Written for the livejournal community, sortinghatdrabs, back in October 2010 based of the prompt "Books are a poor imitation of human companionship" using the characters Hermione Granger and Padma Patil. I quite liked this one I will admit! I can imagine Padma and Hermione as good friends despite Hermione's animosity towards Parvati.
Warnings: some lesbian caresses.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters you recognize nor am I making profit off of this. Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling and I'm just a poor college student.
She simply couldn't concentrate tonight, which was highly unusual for Gryffindor's infamous bookworm. Marking her place in her Charms textbook, the brunette ran underused fingers through her curls and decided to take a break and look through a non-school related novel. Heading for the Muggle literature shelves, she didn't think anyone else would have the same idea as she, but alas, she was mistaken.
Startled, she looked at the other girl with confusion, but her expression softened when she realized it was one of her Ravenclaw study buddies. The long raven-colored hair falling into her lap as she slouched over to read was a dead giveaway.
"Good evening Padma," Hermione greeted her softly with a smile. The other girl looked up and smiled as well. Hermione sat next to her as Padma pushed her hair behind her shoulders. "What are you reading?"
"Gone With the Wind … again," she replied with a happy sigh and a soft giggle. "Rhett always takes me to a world as crazy as ours, yet much more appealing, I daresay."
Hermione laughed as well and stilled when Padma gently pushed one of her brunette curls behind her ear. The Gryffindor looked into the Ravenclaw's hazel eyes with some surprise even more so as the Ravenclaw's eyes seemed to sparkle in the most enticing way.
Padma smiled and lightly touched her arm. "Would you like him to take you away as well?" she whispered into her ear.
Hermione held her breath for a few moments, mesmerized, once again, by the other girl's bright eyes. She nodded silently and unconsciously slid closer to her, their arms touching, which gave both girls welcomed shivers and goose bumps. Padma smiled and looked down at the page, softly reading from where she had left off. Hesitantly, the other girl rested her head against Padma's arm. Soon, Padma rested her head on top of Hermione's surprisingly soft curls and smiled once more as she continued.
With their legs touching and their body heat radiating, the two girls could easily go back and forth between Tara and the safe haven of the Hogwarts library's Muggle literature section, but never really able differentiate between the two places. Not to mention Hermione loved the smell of Padma's peachy shampoo and Padma, in turn, loved the smell of Hermione's vanilla shampoo.
Read and review if you please!
