Chapter 8

“I think I'm going to go take a shower, too,” Hermione said, standing up and stretching. “I feel rather dusty from the stadium.”

Ron watched as she walked through the door that connected their rooms and thought that a shower would feel good too. While he waited for Harry to get out of the bathroom, he flipped through the souvenir book he'd picked up about the Finches.

“Don't know how long I'll be.”

Ron looked up as Harry came into the room and shrugged. “Take all the time you want.”

“Where'd Hermione go?” Harry asked, looking around.

“Taking a shower.” Ron closed the book and stood up.

“Guess I'll see you guys later then.” Harry started for the door, paused for just a moment, and then made his way through the door.

Gathering up some clean robes, Ron made his way into the bathroom. As the shower ran over his body, he thought about the match that he'd seen. But his mind kept wandering to the witch in the next room.

Shaking his head to clear it, he quickly finished taking his shower and got dried and dressed. He sat down on his bed and continued looking through the book he'd gotten at the stadium. Every once in a while, however, he'd look up at the connecting room.

"Oi! Li'l bro! Ya know, that pretty little witch you been swoonin' over the past few years is gonna take it as a bad sign. You've all been done with MoldieVoldie for how long?"

The voice came from everywhere and yet nowhere, and he'd recognize it in a heartbeat. "Fred?" Ron breathed, sitting up straight.

"All I know is it's been a while, and for all you've shown her you want her, she's gonna s'pose you wanna be just friends forever. Nothin' more. That what you want?"

Ron heard someone say a soft "no," and then realized it was him. He shivered and looked around, realizing the voice was starting to make him feel a bit creeped-out. But the worst thing about the voice was... it was right.

Putting the book down, he picked up the map of Enchanter's Way, looking for restaurants. He found one that looked halfway decent, glanced in the mirror to check his hair, and took a deep breath. He could almost hear Fred jibing him and, using that, made himself stand up and knock on the door.

When the door opened, Hermione stood there, looking at him curiously. "Hi, Ron. Did you need something?"

"Erm, I was wondering..." He looked deep into her brown eyes and nearly regretted it, since that almost always made his confidence go by way of Brazil or something. But he got his head together with a quick boot from his memory of Fred and continued, ".... if you want to go out to dinner with me."

Hermione looked at him for a moment, and he wondered if she was going to say no. Finally she gave him a smile. “I'd like that. Did you have a place in mind?”

“Well, I saw a place listed that I thought you'd like. It's called Capt.'s Waterfront Grill & Club. They have fish and steak, and stuff like that. I know how you like fish. It's right off of Enchanter's Way.”

“Alright. Let me go get changed, and I'll be ready to go.”

Ron checked out the information about the restaurant and decided that he probably should wear robes that were a bit nicer than the ones he'd put on after his shower. Going to his rucksack, he pulled out the robes that he'd packed for just this kind of thing. Remembering the de-wrinkling charm his mum had taught him, he quickly straightened out his robes and changed into them.

A knock came at the door not too long after he'd changed his robes, and he opened it to find Hermione standing there before him. Her hair was pulled back and off her neck, and she was dressed in blue dress robes. Her feet were in shoes that made her look taller, and he realized it was because she was in heels.

“You look... amazing.” Ron smiled at her and put his arms around her. “Do you have a jacket that you want to wear? It might be kinda cool outside.”

“You look very nice too,” Hermione told him, returning his smile. “Yes, maybe I should get a jacket.”

Fifteen minutes later, they were being shown to a table on Capt's Topside & Deck.

“My name is Miguel, and I will be your server tonight. Can I bring you something to drink while you are looking over our menu?” the waiter asked.

“I would like a glass of Cristalino,” Hermione said, looking over the wine list.

“Very good, ma'am, and for you, sir?”

“I'll take a pint of Bass Ale, thanks.”

The waiter left, and they opened their menus.

“What do you think you'll have?” Ron asked, looking over his own menu. “I'm thinking about the Filet Mignon.”

Hermione considered the menu. “I think I'm going to have a cup of the New England Clam Chowder and the Capt's Lobster Risotto.” She closed her menu and looked around. “This is a really nice place, Ron. I'm glad we came here.”

“Thought you'd enjoy it. I mean, we haven't had much chance to go out, and it might feel kinda weird to come here when it's the three of us.” Ron could feel his ears burning at her compliment and knew that they were turning red.

The waiter returned with their drinks and took their orders.

“This trip has been enjoyable so far, hasn't it?” Hermione asked Ron, taking a sip of her wine.

“Yeah. It's been great to get out and have some fun. 'Course, all too soon we're going to have to go back to real life and Hogwarts.” He took a swig of his ale. “Thought about what you are going to do after we finish up at Hogwarts?”

“I have had a few ideas, but nothing concrete yet. It all depends on how I do on my NEWTs, I guess. Although with the trip we are taking, I am thinking that working in the Department of International Magical Cooperation might be interesting. What about you?”

“Dunno. Reckon if Harry is still going to be an Auror, I might still do that. Would be kinda cool for the two of us to do that together. 'Course, after offing You Know Who, he might not wanna do that anymore.”

Hermione didn't have a chance to reply to him because just then their dinners were brought to their table. Ron felt his stomach grumble at the sight and smell of the delicious food. Even Hermione's food looked good, even though he'd never eat anything with fish in it.

The food was some of the best he'd ever tasted, and by the look on Hermione's face, he could tell that she was enjoying it as well. When they were through with their dinners, Ron looked over the dessert menu.

“Want to try one of those Sticky Toffee Puddings?”

“I don't think I could eat a whole one myself. I'll just take a bite or two of yours,” she replied, finishing her glass of wine.

After dinner, the two of them took a walk along the wharf, holding hands and just enjoying being together.

“This was a lovely evening, Ron. Thank you,” Hermione said, turning to face him as they stopped by the water.

“You're welcome.” He laid his hand along her cheek and gently tilted her head up to meet his as he leaned down to kiss her.

A short time later, Ron opened the door to his room, a large smile on his face. He stopped short when he saw that Harry had already returned and then glanced at his watch. It was almost 11 o'clock!

Noticing that Harry seemed quiet, he said, “Sorry I didn't leave a note. Thought we'd be back before you were.”

“'S'ok.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Just got a lot on my mind,” Harry said, flipping through a book absent-mindedly.

“Want to talk about it?” Ron sat down on his bed and looked over at his friend.

“Patrick O'Donnell is the owner of a professional Quidditch team. He wants me to play professional Quidditch.”