Separate Worlds

Chapter Five

"So what brought you to Boston?" At Seamus' question, Hermione looked up from her pancakes, which had been smothered with too much syrup to be any good.

"Well, the University offered to sponsor me if I studied with them, so I decided to take them up on the offer. It's been quite interesting; not only do I get to work with some of the most skilled MediWizards and MediWitches in the world, but I can do a little sociology work on the side and see how Americans live." His mouth turned up into a sarcastic little smile.

"Americans, eh? It takes a lot of time to get used to them...didn't help that when I first got here, they couldn't understand a word I was saying...not that I could understand them either, with the Boston accent and all."

"Oh, yes...linguistics, I forgot." She laughed. "That's why your accent's so subdued, then?"

"Yeah. Had to communicate somehow." His eyes, brown with flecks of the same sandy quality of his hair, warmed and brightened as he sat back and regarded her. She stopped laughing.

"What?"

"Nothing. Aren't I allowed to sit back and enjoy the company of a beautiful woman on a Saturday morning?" She blushed. Compliments weren't...

"Compliments aren't something I'm used to," she blurted out.

"Really? I ought to give them to you more often, then." He took a swig of orange juice. "Don't like your breakfast?"

She looked back down at her now decimated pancakes. "Not particularly. Too much syrup."

"Still, that's no reason to stab them mercilessly; they didn't do anything to you." Her moment of discomfort was replaced with amusement at his well-timed joke. "You have something in your hair."

"Where?"

"Right there, near...Never mind, I'll get it." Before she could stop him, Seamus had reached over and gently pulled something (it turned out to be a bit of pancake) out from the hair behind her ear. Hermione had to shiver in spite of herself. "Cold?"

"No, it's just..." she trailed off. "That's a sensitive spot."

He grinned cheekily. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Seamus!"

"Kidding, I'm just kidding."

"So...what are you doing in Boston?"

"Well...I just majored in Business at Harvard University." She raised an eyebrow.

"A Muggle school?"

"Yeah...they usually have better Business programs than the wizarding ones, since they have to get on without magic." He speared a bit of scrambled egg on the end of his fork. "And since I'm already running a business, it was no sweat."

"Running a business? Really?" Seamus looked amused at her tone of voice.

"You needn't sound so surprised, Hermione...I WAS a Prefect, after all." She offered him a teasing smirk.

"I apologize to the almighty business entrepreneur, Seamus Finnigan."

"No worries," He answered mock-pompously. That earned him a light punch on the arm. "Ouch. Anyway, I took over a business a while ago, and I didn't know if I could keep it afloat, so I began taking courses. Not that Zonko's needed any help selling things-"

Hermione stopped him mid-sentence. "Zonko's? As in Hogsmeade's premiere joke shop?"

"None other. My grandfather used to own it, and since my mum didn't want to take on the job, I decided to step in for her."

"Wow, Seamus! That's..." She struggled for the right words to say, "That's amazing!" He grinned, a little embarrassed.

"Well..." He shrugged and deftly changed the subject. "So I hear you're graduating soon."

She nodded. "Yeah. Next week, actually."

"Am I invited?" The way he looked at her from across the table made her heart thump painfully, as if it hadn't properly done so in a long time.

"Of course, I'd love for you to come." She reached over to aim another playful punch, but this time his hand caught hers.

"Great. What time should I get there?" She didn't answer right away, as Seamus laced his fingers through hers. "Hermione?"

"Oh, erm...the ceremony starts at two. I'll leave it up to you as to how early you want to be." His hand was warm. Not sweaty, just a warm feeling that made her palm tingle.

"All right then." She knew she was blushing furiously. Seamus let go of her hand, and she felt a little put out. "Check, please." Oh. She dug into her purse for her pocketbook. "It's my treat, you don't have to pay."

"It's not the 1800's anymore, Seamus. I'm a modern woman and I can afford to pay." He made a motion as to wave it away.

"I never said you couldn't. I'm doing it because I want to," He slipped some Muggle money under the bill. "You can pay the tip, though."

She rolled her eyes. "That's barely five...of these things." She waved a one-dollar bill around. Nevertheless, she plunked the money down under her coffee cup.

As they got up to leave the restaurant, she felt him grasp her hand again. She hadn't done this type of thing in a long time. Not since Ron...

"Don't think about it," she muttered.

"About what?"

"Nothing...my..." He glanced at her sideways. "My husband."

His eyes flicked to her free hand. "No ring though?"

"No, Ron and I have been separated for a long time now."

"Ron Weasley...I always thought he was a little...off his rocker."

Her first instinct was to come to his defence. "Well, he just-" Amidst the crowd of people bustling to and fro, a girl with long, blonde hair narrowly missed bumping into Hermione. "He was. He WAS off his rocker."

"I suppose he was, letting you go." He became serious for a while, and Hermione quailed under his gaze.

"I can't say I'm not flattered by this, Seamus, but we've known each other-"

"Since we were eleven. There was always Ron or Harry for you to be with, and I couldn't compete with that. But now..."

"Things are different."

He laughed softly, a different laugh from the one in the restaurant. "See, we're already finishing each other's sentences."

She still thought he was being a bit forward, but dismissed it. It was so nice to just talk with someone like this; she was getting lonely. After a few moments of companionable silence, they arrived at Hermione's student apartment. "Thanks for breakfast."

"Anytime." She found herself looking at her shoes. I feel like I'm on my first date, she thought scathingly. She felt something swish back from her cheek, and looked up to see Seamus tucking a few errant curls of hair behind her ear. "When will I see you again?"

"At graduation."

"And after that?"

"I'll have to check my schedule."

He gave her that grin again. "Is that a polite way of saying no?"

"It's a polite way of telling you that I have to check my schedule."

He raised both hands in concession. "Alright. I'll see you later, Hermione." He winked at her roguishly before Disapparating. She let herself into the house, leaning against the wall next to her door as soon as she got in.

Seamus Finnigan. Attracted to her.

But did she like him?

His engagingly forward manner must gain a lot of female attention, she thought wryly. His style was as different from Ron's as black and white.

"Which is probably why I'm going to say yes if he asks me to dinner next week."