Pairing Diversity Prompt: Butterfly kisses
People often wondered why Hermione Granger didn't end up in Ravenclaw.
Padma Patil wondered more than anyone.
Padma was smart. She knew that. She was the smartest girl in her year— except for one person.
Hermione Granger.
They were both dedicated to their studies— dedicated enough to return for their seventh year. Because so few students chose to return for one more year, Padma and Hermione had every single class together.
They began to spend their afternoons and weekends together, reading and talking. They talked about Arithmancy, Transfiguration, politics, the weather, shoes, Hermione's breakup with Ron, Padma's breakup with Dean, celebrity gossip, Padma's new haircut, lip balm, and, one afternoon, butterfly kisses.
"What kisses?" asked Hermione, when the subject came up.
"Butterfly kisses!" said Padma. "You don't know what those are?"
Looking bemused, Hermione shook her head.
"It's when you flutter your eyelashes against someone else's," said Padma, laughing. "Like this, see." She leaned in and fluttered her eyelashes against Hermione's. After a second, Hermione did the same thing.
Padma suddenly realized how close together their faces were. Hermione's milk-chocolate eyes stared into Parvati's dark-chocolate ones. Not wanting to, but knowing that she had to, Padma quickly withdrew, pulling back from Hermione with an embarrassed laugh. From the heat of her cheeks, she knew that she was blushing.
Then she saw something that made her feel just a little bit better.
Hermione was blushing, too.