It's a Muggle Thing

Chapter Twenty Two

Jessica Stanley’s POV

    “Where should we sit?” I asked Lee.

    “How about that table over there?” he said, pointing at a table that was pretty hidden from the rest of the restaurant. I agreed, and we took our seats.

    “Here, I’ll go get us some butterbeers,” Lee said, getting up. I nodded absentmindedly, staring at the other people in the restaurant, all talking, drinking, and laughing. Half of me wanted to yell after him to change my order to a firewhiskey just to calm my nerves, but I bit my tongue.

    Truth be told, I was nervous out of my mind. Sure, I liked Lee, but if this date went badly, things would be awkward between us and we would lose the friendship that I had loved in the first place. Love was such a complicated thing. Such a stupid, complicated thing.

    Lee returned with our butterbeers, and we drank in relative silence.

    “Geez, you’d think they could take one minute out of the day of teaching us Potions to teach you what to do on a first date,” I muttered, sipping my drink. Lee laughed.

    “Yeah, that would certainly be helpful, wouldn’t it?” he agreed. “‘Lesson One: You Have to Pay for Everything!’” I laughed.

    “‘Lesson Five: How to Avoid Her Dad Casting an Unforgivable Curse on You!’” I quipped, and we laughed more.

    “‘Lesson Six: Whether Or Not to Slip Her the Tongue on the Goodnight Kiss!’” Lee said slyly.

    I hit him, laughing, “Lee!”

    “See, that’s why they need that class!” he said. “So I don’t say things that provoke my date hitting me!”

    We laughed together, drinking butterbeer and having a good time.

    Suddenly it wasn’t so awkward anymore.

    Rose Starkiller’s POV

    “Why is it so dark in here?” Fred asked me.

    “So we can see the film,” I answered, picking seats for us in the back row.

    “Oh.” He reached over and took some of the popcorn I was holding in my lap. “I kind of feel bad about you paying for this date, Rose.”

    “I don’t think she would have accepted galleons, Fred,” I told him, sipping my Coke.

    “Can I at least pay you back in galleons when we get back to the Burrow?” he asked.

    “That’s sweet, Fred, but unnecessary,” I told him. “Now quiet, you. The film’s about to start.”

    ...

    “What’s that?” he asked, pointing at the screen. Ten people sitting around us shushed him angrily.

    “Fred, you have to whisper during a film,” I scolded him in a whisper-shout. “And what are you talking about?”

    “What’s Honey Bunny holding?” he asked, referring to one half of the duo robbing the diner.

    “That’s called a gun,” I explained. “It’s a type of muggle weapon that fires little balls made out of lead, called ‘bullets’. They can be fatal if they hit you in the right spot. The way it’s going so far, you might see one in action soon.”

    “Oh,” he said. “Ok.”

    ...

    Fred was laughing at Vincent’s story, but stopped laughing to ask me a question.