"You are kidding me, aren't you?"
Her voice echoed through the aisle disbelievingly, though she was sure to be quiet enough to avoid drawing the clerk's attention. Noise in a bookstore wasn't exactly the best way to get positive attitude from the bookkeeper, and she definitely had enough sense to know that.
"Have you known me to be a kidder, Granger?"
His elegantly arched eyebrow gave her an indescribable urge to push him off of a rather high cliff. Or at least to throw a book at him. She turned to her left, pondering. Mike the Miraculously Magnificent Magical Man, an autobiography of someone with the amount of talent equivalent to Gilderoy Lockhart, was sitting tantalizingly on the shelf. It wouldn't be missed after hitting Zabini's face.
"I haven't known you at all, which is sort of the point," she retorted, rolling her eyes and turning her back on the Slytherin. She had been shopping for her school supplies like the good little bookworm that she was, and apparently entering Flourish & Blotts wasn't the right place to be at the moment. Hermione glared at the shelves of books. A bookstore had never deceived her in such a way before.
"And what better way to get to know me than a nice scoop of butter pecan topped with caramel and those cute little rainbow sprinkles in a fudge-dipped waffle cone, eh?" Blaise nodded, to emphasize what he thought was a very logical argument.
It was her turn to raise a brow at the dark-skinned boy in front of her. "Bit of a heavy eater, I see," she mumbled noncommittally, completely ignoring his previous question. Ice cream, with Blaise Zabini? Was he on some sort of painkilling potion? That seemed to be the only explanation … or maybe he hit his head and neededa painkilling potion.
He ignored her slight about his eating habits and instead let a small smirk dance over his lips. Though the girl was being difficult, he gained a high sense of amusement from her flustered state. Indignation at her refusal didn't even cross his mind, so immersed in her discomfort he was.
"What can I do to convince you, Granger?" he asked a moment later, when the silence was ringing through his ears too loudly.
"What can I do to convince you that it'll stay a no, Zabini?" she deadpanned, still not looking at him. Honestly, how many times did she have to reject him for him to get the picture?
"Blaise," he interjected. At her dumbfounded look, he clarified, though he knew perfectly well that she knew exactly what he meant. "My first name is Blaise, though not many people are aware of that. Zabini is, in fact, my surname. Quite surprising, no?"
Hermione glared at his mocking explanation and turned to face him, a hand on her hips. "Well, if you really want to get me to eat ice cream with you, Blaise, making fun of me isn't going to do it!"
Blaise raised an eyebrow at her, pondering such an unexpected turn of events. What was she getting to? "What, exactly, should I do, then?"
Hermione placed the book in her hands onto the proper shelf, and took a few steps until she was right in front of him. If her tactic was an attempt at intimidation, it didn't work. He still stood a foot taller than her, which was why she had to grasp his collar in her fist before she pulled him to her, connecting their lips together as though by some violently magnetic force.
Pulling away from the kiss, she turned away dismissively and started for the door. When she turned around, wondering why he wasn't following, she smirked as well as a Gryffindor could and said, "By the way, you better pay for my double-scoop of chocolate chip cookie dough with gummy bears. After all, you invited me."
