Coffee shop AU chapter three :)
Dw Pansy's motorbike is gonna make some more appearances :)
Btw I use bold for Author Notes, translations (if there is something in another language) and in this chapter there is a little texting so ill use bold writing for that.
Enjoy!
xXx
Hermione: Hey guys, you online?
Ron: Hello
Harry: Hey
Hermione: Hey guys, how was work today?
Ron: It was boring as usual
Harry: At least you do not have marker all over your face. Molly decided to buy Teddy some marker to draw with.
Hermione: Oh my god
Harry: It was my face or the living room wall
Ron: That sucks, mate
Harry: Do not act like you aren't laughing your arse off, Ron
Ron: I am
Harry: How's the library?
Hermione: It's great, in fact did you guys want to come meet me tomorrow after at the library? We can chat for a bit?
Harry: Yeah sure, I was going to drop Teddy at his grandparent's place anyways
Hermione: Alright, I'll see you then
Ron: Don't tell me your going to bed now!
Hermione: Nope, gotta feed Crookshanks, otherwise he'll be mad
Harry: Alright, byyeee
Ron: Always picking that bloody cat over us. See ya
Hermione: Byeeee
xXx
It was Thursday, Pansy was sitting in her class at University. The Professor was talking about something along the lines of the fashion industry or something. Pansy was not paying attention; she was too busy thinking off Hermione. She checked her watch, right about now Hermione would be coming in for her regular hot chocolate.
Hot chocolate has a lot of sugar in it. Maybe that's why Hermione is so sweet.
Pansy sighed as she wrote some notes down on colour schemes, something about what her professor was saying, she was listening but not exactly comprehending what he was saying. Part of her was already excited to see Hermione on Monday. She was going to give Hermione her number.
What if she gets creeped out? What if she does not take it? What if she blocks me?
Pansy pushed her thoughts aside as her professor called on her to answer a question, shit.
xXx
Hermione walked into the coffee shop, already knowing that Pansy was not going to be there, some part of her hoped she would walk up to the counter and the girl would appear, but she did not, instead Pansy's friend Blaise was there.
"Hey, I believe Pansy told you she wasn't going to be here?" Blaise asked. Hermione nodded, "Yeah she did. Can I get a hot chocolate, please?"
"Sure." Blaise said, Jessica appeared behind him, visibly trying not to laugh. "Make sure you remember to put the chocolate powder into it this time." She laughed. "It was one time!" He snapped.
Hermione giggled a little, "How do you forget to put the chocolate in hot chocolate?"
"Don't even ask." He said, making Hermione laugh. He wrote down her order and Hermione pulled her wallet out and paid for her drink. Blaise made her drink and handed it to her, "Here you go, one hot chocolate."
Hermione smiled. "Thanks for the drink, Blaise. See you later, bye!" She called out as she left. She walked back to the library, not surprised to find Ron and Harry at the service desk annoying Rosemary.
"Guys, I said afternoon, not lunch time." Hermione told them as she approached the service desk, "Sorry if they were bothering you, Ro." Hermione said, dragging them by the sleeves away.
"How dare you assume we were annoying her, I'm a very loveable person." Rose scoffed. Hermione nodded, "Ah huh, Harry I see you got the marker off?" She snickered, making the other Gryffindor sigh, "I scrubbed my face for twenty minutes straight, I swear."
Ron chuckled. "now, do you guys remember the girl I told you about, Pansy?" Hermione asked.
Harry frowned, "The one from the coffee shop?"
Hermione nodded, "Yep. Guess what? If I didn't think I liked her before, did you know she has a motorbike?" Hermione gushed. Ron raised an eyebrow, "Now that is hot."
"I know, right?" Hermione said, "She speaks French too- ugh. She's too perfect." Hermione sunk back into a wooden chair at one of the library's study tables. Ron sat beside her while Harry leaned against the bookshelves beside them, smirking, "Sounds like you really like this girl."
Hermione blushed, "Yeah, but were just friends." Ron and Harry looked at each other, "Yes but we both know you'd much rather be more than friends."
Hermione opened her mouth to protest, knowing they were correct though, when someone cut her off.
"Hermione?" Called Cormac, who was appearing around the corner again, "Would you mind helping me sort some books over here? I'm sure you'd love to."
Hermione sighed and looked at Ron and Harry with utter anger, making both boys laugh before she called out, "Coming!" And stood from her chair.
xXx
It was finally Monday again.
Hermione had spent Friday afternoon cooking and cleaning, along with playing with Crookshanks and reading the books she had borrowed from the library. She even called Harry and Ron for a few hours, talking about Pansy some more and their jobs, silly thing Teddy had gotten up to.
On Saturday, Hermione was lost for what to do so she drove down to the coffee shop to find Jessica there, who made her a coffee, then she went grocery shopping. Everything she saw while she had out reminded her somewhat of Pansy. Anything of the colour black reminded her of the girls hair and makeup, anything with a sweet smell reminded her of Pansy too.
On Sunday she took Teddy to the park where they spent a few hours on the swings ad playing in the sand. Hermione remembered trying to get all the sand out of her hair that night after Teddy dumped a whole bucket of it on her. Then they walked around London and Hermione let Teddy pick out a monster truck set from the toy shop and finally a sketchbook to draw on at Harry's house instead of his face. She cooked Teddy's favourite meal which was an Italian pasta dish that her mother had taught her how to make, then the two went and bought ice cream for desert before Teddy had fallen asleep and Hermione had driven him home to Harry's place.
Hermione was now at the library, about to head to the coffee shop to get her usual hot chocolate, except this time she practically ran down the street, pushing through the busy crowd, careful not to trip or to hurt anyone as she weaved between families and couples.
It wasn't as cold today, the sun was out and it was supposed to be somewhat cool until next week on Wednesday, then there was supposed to be a snowstorm. Once she made it to those familiar glass doors, she opened them and stepped into the warm air inside, sighing in relief. Although that relief left her when she caught sight of the long line in front of her. She missed those Wednesday afternoons where no one was around.
She lined up, opening her phone to find Ron and Harry had texted her on their group chat. 'Hermione what's taking you so long to reply?' Hermione quickly typed back her response to Ron with, 'Sorry, Cormac kept me busy, my lunch break only just started now.'
There was a minute of no response as the typing symbol came up and disappeared a few times before Harry said, 'Or she's too busy with someone else ;)'
Hermione blushed just as Ron sent a laughing emoji, 'I hate both of you' she replied, closing her phone just as Ron replied, 'no you don't :)'
She had gotten closer to the front of the line to find that Pansy was not taking orders today, the black-haired girl was only just visible from behind Jessica, working away at the coffee machines. Hermione sighed, but when she reached the front of the line Jessica must have told her because they swapped positions and Pansy's smirking face appeared in front of her. "Hey." She said her voice a little deeper than usual, making Hermione's stomach jump.
God, I wish your phone number were on the menu. "Hey. Could I get a hot chocolate?" She asked. Her previous thought must have channelled through the wrong part of her brain because afterwards she added, "Along with your number."
Pansy froze, Hermione's order was half written on her notepad and Hermione seemed to have only just realised what she had said. She blushed, looking up from her wallet. Before she could panic or even say that was an accident, Pansy's mouth turned to a smirk as she turned around, "Coming right up."
Hermione just stood bewildered as she handed Pansy her cash while the black-haired girl passed the order to Jessica as Hermione stepped aside, still paralysed in shock. Moments later she was handed her hot chocolate in a takeaway cup by Jessica, sure enough Pansy's number was scribbled on the side.
Hermione blushed as red as Ron's hair before she looked up to see Pansy watching her through the corner of her eyes from behind the counter.
She turned in a moment of gay panic as her mind was only thinking of one thing, go, go, go, go, gay- shit!
So, she walked out the door and onto the street, her face still flushed as she starred at the phone number on her cup. This could not be real. But it was. She walked back through the streets, in a daze.
Hermione found herself at the library later, starring at the cup blushing. I guess it was not too soon then. What do I do with her number anyway? Call her? Text her? Would that be annoying?
Pansy had turned to a blushing mess after Hermione left. In a minute or two when they had no customers, she pulled her phone out and texted the group chat between Blaise and Draco, 'So, it turns out I didn't need to ask her for her number. She asked for mine.' Blaise and Draco sent a bunch of replies in capitals straight away, Pansy had to turn her phone off as their next customer came in line.
Hermione was freaking out, Rosemary came up to her from behind her, meaning to use the computer. "Good morning, Miss Granger, how are you today?"
It was when the older woman saw the coffee cup in her hand and a panicked look on her face. "What's wrong dear?"
"She- I-" She handed Rosemary the cup, showing her the phone number written beside a smiling face. The older woman smiled, "Ah, young love." Hermione blushed, burying her face in her hands, "That's the problem! I think- I think I lover her." She cried, looking back up at the older woman. "Is it too soon? Am I weird? Will she think I'm weird if she finds out?"
Rosemary placed the cup down on the desk beside her, adjusting her glasses as she looked at Hermione, "Firstly, here never is a 'too soon' if you love someone, you love them. No one is weird for being in love, my dear. Secondly, she will not think your weird, I have seen you two; you fit together like puzzle pieces. If anything, she's feeling the same."
Hermione took a moment to register this, "You think she feels the same?" The woman laughed, "Trust me, by the way she looks at you, the way you two talk to each other. I wouldn't doubt it."
"Maybe I do love her."
xXx
Pansy was having the same problem, "What's wrong with me." She muttered, under her breath as she banged her fist against the bench with a loud thump, causing Jessica to look at her. "You alright?"
"No. I can't stop thinking about her." Pansy complained, "And now that she has my number it's only going to cause me to talk to her more. It's like im addicted to her. I cannot stop talking to her, her sweet smell, her voice, her eyes…everything about her is taking over my life! I never wanted to look good at work before, I never liked bringing my bike with me! But because of her I have to!"
"You don't have to, you want to." Jessica smirked, "It sounds to me like you really like her. I mean really, really like her." Pansy frowned, "Obviously! Didn't you just hear what I said?" She asked, confused.
"No, I mean…love her." Jessica said. Pansy opened her mouth to protest that that was not it because 'love is a very strong word' but maybe that's why Jessica said it. Maybe she did love Hermione.
"I don't even think I know how to love someone." Pansy replied honestly, looking at her friend. Jessica only gave her the same confused gaze, "It's just what you're doing with Hermione." Pansy seemed like she did not understand, she wanted a more specific answer. "Okay uh…" Jessica looked around for a moment, "Loving someone isn't as complicated as people say. It does not have to mean that you would kill yourself for them, that you have known them for an absurd amount of time or that you just cannot without them. It can be as simple as wanting to see them every day, wanting to talk to them, never wanting to leave their side. And most people do not even know they love someone and never do find out that they did. They just…do."
Pansy blinked at her, "That made sense but confused me at the same time."
Jessica sighed, "What I'm trying to say is that you definitely love her. I think she might even love you." Pansy almost fell over, "Woah, calm down. What makes you think she loves me?"
"She comes here everyday to see you, does she not? She is always delighted when you come to the library, isn't she? She does not look at you the same way she looks at me. She definitely doesn't talk about you the way a friend would."
Pansy frowned, "She talks about me? To who? When?"
"She was talking about how you don't like pineapple on pizza, and then she sort of trailed off and started talking about your hair and your eyes." Jessica said, smiling as Pansy blushed, "She did?"
"Yeah. See what I mean? I think she really likes you." Jessica advised. Pansy crossed her arms, "So what do I do?"
"What everyone else does when they both like each other, flirt with her, ask her on a date." Jessica said. Pansy frowned, "A date where? Doing what? What would she want to talk about? What do I do?"
Jessica blinked for a moment, "You didn't date much in high school, did you?"
Pansy shook her head, "Well I did except it was just the usual back then, you get together, make out every now and then. There was never any need for a date because you just saw each other every day at school."
Jessica sighed, "Well, where does she like going, what does she like doing, what does she like talking about, what do you want to do. You say you spend a lot of time listening to her talk, so use what she's told you to your advantage."
Pansy thought back to previous conversations, "Well, she likes watching sunsets and walking around the city. So…" Pansy gazed at the floor as she thought of something, "I take her to the park for a picnic, at sunset?"
Jessica nodded, a smile building on her face, "That's it, then you take her for a walk around the park afterwards. What's the next step."
"She likes talking, reading, anything really." Pansy said. Jessica licked her lips, "Alright, then what do you like doing?"
"Riding my bike." Pansy said, "But I doubt she'd get on that…right?" Jessica shrugged, "I'm sure she would." Pansy nodded, "Okay. So, I take her for a picnic at the park, walk around the park with her and then drive her where?" Pansy asked. Jessica frowned, "What kind of dessert does she like?"
"She likes coffee and sweet drinks so…milkshakes?" Pansy asked, looking shy as if she was answering a question at school, worried it were incorrect. "Yeah, that's it." Jessica told her encouragingly.
"And then I drive her home?" Pansy asked. Jessica nodded and Pansy frowned. "What about the flirting?" Pansy asked. "I'm not sure if I know how to flirt, and im not using cheesy pick-up lines.'
Jessica sighed, "I don't know anything about flirting either, but I know that girls love it. Try it out, maybe ask Blaise for some tips."
"Thank you, I owe you." She said, giving her a quick hug. "Don't worry about it, it's cute how lost and clueless you two are."
Pansy could not answer before their next customer had arrived.
Now there was only one thing left to decide. When to have the date, what park to have it at, what time to have it, and where to find milkshakes. And that was if Hermione said yes.
There was that too. Asking Hermione. God, I could never do that. I cannot even flirt with her! What if she said no?
Well, there is only one way to find out, isn't there?
xXx
It was Tuesday morning. Hermione had not messaged Pansy yet, not sure of what to say. So, she just left the phone number in her phone's contacts and headed to work.
She walked into the library, waved at Rosemary who smiled at her, then went to start her usual sorting books to find a young boy standing in the middle of a book isle alone. Hermione frowned as she slowed to a stop, "Are you okay, young man?" She asked, looking around but not finding a parent.
The small child turned to her, dark black hair, and green eyes, he looked almost like Pansy except a young boy. His clothing style was the same as hers too. He looked almost frightened, "It's okay, I work here." Hermione said, pointing to the name tag on her shirt, the boy looked relived. "I was just looking for a book."
"Oh, well did you want to tell me what you're looking for, I'm sure I can find it for you?" She asked in a friendly tone. She was good with children considering her time spent looking after the younger kids when she got school captain in high school, along with her part-time custody of Teddy, but he was very well behaved.
He bit his lip as if deciding and then mumbled a quiet, "Sure." Hermione bend down a little bit, holding out her hand and the young boy took it gently. "So, what book were we looking for?" She asked.
The young boy looked more enthusiastic now, a small smile on his face. "A book about fairies!"
Hermione raised an eyebrow as if intrigued, "Fairies? Wow, that is cool. I think I know where we can find a book about that." Hermione walked him towards the children's section, still confused as to where his parents were. "What's your name?" Hermione added, in case she needed to ask the other customers in the library. "William!" He smiled.
Hermione could not help but smile, small children were her weakness. "That's a cool name. Look, here we are." Hermione said, pointing to the small corner with stuffed animals and many picture books. Hermione led him onto the carpeted area and picked up one of the books on the table, "There we go, a book about a fairy named Tinkerbell." She said, handing it to William. He smiled happily and took a seat on one of the stools beside the small table.
Hermione knelt beside him, "William, where are your parents?" She asked. William frowned, "I don't know." Hermione nodded, "Okay." She stood up, glancing around once more, "Do you think you could stay here for a few minutes, hm?"
He nodded, flipping open the picture book and began reading. Hermione hesitantly walked away, hoping someone who was not his parent would take him away before she got back. So she hurried to get to the service desk. As usual, Rosemary was there seated by the computer, typing away.
"Hey, Ro." She smiled and the older woman looked up from her computer, smiling, "Miss Granger." She greeted her, "Any problems?"
"Yeah." Hermione sighed, "I have a small child, about the age of six, named William at the children's section. I found him wandering around the history books isles, he says he doesn't know where his parents are." Hermione informed her.
Rosemary frowned, "Oh dear, go get him, bring him here with a book to entertain him, I'll call his name over the loudspeakers." Hermione nodded, "Thanks, Ro." She said, hurrying to go get him.
The well-behaved kid was found where she left him, on the stool in the kids section. "Hey William, I'm back."
The small child looked up from his book, "Why don't you come with me, yeah? I'm just going to take you down to the service desk and we'll find your parents?" The young boy nodded and stood up, Tinkerbell book in hand and took her hand with his other. Hermione walked him to the service desk, which was not far, and Rosemary did not look to happy that someone had been so careless with their child.
"Hello, young man." She leaned over the counter, "Why don't you come around here and sit with me for a bit, hm? Tell me about that book your reading?" Hermione let go of his hand and William walked forward as Rosemary pushed the gate aside and he wandered into the service desk area, sitting at one of the chairs.
Rosemary leaned forward and clicked the button on her microphone beside her computer, "Can I please have William's parents at the service desk, please? William's parents." She released the button, turning to Hermione, "Just go around the library at the back where the speakers don't work well, ask anyone there if he's their kid."
Hermione nodded, "Yeah, I'll do that." She said, giving a small wave to William before she left to the sound of Rosemary asking, "Would you like a sweet?"
She made her way down the left side of the library where the computers were, she found a customer using one of their computers with headphones on, she walked over and tapped them on the shoulder. The woman with blonde hair and blue eyes turned, spotted Hermione, and took off her headphones.
"Sorry to interrupt, ma'am. We have a lost child named William, about five or six years old. Is he your child?" Hermione asked. The woman shook her head. Hermione walked away, down the back of the library. There was a teenage boy at the geography section with maps and globes, Hermione asked him the same question, he shook his head, "No, sorry."
She asked a young couple by the printers who said they saw him walk past them earlier, then an old man who shook his head, and Hermione scratched her head. Maybe they had found the parents?
Hermione hurried back to the service desk to find a couple at the desk talking to Rosemary, William was standing next to the man, his arms around him. Hermione approached the group, glad they had found the parents, but also a little confused. Both of the 'parents' were blonde with blue eyes. William had black hair with green eyes.
Rosemary was smiling though, but she did not have her glasses on. "Ah! Miss Granger, we found the parents!" Hermione could on give her a fake smile as she looked at the 'parents'. "Is this your child?" She asked them, they both nodded. William was too busy with his head stuck in the Tinkerbell book.
Hermione frowned at them as Rosemary said, "Have a great day!" And they began to turn away. "Wait." Hermione snapped. They paused, looking confused at her, "Ro, put your glasses on." Hermione told her. The old woman frowned at her but slid them down onto the bridge of her nose.
"Are you sure this is your child?" Hermione asked. The couple nodded and the woman smiled, "Yeah, little Winston gets lost all the time."
Hermione frowned, "Winston? His name is William." Rosemary seemed a bit suspicious now too, William had put down his book, watching the adults talk.
The man smiled, "Oh, did he tell you that? Silly Winston and his twin brother William are always playing jokes on strangers." He spoke. Hermione shook her head, "No, I don't buy that. As mean and offensive as it may sound, a six-year-old isn't smart enough to trick people like that." Hermione said. She looked at William and opened her mouth to ask him herself, but the mother cut her off.
"Young Winston here is rather smart for his age." She said. Hermione nodded, glancing at Rosemary, "I bet he is. How come he looks nothing like you?" Hermione asked, "You both have blonde hair, he has black. Not to mention the eyes."
The 'parents' weren't smiling so much anymore. The dad simply said, "Adopted." Rosemary smiled kindly, but the tone in her voice said she wasn't at all happy, "Can I see the adoption certificate?"
They both looked bewildered, "What? This is ridiculous, people don't just carry around adoption certificates." The woman complained.
Hermione knelt beside the child, "Are these your parents?" William did not nod but he did not exactly shake his head, he looked scared. Hermione took his hand, giving him a small tug, and he walked forward, out of the man's grasp.
"I'm going to have to ask you to leave or I'll be calling the police." Rosemary said softly, neither were surprised when the couple turned and simply left, swearing as they did. Hermione turned to Rosemary, knowing full and well that if it were his real parents they would have stayed.
Hermione turned to the small child holding her hand, "Are you alright?" He gave a small nod, already back to reading his picture book.
Rosemary sighed, "There are some awful people in the world," She scoffed, picking up her phone, "Why don't I call the local police down her anyway to find his parents?" She asked.
Hermione nodded, "Yeah, you do that, I'll just take him with me to my desk to grab my phone." She said, gesturing for the young boy to join her.
They walked together to the side of the library behind some shelves, Hermione found her phone was pinging relentlessly from Blaise and she frowned, knowing Pansy must have given him her number.
'Hey, it's Blaise, where are you?'
'I thought you come here every day?'
'Are you sick? Are you at home?'
'Pansy's whining, better hurry ;)' Hermione heart fluttered a little at that message, her thoughts began to drift to the green-eyed girl again. Hermione focus at the task at hand.
Hermione shook her head as she quickly typed her response, 'I'll be there soon, calm down lol' She placed her phone in her dress pocket, turning to William to find him standing there, still reading.
She took his hand again and led him back to the service desk just in time to see a black police car pull up outside the library, two uniformed policemen approached the library, walking inside. It did not take them long to spot the two women and small child at the service desk before the approached them.
"Morning ma'am, we were called by a report of a lost child?" One of the taller men asked, black hair and blue eyes. Hermione gave William's hand a soft squeeze and looked at him, "Yeah, this is William, his parents aren't here, he doesn't know where they are." Hermione said.
The police officers exchanged looks and the female one looked at him with the same childish expression Hermione had used and smiled, "Would you like to come for a ride in the cop car?" She asked.
William smiled, nodding enthusiastically. "Okay then," She woman officer said, standing back up, "We'll take him back to the station, search for his parents."
"Thank you." Rosemary said, waving to William good-bye. Shortly after they left Hermione realised her lunch break started twenty minutes ago.
"Ro, I'm going to go for lunch, is that alright?" Hermione asked. The old woman watched the cop car drive into the main street and away, taking a sip of her coffee, "Sure, my dear. Be back soon, make sure you say hello to that girl you like."
Hermione blushed but nodded, "Will do." She rushed back to her desk to grab her bag before she happily left, walking through the crowded streets of London.
xXx
Pansy looked up from the cash register at the sound of the shop doorbells ringing. It was not Hermione, but a normal customer, Blaise chuckled from behind her, "Shut it, Blaise." Pansy scoffed, not being able to help the blush creeping up her face as she rushed to take the customer's order.
"I think it's cute." Blaise said, "Our little badass emo girl Pansy, waiting for her little crush." Blaise teased.
"I'm not an emo girl." Pansy scoffed, handing Blaise the notepad page with the customer's order, he huffily began to make the drink. Pansy turned back to the cash register to see Hermione walking through the door with the chime of the doorbells.
As always, she looked beautiful. The sunlight that had peaked out from behind the clouds painted her tanned skin, making her glow. Her curls bounced swiftly as she looked up from her phone, her lavender dress swayed across her thighs as she came to a stop. She looked up, her chocolate brown eyes met with Pansy's green ones because she smiled brightly, and the green-eyed girl found herself blushing but smiled back nonetheless.
Blaise had passed Pansy the other customer's drink, calling out their number and handing it to them by the food-warmers. Hermione was at the counter now, both girls met eyes with small grins that said they were happy to see each other, Hermione pursed her lips a little as she gazed ahead at the menu above Pansy, although the black-haired girl found her eyes to be searching places she should not.
Along Hermione's tanned neck and her collar bone, her soft looking lips, her jawline. They were all places that Pansy wanted to be kissing- woah. Pansy calm down. She told herself, half of her mortified at the thoughts, half of her only continuing to wish it were true while Hermione's eyes flickered back to her face again with the flutter of her lashes. Ugh, you are so pretty.
"I think I'll go with a ice coffee," She said, Pansy nodded, writing down her order. Hermione watched as Pansy disappeared behind the counter and Blaise appeared in front of her, "What took you so long?" Blaise asked, "A break in at the library?"
Pansy seemed to be wondering too, shooting a glance from behind Blaise. Hermione shrugged watching Pansy make her order, concentrated as she turned the coffee machine on, grabbing the ingredients. "There was this lost kid." Hermione said, barley listening as Blaise frowned, "At a library?"
Hermione continued to gaze at Pansy, who brushed her black hair aside, green eyes squinted as she clicked the buttons on the coffee machine. Hermione did not know what was so mesmerising about the way Pansy moved, but it sure made her heart race.
"Uh huh." Hermione replied to Blaise, looking away from Pansy just in time as she glanced at Hermione. "I had to bring him back to the kids section, try and find his parents." Hermione said, watching Blaise listen with intertest.
"Did you find his parents?" Blaise asked. Hermione shrugged, "I don't know, some blonde couple came in, claiming he was theirs, but he looked nothing like them with black hair and green eyes, almost like Pansy. The police had to come pick him up." Hermione said, "I didn't trust that couple, they looked…odd." Hermione frowned, looking up to see Pansy and Blaise looking at her, both had different expressions.
"You're amazing." Pansy blurted. Very quickly she realised what she had said after a bright blush spread across Hermione's face, "Thanks." She said in a small voice, taking her finished drink from Blaise. "I'll see you tomorrow afternoon?" Hermione asked. Pansy nodded quickly, "Yeah I'll be there."
Hermione smiled shyly, "I'll see you then, Pansy." The sound of her own name rolling off her tongue made her want to reach over the counter and kiss her. "Bye." Pansy said weakly, her heart pounding. Hermione gave as small wave as she turned in the doorway and left out into the sun, the doorbells chiming after her.
xXx
It was Wednesday, Pansy had barley had time to chat with Hermione at the coffee shop, and Hermione had a fair amount of work to do at the library. Usually Wednesday's were quiet, but they were about to hit the middle of winter half-way through December, meaning it was almost Christmas time and much snow was expected. And there was.
Overnight there had been a very small layer of snow, nothing much. They were expecting much more snow the week after.
Pansy had been awfully busy with the new items on their Christmas menu at the café, including gingerbread cookies, mint candy-cane hot chocolate and new Christmas pastries. They were popular items and many people had come in to try them.
Hermione had been busy restocking the shelfs with new books, including children's Christmas picture books and some romance novels, which Hermione had read and gushed over, while most the time she and Rosemary enjoyed each other's company in the warmth. Cormac had been annoying all day, but Hermione could not careless, Pansy was going to be coming to see her at the library in less than ten minutes.
Hermione was bored out of her mind, so she had resorted to sitting at her desk to the side of the library, reading said Christmas romance novel and sucking on a candy-cane to satisfy her sweet-tooth. Cormac approached her desk, lazily leaning on his forearms and clearing his throat.
Hermione looked up from her book, popping the sweet out of her mouth, "Have another workload for me?" She snapped. Cormac shook his head, "No, I was wondering if you'd like-"
"I'm not going out with you." Hermione cut him off, already knowing what he was going to ask. "I'm a lesbian, I don't like guys. Even if I did, you already have, what, three girlfriends?" she angled her head back down to her book, but Cormac dipped his hand under the cover and shut it in front of her, "Why not have four?" He asked, "You can't possibly like girls, but I know u can't resist me."
Hermione snatched her book away, quickly picking up her phone and easily texting Rosemary to call him over for a job, "I do like girls. Ask Pansy."
"Who?" Cormac frowned. "Is that the girl that's always coming here?"
Hermione crossed her arms, "Yeah. And she is my girlfriend." She lied, "So, you can leave me alone and find someone else to be your muse."
Cormac opened his mouth to protest, a smirk spread steadily across his face, but the loudspeakers cut him off. "Can I please have Cormac McLaggen to the front desk, please?" He turned, giving Hermione one sharp wink, "I like my girls stubborn." And then he strode away.
Hermione turned back to her book, desperate to erase his words from her mind when she sighed in realisation that she had to go to the service desk too. She remembered a book with a list of overdue and lost materials that she needed to add fines to people's accounts.
She walked up to the service desk to see Cormac holding a list of jobs from Rosemary, and Pansy standing at the front, talking.
Hermione froze on the spot. Her black, shoulder length hair was parted at the side, tossed over her head messily, her green eyes shone in the bright lighting of the library, she was wearing her usual black lipstick and her black leather jacket, along with her black ripped jeans and her slightly high-heeled short cut black boots. "I usually leave it outside, but people are stealing them at the moment…" Pansy was gesturing to the big black motorbike helmet under her arm.
Rosemary was smiling, "It's alright, dear. Try not to forget it when you leave." She advised. Rosemary had gone to turn back to Cormac but had spotted Hermione, "Ah! Miss Granger, come to get the list I asked you to go through?"
Both Cormac and Pansy had also turned on the spot to acknowledge her presence.
"Yeah, I forgot it, sorry." She leaned forward beside Cormac and took the list, ignoring how uncomfortable he looked with Pansy standing so close to him, also somewhat disgusted.
Pansy's breath hitched in her throat, Hermione's hair was in a half-up half-down hairstyle, so the front was tied back, leaving the long curls to flow down her back, her soft brown eyes were glowing along with her tanned skin. She was wearing her black skirt with a cream-coloured sweater and her black sneakers.
"H-hi." She said, seeming to have forgotten that Pansy was coming for a moment. Pansy pushed back her gay thoughts, screaming how cute Hermione looked. Somehow Hermione figured she had the opportunity to prove her point to Cormac. "Well, come on then." She smiled, adding a wink to the mix.
Pansy looked slightly confused but followed Hermione, nonetheless, somewhat catching on as Cormac glared at her as she walked past. Hermione was praying that Pansy followed along, at least until they were out of Cormac's sight. "Sorry about that." Hermione blushed, "Cormac is being a pain again."
Do not apologise. Pansy found herself thinking, hoping Hermione would wink at her and mean it. She did not think someone so cute could be so hot at the same time. "It's fine, I could tell." She replied. They had arrived at Hermione's desk now, Pansy took her usual perch at the side while Hermione walked behind it, quickly swatting her book aside before Pansy saw it.
"You rode your bike to work again today?" Hermione said, eyeing the helmet tucked under Pansy's arm. "Yeah. I don't ride it much, figured I should ride it more." Pansy lied. She just liked the look on Hermione's face when she saw Pansy on it. Not that she would ever tell her that.
Hermione opened Rosemary's diary, flipping to the page where a long list of names and overdue books were listed. She clicked the power button of the library computer on her desk. Apparently, Pansy had spotted the book that Hermione had so terribly hid under the corner of her bookbag. "You read fiction books as well?" Pansy asked. Hermione glanced at the book, "Yeah." She picked up her half-eaten candy cane from before and popped it into her mouth.
"Wow I thought you read enough about history and science. What kinds of fiction? Fantasy?" Pansy asked. Hermione nodded, "Uh yeah, fantasy, some sci-fi books…" She cringed a little, "I'm big on romance books."
Pansy seemed interested in this, which sort of worried Hermione. "Romance books? Like a spoiled princess in a caste type, or high school drama sort of romance?" Hermione shrugged, "A bit of both, I like high school drama's more because it's the gushy teenage kind of love, it's cute." Pansy bit the inside of her cheek, so she likes the cute stuff?
Hermione turned back to her computer while Pansy pawed at the book under Hermione's bag, opening the cover. She tossed a few pages, opening to the middle of the book and her eyes scanned over the words, immediately becoming amused at what she was seeing. It only took a second for Hermione to see Pansy reading the book and she snatched it quickly, looking flustered.
Pansy smirked, tilting her head, "I never thought you'd be the type to read smut." Hermione shook her head quickly, "N-no, I don't! I haven't even read that part yet."
"If so then how do you know what's in it?" Pansy asked. Hermione blushed in return, setting the book aside and out of Pansy's reach. "Find something else to entertain yourself." Hermione passed her another book, this time from her bookbag and shoved it in Pansy's direction. "From the looks of it, you only read romance." Pansy said, "You must know the romance section in this library pretty well, huh?" She teased.
Hermione blushed, "Don't you have studying to do?" She asked quickly, changing the topic. Pansy sighed, "Yeah I do, remind me where the fashion section is?" She asked. Hermione pointed in an east direction, isle eleven, at the back."
Pansy returned no longer than ten minutes later, a few books in her arms. Hermione watched as Pansy opened one of the books, slipping a small notebook from her jacket pocket and a pen. She flipped to the table of contents page and ran her finger down the list, stopping at the chapter she needed. Gingerly she turned the pages of the book, coming to a stop at a page on fabric making history.
Hermione tried not to smile at the sight of Pansy studying, so she turned back to her computer and continued to add notifications to the accounts that had overdue items. Pansy wrote a few notes down, highlighting a sentence and adding subtitles to it. Hermione turned to her, unable to concentrate on her task, glancing ever few seconds.
"You have a test coming up?" She asked. She was a little quiet with her words, not wanting to distract Pansy but all the more she just wanted to see her pretty face smiling at her, talking with that sharp voice. Pansy looked up for a moment, "Yeah, about inspiration on a piece I did. I have to write about why I chose that fashion artist."
"Who'd you choose?" Hermione asked. "Valentino Garavani." Pansy answered, "He's a famous Italian artist, the founded of the Valentino brand company." She pointed to a picture of a girl in a dark outfit with a coat and skit beside a large mass of text. "That's one of his pieces, he has a more greyscale, dark fashion style."
"Ah that matches your style perfectly." Hermione teased. Pansy rolled her eyes before she said, "Shut up, you look like you got attacked by a bunch of elderly ladies." She said, gesturing to her outfit. Hermione smiled, leaning forward, "You love it."
Pansy froze, suddenly aware of the small space between them and how closed they were, Hermione seemed to have noticed too, a blush spread across her cheeks like ink dying paper. Hermione fell back into her seat, looking rather embarrassed.
Pansy looked away shyly and continued reading the book laid out in front of her, writing another dot point on some random sentence about clothes just to distract herself. You still need to ask her out. Damn it.
She leaned all the way down, cutting Hermione from her view so she was less, tempted, but her short hair just fell into her face. She brushed it aside just for the tufts to fall into her face again. She continued writing, thinking about what to say to Hermione.
Hey, want to go on a date with me? That sounds a bit eager. I was wondering, if you are not busy, if you would like to go out with me? That sounds so bland. Date. You and me. Too eager and demanding.
She frowned, brushing her bangs aside again, writing down another dot point, writing a bun ch of random words from the text. Just…say it.
Hermione watched Pansy, her green eyes fixated on one sentence, reading it repeatedly, her short hair hanging in front of her eyes. Hermione frowned, tilting her head a little, surely, she can't see like that…Hermione reached forward, clasping the tuft of hair between her pointer finger and middle finger, clipping it between them as she reached and pushed the hair back, tucking it behind Pansy's ear, her finger's grazing the end of her earlobe as she slowed, green eyes shooting up to meet hers. Shit.
Pansy looked at hermione, slightly confused, lips slightly parted and eyebrows furrowed, a soft blush on her face. Hermione's face looked rather blank except for the small blush creeping up her cheeks, "Uh…sorry." She sat back, blushing as her hand had grazed the side of Pansy's cheek as she pulled away, turning back to her computer.
The awkwardness finally starts fading away when Pansy looks up to find Hermione sitting back, clicking away at the computer, candy cane hanging from her bright pink lips, chocolate brown eyes bright and shining, her curly hair bouncing and swaying as she tilts her head…she just so cute.
Before they know it, Pansy tells Hermione that she has to leave, deciding she isn't going to ask Hermione out today, she feels too flustered and worked up to come up with the right words, so she leaves it. But Hermione offers to walk with her outside. Seriously? Damn your friendliness, Hermione.
So Pansy mutters something about having to finish said studying and Hermione checks out her books, walking with her to the front of the store. "Don't forget your other books are due back in a week, I'd hate to have to set you a fine for them being overdue." She said, pausing to open the glass library door.
It's dark outside when they walk onto the concrete pathway. The sun has just finished setting and the stars are slightly fading into view, a dreamy navy blue is washing over the colourful sunset sky, there's a cold breeze flowing about. Pansy sighs, knowing she'd have to have a pep-talk with Blaise and Draco in the next week or so…Why does this have to be so hard?
Hermione is the first one to say something as Pansy picks up her motorbike helmet. "I'll see you on Monday then?" She asks, not sure why it's a question because she knows Pansy starts work again on Monday and Hermione doesn't expect her to leave uni in the afternoon to see her.
Then the words just slipped from her mouth.
"You'll see me on Friday."
Hermione frowned, obviously confused and she tilted her head as if thinking about if she had missed something. "I will?"
Pansy panics for a moment, just go with the flow. "Yes, because I am taking you on a date." She says firmly, cringing as if waiting for Hermione frown at her and say 'no'. Ugh would not that be embarrassing.
"You are?" The look on Hermione's face seems somewhat a cross between amusement and shock. "Yes, I am. Blaise will give you my number tomorrow, I'll text you the details." Pansy decides suddenly, a sudden worried and panicked look crossed her face, "I-if that's okay with you?"
Hermione's blushing a little now, "Yes, that is definitely okay with me. I can't wait."
"Okay, ill see you then?"
Hermione looks a little shy now, Pansy finds it even cuter, "Yeah, see ya."
Pansy nods, about to put her helmet on when Hermione gives her a short hug. It is soft and warm, and it feels blissful. But then she is pulling away, waving good-bye, and walking quickly back into the library, leaving Pansy a flustered mess.
xXx
"GUYS! SHE SAID YES!"
xXx
Here's another chapter for ya,
I probs wont update for a bit, the next one is gonna be LONG
Anyways, see ya!