Re: Somewhere by the Lake

[Pansy Parkinson-Malfoy]

"Any good?" She laughed and scoffed at him, keeping up with ease and speeding up even a little more. She spun around, running backwards for a moment as she watched him checking out the scenery. "Pretty, huh?" With a smirk, she turned to run forwards again, taking off down the trail without him, glancing over her shoulder to challenge him to catch up.

[Draco Malfoy]

Draco laughed when she ran backwards, "It really is amazing out here, I don't know how I've never been this way" When she speed up he laughed and ran after her down the trail, about to pass her before he realized he didn't really know where he was going so instead settling to match her pace. Even with his runs around the forest he hadn't realized how expansive Hogwarts' grounds really were, all the different parts of them that no one ever bothered to explore.

[Pansy Parkinson-Malfoy]

"I only found it a while ago, when I started running to pass the time." Pansy sped up again, really getting her heart pumping as they rounded the cliffs and headed through the awesome field. She reached down as she ran, grabbing some daisies in her hand and passing them to Draco with a laugh. Suddenly, she grabbed his arm and stopped running, making him stop with her. Quietly, she pointed across the field where a couple thestrals were hiding in the shadow of a huge old tree. "Can you see them?"

[Draco Malfoy]

Draco kept pace with her around the cliffs and laughed when she passed him the flowers, "Aren't I supposed to be the one who gives you flow-" he stopped when she grabbed his arm, almost falling over at the abruptness. He peered over where she was looking and gasped, "Yeah." His hand with the daises fell to the side as one of the thestrals lifted it's head as though it had spotted them.

[Pansy Parkinson-Malfoy]

Pansy smiled watching them, realizing one of them was one that she had seen here before, its wings were a bit more purpley than most. She started jogging slowly toward them, stopping a little ways off. She looked at them a little while, and finally the one she'd seen before walked over toward her, stopping at the edge of the shade as if he refused to come out into the sunlight. Pansy took a few steps forward her hand outstretched. She wondered if Draco would be a little wary of them, especially since his incident with the hippogriff a few years ago.

[Draco Malfoy]

He followed her, staying close but stopped himself from stepping closer when she did, watching the beasts carefully. He had to admit they had this fascinating look about them, the tight skin and furled wings making them look like a grotesque caricature. Without realizing it he stepped up next to her, wanting to see more of them. The one that was approaching Pansy looked smaller than the other, its large imposing form hanging back, watching them as intently as Draco watched it.

[Pansy Parkinson-Malfoy]

When it came to animals, Pansy had no sense of self-preservation. Ever. She walked closer to it, reaching out and lightly touching her fingertips to the bridge of its nose. It jerked its head up playfully, bumping against her hand, and she smiled. She traced her fingers along its leathery skin, if you could call it that, moving her hand over its face and then down along its neck as she moved toward its side. The thestral twisted his head around to watch her, tossing his head and nudging roughly against her shoulder with a weird sort of squawking noise as it flexed its wings, stretching them out over her.

[Draco Malfoy]

Draco stepped forwards as she touched it, ready to pull her back if he needed to. When the thestral seemed amused and she moved around it he stepped to the side, ducking as the large wings stretched out. Looking over the larger of the two had moved towards them, watching Draco carefully. He turned to face it and slowly held out his own hand, surprised when it moved even closer and nudged his palm.

[Pansy Parkinson-Malfoy]

"Surprisingly friendly, right?" Pansy smiled over the thestral's back at Draco, who was making friends with the other. "I think they just get lonely. Sometimes I bring them snack, but they're horribly messy to try and run out here with a raw steak." She laughed a little, patting the little thestral's neck again before ducking under its neck and walking up to Draco and patting the larger thestral on the shoulder, curiously tracing the junction between his body and wing. The other thestral snuck up behind Pansy, butting his nose against her back and then resting his chin on her shoulder as if he wasn't pleased with being left ignored behind her.

[Draco Malfoy]

Draco smiled at her and nodded, "They really are. And maybe if you put it in a bag or something?" He hadn't seen any thestrals other than the ones that pulled the carriages before and those he had walked a wide circle around. He turned as the little thestral walked up and nudged her, making sure it wasn't going to bite her or something. The larger one lifted its head and knocked its nose against his shoulder causing him to take a slight step back.

[Pansy Parkinson-Malfoy]

"Yeah, it just starts to get a little slimy by the time I get out here. But sometimes I bring one along." Suddenly the little thestral was nibbling on her ponytail, biting down on it and tugging a little causing Pansy to have to twist her head up a little as her ponytail was pulled down. It let go quickly, though Pansy still rubbed her neck, a little sore from the surprise factor of it. "Well, sorry for ignoring you." She laughed and turned to pat his face again before looking at Draco. "Ready to head on? Or are you still catching your breath?" She smirked a little at him, liking that they could be a little competitive without getting terribly mean.

[Draco Malfoy]

Draco looked over worriedly when the thestral pulled on her hair, checking she was okay before paying attention to the big one again, not wanting another animal irritated with him and licking his hair today. When she asked if he needed to catch his breath he shook his head at her with a grin, "You were the one that stopped, remember? Was I running too fast for you?" He gave the thestral one last pat before running off in the direction they had been going in before, glancing back to make sure she could catch up to him. Being lost on the grounds for a night really didn't sound like much fun to him at all.

[Pansy Parkinson-Malfoy]

Pansy rolled her neck around a little, then nodded that she was fine. "Fine, fine, let's go-" but before she finished her sentence, he was running again. Laughing, she took off after him through the tall grass, catching up a moment later. "Duck!" She waited until he did, then picked up speed, put her hands on his shoulders and launched herself leap frog style over him. Shaking with laughter, she kept running, glancing over her shoulder at him with a huge smile on her face. Yes Pansy is a ninja.

[Draco Malfoy]

Draco ducked when he heard her shout and blinked in surprise when she flew over him. He laughed and ran after her, shaking his head and quickly catching up with her. Before he thought about it he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her over, falling into the grass, his body cushioning her hitting the ground.

[Pansy Parkinson-Malfoy]

Pansy heard him laughing and speed up behind her, but before she could get away again, suddenly his arm was around her and they were falling. She stretched an arm out to catch herself, landing on top of him sort of sideways in the grass. "Well, hi." She smiled at him, a little too in shock to get up yet. "So tired you need to lie down?"

[Draco Malfoy]

Draco grinned at her and flopped back into the grass stretching one arm out to the side, "Nah, I'm fine. I thought you might need a break though." His other arm was still wrapped around her where he had pulled her from but it felt comfortable and right there. He smiled and looked up and around them, the tall grass making it hard to see anything but the sky. "Look," he pointed upwards, "That cloud looks like an owl."

[Pansy Parkinson-Malfoy]

"Oh, yes, terribly tired as you can see." She laughed a little, rolling off him and lying on her back beside him, his arm still around her. She looked up at the sky smiling at the one that looked like an owl. "It does. And the one next to it is like a whale, see it?" The grass swayed up above them, and she figured that as long as they were rather still no one would be able to see them in the field. Not like anyone came out here anyway. It was sort of nice being fully isolated with him. No one knew where they were, and they were just on their own, free to do what they wanted and stare up at the clouds.

[Draco Malfoy]

Draco smiled and looked at the cloud next to his owl, "You're right it does." He leaned a little into her, the sides of their bodies touching. It was so peaceful out here despite the fact that if they stood they would be able to see the edge of the field and the lawn back to the castle. For now at least they were alone, just hanging out in a field relaxing, something that they hadn't had a real chance to do in a long time. Even at each other's houses when they went to the gardens there was always a lingering feeling in the back of their heads knowing that their parents were probably watching or at least had an elf that would soon fetch them.

[Pansy Parkinson-Malfoy]

Pansy stared up at the sky, looking for more shapes, locating a sheep, an angelfish, and a sort of polar bear manatee mixture, which she couldn't help laughing at because it was so ridiculous of a stretch to make that cloud look like something. She turned her head to look at Draco, but just beyond him, where his arm was stretched out, it caught her eye again. The Mark on his arm. There it was, all black and solemn on his pale forearm. Her smile faded a little as she looked at it and she sighed quietly to herself, redirecting her gaze back to his eyes for a second before she looked away to concentrate on the sky again. She was quiet now, pondering. She moved over a little though, sliding a bit closer to him so she could rest her head against his shoulder, the Mark reminding her of the reality of things, making her just want a moment to be close to him.

[Draco Malfoy]

Draco turned his head when he heard her move and saw her eyes focused a little past his. He realized after a moment what she must be looking at but didn't react until she looked back at his eyes and he offered her a smile as she turned away. His smile widened when she moved closer and he looked up as she lay her head on his shoulder, and studied the clouds for a moment. "Pans," he pointed up at one that was sort of back in the direction of the castle, "Look at that one, it's almost a unicorn shape."

[Pansy Parkinson-Malfoy]

Pansy laid there quietly a while, staring at the sky as her mind was elsewhere. It still hurt when she saw it, made her sad for the both of them, but it was time to accept it and move on. And as much as she realized that, it was still hard to do. Hard to accept that he was marked and he was now a proper servant of the Dark Lord despite what she'd dreamt for him. She blinked and her mind returned to the moment when he said her name, smiling at what he pointed at. "It is. It's even got the little horn and a long tail and everything. Unicorns I love them, unicorns I love... I like unicorns."

[Draco Malfoy]

Draco smiled and leaned his head against hers, "I know you do, you've always liked them. And horses." He'd never understood her thing for horses but had always enjoyed going out riding with her. When she spoke he could hear the smile in her voice and was glad that at least for a moment they weren't going to argue about the mark and he had pulled her thoughts, at least momentarily, from the real world back at the castle.

[Pansy Parkinson-Malfoy]

Pansy smiled a little more when he said she'd always liked them. "Yep. Unicorns, horses, pegasus, thestrals, hippogriffs, anything horse-like, I suppose." She relaxed a little more as they laid there, a soft breeze blowing and his arm around her, head resting against hers. It just felt right again, it felt good to be with him like this again. Things seemed to be going back to how they should be, and it made Pansy happy. "Hey, I think I'm going home one weekend soon if you want to tag along. Still haven't gotten a chance to go since you got back, and I guess my dad still wants to see me. And I'd like to see him too. I think I'm going to try and sneak in and stay without Muffy knowing I'm there, which could be difficult, but really fun too, what with hiding out in daddy's den the whole time."

[Draco Malfoy]

Draco shuddered and pulled a face when she said 'Hippogriffs' and poked her in the side with the arm she was still lying on. He flattened out his hand and pulled her a little closer, leaning against her and reaching over with his left hand to hold onto her hand between them. "Sure that sounds great, I'm surprised he hasn't written to one or both of us asking where you are. I don't think I've ever be in your father's den but hiding from your mother will make a great weekend."

[Pansy Parkinson-Malfoy]

Pansy's stomach jumped when he took her hand. She had no idea why, it wasn't like they hadn't been holding hands since they were practically eight, but something about this time made her a little giddy. "Great. I'll let you know when I decide to. Maybe this weekend, actually." She nodded, deciding that this weekend seemed just as good as any to go home and have some quality Pansy and Daddy time. Now that this had been quite enough close cuddle time for a while, Pansy sat up and shook her head, trying to get any loose grass out of her ponytail. Standing up, she dusted off her shorts and looked down at Draco, smirking before she ran off without him.

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