Chapter 8
Hermione's skin felt the effects of the sun later that evening. She wasn't burnt, but her skin was warm. It had been a long time since she spent any time in the sun.
They were going out to dinner tonight. To Florence and Hermione was quite excited about it. Florence apparently had a very old magical district. She'd read about it but never been there. Not that she'd get to see much of it since it was nighttime.
Blaise was wearing a pale grey suit tonight and he looked spectacular. He would probably look spectacular in a potato sack.
Hermione decided to wear this little red dress she'd bought especially for the occasion. It was something she thought was a little too girly when she first looked at it. She didn't have the call for strappy little red dresses that often in her ordinary life, but since it was vacation time, she thought she'd buy it just in case, even if she never wore it, she knew it was there. But tonight she was going to go all out and wear it. If she was with Harry and Ron, she wouldn't, but she was with Blaise who seemed to push the edge a little fashion wise.
The soft fabric floated around her thighs ending a bit above her knees. She felt sexy in it. It wasn't particularly revealing, but it did show her curves. Blaise appreciated it too as she got a big smile from him as he walked out of the bathroom. He was going to be taking it off later, she thought to herself.
Going on vacation with Blaise was awesome, she decided. It was all the good things wrapped up in one.
They met everyone on the patio where a portkey had been organised. It was some kind of silver ball, which Blaise held in his hand waiting for it to activate. Pansy wore a silvery blue dress, which looked like it was made of glass. It was exquisite and Hermione didn't dare to think how much it cost. Malfoy was the last to arrive. He wore black, big surprise and he led Justine who wore this green jungle print dress.
Everyone looked good. Everyone made an effort. She felt a stab of disloyalty. It wasn't supposed to matter and it was shallow, but just for once it was nice to be part of a party that looked good and weren't ashamed of it.
"Its time." Blaise said breaking Hermione's musings. She placed her hand on top of his and looked up at him with a smile. She was excited about the evening. Malfoy placed a large warm hand on top of hers. Her smile faltered a bit. She didn't like him touching her, and felt the contact keenly. She felt the pressure of other hands laying themselves on top. She had an instinct to pull away, but his hand held hers in place as she tried. He gave her a warning look and then the jerk of the porting came.
They arrived close to the restaurant. Hermione shook all hands off her as soon as she could. The touch lingered even after she's got her hands free. She wanted to rub it away with her other hand, but Blaise grabbed her hand and led her down the street.
The tables were outside on a balcony, set up with white table cloth and candles. Blaise grabbed seats for them in the middle of the table. Pansy picked a seat on the other side of Blaise and Hermione got that feeling of concern again. Nott and Astoria Greengrass were across from them. Malfoy and Justine sat further to the right on the other side.
"That is a gorgeous dress." Astoria said. "Where did you get it?"
"It's a muggle dress." Hermione stated.
"Oh." Astoria said with surprise. "It is very flattering."
"Thank you." Hermione said quietly. She was not the best at taking compliments and felt intensely uncomfortable.
Bread and butter appeared on the table as soon as everyone was settled.
"Red or white?" Blaise asked. Hermione's confusion reigned for a second before she realised he was talking about wine. She felt very grateful that she hadn't asked what he referred to. She didn't want to give the impression that she'd never been to a restaurant before. Because she had, loads with her parents. Just not a lot of magical restaurants.
"Red." She said. She needed to get hold of herself and relax.
Pansy was chattering away about something someone had done that she had declared was completely ridiculous.
"Do you do a lot of things in the muggle world?" Astoria asked.
"Her parents are muggles." Malfoy said with a tad of derision, but she wasn't entirely sure if it was for her parents or for Astoria's rather dumb question. More than likely, it was for her parents.
"Yes, I guess I do." Hermione said. "They tend to prefer the muggle world, particularly as they don't feel part of the magical world and they feel it's just a little…" She was babbling.
"A little what?" Malfoy pushed.
"Small." She said, she was going to say antiquated, but realised it might not be a good term to put out there. And that didn't even adequately describe what her parents thought of the magical world. The idea of magic was fascinating to them at first, but as they got to know more about the magical culture, they strongly felt that Hermione was severely limiting her potential being aligned with that stagnant, backwards and anally retentive world. Their words, not hers.
"Small?" Astoria said with confusion.
"Well…" She said, trying to find a way out of this conversation without raising any heckles. She didn't want to spend the evening being attacked for her parents and views. "They're just not used to living in a community where everyone knows each other, and their business going back centuries." She just couldn't help the tiny little jab.
"They'd rather associate with complete strangers?" Malfoy challenged. Why was he even in this conversation, she thought.
"Its just a different lifestyle, that all." Hermione said, wishing she could change the subject. She turned her attention back to Astoria. "The muggle world is vast, and its just … different."
"If you prefer the 'vastness' of the muggle world, why are you here?" Malfoy continued to challenge.
"I didn't say that." Hermione shrugged. Blaise was listening to the conversation intently now as well. "I, being a muggleborn, must live in both. That is just part of the deal when you're muggleborn." And I am here because Blaise turns me to putty, she wanted to shout, but didn't. She just smiled to herself instead and looked back towards him.
She sighed her relief because she had managed to kill the conversation without starting a war.
The menus finally came and Hermione hid behind hers for a long time. She didn't mind speaking with Astoria, it was just the one welcoming himself to the conversation that was ruining it.
She decided on fish.
"Your red isn't going to go with that." Malfoy said.
"I'll order a nice chardonnay for you." Blaise said.
"Thank you." Hermione said, slightly annoyed that she just got bullied into changing wine. White went better with fish, but she was annoyed it was practically forced on her. Blaise called a waiter over.
"The Fratelli Burtussi, I think." Blaise said to the waiter.
"A Chateau Fremery would be better." Malfoy said.
"Maybe," Blaise said, "but French wines just lack that bit of delicacy."
"Although the bit of sweetness changes the flavour of the fish." Malfoy said.
"Well, you always like a bit of tart, don't you?" Blaise said back with a sly smile.
Hermione got the distinct feeling there were undertones in this conversation that had nothing to do with wine or fish.
"So have you always lived in Paris?" Hermione asked Justine. Whatever kind of pissing contest was going on, she didn't need to be part of it. Or to have the girl think she was the tart they were referring to.
"Yes, I grew up there." She said with her accented English.
"It's a beautiful city." Hermione said. "I love the architecture."
The conversation with Justine faltered there. She really wasn't good at anything other than looking pretty, Hermione thought. Poor thing. Luckily, Blaise squeezed her knee as a welcome distraction and Hermione turned her attention back to him.
"Want to go for a walk later before we head back?"
"Yes!" Hermione said with obvious pleasure. She would love to see a bit of magical Florence, almost as much as she wanted to spend a bit of time with alone with Blaise.
The food arrived. Apparently Blaise had won the contest as she was presented with a bottle of Fratelli Burtussi. It was gorgeous. She had an excellent lemon tart for dessert, drowned in something delicious, sweet and alcoholic.
As soon as the meal was finished, Blaise excused them saying they had something to check on. An obvious lie, but it cut off anyone from inviting themselves along. Pansy looked angry, but right now, Hermione didn't care. She'd had enough of his friends for one day.
After a quick word with the Manager of the restaurant, Blaise led her down the stairs and out on the street.
"Sorry about Malfoy." Blaise said. "He can be a bit difficult and pig headed."
"He certainly has excellent hearing." Hermione said.
"He means nothing by it." Blaise said. "He's just like that. Ok dress sense, but awful taste in women and wine."
Hermione smiled.
"And always competitive." Blaise continued. "But in terms of looking stunning, you outshone the stars tonight. Did I tell you how gorgeous that dress looks on you?"
Hermione smiled again and gave him a bit of a push.
"I have developed a new appreciation for muggle skills with cloth." He continued. "Now let me show you the institutions. The architecture is a cut above." He pulled her close. "And then, we'll go home."