"What's your favorite ice cream flavor?"
Hermione felt like a giddy teenager; they were firmly in the 'getting to know you' stage of their relationship, the part with not-too-deep questions about siblings, favorite colors, and first albums ever owned (Bruce had none, his favorite color was blue, and his first album was She's So Unusual).
He thought about it for longer than she'd expected. "Black peppercorn," he decided.
She raised her brows. "I've never heard of peppercorn ice cream."
He grinned broadly. "Well, it's delicious, so we'll have to grab it sometime."
Hermione smiled. "Sounds like a date."
"After the next movie night," he promised.
Hermione felt like a giddy teenager, dressed in a shorter, tighter skirt than she maybe would have worn on any other day, hair large and proud in its natural state, holding her boyfriend's hand and eating ice cream from a sugar cone.
She hummed around a bite, then said, "You're right, this is delicious." It was spicy, but not hot – the peppercorn flavor was strong without being overwhelming, and it was really quite good. It was like something the House Elves of Hogwarts would have come up with, a bit out of the norm but ultimately tasty.
"I told you so," Bruce said teasingly, eyes sparkling. "Now, it's really good after a nice dinner, we'll have to do that next time."
Hermione felt like a giddy teenager; they'd successfully used her brand new ice cream maker and Bruce's lips on hers were ice cold, tasting of black peppercorn.
His hand slipped around her waist as he pressed her into a kitchen wall almost as cool as their kiss. "Tonight's been wonderful," he mumbled against her, and she pulled back to look at him.
"You don't have to go home yet," she said, trailing a finger down his upper arm. "There's more ice cream."
He grinned goofily, one side of his lips pulling higher than the other. "I guess I could stay a while."