This sprung up out of seemingly nowhere.
Enjoy!
~justaclassicgirl
She was Eve, and he was the apple. The forbidden fruit that she oh-so-desperately wanted to have a taste of for herself.
This much she knew for certain, even if she knew nothing else.
Hermione sat down heavily at the bar, weighed down with her thoughts, a pearl necklace Ginny had thrust upon her, and (barely, for it hardly weighed anything) this unbelievable dress that Ginny insisted she wear tonight. It was a scrap of black fabric that barely covered her privates and clung to every single inch of skin that it did manage to cover. She ordered a vodka soda and leaned back to do some thinking about the pressing problem at hand.
Harry was only forbidden because he was Ginny's, of course, and she let everyone know it, even though he hadn't officially asked her to be his girlfriend. Hermione found this incredibly irritating. If Ginny wanted him so badly, the only real way to keep him was to establish what kind of a relationship they had. But she suspected that Ginny had him on a sort of metaphorical leash, and she knew that no matter how far he strayed, she always had a firm hold on him.
Hermione took a swig of the vodka soda that had just been placed in front of her, ignoring the burn for the time being, trying to concentrate instead on the hilarious madness that was Pansy and Draco fighting on the dance floor. She was here because a few old classmates from her year at Hogwarts had decided to organize a reunion of the class of '99. Ginny was one of them, and insisted Hermione go, as much as she didn't want to.
She rolled her eyes as she watched Seamus Finnigan stumble drunkenly over to Padma Patil and say something that was probably stupid, judging from her look of disdain and the laughter of the girls around her. Hermione sighed. Some things never change, even after five whole years.
She went back to thinking about the Harry and Ginny debacle.
Reason still failed her from time to time, and she could almost forget who Harry truly belonged to when he called her beautiful and other various compliments (though none made her feel as wonderful as the first did), danced with her at gatherings where there happened to be music, and sometimes threw out a casual "I love you" her way.
But it killed her as well, for they both knew she couldn't have him. Ginny would slay her.
Still, Harry continued to tease her in this cruel way, and he knew he was doing it.
The casually dropped "I love you"s stung her like poison barbs.
They hurt her more than he could ever know, because he didn't know how badly she wanted them to be true.
Or did he?
Hermione finished off her vodka soda and asked for another, still thinking. Only now, she was angry instead of miserable, for she had never once considered he might be toying with her.
Well, she was considering it now!
It was like he was daring her to give in to his charms.
That arrogant prick, Hermione thought. Assuming I'll bend to his will because he thinks I'm head over heels for him.
(Well, I am. But that doesn't make a bit of difference to what a prick he's being.)
No. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of watching her grovel and having two women at his feet.
That settled, Hermione leaned back in her stool against the bar and took a sip of her new vodka soda, grimacing as it burned a fresh path down her raw throat. She watched a bunch of her previous classmates drink themselves silly and then embarrass themselves by deciding to dance on the open dance floor, Neville being the worst (since he was horrible at dancing even when sober). This Hogwarts reunion had been a stupid idea. Why had she even come? Why had she let Ginny pressure her into this?
A tap on her shoulder startled her out of her sulking reverie.
Right. That was why.
She steeled her nerves and prepared her heart for the pain that was to come, for she knew exactly who had tapped her on the shoulder.
"Merlin, Harry! You scared me!" she exclaimed, whipping around with an angry look on her face.
He was grinning like an idiot. "You look beautiful, Hermione."
She sighed, looking at him sadly. "Please, Harry, not tonight. I'm not in the mood.
"What?" His voice slurred a bit, and she knew he'd been drinking. But hell, so had she. It wasn't his fault he couldn't hold his alcohol as well as she could.
"I've been doing a lot of thinking, Harry-"
"You shouldn't," he interrupted, "it makes you too stressed and uptight. Stop overanalyzing everything and take the compliment!"
She rolled her eyes, but allowed herself a little smile. "I can't. It's how I am. And one-false, I might add-compliment to try and win me over won't change that."
"But-" he looked crestfallen, "-you look stunning, it's the truth. Can't I just tell you that?"
"No, you can't. Not while you and Ginny are...whatever it is you are."
His stupid grin grew even wider, and she wanted to smack him across the face until he said his next words.
"Ginny just dumped me," he said happily, gesturing over to a corner of the club where Ginny and Draco were snogging, while a very angry-looking Pansy glowered at them from one of the booths.
Harry didn't seem sad about it at all; rather, he seemed to be radiating sunshine and lollipops.
"What?" Hermione was so confused at this point, and the deep thinking and the alcohol she'd just consumed weren't helping. "Then why are you so happy?"
"Because now, I can do this!" he said, his voice rife with effervescent joy, and kissed her full on the lips.
Hermione savored every second of it, enjoying it more than any kiss she'd ever had, and thought to herself,
If this is what having the apple felt like, it was worth damning all of mankind for.
She'd have to remember to thank Ginny for making her come here later.