Marry Me (Dramione)

08. The Dinner Date

"Okay, it's almost time." Hermione muttered under her breath as she stood beside her front door, staring at herself in the mirror on the wall. She fixed her hair and made sure her bobby pins were keeping her low bun in a twist. "I look fine, nothing seems to be out of place ..." She smoothed down her hands over her black dress. She and Ginny had gone shopping for hours until finally, she found the dress. The black strapless dress that went just a little above the knees but nothing more. Simple, elegant, and classy, or so she thought.

Another five minutes passed. Hermione anxiously looked at the time as she bit her bottom lip. It was 6:05, five minutes late. "Where is he?" She asked herself as she began to pace in front of the front door. "Should I open the door to see if he's there or .. no! Hermione, no, don't be that girl. If he comes, he comes. If he doesn't, oh well. You bought yourself a nice dress to wear to another occassion. All is well." Hermione convinced herself, but she couldn't help but feel that weird flip her stomach did whenever she was nervous. "Maybe just a peek out the door?" She gave in, stepping up in front of the door. She took a deep breath and grabbed the door knob, twisting it and opening the door to see Draco Malfoy standing in front of the door with a fist raised just above Hermione's head. He was decked down in a simple but classy black suit. How funny, they matched and they didn't even have to try.

"Knock, knock." Draco said as he awkwardly put his hand down. "Uhm, y-you're ready."

"You came." Hermione answered with a sigh of relief. "You came." She repeated, grabbing her clutch from inside of her house and her jacket. She closed the door behind her and stared at Draco. "Let's go, we're late."

"H, how'd you know I'd come?" Draco asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"That same reason I got dressed up and waited for you. We can't afford to make any mistakes, we need to show people we're in love, so we can't miss an opportunity like this." She reasoned rationally, staring at him. "Well, why did you come?"

He looked at her for a moment hesitantly, opening his mouth to speak but pulled back. "Same reason you waited." He answered momentarily, clearing his throat. "Come on, Pansy's going to get upset if she thinks we stood her up." He said, offering his arm for her.

She looked at his arm and then back to him. "Oh, look, manners." She said mockingly, linking her arms with him.

"Don't push it, Granger. Our acting starts, now." He said and apparated them away.

---

"Wait, back up, what?" Harry asked as he sat down next to Ron on the couch. "What?"

"Hermione's with Malfoy - like, romantically." Ron answered wearily. "How the bloody hell did that happen?"

"No, but where's the proof? How do you know?"

"He knows where she lives, they talked to each other in a way that friends do, and he called her love. I think those are perfectly good reasons to assume that they're together."

"Unbelievable. No, but there has to be something more."

"What more is there? Look, I broke up with her, she found herself someone new. I just wish ... it was anyone but Malfoy."

"No, it happened way too quickly. Hermione's not the kind of person --"

"Yeah, well, I wasn't the kind of person who would ever get drunk and cheat on his girlfriend, but look how that turned out? Look, things happen, people change ..."

Harry grimaced as he took in a deep breath. "Well, did you apologize, at least?"

Ron avoided eye contact with his friend, whistling nonchalantly as he cleared his throat. "I, I was going to but then Malfoy rudely interrupted and ..." He sighed, staring at his friend. "I, my anger and surprise got the best of me. I didn't."