to the one place she knew the witch would be, the beach. Well, what barely passed for a beach anyway. It was a wizarding beach that had the odd cottage here and there along the coast and was totally safe from muggles. It was small and quiet, a place for relaxation.

"How did you find me?" Pansy asked as her best friend slipped her shoes off and walked up behind her.

"Pansy, we've been best friends since we were babies. You think I don't know the one place you would go after having an argument with the man you love?"

"I don't-" Pansy tried to defend weakly.

"Save it."

"How long have you known?"

"About you and Weasley or about you being pregnant?"

Pansy sucked in a breath. It was the first time since the healer had said the word that she had actually heard it.

"You thought I didn't know," Daphne noted. "We live together Pans, it wasn't hard."

The pair stood staring out at the sea, watching as the tide rose higher and higher while Pansy cried silent tears.

"You need to talk to him, tell him everything. You can't carry on like this."

"I know."

oOoOoOo

Two hours later, the two witches and three wizards were sat around the Potter's kitchen drinking tea and discussing how to win Pansy back for Ron. Even Draco who also, it turned out, knew of the pairs long standing arrangement with each other. Though he did express just how much the thought of his second favourite Weasley and his friend 'going at it like rabbits' made him gag. A quick elbow to the ribs from his pregnant wife shut him up and before long they were hatting a plan to win the witch back.

The plan was, as devised by everyone in attendance but himself since apparently his opinions on the issue didn't matter due to how he had handled the situation so far, to lure the witch using a fake gala she had conveniently forgotten about. Draco was going to apparate her to a fancy restaurant on the outskirts of a small Scottish town just below Hogsmeade. It wasn't a cheap restaurant; It was posh and they played classical wizarding waltzes in the background, but it wasn't cheap.

Ron floo'd back to Shell Cottage once the rest of the them had decided the plan was good enough though he barely knew himself what it was. He was told where to be and when. What to wear and to bring a bunch of pansies with him. Because, you know, her name is Pansy and they thought it was cute or some other such nonsense.

He had bought the cottage from his elder brother and sister-in-law a few years earlier when the pair were pregnant with their second child and decided that they needed more room. The beach had always been a place he went to get away from life. He had even taken Pansy there a few times though they had never gone back to his place. As far as he knew she had no idea he lived where he did. It was unplottable. It had to be.

oOoOoOo

When he woke the next day with a clearer mind and the realisation that no way in hell would the plan work, Ron set to work at fixing it. If this was going to be his one and only shot at getting her to listen, to let him explain and give him another chance, a real chance, then he needed to pull out all the stops. That way she couldn't say he hadn't tried, and besides, as far as he was concerned she deserved it. He had never once spoiled the witch before. All her talk of independence and not needing to be married or how stupid love was really put him off, and to be quite honest, he was too scared of the rejection if he even tried.

Tonight though he didn't care. This was his last chance, and regardless of how terrified he was, tonight he was putting his heart in her hands and let her do the deciding for once. Tonight he would tell her how he really felt. Something he couldn't do in a restaurant that just wasn't right for them. In clothes that made them feel like they were pretending to be someone else and with flowers that were every kind of wrong. No, he would do things right and that meant pyjamas instead of robes, dodgy home cooking by candle-light with the wizarding wireless playing in the background. Dancing like idiots to said wireless. Honeydukes' finest chocolate covered caramels because they were her favourite and roses, not pansies because she hated pansies and roses had always been her favourite flowers.

Ron left for work early that morning feeling a mixture of hope and anxiety over the evenings events.

oOoOoOo

Pansy was eating ice cream straight from the tub for breakfast when an owl arrived from Draco. She recognised the script immediately, and even if she hadn't, the Malfoy wax seal on the back was a dead giveaway. She read the note a couple of times before thinking 'fuck it why not?' and penned him a letter back with the waiting owl.

Draco had asked her to be his date for the evening. His pregnant wife was having to take it easy for the next few days and couldn't go, and he needed to turn up with a date; politics.

The rest of the day was spent with Daphne as the pair went shopping for the perfect dress and shoes, went to a nail bar and got their hair done.

The pair were in Madam Malkin's getting measured for robes when the elderly seams-witch had noted Pansy's pregnancy. It turned out buying robes was going to be a little more difficult than she had originally thought it would. She had barely paid much attention to her stomach the last few weeks as she was pretending the pregnancy wasn't really happening and putting it to the back of her mind while trying to continue on as normal. She stopped wearing her tight fitting clothes and opted for baggy jumpers, thankful that it was nearly winter and she could get away with it. Besides, the baby was taking up all her warmth, and she needed the extra layers. She hadn't looked at how much her body had changed until that afternoon when she stood in front of the mirror and saw the small but very obvious roundness popping out from behind her robes. "Oh, fuck." she whispered before adding, "Just go up a size for now." hoping she could get away with it.

Draco floo'd to the apartment the pair shared later that evening. He told Pansy she looked good, as was expected of man of his birth and upbringing, and offered her his arm so they could apparate away.

oOoOoOo

Ron stood outside the restaurant, he had already cancelled the reservation that had been made on his behalf, and the chicken was waiting at home with a dodgy warming spell placed on it since he never actually ever had to use one before since he usually went to his mothers or ate takeaways on his way home from work. He stood awkwardly wearing a tuxedo and robes set that he usually wore to the fancier balls and held a bouquet of red roses as he waited anxiously for the witch and the ferret to arrive.

He'd gotten there early in his haste and ended up waiting fifteen minutes before the pair appeared out of thin air, by which point he was already telling himself how much of a bad idea it was and how she wasn't going to come or all the other ways things could go spectacularly wrong.

"Look, don't pitch a fit okay?" Draco started.

"What the...where are we?" Pansy asked a she looked at the restaurant in front of them, still not seeing the redhead stood close by.

"We're not going to a gala. You're sorting this mess out." He said with a look over Pansy's shoulder as he gave Ron the signal to move out of the shadows and appear behind her. "Both of you."

Pansy spun on her heels confused for just a second before she caught on. She had been tricked. She had fallen hook, line, and sinker, Damn it!

But when she saw him, even though she was mentally cursing herself, she still couldn't help the familiar butterflies that fluttered in her stomach or the way she bit the corner of her bottom lip from seeing him dressed so...smart. So crisp and elegant. Merlin he was bloody gorgeous in suit robes. She'd always known it but had barely ever had the chance to see it for herself except at their secret rendezvous just before graduation where she torn the damn things off of him within two minutes. It had been nearly ten years since then and the sight was only made worse with age. He looked better; he had filled out from his years as an Auror and all the training he had to endure to keep fit. He had muscles that were so obvious under the robes that Pansy wondered how he even fit into them in the first place. He even wore black tie. A. Black. Tie. The pants were as snug as they could be possible be, fitting just perfectly in all the right places. His thigh muscles were prominent that it made her wonder what his arse looked like from the back, and before she knew it, heat pooled in the pit of her stomach as she silently prayed to Merlin he would turn around just so she could get a quick glimpse. "Fuck," she whispered. She was positively done for because no matter what she already knew, that whatever he was about to ask her, she would agree to.

"Just...I can't believe I'm saying this, but give the Weasel a chance Pans. Just one chance." Draco said as he mistook her curse of appreciation of the male form for something else entirely. Draco gave her a quick kiss on the temple before disapparating away though she barely noticed. She hadn't taken her eyes off Ron the whole time.

He stepped closer, his eyes roaming her form taking in her beauty. She really was mesmerising. She stood there in deep scarlet robes that hung from her hips. The fabric, crushed velvet, brushed against her toes where he feet sat in heels that he had no idea how anyone could walk in despite whatever charm witches came up it. From where he stood he gathered the dress was backless, and he was desperate to see how the soft velvety material fell against the curve of her arse. The neckline was low, complete with a fancy golden trim. She didn't wear anything around her neck though, and he mentally kicked himself for not having thought of that himself. She deserved to wear the biggest jewel he could afford. A ruby, or even amber, would have complimented the look perfectly.

"You look-" He started as he stared at her. Her hair was charmed in some sort of elegant up do, but one piece kept falling in her face. He stepped closer again so he could move it and tucked it behind her ear.

Pansy's breath caught as he touched her despite only seeing him the day before and the kiss, Merlin the kiss she thought. She still missed him, still felt a need for him she had never felt for anyone before. It scared her something rotten.

"-Beautiful." He finished as his hand fell limply to the side, and she pouted at the loss of contact.

Why was she so needy for him when she was so angry? Why couldn't she get ahold of her emotions and just fix herself on one? Why did he turn her into a puddle of goo?

"Roses?" She asked after a few seconds.

"Well, everyone else suggested pansies, but I know how much you hate them." He answered as he passed her the bouquet.

"Roses are my favourite."

"I know."

The pair stood awkwardly after that, Pansy inhaled the scent of the beautiful red flowers before saying "They're red."

"I know."

"I suppose there is no rose that represents fuck buddies, is there?" She asked wryly.

"Pans" He pleaded "don't-don't do this. Just give me one date. It's all I ask. Give me one chance, and I'll explain everything. I promise."

"One date? Then what?"

"That's up to you love," he answered before he pleaded with her "Please." His voice was rough and broken; she caved just like she knew she would.

"Okay," she whispered with a small smile and nod. "Shall we go in then?"

"Here?" He asked. "Godric no! If I only get one chance I'm doing this properly. You deserve for me to put some bloody effort in and paying someone to cook for us isn't that."

She smiled for real then. "You cooked? For me?"

oOoOoOo

Despite his inner war with himself not to because she just looked too good, Ron offered the witch a pair of his pyjamas, and she readily accepted before Ron lead her out through the back door of the cottage to what he called the garden but was essentially his own little private piece of the beach with beautiful views of the ocean. There were floating candles and a table dressed in the finest china he owned. They ate the chicken and rice he had made while Pansy made all the right noises about his cooking, and he was glad for her obvious over exaggeration. When they finished, he banished dishes back inside and pulled Pansy up to dance even when she tried to bat him away with her hand. He used a charm to change the song to something slower, and she only half protested. He'd tried to serve some elf wine at dinner, something that he had gone out of his way to buy, making sure it complimented the dish well but the witch had declined saying she wasn't in the mood for alcoholic drinks and praying to Salazar that he didn't prod further. He didn't mind, he just grabbed the pumpkin juice out and poured them each a glass of that instead.

After their dancing Ron levitated the chocolates out to them and wrapped Pansy up in his Auror robes when the chill threatened, and the pair sat huddled on a swing as they ate the caramels and watched the waves rise. He could have cast a warming charm but in all honesty he much prefered the closness she was all too willing to offer.

All in all, it had been the perfect night; much better than some fancyshmancy dinner in a stuck up restaurant where they had to pretend they were someone they weren't.

They had sat on the swing long enough for Ron to realise Pansy had fallen asleep, the lull of the ocean sounds pulling her away. Instead of waking the sleeping witch, he picked her up bridal style and took her into his room. Despite the cottage having three bedrooms, he had never needed a use for a spare bed before and was left with no choice but to put her in his own bed. He gently lay the witch down, unable to stop marveling at just how perfect, how peaceful she looked in her sleep and took away the robes that surrounded her before pulling the blankets up. It was October, and it could get cold in the cottage since the sea was so close. He placed a chaste kiss on her forehead before moving to a nearby cupboard to find himself a blanket with the intentions of sleeping on the couch, not that the pair had never shared a bed before. On the contrary, they had slept beside one another more times than he could count but something about doing it this night without invitation felt almost intrusive.

Just as he turned to go, he felt a hand on his arm "Stay…" Pansy mumbled sleepily.

"Get some sleep, Love. I'll just be on the couch"

"Please stay."

He only gave in because she sounded much more alert and thought, no hoped, he wouldn't get his arse handed to him for it the next morning.

"You're freezing!"

"Warm me up."

Ron moved closer as Pansy huddled next to him for warmth. She had woken up now, and they were nose to nose. Suddenly Ron couldn't hold it in anymore.

"I love you," he whispered into the darkness.

He watched her freeze, gulp with anxiety, and then he kissed her hoping to convey his feelings and ease her tensions.

"I love you too," she finally replied when they broke apart. "But there's something else; I'm pregnant"

It was his turn to freeze then.

"You're going to be a daddy," Pansy whispered.

"Really?"

She nodded, a grin forming.

"Merlin witch, I fucking love you!" and before she knew it his lips were crashing against hers, claiming her as his own, and they were tearing at each other's clothes, desperate to feel, touch, imprint themselves on each other.

As Ron pulled up the shirt she was wearing, one of his own that was far too big against her frame, his fingers brushed softly against the small bump that had formed where her flat stomach used to be. He trailed his hands over the skin there, memorising the new information as much as he could before he placed a single kiss just below her belly button and moved down to pull away her bottoms.

It wasn't long until they were both naked, and he was entering her hot, wet core slowly, and she was panting beneath him begging him to just move.

But he wouldn't, he couldn't. He had had sex with the witch countless times and not once had he made love to her like she deserved, like he wanted to. So here he was, hovering above her, kissing her neck and collar bone as he held himself up with one hand and lay the other possessively against her bump. He pushed himself in just slightly, driving her crazy with just the tip before he pulled out again, and she pouted at the loss. He kissed her and did it again before she was snapping her hips up at him and leveled him with a stare that said 'I dare you'. He took the warning as it was meant and pushed himself in fully, stopping only to feel her completely before he moved in and out at an agonisingly slow pace.

Pansy wrapped her legs around him as they moved in synch, slowly but deliberately.

It wasn't long until the familiar tug of orgasm started to pull at them, and Ron reached between them, abandoning his possessive claim against Pansy's small bump and instead moving to her clit. He used his thumb to rub in a slow circular motion and barely a second passed before the witch was screaming her completion and his name in the cold night air. He didn't allow himself to follow her until he was done marveling at her ecstasy, holding himself in place to watch as wave after wave took over her entire body before he thrust inside her one more time, his face buried in the side of her neck and felt himself coming undone around her.

They lay together afterwards, catching their breaths again as Ron kissed every inch of skin he could reach before moving down to Pansy's stomach. "Can we call him Lancelot?" he asked.

"What if it's a girl?"

"Rose."

Pansy smiled at that, and Ron moved closer, placing another kiss on her bump before saying "Hello Lancelot. I'm your daddy."

Pansy giggled, her hands stroking through his ginger hair as she watched the man she loved and finally felt happy for the first time in her life.