No one was awake when Hermione returned to the Burrow. No one knew, no one suspected a thing. Ron woke the following day, not remembering what had caused him to be unceremoniously turfed from the event and Hermione didn't have it in her to tell him.
Her mind reeled from the events that took place once she left and she was desperate to relive them with Ron. Or to at least see if it was possible.
She could feel the aftereffects of Malfoy's presence between her legs throughout the entire day. It didn't help her forget what she had done, or how she had felt. Part of her felt so horribly bad and guilty, but there was a part of her, and that part was growing tremendously larger than the other part, that was excusing it, embracing it, reliving the sensation over and over again.
She was a woman, well within her rights to take whatever means necessary to achieve something that Ron often achieved in two minutes of poking. Ron had turned sex something that she considered a chore. There was no emotional connection for her, sex just didn't trigger that part of Hermione's brain. So, in her mind, this was as much a physical act as playing tennis or quidditch.
As she packed her bag for work on Sunday night, she found a small slip of parchment that had a number on it in tiny neat cursive. She remembered it being the same parchment that Malfoy had slid to her at the bar when they had drinks together and, making sure she was alone, she took out her phone and entered the number, saving it as "Abs", the first random letters that came to her mind. She would tell Ron, if he noticed, that it was someone from the DRCMC team. To have Malfoy's number in her phone would just open an argument that she couldn't be bothered having. And that's how it was for her. The energy that it would take to argue about the things that didn't matter was what was driving her to hide as much as she could. To the extent where, if she so much as ran into Malfoy at the Ministry, she wouldn't mention it to Ron at all.
She opened the text function of her phone, grateful that achievements in muggle/wizarding technology had made way for texting to be possible amongst a place as highly magic as The Burrow.
HG - Came across your number and thought I would extend my gratitude for your company at the ministry event. HG'
If Astoria was to see, it could seem innocent enough.
She put her phone in the pocket of her pyjama pants and continued sorting her bag, packing what she would need and setting aside things she wouldn't. It wasn't long before she received a text back.
DM - Your company, was, as always, greatly appreciated. DM.
She cringed at the formality of his tone, but then, considering her initial message, thought he may be following her tone. She didn't reply, instead continued packing for work, ensuring everything was ready.
She didn't even attempt to make changes to her sex life that night. She thought it would take days to recover from her tryst with Malfoy. She went to sleep that night wondering how someone who was that great at sex, kept it up. How could you beat that? And would you want to? Could you do it every day or even every second day? Her body was aching, between her legs was sensitive and her head was still spinning.
Her first few days of training in the DMLE was completely draining. There was so much to learn, so many processes. The law was simple. She was coming to find that she knew most of it already, which helped tremendously.
The floor itself was huge. Upon exiting the lift, there was a long corridor, lined with doors on both sides. Around the corner there was a heavy set of double doors, which led to the Auror headquarters. A large open area was divided into cubicles, similar to the DCRMC, for each Auror. She couldn't count, but there were easily a hundred cubicles. Another set of double doors in the corridor led to an office, which had, it appeared, been recently renovated. The sign on the door read Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office and she was pleased to see that Arthur's title had grown in importance. She had known, from Harry years ago that this particular office was small and shabby with very little in the budget to do anything. However, in years gone by, it seemed it had seen significant improvements, having been moved from an office in a shabby corridor beside a janitor's closet, to its own department with an office adequately sized for the workload.
The people she met were incredibly helpful, however, there were a few who seemed suspicious of how she, Hermione Granger, someone with no experience in the Auror department, got to lead the department of magical law enforcement. She filed that issue away in the back of her mind, determined to come up with a solution - a way to prove herself, but not till later.
She hadn't so much as left the office and even throughout her lunch breaks, she ate a sandwich at her temporary desk.
Angsley's office was larger than the one in the DRCMC, which she immediately thought to tell Malfoy about. She then reconsidered because she had no idea how to interact with him now. Were they friends? Would it even be appropriate to send him an interdepartmental memo that said, "sucked in my office is bigger than yours"?
The DMLE itself was much much larger than the DRCMC. She had a much bigger workload and was gradually discovering that not only was she responsible for her own department, that in fact, every single other department, except for the department of mysteries, who answers only to Kingsley, was now answerable to her. It was her sole duty to ensure they were following the law, to the letter. She realised now, that she would be directly liaising with each departmental head, meaning, at least weekly interactions with Malfoy. She wondered how she would handle herself, seeing him again. She resigned herself to the fact that she would just have to wait and see.
There were several moments in those first days where she doubted whether she was cut out for this. Whether she had it in her. It was certainly not a job that could be done four days a week, as Kingsley had offered, however, she had a deputy and an assistance, which meant delegation was going to be high on her agenda. She arrived back at the burrow each afternoon, exhausted, too exhausted to consider having a sex life of any kind. She found herself collapsing beside Rose as she read her her bedtime story each night.
On Friday of her first week, she arrived at the department, eager to begin doing some actual work after having gone through each procedure, policy and process in the manual a dozen times each. She had spent Thursday shadowing Angsley as he completed his work and now was the day for her to venture out on her own.
She attended each division of the DMLE one by one, greeting everyone, from the team leaders to the assistants, treating them with equal enthusiasm. Harry had given her the thumbs up after her meeting with the Auror office. They had seemed eager to have someone knew lead the department.
After meeting with the Improper use of Magic office, Wizengamot Administration office and all the smaller sub divisions that existed behind the doors of the long corridor, the general consensus was that the department as a whole, while they were suspicious of Hermione, were eager to have someone new lead the department. She promised them she would do her best and based on her notorious nature for being studious and thorough, they seemed to believe her.
She took the opportunity on Friday to venture out of the office to the cafeteria. It had been a busy day and she needed something more substantial than a ham sandwich.
She ordered her meal and stood by the counter, waiting for it to be served. Looking around the seating area her eyes rested upon the brown hair of someone she wasn't sure she was ready to talk with yet. Part of her wanted to brush off the awkward way she had come to think of him. The way her body shivered at the thought of him doing unspeakable things to her. The way she had dreamt of him at least twice in the last week. She wanted to brush it off, but couldn't.
She was dragged from her thoughts when her number was called and her plate of fish, chips and salad was handed to her. She made her way towards an empty table, noticing that she would have to pass close by where Malfoy was seated. As she walked by his table, she saw that he had open in front of him, a file from the DRCMC. Her curiosity got the better of her and she took a seat across from him at the table, on a whim, before her mind reminded her of how insane it was to interact with him.
"Working on something?" she asked, setting her plate down across from his. He looked up at her and she felt his gaze penetrate into her own. There was that familiar surge of something within the blue grey of his eyes that made her feel very odd. She squeezed her thighs together involuntarily as the surge made its way south.
"I thought you were only working four days" he said, spinning the file around so she could see it.
"Just getting training out of the way and learning the ropes. I'll cut down to four once I'm confident in my job" she said.
He just nodded as she glanced over the file.
"Oh, my… That's tricky" she said, reading over the complicated issue. "What are you going to do about that?" she asked.
"Well, I thought Jenkins would be the best one to work on this, but I need to find out more information. The wizards responsible for this are known to my family" he said, before taking a forkful of his salad into his mouth. It distracted her momentarily. Those lips had done things to her. That mouth had made her grip the sheets and cry out into the night. It was proving to be impossible to have a normal conversation with him.
"I uh… I think delegation is a good idea. You can't get too involved with this. If it goes south…" she hesitated at the thought of him going south, on her "…it could seem like you were involved" she said, trying not to look away from the file.
"You're right" he said, sliding the file back towards himself.
"How has your week been?" she asked.
"Slow" he said. "You?" he asked, genuine curiosity resounding in his voice as he looked to her with an eyebrow raised.
"Busy. I feel like I'm back in Hogwarts, soaking up as much information as possible. I suppose you know what I'm going through now. Processes, policies… Its all quite involved" she said, looking up from her plate for the first time and catching his eye.
"It's a lot to take on. You're leading a large number of teams" he said, picking at a piece of cucumber on his plate.
"Have you seen the head of DMLE office?" she asked him.
He shook his head with his mouth full of food.
"Its almost twice as large as yours" she said with a grin.
"Its not the size of the office, Granger, it's the things that happen in there that counts" he said.
"Oh, is that so?" she asked.
"Of course. I work very hard in my office, I go above and beyond my job description, ensuring those in other departments, should they feel the need, are welcomed and adequately supported… in my office" he said, making her frown at his strange assimilation of words. Almost as if he was propositioning her.
"I'll keep that in mind" she said, returning her focus to her meal.
"You haven't looked at your phone, have you?" he asked.
"Not in a few days" she said, covering her mouth when she spoke, as she had just taken a bite of her fish.
"Figures" he said quietly.
"Have you been texting me?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.
"A couple of times" he said.
"Right. I'll uh… I'll have to have a look" she said.
After a few moments silence, Malfoy stood, "I have to get back to the office" he said.
"Ok, I suppose I'll see you then" she said.
He stood for the briefest moment, seeming to hesitate.
"Check your messages" he said, before leaving the cafeteria.
She finished her lunch quickly, eager to get back to the office and check her phone.