|
Pub Night By Tawny Spitfyre Part Six: The Bet "Wow," Ron said as the girls walked away from the table. He was still laughing it off. "I can't believe she just did that. You alright there, Harry? You look a little…bothered." He shot a sly grin at Harry. "I'm fine," Harry replied, shrugging it off carelessly. His heart was slowly returning to a normal rhythm, and he truly hoped his face had lost its scarlet tinge. "She just caught me a little off guard," he grinned. "Plus the drinking doesn't help." "Well, I have never seen Hermione act like that. Who knew she could be so seductive?" Ron's eyes widened and he smirked boyishly. "You know Gryffindor girls…when they say 'brave' they aren't just talking about on the battlefield." Seamus winked and nudged Ron in the side, and they both laughed, trailing off into a conversation about the various forms of 'bravery' in Gryffindor girls. Harry looked around to find the waitress and saw her busy on the other side of the room. "I'm just going to the bar. Want anything?" he asked Ron and Seamus. They shook their heads and continued talking. Harry got up and headed over to the bar to order himself a butterbeer. The bartender was quite busy, so Harry waited patiently to place his order. He was thoughtlessly tapping his fingers on the bar when he heard someone say, "Hi." Unsure if the person was speaking to him or not, Harry glanced casually to his right and found himself eye-to-eye with an attractive young witch, with long, black hair and piercing blue eyes. She smiled at him, and he gave her a friendly smile. "Bit crowded in here tonight, isn't it?" "A bit," he agreed. He was trying to be sincerely nice, but he couldn't help being a bit jaded by the past experiences he'd had with crazy obsessed fans. She held out a hand, palm down, and said, "Victoria." "I'm Harry," he said, shaking her hand lightly. "It's nice to meet you." "The pleasure's mine." Harry was slightly impressed. If Victoria knew who he was, she was playing it off well and not acting like a crazy Quidditch fan. Just then the bartender came up and took Harry's order. Victoria ordered as well, then turned back to Harry, who pretended to be reading the labels on bottles behind the bar. In spite of his celebrity, he was always a little uneasy meeting new people. "You here with friends, then?" she asked, moving a little closer to him. "Yes," he said, and nodded in the direction of their table. "My flatmate, my best friend and his sister, and a friend from school. A lot of our old schoolmates meet up here quite often." "No girlfriend?" she asked, sounding a little surprised. He laughed a little nervously. "No…no girlfriend." "Well, well…my friends will be disappointed," she said with a smile. Naturally a little confused by this comment, he looked at her questioningly. "Why is that?" "We saw you from across the room," she said, pointing behind him to a table where a few other young witches sat, giggling. "They all thought the girl next to you was your girlfriend. I made a bet with them that she wasn't. So, since I was right, they'll be buying my drinks the rest of the evening." Her smile suddenly seemed a little less chaste. "Oh," Harry said, not quite sure what to think about girls making bets on him. "That's Hermione. She's my flatmate." Victoria looked a bit stunned by this news, clearly assuming that one of the guys would be his flatmate, but her smile only faltered for a moment. He paused briefly, then asked, "Why did they think she was my girlfriend?" "Oh, you know…" she said, moving just a little closer to him. "…it's just the sparkle a girl gets in her eye when she is attracted to someone." Harry couldn't help but notice at that moment how Victoria's eyes were suddenly sparkling. The bartender set their drinks down, and Harry was glad for the chance to break her gaze as he paid for his. "Well, I suppose her eyes are always kind of sparkly…or at least when she's in a good mood," he said, unsure of how he should respond. She smiled, but somehow it had lost its sincerity. "Right…. Well, my friends may not believe me about the bet, so I might need you to come over and prove it to them." There was the sincere smile again. "Umm…sure," he said. He figured that she was hinting for him to follow her back to her table now, but he really didn't want to. He couldn't place his finger on it, but there was something about Victoria that he found slightly stand-offish. "You know where I am, then, if you need me," he said, nodding in the direction of his table again. "Enjoy your free drinks. It was nice to meet you." He smiled and took a sip of his drink. She clearly hadn't anticipated leaving the bar without him, and a look of surprise washed over her face. "Thanks," she said. She smiled weakly and headed back to her table. Glad that was over, Harry glanced around the room and caught the eyes of a few of his fellow patrons, who smiled or nodded congenially at him. When his eyes wandered in the direction of the loos, he saw Ginny and Hermione walking back toward their table. Ginny was talking animatedly to Hermione, who laughed and nodded at her in return. Harry smiled. |
|