Saturday was full of inquisitions about where she had been, why she had returned so late (or early) and what she had been doing that kept her out till sunrise.
She easily deflected questions by turning the blame on Ron's attitude before she left, asking him why he thought she would want to come home to him when he treated her so poorly.
They fought most of the day, on and off, either ignoring each other or snapping at the other. Hermione just wanted to go out and leave the Burrow for the day but her head was pounding and she determined that perhaps Sunday was a better day for it. After lunch time, she lay down with Rose in her day bed and fell asleep, not even waking when Rose crept out a couple of hours later.
She woke at dinner time to a gentle shaking from George.
"Mines… Hermione, wake up" George said.
"Oh, Merlin, its dark outside. How long did I sleep for?" she asked.
"Quite a while. Its dinner time" he said.
"Oh, right, ok. Where's Rose?" she asked.
"She got up a few hours ago. Ron's actually being a dad to her" George said, sitting at the end of the bed.
"Well, there's a first time for everything, right?" she asked.
The two of them sat talking for a little while before a rumble in Hermione's stomach drove her down for dinner.
"Oh, well, look who decided to join us" Ron said to Rose as he fed her mashed potato.
"Mummy sleeping" Rose said.
"Yes my dear I was sleeping but I'm up now" she said, helping herself to a plate.
Ron looked from Hermione to George and back to Hermione before scoffing.
"What's the matter little brother?" George asked.
"Nothing. Just a bit convenient hey. The two of you, hanging out so much" Ron said.
"Don't be ridiculous Ron. George just came to wake me up" she said.
"Doesn't surprise me, anything to be near you" Ron mumbled.
"Ronnikens a bit jealous?" George asked, ruffling his hair.
"Yeah, jealous that you seem to be wanting to spend so much time with MY fiancé" Ron said, making Hermione cringe at the word fiancé. She was absolutely not in any mind to marry Ron. Not now and maybe not ever. If anything, her mind was closer to separation than life long unification.
"Ron, you need to just stop" Hermione said, looking at him then intentionally to Rose, who was looking at the adults with confusion.
"No, I wont stop. Hermione, you need to stop this. No more going out" he said, standing up and leaving the table.
"There's no way…" she began.
"Yes, there is. You can't go out anymore Hermione. Its not fair on Rose" he said.
"No, Ron, what's not fair on Rose is you having these types of discussions in front of her. She's a toddler, Ron" she whispered through gritted teeth as she closed in upon him.
Ron looked from Hermione, who was right up in his face, to Rose who was eyeing them with curiosity.
"I'm going to bed" he said, a look of disgust on his face.
Hermione continued with her dinner, helping Rose finish hers while putting off an inquisition from George.
"I just don't want to talk about it, George. Ron and I have always been complicated. Everyone knows this. Its why no one bothers. Just leave it be and things will smooth over in time" she said, completely believing what she said.
It was true, she and Ron had been through this cycle, more times than she could count and every single time, it sorted itself out.
"Ok, but I mean it Mines, I'll hex him if he keeps this up. You did nothing to deserve the way he's been treating you" he said.
Part of Hermione felt like she needed Ron to be treating her like this, however. She had done something. She had been unfaithful. She had cheated. She lied. She had been going out of her way to hide things for weeks. The way Ron was treating her, was called for. Just not in the way that everyone realised.
"You may be right George, but Ron is complicated. You know this as much as I did when I agreed to marry him" she said. They spoke for a while before Hermione set about the nightly routine, getting Rose ready for bed.
She was so confused to see how much her interests towards Geroge had changed since she had found interest elsewhere. Perhaps, to Hermione, the interest wasn't George, perhaps it was just someone. Someone who showed interest in her?
She laid on the daybed in Rose's room again that night, looking up into the ceiling that had been enchanted to twinkle like the sky above the Burrow. Her mind was going 100 miles an hour and it was tossing up between being so overwhelmingly mad at Ron, to being completely obsessed with Malfoy.
She opened her phone and part of her was disheartened to see that she hadn't received a text from Malfoy and part of her was constantly reminding her that this was purely a physical thing. They weren't in this for an emotional connection. Her emotions were linked to Rose and to Ron, she had no desire to ever develop feelings for Malfoy. Of all people. No, Malfoy was purely for physical, sexual gratification.
HG - Hi
DM – You made it home?
HG – of course.
DM – you didn't text me
He had been worried when she didn't let him know she made it home safely. How she could get lost between his cottage, her parents house and the Burrow she had no idea, but he seemed to worry all the same.
HG – you didn't text me either. How do I know that you made it home safely?
DM – I'm a male, of course I'd be safe to make it home alone
HG – Couldn't get into much trouble flooing from two floos away.
DM – all the same I have been worried.
She also worried about him, if she thought about it. Had Astoria been ok with him not coming home that night? Had he put up with her incessant nagging all day?
HG – Any issues with Astoria?
DM – None. She's been out with her 'cousin'.
HG – code for…?
DM – whoever the fuck shes fucking
HG – so rude
DM – you don't like the word fucking?
HG – not ordinarily
DM – but you like the action, right?
HG – no
DM - …?
HG – I love the action… when done correctly.
They stayed up texting each other for hours that night before going to sleep. Hermione knew she'd regret it when she had black circles under her eyes in the morning but somehow, she found herself unable to put her phone down.
***
She sat at her desk in her newly renovated office on Monday, feeling completely at home. She had run a meeting for her immediate department, coordinated some team building exercises and arranged some more interdepartmental meetings between the heads of departments for later in the week.
The days flew by quickly, with loads to do at work. Ron had sat down and apologised to Hermione, too little too late, she felt, but at least they were back on speaking terms and she was sleeping in the bed again.
On Wednesday night, Ron was eager for sex and Hermione just wasn't. She knew though, that if she didn't relent, he would make a scene and they'd fight again, so, when he yanked at her pants as she was on the verge of falling asleep, she helped remove them and rolled over, allowing him to hump her till he came, before rolling back over.
"That was great" he said.
"Mmm hmm" she murmured back.
"Why don't you… see a healer or something?" he asked her. Her eyes flung open and she bit back a snappy response.
"Yeah I might look into it" she said.
"I just heard that some people do that and it makes things better for them. I want you to enjoy this as much as I do Hermione" Ron said, rubbing her arm.
"Yeah I'll make some enquiries" she said, before shutting her eyes and going to sleep.
***
On Friday after lunch, she eagerly awaited the arrival of Malfoy for their meeting. He was to attend her office and she would make all attempts to conduct herself appropriately.
When he arrived, however, she looked him up and down and the texts they had been sending back and forth all week replayed in her mind. All the flirting, all the sexual innuendo, the flat out chatting about sex, about sex between them, about the things he wanted to do to her and fully intended on doing, drove every sense of intention to the place between her thighs that was currently building with heat.
"Can I get you anything?" her assistance Hilary asked.
"No thank you, I'm sure Gr… Miss Granger has facilities in her office" he said before shutting the door, practically in her face.
"How polite of you" Hermione said when he turned and faced her.
"I'm a very polite person" he said with a smile.
"Normally" she said, walking around her desk and making her way to the coffee station in her office.
"You don't even drink coffee Granger, why do you have this here?" he asked.
"I do like to cater for those who stop by" she said, making him a coffee just the way he liked it.
When she turned around to hand him his cup, he was right behind her and she jumped, almost spilling it on her.
He took the cup from her hand and placed it on the bench.
"I don't want a fucking coffee" he said in a low voice.
"What do you want?" she asked, knowing very well what he wanted.
"I want you to lift up your skirt and bend over your desk so I can fuck you hard and fast from behind" he said, not batting so much as an eyelid.
She was stunned. They had joked through texts about sex in one of their offices, but she didn't think that they were serious.
"You're kidding?" she said.
"Not even remotely" he said, placing his hands on her hips and guiding her to her desk, backwards.
She tripped slightly and he held her in place, causing her to giggle and him to smile.
This was actually nice. This moment. However, the 'nice' moment very quickly turned into something intense, fiery, sexual. His lips were on her as soon as the back of her thighs touched her desk and his hands were up her skirt at the same time.
His hands made quick work of divesting her of her underwear and hoisting her up onto her desk. He placed one hand on her chest, laying her so her back was flat against her papers and her backside was at the end. He took her legs and spread them wide, baring her throbbing core to him. He knelt down and his mouth quickly began its assault. She was on fire. He said he wanted to bend her over the desk, she didn't expect this. She also didn't expect to cum so bloody quickly. It was the first time she had had to stay quiet and it was a struggle.
When her breathing evened out a little, but not too much, he directed her to stand, before turning her around and, with a hand on her back, pushed her upper body flat against the desk. He spread her high heeled feet apart with his shiny black shoes and in an instant, he had thrust into her, filling her, completing her, hitting her in all the places inside of her that he, and only he, knew how.
It was completely new to her, having him take her from behind, but there was something so sexy about it. It was hard and it was fast and Hermione was biting her hand not to cry out in ecstasy as she came undone once more. She could feel the muscles inside of her clenching around him, squeezing him, urging him towards his own release and with a final thrust, he spilt himself into her and fell forward, his chest coming to rest against her back.
He kissed the back of her neck before placing his hands against the table and pushing himself up. He took her skirt that was gathered around her hips and pulled it down, taking her underwear from the floor and handing them to her. She turned and stood, leaning back against the desk as she dressed and composed herself with a smile.
"My legs are like jelly" she said to him as she waved her wand to sanitise and clean the desk.
"That's how they should be every time" he said, "that's how you know it was done right" he said.
"Shall we conduct the meeting?" She asked, walking around and sitting in her chair.
"Oh… right… you actually wanted to have a meeting" he said, walking to the coffee stand and collecting his still hot cup of coffee.
"Of course, I mean, this… this was great, but work is still work" she said, unable to clear the smile off her face and the red glow from her chest and neck.
He smiled right back, his grin that showed her his dimples. The one where she knew he meant it.
She gestured to the seat across from her and he sat, before they launched into their business meeting.