"You could've told me we were going somewhere nicer. I would've brought more money and I definitely would've changed."
Harry looked across the table at Ginny, taking in her hair pulled back into a long braid, a bandana tied like a headband; her old t-shirt and ripped jeans. He smiled. "You're not paying," he said simply. "And I wanted to keep it a surprise. We haven't been on a date in a while, I wanted to make it special."
Ginny rolled her eyes at him, picking up the menu and searching for the lowest prices. Harry was ridiculous, and she told him as much.
"Maybe I am," he replied with a grin. "I've been thinking a lot about what happened at the end of my sixth year. At the time, it seemed like it was for the best, but I haven't been able to stop thinking about you since then."
He was cut off from his monologuing by their server approaching the table, asking what they'd like to drink. Before Ginny could say that she'd just like a water, Harry had ordered them a bottle of wine. She shot him a look, which he didn't catch.
When they were alone at their table again, Harry looked at her. He couldn't help the smile that worked its way to his lips. "I want to make up for all that time we missed out on."
"Don't even go there, Potter." Ginny ignored the way his brows furrowed in confusion. "We're moving on. Like the bad parts never happened, alright? You're not making up for anything, and I'm paying the next time we go out."
They managed to go the entire dinner without mention of the war. With Harry, it was easy to talk about everything and nothing and avoid the conversations that neither of them wanted to have right now. It was nice. It was perfect.
.
A/N: Written for Advent Calendar Day 24: (setting) Restaurant;
Writing Club – Disney Challenge C10: Write about someone realizing they're wrong too late; Showtime 19: (genre) Romance; Lyric Alley 2: Over mulled wine with you; Angel's Arcade 4: (dialogue) "Don't even go there…", (object) Bandana, (trait) Sassy;
Writing Month and Dragons: wc 314