Author's Note: This one will be five-chapters long. Also keep in mind, avid readers, that I have deleted The Dark Side. Only because I really was stuck and oblivious as to where I should go from there. Please don't be upset. I will make it up to you. I'm writing more and I have a ton of ideas that I'm working with at the moment. You guys can count on me. Promise.
Someone Like You
Part 1
November 2003 (Present)
The clicking of those blasted heels had been grating on the last of her nerves as she sat patiently at her desk. She sighed while clenching her quill, locking her gaze on the parchment in front of her. She didn't want to turn in her stiff chair and stare at the shoes that were making it hard for her to gain any sense of thought or concentration.
Her little desk was adjacent to her fellow employee, Alison Dillbage. Alison owned those bratty pair of heels that clicked loudly as she huddled around her desk.
Staring up slightly, with the rest of her body remaining still, she saw the tall blonde hover over her own desk, shuffling through some of her parchments and folders. Hermione wasn't too sure what she was up to with her fidgeting, but her question was answered when she saw the relieved blonde thrust out a couple of galleons from where they had been hiding.
"Ah! Finally," Alison smiled softly at the golden coins in her hands and looked over to Hermione with a glint in her blue eyes, "Want anything from the Atrium, Hermione? I'm going to get a Butterbeer."
She shook her head and tightly smiled up at Alison before trying to avert her eyes back to the parchment in front of her. She stopped trying though when she saw him walk through the double doors of the big office.
If she wasn't going to make a fit and jump out of her seat to head somewhere else, then she knew that all she could do was face the situation head on. But the way he was strolling in, robes billowing behind his lean frame- she couldn't help but take in a deep breath of air before feeling her cheeks turn red.
She wanted to look back down at her parchments so that she could go over the case once more before heading over to the Wizengamot to overlook the hearing, but when his grey eyes caught sight of her she couldn't help but look on as he walked over to their desk area.
His strides were so sure and solid. His gait- smooth. And if she looked close enough, she could probably see that he didn't have a single piece of lint left on his black, starched robes. He was proper and clean, like the git he always was. And she loved everything about it.
With a slight nod he approached her desk and stared down at her before smirking and turning his attention to Alison. "Ready?"
Alison blushed and tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear, looking down at those annoying heels Hermione deplored. It wasn't until she saw him catch a quick glance at the blonde's calves that Hermione felt the need to grab the shoe so that she could clog her on the head with it. Those red pumps really needed to be used properly...
"Ready for what, exactly?"
Hermione watched as Draco reached out his hand to tuck that stubborn blonde strand away from her eyes. All soft and gentle, he was. She glared quickly before looking down at her papers again.
"Lunch. I owled you just two hours ago."
"Oh, Merlin! That was supposed to be right now?"
"Well, yes, love-"
Hermione cringed and shifted in her seat, trying so hard to drown out the exchange between the two of them.
"-never told me the time precisely, Draco." She heard Alison reprimand him coquettishly.
With a dignified roll of her eyes, Hermione stood up slowly and gathered her quill and folders, stuffing the parchments into their rightful places. She grabbed her bag on the left side of her desk and looked over everything to make sure it was all put into place. It seemed everything was.
"Leaving?" Alison asked as Hermione tucked in her chair and took a step away from it, clutching her bag and papers tightly as she looked forlornly at couple in front of her.
"Yes, I have the case down at the Wizengamot around five-"
"Oh, but it's only three."
Hermione remained quiet as she stood awkwardly in front of the two, trying her hardest not to blush under his penetrating gaze.
She nodded her head and began to walk away from the two slowly, "Right. And I need to finalize certain things, you see-"
"Oh, do come to lunch with us, then? You've been working in that desk of yours all morning." Alison looked almost on the verge of begging and Hermione grimaced at the sight.
She turned her eyes on him and saw his straight figure standing even more solid and erect than usual.
He's uncomfortable, she thought.
She shook her head and smiled bitterly at the blonde. "I'm sorry, Alison. I really can't. Maybe another time, yeah?" She watched as the blonde nodded with a small pout and then turned her attention back to him as she wrapped her thin arms around his neck, kissing the side of his cheek sweetly.
Shaking her head and turning around to face the doors that lead to the elevators, Hermione gripped her bag tighter and clenched her teeth, feeling the edges of her enamels grind together in the most unforgiving way.
Her parents would not like her doing that at all with her teeth. And so she stopped.
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"Remember when you and Draco went to the theatre together, that one month...I forget when-"
"Why are you even bringing that up?"
Ginny grinned at her and laid her cup on the wooden table of the tea shop that stood on the corner of the cobbled streets in Diagon Alley. The quaint store was Humberry's Suites Café; a new shop that was built and invested by the owner, Madame Humberry after the Second Wizarding War. The lavender curtains and cream table cloths really made the restaurant look more suitable than the overly pink, stuffy den of Madame Puddiefoot's tea shop in Hogsmeade.
"I was just thinking of it. Harry and I want to go over and see one."
"A play, you mean?"
"Yes." Ginny looked down at her pale tea cup and stirred her silver spoon in it twice before setting it down. "Why is that so hard to believe?"
"Oh, I don't know. It could be because the last time I handed you a book by Shakespeare-"
"That muggle bloke who wrote about a million stories," Ginny injected with a nod and a sip of her tea.
"He's brilliant."
"A true nutter to be writing all those things."
Hermione frowned at her friend and straightened the lapels on her brown jacket, re-clasping a stubborn button on the top of it. "My point is that it just seems a bit peculiar that you would ask about the theatre. Curious that you would even put Draco in the context. I've gone there a plenty times without him, mind you-"
"Well, yes. But it seemed to be the only way to bring him suavely into our discussion. And look what you've done there. You've ruined it. My plans are completely soiled."
Hermione raised an eyebrow and smirked, "Oh, you'll live, Ginny. I'm sure."
"We shall see." The quiet between the two eclipsed as Hermione took a sip and bite from her scone. Ginny rolled her nimble fingers along the table's frilly cloth and cleared her throat before nodding her head. "How's it going? You know- over at the office?"
Hermione continued to chew what was left of her sweet treat before speaking. "Quite fine." She watched as Ginny raised her eyebrows in disbelief and quickly raised her hand in the air. "Honestly, Ginny. If I don't talk about it, I will feel better."
"Hermione Jean Granger, if I never heard anything more stupid come out of your mouth, I think that last phrase took the cake."
She crinkled her brow and set her hands in her skirted lap. "Meaning?"
"You know as well as I do that hiding from your problems..."
"This isn't a problem, Ginny."
"Right. Because we'll pretend that you two didn't break up six months ago after two years of a relationship. Then we'll disregard the fact that he started dating someone who works with you just a month ago."
Hermione puckered up her lips and squinted at the petite red-head in front of her. Hermione thought Ginny quite irascible at times. "That's the general idea, yes. I would like to forget it happened, alright?"
The look Ginny was sending her way wasn't helping things either. The soft eyes that stared right through her made her feel like she was baring her soul to all of wizard-kind. She felt the heat of those blue eyes and was hiding underneath her invisible wall of protection to block herself from the inspection.
"When was the last time you actually spoke to him, Hermione?" She whispered softly.
Hermione sighed and sat back in her seat, "About four months ago."
Ginny gaped at her and whispered into her teacup, "Hermione..."
She shook her head and said, "I'm still alive, aren't I?"
Shrugging up her shoulders and finishing her tea she almost didn't catch on to the last word Ginny said before getting up to use the loo. But Hermione heard it nonetheless. And the word, "barely", stung through her quietly.
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Staring with disappointment at her closet, she noticed the tops of it were covered in dust full of old boxes and shirts that she hadn't worn in over a year. She tried to step on the tips of her toes to reach them, but her height impeded such ventures.
Her wand was in the living room at the moment and the idea of running down those flights of stairs to get it wasn't all too pleasing for the former Gryffindor, especially since she was feeling a bit under the weather.
All she wanted was to grab her blanket at the top of the shelf right there and head over to her bed to cuddle in the warmth of it. It was zebra-striped with fake fur that she had gotten from her parents during the Christmas of her fourth year. It was absolutely the most horrid thing Hermione ever saw, but the warmth and smell of home quickly made her appreciate it more.
Ever since then she'd use it to warm herself up, from the harsh air of the winter to the terrible symptoms of a fever- which she was so heavily plagued with at the moment.
The smell of home wasn't on it anymore, that she knew. It faded with time. The only thing that she could really smell on it was mint and musk.
She stood higher on her toes and grabbed the edge of the closet door to haul her body up so that she could skim her fingers against the furry cloth. Stepping her feet on the edge of her shoe cubby, she raised herself up some more and triumphantly grabbed a hold of the sheets, tugging it and unknowingly and surprisingly bringing down a big, soft plush of something else that wasn't only the blanket.
Groaning with pain and aches as she got down from her toes, she shook the dust off the blanket and coughed sharply. Squinting through the darkness, she located the plush object that had fallen and picked it up, turning in her closet to turn on the light.
As soon as she had done that, the sight in front of her quickly made her gasp out loud, clutching the plush item in her right hand.
A bear.
A teddy bear, of course.
She held on tightly to it with her fingers and loosened her grip when she knew she had stared at it long enough. The smiling bear looked up at her, arms opened wide as if it were asking for a hug. A hug that was long overdue. She held on tighter as she shut the lights off in the stuffy closet, walking out and back into her bedroom.
The cool air had gotten more frigid and as she padded her bare feet along the wooden floors, she wrapped the hideous zebra blanket around her body and held on tight to the bear as she slipped her way into the soft sheets of her bed.
The lumpy figure against her was smothered by her tight hold and she breathed in the scent of mint and musk as she thought about the first Muggle gift Draco had given her for Valentine's Day-
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The dust that accumulated on her desk from her not being there for one day made shivers travel down her spine. She had walked in with a red nose and a stuffy look on her face, hair practically thrown this way and that as she knew it looked wretched when she Floo'd out of her flat on her way to work. The top buttons on her robes weren't fastened together and the papers she had been carrying were haphazardly hanging out of the edge of her folders.
A mess was an understatement to how she felt today. The fever was slightly abated when she had woken up at around four in the morning. She knew that things over at the Department needed to be taken care of and when she got an owl from the Head of the Department that she was needed in for today, prospects of going back to sleep fell short.
She pulled out her chair, which made a sickening noise as it scraped against the cold floors. Alison had been sitting in her desk next to hers and looked up with astonishment at the sight of her- as if she didn't know who she was and why she was at Hermione Granger's desk out of all places.
"Oh, it's you. Goodness, gave me a fright." She smiled softly at her and leaned back in her seat. Her tight, green robes wrapped around her tall frame. "You weren't in yesterday. Alright?"
Hermione nodded and unwrapped the scarf around her neck, placing it carefully on the back of her seat. "Yes, much better now. Thank you for asking."
Alison nodded slightly and Hermione shifted under her inquisitive stare as she shuffled around with the messages that were in her inbox crate.
"Right, you got a meeting today then?"
Hermione shrugged and pulled out one message that had red markings on the edges of the paper.
Tearing it apart gently and sitting herself down at her desk she looked over the letter and placed it down when done, going to the next one.
"Kingsley came by your desk yesterday."
Hermione looked up from her reading and raised her eyebrows, "Oh?" Alison nodded. "What for, then? Is everything alright?"
The blonde in front of her shrugged up her shoulders and flung her head slightly to the side as her hair flew over her shoulders, illuminating her flowery, pale skin against the brightness of the lights around them.
"He just told me to let you know he had stopped by and wanted your immediate presence in his office. Seemed urgent, but..." She shrugged and leaned forward in her seat to look down at her paper work.
Hermione nodded and bit her lip as she thought about what was so urgent that it required her immediate attention from the Minister of Magic. Her nerves were tittering as she thought about the rogue, Anti-muggle groups that was similar to the case she had worked on two months prior, praying to Merlin it wasn't about that at all.
The thing with the unit of groups that formulated against the Ministry and Muggles after the Second Wizarding War and Voldemort's demise was that they were numerous. And with numbers came power. However cliché it sounded, Hermione believed it. It might not have been permanent power, but it was temporary enough.
She had to work with Death Eaters, Purebloods, Elitists, and even Squibs who rebelled against the injustice of their race by using Muggle technology- the last group, Hermione tried her hardest to help. Before she even got into the Department of Magical Law Enforcement she was able to eradicate some of the injustice in the laws placed against the Magical creatures when she had worked in that Department for well over a year.
Sure, she wanted to focus her works on the benefits of house elves, but the injustice that was placed on more than just the elves made her a good contestant to host a few charity functions for the less human, or less magical.
But these groups were like a bacteria- multiplying and spreading. The threat they posed though held no special consequence, but she knew it was always better to be prepared, rather than sorry.
The doors of the big office opened and she shot up her head to look as he walked in, gait persistent- strides long and direct. The look on his face told it all, though. It was a matter of importance and even though she hadn't spoken to him in so long, she was quick to open her mouth as she looked at him with a scrunched brow and a nose twitch.
"What's wrong?" She asked, her low voice cracked from her current illness. She cleared her throat and rubbed the bottom of her neck as she felt the soreness tingle the inside of her. Her skin was hot, but she knew it wasn't only because of the fever.
Maybe it was the way his hair wasn't gelled back today. The wild, grey brazen look in his eyes staring straight at her as he stopped in front of her desk. His breathing looked irregular, although she figured it would have looked normal to any other person passing by. But she knew it was only because something had happened, or something important needed to be discussed.
He breathed out a sigh and looked over to Alison, smiling weakly, before turning his sharp, calculating gaze to Hermione. "Mr. Gurleroy wants to speak with you, Granger."
She incredulously looked him over and sat back in her chair, "Really now?" He nodded curtly and stood straight as she noticed him clench and unclench his fists on either side of him. She watched as the rippling veins underneath his pale skin shifted as he moved his hands some more. The muscles tightening. "What for?"
He raised his right brow at her and frowned, "Well," he looked around and stopped his eyes at Alison who seemed to be completed invested in their little dialogue. "It would seem he has a case for you."
Before Hermione could speak, Alison quickly interrupted as she sat up higher in her wooden chair, "Another?" She looked between the two and folded her hands on the top of her desk. She blushed as she tightened her folded hands together, "Pleas don't have me misunderstood. I see that this is the Wizengamot Administration Services and we assist with cases on a daily basis, but..." She stopped and looked from Hermione and then to Draco as she smiled softly, "Why is it that Hermione seems to be getting most of the cases?"
"Not true at all, Ali-"
"You've had thirteen cases over the past month. And I? Only two." She looked over at her with a blank expression and continued to stare helplessly as she ran a finger through a strand of blonde hair.
Hermione frowned and patted her heated neck once more before setting her hands on her folders, "Well..." She looked down at the fourteenth case she was working on, almost done with it. "I just- I'm rather quick when it comes to my cases..."
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Alison asked with hurt expression on her delicate, pale face.
"Nothing! It means nothing." She felt her voice tighten and she winced at the pain the quick yelp caused on her vocal chords. Merlin, did she need some tea. "It's just...the reason for me having so many cases is that once I'm done with one- well..." She looked away from Alison's facial expression and stared at her dusty desk instead. "I get assigned one after the other, of course. So I finish quickly and get one right afterwards. The cases are really about first come, first serve."
Hermione knew she was telling a half-lie and that most of the time the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement felt the need to assign Hermione with the tougher cases. Only because she knew that she would invest more of her time on cases rather than on social events, which Harry and Ron still felt the need to tell her was not only morally wrong, but incomprehensible. Something about her priorities (which she felt was quite fine in her own opinion).
"Draco, why aren't I ever assigned cases then?"
Hermione watched as his shoulders slumped and he walked over to the left of Alison's desk. He sat on the edge and grabbed her folded hands from their tight grip.
In Hermione's opinion, she honestly thought the young blonde looked pathetic as she sat at her desk pouting, but the strong timbre of his voice brought her out of her hated thoughts. "You're working on a case right now, love. One of the hardest cases if I remember correctly, yeah?"
Alison blushed and bit her lip as she looked over at Hermione and nodded her head in her general area, "But why does she get to have almost all of the hardest cases?"
Hermione was about to speak up, but Draco looked over at her and quieted her with a penetrating stare that spoke more than a thousand words- it was yelling at her to keep her mouth shut and to stay out of the conversation. She wanted to harrumph and roll her eyes at him, daring him to tell her what to do. But as she looked over to the blonde girl holding his hands she kept her eyes down on her desk and looked over her messy notes once more, contemplating on leaving now to go see Mr. Gurleroy.
"You know that Hermione has been in this Department longer than you have- hence, she has more expertise."
The hair on the back of her neck rose up and she blushed while she picked up the last of her folders and made her way to stand up from her desk to leave. His eyes shot up from Alison's and over to hers, a questioning gaze on the precipice of his brow. "Where are you headed off to?"
"Mr. Gurleroy. You said he needed to see me."
He nodded his head and looked down at Alison once more, pausing with slight hesitance before he bent down and kissed the top of her porcelain head, smoothing down the straight locks of her blonde hair.
Hermione looked away quickly and made to leave, when his voice stopped her. "I'm coming with you, of course. He needed to talk with the both of us."
She internally groaned and nodded her head, waiting a couple more seconds as the couple bade their goodbyes and arranged quickly a lunch later in the day. Waiting for those ten seconds seemed to make it seem like ten minutes, ten hours- maybe even years. Either way, she didn't like the idea of having to have to wait as she listened to the coddled whispers from Alison and the deep, soothing tones as he whispered back in her ear placing soft kisses along the side of her face.
Hermione didn't see much of it, but she knew. Oh, how she knew...
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The Ministry Balls were always so extravagant and sometimes Hermione wondered how many galleons were invested into the whole affair. This year, however, it was held in the Atrium of the Ministry, the tall fountain decorated with shrills of lights and fluttering particles of magic snow that fell over the whole area and disappeared once it touched the tile floors of the room.
The tables on the side were filled with refreshments and the thought of drowning the aching pain in her throat with a cup of Butterbeer seemed to be a highly attractive idea.
She made her way between wizard folk in all kinds of attire and robes. A woman, she noticed, was dressed in a penguin-suit robe that was complimented adorably with a penguin hat that had the yellow-black beak and marbled eyes. She smirked as she nodded and passed the old lady and made her way over to the bowl of Butterbeer glistening under the headlights of the shimmering room.
She took a cup, scooped a good amount in and sipped gingerly as she fingered the lacy frills of her red robes. The wool belt was tightly wrapped around her waist and the length of the dress properly met at the ankles of her feet. The slight, sweetheart dip in the front provided a delicate view of the golden-charmed necklace that Ginny had given her on her birthday two months prior.
She cherished it only because unlike the other nonsensical jewelry that she received on holidays, this one had her name engraved on it with a snake around each letter that was charmed to slither through them on occasion.
"If I had a galleon for every time you wore red to a Ministry function, I'd be one rich bloke." Ronald's voice was beside her and she turned slowly, smiling up at him as she placed her cup of Butterbeer down.
"Ron, how are things?" She asked breathlessly as she wrapped both of her arms around him. He clasped his hands around her waist and patted her back affectionately.
She cleared her throat and released her hold on him, his arm still around her waist and his voice very close to her ears. "Fine, fine."
Hermione nodded and looked around at the wizards and witches as they passed by the small table Ron and her stood at. "How's Bridget?"
"Hm, fine. Lovely lady is actually here. At the loo to freshen up and do what you ladies always feel the need to do. Merlin, knows what..."
Hermione smiled up at her red-headed friend and noticed that he had gotten taller and more muscular. His hair was shaggier from the last time she saw him, which was a month ago at the Burrow for Sunday brunch. It wasn't so often that she did get to see him- what with him traveling around as much as Harry and going every so often to Ireland with Bridget to visit her family.
She was honestly happy for him and for the fact that he was able to move on after a year of her relationship with Malfoy. Of course, Ron had hostile feelings about it when they began. But when she looked back on the whole thing in retrospect she understood his pain. They were best friends and had dated for a year before Malfoy and her even engaged in the idea of dating one another.
"You know, Ronald. She's only doing this because-"
He waved his hand in the air and muttered out a "yeah, yeah" as he looked around the room some more, no doubt looking to see if Bridget was out of the loo yet. "To look beautiful for me and other nutter things that fills the head of women nowadays."
Hermione frowned at the interruption and turned her eyes back to the crowd as the music filled the Atrium. Folding her arms, she huffed out a breath of air and watched as the curly strand of hair flew away from the front of her face and then back down.
"Really, Ronald. Sometimes you can be so-"
-dense? Yes, you've told me. Or is it that my emotional range is the size of a teaspoon?" He lifted up a golden brow and smiled down at her. She felt her cheeks redden and she lifted her hand to smack his coated arm. "Oi! What was that for?"
"For having an emotional range the size of a...a Nargle!"
"Merlin, Hermione. The things you say to me." He feigned a hurt expression, but the smile remained on his face, bright and illuminating. Merlin, she really did miss having her best friend around like old times. He was such a joy and light to her life. His easy going smile and humorous attitude. Him and Harry both. Speaking of...
"Well, you'll find a way to heal." She smiled and looked down at her cup on the table behind her, picking it up and taking a small sip before speaking again. "By the way, Ronald. Where is Har-"
"Hello!"
She shrieked and felt a small portion of her drink fall on the white cloth of the table. Turning around to glare at the unexpected voice behind her she watched as Harry's smile grew wider into a solid grin. She rolled her eyes and looked around the table for a napkin to wipe off a bit of the drink that fell on her arms, muttering under her breath a quick "honestly".
Harry's chuckle bubbled around her and she looked from her damp arm to him and back, wiping the last of the sweet drink from her pores. "You are incorrigible sometimes. You and Ronald, both."
"Says the girl who constantly wears the color red-"
She turned around and threw the napkin on the table, turning red with embarrassment and trying her hardest not to smile at their childish antics and teasing. "Oh, shut it!"
Harry kept his smile on and stuffed his hands in his robe's pockets as he looked behind her and over to Ron, "Mate. Bridget was asking for you over by the entrance."
Ron tutted and moved from his place near Hermione, "Ah, finished with the loo, I'm guessing." Harry nodded and Hermione stood there and watched as Ronald excused himself from the two.
The music around them chimed on elegantly and the lights dimmed slightly throughout the whole Atrium as the glittered snow brightened in the center of the fountain, snowflakes powdering and white around the whole atmosphere of it.
She turned to look at Harry to ask him about Ginny, but saw him take his right hand out of his robe's pockets to hold out towards her. She glanced at it before looking up at him, the corners of his eyes crinkling with the most beautiful smile. He rose his brows up in an inquiring fashion and she giggled as she looked around the room before grabbing his rough hands. "And Ginny is where exactly?"
He pulled her closer to him and rested his other hand around her waist. She smelt a slight scent of musk and peppermint, but banished the thought of it as she laid her head down on his shoulder and felt his words leave his mouth, the vibrations rumbling against his chest. "She wanted to rest; big game tomorrow."
She raised her head up and frowned, "Oh, that's tomorrow?"
He nodded and scrunched his brows, "You are able to come, right?"
She nodded absentmindedly as she went through her head of the things that she had to do the next day. "Yes, I should. Don't worry. I'll make it."
He hummed and spun her around as the music crescendo lightly and melodically danced around them. "Bridget should be resting as well. But you know her. She's just here because..."
Hermione rolled her eyes and laughed as he twirled around her and grabbed her waist, moving them side to side as they continued to dance on. "Of course." She smirked as she saw Ronald and Bridget over by a thick column that supported the ceilings of the Ministry. Bridget's light blue dress illuminated from the bright lights of the fountain in the darkened corner where she stood. Ronald seemed to be hovering over her form and she looked vulnerable and quite enchanting to Hermione. "She's good for Ron."
"Hm. She is, isn't she?"
She nodded and nuzzled her head further into the corner of his neck, "Right."
"Hermione..."
"Yes, Harry?"
"What's this I hear about another "rogue" case? Working with gathering information for another hooligan group that's aligned themselves against the Ministry. Honestly, Hermion-"
"Harry", she lifted her head and looked firmly into his eyes. "It's nothing that I haven't worked with before. I'll be fine." She quieted down and looked around the room and caught sight of him, quickly swallowing down the pain in her throat as Alison walked in beside him, holding on to his green and black dress robes. "Besides I've got Draco working with me on this one."
Harry looked forlornly at her and the crease of doubt etched on the corners of his lips grew dimmer as the music chimed loudly. "Malfoy?" She nodded briskly and he held her waist tighter as they moved across the floor. "I..."
"What now, Harry?" She scorned.
"I don't think that's advisable."
She raised her brow and bit the inside of her cheek, "Oh? And why's that?"
"Hermione, you know why."
"Yes, but I highly doubt that our past relationship will interfere with our work. This case is both important to us and I am perfectly able to work under straining conditions."
His eyes looked over her face and he sighed, bringing her closer to him and wrapping her in a tight hug. "If you find yourself incapable of dealing with the whole thing, Hermione, please...just-"
She nodded and brought her mouth to his ears, whispering softly. "Harry", she looked over to where he stood with Alison, bringing to her lips a cup of some beverage that Hermione wasn't too sure of. Alison's smile as she looked up at him made the threads that held the pieces of Hermione's heart together stretch tight in pain. Her breath hitched as he looked back down at Alison, brushing a strand of hair away from her eyes and placing his lips on hers. Hermione looked away and stared at the floor. It wasn't until then that she realized that they had stopped dancing and that she still had her arms wrapped tightly around Harry, mouth still close to his ear.
"Hermione? What is it? Everything alright?"
She breathed out heavily and held on tighter to him, feeling the familiar warmth of her best friend as corners of her eyes watered slightly. "Yes," she croaked out, clearing her throat to speak again. "Everything will be fine."
July 2000
"Not at all, Granger. The fact of the matter is that you went to the abandoned house on your own without protection. Never mind that I was supposed to assist you, but going alone was just plain foolish of you."
She growled at him menacingly as they continued to walk further down the darkened alley. The wet cobblestone underneath her feet made her cringe. She had lost her shoes back at the house. She didn't want to make a sound while she had been there snooping around the darkened room so taking off her shoes seemed to be best way to go.
But now she dreaded the fact that she left the pair back at the abandoned house and she knew that if she even thought of asking Malfoy to let her go back that he would hex her to unconsciousness and carry her back to the Ministry himself.
"You do know that there were reportedly no signs of any wizards at the home! Also, Malfoy. It wouldn't kill you if you would show up a little more on time at the Apparition points when we have these little rendezvouses! I waited fifteen minutes for you to show up by the tree, but you didn't! So of course I went in on my own."
"Right and sending your Patronus to let me know this wouldn't have killed you. I had to bloody wait fifteen minutes myself by that same tree, thinking you were wrecking havoc somewhere else and being fashionably late- oh wait, what am I saying? You would never be fashionably late anywhere." He paused and smirked at her as they continued walking, "Honestly, Granger. Your sense of style doesn't even deserve to be referenced as something "fashionable". Who wears bloody sweatpants nowadays?"
She frowned and continued walking on. They were so close, so very close to the Apparition point. All she knew was that she needed to get away from him. His taunting and jeering. "Right, Malfoy. Because looks are how you get yourself anywhere in life. Of course."
"Don't use that foolishness on me, Granger. It won't work." He had caught up to her now, but she was still walking faster, trying to get away. He got a hold of her jumper's sleeve and halted her footsteps.
Jerking back from the sudden tug she yelped and turned around to look at him with a fierce stare, "Let. Me. Go."
"Look, Granger. You can't bloody well feel the need to get away from me. We're partners on this case." She wrestled her arms to try and get out of his hold, but it proved futile.
"What do you want, then? For me to be happy that I have to work with a git like you?"
He snarled at her and brought his face closer to hers, staring her down with his penetrating grey eyes and shooting daggers. "Don't think for one moment, Granger, that I fancy spending this much time with you either. But I won't go down as the bloke who couldn't complete a case because of a know-it-all bint!" She felt the harsh breath of his words smack her damp cheek and she looked over his pale, dirtied face before turning to look away.
"Let go, Malfoy." She whispered.
It took a few seconds before she felt the tight grip in her arms relax and finally let go. Breathing to regulate and make sense of things, she looked back at him and nodded. "Fine, I understand. And we do need to cooperate, I suppose. In order for this to work."
He scoffed and folded his arms across his tattered, dirtied robes. "You figure?"
"I know." She stated firmly. Looking at his blond hair glare menacingly under the moon's light, she brought her attention back to his face and spoke again. "Next time I'll send my Patronus."
"Brilliant."
She stood still and waited as the moon's light dimmed on his bright, blond hair- making it easier for her to look at the dirt and soot saturated in each strand.
"Right then." She turned around and began to walk away, further down the alleyway with him at her side, quiet. They finally reached the Apparition point and she was getting ready to grab her wand to Apparate out of there and to the Ministry before he grabbed her by the arm once again, but more gentle than the last time.
"I suggest we go get something to eat before we head back to the Ministry to look over the paper work."
She cocked her head to the side and sighed, "They have food at the Ministry, Malfoy. And I'd rather not spend my galleons on something I could get for free over there..."
He held her arm tighter and she shrieked back, trying to release her arm from his hands for the second time that night. "Right. I'm bloody hungry, Granger. The Ministry food taste like crap. I'll pay for you. We're going. I at least want to satisfy my belly before we dig into miles of paperwork just to hear you yap on about your theories and ideas. So we're going out to eat."
She scowled at him and drew her wand to his chin, "Let me go, you complete-"
And with a smirk, she felt a tight tug in her navel and heard a loud pop. Traveling through time and space and apparating to Merlin knows where to eat...out.
Alright then. Thank you so much for reading. I've got this planned out, by the way. So it shall be updated every one to two days. And keep in mind. It is five-chapters long. Much love.