Hermione frowned. Lavender was smoking again and it was reeking.
"Lavender ? Do you mind putting it out ? The smell bothers me."
The blonde girl rolled her eyes and put her cigarette on the tip of her ashtray. Hermione slightly nodded in thanks, although the cigarette was still lit. It would burn out eventually. She went back to the paperwork in front of her. She needed to get everything done before the weekend otherwise her boss would probably be pissed at her for a month or so.
Quickly she went through the file, checking the numbers. Everything seemed to check out, no mistakes. She put the file aside and labeled it 'good'. She then took the last one. Once again she found herself frowning. The envelope was green, contrasting with the other files, which were beige.
She opened the envelope. As usual it was filled with banking reports. But the number of the account was not familiar.
She took the big notebook in which she recorder every account number and tracked the money circulating between them. This account was not recorded. But Hermione was nothing if not meticulous, and she recorded everything.
She shrugged; maybe her boss had simply forgot to tell her about this particular account so she would record it anyway. She chose a blank page in her notebook and began to jot down the information.
However as she progressed through the file, she started to notice incoherencies in the cash flow. It was not making any sense. Money was disappearing. She went back to the banking reports she had already handled; she might have missed a page. No, the dates on the reports assured her she was not making a mistake, there were no pages missing.
She decided to take it to her boss; he could probably explain this mess to her. She stood and took the green file putting back the reports in it.
"I'm going up to see mister Malfoy, I'll be back soon."
Lavender nodded and put her cigarette back in her mouth, lighting it again with a match.
"I'll be sure to be finished with this one when you come back," she smiled.
Hermione roller her eyes and left their shared office. Lavender was not that bad but her smoking habit was definitely something she had trouble adjusting to. It was just unwholesome and well it was unpleasant for the non-smokers around.
She strode down the corridors, passing a handful of other offices filled with other secretaries or employees of the firm. She pressed the button to call the elevator. It announced its arrival with a little ping.
She stepped into it with confidence, although it was empty, she was always confident. She pressed the button of the 39th floor. As the doors closed, she leaned on the metallic wall, staring at the beige carpet. She tilted her head. It was kind of dirty, with large patches of a slightly darker shade of beige.
She was brought back to reality by another ping. Her head snapped up just as the doors where opening. She stepped out into a much larger corridor, lit by neon. The carpet also seemed more luxurious than the one on her floor. She made for her boss's office. Fortunately, unlike Lavender who had asked her thousands of times, she knew where it was.
"Hello Cho," she smiled at Malfoy's secretary. "Is mister Malfoy here ? There's a problem with some banking reports."
The pretty secretary gave her an apologetic smile and shook her head.
"I'm sorry Hermione, he's in a meeting and I don't know how much time it's going to last."
The brunette sighed and looked at the clock behind Cho. It was already 5:45 and she ended her shift at 6:00. Did she want to wait for her boss just to look up some incoherencies ? Well, those were not any incoherencies, money did not just disappear into thin air. At least, not under her watch.
"I'll wait."
Cho nodded and pointed her a chair facing the office's door. Hermione sat down, green file in hand and began a staring contest with the door. She tried to think of reasons why there where mistakes in the reports but she could not think of any. Those were not reports done by a secretary of the firm, those were official, done by the bank itself. So it was an anomaly, was it not normal to report it ?
A phone's ring broke the comfortable silence. Cho cleared her throat lightly before picking up.
"Mister Malfoy's office of Malfoy Industries how can I help you ?"
Hermione tuned out the rest of the conversation, it had to do with the Malfoys' activity in South Asia. It was not banking so it did not matter to her. The secretary hung up and began writing down something when Hermione heard a muffled laugh coming from the office. She perked up. Malfoy always laughed before taking his leave of someone. She straightened.
The door opened, proving her right. Malfoy was vigorously shaking the hand of a much taller man. If her boss was beaming, the other man was not, he was expressionless.
"I can't wait for Lucius to meet you, see you on Saturday !"
The other man barely acknowledged the blonde with a nod and left without a single goodbye to Cho. Well as polite as Malfoys' associates could be. She rose and smiled at her boss who sighed when he saw her.
"Do you have another question Miss Granger ?"
She blushed. But no, she should not be ashamed of wanting to do her job right.
"In fact yes, sir, I do. It's about the reports in this file. They don't match up -"
"Well come on in," he sighed rubbing his face.
She followed him into his office and closed the door behind her. Her boss sat down in his chair and glanced at her when she did the same.
"What file are you talking about ?"
She put the green envelope on the table.
"This one sir it was put on my desk at lunch."
If she had not been looking at him at that exact instant, Hermione might have missed it. Malfoy's eyes slightly widened when they fixed upon the file.
"What was the problem ?"
She decided not to dwell on the fact that his voice had slightly trembled on the first word.
"Well you see, between the third of June and the sixth of the same month, three million dollars just disappear. They are not withdrawn nor transferred. They're just gone."
Her boss barked out a laugh. Her eyes narrowed. It sounded fake and forced. The man took the file and put it in one of his drawers.
"No need to bother, I'll look into it myself, wouldn't do to lose three million dollars, would it ?"
He was obviously going for a light-hearted tone but it was not working on her. Still, seeing the way he had reacted, she did not want to push him. Plus she was only a banking assistant. So she nodded and gave him a smile.
"Thank you sir."
"Well have a good week-end Miss Granger, and, do not bother thinking about this file again okay ?" asked Malfoy giving her a fearful look.
She rose and forced a chuckle out.
"I won't sir, have a nice week-end too."
She left his office. She bid Cho a good week-end and went straight for the elevator, staring at the luxurious beige carpet. What was in that file that was so sensitive ? Did Malfoy know about the money transfer ? Did he know where it went to ?
She yelped when she collided with something hard and fell on her back. She raised her head that had fortunately not hit the ground and looked at the obstacle. It was the man from her boss's office. She frowned.
"You could look where you're going !"
The man finally glanced at her, still sprawled on the floor. She had not noticed his dark grey eyes before. He shrugged and turned pressing the button for the elevator. Grunting, she stood on wobbling feet. Fucking heels, sure they were small, but vicious. They had probably contributed to her pitiful loss of balance.
She straightened in harmony with the elevator's ping. She followed the dark stranger in it. He pressed the zero and she pressed the thirty-one. The doors closed. She was irked by his rude behavior. She wanted to do something petty, like press all the buttons when she got out. Well she would look as mature as he did if she followed through.
She should forgive him. Maybe he was not a Friday person. The doors of the elevator finally opened on her floor and she got out of the suffocating atmosphere. She glanced back at the man in black. He was staring at the button panel control. She frowned. He seemed dangerous. The doors closed.
Hermione shook her head. She was probably being stupid. She looked at the large clock in the corridor. It was time for her to leave. She jogged back to her office. Lavender had already left, alas, the smell of smoke had not.
She gathered her belongings and slipped her cream raincoat on. A quick glance to the window told her it was indeed raining, as it had been this morning. At least she had the diner at Harry's to look forward to.
Hermione leaned over her sink to get a better look at her lips. She could do it. She could apply red lipstick without staining her teeth or her skin. When the feat was over, she noticed slight smudges on the corners of her mouth. She scowled. Well, they were barely visible. Not wanting to spend any more time on makeup she put her black heels on and slipped her overcoat on.
7:15. She was supposed to be at Harry's in fifteen minutes. She groaned. The subway would probably be packed at this hour. If she walked she would be late. Well, as much as she detested not being punctual, she did not want to go sweat with hundreds of other New-Yorkers in a small box of tin.
She left without wasting more time, walking quickly in the streets. The sun had set, it was already fall. She liked walking in the streets. The air was clearer up there than it was down in the subway. Every time she passed someone smoking, which was often, her nose scrunched up.
Waiting for the light to turn green at a crosswalk, Hermione froze. On the other side of the street, the strange man from the afternoon was leaning, talking to a woman. His face seemed contorted in rage. She frowned. Still fishy.
She looked at the woman. She was quite tall, slender, elegant. Her hair was cut in a sleek black bob framing her face. Her red lips clashed with her pale skin. She did not look affected by the strange man. Hermione frowned. The woman looked bored.
Their eyes met. They were black. It could have because of the distance, or because it was night, but Hermione could swear she had felt rather than seen their darkness. The woman stared at her and took a cigarette out of a delicately donned silver box. Her eyes still locked with hers, she brought the cigarette to her blood red lips and lit it. Then, as she exhaled the white smoke in tendrils, she gave Hermione a small smirk.
Hermione does not know why, but heat crept up her face.
Suddenly, everything seemed to start moving again and the woman looked at her raging companion. Numb, Hermione crossed the street, eyes still fixed on the raven-haired woman. Their eyes did not cross again.
When she arrived at Harry's, and during the whole evening, she could never quite forget the charcoal eyes and the fiery red lips. Still, she tried to distract herself.
"You know I had the strangest day at work," she mused aloud as Harry and her were washing the dishes.
"Yeah ?" grinned her friend.
"There was a mistake, in the banking records."
"What kind of mistake ?"
"Money, disappearing, suddenly."
"So just like Superman you saved us ?" chuckled her friend giving her a fond look.
She laughed shaking her head. "No but it was really serious ! It's three million dollars !"
"Fuck that's a lot !"
"I know and they just... disappear from one page to the other !"
Harry gave her a pointed look. "Have I not told you before that the Malfoys are into shady business ?"
She sighed. "You have never proved that assumption. And you hate Draco you're biased."
He snorted. "You don't like him either, and isn't this proof enough ?"
She threw him an annoyed look but noticed the way her friend's eyes were burning feverishly. The woman's eyes had also been burning. Not the same fire though.
"I could take it to the station ! We could put them in prison !"
"You're not making sense Harry one document is not enough, and it might be a mistake, it not necessarily intentional you know ?"
She dried her hands with the dishtowel as her friend finished washing the glasses. "Furthermore, I'm not losing my job for this crusade of yours, especially since it lacks any kind of concrete base."
"Fine," he grunted. He then turned to her with a grin on his face, "changing the subject, you never told me how went your date with Cormac !"
She grimaced. "He put his hand on my ass as soon as we left the restaurant."
"So ? You never were a prude as far I know."
"Well it bothered me because he was bothering, his face was not as handsome as you had said it would be and he clearly just wanted sex !"
"What's wrong with getting laid ?" smirked Harry.
She threw her hands in the air exasperated. "Nothing but Harry he was fucking insufferable and that's putting it mildly."
"I promise you," he grinned, "that next time, I'll find you a great blind date."
"Right," she grumbled rolling her eyes.