Disclaimer: Still don't own.
A/N: Ok so I'm the worst but please note I had to restore my computer to original factory settings (after many attempts at saving it, but the memory was gone anyway) so I lost the chapter. But due to the long wait, it's a double update!
I will be posting the next chapter shortly! Happy reading!
25. Mondays
It was back to the usual routine come Monday morning. Everything in Hermione's office was as she had left it, minus the stack of papers well over the size of what she usually found on Mondays. This was as expected and Hermione, being Hermione, was eager to take on the pile.
The day had dragged along, and she had barely left her office. She had taken lunch at her desk, working in between mouthfuls. It was not until near the end of the day when Ron, and Harry, had coaxed her outside for a quick snack break.
It was the first time she had seen Ron since her return, and besides the prolonged embrace he acted as usual. He did not ask her any questions, did not even comment on Draco. The closest thing she got to acknowledgment of what had transpired in the last few weeks was ''I'm glad your parents are okay.'' Hermione did not mind, nor was she surprised. There was no need to have a long drawn out conversation about feelings because she knew Ron would go off.
With caffeinated drinks and baked goods in hand, they stood outside out of the passerby's way near the office, quickly catching up before their absences were missed at work.
"I hate Mondays." Ron grumbled, "There is not a single good thing about Mondays, not one."
"Things pile up on your desk over the weekend, and you walk in to see the desk you left spotless on Friday, cluttered up with paperwork." Hermione frowned.
"The list of things you wrote at the end of Friday for Monday," Harry nodded, "Becomes completely useless if not tripled come the first 30 minutes."
"Everyone is grumpy that the weekend is over, everyone's yawning in each others faces. Mondays should be abolished. Three day weekends forever." Ron suggested brightly. He held up his drink, "Cheers to that."
Hermione grinned at him, "But then everyone would hate Tuesdays."
Ron sighed, "I guess that's true. Life, can't ever win."
"How's work been?" Hermione asked the pair, changing the subject.
"Alright I guess. Ron, and I have been working on the same case for weeks now."
"Some really shoddy guy. I won't even get into the details. I have nightmares from the crime scene alone." Ron shuddered.
"I'll take your word for it. Save the dismal stories for a Thursday at least." Hermione joked.
Hermione felt great, fantastic even. She felt like herself. Everything was in its place in her life. She had her parents, she had her best friends, she was making waves at work that were really getting her noticed. All her hard work was paying off. Life was beyond wonderful.
These were her thoughts as the most uncertain aspect of her life walked towards. The flash of platinum blond.
It's not as if she had been looking for him all day. No, no, definitely not looking for him when she had entered the building, absolutely not searching around for him when she was waiting for the lift, and she was definitively not looking for him whenever she got the chance to look around, oh no, clearly this was not what she had been occupying her very spare minutes with.
Now here he was. Walking around with his usual don't-bother-me-I'm-too-good-for-you look on his face. He too had his own coffee cup in hand, from one of the more expensive coffee shops around of course.
Hermione had once ventured into the small coffee shop on a whim. She had been curious as to why the java was priced so high simply because some beans from some place had been pressed in some way. She had left the shop quite disappointed, and feeling quite duped. She preferred her usual decently priced cup of coffee in comparison.
As he neared, he noticed her as well. Hermione could have sworn she saw the corners of his lips turn up to smile, but had quickly disappeared before properly forming when he had noticed who she was with.
Hermione hid her laugh, and smiled brightly in his direction with a polite wave.
He courteously nodded, and raised his hand quickly in attempts at a wave.
Hermione's actions had caught Ron and Harry's attention. Harry had politely nodded, while Ron scowled and looked away, pretending he hadn't seen anyone.
To Hermione's great surprise, Draco stopped beside them and addressed her, "Hello Hermione."
"Hello Draco."
"Hi Malfoy."
"Hello Potter." he acknowledged, when it came to greeting Ron, they both shared a mutually intense death glare.
"On a break?" Hermione asked.
"Not really, just coming back. We had a bit of an issue in Liverpool, I stopped to get a coffee on the way back in."
"All is well now I presume."
"Of course." Draco said, in the usual arrogant Malfoy way.
There was an awkward pause before Harry jumped in, "Thanks for helping Hermione out. It really means a lot to us that you would help her. You know, after everything." Harry said, nudging Ron.
Ron rolled his eyes, "What he said." he spoke in monotone, rather upset that he should have to say anything at all.
"It was the least I could do. It was no problem at all. As for the rest, Hermione knows where I stand on the matter." he said formally.
Hermione nodded, "Were you heading back to the office now?" she asked.
"Yes."
"I'll join you, if you don't mind." she quickly added.
Draco shrugged, "Of course not."
"Great. I'll see you guys." she kissed the boys on the cheeks before walking away with Draco.
"She's ditching us for Malfoy." Ron complained when they had walked away, but Hermione had still heard. She quickly turned her head around to glare at Ron. Smartly, he immediately paled and feared her wrath.
"That was not awkward at all." Draco commented.
"Everyone left in one piece, I consider that successful." Hermione said brightly.
"Oh I see," Draco began, "You see it as progress."
Hermione grinned at him, "It's a start."
"The only reason Weasel didn't pounce like a rabid animal was because you were there." he slowed his pace to allow her to keep up with him.
"Harry told me about the other day, sorry about that." she said sincerely.
"Not your fault." he said dismissively.
"He should know better than to start anything with you. Especially after all you've done for me."
"That's Weasley for you, never learns does he?"
Hermione elbowed him light heartedly. Wrong or not, Ron was still her friend and she now had the impossible task of appeasing both Draco, and Ron.
"Let's go this way." he said, turning down the block into a less traveled empty road.
"The entry to the Ministry is this way." Hermione pointed out.
"Hermione, look at me. Do I look like the kind of man that flushes into work?" he said, motioning to his pristine tailored clothes.
Hermione rolled her eyes, "I suppose not."
"Then follow along," he walked ahead and then stopped to turn around, "Unless you prefer being flushed into work. If so, be my guest."
"You've peaked my curiosity." she said, catching up to where he stood.
Stopping by a black metal door with no handle, Draco knocked 5 times in a precise manner. At the end fifth knock the door creaked open just enough to manually open. Draco held the door out for her, "Ladies first."
Hermione entered the dark space, and as Draco entered he closed the door behind him.
"Not scared of the dark, are you Granger?" he asked. She could not see a thing, it was pitch black. Not even sunlight from outside showed through cracks at the door.
"Not at all."
"Lumos," the sudden light from his wand blinded her, and she had to squint.
"What is this place?" she asked. The brick lined walls was all the room was, empty.
"Secret apparation point." he winked.
Hermione raised her eyebrows, she was definitely intrigued now. "Is this the top secret Malfoy family entrance?"
"Yes, and no. The Malfoy family helped establish this place, but we share it with other pureblood families. Purebloods do not mingle well, as you know."
"I've dully noted."
"These days it's mainly an entrance for the Obliviating team. It helps us get in quicker. I figured I would spread the wealth."
"How very generous of you to share a bleak dark room."
"You know what, I thought the same thing." he winked and it sent goosebumps down her spine. "Hold onto my arm, let's get out of this dump." she did so and with a pop they were off.
The Ministry entrance was empty this time of day, and thus the odd looks sent at the pair as they walked down the halls were spare.
Making their way into the lift, Hermione stole side glances at Draco. She bit her lip in order to stop herself from smiling ear to ear. She had only just noticed! What was she staring at this whole time to make her notice only just now?
"What?" Draco asked, noticing the suppressed look on her face.
"Nice scarf." she said, looking straight ahead.
"Oh, this old thing." Draco shrugged as he adjusted it around his neck. "Just a gift I received for being, oh, what's that word Hermione?" he feigned.
Hermione grinned, "Pompous?" she offered.
"No cheeky bird, awesome."
Hermione rolled her eyes, "You got it because people like you."
"Ah so it is true, it is better to be loved than hated. You get presents that way, I must write it down."
Hermione rolled her eyes, but laughed none the less. "Mum made the socks, you should know."
"Did she?" Draco asked, genuinely surprised.
"Yes, she wanted to take part in the gift. I had no idea until she gave them to me."
"That's really sweet of her. I'll be sure to call her up later to say thanks."
Hermione was startled, and her head whipped towards him, "You call my mother?"
"Jane and I talk all the time." he said, as if it wasn't a big deal.
Hermione raised an eyebrow, "You do?"
"Well, we talked yesterday so there's that."
Hermione groaned, "And what do you two talk to each other about?"
"What do you think?" was his reply, as he stared directly at her.
Draco quite enjoyed talking to Jane. They talked about his favorite subject, Hermione. Gods knew he couldn't talk to anyone else about her. But Jane? She was more than happy to oblige his obsession and share useful tips.
Hermione paled, "This cannot be good!"
The lift buzzed, signaling her stop. She sighed heavily, "See you later Malfoy, and try not to talk to my mum too much or she will really take it hard when I break the news to her."
He stood there silently for a moment digesting the words. "Hey Granger!" he called out as she had taken a few steps out of the lift.
He held his hand against the lift door to keep it from closing. She turned around, "Yes?"
"Thank you," he said, gesturing to the scarf. He stumbled for the right words to say, "I really do love it. No one's ever made me anything before so yeah, thank you. It… it means a lot to me, especially coming from you."
Hermione gave him the most magnificent smile he had ever seen. Her eyes shined with mirth and her cheeks blushed ever so slightly. If he wasn't smitten before, he sure was now. "You're welcome." she said shyly.
His work was not done, and he abruptly stopped the doors from closing in once more.
"Granger, wait!" he called out once more, holding the lift door firmly from attempting to close.
She had only begun to turn when he had called to her again, "Was is it?"
"There's a ball coming up, I don't know if you've heard yet with it being your first day back. I was wondering if you might plan on attending?"
"No, I… I hadn't heard yet." she felt a lump form in her throat.
"Oh," he paused, "Do you think you'll go?"
She swallowed the lump, but now there were butterflies in her stomach. "Perhaps." she shrugged slightly.
"What if you were asked?"
Hermione opened her mouth to reply, and tried her hardest from keeping the corner of her mouth from going upwards. "I might be inclined to go if I was asked."
"What if I asked you to go?"
Hermione would say she thought about it, but in all honesty, the words just flew out of her mouth. "I would probably say yes."
Draco beamed, "Great, that's great! That's settled then." he stepped back releasing the door feeling quite pleased with himself.
"Shame you didn't ask though!" Hermione yelled just as the elevator door began to close.
The look on his face was priceless, and she had to wipe the tears from her face from laughing so hard. Sure, she got strange looks as she laughed like a madman into her office, but she couldn't say she really cared.
A/N: As stated above, this is a DOUBLE UPDATE! Next chapter should already be up!