Iron Knickers
3434 words
Rating: T
Hermione Granger was tired…and miserable…with another tired on top of that. The office had gone quite an hour ago and it felt like since the moment her colleagues had eagerly departed from the floor, Hermione hadn't managed to get a single smidgeon of work done.
The reports in front of her were due first thing tomorrow morning, a Saturday morning to be precise, and it seemed as if she was the only member of the office bothered by the fact that they weren't ready. As soon as the clock had struck five, her colleagues had scarpered, leaving her here alone to try and finish them off.
Glancing up at the clock in trepidation, she sighed as she read the time. Tonight's dinner drinks were mandatory for all staff, a welcome wagon of sorts for the Chief Financial Officer who had apparated in from America. Hermione was already an hour late and knew that if she didn't leave right this minute, she wouldn't be fashionably late, but where-in-Merlin's-name-have-you-been late.
Her absence would be a black mark in her book regardless of the fact that she would be missing the drinks to finish up these reports so they could be presented first thing. Sighing again, she rubbed her hands over her face, only for the ring on her left hand to get tangled in the curls that had come loose from the tight braid she had twisted it into that morning.
Groaning quietly, Hermione stood from her desk. Whilst she hadn't joined in with the incessant chatter her colleagues had taken part in over what they planned on wearing tonight or what new make-up they had bought, she supposed even she could manage re-twisting her hair into a reasonable bun and swiping some gloss over her lips.
As she made her way over to the ladies loo, she pondered over a random fact that had popped into her head. It was said that witches ate 4-7 pounds of lipstick over their lives. Was the fact even true? How much lipstick had she eaten in her twenty-six years? Had her knowledge of this random fact affected her lipstick applying? Did she unconsciously put less on her lips than other witches did because she knew the fact?
Maybe she would look up to see if the little piece of information was true or not when she got a spare moment. Hermione filed away the little task in the to-do section of her mind.
As she reached the ladies, her walk automatically slowed to a hesitant amble as she heard voices coming from behind the closed doors. Hermione would be the first to accept that she wasn't the most sociable witch in the office and whilst her concentration on her work had allowed her to move up the ranks easily enough, she had never endeared herself or become close friends with any of her colleagues.
Even the thought of spending a few extra minutes in their company when she would already be making small talk with them for at least two hours tonight caused her mind to complain. Dare she venture in and face the perfume cloud/make-up flurry that she would undoubtedly face?
Her body answered by automatically taking a step backwards when a peal of giggles came through the doors. She quickly turned around in order to go to the other ladies room across the floor. Hopefully it would be empty and she would be able to get ready in peace.
"Merlin- do you even think she'll come?"
Another giggle. "Can you imagine it? I don't think the word party is even in her vocabulary. Actually scratch party. She doesn't even know the meaning of the word fun."
There were snorts of laughter followed by loud shrieks.
"If there's any one in the department who needs to learn how to let her hair down it's her."
Hermione stopped walking as she recognized the voices.
"There's no chance of that. She's got her hair tightly locked in place in that awful French twist."
"And her knickers!"
Hermione stiffened as her hand unconsciously drifted upwards to her semi clasped hair. They were talking about her. Humiliation flushed through her in waves.
"Can you imagine any wizard even trying to get into those iron pants?"
Hermione crumpled as if someone had physically cursed her in the stomach. Ouch.
She stood frozen for a few seconds, unable to move. What was she supposed to do? What was she supposed to say? Surely she should stroll in the loo with her head held high…but for some reason she found herself rooted to the spot, waiting to see what else would be said about her.
"I wonder how long it's been…"
Hermione scoffed at the question. She could easily have answered that question for them. It had been a long time. She had been so busy heeding her parent's advice on focusing on her career that there hadn't been a lot of time left for anything else. Most of the time she didn't care about how her life seemed unbalanced to others. She was happy with her life. But right this second- she would have given a thousand Galleons for her to have a life opposite to the one that was oh so kindly being detailed out in front of her.
"I think it's kind of sad. She doesn't even have any friends here."
Gasps were emitted from both Hermione and the women inside the loo. She had friends! She had Harry and Ron and Ginny and Luna! Just because she didn't have any friends at work didn't mean she was a sit at home loner!
There were shuffles from inside the toilet and Hermione immediately sprang backwards. She almost ran to the other bathroom and when she finally sealed herself inside she took in a deep breath. Well, I suppose that's what you get for eavesdropping, she thought to herself.
Looking in the mirror, Hermione took in her make up free face and unruly hair. She got started on the hair first, her hands lifting and automatically collecting the hair to twist it as she did every morning. She had made the first few winds before she halted. She brought her fingers back down by her side and instead clasped her wand.
Ginny had taught her the spell for taming her hair when they had both been getting ready for the Yule Ball and whilst she had always remembered the spell; she had never used it again. Well tonight she would. She was already an hour late- what would an extra twenty minutes do?
Taking even parts of hair, she passed her wand over them before letting go and watching the curls bounce with life rather than frizz. When her whole head was covered with loosely defined curls, she got started on her make-up. Unfortunately she wasn't as handy with these spells. Deciding it would be better to stick to doing things the Muggle way; she swiped the usual gloss over her lips before rooting around her purse for the mascara she knew was lost in there somewhere.
Nearly half an hour later and she was done. Hands smoothed over the white blouse and black skirt she had worn for the last nine hours before she steeled herself and apparated to the hotel where tonight's party was being held.
ooo
Once at the hotel's event room, her anger that had been simmering quietly for the last half hour, seemed to simmer down to a small burn as she saw groups of friend's clumped together. Making her way to the bar she ordered an orange juice, ignored the look of surprise on the bartender's face at the chosen drink when the party was at the company's expense and looked around idly.
Her eyes latched onto the witches she had heard in the bathroom and she studied them for a minute. They looked beautiful, she acknowledged grudgingly. She didn't need to see their bright smiles to know they were having fun. Their flirtatious postures as they giggled with some of their male colleagues was evident to everyone.
Hermione took a sip of her drink and the juice tasted tart on her tongue.
Everyone seemed to be having fun. And here she was, still standing alone at the bar. Dull and boring. The women were right. She'd spent the last few years working so hard and for what? She'd always wanted a career when she was a teenager but she'd also wanted a family. Where had that dream gone? When had that dream been pushed aside?
Walking back towards where the bartender was standing, she exchanged her orange juice for a colourful cocktail. Once again, she looked around the room. Her eyes halted on the party that seemed to be occurring in the adjacent room on the opposite side of the corridor. A wizard was standing at the entrance to the room and talking with his back to her.
She eyed his form with detachment before she realised she was checking off his attributes to a list that seemed to have popped into her head. He was tall- check. He was smartly dressed- check. He had a good body as shown off by his fitted robes- check.
Another wizard walked up to the man and familiarly slapped him on the back in acknowledgement. The wizard turned and Hermione froze.
She knew that face.
Draco Malfoy.
Her spirits lifted slightly at the sight of a familiar face. Without further debating on what she was doing and whether Draco would be happy to see an old acquaintance he hadn't spoken to in five years, since the day they had both graduated from the Wizarding equivalent of a Muggle University, she walked over to him. On the way she passed the witches from the toilet and had to stop a smile of satisfaction curling at her lips when she saw them stop talking at her appearance.
"Draco Malfoy. It's been a long time. How are you?"
As Draco turned his head to face her and shock filled his features at her presence, Hermione desperately wished she still had a Time-turner so she could have stopped herself from strolling up to him. She was strongly debating to simply look like a fool and scuttle off back to the bar when the shock on Draco's face was replaced by a warm smile. She breathed out a breath of air she had been holding tight in her chest.
"Hermione Granger. What a surprise. I wasn't expecting to see you here."
At his smile, Hermione's own lifted as she thought of her colleagues watching her talking to such a handsome wizard. Resisting the urge to glance behind her and let the witches know she was aware of their stares, she instead shuffled a step forward and to the side so she was now facing their direction and Draco's back was to them.
"It's been a long time." Hermione replied to his statement.
Draco nodded his head. "I wasn't aware you were such close friends with Blaise."
Hermione shook her head. "Oh no, I'm here for work drinks." She said as she indicated towards the room she had just come from.
"Ah. I was sure that if you had kept in contact with Blaise he would have mentioned how you've all grown up."
His eyes flickered over her body and Hermione stood a little straighter at his blatant perusal whilst warmth flushed her cheeks. As he looked back into her eyes, Hermione flicked her own away for a moment in embarrassment. Her gaze landed on Sarah and Katie and she quickly looked back at Draco.
For a moment, the two simply stared at each other. As the silence began to border on uncomfortable (well for her at least) she struggled to come up with something to say. Her mouth suddenly seemed so dry and as she took a hasty sip of her drink, Draco watched her with an amused gaze.
It changed into something darker when she ran her tongue across her bottom lip to wipe away any rogue drops of liquid.
"So it's Blaise's birthday party then?" she ended up asking.
Draco broke his gaze from her lips and the atmosphere seemed to lift back into something lighter.
"Actually it's his engagement party."
"Oh?" Hermione asked.
"Yep, he finally got around to proposing to Padma. Took him long enough." He joked.
Hermione smiled. Whilst she had never been close to Padma…or her twin sister, she was happy to hear that she was getting married. Who would have thought it would be to Blaise of all wizards? The quiet bookworm pairing up with a libertine. She supposed opposites really did attract.
"He finally asked her on a recent trip to Paris." Draco elaborated.
Hermione found herself bobbing her head up and down at the information like an idiot. When she realised what she was doing, she quickly stiffened. At least the conversation was currently rolling again.
"How romantic," she sighed, "I've always wanted to visit Paris. I went to the South of France with my parents during the summer between our third and fourth year but we didn't get a chance to visit Paris before Mr Weasley tracked me down so we could go to the Quidditch World Cup."
"I've visited a few times for business. It's a romantic city."
Hermione's smile drooped off slightly at the implication behind his words. Unfortunately she didn't have a boyfriend who she could share and experience the city with. But she was a twentieth century witch. She didn't need a man to visit Paris.
Another internal sigh. It would be nice though…
"I take it you're not seeing anyone at the moment then?" Draco asked softly.
Mortified, Hermione lifted her face and plastered a smile across it. "What makes you say that?"
In answer, Draco smiled softly. "Paris is a romantic city but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy it without having a lover by your side."
"I know that." Hermione stated strongly even though internally she was rejecting the idea.
Draco didn't say anything for a moment. "You never know- you might find yourself visiting with a lover sooner than you think. You never know what's in the cauldron."
Hermione froze at his words. Merlin- was he flirting?
"-Ah here's Hermione."
Hermione quickly turned around at the call of her name. Mr Richards, her boss, was walking up to her with a large man by his side. The Chief Financial Officer, she guessed. She gave the men a smile to indicate she would be with them shortly and was grateful when they stopped a little away from her and Draco.
"I suppose I should go." She told him. She tried to keep her tone upbeat but she was surprisingly saddened at the thought that their little reunion was going to be cut short. She had actually enjoyed talking to him. It definitely trumped standing alone at the bar.
"We should catch up soon…maybe." She said as she offered him her hand.
Draco glanced at her out-stretched hand before looking back at her.
"I think two old friends can do better than a hand-shake, especially if they're going to be keeping in contact."
She immediately retracted her hand.
"A hug?" she ventured unsurely after a few seconds.
Draco's smile stretched in amusement at her suggestion and he stepped forward. "I was thinking something along the lines of a friendly kiss."
Hermione's mind went into a flurry. She couldn't…could she? Of course she couldn't! She hadn't seen the man in years…and she was at a work function for Merlin's sake!
"A friendly kiss?" she hedged at.
"A friendly kiss."
And then he kissed her. And it wasn't a peck on the cheek as she had been expecting. With her eyes still wide open, she looked into his glittering eyes until he closed them. She followed suit, allowing her to focus completely on the way his lips were brushing against hers.
She could feel her skin flushing with warmth but she couldn't move away. She didn't want to. Her lips opened slightly as she tried to gasp in a desperately needed breath and suddenly his mouth stopped brushing…and started clinging.
As if knowing she was on the brink of moving her head away, his mouth became even more insistent, even slower and demanding. Hermione felt something hot uncurl in her stomach before it spread out to tingle her body…everywhere. Even beneath those iron locked pants!
His tongue tarried with hers in a dance that was unknown to her but one in which it was evident he'd had much practice in. And right this moment, Hermione didn't even care on how he'd gained the experience in kissing so well. With one hand still annoyingly clutching her glass, she reached out and touched his chest with her left; fingers initially lying flat before rubbing in turn followed by clutching.
When her throat began to tremble with a supressed moan, Draco lifted his head from hers. She looked at him with openly dazed eyes.
"I think we're in danger of getting more than friendly." He said in answer to her silent question.
His words seemed to bring her back to the present and when she realised what they'd just been doing and more importantly who they'd just been doing it in front of, her eyes immediately flickered over to her boss. Thankfully he was deep in conversation with a manager in the company and it seemed as if he hadn't seen her. Her thoughts then instantly turned to the others who may have seen her unusual behaviour. She scanned the room.
Her gaze landed on the openly gaping faces of Sarah and Katie and try as she might to compress the action, a satisfied smile twisted her lips.
Take that! She thought cruelly. She knew how to party- how to have fun. And more importantly she had a wizard- a very handsome wizard- who definitely seemed more than passably interested in getting into her iron knickers!
A giggle rose up her throat, a giddiness contributed partially by her trivial revenge but mostly by the exciting new relationship that was potentially flowering before her eyes. With a wide smile on her face she looked up to Draco…and froze.
He was looking at her with a frown on his face and as her smile dropped, his eyes turned hard and cold.
"Have you made him sufficiently jealous then?"
"What?" Hermione asked, confused.
"Whichever wizard is standing right behind me. The one you looked at after you kissed me."
Hermione opened her mouth to explain but no words could come forward. What was she supposed to say? What would he think if she told him the truth? How childish would he think her to be?
As she faltered, her cheeks blushed red as all the blood in her body seemed to rush to her head. Before she could think of an explanation, Draco was speaking again in a quiet voice.
Unlike earlier, it held none of its warmth and informality. Instead he was polite and formal. Detached.
"I don't like being used Hermione. Not by you- not by anyone. From what I remember of you from Hogwarts and University, I wouldn't have pegged you as someone who plays games."
What? No! Hermione thought. "I-It wasn't, isn't, like that. I simply-"
"Ah Hermione. May I introduce you to Mr Burnley, the CFO for the company. Mr Burnley, this is Hermione Granger."
Hermione shook the man's hand, all the while feeling Draco's eyes searing into her skin. Once their brief handshake was over, Mr Burnley turned to Draco, waiting to be introduced. Her boss too, was waiting for Hermione to introduce Draco to them.
Hermione swallowed before she flicked her eyes back to Draco nervously. He was still staring at her coolly and her voice shook as she introduced him.
He acknowledged the men with a brief word as he shook hands with them. Hermione expected them to make meaningless small talk but all chatter seemed to die out after the introduction.
A few seconds later, Draco glanced at his watch before purposefully turning his body away from Hermione to face her bosses. "I'm afraid I'm here on another engagement and must leave. It was nice meeting you both." He said as he nodded his head towards them.
Hermione took in a deep breath and held it tight in her chest as he turned to face her. "Hermione, it was interesting to see you again."
And then she was subjected to a cool nod before he walked away, leaving her standing there not unaccompanied, but definitely alone.
Author's Note: Apologies for the long wait. Things have been very busy in my life and work is simply draining me! This wasn't the update that's been formulating in my mind over the last few weeks. Unfortunately, that update is going to be a long one and therefore will take slightly longer to write which is why I've been putting off writing it. It's the first time where I've wished the idea would just go straight from my head to the computer without me having to type it out. Anyway, I'm sorry you got lumbered with this meh chapter when I've kept you waiting so long but I figured an update is better than nothing. And some of you have been getting a tad restless! I also admit that I had no clue what to name the chapter so if you have any suggestions please PM me! Until next time, Curiositykils.
