A/N: Sorry for the wait, you guys! I was experiencing some minor writers block, and filming a movie with two silly girls isn't too easy either! Thanks to reviewers Archergirl99, sweet-tang-honney, potterhead27, and persevera. Enjoy!

Chapter 7

Hermione stumbled out of the Floo into a completely full bar. She recognized the layout of the Leaky Cauldron, but other than that, the whole pub was completely different! On the wall, there was a picture of the old barman, Tom. The plaque underneath read, The well-known barman of the Leaky Cauldron will always be remembered for upholding the value of it throughout the years. Thank you, Tom.

Hermione took a double take. "Tom's dead?" she asked Draco, who had just staggered out of the Floo.

"Yes, his grandson inherited the bar. The place is nearly unrecognizable, but still is mainly the same."

Hermione looked over to see who was at the counter. Tom's grandson was a man with wavy light brown hair and sparkly hazel eyes. He turned towards her, caught her eye, and winked.

Hermione blushed, and walked over to introduce herself.

"Hello, Miss! I'm Nikolas. No need to ask your name, I think. You're Hermione Granger!"

"That I am, Nikolas!" Hermione replied, grinning.

"I haven't seen you around here. Have you been out of town?"

"Yes, actually, I came back tonight to see Harry. Potter." She added.

"But of course! And, I see you have a boyfriend?" Nikolas remarked, glancing at Draco, who had been eyeing the pair.

"No, no… He just arranged the meeting." Hermione said, blushing again.

"Ah. So you wouldn't object to coming back, say on Friday?" Nikolas winked.

"Why wouldn't I? Handsome boy like you." Hermione flirtatiously replied.

"Then it's a date! Friday night. I'll meet you here." Nikolas said.

"All right! Now, I really must be going, can't leave the Boy-Who-Lived waiting, now can we?"

"Of course not. See you on Friday." Nikolas turned away to help a rather large man, who had asked for a tumbler of beer.

"Are you quite finished?" asked Draco, slightly annoyed.

"Yes, yes, let's go." Hermione swept out the front doors, flushing a little.

Draco followed her, sighing and walking elegantly, as all Malfoys do.

After walking together for a while, Draco put his arm in front of Hermione to stop her and said, "This is it."

She looked over and saw a dilapidated, creepy looking warehouse.

"Are you sure, Malfoy?"

"Yes, of course, I've been here a dozen times." Draco started walking in.

"This place looks creepy as hell!" Hermione was reminded strongly of a Muggle video that she had seen on a website called Youtube. In the video, two Muggles named Ian and Anthony had went to a restaurant that had looked exactly the same as this one.

"Don't worry, Granger, I know what I'm doing." Draco walked up to the aluminum door and banged on it with his fist.

A slit that Hermione hadn't noticed before opened and two blue eyes peered out from it.

"Password?" a voice asked.

"Nargles." Draco replied promptly.

"Welcome back, Señor Malfoy." The door opened to reveal a mariachi-themed restaurant. The only sign that the place was magical were the mariachi instruments playing in the background, without musicians.

A waitress walked up to them and asked, in fluent Spanish, "¿Cómo puedo ayudarte hoy?"

"Una tabla para cuatro, por favor." Draco said, in equally fluent Spanish.

"No problema. Recorrido este camino." The pretty waitress led them to a booth in the corner which could easily seat six.

"Gracias, señorita." Draco said to the waitress.

"De nada, mi nombre es Marisol, y le serviré hoy." The waitress smiled at them, and went to seat the next guests, with a "Bienvenidos!"

"Dónde está Potter y Weasley?"

"Malfoy, you're still speaking Spanish."

"Pardón. Oops, sorry, I meant 'sorry'." Malfoy said, smirking.

"I thought you only took French lessons."

"Well, yes, but Pansy was Spanish, and she made me learn. I'm a quick learner."

"I can see- rather, hear that." Hermione smiled. "And as for Ginny and Harry, I have no idea."

"Well, I do." Malfoy said, looking over her shoulder.

Hermione turned around and squealed, "Harry! Gin!"

Harry and Ginny both turned in that direction, and smiling at the sight of their best friend, Harry murmured a few words to Marisol, pointing at Hermione.

"Ah, no problema. Adelante!"

The couple almost sprinted to Hermione, and upon reaching her, Harry swept her into his arms and spun her around. "'Mione! Where the bloody hell have you been?"

"Never mind that, Harry! 'Mione!" Ginny hugged her best friend, and then proceeded to ask, "Who has replaced me as your stylist? Because she's doing a pretty good job."

"No one could replace you, Gin! And my friend Meghana did my hair."

"Isn't she a Slytherin? She's distantly related to the Patils!"

"Oh, I didn't know that! Come, and sit, first."

While Ginny and Hermione gossiped and exchanged stories about life to one another, Harry and Draco were having a completely different discussion.

"So are you dating her yet?" Harry asked, quite bluntly to Draco.

"Wha- What are you talking about, Scarhead?" Draco spluttered. "I don't even like her."

"Ah, don't lie to me, Malfoy! Don't like her, you should have seen the look on your face when Ginny was hugging her, you were gazing at her, enraptured!" Harry teased.

"No, I wasn't!" Draco said indignantly.

"You weren't what?" Ginny asked, suddenly turning to their conversation.

"Nothing!" Both men replied quickly.

"You just proved that it was something important!" Ginny declared triumphantly. "Men," she said, turning to Hermione. "You have to know 'em to get stuff out of 'em."

"Now," She said, turning back to Harry, changing tone to a huskier one, and peering at him under her lashes. "What was I saying?"

"Erm… you were asking…" Harry stumbled over his words, aware of the sudden tightness of his jeans. "You were asking what… what we were talking about.."

"Ah, yes…. Will you tell me now, Harry? Will you tell me what you two were talking about?"

"Um… No…"

"Are you quite sure?" Ginny leaned in closer, until Harry's and her noses were an inch apart. "How about now?"

"We were talking about whether Draco…"

"Whether Draco was on a date with Pansy yesterday, at the Leaky Cauldron.."

Draco let out an internal sigh of relief. If Weaslette had been told the truth, she would never have let him live it down.

"Oh, if that's all." Ginny suddenly switched back to her normal tone and turned back to a giggling Hermione, smiling in spite of herself.

"Nice job, Potter." Draco said in an undertone.

"Women. When you've been with Ginny long as I have, you know how to handle them." Harry said, carefully lowering his tone as to avoid any future eavesdropping.

"So, when do you plan to pop the question? You've been with her for 5 years now, it's about time."

"I don't know. I… plan to do it on her birthday. It'll break the record for best birthday presents, I think."

"Have you guys had marital fun yet?" Draco said, quite frankly.

Harry burst out laughing. "No, that's why its 'marital' love!"

"But of course. Granger is going on a date with Nikolas, the new barman in the Leaky Cauldron."

"Yes, I like that man. He looks nothing like Tom, and he'll never replace him, but it's the second best! But I must have the 'big brother' talk after they're done."

Draco chuckled. "Because Granger has no siblings?"

"No, because the last time I decided not to, she moved to fricking India." Harry replied bitterly, face hardening.
"What happened?"

"Well, it all started when Ron asked Hermione out…."

A/N: Reviews greatly appreciated! Expect update tomorrow, because this seemed like a good place to stop for today