The Right Thing To Do

Chapter 7

Hermione survived the rest of the week without running into Draco. Not in the lifts, not at the café, not in the Atrium on the way in. She didn't let Ginny do her hair again. She'd told her "the wrong person noticed," which had gotten Ginny into quite a tizzy trying to figure out what she meant by that.

Friday rolled around and Hermione was glad to see the clock tick toward five o'clock. Sometimes Harry and a few other Aurors would head to a pub after work on Fridays, and Harry had invited her today. She didn't really drink, but a Butterbeer sounded wonderful about now.

It was 4:42 when Hermione heard footsteps coming by her cubicle. She looked up to see Harry round the corner. He was breathing hard, like he'd run.

"Harry," she said. "What is it?"

"I've made a mistake," he said. He ran his hand through his hair and shifted his glasses on his face. Hermione felt a tightness in her chest that she hadn't felt for almost two years.

"What's wrong?"

Ginny rounded the corner, also out of breath.

"Ginny! Is everything okay?"

"It will be!" She grinned. Things must not be that dire if Ginny was grinning.

"I, er..." Harry began. He lowered his voice. "I was talking with some of my team about going out to the pub tonight, and Malfoy was a few feet away."

Ginny was pulling a comb and pins out of her purse. Hermione stared at her, uncomprehending.

"And," Harry continued. "I said 'Hey Malfoy, if you're not busy after work...'"

As Ginny started tugging on Hermione's hair, she suddenly understood.

"We've got it, Potter. You can go," Ginny said, spinning Hermione's chair around.

"Wha-?" Hermione tried.

"Again, really sorry, Hermione," Harry said. He walked back to the lifts.

Ginny tugged on her hair to get her to face forward.

"We'll try something different this time, yeah?" Ginny said.

"Ginny, stop." Hermione turned in her chair. "You don't need to do this. I'll be fine."

"Listen up, Granger." Ginny leaned down and placed her hands on Hermione's armrests, bringing her face level with hers. "You have to try. There's no harm in trying."

"There's something to be said for 'trying' too hard," Hermione said. A thought hit her. "Did Harry call you?"

Ginny nodded. "He popped through the Floo, said, 'I've just made a horrible mistake, I've invited Malfoy out with us tonight,' and I told him to go tell you and I'd be right there."

Hermione didn't know whether to be comforted that she had such caring friends, or insulted that no one thought she could dress herself.

"And this time," Ginny threatened. "We're doing mascara."

~*~

Hermione was able to stop her at lip gloss at least. Ginny had pulled the hair at her temples back into braids again, but let the rest hang down, using her wand to spin a few unruly locks into the curls they should be. Ginny didn't let her see herself until they were on their way to the pub, but she had to admit that Ginny had done a good job. The mascara was weighing on her eyes though.

The pub was particularly crowded for 5PM. They'd come here after work loads of times, but it was never like this. Ginny lead Hermione through the crowd to their usual corner, bumping elbows with people on the way. Katie Bell waved them over to their table and gave them both huge hugs. Katie had started at the Improper Use of Magic Division right after the Battle of Hogwarts, so she usually joined them on their Friday nights out.