A/N: This chapter was supposed to go on until Christmas Eve, but it kept getting longer and longer so I decided to split it. The next chapter is actually almost finished and should be up no later than saturday.


Chapter 16 Another date

Saturday evening at seven Hermione knocks on the door to the Headmistress' office. Minerva calls for her to come in.

"Good evening Hermione, are you ready for a nice evening out with Ginny?"

"Yes. And you? Any more plans with Fred?" Hermione smirks at Minerva who blushes.

"Ginny is waiting for you at the Burrow. You can take the floo." Minerva ushers Hermione to the fireplace in her office.

"You can't hide from my questions forever Minerva." Hermione laughs while stepping into the fireplace to get to the Burrow.

When Hermione arrives at the Burrow Ginny is nowhere to be seen, nor is anybody else. On the table Hermione finds a note and 3 pink roses that form an arrow. Hermione picks up the note.

Dear Hermione,

I didn't want to give our destination away just yet and let you come to the Burrow. There are roses to point you in the right direction, please follow them and any instructions you might encounter, I'll see you at our final destination in a little while.

Love,

Ginny

Hermione follows the arrows of roses, picking them up along the way until she reaches the last arrow at the edge of the Weasleys property. This arrow has another note.

This arrow points to a single rose, which is a portkey. It will bring you to the destination of our date. I will be waiting.

X

Ginny

Hermione takes the last three roses and shrinks all of them and puts them in her purse before walking to the portkey. As soon as she touches the rose she feels the familiar pull. A few seconds later her feet hit the ground and she stumbles until strong arms stop her.

"Hi Hermione. Are you ready for our date?" a familiar voice says in her ear.

Hermione turns around and gives Ginny a kiss on her cheek. "Yes. Where are we?"

"We're in a storeroom in the Palace Theatre in London." Ginny answers before taking Hermione's hand and leading her out of the storeroom into a hallway. She then leads Hermione into the foyer of the theatre.

"I decided we should do something muggle for our second date. So I hope you like the theatre, because we're going to see Annie." Ginny further explains.

"I do actually. Before I came to Hogwarts my parents would take me to the theatre once or twice every year. I've missed it."

"That's what your mum said."

"You talked to my mum?"

"Yeah, I sent her a letter because I wasn't sure what you would like to do in the muggle world. She suggested the theatre and this play. She even helped me get the tickets."

"You went through the trouble of contacting my mother to make sure we did something I would enjoy. You amaze me again and again Ginny." Hermione says touched before giving Ginny another peck on the cheek.

They sit in the foyer until it is time to find their seats. Ginny fills Hermione in on what Minerva and Fred had been up to when she walked in on them. Causing Hermione to giggle when she imagines what that must have looked like.

Both enjoy the show and when it's over they find a alley to apparate back to Hogwarts. When they reach the main entrance Ginny stops.

"I promised your mother I'd let her know if her idea was a success. So I'm going to end the date here. I head a great evening, can we do it again soon?" Ginny says while taking Hermione's hand, bringing it to her mouth and giving it a kiss. When she lets go of her hand and turns to leave Hermione stops her with a hand on the shoulder.

"I had an amazing night as well." Hermione says and puts her hands on Ginny's cheeks before pulling her head closer. When their lips are almost touching Hermione whispers, "I'd love to have another date." Then she closes the remaining distance and gives Ginny a peck on the lips. After a moment she stops the kiss and turns around leaving a stunned Ginny behind.


On Monday Hermione and Ginny sit down with Minerva for their weekly tea. Both girls remembering what Ginny walked in on.

When they're seated with tea Hermione decides to bring it up.

"So Minerva, Ginny told me you've been making bets on chess games?"

Minerva blushes and looks anywhere but at the two girls.

"That's not a very polite thing to ask Hermione. I've not been asking you about how things are going between you and Ginny, now have I."

"No but I don't mind telling you that we have not been making bets on chess games. I have given Ginny a chaste kiss though." Hermione tells Minerva and both Hermione and Ginny blush a little.

"Really! That's amazing, I'm so glad the two of you are settling into a relationship so well."

"Yes we are, now spill. Ginny tells me she had a very traumatizing experience walking in on you and Fred."

"It wasn't that bad." Minerva counters

"If it wasn't you can share." Hermione says with a smile that tells Minerva she has lost.

"Al right. So after our conversation last week I wrote Fred and asked him to come by for tea. We had a wonderful time on tuesday getting to know each other and I even managed to not faint. He came by every day for the rest of the week and somehow he challenged me to a game of chess. We've played several times and he is a fairly good player but he didn't manage to win. On friday he told me he was sure he could beat me if he had the right incentive. I was curious and let him propose a bet. The bet was simple. If I won Fred would play the bagpipe clothed in Scottish costume in the middle of Diagon Alley for ten minutes. If he won he wanted to kiss me for five minutes and if he would be able to win within one hour he wanted to be allowed to touch one boob while kissing. I thought it would be hilarious to see Fred playing the bagpipe wearing a kilt and since I hadn't lost once I thought it was a safe bet. Forty-five minutes later Ginny walked in on Fred collecting his prize."

By the time Minerva is finished both Hermione and Ginny are laughing so hard they have tears rolling down their cheeks.

"You got played Minerva. Both Fred and George are really good at giving you a false sense of comfort before blindsiding you." Ginny tells her when she's calmed down a bit.

"Yes well, rest assured. That's not a mistake I'll make again." Minerva tells them in a clipped voice which quickly sobers up both.

"He didn't force you did he, because I will hurt him if he did. I mean pranks and jokes are all fun but they're never a reason to cross boundaries."

"You don't need to hurt anybody Hermione. After Ginny was gone Fred apologised. He had only planned on giving me a small peck on the lips, but when I kissed him back he got a little carried away. Not that I minded, but still he promised it wouldn't happen again. Obviously I've spent most of our time yesterday afternoon trying to get him to get carried away again. I haven't succeeded yet, but tomorrow is a new day." Minerva says with a naughty smile.

"Okay that's my brother you're talking about. As much as I cherish our friendship that is too much info." Ginny laughs.


The girls don't have time to go on another date until Christmas break. Both have decided to get their homework out of the way in order to fully enjoy their break.

Ginny, Hermione, Ron, Harry and Luna share a compartment on the Hogwarts express. The other Gryffindor's have been preoccupied with their own matches and have no idea that Harry and Luna's relationship has been progressing rather well. When they are all settled Harry clears his throat and speaks up. "So as you know Luna and I have been paired together. The past month we've spend a lot of time getting to know more about each other and I'm pleased to let you know we set a date for our wedding. We'll be getting married on may first, but we're going to move into the apartment complex after the Holidays. You lot have matches that live in the same house, but Luna and I don't. We want to be able to spent more time together so… yeah."

"That's wonderful mate. Though I don't understand why you choose may first. That's the date of the battle of Hogwarts." Ron speaks up first.

"The best way to balance the bad memories of that day is to make new good memories on the same day." Luna answers Ron's question.

"I guess that makes sense." Ron shrugs.

"We're going for a really small ceremony at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Just the five of us and Luna's dad in attendance. We're going to ask Mcgonagall to officiate the wedding. Do you think she'll agree?" Harry looks at Ginny and Hermione since they are close to Minerva.

"I think she would be honored!" Hermione tells him.


That evening they have a family dinner at the Burrow. Hermione, Luna and all Weasleys except Fred are present.

"Unfortunately Fred couldn't come. He owled telling me he had other plans. Though I have no idea what could possibly be more important than family dinner." Molly complains.

"Snogging his future wife." Ginny says under her breath to Hermione who sniggers. Molly however hears Ginny.

"What do you mean snogging his future wife? I've known Minerva since I was at Hogwarts myself and there is no way she would do something as juvenile as snogging." Molly tells her daughter in a matter of fact tone. Which causes both girls to laugh.

Ron looks at them in confusion. "Why are you laughing? I mean mum is right. Mcgonagall would never snog." Both girls start to laugh even harder. It is Ginny who is able to answer first. "Believe me, Minerva and Fred have engaged in snogging and some groping as well. I saw." At this point Hermione is laughing so hard she falls off of her chair. The rest of the tables occupants just look at Ginny in shock.

When Molly is over her shock she decides to ignore this new information and turns to Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione. "And how are your relationships coming along?"

Harry answers first. "Luna and I will be getting married on may first and we've decided on a small ceremony."

Molly looks a little sad. "How small?"

"Luna and I, Luna's dad, Ron, Hermione and Ginny. And we're hoping Headmistress Mcgonagall is willing to officiate."

"I won't lie to you, I am sad that I won't be there to see you get married. However I understand and will respect your wishes. That being said, would you allow me to throw the two of you an engagement party?" Molly asks

"That would be lovely Mrs. Weasley." Luna answers.

"Alright that's settled, New Year's Eve we'll have an engagement party for Harry and Luna at the Burrow. Just give me a guestlist and I'll take care of everything else." Molly immediately goes into party planning mode.

"Hermione and I are going well. We haven't set a date yet. Instead we've spent the last month dating. We are planning to set a date during the break and we'll let you know when we've decided." Ginny tells her mother.

"That great honey. Let me know as soon as you've decided so we can start planning your wedding as well. How about you Ron?" Molly turns to her youngest son whose match has her worried the most.

"I don't really want to talk about it." Ron tells his mum.

"Why not?" Molly asks.

"It's complicated."

"Well then uncomplicate it for me." Molly pushes.

Ron lets out a sigh and explains. "When I first got paired with Malfoy I was angry. I didn't mind getting paired with a boy, I did however mind getting paired with the guy who gave me a hard time. Malfoy tried to get in touch but I ignored him. I even went as far as telling him I would rather live as a muggle then marry him and I actually really meant that. Hermione, Ginny and even Harry kept on telling me Malfoy was a changed man. Somebody told me I was holding on to anger and that I should let it go. I wasn't able though. Well not until that howler."

"What howler?" Molly interrupts Ron.

"From his dad and it basically told him he was a disgrace to the Malfoy line and if he didn't get his pairing changed Lucius would escape Azkaban and hunt him down. Apparently Malfoys can't be gay."

"A father's love should be unconditional. What happened after?" Molly exclaims.

"I felt sorry for the guy and even though I wasn't sure he had really changed I decided to give him a chance. Well it did take Hermione some prodding but yeah. We went to London and we got to know a little more about each other. I think at this point we're at an acquaintanceship. I'm sure things will develop the coming months, but I'm not sure things will develop fast enough to make the ministry deadline. I know love is not usually a factor in an arranged marriage but I want to have at least hope of the possibility of love when I marry. Malfoy and I are not there yet."

"I see. And how did his mother react to his match?" Molly asks curious after sitting down next to Ron.

"I don't know."

"So let me get this right. Your future husbands dad has send him a howler telling him his father's love is conditional, you don't know if his mother has reacted more favorably, yet you didn't think to invite him over for Christmas?" Molly questions.

Ron squirms uncomfortably on his seat.

"Yes?"

"Do me a favour and send him a letter. See if he would like to spend Christmas with us. Because everybody should celebrate with people who care about them."

"I will." Ron stands and leaves for his room to write Draco.