Which boy?- Harmione fanfic

18- Hermione Punches a Man

Everything was a rush. People had gotten out of their seats and were rushing around, running every which way. Harry squeezed Hermione's hand tight, and looked over at Ron to find he was no longer there. Harry's eyes widen, and he turns in circles, desperately searching for his best friend. They couldn't leave without him, no matter how much of an arse he had been just a few moments ago.

"Harry, where's Ron?" Hermione shouts over everyone's screams. Harry shakes his head.

Hermione points at somewhere at the end of all of the seats. Harry catches a glimpse of fiery red hair, and then he sees Ron's face. Harry pulls Hermione over, and they both sigh with relief. Ron's face looks panicked and scared.

"Please tell me you have a plan for getting us out of here." He begs us. Hermione grin and holds out her hand. Ron takes it immediately, and for once, Harry isn't jealous. He feels positive that Hermione is only taking his hand to keep them all together. Harry acting like a jealous git wouldn't help the situation.

Hermione closes her eyes, and they turn on the spot. Harry realises to late that they are apparating, and he feels the same suffocating feeling that he had felt before. But it ends quickly, as they end up on the side of the road. Hermione pulls the two of them into an ally, and starts rummaging through her purse.

"Hermione, I'm glad we got away and all, but we don't have any of our stuff." Ron says. "What're we supposed to do without any of our things?"
But as always, Hermione came through. She pulls out a set of jeans for the two of them, as well as two plain shirts, one gray, one faded green. Harry grabs the green one, and starts to change.

"How did you do that Hermione?" Harry asks, looking at her tiny beaded purse, and then at his new outfit. She shrug modestly.

"A simple expanding spell ended up doing the trick. I packed all of our stuff in advance, figuring we might have to make a quick get away." SHe smiles at him, and Harry feels his heart twist with love.

"Did anyone ever tell you that you're a genius?" He asks, handing her his dress clothes along with Ron's. She grins even broader.

"I've heard it before." She pulls out something else from her bag, and Harry soon realises that it was his invisibility cloak. Harry takes it. "Put it on. If we run into any Death Eaters, they won't notice you, just Ron and I."

She turns and walks out of the ally and onto the road, and Harry notices that she's still wearing her flowing dress from the wedding. He leans in and whispers in her ear.

"Why didn't you change?"

Hermione grimaces. "I can't possibly change in the middle of an ally, in front of you and Ron and anyone who happens to walk past."

"But it was okay for us?" Ron asks from beside her.

Hermione smiles. "Yeah, because you two have never seemed to care what people think of you."

Before either of them can respond, a series of wolf whistles are heard from the other side of the street, and Hermione's smile drops instantly. Harry finds her hand and takes it, hoping that he can reassure her this way. But Harry's stomach clenches with anger when he hears what they have to say.

"Hey hot stuff! What're you doing with a lazy fool like him? Why don't you ditch ginger and come have a pint?" One of the drunk men holler across the road. Hermione scowls and tries to keep walking, but Harry plants his feet in place.

"No, Harry it isn't worth it." She whispers desperately to him. Harry lets go of her hand and starts to march over to the men, but Hermione stops him. "Let me handle my ow fights." She whispers, before walking briskly over to the great grinning oafs.

"There we go, here she comes." One of them says.

"Finally come to your senses doll?" Another speaks up, sauntering over to her. He tries to place his hand on her waist, but, to Harry's delight, Hermione slaps him hard across the face. He stumbles backwards into the wall, and stares at her, dumbfounded. Another laughs.

"We got a feisty one, don't we?" He says, and he too tries to approach Hermione.

Instead of a slap, he gets punched hard in the nose. He staggers backwards to his friend, clutching his face. Hermione turns and walks back to them, and Harry gives her a kiss on the cheek through the invisibility cloak.

"Hermione that was awesome!" Harry laughs, and Ron grins at her.

"That was amazing." He says. Hermione shakes her head, smiling at them.

"I think I attracted to much attention though. Let's go get something to drink, shall we?" And they walk into a nearby cafe.

The cafe is small and cozy. The floor is checkerboard pattern with black and white tiles, and the walls are a pleasant cream color. There a few small circular tables with two chairs each, and they remind Harry heavily of the time he had gone on a date with Cho. He shudders.

But, unlike the place that Cho had insisted they go to, this cafe had a few black booths, with granite tables, and a black bar. Lights hang from the ceiling, and Harry spots a woman behind the counter, drying out coffee mugs.

Harry sits next to Hermione, and Ron sits across from them. Harry feels he and Hermione's legs touch nderthe table, and his stomach flutters. The woman from behind the counter comes over, and Hermione orders three cappuccinos. Harry's confused, and he asks her about it once the lady leaves.

"Hermione, don't you think it looks odd that you ordered three?"

But Hermione shakes her head positively. "No, this happens a lot. She didn't seem to think it was strange, because there's a sign that says 'Buy three drinks and we'll throw in a homemade cookie'."

Harry makes a sound of realisation just as the glass door opens and two men enter. They both look very worn, as if they had just come in through a heavy storm. They take a seat at one of the circular tables, and the one with the beard shifts his sleeve to scratch his arm. That's when Harry spots it.

They have the dark mark.