NOTE: Thank you so much for all the follows! You guys are the best readers a girl could ask for.

Special thanks again to Gia1802 for beta reading for me.

love always,

bkc

Chapter 9

Had Draco been able to open his mouth, Nigel would have gotten an earful of profanity and inappropriate statements. As thankful as he was that Nigel appeared to have a steady hand as Draco had yet to be bumped, jerked or dropped, it hadn't stopped him from cursing Nigel in his head. He'd only reached 'Sodding fucking wanker' by the time Nigel knocked on Hermione's office door. He heard a soft 'come in' followed by Nigel requesting for Hermione to please open the door for him as to not drop Draco.

"What do you mean, not drop Dra-" Hermione swung the door open to see Draco floating, laying perfectly still. "Oh. I see. No coming willingly, I see?"

"Not so much, Miss Granger. I know you don't want magic used on the players, but I wasn't sure what else to do," Nigel carefully set Draco on the rug in front of Hermione's desk. It was an awful white rug in his opinion. It appeared to be a faux fur rug, no surprise there. As he laid, still in a body bind, he could feel the long strands tickling the backs of his ears. He fought the urge to try and scream out in annoyance, only to remember once more, he could not speak.

"It's quite alright Nigel. I assume Malfoy wasn't moving when you preformed the spell?" Nigel shook his head in agreement. "Then it should be fine. If you'd like to remove the curse, Michael came looking for you about ten minutes ago. I'm surprised you did not pass him on your way up. I sent him to the locker room."

"Very well, Miss Granger. I will go look for him." With another quick flick of his wrist, the spell binding Draco's body was finally removed.

"Awh! Bloody hell! Make it stop!" Apparently Draco could take the tickling no longer. Quickly realizing he had the ability to shout, he jumped up off the floor, turning to give Nigel a piece of his mind only to discover the wizard was already gone. Fired up, he directed his rage to the only other person in the room.

"What in Merlin's name do you bloody well think you're doing Granger? You can't just request me at will. I'm not some lap pup for you to train and order around!" His face had gone red as his anger creeped up. Hermione, however stayed calm, cool and collected never once showing a hint that he's outburst had fazed her.

"Malfoy, take a seat please. If you must, grab a drink first to calm yourself." She motioned to a built in bookshelf next to her sitting area before taking a seat herself on the couch. He eyed her suspiciously, before moving his eyes to the liquor she'd mentioned. Briefly a look of surprised crossed his face as he noticed an aged bottle of fire whiskey. Pouring himself a glass, emptying it and pouring another immediately after, Draco took a seat on the couch next to her, noticing with dissatisfaction there were no other chairs nearby.

"Alright Granger," he smacked his lips after taking another sip. "What's all this nonsense about?"

She seemed to falter a moment, surprised at his sudden calm. He took notice. He'd store that information away for next time. Dusting off an invisible speck of dirt on her pencil skirt, she clasped her hands in her lap, turning to look at him.

"Malfoy, I know we have a history. The media knows, your teammates know, so do the staff. Granted, out history isn't buddy buddy best friends," he snorted in agreement as he took another drink. "It doesn't stop the rumors. Today for example. What the hell was that about? I've got a lot riding on this job, Malfoy, and I can't afford for you to botch that up for me."

A hint of hurt passed through his eyes for just a moment, before he slammed his glass down on the table. "Granger, I had nothing to do with that shit that happened today. I don't know what Levski's problem was, but I didn't start anything with him. I've got just as many eggs in this basket as you do, Granger. My reputation is hard enough to overcome without added drama like this."

"My point exactly. That is why, I feel we should cancel flying lessons. It's apparent everyone know believes there is more going on here and I'm not sure pictures of me holding your waist on a broom are going to help any." Her clasped hands were now being rung as she stared nervously at Draco awaiting an answer. Looking from her hands to her eyes, Draco reached for his glass, downed the contents and stood from the couch.

"Fat chance Granger. You cancel lessons and I walk. It's officially in my contract so you don't have an option unless you've got the galleons to buy out the clause…"

"Clause? What clause?" She too, had now stood from the couch. He'd noticed her heels had been discarded by her desk. He smirked, using his height to his advantage and took a step closer to her.

"The clause Michael wrote in for me. He swore he'd ran it by you." He noticed her eye dart back and forth, studying his face as if trying to catch him in a lie. "Oh so he didn't run it by you. Well, that's a conversation I'd love to watch. Granger, you skip lessons and I get your job." Her jaw dropped. Surely he was bluffing. That wasn't possible. Michael would never write in a clause like that without checking with her first. Turning from him, she headed for the filing cabinet, searching until the tab 'Malfoy, Draco' caught her eye. Not even bothering to take it to her desk, Hermione opened the file, frantically searching the text for Draco's claim. She was about to let out a sigh of relief when she couldn't locate anything of the sort until on the second to last page, her nightmare was confirmed.

"I already let last week slide Granger. Don't think I'll let you skip out again." He'd moved behind her. She could feel his hot breath on her neck. It sent chills down her spine. She'd never been this close to him before. His scent was intoxicating. Between the news of his contract and the smell of his body, her knees had gone weak. Her grip on the filing cabinet tightened.

"Malfoy, you arse."

"See you Thursday, Granger. I don't recommend being late either." Shivers went racing down her spine once more. She heard him turn away and walk towards her door, slamming it behind him. Finally allowing her knees to give out, Hermione fell in a heap on the floor, curling her legs to her chest.