Ron and Hermione's First Date
Hermione woke to another bright day, happy that the summer was actually warm again. It had been three months after the death of Lord Voldemort and she was enjoying the relaxation. She had been called in to testify against a few Death Eaters but other than that, she had just been lounging about. She had gone to Australia to find her parents relaxing on the beach while Crookshanks chased all manner of aquatic life. Once she lifted the memory charm and brought them back home, things were getting back to normal.
Actually, things weren't going to be normal, they would never go back to normal. She had been to more funerals in the last month or so than she had ever wanted to go to. She looked at her desk and the stack of parchment there of job offerings, from teachers to ministry positions. She didn't know what to do about those, the stack of books next to her desk was much more heartwarming. No magic, no textbooks, just some beautiful fiction and nonfiction.
She picked up her library borrowed copy of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations and set to reading it. Her mother entered and hung a dress on the doorknob on a hanger.
It was her favorite dress, a bright red and covered in little white dots.
"What's that for?" Hermione asked, scared that she had some family function that would get in the way of her day of reading.
"You told me to have this dry cleaned about three weeks ago," her mother replied.
"I did?"
"Don't tell me you forgot!"
"Remind me, please."
"Today's your date with Ron."
Hermione felt the color drain out of her face. That was today wasn't it? Oh no.
She looked at the time and saw that there was plenty to get ready and go but, something would not make her move forward. A great nervousness came over her, something that gripped her heart but she couldn't quite figure out what it was. It wasn't as if she hadn't been on dates before, she had been on a few, terrible though they were. She knew what to do and what happened. Secondly, this was Ron after all, someone she had known for so long that he was like a brother to her though not quite or else she wouldn't date him. So, why was she having such a rotten feeling?
She thought back to the last time that she saw him, wherein that sparkle of life in his eye had been snuffed out for the time being with the mutilation of one and the death of his other brother. The long days of shame and pain that had accompanied them throughout the days of the war and their journey. She remembered when they had talked about their kiss after the battle.
"So, that was unexpected," he had said with a smile on his face.
"Yeah," she stammered out.
"Um, I've liked you for a long time..."
"Me too."
"So, what are we going to do about that?"
"Well, the obvious thing would be for us to go out on a date or something."
"That would be nice."
"Though not for a while, I need to do some things to get my head together."
"Sure, do you have a date in mind?"
"August fifteenth. I'll see you before that but I would like to see you on August fifteenth."
She remembered that they were going to London that day. She was to meet him by the entrance to the Ministry that Harry had taken for his trial by Umbridge. As she stood there, she wondered if Ron would actually meet her. They hadn't spoken since his brother's funeral and that had been a while ago. She wished that he had a phone, it would have made things so much simpler. She would have to work on that if this was going to continue.
While she waited, she checked her makeup, she had had Parvati and Padma teach her how to apply it correctly. The first time she looked like a rodeo clown that had gone a few rounds with a bull.
"Hermione?" a voice said behind her and she turned around to see Ron.
He was wearing a buttoned down shirt and some khaki pants. She had to admit that he looked a bit better than he normally did. She blushed looking at him. Unfortunately, he wasn't smiling. She didn't know if he was happy to see her.
"How are you?" she asked.
He shrugged and the two of them started walking.
"Nice day today," he said.
"Yeah, it's warm," she replied.
That seemed to exhaust his supply of subjects for the moment. She didn't know what to say, so she decided that it would be best to just look for a place to eat.
"Have you ever had sushi?" Hermione asked.
"What?" Ron asked, looking down from the sky and back towards her.
"I was wondering if you had ever eaten sushi before?"
"What? Oh, no."
"Okay, it's raw fish wrapped in rice and seaweed."
"That sounds disgusting."
"It's actually really good."
"If you want to try it, it would be fine."
"Okay, there's this place that I go to, when I'm in London."
"That's nice."
He fell back into silence and the two of them kept walking. She wondered how long this was going to go on for and what she could do to stop it. She wanted to help him, but how could you heal a heart that was hurt by something like loss? You couldn't hurry it, you couldn't force it to heal, you had to just let it be.
They kept walking and eventually came to the place that Hermione was talking about. She decided that she would try and just fill the air with the normalcy that she wanted to achieve for the two of them. She started talking seamlessly about what she was planning to do and the best offers she got for jobs. That seemed to draw him out and he told her that he had gotten several similar offers though he noted that they were for less prestigious jobs than the ones she was being offered. He figured that despite their status as heroes of the land, they were still being judged by their grades something that was not to his favor. Ron said that she would be the minister of magic in a few years considering the way things were going.
"Oh, I don't know about that," she said.
"Don't be so bashful, you know it's true," he replied.
She blushed. Hermione then had the trouble of telling him what was in the different rolls. He seemed a bit more adventurous now. He ordered a few and the two of them waited for their food to arrive. She showed him how to use the chopsticks and when they were left, he told her that he thought the food was rather good and he would like to eat here again. She wondered if he would like to do anything else and he thought that getting some kind of muggle toy for his father would cheer him up considerably, considering what was going on at home right now. When she tried to talk to him about it, he just changed the subject.
"So, Harry got a visit from Draco Malfoy the other day," Ron told her.
"I know, he told me," Hermione said.
"Seems Harry's going to go through with helping the Malfoys."
"Yes."
"I don't see why though, I think that whole family deserves whatever they get."
"Mmmm... I heard Draco's reasons from Harry and he seemed to make a point."
"You can't be serious."
"I think in a little while you might see those points as well and I don't meant that I think that the Malfoys are completely blameless, I just think... that we shouldn't just kill them straight off."
"You and I have different ideas then."
"Here, let's go in here."
They walked inside and Hermione realized vaguely that she had avoided the subject instead of having Ron confront it. She couldn't continue in that mode, for it wouldn't help him and it wouldn't help her if she kept her mouth shut and there was no even ground between them. She used to be able to stand up to Harry and Ron as an equal but now she had found herself cowed by Ron's guilt and sorrow. She couldn't allow him to remain in it forever. She would have to make him confront, maybe in a few more months. Not now, not when Fred had only been dead for a few months.
They bought an odd contraption that had many switches and lights on it and Ron thought that his father would like it very much. As they were leaving, Ron saw a sign that advertised that there was a park close by. He asked if they could go there next. Hermione, who wanted to do whatever she could for him, said that that would be fine. They set out walking and eventually came to sit next to a small pond. Ron stared at it for a long time in silence.
"Ron?" Hermione said after a while.
"Yeah?" he asked.
"Do you want to talk about your brother?"
"I think I have to."
He let out a sigh that sounded more like a sob and started talking.
Hermione came home later that evening and her mother took one look at her face and knew that something was wrong. She didn't say anything but put the tea kettle on. Hermione stared out of the window and touched her lips where the light kiss of Ron had fallen there only about an hour ago. She had seen him off and he looked a little bit lighter though she didn't like the trails of salt down his face. He said that he felt better for her staying there with him. She was happy that he was happy. He hoped that their second date would be happier. Then he told her that seeing her made him happy, so she told him that she would just have to see him more.
She stared out of the window and thought about what she would wear next time. What she would bring the Weasleys when she visited next. Her mother placed the tea next to her and then put her hand on her daughter's shoulder before letting it fall away and walking out of the room.