This Journey With You

Dinner Date

       The watch said 6:15pm causing Hermione to pull at her sleeve nervously. Since Ella invited her, she kept switching between excited and anxious at the thought of walking with Fred to dinner. They hadn't seen each other since he had bought her groceries and he saw her poor excuse of a flat. Hopefully he wasn't sore at her for sending him away out of discomfort.

        Remembering the moment his face had been pleading her sent waves of shame through her body with her  hands clamming up. Just perfect. She had never been good at dealing with nerves, but this seemed like an all new level.

        The shop was within her line of sight, and she had to force her limbs to continue forward instead of turning tail and fleeing like her heart was screaming for her to do. In the window something flashed and not long after, the tall figure of Fred Weasley emerged from the front door, locking up behind him.

        Okay, Hermione, you can do this. Maybe he's not upset with you for being rude.

       The sound of her boots scraping cobblestone kept her focus as she made her way to him. When she approached, she made herself meet his eyes, worried to see resentment in his gaze.

        But all she saw in those blue pools were concern.

         "Frederick," she said with the little confidence she could muster.

        "Hey, Granger," he greeted her hesitantly. "It's good to see you. I was sorry I missed you when you came to the joke shop this week."

         The nerves began to melt away like ice in Spring and she found herself able to smile a bit at his words. "It's okay. I wasn't sure if you'd want to see me after my rude behavior at my flat."

         His mouth dropped a fraction. "What?" He blinked. "Hermione, I was the one who left you in your own misery like a coward. I never thought you were rude at all. And of course I wanted to see you, I thought maybe you wouldn't want to see me for making everything awkward."

         "You weren't being a coward! You were being kind and bought me groceries. If anyone made it awkward, it was me."

         "I bought you groceries because I was a prat!" His laughter put the last bit of her anxiety to rest and her smile grew. "Now that we know that we both are still very much friends," he held out his arm to her. "If you don't find this to be an action influenced by the patriarchy, can I escort you to George and Ella's house?"

         This made her laugh as she wrapped her arm around his. "I suppose I don't mind conforming to gender stereotypes with you this time." His arm was firm around hers, and she tried to ignore the heat that seemed to radiate through her coat where their arms touched.

         "How have you been by the way?" He asked as they made their way out of Diagon Alley. "Has life treated you better since I last saw you?"

          "I wouldn't say better." She didn't miss his pale lips press together in a firm line. "Can't say that I wasn't let down a few times this week. Mostly from work."

          "That's no good, Granger. You should have told me, I could have helped you hex anyone who got in your way."

         The leather of his coat rustled as her fingers pressed into his arm comfortingly. "You don't have to hex anyone for me, I can take care of myself fine."

        He made no comment, but he rested his other hand on hers. "You should have told me so that I could at the very least cheered you up unlike my last visit."

        "Spending dinner with friends is plenty cheery for this witch."

       The fingers over hers squeezed gently. "Tonight will be great. George cooks pretty well, and you know you're date is the life of the party, even if it's just us four."