Chapter 6

A/N: Thanks to everyone who tried to help me find that story! I ended up finding it myself (after over an hour of searching), it's Snow in June by Dayang Lucilla on Hawthorn and Vine... Also to all the wonderful people who reviewed and for DramioneLover123 for betaing!

One little piece of this is adapted from something I saw in Doctor Who. Can you spot it?

*tear* Only one more chapter left. It's kind of sad...

~Frosty

Hermione rushed to catch him. "Where are you going to look for Percy?"

"It's during office hours; even I know he's either working or lying dead somewhere. The bloke really needs a life."

She may have agreed with this assessment, but she was too polite to speak against one of the Weasley family without good reason. Despite what Ron had done to her, the rest of them had been nothing but kind and sort of like an adoptive family within the Wizarding world.

Molly had been almost as devastated as she had when she'd shared the news that she'd lost the baby. Hermione had long suspected it was the Weasley matriarch that had been behind the long apology letter she'd received from Ron a year after their breakup.

When Hermione caught up with him, Malfoy grabbed her arm and Apparated the both of them to the designated spot in the Ministry.

He didn't even pause to check the helpful signs for visitors as he strode purposefully to a lift and hit the button for the highest floor.

"Malfoy how is it you know where Percy works?"

Dismissively, the blond waved a hand in the air. "I make it my business to know."

It seemed that was all the answer she was going to get. The two in the elevator fell into silence only broken by the canned music even the Magical world didn't seem able to escape and the happy voice announcing the floors they were passing.

"We're just going to talk to him, not curse him," she reminded the blond. With Malfoy's volatility, Percy would only need to say one wrong thing before he hexed him and then Malfoy would be carted off to Azkaban for using magic against a Ministry official. She would probably end up imprisoned as an accomplice.

"I make no promises."

The bell rang as the doors of the lift opened, announcing their arrival on the correct floor.

She had a bad feeling about what they were about to do, but followed behind Malfoy anyway. They were stopped by a very large man behind a desk just outside of Percy's office. He looked more like a bodyguard than an assistant, only intensifying any suspicions Hermione may have had about Percy. What innocent man would have a huge bodyguard outside his office?

"Do you have an appointment?" the man asked in a disturbingly deep voice.

Malfoy was completely un-phased by the intimidating man. "No, but by the way you're guarding that door, I know he's in there."

"Go in there and tell him Hermione Granger's here and has a few questions for him," she said in a voice that brooked no arguments. Not once had she wanted to believe that Percy was guilty, but the evidence against him was starting to pile up, and she was starting to see that his guilt seemed more and more likely.

As soon as she saw the light of recognition in the bodyguard's eyes, she knew he was going to do as she'd asked. It was annoying most of the time, but occasionally, being a war hero came in handy. She watched with satisfaction as the man quietly slipped behind the door he had been guarding like a lion crouched in front of his den.

He was only in there a moment before he came back out with a contrived look of apology on his face. "I'm afraid Mr. Weasley isn't available at the moment. Can I make you an appointment?"

Hermione didn't know what game Percy thought he was playing at; she'd heard the murmur of voices as his assistant had spoken to him, so she knew he was in there. She also knew that Percy wouldn't be able to escape through the fireplace in his office without them hearing and there was no Apparation except at the designated spots on every floor or on the ground outside the protections on the building. How in the world did he expect to escape them?

"He's climbing out the window, isn't he?" Malfoy asked with resignation.

She darted him a surprised look, but the other man was already nodding. Hermione couldn't help but wonder if Malfoy had been so sure of the escape route because he had tried it before. Maybe knowing every way out of the Ministry building was a Slytherin thing as well. She could picture the older Slytherins gathering the first years around blueprints of important buildings and going over ways to escape should the need ever arise.

Malfoy sighed, muttered something about cowards and stunned the guard. "All that bulk isn't much use if you're shit at casting spells."

He rushed into Percy's office.

"Malfoy, I thought this was my trip to find answers," she said, hurrying after him as he charged off on his own – again. It was beginning to feel like he just wanted to hex Percy and was using her as an excuse. She wasn't entirely opposed to the idea; Percy would still get hexed and she was sure Malfoy knew some truly horrifying hexes.

The fireplace in the corner of the room was soot-free, confirming Hermione's assumption that he hadn't used it to escape. They would have heard him call out his destination and could have followed him.

She froze just as the blond vaulted over the windowsill into seemingly empty space. The thud as he hit the metal grating outside was the only reassurance she got that he hadn't plunged to his death.

At a more sedate pace, Hermione crossed the room and placed her hands on the sill to lever herself out onto the fire escape. She had to distract herself with the chase a few floors below in order to get her stubborn legs out the window, but she was successful.

Her exit of the window coincided with Percy's arrival at the ground. She watched Malfoy leap over the railing and land right beside the redhead just in time to watch him take a few steps away from the building and outside the anti-Apparation wards. He disappeared with a pop just short of Malfoy's grasping hands.

She slumped against the metal railing in defeat; Percy could be absolutely anywhere, the chances of finding him were incredibly slim. So great was her disappointment that she didn't even notice the height at which she was standing. Apparently crushing disappointment mixed with some anger was all it took for her to get over her fear of heights – for a short time, of course. As soon as her mind was once again unoccupied, she'd be back to terror. Humans – magical or otherwise - just weren't meant to be so far from the ground.

The fire escape creaked as Malfoy stepped onto it floors below to begin climbing back up to Hermione. He had probably figured out that she wasn't going to be able to climb down there to meet him.

With a dizzying sway, she noticed once again where she was and started to panic. She tried to focus on Malfoy's footsteps as he ascended the stairs, using the sound as a distraction from the height. Going through the window to wait for him was an option, but she had a feeling that her grip on the railing was the only thing keeping her upright at the moment, and that if she released it to go through the window, Malfoy would find her in an embarrassing heap when he arrived at the right floor.

The fire escape groaned and creaked again louder, wobbling under his weight. Hermione started to get a little nervous and was just contemplating making a rush for the window, when the railing that had been supporting her broke with a horrible screech of metal.

The wind whooshed by her as she tumbled over the edge after the broken chunk of railing. At the last moment, her arm whipped out and caught the sharp edge of the platform, slicing her palm deeply and yanking her arm viciously as it abruptly stopped her momentum.

"Malfoy!" she screeched, "Help!"

She hadn't been paying much attention to where the blond was, what with the falling to her death and everything, but he had been paying attention to her and immediately noticed when the railing broke. By the time she screamed for him, he had already sped up his ascent.

With the blood making her hand slippery, Hermione knew she wasn't going to be able to hold on for very long. She closed her eyes in anticipation of the fall, but it never came.

Just as her fingers were slipping, a strong hand grabbed her wrist, jerking her poor shoulder once again. She didn't care about a little pain if it meant she wasn't going to fall to her death.

Malfoy grunted with the effort of pulling her up and back to the questionable safety of the fire escape. They fell to a heap on the metal grate and before Hermione could regain her bearings, Malfoy was holding her tightly against himself.

He pulled back far enough to stare into her eyes, more serious than she'd ever seen him. "Never do that again."

"It's not like I intentionally-" he cut off her objection by pressing his lips against hers. Gradually, Hermione stopped her terrified shaking and let herself relax against him. Merlin, he was good with his mouth. He certainly had enough practice - or maybe it was just talent.

When he pulled away a second time, they both sat there for a moment, leaning against each other and just breathing.

"Can't imagine this will help with your fear of heights," Malfoy said when he'd caught his breath.

"If anything, it's reinforced them," Hermione muttered. She moved to stand up, but he stopped her with a hand around her wrist.

"You're bleeding."

Hermione glanced down at her palm. Oh, that was a lot of blood. She pulled out her wand and healed the slash, watching as the skin wove itself into a pink line across her otherwise unmarked hand. There would probably always be a faint scar on her palm, but she wasn't vain enough to let it bother her, particularly when she hadn't known if she was going to survive just moments ago.

Once again, she tried to leave the fire escape, and once again he stopped her with a hand on her wrist. "Malfoy, if you make me stay on this fire escape for one more second, then I'm going to hex you." Her voice was shaky and shrill, letting him know she was only moments from breaking down completely.

With his silver eyes downcast, he released the hold he had on her wrist. "Never mind," he said, helping her back through the window and into the relative safety of Percy's office.

Feet firmly on solid ground, Hermione took a shaky breath and tried to get her thoughts in order. "As far as security knows, we've just made a Ministry official disappear." She glanced at the fireplace sitting in the corner of the room and nodded her head towards it. "You should leave. I'll explain what happened to Minister Kingsley, and I'll sort this mess out."

Shouting in the corridor directed her attention away from the blond. When her gaze landed back on Malfoy, he was tense with anger and his eyes were storm clouds. What was he so riled up about?

"I've outlived my usefulness and you're just going to throw me away now?" he growled. "Well, congratulations, you're going to get your old job back and can forget all about me."

Hermione was completely lost. "In case you haven't noticed, it's still my job to keep you away from bad press and unless you're going to fire me, I'm telling you to get the hell out of here or tomorrow all the headlines will claim you've broken into the Ministry and made the Minister's assistant disappear. Now Floo away from here before security comes in."

Never one to actually listen to her, even in an emergency, Malfoy stood there and smirked. "In that case, I'm still your employer and I order you to report to me once you're done with this Ministry nonsense."

Heavy footsteps were approaching; signifying security was almost upon them. "Fine, just get out of here," she hissed, crossing the distance between them and trying to shove him towards the fireplace. He didn't budge a centimetre.

Instead, he wrapped his long fingers around her wrists and pulled her arms up and forward, tugging her against him as he placed her hands behind his neck.

Hermione's eyebrows were furrowed and her mouth was open to object, which he took advantage of, kissing her for the second time that day. The big brain she was so famous for was completely confused and frazzled, but she responded instinctually and leaned closer to him, tightening her hold and pressing herself against the hard plains of his torso. It was over as suddenly as it had started; not giving her time to fully register what it was that was happening.

He was calling out his destination in the green flames before she even had time to say 'sexual harassment'. Just as the roaring of the fire settled once again into a normal fire, the door burst open and security flooded into the room, followed by Aurous with their wands drawn.

Meekly, Hermione raised her hands to show that they were empty. "It's not what it looks like," she said.

It was almost midnight before everything had been sorted out with the Ministry. Kingsley had always been a reasonable person, and he wasn't willing to believe that Hermione would barge into a Ministry employee's office without good reason. After much talking and a small dose of Veritaserum, the whole debacle had been sorted out and Hermione was to take a few days off before reporting back to her old job – the one she never really lost.

Briefly, she thought about just going back to her flat and calling it a day, but she had a feeling that she'd wake up to an irate Malfoy if she attempted that. It was unlikely that he was still working at such a late hour, but that was where he'd told her to go and it wouldn't be the first time he'd stayed late. She just hoped he was sober.

With a weary sigh, she Floo'd to Malfoy Industries. All the lights were off, but that didn't mean that no one was there. She made her way to Malfoy's office and listened outside the door. There was no sound coming from inside.

Without knocking, she entered the room, finding it dark. She could just make out a head of silver-blond hair against the dark material of the sofa in the faint moonlight coming in through the window. A quick flick of her wand turned the lights on, making Malfoy hiss and put a hand over his eyes.

"You haven't been drinking again, have you?" she asked, irritated that she couldn't leave for five minutes without him hitting a flask.

"Any normal person would have the same reaction when some silly bint suddenly blinds them with bright light, it doesn't mean I've been drinking just because my eyes are sensitive."

It didn't escape her notice that he hadn't actually answered her question, but something had distracted her from questioning him further. Her eyes grew almost comically wide and her eyebrows drew together.

"Malfoy," she said, fighting to keep her voice steady over the rage she was feeling. "Why is Percy standing on the ledge outside your window?"

Casually, the blond glanced in the direction Hermione was staring.

"You're right; he does ruin the lovely view. Would you mind opening the window and giving him a shove, Princess?"

"Tell me why he's out there!" she yelled, losing the battle against her temper.

Still entirely too relaxed for the circumstances, Malfoy yawned as if she'd interrupted his sleep. Knowing him, he probably had been napping while Percy was in danger of falling to his death just outside the window. "Well, Granger, I'm glad you asked. I just happened to be out for a stroll when I came across this pest. I thought it would be best to take him back here and ask him some questions."

Hermione knew for a fact that Malfoy never just strolled, he thought it below him. That meant he had actively sought out Percy. She could only imagine what he did to the redhead to get the answers to those questions he'd had.

With a venomous glare at Malfoy, she rushed over to the window and opened it. She grabbed Percy around the shoulders and assisted him inside, all the while cursing Malfoy and his evil Slytherin ways. If someone had put her out there, she would have been traumatised for life – though, now that she thought of it, working with Malfoy had probably traumatised her for life anyway, and that was Percy's fault. So, really, they were even.

Her breath caught in her throat as Percy stumbled a little when she pulled him over the sill; it would only take one little slip on his part for him to fall to his death, pulling her with him. That same little stumble could make her look like a murderer in the eyes of the law should she not fall with him to the unforgiving ground below.

Neither of those unfortunate circumstances came to pass, and she somehow managed to pull him inside without incident. Percy crumpled in a heap as Hermione stepped away from him, wanting to put distance between them.

Languidly, Malfoy stood from the sofa and paced across the room. "Spoilsport," he grumbled; close to Hermione's ear as he stopped beside her. Louder, he continued. "It seems that the Minister was interested in offering you a position that would ultimately make the Weasel here redundant. The worthless blighter thought trashing your flat would scare you out of town and stop you from working. He obviously didn't remember who you are. Apparently, the sod felt threatened and decided to get rid of you before the Minister saw how much better you was at the job and fired Weasley."

Percy had been sitting on the floor, clutching his knees. At Malfoy's words, he looked up, "No one's better at my job than me; I just didn't want someone else working closely with the Minister like I do," he snapped indignantly.

That was the most ridiculous thing she'd ever heard, Hermione was going to tell him so when Malfoy stopped her with a hand on her arm. "Don't waste your breath on him, Princess." He pulled out his wand and conjured ropes to bind the Weasley. "I thought it would be fun to tie him up and see if he could swim," he held up a hand to stop her protests before they could leave her mouth. "Then I thought you'd probably object to that even if you secretly thought it was a brilliant idea, so I've settled on calling the Aurors to come here and get him. And you owe me, because you know how much I hate the Aurors."

Hermione sighed. "What do you think the Aurors are going to think of you putting him outside the window to wait for his death?"

He turned his head to glare at the still prone form of Percy. "He's not going to say anything to anyone or I'll come find him." All the warmth that had been in his voice while he'd been addressing her disappeared with his threat. Hermione hadn't noticed how his voice changed when he spoke to her until she had the glaring contrast for comparison; he was downright affectionate while he was addressing her.

When the Aurors showed up –thankfully, no one Hermione knew- Percy was more than willing to go with them. He was terrified that Malfoy would stick him outside the window again – not that he mentioned that, but Hermione knew that's what he was thinking from the terrified looks he kept darting towards the still-open window. She had a feeling he now shared her fear of heights.

The moment they were out of sight, Malfoy turned to Hermione with a smirk, "Alone at last."

That was a foreboding statement. She took a step back, unsure where he was going with that line of thinking.

A/N: Yes, I know. Frosty is an evil person, etc, etc... *grins*