𝐹𝑅𝐸𝑆𝐻 𝐸𝑌𝐸𝑆 | 𝑃𝐴𝑁𝑆𝑀𝐼𝑂𝑁𝐸

suddenly

and thus, hermione couldn't wait for 3pm the next day.

she had been tapping her fingers impatiently against the counter while taking orders since 1pm and by 2pm her leg wouldn't stop kicking the cupboard below.
the minutes ticked by ever so slowly, with at least over a hundred customers coming and going, with still no sign of the girl.

ah, and then came the last ten minutes, in which hermione started to bite her lip hard.
only three minutes remained.
two. one...

'jingle!' the bell tinkled merrily, and here came the girl and the moment in all its glory.

pansy. hermione felt her ears flush.

the girl casually sauntered over to the counter. today she was wearing a baby blue button down, and her signature ebony pencil skirt. her heels  were at least three inches tall, making her look much taller than when she wore her brown flats before today. a laptop case filled out her left palm, and her wallet was clutched in the other. she glanced at hermione, who wished she could dig a hole, crawl in and die on the spot. she was so perfect.

hold on, did she just wink?

"hi, i'd like to have—"
"onewhitechocolatemochaandanoreocheesecake?" hermione clamped her hand over her mouth. that was genuinely involuntary.

but the girl remained calm, and smiled genially, eyes sparkling with an unknown meaning. hermione shifted awkwardly.

"yeah, i'll have those," the girl said, passing her card to hermione. their hands brushed and hermione shivered. she hoped the girl hadn't noticed. she was still standing in front of the counter and looking intently at hermione. hermione returned the card.

"hermione," the girl read off hermione's name tag, and hermione blushed a little. ron sniggered slightly, starting to prepare the girl's order. "what a creative name. is it your birth name?" the girl asked. hermione wished a queue would form behind her, so that she would be forced to move off and hermione wouldn't be subjected to this 'humiliation' (which she lowkey enjoyed). "uh yeah," she replied as she smiled sheepishly, hair seeming messier than it usually was. the girl nodded slightly. "i'm pansy. pansy parkinson. but i'm sure you already know that."

that caught hermione off guard.

the girl went on, pretending not to notice.

"i see you staring at me every time i come in for tea. it's a little bit uncomfortable," hermione blushed harder.

"that's why i decided to officially meet you," pansy continued, rummaging through her laptop case. "i don't know what makes me so interesting, but we could always talk about it," pansy said as she pressed her business card in hermione's hand.

with that, pansy grabbed her drink and cake and walked off to find a table.

hermione ran into the pantry, slumping against the pantry counter.

how could anyone feel so happy and so embarrassed all at once?