"You did what?" Hermione baulked, sputtering her water across her dinner plate in surprise. Ginny kicked her under the table just as Harry returned with the bottle of Muggle wine he had been searching for in their cellar.
"You promised you wouldn't freak out," Ginny reminded her friend. "I am already regretting telling you." She moved the food around on her plate but didn't take a bite. When she had told Hermione she wanted to catch up, she had meant she wanted to get together to dissect her night out with Malfoy the previous evening. Hermione had invited her to dinner, but neglected to tell her that Harry would be joining them for the evening. She fought the urge to escape from the house and never speak aloud of the reunion with their childhood nemesis again.
"When I made that promise, Ginny, I wasn't expecting this."
Harry removed the cork from the bottle of wine and began to pour a glass for each of them. He tried to look disinterested in the conversation, but Ginny had known him long enough to know he was paying close attention. Her gut dropped into her intestines. "Relax, Hermione. It's not like I slept with him. It's been a while since I went out drinking," she didn't add that she blamed that on Hermione, "but I still had some self-restraint. It was just drinks. All we did was talk."
"You talk about self-restraint like you actually wanted to sleep with him."
"Well, you know," Ginny stumbled over forming a sentence. When that failed, she finished with a wave of her hand.
"Oh Ginny, really." Ginny hadn't seen that classic disapproving look since the days at Hogwarts when she used to tell Hermione she was going to go hang out down by the lake instead of study for exams. Oddly, it bothered her more now than it did back then.
Harry took this moment to sit down as he offered a wine glass to each of the women at the table.
"This is why I didn't want to tell you; you are being very judgmental, Hermione."
"Ginny. Really." Hermione's pointed look was hard to escape.
"He's a lot different than when you all… left Hogwarts. Was pleasant even."
"Who are we talking about?" Harry asked as he took a bite from his dinner and a sip of his wine.
"Dean Thomas," Hermione responded without missing a beat. She didn't even need to see the look Ginny was shooting her from across the table before she lied so effortlessly. "Ginny ran into him at Gringotts yesterday."
"My word, Dean Thomas. How is he these days? I haven't seen him since I can't even remember when."
Silence blanketed the trio until Hermione gave Ginny a quick nudge with her foot under the table. She realized quickly she should be the one to answer the question. "Good. He was good. He looked really good. Been keeping busy."
"What's he been up to?" Harry asked, suddenly far too interested in their conversation for Ginny's liking.
"Believe he mentioned he's working at St. Mungo's now," Ginny responded as vaguely as possible without arising suspicion.
"Really?" Hermione asked, showing interest herself.
Ginny nodded as she took a desperate gulp from her wine glass. She knew she should have faked an emergency as soon as she arrived and saw Harry reading the paper. The night was guaranteed to end in disaster if the conversation kept up as Hermione had picked an interesting enough name from their past that Harry wanted to stay included in the conversation.
"So when you say that he looked good…" Hermione trailed off, waiting for Ginny to pick up the thought.
"Good, Hermione. Really good. Like, even better than I remember. I had half the mind to invite him back for a nightcap on the spot."
"Oh, Ginny." Hermione gave a disapproving shake of her head.
"See, there we go with the judging again."
"I don't see what is so bad about Ginny wanting to date Dean again. I'm not even sure why you two broke up in the first place."
Ginny and Hermione both took the opportunity to shove a large amount of food into their mouths and chew slowly. "I broke up with him because of you, Harry. Honestly, boys can be so thick sometimes," she answered with an emptied mouth.
Harry and Hermione engaged a sideways glance at each other before Harry dug into his food. "Well, right then. I don't see what the problem is with them giving it another go at it now."
"And it's not like I did invite him back, Hermione. Give me a little bit of credit. Though I was totally sloshed for a while there. But really, he was a complete gentleman. It was… weird. But nice."
"I just don't think it's a good idea, that's all," Hermione huffed with a whiff of superiority. That token was clearly not all she had to say on the subject manner, but she at least let Ginny save face in front of Harry. They could only guess what his reaction would be if they found out the true topic of the dinner's discussion.
Ginny had finished her glass of wine too quickly, and the bubbles were making their way back into her brain. "Well, why not?" she blurted out as they ate. "And let me remind you, Hermione, that he looked really amazing. And I haven't had a good shag in ages. Hell, I haven't had a bad shag in ages either. And it's not like I want to marry the bloke or anything absurd. Maybe just, you know, get to know him in the magical sense."
"Now I think I'm a bit uncomfortable with the route this conversation has taken," Harry chimed in to no avail.
"Ginny, you could do so much better than him."
"You don't even know him, Hermione. He's changed a lot since we left Hogwarts."
"You don't know him either, Ginny," Hermione pointed out. She directed her fork towards Ginny for emphasis. "And he can't have changed that much. You deserve better."
"Shouldn't we give him another chance though?"
"So meet him for coffee. Or lunch. In a public place. Without any alcohol." Hermione made a point to stress the last sentence.
Ginny rolled her eyes. At the mention of alcohol, she excused herself from the table to pour herself another glass of wine. "And what if I meet him on this day date," she asked as she sat back down and scooted her chair back to the table, "and he charms the pants off me – literally or metaphorically."
"Well, you've obviously made up your mind already, Ginevra, so I don't know why we're even having this conversation."
She could tell she made Hermione upset when Hermione resorted to her birth name. "I was hoping you would agree that it's worth giving him the benefit of the doubt. As the moral backbone of our little group, I honestly value your opinion, Hermione." Ginny finished off the remainder of her dinner, then caught her friend's glance from across the dining room table. "What if you had coffee with us? I think if you talked to him, you would see where I'm coming from. If you just saw him, I think you might reconsider."
"A double date, we haven't done one of those in a while," Harry commented as Ginny got up to pour herself a third glass of wine. When she saw the bottle was empty, she disappeared into the kitchen to grab a firewhisky before returning to her spot at the table.
"Oh, by no means are you invited, Harry." She finally responded when she returned.
Harry glanced at Hermione as if she would overrule, but with a shrug Hermione continued to eat.
"Look, do you really think it would be a good idea for you to tag along when I am trying to rekindle with the guy I broke up with in the first place because of you? It certainly wouldn't stack the odds in my favor."
"I think I don't understand why Hermione doesn't want you dating Dean Thomas in the first place." Harry admitted.
"She has her reasons," Ginny replied before Hermione could speak up for herself. "Anyway, I had better be off. Adult responsibilities in the morning and all that jazz for us lowly working class."
"I work," Harry protested, but Ginny and Hermione both responded with a laugh.
"It was a pleasure," Ginny thanked them as she polished off her drink. Her legs felt a little shaky beneath her, but she managed walking around the table to give Hermione a hug just fine. "Thank you for the advice. If you would be up to it, I think I was serious about that coffee meeting."
"I'll think about it," Hermione promised.
"Then I will mull it over when I sober up and get back to you," Ginny promised back with a flash of a wicked grin. "Thanks, love."
"See you at the family barbeque next week?" Harry asked as Hermione returned Ginny's hug. "You could just bring Dean along to that. I bet George would love to catch up with him."
She had almost forgotten the family barbeque. "I doubt he'll be available, but I'll ask," she lied. Hell would freeze over before Ginny Weasley ever took Draco Malfoy to a family outing. "Bye, dearie," she bid Harry with a wave. "And thanks again. The dinner was delish, and the wine was superb."