Both Hermione and Draco were ready for their date. Of course, Draco didn't know it was a date; he just thought it was someone's party. Nonetheless, he'd dressed up smartly. He wore a red shirt with black pants; it looked like part of a suit without the jacket. His shoes were a shiny, polished black, and his hair was combed and fell down the side of his face, slightly over his eyes. Hermione had on a red dress that stopped just before her knees. Her hair was held up in a clip, but still brushed over her neck, and her shoes were black flats. She and Draco matched, and Hermione was glad. They'd look out of place in a restaurant if Draco had worn something different.
She looked back at Blaise and raised an eyebrow. "Remember what I told you," she said. Blaise nodded and gave a slight roll of his eyes to show that he'd heard her. Although, since he was Blaise, Hermione couldn't be sure if he'd keep his promise or not. She'd know if he hadn't by the time she got in, but then it would more than likely be too late. Blaise tended to go bed when he'd done something he shouldn't—either that or lock himself in the bathroom.
Hermione turned back to Draco. "You look nice. Are you ready to leave?" She was going to drive them down; after all, she didn't plan on drinking.
"You look marvellous," Draco said with a small wink. "Let's go."
Hermione linked her fingers through Draco's and walked with him to the door, picking up her keys as she walked past the table. She waved goodbye to Blaise before shutting the door, one hand still locked in Draco's. She smiled at him as she led him down to the car. It was good to be doing something different, something he didn't know about. It was not only a surprise for him, it also got her out of the house. It was perfect.
She didn't want him to know where she was taking him, but it couldn't be helped; it wasn't like she could blindfold him until they arrived. Well…she could, but she wasn't going to. He'd guess anyway. He was clever when it was something he wanted to know, and with a blindfold on his curiosity would be piqued. It was best to avoid that.
Draco, as he always did upon entering the car, strapped his seatbelt on and adjusted it slightly so it didn't rub his neck. He was intrigued as to where they were going, but he wasn't going to ask. He was still thinking about what he could do for Hermione tomorrow night. It had to be something good. He could do a few things all in the same night, so that was helpful. He didn't want to be stuck doing the same thing all the time. Maybe he could plan one date every weekend, give them some "excitement", who knew? He didn't want Hermione to think being married to him meant she had to always stay at home, and they never got to do much anyway. He knew Hermione never said anything about it, but he couldn't help wonder if she was fed up with it.
Hermione kept her eyes on the road the whole way, not looking at Draco. She knew her own expression was excited and it might spark Draco's curiosity even more. After all, he wouldn't think she'd be that excited about going to a party—why would she be when she was getting married in less than a month? A party was nothing compared to that. She was excited about getting out of the house for once, and doing something with the person she loved.
She turned into a car park, and Draco looked out of the window to see where they were. He wondered why anyone would hold a party here. Or maybe he'd got the wrong idea about what kind of party it was to be. Maybe it was a dinner party, bcause they were currently parked outside a restaurant. He looked at Hermione, who turned and smiled brightly at him, her eyes lit up. He grinned back at her and unclipped his belt. She copied his movements and they both stepped out of the car.
Draco walked around to where Hermione stood and picked up her hand again. "Was this your plan?" he asked, wondering if she'd been having the same ideas he had.
"You could say that," she whispered with a shrug. "I just thought it'd do us good to get out of the house."
Draco didn't say anything; instead he grinned at Hermione and leaned down, kissing her softly. "You're amazing," he told her as he straightened back up. He was somewhat taller than Hermione; she wasn't short, but was not as tall as him. He liked being tall and Hermione liked being short; they matched in most ways, although they were nothing alike.
"We should go in," Hermione said, checking her wristwatch. Their reservation was in five minutes. Draco nodded and they walked inside, his hand still clasping hers. Hermione, being the one who had made the reservations, walked up to the hostess and gave her the name "Malfoy". Hermione had been a little bit sneaky. The Malfoy name wasn't feared any more, and when the Dark Lord went down it had lost most of respectability, but Draco had managed to build it back up. Hermione had gotten the reservation on short notice, and quickly, thanks to that last name. It wasn't like her to use his name to gain an advantage, but desperate times called for desperate measures. She wanted to give Draco a good date—he deserved it. He had been so good to her these last six years, and he'd proved that men can change.
They were led to their table and Draco pulled out Hermione's chair, relieving the maitre d' of that job. She smiled warmly at him and took the seat he offered her. Her eyes connected with his as he sat down opposite her. She'd never felt so much love for any one person as she did Draco. Harry and Ron –that was a different kind of love, and not quite as strong as what she felt for Draco although it was still quite strong for a friendship.
The maitre d' left them two menus and told them someone would be around to take their order shortly. They nodded and turned back to each other.
"How long have you had this planned?" Draco asked, a soft smile playing on his lips.
"Truthfully?" Hermione asked. "Since yesterday."
"Wow, you did it fast!"
"I know…I wasn't sure I'd be able to do this, and I was afraid I'd have to think of something else."
Draco didn't reply, he just smiled again. There was nothing to say; at least now he knew what he couldn't do on his date. He couldn't take her for a meal, because Hermione had already done that for them. He felt a lot of respect and love for this woman. She'd obviously gone out of her way to make sure they got to do something special together, even when she was also busy with the wedding plans and keeping everyone involved with those happy. She didn't even seem to be under any stress; it was as if it all came naturally to her.
The maitre d' was true to his word; in just a few minutes a young man walked over to them with a confident smile on his face and asked to take their orders. Draco instantly disliked the man. He seemed too cocky and self-assured. And Draco definitely didn't like the way he smiled at Hermione. Draco's left hand reached across the table – making sure his ring was visible – and touched Hermione's hand, the pad of his finger running over the small ring perched on her finger. Hermione rolled her eyes at him, perfectly well aware of what he was doing and why he was doing it. Jeez, men were so possessive and paranoid!
The waiter seemed to get the message and looked Draco up and down as if evaluating him. Draco seriously wanted to get up and hit him, but he knew that would be a stupid thing to do, even for him. He didn't want to cause a scene, and it would spoil the date Hermione had spent time arranging; and he would really feel mean if he ruined it. It would be like slapping her in the face, only without the whole slapping-her part. Okay so maybe that didn't make much sense, but in Draco's head it did. At least at first.
They both ordered and the waiter walked off, but Draco saw him look back over his shoulder at Hermione. Draco felt he was going to get seriously annoyed with the fellow if he carried on. Couldn't he tell that Hermione wasn't interested in him and that they were happy together, or was it not really obvious? Draco wasn't sure, but if the waiter did one more thing wrong, tomorrow he was going to feel Draco's wrath. He obviously couldn't start a fight on their date, but he'd come back tomorrow – and drag Blaise with him as lookout to make sure no one saw his "interview" with the waiter.
"Don't over-think it, Draco." Hermione's voice broke through his thoughts. She was worried that he would cause a scene on their date. Besides, the waiter was only a teenager; he stood no chance, he was nothing compared to Draco. Draco was too paranoid, and if he thought Hermione would leave him for some barely-graduated teenager, he really didn't know her as well as well he thought he did.
Draco didn't say a word until their food came. If he was to be truthful, he was scared he might shout at Hermione, taking his anger out on her when she'd gone to all this trouble. In fact, Draco never liked to fighting with her; he always felt guilty afterwards and wished he could take his words back. Hermione had always forgiven him in the past, but sometimes he felt she was too forgiving. She'd forgiven every bad thing about him, which even he had to admit was a lot. He'd done a lot of bad things to her in the past, and she'd just waved them away. Seven years of torment had given way to eight years of bliss.
Sure, during the six years they'd argued, like every couple did, and even threatened to leave each other. There was added stress from other people, mainly the ones who still tried to worship Voldemort. The heir of Slytherin, these felt, should not be interested in a "lowly Gryffindor". But Draco and Hermione had managed to stay together through it all, and it seemed like nothing would be able to split them up now.
Hermione wound the napkin around her hands and watched Draco. He seemed to be calming down, but she couldn't tell; he wasn't speaking, which made her even more confused. Was he mad at her? She wasn't sure, but she was distracted from her thoughts when a different waiter brought over their food. She sighed, grateful that it wasn't the first one. That might just be enough to make Draco snap, and it was best for everyone if that didn't happen.
"Thank you," Draco said to the waiter as the dishes were placed in front of them, and Hermione was sure he wasn't just saying thank you for the food but also for not letting the other waiter come back.
The waiter nodded and walked back to the kitchen, leaving Draco and Hermione to eat in peace.
They didn't speak much during their meal, but Draco's hand took Hermione's over the table and held on to it through out the meal, leaving both of them with only one hand to eat and drink with. Secretly it made her smile, and she radiated love. Draco always knew how to make her feel happy, even with the smallest touches and looks.
She didn't want to leave the restaurant when they'd finished; she wasn't looking forward to going home and seeing whatver mess Blaise had made when they could be together quietly here, with no one checking up on them every couple of minutes. It was hard to get any alone-time in the house now, and with the wedding drawing near any relief from stress was welcome.
But finally they couldn't delay their departure any longer and called the waiter over with their bill. Hermione reached into her bag, but Draco gave her a Look and pulled his own money out of his pocket. Hermione smiled and pulled her hand back out...holding only the car keys. Draco took her hand, told the waiter to keep the change, and pulled her up out of her chair and out of the restaurant.
Hermione began to walk over to their car but Draco stopped her. When she looked back at him inquiringly, he pulled her against his chest.
"Thank you," he whispered, his lips brushing lightly over hers. "I love you,"
Hermione grinned at him and placed her hands on the back of his neck, pulling his head down. "I love you too," she whispered, before covering his lips with hers.