Scene: Justin and Katie's relationship. (Co-workers in Canada)
"Goodbye," their boss whispered, in a rare moment of sentimentality. Draco Malfoy stood in front of them and gave the office one more look. When he caught Katie's eye, she sent him a wink.
He chuckled. "Bloody Canadians."
Then he disapparated away.
Katie and Justin stood alone in the Canadian Office of Malfoy Industries. She was resting her head on his shoulder.
"I'm going to miss that son of a bitch," she smiled, wiping an errant tear from her cheek.
"He'll visit," Justin promised. "Until then, we should probably make sure that he has a place to visit. Isn't there work we can do?"
Katie gave him a look. "The boss just left for an unforetold amount of time, leaving us completely alone in an empty office, and you're actually considering doing work?"
He nodded, looking confused. "Is that wrong?"
"Very."
"Well, master of intellect," Justin said, the sarcasm saturating his words. "What do you suggest we do?"
"I suggest we get shit-faced drunk."
"Ah," Justin replied, the beginnings of a smile playing at the corner of his lips. "No objections here."
Three hours later, the two coworkers sat on opposite desks, drunk out of their minds. They both had an almost empty bottle of whiskey in their hands. Katie was laughing, her caramel curls falling all around her face.
"He broke my phone!" She exclaimed, gesturing with her bottle. "He broke my fucking phone and I can't stop laughing about it. That's going to cost me a small fortune to replace."
"Don't you have warranty?" Justin replied, slurring his words.
"I don't think Rogers covers jackasses who have no control over their emotions."
"No, probably not," he conceded, placing his whiskey on the desk. After a few minutes of silence, he glanced at her.
"Do you think he's going to do it?"
"Do what?" she responded, her head rolling to rest on her shoulder.
"Save Hermione Granger."
"Is that what he's trying to do?" Katie said, looking across the row of desks. "I thought he was just going to bring her back."
Justin rolled his eyes. "We've known the guy about a month, right? After all your experience with him, do you honestly think he would ever just dump a mystery like that in someone else's lap to solve? Please."
"Good point there, friend," Katie replied, toasting him with the whiskey. "Besides the fact that he is absolutely in love with her."
"You think?" Justin said, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh totally," Katie chuckled. "Did you see the way his eyes lit up when he said her name?"
"No."
"That's because you're a guy," she answered. "And guys are completely useless when it comes to noticing things."
"Hey!" Justin replied, frowning. "I notice things."
Katie gave him a look of disbelief. "Really? You actually think so?"
Justin stood up and marched over to where she was sitting. "You don't give me enough credit, Katie McDonald."
"I give credit where credit is due," she replied, looking up at him with big eyes.
"And I don't deserve credit?" he demanded.
"Nope." She popped the P.
"And why, pray tell, is that?"
She sighed, and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Because, if you noticed anything in the world, you would know that I've been waiting for you to kiss me for the past hour and a half."
His mouth fell open at her smirking expression. "You…I mean…you want…."
She grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him close. "Are you going to make me beg, Justin?"
His lips were on hers before she could say another word.
"He made the paper," Justin said, looking over the Toronto Prophecy. He was at the kitchen table in Katie's apartment, a large mug of coffee in front of him. The beautiful woman he had spent the night with was standing at the stove, cooking some eggs, and wearing nothing but his button-up.
It was a wonderful sight.
"Sorry, who did?" she asked, throwing a glance over her shoulder.
"Draco," Justin replied, taking a sip from the mug. "He crashed Hermione's funeral."
"With her?" Katie gasped, turning around fully. "God, could he be any dumber? Was there a riot?"
"Well, no," Justin said, taking the opportunity to notice all of her curves in that shirt. "He gave a speech at the funeral, then accidently let the world discover her at the British Ministry of Magic. That did in fact start a riot."
Katie chuckled. "That's our boy. His first day back in England he makes the papers." She brought over two plates with scrambled eggs on them and placed one in front of each of them. She sat across from him.
"Trust me, he's going to profess his un-dying love for Hermione Granger within the month."
Justin coughed for a moment. "Uh…speaking of love…"
Katie's back straightened up immediately and her eyes narrowed. "Nope. Don't you dare say what I think you're going to say."
He rolled his eyes at her. "No, I'm not in love with you. Stop freaking out." She visibly relaxed. "I was just wondering if last night was a one-time thing or…or if you were interested in maybe making it a multiple time thing."
She cocked her head. "What are you suggesting?"
"Would you want to go to dinner with me tonight?" he got the words out before he could start over-thinking. However, as soon as they were out, his heart started pounding and a light sweat broke out on his forehead.
Katie appraised him for a moment or two. She crossed her arms and leant back in her chair. "Are you sweating?"
He hastened to wipe the drops from his hairline.
She burst out laughing. "You are the cutest thing," she said, smiling. "Sure, I would love to go out with you tonight."
Justin often thought about how his heart was beating when she said those words to him. In a way, after that, his heart never slowed down. At least, not when he was near her.
"Aha!" she cried triumphantly, throwing down a copy of Witch Weekly Canada on his desk at work.
Justin looked up slowly, taking his time to drag his eyes over her form before finally reaching her eyes. "Sorry, Miss. I'm off duty right now. However, I'm sure some other straight, single guy is available."
She shoved his shoulder playfully and sat on the desk. "Just look at the magazine. Was I right, or was I absolutely fucking right?"
Justin leaned forward and let his eyes graze over the page. Immediately, he saw what she was so excited about.
"Snogging Hermione on a Quidditch Pitch doesn't exactly qualify as professing his un-dying love," he remarked, chuckling at the photo which was in full colour and moving. "At least there isn't sound."
Katie chuckled. "Merlin be praised, right? They're really going at it. It's kind of distasteful."
"They probably didn't know they were being photographed," Justin said, feeling a rush of sympathy for his boss.
Katie nodded. "Damn paparazzi. I'm only happy about this because it means I'm right."
"Not yet," he reminded her.
She leant down and kissed his cheek. "But I will be."
"Katie!" he shouted, apparating directly into her living room. He looked around frantically, trying to find his girlfriend.
"What?" she said, rushing out of her bedroom, wearing a nothing but a bathrobe. She spotted Justin and immediately stopped. She stuttered for a moment.
"Justin, it's seven in the morning."
He practically threw the paper at her in response. She gave him a look, but opened it none the less. It took two seconds for her face to completely drain of blood.
"All of them?" she whispered, holding her hand over her mouth.
Justin nodded. "The breakout was last night."
Katie started shaking. "Wasn't the trial or whatever for that guy involved in Hermione's kidnapping last night?"
She only received a curt nod in response.
"Do you think the two things are related?" She continued, opening the paper to read the article more fully.
"I'd be surprised if they weren't."
"Oh Hermione," she whispered. Her eyes snapped up to Justin. "Draco. Draco's involved in this. He's in danger!" She was frantic now, shaking all over.
Justin closed the distance between them and wrapped her in a hug. "It'll be okay."
"Our friend is in mortal danger. How can it be okay?"
He kissed her head softly. "Because Draco Malfoy is a goddamn survivor. He'll make it. He always does. You know his war story, don't you?"
Katie nodded, sniffling.
"Exactly," he said. "That jackass of ours is a trouper." He pulled her gently back towards her bedroom. "Come on, let's stay in today."
She raised no objections, and simply melted into his comforting arms.
"Told you," he said, as she read over the paper announcing Yaxley's defeat and the following events.
"And I told you," she responded, pointing her cereal spoon at him. "Desperately in love."
He conceded to that. At this point in the game, if it wasn't obvious to someone that Draco Malfoy had fallen in love with Hermione Granger, that person was an idiot.
Justin looked across the table at his girlfriend. He watched her eyes flit over the article. Every once in a while, she would brush one of her curls behind her ear. He was so perfectly content sitting there and watching her do absolutely nothing.
"I think I might be falling in love with you," he whispered, once again his mouth betraying his mind. He clapped his hand across his face, hoping to stop the words before they could cause any harm.
However, these were the types of words that he couldn't take back.
Katie looked up with a start, shocked beyond belief. "Did you just…"
"I spoke too quickly," Justin stammered, backtracking as fast as possible. "It just slipped out…"
"Did you mean it?"
"Sorry what?"
Katie was looking at him expectantly, her cereal spoon still dangling in her hand. "Did you mean it? And don't lie to me, Justin, because we both know you're a shit liar."
After a few moments of silence, he gave one quick nod.
Katie started to laugh while Justin wished the floor would swallow him whole. "Oh, baby," she chuckled. "What was one of the first things I said to you the night we got smashed in the office?"
"Umm…errr…"
She rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath before continuing. "I said that guys are completely useless when it came to noticing anything. My point stands."
"And you're bringing this up now because…"
"Because, Justin," she continued, ignoring his interruption. "Because if you were any good at noticing anything, you might've realized that I'm falling in love with you too."
Justin stopped stuttering. "Sorry...you might be in love with me, too?"
Katie chuckled and rolled her eyes, glancing back down at the paper.
"Men. They don't notice a thing, do they?"
But at that moment, Justin didn't particularly mind.
Review :) (I think there will be three more chapters of this)