Previously:
"A Big Mac, hold the Floo please," he ordered politely to the Muggle in the window. Hermione wondered if he had lost his marbles. Hold the Floo? Floo powder was a method of transportation via fireplaces, not a condiment on a burger. The Muggle nodded and pressed a button on his headphones. Just then, a fireplace appeared on the side of the fast-food building. Harry wordlessly pulled her through it. The flames, rather than burning, felt like slipping back into her old four-poster bed at Hogwarts when the house-elves had put warming pans in it for her. She only felt this for a second before entering a big, open—and crowded—club. She had never been to one of these before. Somehow, despite seven years of living the Gryffindor bravery, she found herself staring at the floor.
"Oi, you guys!" Ron tried to get their attention. "Over here!" He waved three bottles of Ogden's Old Firewhiskey and motioned next to him. Harry grinned.
"Come on, Mione, let's go," he said. She sighed and followed in his wake towards Ron. "Hey, Giselle. How've you been?" he said in a noticeably deeper voice to one of the pretty females next to Ron. Not them again!
"Great. How about you?" Giselle replied in her smooth velvety voice.
"Just fine, though Hermione gave us quite a scare a minute ago. It's all fine now, of course," he said, as though he didn't want to leave her with any doubt that he could take care of anything. Hermione noticed he kept running his hand through his hair, making it even messier than it usually was. She wondered what why he did that. It looked fine to me before.
"Well, now that you're here, I suppose Nanette and I can go off on our own, eh?" Ron interjected, clearly wanted time alone with Nanette. Nanette gave a high-pitched giggle and clutched Ron's arm with her heavily manicured claws.
"Fine, go off by yourselves. I can have fun on my own," Hermione said quickly, not looking at Harry. She knew Harry would protest, but she really didn't mind being on her own tonight. She heard Harry sigh from beside her. Ron grinned and Nanette pulled him off to another room.
"See you guys later, say about midnight?" he said as he left. Hermione nodded and turned to Harry.
"See you at midnight. Have fun you guys," she said in monotone to Harry and Giselle. He rumpled her hair as she passed by him to go to the bar. She whirled around and stuck her tongue out at him, still walking backward. She crashed into someone behind her and fell down on top of them. "Oh, my gosh! I'm so sorry!" she gasped to the person under her and stood up. The person stood up also and she saw it was a blond, muscular young man of about twenty-three wearing sky-blue robes to match his beautiful eyes.
"That's okay," he said in a deep masculine voice. He looked at her curiously. "My name's Shane."
"Her-Hermione," Hermione choked out. Okay, so her knees fell weak and her heart stopped when she looked at him, but that was only because she had fallen—right?
"Hey, Hermione," he said, smiling, "Wanna dance?" She nodded. He grinned and exposed brilliantly perfect white teeth, that, as a pair of dentists' daughter, she could recognize from across the room. She allowed herself to be led away by this god-like stranger named Shane. Just before she left the room, she glanced back at Harry. He was looking at her, laughing, with his arm around Giselle. Figures, she thought and stuck her tongue out at him again, but she was smiling as she did so.
Shane led her into a dark room that was lit by—are those really?—disco balls. Shane grinned.
"Come on, what are you waiting for?" he said, still with that gorgeous smile. She stepped onto the dance floor and gasped. There was a floaty, blue substance under the glass floor, and it looked like she was walking on blue clouds. He impatiently pulled her closer to him and she automatically put her arms around him. Guess those dances with Krum really paid off, she thought with a grin. Shane beamed and pulled her closer to him, obviously thinking she was smiling because of him. It was all she could do to not choke on his beer breath. Honestly, she found herself thinking, this is gross. Even if he is, ahem, every girl's dream, he still drinks. And has beer breath. Gross. I've got to get out of here. Or give him a mint. She glanced up at her dance partner. I'll go with the mint.
"Here you go," she said, popping a mint in his mouth. He frowned and started to say something, but she had guessed this was coming and pressed her mouth on his. Instantly, he grabbed her head and closed his eyes, really getting into it. She closed her eyes too, and the kiss got a little more… Finally, she pulled back.
"Thanks for the mint," Shane said.
"You're welcome."
Dong. Dong. Dong. Dang. That stupid clock. I wish it would stop ringing; I'm getting a headache. It rang eight more times and she gasped. Midnight. She had totally forgotten she was meeting with Ron and Harry at midnight.
"Boy, time sure does fly when you're having fun!" she said. Shane laughed.
"It sure does. Wanna go have some," he wiggled his eyebrows, "real fun?"
"I'd love to, but, erm, I can't, I've, erm, got…to…go…" she stammered as his lips came closer and closer to hers. Before she could turn her cheek, he had full-on kissed her. She knew it was rude, but she pulled away. "I've really got to go. I promised my friends we'd meet at midnight. Sorry. Maybe I'll see you some other time."
"Well, can I have your Floo name?" he pleaded. "Before you go? I've never met anyone like you! I can't just dance with you once, and then leave you!" She sighed, then scribbled the name of her Floo fireplace on a spare piece of parchment and thrust it at him.
"Bye," she called as she walked, almost ran, out of the dancing room. The main room was so crowded her face was pressed on the person in front of her's back, and her feet were stomped on by multiple others. "Harry?" she called, panicking, over the crowd. "Ron? Where are you guys?" Suddenly a something pressed against her eyes. She screamed.
"Relax, Hermione, it's just me," said Harry from behind her. Oh, it was only Harry's hands. Oops. He let go and she spun around, or turned as much as she could in that position, and saw his emerald green eyes sparkling and that trademark grin girls swooned over.
"Sorry."
"So, are you ready to go?" Hermione nodded. "Okay, then." He picked her up by her waist and carried her over to Ron, Nanette, and Giselle.
"Hey! Come on, Harry, please put me down! Please?" she begged.
"When we get to Ron. I don't want to lose you," he responded patiently. She rolled her eyes. Sometimes his calmness came at all the wrong moments. She felt her feet thump to the ground as he set her down on the ground.
"So, Hermione," Ron said, grinning, "Been having fun?" She stuck her tongue out at him and yawned. "Fine, fine, you win, let's go home. I think Ginny's fixed your house by now." Harry nodded his agreement and pecked Giselle on the cheek.
"See ya later, Gis," he said, winking at his girlfriend.
"Bye, Nan," Ron said, "Maybe I'll see you tomorrow at the Three Broomsticks at eight." Wow, Hermione thought, it's really that easy to make a date? And he was so casual about it, too. Obviously, she was inexperienced in this dating business. With Viktor, he had always asked her, and she always said yes. Yes because he was an international Quidditch player. Or maybe, she always said yes because she didn't want to hurt his feelings. But perhaps…she said yes because she could; because this was the only person who paid any attention to her. She quickly pushed these thoughts aside and became more aware of Harry and Ron leaving without her.
"Hey! Wait up!" she called. Ron laughed and sped up, but Harry slowed down.
"We waited for you, but when you didn't move we figured you could make your own way home," he explained. She tried to frown, but didn't have the heart to frown at the one best friend who had waited for her even after she was lost in thought.
"Okay, fine," she gave up her anger, "But I'm so-so-so tired," she said, trying but not succeeding to stifle a yawn. Harry laughed.
"That's my Mione: exhausted after one night in a club."
"Hey!" He just laughed and grabbed her hand, pulling her forward towards Ron. Ron was frowning when they got to him in front of the exit. There were two identical fireplaces; one had a sign that said it would take the person back to the McDonald's window, the other's sign noted it was a regular Floo fireplace and you could go wherever you wanted. "I guess we're taking this one," she said, pointing to the latter.
"Yup," Ron said, "Hermione, do you want to come back to my house, so you can check to see if your house is safe? Oh, and Harry, you might want to, too." Harry oh-so-subtly rolled his eyes, but nodded. Hermione saw him, and she secretly smiled to herself. She knew what Harry was thinking, because they had been friends for all these years, but she also knew that he would never let Ron know he thought Ron was a little—
So. That was fun, that chapter.
Thank you so much for reading and reviewing! It means a lot to me.
See you next week,
insanehpluver
P.S. "Hermione glanced around the kitchen. She saw Charlie and Ron chuckling in the Weasley way. Harry was chortling, lights dancing in his bright emerald eyes. This is where I belong, she found herself thinking..." ;-) Have fun!
