She looked in the mirror at her reflection. What was she to do? Her boyfriend of 3 years didn't want to marry her…or anyone for that matter, that much she knew. It didn't seem fair; falling in love with the one person least likely to ever marry.
To make herself feel better, she stuck her tongue out at her reflection imagining it to be him. Take that, you bastard.
No use feeling sorry for yourself now. Best to do it when not in the restroom of nice restaurant where currently having dinner with said boyfriend.
She groaned. Who was she kidding? She loved him beyond all belief. It was most assuredly better to live with him than without him. Yes, but I'd hoped to be married one day…
It was up to him now, at any rate. She had given her feelings on the subject several times now.
She smirked. A couple of months previously, she had even resorted to leaving constant reminders for him. Wedding magazines strewn about his desk in the study, lists of honeymoon destinations left in his favorite chair, and so on. She had tried subtle. Subtle didn't work. She frowned. Nor had blatant clues.
He was just being stubborn. He was intelligent enough to understand her little hints…and the big hints. He chose to ignore them all. Well, at least until he found the doves. Out of sheer frustration, she transfigured all the spare quills in his study into doves, and, upon opening the door, the doves knocked him flat in their attempt to escape. She could barely contain her laughter as he yelled at her in anger. But it was priceless…Draco Malfoy knocked to the ground by a flock of doves.
From that point on, she wasn't foolish enough to try another stunt.
She sighed. Might as well return to the table before best friend and boyfriend have a go at each other.
She patted down her hair and smoothed the wrinkles in her dress. She exited the restroom and made her way through the restaurant.
She paused at the scene before her. Harry Potter had Draco Malfoy by the collar while Ginny Weasley looked on in amusement. Rolling her eyes, she proceeded to the table.
Harry growled at a bored looking Draco, "…why, you rat bast—"
She cleared her throat loudly to interrupt Harry before he went any further.
"I appreciate you standing for my return, boys, but it really was unnecessary. Please, have a seat," she said while smiling to other patrons and sitting.
As Harry was about to speak, she put up a hand to silence him. "You agreed by having dinner with us that there would be no disagreements. I love you, but, if you do not cease this instant, I'm going to have to ask you to leave." He calmed at that, but didn't look happy about it.
"Now, what went on here?" she asked.
When both men started to explain at once, she held up her hand again. Being bossy has its advantages, she thought ruefully.
She looked to her boyfriend, who was examining his nails, looking as unruffled as before. Then she looked to Harry, who sat tight-lipped, to Ginny, whose amusement hadn't yet diminished.
"Ginny, perhaps you should explain what happened."
"Oh, it was nothing really, Hermione. Draco just said something which Harry didn't like very much. Personally, I thought it was kind of sweet," she said with a grin.
With a raised brow, she turned to meet the gaze of her boyfriend. He smirked before lifting his drink to his lips, giving her a wink as he drank from the glass.
She rolled her eyes. "Oh, really? And what did you say to antagonize poor Harry?"
Setting his glass aside looking affronted, he said, "Poor Harry? I said nothing to intentionally antagonize poor Harry. He asked a question to which I answered. Nothing more than that, my love."
She snorted. Although they had come to a truce, Harry and Draco still had yet to master civility to one another. They both opted to ignore the other's presence. She doubted it was anything as simple as a question asked and answered.
Turning to Harry, she motioned for him to explain his side.
"I did nothing more than ask his intentions toward you. I was being nice, honest I was, but his answer sent me over the edge. How you stand to be around him, I'll never know." He said going back to completely ignoring Draco, who sniffed in disdain.
Draco spoke up then. "I merely informed Potter that I was contemplating breaking up with you. That after a period of 30 days, where I would see other women, I would then ask you to marry me." He sniffed again fingering his collar. "As if that was reason enough to ruin a perfectly nice shirt."
Hermione couldn't help her wide-eyed stare. She preferred to remain composed in public, and she certainly wasn't one for public displays of emotion. She was sure her shocked face looked no where near composed.
"I take it you didn't inform Potter here of your master plan," Draco asked. He smirked at Harry before turning back to a stunned Hermione. She shook her head slowly still not able to look away from Draco.
"But I thought that you didn't want to…," she said, still quite dazed.
Not breaking her gaze, he replied, "I'm entitled to change my mind, Granger. Although, I must admit that I don't require the first step. I'm satisfied with going straight to the final phase… unless, of course, you feel you need that particular step." He almost appeared nonchalant, but the tightly clenched fist on the table gave away his nervousness.
Feeling somewhat recovered, she looked away to stare at her hands in her lap. I can't believe this is happening, she thought.
She cleared her throat before answering. "No, I don't need it. I know what I want. I just thought maybe you would." She looked into his eyes and gave him a small smile still unsure of the situation.
Removing an object from his pocket, he dropped it carelessly in her lap. "Is that a 'yes'?"
Opening the small jeweler's box in awe, she could do nothing but smile and whisper. "Yes, it's a definite 'yes'." She cradled the box in her hands. "This is beautiful, Draco."
"Well, then I guess that's settled," and with that, Draco sat back in his chair looking quite satisfied.
Harry looked on during the exchange with a look of confusion. "Will someone please tell me what just happened?"
Both Draco and Hermione were lost in their own world as he slid the ring onto her finger under the table. After, he brought her fingers to his lips for a quick kiss. Harry turned to Ginny for help.
Ginny grinning with delight decided to fill Harry in on the 'plan'. "Well, Harry, Hermione decided long ago, that before she married, she would suggest a trial separation where they could see other people. If after a time, they hadn't found anyone better then they could get married."
"It makes perfect sense, Harry. If you think of it logically, too many marriages end after just a couple of years of being married. People rashly decide to marry without first getting to know one another. They grow out of love or they find someone new. I didn't want to be a statistic." Although some plans need abandoning, she thought as she looked at the ring Draco had given her. Never had she thought this day would come. It must have been the doves, she smirked.
"I'm sorry, but I still don't know what just happened. That means you're…," Harry looked lost.
She brought her left hand forward in excitement. "I'm engaged, Harry!"
Ginny squealed in delight while Harry just groaned.
She looked to Draco, who had gone back to eating his meal, appearing as nothing had just happened. You can't fool me, Draco, I know you love me. As she observed him, she couldn't help thinking how much she wanted him right then. Maybe I should let him know.
While Ginny and Harry were engaged in conversation, she reached down to tug discreetly on Draco's pants indicating that she required his attention. Without looking up from his meal, he leaned slightly toward her. She leaned in and whispered in his ear then returned upright to sip innocently from her glass.
Ginny and Harry looked up at the sound of a fork clattering noisily on the table. Draco appeared frozen, but he then looked toward Hermione who was gazing lazily around the restaurant trying not to smile.
"I'm done eating. Potter, Weasley…until next time," he said while pulling coins from his pocket dropping them on the table. Abruptly standing, he grabbed Hermione's wrist and started stalking towards the exit.
Laughing, she waved merrily at a confused Harry and an amused Ginny. Never in her life had she been so happy to be dragged from a restaurant.
Fin