Lily: Oh jeez. I'm writing this chapter a long time after I wrote the first chapter. I wonder if the style changed. It probably did, I write according to my mood…or the music I'm listening to…or the tv show I'm currently obsessed with…or a really great book I recently read. I'm like a chameleon, I write, talk, and act, like things I've heard or seen recently. Like now, I have a slight twangy Texas accent since…lots of people where I am talk that way.

Um, Idunno if I forgot to mention or sthg, but this is an AU. Ya…just…putting it out there. Anyway, this is boring, onto the chapter!


Midnight Love Affair: Determination


Two weeks after being appointed as Draco Malfoy's new secretary, Hermione Granger's life was moving somewhat like a high speed train. Her desk, where she began the day, had become a walled in fort built out of stacks of unfiled, unprocessed, and undelivered reports. Her next stop was usually Draco's office to check with him about the schedule. Then it was off at full speed to file and deliver the reports that were processed. She then spent countless hours condensing and processing more reports that came in.

"Why is he being so hard on you?" her friend Ginny Weasley asked her, as Hermione race walked beside her on the way to the elevator. Hermione huffed and hoisted the stack of reports in her arms to get a better hold on them,

"he's just testing me," she panted and waited for Ginny to press the up button "all his other secretaries were these ridiculously beautiful women who got by on their looks but I'm…me…so I guess I have to prove I can make up for my lack of looks with my work ethic"

Ginny snorted,

"Hermione, hate to break it to you but you're really pretty. If you'd just, let down your hair and maybe wear some makeup" Hermione shook her head

"You know why I can't do that Gin. Ah, the elevator's here"

The two women got into the elevator and waited as a few more people shuffled on after them.

"Anyway, I think it's totally over the limit how he's using you like this. Is it even legal? I mean, I'm his brother's secretary and I don't have to do half the work you do" Ginny said. Hermione sighed, she didn't need Ginny to tell her how different their workloads and bosses were; she'd worked under Ginny's boss before she became Draco's secretary and the two were worlds apart.

Aurelius Malfoy was the elder of the Malfoy sons and the exact opposite of his brother. Kind, considerate, always polite; he was a Director in the company like Draco but, unlike his brother, he wasn't involved in endless, potentially destructive scandals. He had had the same secretary for many years and had only replaced her with Ginny when the other woman had had to go on maternity leave. He was like the perfect boss and always treated his underlings with respect and kindness.

The elevator pinged and Hermione looked up to see that they were at her floor,

"I'll see you later Gin, I've to hand in these reports before lunchtime" she called, Ginny just rolled her eyes,

"you sure you'll get off early enough for that?" she called sarcastically. Hermione smiled and shrugged,

"busy, busy, busy" she said, and walked off to find the supervisor she needed to turn her reports in to.


When the reports were turned in and she was waiting outside for a driver to come by and pick her up so she could run some errands, Hermione reflected on Ginny's words. Of course, what the other woman said was completely true; Draco Malfoy's treatment of her was out of line. From the minute they had met, the man had rejected her

Two weeks ago

"Secretary?" Draco looked at Neville who nodded nervously

"y-yes, she's the new girl HR sent over to replace Maya" he said, twisting his hands together. Hermione nodded and extended a hand

"I look forward to working with you sir."

Draco frowned and picked up a manila folder on his desk,

"Hermione Granger, you've been working for us for…four years? You have no complaints, a high level of efficiency, easy to get along with, very dedicated…" he flipped the file closed and looked her over again,

"all very good qualities, top notch in fact"

"ah, thank y--" Hermione began to say

"Longbottom, take her away" Draco said, interrupting her. He tossed the file onto the desk and looked away, completely disinterested.

"Wh-what!?" Neville said, Hermione reared back as if struck,

"excuse me sir?" she said. Draco sighed, looking bored,

"take her away and bring me someone more attractive, someone with more…sex appeal" he said. Hermione could feel herself flushing, turning red

"B-but sir" Neville began to say but was cut off by Hermione

"Excuse me sir" she said, working to keep a smile on her face "I know I'm not the most attractive of women but that should not interfere with my work"

Draco smirked,

"of course not, I can see from your credentials that you're a very efficient and hard worker" he said,

"then why…"

"Just think of this as my personal preference, just a …quirk of mine."

'Quirk my arse' Hermione thought, but said

"Well sir, I don't believe that looks say everything about a person and I would like for you to give me a chance to work as your secretary before you judge me."

Draco's smirk turned into a scowl,

"I also prefer secretaries who don't give their bosses orders" he said,

"It wasn't an order sir, merely a suggestion" Hermione replied, still smiling. Draco appeared to think,

"Very well, I'll give you a chance. But I'll let you know right now that it's going to be a lot of work. I don't tolerate mistakes, whining, or idiocy in general. If you have any questions, don't bother me with them, you can look up older references for help. I keep very late hours and I expect you to do the same, no complaints." He got up from his desk and went over to a towering pile of reports sitting on a filing cabinet in the corner.

"These" he said, dropping the stack onto his desk "need to be in to me by tomorrow. First thing in the morning."

Hermione looked a the huge pile and then back at her new boss who was smirking at her,

"still think you can do this job?" he said. Hermione only smiled brighter and took the stack into her arms,

"they'll be waiting for you when you get here sir" she said and strolled out

End Flashback

And so she had existed as part secretary, part Draco Malfoy's personal errand girl. Not only did she take care of office related things but it seemed it was also part of her job to go out and buy all sorts of charms and trinkets for Draco's many (many) women. Hermione heaved a deep sigh, feeling a, now familiar, exhaustion settle deep in her bones.

"Miss Granger?"

Hermione looked up to see that the car had arrived and the driver was waiting with the door open for her. Shaking herself, she smiled at him and got into the car

"where to today?" he asked when she had settled herself

"Harrods again Roger" she replied, and they were off.


By the time she returned from her errands, it was already near closing time. The present she had had to buy was for a woman Draco was meeting later on that very same night. Hermione trudged back into the office and was sitting at her desk when the door to Draco's office opened and he walked out with a woman on his arm. Hermione spared them a fleeting glance and frowned to herself, already used to her boss's womanizing ways but not approving of it.

"Are you alright?"

. Hermione shot a furtive glance at the couple upon hearing Draco's murmured words.

'What the?' she thought, taking in the woman's appearance.

To say she was pale was an understatement. With skin that was paper white and eyes that looked up at Draco with a feverish glint to them, she looked as if she was still in the throes of a particularly bad cold. Her grip on Draco's arm wasn't the affectionate hold of a satisfied lover, Hermione now noticed, but the desperate grasp of a person who could not stand on their own. Shocked, Hermione watched as Draco guided the woman to the elevator where they entered and disappeared, presumably to go to her car.

"What in the world? All they did was have sex! Why does she look like she's been sick for a week?" Hermione muttered to herself.

"Come to think of it, all the women he has in and out of there look like that when they're…done" she sat up in her chair, suddenly, several things began to come together in her mind.

"Why do all those women look that way when they leave him? They all look perfectly fine when they go in" she said, deep in thought. Then something came to her and she jumped up from her seat

"what if…what if he uses drugs on them!? What if he's feeding them illegal things that make them like that!?" She exclaimed.

"Wouldn't that be bad then? If he gets caught then wouldn't it affect the whole company?" wild images raced through her mind. She saw people's shock and horror if the news ever came out. It'd be the biggest scandal in company history. They'd probably lose their investors and clients, the company would have to undergo downsizing, and then eventually they'd go bankrupt!

"No, no, I can't be sure that's it…" she said, trying to banish all the things she'd just thought.

"Besides…it's not like he could really do something like that…is it?" Suddenly an image of Draco popped into her mind, the devilish aura he wore like a second skin, the rakish habits, his mysterious late night goings on…

"Oh lord! Who am I kidding!? I don't know if he's capable of that! He could very well be! And if he is, then I could be out of a job, so many people could be out of jobs! My future is at stake here! I have to find out!" she declared.

"Find out what?" a voice behind her asked, sounding amused. She spun and gasped when she saw her boss lounging against her desk, smirking at her.

"Um…I have to find out…where…where I should leave the gift I bought for your date tonight if you weren't going to be back before I left for the night" she said, smiling and hoping he hadn't heard her rant.

Draco stood and walked to his office,

"I'll be leaving in a little bit but you can leave the present in my office as I'll be returning here later on tonight to continue my…business with my date. After you've finished up, you're free to go" he said, and shut the door.

'He'll bring her back here tonight then.' Hermione thought to herself,

'Well…then tonight's the night. I'll find out what it is he really does in that office!'


Lily: Ok so here it is, the second chapter. Nothing really happens, just a stroke of realization on Hermione's part. A whole mess of stuff happens in the next chapter so I hope y'all look forward to that. I'm tired to death of sitting on my bum right now so I think I'll take a five minute walk around my apartment and then sit back down and maybe write the third chapter. I'm thinking of having a few chapters ready to go before I put this one up…that way I don't need to worry about anything during these first few hectic months of school…I'll just have a whole mess of chapters sitting at the ready. I already have the next chapter all done! Um, I'd like to thank you lovely people who reviewed the first chapter, you're all really lovely! Anyway, tell me what you think!

note, Harrods is like the British Bloomindales I think...or the...Dillards or something. It's one of those Department stores. Yeah...

Next Chapter: The deal. The discovery. The dilemma