The Tragedy of Chemistry (DM/HG)

twenty-two days

The Leaky Cauldron wasn't as busy as they had expected it to be on a Friday night.

"If there is one person in this world you don't want to be the one to take your virginity it's Draco Malfoy," Pansy snickered with a cock of her dark eyebrows as she sat down across from Hermione. She slowly pushed one of the butterbeers in her hand towards her.

Hermione felt her heart contract in a tie before it dropped.

"Pansy, stop... I wasn't thinking about him when I said it."

"I saw you ogling him when he came in," she smirked and winked at her. They were an odd match – Pansy and Hermione. Pansy was bold, wild, and adventurous. Hermione was innocent, tense and... just not like her.

Well, that was exactly the problem she tried to solve. She had been saving herself for the right man. Twenty-one years of her life to be exact. It would end tonight. She had promised herself she would just get it over with. She had wasted enough time on ... Ron.

"I didn't stare at him! I was just surprised to see him here is all," Hermione snapped. She wasn't lying. She wouldn't in her wildest dreams consider Malfoy for her endeavor. Not even if he was the last man on earth. She'd rather die a virgin. Besides the fact that they still loathed each other after all these years, he had become way too handsome for his own good.

"Don't get me wrong," Pansy continued without considering her words. She took a big sip from her butterbeer – Hermione did the same. "He's hot as hell, but I can tell you that he's a number too big for you. If you know what I mean."

Hermione huffed out the air in her lungs she hadn't realized she was holding and turned to look at him one more time. He had entered the pub with Blaise Zabini and Theodore Nott when Pansy had been getting them new drinks.

Now he was leaning against the wall of a darker corner at the bar. Too far away to even notice her. He was in the middle of what seemed to be a flirty conversation with a blonde witch. His own hair was still bright with a silver touch, but it had darkened slightly from when she had last seen him months ago in passing.

Malfoy was a lot of things; absurdly attractive, arrogant, cocky and just overall annoying. But he surely wasn't a number too big for her. The truth was, that Hermione was too good for him.

"What about Nott?" Pansy had turned her head as well, waving at the mentioned wizard as he noticed them staring in his direction now. Hermione flushed crimson and turned away; her breath hitched audibly in her throat.

"Absolutely not!"

"Why not? He's decent and a gentleman in the sheets. I'd never recommend you to do it with Blaise though. He's a freak in bed. Way too kinky."

"Pansy, have you slept with all of them?" Hermione stared at the black-haired witch. She squinted her eyes at the question, straightened her shoulders and drank another sip. Hermione mirrored the gesture again.

"I had a wild youth, alright?" She mumbled behind gritted teeth.

Hermione sighed. "No, I don't want it to be someone I know. People are talking enough already. I want it to be without any strings attached. In and out, literally."

Pansy hummed. She wore her long black hair in a tight ponytail. She should've known better than to think that her friend would appreciate the newfound silence as much as her.

"Maybe it was a stupid idea to even come here," Hermione mumbled quietly, holding onto the butterbeer in front of her. It was the first night that she had left Pansy's flat in twenty-two days for anything other than work.