Cranberry
Making a day of all the Halloween activities around king’s cross station had been a tradition for the gang since they’d all graduated Hogwarts.
It was one of Hermione’s favorite days of the year. She looked forward to it for weeks. But now, standing alone amongst her coupled up friends, she just felt like a loser. She wished the day would end so she could go home to her cat.
She watched Ginny and Luna pick a pumpkin like they were picking a pet, and a pang of jealousy hit her. She picked up the closest little pumpkin to her hand and paid the man selling them as quickly as she could.
“I’m going to go get a hot cider.” Ginny offered a nod before turning back to her girlfriend.
Hermione didn’t even want a pumpkin.
“One please!” she said to the drink vendor, pointing to the cider on his price board.
“Sorry, fresh out of cider.”
Hermione frowned. Seriously? She glanced back up at the board. She didn’t want coffee or hot chocolate.
“Hot cranberry juice?”
“Um…”
Before Hermione could politely decline the vendor was already opening his cart to the cold and ladling something into a paper cup.
“Here, on the house.” He offered the cup to her.
At least it would be something warm to hold in her hands. “Thank you!” She accepted it and moved along.
“Mione! Over here!” Hermione looked up from her hot cranberry juice to see Harry talking to Malfoy. She considered pretending she hadn’t heard him but then she stupidly made eye contact and he waved her over. “Look who’s here!”
“Well isn’t this a nice surprise!” Malfoy smiled.
Hermione just barely managed not to scoff. A lovely ‘surprise’ when they do it every year. But then Hermione wondered, was Malfoy ever invited?
“I just needed to get out of the Manor for a bit. Figured I’d apparate here for a walk and a cup of cider.”
“Harry! The caramel apple guy has new toppings this year!” Ron called, taking Harry away.
Hermione and Draco stood in awkward silence for a moment. She wondered if he’d just walk away without Harry there to keep the conversation going, but he didn’t.
So she finally said something. “They’re out of cider.”
“What?”
“You said you came for a cup of cider. They’re out.”
“Oh.” Malfoy’s brows furrowed into a look of confusion and Hermione wondered if he didn’t understand her terrible conversation skills or the mere concept of not getting what he wanted.
“You can have my…whatever this is.”
“Um, thank you. You didn’t get a cider either then?”
Hermione shook her head and Malfoy took a sip of the cranberry juice.
“That’s…not awful,” he concluded.
“It’s not good,” Hermione countered.
“There’s a cafe, not two kilometers from my manor, they have the best apple tarts. But in the fall they have these apple spice cupcakes with the best frosting.”
Hermione let Draco ramble, thinking he was just nervous. He was, it turned out.
“Hermione, do you want to join me for a cup of cider?”
“Now?” She wasn’t even sure she heard the question correctly. Did Draco Malfoy just ask her out on a date?
“Yes, if you’d like?”
She realized she would like it very much.
She thought she should maybe say goodbye to her friends, but she could apologize tomorrow.
Draco was looking at her with excited, hopeful eyes, and she wanted to see where a cup of cider would lead.
“Yea, let’s get out of here.”