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rarepair_shortsTitle: Of Chocolate Frogs and Rainbows
Character Pairing: Zacharias/Marietta
Prompt: prism perfect
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1224
Summary: It's rather funny, she thinks, being the sane half of a relationship for once.
Author's Notes: The eighth fic of the series.
Link to Prompt Table: http://briony-tallis.livejournal.com/77461.html
Zacharias lifts his hand up with a frown, his eyes cast up to the grey sky. His snort of frustration makes Marietta laugh, and she pushes him. "Afraid of a little rain, are you?"
"No," he snaps. "I only wish I could conjure up some protection for our hair or something."
"Your hair is hopeless no matter what happens to it," she teases him, ruffling his messy blond locks. "I say we just duck inside and wait it out, shall we?"
"I suppose." Zacharias smiles at Marietta and takes her hand. "If you're not too embarrassed to be seen with me in a public venue."
Marietta rolls her eyes at him. "I'm here, aren't I?"
The past few weeks have been oddly satisfying for Marietta. She hasn't exactly told anyone about her feelings for Zacharias, but she's not adverse to spending time with the Hufflepuff boy in public, either. In fact, Marietta has even taken to becoming Zacharias Smith's permanent partner in DA meetings, much to Cho's confusion. "He's not so bad," Marietta tells her friend with a shrug, turning away to hide the blush on her cheeks. "He'll only keep pestering us if I don't help him out."
And of course, there is the kissing. Marietta is insistent on not getting caught by the Filch or a Professor, but she does give in to Zacharias's affections once in a while, sharing an embrace behind the greenhouses or in an abandoned classroom. They will never use the Room of Requirement; Marietta doesn't find it very safe. What if someone from the DA should try to get in? They aren't sure how it works exactly, and Marietta will not be seen by any of that lot. "Aha, so you are embarrassed by me," Zacharias accuses her.
"Stop saying that," Marietta replies. "It's nothing to do with you. Perhaps I don't enjoy having my personal affairs ogled by the entire school, did you ever think of that?"
And now today is Valentine's Day, and Zacharias is holding her hand as they step into Honeydukes, and Marietta smiles at her Ravenclaw friends as they pass, and she is not embarrassed. That is, not until Zacharias opens his fat mouth. "Honestly, are you trying to eat yourself to death?" He asks sharply, eyeing a girl's particularly large bag of sweets.
"Please ignore him, he is such an idiot," Marietta says, slapping Zacharias's arm as the girl glares dangerously at him.
"I'm only looking out for your health," Zacharias replies, and Marietta yanks him away before the other girl can get her wand out.
"Are you trying to get yourself hexed?" Marietta hisses, as they stand in the far corner of the store.
Zacharias picks idly in the bowl of Cockroach Clusters. "Trying to save some chocolate for myself, actually." He grins at her. "You saw that bag, she was buying the whole store! How will I ever get you a Valentine's Day present if the inventory's all been bought?"
"You are a horrible, miserable human being," Marietta replies, but she grins back at him. "She was buying rather a lot, though, wasn't she?"
"She looked like she going to hit me," Zacharias says with a smirk. "I don't even think she would have cast anything. I was much more afraid of her fists."
"She did look positively murderous," Marietta agrees, laughing. It's rather funny, she thinks, being the sane half of a relationship for once. Besides, there's something about Zacharias and his madness, his abrasiveness. It's refreshing. Too many people hold back out of some kind of fear, or a desperate need to do the "right thing." Marietta has never known what the right thing is, and she is trying to shake off her fears. Zacharias is helping her. Irritating, ridiculous Zacharias Smith, helping Marietta overcome her inappropriate feelings for sweet, sensible Cho Chang. It's funny. But then, Cho hasn't been very sensible lately, or at least not to Marietta.
"Here," says Zacharias, dumping a stack of Chocolate Frogs in her arms. "Happy Valentine's Day."
"Wow, thanks," Marietta replies dryly. She rolls her eyes and follows Zacharias up to the front register to pay for their sweets.
"Fancy a drink in the Three Broomsticks?" Marietta asks later, as she dumps her bag of frogs into Zacharias's arms.
Zacharias grimaces. "Won't the lovebirds be in there?"
She knows exactly who he is talking about. Cho has talked about nothing but Harry Potter for weeks, looking forward to her date with Harry this very weekend, and Marietta has less than zero interest in running into them. She thinks it would make her vomit, and clearly Zacharias shares the feeling. "Oh, no, Cho mentioned she wanted to drag him to Puddifoot's."
"That frilly little tea shop with all the fairies?" Zacharias sticks a finger down his throat and makes a gagging sound. "You'd best never dare to even dream of getting me in that place."
Marietta grins and places her hand on his arm. "That would not be a dream. It would be a nightmare, honestly. The place scares me. Too much pink." She doesn't know how she would define romance, but pink confetti doesn't seem to fit the bill. It's nauseating, if anything.
Zacharias heaves a sigh of relief and turns towards the Three Broomsticks. "For a sane drink, then, shall we?"
"We shall." There is something warm bubbling up through Marietta's body, making her stomach clench and her heart thud in her chest. It is a feeling she has been seriously lacking so far this miserable school year. It is happiness.
They each have two butterbeers and spend a rousing hour discussing which of the nearby students are doomed failures and which are only going to get ahead through brown-nosing. They laugh at Professor Snape and debate which teacher will be sacked first, Trelawney or Hagrid (Zacharias loathes the former, but Marietta is extremely distrustful of the latter). Marietta laughs harder than she ever thinks she has, and the two of them walk out into the rain later with satisfied grins on their faces. "You see, I'm not always horrible," Zacharias says.
"Oddly enough," Marietta replies cheekily. "I am going to be so miserable when I get back to the castle. Cho's going to be revolting about Harry, I just know it."
Zacharias is not paying attention to her words; he stares up at the sky with a curious expression on his face. "Look," he says simply, pointing overhead.
Marietta squints her eyes to avoid getting rain in them as she glances upward. Droplets of water splash onto her face, but the rain is slowing, and a few dim rays of sunlight peek through the clouds. It takes her a moment, but Marietta sees what Zacharias is talking about. A faint rainbow arcs across the sky, casting pale color over the gloom. "Lovely," she whispers.
Zacharias reaches for her hand. "A perfect end to a perfect day, I'd wager. Yeah?"
"Yeah," says Marietta, with a shyly pleased smile. "Perfect."
As it turns out, Cho Chang has most decidedly not had a perfect day, and she rails against Harry's insensitivity for hours that evening. Marietta feels bad, certainly, but there is a tiny, irrational piece of her that is glad. Cho's anger at Harry is like Marietta's own little prism, casting another lovely rainbow across the gloom of the sky.
Character Pairing: Zacharias/Marietta
Prompt: prism perfect
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1224
Summary: It's rather funny, she thinks, being the sane half of a relationship for once.
Author's Notes: The eighth fic of the series.
Link to Prompt Table: http://briony-tallis.livejournal.com/77461.html
Zacharias lifts his hand up with a frown, his eyes cast up to the grey sky. His snort of frustration makes Marietta laugh, and she pushes him. "Afraid of a little rain, are you?"
"No," he snaps. "I only wish I could conjure up some protection for our hair or something."
"Your hair is hopeless no matter what happens to it," she teases him, ruffling his messy blond locks. "I say we just duck inside and wait it out, shall we?"
"I suppose." Zacharias smiles at Marietta and takes her hand. "If you're not too embarrassed to be seen with me in a public venue."
Marietta rolls her eyes at him. "I'm here, aren't I?"
The past few weeks have been oddly satisfying for Marietta. She hasn't exactly told anyone about her feelings for Zacharias, but she's not adverse to spending time with the Hufflepuff boy in public, either. In fact, Marietta has even taken to becoming Zacharias Smith's permanent partner in DA meetings, much to Cho's confusion. "He's not so bad," Marietta tells her friend with a shrug, turning away to hide the blush on her cheeks. "He'll only keep pestering us if I don't help him out."
And of course, there is the kissing. Marietta is insistent on not getting caught by the Filch or a Professor, but she does give in to Zacharias's affections once in a while, sharing an embrace behind the greenhouses or in an abandoned classroom. They will never use the Room of Requirement; Marietta doesn't find it very safe. What if someone from the DA should try to get in? They aren't sure how it works exactly, and Marietta will not be seen by any of that lot. "Aha, so you are embarrassed by me," Zacharias accuses her.
"Stop saying that," Marietta replies. "It's nothing to do with you. Perhaps I don't enjoy having my personal affairs ogled by the entire school, did you ever think of that?"
And now today is Valentine's Day, and Zacharias is holding her hand as they step into Honeydukes, and Marietta smiles at her Ravenclaw friends as they pass, and she is not embarrassed. That is, not until Zacharias opens his fat mouth. "Honestly, are you trying to eat yourself to death?" He asks sharply, eyeing a girl's particularly large bag of sweets.
"Please ignore him, he is such an idiot," Marietta says, slapping Zacharias's arm as the girl glares dangerously at him.
"I'm only looking out for your health," Zacharias replies, and Marietta yanks him away before the other girl can get her wand out.
"Are you trying to get yourself hexed?" Marietta hisses, as they stand in the far corner of the store.
Zacharias picks idly in the bowl of Cockroach Clusters. "Trying to save some chocolate for myself, actually." He grins at her. "You saw that bag, she was buying the whole store! How will I ever get you a Valentine's Day present if the inventory's all been bought?"
"You are a horrible, miserable human being," Marietta replies, but she grins back at him. "She was buying rather a lot, though, wasn't she?"
"She looked like she going to hit me," Zacharias says with a smirk. "I don't even think she would have cast anything. I was much more afraid of her fists."
"She did look positively murderous," Marietta agrees, laughing. It's rather funny, she thinks, being the sane half of a relationship for once. Besides, there's something about Zacharias and his madness, his abrasiveness. It's refreshing. Too many people hold back out of some kind of fear, or a desperate need to do the "right thing." Marietta has never known what the right thing is, and she is trying to shake off her fears. Zacharias is helping her. Irritating, ridiculous Zacharias Smith, helping Marietta overcome her inappropriate feelings for sweet, sensible Cho Chang. It's funny. But then, Cho hasn't been very sensible lately, or at least not to Marietta.
"Here," says Zacharias, dumping a stack of Chocolate Frogs in her arms. "Happy Valentine's Day."
"Wow, thanks," Marietta replies dryly. She rolls her eyes and follows Zacharias up to the front register to pay for their sweets.
"Fancy a drink in the Three Broomsticks?" Marietta asks later, as she dumps her bag of frogs into Zacharias's arms.
Zacharias grimaces. "Won't the lovebirds be in there?"
She knows exactly who he is talking about. Cho has talked about nothing but Harry Potter for weeks, looking forward to her date with Harry this very weekend, and Marietta has less than zero interest in running into them. She thinks it would make her vomit, and clearly Zacharias shares the feeling. "Oh, no, Cho mentioned she wanted to drag him to Puddifoot's."
"That frilly little tea shop with all the fairies?" Zacharias sticks a finger down his throat and makes a gagging sound. "You'd best never dare to even dream of getting me in that place."
Marietta grins and places her hand on his arm. "That would not be a dream. It would be a nightmare, honestly. The place scares me. Too much pink." She doesn't know how she would define romance, but pink confetti doesn't seem to fit the bill. It's nauseating, if anything.
Zacharias heaves a sigh of relief and turns towards the Three Broomsticks. "For a sane drink, then, shall we?"
"We shall." There is something warm bubbling up through Marietta's body, making her stomach clench and her heart thud in her chest. It is a feeling she has been seriously lacking so far this miserable school year. It is happiness.
They each have two butterbeers and spend a rousing hour discussing which of the nearby students are doomed failures and which are only going to get ahead through brown-nosing. They laugh at Professor Snape and debate which teacher will be sacked first, Trelawney or Hagrid (Zacharias loathes the former, but Marietta is extremely distrustful of the latter). Marietta laughs harder than she ever thinks she has, and the two of them walk out into the rain later with satisfied grins on their faces. "You see, I'm not always horrible," Zacharias says.
"Oddly enough," Marietta replies cheekily. "I am going to be so miserable when I get back to the castle. Cho's going to be revolting about Harry, I just know it."
Zacharias is not paying attention to her words; he stares up at the sky with a curious expression on his face. "Look," he says simply, pointing overhead.
Marietta squints her eyes to avoid getting rain in them as she glances upward. Droplets of water splash onto her face, but the rain is slowing, and a few dim rays of sunlight peek through the clouds. It takes her a moment, but Marietta sees what Zacharias is talking about. A faint rainbow arcs across the sky, casting pale color over the gloom. "Lovely," she whispers.
Zacharias reaches for her hand. "A perfect end to a perfect day, I'd wager. Yeah?"
"Yeah," says Marietta, with a shyly pleased smile. "Perfect."
As it turns out, Cho Chang has most decidedly not had a perfect day, and she rails against Harry's insensitivity for hours that evening. Marietta feels bad, certainly, but there is a tiny, irrational piece of her that is glad. Cho's anger at Harry is like Marietta's own little prism, casting another lovely rainbow across the gloom of the sky.
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Date: 2011-11-06 01:45 pm (UTC)Great job! :)
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Date: 2011-11-06 02:28 pm (UTC)Are you signing up for the Winter Exchange here? Sign ups close on the ninth!
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Date: 2011-11-06 04:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-06 06:41 pm (UTC)