A/N: Quite a few of you are apparently wondering what on earth Fred and George were thinking, so here's my response.

Fred and George wouldn't see these sides of the dates. As good looking, fun loving, and naturally charismatic guys, the girls wouldn't have treated them the same. And I see Cally as a generally nice girl, who's just star-struck. It'd be like setting you or I up on a blind date and suddenly spring Dan Radcliffe on us. It'd send you into complete odd-dome, you wouldn't really be yourself. Sarah, yes, is a vain bitch, but the twins wouldn't have seen that because she would've have been attracted to them and therefore nice and flirtatious to them. As for Michael, and Gary for that matter, he's a guy. And yeah, maybe they know he's all about looks, BUT they find Hermione attractive, so they thought he would too. And if you remember they were surprised and a little irritated that he didn't. I hope this clears up what I was thinking when I wrote this. Thanks guys! Also thanks to KaraSays for beta reading this for me.

"It's elderflower wine," Harry and Hermione both exclaimed. They looked at each other and Harry finished, "It's her favorite."

"Besides, I didn't refuse the butterbeer because it was from Gary; I turned it down because I knew Harry would bring me back a drink."

"Is that so?" Michael asked, obviously not believing her.

"Yes, it is." She turned her attention away from him to see Harry's dates looking at their butterbeers but not taking them. Cally kept making eyes at him as if waiting for him to place it in front her of like he had Hermione's. Sarah was staring at it with a slightly curled upper lip. Harry finally seemed to notice their lack of acceptance.

"If you don't want them, feel free to order something else." Harry gestured towards the gawking waitress. Since, he had shown up, her eyes hadn't left him, lingering frequently on his scar.

"I'll have a sherry," Sarah immediately piped up.

"Butterbeer's fine with me," Cally said, "Starting slow; always a good idea." She looked at him hopefully one last time, which he failed to notice, before moving the drink in front of herself.

"I'll take a gillywater, thanks," Michael looked over at Harry. "Is this round on you Potter?"

Harry looked at him sternly, "Sure."

"Great, put it on Potter's tab."

"I don't have a tab," Harry said, pulling out a galleon and handing it to the waitress who 'accidentally' caught his fingers after he dropped the coin into her hand. Both he and Hermione silently sipped their drinks while the others stared at them.

"So, Harry," Cally began, "where have you been keeping yourself? I haven't seen anything about you in the Prophet for ages." She had turned in her seat, effectively blocking Sarah from his view, not that he was looking.

"Home mostly," he answered somewhat warily.

"Oh."

Silence reigned again. But to Hermione's surprise, it was Harry that broke it this time.

"Teddy was asking for you today," Harry told her. "You should come over tomorrow when he gets back from Andromeda's. He'll be dying to tell you all about it."

"What time's she bringing him back?"

"Supposed to be around ten, but I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out to be closer to noon."

"Alright, I'll come over around nine."

"Wait," Sarah said, sitting forward and pushing Cally out of her way. "Who's Teddy? And don't think you might be a little tired or hung over at nine or ten in the morning? Or, otherwise preoccupied?" she finished with a smirk at Harry.

"No, I don't imagine I will be." He didn't even bother looking over at the girl as her smile dropped from her face.

"Here you are." The waitress had returned with their drinks, handing them out to their owners. She held Harry's change in her palm for him to retrieve.

He eyed her for a moment. "Keep it."

"Thank you, if there's anything you need, just give me a call," she smiled at him again, "My name's Victoria."

"Thanks Vickie," Gary said loudly.

"Sure, but, it's Victoria."

"Tory, then," he gave her the same lopsided grin he had tried to use on Hermione.

"Tory," she paused, "I like that." She left with a toothy smile just for Gary.

"Why do you insist on re-naming people?" Hermione asked. She was rapidly getting bored and if things didn't pick up soon, she was going home.

"I like nicknames. It makes me like we're friends. Long names like Victoria sound so stuffy. Vickie or Tory, now that sounds like a fun girl."

"That's ridiculous," Hermione scoffed, slightly offended.

"Hang on," Cally interrupted, "You never answered who Teddy was."

"My godson," Harry was glaring just over Hermione's left shoulder.

"Oh, that's so sweet," she gushed. "Do you see him often?"

"Everyday."

"Wow, his parents bring him by every day?"

"No, his parents died in the war," his voice wavered slightly and he lowered his gaze to his glass. When he looked up again, his face was pulled with pain. "He…"

"Harry's raising him now," Hermione supplied. She slid her foot under the table to rest against his, the only offer of comfort she knew he would accept in such a public place.

"Raising him? He lives with you?" Sarah had leaned forward again. This time, however, she didn't look interested, instead she looked almost annoyed.

"Yeah."

"Doesn't he have somewhere else to go? Someone more experienced to take care of him?"

"His grandmum looks after him every once in a while. But, he's not going anywhere. We're family."

"Family," she whispered, her face opening shocked.

"That's right. And there's nothing more important to me than family." Harry looked up at Hermione. "I'm going to step out and get some air."

"I'll come with you." She turned and found a strange look on Michael's face. "Excuse me."

"Sure," he said softly. He stood to allow her out. "You know, I think George was right."

"About what?" she asked getting out of the booth and standing beside Harry.

"The longer I listen to you, the prettier you get."

She could feel her face starting to burn as she fought a losing battle with the blush. "If you say so. We'll be back in a few minutes." She led the way to the back door of the pub, Harry just behind her, brushing against her every so often. The cool air hit her face, making her gasp lightly. "It's getting cold."

"Yeah," Harry agreed quietly leaning against the side of the building. "Some dates George picked for us."

"I know. What was he thinking?"

Harry shrugged and ran a hand through his messy hair. "Those guys are jerks."

"They could be worse."

"And that Gary, acting like he owns you." Harry's eyes narrowed as his face darkened.

"What do you mean?" she asked confused.

"Having his arm around you like that. I know you noticed."

"Oh, that. Yeah, I noticed. I don't think he wants to own me though. In fact, I doubt he'd even want to rent me." Harry made a noise in his throat that Hermione ignored. "And what about that Sarah?"

"Which one was that?"

Hermione snorted, "The blonde. The one that suddenly popped into the date when your name was mentioned."

"Ah. What about her?"

"Bit of a snob. The other one's not much better either."

"They're not so bad."

"If they're not so bad, why did you suddenly decide to mention Teddy?"

"What," he said innocently. "He did mention you and I do want you to be there when he gets back in the morning."

"Uh-huh."

"It's true!" His voice hit a high note and Hermione raised an eyebrow at him. "Fine, I figured that'd get me some breathing room. And make it clear exactly where tonight wasn't leading. I noticed you played along just fine."

"Yeah, well…" her voice trailed off. A loud grunt caught her attention and she turned to look into the shadow just off to their right. "What's that?" she whispered.

"Don't you mean who," Harry said, shaking his head. A glint of red hair was just visible in the dim light. The figure was making short jerking motions and a low wail began from dark shape between him and the wall.

"Ron!" Hermione shrieked silently. Harry chuckled quietly and started shoving her back towards the door. "What is wrong with him?" she said loudly once they were inside the noisy pub again. "Couldn't he at least keep it in his pants until he Aparated home? Can you imagine if that had been someone else to find him? He'd be in the papers again; Mrs. Weasley would be furious!" Harry was laughing with his arm slung over her shoulders to keep her from turning back and scolding Ron mid romp. They reached the table and the other four seemed to be frozen exactly where they left them. "Honestly!" she huffed, dropping into the booth beside Michael.

"Give him a break, Hermione. He's finally got all the things he's wanted since he was about 12; let him enjoy it."

"It's embarrassing! Do you know he's slept with five women from my office? Five!"

"Is that counting you?"

"No! And that's just my office. He's been all over the place. For crying out loud, we haven't been apart for that long. It's ridiculous. He's whoring himself all over the country."

"Who're we talking about?" Gary asked in a slightly timid voice. Everyone was eyeing Hermione carefully.

"Ron!" she shouted and continued on with her rant. "He's degrading himself constantly. He needs to find a nice girl to settle down with, like that Angela girl from a few months ago, she was lovely. But what does Ron do? He cheats on her. It's just so unlike him."

"I'm sure it's not as bad as all of that," Gary offered.

"Of course it is!" she rounded on him, leaning past Michael to get a good look at him. "He's such a great guy but he's just running around shoving his-"

"Hermione!" Harry laughed loudly. "Enough already. Do you realize what you were about to say?"

"Of course I do, I was saying he shoves his-" she broke off, face turning bright red. "Oh, oh my. Sorry about that." Harry continued to laugh, which eased the tension from the others at the table, who seemed to be expecting another explosion. "Shut it you."

"Talk like that in front of my son and I'll make sure Grandmum Weasley knows exactly where he heard it from."

"Yeah yeah," she grumbled.