Chapter 7: Night on the Town
Ginny arrived that afternoon so the girls could get ready together. Gabrielle and Ginny were both in Hermione's room trying to decide what to wear. Ginny had brought all of her new club clothes they had bought in muggle London and Gabrielle had a surprising amount of clothing choices as well. They spent over an hour determining what to wear due to their discussions on what exactly the boys would think about each outfit.
"It wouldn't matter what Ginny wears," Hermione said to Gabrielle, loud enough for the red head to hear as well. "Harry swoons over her in her school uniform and was practically drooling at the wedding, can you imagine his response to any of these outfits?" The two girls laughed at the calculating look on their friends face.
"Perhaps we shall have to have fun with Harry tonight," Ginny said with a smirk. "He has to go dressed as Xavier so I can't fawn all over him. I wonder what he'll do if I dance with some guy at the club?"
"It's too bad he has to be incognito tonight, it's a celebration for making the team and he can't even celebrate as himself since it was X who made the team," Gabrielle said. "I'm going to have to have to insist that you don't dance too much with Draco. We don't want any fight breaking out between him and Harry."
"Harry wouldn't fight with Draco; he knows we will never be more than friends. Besides, Draco is not going to even remember that I'm there once he sees you in that outfit!" Ginny said and the girls laughed again. "So Hermione, are you all set to show off for your new man?"
"Yes," she said with a big goofy grin. "I can't wait to see him again and not have to worry about my mum hovering around. She was overly polite and constantly around when he was visiting. She may have said that he was a nice boy but I could tell that she didn't like him at all. She's been acting really strange whenever I mention boys."
"My dad had a little talk with Harry at the wedding about his intentions towards me," Ginny said with a giggle. "Harry looked terrified and I could see him trying to reassure him that he only had honorable intentions and that he wouldn't touch me in any inappropriate ways." The three girls were all laughing after that trying to imagine Mr. Weasley giving Harry the 'don't mess with my daughter' talk.
"So have you kissed Oliver again since the party?" Gabrielle asked Hermione.
"Not really, I gave him a quick peck on the cheek when he left but since my mum was hovering around so much I didn't get a proper kiss. He did bring me another rose when he arrived at my house though and he had figured out my favorite." Hermione told them with a smile. "I can't believe he is actually interested in me. I used to have a crush on him in 3rd year but never thought anything would come of it."
"Well I've always had a crush on Harry and look where we are now!" Ginny said laughing. "I don't think it's strange that Oliver is interested in you at all. From what Harry says he is a very down to earth guy and probably hates all the fan girls that are only interested in him because he is a Quidditch star."
"Yeah, in fact the reason we started dancing at the party was so I could save him from Lavender and the Patil twins," Hermione said laughing as they started their makeup.
"I bet that was just an excuse," Ginny said with a sly grin, "he sat by you at dinner all on his own so he was looking at you well before asking you to 'save him'."
"Yeah, that was definitely just a line to be able to get you to dance without sounding like a moron if you said no." Gabrielle confirmed and Hermione smiled thinking that he had purposely wanted to spend time with her.
"Well remind me to thank Lav when we get back to school. I'm sure she'll be glad to know she played such a role in my dating the star keeper in England!" The three girls all laughed again and decided to finish their makeup in silence since they were talking so much they were running late.
They spent the next hour doing each other's hair. They were just deciding which shoes to wear when an owl swooped into the room with a package for Hermione. She opened the letter. "It's from my mum, she says that she thought these might come in handy for our outing tonight," she said looking at Ginny with a shrug before opening the package to find two pairs of boots shrunk down to easy owl carrying size.
They un-shrunk the boots and gasped when they realized they were the boots they had wanted from Diagon Alley. "Your mum is the best!" Ginny squealed as she hugged Hermione and then showed the boots to Gabrielle who grinned and pulled a matching pair from her trunk.
"Draco's mum took me shopping while we were staying at his manor and I saw these while shopping." Gabrielle said and the girls laughed at how they all had the same taste. They finished the final touches on their outfits and headed downstairs to meet the boys and see how presentable they had made themselves.
They entered the drawing room and only saw Snape sitting reading a book. "Good evening Severus," Hermione said with a small smile, "Have you seen the boys yet?"
Snape was trying to school his expression to neutral at the outfits the girls were wearing. Gabrielle was wearing a short silver halter dress that was the exact shade as her long straight hair and had silver boots. She was looking very Veelaish. Ginny was wearing a purple leather skirt with a matching purple corset top with black lace and ribbon accents. She was wearing boots like Gabrielle only they were black and her hair was tied back with black ribbons. Hermione was the one he was trying not to stare at. She was in a very tight royal blue top with a keyhole neckline that showed off cleavage that he was unaware she possessed. The top had silver sparkles across the front that made a starburst pattern. She was wearing a denim skirt with royal blue back pockets that had the same starburst pattern and her hair was up in an intricate pattern behind her head. She was also wearing silver boots and he wondered how he had never noticed that she had very nice legs even though she was short.
"Harry, Draco, Mr. Longbottom and Mr. Weasley will be down shortly. Dobby informed me they were running late," Snape told them turning his head back to his book but keeping an eye on the girls through his hair that hung in front of his face.
"So how do we look Professor?" Gabrielle asked her head of house. "Do you think the boys will approve?" She had seen his appraising look of their outfits and noticed how long it took him to answer the question and knew they must look great if it even affected the unaffectable Severus Snape.
"Your outfits are suitable for your night's activities, I am sure the boys will find no fault with them," he told them willing himself not to look at the neckline of Hermione's top. He was saved from having to make further comment by the arrival of the 4 boys and was startled to realize he wished he was young and able to accompany them as well.
Draco stepped into the room and whistled, "You ladies look absolutely enchanting this evening! We are going to be the envy of every man in the country having you on our arms." He took Gabrielle's hand and kissed it before placing it in the crook of his arm and leading her from the room to the front door where they would gather to apparate.
Harry kissed Ginny soundly, "I just wanted to do that while I could, I hate to have to pretend that I'm not in love with you tonight. You look positively bewitching." He led her downstairs after Gabrielle and Draco so they could apparate the couple to the club since they were still underage.
Ron and Neville were both looking at Hermione with hungry eyes. Neville broke first and remembered he was meeting Luna at the club and hoped she looked as fantastic as Hermione. Ron finally broke out of his stupor and offered Hermione his arm. "May I escort you to the club oh most beautiful lady?"
Hermione and Snape both snorted at the same time at his idiotic comment. She turned to Ron, "Do you have any idea how dumb you sounded just then. I can manage my way to the club just fine thank you. I believe you were meeting your girlfriend there?" She was pleased when Ron blushed and looked down before turning and heading out the door without her. She turned back to Snape, "Have a nice peaceful evening sir," she said with a wink and grabbed Neville by the arm and left the room.
They all headed toward the club once they had all apparated there. Luna, Justin, Susan and Hannah were already present at the apparition sight and Wood would meet them inside. They quickly introduced 'Xavier' to them and explained that Harry wasn't allowed out in case of an attack. Harry offered his open arm to Hermione before the group made their way to the doorman. There was a nice long line waiting to get into the club and Hannah and Justin was worried they wouldn't get in. Draco nodded to the doorman as he opened the rope to let the crowd of youngsters inside. "You are all set up in the VIP area tonight Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Lupin. Are you waiting for any one else in your party?"
"Oliver Wood will be joining us this evening but other than that we are set," Harry or Xavier told the man as they made their way in smiling at the looks of awe on some of the people's faces who were waiting in line. Harry was impressed with the size of the club and even more impressed when Malfoy led them over to the roped off VIP area where they could all sit down and have a drink without being disturbed. They could hear the excited chatter of some of the club patrons pointing out the 'Order of Merlin' winners and the "Minister's kids' along with 'That's Draco Malfoy' and other such gossip. Harry was excited that for once there was no buzz about him, well at least not yet.
They talked for about 15 minutes catching up on each other's summer when the buzz around them got louder again and a few girls could be heard squealing, "That's Oliver Wood!" Hermione smiled to herself at the thought that he wanted to be with her over all of his simpering little fan girls. She was just about to turn around to look for him when she felt a rose being drug across her cheek and saw Ginny grinning at her.
"You look absolutely beautiful Hermione," Oliver said into her ear as he stood behind her. She turned and he offered he the rose fully, earning a few appreciative sighs from her girlfriends at the romantic gesture.
"I'm happy to see you Oliver," she said with a smile and tucked the rose into her hair where it would stay safe. "It's nice to see you without my mother hovering around us." They laughed and he joined her on the couch across from Ginny and Harry while Hermione introduced him to the rest of the group.
"So I hear congratulations are in order Xavier. It's nice to know we have a shot at the world cup now that you are on the team." Oliver said with a cheeky smile, "Although I'm still not sure if you're better than Potter."
"Hey, there will be no badmouthing my boyfriend tonight. We are here to celebrate that Xavier made the National team, not remind everyone that Harry wasn't allowed to tryout." Ginny fake huffed for the benefit of those listening in on their conversation.
The waitress arrived with their drink just then and they all toasted to Xavier. "To Xavier Lupin, the English National Team's new Seeker!" They all chanted and then downed their drinks so they could get to the dance floor.
They were about to head out to dance when they were called out to from by the bar. "Oi Ron, Ginny! How about letting your brothers in there with you!" They all laughed at seeing the twins and Lee Jordan standing near the bar, each with a girl on their arm. Angelina and Alicia were with Fred and George respectively and Katie was with Lee, the 6 of them quickly made their way to the VIP area and exchanged hello's with everyone and were introduced to Xavier.
"Come on Angie let's get our grove on!" Fred said pulling her with him out to the middle of the floor while the rest of them took their time getting out there. At least with having the twins there things wouldn't get boring.
Hermione was surprised when Oliver pulled her very close to dance. He was a good dancer and she was having a blast. The couples all took turns dancing with each other, just so it wasn't so obvious that Ginny and Xavier danced together. While Hermione was dancing with Fred she was tapped on the shoulder and asked to dance by Ravenclaw ex-Quidditch captain Roger Davies who had graduated the year of the Tri-Wizard tournament. She looked over at Oliver who was busy laughing and catching up with Angelina and Fred shrugged and went over to get another drink.
"I'm Roger," he said by way of introduction. She smiled and told him her name and watched his eyes get big when he realized who she was. "I barely remember you from Hogwarts. Is it true you have an Order of Merlin?"
"Yes it is," she said wishing Oliver would come retrieve her. "What have you been doing since Hogwarts?" She asked politely.
"I've been playing Quidditch; I'm a chaser for the Wisborne Wasps." He said proudly. "We've done quite well in this year's league play."
"Oh, I don't pay much attention to the league play, but two of my close friends are on the national team," she said sweetly watching his surprised face that she not only knew one but two players on the national team. He also remembered that she had been Victor Krum's date to the Yule Ball his last year and was impressed.
She luckily didn't have to make any more small talk as Oliver came to rescue her. "Hello Davies, how are things with the Wasps," Oliver said with a forced smile. He could tell Hermione wasn't comfortable and didn't like the way Roger was staring at her chest.
"Wood," he said curtly with a nod. "What brings you here tonight?" He watched as Wood smiled and wrapped his arm around Hermione's back and realized that they had come together.
"Hermione and I are here to celebrate our friend's appointment to the national team. If you like I'm sure I can introduce you to him. He's the new seeker and I'm sure you already knew that I made keeper," Oliver loved the scowl that crossed Davies' face before he wished them a good night and went off to find someone else to dance with.
Hermione turned and wrapped her arms around Oliver's neck "I'm not sure he was glad to see you," she said with a small laugh. "I was very glad to see you though and I'm not sure I'm going to give you up at all for the rest of the night." He smiled and leaned in and gave her a nice long kiss, telling her with his lips that he was fine with being hers for the rest of the evening.
"Ooh, look," Ginny said to X, Ron and Susan as they were taking a break to get another drink. "He's kissing her!" She pointed out where Oliver had just claimed Hermione's lips and three of them smiled while Ron tried not to turn red.
"Let's go dance," Ron said to Susan. He needed to focus on the beautiful girl that he was with instead of letting himself get jealous over something that he had no business being jealous over. Susan looked lovely tonight in a soft yellow sun dress that was flowing and fun. She didn't have the sexy club clothes like Ginny, Hermione and Gabrielle but she still looked great to him.
"So are you having as good of a time being her with me as you were with Amanda or Tonks?" Gabrielle asked Draco as they danced. She noticed that he couldn't seem to help moving his hands all over her body as they danced, though she wasn't complaining.
"I am having an even better time here with you," he told her as he leaned down and kissed her gently. "You are the most amazing woman and I never want to be with anyone other than you."
"Such romantic sentiments from a Malfoy," a voice said from beside the couple. Draco turned to see Rita Skeeter, reporter extraordinaire standing beside them with a crocodile smile. "I thought your family was into bribes and business transactions, not fairytales and romance."
Draco was about to say something very rude when Hermione interrupted him. She and Oliver had been dancing next to them and had heard the whole exchange. "Rita, how nice to see you again," She smiled fakely. "I didn't realize you were back to bugging people for interviews again." She said emphasizing the word BUG. She knew the reporter didn't want anyone to know she was an illegal anamagus and smiled at how she shuddered at the word.
"Hermione Granger," Rita said smiling and turning around. "This is such a nice surprise. I didn't realize that you were friends with young Mr. Malfoy." She was fishing for a story that she could write without upsetting the damn girl who held her freedom in her hand.
"I am friends with his girlfriend and intended Gabrielle," Hermione said sweetly. "I'm sure you have heard that her sister Fleur is engaged to my friend Bill Weasley."
Rita was about to comment when she recognized the man standing with his arm around Hermione and grinned. "So are you and Mr. Wood here and item?" She asked in a sugary tone.
"I am not sure Hermione's opinion of the mater, but I would be honored to consider her my girlfriend. She is a stunning and courageous witch. I'm sure you are aware of her Order of Merlin and top grades. She is the most amazing witch I have ever met." Oliver smiled knowing that would be quoted in tomorrow's gossip column. He made sure to pull her closer and was happily surprised when she leaned her head back into his chest.
"Yes, we are here tonight to celebrate my new friend Xavier Lupin's appointment to the English National team as seeker to join Oliver who is the team's keeper. I invited Gabrielle who brought Draco since they are rarely seen apart they are so happy with their match." Hermione said enjoying the look of shock on the reporters face when she volunteered information. "I'm in need of a drink, Oliver do you think you and Draco could bring us another round please?" She said sending the boys off so she and Gabrielle could get down to business with Skeeter.
"What do you want?" Rita asked without preamble, they knew they had limited time to make a deal while the boys were gone.
"An honest story for once, just the facts. You'll tell how happy Gabrielle and Draco are in their arranged marriage. Mentioning how it's refreshing to see two people fall in love despite their trying circumstances and the times we live in. You can even mention the celebration party for Xavier and how Oliver and I were here together. If you do this the right way, we may even let you in on more outings in the future. I'm sure the comings and goings of the Weasley kids, me and Oliver and Draco and Gabrielle will help your career, you just need to do it the correct way or there will be consequences." Hermione said with a smirk. Gabrielle was impressed with the way she handled things, it was almost Slytherin.
As the boys came back Rita stood to leave. "It is so nice to see such young love. I'm sure we'll see each other at the world cup matches," She said and hurried off to write her story. She had to be very careful with the wording and knew this was her chance to climb out of the ashes her career had become the last few years.
Oliver pulled Hermione onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her. "I know we haven't really discussed a relationship, but I would love it if you agreed to be my girlfriend. You are so amazing Hermione," he said kissing her again.
Hermione was on cloud 9; she was wrapped in the arms of a handsome, intelligent and fun guy who was interested in her for who she was. It almost seemed too good to be true. The way he kissed her made her forget everything around them. She was pleasantly surprised when she felt his tongue trace along her lip begging entrance to her mouth. She opened for him and enjoyed the sensation of his tongue massaging hers. She didn't know how long they had been kissing when she saw a flash go off next to her and looked up to see Fred smiling and George holding a camera.
"Our little Hermione is all grown up and snogging professional Quidditch players," Fred said wiping a fake tear from his eye.
"We are just so proud," George said clutching his hand to his heart. She just laughed at their antics and plotted how to get the negatives of the photo they took.
"Hey, leave us alone. Just because my date is beautiful and an amazing kisser and I have exceptional Quidditch talent, you don't have to feel jealous... I'm sure your dates like you for your humble personalities and vast intellect." Wood said with a quirk of his lips making Hermione laugh outright and the twins grin.
"He's a keeper Hermione, way better than that scrawny little brother of ours." George laughed as they headed over to take some more snapshots of the group of friends.
Harry and Ginny were sitting with Luna and Neville who were not as excited at dancing as the others. Ginny and Luna were worried when they saw Rita Skeeter and Hermione talking. "Do you think there's going to be trouble?" Ginny asked.
"No, Hermione still has dirt on her so they are probably discussing what she can and cannot print. She did a decent job on Harry's article during our 4th year." Luna said.
Harry was having a good time meeting people, it was kind of fun pretending to be someone else. Susan was fun to be around. She was very impressed with his being the national team's seeker and Ron had to drag her away to get her to dance since she wanted to know all about the team. She really was perfect for Ron as she had about as much useless Quidditch knowledge as he did.
"Do you think he'll be able to get us tickets to any of the world cup matches?" Susan asked Ron excitedly. "I was at the finals the summer before 4th year but our seats were not very good. I can't believe you got to be in the top box!"
"I'm sure X can arrange something. Is there any specific game you want to see?" Ron asked knowing that Harry would get tickets to every one of his games but not wanting to tell her just yet.
"I really want to see them play Bulgaria. I still think Krum is one of the best seekers in the league. I'm interested to see Xavier go up against him and I'm sure Hermione would want to go to that game to see her ex-boyfriends team play against her new ones." Susan said with a giggle. "She told me that Krum wants to introduce her to his new girlfriend so they can be friends."
Ron just nodded. He didn't mind Wood dating Hermione, but he had never liked the idea of her being with Krum. "I'm sure we'll go to that match since Remus will be back by then. I'm sure he'll want to watch his nephew play."
"Where is Harry this summer? It's weird to be hanging out without him. It's almost like X has taken his spot in the group." Susan said with a frown.
"Dumbledore wants him to stay close to him this summer. They are worried about another attack, focused solely on Harry this time and want to keep him safe. Xavier is just around a lot since he is staying with Remus since his parents died and he doesn't have his own place yet." Ron told her, he hated lying to her but he had no choice until she was a member of the order.
"I think X might have a thing for Ginny though. He keeps staring at her and asking her to dance. I know she would never betray Harry but..." Susan said wondering about Ron's reaction. Ron didn't know what to say but knew he had to play the part of a concerned big brother so he excused himself to go have a word with Xavier.
"Susan is suspicious that you have a thing for Ginny. I think a lot of people are going to wonder if you like her if she keeps hanging round and you don't have a girlfriend. What can we do about that?" Ron asked him.
"We'll have to start a rumor that I'm seeing someone or something like that. Maybe Wood or Hermione have and idea," Harry said breaking the snogging couple apart to ask them.
"It would be kind of hard to manufacture you a girlfriend but we could start a rumor that Harry asked you to protect Ginny since he was out of touch for the summer," Hermione said with a shrug and they all knew that would lead to even worse rumors.
"That will lead to rumors that they are involved in some kind of threesome," Ron said with a disgusted look on his face. "My sister would never be with anyone other than Harry and he's the same way."
Wood got a smirk on his face as he whispered his idea in Hermione's ear. She busted out laughing and when she looked at Xavier she laughed so hard she had tears running down her cheeks. "That would definitely stop the rumors that he was interested in Ginny," She said trying to catch her breath. "But I'm not sure your teammates would be all that happy about the rumors."
At the questioning looks of the other two Oliver explained, "We could either start the rumor that you are gay or that you are betrothed to a girl that is so young she isn't even able to walk yet."
"So you want me to be gay or a pedophile? Such lovely choices!" Harry exclaimed, "Either one of those will get me bad press! Why can I just not be interested in a relationship and I try harder not to look interested in Ginny?" They all just laughed and decided he would just have to dance with a few random girls and when interviewed he'd mention he wasn't interested in a relationship and that he was focusing entirely on his career.
"I can get Rita to interview you if you like," Hermione told him. "We'll see how good of a job she does tomorrow and then maybe grant her an exclusive with you. It's not like we can trust any other reporter, or even her very far."
"Come oh fair Hermione," Harry said holding his hand out to her. "Grant me the pleasure of a dance with you?"
"Oh Xavier you devil, I would be honored to dance with you. Just watch your hands; I have a boyfriend on your team remember!" She said laughing and Oliver grinned at her reference to him as her boyfriend.
"So you two are officially going out now huh?" Ron asked as he was left sitting with Oliver. He couldn't pinpoint how he felt about that. He wasn't upset but he wasn't quite comfortable with it. Something about the two of them just wasn't quite right, oh well at least she was happy.
"Yep, Hermione is great. She is absolutely brilliant. I don't meet very many girls with intelligence anymore. Now that I'm playing pro the only ones I meet are air headed fan girls. I love Quidditch but there has to be more to a conversation than it and how good I look or she looks, plus she is capable of writing letters without putting them on pink parchment and scenting it with horribly strong perfume." Oliver told him shuddering.
"Harry has gotten a few of those letters as well. I don't get it, the girls seem almost normal and them they find out you're famous and they go all crazy. Most the girls at school wouldn't give me the time of day before my dad became minister and I got my Order of Merlin. Just make sure you don't hurt Hermione or you'll have all of us guys here to worry about and I can't even begin to imagine what Ginny and the girls would do to you." Ron said with a smile before going over to join his girlfriend, feeling a lot better about Hermione and Wood.
They all headed home very late or quite early the next morning rather. The twins had already taken their dates home and Lee and Katie were long gone. Hannah and Susan headed back to Hannah's house for the night and Justin and Oliver headed home while the rest were returning to headquarters. They stumbled in the front door, glad that the portrait of Mrs. Black was gone so they wouldn't wake anyone up. "Oh, I think I had a bit too much to drink," Fred moaned holding his head as George agreed.
As they tried to make their way up the stairs they were greeted with the sight of a very upset Mrs. Longbottom. "Hi mum," Neville said warily, knowing they were late.
"It is 2 in the morning! You were supposed to be back here by midnight! I was considering calling the Order in to find you all!" She said crossing her arms in front of her. The rest of the group was interested to see how it would play out. They had never heard Alice yell and were wondering if she could get as loud as Mrs. Weasley. "Now all of you get to bed right now and we'll discuss what the repercussions are going to be in the morning."
They all nodded and headed toward their rooms while Neville was being dragged by his mother with a silly smile on his face. "You know," Ginny said with a giggle. "I think he's happy that she was waiting up for him. I'll bet this is the first time he's ever been in trouble to get punished by his mum."
"I'm just glad Remus isn't here. He'd be upset and Tonks would be laughing that we didn't stay out late enough," Harry told them as they split up to go to their separate wings of the house.
Hermione moaned as she realized she had to be up in five hours for another day of research with Snape. She knew he wouldn't care if she was tired so she hurried and threw on a nightgown and climbed into bed. She hoped the three drinks she had wouldn't make her feel bad in the morning.