Author's Note: Written for Samantha. :)

Also written for...

Writing Club. Prompt: Awkward Moments Day - Write about an awkward moment.

Appreciating the Females Event. Prompt: locket

Gentle Reminder

1,003 words

The date circled in bright red ink screamed up at Lucius from the day planner left open on his desk. The planner had been a gift from Hermione when he'd been hired on at the Ministry some months ago. She'd circled the date herself, so sure that he would forget their anniversary. He hadn't, but it still tormented him.

There was only one week left until their first wedding anniversary and while he'd had most of the day planned well ahead of time, Lucius still hadn't been able to settle on a gift.

"You don't want to mess this up," a new colleague told him when he caught Lucius looking through a jewelry catalogue. "The first anniversary is the most crucial. It sets the standard for all future anniversaries."

"You can't go wrong with chocolate," another joined in. "Or flowers. Women love flowers."

Lucius knew all of this already. He had ordered a bouquet of Hermione's favorite flowers, to be delivered to her office on the day. A box of the finest chocolates from Honeydukes was already purchased, hidden in the bottom drawer of his desk. He'd even made reservations at their favorite restaurant two months in advance. All that he had left to worry about was the gift, and time was ticking away.

A book was too obvious a choice, and it was impossible to narrow Hermione's wish list down to a single book. Her wardrobe was already full, and she had more jewelry than she wanted. There was nothing obvious missing from her life as far as Lucius could tell.

He spent a week's worth of lunch breaks pacing through the aisles in every wizarding shop he could think of, always returning to work empty handed and in a foul mood.

On the last day, desperate, he set out in search of muggle shops to try. He hadn't expected to find something so perfect in the first antique store he stepped foot in: a golden locket with a unique pattern on the front. It was so simple, but the shopkeeper assured him it had once belonged to some muggle monarch he'd never heard of. If anything, at least Hermione would appreciate the history behind gift.

Not even being stuck behind the long line of workers heading back into the Ministry could affect Lucius' good mood as he admired the locket and imagined Hermione's reaction to the gift.

"Lucius can't find out about this."

Even over the noise of the crowd, Lucius could still pick out Hermione's voice. She was ahead of him in line with several people between them, blocking his view of whomever she was talking to.

It was odd, he thought. Hermione never left the Ministry on her lunch breaks. She preferred to eat in her office to keep up momentum, or sneak down to eat with him if things weren't busy. Hadn't she just been complaining about her workload over breakfast?

"Don't worry. There's no way he'll figure it out."

Curious, Lucius ducked his head and tried to peer around the people in front of him. Between the shifting bodies, he caught a glimpse of an arm around his wife's shoulders but couldn't see who it belonged to.

He stormed back to his office at the first opportunity, too upset to care about the locket any longer.

It was ridiculous to think Hermione of all people to could do this to him - the day before their anniversary, no less! But the evidence couldn't be ignored. She was keeping secrets from him, leaving the Ministry without any notice, consorting with strange men. It all added up to an affair.

He tried to forget about it, to tamp down on his anger and finish out the work day, but it was impossible. He considered going home, but how could he step foot in that place when his marriage was a sham? He needed answers.

Hermione was back at her desk when Lucius barged into her office. If he didn't know any better, he would've said she hadn't left all day. She was practically buried under tall stacks of papers and large law tomes. She looked tired when she met his eyes.

"Lucius? What are you doing here?"

"I have to know why you did it," he said, closing the door behind him.

"What are you talking about?"

"I saw you outside ... with him." He turned his nose up at her. "How could you go behind my back like this?"

She slumped in her chair and sighed. "I was afraid this would happen. I wanted it to be a surprise."

"Well consider me surprise!" he raged. "Betrayed by my own wife."

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him. "Betrayed? I was just getting you a gift."

Lucius paused. "A … gift?"

"For tomorrow. Our anniversary? You forgot, didn't you?"

"I did not forget. I was out buying your gift when I saw you with a man's arm around you!"

Hermione gaped at him. "You think I'm having an affair, don't you? For Merlin's sake, Lucius. I was with Harry. He helped me pick out your gift and took it back to his place until I can pick it up tomorrow." She reached down to her top drawer and pulled out a photograph, passing it to him. "This is your gift."

He stared in disbelief at the chocolate labrador puppy his wife held in the photo. "You got me a dog?"

She smiled, slowly moving towards. "You keep complaining about how quiet the house gets. I thought this would help. You don't really think I would cheat on you, do you?"

The question seemed to subdue him. He ran a hand through his hair, embarrassed at his behaviour.

"I'm sorry, Hermione. I thought you'd finally grown tired of me, but I should've known you wouldn't…" He sighed. "I got carried away. There's no excuse for that."

She wrapped her arms around. "You're forgiven. Do you like your gift?"

"I love it," he said, cupping her cheek. "And I love you more."