August | Hermione Granger x OFC

Chapter Forty-Three

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Day Three

"So, this is a Walkman?"

"I believe they call this a Discman, actually. Same company, but these take CDs whereas Walkmans take cassettes—"

Robyn gave Hermione a look. Because, did she really think Robyn would know what those words meant? The girl had too much faith in her.

They were sitting under the sun on the beach. It was even hotter than two days previous, so they didn't want to move around too much.

Hermione – great foresight she had – had brought a towel for them to sit on. So, that's what they had been doing for the better part of an hour now. They didn't need to be busy doing stuff, they could just talk to each other and it was enough.

Hermione had, to Robyn's immense interest, just revealed a Walkman (or rather, Discman) from her backpack. And Robyn had read about these things – they played music. So she was not only excited to see it, but to hear it, too.

And Hermione's choice in music had not disappointed. She'd brought her favourite album by her favourite band (though it did not feature her favourite song, unfortunately). They'd only listened to a few songs from this album at the music shop, so Robyn was looking forward to hearing it in full.

"'Rumours," Hermione said with a smile and waved the CD in her hand. Robyn leaned over to inspect the cover.

"Well, doesn't Stevie Nicks look lovely here?" Robyn stated more than asked, knowing smirk painted across her face. "Don't you agree? She looks very sweet," she added when Hermione said nothing and looked away.

Hermione turned back to her and offered a smarmy smile, "Yes, of course."

"Thought so."

"Do you want to listen to the album or not?"

"Yes, of course," Robyn imitated.

Hermione scoffed and chucked the CD onto Robyn's lap. "Good luck figuring it out then, Cheeky."

Oh, so this was a challenge. Well, Robyn wouldn't back down. So, with a harrumph, she picked up the two separate items and eyed them. How hard could it really be?

The CD case opened up easily, thank Merlin, and inside it was a...circle. The CD, most likely. On the opposite side there was a list of what she guessed were the songs. She scanned them briefly then turned back to the elusive CD. She should probably remove it from the case.

She carefully pressed the raised part in the middle and out popped the CD. With a satisfied nod, she turned to Hermione to receive her praises. But Hermione was still staring expectantly.

"Now what?" said Hermione after Robyn stared back blankly.

"Er..."

"You think we can just hold the CD up to our ears and absorb the sounds via osmosis?"

"Gods, Woman. Give me a chance to breathe! I was about to- to do the next bit," she insisted. Right – the next bit...

She lifted the Discman to eye level and inspected it closely once more. There were several small buttons – sound, vol, open...wait,

Open!

She pushed on it, and, just as the CD had popped out the case, so too the lid of the Discman popped open. And inside there was another small, raised part in the centre. So, using common sense, she placed the CD onto it. She turned her gaze to Hermione who shook her head ever so slightly.