Title: Square Peg, Round Hole (1/1)
Author: Leigh Adams Characters:
Rating: PG
Word Count: 636
Summary: Ron wants her to do things his way. Too bad that's not what Pansy wants.
Author's Notes: This was written as part of my 2010 Christmas Drabble Meme.
It had finally come down to this. Months of veiled barbs, sideways looks, and resigned sighs had taken their toll on the pair of them. Ron's face was contorted in a painful, twisted grimace, and Pansy's lips were set in a pursed line. Rekindling the fire between them had been easy, but keeping the flame from consuming them was another story entirely. There was never a shortage of passion, and sexual energy they had in spades. Fights between them were frequent—how could they not be, with two tempers as fiery as theirs?—and their lovers spats generally ended in the bedroom.
But a good sex life did not a relationship make. Pansy was tired of the façade Ron wanted, tired of playing the reformed do-gooder that his life seemed to require.
"Pansy, I-"
She held up her hand. "Don't, Ronald. We both know it's pointless."
"It's not pointless!" he protested, blue eyes flaring with righteous indignation. "Merlin, Pansy, if you could just makehalf an effort to be nice to them-"
"And why should I?" she shot back, tone ripe with fury. "When they've never made any effort to treat me as such?"
"They're my best friends, Pansy," Ron said, as if that explained everything. He crossed his arms over his chest and fixed her with a pointed look. "For once in your life, could you at least try and do something for me?"
But that was where he was wrong. All her life, Pansy had molded herself to make the men in her life happy. First her father, then with Draco, and now with Ron. She'd done as asked, what was expected, with little to no complaints. She was tired of playing the happy partner when, in reality, she was anything but.
"You're not listening to me, Ronald," she replied, her voice low but steely with reserve. "You never listen to me. You're so busy spouting off about this or about that, about your precious Potter and Granger that you don't pay any attention to me." She took a step forward, heels clicking on the foyer's marble floor. "Your so-called friends would sooner use Sectumsempra on me than say a kind word, and if you think otherwise, you're delusional."
"If you would just try," he stressed again, but she cut him off before he could say any more.
"I don't want to try," Pansy hissed, her own blue eyes bright with angry with months of pent-up emotions shining through. "I don't want to play nice with them. I don't want you to choose them over me, and I don't want you to try and save me. I don't need you to save me."
"Pansy, what the bloody hell are you on about?"
She laughed, and the sound was hollow, empty. "You're blind to who I am, Ronald. You're so desperate for me to fit in the mold you've made for me in your life that you don't see that I don't fit. I never will, and you know what?" She paused, letting the words sink in before she said, "I don't want to."
Ron stilled, and Pansy could see the thoughts flying over his face as he tried to come up with a reply. For once in their relationship, she seemed to have rendered him completely speechless.
"So that's it, then," he said, the resignation evident in his voice. "You're just going to end it, just like that."
"You expect me to give up everything I am and ride off into your delusional sunset with you," she said simply, "but you're not willing to do the same for me."
He shook his head. "Pansy…"
Closing the gap between them, Pansy cupped his cheek gently and leaned in, brushing her lips softly against his.
"Goodbye, Ronald," she whispered, and with a 'crack', she was gone.