A/N: Hello! It's May and that means I'm posting another Marcus focused story :) I've got twenty chapters planned for this one and I hope to post a chapter each week day through the month of May, but I still have eight chapters to finish, so I might not be able to hit the target. You can follow me on tumblr (nauticalparamour) where I post sneak peeks, story updates and answer questions.
Huge thank you to SynnDagger, who has been an amazing beta for this story and many others! Her assistance has been invaluable to me.
Please let me know what you thought of chapter one and be on the lookout for chapter two tomorrow!
Hermione was wrapping up her work on the most recent iteration of the Werewolf Assimilation Laws when her office was invaded by overly hungry Aurors.
"Could you just sit down for a minute, I'm almost done," Hermione asked politely, though she felt a bit annoyed that Harry and Ron were interrupting her again.
It seemed that some habits die hard.
"Look at how much work you have to do here," Ron said with a frown, throwing his arms up in annoyance. "Kingsley would still trip over himself to give you a job with the Aurors. We never have to work late or miss lunch."
Hermione rolled her eyes, wondering how Ron was doing well in the department given his clear aversion to hard work. He was all about action in the field and not so interested in the mountains of paperwork that were taking over his desk. Soon, he would learn that just because he ignored it did not mean it would wink out of existence.
"I'm very happy with my job here," Hermione told him primly, hating how Ron constantly questioned her career decisions. She still worked in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, only she had chosen to work in Administrative Services. She was intensely interested in the law and she was determined to rid the wizarding world of some of their most archaic and harmful laws. "I'm not afraid of a little hard work."
Ron snorted. "More like you're addicted to it," he countered. "It means that you don't have to have a social life. You always have an excuse."
Hermione rankled at the suggestion that she was somehow friendless and boring. She was perfectly happy with her social life and her work life was incredibly fulfilling.
"That's not very nice, Ron," Harry scolded. "You won't be laughing when Hermione is heading up the DMLE one day." Her friend looked down on her proudly, practically beaming with the thought of her future.
"Ha," Hermione said. "I think that will be you, Auror Potter. There are already whispers of you making Head Auror."
Harry went pink with embarrassment and she could see that Ron was annoyed at the suggestion. Even though he'd grown out of most of his jealous tendencies, he still hated to be out of the spotlight and in someone else's shadow. Ron was a good Auror, but he was likely not going to find happiness in his own job if he kept comparing himself to Harry.
"Well, are we getting lunch or not? We only get an hour and the time is ticking," Ron said, standing up. His question was punctuated by a loud growl of his stomach.
Hermione sent off her latest memo and stood as well, grabbing her purse. "Yeah, let's go," she agreed, ready to get a bit of fresh air. Being one of the most junior members of the department meant that Hermione had an interior office, which meant no chance of a window or sunlight for her.
They made their way out of the Ministry of Magic and into Muggle London. The three of them had been getting lunch together at least once a week since Hermione had joined them at the Ministry after completing her "eighth year" at Hogwarts and sitting her NEWTs, something Harry and Ron had declined to do. They quickly learned that being seen together would send people and the press into a titter, so they would frequently take their lunches in a small pub in the Muggle world to avoid attention.
Ron and Hermione went to their favorite booth while Harry put in their usual order at the bar.
"I'm probably going to have to stop coming here so often. Lavender wants to put me on a pre-wedding diet," Ron moaned, not pleased with his future eating habits.
Hermione rolled her eyes again at her friend's antics. "Well, maybe you could just get one sandwich instead of two," she suggested. "Besides, you are plenty trim. If Lavender thinks you need to lose weight, she is being a bridezilla."
Her redheaded friend bristled at anyone talking poorly about his beloved fiancee and told her as much. It seemed that Ron was quite the contrarian now, arguing with her for argument's sake. Even though he had been moaning about a diet a minute ago, if Hermione thought it was ridiculous, Ron needed to defend Lavender's honor.
"What are you arguing about now?" Harry asked, bringing a round of drinks.
"Hermione called Lav a bridezilla, whatever that is!" Ron said, gesticulating wildly.
Harry and Hermione shared a private look. "Lavender wants Ron to go on a pre-wedding diet and that might mean he can't join us anymore for delicious bacon butties," Hermione teased before taking a bite of her sandwich.
They really were the best, so indulgent, with a healthy slather of mayo to complement the bacon, lettuce and tomato. Hermione was glad when the waitress brought out their plates just a moment later. She hadn't realized how hungry she was.
"Okay, Ron, that is a little bit ridiculous," Harry agreed with her, wincing at the thought. "Do you really think that you have it in you to diet for the next year?"
"I'll do anything to make sure our wedding day is everything that Lavender has dreamed of," he said, puffing out his chest.
Again, Hermione and Harry locked eyes. She could practically hear Harry screaming the word bridezilla. Ron would never understand, seeing as he had rose-colored lenses on when it came to Lavender.
"Mate, if Ginny asked me to do something like that, I'd lose it," Harry told his friend honestly. "Work is hard enough as it is. I'm not going to give up one of the tiny comforts that I have at work."
"Then you don't love my sister enough," Ron said, frowning, the wheels in his mind turning, wondering if he should still give his blessing to the pair (as if what he thought truly mattered).
"Just because I love her doesn't mean that I have to agree with everything she wants or give into everything she asks for," Harry countered with a frown.
"Every relationship is different," Hermione said diplomatically. Even though she wouldn't submit to Lavender's whims if she was Ron, she wasn't, so it didn't really matter in the end. "I'm sure she's pleased to have such a caring partner."
Ron melted like butter at the compliment. "She's just under so much pressure right now to get everything perfect," he explained. "It's so hard to make everything go off without a hitch. This engagement party will be a good test run."
Harry and Ron could not be planning more different weddings if they tried. Ginny and Harry had opted to have their wedding at the Burrow, much like Bill and Fleur had a couple years before. They loved the idea of getting married under the tent, with good food and music and even better company. It was going to be traditional, simple. Harry had never been interested in the limelight and his wedding would be no exception to that.
Lavender and Ron were the opposite. Ron loved being the center of attention, and Lavender enjoyed playing the role of the princess. She wanted full glamour and all eyes on her. She was trying to plan the most exclusive party of the year - expensive and luxurious. Hermione didn't begrudge them that, even if it wasn't something she would pick for herself.
"I don't know how we're going to get the guest list down. We're already over 300 people," Ron boasted, pleased with how popular they were. "At least I told them we wouldn't have to worry about Hermione bringing a plus one."
"Excuse me?" Hermione asked, completely caught off guard. "Why wouldn't I have a plus one? I'm a distinguished guest, aren't I?" For being so concerned with their image, withholding her a plus one seemed like quite a faux pax.
"Come on, Hermione. It's not like you ever date anyone," Ron said with a snide little grin on his face. "So I'll just save you the trouble of trying to find someone last minute."
"Wow," Hermione said, furious that he was being such an idiot. Sure, she didn't have an incredibly active love life, but it wasn't as if she was completely hopeless when it came to getting a date. She knew that she could be quite pretty when she set her mind to it and it wasn't as if wizards didn't like her.
"It might not be a bad idea," Harry said gently. "I mean, you'll probably be busy helping out with your official duties. You wouldn't want to leave your date all alone, would you?"
Et tu, Harry?
Hermione could feel the hot sting of tears in the back of her eyes. "That sounds like a horrible time," she said, barely able to speak over the lump in her throat. "Just make sure everything goes smoothly like I always do. And then, when we get to the party, I can just sit in the corner alone like the sad single person I am."
"I didn't mean it like that," Harry rushed to reassure, immediately on the defensive. It was obvious that he did not want to be on her bad side when he knew she would be helping out immensely with the organization.
"Yeah, well it came across that way," Hermione argued. "Listen, I'm not a wedding planner. I'm honored to be in your wedding parties, but if you've only asked me so I can handle the details for you, then I don't want to do it."
"Of course not," Harry assuaged gently. "I want you to have fun."
"Then you'll give me a plus one?" she asked, needing to know that they weren't just going to write her off again. She was sure that she could have fun all on her own, but now it was a matter of principle.
"Sure," Ron agreed, rolling his eyes. "Even though I know it will go to waste."
"It won't go to waste!" Hermione insisted indignantly. Without a second thought, she blurted, "Actually, I am seeing someone and I was planning on bringing him to both weddings."
"Oh come off it," Ron needled. "How come we haven't met him yet, then?" he asked, looking at her skeptically.
"It was casual," Hermione lied, knowing that she had no secret boyfriend to speak off. Why was she digging herself deeper and deeper into this lie? "And now it's more serious. I didn't want to introduce you to him if it didn't work out."
Harry looked skeptical as well. "Well, are you going to tell us some details? Who is he?" he asked. Harry always tended to be a little bit protective of her, which was sweet. He seemed to be putting his new Auror skills to good use, though.
"If you must know, I was planning on introducing you to him at Ron's engagement party this weekend," she explained. The lie tasted bitter in her mouth. "So you'll just have to live in suspense until then."
Merlin's Beard, this was a terrible idea. How was she going to come up with a whole entire boyfriend before Saturday? Why had she given herself such a terribly short deadline to work with? She supposed she could always ask Viktor to come for the weddings if all else failed, but he had been linked with that Russian model recently. She didn't want to upset his chances at love if she could help it.
Well, she would just have to figure something out if, otherwise she would never live down the humiliation she was sure to receive from Ron.
"Now, can we please talk about anything else besides weddings?" Hermione asked, hoping that they would be satisfied with her answer. "You've got a whole year to obsess over every little detail. Tell me about your cases."
That seemed to finally get the boys out of wedding planning mode and their minds off of her boyfriend she'd promised to bring. They immediately delved into some of the details of their most difficult case yet. There were a few remaining Death Eaters at large and they were proving to be incredibly slippery. There were few sightings and even fewer tips of their whereabouts.
Hermione in turn told them how she was hoping to pass anti-corruption legislation that would prevent those captured Death Eaters from getting off lightly. It seemed that the Wizengamot had a problem with bribery, though it did not surprise Hermione. There was a large concentration of pureblood wizards in the chamber and it was obvious that they were used to being catered to, receiving gifts for favorable judgement.
But that wasn't going to continue if she could help it.
In the blink of an eye, their lunch hour was over and the trio returned to the Ministry of Magic. They rode the elevator back up to Hermione's level.
Ron could not resist giving her one parting reminder of the bold claims she'd made. "I can't wait to meet this mystery boyfriend of yours," he said with a smug look, like he knew that it was a lie. "You'll have to introduce us first thing Saturday."
Hermione turned and plastered a saccharine grin on her face as the doors closed and the elevator began to pull away. "Of course," she called out.
Stomping back to her office, she spelled her door locked behind her. Dropping her head back against the door, Hermione groaned low in her throat, wondering how she had been so stupid. She crossed the room and gave the trash can a petulant kick before collapsing into her chair.
"Godric, Granger, you've got yourself in it this time," she whispered to herself.
Of course, Ron and Harry always had something to say about her love life or lack thereof. Harry at least seemed somewhat genuine in his concern. It seemed to her that he really wanted to see her happily cared for by someone who loved her, just like he was with Ginny.
Ron's concern seemed a bit more sinister to her. Yes, he was her friend, but they had also had a history. They danced around one another for years while at Hogwarts; when they finally kissed during the final battle, Hermione was disappointed to realize that that romance would go nowhere. She only thought of him as a friend.
He certainly hadn't waited to move on, though he seemed overly concerned with emphasizing how happy he was without her.
Hermione didn't see why she should need a boyfriend at all. After all, she'd only just graduated from Hogwarts a few months before and was still getting settled into her career. She didn't feel the need to get engaged immediately like Harry and Ron had.
Normally it wouldn't bother her, but something in her had just snapped today.
The lie was out of her mouth before she knew she was saying it. She was just so sick and tired of Harry and Ron assuming that she was chained to her work. Though maybe they had a point. She did put in a lot of overtime but it was only because she believed that the work she was doing was important.
Even if other people didn't always see that.
Hermione couldn't focus on work now. Instead, her mind was desperately running through potential wizards she could convince to go as her date. It was doubly annoying that Lavender and Ron had already invited basically everyone they knew, so it ruled a lot of people out.
She supposed that she could always hire a Muggle to help her out. It would require a lot of maneuvering, explaining magic and making sure they didn't think she was a complete nutter, not to mention absolutely flouting the Statute of Secrecy. And it would mean dealing with an Obliviator when the farce was over. That seemed a cruel and unusual punishment to inflict on a Muggle just to get one over on her friend.
By the end of the day, she was utterly frazzled and hopeless. The obvious thing to do was to come clean, but that was not acceptable; she was not going to let Ron win this time.