The second the doors slide open he is assaulted by the harsh fluorescent lights of the muggle supermarket. He is never prepared for their unnatural glow, especially since it has been four months and twenty-two days when he last set foot in here.
He walks to the cart trolley and pulls one out, rusty wheels creaking loudly in the hushed atmosphere. The only other sounds are the barely audible elevator music and the beep-beep of the scanners at the registers. It feels like he’s violating some unwritten rule on the noise level allowed so he slows his walk until the creaking stops and the sterile atmosphere of the market is back.
I just remembered that time at the market
snuck up behind me and jumped on my shopping cart
and rode down aisle 5
“Come on! It’ll be fun, I promise.” Pansy tugged at his arm, but to no avail.
“Why a muggle supermarket? I thought you weren’t all that fond of muggles in the first place?”
“I’m not, really. I just want to see what it’s like. Please?” She climbed onto the redhead’s lap, straddling him, face only inches from Ron’s. She began nuzzling his neck, her hands sliding under his shirt to clutch at his bare stomach. “Yes?” she breathed, moving her hands even lower.
“Yes,” Ron whispered breathlessly.
“Good.” Pansy jumped off his lap and resumed her previous action of tugging on Ron’s arm. This time he gave in and rose to his feet following her out of the flat.
The market was not at all what they expected– unnaturally bright and unrealistically quiet. They watched the markets other patrons push around metal carts and place those items which they wished to buy into their carts and grabbed their own.
Ron pushed the cart and watched with an amused smile as Pansy flit up and down the aisles picking up objects and exclaiming how wonderful and inventive they were. A couple muggles gave them odd looks, but they ignored them, lost in their own little world.
You looked behind you to smile back at me
crashed into a rack full of magazines
they asked us if we could leave
Ron picked up the can of peas and shook it. “Hey, Pansy. How do you suppose you get the peas out?” But his words fell on deaf ears. Pansy had hijacked their shopping cart and was running down the aisle, the cart swerving wildly. He ran after her, laughing. If she wanted to be caught, he would definitely catch her.
She turned around to smile at him and, not realizing she had reached the end of the aisle, she crashed into the magazine stand in front of the cash register. The cart overturned and Pansy landed in a heap beside it, magazines and packets of gum surrounding her. She took one look at the mess she had made and collapsed in a fit of giggles, lying back in the pile of debris she had created. Ron soon joined her on the floor and when the store manager showed up two minutes later, they were still laughing.
“Out! I want you out of here right now before I call the police.” The two looked at each other and began laughing again. “If you two don’t leave--”
“You’ll what? You’re just a muggle.” Pansy ignored the confused look on the man’s face and with the help of Ron, hoisted herself out of the debris and to her feet. “We’re going. No need to get your knickers in a twist,” she spat haughtily. And with that, the two ran out of the market into the night, laughing like maniacs.
I sleep with this new girl I’m still getting used to
my friends all approve, say she’s gonna be good for you
they throw me high fives
Her voice cuts through the hushed atmosphere. He obligingly takes the list she hands him and watches her heeled boots click-clacking across the tiled floor. For a minute he sees the dirty white sneakers of his dreams but they disappear and the click-clacking resumes, loud and crushing in his ears.
Past the tomato stands and loaves of bread he rolls, Harry and Hermione’s words echoing in his ears. The list remains forgotten in his hand and he knows they are right. She is a great change, a muggle, without any knowledge of his past. She doesn’t know the things he did before and he will not tell her. That was another life, the life he had with her. And even he knows you never talk about your ex to your current. But when her piercing voice interrupts his reverie again, he thinks about telling her all of it. Instead, he follows meekly behind her as she shoves one weird item after another into the metal cart.
She says the bible is all that she reads
and prefers that I not use profanity
Your mouth was so dirty
“You sure you’re not hurt?”
They had arrived back at Ron’s apartment and his laughter had dissipated to be replaced with concern.
“I’m fine. If I didn’t know any better, Ronald Weasley, I’d say you’re trying to cop a feel.”
“I am not!” he said indignantly, but the look on his face betrayed him.
“Sure, you’re not,” she said, smirking as she climbed into his lap. “How about you give me a physical, Doctor Weasley? A complete physical. Sound good, baby?” Ron’s face was flaming red and Pansy leaned over to whisper in his ear. “Actually, I already know the cure,” she teased. “I have no doubt a nice long fuck would make it all better, don’t you?” Obviously, Ron thought so too. He jumped up with her in his arms and ran into the bedroom.
She thinks I can’t see the smile that she’s faking
and poses for pictures that aren’t being taken
I loved you
grey sweat pants, no makeup, so perfect
He palm is open, waiting for the keys and he hands them over to her, moving slowly as if in a daze. She smiles languidly at him and he smiles back, though he knows neither one meant it. He loads the groceries into the back, then climbs into the driver’s seat.
The ride home is silent. The atmosphere in the apartment isn’t any better. He watches the way her skirt rides up her thighs lending him a peek at the lacy pink panties underneath. He wishes they were covered and a flash of a creamy white back and a grey waist band flash before his eyes. He walks back to the living room and turns on the television in an effort to drown out the silence. But no matter how hard he tries, it still remains.
Our love was so comfortable and so broken in
she’s perfect, so flawless
I’m not impressed
I want you back