"My Boss's Fiancé"
SUMMARY: Malfoy owns a fashion magazine and his fiancé Pansy is the editor.Hermione is looking for a job. Perfect timing because Pansy needs a Personal Assistant.
A/N: hey everyone! CrazeePurpleMonkey here. I finally got the chance to start on my latest fic. The story was sort of inspired by the novel, "The Devil Wears Prada" by a brilliant author named Lauren Weisberger. I highly recommend it. It's an awesome book! (it's also going to be a movie soon with Anne Hathaway as the main character!)
This is a DRACO/HERMIONE pairing. Um. . . what else? Well I can't think of anything else so just read and review. I hope you guys like it.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter or any related characters. They belong to J.K. Rowling.
RATING: PG-13 for some language
CHAPTER 1: My Job, My Boss, and Her Fiancé
(Written in Hermione's POV, because it's just more fun that way)
I simply cannot believe this. Who would've thought London traffic was this horrible during lunch hour? It is total gridlock! See, this is why public transportation should be utilized by the public more often. Take me for example, I do not own a car therefore I do not drive. Well…okay, most of the time I don't, but at the moment, here I am sitting in the most comfortable leather bucket seat of a black BMW Z4, rocking to the latest Weird Sisters CD. Life couldn't get any better than this.
However, it could get worse with the sound I'm dreading to hear - my mobile ringing for the umpteenth time. I frantically search for my phone, hoping the traffic light will stay red for a couple more minutes. Where the bloody hell is it? My stress level rises up as the phone continues to ring. Where are you, you ruddy contraption?
"Hey Lady, are you fucking blind? MOVE!" yells the man who was right behind me.
Shit, the light turned green. What an arrogant bastard. Aren't Englishmen supposed to be polite? Never mind. I'm in the middle of a more important situation and I shouldn't worry about other people's manners. I step on the gas, start steering the wheel with my left hand while my right reaches for any corner I could reach to find my mobile. Breathe. Just relax. Oh who am I kidding? I know I said I wouldn't do this but desperate times call for desperate measures. I grab my wand from the front passenger seat and mutter a spell so the car could run on its own. I take my seatbelt off and continue looking for my phone.
"WILL YOU PLEASE SHUT THE HELL UP?" I yell, hoping that it would stop the annoying ringing sound.
I look underneath the front seat and there it is, all lit up, vibrating and mocking me. I quickly grab it and my heart races a mile as soon as I see the name flashing on my caller ID. It's HER. It's my boss. I flip it open and automatically place the ear piece away from me.
"MIAAA! HELLO? ARE YOU THERE?"
Seriously, she needs to learn how to talk a little bit softer.
"Yes this is Mia. Can I help you with anything?" I say in a fake cheerful voice.
"Where is the car?" she asks.
"I'm in the car right now. Yes I'm driving it."
"Good. Now pick up Darla then drop her off and the car at my fiancé's house. Taa Taa darling." Then I hear a click.
That's it? I was stressing out for…ugghhhhh! The thing that makes me hate my boss very much is her lack of specificity. No, no, actually it's only ONE of the reasons why I feel like ripping out all the hair from her head! Who the bloody hell is Darla? And where does her Fiancé live? My God this woman will be the death of me. So I dial HER home number so I can ask her housekeeper if she knows who Darla is and where this man lives.
"Hi Elvira? It's Mia from the office again," I say politely.
"Oh hello Mia. Did you find the car?"
"Yes I finally did after ringing loads of people."
"Get used to her. She's a very busy woman so sometimes she forgets to give the specific details."
Sometimes? Ha! Don't you mean ALL THE BLOODY TIME?
"Umm. . . Elvie, I need your help again. You see I need to pick up Darla but the problem is I haven't got a clue who she is!"
Elvira laughs. Are people naturally evil that they take pleasure hearing other people suffer?
"Mia, Darla is a dog. A little Dalmatian puppy."
"What? Oh Merlin. I've been stressing out thinking Darla's some big time executive and you're telling me that she's a bloody dog?"
"Calm down Mia. Yes Darla is in fact a dog. I believe you need to drop her off at Drake's place after picking her up?"
"If this Drake is my boss's fiancé, then yes. You wouldn't happen to know where he lives would you?"
"Relax. I'll give you the address. The car that you're driving right now is his too. Hold on let me check the address book."
God bless Elvira! I think she was sent from up above. Oh what would I do without her?
"You got it all down?" she asks.
"Yes. Thank you thank you thank you! I could seriously hug you even though we're only on the phone."
"You're welcome. I'm always here to help."
"Elvira, I've been meaning to ask, is Drake a muggle?"
"Drake? Oh no. He's as Pureblood as he'll ever be. He just fancies a lot of muggle things, especially cars. "
"I see. Well this dog, can't the vets send her via Floo or have someone apparate her to his Flat?"
"That's what Drake wanted before. I overheard him talking to HER this morning but she objected. She said Darla might get hurt or get transported to another place."
"That's understandable. Listen, I better go. I need to find this place then go back to work."
"Alright. And Mia? Just have patience. I know our boss is a little hard to work for but you know it'll be all be worth it in the end."
We finally hang up and I let her words sink into my brain. "It'll be all worth it in the end" Again, I am reminded why I'm doing this job in the first place. I, Hermione Granger, who recently graduated with a Masters Degree in Journalism, work as a Personal Assistant for a Fashion Magazine Editor. Sounds bizarre? Absolutely, but you better believe it. You must be wondering how I ended up taking this position. Well, I initially applied for employment at the Daily Prophet. Being Journalism was my concentration, I was confident that they would hire me even as a staff writer, but that arrogant, pompous jerk of an executive Mr. Robbins turned me down. He said I just got out of university hence I had no experience and he reckoned I wouldn't be able to handle all the pressures of working for a huge publishing company like the Prophet. Bull! He didn't even read my resume! This leads me to my next point, that he is a sexist pig. How did I know? Well on that very same day that my interview was scheduled, Alan James, this guy who I went to school with was there as well. To my surprise he was hired as the new Sports Editor! I was outraged! This was Alan James, the person who got the lowest marks in my Journalism class. He does not even know a bloody thing about Quidditch, let alone tell the difference between a quaffle and a bludger but he was hired by Mr. Robbins and why? Because he's a MAN. I thought gender bias only existed in the muggle world but I was wrong. I was very wrong.
"53rd street. This must be the place."
As I park the car carefully by the side of the curb, a sweet middle-aged woman comes to the window and tells me I didn't need to park because she has Darla with her. She warns me that Darla has a really bad temper so I should be careful when handling her. The lady puts her in the front seat and says goodbye only to be returned with an angry bark.
"Now Darla, be polite to her," I say while patting her head.
"Thank you very much ma'am," I say before she walked away from the car.
"Darla, you are one lucky puppy, you know that? You're being picked up by a BMW! I'd give anything to have a car like this. Your owner must be very wealthy. I heard he owns a lot of cars. Tell me, is he handsome?"
Darla's eyes sparkle then she barks as if saying YES.
"We'll see about that. Let's go then."
Alright, where did I leave off with my job-hunting story? Oh Right, gender bias. Well, since I needed a job, I posted my resume online and left copies on publishing company desks. Two weeks passed by but I still didn't get any calls. See, this is why I never believed in Divination! Before I graduated from Hogwarts, Professor Trelawney said I would be successful in my career, meet the man of my dreams, and live happily ever after, but did any of those things actually happen! I was 26 years old, unemployed and I haven't been on the dating scene for ages! So I was lying on my bed one day, cursing my luck when my phone rang. I bolted out of bed and picked it up. YES! This girl named Lauren was the human resource person from "POSH" and she wanted to schedule an interview! I said yes of course. After getting all the details, I opened my closet and searched for something to wear. I hate to say it but I'm not really a person who's up to date with fashion so I just picked nice slacks, a white button down and a suit jacket that matched my pants. I then apparated to Diagon Alley where the office was located. When I got to the building, that was when I realized what "POSH" was. I almost didn't go through with the interview because, well like I said, I'm not your typical fashion kind of girl and POSH was a fashion magazine. I still went through with it though. I blame the sorting hat for putting me in Gryffindor to make me realize that I'm brave! When I entered the building, it was like going inside a house of dolls! Everyone had perfect hair, perfect figure, perfect make-up, perfect everything! At this point, I was feeling ridiculous because I knew I belonged somewhere else. I was ready to leave when a girl approached me. She was wearing a leather micro-mini skirt, black tube top and a pair of stilettos. Don't get me wrong because she looked amazing but I thought it was a bit odd to be dressed in practically nothing in the middle of November! Well, that girl was Lauren. I followed her into her office where she briefed me with a couple of things.
"Hermione, I don't want to sound rude but we have to do something with your name" she told me.
"Um. . . what's wrong with my name?" I asked.
"Well, it sounds too. . . I don't know PLAIN? This is POSH Hermione, the hippest most stylish place in all Diagon Alley, probably in the entire wizarding world. So, how do you feel about the name Mia?"
"Er. . ."
"Great! I knew you'd like it. I mean it's not as classy as Lauren, my name, but it'll do. Miss Parkinson will meet with you in a little bit. She's on the phone right now with Donatella."
"Donatella? As in Donatella Versace?" I asked. Well, I just wanted to make sure.
She laughed and again I felt like an idiot.
"Yes. It is in fact Miss Versace herself. You know POSH releases a muggle edition too so our fabulous editor is friends with a lot of muggle designers. Vera Wang, Oscar de la Renta, Ralph Lauren, John Galliano, Monique Lluillier, Behnaz Sorapfour, Elie Tahari, Carolina Herrera, you name it."
I know what you're thinking. Totally unreal right? I couldn't believe it myself! Anyway, on with the story. I sat there thinking what am I doing here? Perhaps they were in the process of writing an article on how to give makeovers to nerdy girls like me? Or they needed some bookworm to manage all their paperwork? My mind was on a whirl. I finally got some answers when another girl came inside the room and asked me to follow her. Her name was Jennifer and she told me she was the Senior Executive Assistant. Like everyone else in the building, she too looked amazing. She was wearing skintight suede pants, white sleeveless turtleneck shirt and really, really nice boots. I felt eyes watching me as I followed Lauren to wherever she was taking me. I knew why they were looking at me. My attire was inappropriate for the occasion. Well I didn't know that Posh was goddamn fashion magazine! If I knew, then I would've dressed better. We finally stopped and Jennifer told me to sit down. She briefed me with the position they were offering. Apparently, the editor needed two assistants. This is what happened: The former senior assistant, Agnes, moved to be the editor of Gemstone, a jewelry magazine. Jennifer who was the junior executive assistant took Agnes's place leaving her previous position open! Can you believe my luck? Finally, it was time for me to meet the boss. I went inside the office and that's when I first saw her: the "amazing" editor behind Posh's success.
"Hi, you must be Mia. Please have a seat," she said.
I sat down on one of the squashy chairs that reminded me a lot of the Gryffindor common room.
"Do you know who I am?"
"No ma'am I don't," I said. "All I know is that you are the editor of Posh."
"I see. Well my name is Pansy Parkinson. It says right here on your resume that you went to Hogwarts. I'm a fellow alumnus myself. I graduated a couple of years ago. I was in the same graduating class as Harry Potter," she said.
I seriously thought my heart was going to beat out of my chest. I wasn't expecting that Pansy Parkinson would be my future boss. Heck I wasn't even expecting Pansy could look good. I mean she was gorgeous! Her brown hair was pulled back in a chic ponytail, simple yet still sophisticated. She didn't wear tons of make up like she used to back in the day. She wasn't the size of a cow either. I was totally impressed. She stood up from her desk and walked in front of me.
"Tell me Mia, do you know the brand, the year, and the style of these shoes?" she asked while pointing at her feet.
I swallowed hard. I had no clue.
"No ma'am I do not know."
She sat back down behind her humongous desk and asked me again.
"One final question, do you read Posh?"
"No ma'am, I do not read Posh and neither do I know a thing about fashion but I assure you, I'm a fast learner and a hard worker. I would do my very best to meet your every need if you give me this job," I said.
"Very well. You're hired. When can you start?"
"Right away Miss Parkinson."
"Pansy. They call me Pansy around here. Miss Parkinson's a bit too formal. Welcome to Posh Mia."
"Thank you so much. You have no idea how this means to me Miss Parkinson. I mean Pansy."
I came out of her office with a huge grin plastered on my face.
"Congratulations," said Jennifer before giving me a hug.
"Thank you."
"This will be your desk," she said while pointing to a mahogany table that was right across hers. "You'll be starting tomorrow because we're a bit short handed right now. You can go home if you like but be back tomorrow at 7 o'clock."
I nodded and started leaving when Jennifer called my name again.
"Mia, being a Junior Executive Assistant is not an easy job. What you have to know is that if you last for a whole year meaning not get fired, Pansy will write a letter of recommendation for you that could land you any job that you want in the publishing industry. Pansy's definitely a powerful woman. Look at Agnes."
"You mean the former Senior Exec Assistant?" I asked.
"Yes. She's the editor of Gemstone now and she only worked here for a year."
"Thanks Jennifer. I'll try my best to last a year. See you tomorrow," I said before finally leaving the building.
And that was how I became Pansy Parkinson's Personal Assistant. What? I didn't tell you earlier? Sorry, I guess I was too busy complaining how much a pain in the arse she is. Do you see why I took the job though? If I don't get fired for a whole year, Pansy will write me the recommendation letter. Do you know what I'd do with it? I will wave it in front of Mr. Robbins's fat face then watch him beg me to become the Daily Prophet's chief editor. Hah! Life is good. So I thought. However, there is only one word that could sum up what it's like to work for Pansy. H-E-L-L!
"666 Salazar's Fortress. You're finally home Darla" I say after slamming on the car brakes.
I pull my hair into a bun, put my glasses on, get out of the car and carry Darla in my arms.
I ring the doorbell once, twice, thrice. Why is it taking forever?
"Oh my God, Darla!" I exclaim in shock as she leaps out of my arms.
"Don't jump out like that again. You nearly gave me a heart attack."
"Hi can I help you?" says a deep, sexy male voice from behind me. Finally!
I turn around and nearly choke as I see him. So, this is Pansy's fiancé huh? Wow! If I didn't have any dignity, I'd be drooling right now. Looks like he just got out of the shower. Oh my God, how gorgeous he looks with just faded jeans on. And his hair; wet, blond and sexy. I think I'm going to faint. No, I can't. I'll just scream mentally. Oh my, do I spy a six pack? Oh yes I do. He's so yummy I could eat him right now. What the hell? Okay, where did those thoughts running through my head come from? Keep it together Hermione. This is your boss's fiancé. No improper thoughts allowed.
"Hi, I'm Pansy's assistant. I came to drop off Darla and your car," I say before placing the dog in his arms and handing him the car keys.
"Hello, I'm Draco, Pansy's fiancé."
"Draco? As in Draco Malfoy?" I ask.
"Yes, that's me. Have we met before?" he asks.
Oh my God! He can't be! There is no way in the world that this steamy hunk is Malfoy! All right, scratch all those nice things I said about him earlier.
"Umm. . . no, actually we haven't. Well you see, I do know a Draco and his last name's Malfoy so I just assumed that Malfoy was your last name."
"So you do know me because I am Draco Malfoy."
Idiot! Hermione, you are undeniably stupid! You just, ugh! Just shut up. Think of something! Quick!
"Oh, what I meant was, I know the name Draco Malfoy because I went to Hogwarts and I recall seeing your name on one of the trophies."
Good one Hermione. You're safe, for now.
"I see. Well, thank you very much for bringing Darla and the car back. You're pretty amazing."
"What?"
What is he talking about?
"Oh, you see Darla is not really that good with people, especially girls. She doesn't even like Pansy and she's the woman I'm going to marry. It's really amazing how you can handle her."
"Well I think Darla has all the reasons to get jealous of other women."
Shit! You did not just say that. Oh my god! Oh my God! He's going to think you're flirting with him. He's laughing. How cute. Cute? Did you say Draco Malfoy was cute? Stop thinking that if you want to keep your job!
"Um. . . Mister Malfoy, would it be alright if I use your fireplace to get back to the office?" I ask.
"Oh yes absolutely. Come in."
He opens the door and allows me inside. Merlin, I need to get away as far from him as possible. His scent is driving me insane. He smells…gorgeous.
"It's right this way. By the way, just call me Draco. Mister Malfoy's too formal. Do I seem that old to you?" he asks.
Haha! Is he trying to be funny?
"Um. . . no. . . Not at all Draco."
That felt weird. I mean, I only address Malfoy as:
(1) insufferable git
(2) ferret boy
(3) Malferret and
(4) Malfoy
But never ever never EVER Draco. I never thought I'd say this but his mere name is oozing with sexiness. Aaaaahhhh! I said enough of those thoughts Hermione.
He places Darla on the floor then grabs a green jar where the Floo powder was stored.
"Here you go," he says. "By the way, I didn't get your name."
"My name? Oh, it's Mia."
"Mia. That's a nice name."
"Thanks Draco. I really like your name too."
I really like your name too? Shut up! Just shut up if you can't think of anything intellectual to say. He's not supposed to have this effect on you anyway because you are enemies remember? This is DRACO effing MALFOY, Mudblood Hater Extraordinaire, and in case you forgot, you HERMIONE GRANGER are a muggle-born witch who was the subject of his eternal torture and ridicule back at Hogwarts.
"Well I better go. Pansy might need me to run more errands for her. It was nice meeting you Draco," I say while extending my hand.
Wrong move. He takes my hand but instead of just firmly shaking it, he brings it close to his lips and kisses it. Oh my lord, this requires another uncontrollable screaming inside my head. Whew…that's done.
"The pleasure's all mine Mia," he replies while looking straight into my eyes.
I feel like melting now. Those eyes! Damn those gorgeous gray eyes. I need to leave before I do something I would regret later on.
"Well. . . um. . . Goodbye then," I say quickly.
"I'll see you around Mia."
I go inside the fireplace, throw the floo and say, "Posh Office."
END OF CHAPTER.
A/N: Bwhahahahaha... I just imagined a recently out of the shower Draco wearing a hot pair of jeans. Yummylicious indeed!
-Crazee