beat the sunrise again
The morning air was damp with dew as Pansy Parkinson let herself out the front door of Hermione Granger's flat. She stood on the front step overlooking the street, breathing in the scent of coffee from the little shop just down the street, then stooped and plucked a daisy that had rebelliously grown in the sidewalk cracks, tucking it behind her ear.
The sun was just barely peeking over the horizon, and Pansy spotted flashes of its golden rays between the buildings as she walked. She had slept in later than she normally would have — they'd been up most of the night — and thrown on her rumpled clothes which she'd found had been carelessly tossed on the floor, and snuck downstairs with her heels in her hand.
The tank top she had worn over the evening before wasn't nearly enough for the chilly morning breeze that swept over her, whipping her short hair into her face and causing the daisy behind her ear to fly away. She shivered in the gust of wind and watched the daisy fly across the street, borne on an invisible zephyr, before turning and making her way down the street.
As she stopped at a crosswalk with the red hand blinking zero, she held onto the street sign pole while she slipped her chilled feet back into the peep-toe shoes. Maybe there would be time to grab a coffee with Hermione before they had to part ways — provided the brunette woke up soon. Pansy knew Hermione would be knackered; she was knackered, herself.
Their relationship was an odd one. Pansy never would have guessed that, a year after graduating from Hogwarts, she would have bumped into Hermione Granger — though truly it was the other way around — and been invited out to coffee. They chatted for hours before Hermione invited her back to the flat where they proceeded to talk the night away (accompanied by several glasses of wine).
Hermione learned that Pansy had had a little brother; Pansy learned what Hermione had done to her parents; Hermione learned that Pansy wasn't the slut everyone had made her out to be; Pansy learned that Hermione had snogged Fred, George, Percy, Ron, and Ginny Weasley. They didn't judge one another.
Pictures of them drinking coffee together that autumn afternoon had been framed and hung on the walls of Pansy's room. Because Hermione's friends had a habit of dropping by unannounced, they had decided that having pictures of Hermione and Pansy kissing and hugging wouldn't go over so well, every picture of them together was at Pansy's.
She felt selfish for wanting to claim her witch by blatantly announcing the fact that they were dating. Hermione got hit on every single day and Pansy couldn't do a thing about it. That was the only thing she hated about their secret relationship. She still couldn't believe that Hermione had picked her — her, of all people. The girl who had bullied so many people during their school years, including Hermione herself. The girl who had tried to sell out Hermione's best friend to a snake-faced man with no nose.
Pansy pulled open the door to the coffee shop where they'd had their first coffee, their first date, and their first kiss. She ordered and sat down in the little corner booth that both she and Hermione always tried to claim. A few minutes later, a pink-cheeked, out of breath Hermione burst through the door, wild chestnut curls flying everywhere. She looked around and smiled goofily when she spotted Pansy, who was sure she wasn't much better.
Hermione ordered before crossing to slide into the booth opposite Pansy. She was glowing, and Pansy tried to hide a smirk at the thought of what the cause of that may have been. They sat in silence, each with their own thoughts.
Their drinks came. A salted caramel hot chocolate for Hermione and a plain, black coffee for Pansy. They cupped their hands around the ceramic mugs, revelling in the warmth.
And together, they watched the sun rise into the sky.