Terry Boot

Pansy’s didn’t know how much longer she could go through this, standing in the middle of the street with him, listening to him go on and on about what a horrible person she was. Slowly her eyes began to water, tears stinking, as her lashes worked furiously to bat them away, without much luck. Like rain they began to fall, one by one, flowing down her face with every word he said. She wiped each away as it fell, the tips of her fingers skimming the surface of her cheeks, but it was no use. She couldn’t stop them no matter how she tried.

“Terry, it wasn’t like that.” She said, her mind working into overdrive, trying to think on how she could ever explain herself to him. How to make him understand. In truth she had never moved on from him. Yes, she found comfort in others, but she had never moved on. To say she had made her heartless and Pansy wasn’t heartless, just selfish, and just because she was selfish didn’t mean she didn’t care, because she did. Pansy cared terribly for Terry.

“You were gone, Terry. Eight months. For eight months I didn’t hear anything from you. Not a word. Not a letter. Nothing.” She said, her breath hitching as she pushed back the sobs that threaten to spill from her lips. “All you had to do was write me. To ask, but you didn’t. You didn’t write, Terry. You never bothered to ask if any of that was true and you know if you had I would have told you it wasn’t… I never ‘messed around’ with anyone while in school. Never. You have no idea how much it hurts to think that you would believe that.”

Shacking her head she stepped back then, her red-rimmed eyes looking over at him with a mixture of longing and hatred. She felt bad for him then, but she also found she wanted to reach over and whack him upside the head for being an idiot, for trying to play the victim. Did she blame herself? Yes, she felt horrible, but in a way she blamed him too. She had meant what she said: if he had only written perhaps they wouldn’t be in this mess now.

“Tell me, Terry, how long was I to wait for you?” She asked, her tone slowly growing in anger, her lips pursing as she continued to cry silently in the middle of the street. “Months. I waited months and months for a word from you. You have no idea what I went through, thinking that you had left me, like everyone has. Like everyone does… You weren’t suppose to do that, Terry. You were the one person who was never suppose to leave me, but you did and now you are back accusing me of something I did not do at the time…”

The anger within her was being to bowl over then, the realization of the situation hitting her full on and she couldn’t even look at him. Shaking her head she brought her eyes to the ground, her arms wrapping around her torso defensively. “Fuck you, Terry Boot. “ She hissed through clenched teeth, taking another step back from him. “Fuck you for thinking the worse of me. Fuck you for trying to make me out to be the bad guy because I gave up on the hope that you would ever be back after months and months of waiting. And fuck you for coming back and accusing me of something I am innocent of. I may be selfish, and I may be self-centered but I did love you. You were my world and I tried to be the person you wanted, the person you deserve, and I thought you were capable of doing the same in return, but you weren’t. You’re just like the rest of them when it is all said and done. I should have known better. I’m a fool for thinking otherwise.”

Terry continued to stare at the ground as he heard Pansy’s voice turn to sobs. He knew if he looked up it would be nearly impossible not to comfort her. But that wasn’t why he was here. He was here to explain and be done with her and move on like she seemingly had months ago. “Yes, you’re right, maybe I should have written,” he would give her that much, “But forgive me for being so busy coping with a broken heart. Not only had I lost my best friend, but when I need you the most, when I needed so desperately to be able to come home to familiarity and something good, I learned that I’d lost you too.” He shook his head. “I don’t know what to believe, Pansy, because the truth is… we barely know each other.” And that was painstakingly true. So why did he love her the way he did?

He swallowed hard and clenched his jaw while he listened to her scold him. He was no longer crying. Instead he was starting to feel numb, but every ‘fuck you’ that Pansy spat at him made him flinch. He knew that she would never understand. Pansy Parkinson had always been the Queen of Hogwarts, per se. She had been with many guys, or at least had many guys fawning over her. But Terry? Terry Boot was the quiet and reserved boy who spent all of his time with books rather than people. He rarely let people in and had never really liked a girl to such an extent, let alone loved one. It was entirely new territory, and he took a chance to be happy in a way he’d never been before. But taking chances always ended up in situations like this, and that’s why he wanted to keep to himself.

As he listened to her talk he picked up on all of the ‘were’s and ‘did’s, all being said in the past tense, and it was made clear to him that she didn’t love him anymore. And if he was being honest, he didn’t expect her to. ”That’s what you don’t get. I didn’t need you to try to be something I wanted or someone I deserved. Pansy, you were everything I wanted.” His voice was softer and slower now, and he finally looked up to see her face streaked with tears. Taking a deep breath, he continued, “You never had to try to be someone else because I loved you, Pansy. Despite not knowing you as well as I could have, despite you being selfish and self-centered sometimes - your words, not mine - you were the first girl I let myself love, and when it ends up like this, I can’t figure out why I even tried in the first place.”

He took another step back from her. “So… I’m sorry, Pansy Primrose Parkinson. I’m sorry that I didn’t try to be a different person for you. I’m sorry that I thought we deserved each other because according to you I was mistaken. I’m sorry I didn’t write. And I’m sorry I left without telling you. I’ve explained myself, and that’s what I came here to do.” He began to back up slowly and said, “You were my world, too, y’know. I hope you find someone you deserve someday. He’ll be a lucky guy,” before turning and starting to walk away.

Apr 21, 20139 notes

I Hurt Too | Pansy and Terry

Pansy hissed as Terry grabbed hold of her wrist, turning her around with a bit of force. She sneered instantly at his touch, but quickly softened as she saw the tears that stung his eyes. She listened, silently as he went off, losing all decorum in the middle of the street, and her heart broke then for him. Absolute shattered into a million pieces. She had no idea that Zella had died, and she couldn’t even imagine the pain he must have felt losing her. “Terry - I…I didn’t know. I’m - I’m so sorry.”

The scene they made caused quite a few people to gawk as they walked passed, but Pansy didn’t see any of that. All she saw was a broken man standing in front of her, spilling his soul out for all to see and it killed her. All anger and hatred towards him was lost in that very moment and with a shaky hand she reached out and tried to take his own, because she didn’t know what else to do.

And then he went on about her, and how she had starting seeing other people. She blinked once, twice, completely dumbfounded by this. What was he talking about? She hadn’t messed around with anyone, well, beside Marcus and Cedric but that was only recently once she had given all hopes up that he was ever going to return. Unless… “Are you talking about Seamus?” She asked softly as she swat away the tears that begun to fall then, utterly gutted over what he was saying. “Terry, he was just my friend. Nothing happened between us…” She lied, because she couldn’t bare to tell him the truth, even if he was a bit off by it. Truth be told she had never looked at another while they were in school, while they were together. Never! Pansy had been too enamored with Terry and the person he was to even entertain the idea of another ,and she never thought there would ever be anyone who could take his place. Even now, months later, she still struggled with her feelings for him. Never in all her life had another person treated her with as much kindness or love as the man standing in front of her had, and as it turned out everyone was right: it had been her. She had fucked it all up, and she felt absolutely horrible for it.

“I missed you, Terry. I missed you terribly.” She said softly, her voice hardly above a whisper as she took a small step closer to him. All she wanted to do was reach out and hug him, and to tell him just how sorry she was, but she couldn’t. Something held her back then, in the middle of the street on that chilly, autumn day. It was then Pansy understood fully that people like her didn’t deserve people like Terry Boot. She had always known this, but never really understood it till then. She was a horrible person, for the way she treated him when he returned. For the way she attacked him and tried to blame him when really it had been all her, when he had only ever shown her concern and understanding. She knew he would have never done what she had, running to others for affirmation and worth. Perhaps if she wasn’t so weak, or cold, but she was. It was just her nature and she knew Terry would never understand that.

The moment Pansy reached for his hand he wanted to pull her close to him like he used to and never let her go. But instead he pulled his hand away from her. It wasn’t forceful, it wasn’t quick or sudden. It was subtle, but the fact he didn’t return the gesture was noticeable. And if he hadn’t pulled his hand away then, he would have after her next words. Seamus? “I don’t know. I honestly didn’t want to hear details. Just hearing you had moved on so quickly…” He shook his head, trying to block out the memories of when his heart fell to pieces inside of him; shards and remains of any last chance of happiness he had. “I don’t know who it was you were, maybe even still are, fooling around with, and I don’t want to know. But don’t you dare stand there and tell me lies. And you say I’m the one who lacks respect..” His voice trailed off and he looked down at the pavement. He was a bit calmer now, emotionally drained would be a bit more accurate. He wasn’t expecting to come here and blow up in the face of the girl he loved, but here it was happening right before his eyes and maybe that’s why he couldn’t return her gesture of taking his hand.

His eyes now moved to study his shoes when he saw Pansy’s feet awkwardly shuffle a bit closer. She whispered that she had missed him and those shards in his chest felt as if they were digging deeper, causing more pain. Because it hurt to hear her say that. For what reason, Terry wasn’t sure. Maybe it was because he knew it was a lie. If she had really missed him, why did she bother with other people? That just showed a lack of care on her part. Or maybe it was because he wanted to believe so badly it was true, and that made him regret staying away for so long. Was this the real reason he came back? To see if everything he heard was true? To see Pansy again? If it was, he certainly hadn’t wanted it to go like this. And when she moved closer to him, he responded by taking a small step backward. He wanted to scream at her and tell her that she was a liar and that he never wanted to see her again. But he knew that wasn’t true. He still loved her. That was true. So when he opened his mouth to tell her to stop, his tongue betrayed him and what came out instead was, “I missed you, too”.

It was quiet, but not inaudible. He now looked up to meet Pansy’s eyes. They were the eyes that he had spent so many moments looking into, so many times seeing them close right before a kiss, and those weren’t things he wanted to think about at the moment. Thinking about those things made him want to hold her and tell her how sorry he was and that he missed her so incredibly much and that he wanted her back. But… but what? “But you’ve moved on… haven’t you?” What other explanation was there. “And that’s okay. The beautiful Pansy Parkinson deserves someone who won’t leave without warning.” His anger had now turned to self hatred and hopelessness.

“Well anyway,” he said after clearing his throat and wiping the wet areas under his eyes, “You wanted an explanation. There you have it. I hope you got what you wanted.”

Apr 19, 20139 notes

Back in Town || Terry & Melanie

mellie-c:

“A lot of people say I have mad baking skills, maybe do that? By the time I retire, whenever that is, that’d probably come in handy. Everyone loves desserts,” Melanie responded with a slight shrug. And she did enjoy it. Now, however, it was usually only when a special occasion came up or when she felt as if something sweet would cheer someone else up. “Oh that’s okay, not many of us had. I just ask to be sure I wouldn’t be hanging her over to a complete newbie, you know?” She shook her head at his apology. “No, no, don’t apologize. I appreciate the gesture. Any time you want to see her let me know and we can arrange something.”

She chuckled while bringing her glass to her lips, making a small fog appear on the glass before disappearing in the next second. She took a sip of her tangy drink and then carefully set it back down on the table. “If you were getting someone to…I don’t know, redo your lawn, would you go with someone who just got certified or with someone who’s been in the business for a while?” She asked with lifted eyebrows and then she shrugged. “It makes sense and, as I said, this way my schedule is pretty open.” She smiled. “Good, now just graffiti that all over the place and I’ll be in business.”

Melanie had reached for her glass again when Terry brought up Zella. She nodded. How could one forget her. They didn’t talk a lot but Melanie saw her as a friend. They had a similar sense of humor and Zella was always good fun to be around. “I remember,” she said. “She had…dragonpox I think? Or was it Spattergroit?” She waved her hand. It wasn’t as if it mattered. She nodded slowly as she listened, bringing the glass closer to her lips but froze at his next words, her eyes widening in shock.

“Passed away?” She repeated, her voice barely above a whisper. She had nothing else to say so repeating what he said was the first to come to mind. Her body suddenly turned cold, her stomach turning. With a shaky hand she slowly put her glass down and closed her eyes, trying to even out her breathing. She couldn’t imagine one of her best friends passing. But she had others around her, he had to suffer alone.

Silently she placed her napkin on the table and pushed her chair away from the wooden piece of furniture. Getting to shaky legs she rounded the table and bent over slightly to wrap her arms around his shoulders in a hug. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered. It wasn’t as if she had anything to do with it but she felt that was the only thing she could say at the moment.

“Baking? Well, I haven’t had decent baked goods in a while and my flat is lacking good food, so maybe you could throw some stuff together for me?” He joked, but followed up with a wave of his hand to let her know he wasn’t actually serious. “Well I’m not completely new to that kind of thing, but I’d definitely need some pointers.” He pushed his food around his plate with a fork. “What’s she like? I bet she’ll grow up to be ambitious and brilliant like her mother,” he said with a bit of a bigger smile this time. “Does she have your hair?”

Terry finally took his first bite before replying with “Spattergroit,” to Mel’s question. After swallowing, though, he found he had less of an appetite than he initially thought, so he pushed the plate away from him. As Mel repeated what he told her in her quietly shocked voice all he could do was nod. What was he supposed to say? He clenched his jaw tight trying not to show any hint of being broken. He was Terry Boot. He used to be the head of the Quidditch team. He was a fully grown man by now. He was an official Hogwarts graduate. He wasn’t supposed to cry. That meant weakness, didn’t it?

Yet despite his best efforts, the minute Mel wrapped her arms around him, he lost it. After a moment of figuring out what was happening, he stood up and wrapped his arms around her in return. “I miss her so much,” he whispered into her hair as the first tear began rolling down his cheek. So much for not showing weakness.

Apr 19, 201314 notes

#mel #back in town

I Hurt Too | Pansy and Terry

Pansy didn’t answer him verbally at his question but rather placed her spoon down upon the table and reached over, picking the walnuts off of his own sundae. She did so leisurely, placing each into her mouth, chew each slowly before moving on to the next. The whole time she did so her eyes focused on Terry’s ice cream and not him because she knew if she actually look at him she might just cry and that was the last thing she had wanted to do in that moment.

She did however snort in annoyance at his explanation. She couldn’t believe him. What was the whole point of meeting up if he wasn’t going to explain himself to her? It hurt, she found, more than she could ever really know. It was bad enough he took off without telling her, but now that he was back he couldn’t even have the balls to tell her why. Pansy knew it was her, for what else would be the reason? What else was so bad that he couldn’t tell her? The thought of such things made the pit of her stomach turn in disgust, and as she toyed with a nut in her fingers she huffed and tossed it in his direction.

“So that’s it then? Can’t even be bother to try to explain? Why? Am I not worth the explanation?” She said, her tone harsh and laced with pure venom. Her hands shot up then and pushed against the table, thrusting the chair she sat upon back, the loud noise of it’s iron legs scraping against the cobblestone like a piercing cry. “So then this is all pointless, really.” She continued, pulling herself to full hight as she reached over and hastily pulled her bag over her shoulder. “You know you are right, I’m not you. I would never do what you did. I have enough respect for those I love to at least tell them the truth… So, thanks for the ice cream, Boot. I’ll stop wasting your time now…” She hissed, the light hue of her cheeks growing red with rage, her eyes blinking back the tears that were threatening to escape. And with that she turned and began walking down the street once more, towards the pub because right then she really needed a drink.

He stared after her, his own blood boiling. Was she really so incapable of understanding? “Not everything is about you!” He called after her but she didn’t stop. “Merlin’s beard..” he muttered to himself before running after her and grabbing her wrist to spin her around. “Respect?” he demanded, glaring at her. He hoped that things wouldn’t take this turn, but they had and there was no way Terry would sit idly by. “Tell me, Pansy Parkinson, if someone so close to you died, someone closer than your dearest relatives, what would you do? Please, enlighten me. Because if your parents showed up in the middle of the night demanding you come see your best friend who is on her death bed, would you go? I sure as hell would. And I did. That’s why I left, you self-centered piece of-” He cut himself off, “And you know what? By the time I got there, she was gone. SHE DIED, PANSY!” Those were his first words of shouting, and there would undoubtedly be more to follow. He was trying to make her understand, trying to let her see what had happened to him. But his vision was becoming blurry with the tears that now formed. He blinked them back and continued.

“She was the only friend I had ever known, aside from my books and my marks at school. She was the only one. Until the year back after the war, and something inside me wanted to meet new people. And somehow, wanting to see her before she died isn’t respectful?!” He realized now that he still hadn’t let go of her wrist, and did so before he caused her any physical pain from the emotional agony spilling out of him. “How dare you criticize the way I treat the people I love, and question whether I love them at all? Do you want to know who I loved?! I loved you, Pansy.” His voice dropped to a softer tone now, “And after I lost Zella, I wanted to run back to Hogwarts. I wanted to run back to the picnic we had that night, or those mornings we spent in my dorm, or the walks down the hallways holding hands. I wanted to run back to you and make sure that the people I loved knew that I loved them, because god, did I love you.”

He couldn’t blink back the tears anymore and one began to roll past his eyelashes. Not only that, but his voice began to break. He hated for her to see him like this, but it was the only way she’d understand. “I knew that you wouldn’t be happy with me for leaving without notice but I expected you to still be waiting. But oh, how wrong I was. I was packing to come back to Hogwarts for graduation when - surprise! - I heard that you had been fooling around with other guys. And I realized that maybe I didn’t mean as much to you as I thought I did. From what I heard, you had moved on already. Tell me, Pansy, how I’m the one not being respectful? So I stayed away for as long as I could. Because really, who missed Terry Boot?” He let out a rather large sigh, finishing his rant.

“No one.”

Back in Town || Terry & Melanie

mellie-c:

“Yeah, yeah,” she said with a small smile and a wave of her hand. “You always were my number one fan in that sense. But you can’t blame me from worrying, though. I don’t know what I’d do if I worked so hard and then ended up having it slip through my fingers right at the end. That’d…that’d just kill me,” she said a little bit over the top. “Honestly, though, I don’t really have anything else to fall back on and…the idea of being a stay-at-home mom just doesn’t work with me. I have to do something. So I’m glad this worked. Maybe later I’ll do something else.”

Melanie smiled at the offer but her lips didn’t reach up the full way as doubt settled into her mind. And it wasn’t because of him, it was putting Sophia around someone new in general. While it did seem that she loved just about everyone she met Melanie wasn’t so sure how the would react with someone else caring for her. “I appreciate the offer and I’ll keep it in mind,” she said with a slow nod. “I have to ask, though, do you have much experience with children? I don’t want to toss you into the deep end, so-to-speak, if the need every arises. She can be a handful when she’s in one of her moods.”

When the topic moved back to Magizoology she pushed her fork through her bowl a couple of times, not bothering to spear the lettuce. “It’s…slow,” she finally admitted with a sigh. “On one hand it’s great so I don’t have to work all day, I can go around anyone’s schedule if they need me and I basically set my own hours depending on the type of job someone needs me to do. On the other hand I feel as if I’m not getting a lot because of my age. I can’t see that many taking someone so young seriously but I do my best with what I have so…” She let her words trail off and she shrugged. “It’s better than nothing.”

Her eyebrows came together at his words. Lost people? She leaned back in her chair and tried to think of what it was that he meant. A literal sense? A metaphorical sense? She couldn’t imagine a lot of people waiting around for him to come back. Hell, she was surprised she hadn’t given up on him but that wouldn’t be in her character at all. She was the type to hold on until the very last minute. “Lost how, if you don’t mind my asking?” She finally uttered. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. I just…hope you’re alright. Or doing better. Or something.”

“Something else? Like what?” He couldn’t see Mel doing anything other than the work she did now. It had always been her main focus. “And children, well… I’ve had a little bit of experience. But no, not much.” He let out a few raggedy breaths that almost sounded like a laugh. “There’s only one way to learn, though. Right?” He paused a moment for a comical effect. “I’m joking, Mel. Sorry, I was just offering to help in any way I can. You haven’t had it easy.” He came close to making a comment about having dealt with Mel’s moods, making Sophia’s seem like a breeze, but he kept his mouth shut on that one.

She had a point. People generally looked for people who were older, because most people believe that experience comes with age. “But that’s ridiculous. Anyone who met you would know that you’re ten times better than some older bloke who probably had to take his test three times to pass.” He sighed, “Well if anyone asks, I’ll tell them that Melanie Crowe is the person to see. There you go, free advertising.”

But his jokes stopped when he saw her eyebrows furrow. “No, no. You deserve to know… It’s just… not easy to explain. Lost in many senses of the word.” He swallowed hard and continued, “The reason I initially had to leave Hogwarts was - well, you remember Zella, don’t you? Zella Lillith? My best friend for seven years, co-captain of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, really loud and energetic, was sent to St. Mungos… that girl. You probably do, you two talked a few times I think. Well her condition got worse, so my parents took me out of school to go see her at the hospital. I was only supposed to be out for a week tops, and it was really sudden so I didn’t have a chance to tell anyone what was going on. But… well anyways, she uh.. she, er, passed away about an hour before I got there. So that turned into a huge ordeal and my parents wouldn’t let me come back for another couple months.”

Apr 15, 201314 notes

#mel #back in town

Well… I’d still be interested. If you ever want to talk about it, I’m free to.

It’s a living. It’s not exactly what I’d like to do- it’s still fun, though -but it’s definitely a step in the right direction. I write about anything. Current events. People. Opinions. I’m still working on that damn novel, too. And I’m thinking of applying for a job at a newspaper or a magazine so I can get more done, creative writing-wise.

Thanks, Alice. I’ll keep that in mind.

A novel? Am I allowed to know what it’s about?
And I think working at a newspaper or magazine would be great. Better than the unemployed status I’m currently at.

I Hurt Too | Pansy and Terry

Pansy walked down the cobble stone streets of the Alley, her heels clicking and clacking in a rhythmic pattern as she pushed her way through the thick crowd of people. The pure rage that was coursing through every cell of her being was evident by the way her normally soft face twisted into harsh lines of fury. She couldn’t believe the nerve, the absolute nerve of Terry bloody fucking Boot, acting the victim in such a situation. It had been him who left. It had been him who didn’t give a word. It was him and all him and if she still had a cat to kick she would, so fed up and frustrated with the whole situation for how dare he try to blame her for moving on. What else was she suppose to do?

When he had disappeared she had been gutted, blaming herself and thinking the worse. It took time but she found a peace with the situation and then just like that he showed back up as though it wasn’t a big deal. Really, he had some bloody nerve!

Reaching the ice cream shop she spotted him instantly and was ready for full attack, but then she stopped and really looked at him. There he was with his stupid lopsided grin and awkward manner, holding two sundaes and… with bloody walnuts to boot! For fuck sakes. She huffed under her breath before sighing and shaking her head. That was a some dirty pool he was playing that was. She should of known he would do something as stupid as try to bribe her with ice cream… And it worked, as she was sure he knew it would.

“Hi.” She said, her twisted features softening as she reached over and took the sunday, rolling her eyes at her own weakness. Taking a seat at one of the tables Pansy instantly began picking the nuts off of the treat with her fingers, one by one, and popping them in her mouth, rolling the salty nut in between her teeth and tongue… “So then… Care to explain yourself or were you just planning on giving my fat arse ice cream in hopes that would be enough. Because it’s not you know…I mean it helps, but it’s not enough. I think I deserve an explanation, don’t you?” she asked, looking up at him for a moment, the ends of her lips coiling downwards as she picked up the spoon and began stabbing at the ice cream in the dish.

He thought that the ice cream was worth a shot, but he didn’t expect Pansy to actually go for it. He looked at her blankly, a bit surprised with how quickly she accepted the ice cream and then began eating it. He would have bet that she was going to show up and give him a hard, cold glare until he told her everything. He expected the ice cream to end up in the trash or on the ground, not in her mouth. But he wasn’t about to complain. All this meant was that it was going a lot more smoothly than he’d anticipated.

Terry cleared his throat after realizing that gawking at her as he was currently doing was probably rude. He decided to follow her lead and began poking at his ice cream with his own spoon. He watched her eat her walnuts and the old Terry probably would have laughed. But he couldn’t laugh at the moment. Not with such a pressing issue on their hands. But he did glance down before extending his arm across the table towards Pansy, “Do you want mine?” he asked, referring to the walnuts.

But she was right. She did deserve an explanation. He just wasn’t sure how to give it to her properly. He wanted to roll his eyes at her ‘fat arse’ comment but refrained. He’d let it pass. “Yes, you do,” said Terry after a long pause. “But once you hear it you’ll probably just storm off and not listen to the rest.” He knew that even saying that was probably crossing the line. “It’s really only possible to understand if you were me, but you aren’t, so…” He let himself trail off before he began rambling.

Apr 15, 201313,717 notes

#thoughts

I Hurt Too | Pansy & Terry

This was something Terry had wanted to avoid at all costs. But that was before Pansy attacked him for disappearing. And he wasn’t just going to let her walk away with the assumptions she was spitting at him. She didn’t know why he’d left, so in her defense she had the right to jump to conclusions. But she also acted as though Terry didn’t deserve a second thought anymore, so why was she suddenly so interested in his whereabouts?

He turned a corner on Diagon Alley and headed for Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour. He had told Pansy to meet him there for two reasons. It was neutral ground, a much better situation than being at her flat or his. And hopefully being in the middle of Diagon Alley would lower the risk of a full out fit of them screaming at one another. Terry didn’t do well in those situations. But then again this was Pansy Parkinson he was dealing with. Her reactions weren’t exactly… predictable.

With hands shoved in his pockets to keep from fidgeting and a bit of uneasy breathing he finally came to the Parlour. Knowing all too well that he wouldn’t be allowed to sit unless he ordered something, he bought two ice cream sundae’s with extra whipped cream and walnuts. They were Pansy’s favorite. Or used to be, at least. That could have changed by now. But all the same, he figured a friendly gesture couldn’t hurt.

After paying for the ice cream, he took one sundae in each hand and turned to see Pansy walking towards him. “Hi,” he said a bit awkwardly once she got close enough. He glanced around and then took a seat at one of the tables before holding a sundae out to her. “Ice cream?”

But you didn’t and I sat here and waited for a letter, a word, anything from you and I got nothing! Nothing, Terry! Jesus, what was I suppose to do? Spend of the rest of my life waiting, never knowing what happened to you or if and when you would return?

I can’t do this with you, Pansy. Not like this.
Please, can we meet up somewhere and talk about this?

#pansy #oh really #do you want to para?

And you can’t even try, can you? -sighs- Have you any idea how worried I was? How upset I was once? I thought you were better than that, I really did.

-stares- Worried? Upset? You’ve got to be joking.
I would have come back sooner, you know that? I would have. But it wasn’t long before you forgot about me and had your fun with other people, was it? I was going to come back Pansy, but…

#pansy #we need to para this D: #but you're at work #gah

I want you to explain yourself. I want to know why you dropped off the face of the earth without a single word… I really don’t think that is too much to ask.

Its… It’s not exactly the easiest thing to explain. I don’t know how to put it all together to make you understand why I didn’t come back.

Tell me about them. I’m interested.

I have… Been in New York. Writing. I’m working as a journalist for the time being. Aside from that, nothing much has been going on for me.

Really, its rather boring.

New York? Wow. That’s great, Alice. I never knew you were into that sort of thing. What kinds of stuff have you written about?

You can - you can try? You know what, just forget it , Terry… I get it. You don’t have to bother.

I dont- What do you want me to say?

Pansy…

Back in Town || Terry & Melanie

mellie-c:

“Graduation was nice,” Melanie replied, taking a moment to remember the day. “There wasn’t some lavish ceremony. I don’t think Hogwarts usually had an actual ceremony before, come to think of it. But being that it was the year after everything…it just made sense to have a time to look back and remember everything, y’know?” She stayed quiet for a moment as her mind whisked her back to the very day.Like the others she had been excited to leave but a part of her was longing to stay as well. Hogwarts became her second favorite place in the entire world despite the ups and downs. Sometimes she still woke up forgetting that she wasn’t going back. “But yeah there were a few speakers, a song by the Frog choir, and we all went back across the Lake in the boats that took us in. Well, you all in. You know what I mean.”

She waved her hand in a sort of dismissive way. “I assume you had a good reason not to be there and it’s not as if we’re all going to hunt you down with pitchforks and torches because your absence absolutely ruined it,” she said with a bit of her old dramatics added onto her words. Chuckling a little she brushed her hair back behind her ears and shifted on the seat so she could get comfortable again. She felt as if she could breathe a bit easier now that he was talking a little bit more. She could see little bits of the Old Terry coming back which, in turn, made her tense muscles slowly relax and her posture become less rigid as well.

“Yeah, for that,” she said with a nod of her head. She tried to keep the smile off of her face from just thinking about the first time she held the official piece of parchment in her hands but it was almost as if a hook had been shoved into either side of her mouth and was being pulled up on their own accord. “I wanted to owl you about it but I didn’t have your address. And thanks. The test was harder than I thought it would be and I messed up quite a bit but, obviously, I worked it out in the end and, well, now that’s the result!”

Her cheeks were beginning to ache as her smile got bigger, this time because he finally smiled again. It wasn’t as big as usual but it was there and it was the first smile on his face since they ran into each other so it was a start. She’d accept it.

Once again her smile dropped a bit when they got back onto the topic of her daughter but she did her best to keep her emotions off of the surface. She shifted in her chair again and cleared her throat, messing with a loose thread on the hem of her shirt. She twisted her finger around the thread and watched as the tip of her finger slowly turned an angry red and then a light purple. She released the thread and watched as her skin slowly reverted back to the normal pale color and let out a breath.

“It was just a name that we both liked,” Melanie explained, finally lifting her eyes to him again. She pressed her lips together and closed her eyes briefly to keep the tears at bay. She’s cried enough last night. So much so that she woke up with red, stinging eyes that morning which were hard to look through for the first hour she was up. And even then it took a few more hours for her eyes to stop stinging. But that pain didn’t even compare to the constant twisting and turning in her stomach at the idea of her being a failure to her own child. “Noah suggested it first and I ended up loving it so Sophia it was.”

She had flung her arms into the air at the statement for emphasis and let them fall onto her jean-covered legs with a light smack. She rubbed her slick palms against the thick material a few times, curling her fingers into the fabric. “Thanks Shoe,” she said quietly at his compliment and heaved a sigh.The familiar prickling in the corners of her eyes started up again. “It was. Is. It’s still hard, I’m not going to lie. Making that decision was the hardest one I ever had to make but Noah and I agree it’s what’s best for her until we can provide stability.” She twisted her mouth to the side and gave a little shrug. “I don’t know, to be honest. One day we just stopped working and started fighting and we haven’t stopped.” Clearing her throat she waved her hand as if swatting at a fly. “Yeah. Like I said it’s below my flat. I’m basically my own boss so the hours are good.” She chuckled. “Hey, no, it’s alright. I don’t mind the questions, really. Ask away. We are catching up aren’t we?”

At those words her eyes studied his face again, taking in the weariness that settled in his eyes and the way his body sat as if he were being dragged down by eights. “So…speaking along those lines…where have you been?” She asked slowly. At the next moment she jumped again when the waiter reappeared and set her plate full of assorted lettuce and glass of lemonade on the table in front of her. She nodded her thanks to him and looked over at Terry again, lifting her eyebrows as she waited for an explanation. She was angry at his sudden departure like the others probably were but her worry and curiosity were currently overshadowing it.

Terry nodded at her description of graduation and halfheartedly wished he’d been there. Maybe it wasn’t so much about graduation, but more of going back to Hogwarts, before he left, before he changed. “Of course it worked out in the end,” he said, referring to her new magizoology license, “I always told you it would, didn’t I?” And he had. Time and time again he reassured her that she had talent and that there was no need to worry so much about whether that talent would be recognized. Of course it would. How could it not be? A girl like Mel with such determination and ability was bound to go where she meant to.

He looked up into her eyes, only to see them pricked with forming tears and a blank stare at the wood grains in the table that he’d already memorized by now. So he simply repeated “Sophia…” to himself quietly. Partly to remember it, and partly to get used to the idea. “Well hey, if anything changes, or if something happens, or even if you want me to take care of Sophia for a bit, I’ll be around, alright?” What had gotten into him? His plan was to stay out of people’s lives. Find his own way. But seeing Mel like this, hearing about the situation, he couldn’t help but turning back to his old ways of offering to help. Maybe he hadn’t changed as much as he thought. Or maybe he did. He wasn’t sure yet.

He wanted to ask more, but he knew it wasn’t something Mel wanted to talk about for the time being, so he turned to something new. “How much business have you been getting? I’m sure your customers love you. The best magizoologist around.” And with that he tried to offer another slight smile, but it still wasn’t coming naturally.

Their food arrived as he let out a breath trying to figure out how to answer her question. “I’ve been… around. Kind of. I’ve been lots of places. Spending time with family. I would have come back months ago, but certain… circumstances,” he said slowly, “got in the way.” He shrugged. He didn’t want to give Melanie a big sob story or draw any sort of pity out of her. “Lets just say, I lost a couple people. Both here and there.”

Apr 15, 201314 notes

#mel #back in town

Well, rest assured that I did. You are my friend, after all.

Now, tell me. What have you been getting up to?

Not much. Just uninteresting family matters.
What about yourself?

Apr 9, 20139 notes

Yes, I do actually… Figure what out? Unless you want to explain yourself and apologize then I really don’t see much point.

Er.. I, uh… I can try.

Apr 9, 201315 notes

Well, of course I did, Terry. Why wouldn’t I?

-shrugs- I dunno. I didn’t think anyone did. It’s nothing against you.

Apr 9, 20139 notes

Really? I can think of a few things you could say…

-clears throat and begins rattling off things, counting each on her fingers-

Sorry for being a twat. Sorry for taking off and not telling you. Sorry for making you worried for me until you realized you were wasting your time. Sorry I turned out to be an emotionally stunted dick-head just like everyone else… Should I go on?

Do you really think this is how to handle things? You think this is the best time?

…maybe we could meet up somewhere? …figure things out?

Apr 9, 201315 notes