Hermione entered the Atrium and picked up yet another coffee before stepping into the elevator. Several paper planes flew into her hand and when she walked into her office she had about a dozen more flying around. Hermione groaned and walked out to say good morning to her close friend Sam. Before they could delve into a proper conversation, Hermione's boss appeared with none other than Draco Malfoy at his side.
"Good morning Hermione. Great job last night. We couldn't have caught him without you," her boss said. Draco looked at her with his eyebrow cocked. "Straight to business. I would like you to meet your new partner, Draco Malfoy. Now I know he has a bad reputation, but he has undergone extensive testing and I assure you, he is on our side."
Hermione rolled her eyes and held back a snort of laughter.
"Is there something wrong Hermione. Do you know Mr Malfoy?" her boss asked genuinely concerned.
"Yes. We attended Hogwarts together and were the biggest–"Hermione was cut off by Draco.
"Buddies ever, weren't we. I haven't seen you for ages Hermione!" Draco said in a too cheerful voice. His eyes went as wide as saucers in a bid to get her play along.
"Great. Well you two get reacquainted and I'll expect you in the briefing room in ten minutes sharp," he said and then walked away. Hermione threw a look at Sam who was grinning mischievously at her. She made her way to the office and was followed by Draco. They entered and she shut the door.
"What the hell is going on Draco? Best buddies at Hogwarts? That is a load of bull and you know it," Hermione said bossily and sat behind her desk. Draco conjured up a comfortable armchair and placed his feet on her desk. She waved her wand and his feet fell to the floor.
"Nothing; I didn't want to get paired up with Larry, he seems a bit gay; and it is not bull." Draco said.
"Then why are we partners? I've never had one before unless it was a really important mission." It was true. Hermione worked as a sole agent but she had never been in dire trouble before. She did feel a bit apprehensive at the beginning about working alone, but then realised there weren't enough people working in this field. she got used to it as time wore on.
"Didn't they tell you? They're stepping up security and are taking extra precautions just in case. Apparently you're one of the most able in the field, I have no idea how that happened, but they wanted someone equally good to partner you," Draco said with his unforgotten smirk in place.
"Oh, I get it. So you're just here to introduce this talented person?" Hermione asked. Draco scowled and sat there quietly. She still hadn't lost her quick tongue and he hadn't developed a better attitude. 'This is going to be exactly the same as seventh year', they both thought together. They sat in silence until the ten minutes were up and then made their way past a grinning Larry to the briefing room.
Later that day Hermione and Sam were sitting at their usual lunchtime haunt, chatting and eating. It was just nonsense talk to begin with but then Sam looked at Hermione with a questioning grin.
"So, who is that babe you're going to be working with?" she asked. Hermione who was drinking her juice choked at that instant and took a couple of minutes to recover.
"Babe? Are you out of your mind?" Hermione asked frantically and just to prove her point felt Sam's head. Sam laughed and pushed her hand away.
"I think you're the one who's out of their mind. He is gorgeous! What's going on between you two? Have you already got 'acquainted' in your office?" she asked grinning and raising her eyebrow. Hermione's eyes already wide to begin with, got wider.
"You are out of your mind! I hate him! He made my life a living hell in seventh year! If I had a say in any of this, I would have had him reassigned with a click of my fingers," Hermione said.
"Was he really that bad?" Sam asked seriously. Hermione nodded dolefully. "Well, people do change you know. I think you should give him another chance. I saw the way he was checking you out, and if I didn't know any better, I'd think he had a thing for you," Sam said cockily.
"No. he can't change. If you knew him, you'd know that a rock has a better chance of changing into a fish than Malfoy. And whatever you saw must have been directed at someone else. He will never be interested in me, which I must say, I'm glad off."
"Ok then. Where are you going for your new mission?" she asked taking another spoonful of her stew.
"We're going to the Bahamas for three days." Hermione said under her breath even though the café was in the ministry building.
"Ooh, romantic," Sam said cocking one eyebrow. Hermione rolled her eyes and got up.
"I got to go and pack now. I'll see you on Thursday. Wish me luck, and not from the bad guys," Hermione said grinning. Sam nodded and hugged her goodbye. With that Hermione took off to her humble home to pack.
It was ten thirty later that night and Hermione was standing at the airport with Draco. She was wearing a knee high flowery skirt and a loose white tank top with her embroidered flip flops. Draco was wearing a Hawaiian shirt and a pair of baggy white shorts. The look really didn't suit him because one, he was a Malfoy, and two; he was a Malfoy! Hermione groaned internally. The ministry never usually made her go on a plane, but this was the one that the suspects were taking so she was forced to ride it through.
"Come on. That was our call," a voice interrupted her thoughts. She stood up and picked up her small travelling bag. Just before they got to the ticket confirmation counter, Draco slipped his hand into Hermione.
"What the hell do you think you're doing," Hermione said under her breath.
"Well seeing as we're supposed to be going on our 'honeymoon', it's only fitting that we hold hands. Don't you think darling?" Hermione smiled sweetly and bit back a remark. He was enjoying this a lot. Once they were seated in the plane, Hermione muttered a charm very quietly which located the couple in question. They were a couple of seats in front of them and seemed to be talking, (she couldn't see very well) quietly. Hermione jumped when she felt a cold hand on top of her own. She looked down and saw Draco had placed his hand on hers. Warm shivers ran down her spine and it took her a few seconds to shake his hand off. She tried but he held on firmer.
He was smirking at her when she looked at him. "Kindly remove your hand from mine," Hermione asked quietly. Draco lowered his head to her and whispered "how is everyone going to believe we're a couple if you can't act like we're even sitting next to each other. I'm sure your boss would love to know you're incapable of handling missions like his." Hermione shuddered and then looked at him fiercely.
"You want me to act like your wife. That's quite simple really. All I have to do is imitate Pansy Parkinson and it should do the job, am I right?" Hermione asked grinning. Draco's smirk dropped a couple of hitches so Hermione took this as a yes. She then turned her hand over and took his in hers and batted her eyelashes at him and giggled. Draco looked at her repulsed and let go of her hand.
Hermione and Draco departed from the airport later that day, although it was a new day in the Bahamas. She said another charm which helped the suspects remain visible to her only and followed them inconspicuously. Draco was also following her lead after using the same spell for himself. Suddenly one of them turned and looked at them. Draco quickly wrapped his arm around Hermione's waist and she did the same and they slowed down the space considerably, talking close into one another and smiling.
"Have they stopped looking," Hermione said quietly and then smiled. Draco glanced up in time to see them get into a taxi.
"They're off to the hotel," he whispered back and they moved apart slightly. Draco still held onto Hermione just in case. "We should go there too and find out what room they're in." Draco pulled out a mobile and typed in the number of the ministry. "Find what room they're in," Draco said and hung up. They walked over to the taxi stop and one pulled up with a familiar face in it. Hermione and Draco stepped in and nodded to the man driving.
"They'll be staying at room 208. We have booked you number 209. We have also managed to find their agenda and it will be ready for you on you bedside table when you arrive. Good luck," he said and stopped. They muttered their thanks and then stepped out of the car. Draco once again slid his arm around Hermione's waist and pulled her closer to him. She tensed up but then relaxed into his touch. "Don't get too close Granger, the germs will be harder to wash off," Malfoy hissed and she recoiled slightly.
The list on their table said that the pair was going to do nothing except hang about on the beach and in the hotel until later that night. Hermione and Draco decided to go to the beach as well and observe them. Hermione got ready in the bathroom while Draco didn't change at all. When Hermione appeared in a tasteful brown and green bikini with a short matching sarong, Draco's eyes seemed to pop out and back in. Hermione blushed and shuffled her feet a bit. She wasn't much to look at, just a thin and plain girl with a fairly flat chest, but Draco had never seen her in anything that wasn't ten sizes too big for her and covering every inch of her skin.
They made their way out on to the beach and spotted the couple sitting close under an umbrella talking in hushed voices. Hermione put up their beach umbrella and put on her sunglasses which had a tiny microphone that picked up anything within a 3 metre radius. The only problem was, there were other people sitting there too and they were having animated conversations. She muttered a charm on her back so as not to burn and turned onto her stomach with a book in front of her. She for once wasn't concentrating on the words, instead the conversations.
"What am I supposed to do?" Draco hissed beside her.
"Go and splash around in the water or something. Just don't disturb me." Draco shrugged, put the same anti burning charm on himself and took off his shirt. He had modest muscles which you could see, but he still gave of the aura of being more skin and bones than meat. His skin was pale, but it wasn't deathly pale. There was a sort of a glint to it. Hermione was snapped back to reality by Draco's cold voice.
"Granger, I know I'm the hottest thing you've ever seen, but as you said, you should be concentrating," he said breaking her out of her trance. Hermione scoffed and went back to her book. Almost the minute Draco had walked into the midst of the beach, he was approached by two tanned and gorgeous girls, wearing very skimpy bikinis. Draco's eyebrow arched and he turned to greet them.
Hermione scoffed again. He had been here all of five minutes and he'd already picked up. She sighed. It was unfair that some people had it all and she had nothing. No guy would ever approach her. 'Maybe if I stop being such a bookworm', she though but then shook it away. She couldn't act like someone else. Her prince would like her for who she was. Right now though, Draco wasn't acting like the makeshift prince he was supposed to be. She got up and transfigured her wand into a wristband. The ministry had placed special charms on her wand to make it more versatile. She strode out towards the water and deliberately walked slowly past the suspect's umbrella. She wasn't going to hear anything with little brats a metre away from her.
"Do you think anyone will recognise us?" Hermione heard a female voice say.
"No. with all the cosmetic charms we've done, there's no way anyone will catch us." the male voice entered the conversation.
"I still don't feel right. Maybe we should put in an appearance at tonight's demonstration, just in case – "
That was all Hermione heard before the male voice hushed her. She hurried past their umbrella. 'So there is something going on tonight! There goes my early night' Hermione thought as she walked onto the makeshift volleyball court Draco was playing on. There were about nine other girls there and he was the only male. This didn't seem to bother him though. She walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, placing her head on his chest. A spark of electricity shot through their skin.
"Gr – Hermione. What are you doing here?" Draco asked guiltily.
"Oh, I just wanted to head back to our room, seeing as it is our honeymoon," Hermione said sweetly. The other girls just stared at them in shock.
"Right. Shall we go then?" he said forcing a smile. Hermione heard him mouth a sorry to the girls behind her back. Hermione rolled her eyes and whipped his face around before planting her lips on his. He stood there in shock and only responded when Hermione bit a little too hard down on his lip. He wove his arms around her and before he could deepen the kiss, she drew away.
"There's your kiss. Now let's go," Hermione said sternly and they made their way back to the hotel.
A/N: Sorry guys. I tried to post this up a while a go but the stupid thing wouldn't let me! Those people at ffnet really need to sort this system out!