Unofficial Portkey Archive

Pub Night

By Tawny Spitfyre

Part Nine: Proposals

When the waitress came around again later in the evening, Ginny and Hermione were deep in a conversation about an article they had read in the Prophet. Seamus and Ron had come full circle to talking Quidditch again, and despite being the only professional player at the table, Harry clearly did not have the "expertise" that Seamus and Ron had (or so they thought), so he was content with listening to them and their game-formation philosophy. Ron was still not quite out of the "loud and obnoxious" phase yet.

"Can I get you another drink, dear?" the waitress asked Harry.

"Umm…just a butterbeer, thanks."

"And for your girlfriend?"

"Who, Hermione?" he said, smiling and nodding in her direction. The waitress nodded back at him with a knowing smile.

"You're the second person tonight who's thought that; but she's not my girlfriend," he said with a laugh. "You can bring her another one of these, though." He reached over to point to her glass. "Bring one for each of them."

His movement caught Ginny's attention and she looked up to see what they were talking about. Hermione still carried on her conversation with Ginny, not realizing that she was now focused on Harry.

"Not your girlfriend? Really?" asked the waitress as she raised her eyebrows. "Well, I'd have never guessed that. But not to worry; it shouldn't take her long to come around." Then she winked at him and walked away.

When he looked back, Ginny was grinning at him tauntingly. Hermione, not having heard any of the conversation, looked perplexed as she glanced back and forth between Harry and Ginny.

"What?" she asked.

Harry, still looking at Ginny, said, "Nothing. I just ordered you another drink."

But Ginny smiled slyly and said, "The waitress thought you were his girlfriend," in a sing-song voice.

"Oh," Hermione said indifferently and she laughed smugly. "Only his girlfriend tonight? Looks like we've moved down a notch." She grinned at Harry and nudged him with her elbow. "Usually it's at least fiancée. And last Christmas, Witch Weekly was determined to uncover that we'd secretly eloped in a Muggle ceremony when we visited my parents."

"Isn't that funny? People still think you're a couple even though the reporters have stopped writing about you."

"Well, that just proves that people tend to believe what they read - and everything they read - in the papers," Harry said.

"Either that or they know something you don't," Ginny said. She grinned and raised her eyebrows.

Hermione laughed. "I think I'd know if Harry and I were having a torrid love affair. If everything they said was true…," she said, shaking her head with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

Ginny laughed. "Oh, you mean if Harry had really whisked you away, and carried you up the stairs and over the threshold on the night you first moved in to your flat?" she said dramatically.

"Well, he did," Hermione said, grinning, "but I had dropped a box on my foot. Anyway, he carried me on his back, not in his arms."

"They wrote about that in the paper??" Harry asked, quite taken aback.

"Or the time he proposed to you?"

"Which time?" Hermione laughed.

Harry's mouth dropped open. "Which time?" he repeated, clearly having a hard time taking in this new information he'd never known about his own life.

Hermione continued, "There was time when we were on the Muggle cruise…which was actually just a short holiday with my parents...and the time after last year's Quidditch finals…"

"When was that?" Harry asked, dumbfounded. "I suppose I should pay more attention to what they're writing about me."

"That was when I had lost my new ring…the one my uncle gave me…remember? I came out onto the pitch after you beat the Tornadoes, and somehow in the rush of the crowd it fell off my finger."

"Oh, right," he said, remembering the incident. "And I flew around until I spotted it on the ground. So when I gave it back to you, they thought I was proposing?" He laughed.

Hermione nodded. "Honestly, if we were in love and our relationship was anything like what they've written about us…I daresay we'd be the happiest couple in the world."

"Cheers to that!" said Ginny, raising her glass. Harry and Hermione laughed and raised theirs as well. "I actually think you'd make a lot of people happy if you fell in love…and you'd make a lot of people rich," she said with a grin. When they looked at her quizzically, she shrugged and added, "Well, there's no telling how many bets there are on the two of you."

Harry laughed. "Oh, you think so?"

Ginny nodded sincerely and said, "I know so."

Apparently having thought she was only joking, Hermione and Harry both gawked at her truthful response.

"You're serious?" Harry asked. She nodded again. "But why would people bet on us? On that?"

Ginny shrugged, but her eyes hinted that she knew more than she was telling. "I suppose," she said, feigning ignorance, "that it could be for the same reason that two people tonight have assumed you were already a couple."

"But we're just best friends," he protested. He looked at Hermione, who shrugged back at him.

"Some people just can't believe that a girl and a guy can be friends without it becoming more," Hermione said. "And some will try anything to get them together if they really think the two should be together."

His face grew stern. "Well, I never…. If I ever find out who's on which side of that bet…" he began. His eyes narrowed with a calculating expression.

"I know Malfoy's on the opposing side," Ginny proffered innocently, looking at her fingernails. "He's betting you'll end up with a dingbat Quidditch groupie and Hermione will be an old maid."

Hermione gasped at the insult. "That little ferret…" she growled.

Harry showed similar annoyance at the news. "You know, it would almost be worth it to get married and intentionally sway that bet just so he'd lose."

He stared down at his glass for a moment, smirking and thinking of Draco Malfoy, broke and penniless, before noticing that the girls had become very quiet. He looked up and saw Ginny shaking her head with a you-didn't-really-just-say-that expression, and then looked at Hermione, whose half-smile plainly said, "That hurt, but I'll pretend I didn't hear it," and he realized how bad that had sounded.

"N-Not that I…. I mean, it's not that I wouldn't want to…. I do love you, Hermione…you know that…but…" he stammered, trying to correct himself, "but you know…I didn't think that you would…I mean…." He sighed. "That didn't come out right at all, did it?" he asked, wincing.

Hermione smiled. "It's ok, Harry, I know what you meant." Harry smiled back weakly, feeling a tinge of guilt jumping around in his stomach.

Then she sighed and shrugged. "I understand that I'm not exactly the kind of woman that Quidditch players have for girlfriends, most less wives."

Harry's heart sank, fearing that he had given her the impression that he thought she wasn't good enough to date or marry a Quidditch player. "Hermione, I…. That's not true," he said, hoping to smooth this over. "I mean, you're not like most of the girls the team dates, but that's not a…."

"Besides," she interrupted; "Who's to say I'd marry you?" She snarled her nose and stuck her tongue out at him.

Harry laughed with relief, glad that he hadn't hurt her feelings too badly. "Well," he said, "I imagine after knowing me so well, especially including all my bad habits…and considering what a complete arse I just made of myself…it would probably take a lifetime to get you to fall in love with me, anyway."

Hermione opened her mouth, and then quickly shut it. She grinned a little, pretending to ponder the situation carefully. "Hmm…well, we could try out Ginny's Kisstick," she said with a giggle, and Ginny shot her a wide-eyed smile. Hermione blushed slightly and quickly added, "Oh, well, you know, I mean we could test it for Fred & George…if…if we were both desperately single and alone in…four or five years." She shrugged and raised her straw to her lips, as if to occupy her mouth, even though her glass was practically empty.

"Yeah…well, don't make a promise you won't keep, now," Harry grinned. "With our combined success at dating, we may just have to resort to that option. I certainly don't want to end up with a Veronica, or whatever her name was…and there don't seem to be any bright prospects for either of us at the moment." Hermione laughed with unspoken agreement.

"I know it would be terribly hard on you," he continued melodramatically, "but if I tried really hard, I might make a tolerable husband. I've got loads of practice with tidying house, I always put the toilet lid down, and I make a pretty wicked stoat sandwich."

"Hmm…." Hermione wrinkled up her nose at the thought. "You'll have to try a little harder than that," she teased. "Girls do like a little romance, you know."

Ginny raised her hand to her mouth, covering a giggle. Her watch slid down her wrist, and Harry just caught a glance at the time. It was getting late, and he had a busy Saturday ahead.

"Alright then," Harry said, stretching and putting his arm around Hermione's shoulders. He looked her right in the eyes and suggestively asked, "So, you want to go back to my place? My flat mate won't be home for hours." He gave her the most seductive smile he could as he stifled back his laughter.

A small smile played with the corners of her mouth. "Cute, Harry. But seeing as I am your flat mate, I think there's a slight flaw in your plan; after all, there's no way I could come home with you, and yet not be home for hours…not without a time turner at least."

"Ohhh, right!" he said jokingly, slapping his palm against his forehead. "Well, I had to try. I'll get this pick-up line thing down yet. And if it doesn't work on you - you are so clever after all…well, maybe it will work on a…what was it? A 'Dingbat Quidditch groupie?'"

"Yes, I'm sure that would just sweep a girl right off her feet," Hermione laughed, rolling her eyes. "But you might be right," she added with an innocent look and a shrug. "I may not be home for hours."

"Oh, really?" Ginny asked exaggeratedly. "Going back to the library, are you? I thought they'd be closed by now."

Hermione crossed her arms. "What makes you think that just because I say I'll be out late means that I'll be studying?"

"Well, I know you won't be taking advantage of any of the earnest young men who'll swarm you once Harry's out of sight."

Hermione let out an exasperated, "Honestly!" She screwed up her eyes at Ginny and said, "You are cheeky tonight," through her teeth.

Harry raised his eyebrows in interest, trying to suppress a smile. "Is that true, Hermione?" He unwrapped his arm from her shoulder and looked down his nose at her. "You get swarmed by men when I'm not around?"

Ginny and Hermione both answered with a simultaneous, "Yes," and "No," respectively. Hermione glared at Ginny.

"Well," Harry laughed, holding his hands up in surrender, "far be it from me to keep the swarm at bay. If I'm doomed to marry a Quidditch groupie, then maybe at least Malfoy will lose the part of his bet about you. Do be sure to use a Silencing Charm if you bring any of them home." He winked at her as he stood up and she gaped at him in return. "Oh," he added, leaning down close to her, "and I'd suggest using that pick-up line you used on me…I can't imagine any guy in his right mind turning that one down." He flashed her a roguish grin and she sat stunned, her mouth still agape.

"Ladies," he said and bowed his head to them. "It's been fun, but I really must get home." They said a quick goodnight and he shook hands with Ron and Seamus. He left the money for his bill on the table and managed to just make it outside before too many of his Quidditch fans tried to get a word with him.