Chapter 17: Dinners and Dancing
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Life is a road
And I want to keep going
Love is a river
I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road
Now and forever
Wonderful journey
I'll be there when the world stops turning
I'll be there when the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you
- `At the Beginning' by Richard Marx and Donna Lewis from the movie Anastasia
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A/N: Ok, here it is, finally. The whole chapter 17. But before you read, you'll have to endure another author's note from me. It's probably not entirely important if you don't wanna hear it, so you could just go on to the chapter if you like. :) Anyways, I decided I'm tired of looking at this chapter and fretting about it, so after some additions and changes, I've decided to just put it up! I'm to the point where I don't really care if it's not perfect. Lol. It's still un-betaed, I'm thinking that if any of you are still interested in beta-ing, let me know, but if not, that's totally cool, I could just wing it I think. :) I've decided to keep going with the way the story is going, and great news! I think I'm working my way out of my writer's block! After I post this chapter tonight I'm going to finish writing the next chapter before I go to bed. I'm so excited that I finally am breaking through the walls that are halting any creativity! Lol, ok that was kinda cheesy, but like I said before, I like cheesy! Anyways, I'll let you read, hope you enjoy!
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"So where are we going?" Hermione said to Barrett as she and he were walking down the streets of London.
"I thought we'd go to this new place I've wanted to try. It's Italian. Do you like Italian?" Hermione nodded that she did. She had been quiet ever since they left the house, feeling guilty about her date with Barrett, especially since it caused a little tension between her and Harry. After Barrett had left the night he stopped by, she had lain awake for a long time going over what had happened in her head, wondering what had caused her to say yes. Yes, he was a relatively good looking wizard, and kind, and from what she and he had talked about so far, very ambitious. But his timing wasn't the greatest. Two o'clock in the morning was by far not the best time to ask someone out on a date. But then, she still said yes. That night she had felt like such a fool, just days before then she was telling Harry that she loved him, and now she was going out on a date with another man. The excuse Hermione had eventually come up with was it was to start getting over Harry. For good this time. She had told herself that now that he knew, she knew now he didn't feel that way about her so she could stop wondering, and she could move on. And a date with someone else was a good step forward, even if his asking her out was unconventional.
"Hermione? Something wrong?" Barrett asked her, as he had stopped talking a little while ago, and Hermione hadn't responded in a few minutes. Long enough for him to be worried.
While Hermione was deep in thought, they had reached the restaurant and had been seated. Hermione was brought out of her thoughts by Barrett's question, and said, "What? No, nothing's wrong, I was just thinking."
"What about?"
"This date."
"Oh," Barrett said with a smile. "Good or bad thoughts?"
"I don't know." Barrett looked a little confused so Hermione went on, "I have to admit, this really isn't something I'd do."
"What, date?"
"No, not just date. Accept a date from a guy I just met who asked me at two in the morning." Barrett smiled sheepishly.
"Yeah, well, it was bad timing on my part. I could tell your roommate wasn't too happy about it either."
"I'm not quite for sure what Harry's problem is about this, whether it was the fact that you came over so late at night or if it's just you."
"Well that makes me feel better," Barrett said a little sarcastically.
"No, no, it's just that he's a little leery about you, he and Ron are like big brothers in a sense. They're just looking out for me. Being cautious. It's something they started doing when we were in school, especially since we were living in uncertain times, and I guess they just haven't grown out of it yet. But I have to apologize for him though; I thought he'd maybe be a little nicer considering it was your article that explained the truth to everyone. Which I have to admit, I am very surprised how easily everyone believed the truth."
"Well, I have a confession to make about that. I truly wanted to help him out, you know, anything for the wizard who saved our world, so there is this special spell we can put on the ink in our articles that makes people believe what is in the article. It's not exactly legal, but people have been using it for years. Most of the time it's used for writers who have to have a good response to their article, they can't stand negative feedback or accusations that they're telling lies. And then there's some that are looking for scandals and are out to shock the world, and they'll use it to make everyone believe what they write, even if it's so out of this world that no one in their right mind would believe it. Rita Skeeter had been known on occasion to use it. Especially a few years ago when she was writing about things going on at Hogwarts during the Triwizard Tournament."
"But how does it work? Because when we were in our fourth year we'd read that rubbish she would write and know it wasn't true."
"Since you knew the truth, that might have had something to do with it. A lot of the times the people who know the whole story don't get affected by the ink. But it was probably because it doesn't always work one hundred percent of the time. The strong minded usually don't get affected. Since it's not legal, there's no opportunity to try and fine tune it without arousing suspicion."
"Sounds complicated."
"It is. I probably shouldn't have messed with it, but like I said, I wanted to help." They fell silent while they looked over the menu, only to speak when the waiter came by and took their drink and food order. Once the waiter had gone, Barrett asked, "So why did you say yes?"
Hermione shrugged and said, "I guess it was because I wanted to do something…different. Out of the ordinary. Have you ever had people look at you and expect you to be a certain way, do a certain thing, and say all the right things?" Barrett shook his head.
"No, I guess I've never really had that experience."
"Well, I have. All my life I've been this over studious, bossy bookworm. Everyone always expected me to have my nose buried in a book, have all the right answers, and always follow the rules. Granted, yes, I brought it upon myself, and I don't think there's anything wrong with that, but I'm not in school anymore. And people don't expect me to change." Hermione laughed a little as she said, "Some people even freak out when I wear different clothes. The summer before my fifth year, a friend from down the street and I went shopping and she was so surprised to see that I wanted to buy a black strapless dress. She thought something was wrong with me." Barrett laughed.
"Ok, yeah, that is a little ridiculous."
"Tell me about it. I mean, I should be able to wear a strapless dress without having to answer a lot of questions."
"Well, I wouldn't be opposed to you wearing one. So that's why you said yes, to shake things up in your life?"
"Well, that, and I also thought this would be a good step in the right direction of getting over someone."
"Oh. Anyone I might know?"
"No," Hermione said with finality, telling Barrett that that was the end of that topic. She definitely didn't want to tell him about her feelings for Harry. Not only did she not want to get into it, it just wasn't good date etiquette to talk about other men. As the evening went on, even though Hermione was enjoying herself, she still couldn't shake that guilty feeling from the back of her mind. The feeling began to come back full force when the night was over and they were standing just outside the door of Grimmauld Place. She knew she'd have to talk to Harry the next day, and she knew he'd ask her about the date. The thought left a small pit of dread in the bottom of her stomach.
"Well Hermione, I had a good time, did you?"
"Yes, I did."
"Should we do it again sometime?"
Hermione just nodded in response. Barrett looked like he might lean in to kiss her good night, but she must've had a look on her face that told him not to. So he just bade her goodnight and turned and left. Hermione went inside and when she closed the door, found the house completely dark, save for one lamp in the sitting room. Hermione rolled her eyes. Either Ron and Harry or just Harry was sitting up waiting for her. She didn't know which would be worse. Turning into the room, she found it was just Harry, though he had had trouble staying awake. If she hadn't been still a little frustrated with him from earlier that evening, she might have laughed at how he was sleeping. He was sitting in a chair, his feet up on the ottoman, his head leaned back in the chair, mouth hanging open slightly, his right hand hanging over the side of the couch, a book on the floor from where he dropped it.
Hermione walked over to him and bent down to whisper in his ear, "You know, I'm a little old for you to be waiting up for me." Harry gave a snort and woke with a start. He blinked a few times to get focused on her, and rubbed his eyes a little to help him wake up.
"Hermione! What'd you say?"
"Why are you waiting up for me?"
"I wanted to talk to you before you went to bed tonight." Hermione sat down on the couch, waiting for Harry to speak first. Harry began with, "So how was the date tonight?"
"It was fine."
"Just fine?"
"Well it wasn't anything phenomenal. He just took me to dinner."
"But you had a good time?"
"I suppose," Hermione said with a shrug.
They fell silent, and Hermione was just about to ask Harry if that was all he wanted to talk to her about until he said, "I'm surprised you went out with him."
"Why?"
"It just didn't seem like something you'd do. The guy came over at two in the morning; I was surprised you didn't hex him or at least slam the door in his face." Hermione gave him a wry smile. This had been exactly what she'd meant that evening when she was talking to Barrett about people's expectations about her. She shrugged again.
"Well, I was up anyway, and he did say he had just come from the office. And I wanted to do something different. Everyone always expects me to be a certain way still, and there are times when I get so sick of it. I wanted to do something out of the ordinary for once. I didn't realize till later just how out of the ordinary this was." Hermione gave a small laugh. "I've felt so guilty this evening."
"Why?"
"Because of you. I know you don't like him. And at the time, when we left tonight, I didn't care. The only thing I was worried about was how bad you and Ron were going to embarrass me. But as the night went on, I felt so terrible."
Harry shook his head and waved off what Hermione had just said. "Hermione, you shouldn't worry about what I think."
"But I do worry. I've always worried about what you think. And now you must be thinking I was pretty desperate or trying to get back at you in some way. None of those were the case."
"I wasn't thinking that. I was - actually a little jealous."
"Jealous?" Hermione asked in disbelief.
"Yeah," Harry said sheepishly.
"Why?"
"Because I was afraid he was taking you away from me. And I know I have no claim on you in any way, but still, you're a huge part of my life."
"Thanks Harry. You're still a huge part of my life too, no matter what happens. No matter who I date."
"Oh, and don't tell Ron I told you this. He'll never let me forget it. And I can't stand letting him know he's right," Harry said jokingly.
Hermione laughed and agreed, "Right, he'll never let it go."
"So are you going to go out with Smyth again?"
"I don't know. I'll think about that later. I mean, I did have a nice time, but I don't know."
"Well, I know something you and I have to think about now. Where are we going tomorrow night? Remember we're going out to celebrate?"
"I remember. Where do you want to go?"
"I think I know a place. But it'll be a surprise."
"Ok, but I still think I should be the one taking you out to celebrate, not the other way around. You're the one that has reason to celebrate."
"No we both do. Now that this fiasco is over we can move on. Get on with our lives. We both can celebrate that."
"You're right. So where are we going?"
"You'll find out tomorrow night," Harry said with a mysterious smile.
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"Hermione, are you coming, or do I have to leave without you?" Harry hollered through Hermione's bedroom door the next night while she was taking her sweet time getting ready for their evening out. It had been the fourth time he'd come upstairs to ask her if she was ready, and after the third time she had been getting irritated too.
"I'm coming, just be patient!" she snapped through the door. Harry sighed and went back downstairs where the babysitter, Ron, was sitting on a chair in the sitting room playing with Teddy.
"You know, I've never understood why women do this to us men," Ron said. "Why do they insist on taking forever to get ready?"
Harry shrugged, fiddling with the tie that was around his neck, loosing it a little. "To drive us mad."
Ron nodded and shrugged too. "Though the best things in life are worth waiting for I guess."
"I suppose. And anticipation is half the fun, right?"
"Exactly. But there must be something in their DNA that causes this."
"Yeah, something we don't understand because of our Y chromosome."
"Right."
"It's terrible that they have such a hold over us…"
"Oh I don't know Ron; I think it's quite nice actually." Both Harry and Ron turned when they heard Hermione's voice behind them. Neither male said anything as they looked at Hermione; both were sort of entranced by her when she came into the living room. She was wearing a black strapless dress that had a flowing skirt that was about knee length in the front and was longer in the back to about mid calf with strappy black heels on her feet. She had used that potion she had used for the Yule Ball their fourth year to make her hair straight and smooth. It now fell straight around her shoulders and was one side was held back by a rhinestone comb to reveal small dangling rhinestone earrings that matched the necklace that was around her neck. Her outfit wasn't anything that made her drop dead gorgeous but brought out what made her pretty in the first place.
She smiled and said to Harry, "Ready?" Harry swallowed nervously and nodded and grabbed his coat that he had draped over the arm of the chair he had been sitting in.
"Well Ron, make sure he's still in one piece when we get back," Harry said, nodding at Teddy.
"Don't worry, he'll be fine. We'll have fun, right?" Ron said to Teddy who grinned.
Hermione picked Teddy up and gave him a hug. "'Night, little guy. We'll see you in the morning. And you be good for Ron tonight." Teddy grinned again and his hair turned orange. Hermione handed him back to Ron, who tickled Teddy. The baby giggled and squealed. Harry and Hermione went to the door, Hermione grabbed her coat from the closet and started to put it on and at once Harry reached up to help her into it. She smiled a thank you, and asked him, "So where are we headed?"
"You'll see." Once they stepped outside, Harry offered his arm to Hermione and when she took it, he said, "I'm going to Apparate us to the restaurant, so hold tight." Hermione reached the hand up that wasn't linked with Harry's and clutched his upper arm. After making sure she was ready, Harry Apparated them to a park that was only lit by the few street lamps scattered here and there, and the moonlight. Luckily the place where they appeared was under the shade of a large tree so no one would notice two people just suddenly appear out of thin air. Hermione released her grip on Harry's upper arm, but kept her arm linked with his as he led them out of the park through the open gate.
"Where are we?"
"We're just outside of London. The place we're going is just down the street." He pointed out the little building that stood on the corner a few blocks down. "See? It's not too far." When they got to the restaurant, and Harry gave the name that the reservations were under and they were seated, Hermione looked around and smiled, taking in the room. It was a formal restaurant, there were tables scattered all over, and up at the front of the room was a dance floor and on the stage a band was playing soft mood music. There were already a few couples dancing. On their table was a small centerpiece with white roses that looked like they had water droplets on them, arranged among greenery and baby's breath. There were crystal water glasses, and perfectly polished forks, knives and spoons in the appropriate places. In the middle, where the plate would eventually go, a napkin was folded into a triangle that stood upright. The whole setting was placed on a ivory linen tablecloth.
"This place is really nice, Harry. What made you pick it?"
Harry shrugged. "Someone suggested it to me a while back, and I thought we deserved to go out to a nice place. I thought you might like it."
"I do like it, but it looks like it's kind of expensive." Harry shook his head and waved Hermione's comment aside.
"Don't worry about it."
"Of course, I guess I should've expected this would be a nice place when I saw what you were wearing tonight. That's why I took so long; I was originally underdressed so I had to find something dressier. I don't think I've ever seen you in a muggle suit before. It looks good on you, I like it." Harry smiled at the compliment.
"Well thank you. You look very nice tonight too. Though you normally do every day." Hermione smiled and blushed, nervously tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Just then, a young man dressed in black pants and a white button down shirt came over to their table with a notepad and pen in his hand.
"Hello, how're we doing this evening?" he said with a friendly smile, handing Harry and Hermione each a menu.
"We're fine, thanks," Hermione said pleasantly.
"Good, my name is Patrick and I'll be your waiter this evening. Our specials tonight are Veal Scallopini, Fussilli Chicken with the Creole cream sauce, and Seafood Linguini, and our soup tonight is the Cheese Onion soup."
"Hmm, that Seafood Linguini sounds good, I think I'll have that," Hermione said, and she handed Patrick her menu. Harry handed his menu to Patrick as well and said he'd have the same.
"Any appetizers?" Both declined.
"Ok, Patrick, I'm not going to pretend to have much knowledge on wines, but what would be a good one for tonight?" Harry asked. Patrick looked thoughtful.
"Hmm, well a white wine would go well with your meal, since you're having the seafood. We have an excellent selection of white wines-"
"Which one would you suggest?"
"Well, what is the occasion tonight?"
"We're out celebrating."
"Oh? Anniversary? Or-some other occasion that requires a nice dinner?" Patrick smiled and nodded subtly towards Hermione, trying to ask if Harry was proposing without trying to give it away. Harry smiled and shook his head.
"No, we're just celebrating."
"Well what kind of price range are we looking at, sir?"
"Well, price isn't really an issue," Harry said, putting a hand up to stop Hermione from protesting as she was about to, "But I don't want anything too out of control. So bring whatever nice, moderately priced wine you have." Patrick nodded.
"Very well sir. I shall be back soon with that."
Once Patrick had gone Hermione said, "Harry, are you insane? Did you see the prices on some of the bottles of wine on that menu? They're outrageous." Harry shrugged.
"Oh well, it doesn't matter. It's nice to spend money on someone other than myself for a change. So I'm happy to do it."
"Well, don't spend it on me, spend it on Teddy."
"That's different. He's my godson, and I'm happy to spend anything on him that he needs, but-this is different." Hermione finally let the subject go, and soon Patrick was back with their wine.
When he left again, Hermione said, "I take it this place is the type of restaurant for people who are like how we were raised. Am I right?" Harry nodded. "Who suggested it to you?"
"Ron did, actually. Someone at work had told him about it, said it was a good restaurant to just get away from…our every day routine. And so when I was looking for a place for us to go tonight Ron suggested this one." Hermione looked around and chuckled.
"We're probably the youngest ones here. And people are staring at us." Harry, who was used to people staring at him wherever he went, hadn't noticed this. He looked around at the people who were glancing over, and whispering among themselves. They quickly averted their gaze when they caught Harry and Hermione staring back. Both of them laughed.
"Yeah, we must look a little suspicious, being so young and going to a restaurant like this," Harry said. Hermione shrugged.
"Well, who cares? Why should this be any different than any other time, right?"
"Exactly." Hermione lifted her glass and motioned for Harry to do the same.
"Well, I want to make a toast to this occasion, Mr. Potter," Hermione said when Harry picked up his glass too. "To putting things behind you. And moving on, and to a normal life." Harry laughed.
"I'm not sure my name and normal belong in the same sentence."
"Well, whether it does right now or not, you're definitely entitled to normal, so now's the time to start living it. Everything's behind you with this Ginny situation, and if Barrett was telling the truth about that special ink, then it will soon be a forgotten misunderstanding."
"To a normal life." Harry clinked his glass with Hermione's and they each drank a sip of their wine. Hermione nodded in approval.
"Patrick picked a good wine. Granted, I don't really have very much to compare it with since I'm not a big drinker."
"True, he did well." After Patrick brought their meal, and later after they'd finished up dessert, Harry asked, "Care to dance?" Hermione gave him an impressed look.
"Wow, Harry, you're offering to dance? I seem to remember you hated dancing, and it was almost painful to try and get you to do it." Harry laughed and shrugged.
"I know, but I was fourteen and completely nervous about having to dance in front of hundreds of people staring at me. I think it'd be better this time," he said, standing up and offering her his hand to take. Hermione smiled and placed her hand in his, and Harry led her out to the dance floor. A man and a woman came forward on the stage and stood in front of the microphones, beginning to sing.
We were strangers
Starting out on a journey
Never dreaming
What we'd have to go through
Now here we are
And I'm suddenly standing
At the beginning with you
No one told me
I was going to find you
Unexpected
What you did to my heart
When I lost hope
You were there to remind me
This is the start
"Can I ask you something, Harry?" Hermione asked when Harry hand spun her around and back into his arms.
"Sure."
"When did you become so charming?" Harry shrugged, spinning Hermione away from him, keeping a hold of her hand, and then spinning her back to him where they resumed dancing like before.
"I didn't know I was."
"Ever the modest one," Hermione teased, rolling her eyes.
"Well, if I am, I have no idea why. Everything this evening just seems natural. Maybe you're bringing it out in me," he said, spinning her around again.
"See? There you go again."
Harry laughed and said, "I'm sorry, would you rather I was mean and surly?"
"No," Hermione said with a laugh. "I like you this way. I don't want to discourage anything that feels natural."
"You mean that?"
"Of course I do."
Harry didn't say anything back for a few seconds, as though contemplating saying what he really wanted to say. Whatever it was, he decided against it and just said, "That's good to hear."
Life is a road
And I want to keep going
Love is a river
I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road
Now and forever
Wonderful journey
I'll be there
When the world stops turning
I'll be there
When the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you
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A/n: Ok, what do you think? Don't worry; I'm not going to bore you with another long A/n, just a short one! I just wanted to say, I really want to thank all of you for your support and suggestions, it meant a lot to me to know that people are still reading and are interested in what happens next! I have to tell you, the H/Hr fluff is short lived, there's some angst in the next chapter. :( But it'll come back eventually! And for all of you Barrett haters, sorry, he's gonna be around for a little longer. There's a silver lining though, Harry's slowly starting to come to his senses! Lol, thanks so much again, from the bottom of my heart! TTYL!!
Husker_fan_2006
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