Cake
A/N: I've never felt comfortable writing AU, but a friend of mine really pushed for this. It's been a long time in the works and I hope you all enjoy it. A Modern Muggle AU Harry/Ginny fluff story. In progress. Rated T. Everything belongs to JKR.
Ginny slid up to the bar in her favorite restaurant and signaled the bartender for a long island ice tea. The blind date had been disastrous. He had been an absolute ass and she had left the date as quickly as she could. The night was still early though and Ginny needed a chance to calm down, so she had gone to her favorite restaurant to have a drink and the most amazing molten chocolate lava cake she'd ever had. The bartender brought her drink and took her order for the dessert. Ginny takes a long drink from the straw and sighs. Could today just be over already?
She turns as she hears footsteps and a man with dark hair in a sports coat and jeans comes walking in and sits in the seat next to her, setting his elbows on the counter and resting his head in his hands, skewing his glasses up his forehead in the process. Ginny bites back the retort on her lips for his lack of consideration. He seems to be having the same sort of day she's been having. The blind date had been the icing on the cake. So in the hope of good karma, or whatever, she ignores the man and goes back to her drink.
The bartender brings her cake and as he sets the plate down the man starts and looks up, glasses falling crooked back over his nose. He turns toward her and begins to stammer.
"Sorry. I didn't see you here. I can move." He starts to stand and she suddenly realized she doesn't want him to leave. There's something comforting in knowing she isn't the only one who's having a shit day.
"No. You're fine, really. I don't mind." Ginny smiles encouragingly and he seems to take some comfort in that, sitting back on the stool and adjusting his glasses. He smiles back at her before ordering a beer which the bartender sets down before moving on to other customers.
The man next to her takes a long drink from his bottle, before setting it down and holding it between both hands.
"Thanks for not getting upset when I didn't ask to sit next to you. I really do try to be somewhat courteous normally, just, today has been a nightmare and I've let it get to me."
"Then you're in good company." Ginny smiles.
He smiles at her and Ginny feels her stomach clench a bit. "I'm Harry." He says offering his hand.
"Ginny." She notices his hand seems to slide perfectly around hers. The alcohol is obviously getting to me she thinks and she shakes herself back to reality.
"Are those any good?" He asks gesturing to her cake.
"You've obviously never had one." She smirks. "These lava cakes are what make this my favorite restaurant."
"I've always been partial to their apple crisp if I'm honest. That's actually why I came here instead of just going to a bar, I couldn't decide if I wanted the apple crisp or not."
"Drowning your troubles in sugar?" Ginny laughs.
"Aren't you doing just that?" Harry smirks at her.
"I never said it was a bad thing." She parries, cutting into the cake and watching the melted chocolate seep out onto the plate. She takes a bite and almost melts with it.
"Should I leave the two of you alone?" Harry chuckles.
She jumps a bit and turns to glare at him. "You're just jealous that your apple crisp isn't as good."
He quirks an eyebrow at her. "Ok, what if we shared your lava cake and I order an apple crisp that we share after. Then we can decide which is better."
Ginny's a bit taken aback by Harry's forwardness but the bad day has been enough to make her brash. "Deal. Order your apple crisp and then ask for a second fork. You'll soon see how misguided your dessert choices are."
After both desserts and a few more drinks, Harry and Ginny are laughing like they're old friends. Ginny orders the artichoke dip because "Harry you've obviously been hiding in a hole your whole life. How have you not had artichoke dip?" He responds by ordering the Buffalo wings because "Honestly, Gin, how could you order anything else after you've had these?"
Leaving the restaurant as the bar is closing, Ginny starts walking toward the sidewalk when Harry stops her. "I think the uber drivers prefer picking us up at the door." He chuckles.
His hand on her arm makes her stomach clench and she can feel the light blush on her cheeks. Praying he'll attribute it to the alcohol she tries to be calm and not fly off like a 14-year-old school girl. "I live in the apartments just down the block. I walked here so I figured I'd walk home."
"I'll walk you home then." He smiles, taking her arm in his. "I can always call for an uber at your place instead of here. It'll help to sober me up a bit too."
Ginny nods and leads the way down the road, suddenly feeling very self-conscious. It's been fun joking with Harry, and if he'd asked for her number she would have given it to him in a heartbeat, but showing him where she lives has her a bit on edge, even with her buzz. He must sense this because he stops a few yards down the sidewalk.
"I'm being creepy. I'm sorry. You're perfectly capable of walking yourself home, and I'm a complete stranger." He let's go of her arm and smiles. "It was nice to meet you, Ginny." He turns and starts walking back to the restaurant parking lot his phone in his hand as he's requesting a ride.
Ginny stands there watching him go, and a part of her is relieved, but part of her is screaming to stop him. Maybe it's the drinks or maybe it's how bad the day was until he showed up, or maybe it's fate, but Ginny throws caution to the winds and calls out.
"Harry! Hey, Harry!" And she's running up to him. Harry turns as she closes the distance between them. "I don't mind if you walk me home." She says. "I rather like your company actually."
Harry seems a bit taken aback and he's opening his mouth but nothing is coming out. Ginny takes comfort in that, perhaps he's as unsure as she is. "How about we split the ride and grab some coffee?" Ginny asks as Harry opens his mouth again and no sound emits.
He nods dumbly and they stand there awkwardly for a moment before Ginny realizes that neither has moved. "Er, had you already requested the ride?" She asks. That seems to start Harry from his silent state and he looks at his phone.
"Was just going to." They find the closest diner on his phone and request the ride, then sit awkwardly on the bench outside the now-closed restaurant waiting. Ginny wonders if maybe she shouldn't have called him back since now everything seems weird whereas before it was natural. Harry clears his throat and she's jarred from her thoughts as he speaks.
"So, er, Ginny, what do you do for work?" His hand runs nervously through his hair and Ginny notices it falls in every direction and her fingers itch to run through it.
"I'm a layout editor for a magazine." She responds, deciding to fold her hands in her lap, not trusting them to stay away from his hair.
"Interesting. So you get to pick what goes where then?" He asks, and he seems to be relaxing a bit now, helping Ginny to breathe a bit more too.
"Basically. There's an order for things, like the editor's article is always at the front, and every third or fourth page is an advertisement and that sort of thing, but I do get to pick how an article sits and where pictures go and fonts and whatnot. What about you? What do you do?"
"I run a software company." He stretches his arms up in the air before returning to his hunched position, elbows resting on his knees. "That's part of why I was so out of it this evening when I sat next to you. We were trying to work a buyout of another company and it turned into a disaster. Apparently, I didn't notice some embezzlement happening on the VP level, nothing too huge, but something that the other company caught. It ruined the sale and they more or less told us they were going to tell everyone what happened. I've canned the idiot who was embezzling and the lawyers are working everything else out, but the company may ask me to step down." Harry stopped suddenly. "I'm sorry. You really don't need to listen to this."
Ginny put a comforting hand on his arm. "It's fine Harry, really. If it makes you feel any better my day wasn't much happier. I got into an email fight with the head editor. We're a sports magazine and I didn't like some of the pictures he wanted to use for the women's tennis article. Then one of the copy editors didn't catch a mistake in the spelling of an athlete's name and it made it to print so the entire department got a talking to. To top it all off I went on an absolute disastrous blind date. So yeah, I can relate."
Harry chuckles, "A right pair we are." He's leaning in close to her, and Ginny is seriously considering closing the distance between them when the uber pulls up in front of them and they both start. Harry let's out a nervous laugh and runs a hand through his hair before standing and offering Ginny his hand.
They climb into the car and end up at the diner, a mile or so away. The easy manner returns as they joke over coffee and scones, sharing stories from work and college and childhood. It's as the sun starts to creep onto the horizon that they realize how late, or early, it is.
"Should we get another ride?" Harry asks as he lays out a few bills on the table.
"I'm thinking that a walk might be good. I don't think I'll be able to sleep if I don't tire myself out a bit first." Ginny laughs.
"Mind if I walk with you as far as the restaurant? I left my car there." Harry asks, avoiding her gaze.
"I'd like that." Ginny's smiling as they stand and walk out the door and start the mile or so back to Harry's car.
The walk is full of good-natured teasing and at some point, their hands brush against each other and they both tentatively reach out until they're walking hand in hand.
They make it to Harry's car all too soon, and Ginny is trying to come up with some way to stall when Harry does it for her. "I'm sure you could walk the rest of the way just fine," he says nervously, "but if you wanted a ride home, I'd be happy to give you one."
Ginny's smile is stretched wide across her face and she nods as he walks over to the passenger side door and opens it for her. The drive to her apartment is short and they're both awkwardly trying to find the right way to end this, whatever it is, but neither really wants it to end.
"Er," Ginny starts, "so it was nice to meet you, Harry." She stammers.
"It was great meeting you too, Gin." Harry agrees, running his hand nervously through his hair. "Say, er." He pauses and Ginny is holding her breath. "If, if I wanted to see you again."
"I'd like that." Ginny finally breathes. Her chest feels like it might burst, but she's forcing herself to stay at least reasonably calm.
The smile on Harry's face looks like it might break his face. "Great! Er. Yeah! Ok so, do you have plans tonight?"
Ginny giggles in spite of herself. "No, but I'm guessing I do now."
Harry chuckles. "Only if you want to." She nods and Harry's smile seems to get bigger if that's even possible. "Pick you up at 7?" He asks.
"Sounds great."
They exchange numbers and she gets out of the car, sharing a shy smile with him before she enters her building.
