DEVOTED , h. granger

⁰⁰⁷ first love, late spring

her fingers skimmed across the edge of the page, reaching to turn it absentmindedly as she thought. "—i'll be right back!" she finally let out, leaping up off the bed after the parvati— leaving a confused hermione left on the bed.

"parvati! parvati, wait!" the blonde called out, her face scrunched up nervously.

"hm?" the girl spun around, taking her hands out of her jacket pockets. "i really must be going, maeve, they're waiting for me—"

"—how did you know you were gay?" she asked quickly, swallowing down her nerves, though immediately regretting even opening her mouth afterwards. "actually, don't worr—"

"i've always found girls pretty." parvati explained, watching the blonde knowingly. "like— really pretty. and i always just thought maybe i wanted to be like them. . . but no, it wasn't like that." she shook her head.

". . . hermione's pretty." maeve spoke quietly.

"she is." parvati nodded, trying to hold back her smile. "very much so."

"and then?"

"and then. . . i fell in love with my best friend." parvati shrugged. "and lavender was also my first kiss, so— that was definitely a tell."

"have you ever kissed anyone before?" hermione had asked, both girls sitting crossed-legged on the floor of maeve's bedroom.

maeve had come to stay with the hermione and her parents for a few days during the summer holidays, just before their third year of hogwarts. they were young, both just having turned thirteen. levi was at the weasley's, hanging out with ron and the twins.

"no." maeve had shook her head. "i haven't. um, have you?"

"no."

they sat in silence for a moment, just staring at eachother until hermione spoke up again.

"what if someone does... you know, kiss us. i'd want to be prepared. in case i'm bad at it."

maeve agreed. "same. it'd be embarrassing."

"so, don't you think we should- you know, practice? ... just in case." hermione suggested.

"just in case." the foster girl repeated. "right."

there was another short silence as both girls prepared themselves, scooting closer to eachother across the white carpet.

maeve's heart was pounding out of her chest, and hermione thought she could hear her heartbeat right in her ears.

"do i lean in, or, um—" the blonde girl was interrupted by a pair of soft lips hitting her own, and a warm hand sliding behind her neck— the pad of hermione's thumb caressing her freckled cheeks. her eyes grew wide in shock, but they soon fluttered shut, relaxing her shoulders.

maeve nodded half-heartedly, shifting her weight from her left leg to her right leg. "uh, right. . . i was just, you know, asking for a friend. um, i'll see you later. thanks."

"THIS IS MAD! UTTERLY MAD." ron complained as he, hermione and harry sat in the great hall, finishing study. "at this rate, we'll be the only ones in our year without dates." he sighed, looking around. "where're levi and maeve?"

professor snape came around to their table, wacking the weasley boy in the back of the head to silence him.

"maeve went off on her own earlier. i thought she might've left for hogsmeade with parvati, but i saw her and lavender earlier on, so she would be around here somewhere." hermione shrugged. "and i have no idea where levi is."

"great. no doubt maeve's been asked, angway. and you know what levi's like. so it's definitely only us without dates. well. . . us and neville." ron whispered.

"yeah, but then again, he can take himself." harry chuckled with him.

"it might interest you to know that neville's already got someone." hermione informed knowingly, earning a groan from the red-headed boy. "and maeve hasn't said yes to anyone she's been asked by, so there."

"now i'm really depressed."

fred slid a sheet of parchment across the table to his brother, ron quickly snatching it up and reading it aloud in a hushed voice. "get a move on, or all the good ones'll be gone?" harry peered over his shoulder, reading along aswell. "who are you going with, then?"

fred bit his bottom lip cunningly, scrunching up the same sheet of parchment and chucking it at angelina johnson. "oi, angelina!" he whispered.

"what?" she hissed back.

"do you," he pointed at her. "wanna go to the ball," he held his hands up in a waltzing motion. "with," he pointed at himself. "me?"

"to the ball?" angelina nodded eagerly, smiling. "yeah, alright, then."

fred winked at ron in self-satisfaction, before looking back down at his work.

"oi, hermione. . ." ron began. "you're a girl."

"oh, well spotted." she spoke sarcastically, looking up.

harry nudged the weasley boy, trying to inform him that snape was right behind them— but he was ignored. "come with one of us?" ron offered half-heartedly, waving his arms about.

snape firmly striked him again in the back of the head with a rolled up newspaper.

"i mean, it's one thing for a bloke to show up alone. . ." ron rubbed the back of his head. "but for a girl, it's just sad. . ."

"i won't be going alone, because believe it or not, someone's already asked me!" hermione snapped, swinging her legs over the bench and slamming her book shut in anger. she scooted off towards professor snape, handing him her completed work book before swiftly returning to the table. "and i said yes!"

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