Oh, Hermione is starting to admit her feelings! Yay! But what is she going to do with this new knowledge? And what about the dates? Is she still going? What's happening? Keep reading to discover ;)
Hermione wasn't ready to admit to herself that she had a crush on Theo yet, so she decided to continue going on dates while she thought about it. Even though all of her dates had been horrible, she wasn't willing to quit just yet. She didn't know if Theo felt the same way about her, so she couldn't wait for him to admit something she wasn't sure about herself.
"The way you try to convince yourself is something else, Hermione," she murmured to herself. "Why can't you be normal for once?"
"Are you talking to yourself again? It's the first sign of dementia, you know?" Draco's voice snapped her from her ramblings. "We're going to lose you at such a young age."
"Shut up, Draco!" Hermione snapped, but she couldn't stop smiling. "Why are you here? Don't you have any work to do?"
Hermione had to finish organizing the files for a case she was working on before she had to leave for her date. Working always relaxed her, and since she was freaking out over her date, she thought she could also be productive.
"Our firms are going to work together again on the Murdock case," Draco said as he threw himself into the chair in front of her. "What's got you so worked up that you needed to talk to yourself?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Hermione huffed, shuffled her files and reorganised them, trying to ignore the look Draco was giving her. "It's all fine; there's no problem."
"You forget that we have been friends for a long time, and I know how to read your actions," Draco growled as Hermione glared at him. "You're worried about your date today, aren't you?"
"Perhaps, but not for the reason you may think," Hermione muttered and looked at him. "Do you think you can fall in love with someone you've just met?"
Draco didn't respond immediately, appearing to think over what she had asked. That was why she hadn't said anything to Ginny or Blaise, knowing that their intentions were good, but they often said whatever came to mind at the time. Draco, on the other hand, seemed to think about it before he gave his opinion.
"I believe it can happen, especially if you're talking about someone whom you could see yourself spending your entire life with." Draco had a soft smile on his face, and Hermione knew he was thinking of a certain redhead. "It's not something I can answer; you need to think about it and look inside yourself."
"Thank you," Hermione replied softly, realizing Draco had answered without noticing it. "You've helped me more than you realize."
"You can rely on me any time, Mione." Draco stood up and walked to her door. "I hope you have a great time today, and this date is everything you have hoped for."
As Hermione thanked Draco and went back to work, she felt lighter and decided to face her date with an open heart and let his actions speak for themselves.
"Did you know, according to a study done by Plymouth University and the National Marine Aquarium, people who spend time in aquariums improve their physical and mental well being?" Cedric said while they were entering the aquarium and Hermione thought that she was finally going to have a good date.
"Yes, I've heard about that. I always wanted to come here, but I never found the time to visit before." Hermione was smiling at seeing so many different fishes around them. "It's so interesting how they could find so many species and help protect them."
"I see what you mean. Around the world, 1,173 species of fish face extinction worldwide due to a variety of factors," Cedric continued, speaking like he was teaching Hermione. "It's good that they have researchers to help them."
She tried not to be bothered by the way he spoke to her like she was a toddler. Hermione knew a lot about fish, but she wasn't going to sprout them like Cedric was.
"You know a lot about fishes," Hermione said with a small smile. "But you didn't tell me what you worked with or any other interest that you may have."
"I'm a biology researcher at my old university," Cedric said with a smile as he approached one of the tanks they were walking past. "Did you know that fish can drown? They can't breathe water, but they still have the ability to drown."
"Wow, I never knew that," Hermione deadpanned, biting her lip. "I'm a lawyer, just so you know."
Cedric began to sprout facts about fishes every ten seconds as Hermione walked around with him in the aquarium. Initially, it was endearing, but now she was just tired; she didn't know anything about Cedric, but now she knew that 'You can eat lampreys in Europe, here in Britain you can cook them into pies.'
"It's fascinating, isn't it? I love learning new things about fishes and every other marine specimen," Cedric said, one hour later when they sat down to eat something. "An aquarium date was an amazing idea, Hermione."
"I've had some ideas like this before," Hermione murmured, looking at her menu. "I'm not sure if I should order a sandwich or a seafood salad."
"Their seafood salad is amazing. You must try it," Cedric said, looking over his menu, but before Hermione could ask more, he continued, "You know the earliest fishes were mouthless, and scientists weren't certain of the advantages of jawed mouths."
Trying to sound like she was interested in what he said, Hermione hummed over what he said, but by now, she regretted coming today. Cedric wasn't a jerk; he was only focused on one field.
"Is this your first time at Sea Life London Aquarium or have you been here before?" Cedric asked while they ate. "This is one of my favourite aquariums."
"Have you been to any other aquariums?" Hermione inquired, hoping to gain some time. "I've been here once when I was on an excursion from school."
Cedric was looking at her with an unreadable expression on his face. "It's very different from when you visited, because I know they've made some changes to the fish tanks. In answer to your question, yes, I have visited other aquariums while I was studying. This one is still my favourite."
With a forced smile on her face, Hermione said, "I'm glad we met in your favourite aquarium then." She excused herself to go to the bathroom.
Hermione couldn't leave fast enough, knowing that it was childish to hide in the bathroom. However, she needed a break from all of the fishing talk, and she didn't want to be impolite to someone as nice as Cedric.
She considered calling Ginny or one of the boys, but she knew they would make fun of her. Taking a deep breath and giving herself a small pep talk, Hermione left the bathroom, deciding to try one more time with Cedric.
"Hermione, I hope you don't mind, but one of my colleagues walked by and I invited her to sit with us." Cedric's smile was so wide that Hermione didn't want to remind him of their date. "Susan, this is Hermione Granger. Hermione, this is Susan Bones."
As Hermione shook hands with the pretty redhead, she couldn't help but feel envious of the way Cedric was looking at Susan. She wished Theo—someone—would look at her the same way.
"You would never believe, Ced, but I was reading 'A Song of Ice and Fire' and found the character Lord Wyman Manderly, who is nicknamed Lord Lamprey for his love of lamprey pie. Can you believe that?" Susan's smile was so wide Hermione felt that she was intruding on their moment.
"Really? This is awesome, Susie!" Cedric said with a glint in his eyes. "I just told Hermione about how you can find lamprey in some pies here in Britain."
Hermione murmured, "What a coincidence," but it didn't appear that they heard her. She said a bit louder, "Thank you for the nice date and dinner, Cedric, but I need to leave. I've got a big case review tomorrow."
"Oh, I interrupted your date? I'm so sorry, but it wasn't my intention," Susan began to apologise, and Hermione could see how sorry she was. "I should be heading out and—"
"No, please! Don't worry, you can stay. I'll be going," Hermione said with a small smile in her direction. "Thank you again, Cedric.
As she started to walk away, Cedric jogged after her and stopped her. "Hermione, you don't have to leave. I had a great time."
She smiled and kissed Cedric's cheek. "I think you'll have even more fun with Susan than you would with me," Hermione said. "Just ask her out."
A smile spread across Cedric's face as he looked at her. "Thanks, Hermione. You're a good person."
Cedric returned to the table Susan was waiting at. She did not want to watch them any longer, so she left.
"Even though I may not have the greatest luck on my dates, I'm a damn good Cupid," Hermione murmured quietly to herself as she left the aquarium. She contemplated the bottle of wine she would drink to forget the entire night.