Drop in the Ocean [Harmione]

9. Drop in the Ocean

Drop in the Ocean

"Love took me by the hand
Love took me by surprise
Love led me to you
And love opened up my eyes

And I was drifting away
like a drop in the ocean
And now I realize that
nothing has been as beautiful
As when I saw heaven's skies
In your eyes"

(Michelle Branch, Drop in the Ocean)

Max's was one of the most popular nightspots on the island and Harry liked it mainly for the music and the billiard tables on the top floor. He spent most of his time upstairs playing pool and rarely made it out onto the dance floor. He wondered momentarily if Hermione knew how to play pool and if she didn't, he'd spend the evening teaching her. Hopefully, she wouldn't want to dance.

He was waiting in Café Oceana for Hermione to come downstairs, where She and Eva had disappeared over an hour ago, and Harry had gone back home to get ready for the evening ahead. He was quite surprised to find that he was worrying over what he wore and what she'd think of it. As he was getting ready, a grey owl arrived carrying a package of letters sent by Lupin. Harry only had time to open the parcel to see that there were two letters—one from Lupin to Sirius and one from Ron to Harry. He didn't have time to open the letter so he just set it on the table before leaving the house.

Harry was acting as if this was a date even though he reassured himself that it was about as far from a date as one could possibly get. Although he'd admitted to Sirius that he liked this girl, he still didn't know what he was going to do about it. For one thing, she had a boyfriend and Harry didn't usually go after another bloke's girl. That was just asking for trouble... trouble that Harry didn't want or need.

"How long does it take for someone to get ready?" Harry asked impatiently.

"My boy, you have so much to learn," Sirius chuckled to himself. He and Eva planned a quiet night in and although Sirius wanted to be there to see what happened, Eva had told him, in no uncertain terms, that he was to lay off... or else. Sirius didn't know what "or else" meant, but one look in Eva's eyes and he had a feeling he didn't want to find out. "Women tend to get a bit... fussy when they get ready to go out on dates. What am I telling you this for, anyway?" Sirius mused. "It's not as if you've never been out on a date before."

"Hold on," Harry said defensively, "this isn't a date."

Sirius stared at him. "You're a bloke. You're taking a girl out to a club. Where I come from, Harry—that's a date."

"She's just helping me try to get Maureen off my back," Harry said, sitting down beside Sirius at the counter. "That's all there is to it."

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"Take this tissue and blot your lipstick," Eva said, handing Hermione the Kleenex she'd just pulled from its box. They'd just finished doing Hermione's makeup and Hermione was pleased with the result. She certainly hadn't gone overboard and instead of looking made up, she looked natural. Hermione honestly didn't know why Eva was going to all this trouble. It wasn't as if this was a "date".

"The moment I saw that dress I knew it would look great on you," Eva complimented her. Hermione blushed but she had to admit that the dress did look rather nice on her. It was a misty pink color and had intricate beading along the straps and bodice. It was cut loose so it was quite comfortable but also accentuated every curve and line of her body. The color complimented her skin tone and the tan she'd managed to get the few days she'd been on the islands. The dress was short, but certainly didn't make Hermione feel uncomfortable. Simply put, the dress suited her style and body perfectly.