It was nearing eight o'clock on a humid summer night; the sun had just begun to sink behind a cover of clouds lightly glowing pink from the light. The space was crowded, with muggles of all sorts- teenagers, elders, and parents along with their little children, all there for a night of fun and games. The air was rich with smells: cotton candy, burning hot dogs, popcorn, fried dough, and other smells all mingling together with the fresh night air. It was a carnival, and Hermione was right in the middle of it.
Hermione looked around the crowded space, nervously tugging at the hem of her shirt, and lightly fingering the want that rested in the waistband of her jeans. She ran a hand over her hair, which was in the ponytail that she had put it in when it refused to cooperate earlier that evening. Ron had told her to come here, and she wasn't quite sure now that she had heard him right.
Hermione, despite living her childhood in the muggle world, had never gone to the carnival. She was a quiet child, preferring a quiet night with a new book to going out to a loud place full of greasy food and dangerous looking rides. This preference of Hermione's had not changed.
Hermione looked around, and spying and unoccupied bench, moved quickly to go sit down, all while looking, still looking, for any sign of her new boyfriend. 'Boyfriend' she contemplated thoughtfully. 'Ronald Weasley, my boyfriend.' She couldn't believe that this had finally happened, or was starting to happen at least, as this was their first real date. Hermione had liked Ron for as long as she could remember, from the moment that she saw him as an (admittedly annoying) eleven year old, to the moment when they had first kissed. And now, she was sitting on a dirty bench, at the carnival, waiting for him to show up.
Hermione thought over the past few days. She and Ron hadn't had much time alone at all, and what time that they did have was always with Harry as well. It was understandable of course, as they had been occupied with all sorts of things since the war had ended, interviews for magazines, and newspapers, photo shoots for the same, and the less glamorous engagements, like the funerals of Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, Colin Creevey, Severus Snape, and Fred Weasley. They had also of course needed time to spend with their families, Ron with his grieving for the loss of a brother, and she with her family, getting them reacquainted in Britain and making sure that the were thinking rightly after she un-modified their memories.
But she and Ron had made it through everything, and above all, when everything had calmed down a bit around their houses he had finally plucked up the courage to ask he to go out with him. 'And here he comes now.' Hermione thought, finally seeing the red hair that she had been searching for in the crowd.
Her heart sped up a bit as Ron came into view, his hair tossed about a bit from the wind, but still neat, wearing a worn jacket that looked like one of Fred or George's leather cast-offs, an old pair of jeans, and, as he saw her, a shy, but brilliant smile.
"Er, hey Hermione. I'm sorry I'm late, my Mum was being, well, my Mum." He said, laughing nervously, and running a hand through his hair.
Hermione smiled at him, noting in her mind how adorable he was when he was nervous, and say, "Oh, its fine, of course, Ron. But I have to know something." She said, looking up at him, "Why here?"
He looked down at her, and smiled, more confidently this time, "Well, I figured that we needed a day away from everything, and away from everyone, and that the last place that anyone would look for us would be a muggle carnival." He said laughing at his own logic.
Hermione laughed too, realizing that what he said actually made sense—she for one would never be expected to be at a carnival period, muggle or otherwise.
Ron cleared his throat, "Er, right then. What should we do first? How about one of those Rolling coasters—I've always wondered what those were like." Hermione took one look at his face and laughed at the completely earnest expression, all of the tension, or awkwardness that might have been between them melting away as she did. Ron grinned awkwardly, taking Hermione's hand and pulling her gently in the direction of the huge metal skeleton of a roller coaster in the distance.
And so the two melted away into the crowd, their voices blending in with those of the people surrounding them, the two apparently oblivious to the loud screams, yells and shouts coming from the attractions around them. If you could hear them, you would hear the brunette trying to explain how the wheels lock into the frame, and how momentum works, and the like, to a companion who was looking at her while she talked in a way that showed that he may or may not be listening to what she was saying, or maybe he just liked to hear her talk. And then they disappeared into the crowd, for a moment that, although they were more crowded than ever, was all their own.