Chapter Sixteen

Hermione was about half a second away from hexing that insufferable little smirk right off of Sally's insufferable little face. There was just far too smugness about her blond assistant's demeanor this evening.

She was already feeling self-conscious enough by the way George was staring with out Sally treating her like a patronized teenager being waved off on a first date.

"So what do you two have planned for tonight?" Sally asked innocently. A little too innocently Hermione noted.

"Oh you know," George grinned. "A little of this, a little of that…"

"I see," Sally chucked at her boss's glare. "If I may ask, Mr. Weasley, just what exactly are your intentions with my employer?"

"Sally!" Hermione buried her burning face in her hands. She seriously needed to fire her… fresh tea on demand and perfectly organized files could not possibly be worth this.

"Well Miss Sheffield, my intentions are to take your lovely boss here out for dinner and perhaps a little bit of dancing afterwards if she'd like too," George winked at his mortified date.

"She's not much for dancing, though if you come across a jazz club that may be more acceptable."

Hermione stared at the pair with completely dumb struck and a bit on the worried side. Whatever Sally and George had talked about before she came out of her office had apparently called some sort of truce between the two of them. The frustrated brunette was not sure she liked the idea of those two being friendly. Not because she was jealous or anything, that would be absurd, but because it meant she was going to get tag teamed against. This was almost worse than Ron and Harry. She could sick their wives on them when she wanted to be left alone. Sally and George teamed up against her? No hope…

That little chit actually had the audacity to order George to have her home by eleven! As if that wasn't humiliating enough, George made it worse by saluting the blond witch and shouting yes ma'am like she was his commanding in the military or something.

Hermione was about to tell them both to sod off when George turned and flashed a disarming smile. After quickly donning his own coat, the ginger haired man gracefully plucking hers off its peg and held the garment open to her. Hermione was so stunned by the sudden gesture that all she could do was allow him to slip it onto her person.

Then, like a perfect gentleman, he bounced over to the door and opened it for her. Hermione swiftly buttoned up the knee length coat and practically dashed out of the warm office to avoid being further subjected to Sally's self-satisfied beam. George exited behind her but gave Sally a friendly wave goodbye before closing the door. Turning back around, the tall ginger held out his arm to her. An act she shouldn't have found as surprising as she did.

Against her better judgement, Hermione found herself shyly taking it. The one-eighty in George's behavior was frustrating, as it was making it very difficult for Hermione to stay angry with him.

There was a mild flurry of snow that fell around the two adults as they stepped out on to the quite street, but not so much that it deterred the several shoppers scattered about the alley from their pre-Christmas season bargain hunting. As they strolled towards the Apparation zone George took the silence as an opportunity to start talking. As he rambled on about his day at work, Hermione took the chance to sneak a peak up at him. She blushed a bit while admiring how good-looking George actually was, especially in the gentle glow of the lights seeping out of shop windows.

From the quick glimpse Hermione got of his jumper at her office, the slightly nervous witch decided that dark green looked amazing on her evening's companion. In her rush to get out from under Sally's laughing gaze, Hermione had run out of the office with out her gloves. An oversight she was sure she would end up highly regretting on this early winter's night, but not so much so that she was willing to risk another smirk from her presumptuous secretary. As a happy surprise George's coat seemed to be laced with a warming charm. With her hand tucked in the crock of his arm, the thick fabric gave off just enough warmth to prevent Hermione's fingers from going numb in the bitter cold of the evening.

Moving her eyes upwards, Hermione smiled fondly at the scarlet colored scarf wrapped around George's neck. The red garment was immediately recognizable as a Mrs. Weasley creation and she couldn't help but find the small detail incredibly sweet. Judging from the condition of the old scarf it was well loved and often worn. By how frequently he bragged about his wealth, Hermione had no doubt in her mind George could easily afford a newer one, yet evidence showed he clearly preferred the tattered hand knitted one instead. Whether George just loved it that much or wore it for fear of breaking his mother's heart Hermione didn't know. Regardless, it gave the obnoxious prankster a few extra points in her book. Hermione's mother always told her to watch how a man treated his mother and his sisters. It would tell you how that man would treat you. That random memory did not help curb the butterflies in her stomach at all. If anything it made them worse.

George seemed to sense that she was staring at him, because he suddenly looked down at her and offered another dazzling smile.

"See something you like there, Granger?" he winked.

This of course caused Hermione to blush and look away. The further embarrassed witch cursed her ridiculously low resistance to blushing. She'd been blushed from the moment she stepped out of her office to the second George opened the door for her. It only got worse after he offered her his arm. Only thing that hid her red cheeks was the darkness of the night sky. Thank Merlin there was no moon out.

"Nice scarf," she muttered and planted her gaze firmly on the ground.

"Thanks," George beamed. "Mum made it for me... Merlin I guess about ten years ago now."

Hermione just nodded and kept her eyes on the ground. George chuckled a bit. She was very up tight, though that shouldn't surprise him at all. He could tell she was uncomfortable. Whether it was because of her outfit (which she looked amazing in! Merlin where do muggles come up with this kind of thing?), or whether it was because of her reservations about him, George wasn't quite sure. If he had to wager a guess it probably had something to do with the bit of hazing him and Sally gave her back at the office. Maybe he should tone it back just a bit... maybe..

On the other hand if by some stroke of luck her discomfort was because of that dress, then he would happily help her out of it. Because, well that is just what good friends do. They help each other out of uncomfortable things. Like dresses… dresses were uncomfortable right? George couldn't imagine they wouldn't be, at least in this weather anyway. December was just around the corner and while it wasn't exactly a blustering tempest at the moment, the night air was still very cold and there was a fair amount of snow. He couldn't imagine wearing something that practically invited up drafts would be particularly comfortable right now. It almost called for testing just to see.

George blinked for a moment and shook his head at himself. How did he go from fantasizing about Granger's legs to wondering what it would like to wear a dress? He was really beginning to worry about his unusually high sense of curiosity. If Fred ever caught him trying on a dress he would probably go to his grave laughing hysterically. It took George nearly a month just to get him to stop leaving tubes of lipstick all over the flat. The wife card had to be pulled and that just ended badly for everyone. Merlin Angelina was one cranky pregnant lady…

Hermione continued to engage in her fierce staring contest with the ground right up till they reached the Apparation zone. George chuckled and gave her a nudge. The nudge startled her and Hermione looked up with a start.

"We're here," he said. "You'll have to Apparate us there, you know seeing as I haven't been to this location in particular."

"Oh… right. Sorry," Hermione shook her head clear and pictured where she wanted them to go. With a crack the pair disappeared and reappeared in an alley next to the restaurant. Hermione stumbled for a moment but was caught and set up right by George. "Er… thanks. Apparating in heels has never been easy for me."

"I imagine not," George chuckled as they made their way out of the alley. Another thing to be curious about. Merlin, he really needed a hobby, one that did not include witches clothing.

The restaurant didn't seem to look like much from the outside, but upon entering the building George found himself genuinely impressed by the interior's decor. The walls were painted a warm brown color and the dimmed lights were off set by two candles burning on each table. The soft oriental music coming from somewhere helped add to the relaxing environment. Behind a counter several Asian men stood working away by rolling what looked like tubes of rice. In front of them at what appeared to be a type of bar, several people sat with drinks and plates for food. A friendly looking young Asian woman smiled at the pair from behind the hostess podium.

"Konbanwa," she said with a small bow. "Welcome to the Bonsai Garden, just the two of you this evening?"

"Yes," George answered before Hermione could. "I trust your best table is waiting for us?"

The petite woman laughed softly as she reached for two menus. "All of our tables are our best table, Sir."

"Touché," he grinned back. "In which case just a private table if you please. As fascinating as sitting at your bar seems, I don't fancy sharing this lovely lady here with anyone more than I have too."

Hermione nearly ran her hand down her face as the hostess laughed again and gestured for them to follow her. As they made their way to a table towards the back of the establishment Hermione looked around in horror as a she suddenly remembered a very unique detail she over looked when selecting this place. All of the tables were on the ground! She'd have to find a way to sit on the floor in a cocktail dress! Granted her dress was not absurdly short and you had the option of taking your shoes off, none the less it would prove challenging to find a position where she'd be comfortable yet keep her modesty in tact. Suddenly this whole idea of revenge did not seem so appealing. In fact it was starting to turn into a disaster.

George on the other hand felt like a child in a sweet shop. Whoever thought up the idea of a restaurant where you got to take off your shoes and sit on the floor on a pillow was a bloody genius! Whether the food here was amazing or horrible, George decided he was coming back here with Fred just so they could take their shoes off in public and not be stared at strangely for it.

They reached their table and Hermione nearly gave a whimper of relief when she saw it was against a wall she could lean on. The hostess motioned for them to sit down. After removing his coat, George plopped down on one of the pillows and popped his shoes off quickly. He wiggled his toes for good measure. Hermione on the other hand had to hold the wall to balance herself in order to remove her heels. However she was soon able to get them off her feet and, after setting her own coat and shoes aside, knelt down on a pillow on the opposite side of the table from George. Ok, that wasn't so bad.

"May I get you drinks?" the hostess asked as she handed each of them a menu.

Hermione asked for a glass of wine, needing the bit of liquid courage. After a moment of scanning the drink menu flip book on their table, George ordered a Cosmo. He had no idea what it was but the picture depicted a fish bowl like cup filled to the brim with blue liquid and well how could he resist that? The hostess bowed politely and left to get their drinks. Hermione picked up a menu and cleared her throat.

"If you have any questions about the menu, George, I'll be happy to answer them," she said with a smile. This was the part she had been waiting for. She couldn't wait to see the look on his face when he realized that they were about to be served food more akin to fishing bait than anything else. Hermione herself actually really liked sushi but it was not for everyone. With any luck it wouldn't be for George.

"Oh I'm sure I'll be fine," George smiled back and opened his menu. He could see the sudden gleeful look on his date's face and hid his own smirk. He had spent a considerable of time in Florish and Blotts yesterday looking for anything on the subject of sushi. They didn't have much, but one book in particular was most helpful. International Cuisine for the Traveling Wizard. He had to look the food up in the index first just to figure out what country it was from, but after finding it and reading the whole chapter on Japanese cuisine, George almost giggled with glee. Not because he wasn't slightly horrified to find out what sushi actually consisted of, but because Hermione had to of known he didn't really have a clue what it was. Which meant she was trying to prank him! This woman just got more and more appealing to him by the minute.

At first the idea of eating raw fish on rice made George slightly nauseous, but after looking at some of the pictures and reading about what all went into each roll and how many different kinds there were, he was willing to at least give it a shot. At worst he hated it; at best he found something new to love eating. Either way he was getting to turn Hermione's prank back on her and that was worth at least one raw fish roll. He did however draw the line at anything with the word 'squid' in it. With all the fond memories of the giant squid he had from school it would just seem wrong. Same thing went for anything with octopus in it.

The couple was still looking over the menu when their waiter approached the table bearing a tray with each of their drinks on it. He set each drink down before taking out a pen and pad.

"Are we ready?"

"Why yes we are," George grinned widely at the young man before Hermione could answer. "I'll have a Dragon roll, an Exotic California roll, two orders of spicy salmon skin rolls and one duck breast hibachi meal. Fried rice with that please. And whatever this miso stuff is I'll have a go at it."

"Very good, Sir, and for you Ma'am… Ma'am?"

Hermione hadn't heard the young man, nor did she feel the heavy menu slide right out of her hands and clamor onto the table. She was to busy staring in wide eyed shock at George. George for his part nudged her knee under the table in hopes of disrupting her stupor. It worked and Hermione regained her thought process just long enough to rattle off her own order quickly and hand the menu back to the waiter. After collecting George's menu as well the waiter disappeared, leaving the pair to stare each other down in a slightly tense manner.

George broke the staring contest a moment later by turning his attention to his drink. The large bowl like glass came garnished with a wedge of pineapple and a cherry. The fruit was held together by a plastic toothpick. To George's utter delight, the toothpick was in the shape of a little samurai sword.

"So…" George grinned mischievously at her as he pulled the fruit off the little sword and began to play with it. "Is it a common practice of yours to take dates out for food they have never had before but not warn them ahead of time what they will be dining on?"

"But… how did you…"

"You're not the only one who knows how to do research, Granger," he winked as he took a sip of his drink. Which tasted marvelous by the way. "Never try to prank a prankster. We always figure it out."

Hermione took a long drink of her wine, nearly finishing it. This was not how this evening was supposed to be going.

"And for the record," he continued. "You may not want to admit it, but this is in fact an actual date I have asked you on here. A real honest to Merlin date. So if you don't mind can we move past the awkward 'staring at anything else but each other' phase? I would actually like to have a conversation with you, not just the top of you head."

Hermione guzzle down the last of her wine and flagged down their waiter for another. This was REALLY not going how she had meant for it to go. As the waiter brought her another glass, Hermione's only thought was how on earth she was going to get through this night…. with out getting her hopes up.

TBC

A/N: I know I know I KNOW! I am a horrible person I have kept you guys waiting for forever for this chapter. I am sorry I love you all it has just been a very crazy time in my life right now and my attention has been rather critically demanded else where. Anyway I hope you love the new chapter, it took me a while to write because I wanted to get it just perfect. Love and Hugs to all and as always R&R!

p.s. For the person who asked, Konbanwa just means 'Good Evening'

~Chupip