Hello!! i hope all of you enjoy this, i am still hitting a wall on where i want a new begining to go, but i have had this plot bunny running around, so i thought i would get it written down!
Disclaimer: i unfortunately own nothing but the plot!!
As Hermione stepped off the lift to head to her office she was stopped by a very frantic looking Secretary.
"I do hope there is a reason why you look like someone has died Lucinda, I don't have time for any extra drama in my life as of right now" Hermione sighed as she gratefully took the coffee cup Lucinda was holding out with a shaky hand.
" Well the morning was going quit well until about five minutes ago when Ronald showed up, as the gown for tonights ball arrived and the damn courier said that Mr. Malfoy saw this and thought you should wear this instead of the one you ordered." Lucinda said quietly.
Hermione stopped walking just a few short steps from her office, and turned to look at her secretary, pinching the bridge of her nose to try to stop the headache that she could now start to feel coming on.
" Did Ronald say what he wanted? And owl Draco and tell him to get here now. I'm sure we are going to need to do damage control, the election is 2 months away and I don't need Ronald screwing this up!" Hermione said expectantly.
" He didn't say what he wanted, and I took the liberty of just floo calling Mr. Malfoy, he said he sould be here in just a few moments." Lucinda said quietly.
Hermione straightened her back and steeled herself for what was about to come once she stepped into her office. She hasn't seen much of Ron since the day she caught him in THEIR bed with some bimbo, almost a year ago. She was devistated back then, being that it was at the begining of her campaign to run for Minister. And she only insisted that they be seen in public, at functions like tonight, to keep their reputations in tact, before she was elected.She had just hired Draco to run her campaign, at the advice of Ron's, saying he was the best in the business. She only said yes to the idea, because she rememebered Draco helping Percy's campaign, and now Hermione was the undersecretary to Percy, who was not going to run for another term.
"What do you want Ronald? I was not expecting to see you until this evening for the ball" She asked.
"Well, um, you see I needed to talk to you beforehand. I need you to sign the divorce papers, today if possible. "
"No Ron, we had an agreement, we hold off on the divorce, as long as you moved out and kept your indiscretions secret, until after the election. The election is TWO MONTHS AWAY!!" Hermione was seeing red, her anger getting close to the boiling point, when she saw Ron sneer and felt a hand on her back at the same time, indicating that Draco just arrived.
Hermione physically calmed as Draco traced small circles on her back, something he always did when he knew she was stressed and he couldn't do anything else in public, like kiss her, in public.
"She will do no such thing Weasel, You will not ruin this campaign by ruining her image." Draco said calmly with his trademark smirk on his face.
"I would think that you would be the one jumping at the chance to have her sign the bloody papers Malfoy!" Ron yelled
"And what is that supposed to mean weasel? I want what ever Hermione wants, and right now it's not having her name pulled through the mud by you! So I suggest you leave, now, before I make you leave!" Draco yelled, getting angrier by the second.
"Hermione, please, just think about it ok?" Ron pleaded.
"Ronald, what has changed so suddenly that it needs to be done? I thought the arrangement was going fine the way it is. we both have private lives, away from photographers, and we don't have to see each ot.."
"She is pregnant, and she doesn't want to be in the background of, whatever it is we are doing..." Ron all but whispered.
"Wait, what??? How can you be so stupid Ronald??? What in the HELL where you thinking?? Who is she?? Some quiditch groupie?? Some bimbo you picked up at a club???" Hermione yelled, so loud that it shook the windows in her office.
Hermione was so irrate that he would ruin her campaign, by not thinking and not caring about how either of them would look with this turn of events, that she didn't hear somone clearing their throat in the doorway.
"Yes Lucinda, what do you need" She heard Draco say.
"Um, I'm the bimbo Madame Undersecretary" Lucinda said softly.
"Excuse me?? You are one of the few people who know what is going on, and you betray me like this?? How could you?? And here I thought you where one of the better secrataries that I have had over the years, and I was going to take you with me when I was elected! Well not anymore!! I suggest you clean out your desk, and head back to HR, after you sign a confidentuality agreement, I can't have you speaking about what you know, I would obliviate you, but that would be going too far" Hermione said as she summoned a piece of parchment and a quill and started writing. After she was done, she used a wordless spell upon the agreement that would cause Lucinda to break out in painful boils, should she say anything about the situation to anyone other than Ron, Draco and herself.
After Lucinda signed, she went back to her desk and started to clean it out.
"Draco, can you go and make sure she only takes what is hers? Nothing that belongs to this office, and hand her this to give to the HR department, so they can place her elsewhere in the ministry." Hermione said as she handed Draco an envelope.
Draco quirked an eywbrow up and gave a quick nod as Hermione gave him a smirk to rival one of his own.
"Of course Hermione, I will make sure nothing but what is hers is taken." Draco said with a returning smirk as Hermione rounded quickly on Ron.
"And you! I expect you to be present and DECENT when you pick me up at 6pm sharp, Do I make myself clear?? And you better be on your BEST BEHAVIOR! Or I won't even CONSIDER signing the papers early!! You will NOT ruin this for me Ron, I won't let you. Now leave and I will see you later."
"Yes Hermione, I will be there at 6pm, on the dot" Ron choked out, as he turned and all but ran out of her office.
Hermione's head was in her hands at her desk when she heard Draco come back in."Draco, what am I going to do? Is this going to ruin me?" She asked with a tear rolling down her cheek.
"No love, we will make sure that you are the victim in this." He said as he cupped her cheeks in his hands and gave her the softest most loving kiss he could give her. "Do you know how hard it is going to be to see you in that beautiful gown tonight and that arse the one to have you on his arm."
"I know love, just a few more months. we can handle that right?" Hermione asked as she kissed him back.
"Maybe not, if you sign the papers now, he doesn't have to go and we can go together. We can make the filing of them very public, and give a story to the prophet, and I can make sure that it is in the evening addition, so that everyone will see it before the ball tonight." Draco said with a small smile, knowing the cogs in her pretty head where working over time.
"What time do I have to let you know by?" She asked.
" Well it is barely 730 in the morning, I would say by 10 am."
"Let me think, I will let you know soon."