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The way that Pansy had met Dudley had not been an auspicious start to any relationship. She’d spent the year after the war hiding out in the muggle world. To her embarrassment the magazine she and Daphne had poured over in the Slytherin Common Room for ‘research’ turned out to be woefully outdated. Thank god people had thought her 50’s dress was cute and classy. She shuddered to think what would have happened if her inspiration had been 70’s punk.
She had met Dudley in a coffee shop. Thinking she had spotted Dean Thomas she had turned on her heel to hurry away, and had crashed straight into Dudley; her caramel latte splashing all down his shirt. He had laughed off her apologies, insisting that the only way she could repay him would be to go out for dinner. One dinner had led to another, and they had been going steady for the best part of 9 months.
The first time she had performed magic in front of Dudley she had been mortified, waiting for the Aurors to burst in and arrest her. After cooking dinner in her home, without thinking she had casually waved her wand to start the dishes. Her face had warmed as Dudley had calmly asked if she was a witch. Her stuttering and spluttered response had given the game away. Dudley had commented that he had grown up with a cousin that had gone to Hogwarts at 11, and the conversation was quickly dropped. Pansy had no wish to know who the cousin was; she had likely bullied. Probably some poor sweet Hufflepuff.
It was going to be their first Christmas together and Pansy was keen to introduce Dudley to her friends. Pansy certainly had no interest in introducing Dudley to her pureblood obsessed mother, or for a cosy trip to Azkaban to see dear old dad, and so had happily agreed to visit Dudley’s family for Christmas. It was agreed that they would have dinner with her friends on New Years Eve, and Pansy had gushed to Draco about how she thought Dudley might be the one for her.
Dudley had mentioned that he had agreed to go to his cousin’s for Christmas that year, rather than deal with his parents. Pansy had smiled and told him that was fine - it wasn't like she didn't have parental issues.
Now stood on the doorstep of a house she was sure she had seen somewhere during her childhood ‘how to be a good pureblood daughter’ lessons, she was panicking. She couldn’t think of any purebloods that had married any Hufflepuff muggleborns. She wasn’t certain she could name any Hufflepuff muggleborns.
As the door opened she dropped the present she was holding in her hand, the box crashing to the floor.
“Potter” she blurted out.
“Hey Parkinson, hey Dudley, come in, come in, Merry Christmas” Harry responded affably.
As they wandered through the halls of Grimmauld Place towards the Drawing Room, Dudley looked over at Pansy with a worried expression. “So I guess you two did know each other at school.”
“Something like that,” Pansy muttered. “We weren’t on great terms.”
“Well,” Dudley smiled, “At least you know all the people we are having dinner with. I’ve never met Harry’s boyfriend Theo, or his friend Ron. I think Harry said Ron was bringing his new boyfriend too. Some posh bloke with a strange name, Dragon or something.”
“Draco Malfoy” Pansy screeched, marching into the Drawing Room. “Theodore Nott, you both better have good reasons for not telling me you were dating two thirds of the Golden Trio.”
“Nice to see you too, Pansy,” Draco smirked, from his place lounging on the sofa, Ron Weasley curled up next to him. “Theo’s in the kitchen helping Potter.”
“I can’t believe you didn’t mention this, when we talked about New Year’s Eve dinner.” Pansy hissed.
“To be fair, I had no idea the muggle you were dating was Potter’s cousin.” He looked over at Dudley, “no offense mate. I was going to introduce you to Ron, at New Years. I’m pretty certain that Theo was going to bring Potter too.”
“I guess that’s fair,” Pansy sniffed. “I’m still annoyed with you.”
“Of course you are,” Draco laughed, standing up. “You’ll probably be even more annoyed with me when you realise I’ve let you stand in that doorway under the mistletoe.”
He grabbed Ron’s hand and laughing together they ran out of the room.
Pansy let out a huff, and turned towards Dudley. “You can’t move, until you have kissed the person you are trapped with.”
“Then I am pleased I’m stuck here with you. Merry Christmas, Pansy” Dudley murmured, before leaning down and kissing her softly under the mistletoe.
As they broke apart she whispered to him “Merry Christmas, Dudley.”