Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, it is the property of the brilliant J.K Rowling. This story is the product of her marvellous characters and world and my imagination.

Prompt Word - Boss

Characters - Hermione Granger & Tom Riddle (in disguise)

Set post-DH but ignoring the epilogue.

Boss

Hermione hates her new boss.

Well ok, maybe hate is a bit of a strong word, one she tends to reserve for Voldemort and his worst Death Eaters. Still, she definitely strongly dislikes her boss.

Gareth Nott is distantly related to her old classmate Theodore Nott, though the latter seems to avoid him like the plague, rather oddly. Most people, however, adore the new head of the DMLE, even if he's come out of nowhere to scoop the prestigious job Hermione personally thinks a dozen others deserve more.

There's no denying he's fiercely intelligent in a way that draws Hermione in, but there is something cold about him, something in his eyes that makes her wary.

His interrogation ideas are pretty antiquated (although they do get results), his moral code more than a little skewed, he spends a disturbing amount of time considering how Voldemort could have adapted his methods to win the war and he has a worrying familiarity with extremely dark spells.

Hermione doesn't share her suspicions with anyone. Most people are too dazzled by Gareth's intelligence, charm, looks or some combination of the three. Harry would possibly agree with her, but he's so busy with Auror duties and she doesn't want to worry him – he's got a tendency to charge in without a plan and she thinks this situation might warrant a little more subtlety.

So, she waits and she watches.

Hermione is intrigued by her new boss.

She's still suspicious of him, but she can't help but be fascinated too.

So much of her time was spent at Hogwarts reading ahead, wishing for advanced classes, wanting to know more. Harry and Ron are great, but they aren't intellectually inclined the way she is, they don't crave knowledge.

Gareth Nott can cite obscure references. He's read Hogwarts: A History enough to quote it. He performs complex magic with ease. He's happy to talk with Hermione for hours about spell creation, Arithmancy, higher magic and numerous other topics.

The wizard might veer a little further towards the darker side of magic than she's entirely comfortable with, but he's also the kind of companion she's spent years wishing for.

She can't think about romance right now, though, even if her relationship with Ron has been over for six months.

There's so much to do at the moment. Not only is she working hard at her job, she's also helping Kingsley research and reform the old, prejudicial laws.

She has no time to overthink her interactions with her boss.

Hermione might, perhaps, fancy her boss.

Just a little.

Ok, rather a lot.

She tries to fight against it. He might tick pretty much all the boxes in her mental checklist for perfect guy, but they still argue constantly about procedure and ethics and dark magic.

They're currently debating in her office about a recent case he had overseen and whether his investigation techniques had been entirely appropriate.

It appears they have rather differing views on what constitutes 'appropriate'.

She'd wandlessly silenced the room as soon as he entered, knowing there was a high chance they'd get into an argument and not wanting their colleagues to hear it.

Hermione fully expects this to end as it usually does, with the two of them eventually calming down and trying to compromise. It's not a perfect system, and he gets the upper hand more than she'd like, but since he is her boss and she can't deny he's efficient there isn't much else she can do apart from continue to try and persuade him around to her way of thinking.

This time it's different, though.

This time, he kisses her.

And Hermione's brain, which is always working, freezes for a full twenty seconds as she tries to process what is happening.

She hasn't got much experience with kisses, just Viktor and Ron. This, however, is absolutely wonderful.

When they break apart Hermione is breathless and flushed, torn between hexing him or just kissing him once more.

His mouth quirks into a smug smile, "if I'd known this was the best way to win an argument, Granger, I'd have done it ages ago."

Part of her wants to shout, wants to point out that he's definitely not won the argument.

Instead she finds herself pulling him down for another kiss.

She's never felt anything like this. Mental and physical attraction combined burning inside her.

They pull apart for a second time more reluctantly.

"Well, this was a surprise," she says after a few seconds of silence.

"Really," he raises an eyebrow, "I've been expecting it almost from the moment we met."

She flushes pink, "I … err."

He doesn't seem bothered by how flustered she is, "I'm afraid I have a meeting to get to, but perhaps you'd like to talk later, over dinner?"

"Yes," she nods, "right, that'd be good."

She curses as he leaves her office, not exactly delighted that he's managed to shake her composure.

Still, she smiles to herself. Dinner – she's looking forward to it.

Unfortunately, a few moments later Harry comes rushing in with a panicked look on his face, "Hermione, who was that who just left?"

"Gareth Nott," she tells him, trying not to blush, "he's my new boss. I told you, remember?"

Harry doesn't laugh, only looks terrified, "Hermione, if you de-aged that man about a decade and a half, he'd be the spitting image of Tom Riddle in Hogwarts."

Her eyes widen, "Harry, that isn't funny."

"I am deadly serious, Hermione, they look identical."

Hermione thinks about her boss. She thinks about all the questions he's asked her about the war, how he sometimes almost seems to admire Voldemort, and the way he likes to think about what Voldemort could have done better (getting into the mind of the enemy, he says). She remembers his coldness towards the Malfoys (who betrayed Voldemort) and fondness for the more severe forms of interrogation.

She thinks how she's just kissed him.

Merlin, what has she done?

Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed it.

Feel free to suggest ideas for further chapters by giving me a single prompt word and, if you want, the name of a character other than Hermione and if you want it to be romance, friendship, general etc. I can't guarantee anything as my muse can be fickle, but I'll try.