Chapter 7

"What are we looking for again?" The red-headed girl asked her friend.

"A wedding gift, Ginny." Hermione sighed.

"Right, and what kind of wedding gift?"

"I don't know, that's why you're here helping me decide."

The two girls were in muggle London shopping inside a fancy boutique. Ginny had been complaining about how Hermione never spent anytime with her anymore. So, Hermione decided to ask Ginny to go shopping for a wedding gift with her during the weekend. So far, they found nothing. As the hours dragged, she came to the conclusion that searching for a wedding gift was much harder than any exams she'd ever taken. She would take the exams over shopping any day.

"So…you never told me how your date with Malfoy went." Ginny said, slyly.

"It wasn't really a date. I was just his date for his mother's party..." Hermione said; kind of confused by her own statement.

"It was a date."

Hermione frowned at her friend, but sighed in defeat.

"It was fine. I had a good time. Mrs. Malfoy was very kind. I'm planning on visiting her sometime soon with Draco." Hermione said. Ginny suddenly stopped dead in her tracks and stared at her friend. Hermione turned around when she noticed that Ginny had stopped walking. "What?" She asked.

"You do realize that you called Malfoy by his first name?"

"Yes. And your point is?"

"I just can't believe that it's come to this, first name status. I still remember how much you hated him for being a big pain in the arse. As a matter of fact, he still is one!" Ginny replied as they resumed walking.

"Well, he was at first, but after a while he's actually not that bad."

"I'm still not convinced."

"Maybe if you got to know him better you'll change your mind about him."

"Yeah, right, like that's ever going to happen." Ginny snorted and walked into one of the end isles. Hermione just laughed and shook her head.

After another hour of searching and coming up with nothing, Hermione decided to just give up for the day. Both girls were completely famished by that time anyways, so they stopped by a pizza parlor down the street from where they were shopping before heading home. The pizza parlor was completely packed when they arrived. It was getting annoying how long they had to wait for a table and it didn't help that at this point both of them were starving, but just as they were about to leave the waiter came and escorted them to a table for two.

"Goodness, I've never seen such a small restaurant filled with so many people before." Ginny commented as they sat down and the waiter gave them two glasses of water.

"Yeah, I don't usually get this impatient, but I'm so hungry." Hermione said and sipped her water.

"Me too." Ginny nodded.

They ordered a medium cheese pizza to share. The pizza came a moment later and both girls' mouths started to water when they smelt the pizza coming. They each took a slice and ate in silence. At the moment, it was the most delicious thing Hermione had ever eaten. The second slice was even better as she felt herself getting full.

"So, how are things with you and Harry?" Hermione asked as she finished the second slice of pizza and dabbed her mouth with a napkin.

"We're…fine…" Ginny didn't sound convincing and she was looking down at her plate, playing with the half bitten pizza crust. Hermione raised her eyes.

"Are you sure?"

"I…I mean, I love him completely and I know that he loves me too and I want to be with him for the rest of my life…it's just…"

"Just what…?"

"It's just he's never home!" Ginny said with frustration in her voice, "And I can't travel with him as much anymore since I got my new job. I miss him like crazy all the time. It always hurts me to see him leave and stay gone for so long. I can't sleep at night sometimes because I'm always thinking about him."

"Oh, Ginny," Hermione hugged her friend, "Have you talking to Harry about this at all?"

"No…"

"And why is that?"

"He loves Quidditch and I don't want him to have to feel guilty every time he leaves. He needs to be concentrating on the game, not worrying about me."

"I think you should talk to Harry. It would be good to have him know how you're feeling."

"I know." Ginny sighed.

"Do you want me to talk to him?"

"No, it's better if I do. I'll talk to him about it when he comes home…whenever that is. I just can't wait to see him and spend time with him."

A small smile appeared on Ginny's face and Hermione smiled back, but on the inside she sighed sadly. Everyone had a love life, but her.

They sat a few minutes longer and the waiter brought them a take home box to pack their leftover pizza. Ginny paid for their bill, although Hermione protested it. Ginny waved her off and said that she could pay for the next meal. They got up to leave as they talked more about wedding gifts. When they reached the door, Hermione had her head turned to the side, trying to hear what Ginny was saying over the loud voices from the overly crowded restaurant, and was about to walk out when she bumped into the person walking in.

"Sorry!" Both Hermione and the person who walked in exclaimed.

Hermione looked up and felt herself swoon when she saw a tall, gorgeous man in front of her. She stared at his attractive face and thought that she recognized him from somewhere, but she couldn't quite put her finger on who he was. The man looked down at her and a smile appeared on his handsome face. Hermione blushed and smiled back.

"Hermione Granger." The man said, amused. Apparently the man recognized her too.

And then it hit her. She could recognize that voice anywhere.

"Cormac McLaggen." Hermione replied back.

Cormac hadn't changed much since Hermione last saw him some years ago, though he was much taller than she remembered. She did, however, remember how attractive he was, although she didn't admit it back then, and even now he was as handsome as ever. McLaggen was definitely blessed in the looks department.

"And Miss Weasley." Cormac greeted Ginny. There was no response and Hermione looked over to her friend to see her gaping at him. Cormac raised his eyes at her, but then laughed. Hermione couldn't help, but laugh along with him, a little embarrassed for her friend.

"Fancy seeing you here, Cormac." Hermione said to him.

"I don't usually hang around in Muggle London, but I'm meeting up with a friend who…" Cormac looked over Hermione's shoulder searching for someone, "is sitting over there, right on time."

"Well, we're on our way out anyways. Good seeing you, Cormac."

"You too, Hermione…and Ginny."

Ginny just nodded which made Hermione and Cormac laugh again. Hermione grabbed Ginny's hand and was about to head out of the pizza parlor when Cormac called her name.

"Hey, Hermione?"

"Yes?" Hermione turned around when she heard him.

"Would you like to have dinner with me tomorrow night? You know, just to catch up with things?"

"Oh, um…sure."

"Great. I'll owl you later this evening." Cormac gave her one last smile before he walked off.

Hermione smiled at his retreating back and walked out to find Ginny sitting on the bench right outside.

"Oh my goodness, Hermione, did you see how good looking McLaggen was?" Ginny asked.

"Yes! I would be blind if I didn't." Hermione laughed. "My, he definitely is a sight for sore eyes."

"And you've got a date with him! Lucky girl you are, Hermione. I'm jealous." Ginny winked. Hermione laughed.

"I just hope he's changed from when I last associated myself with him. I don't think I'd be able to sit through dinner if he's going to be bragging about himself all night."

"Who cares? You'll just be staring at his beautiful face all night anyways."

Hermione playfully shoved her in the arm as they began to walk down the street, though she didn't deny Ginny's assumption. Hermione smiled. She was looking forward to tomorrow night, indeed.

"I can't believe you're ditching your friends for a date with Cormac McLaggen!" Pansy said.

She stood in Hermione's bedroom door, watching her friend get ready. Pansy had tried to get Hermione to ditch her date all day. She even tried to tell her that she'll be cooking dinner the muggle way and by herself, again, and that if Hermione didn't have dinner with them that night she'd be missing out on a delicious meal.

Hermione nearly laughed, but kept her composure. She did, however, ask why she's so intent on having her ditch her date. Of course Pansy didn't want to tell her the real reason (which was she didn't want Hermione to go on a date with Cormac because she wanted her to be with Draco). So instead, Pansy decided to go with the excuse that Cormac is an arrogant, self-centered git.

"Maybe he's changed. I'm giving him a chance, Pans." Hermione had said to her.

"Fine!" Pansy had pretended to be mad when Hermione said that, but the charade didn't last very long, hence the fact that Pansy was standing in her bedroom door at that moment.

"It's only for tonight. Besides, we're only having dinner to catch up with things." Hermione said, looking at Pansy through the mirror she was standing in front of.

"I didn't know you two were so close."

"We're not."

"Why can't he just come here and have dinner with all of us instead?"

"Pans…"

"Okay, okay, fine." Pansy threw her hands up in defeat. Hermione sighed and shook her head. She walked into her bathroom to finish getting ready. When she came out, Pansy was still there, sitting on her bed and holding on to Hermione's little stuffed bear.

"You look nice." Pansy mumbled.

"Thanks!" Hermione smiled.

Hermione wore a red skirt that came down to her knees with a black v-neck top. Her hair was a lot more tamed in light waves. She wore a little make-up, which she learned how to put on thanks to Pansy. Hermione looked at herself in the mirror once last time and nodded in satisfaction.

"When are you leaving?" Pansy asked, getting up from the bed and walking to stand next to Hermione.

"Now. We scheduled to meet at the restaurant in five minutes."

"When will you be back?"

"Not sure, but I won't be back too late."

"Be back by eleven or I'll send out a search team for you." Pansy slightly joked.

"Okay, mother." Hermione said with sarcasm in her tone of voice. Pansy let out a laugh.

Hermione gave Pansy a quick hug before walking out the front door. Pansy sighed and walked into the kitchen to cook dinner. And no, she didn't cook the muggle way. After she summoned for potatoes and pasta with her wand to make dinner, which she also used her wand, Draco and Blaise knocked on the door. She went to let them in and they headed into the dining room to eat.

"Where's Hermione?" Blaise asked when they sat down and her seat was empty.

"Oh, she's on a date." Pansy replied.

"A date?" Draco asked with a questioning look on his face.

He didn't believe it.

"Yes, a date, with Cormac McLaggen. You guys remember him, right?"

"McLaggen?!" Draco exclaimed.

Although Draco had never really met him, he had heard that Cormac McLaggen was a pretty haughty guy. He didn't know much about him, though. All he really knew about Cormac was the fact that he was on the Gryffindor Quidditch team and caused his team to lose against Hufflepuff, which Draco didn't mind very much, but he still didn't like the guy especially now that he had taken Hermione on a date.

"She went on date with that arrogant, little bugger?" Blaise asked.

"That's what I said." Pansy mumbled.

"I thought she found him rather annoying?"

"She said he could have changed since Hogwarts and wants to give him a chance."

Draco snorted at Pansy's comment, but then suddenly found himself not as hungry as he was before the news of Hermione's date with Cormac. He set down his fork unknowingly and stared at his plate.

"Is something wrong with the food, Draco?" Pansy asked, noticing his odd behavior.

"No, it's fine." Draco mumbled.

"Then why aren't you eating?"

"I'm not very hungry."

"You said you were starving before we got here, mate." Blaise commented as he took a bite of mashed potatoes.

Draco glared at him.

"Are you upset about Hermione's date with McLaggen, Draco?" Pansy asked.

"No. I don't care that Hermione is on a date. Why should I? She can do whatever she wants."

"Dra.." Pansy was about to say otherwise when Draco interrupted her.

"Look, I'm eating, see," Draco took a bite out of his pasta and pointed to his chewing mouth and swallowed. "Now stop badgering me."

Pansy sighed and let him be. She knew that he, no matter what he says, was quite upset about Hermione not being there.

The day after Narcissa's party, while they were at work, Hermione had told her about what happened after she and Blaise went inside the house and left her and Draco outside. She told her about the kiss on the cheek, and about them being on a first name basis, which actually meant a lot coming from the both of them. By what she had heard, Pansy thought that Hermione and Draco would be getting closer to becoming more than just friends, but apparently not, no thanks to Cormac McLaggen.

So now, here Draco sat, not admitting that he was feeling down. He hid it well to the ignorant eye, but to Pansy, well, she knew what he was feeling without even looking at him, eating at the pace of a snail. And Draco continued to eat, but still kept his stare at his plate and remained quiet throughout dinner.

(Meanwhile…)

Hermione arrived in front of the restaurant and spun around looking for Cormac. Upon searching for him, she noticed that all the men and women dining there were dressed nicely. In fact, they were all wearing suits and gowns. Hermione suddenly felt very much under dressed for this place, with her skirt and casual top, and was contemplating on going back home to change when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning around, she found herself face to face with Cormac, who was also dressed in a nice suit. She looked him up and down and blushed. She definitely felt under dressed now, standing next to him, and quite embarrassed, too.

"Hello." She greeted him, looking down at her shuffling feet.

"Hermione, is something the matter?" Cormac asked, looking down at her head.

"Um…you didn't tell me that we were supposed to dress up for this place." Hermione said, shyly. Cormac chuckled.

"I'm sorry. I thought you knew."

"Nope, I've never been here before."

"Would you like to go somewhere else?"

"But you're dressed so nicely…" Hermione sighed, "It's okay. We'll just eat here."

"Are you sure?" Cormac asked. Hermione smiled and nodded her head. "Alright, but just to let you know, you look lovely tonight. You don't need an extravagant dress to prove so."

"Thank you." Hermione smiled.

"Shall we?" Cormac offered his arm to Hermione, in which she accepted.

They walked into the restaurant and they host showed them to their table. Hermione looked at the menu and her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when she saw the price. Cormac glanced at her at the right moment and he nearly laughed. Hermione bit her bottom lip, not quite sure what she should order.

"Order anything you want. Dinner is on me." Cormac said to her when he saw the worry in her eyes. Hermione looked up at him.

"Everything is so expensive." She whispered.

"Don't worry about it." He whispered back.

Just then, their waiter came with a bottle of wine.

"Mr. McLaggen, here is your favorite wine." the waiter said as he put the bottle in the ice bucket.

"Thank you, Jacques. We're actually ready to order now. I'll have the usual." Cormac said, handing the waiter his menu.

"Yes, of course, and for the lady?" Jacques asked, looking at Hermione.

"Um, I'll have whatever he's having." Hermione said and handed him the menu.

"Very well, then. Dinner will be here shortly." Jacques said and walked away from the table.

"What did you order?" Hermione asked. She didn't want to be surprised when her dinner came.

"The Fillet Mignon with a baked potato and a side of vegetables."

"That's one of the most expensive dishes on the menu!" Hermione exclaimed. Cormac just shrugged and smiled. "It's your usual, you come here a lot?"

"Not really, I rarely eat here, but I order the same thing every time I do eat here."

"And the waiters remember you and what you always order?"

"They should. I own this restaurant."

"What?" Hermione nearly choked on her wine.

"Is it hard to believe?" Cormac laughed.

"Well, no, but it's just that I had no idea."

"Well, now you do." Cormac took a sip of his wine. "Okay, enough about me, how about you? You probably own a multi-million company or something, the smartest witch of our age."

Hermione snorted.

"Actually, I work at a small book shop owned by Pansy Parkinson and Draco Malfoy."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, and the only reason they hired me was probably because they felt bad for me."

"And why did they feel sorry for you?"

"I got fired from my old job and then kicked out of my old flat."

"Sorry about that."

"No worries. Let's not talk about it and leave the past to the past."

Cormac nodded.

Dinner arrived shortly after and they began to eat their meal. They chatted a little while they ate and Hermione was quite surprised, and glad, to see that Cormac had changed from his arrogant-self back in Hogwarts. He didn't brag about himself once. He was always asking Hermione about what's going on in her life and what her particular interests were. He was actually very kind and spoke very little about himself, something that Hermione wasn't expecting from him.

He even mentioned Harry and Ron and their Quidditch season. Apparently, he has been to a few of their games. They met up a couple of times afterward to have coffee or dinner. It seemed he held no more grudges against her two best friends and vice versa.

"Like you said before, leave the past to the past." He had told her when she questioned him about it.

After they finished dinner, Hermione opted for no dessert since she was completely stuffed. Cormac stood up after the waiter cleared their table and walked over to Hermione. He stuck his hand out for her to take while Hermione stared at him.

"Ready?" He asked her.

"Wait, don't we ha…" Hermione drifted off when she realized something. She was about to inform him that they hadn't paid for dinner. She had forgotten that Cormac was the owner of the restaurant for a second.

"Don't we what?" Cormac asked, hand still in front of him, empty.

Hermione shook her head and placed her hand in his as she got up from her seat.

"Nothing, nevermind." She said.

They walked out of the restaurant into the cool night. It was a beautiful night out, where the stars shown brightly and the moon was full. The streets were filled with people, as the weather was nice enough to be outside. The street lights added another effect as Hermione and Cormac walked down the street. It was awfully quiet between the two as they absently walked around the town. Hermione was looking at the windows of the different shops they passed by when she was startled by Cormac, who grabbed her hand suddenly.

"Sorry, did I scare you?" Cormac chuckled.

"A little." Hermione admitted.

"I promise not to do that next time."

"Next time? And what makes you think there will be a next time? Are you asking me on another date?" Hermione asked, with a sly smile growing on her face.

"My, my, Hermione, I'm glad to see you haven't lost your smarts." Cormac said, returning the sly smile. Hermione lightly pushed him in a joking manner with her smiled still placed firmly on her face. "So, what do you say? Will you go on another date with me?"

"I don't know. I didn't really have a good time on this date." Hermione joked.

"Oh really…?" Cormac said, knowing full well that she was messing with him. "Well, I promise that the next date will be better."

"My, my, Cormac," Hermione imitated him, "Making more promises? I hope you're good at keeping them."

"Of course, I am." Cormac said, flashing the most charming smile she had ever seen and her knees nearly melted.

"Hm…" Hermione pursed her lips to the side and tapped her finger on her chin in a thinking manner. Cormac lightly took her hand away from her face and set it down to her side.

"Please go on another date with me, Hermione." He said seriously.

"Okay."

Cormac's charming smiled returned when she accepted and they started to walk down the street, again, his hand still holding hers. Hermione smiled. Maybe finally, she'll be able to have the one thing missing from her heart all these years. Love.

A/N: I don't usually do this, but I put a lot of time and effort into this story and I would like to see more responses, so all I'm asking is at least 10 reviews for this chapter before I go ahead and post the next one. Could you guys do that for me? :]

Thank you to those who've left me a review already! I appreciate every single one of them.

-CHIBZ