Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of J.K. Rowling. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this story. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material. No copyright infringement is intended.

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Hermione stumbled forward as the apparated onto the street in front of her small cottage-like house. Malfoy grabbed her waist to steady her, causing a deep flush to cross her cheeks. He quickly withdrew his hand, like it was never there, and opened the gate for her. Their eyes met as she looked up to him quizzically, and immediately regretted his. His steely gaze caused her stomach to drop, and she pushed herself through the gate and away from his entrancing cold eyes. He followed her to the door, she was all too aware of his presence – his body felt as though it was radiating heat, as she struggled to find her keys in her purse.

"You'll be alright then Granger?"

He asked smoothly, Hermione's neck hairs rose unexpectedly causing her to flinch away from him. She was caught once again in his steel grey eyes, and her eyes couldn't help but fall to his structured jawline and soft looking lips. Impulsively she licked her own lips and swallowed hard, what the hell was she doing? Quickly she looked back into her bag and thankfully pulled her stubborn keys out of her bag to avoid any awkward conversation with the former Slytherin.

"Yes, thank you Malfoy. I'll see you at work on Monday."

Hermione crisply said, avoiding his gaze as she unlocked her door and slid inside. She leaned against the door once inside, letting her bag slide off her shoulder and onto the floor with a soft thud. She didn't realize how heavy she was breathing until she was in the silence of her home. Why on Earth was her heart beating so hard? Gaining her breath back she stepped out of her heels, and pulled her hair out of the fancy knot at the back of her head. With a heavy sigh she fell back into her sofa, happy to be back in the comfort of her home. She wasn't used to this style of meetings, her work with Magical Creatures had been a lot of behind the scenes paperwork. Hermione wasn't used to being so out of her element, let alone having to lean on someone like Malfoy for help, literally. A heat rose from her chest across her cheeks, causing Hermione to roll her eyes and lay her head back on back of the sofa. What was wrong with her?

Dragging herself off the sofa and towards her bedroom she tried to shake the feelings out of her herself. Her stomach dropped when her eyes landed on her bed. Ron. He was still dressed, and had passed out on top of the sheets, it looked as though he had tried to stay awake for her to come home. All thoughts of Malfoy fell from her mind as she was flooded with guilt, she hadn't even thought about him all night, she never told him how long she would be. She hadn't given him any thought. Sliding out of her dress she quietly slid under the covers, trying not to wake the ginger. With a heavy sigh she closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep, her brain flooded with a plethora of emotions.


BANG! BANG!

Hermione's eyes snapped open, and she immediately regretted it. Her head was pounding, the loud clanking from the other room wasn't helping matters either. Groaning loudly she slid from her bed and wrapped her house robe around her body before stumbling out into the kitchen, where an irate ginger awaited her. Hermione rubbed her forehead and moaned lightly before leaning against the door frame,

"Good morning Ronald, you're rambunctious this morning."

Ron stopped his slamming and looked over at her, his face as red as her hair,

"Have fun last night?"

He growled, turning back to his toast which he was crushing as he aggressively spread marmalade on it. Hermione grimaced at the sound of his voice, regretting not taking a pepper-up potion before greeting her boyfriend.

"It was work Ron, I was completely out of my element to be honest, but I made the best of it."

Chuckling darkly, he shoved a piece of toast in his mouth and angrily crunched on it, he didn't bother swallowing before snapping at her,

"You smell like you were dunked in a barrel of Fire Whiskey."

Hermione rolled her eyes at this, and dug a small vial out of her fridge and downing it quickly. Her headache started to lift and her thoughts became less foggy, thank Merlin for magic. She closed the fridge door and tried to calm the frustration that was building in her chest, unfortunately her patience was pretty thin this morning,

"Honestly, Ronald you're seriously going to go there? How many times have I taken care of your drunk ass after one of your Auror meetings? Yes, we were drinking. Yes, I was out late. But it was work, Ron. It's my first case, and I really need to be successful to assert myself in this position. I'm sure you can understand that."

Ron shoved the rest of his breakfast into his mouth before tossing the plate into the sink. Glaring at each other from across the kitchen he seemed at a loss for words. Maybe he was trying to censor himself for once. With a final heavy breath he pushed past her and grabbed a handful of Floo Powder,

"I'm going to work."

And with that he disappeared in a glow of green flames, leaving Hermione riled up and frustrated. What a hypocritical twat. Any remorse that she had felt the night before was washed away by her frustration at Ron's firecracker reaction to her. It wasn't a surprise that he exploded like this, he could never think things through rationally, his emotions always got in the way. "That's why you make such a great couple." Ginny would always say to her when Hermione went to her with frustrations. Ron's sister was convinced that Hermione needed his emotional responses to balance out her calculated ones. If anything Ron was bringing out the same attitude in her. Often times she would end up in a shouting match with the redhead where neither of them was being heard. Shaking her head she headed to her bathroom to shower, hoping to wash away her feelings of frustration.