Chapter 14
Friends show their love in times of trouble, not happiness.
Terrence and Cris ushered her into a bar with a little too much familiarity for her to feel safe. The both of them relaxed the moment their feet hit the dark wood of the floor, and they both waved to the bartender at the same time. The entire place was under a soft purple glow. It was dark with high round tables everywhere and an empty stage in the corner. The bartender sold Terrence a full bottle and that made her have a second, and third, thought about whether or not drinking was the best idea with people who worked for her. "How often do you guys come here?" she couldn't help but wonder.
Cris laughed a bit as she lifted herself into the tall bar stool around a corner table and took off her cloak. "Oh all the time. Ione, Alban, Terry, and I all meet up here after work."
Terrence nodded in agreement. "We come here all the time."
Susan looked around, eyeing the single man walking towards the stage with a beat up guitar. "Well…" she turned to them. "What do you guys talk about? Work?"
They shared a knowing look and Susan knew they often did just that. She slid on top of her own stool and before she knew it there was a bottle in front of her and a shot glass in her hand.
"For Ione," Cris said sadly. They tapped their glasses together and Susan watched Terrence and Cris bang theirs on the table top before shooting it back like experts. She timidly tried to follow suit and immediately began coughing.
"What the hell is this stuff?" she asked, expecting whiskey and getting… something that definitely wasn't whiskey.
"That my dear Susan… is Tequila," Terrence said with a bold wink.
"Oh Holy Hufflepuff," she mumbled before finishing her shot. Whiskey it was not. But when Terrence handed her a lime wedge, it got… better - ish. Whatever face she made, Terrence and Cris sure had a good time laughing at it.
"Danny is going to come meet us," Cris said, speaking of her fiance. Then she turned to Susan. "Remind me… Why haven't you been out to drink with us before this? This is fun."
"Well… for one I'm your boss." They mmhmm'd appropriately. "Two… I drink whiskey and I'm suddenly realizing I'm kind of a snob about it…"
The guy with the guitar started playing and he wasn't half bad. The second shot went down more smoothly and she suddenly found herself relaxing and falling into giggles and easy conversation. She felt less like their boss and more like a friend. They gossiped about the Aides and Desmond, drank, and clapped for the musician between his songs.
"Do you ever get the feeling like Ione's love life is better than your own?" Terrence said.
"Augh… in my case it definitely is." Susan said with a frown. The whole situation with Ron… it was eating her up and she had no idea how to fix it. But it was a problem she wanted to save for another day. Cris had other ideas though.
"I don't want to talk about Ione's love life. Ew. She's my Great Aunt. I would much rather talk about Susan's." Cris giggled from behind her shot glass.
"Wait you and Ione are related? I had no idea…" Susan said, gripping Cris's hand tightly in her own.
"Yes… she is my grandmother's… half sister? I'm not sure. My maternal side of the family is bonkers. Anyways!" She waved her hands towards Susan. "Don't change the subject. We have a good amount of drink in you, spill the beans. Tell us what happened with Ron Weasley." She said his name as if it were sacred.
"Why are you so interested, Cris? It's… it's bad. I messed up bad. We should probably talk about anything but that."
"No this is a rare opportunity for you to open up to us. Tell us what is going on with you."
"You are entirely too upbeat about this. And also, I doubt very much that Terrence wants to hear about my love life." Susan insisted.
"Why would you -" Cris gasped. "You two! You two!"
Susan covered her face with her hands. "Cris, you are worse than the Aides."
"If you just tell her, then she won't bother you about it anymore," Terrence said calmly.
Groaning, Susan took her third shot of tequila. "I had a … what happened was... I don't even know where to begin."
Cris nodded encouragingly and tipped the bottle to fill her glass again and the thought that she should probably start to pace herself crossed her mind. But maybe Drunk Susan would know how to fix her mistake. Maybe Drunk Susan would at least know how to talk about her mistake. They both looked so eager to hear about what happened between her and Ron, Susan could only grumble as she brought the shot glass to her lips.
"I'll tell you what happened," a new voice said.
Nearly jumping out of her skin, Susan realized Pansy Parkinson was sitting next to her, cloak hanging off the back of her chair as if she had been there the whole time.
"Whoa… whoa…" Terrence said mid shot. "Who is this?"
Pansy's enchanted eyes met Susan's brown ones and they shared a long look in which a lot of silent communication passed. One, she knew Ron was fine even if she wasn't, and two she realized Pansy was pissed.
Grabbing a lime wedge, she stuck in her mouth and made a face. "She's cool. Terrence… she's my… she's like my fairy godmother."
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Pansy said, insulted. "Fairy godmother?"
Giggling, Susan pushed her full shot glass over to Pansy. "But you are! This is Pansy Parkinson everyone. Pansy this is Criscilla and Terrence and they both work… with me."
"Pansy Parkinson?" Terrence said, eyes widening in awe. "I mean I thought it might've been you... but... oh my..."
"Wow nice to meet you!" Cris said, nearly falling out of her chair.
"Yeah yeah, don't believe everything you read in the papers." Pansy said abrasively, narrowing her eyes at Susan as she did. "Do you care to explain to me what happened? You are fucking with the cosmos." Her friend took off each of her gloves and shook them in Susan's direction. "Explain!"
The third shot of tequila hit her stomach and she wondered why she didn't drink it more often. She felt great. She felt like she could solve any problems that came her way. Even a pissed off psychic witch on a mission. "Listen Pansy, I love you. But I don't need your cosmic intervention. I didn't ask for it in the first place remember?"
"Yes I remember, and I promised I wouldn't meddle anymore but -"
"No buts! I know I freaked out and I didn't exactly… handle everything… well… but I will fix it. I can fix it."
"Wait wait, Susan. What is she talking about? You were just about to explain."
"Let's recap shall we?" Pansy said, licking salt off her wrist and taking a shot of tequila from Susan's glass. She used her 'I'm about to tell you exactly how it is and you better listen' voice and Susan couldn't help but grab her shot glass back, knowing she needed the alcohol for whatever Pansy was about to say. The fourth shot went down like water and the lime tasted like heaven.
Pansy pointed her finger in Susan's face and said, "I introduce you to Ron, who I figured out is the love of your life, and you immediately get mad at him and snub him. I invited you over to hang out with everyone, including Ron who is the love of your life, and when he took off his shirt you ran away! When you got your mother's letters I sent Ron to you so you wouldn't hurt as badly and then you ignored him for a month! I sent Neville to stop Ron from giving you chocolates, because guess what? He's the love of your life and you hate chocolates, and you two still get into a fight and walked away!"
"You're getting things out of order!" Susan snapped. "And all that wasn't entirely my fault!"
"I don't care! You're a disaster! A month after Neville and I got together, we were living happily ever after."
"You and Neville are soulmates!" Susan growled just as Cris sighed dreamily.
"And who says you and Ron aren't!? Get it together, woman! I planned a surprise Halloween Brunch just so you two could make up and what happened?"
"That wasn't my fault! Angelina went into labor! And our date was right after that." And she absolutely refused to entertain the idea that Ron was her soulmate. Because there was no way she would screw up that badly with her soulmate… would she? But Pansy would not be deterred.
"What happened on your date? You guys had a great time, I know because I saw the whole thing! Why did you run away?!" Pansy grabbed Susan by the arms and began shaking her violently. "You're ruining it! You're ruining everything you brain-damaged bint! Ron and Hermione aren't dating! They are just friends!"
"You are acting like a crazy person, stop it!" Susan screamed back, pushing her away. "I ran away because Hermione Granger happened! She walked in while I was half naked on top of him and it freaked me out!"
Pansy, who was a good foot or so shorter than her, held on tight and shook Susan until she was dizzy. "You freaked out? What does that even mean?"
"It - means - that - I - don't - want - to - compete - with - Hermione - Fucking - Granger." Susan said, finally managing to push Pansy away.
Terrence and Cris were watching the entire exchange, mouths agape and eyes wide in shock. Pansy stood before her, panting, and Susan wondered when they had stood up and what in the hell was happening. She sighed. "I know I should have handled it better! I know! I know I fucked up really badly okay!?" She tipped the bottle into her glass. The fifth shot made her feel angry. Angry at herself and angry at Pansy. She said, "What do you want from me? I've been alone my whole life. Any family I had died. Any friends I had left me. Then you show up and say, 'Oh can I interest you in a Ron Weasley?' and suddenly I have this fiasco of a love life and I don't know how to handle it and I'm sorry but I freaked out! And that's why I ran."
Pansy looked heartbroken for exactly one second before a look of determination replaced it.
"You know what?" Pansy said. "I'm meddling now. If you can't get this together then I will...I'm taking you to Ron and you're just going to fix this."
"What? No. I'm not ready!" Drunkenly, Susan took a step back away from Pansy. But when she realized Pansy was dead set on taking her to see Ron, she grabbed onto Terrence's arm in desperation. She suddenly understood why everyone usually just did what the witch wanted… she was rather scary otherwise.
"We're going! I said I wouldn't… but this is just getting pathetic. You are pathetic." Pansy rolled her eyes, grabbing onto Susan's elbow and pulling with all her might as she mumbled words under her breath like 'disaster' and 'tragedy' and 'imbecile'.
"No. Don't let her take me Terrence."
"God, I wish Ione was here for this," Cris said.
Terrence however just shrugged and traitorously pushed Susan off him and towards Pansy.
"Terrence! What are you doing?"
"Sorry… I'm not messing with her… that's Pansy Parkinson for crying out loud."
"Are you kidding me? Why does everyone just do what she says?!" Susan cried desperately. Pansy tugged her out of the bar violently, crashing through tables and chairs, pushing other patrons out of the way, as Susan tried to escape from the witch's grasp. "Pansy, this is just - you're acting so immature! Honestly! Why are you so strong? Let me go!"
"No."
"Pansy!" She manhandled Susan through the front door and pushed her out into the street. Losing balance, she tripped and skidded on her knees badly. "Damnit Pansy. Where's my wand? I'm going home!"
"Oh this wand?" Pansy held up the Ash in her hand and smiled wickedly. "I'll give it back if you come with me."
"I'll just get a new bloody wand then!" Susan shouted drunkenly and stood up, turning around to figure out which street she was on. Her place wasn't far from work, maybe about a 20 minute walk at the most. The bar was only a few minutes away from the spot St. Mungo's was hidden. Surely she could find her way home, even without her robes to keep her warm.
When she turned back to Pansy, the witch was suddenly so much closer. Her hand curled around Susan's arm and she felt the tug of Apparition take them both without another thought. They landed outside of Ron's front door, and the force of the quick, and unwilling, Apparition sent her face first into the wood with a bang and a instant jab of pain.
"Auughh!" her eyes immediately watered and she patted her nose gingerly. "Pansy!"
"Oh… Salazar… I'm sorry I didn't mean to… that looks like it really hurts."
With a frantic motion, the door swung open revealing Ron in his flannel pajamas, looking disheveled and confused and out of breath. "What the - what's going on?" he said urgently.
"She… she kidnapped me. " Susan said, shoving past him before she started to do something really embarrassing, like cry.
"I'm meddling again." Pansy said following her in.
"Pansy I told you not to." Ron snapped, and Susan realized she hadn't ever heard that tone from him before.
"Shove off, Weasley. I'm tired of her mucking this up!"
She couldn't think of anything else to say to that so she stuck her tongue out at Pansy. "Give me my wand, Pansy," she demanded.
"No. Not until you fix this!" she gestured at Ron frantically.
"You are bat shit crazy!" Susan snapped, before turning her back to them both and digging around looking for ice. She didn't think her nose was broken, but she was far to inebriated and far too emotional to even think about channeling any healing magic to relieve her pain. Especially without her wand.
Ron paced around looking between them both. "What are you doing Pansy? Give her her wand, now," he said finally.
Susan gave up looking for ice and decided the night couldn't possibly go any worse, so she walked over to the front door. She knew there was about a dozen blocks between Ron's place and hers. But she could walk that if it meant she could be home. Locked away in her place, in her bed, alone and away from the likes of Pansy Parkinson. She wanted nothing more than that. She didn't even care that she was wandless, she just wanted out of the insane situation she found herself in. But the moment she opened the door and prepared to step out, she ran right into Neville Longbottom, who had a hand held up ready to knock on the now open door.
"Oh c'mon." she said, defeated.
"Having problems?" Neville said with just a little too much humor in his eyes. He crossed his arms in a stance similar to the way Pansy had been. At Susan's pout he said, "Let me see what I can do. Pansy…"
"What?" the witch screeched in surprise. "You're supposed to be on my side Neville Longbottom!"
"I am on your side love… I am - as an active Auror - stopping you from kidnapping an esteemed Healer. Now give me the wand."
"No! I'm not leaving her alone until she fixes this mess! How did you know I was here?" Pansy said, stomping her foot.
"I always know where you are. And it seems to me that what Susan needs is love and guidance and support from her friends while she figures out how to fix this mess, whatever it is. What she doesn't need is to be kidnapped and have her nose broken. Wand?" Neville held out his hand in demand.
Practically growling, Pansy handed over the wand to Neville, who handed it to Susan. "Do you need help getting home, Susan?" he asked.
"No thank you," she snapped, then pointed at Pansy. "You stay the hell away from me you crazy witch!"
"Get your life together Susan Bones! Before I do it for you!"
Susan cradled her wand close to her as if Pansy would try to take it again and that's when she felt Ron standing close to her. She turned into him as if it were the most natural thing in the world, and felt relief when his arms encircled her instead of pushing her away. She rested her cheek against his shirt as not to squish her nose, and wondered what the hell was wrong with her. Pansy had called her pathetic and she figured it was true.
She was pathetic. She felt fat tears forming behind her eyes and she decided to swear off tequila for the rest of her life. "Please take me home," she said into Ron's chest.
"Yeah - okay. C'mon." His voice gentled when directed at her.
They both looked to the other couple. Neville had placed both his hands on either side of Pansy's cheeks. "Just go. I got this," he said to Ron.
Susan felt Ron start to turn, stiffen and still. She looked up at face and saw his narrowed eyes pointing in Pansy and Neville's direction. "Don't have sex on anything," he said, pointing at them accusingly. "Not a single thing."
"I got this!" Neville barked again just as Pansy said, "Shove off!"
Growling, Ron backed them out into the hallway with his hands firmly on each of her hips. "I swear if I come back and find them on my new chess table again… what happened to your nose?"
"Take me home first. Please."
She felt incredibly small next to him and he looked about to argue with her as he eyed her nose closely, but he just held on tightly and Apparated them both away. Her front door was a welcoming sight, and she unlocked it with steady hands even though her heart was thumping harshly in her chest.
"I'll never take another shot of tequila as long as I live," she muttered under her breath as she flipped every light on. She fled into her bedroom and kicked her way to the bathroom, still clutching her wand tightly. She sat down in front of her bathroom mirror and took a good look at her nose.
She supposed Ron had followed her, but she didn't notice until he was sitting on the edge of her tub looking at her funnily. She tilted her head back and continued to examine her throbbing nose in the mirror. "Are you going to tell me what happened?"
She made a face at him and he returned it without hesitation. "You remember that loud thump on your door?"
"The one that scared every flavor out of my beans?"
"Yeah - that was my face." She winced as she raised her wand up.
"Uh why don't you let me do that?" he suggested. The thought hadn't occurred to her, but she allowed him to raise his wand and cast a basic Heal Charm. "I learned how to do the simple stuff in Auror Training," he said as he focused.
The stream of magic that flowed from his wand filled her eyes with deep oranges and reds that reminded her of the sunset. Instantly she felt relief swell around her nose as the Charm settled and then everything felt normal. Except for she was sitting on her bathroom floor with Ron Weasley hovering above her with his wand out and pointed at her.
"So…" he said awkwardly, shoving his wand back into his pocket. "What did Pansy do to you? I told her to butt out, by the way. She never listens to me."
She gulped and it felt like swallowing an ice cube. She tried to think of how her evening had started and her heart fell all over again. "Ione left today. I went out for drinks with some of the team and Pansy just showed up and… she is acting crazier than usual."
"Have you read the paper lately? She's just pissed off about an article that came out about her."
"Oh… no I haven't. Apparently she decided to take it out on me," she said trying to stand. His hands reached out and steadied her before she wobbled, and to balance she reached out and gripped his shoulders. Once her footing was found, she looked up and met his eyes.
"I'm sorry." For being a nut, for ruining everything, for really, really mucking up something so good.
After a minute he nodded. "I can smell tequila on you, Susie. Why don't you get ready for bed? I'll make you some tea or something…" and he walked out, leaving her alone.
December 30th
She hadn't slept in 36 hours. She was exhausted as she re-braided her hair tightly to the back of her head. A strain of the flu was going around the hospital, it had taken Alban and Cris, along with Robby and Pearl down for the count. Nothing could help except rest and fluids. Desmond had even put on his old Healer's robes and began taking in patients. The time of the year always brought in an influx of the sick, but this year seemed to bring even more than usual.
With a sigh, Winnie the Aide shoved food in her face. "Eat Susan, you need energy. Actually, just go home. You look like you're dead on your feet."
"I've gone for longer without sleep before. Things are crazy right now. If it slows down, I can go catch a nap in my office." She drank the soup straight from the bowl, enjoying the way the broth warmed up her stomach and made her feel full. She drank down some water and left the dishes at the Aide Station.
Outside a gentle dusting of snow fell over the afternoon making it look later than it was.
"She's right, Susan. You look dead on your feet."
Susan turned then, surprised at the familiar voice. "Pansy?"
They hadn't spoken since the night of 5 Tequila Shots and the most awkward goodbye kiss she had ever experienced in her life. "How are you?" she said instead of, 'You're absolutely 100% out of your damn mind so go away!'.
Pansy Parkinson stood with Hermione Granger, both dressed for the frigid weather outside and dusting snow off their shoulders. "Heya, I'm fine. And we're here to talk to you of course. Our dearest friend Susan Bones."
Dearest friend her pale, freckled ass.
Pansy had her prissy voice on and Susan dreaded that more than the fact she had no idea when the next time she would get any sleep would be. She decided to ignore her friend and turned to Hermione instead. "How are you Hermione?"
It had been a cold Tuesday afternoon when the Brightest Witch of her Age showed up at Susan's office with a bundt cake made by Mrs. Weasley and an apology. Susan had taken the cake but not the apology, instead begging for forgiveness for her own rudeness and asking to start over. Still, Susan couldn't help but feel small twinges of jealousy thinking about the woman so close to Ron. But she no longer wanted to throw a tantrum at the thought of her either.
"I've been better, but that is neither here nor there. Do you have some time to talk?" the witch asked nicely. She was always nice.
"I'm afraid we are pretty swamped right now." Susan said, turning back to Winnie with a giant set of clipboards. "These are the minors, two of them are just hangovers. You work on these. Give these to Stella. I'll take these two and come back for more okay?"
She took brisk steps down the hall reading over the first clipboard and pushing back her exhaustion. Pansy fell into step beside her, much to her displeasure.
"Pansy, I really am very busy. We're very understaffed." she insisted.
"Understaffed?" Hermione said from behind them. "I can help out."
Susan turned, wondering what that meant, only to see her stepping down to the Aide Station. Winnie happily put some clipboards in her outstretched hands and then pointed to a room opposite the way Susan had been walking. "She's just bloody perfect isn't she?" slipped from her mouth before she could censor herself.
"I'm sorry - that was rude. I didn't mean to be rude about your friend." Susan apologized to Pansy, and she meant it too. This jealousy thing was a brand new emotion for her, and she completely understood why people called it ugly.
"Please, Hermione has her own demons."
"Pansy, I am really busy." Frustrated, Susan clenched her eyes together. She didn't want to think about it, but it was there. Ron had asked her to meet him at his place so they could talk and sort out some things, mostly sort through her craziness and see if he could deal with it. She had arrived only to accidentally overhear something she was sure she wasn't meant to.
Hermione had said, " -about us. Just tell her the truth. Delaying will only hurt her in the long run."
She calmly left even though a petty part of her wanted to bang the door in and cause a fuss. She decided to write him later and maybe get him to come to her place instead, except work happened and the letter never got sent.
"Susan," Pansy said jolting her from her thoughts. "I think you may have the wrong idea…"
"I don't. I don't think anything. Honestly. I'm just trying to make it through the holidays. I think it's better this way anyways," she answered and pushed her way into a patient room.
"Damnit. You'll have to talk to me eventually!" Pansy shouted as the door closed on her face.
On and on she went. She saw patients, endless amounts of patients. She healed. She brewed. She bandaged and handed out potions. Until she looked up and realized it was her birthday and Myles was telling her to go home before she fell over.
"Just going to do some paperwork before -"
"No! Go home!" Myles insisted gently taking the stack of clipboards from her hands. "And don't come back until you've gotten plenty of rest."
"Fine! You still have Terrence for a couple more hours. And Colton will be here soon," she reminded him as she yawned. Another day and the holidays would be over. She was so close. Myles gave her a one fingered salute and left to make rounds. She went in the opposite direction and made her way around to say goodbye and see if anyone else needed anything from her before she left. She learned from Stella that Hermione Granger had stayed for several hours and left spouting off ideas about a volunteer program, and damned if Susan didn't think that was a good idea.
Winnie hugged her and told her to get some rest. "Go right home!" the Aide shouted.
"Where else would I go?" Susan said bitterly as she walked to the Apparition point. Her birthday always put her in a bad mood, and she was feeling cranky from lack of sleep. But… it was almost over. She paused to fully concentrate on home, thinking of a warm bed and a soft pillow, she turned on her toe.
It took everything she had but she didn't splinch anything and she did a little sleepy cheer before she stumbled through her front door which hadn't been locked, absently reminding herself to lock it before she left next time, and continued to her room stripping off her shoes and Healer's robes as she went. She used the back of her heels to take her socks off and then pushed her slacks down and her fingers pulled her undershirt over her head before going through the bedroom door and falling face first into the bed, dressed only in her bra and panties. She thought she heard laughing but she was simply too tired as she wrapped her arms around the pillow. She thought briefly that it smelled just like pine and hoped that she would sleep all the way through her birthday before she fell into a dreamless oblivion.
oOoOo
The only reason she woke up was because there was a hand on her ass. She thought maybe it was the blanket, and tried to turn over and find another comfortable position. Except there were arms around her too. She blinked open her tired eyes and found herself face to face with a sleeping Ron Weasley.
"What the hell?" she shouted, pushing his arms away. "What are you doing in my bed?"
"Bloody hell Susie, it's early go - back to sl;eep," he groaned and rolled over, pulling all the blankets with him. The blue blankets that weren't hers. She sat up and looked around. She wasn't in her bed, she wasn't in her room. She was in Ron's. Panic set in.
"Ron? How did I get here?"
He groaned again. "You walked through the front door, 'member?"
"What? Ron!" she slapped his arm. "What happened?"
"Oww!" he rolled back over to face her, hair messed up and eyes heavy with sleep. "Don't hit!"
"Tell me how I got here! I was just at home…"
"You walked in the front door, undressed in front of about a half dozen men, and then fell asleep in my bed! I couldn't wake you up so I just crawled in with you," he ended with a drunken grin.
"Half… dozen? What?!"
"Yep. Had the guys over for poker. It was hilarious but don't worry - I told 'em off for ya," he reached for her again, pulling her underneath him. "Now stop yellin' and go back to sleep."
He buried his head in her neck and started snoring. "Ron! Seriously… what time is it?"
She turned her head and looked at his alarm clock, seeing bright letters tell her it was 5 AM. "Ron! What's the date? I have to go back to work."
"Sus… you've only been here a couple of hours at most…."
She sighed unhappily. It was still her birthday. And she had apparently been so tired and in a haze that she didn't go home. She went to Ron's place thinking it was her own, and she didn't even want to think about what that meant.
He clutched her tightly as if sensing her thoughts. "You think too loudly."
"Ron I can't stay…"
"Sure you can. I want you too. I got something to tell you in the morning anyways," he mumbled into her skin. His breath made goose bumps pop up along her neck and collarbone.
"But aren't you… gah. C'mon Ron. Aren't you seeing Hermione?"
He was so still she thought he might've passed out and then she really didn't know what she would've done since she was so comfortably trapped beneath him. Then he started laughing. "Are you still on that? Bloody hell woman… no. I am not, and haven't for years. And don't go saying that rubbish around Malfoy either…"
"I thought… I guess Pansy was right. I thought wrong."
Snorting unattractively he said, "She's always right. But crazy. So try not to make her mad again okay? I chewed her out for what she did to your nose but I didn't want to make her too mad."
"Oh… well thanks for that," she said sarcastically. She didn't care about the nose, Ron had healed it up for her just fine. It was the whole meddling and kidnapping bit that made her question the sanity of the witch that was her friend.
"You're welcome. Are you going to go back to sleep now? We can talk in the morning."
"Fine." She conceded, suddenly feeling exhausted. A few hours of sleep wasn't nearly enough when she had been awake as long as she had been. And she needed a good rest in order to get back to the hospital as soon as she could.
He immediately started snoring again and she felt unbelievably wrapped up in him, all warm and safe and snug. Even the idea that it was her birthday couldn't stop the ball of warmth from growing in her stomach. She couldn't help but feel the tiniest bit of glee at the thought that he wanted her, and not Hermione. And maybe… just maybe she felt a little hope that they could work it out despite her totally buffing up time and time again.
And then his large hands tightened on her ass again, pulling her closer as he mumbled, "By the way… Happy Birthday."