Leaning Slightly to the Left | HG | Rated: T
Title: Leaning Slightly to the Left: Chapter 3
For: queenb23more who bid for this on the help_chile community.
Chapter Rating: T for language
Chapter Warnings: Angst, swearing
Featured Characters/Pairings: Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Harry, OFC, Ron/OFC, Ron/Hermione
Chapter Word Count: 4,147
Summary: Hermione's life is not what she expected it to be and she doesn't know how to change it. Will moving back to what she knows help? Or if she pinning all her hopes on a dream that ended years before?
Author's Note: Please to see previous Author's Note. Ta. :D
Oh, and I got this betaed by the wonderful lnalvgd but I honestly can't remember if I implemented the changes, so please let me know of any howlers. Ta :D And yes, I do feel the need when writing multi-chapter fics to have at least one chapter open with swearing!
Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11
Leaning Slightly to the Left
Confusion
'Shit, shit, shit, shit, shiiiiiiiiit!'
Hermione looked up from her book to see Ginny shuffling across the lounge with one high heeled shoe on and one high heeled shoe in her left hand.
'Problem, Ginevra?'
'Have you seen my hair? Yes, I have a problem! I cannot go out to the Harpies mid season ball looking like this!'
Hermione put her book down and looked properly at her best friend. Half of her hair was sleek and pinned exactly how it should be and the other half was in a giant knot.
'Dare I ask what went wrong?' Hermione asked as she stood. She pulled the rather short dress she was wearing - borrowed from Ginny - an inch down and had a feeling she would be spending the rest of the evening doing that very thing.
'I was doing what I've done to the rest of my hair with my wand but I mustn't have been concentrating properly because before I knew it I had this,' she pointed to the right side of her head where a large portion of her hair seemed to have formed itself into a very good imitation of a birds nest, 'and now I can't get rid of it!'
Hermione sighed and pulled her wand out of her boot.
'Sit,' she said. Ginny sighed and perched on the end of the sofa.
'Oh, and just so you know, you're keeping that dress.'
Hermione concentrated on the mass of hair and twirled her wand around the mass a few times, assessing the damage.
'I'm not keeping your dress, Ginny.'
'Yes you are, you look better in it than I do, I can't wear it now.'
'Have you been drinking?' Hermione asked as she pulled a chunk of hair free of the nest.
'There may be an open bottle of wine in my bedroom but that's neither here nor there.'
'Should you be drinking before an official function?'
'After five minutes of the company that will be there you will have wished you'd drunk before you got there, too.'
'Although I'm dressed and ready to go I can be undressed in less than a minute. You're not selling this evening to me, Gin!'
Another, larger chunk of hair came free of the mess.
'You're coming, Hermione, I need the moral support!'
'You have Harry for that.'
'Oh, please, Harry's bad at Harpie functions. The other girls fawn over him and I lose him within ten minutes.'
'Again, not selling this to me, Gin.'
'Okay, how's this, there'll be lots of fit men there, free alcohol and food and a bloody good dance at the end.'
Hermione freed the last chunk of hair and smoothed the entire part that was now free with her wand.
'Well, I suppose that's a little better, although I'm still a bit narked that you told Ron he could be my escort. You're done.'
Ginny stood and raked her fingers through her hair.
'Thank you and it seemed ridiculous Ron going separately and you going separately when the four of us are going to be spending the evening together anyway. You're friends, remember, Hermione, it'll be fine. Look, you and Ron can grumble together that you have other places you'd rather be but because you love me so much you're there, okay?'
'Ginny.'
'What?'
'Calm down, it's going to be fine, why are you worried about this?'
'Sorry. I just... I'm making a speech tonight and I'm scared shitless. All my peers are going to be there, management, scouts, even the sodding chairman's gonna be there and I have to talk about the club and the team and... ugh! I hate public speaking and Gwenog knows that but she still asked me.'
'Okay, before I talk you down from the edge, I have to ask again, why did you think drinking beforehand was a good idea?'
'Because it calms my nerves.'
'Evidently!'
Ginny sighed and slumped against the sofa. Hermione decided she needed to pull Ginny out of her panic and calm her down. She took her arm and pulled her so she was standing. Her electric blue dress was rumpled where she had fallen against the sofa. Hermione pulled the material into shape and took her other shoe out her hand and dropped it on the floor. Ginny pushed her foot into it. Hermione looked at Ginny, she was shocked to see her eyes glistening.
'Oh, now come on, Gin. We'll have none of that. You are one of the most confident people I know and you will be fine when you stand in front of people who admire you and love you for who you are. '
Ginny nodded.
'And if they don't like your speech, me, Harry and Ron will Obliviate everyone in the room and make them think you were brilliant, okay?'
Ginny laughed. 'I'll hold you to that.'
'You won't have to. Now, let's get your hair finished. If I'm honest I think if you take half of these pins out and just put the top half of your hair up, it'll look really sexy and... actually probably not a good idea. Harry won't be able to take his eyes or hands off you.'
'Sounds excellent!'
The fireplace whooshed with green flames and Harry's head appeared in the fire. He had his eyes closed and Hermione snorted.
'Can we come through? Are you decent?'
'Open your eyes, Harry,' Ginny said as she rolled hers.
'Oh! Good, you're ready, we'll be through in a minute.'
'Okay.'
The flames disappeared and Hermione's heart seemed to be beating really loudly in her chest. She pulled her dress down, yet again and carefully felt her hair to make sure it was still in place.
'You look gorgeous, Hermione. Stop fidgeting. And I'm serious about you keeping that dress.'
Before she could reply the flames appeared and then died down leaving two slightly dusty looking men behind. They both took out their wands and removed the small covering of dust and soot from their robes and stepped into the room.
'Wow, you still scrub up well, Hermione,' Harry said with a grin. He stepped forwards and hugged her.
'Ever the charmer, Harry, but I can say the same for you.'
She was trying her hardest not to look at Ron because there was always one way to make her stomach squirm with want and that was to see Ron in dress robes. She resisted for as long as she could and when Harry stepped around her to say hello to Ginny she looked into his blue eyes and couldn't help but smile.
'Evening,' he said with a smirk, 'Bloody hell, Gin, you're ready!'
Hermione turned to look at Ginny who had raised her eyebrows.
'Well, as much as I hate to disappoint you, dear brother, I haven't finished doing my hair, so please feel free to mess up my flat while I finish. I will only be a few minutes.'
'Have you got any Firewhisky, Gin?' Ron called as she walked through to the bedroom.
'Yeah, in the alcohol cupboard.'
Hermione raised her eyebrows as Ron walked through to the kitchen.
'Should a Quidditch star have an alcohol cupboard, Ginny?'
'Abso-bloody-lutely!' Ginny called from the bedroom.
Harry laughed and followed Ginny into the bedroom and Hermione wandered into the kitchen after Ron.
It had been a week since she arrived back in the country and it had been a hectic week. She had gone into the Ministry on the Monday and had been given the exact same job she had had in France. She was still doing the donkey work in the Department of Magical Law that she had been for four years, but that was the way it worked. You did the junior work for six years and you learnt from those around you. You absorbed and you helped and you did the assignments you were asked to do and at the end of your six years you applied for one of the assistant jobs that came up every year.
If she was honest with herself, she was thoroughly bored. She didn't mind the fact that she had to do the junior work and work her way up, but she had done every assignment asked of her and in record time, she had even looked at the ones the people who had been taken on a the year previous to her and had done one in her spare time easily.
She had something of a plan, but she wasn't sure whether she could pull it off. A year ago she had watched as one of the extremely bright men who had been at the French Ministry's Department of Magical Law two years longer than her had applied for one of the assistant jobs and had been successful in his application. He had taken the initiative and done the assignments that he would have done if he had done the programme normally and he was promoted a year early. She knew it was a long shot that she would be accepted two years earlier than normal, but she didn't have anything to lose.
She had learned the hard way that not taking opportunities handed to you on a plate could come back and haunt you, so she was determined to make and take this opportunity for herself.
'Drink?' Ron asked as he pulled a glass out of the cupboard.
'Um, yeah, why not?'
She watched as he poured it out. She was about to remind him how she preferred her Firewhisky, (not that she drank it a great deal) but she didn't need to. She watched as he took one of the Lemons from the fruit bowl and sliced it in half and roughly squeezed it into the glass. He took another glass and charmed it full of water and then turned it to ice. He took three of the lumps and put them in Hermione's glass and the ran the lemon around the rim of the glass.
He turned to a staring Hermione and handed it to her.
'I guess there's just some things you don't forget,' she said before taking a sip of the amber liquid.
Ron smiled and prepared his own drink in the same way he had Hermione's but he didn't edge the glass with lemon juice. Hermione smiled. He had had to admit that adding lemon juice to the drink was a nice touch, but he didn't like having to taste the lemon straight before the alcohol hit his lips.
'How's the transfer to the Ministry going?' he asked as he turned and propped himself against the kitchen cupboard.
'It went as smoothly as possible, I have the same monotonous job, just the cases have changed, oh and everything's in English as opposed to French.'
Ron smiled. 'You picked the language up way too quickly! I know I should never be amazed at your intelligence but when I heard you speaking fluently after only a few months it took my breath away.'
Hermione smiled and took another sip of her drink.
'It was learn it or fail miserably at everything I was doing. It added another challenge to the job and I enjoyed that.'
'But now you're saying your job is monotonous. What changed?'
'Nothing! That's the point. I understand that you have to do the ground work and work your way up the ladder and do the assignments they ask of you, but I just feel a bit... bored. I'm not being arrogant it's just a bit... samey.'
Ron took a large mouthful of whisky. 'Is there no way to make it more challenging again?'
'Well... a few years ago there was a man at the Ministry who was bored like I was and he still had another year to go doing what I do. He found out what all the Ministry assignments were that he would have to do over the next year and applied early for one of the assistant jobs. People scoffed and told him he was up himself and arrogant but he did the work, did it well, impressed at interview and became an assistant earlier than he should have.'
'So do that! Hermione if anyone can do work twice the normal speed, you can!'
Hermione smiled and her heart lifted a little. 'Yeah but he was only one year off finishing, I'm two off and that's not been done before.'
'So!' Ron pushed himself off the counter and stood to face Hermione. She could read his look of determination and knew he wouldn't let this drop. 'Hermione, since when has 'that's not been done before' bothered you? You're Hermione Granger, war hero with the highest N.E.W.T marks for decades at Hogwarts. You were given a job at a Ministry in a foreign country straight out of school which had never been done before. Don't you dare stand there and tell me you're not good enough to do this! At the very least you give it a go!'
Hermione shrugged but smiled with it. 'Thank you for your confidence in me, Ron. I'll seriously consider it. Anyway, how are you getting on?'
Ron looked into his drink and smiled. 'I started writing. Nothing with any particular direction or order to it, just thoughts and feelings and I think I've got something that can link it all together.'
Hermione watched as he talked about what he had done and she couldn't help but beam at him. He had become animated and was obviously excited about what he had achieved in the past few days.
'Why are you grinning at me?' he said with a half smile.
'Sorry! I'm just happy to see you so happy about what you're doing. It's like when you first got into writing Right Hand Man and you'd found a way of healing and mending by getting it all down on paper. You're excited about writing, Ron I can't not be happy!'
Ron laughed and she laughed with him.
'Seriously, though, if you're happy then I'm happy.'
She closed her eyes and felt the weight of the words she had just said hang in the air.
'Thanks,' Ron said quietly. She heard him drain his glass and she took a larger than normal mouthful herself, and then another. The liquid burned her throat and she coughed quietly before putting the glass next to Ron's.
'Done!' Ginny exclaimed from the lounge.
Hermione walked through to stand with Ginny and Harry and Ron followed her.
'Right, remember, don't pay for a thing tonight, it's all on the club. Some of the bartenders are sneaky bastards and pocket any money they get off drunk patrons who don't have to pay anything, but do.'
'Robbing bastards!' Ron exclaimed.
'Precisely. So no paying for anything. Right. Let's go!'
Hermione watched as she grabbed hold of Harry's arm and apparated them both out of there. Harry looked like he was about to ask something but thought better of it before disappearing.
Hermione turned to face Ron who had held is hand out to her. She reached her hand to him but before he could take it pulled back. He raised his eyebrows in concern.
'Ron, is this strange and... weird? I mean you should be going with Mattie and I shouldn't be going at all! I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable or anything.'
Ron smirked. 'Hermione, we're friends and we're going to my little sister's and your best friend's commemorative, celebratory... party... thing... It was the logical choice that I escort you.'
'Since when have you cared about what's logical?' she asked before she could stop herself. 'I mean... you don't do logical, Ron! You're chaotic to the core!'
She smiled a nervous smile and he snorted.
'I'm going to take that as a compliment as opposed to the insult it was intended at.'
'Not an insult,' she insisted, 'just... an observation.'
'Well, as I said, there's nothing wrong with two friends going to a function together, so stop stressing and enjoy yourself, okay? I intend to get thoroughly drunk because it's free.'
Hermione nodded. 'As long as you're okay with it, then I am.'
Ron looked at her and while she was trying not to stare into his eyes she realised he looked touched by her comment. He extended his hand to her once more and she took it. Ron gripped tightly and turned on the spot.
...oooOOOooo...
The night had been more entertaining than she had thought it would be. The numerous speeches had been very well received, Ginny's especially. She protested that she stumbled over a couple of her words and talked too fast but Hermione hadn't noticed and neither had anyone she'd talked to about it.
The drinks had flowed freely but she had been sensible with what she had drunk, unlike Harry who had disappeared half an hour ago and Ron had definitely taken advantage of the free bar. He had also taken advantage of the free food as well so the alcohol had had less effect than he had hoped.
She had chatted to people she knew, people she knew only a little and had talked to complete strangers but she was happy and had enjoyed herself.
She had found herself back at the bar, not by intent, purely because that was the way her journey through the crowds of people had taken her. The dark haired and dark eyed bar tender smiled at her and took her empty glass. She hopped onto the bar stool with less dignity than she would have liked but she didn't think anyone noticed.
'I don't think I need to cut you off just yet, you seem far too coherent! Another?'
'Just a water please.'
The bartender grinned. 'Wow, Miss Adventurous!'
Hermione raised her eyebrows and smirked.
'Fine! I'll have a lime and soda!'
He grinned. 'Lime and soda it is.' He turned around to make Hermione's drink and she watched him work. She snorted when he put the soda water and lime in a cocktail shaker and showed off by throwing and catching the it over and over. He grinned when he saw her watching and then finally poured her drink over ice. She was going to comment about a possible explosion with the drink being mostly carbonated water but didn't and was surprised and slightly relieved when nothing exploded. She decided the shaker was charmed.
'Was all that necessary for a lime and soda?' she asked with a smile.
He chuckled. 'Well, I like to make a fuss of my customers, especially when they're Hermione Granger.'
She raised her eyebrows and took her drink off him.
'Well, seeing as though you know my name it seems only fair that you tell me yours.'
The bartender smiled what Hermione thought was a genuine smile and reached out his hand across the bar.
'I'm Quintus Grant.'
'Lovely to meet you, Quintus.'
'Have you enjoyed the evening, Hermione?' Quintus asked, letting go of her hand.
'I have, more so than I expected. I'll admit I was a little... unenthusiastic about coming, but I'm glad I did. It's nice to just get out and not care about anything for a few hours.'
'Does Hermione Granger have a lot on her mind?'
Hermione took sip of her drink and smiled. 'A little. You must get a lot of people pouring their hearts out to you.'
Quintus nodded and smirked. 'A few. Some things I'd rather not remember but a couple of people have left my bar happier than when they arrived, and not just because of the alcohol. Although that probably helped.'
'Have you worked at the Stadium long?'
Quintus took a swig from a bottle of Butter Beer and nodded. 'Yeah, years. I started right here behind the bar, then became bar manager and then they put me in charge of functions and events, more fool them.'
Hermione raised her eyebrows. You're head of events at the Harpies' stadium and yet you're serving drinks behind the bar like you did when you started out?'
Quintus tilted his head to the side and Hermione realised his eyes weren't as dark as he first thought. In fact they seemed a lot lighter than she remembered.
'I never ask my staff do something that I wouldn't do myself. This was a big event and one of the lads is on holiday so here I am.'
'Well, I think your management style is brilliant. I just wish more people in higher places would do the dirty work occasionally, they'd find people would respect them a whole lot more if they did.'
'Well, that's what I thought. Plus it's nice to stand here and people watch sometimes. I miss that but you can't argue with the pay rise that having 'Manager' in your title brings.'
Hermione nodded as she drank more of her lime and soda. A shock of red hair pulled her eyes towards the crowd and she watched as Ron walked towards her, a smile on his face.
'Hi,' he said before glancing at Quintus. 'Are you ready to leave? I know you were ready a while ago.'
Hermione looked at him and watched as Quintus walked to the other end of the bar, taking a stack of clean glasses with him as he went. She thought about going home, but she was enjoying pleasant conversation and she didn't want it to end.
'Actually, I think I'm okay staying for a bit longer.'
Quintus walked back towards Hermione and when her eyes met his, he smiled. She looked at Ron who had turned to look at Quintus and he didn't disguise the small frown on his face.
'Are you sure? I'm worried about you getting home.'
'I'll be fine, Ron, but thank you for your concern.'
Ron's frown intensified but then he seemed to remember himself and the frown disappeared. He stepped into Hermione and went to hug her. She put her arms around him and he leaned into her hair.
'He's not good enough for you.'
Her arms dropped from around his back and she was instantly aggravated.
He leaned back and put his hand on top of hers.
'Be careful getting home. I'll see you soon.'
She didn't respond, just felt anger invade her every cell. She watched as he walked away. She could hear Quintus moving glasses around behind the bar and turned to him.
'Would you mind just looking after my drink? I'll be back in a minute.'
Quintus nodded and took her glass before putting it behind the bar.
'Thanks,' she said as she hopped off the stool and stared following Ron out of the function room.
She caught up to him outside the cloak room and watched as he retrieved his cloak and walked out to the corridor. She followed him and made sure no one was following her. As soon as the door shut behind her she shouted.
'You don't get to say that, Ron!'
She was mortified when she felt tears burn her eyes. She hated that he could bring these emotions out in her so often and with such intensity.
He turned round and looked at her.
'I don't get to say what?' he replied, taking a couple of steps towards her.
''He's not good enough for you!' You don't get to say things like that because it's got nothing to do with you!'
She could see a change in him. The confident Ron that she had met a week ago seemed to disappear and she recognised the Ron stood in front of her now.
'I just care about you. I want the best for you.'
He stared at the floor and put his hands in his trouser pockets. Hermione sighed.
'I know you do but it's up to me to decide who's good enough for me, isn't it? And if I remember rightly you're not a great judge about deciding who's good enough for me. You convinced yourself you weren't remember?'
At another time she wouldn't have said anything, but she needed to for some reason she wasn't sure about.
'Saying stuff like that isn't fair to me and it's not fair to Mattie either. I get that we're friends, Ron and I get that you moved on and have someone special, but I don't understand what just happened in there, and honestly, I'm not sure if I want to understand it.'
She looked at him and he brought his gaze to her. He looked like he was struggling with something he wanted to say but Hermione realised she didn't want to hear it.
She turned before her nerve could fail her and she pushed on the door.
'None of this is fair, Hermione,' Ron whispered. She barely heard it but it stopped her dead.
She kept her hold on the door and looked over her shoulder.
'Believe me, Ron, of that I'm fully aware.'
For: queenb23more who bid for this on the help_chile community.
Chapter Rating: T for language
Chapter Warnings: Angst, swearing
Featured Characters/Pairings: Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Harry, OFC, Ron/OFC, Ron/Hermione
Chapter Word Count: 4,147
Summary: Hermione's life is not what she expected it to be and she doesn't know how to change it. Will moving back to what she knows help? Or if she pinning all her hopes on a dream that ended years before?
Author's Note: Please to see previous Author's Note. Ta. :D
Oh, and I got this betaed by the wonderful lnalvgd but I honestly can't remember if I implemented the changes, so please let me know of any howlers. Ta :D And yes, I do feel the need when writing multi-chapter fics to have at least one chapter open with swearing!
Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11
Leaning Slightly to the Left
Confusion
'Shit, shit, shit, shit, shiiiiiiiiit!'
Hermione looked up from her book to see Ginny shuffling across the lounge with one high heeled shoe on and one high heeled shoe in her left hand.
'Problem, Ginevra?'
'Have you seen my hair? Yes, I have a problem! I cannot go out to the Harpies mid season ball looking like this!'
Hermione put her book down and looked properly at her best friend. Half of her hair was sleek and pinned exactly how it should be and the other half was in a giant knot.
'Dare I ask what went wrong?' Hermione asked as she stood. She pulled the rather short dress she was wearing - borrowed from Ginny - an inch down and had a feeling she would be spending the rest of the evening doing that very thing.
'I was doing what I've done to the rest of my hair with my wand but I mustn't have been concentrating properly because before I knew it I had this,' she pointed to the right side of her head where a large portion of her hair seemed to have formed itself into a very good imitation of a birds nest, 'and now I can't get rid of it!'
Hermione sighed and pulled her wand out of her boot.
'Sit,' she said. Ginny sighed and perched on the end of the sofa.
'Oh, and just so you know, you're keeping that dress.'
Hermione concentrated on the mass of hair and twirled her wand around the mass a few times, assessing the damage.
'I'm not keeping your dress, Ginny.'
'Yes you are, you look better in it than I do, I can't wear it now.'
'Have you been drinking?' Hermione asked as she pulled a chunk of hair free of the nest.
'There may be an open bottle of wine in my bedroom but that's neither here nor there.'
'Should you be drinking before an official function?'
'After five minutes of the company that will be there you will have wished you'd drunk before you got there, too.'
'Although I'm dressed and ready to go I can be undressed in less than a minute. You're not selling this evening to me, Gin!'
Another, larger chunk of hair came free of the mess.
'You're coming, Hermione, I need the moral support!'
'You have Harry for that.'
'Oh, please, Harry's bad at Harpie functions. The other girls fawn over him and I lose him within ten minutes.'
'Again, not selling this to me, Gin.'
'Okay, how's this, there'll be lots of fit men there, free alcohol and food and a bloody good dance at the end.'
Hermione freed the last chunk of hair and smoothed the entire part that was now free with her wand.
'Well, I suppose that's a little better, although I'm still a bit narked that you told Ron he could be my escort. You're done.'
Ginny stood and raked her fingers through her hair.
'Thank you and it seemed ridiculous Ron going separately and you going separately when the four of us are going to be spending the evening together anyway. You're friends, remember, Hermione, it'll be fine. Look, you and Ron can grumble together that you have other places you'd rather be but because you love me so much you're there, okay?'
'Ginny.'
'What?'
'Calm down, it's going to be fine, why are you worried about this?'
'Sorry. I just... I'm making a speech tonight and I'm scared shitless. All my peers are going to be there, management, scouts, even the sodding chairman's gonna be there and I have to talk about the club and the team and... ugh! I hate public speaking and Gwenog knows that but she still asked me.'
'Okay, before I talk you down from the edge, I have to ask again, why did you think drinking beforehand was a good idea?'
'Because it calms my nerves.'
'Evidently!'
Ginny sighed and slumped against the sofa. Hermione decided she needed to pull Ginny out of her panic and calm her down. She took her arm and pulled her so she was standing. Her electric blue dress was rumpled where she had fallen against the sofa. Hermione pulled the material into shape and took her other shoe out her hand and dropped it on the floor. Ginny pushed her foot into it. Hermione looked at Ginny, she was shocked to see her eyes glistening.
'Oh, now come on, Gin. We'll have none of that. You are one of the most confident people I know and you will be fine when you stand in front of people who admire you and love you for who you are. '
Ginny nodded.
'And if they don't like your speech, me, Harry and Ron will Obliviate everyone in the room and make them think you were brilliant, okay?'
Ginny laughed. 'I'll hold you to that.'
'You won't have to. Now, let's get your hair finished. If I'm honest I think if you take half of these pins out and just put the top half of your hair up, it'll look really sexy and... actually probably not a good idea. Harry won't be able to take his eyes or hands off you.'
'Sounds excellent!'
The fireplace whooshed with green flames and Harry's head appeared in the fire. He had his eyes closed and Hermione snorted.
'Can we come through? Are you decent?'
'Open your eyes, Harry,' Ginny said as she rolled hers.
'Oh! Good, you're ready, we'll be through in a minute.'
'Okay.'
The flames disappeared and Hermione's heart seemed to be beating really loudly in her chest. She pulled her dress down, yet again and carefully felt her hair to make sure it was still in place.
'You look gorgeous, Hermione. Stop fidgeting. And I'm serious about you keeping that dress.'
Before she could reply the flames appeared and then died down leaving two slightly dusty looking men behind. They both took out their wands and removed the small covering of dust and soot from their robes and stepped into the room.
'Wow, you still scrub up well, Hermione,' Harry said with a grin. He stepped forwards and hugged her.
'Ever the charmer, Harry, but I can say the same for you.'
She was trying her hardest not to look at Ron because there was always one way to make her stomach squirm with want and that was to see Ron in dress robes. She resisted for as long as she could and when Harry stepped around her to say hello to Ginny she looked into his blue eyes and couldn't help but smile.
'Evening,' he said with a smirk, 'Bloody hell, Gin, you're ready!'
Hermione turned to look at Ginny who had raised her eyebrows.
'Well, as much as I hate to disappoint you, dear brother, I haven't finished doing my hair, so please feel free to mess up my flat while I finish. I will only be a few minutes.'
'Have you got any Firewhisky, Gin?' Ron called as she walked through to the bedroom.
'Yeah, in the alcohol cupboard.'
Hermione raised her eyebrows as Ron walked through to the kitchen.
'Should a Quidditch star have an alcohol cupboard, Ginny?'
'Abso-bloody-lutely!' Ginny called from the bedroom.
Harry laughed and followed Ginny into the bedroom and Hermione wandered into the kitchen after Ron.
It had been a week since she arrived back in the country and it had been a hectic week. She had gone into the Ministry on the Monday and had been given the exact same job she had had in France. She was still doing the donkey work in the Department of Magical Law that she had been for four years, but that was the way it worked. You did the junior work for six years and you learnt from those around you. You absorbed and you helped and you did the assignments you were asked to do and at the end of your six years you applied for one of the assistant jobs that came up every year.
If she was honest with herself, she was thoroughly bored. She didn't mind the fact that she had to do the junior work and work her way up, but she had done every assignment asked of her and in record time, she had even looked at the ones the people who had been taken on a the year previous to her and had done one in her spare time easily.
She had something of a plan, but she wasn't sure whether she could pull it off. A year ago she had watched as one of the extremely bright men who had been at the French Ministry's Department of Magical Law two years longer than her had applied for one of the assistant jobs and had been successful in his application. He had taken the initiative and done the assignments that he would have done if he had done the programme normally and he was promoted a year early. She knew it was a long shot that she would be accepted two years earlier than normal, but she didn't have anything to lose.
She had learned the hard way that not taking opportunities handed to you on a plate could come back and haunt you, so she was determined to make and take this opportunity for herself.
'Drink?' Ron asked as he pulled a glass out of the cupboard.
'Um, yeah, why not?'
She watched as he poured it out. She was about to remind him how she preferred her Firewhisky, (not that she drank it a great deal) but she didn't need to. She watched as he took one of the Lemons from the fruit bowl and sliced it in half and roughly squeezed it into the glass. He took another glass and charmed it full of water and then turned it to ice. He took three of the lumps and put them in Hermione's glass and the ran the lemon around the rim of the glass.
He turned to a staring Hermione and handed it to her.
'I guess there's just some things you don't forget,' she said before taking a sip of the amber liquid.
Ron smiled and prepared his own drink in the same way he had Hermione's but he didn't edge the glass with lemon juice. Hermione smiled. He had had to admit that adding lemon juice to the drink was a nice touch, but he didn't like having to taste the lemon straight before the alcohol hit his lips.
'How's the transfer to the Ministry going?' he asked as he turned and propped himself against the kitchen cupboard.
'It went as smoothly as possible, I have the same monotonous job, just the cases have changed, oh and everything's in English as opposed to French.'
Ron smiled. 'You picked the language up way too quickly! I know I should never be amazed at your intelligence but when I heard you speaking fluently after only a few months it took my breath away.'
Hermione smiled and took another sip of her drink.
'It was learn it or fail miserably at everything I was doing. It added another challenge to the job and I enjoyed that.'
'But now you're saying your job is monotonous. What changed?'
'Nothing! That's the point. I understand that you have to do the ground work and work your way up the ladder and do the assignments they ask of you, but I just feel a bit... bored. I'm not being arrogant it's just a bit... samey.'
Ron took a large mouthful of whisky. 'Is there no way to make it more challenging again?'
'Well... a few years ago there was a man at the Ministry who was bored like I was and he still had another year to go doing what I do. He found out what all the Ministry assignments were that he would have to do over the next year and applied early for one of the assistant jobs. People scoffed and told him he was up himself and arrogant but he did the work, did it well, impressed at interview and became an assistant earlier than he should have.'
'So do that! Hermione if anyone can do work twice the normal speed, you can!'
Hermione smiled and her heart lifted a little. 'Yeah but he was only one year off finishing, I'm two off and that's not been done before.'
'So!' Ron pushed himself off the counter and stood to face Hermione. She could read his look of determination and knew he wouldn't let this drop. 'Hermione, since when has 'that's not been done before' bothered you? You're Hermione Granger, war hero with the highest N.E.W.T marks for decades at Hogwarts. You were given a job at a Ministry in a foreign country straight out of school which had never been done before. Don't you dare stand there and tell me you're not good enough to do this! At the very least you give it a go!'
Hermione shrugged but smiled with it. 'Thank you for your confidence in me, Ron. I'll seriously consider it. Anyway, how are you getting on?'
Ron looked into his drink and smiled. 'I started writing. Nothing with any particular direction or order to it, just thoughts and feelings and I think I've got something that can link it all together.'
Hermione watched as he talked about what he had done and she couldn't help but beam at him. He had become animated and was obviously excited about what he had achieved in the past few days.
'Why are you grinning at me?' he said with a half smile.
'Sorry! I'm just happy to see you so happy about what you're doing. It's like when you first got into writing Right Hand Man and you'd found a way of healing and mending by getting it all down on paper. You're excited about writing, Ron I can't not be happy!'
Ron laughed and she laughed with him.
'Seriously, though, if you're happy then I'm happy.'
She closed her eyes and felt the weight of the words she had just said hang in the air.
'Thanks,' Ron said quietly. She heard him drain his glass and she took a larger than normal mouthful herself, and then another. The liquid burned her throat and she coughed quietly before putting the glass next to Ron's.
'Done!' Ginny exclaimed from the lounge.
Hermione walked through to stand with Ginny and Harry and Ron followed her.
'Right, remember, don't pay for a thing tonight, it's all on the club. Some of the bartenders are sneaky bastards and pocket any money they get off drunk patrons who don't have to pay anything, but do.'
'Robbing bastards!' Ron exclaimed.
'Precisely. So no paying for anything. Right. Let's go!'
Hermione watched as she grabbed hold of Harry's arm and apparated them both out of there. Harry looked like he was about to ask something but thought better of it before disappearing.
Hermione turned to face Ron who had held is hand out to her. She reached her hand to him but before he could take it pulled back. He raised his eyebrows in concern.
'Ron, is this strange and... weird? I mean you should be going with Mattie and I shouldn't be going at all! I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable or anything.'
Ron smirked. 'Hermione, we're friends and we're going to my little sister's and your best friend's commemorative, celebratory... party... thing... It was the logical choice that I escort you.'
'Since when have you cared about what's logical?' she asked before she could stop herself. 'I mean... you don't do logical, Ron! You're chaotic to the core!'
She smiled a nervous smile and he snorted.
'I'm going to take that as a compliment as opposed to the insult it was intended at.'
'Not an insult,' she insisted, 'just... an observation.'
'Well, as I said, there's nothing wrong with two friends going to a function together, so stop stressing and enjoy yourself, okay? I intend to get thoroughly drunk because it's free.'
Hermione nodded. 'As long as you're okay with it, then I am.'
Ron looked at her and while she was trying not to stare into his eyes she realised he looked touched by her comment. He extended his hand to her once more and she took it. Ron gripped tightly and turned on the spot.
...oooOOOooo...
The night had been more entertaining than she had thought it would be. The numerous speeches had been very well received, Ginny's especially. She protested that she stumbled over a couple of her words and talked too fast but Hermione hadn't noticed and neither had anyone she'd talked to about it.
The drinks had flowed freely but she had been sensible with what she had drunk, unlike Harry who had disappeared half an hour ago and Ron had definitely taken advantage of the free bar. He had also taken advantage of the free food as well so the alcohol had had less effect than he had hoped.
She had chatted to people she knew, people she knew only a little and had talked to complete strangers but she was happy and had enjoyed herself.
She had found herself back at the bar, not by intent, purely because that was the way her journey through the crowds of people had taken her. The dark haired and dark eyed bar tender smiled at her and took her empty glass. She hopped onto the bar stool with less dignity than she would have liked but she didn't think anyone noticed.
'I don't think I need to cut you off just yet, you seem far too coherent! Another?'
'Just a water please.'
The bartender grinned. 'Wow, Miss Adventurous!'
Hermione raised her eyebrows and smirked.
'Fine! I'll have a lime and soda!'
He grinned. 'Lime and soda it is.' He turned around to make Hermione's drink and she watched him work. She snorted when he put the soda water and lime in a cocktail shaker and showed off by throwing and catching the it over and over. He grinned when he saw her watching and then finally poured her drink over ice. She was going to comment about a possible explosion with the drink being mostly carbonated water but didn't and was surprised and slightly relieved when nothing exploded. She decided the shaker was charmed.
'Was all that necessary for a lime and soda?' she asked with a smile.
He chuckled. 'Well, I like to make a fuss of my customers, especially when they're Hermione Granger.'
She raised her eyebrows and took her drink off him.
'Well, seeing as though you know my name it seems only fair that you tell me yours.'
The bartender smiled what Hermione thought was a genuine smile and reached out his hand across the bar.
'I'm Quintus Grant.'
'Lovely to meet you, Quintus.'
'Have you enjoyed the evening, Hermione?' Quintus asked, letting go of her hand.
'I have, more so than I expected. I'll admit I was a little... unenthusiastic about coming, but I'm glad I did. It's nice to just get out and not care about anything for a few hours.'
'Does Hermione Granger have a lot on her mind?'
Hermione took sip of her drink and smiled. 'A little. You must get a lot of people pouring their hearts out to you.'
Quintus nodded and smirked. 'A few. Some things I'd rather not remember but a couple of people have left my bar happier than when they arrived, and not just because of the alcohol. Although that probably helped.'
'Have you worked at the Stadium long?'
Quintus took a swig from a bottle of Butter Beer and nodded. 'Yeah, years. I started right here behind the bar, then became bar manager and then they put me in charge of functions and events, more fool them.'
Hermione raised her eyebrows. You're head of events at the Harpies' stadium and yet you're serving drinks behind the bar like you did when you started out?'
Quintus tilted his head to the side and Hermione realised his eyes weren't as dark as he first thought. In fact they seemed a lot lighter than she remembered.
'I never ask my staff do something that I wouldn't do myself. This was a big event and one of the lads is on holiday so here I am.'
'Well, I think your management style is brilliant. I just wish more people in higher places would do the dirty work occasionally, they'd find people would respect them a whole lot more if they did.'
'Well, that's what I thought. Plus it's nice to stand here and people watch sometimes. I miss that but you can't argue with the pay rise that having 'Manager' in your title brings.'
Hermione nodded as she drank more of her lime and soda. A shock of red hair pulled her eyes towards the crowd and she watched as Ron walked towards her, a smile on his face.
'Hi,' he said before glancing at Quintus. 'Are you ready to leave? I know you were ready a while ago.'
Hermione looked at him and watched as Quintus walked to the other end of the bar, taking a stack of clean glasses with him as he went. She thought about going home, but she was enjoying pleasant conversation and she didn't want it to end.
'Actually, I think I'm okay staying for a bit longer.'
Quintus walked back towards Hermione and when her eyes met his, he smiled. She looked at Ron who had turned to look at Quintus and he didn't disguise the small frown on his face.
'Are you sure? I'm worried about you getting home.'
'I'll be fine, Ron, but thank you for your concern.'
Ron's frown intensified but then he seemed to remember himself and the frown disappeared. He stepped into Hermione and went to hug her. She put her arms around him and he leaned into her hair.
'He's not good enough for you.'
Her arms dropped from around his back and she was instantly aggravated.
He leaned back and put his hand on top of hers.
'Be careful getting home. I'll see you soon.'
She didn't respond, just felt anger invade her every cell. She watched as he walked away. She could hear Quintus moving glasses around behind the bar and turned to him.
'Would you mind just looking after my drink? I'll be back in a minute.'
Quintus nodded and took her glass before putting it behind the bar.
'Thanks,' she said as she hopped off the stool and stared following Ron out of the function room.
She caught up to him outside the cloak room and watched as he retrieved his cloak and walked out to the corridor. She followed him and made sure no one was following her. As soon as the door shut behind her she shouted.
'You don't get to say that, Ron!'
She was mortified when she felt tears burn her eyes. She hated that he could bring these emotions out in her so often and with such intensity.
He turned round and looked at her.
'I don't get to say what?' he replied, taking a couple of steps towards her.
''He's not good enough for you!' You don't get to say things like that because it's got nothing to do with you!'
She could see a change in him. The confident Ron that she had met a week ago seemed to disappear and she recognised the Ron stood in front of her now.
'I just care about you. I want the best for you.'
He stared at the floor and put his hands in his trouser pockets. Hermione sighed.
'I know you do but it's up to me to decide who's good enough for me, isn't it? And if I remember rightly you're not a great judge about deciding who's good enough for me. You convinced yourself you weren't remember?'
At another time she wouldn't have said anything, but she needed to for some reason she wasn't sure about.
'Saying stuff like that isn't fair to me and it's not fair to Mattie either. I get that we're friends, Ron and I get that you moved on and have someone special, but I don't understand what just happened in there, and honestly, I'm not sure if I want to understand it.'
She looked at him and he brought his gaze to her. He looked like he was struggling with something he wanted to say but Hermione realised she didn't want to hear it.
She turned before her nerve could fail her and she pushed on the door.
'None of this is fair, Hermione,' Ron whispered. She barely heard it but it stopped her dead.
She kept her hold on the door and looked over her shoulder.
'Believe me, Ron, of that I'm fully aware.'