Chapter the Twenty-Sixth
"If you want to go back..." Draco said before they were even out of the grounds.
"No," Hermione sighed. She'd pulled her arm away from his shortly after putting it there. "I want to do this. Up until about five minutes ago I was really looking forwards to it."
"It's just Potty... Potter and Weasley," Draco corrected himself, earning a smile.
"Considering how badly this must be hurting Ron he's taken it surprisingly well," Hermione said.
"But Potter's still freezing you out," Draco finished for her. "You know, he's digging for excuses now. I know the feeling. He wants to be angry with you, so Weasley's pain is helping him. He's not mad you for you any more."
"How can you be so certain?" Hermione asked.
"He pretty much came and told me so," Draco shrugged. "We exchanged insults for quite a while before Weasley turned up and he retreated to those ratty arm chairs."
"So he's angry with me for going out with you," Hermione sighed. "Which is pretty much what I had assumed before I remembered everything else."
A little nervously, Draco reached down and took her hand in his, squeezing it. "It'll be okay," he managed, each word of the lie so many people had told him bitter on his tongue. He understood why they said it now, though. Sometimes the lie needed to be told, erecting a paper-thin wall against reality just for as long as it was needed, or until reality knocked it away.
"I'm sure it will," Hermione said dully. The partner lie. She squeezed back. "I'm kinda ruining this, aren't I?"
"No," Draco smiled. "See, this isn't supposed to be the fun bit yet. It's okay if you're down at the moment. I expected it, in a way. The bit where you forget all about both of those gits comes a bit later, and your mind will be filled with pretty happy me."
Hermione laughed.
"I bet he's taken her somewhere really expensive," Ron said glumly.
"Are there any really expensive places in Hogsmeade?" Harry frowned.
"Or a bookshop. He'll take her to an antique bookshop and buy her the oldest and rarest book there."
"The bookshop in Hogsmeade only sells school texts," Ginny pointed out.
"Or he'll do something," Ron said pointedly, "that depends on him being rich and having connections and I'll never be able to match."
They were sitting in the Gryffindor common room. It was getting dark outside and the fir was crackling merrily to dispel the February chill. Hermione wasn't back yet, and Ginny's concerned observation of such had sparked this whole conversation.
"Jealous?" Harry laughed. "You think you have it hard," he added bitterly.
"I'm beginning to understand why Hermione doesn't want to talk to you," Ron said coldly. "Do you remember that talk we had where you stop acting like you're the centre of the universe?"
"You don't understand what I'm going through," Harry said sulkily.
"Because you won't explain," Ginny sighed in frustration. "So either you explain or you cheer up and get over it. Today is about Ron. Don't make it about you."
"You don't suppose that sticking with Harry helped scupper my chances with Hermione, do you?" Ron asked suddenly. "Only, she wasn't too happy about it." He shot an apologetic glance at Harry. "She really thinks it would be better for you if we left you to yourself for a while. I'm not quite clear on her reasoning, but I think it's something along the lines of you're taking us for granted and don't see how much we're doing for you."
Harry opened his mouth to object but Ginny slammed a hand over it. He made a muffled complaint.
"Oh god," Ron moaned suddenly. Ginny and Harry stared at him in alarm. "I bet they've gone to the shrieking shack and at this very moment are having mad hot passionate teen sex."
"I know Hermione and I haven't been talking much recently, but I hadn't realised she'd turned into Pansy Parkinson," Harry said.
"Harry has a point," Ginny smiled.
"So what do you think they're doing?" Ron asked.
"Well," Harry said slowly, clearly thinking about it, "I suppose, knowing Malfoy, he's taken her somewhere very expensive. Let's say there's a restaurant in Hogsmeade, one none of us have been to. I mean, why would we have? And it would explain where all the Slytherins go.
"He'd take her to this restaurant and pay for everything, probably order oysters and lobster and some bizarre chocolate desert. Expensive stuff. He'd want to show off that he's wealthier than you. That's the only edge he's got, really. And afterwards he'd take her shopping, to show off his money some more. Probably give her a ride on his expensive broom back here."
Ginny shook her head. "No, he knows that money doesn't impress her. Besides, he's been brought up not to flash cash quite like that. It's too New Money. Besides, there's no expensive restaurant in Hogsmeade. Come on, who'd go there? It would go out of business in a matter of days."
"So what do you think's going on?" Ron asked dully.
"I think," Ginny thought, "that he'd go for the romantic angle. Oh, the money would still help, but I think he'd play more on the family name, especially since he has no family any more, not really. He'd get a bit of pity that way.
"So he'd take her to Madam Puddifoot's, because that's the place to go for Valentine's, and buy her those really creamy buns and hot chocolate and so on. He'd probably give her something then, a little something, maybe some expensive chocolates made by a company his family have ties with. He'd use those connections in Madam Puddifoot's, too, to get that table next to the window in the corner on the second floor, the one almost no one gets because it's the most secluded with the best view.
"They'd talk about his family, and he'd say something about how, with most girls, he'd have done what Harry suggested. He'd imply Hermione was special, and that he likes her for who she is. He'd talk about how she knows him better than anyone else does as well. They'll do a lot of talking, because it's what they do.
"Then he'll take her outside again, and tell her that he'd really thought about what they were going to do, and decided to do something simple. They'd go up to those meadows on the path up to the Shrieking Shack and he'd pick wild flowers for her and recite poetry. Probably Muggle poetry, to show how much he's changed."
"Wait, what meadows?" Ron frowned.
"The fields," Harry said.
"What, those really scabby ones where only dead grass grows?" Ron frowned. "And besides, it's February. Not only will there be no wild flowers, but the whole place will be a huge boggy mess. Heh," he laughed bitterly, "I hope they do go there. Malfoy will be sucked into the peat and never seen again."
"Well, the idea still stands," Ginny pouted. "He'd be romantic."
"What do you think they're doing?" Harry asked Ron.
"I told you," he said roughly. "Having mad hot passionate-"
"-teen sex," Ginny finished for him
"He could have used a spell to seduce her," Ron said sulkily.
Harry and Ginny exchanged a look. Ron was being swallowed by the old arm chair, arms folded, knees drawn up, face a mass of shadows. His voice was bitter and envious. Ginny wondered if this was the way Ron had felt when he told Draco he was dying, and whether he'd do the same again and not suffer the regret this time.
"So what would you have done?" Ginny asked softly.
Ron sighed and leant his head back. Stretching out, legs unfolding like some complicated machinery and he folded his hands behind his head.
"We would have gone to the bookshop," he said calmly. "I'd have a bag with me, but I wouldn't tell her what was in it, and I wouldn't let her guess. When we got to the bookshop, I'd get out my copy of 'Hogwarts, A History' while she browsed. I'd exchange my copy for the new and revised edition, which I'd give to Hermione.
"She'd want to read it immediately. Instead, I'd take it back from her and put it in my bag. She'd object to me carrying it for her, but I'd insist because I'd have a bag and she wouldn't. Then we'd start walking.
"The weather's not been as good as it could be recently, but the path I'd take is more rocky than earth, so it wouldn't be too muddy. She'd be wearing sensible shoes, because she's Hermione. She might get a bit chilly, so I'd lend her my coat. She'd laugh, because it's cliché, but she'd accept it. It would take us about an hour to reach my planned destination. I'd let her go first, and just before we got there I'd take a camera out of my bag.
"I'd take her picture while she was still staring. See, I'd have taken her to the footpath pass between this and the next valley. It's empty of people, but there's a lake to rival Hogwarts' there and the scenery is beautiful. It's where dad took mum on their first date."
Ginny sighed dreamily.
"I'd open the bag then, properly, and I'd have brought a picnic. Mostly sensible food, because you can't take cream buns up a mountain, but there would be a few sweet treats. Nothing too Valentiney. She'd want to know where I'd got it from, and I'd tell her truthfully that it was the house-elves, but I'd have asked just Dobby and Winky and Mitty if she's still around and willing to help a Weasley, and any other help would have been volunteered. She can't object to voluntary work; it's unpaid anyway. And we'd eat the picnic and read 'Hogwarts, a History' and take each other's pictures and lots of pictures of the view on both sides, the other valley and our valley.
"We'd leave before it got dark, but because it still gets dark quite early by the time we reached Hogsmeade again it would probably be dusk. We'd got to the Three Broomsticks for a pick-me-up before the trek back to the castle. We'd pay half and half, because Hermione thinks it's not fair for men to pay for everything. The only way she'd agree to that would be if I told her she could pay for everything on the next date. I'd bring that up, but we'd probably agree to half-and-half anyway.
"We'd have dinner there; they do a good hotpot that's real value for money. We'd share a desert. I could have taken her to Madam Puddifoot's, but that's all too sweet and sickly for Hermione. Not her kind of place at all. You two would probably be down at the Broomsticks as well, so when we were done eating the four of us could walk back together. Hermione would be enthusing about the picnic and the views, and I'd probably hold her hand, if she let me."
Ron sighed heavily. Ginny bit her lip hard and surreptitiously swiped tears from her eyes. Harry looked slightly stunned. The three sat in silence until the portrait door could be heard creaking, and Hermione, flushed from the sudden change from cold to hot and smiling shyly, slipped through.
Ron glanced at the clock on the wall. "You're back later than I'd thought you'd be," he said, voice very carefully level. To his relief, her clothes were clean and the buttons still in place.
"We ate at the Three Broomsticks," Hermione explained awkwardly.
"You missed a nice dinner," Ginny said. "Roast duck."
"Oh, pity," Hermione said. She didn't look unduly upset.
"So what did you two do?" Ron asked.
If it had been anyone else, Hermione would have ducked the question to spare Ron's feelings, but apparently he didn't want his feelings spared. Still, better to play down quite how much she'd enjoyed herself.
"We went to the bookshop first, then for a walk and a picnic. After that, we came back, had dinner, and then he walked me back here." Hermione rocked nervously on her heels. Harry wasn't looking at her, and Ginny looked like Hermione had just said Draco had taken her into the Forbidden Forest and raped her.
"Did you have fun?" Ron asked, voice strange. He sounded, to Hermione's mind, almost desperate. And she couldn't lie, no matter how much he wanted to hear her say she'd hated it all.
"Yes," Hermione said. "It was very pleasant."
"I'm glad," Ron said, voice relieved.
Hermione frowned at him in confusion and sighed. "Thank you," she said, sentiment heartfelt. "I'm a bit tired after all that walking, so I guess I'll see you all tomorrow." She smiled weakly and left the small party, hugging her new copy of 'Hogwarts, A History' to her chest and trying not to look at them.
Harry, Ron and Ginny exchanged looks.
"You still know her better," Harry offered. "And at least we know that it would definitely have been a good date."
Ron gave him a cold, dark look.