"And yesterday I managed to bench like 100kg. I swear I wasn't even trying, I'm just naturally this strong."
Hermione rolled her eyes discretely as the man opposite her continued to ramble on. Out of courtesy she looked over to her 'drinking companion' only to cringe when she saw he was flexing his biceps. It was probably a bid to make him look more attractive to her, like he was some kind of peacock strutting about in front of her. It was rather sad actually.
"That's.. Wow." She feigned interest before knocking back the last of her wine. What had started off as a perfectly fine night out with Ginny and Luna had turned into what could loosely be described as a nightmare. Ginny.. well she'd lost Ginny very early on in the evening to a 6 ft and a lamppost amateur football player with a crooked smile that her friends had described as 'dreamy'. She couldn't recall losing Luna. All she knew was that one minute she was dancing next to the blonde and the next she was very much alone.
So now, to top off a boring night she'd been saddled with this very boring man who couldn't seem to take a hint that she wasn't the least bit interested in him. He seemed harmless enough. However, his constant persistence in discussing his gym routine and the never ending series of bicep flexes she was being subjected to was slowly driving her insane. She couldn't even sneakily apparate away. Damn muggle bars.
"No sweat. You should come and watch me at the gym some time. I could show you a few things." The man, she thought she could recall the name Derek?, suggested, coupled with a sleazy wink, sending a chill down her spine that almost made her shiver in disgust.
"That's a nice offer but…"
"Or I have some gym equipment in my flat. I could take you back now and show you around." He persisted, cutting off Hermione's rejection.
"Again that's tempting but…"
"Come on. You know you can't say no to this." Hermione bit her tongue to stop herself from saying that yes, she almost certainly, and very easily, could say no. However she was raised to be polite so a strained smile was all she could muster.
"Oh my God! There you are! I couldn't find you anywhere, I thought you'd left." A voice came out of nowhere, startling both her and the man stood far too close to her. She looked around in confusion as an arm slid over her shoulders and pulled her close to an unknown body.
Her eyes looked up in search of some clue as to what the hell was going on and she was met with the most dazzling pair of eyes she'd ever seen. She felt her stomach flip as their eyes met, a chill racing down her spine. However this time it was for all the right reasons.
"I… Uh…" She mumbled, internally cursing herself for choosing this moment to be the least eloquent she'd ever been in her entire life. At this point, being held close to this absolute stranger, gorgeous perhaps, but still a stranger, her confusion peaked. What the hell was going on?
It was only when she saw the girl, whom Hermione had now seen had the most adorable yet sexy blonde messy bob, sneakily look to the sleaze ball in front of them and back to Hermione before winking that she began to piece together what was happening.
"Oh! Yeah, sorry. I was getting a drink and I got sidetracked by… this guy." She played along, giving a glance and a fake smile back to a now very confused looking Derek.
"Nice to meet you!" The stranger directed towards their male companion, her voice friendly and light. "But can I be a gigantic pain and steal her away from you? We need to chat."
When those words were uttered and the man nodded, obviously under the same spell as Hermione whilst in the blonde stranger's presence, she felt relief course through her veins. After what felt like a lifetime she finally got to see that sleaze walk away. She had to say that the back was no better than the front.
"Oh my God thank you so much." Her words came out in a rush as she closed her eyes in relief and let out a relieved sigh. A small smile graced her lips as she opened her eyes, the tension draining from her small frame.
"Please, there's no need to thank me. It's the girl code, always help out a fellow woman from assholes and my God did you need help." The blonde woman smiled, her velvety smooth voice only serving to calm Hermione even more. She then held up two of her fingers to the bartender and gestured to Hermione's drink. "So what was his deal? He seemed… Interesting." The tone was obviously teasing and was accompanied by a perfectly arched eyebrow, making Hermione giggle out loud.
"He was… My God he was terrible. All he talked about was the gym. And his hair, he had a lot to say about his hair." Hermione finally exploded, running a hand through her hair as she did so. "I hadn't the heart to tell him that his 'personal best' in the weights department is actually less than my female best friend's."
"Well you're a better person than me… I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name?"
"Hermione." She responded with a shy smile.
"Wow, Hermione. I like it. It rolls of the tongue." The way her mysterious hero had said that was almost indecent, if the blush creeping across Hermione's cheeks was anything to go by. The combination of her deliciously husky American voice coupled with the cheeky, mischievous glint in her eyes should've been illegal and Hermione couldn't get enough.
Hermione's eyes were glued to the beauty in front of her as she took her in. Was this woman even real? People this breathtaking didn't actually exist, did they? Thankfully her gaze was broken by a glass of wine being pushed into her hand. "I figured you could use another, you've had a stressful night." The wink that followed made Hermione's knees buckle slightly. "So which one was it? The Greek myth or good old Shakespeare?"
"Somebody knows their literature." Hermione decided to flirt back. "It's Shakespeare. Mum and Dad saw the play together on their first date." She explained with a small smile. "But you never told me your name."
The blonde picked up her wine glass and brought it to her lips with a cheeky smile. "Quinn."
The noise that almost left her lips as she saw Quinn's plump lips open to allow the white wine to trickle into her mouth was almost embarrassing for Hermione. However as she saw a tongue subtly lick those very kissable lips, she couldn't care less.
"T-thank you again Quinn. For earlier. My friends seem to have ditched me." She stumbled over her words as she tried to break the sexual tension filled silence that was developing between them. "You're like my knight in shining armour." Her lips curled up slightly at her analogy before she took a sip of her wine.
"I do have a confession." Quinn bit her lip and stepped closer to Hermione, making the brunette furrow her brow in confusion. "My intentions weren't exactly… noble."
Their eye contact didn't break for a second as Hermione waited for her explanation. Quinn was now close enough that if she inched her fingers a tad further, she'd be met with what looked like the softest ivory skin she'd ever seen.
"I did originally come over here to rescue you.. But when I saw you I knew I just had to get you on your own so I could talk to you." Quinn actually looked shy for a second as she made her confession, a break in her confident exterior she'd put forward previously. Hermione thought it was adorable.
"Well I'm all alone now. What is it you want to say?" Hermione asked, gaining confidence and inching that bit forwards to finally connect their hands. The feeling she got as their fingers touched was electric.
"Would it be really cheesy of me to say that I think i just forgot how to talk?" Quinn giggled, glancing down at their hands with a shy smile.
"Only as cheesy as me saying that I don't think I've ever seen eyes as beautiful as yours." The brunette replied with a matching smile.
"Jesus Hermione, there you are! I've been looking for you for ages. Luna is absolutely done for, we have to get her home." Ginny's voice broke Hermione out of her trance and she pulled her hand back in shock. Immediately she felt the loss of Quinn's touch and turned to look at the blonde with an apologetic smile. Her head then snapped around to look at her friend.
If a look could have killed then Ginny Weasley would have been no more. Seemingly getting the hint Ginny smiled apologetically. "I'm really sorry Hermione. She found a new drink called Hooch, didn't know it was actually alcoholic lemonade and well… It's not pretty."
With a heavy sigh Hermione nodded and turned to look at Quinn.
"I'm sorry I…"
A loud crash interrupted her apology causing her to spin around to find the source. As her eyes landed on a very drunken Luna Lovegood ontopf a helpless looking Ginny Weasley she groaned out loud and rushed to help her up. "Merlin Ginny I thought you were strong."
"She took me by surprise! And she's not the lightest of people when she's unconscious." The redhead protested as they struggled to get the inebriated blonde up and outside and into a waiting taxi.
"So who was that blonde bombshell you were talking to in there?" Ginny asked with a smirk, arching her eyebrow in question after they'd finally got Luna into the back of the car.
Her feet ground to a halt as she stopped in her tracks, her eyes widening as she realised she'd just disappeared from her and Quinn's conversation.
"Bugger! Wait here, 5 minutes at most I promise." She called over her shoulder as she almost ran back into the bar she'd just left, her eyes scanning the crowd desperately for a flash of that blonde hair.
"Come on…" She whispered to herself as she pushed through the crowds, growing more and more disheartened every second. From her pocket she pulled out a receipt she had spare and a pen, quickly scrawling her number down on the back just in case.
The moment that she saw her, wearing a forced smile as she looked on in disinterest at a man who appeared to be talking to her, Hermione grinned and immediately started making her way through the crowd towards Quinn.
She had to chuckle at the situation she found Quinn in now, a situation very similar to her own not 10 minutes ago. Taking a deep breath she psyched herself up for what she was about to do.
It was just a girl. The fact that she was an insanely pretty girl with one of the most beautiful smiles Hermione had ever laid eyes on added complications to the matter, sure. But she was Hermione Granger. She could do this.
With one final push through the crowd she stepped between the unsuspecting couple."Sorry." She said sheepishly to the startled man before turning to Quinn.
Stepping forwards, without a second thought, she pressed her lips to Quinn's, her stomach flipping as she felt Quinn smile. A cloud descended over her thoughts as she lost herself in the kiss, making a mental not to herself that Quinn's lips were even softer than they looked.
Taking the paper from her pocket she easily slipped it into Quinn's hand. The kiss ended naturally as both girls needed to pull back for air, both breathless from the intensity of the unexpected kiss.
"Now we're even." Hermione whispered against Quinn's lips, a small smirk appearing on hers.
Her eyes glanced over Quinn's face once more, taking in the sheer deliciousness of a flustered, breathless Quinn, before turning around and rushing back to her friends.
