Running On Air

Chapter 5

Ginny dresses up for the date and Harry thinks she looks beautiful, even if her practice ran overtime and she arrived half an hour late. He orders an oak-aged rum; Ginny opts for a glass of riesling.

"You look amazing," Harry says and Ginny smiles.

"Thanks," she says. "Practice ran overtime. The scout left after Saturday's game without a word, which was a little disappointing. Maybe next match, though. Pearson's been scouted before — oh, thank you," Ginny says as a waiter places her glass of wine on the table. Harry accepts his glass with a nod and takes an appreciative sip. "Anyway, the wind conditions weren't too good on Saturday's match, and... "

Harry listens to Ginny speak. He's always liked her passion for things, he thinks. It's one of the first things he loved about her. When they were in the midst of the war and she was so full of fiery energy, her eyes bright and her hands steady as she lifted her wand. She never looked as beautiful as she did during the battle, he thinks, with her dirt-smudged face and torn robes, when her strength and spirit shone brighter than ever.

He wonders if he'll ever see that level of passion again.

"Let's not talk about work tonight," Harry says suddenly, interrupting Ginny's description of Saturday's match. "Let's talk about other things."

"Oh." Ginny pauses and looks about the restaurant, as if searching for a conversation topic. "It's interesting, isn't it, a Muggle restaurant? I was about to tap my wand on the menu items to order them. Nearly forgot."

"The view's nice."

"Isn't it? I wish we'd been able to afford an apartment in central London."

"I'm sorry, I know you always wanted — "

"Oh, that wasn't a criticism!" Ginny says quickly. "I was just saying, that's all. I don't think the Minister himself could afford those apartments. But if I make the English National Team, who knows? At our next game, it might be — oh, I'm talking about work again." She laughs.

But soon enough, her laugh dwindles into silence, and Harry — thinking of several things to say but dismissing them all as work-related — desperately grabs at the first alternate topic that pops into his head.

"Do you remember the battle?"

Ginny tenses. "It's a little hard to forget, Harry."

"Still, you were brilliant."

"I remember Fred's funeral," Ginny says distantly, evidently not hearing him. "George still can't produce a Patronus, Mum says, and she doesn't think he will ever again."

Harry stares down at his glass of rum, then takes a long drink of it. The waiter appears beside the table and Harry is almost relived to see him.

"I'll have the Cornish lamb, and another glass of the Appleton Estate," he says quickly. Ginny orders the roasted monkfish and a refill, too. The waiter disappears again, taking the menus with him.

"We'll be finishing the borough preliminaries soon," Ginny says, breaking the silence.

Harry doesn't point out that it's work-related. He listens as she speaks of the upcoming season, her guesses at how the season will finish, and a light criticism of the performance of her favourite team, the Kenmare Kestrels.

"I know it's rather disloyal — I should have an English team, really — but the techniques the Seeker uses are brilliant and very daring. The Chasers are working on this new formation too, and I wouldn't mind practicing it. I should bring it up with Gwen."

Harry leans back slightly as the waiter places another glass of rum in front of him, waiting until he's gone away again before lifting the glass and taking a long sip. They receive a reprieve when their meals arrive, at least, and can occupy themselves with eating. Ginny orders another glass of wine and Harry tries a twelve-year whiskey, then follows it with Scottish single malt. The waiter probably considers him an alcoholic, Harry thinks, and by the end of the meal he's delightfully fuzzy-headed and only half-listening to Ginny's Quidditch strategies. Having had too much to drink to trust his Disapparating skills, Harry flags a passing taxi to take him and Ginny home. Ginny seems to enjoy the trip, finding it rather amusing when Harry has to run to the apartment and frantically search for his cache of Muggle money to pay the driver.