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Ron
It was Ron’s 21st birthday. He wanted to do something special. He’d always enjoyed traveling. He’d been saving all year for a once in a lifetime trip. He was going to New Orleans. He’d always wanted to go there. He’d already planned some of the things he was going to do there. He knew one of his first stops was going to be the Café du Monde. His mother told him he’d be like a kid at Christmas when he laid eyes on the French Quarter.
Pansy
Pansy wasn’t looking forward to her 21st birthday. None of her friends were going to be in town. They all had other plans. Her parents weren’t even going to be home. They had a business trip planned. It was like everyone had totally forgotten her birthday. That was all right though. She could deal with it. She’d been basically ignored for most of her life anyway. ‘Why should this birthday be any different?’
She would just plan her own birthday celebration. She’d seen a paper hanging in her usual coffee shop just the other day. Some guy was advertising for a trip to New Orleans. He was willing to split expenses for a travel companion. She rolled her eyes. ‘As if!’ Unknown to Pansy, her friends were in a matchmaking mood. Pansy had just broken up with a long term boyfriend. Her friends decided to kill two birds with one stone. They all knew how much she loved New Orleans. And Ron was single! They contacted him and arranged for him to pick her up. They didn’t tell her until that morning.
Ron
She had talked the whole way there. ‘Did she ever stop talking?’ Not that he minded it. God knows, he didn’t talk all that much. He’d tried to answer everything she’d asked him. He even tried to introduce topics he knew she liked talking about. Ron knew he wasn’t the best in the world at holding any kind of lengthy conversation. And it wasn’t her fault that she’d gotten stuck with him as a traveling companion. For that she could blame her friends.
Pansy
‘God, this was so awkward!’ He wasn’t talking and she couldn’t stop babbling. It was as if 21 years of being ignored had finally boiled over and she couldn’t stay silent any longer. Bless his heart, he was trying to help her though. He would ask her a question ever so often and get her talking again. He actually didn’t seem to mind her talking so much.
Ron
She was talking about something dear to his own heart now, his beloved Impala. Now this was a subject that he could talk about confidently. He gladly told her how he’d first found the car. The old man who owned it had told him it was a special car. ‘You don’t just buy one of these, son. You EARN this car. This is a classic car.’ He’d gone to work in a car repair shop when he was seventeen just to prove how serious he was about the car. Once the old man saw how much he wanted it, he had set him a price for it. Just before Ron had earned the last of the money, the old man died. Thinking he’d lost the car, Ron turned his attention to other cars. Before he could buy one though, he received a letter in the mail. It was from a lawyer. He’d thought he was in trouble until he read it. It was a title and a copy of the old man’s will. He’d actually left the car to Ron!
Pansy
Pansy smiled as she listened to the story he told. ‘That was so sweet!’ It was plainly obvious that Ron loved the car they were riding in. She was glad she’d finally found something he actually enjoyed talking about. Now she knew how to fill the awkward silences! They’d been driving nearly a whole day now. He’d picked her up early this morning and it would be getting dark soon. They’d only stopped here and there for snacks and bathroom breaks. She couldn’t wait to get to New Orleans.
“So, what’s our first stop going to be? When we get there, I mean.” Pansy wondered. Ron checked the map he’d gotten from the travel agency.
“Let’s see. First we’ll be checking into the hotel. We’re staying at the Hotel St. Pierre. We have to be there by 10:00 pm or they’ll give our rooms away.” Ron checked his watch and the car clock to make sure they were making good time. “I figured we’d decide tomorrow what we’re going to do first.”
“That sounds good to me. We’ll be exhausted by the time we get there. Tomorrow will be a new day.” Pansy smiled warmly at him.
He smiled as he concentrated on the road. He hadn’t actually planned on his travel companion being a girl, but when they had told him she just needed to be cheered up, he couldn’t say no. He hadn’t figured on her being so pretty. He wondered why she needed to cheered up. He thought back to his own last relationship. He and Hermione had given it the old college try before mutually realizing they were much better off as best friends, nothing more.
They reached the outskirts of New Orleans shortly before nine and navigated the traffic to reach their hotel and get checked in. It was here they ran into a problem. The hotel had only one room booked. Ron frowned as he dug his printed receipt out. It distinctly showed that he’d paid for two rooms! The hotel manager apologized profusely for the mistake but was unable to give them the second room as it had already been booked to someone else.
Ron held up a hand, then pulled Pansy away from the desk. “Hey, listen, these rooms are huge and they’re more like suites. You can have the bed and I’ll sleep on the couch, yeah? Let’s just roll with it and enjoy the city while we’re here, ok?”
Pansy frowned as she thought about it. “Ok. But we’ll take turns on the couch. It’s not fair to make you sleep there the whole time. Especially since this is your trip more than mine. And yeah, we’ll just go with the flow. I’m looking forward to exploring the city tomorrow.”
They went back to the desk and signed the book. The clerk handed them a key and welcomed them to New Orleans. They grabbed the first elevator and went up to their room. As Ron had predicted, the room was huge and had a connected sitting room and bathroom. He dropped onto the couch and said, “You know, this couch actually feels pretty comfortable. We might actually start fighting over who gets the couch, not the bed.”
She dropped onto the other end. “Oh, you’re right! This IS a comfortable couch! Are you sure you don’t want the bed? Hopefully it sleeps as good as this couch!” they both chuckled at the mental image of them fighting over the couch. Ron sat up and pulled a notepad out of his pocket. He handed it to Pansy. “This is all the things my mom and dad recommended me to do. They spent their honeymoon down here and almost didn’t want to go home. They were down here almost three weeks and that’s a very long list! We’re only down here for a week. I figured we could hit at least a few of the places listed on there.”
“Wow! Your parents stayed down here, too. I recognize a lot of these names. My mother and father talk about New Orleans a lot. That’s why I decided I was going to come down here, too.” She said as she flipped through the pages. She noticed a few items had a star next to them. ‘Those must be the places he really wants to go the most.’ She laid the notepad down on the table.
“Well, listen. It’s late. We have a big day coming up tomorrow. You can have the bed tonight and the bathroom first, all right?” Ron asked. Pansy hopped up, grabbed her bag and hurried into the bathroom. Ron stretched as he waited for the bathroom. He picked up the notepad from the table where she’d laid it. Tapping his fingers on the first page, he smiled in anticipation.
After taking turns in the bathroom, it didn’t take them long to fall asleep. Ron had set an alarm and told Pansy he’d wake her up in the morning.
Day 1
The alarm went off and Ron sat up, rubbing his eyes. ‘This couch WAS very comfortable to sleep on. He might have trouble giving it over to Pansy!’ He stood up, grabbed some clothes and hurried into the bathroom. After a quick shower, he dressed and went to wake her up.
“Pansy. Pansy. Wakey, wakey! New Orleans awaits us!” he said as he gently tapped her shoulder.
Pansy woke up and smiled at him. “Oh, good morning! Ok. I’ll be ready in just a few minutes, all right?”
Ron went back to the sitting room. He was looking through the notepad. Pansy soon joined him on the couch. “Ok. Captain Weasley! What’s our first stop?” she teased him playfully.
He laughed as he answered her. “Ahoy, First Mate Parkinson! I do believe our first stop should be the very famous Café du Monde! My mom and dad swear by their café au lait and beignets! ‘Try these, Ron! If you do nothing else at all in New Orleans, go to Café du Monde!’ that was my mom’s biggest piece of advice!”
“Well, then. We mustn’t ignore her advice, can we? Come on. I can’t wait to get there.” Pansy bounced up excitedly. Ron jumped up after her. They went to the lobby and stepped outside. The streets were already crowded. Ron put his arm around Pansy and held her protectively close. Pansy smiled. She was so used to being ignored that it felt good having him hold her. Even if it was just to keep her from getting separated from him.
“We’re going to take the streetcar if that’s ok with you.” Ron leaned down and spoke in her ear. Pansy shivered as his breath against her ear caused her to have goose bumps. She honestly wasn’t looking for a new boyfriend. She couldn’t help but feel that his protectiveness was both charming and romantic.
“Of course. That’s fine with me.” She tentatively put an arm around his waist. He didn’t object nor move away so she left it there.
They hopped onto the streetcar and rode it almost to their stop. Then they hopped off and strolled leisurely the rest of the way. They walked in and waited to be seated. As they were led to their table, they saw some of the delicious offerings on display. After their order was taken, they chatted about their next destination.
“After we leave here we could go to Jackson Square and walk around. All the artists will be there. Or we could go to the French Quarter. That is almost a two day thing just by itself. There’s a ton of shops there. What do you think?” Ron looked at her.
Pansy scrunched up her nose as she answered. “I think Jackson Square sounds good. My mother said there are artists there who will draw your picture. Maybe we could do that. We could come back here tomorrow morning and go to the French Quarter tomorrow and the next day.”
“All right. Jackson Square today. Tomorrow, the French Quarter!” he smiled and held up his cup. They tapped rims and drank to the plan. Just then the waitress came with their order. Pansy’s eyes grew wide at the sight of the huge plate of beignets.
“Those are all ours?” she gasped. Ron rubbed his hands together.
“Yep, those are all ours.” He grinned mischievously at her.
They dug into them and tried to keep as clean as possible. Ron ended up eating most of the beignets. They were talking and laughing as they tried to give each other handy tips for neatly eating the beignets. When they were done and walking out the door, they looked at each other and burst out laughing. They dusted each other off. Then Ron cleaned a dab of powder off the tip of Pansy’s nose. She wiped a streak of powder off his cheek. They took the streetcar on over and hopped out at Jackson Square.
They took their time looking at all the paintings and stench art on display. There was indeed a sketch artist there who drew tourists for a small fee. He sat them on a bench and positioned them. Then he began sketching them. He finished the sketch just in time to wrap it up. Then the skies opened up and began pouring the rain down. Ron and Pansy laughed as they helped him gather his supplies together. They waved as they went their separate ways.
Once back at the hotel, Pansy unwrapped it to look at it again. It was very nice. She wondered why the guy had positioned them the way he had, though. With her leaning back and Ron’s arm around her shoulder, it made them look like they were together. Ron came over to look at it over her shoulder.
“I like that. He did a great job, didn’t he?” he asked. He didn’t seem to notice the way they were portrayed as a couple.
“Yeah, it’s a great picture.” Pansy agreed. It really was a great drawing. When they got home, she’d see if he wanted it. If he didn’t, she’d frame it and put it on her bedside table. As agreed, Ron took the bed and Pansy got the couch that night.
Day 2
They went back to Café du Monde the next day for more café au lait and beignets. This time, they were able to keep the mess to a minimum and left relatively clean but still giggly over random little streaks of powder they found on each other. They took the streetcar to the French Quarter and prepared themselves for the awesomeness that was Bourbon Street.
Pansy was amazed at the sheer amount of bars she could see. They strolled down the sidewalk, gawking at the sight of all the bars and strip clubs. Pansy giggled as she posed beside some of the names and Ron took pictures of her. Then he posed beside some of the bars and she returned the favor. After they walked Bourbon Street, they went on over to check out the shops. They knew they’d be coming back here again tomorrow. As it grew late, they went back to their hotel again.
Day 3
Early the next morning, they got up and made a change of plans. Instead of going back to the shops, they went to visit St. Louis Cathedral. They slipped in and quietly took a seat on the pew. They leaned back and closed their eyes. They both felt the peace wash through them. After they left the Cathedral, they went to visit another church, the Saint Augustine Catholic Church. Then they went on to the Christ Church Cathedral. After touring all the churches and their accompanying cemeteries, they went back to their hotel. They were exhausted as they fell into bed.
Day 4
They went back to finish looking at the shops in the French Quarter. They explored all day. That evening, they went to the Eagle Saloon to listen to the music show there. As they went back to their hotel, Pansy tried to show Ron a few dance steps. He tried his best to mimic her but had to admit dancing had never been his strong suite. Pansy gave him an A for effort.
Day 5
The next day, they took a Riverboat ride up and down the Natchez. They stood at the rail and pointed at every alligator they saw. Pansy was even able to spot a few turtles and point them out. That evening they went to the Napoleon House for dinner and afterwards went to Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop Bar. They toasted each other and their trip to New Orleans.
Going home
The next day they were both quiet on the drive home. Ron was thinking of how much fun he’d had, running around the city with Pansy. Even though he knew her friends had said she needed cheering up, he’d never found out why she needed cheering up. He suddenly realized he didn’t even know if she was single or in a relationship. If she was dating someone, though, surely she wouldn’t have gone off on a random road trip with a random guy, right?
Pansy wasn’t feeling like talking today. It was almost over. Her magical adventure. For five days, someone had actually seen her and paid attention to her. Now she’d go back to being invisible. She couldn’t help but remember everything they had done in New Orleans. It had been SO MUCH fun! She’d felt like she wanted to stay forever.
They pulled up outside her house. He got out and unloaded her bag for her. As she started up her driveway, he couldn’t help himself. “Pansy!”
She turned around. “Yes?” He looked down and shuffled his feet as his ears turned red.
“Um, uh, I was just, uh, wondering-. How, uh, how would you like to um, go… out… sometime? With me, I mean. Or, uh, maybe just like get a cup of coffee… maybe?” he stammered. She blushed as she smiled. She hadn’t intended to find another boy to date so soon but sometimes things were just meant to be.
She dropped her bag, walked back and wrapped her arms around him. “Ron Weasley, I would love to go out with you!”