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The bell above the shop’s door rang while Hermione was downstairs in the storeroom. Quickly, she flicked her wand twice more and after putting the last few boxes where they belonged, she levitated the ones she wanted to bring upstairs ahead of her.
Back behind the counter, she looked around, but no customer was waiting for her assistance. Most likely, they were in the back of the room, browsing one of the many shelves. Well, they would call for her if they needed her help.
With another flick of her wand, Hermione opened the first box and began to set up the table next to the counter. The one that held the most recent books needed at Hogwarts. Owning a bookshop in Hogsmeade meant most students already owned their copies from trips to Diagon Alley before the year began, but Minerva liked to send her a list of all the needed school material anyway. More often than not, it happened that students forgot, or lost, or even destroyed their copy and needed new ones. Not that Hermione knew that from her own experience - but she had learned a thing or two ever since she had opened the shop three years ago.
Done with the table, she was about to take a tour around the shop to see if her help was needed when the bell rang again. Looking up, a smile on her lips, she was prepared to greet the new customer.
Only to have her smile fall away.
“Ernie,” she bit out. “What are you doing here?”
“Hey, ‘Mione.”
“Don’t call me that. Merlin, I’ve told you a thousand times-”
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” he interrupted her, clearly not hearing a word she had said. “Listen, I came by to talk to you about something.”
“And what’s that,” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest and giving him a death glare. “Maybe about what I had to read in the Prophet today?”
A soft smile formed on his lips - one she was sure was supposed to look bashful and apologetic but was not even close to that - and he looked at her from under his long lashes. God, he really needed to work on his rueful look.
“I know that wasn’t ideal-”
Hermione snorted.
“- and I’m sorry you had to find out this way. But I think we don’t fit all that much.”
“Oh, you think?” she replied sarcastically.
Ernie didn’t seem to grasp her tone of voice as he went on.
“Look, ‘Mione. I know… well, I’m not blind. I know you have fallen for me already-”
“Pardon me?”
“- and I’m flattered, I really am.”
“Ernie-”
“So, I really hope what I’m going to say won’t hurt you too much. But… I don’t feel the same.” He gave her a fake-sad smile, trying hard to look as sorry as he made his voice sound. “And I think it’s best we end this before you fall too deeply for me.”
If there was one thing that could be said about Hermione Jean Granger, then that she was not easily rendered speechless.
This instance came close.
Until her anger boiled over.
“Have they hit you in the head with a bludger one too many times?”
Her voice had dropped to a deadly low volume and she really hoped that whoever else was in her shop was not close enough to hear her. All thoughts about that, though, were gone the further her anger was channeled into this one outlet.
“They must have - or have you always been such a dimwitted, arrogant, little fool?”
Ernie’s smile slipped off his lips, and yet, Hermione went on.
“Love? I’m not in love with you. At all. Merlin, where did you get an ego like that from?” She let out a humorless laugh. “We’ve only been on a few dates and during all that time, you spoke more about yourself and your stupid quidditch than anything else. Much less did you try to get to know me. Believe me, I was never even close to being in danger of falling for you.”
“‘Mione, I know you say that now-”
“For the last time, my name is Hermione. Are you too stupid to remember that? I hate it when my name is shortened, so stop doing it.”
“Okay, Hermione, look, I know you’re angry because I’m about to-”
“No! No, Ernie. I’m not angry because you’re about to end this. I’m not in love with you, I’m not even crushing on you. Heck, I was about to break it off myself. No, what I’m angry about is the way you treated me. Instead of having this talk, you went on and snogged some bimbo and then even had the audacity to tell the media that I was being too fast and that you needed space. You twisted all the facts just so you would get five more minutes in my spotlight.”
“‘Mione-”
“Let me be very clear here, Ernie MacMillan. It was a few boring dates, unsatisfying sex, and certainly no feelings whatsoever. You’re not only a mediocre quidditch player, but you’re also a terrible date and egocentric lover. To top that, you’re an attention-seeker who needs the fame of others to even make it into the Prophet at all. I was willing to let this end silently so we could both save face. But you had to make it into some drama that it certainly wasn’t. You used me and made me look bad so you could shine - that is what I’m angry about. So all I want for you now is to turn around and leave me alone. And to never talk to or about me again.”
“‘Mione-”
“Fuck. Off.”
Ernie looked as if he wanted to say something else, but thankfully thought better of it. As he turned around, Hermione was unable to tame the spiteful streak inside of her.
“Oh, and, Ernie?” When he looked back at her, she gave him a snarky smirk. “I hope that what I've said hasn't hurt you too much.”
He gaped at her, his face turning red. Without another word, he turned around and fled the shop.
Taking a deep breath, Hermione was about to go on doing something to distract her, when a slow clapping startled her. Turning quickly, she was faced with none other than Theo Nott, Hogwarts’ potion master.
“Wow, Granger. Well done. Didn’t think you had this in you.”
“Nott! You scared me!”
“Well, I am naturally terrifying,” Nott replied with a grin and a wave of his hand as if to brush away her comment. “But so are you, it seems. I’ve certainly underestimated you.”
Rolling her eyes, Hermione was unable to tame the little smile she felt as she moved on to busy herself.
“Did you find all you needed?”
“I certainly did,” Nott replied, mischief in his voice.
When Hermione looked up at him, she was certain that he was not only referring to the stack of books he let float onto the top of the counter. It wasn’t the first time Nott had flirted with her - he rather did so whenever he stopped by to browse the potion section. This time, however, it felt even more thrilling. Maybe it was the adrenaline from telling Ernie off. Or maybe it was the clear fire in Nott’s eyes. Something was different.
“Tell me, Granger,” Nott went on, drawing closer to her. “How would you feel about a little revenge on that dimwit?”
“What? You think me deflating his big ego wasn’t revenge enough?”
“Oh, it certainly was,” Nott agreed before wiggling his eyebrows. “But no one said you had to stop there.”
“No? Well, then… As a Snake, you certainly know a thing or two about revenge, don’t you?”
Was she honestly flirting back? Was she flirting with Theo Nott?
Again?
“I do, yes. Question is: are you Lion enough to follow my plan?”
“Are you challenging me?”
“Maybe,” Nott replied, smiling down at her.
And, oh sweet Merlin, when did they get this close? They were practically touching. They would be breathing the same air if Nott wasn’t a head taller than her.
Only now did Hermione realise her heart was beating faster for an entirely different reason than left-over adrenaline.
As it seemed, Nott was not unaffected either.
“What do you say, Granger,” he breathed out, his voice low and rough all of a sudden. “Show the world you don’t give a damn about that guy.”
“How-”
“Go out with me.”
Her heart was in her throat now, rendering Hermione not only breathless but speechless.
For a good three years now, this man had been driving her crazy. She had dreamed about him for so long. But their timing had always been off. There had always been something - or rather, someone - else in the way.
Was it finally the right time?
She wanted to lean in even further. Wanted to reach up and pull his head down so their lips could touch. Wanted to kiss him for the first time. Instead, she only nodded.
It was all she could manage right now.
She was sure he was swaying closer, sure his eyes flicked to her lips. But in the end, all he did was nod as well.
“Good,” he replied, drawing a shaky breath.
It wasn’t hard to see how he was trying to get back his equilibrium, even going so far as to take a step back and another deep breath.
“Good,” he repeated as he stepped back further, walking backward to the door. “Tomorrow, seven-thirty. I’ll pick you up.”
She nodded again, and it was as if that was all he had been waiting for, he gave her a wide and yet bashful smile before turning around and almost fleeing her shop as he left.
The moment he was gone, Hermione was finally able to breathe again, the implication of the moment slowly sinking in as a laugh bubbled out of her.
Theo Nott had just asked her out.
On a date.
“Oh, Merlin,” she breathed out, letting the happiness run free.
Revenge my arse, she thought as she moved over to the counter to collect Nott’s forgotten books. This date had been a long time coming and they both knew it. This wasn’t a date to take revenge on someone.
This was a date they both had wanted for ages. Revenge of Ernie was only the excuse to finally put aside whatever uncertainty they still held. It had given them plausible reason to have courage. To take the first leap.
Tomorrow couldn’t get here fast enough.