The Dating Game - Part SEVEN Title: The Dating Game, Part Seven Pairing/Fandom: Harry Potter - Harry/Draco; Ron/Hermione; Charlie/Neville Author: digthewriter Rating: PG-13 Word Count: 440 Warnings: EWE. Mention of war and death. IDK where the feels came from. A/N: Unbetaed. PART ONE / PART TWO, PART THREE, PART FOUR / PART FIVE / PART SIX
It was almost as if on point the tiny wooden nutcracker that sat by the tree began to rattle. Hemione had given that as a gift to Ron one year after they'd ventured out to the Muggle world and attended the ballet.
Now, it was charmed as an alarm. If someone was close to the three of them when they were alone, the small object would alert them and they could quickly wind their conversations down. Some things never really changed after the war. The three of them still had their secrets and liked to keep it that way.
"Come on, let's go get ready for dinner before Charlie finishes all of the warmed spiced brandy that George makes."
"I think Charlie has tone down on the drinking lately, haven't you noticed?" Hermione said, slightly blushing.
Charlie used to enjoy being the life of the part with George after having a few too many but ever since he and Neville had started dating, he'd started to act less like a fool. Harry thought that George missed goofy Charlie more than anyone else. Maybe it was almost like Fred was back, even though they all knew that nothing could really replace Fred.
It'd been years, and the had all moved on, but not all wounds were completely filled.
Harry realised that maybe that was part of the problem. Part of why he was worried because Malfoy had said yes. It was one thing to long for someone but if and Malfoy would hit it off, eventually, he'd have to bring Malfoy around.
Malfoy was another reminder of the war. Not in a bad way. Not so much anymore because the Malfoys, especially Draco and Narcissa had done a lot for the wizarding communities. Still, Harry worried. What if they didn't like Malfoy? What if Malfoy didn't like them?
"Maybe I should cancel it," Harry said, looking up at Hermione. She knew all of his fears in one way or another. Over the course of his crush on Malfoy, Harry had somewhat shared all of his insecurities with him.
"Don't you dare," Hermione said, angry. "You can't predict what everyone will do, and you can't live your life trying to please everyone."
"Besides," Ron chimed in as he placed his arm around Harry's shoulder. "If I like him, Mum will have no problem."
He loved his friends. He had no idea how they knew what he was feeling but their words were comforting and perfect. He reckoned that was growing up was all about. Maybe. Except, if you watched Ron eat, you'd think he was still twelve.