CHAPTER NINE
'You always provide the best for me Draco' Pansy says as they walk through the arched doorway. They look stunning clad in all back. It pains me to admit that the black dress Pansy is wearing compliments her figure its tightness clinging to her every curve. Her cleavage pops out accentuated by the sharp neckline of her dress. Draco is sporting an expensive Gucci sports coat and matching belt. His blonde hair is styled perfectly. They look more like dolls than human beings. He pulls the chair back for Pansy.
"We should go and say hi. It would be rude not to" Cedric says.
"No we're lucky they haven't noticed us yet. Let's cover our faces with menus before they look over here" I say lifting up my menu.
"As you wish" Cedric says propping up his menu.
"Zayaah is that you" Pansy calls from across the room.
"I blame you" I tell Cedric, "You didn't lift your menu up quickly enough"
"Hey Pansy I didn't see you there" I lie.
"Let's get this over with" I mumble to Cedric.
He laughs.
We walk over to their table.
"Hi Pansy, Hi Draco" I say politely.
"Harris you look presentable for once"
I roll my eyes, "thanks Draco you look nice too. I'd never thought you'd be the one to bring back turtlenecks"
Draco laughs.
"Pansy I love your dress" I say genuinely.
"I'd like yours too if you'd chosen another colour. Yellow just isn't for you. I wish you had told me you'd be wearing this earlier I would have helped you pick on outfit" she says kindly.
Draco rolls his eyes at Pansy but does not say anything.
"Pansy I didn't know you guys were coming here Draco didn't mention it at all"
Her fake smile drops.
"Hi Cedric looking good as always" Pansy says flirtatiously.
"If I knew you were into younger girls I could've recommended someone cuter"
Cedric smiles, "that's very kind of you Pansy but I think I landed the cutest one of them all" he says wrapping his hands around me.
A stupid smile appears on my face
"You know what instead of eating separately why don't we join our tables and eat as a group" Pansy suggests.
"No!" Draco and I say simultaneously.
"Why not?" Cedric asks.
I realize I don't really have a good reason. I cannot exactly admit to Draco what he said the other day hurt my feelings and I could not give Pansy the upper hand.
"Pretty please" Pansy asks Draco.
He sighs finally giving in, "all right"
Pansy rings the bell, "could you join the tables please"
The hostess sighs and asks the waiters to join the tables for us.
"Those flowers are so nice" Pansy says sitting down.
"Thank you" I say.
"I remember when Draco and I first started going out he'd send me a bouquet of roses every day"
"I am a thousand percent sure you sent those to yourself" I say.
Cedric laughs.
'Whatever Zayaah it was still with his money' Pansy says defensively
"What's funny Diggory?" Draco asks.
"I'm sorry your girlfriend's name is literally Pansy I'm wondering why you sent her roses"
That was another great thing about Cedric. He is never malicious.
"Oh I hate Pansies they're such an ugly flower but we cannot pick our names" she explains.
Pansy rings the bell to order.
The chefs leave the backroom and go the cooking station in front of us.
"In fact you go first Zayaah" Pansy offers.
"I'd like two small portions of the shell crab with a side of brown rice"
"Could you add a salad to that" Pansy says.
I look at her confused.
"Were you not ordering for the whole table? Sorry. I guess I'm not used to one person eating that much"
"We all can't be rabbits and survive on leaves and water" I say annoyed.
Cedric and Draco choke.
"I'll have what she's having" Cedric says.
"Same" Draco says.
"You're not going to have a salad with me" Pansy says in a baby voice.
"I didn't pay this much money for salad" Draco says.
Pansy huffs
"What would you like in your salad?" he asks.
"Can you add a few pieces of chicken but not too much? Some of us like to keep fit"
This is going to be a long date.
I decide to ignore her and focus on the chef.
"What's your name?" I ask.
''Fumihiro'' he answers.
'You're Japanese?'
'This is a Teppanyaki restaurant' he says
'I try my best not to assume' I say.
He laughs, 'You?'
'Zayaah'
'Afghan' he asks.
'Close I am Pakistani' I say.
'How did you end up here?' he asks.
'I was born here, so were my parents we've never even seen Pakistan' I say.
'You?' I ask.
'I moved here ten years ago with my wife' he says.
'Have you been cooking long?' Cedric asks.
'My whole life actually' he answers, 'how do you spell your name? I want to show you something.'
'Z-A-Y- double A- H'
Fumihiro throws some onions into the air and attacks them viciously with his set of knives. I cannot take my eyes off of him. A 'Z' falls onto the grill and soon the other letters of my name follow suit.
'How did you do that?' Draco says impressed.
'Years and years of practice' he says.
He grabs the crab from the freezer and sets it onto the grill.
'So how long have you two been together?' he asks Pansy
'We've known each other our lives but we only started dating three years ago' Pansy smiles.
'Same with me and my wife' he nods.
'Who liked who first?' Pansy asks. This surprises me she is usually very self-involved.
'She did. She says that she has always known that we were going to be together forever'
'Aww' Pansy and I say simultaneously.
'What about you two?'
'I guess I knew first' Pansy says, 'but Draco was the one who asked me out'
'Tell him the story babe it's so romantic'
Draco blushes, 'Now'
'Please' Pansy begs.
'I would love to hear it' I say.
'Fine' he concedes.
'It was after a Quidditch match in 2nd year. I picked some flowers from the field and kissed her in front of everyone' he says quickly. It is clear he is in a hurry to get the story over with.
'I remember that' I say, 'I was so annoyed because you had just taken the spotlight away from me. I scored the winning goal you see' I explain to Fumihiro.
He laughs, 'I see'
'And you two' he asks Cedric
'This is actually our first date' Cedric says.
'Harris why didn't you tell me we definitely wouldn't have crashed' Draco says. This random bout of kindness surprises me especially considering what he recently said to me.
'Honestly it's fine' I say.
'I'll cook you four something special'
'On the house?' I ask surprised.
'Yes' he says.
'So how did you know?' Draco asks me
'Know what?' I ask.
'You're so clueless Harris he's asking when you knew liked Diggory' Draco asks annoyed.
'I am sorry I can't be all knowing like you Malfoy' I say returning his eye roll.
'Anyways' I say pointedly, 'it was snowing outside and I slipped one some ice and Cedric tried to catch me, but then we both ended up falling. I remember being so embarrassed and he was just laughing'
Cedric laughs, 'is that all it took'
'I was like twelve it didn't take much to impress me' I admit embarrassed.
Draco laughs.
'Why, what's funny?' I ask.
'You don't remember' he says.
'Remember what' I say suspicious.
'You didn't trip I threw a snowball at you. You took it way harder than I expected'
I laugh, 'oh my gosh I do remember that.'
'Then when I got you back you threatened you were going to tell your father'
Draco stops smiling which only makes me laugh.
'You guys have a lot of history' Cedric says.
'Yeah we all grew up together' I say.
'We're family friends' Pansy says.
Chef Fumihiro plates our food and pushes it in front of us.
'Holy shit this is delicious.' I praise
'It can't be that good' Draco says.
'Take a bite and see' I say.
He takes a bite of the crab and his eyes widen.
But he does not say anything.
'I told you' I say giving him a smug look
'You have good taste' Cedric says.
Cedric whispers something into my ear and I laugh.
'Stop I almost choked' I say smiling.
He wiggles his eyebrows.
'Eww' I shove him playfully.
'You guys are good together' Fumihiro says.
'I think so too' Cedric says.
My cheeks flush.
'So do you like your salad?' Draco asks Pansy.
She nods.
'But you want some my crab'
She nods.
'Why are girls like this?' he says cutting her a piece.
'Like what?' I ask.
'Don't jump down my throat Harris. It is not a sexist comment just a general observation'
'Why did you assume I was going I was going to jump down your throat?' I ask
'Because you always do' He replies exasperated
'Name one time' I demand
'Last week in potions, muggle studies in fact just yesterday in defence against the dark arts'
'The question isn't why do I always jump down your throat it is why do you always say things that annoy me'
'Are they always like this?' Fumihiro asks amused.
'Yes' Pansy says annoyed.
'It's very entertaining' Fumihiro says
'Trust me you get tired of it really quickly' Pansy complains.