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Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter franchise, nor do I make any sort of money by writing these things.

Beta'ed by... silly ol' me.

(Hermione pov)

Day 7: The Way of a Lioness

"You look..."

"Good."

"No... you look..."

"You do. It's..."

"Damn."

I twirled around and smiled wider, loving the way Blaise practically drooled and Ginny admired the dress. Ginny motioned for me to turn again, which I did, and Blaise coughed into his hand.

"Well, er... we're going to be late." Blaise said, walking out the door and waiting outside.

"Don't mind him." Ginny laughed, walking over to me and straighting the white lab coat over the dress. "He just can't stop staring at your breasts, thinks you're incredibly attractive, and won't admit it to himself."

"I heard that!"

I laughed until Ginny handed me a bright red box and smirked.

"No. No, Ginny, I said I won't."

"Put them on."

"But I'll never be able to walk in these! I'm a doctor! I run around all day!"

"Are you a witch or not? They're padded, Hermione. Put. Them. On."

"But I-" I started, shushing myself at her glare. "Fine."

I took the very high heels out of the box and slipped them on, wobbling a bit before I was used to my higher position. Ginny smiled and clapped her hands, proclaiming that Draco was in for it when he saw me today. She stuck two silver earrings in my ears and the matching necklace around my neck, handing me deep red lipstick when she was finished. I looked at myself in the mirror and smirked, suddenly looking forward to today.

"Thank you, Ginny. I owe you one." I hugged her.

"No, Blaise owes me one. Remember, in exchange for the makeover, I can call him in whenever I want to him babysit." Ginny said firmly, wagging her finger at me. "I can't wait! A whole night without James; just me and Harry! Don't get me wrong, I love my little boy, but I haven't had sex in three months. Three. Months."

"Ginny!" I covered my ears with my hands. "Need to know, only!"

"What? I have needs and now you know." She laughed as she let herself out of my flat.

I shook my head and chuckled at her 'joke'. After that day in the hospital, Blaise and I went to her home to find Harry sick with the flu and Ginny going absolutely mad taking care of them both. Ginny refused to call her mother, saying she was a good wife and mother and could take care of everything by herself. So when I offered mine and Blaise's assistance for the next few days in exchange for a makeover, she was hesitant. After offering Blaise's services for a night, she happily agreed and let us help. James had taken a liking to Blaise and I was taking care of Harry while Ginny cleaned, cooked, and did the things Harry couldn't do. Now, all Blaise had to do was babysit for a night or two and everything was even.

"Hermione... I can't be late," Blaise came back in, rubbing the back of his neck. "I... er... have a surgery this morning."

"Alright," I smiled, tucking a few strands of now soft hair behind my ears. I then bent down to get my purse and extra pair of shoes.

"Pro diligo of merlin," Blaise rattled off in Latin, groaning as he threw my coat around me and ushered me out of my flat.

"What was that for?" I asked confusedly, getting my arms through the jacket of the coat. I lived within walking distance of the hospital, so Blaise usually walked with me every morning.

"Do us all a favor and don't bend over," Blaise shook his head and stuffed his hands in his pockets, and started to mumble. "Geez. Gotta show everybody everything nowadays."

"I head that," I patted his head. "And you know why I'm doing this. Besides... it could make me feel better."

"You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that you fancied Draco." He smirked.

"I do not! Draco Malfoy is a vile little cockroach who is too full of himself and has no regard for other people's personal space." I scoffed.

"But you like him."

"No, I don't!"

"Yes, you do! See! You're blushing!"

"I am not! I don't like Malfoy and that's that!"

"Liar!" Blaise laughed. "You want to hug him, and kiss him, and-"

I silenced him with a hard punch in his arm.

"Bloody hell," He groaned, rubbing the sore spot. "Don't do that again."

"What are you going to do?" I challenged him. "I'm wearing heels. I could kill you six different ways with these bloody things."

He narrowed his eyes and made a sighing sound in the back of his throat. "I hate you."

"Liar," I smiled at him. "Now, quit your whining and pretend to be a mature healer."

"I am mature." Blaise stuck his tongue out, widening his eyes when he realized it wasn't very mature of him. "Damn it... I'll see you at lunch."

He raced the rest of the way to the hospital, his coat billowing behind him in the exact same way Snape's did when he would enter potions class.

Maybe it's a Slytherin thing.

When I walked onto the sidewalk of the hospital, I immediately caught the eye of several people sitting outside. I had always been a very humble and modest person; I suddenly felt like a stripper in my tight dress. I wanted to wrap my coat around myself and run home to change, but kept walking, knowing I had a reputation of confidence at this hospital to maintain.

"G-Good morning, Dr. Granger." One of the male nurses stuttered as I walked through the doors.

"Good morning, Michael." I smiled, waving as I went toward the stairs in the middle of the lobby. "Have you seen my interns?"

"Break room," He said, staring at me- or my body.

"Thank you." I nodded, walking up the stairs. I snickered to myself as I walked down the halls, several men staring and several women gasping in my wake. Now, I just needed to get things started for the day. Then I could find Draco and work my magic.

Literally.

"Good morning, Kayla." I said as I reached the nurse's station, putting my hands on the desk, waiting for her to look up. Kayla Moore was probably my best female friend, besides Ginny, the Patil Twins, and Luna. "Anything new on the Willis case?"

"Lori is stable, but Layna is still complaining of back pain." She said, her face down as she looked at a chart. "Do you think we should order a pain potion for-"

She stopped her sentence dead in its tracks when she looked up and saw me. Her eyes roamed up and down my body, before she leaned back and smirked at me. "Taking it to a new level, I see. This wouldn't have anything to do with your crush on Dr. Malfoy, would it?"

"One, yes, I am. And two, I do not have anything even slightly resembling a crush towards Dr. Malfoy." I scoffed, smiling at her. "Do I look okay?"

"If I were I guy..." She faded off, scratching her head, smiling. "I would tap that."

"Kayla!" I laughed. "Are all Americans as blunt as you?"

"Only the fun ones." She winked. Unknown to me, Kayla was in my year in Hogwarts, in Hufflepuff house. I recognized her as one of the girls who tended to the injuries during the Battle of Hogwarts, but other than that, I never saw her. Kayla stood up and handed me the Willis chart. "You probably need to check on them, but... there's something rather strange that you need to see."

I nodded as I followed her down the hall to the break room, where my interns were supposed to be. I could hear voices and the shuffling of feet as we neared. I smiled when I saw the sight before me.

My interns sat around a white board, talking about one of the cases I had just gotten yesterday; I had gone home before I had gotten a chance to look over the case. They wrote things on the board every so often, arguing over something.

"She's not pregnant!" Calderney said, matter-of-factly.

"Well, there's an abdominal mass that the ultrasound identified! We just have to test her and be done with it!" Smithers said.

"Does pregnancy justify the fact that she has been having cramps for weeks, unable to eat any solid foods, and that she can't breathe?" One of the girls asked.

"No... but-"

"Not to mention the fact that she's sweating profusely and she has no signs of pregnancy other than sickness!" She said again.

"Maybe it's a tumor," The shy girl, Amy Craver, said as she played with her thumbs.

"That's just-"

"No wait," Smithers said. "That's actually a good idea. Go on, Amy."

My prescence was still unknown to all of them, so I gladly stood and watched. Craver blushed at Smithers and tucked some of her hair behind her ears.

"Well..." She stammered. "The mass is hard and you can feel part of it through the skin, so it's definitely not a fetus. It is also pressing down onto her stomac, causing her it to hurt and making it harder to breathe. It would explain why she is having digestive problems and aches."

"Have you ordered tests?" I asked, taking this moment to walk in. All of the interns jumped and looked at me with what could only be fear- except for Liam, whose eyes roamed over my body, hoping he was unnoticed. I snapped, making his eyes meet mine. "Eyes up here. Have you run tests, Craver?"

He slinked back, embarrassed. Smithers then stood up and started to stammer out an explanation. "Dr. Granger! W-We were just... uh... I mean- it's not-"

"Honestly Smithers, sit down." I waved my hands at him, looking back to Amy. "Craver, did you run any tests to prove your theory?"

Her mouth opened and closed several times, revealing she had no idea how to speak in front of others, and directly to someone.

"I'm not going to ask again."

"No!" She said quickly, standing up and nervously picking at her fingernails. "I mean... I just thought about it this morning... it's probably not even what's wrong with her..."

"Confidence is key, Craver." I stopped her, giving her one of my rare smiles. "But I like your idea. Smithers, I want you and Craver to get another blood sample from this woman and take it to Dr. Malfoy to test; he is much faster then Dr. Renin. Also, prep her for another sonogram. When you're done, come get me and we'll get to fixing her." I said, almost laughing at their shocked expressions. "Well, we haven't got all day! Go on!"

I shook my head and chuckled as they ran out of the room. I turned back to the other interns, wondering what to do with them.

"Okay..." I wondered, pointing to Liam. "Calderney, you'll be with Dr. Zabini today. Get to it." He walked out of the room, making sure to stare at my ass as he went. I would remember to tell Blaise about it later... "Smith, Adams, you'll be with me today. Follow."

They nodded and trailed after me as I walked out into the hall, grabbing a few charts.

"I have a few psych visits to make today, so I need you to check on some patients. The one of the seperated twins is complaining of back pain. Smith, ask her how badly it hurts. If it's too much, I will be by shortly to increase her pain potions. If it's bearble, I will be by at the end of my rounds. Adams, there is woman who was admitted a few days ago for a broken leg; she will walk out into the nurses station and cause trouble if she doesn't get some sort of fruit at exactly one o'clock, so I need you to give it to her." I told them quickly, listening to the way my heels clicked across the floor, alerting everyone to my presence.

Might as well call them hells instead of heels...

I did a quick silencing spell on my shoes before taking a deep breath and walking up the stairs to the fourth floor. I quickly did the spell to unlock the door to the Janus Thickey Ward- it was it's usual dreay place, like most of its inhabitants. All of St. Mungo's permanent residents resided here, which included Broderick Bode, Gilderoy Lockhart, and the people I was here to see.

"Who are you?" I heard Lockhart call out in his usual happy-go-luck voice from down the hall. "Do I like oranges? I don't know... Will you bring me an orange? Oh, and one of those weird paper things that you wipe your face with, too! I think oranges are messy... and green..."

I shook my head and walked past his room, opening the door after his. Inside, a woman smiled at the man sitting across from her, handing him candy wrappers.

"Neville," I said quietly, watching as he looked over to me.

"Hermione!" He said happily, walking over to me and wrapping me in a hug. "I didn't think you'd come."

"She's your mom," I smiled. "Of course I'll spend time with you guys."

He nodded and brought me over to his mother's bed, talking rather loudly to her. "Mum, do you remember Hermione?"

"Hi, Alice." I smiled warmly at her.

"Sarah!" She exclaimed, patting a spot on the bed beside her. Once I sat down, she took my hands in hers. "I've missed you! How are your siblings?"

I smiled. She thought I was Sarah, her niece- even though she didn't have a sister- and that I lived just down the street with my 5 brothers and sisters. I decided to play along a long time ago; it saved a lot of time.

"They're fine," I smiled. "How are you today?"

"Meh," She shrugged, taking more chewing gum out of the bag beside her bed. Then, she started to breathe heavily. "Oh, I... No... there's- agh..."

She started to panic, but I knew I had to step away and let her go through this. One of her pieces of chewing gum had probably started coming unwrapped in the bag, making her hyperventilate.

"Here," She took a piece of gum out of the bag and threw across the bed, right in front of Neville. "I don't- I- do something with it- I can't..."

She put the bag down and leaned back in bed, bringing the covers over her shoulders and rolling onto her side, away from us.

"I think she's done for the day." Neville sighed, taking the piece of gum and throwing it in the trash."I'll walk you out?"

"Sure," I nodded. "Goodbye, Alice."

"Bye, Mum." Neville smiled fakely, patting her foot before leading me out of the room. He glanced quickly into his father's room to make sure he was still sleeping, before opening the door and walking with me down the stairs.

"You alright?"

"Yeah," Neville waved me off, putting on his jacket. "Still hoping for some kind of miracle.. but I'm fine with just being their friend."

"I'm glad," I smiled, waving as he turned for the stairs.

"Oh, wait, I almost forgot." Neville said, running back over to me and handing me a small box. "I passed Malfoy on the way in here and he asked me to give you this."

I groaned, taking the box from him. "Thanks, Nev. See you next week?"

"Next week." He agreed and we parted ways.

I practically ran to the break room, locking the door the tossing the little box back and forth between my hands. Finally, I took the lid off. Inside was a small, handwritten note, along with a piece of candy. I ran my fingers over the perfect scrawl before reading the note.

Oh, Lioness... your attempts at distracting me are so very amusing. I saw what you were wearing this morning, by the way! Trying to make a fashion statement, I see? I must say, you looked very... intriguing. Maybe this bet will be good for you- give your self confidence a much needed boost. Oh, and here's a peppermint. Save it. This way, you'll taste like mint the night I win this bet.

- the Slytherin Sex God
(is that what the girls called me in school? If so, I-

I balled up the note and threw it against the wall before I could finish reading. "Ugh!" I screamed in frustration. "That cocky bastard!"

"Be quiet-"

"Incarcerous!" I shouted, whirling around and aiming my wand where the sound came from. A blue burst of light shot out of my wand and latched onto the figure sitting on the chair, binding them with ropes. I quickly turned on the light and narrowed my eyes.

"What the bloody hell are you doing in here?" I shouted at Blaise as he struggled to get free of the ropes.

"I should ask you the same thing!" He snapped back. "Bt I won't, since you have obviously gone completely insane!"

"It was a reflex." I waved my wand and the roped loosened enough for him to step out of them. "Why were you hiding in here?"

"Damn war reflexes," He muttered, standing up and stepping out of the ropes. "I was trying to sleep. I sent lover boy to do a few diagnostic spells; merlin, that kid is a piece of work! Did you know that he actually asked me what I thought about your breasts? Disgusting!"

"You think my breasts are disgusting?" I raised an eyebrow at him.

"No! That's not what I-"

"Then Calderney is disgusting for looking at my breasts?"

"Yes! No! I mean-"

"Then, my breasts are so hideous that any man who looks at them is disgusting?"

"I-I don't know-" He stuttered, throwing his hands up and walking out of the room. "I can never win with you!" He called as he walked down the hall. "You know what I meant!"

"You never answered me! How could I know!" I smiled as he turned the corner with a groan.

I snickered and picked up the candy, all while thrusting the note inside my pocket and trying to get out of the closet without being noticed more. Much to my distain, one person saw me.

"I thought you were above sneaking around your own hospital, lioness," Draco purred from behind me. I turned and came face to face with him and his massive ego.

"I thought you were above following a co-worker, ferret," I replied, one hand on my hip.

"Now, now, don't be like that," He wagged his finger at me, holding up a vile in his hand. "I am only just delivering a potion to a patient. I just so happened to have come across you and my supposed best mate in a closet together."

"Don't play innocent," I rolled my eyes, walking away, leaving him to run after me to catch up. "I happen to know all too well that you've been watching me for days."

"So, now you're checking up on me?"

I stopped dead in my tracks, turning to face him. "No! Why- I didn't- I don't care what you do!"

"Oh, but it looks as if you do!" He laughed.

"I swear, if you don't shut your bloody mouth, we are going to have a repeat of third year!" I yelled, shutting him up immediately.

"I let you do that!"

"Whatever! Just because you were Mr. Bigshot and got punched by a girl, doesn't mean you have to lie about it! Come on, Draco, we're adults! You're better than that!" I smirked at him.

"You-" He started, but was interrupted by a hand tapping shoulder.

One of my interns stood there, looking at me. "Er... Dr. Green wants to talk to all of the doctors, so..."

"Right," Draco nodded, grabbing my hand and leading me away. "Come along, sweetheart."

"Stop it!" I jerked my hand back, but nonetheless followed him towards Dr. Green's office. "Stupid snake."

"Deluded lion." He retorted.

"I'll have you know-"

"Draco! Hermione! There you are; I've been looking all over for you!" We both turned to see all of the doctors gathered inside the conference room, looking at us expectantly, with Dr. Green in the front. "Come, sit! We have much to discuss!"

"I thought we were going to your office." I mumbled.

"There's too many of us to fit in there," Blaise smiled from across the room.

Dr. Green, a petite, dark-skinned woman with long, red hair smiled at all of us as she stood up and wiped her hands on her skirt. There were probably 25 doctors in the room, so she had to speak considerably loud.

"As you all know, it's time for the annual employee appreciation party!" She calpped, making us all groan. "What? You guys don't like parties?"

"We don't like hospital parties," The head of the psychology department said. "All we do is come to work, eat sandwiches, drink cider, and get some kind of gift bag full of things we'll never use. Last year, we got 2 containers of peach shampoo, a candle, and a book about how to make muggle pretzels, of all things."

"I actually use that book!" Someone said.

"Yes, well, it's still boring." He replied.

"That's because it's never been planned by me before!" Dr. Green said. "This year, in an effort to make you guys happy, the hospital is bringing in a few doctors in our places, granting us a night off, and giving us a small budget to plan whatever sort of party you would prefer, but it has to be the 20th of this month. I'm in charge, so any ideas? Places?"

"Bar." Blaise said, and we all heartily agreed. I wasn't a big drinker, but I enjoyed butterbeer. "If we're going to have a bloody party, we may as well do it right. Not meaning to set a bad example here, but I plan on drinking at this thing. If we're going to have people covering for us for a night, we might as well."

"Here here!" Draco cheered.

"Are you sure? A bar isn't very classy-" She started, stopping when we all started to argue with her about it. "Okay, okay! Fine. We'll have it at a bar. This one little bar opened about a few weeks ago and I hear it's superb. I can get food arranged, some entertainment... yes... I can see it now!" She clapped again. I wondered why she kept doing that. "Okay! Once I get everything straightened out, you'll all recieve information on your desks. Thank you!"

Every year, we had two employee appreciation parties. One for the doctors and residents, and one for the nurses and interns. I would have been fine with having one in the middle of the day, but the interns requested a seperate one, saying they felt awkward around their bosses. I felt the same way when I was an intern, so I couldn't really argue.

Although, this was starting to worry me. Our usual employee parties were dull- we only attended because it was frowned upon if we weren't there- and uninteresting; we hated them every year. But this was going to be at a bar- with alcohol. A lot of alcohol. I had only been completely drunk three times; each time, I had woken up with a massive headache and no recollection of the night before. Ginny was the only person who had known what I had done- or what I had done to someone- and swore she would never tell me, lest I die of embarrassment. Personally, that was fine by me.

"Excited, lioness?" A slender, careful hand creeped down my shoulder and rested at the small of my back, making me gasp at the sudden sensation. The nerves in my skin jumped and buzzed at his touch, making me blissfully aware of his warm breath on my neck, his minstrations on my back, and his voice floating through my ear.

I quickly shook it off, telling myself it was natural to feel attracted to him; I was a woman with hormones coursing through my body. Of course I would jump at the touch of a man, no matter to whom the hand was attatched. The fact that this was Malfoy meant nothing, right?

Merlin, I hope so.

"I don't have time to be excited; I have work to do, Malfoy. Of course, you wouldn't know anything about hard work, being a spoiled, big-headed git and all." I snapped at him, itching to stop the reaction he was causing inside my body.

"Ouch, love," He said dramatically, throwing his hands on his chest. "How am I ever going to get over your feigned hatred for me? Why, I might just go find a deserted room to go spill my tears in."

"I assure you, my hatred for you is very real," I put my hands on my hips. "And unlike you, I do not get excited about something as frivolous as drinking with colleagues. I have more important things to focus on."

"Well I'm excited, ducky," Blaise came over to me and put his arm around my shoulders.

"I told you never to call me that!" I spat sharply at him, to which he put his hands up in defeat.

"Why? Why can't he call you that?" Draco asked excitedly.

"Blaise, don't you dare-"

"When we were still training to be docotrs, we had a party with all of our classmates-" He started, before I tackled him, reaching my hands up to cover his mouth. He just barely kept me at bay and tried to keep talking. "-and Hermione had never had firewhiskey before- ow, woman!- so I gave her a dozen shots of it."

"BLAISE!" I tried.

"Quiet, ducky! You're ruining the story!" He smirked at me, turning back to Draco, who was obviously enjoying this. I kept on hitting Blaise. "Hermione drank it all and within a few minutes, she was completely pished! Took a while for her to drink, but it happened! And one of our friends, Angela, was sent- stop hitting me, 'mione!- a rubber bath duck from her parents, and Hermione started-"

I didn't want it to come to it, but I had to do it. With one swift knee to his groin, Blaise was on the floor, clutching at his most-likely bruised genitals and groaning in pain.

"Damn," Draco winced, covering his own crotch slightly. "Don't you know to never do that, lioness? Merlin, that must have really hurt. Blaise?"

He groaned.

"He was saying inappropriate things and would not stop. I gave him plenty of warning." I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Still! Very uncalled for." He shook his finger at me, making a tsk sound. "Now, what is this about you and a rubber duck?"

"Like I'd ever tell you," I sneered at him, patting Blaise on the head and walking out of the room, suddenly aware of his eyes on my body.

"Oh, one day you will," Draco purred at me in that sickeningly smooth voice. Damn his voice. "And I intend that day to be very soon."

I rolled my eyes and tried to lose him in the flow of patients and visitors; unfortunate for me, he was a skinny, determined little git. He caught up with me every time, calling out my name or saying how I should be excited for the party, among other things. I toned him out and focused on other things, like the standing in our bet right now. I had no idea how many positive reports he had, but my count was up to 28 in the past 7 days. Out of 100 cards, I was already a quarter of the way through! Malfoy didn't stand a chance-

"Boo!" Hands jabbed into my side.

"BLOODY FU-"

"Language, lioness!" Draco covered my mouth before I could get the swear out. Getting over my shock, I tore his hand off of my mouth. "You do have a respectable reputation to uphold, you know."

"Get. Away. From me." I breathed, glaring at him. "And don't you ever scare me like that again, or so help me Merlin, I will hang you off this hospital by your thumbs!"

"Now now, no need to get out your claws, kitty," He laughed, slowly backing away. Just as I was about to punch him hard in the chest, he turned and starting running, calling over his shoulder, "I look forward to seeing you at the party!"

"Gormless git!" I yelled at him, groaning in frustration and stomping down the hall, loathing the very mention of the employee party.

I went about my day with a fake smile, checking on patients and running diagnostic spells until my hands turned pale white. Finally, I went home at midnight, barely getting to my bed before I fell asleep and began to dream about kissing doctors and throwing blonds off cliffs, before my thoughts shifted toward the party again.

I had a very weird feeling about it. Like, somehow, this annoying little employee party would change the course of my life indefinitely.

It was probably nothing.

A/N: We're clear. Readers, I won't be on for a while. I'm going to publish everything I have prewritten in the next few days, but then I'll be on hiatus. Earlier this morning, someone extremely close to me- someone who has been around me for the past 10 years- passed away this morning around 6. I was sitting beside her bed at numerous hospitals and ICUs for months, and she just lost her fight this morning. So I will be taking some time to help arrange everything, and to grieve. It only happened this morning, so I'm not dealing with it yet. Just... give me some time. I'll see you in a few weeks; please don't give up on my stories. I'll be back. But until then... your thoughts on this chapter? -Nikki- a.k.a.- Twipotterfreak28