Chapter Twenty
Hermione didn't have much time to get ready after work for Laurie's birthday dinner, so she just pulled her hair back into a tousled French twist and pulled on her trusty little black dress. She was still a little confused about why they were going out on Tuesday night when Laurie's birthday was on Friday. Ron had tried to explain that Laurie refused to go out the night before a game, and they already had plans for Thursday night, and Harry had a meeting on Wednesday, so Tuesday was the only alternative. She'd just nodded and agreed in the end, knowing that her boys were hiding something, but between her workload and her attempts at flirting with Harry she didn't have time to figure out what they were up to.
As she grabbed her bag and opened her bedroom door she paused and a wicked smile spread over her face as she carefully unzipped the back of her dress. She knocked on the door next to her own and entered.
"Hey Harry, can you zip my dress up for me? I can't reach it." She called through to his dressing room. Harry appeared wearing only a pair of black trousers, and her not so genius plan began to backfire as her eyes were glued to him.
"Sure." Harry replied, running a hand through his hair.
She turned around as Harry easily closed the back of her dress.
"I thought I was running late. Have you even decided what to wear yet?" She asked him with a grin, sitting on the edge of his unmade bed.
"Nope." Harry replied with a sheepish grin.
"You know I'm no good at dressing up."
Hermione smiled and pulled a mock stern face as she walked into his dressing room, quickly appraising his clothing before pulling down a dark grey silk shirt and handing it to him with a pair of plain black dress shoes.
"There you go." She said.
"Ah, what would I do without you?" He teased.
"You'd probably wear that awful dragon hide thing Fred and George gave you years ago." She laughed as she spied it on a shelf.
"That, and I'd be completely insane. You're the one who explains life to me. You make everything make sense." Harry said candidly, and Hermione smiled to herself before walking out of the dressing room and facing him.
"Flattery will get you everywhere Mr. Potter." She laughed, taking his hand and dragging him out to the living room, so they wouldn't be any later for the dinner reservations.
Harry couldn't help but notice that to all intents and purposes they were on a double date in a nice rather romantic restaurant. Anyone observing the four of them, if not immediately recognising them for their fame, would think that Harry and Hermione were in love, as Ron and Laurie were. But, he did love Hermione, and she had said she loved him. She just hadn't meant him to hear it. Harry had obsessing over this detail for the last few days much to Ron's annoyance as he continually pointed out that Harry hadn't told Hermione he loved her either.
Harry's response had yet again been that he needed to wait for the perfect moment. He knew he was going to tell her soon, but if this was the start of a relationship, then Harry wanted it to be a moment that would give the relationship a solid start. He knew that in many ways he'd rather remain just friends with Hermione than do this wrong, date for a short time and then break up, ruining their friendship in the process. This wasn't just asking someone out, this was a moment that would shape the rest of his life. Ron had commented at this point that Harry seemed to have developed a flair for the dramatic, and had he by any chance been reading one of Molly's romance novels? Ron had understandably been smacked around the arm though Harry had laughed as he did so.
Hermione watched Harry out of the corner of her eye. He wasn't listening to the conversation, which wouldn't have been incredibly unusual for he often spaced out, if they hadn't been discussing Quidditch. Usually, nothing distracted Harry from Quidditch. She hoped he was thinking about the same thing that had been distracting her since they returned from France. When she hadn't been thinking of new ways to torment him, she been wondering how to tell him she loved him. This wasn't something she could do lightly, even if he did love her too. She wanted everything to be right. Her teasing of Harry over the last few days had been a sort of test, to prove to herself that Harry really did like her and find her attractive. She didn't want to risk everything she had with Harry over something that wouldn't work, he meant too much to her. She loved him even more for not just announcing his feelings, and waiting for that moment, though she was becoming rather impatient waiting for that moment to arrive.
Harry and Hermione said goodbye to Ron and Laurie as they left the restaurant, as the couple apparated back to Laurie's apartment. Hermione looked up at the clear night and opened her mouth to speak when Harry beat her to it.
"You want to walk?" He asked. She nodded happily. Yet again, Harry had surprised her by knowing her so well. He took her hand and placed it in his jacket pocket with his own, and they began walking side by side in comfortable silence.
As they arrived back home, Hermione turned to Harry, waiting, half expecting this to be the moment. It had been a romantic walk home, it seemed right. Harry opened his mouth to speak, but then paused, and looking annoyed with himself for a moment, he kissed her on the cheek.
"Night `Mione."
Hermione was left standing, feeling rather annoyed. And as she lay in bed she came to the decision that it was obviously going to have to be up to her to create the perfect moment.
Harry lay in bed cursing silently. He had wanted desperately to tell her tonight, and he should have done, it had seemed right, but he knew Ron was proposing to Laurie tonight, and he didn't want to take anything away from that. Ron and Laurie deserved everyone's attention, and he wanted to celebrate with them when they told everyone. Another day or two of being apart from Hermione wouldn't kill him…unless she wore those pyjamas or that black dress again…