𝐂𝐎𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐄 | 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦

sixteen

"Hermione, you look amazing," Harry said, coming up to her and touching her shoulder.

"Thanks, Harry," Hermione said. "You look rather spiffy too."

Harry looked down at his tux. "Thanks."

"Do you have a date?" she asked, handing him a mimosa.

"Yeah, actually," he said, accepting it.

"Who?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Cho," he said, face pink.

"Oh, good for you, Harry!" Hermione said, patting him on the shoulder.

"Speaking of dates, where's Malfoy?" Harry asked. "You guys are going together, I assume?"

"Yeah," Hermione said. "He got held up at the flower shop, he'll  be here soon."

"Here I am."

Hermione whirled, grinning at him. "Hi."

"You look gorgeous," Draco said.

"Thanks," she said.

"Hey, Malfoy," Harry said awkwardly.

"Hello, Harry," Malfoy said. Harry's eyes widened. "I'm very sorry for everything that I did to you at Hogwarts, I just realized that I haven't apologized to you- you did nothing to deserve it. I couldn't be nice to you, of course, and my father absolutely insisted that I bully you, and- well, I apologize," he said. "I'd like to start out on the right foot." He offered his hand.

Harry took it after a moment of hesitation. "I've got to say, Mal-Draco, I would have never expected this from you."

Draco shrugged. "Everyone changes." Harry grinned at him.

"I've got to go find Cho, but have a good time, alright?" he said to Hermione. She nodded at him.

Hermione gave Draco a hug as soon as Harry left. Surprised, he asked, "What was that for? Not that I'm complaining, of course."

"For apologizing to Harry," she mumbled into his chest.

"Oh," he said with a laugh.

Hermione felt a tap on her shoulder and felt Draco tense up. She extracted herself from him and turned to face

Ron.

Of-bloody-course.

"Can I talk to you?" he asked her.

Hermione bit her lip and glanced at Draco, then back at Ron. "Fine."

"Privately," he added. By now, Hermione could see Ginny, Pansy, and Harry all watching Ron out of the corners of their eyes. And she had Draco, and her wand in her bag. She felt safe enough.

"Fine," she repeated.

He led her over to the bar and handed her a mimosa, grabbing one for himself as well. "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. I shouldn't have sent you that letter even though I already hurt you. Harry told me that you're with Malfoy now, and you look happy, and I respect that."

"Wow, Ron," Hermione said, surprised. "That's very mature of you. I'm really glad... that we can be adults about this."

He smiled. "Cheers?"

They clinked glasses and Hermione drank half of it in one sip. She heard Pansy scream, "What did you do?"

She frowned at Pansy, wondering why she was yelling at Ron. He hadn't done anything, only talked to her. "What are you yelling about?"