Pansmione Oneshots

The Price of Secrecy

"Hold still."

"How can I? You're about to stab me in the eye with that thing!"

"I won't, if you just hold still!"

Hermione let out a huff, but acquiesced to Pansy's request. Smirking with satisfaction, Pansy carefully drew over Hermione's eyelids with her pencil eyeliner. When she was finished perfecting the winged look, she scooted away and handed Hermione a small mirror.

"Okay, you can look now."

Hermione scrutinized her 'makeover', raising an eyebrow at the extent Pansy had gone to despite her protests. She had never worn makeup before, not even at the Yule Ball last year, and she wasn't quite sure how she felt about it. It would always be too much effort to put on herself.

"Well?" Pansy asked, shoving her supplies back into her bag and waiting for Hermione's reaction.

"You did a good job." Hermione said. "You actually made me look pretty."

"Oh, shut up, Granger. You are pretty."

"Not according to you, two years ago." Hermione stated dryly. Pansy looked at her hands, suitably chagrined. "I'm... not good at dealing with unrequited crushes." she said somewhat quietly. Then she grinned. "But I'm sure you know that." Hermione returned her grin, reaching out to lay her hand on Pansy's. "It wasn't exactly unrequited. But I'm sure you know that." she said, mimicking Pansy's embarrassment.

As they held hands, both girls cast a quick glance around the mostly empty pub just to make sure nobody they knew was inside. They had specifically chosen the Hog's Head to have their meeting because most students of Hogwarts avoided it particularly, besides, perhaps the more rebellious students when they wanted to try a stronger beverage than butterbeer and needed an apathetic bartender to supply it. Despite the fact that the only other patrons of the bar was a masked witch sitting at the counter, nose deep in a very long scroll and a hooded figure sitting near the door, Pansy and Hermione released each other's almost as quickly as they had allowed themselves the rare intimacy in the first place.

"Anyway, you know the deal. I let you do my makeup, you showed me the book."

Pansy rolled her eyes, reaching into her bag to retrieve the leather bound tome. "I never should have told you about this thing, you're obsessed." In their last Ancient Runes class, Pansy had mentioned the ancient book her family possessed, which she was using to study for the Rune OWLS.

"I need any extra material I can to do well on the OWL's." Hermione replied, briskly flipping through the pages. "Besides, ancient wizard artifacts are fascinating."

"Maybe if you're muggleborn." commented Pansy absently, stirring her drink. Hermione chanced a look at her, lips pursed. Pansy felt herself redden. "I swear, I didn't mean that in a judgemental way."

Hermione's eyes returned to the yellowed pages. "Besides," Pansy continued, trying to skate over the sticky moment. "Everyone knows you're already the best student in all your classes." There was some bitterness in her voice as she reflected on this, it was well known in the pureblood community that the best student at Hogwarts was, horrors upon horrors, a muggle born student. Pansy, along with her pureblood peers, was often shamed for this simple fact. Pansy herself hadn't really recognized the hypocrisy in her own views until Hermione had forced her to recognize that she didn't have any more intelligence or magical skill than the muggle born sitting across from her, but it was still sometimes hard to accept.

Hermione hummed slightly to herself, admiring the metallic ink that had been used to write out the translations. The book itself was at least three times as thick as their textbook, and several times more fancy. As she traced a finger down the spine, she marveled age of the leather and pages themselves. She tried to push down her resentment of the major advantage Pansy had in her private library.

"Can't you read that thing later?" Pansy asked, interrupting her train of thought. "You've hardly even touched your butterbeer." Hermione made a face as she glanced at the dusty bottle. "That thing's probably been aging for years."

Pansy shrugged, taking a sip of her own drink. "That's the price to pay for secrecy, I suppose."

Hermione rolled her eyes and returned to the book. Pansy aimed a light kick at her under the table. "I swear to god, Granger, unless you actually look up from that musty old book and enjoy your time with your beautiful girlfriend I will rip that thing to pieces." Pansy said, leaning forward threateningly. Hermione laughed, heat rising to her cheeks as she carefully slid the book aside. "Alright, alright! No need to get violent." she agreed, silently marveling at the fact that Pansy had just called herself Hermione's girlfriend.