Love Bites (Harry Potter: Official Dragon Tamer, Part One)

More Best Laid Schemes

Friday Evening
04 December 2009

Ron's POV

It was Friday night, and we had gathered again for weekly pints at The World's End — which was quickly becoming our favourite spot — and I couldn't help but shake my head and glance over at Blaise while we waited on our next round.

"Would you ever have believed that the six of us would meet for weekly pints?" I began, and he grinned over at me, already knowing where this was going.

"And that we'd be inviting my little sister and her Muggle girlfriend to a Muggle pub that Harry's Muggle cousin introduced us to?"

We'd left as Harry and Draco were recounting the dinner party they'd thrown for Callum's acceptance to Hogwarts, and I still couldn't quite believe that Harry's dolt-of-a-cousin had churned out three bloody wickedly magic children.

I'm not going to lie.

Violet scared me, and even though I hadn't met her, I just sort of envisioned her walking around like a miniature Professor Trelawney, which should have been comedic, really, but, for some reason, creeped me out.

"No," Blaise replied, also shaking his head, then frowned a bit. "I still can't quite believe it."

"But I'm glad," he added. "It shows how much we've all changed and grown up since Hogwarts... some more than others, obviously."

We returned to our table in the far corner, carefully holding the pints as we weaved around the other patrons in the crowded pub, secretly glad for the stabilising charm we'd used so Blaise and I could each "skilfully" balance two pint glasses in each palm and bring all eight pints in one run.

Even the barman had been impressed and joked that we were real professionals.

"What are we talking about now?" I asked, setting a pint down before Hermione, Ginny, and Micah, keeping the fourth for myself. "What have we missed?"

"We're trying to make sure Pansy doesn't hex that poor bloke across the way who keeps making eyes at her," Hermione replied. "She's all but murdered him with her stare, but he doesn't seem to understand."

"Just a small one," Pansy wheedled. "Like, a simple little tripping hex. He won't have any idea, and maybe he'll just get embarrassed and go home and leave me alone... please?"

"No," Draco replied, taking a sip of his pint. "Absolutely not. Behave"

"I mean, am I a terrible Muggle if I say go for it?" Micah encouraged. "He's not taking a fucking hint and being a skeevy gross perv, and also, I kinda want to see what this tripping hex looks like...."

"Micah, you're terrible," Harry groaned, slumping over into Draco with a rueful smile in her direction.

"I like this girl," Pansy informed Ginny. "If she'd have been a witch, she'd have been in Slytherin for sure."

"Aww, ickle Gryffindors both had to find themselves a more cunning partner, did they?" Blaise cooed at Ginny and Harry, who both promptly flipped him off.

I was about to protest being referred to as an "ickle Gryffindor," albeit inadvertently, when the bloke in question suddenly stumbled and went flying, just barely catching himself on the edge of another table, and we all looked at Pansy.

"What?" she shrugged innocently. "I just wanted to make sure Draco's adopted little Micah felt welco...."

"Seriously? Are they playing this song again?" Ginny asked suddenly, and I strained my ears to hear the music over the din surrounding us.