Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine! They are the doing of J.
K. Rowling!
"Potions?" thought Hermione out loud. "What potions?"
The words of the letter kept repeating over and over in her head. Shortly after, the owl who had just delivered the note started hooting. Hermione snapped to attention and sent the owl on his way. She watched as the small bird disappeared into the dark horizon.
Hermione then walked over to the phone located on the table near her apartment door and dialed Ron.
"Hey honey."
"Hey!"
"Ron, is there something you're not telling me?"
"No..." he said hesitantly.
"Ron, I hate to say this, but I don't believe you."
"What? Why?"
"Ron, an owl just arrived for you. It said....it asked whether you had gotten the potions or not."
"Oh! The potions..." said Ron through muffled laughs caused by his nervousness.
"Yes, the potions. Care to explain?"
"Well, you see...." he paused for a brief moment.
"Go on..."
"They are just potions to relieve some of my stress."
"Are you sure? You're not lying to me are you? I hate liars."
"Yes. I'm positive."
"Positive you're lying to me or positive you're sure?"
"Positive I'm sure."
Hermione flipped his words over in her head trying to decide whether or not to believe him.
"Okay, I'll believe you."
"I would expect you to."
"What, just because we are going to get married in a week and a half with Ginny and Seamus doesn't mean that I have to believe everything you say."
"I'd believe anything you tell me."
"You think I'm not capable of lying?"
"Well, I didn't say that...."
Hermione cut him off. "If I told you that I was married to someone else in the past and got divorced before we started dating, would you believe me?"
"No!"
"See! You wouldn't believe anything I told you!"
"If we're going to be married, we need to be open with each other and we need to trust each other's word. Just trust me!"
"Why should I? I've never known you to do anything illegal, but I don't doubt that you might, only because you're capable."
"I love you is why you should believe me. I'd never do anything to hurt you or anything that wasn't legal."
"I love you too, but you are perfectly capable of doing such a thing."
"Well, I wouldn't."
"Good to know. Though, I'm still going to have to think this one over."
"Here we go again. Just trust me. I love you."
"Well, I need to get going because I have a lot of planning to do with Ginny and Seamus tomorrow."
"What?!"
"Ginny, you know, your sister?"
"I know that, what possible planning do you have to do with them tomorrow?"
"I told you, we're having a double wedding."
"What? No you didn't!"
"Sure I did; right at the beginning of this very conversation. You were probably too busy trying to hide your lies to listen!"
"I'm not hiding anything! Jeez!" screamed Ron into the phone.
"You're really serious...."
"Of course I am."
"Hun, I'm sorry."
"We both just need to cool off. I didn't really have any intentions of having my wedding at the same time as my sister though. It's kind of disturbing."
"She and I are good friends though and we thought it would be fun."
"You never even considered how I would feel about it!"
"I'm sorry! I didn't think it would be so big of a deal!"
"Well, it is!"
"Fine! If we can't work things out here, maybe we shouldn't be getting married!"
"Fine!"
"Fine!"
"Fine!"
"Fine!" screamed Hermione into the phone before she slammed it down on the receiver. "God! What the hell have I gone and done now?!"
Hermione walked briskly into her room and slammed the door behind her. As she approached her bed, she jumped onto it and buried her face in her feather-soft pillow. Tears began to well up in her eyes but did not run down her cheek because the pillow case absorbed them as they emerged.
After several minutes of crying, Hermione sat up and wiped the tears from her eyes. She then walked into her bathroom to wash her face. As she viewed her reflection in the small mirror, her eyes appeared red and swollen.
Hermione washed her face to make her feel better and then walked back into her bedroom.
"Maybe I'll walk over to the bar down the street."
Hermione walked one block down the street to the local bar. The front sign was illuminated blue and read, "D3."
As she opened the door, a cloud of smoked ambushed her lungs. For a brief few seconds, she coughed uncontrollably but it soon passed. In the back corner sat a handsome young man with his head bowed down.
Hermione made her way over to the bar and took a seat next to a motorcyclist. Moments later, the bartender asked her, "May I get you something?"
"Yes please. I'll have a double martini, straight up."
"Coming right up."
The bartender walked toward the right hand side of the bar and mixed her drink while she waited patiently.
"Here you go miss."
"Thank you."
He nodded and moved on to serve his next customer. Hermione glanced around the room to observe her surroundings. The young man who sat in the back corner when she stepped into the threshold still occupied the same seat and position.
The biker next to her noticed her looking around.
"Hey there, little lady."
"Um, hi." she said hesitantly.
"There's no need to be afraid. Relax" he said while smiling at her. His smile was accented with two gold-filled teeth. As she observed this, she became disgusted and began to walk away.
"Where do you think you're going? May I buy you a drink?"
"No thank you. I can handle that myself."
"Come back here. How's about we go somewhere quiet?"
"No is no!"
"Come on. I won't hurt 'yer." The man stood up and steadily approached her as she backed away. Hermione continued backing away and he suddenly grabbed her arm.
"'Yer not going anywhere."
Hermione desperately tried to pull her arm out of his tight grasp, but her attempts were useless. The young man in the back of the bar heard the commotion and lifted his head up. He recognized who it was and immediately stood up.
"Get off of me!"
"I told 'yer, 'yer not going anywhere!"
Hermione made one more attempt to pull her arm out of his grasp and pulled away. As she took her next step, she felt a very protective body break her fall. She could feel his foot underneath hers and his arms wrapped around her waist.
"Let her go" said the man with a forceful tone.
"What if I don't want to, little man?"
"Did you just call me little man?"
"Yes, I did!"
The young man gave Hermione her balance back and took a step in his direction, dividing the biker and her.
"Let go of her..." he said more threateningly.
"No!"
The man drew his fist back and used the weight of his entire masculine body to force his fist into the biker's face.
"Let her go...."
The man released his grip from Hermione wrist.
"You've picked the wrong fight to get involved in..." said the biker.
"I don't believe I have."
The young man whipped his body around 360 degrees and his heel hit the back of the biker's knee. Within seconds flat the man lie face up on the floor.
"It's you who picked the wrong person to mess with."
The young man turned his back to the motionless biker who lay on the floor and walked over to the dumbfounded woman who he had defended.
Hermione watched him as he approached her and his silk, blonde hair dangled in front of his eyes. The flexed muscles defined the cloth that encased his torso and blue veins could be seen running up his arm. His face was a carved one and his pale blue eyes made contact with her deep brown ones.
"Umm....wow....I don't know what to say."
"Well, you could say thank you."
"Right, how stupid of me. Thank you."
"You're not stupid. You are the farthest thing from it. How about we go to the restaurant.....Hermione?"
"Wh-how...how do you know my name?"
"Potions?" thought Hermione out loud. "What potions?"
The words of the letter kept repeating over and over in her head. Shortly after, the owl who had just delivered the note started hooting. Hermione snapped to attention and sent the owl on his way. She watched as the small bird disappeared into the dark horizon.
Hermione then walked over to the phone located on the table near her apartment door and dialed Ron.
"Hey honey."
"Hey!"
"Ron, is there something you're not telling me?"
"No..." he said hesitantly.
"Ron, I hate to say this, but I don't believe you."
"What? Why?"
"Ron, an owl just arrived for you. It said....it asked whether you had gotten the potions or not."
"Oh! The potions..." said Ron through muffled laughs caused by his nervousness.
"Yes, the potions. Care to explain?"
"Well, you see...." he paused for a brief moment.
"Go on..."
"They are just potions to relieve some of my stress."
"Are you sure? You're not lying to me are you? I hate liars."
"Yes. I'm positive."
"Positive you're lying to me or positive you're sure?"
"Positive I'm sure."
Hermione flipped his words over in her head trying to decide whether or not to believe him.
"Okay, I'll believe you."
"I would expect you to."
"What, just because we are going to get married in a week and a half with Ginny and Seamus doesn't mean that I have to believe everything you say."
"I'd believe anything you tell me."
"You think I'm not capable of lying?"
"Well, I didn't say that...."
Hermione cut him off. "If I told you that I was married to someone else in the past and got divorced before we started dating, would you believe me?"
"No!"
"See! You wouldn't believe anything I told you!"
"If we're going to be married, we need to be open with each other and we need to trust each other's word. Just trust me!"
"Why should I? I've never known you to do anything illegal, but I don't doubt that you might, only because you're capable."
"I love you is why you should believe me. I'd never do anything to hurt you or anything that wasn't legal."
"I love you too, but you are perfectly capable of doing such a thing."
"Well, I wouldn't."
"Good to know. Though, I'm still going to have to think this one over."
"Here we go again. Just trust me. I love you."
"Well, I need to get going because I have a lot of planning to do with Ginny and Seamus tomorrow."
"What?!"
"Ginny, you know, your sister?"
"I know that, what possible planning do you have to do with them tomorrow?"
"I told you, we're having a double wedding."
"What? No you didn't!"
"Sure I did; right at the beginning of this very conversation. You were probably too busy trying to hide your lies to listen!"
"I'm not hiding anything! Jeez!" screamed Ron into the phone.
"You're really serious...."
"Of course I am."
"Hun, I'm sorry."
"We both just need to cool off. I didn't really have any intentions of having my wedding at the same time as my sister though. It's kind of disturbing."
"She and I are good friends though and we thought it would be fun."
"You never even considered how I would feel about it!"
"I'm sorry! I didn't think it would be so big of a deal!"
"Well, it is!"
"Fine! If we can't work things out here, maybe we shouldn't be getting married!"
"Fine!"
"Fine!"
"Fine!"
"Fine!" screamed Hermione into the phone before she slammed it down on the receiver. "God! What the hell have I gone and done now?!"
Hermione walked briskly into her room and slammed the door behind her. As she approached her bed, she jumped onto it and buried her face in her feather-soft pillow. Tears began to well up in her eyes but did not run down her cheek because the pillow case absorbed them as they emerged.
After several minutes of crying, Hermione sat up and wiped the tears from her eyes. She then walked into her bathroom to wash her face. As she viewed her reflection in the small mirror, her eyes appeared red and swollen.
Hermione washed her face to make her feel better and then walked back into her bedroom.
"Maybe I'll walk over to the bar down the street."
Hermione walked one block down the street to the local bar. The front sign was illuminated blue and read, "D3."
As she opened the door, a cloud of smoked ambushed her lungs. For a brief few seconds, she coughed uncontrollably but it soon passed. In the back corner sat a handsome young man with his head bowed down.
Hermione made her way over to the bar and took a seat next to a motorcyclist. Moments later, the bartender asked her, "May I get you something?"
"Yes please. I'll have a double martini, straight up."
"Coming right up."
The bartender walked toward the right hand side of the bar and mixed her drink while she waited patiently.
"Here you go miss."
"Thank you."
He nodded and moved on to serve his next customer. Hermione glanced around the room to observe her surroundings. The young man who sat in the back corner when she stepped into the threshold still occupied the same seat and position.
The biker next to her noticed her looking around.
"Hey there, little lady."
"Um, hi." she said hesitantly.
"There's no need to be afraid. Relax" he said while smiling at her. His smile was accented with two gold-filled teeth. As she observed this, she became disgusted and began to walk away.
"Where do you think you're going? May I buy you a drink?"
"No thank you. I can handle that myself."
"Come back here. How's about we go somewhere quiet?"
"No is no!"
"Come on. I won't hurt 'yer." The man stood up and steadily approached her as she backed away. Hermione continued backing away and he suddenly grabbed her arm.
"'Yer not going anywhere."
Hermione desperately tried to pull her arm out of his tight grasp, but her attempts were useless. The young man in the back of the bar heard the commotion and lifted his head up. He recognized who it was and immediately stood up.
"Get off of me!"
"I told 'yer, 'yer not going anywhere!"
Hermione made one more attempt to pull her arm out of his grasp and pulled away. As she took her next step, she felt a very protective body break her fall. She could feel his foot underneath hers and his arms wrapped around her waist.
"Let her go" said the man with a forceful tone.
"What if I don't want to, little man?"
"Did you just call me little man?"
"Yes, I did!"
The young man gave Hermione her balance back and took a step in his direction, dividing the biker and her.
"Let go of her..." he said more threateningly.
"No!"
The man drew his fist back and used the weight of his entire masculine body to force his fist into the biker's face.
"Let her go...."
The man released his grip from Hermione wrist.
"You've picked the wrong fight to get involved in..." said the biker.
"I don't believe I have."
The young man whipped his body around 360 degrees and his heel hit the back of the biker's knee. Within seconds flat the man lie face up on the floor.
"It's you who picked the wrong person to mess with."
The young man turned his back to the motionless biker who lay on the floor and walked over to the dumbfounded woman who he had defended.
Hermione watched him as he approached her and his silk, blonde hair dangled in front of his eyes. The flexed muscles defined the cloth that encased his torso and blue veins could be seen running up his arm. His face was a carved one and his pale blue eyes made contact with her deep brown ones.
"Umm....wow....I don't know what to say."
"Well, you could say thank you."
"Right, how stupid of me. Thank you."
"You're not stupid. You are the farthest thing from it. How about we go to the restaurant.....Hermione?"
"Wh-how...how do you know my name?"
