The Consequences of Alcohol and Depression

Chapter 11: The Date

At just over six months into the pregnancy, Hermione was feeling down. Her stomach was huge, her ankles were swollen, and her mood swings kept getting worse. On her day off, she got prepared for a lazy day of reading. With a large bottle of water, a bowl of pretzels (her latest craving), and a roaring fire, she was set for the morning. Well, until her bladder, which was practically the size of a grape, decided to act up.

With the flat all to herself, Hermione sat back and began to read 'Bright Passion'. It was one of those trashy romance novels, a gag gift she had gotten from Ginny that was actually quite good. Ever since she had gotten it a year before, it had become one of her favorite books.

By the time she had gotten to page forty, where Adrienne was being seduced by the calculating Lord Cristoff, Hermione was feeling even more depressed. All of the women in the book were written as beautiful busty blondes and redheads with waists the size of toothpicks and legs that went on forever. Hermione kept reading, however, sneering at the passages that mentioned the women.

Munching slowly on a pretzel, Hermione heard the soft 'pop' of Apparition in the entry hall. "Hermione? Are you here?"

Hermione sighed as she closed her book. She should have known better than to think she'd have a day alone. "Yeah, Ron, in the living room." As the redhead walked into the living room, Hermione carefully placed her book on the end table.

"What's up, Mione?" Ron asked. "How are you?"

"We're fine," Hermione said, softly patting her stomach. Ron smiled as he sat down across from her. "What've you been up to?"

"Not much," he replied, "It's been rather boring since Draco's been gone." Draco had had to go to Japan for a week on some business with Gringotts. (A/N- did I say what Draco does? I can't remember at the current moment if I did or not) Hermione simply gave Ron a lopsided smile and nodded. "Mione, what's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing," she replied, shaking her head.

"Bollocks," Ron said, "What's the matter?"

Hermione sighed. "I guess I'm just a bit depressed. I mean, look at me! I'm as big as a house, I feel miserable, and I haven't even been on a date since Jeremy. Although who would want to go out with me, I have no idea."

"Oh, Mione, don't give me that," he replied. Suddenly, Ron looked thoughtful. "Say, Hermione, why don't I take you out?"

Hermione shot him a look. "Right, Ron. I'm sure," she said sarcastically.

"I'm serious!" he said, smiling. "Come on, just you and me, we'll go to dinner. Let you remember what a date's like."

"Won't Draco get jealous?" Hermione asked teasingly.

"Actually," Ron said, "He'd had an idea like this one the other day."

"Well..." she said, biting her lip.

"Come on, Hermione," he replied firmly.

After a moment, Hermione sighed. "Alright, Ron; I'll go out with you," she said, smiling slightly.

"Great!" he said brightly, jumping up. "I'm gonna go get everything taken care of." He quickly gave Hermione a kiss on the cheek before he Disapparated.

"Why do I let myself get drug into these things?" Hermione asked the empty room.

******

At seven-thirty, Hermione was seated in front of her vanity table, carefully fastening a gold chain around her neck. Ron was taking her to an Italian restaurant in Muggle London, Buca di Beppo (A/N- that is the name of an Italian restaurant near where I live. There might very well be a restaurant called that in London, but I have no idea!). She was wearing a simple black dress with her black, platform sandals, gold jewelry topping off the outfit.

As she buckled the clasp on her shoe, she heard Ron call out from the living room. "I'll be right there, Ron!" she called, gently smoothing her hair. When she was certain that her appearance was as near to flawless as she could get it, she grabbed her handbag from the edge of her bed.

"Mione, you look terrific, love!" Ron said, standing up from his perch on the arm of the couch. He was wearing charcoal-gray trousers and a dark blue sweater; he looked simply dashing.

"Oh, sure," Hermione replied sarcastically.

"No, you really do," he assured her, "You're practically glowing!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," she said noncommittally. "So let's get to this restaurant."

"Don't you want to tell Percy we're leaving?"

"Oh, he had to work late and I left him a note," she said impatiently; she had eaten an early lunch as Ron had told her not to be full when they got to the restaurant, and she was now very hungry. "Can we go?"

"Certainly," he said, tucking her hand in the crook of his arm. They quickly Apparated to the restaurant, noticing the many cars that lined the parking lot. As soon as they stepped inside, they could see that it was quite crowded.

"Ron..." Hermione said nervously, surveying the swarming restaurant. "Are you sure we'll be able to get a table?"

"Do you doubt me, Mione?" Ron replied teasingly. "I made reservations!"

"Well, good," she said as they approached the hostess's console.

"Hi, welcome to Buca di Beppo!" the young, blonde hostess said brightly. "How can I help you?"

"We've got reservations," Ron told her. "Two for Weasley."

The hostess carefully scanned her book, her finger stopping halfway down. "Oh, right this way, Mr. Weasley," she said as she grabbed two menus and took off. Ron grasped Hermione's hand as they walked through the restaurant, being seated at a small booth in the non-smoking section. The hostess bid them farewell as she took off for the front, assuring them that their waitress would be with them shortly.

"Would you look at this place?" Ron said, looking around at the pictures and illustrations on the walls. Barely an inch of paint was showing between the works of art.

"Very picturesque," Hermione said, eagerly opening her menu.

A short while later, an attractive, muscular waiter dressed in a white dress shirt and black trousers approached their table. "Hi, my name is Jacob, and I'll be your waiter this evening."

"Hi Jacob," Ron said, giving him a dazzling smile. Hermione had to restrain herself from giving a very loud laugh.

"Can I start you off with something to drink?"

"Yes," Ron replied, "I'll have a glass of your finest wine."

"And for you, Miss?" Jacob asked, turning to Hermione.

"Just a glass of water, thanks," she said.

"I'll be right back with those," he said, smiling. Hermione watched in amusement as Ron's eyes followed Jacob all the way to the kitchen.

"Tsk, tsk, Ron," she said, a small laugh escaping her.

"What?" he asked, the tops of his ears turning red.

"Checking out the waiter. What would Draco think?"

"Draco would be checking him out, as well," Ron said, bringing his menu almost against his nose to hide his blush. "So, um, what looks good to you?"

"Hmm, I don't know," Hermione replied playfully, "But I do know what looks good to you..."

"Sod off," he said quietly. Hermione had the notion that he was blushing even more furiously behind the menu. Before Jacob came back, they had decided to share a dish of cannelloni and a plate of fettuccine.

"Okay," Jacob said, setting down their drink orders, "What can I get you tonight?"

"I think we'll have the cannelloni and an order of fettuccine," Ron said charmingly, clasping his hands on the table.

"That'll be right out, then," Jacob replied, raising his eyebrows appreciatively at Ron. As soon as he was out of sight, Hermione couldn't hold in her laughter. Clutching her chest and resting her head on the table, she was overcome with giggles.

"Oh, that's good," she said jovially, bringing her napkin to her face to muffle the sound of her now gasping laughter. Ron buried his head in his arms.

Soon enough, Hermione calmed down and quit teasing Ron. They talked about work and how the baby was doing, and before long their food arrived.

"Can I get you anything else?" Jacob asked, smiling sweetly at Ron and practically ignoring Hermione. She disguised another laugh as the waiter openly flirted with Ron.

"No, I think that'll get us for now," Ron said.

"Well let me know if you need anything," Jacob added, winking. Hermione nearly bit through her lip as she stifled her laughter.

"Shut up, shut up, please shut up," Ron begged when Jacob had left. Hermione hit the seat of the booth several times while she struggled to catch her breath.

"O- o- okay," she said, taking a sip of her water. "I'll stop." Ron was once again blushing, and Hermione wondered if his face would catch fire if he continued much longer.

"Well, anyway," he said, changing the subject, "I wanted your opinion on something."

"What?" she asked, keeping her sarcastic remarks in check.

"Mine and Draco's anniversary is coming up, and we want to take a vacation, but we don't know where we should go."

"Hmm," Hermione said, twirling her fettuccine covered fork. "Do you have anywhere that you want to go?"

"That's the problem," Ron said, "We have no ideas. I suggested that we go to the Bahamas for the beach, and Draco said France. Lots of culture, you know."

Hermione bit her lip as she thought. "Well, you guys could go to... oh, what about Athens?"

"Athens?" he asked quizzically.

"Yeah!" Hermione said, much more certain of her answer. "You've got the beach, and it's quite cultured. Greece has plenty of great history, too."

Ron cocked his head to the side, a smile appearing on his face. "That's a great idea, Mione," he said, "I'll ask Draco about it."

"Glad I could be of some help," she said brightly.

Hermione and Ron continued talking and eating for two hours, laughing about old times and talking about the future. When the restaurant crowd thinned out around ten and they were receiving nasty looks from the waiting staff (not Jacob, of course), they quickly drew their meal to a close.

"Hey," Ron said as he paid the check (he refused to let Hermione take care of her half), "why don't we go get some ice cream?"

"That sounds good," Hermione said, smiling. "But I'm paying."

When they left the restaurant, they Apparated to Diagon Alley, outside of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor, which was open 'til eleven. Hermione purchased two small cones, strawberry for her and chocolate for Ron. They walked slowly around Diagon Alley and continued their conversation. Eventually, they ran out of ice cream and approached Hermione's flat.

As they walked up the stairs, Ron sighed. "You know, we don't do this enough. Just you and me, talking, having dinner."

"Yeah, it's nice," Hermione commented, "We really should do this more often." She quickly drew her keys out of her purse and unlocked the front door, Ron following behind her. Percy was sitting quite rigidly on the couch and he jumped up as soon as he saw them.

"Where have you been!?" he demanded. "I was worried sick!"

"We went to dinner," Hermione said, raising an eyebrow.

"And you couldn't send me and owl? Couldn't leave a note?"

"I did leave a note," she said, grabbing the piece of parchment she'd left on the coffee table. "'Percy, going out with Ron tonight, will be back around eleven.' And it's only ten-fifty."

"Well who says I'd look on the coffee table?" he asked, sounding frustrated. Giving Percy a glare, she quickly walked to the kitchen, pulling another piece of parchment from the fridge, quoting the exact same message she'd left in the living room.

"One in the kitchen, too," she said, handing him the other parchment.

"Well, I- uh-" Percy said. Giving a loud, exasperated groan, he stormed to his bedroom, slamming the door behind him.

"What was that about?" Ron asked, staring at Percy's door.

"I've no idea," Hermione said, shaking her head.

After a moment of waiting to see if Percy would come out, Ron spoke again. "I think I'd better get home. I'll see you later, Mione."

"Okay, thanks for dinner, Ron," she said, stretching up to give Ron a kiss on the cheek.

"Bye, Hermione," he replied, Disapparating. With one last glance at Percy's door, Hermione walked to her bedroom, quickly washing off her makeup and changing into her pajamas, sneering at the shirt when it stretched tightly over her belly. Exchanging it for a large tee shirt, she headed back into the living room.

She stood outside Percy's door for a moment, wondering what she should do. Should she talk to him? Wait for the next morning? Suddenly, without even thinking, she lifted her hand to the door and knocked softly.

"Come in," Percy called softly. Hermione slowly opened the door, nervously peeking in. Percy was sitting on his bed with his elbows on his knees, his chin propped up on his hands.

"Hi," Hermione said timidly, sitting down beside him.

"Hi," he said, looking at the floor. He was clad in only a pair of pajama pants, his broad chest uncovered. "So, did you have fun tonight?"

Hermione scrunched her nose at Percy's hurt voice. "I'm sorry you were worried," she said, reaching out to place a hand on his back; she hesitated at the last moment and pulled it back.

"It's alright," he said, shrugging. "I just had no idea where you were. You have no idea the number of things that can go through a guy's head in a couple of hours."

"Well, I am a big girl. I can take care of myself," Hermione told him softly.

"I was just so worried about you," Percy said. His face reddened slightly and he quickly added to his statement. "You and the baby."

"We're both fine," she said, taking his hand and placing it against her belly, where the baby kicked softly. "See?"

Percy quickly pulled her into a hug. "I'm sorry for being angry, Hermione," he whispered in her ear, his voice full of strange emotions Hermione couldn't decipher. Her cheeks colored as she felt Percy's warm, soft skin against her hands, his broad muscles feeling quite firm.

"I- it's alright," she breathed, trying to ignore the feelings swimming through her head as Percy slowly stroked her hair.

Percy pulled back a few moments later, smiling sadly at her. "You should probably get some sleep, then," he said, gently grasping her hand.

"Uh, yeah," Hermione said, standing up; she walked quickly to the door. "I'll, um, see you in the morning, then."

"Night, Hermione," Percy said, the sad smile still on his face. Hermione simply nodded as she exited Percy's room, closing the door firmly behind her. Hurrying along to her room, she collapsed on the bed, sighing.

Rubbing her eyes, Hermione spoke quietly to the room. "I hate myself sometimes."