Disclaimer: Everthing belongs to J.K. Rowling

At eight pm in the evening, Hermione finished the last of her job in the office, and went to the toilet to check herself, looking into the mirror for the last time. When she was totally ready, she left the room and headed to the exit of the Ministry. The moment she stepped outside, she saw Oliver Wood waiting for her beneath the stairs, his hands shoved in his pockets. Hermione's heart gave an odd thump. Oliver smiled slightly as Hermione descended the stairs gradually.

"Hello, Hermione!" Oliver seized her hand kindly.

"Hello, Oliver!" Hermione flashed him a bright smile.

The greeting was followed by a silent for a moment. Hermione realised he was looking at her carefully. Hermione felt uncomfortable. She flushed at the awareness. She didn't miss the chance and looked at him, as well. He looked cool and confident. He was wearing a blue shirt and a beige trousers, matching a pair of quidditch boots. Hermione was surprised. "interesting style" she thought privately. Apparently, being a sportsman, he had preferred to wear somewhat comfortable. But indeed, no one could say that he was careless. On the contrary, he looked handsome. He was disturbingly cute. Hermione thanked god that she had taken some trouble with her appearance.

"I didn't bring my broom because I know that you don't like flying. I thought we might apparate. There is an apparation port next to the restaurant. We should use the one in the Ministry, shall we?" Oliver looked at her for confirmation.

"Yeah sure, let's go then!" Hermione replied before they marched to the direction where the Apparation Port was.

When they finally apparated next to the restaurant, Hermione was still thinking about how could Oliver possibly that know she didn't like flying.

As they stepped inside the restaurant, Hermione noticed that she had never seen such a restaurant. It was extraordinary and splendid. She regretted her costume but she remembered Oliver wasn't formal, either. She gave a sigh of a relief. She started peeking around. The restaurant was established on a large area. There were nine table inside which each one quite different from one to another. There were clouds above the tables, Hermione could tell there were six weathers inside the restaurant. Oliver gave Hermione a side glance, smiling satisfied as he saw she was looking around overwhelmed.

Finally, a waiter came towards them behind a corner and smiled at Oliver in a friendly way.

"Welcome, Mr. Wood. We were expecting you." He exclaimed welcomingly. Hermione understood that Oliver was a constant client of the restaurant. Then he looked at Hermione and nodded kindly. Hermione nodded back. They followed him silently. When the waiter finally illustrated the table in the corner, Hermione gasped. It was a little table for two. There were two armchair instead of chairs which seemed comfortable, and of the table were surrounded by some large, some small colourful pillows. And in addition there was a rainbow above the table which was magiked brilliantly. Hermione couldn't help but stare at the ceiling, amazed.

"Do you like it?" Oliver asked her in anticipation, as he sat across her. He looked like he already knew the answer.

"I love it…" Hermione answered him cordially looking him in the eye. Oliver smiled at her, looking pleased.

"I love this restaurant, too. I discovered this place two years ago. But every time I came, I found the decoration surpassed." He said looking around like Hermione, as if he was coming there for the first time.

Hermione couldn't hide her admiration.

"You will like the food, too!" Oliver said as they noticed the same waiter approching to get their order. Hermione grabbed the list quickly and she panicked as she saw the weird titles on the list.

"Do you want to try my favorite?" Sensing her hesitation, Oliver quickly suggested. Hermione jumped on the offer.

"Certainly. What is that?"

"Gnewewa" he said with a chuckle. Hermione grimaced. Oliver started explaining seeing her gesture.

"It's a chicken meal with special sauces among rice and some salade. It's my favorite, really!" he explained eagerly.

"Okay then," Hermione said, shrugging.

Oliver gave the order to the waiter. The waiter nodded respectively and left to prepare the order.

"How is life going, Hermione? He asked Hermione, eager to open a conversation. "Tell me about your job in the Ministry. You really love your job don't you? You've elected it between a lot of offers after all." He asked with an appreciative expression on his face.

"Actually…" Hermione started, fixing her hair behind her ear. "Yeah.. There were a lot of options in front of me but I don't know… I think, I just didn't want to leave the muggle world completely. Plus, they offered me a really important position even though I only graduated. Hence, I accepted." Hermione told him in brief. That wasn't a lie but it wasn't the genuine reason. The real reason was, Ron was associated with the Ministry even if he was a itinerant auror. She couldn't tell that to Oliver.

Five minutes later, the waiter appeared again, holding two plates in his hands. He put them on the table smoothly and then grabbed a wine bottle to open which another waiter handed him. Finally he poured the wine into the goblets and nodded for the last time before leaving their side.

The food seemed delicious but Hermione had no appetite. Because the whole day she had been very nervous about the date, and her stomach had refused to eat anything. Now, she knew it would be impolite if she didn't taste it. She swallowed hardly.

"Seems delicious!" she said honestly.

"I hope you like it." Oliver said before nibbling his food.

After having a silent moments, Oliver started to tell her about his job. Being a famous quiddditch player, he could have a lot of things to tell, Hermione measured. She was expecting a high handed person. She thought he would tell her about the technique and he would bore her to the death. But quite the opposite, he told her about the difficulties of his job, his responsibilites and he told her how he had a chaotic life. Hermione almost felt pity for him. But almost. Because in the middle of this conversation, two young women in the restaurant waved at him giggling seductively. Oliver didn't ignore them, he just smiled kindly in return. Hermione saw, his ears burning noticeably.

Some time later, they talked about their Hogwarts days. It was a good topic for Hermione. She had at least a lot of things to say. They criticized the teachers, Snape's cruelty, Mc Gonagall's authority. They talked about the Hogwarts castle, its magnificence and safety. They mentioned about Dumbledore, his importance and his confidence. Hermione told him about what had changed after he left the castle. She told him the mischief that Peeves had done in the last two years. He burst into laugher, much to Hermione's surprise. Oliver told her the secret places in the castle which Hermione could have never imagined. Her eyes grew in disbelief.

In the end, Hermione realised it was a really nice chat and she had enjoyed it. He was good accompany. The anxiety left it's place with joy, and Hermione noticed that she had eaten all the food at the end of the evening. Talking to him, she felt a gullible feeling in her. It was a foreign feeling to her and Hermione definitely wasn't expecting this. At last, She checked her watch. It was eleven-o'clock. The time had flown away, without noticing.

"It's getting late. Shall we depart?" she asked half-heartedly. Oliver seemed disappointed but he nodded in agreement.

"Yes, sure. Wait a minute please!" he said getting up and made his way to the somewhere Hermione couldn't see. In a minute, he came back and gestured Hermione the exit.

"Shall we?"

Hermione got up from her comfortable seat and looked at the lovely rainbrow for the last time. Oliver smiled at her, and Hermione couldn't help smiling either.

While walking to the Apparation port Hermione needed to say something about the night. She had enjoyed the night very much and he had the right to know that.

"It was lovely dinner, Oliver. Thank you very much." She stated, looking Oliver in the eye just for a short minute.

Oliver's face lightened. "I am glad that you liked it." He said looking her face intently, as if he was expecting her to say more. Hermione kept looking at the ground. Her face flushed.

The short walk felt like eternity for Hermione. She started to feel nervous again. Oliver felt her tenseness, but he didn't say anything else. Eventually, they arrived at the port and Hermione stepped inside, before turning on her heels to tell him goodbye. But ıt was Oliver who spoke first.

"I would like to see you again, Hermione." He said to her surprise.

"Of course!" Hermione stuttered. "I would like to see you, too." She murmured, feeling her face blushing slightly. "Harry will be here in a short time and we can arrange a meeting again!" she said innocently but Oliver wasn't fond of this idea. Nevertheless, he kept a straigth face and whispered "As you wish…" to her ear before pecking her on the cheek. Hermione heard herself say, "good night" hastily and she apparated to the home without further ado.

When Hermione came home finally, she gave a sigh of relief. She had a shower before she went to bed. Then she wore her sleeping gown and collapsed into bed. She couldn't help but think about the dinner and Oliver. She wondered how she felt so comfortable while they were together. She wondered if it was the owerwhelming place. Or it was the charismatic Oliver. Or it was just herself. It made her feel strange. On the contrary it was so familiar. Had she exaggarated too much this dinner occasion? She didn't know. But she abruptly realised. She hadn't thought about Ron the whole night. Not even once. Hermione found it weird. It's not like he asked her out, but she felt like something was bound to happen.

Next week, Hermione hadn't heard a word from Oliver. She didn't care though, she was wondering merely if he was thinking about her. On Monday, Ginny didn't miss a chance and she dropped by, over at Hermione's office and took her for lunch to hear the whole story. Hermione told her everything, apart from her feelings she had felt after the dinner. Ginny had been so happy, since Hermione was distracted after the 'Diana' incident. She could tell that there was a strong possibility that something might go on between them. He was single, so was Hermione. What could hinder them. When Hermione got the approval from Ginny, she decided to give it a chance. But she was doubtful, if Oliver was still interested in her.

However, she didn't have to wait so long, on Wednesday, as if she knew he was in her thoughts, Oliver sent her an owl, inviting her to have a cup of coffee after work. She hesitated for a while, but then she accepted.

It had happened so quickly, everything was out of the control. Hermione felt like a spectator of her own life, and all she could do was watch it. She felt dizzy. They hadn't given name to their affiliation but everybody could say it was more than a simple date. She didn't tell a soul of course, except Ginny. But at any moment, Harry and Ron would be back, and Hermione had not the slightest idea about how to declare it to the boys.

Next Sunday, early in the morning, Hermione was lying in her bed lazily. Unexpectedly she heard a tap on the window and assuming it was pawn, Oliver's owl, she dashed to the window. But there was another owl, hooting crazily and it was no other than Pig. She felt something tighten in her throat. She grabbed the letter after stroking the old owl's head sincerely.

Hermione,

Yesterday night, Harry and I came back home from Nottingham safely, for your information. Would you like to honor us for the breakfast this morning? Come on, we're waiting for you.

PS: Harry is about to burn all the pancakes right now. I should go and save them as a real hero.

Love,

Ron