A/N: Not sure if people are still reading this, but who know? I thought I owe you (or this story) an update. Enjoy.
Chapter 6 – Rule Number 6: Don't Lie To Your Boss
It cuts like razors if the one you'd been looking up to, admired and respected, snarls at you and looks at you with so much disdain in their eyes. Calling you an idiot!
Seventeen years of sadness filled Amanda's heart, and she remembered the same look given to her by her own mother.
"YOU IDIOT!" her mother's voice roared in her ears, "CAN'T YOU DO ANYTHING RIGHT?"
"What, you failed your O.W.L.s? Even as a freakish witch you can't do anything right! You dumb idiot!" again, her mother, "Get out of my sight!"
IDIOT!
Idiot!
Even though her initial plan had been to save up some money first before moving out, the moment Amanda was of legal Wizarding age, right after she graduated from Hogwarts, she had moved out of her parents' home. No, not moved out. That would be an understatement. A lie.
Her mother had practically—and literally—kicked her out in the middle of the night, when seventeen-year-old Amanda was caught by her mother in bed with her boyfriend, Bradley, having sex in her parents' bedroom. Of all places. And drunk. What a disastrous scandal! And the entire neighbourhood had witnessed the scene when Amanda banged against the door, crying and begging her mother to let her in, wearing just a blanket around her bare torso.
She had been drinking with her boyfriend, celebrating her graduation, and when they got home, they fell over each other and ended up in bed together. Her parents had gone out, while her twin-brother, Landon, had stayed at the party which he and Amanda had attended together.
Once she had fallen asleep in exhaustion, she had awoken by a sudden and painful pull at her hair. The next thing she knew, she was outside on the street with Bradley in his boxers and pants clutched in his hands. At least he had the time to gather his clothes and was somewhat dressed.
He had placed his hand on the small of her back, kissing her hair. He had said, "You can live in with me."
Snatching back from the horrid, nightmarish memory, Amanda opened her eyes and felt the hand of her former boyfriend still gripping her waist. She looked up and saw grey irises, a smirk on that stubby face, and was for a moment confused.
Her eyes filled with tears and she pushed the man away.
What am I doing here?
Disoriented and looking around, she found the elevator doors down the corridor, headed towards them and pushed the buttons hastily.
"Amanda," a familiar voice called from behind her. She knew that voice. Turning around, she looked at Miss Granger's distressed face. "Wait, oh God, I'm so sorry, Amanda, please wait."
"I—I didn't mean to come here, Miss Granger. And I don't know why I did," Amanda said without looking at her boss, pressing the elevator buttons again as if by doing so would make the elevator come faster. Merlin, she hated Muggle inventions. They were slow and impractical in moments like this.
"No, wait, don't leave," Miss Granger said, grabbing her arm. "I'm sorry, I thought Draco was standing behind me." She frowned when she looked behind her where Mr. Malfoy stood waiting at her door, leaning against the frame with his arms crossed, smirking amusedly. Then she turned back to Amanda, smiling a little. "I didn't mean to snarl at you like that. Please, stay."
"Are you sure? I mean you have a visitor," Amanda scoffed and nodded towards Mr. Malfoy, smiling a bit wretchedly. "He's hot; you have an impeccable taste when it comes to men." Despite herself, she laughed softly behind her hand, though she had to admit that she meant it.
Draco Malfoy was a good-looking and attractive man, a heartthrob in his mid-twenties, no wonder Miss Granger was so infatuated with him even though she would never admit it. It was the blush upon her cheeks that betrayed her when Amanda caught her staring at Mr. Malfoy's picture the other day. Now he was finally here—in the flesh. And Miss Granger was begging her, Amanda, to stay.
"Amanda? Will you stay? Please?" Miss Granger said again, almost desperate. Even though Amanda didn't understand why, she couldn't refuse that cute look Miss Granger was giving her. And Miss Granger had never begged her like this before.
"All right," Amanda finally said.
For some reason, Miss Granger wouldn't let go of her hand when they walked back to her apartment door. With her free hand she rummaged in her purse for her key and wand, to unlock it in the Muggle way and then use magic to remove the locking spell.
Once the door was open, she pushed Amanda quickly inside and tried blocking the door when Mr. Malfoy was about to follow them inside. Putting one foot between the door crack, he groaned.
"Oh, Merlin, that's so mature of you, Granger, seriously," he said, shaking his head.
"Go—away!"
"No, we need to talk!"
"I said—No!"
There was some struggle and shoving from both sides of the door. Mr. Malfoy rather looked like this was all some childish joke, a game only they understood, their teasing and playful actions. He tried poking Miss Granger so that she moved aside, while Miss Granger's cheeks were red in embarrassment or frustration, and she even laughed when Mr. Malfoy tickled her side.
"I'm serious, go away," she half-laughed, half-demanded.
It was quiet then, and they were talking in hushed voices, with Mr. Malfoy's face only partly visible through the door crack. It was obvious from the onset that they were so into each other.
Amanda looked away, feeling awkward.
What am I doing here? she wondered again, dropping her gaze to the ground.
At last, Mr. Malfoy was inside, and Miss Granger was looking annoyed as she brushed her hand through her dishevelled hair.
Giving Amanda a courteous smirk that would have set most women's heart flattering—it didn't affect Amanda though—Mr. Malfoy went straight to the living room as if he owned the place.
"You have a new couch," he called from the living room after a short moment. "What's wrong with the old one?"
Miss Granger helped Amanda out of her robe, looking at her with that expression on her face as if to say, 'Save me!', then she called back to Mr. Malfoy, "I had to dispose of it. Too many bad memories."
"Yeah, 'three memories' in one night, if I recall," he said when he went back to the foyer, winking. He took both Miss Granger's and Amanda's robes to place them inside the cabinet, like a proper gentleman. Miss Granger swatted his arm for his remark.
"Would you help me in the kitchen, Amanda? Malfoy, do you want something to drink?"
"Anything's fine," he said curtly, walking back to the living room to look at the picture frames on the mantle above Miss Granger's fireplace.
Once they were alone in the kitchen, Miss Granger was shaking. She pulled out a glass from a cabinet and poured in water from the faucet, emptying its content with three big gulps.
"Are you all right, ma'am?" Amanda asked.
"Didn't I tell you to call me Hermione when we're at my place," she whispered, almost out of breath. She got two additional glasses and opened a bottle of gillywater from her refrigerator, and filled the glasses with it.
"Are you sure you want me to stay, Miss, uhm, Hermione? Because I don't really want to impose on you, you know, and—"
"No, it's alright. Please," Miss Granger—no, Hermione—said fiercely. "If anyone's waiting for you at home, send them an owl if you want. Just…don't leave me alone with him. I'm begging you."
Amanda arched an eyebrow at her boss' strange behaviour, fidgeting with her blouse. "Tell me what's going on, and I'll stay. Is something wrong? You look like you're about to cry, uhm, ma'am." she amended, trying to catch Hermione's eyes. She wouldn't look back at her.
Hermione transformed water from the faucet to ice cubes, adding them in the glasses. Then she got a tray from a shelf and placed the glasses on it, all the time not looking at Amanda. Burying her face in her hands, she breathed out heavily, then turned, upon taking a deep breath, to Amanda.
"Would you be my girlfriend?"
*.*.*
They sat for over an hour in Hermione's living room, Draco sitting on the sofa opposite to Hermione and Amanda on the leather couch, catching up on ol' good days as if they had been best friends who hadn't seen each other for years. It was just mostly him doing all the talk, smirk-smiling now and then, eyes soft, while rambling about his life and the world.
For a moment Hermione wondered if it was really Draco Malfoy sitting in the same room with her, reminiscing about the past, sipping gillywater, and for once being civil with her. Because Draco had never been this talkative, he'd never been a good listener either, now he even paid attention to the smallest details of everything Hermione had told him so far. Amanda sat beside Hermione, her chin rested on her hand, whilst her elbow propped on her knee. Looking quite with great interest at Draco—or maybe she was just being polite—she nodded, smiled, and added her two cents when the subject revolved around changing lifestyle, Quidditch, and work.
It was as Draco had mentioned in all his Owls to Hermione, about his life, that he had travelled a lot due to work as an Auror, that he'd seen monuments, pyramids, volcanoes, waterfalls, while hunting down the remaining Death Eaters. A former Death Eater himself, now working for the Order. Impressive how much he'd changed over the years.
While he sat there, rambling about random things in his life, never once did he mention his wife, as if she didn't exist. Though Hermione did expect that his wife, Astoria, was the reason he had come to her, Hermione, in the first place, that, maybe, he only wanted legal advice. That maybe he would tell her that he and his wife were undergoing some marital issues, and that this was why he 'needed to talk to her'. But this didn't seem to be the case.
And whenever he ended one of his adventurous stories, he would add, "You would've loved to see that, Hermione, the waterfalls, the ruins on the island," while his eyes softened and an actual smile appeared on his lips, or "I'd like to take you there someday." Was he seriously implying to run away with him, elope, like some teenagers in love?
And Hermione would notice Amanda biting her thumbnail, grunting quietly, while she'd look at Hermione as if expecting a certain reaction.
The first lights of the London Bridge were lit, and it was dark outside, when Hermione noticed the late hour.
"By the way," Hermione asked before calling it a day, "why were two fighting earlier—" she gestured with her thumb towards the main door, "—you know, when I arrived. What was that about?"
Amanda ducked her head as her cheeks flushed, while Draco leaned back and smirked at her. "Sorry 'bout that, Miss—Hermione. Right after you ditched me in the café, I thought I'd follow you home, then Mr. Malfoy showed up." She glared at Draco, then looked away shyly, saying, "And since you told me you were going to meet a client for private reasons, I asked him if he was the client, and he said he was."
Hermione looked accusingly at Draco. "He's not."
"Admittedly, I checked your time planer, so there was no schedule for a Mr. Malfoy for today, so I know he was lying. I told him to go away, but he got very personal, said what a 'devoted secretary' I was, and whether I came here regularly, and if I got 'extra payment' for this 'kind of job'."
"Malfoy!" Hermione screeched, as Draco put his hands on his stomach and laughed. Hermione had never seen him laugh like that before; he looked suddenly ten years younger, like back in their fifth year when their relationship was still new and everything was exciting.
"I was kidding, Merlin!" Draco chortled, once he found his breath back. "C'mon, as if I was really thinking you were going out with women!"
"And what if I were?" Hermione retorted, challenging. She felt Amanda's gaze from the side.
Draco looked taken aback, but he didn't seem appalled by the thought, either. "Don't be ridiculous!"
"I'm serious." Hermione tried to hold eye-contact, though she had to admit that there was something in his eyes, the look he gave her, that pulled her towards him. She averted his eyes, and looked at the coffee table in front of her, saying, "The last time we've seen each other was two years ago. Things have changed, Malfoy, so what if I'm not going out with men anymore? Isn't that a…revolting thought…two women…together?" she enunciated.
"Au contraire, ma chérie, I find that thought rather hot," Draco said, leaning in, "So, who's the other woman you're going out with? Don't tell me it's her," he said with a nod to Amanda, eyes tightening to little slits, "because I don't buy it."
Hermione placed a hand on Amanda's thigh, stroking it, without looking at her. She felt her twitched underneath her touch and Amanda let out a small squeak. "What Amanda and I are doing in our private time is our secret, you know?"
Draco arched an eyebrow, his eyes on Hermione's hand that was stroking Amanda's thigh. She prayed he didn't notice her slightly trembling. "You can't fucking fool me, you know?" he spat. Hermione swallowed, unable to respond to that. "You know why?" he asked.
Hermione waited, suddenly intrigued.
Sneering, he said, "While your sycophantic secretary, Amanda, is working for you, her beloved husband, Bradley Watson, however, is working for me. What, Hermione, are you implying that you're not only having an immoral affair with your employee, but also with a woman who's married?"
Hermione pulled her hand back as if burnt, threw a fiery look at Amanda, stood up, and disappeared in her bathroom.
*.*.*
What was I thinking?
She said it was all right. She agreed to it. She said it was fine.
What was I thinking?
Hermione sat in her empty bathtub, her face on her knees, arms around her legs.
How humiliating!
"Would you be my girlfriend?" Hermione had asked Amanda, her heartbeat quickening, her face warming but still she somehow managed to look the younger woman in the eye.
"Er…sure, would you like to go out on a date first?" Amanda had replied, giggling softly. She thought that Hermione was only kidding her.
"No, that's not what I mean," Hermione had said. "Can you act as my…erm…girlfriend while he's here? Act like, well, we're together. It won't probably take much this time, but I'm sure he'd be back again, so he needs to see us together. Just, I don't know, be…sweet to me, like—" Hermione felt like an idiot; she was a goddamn lawyer but was always rendered speechless whenever looking into Amanda's eyes. Or maybe it was the situation that made her all nervous.
"Am I not always being sweet to you?" Amanda had replied in a small voice, taking the tray from Hermione's hands. "Let me get that for you." As she had moved closer, she had given Hermione a peck on the lips as if that was a natural thing between them, then smiled. "Get used to that," she had said, winking, before she turned around and left the kitchen.
There was a knock at the door, and Hermione was pulled back from her reverie. Her visitors were still here, she figured, and how long had she locked herself up in the bathroom?
"Hermione?" It was Amanda, knocking again. "Mr. Malfoy just left. So I'll be leaving now, too." She paused, and when she spoke again, her voice almost sounded playful. "I guess, my, uhm…beloved husband will be waiting for me at home. Hermione? Are you all right?"
Hermione almost cried, or maybe she was already crying, for she felt tears on her face, dropping on her knees. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, not answering Amanda.
"Can I come in?" There was a short silence, then the doorknob turned. Amanda came in with her wand in her hand, holding it up. "Sorry to intrude, but you didn't lock the door with a spell."
"Can't you just go away? It's late and I have to get up early tomorrow," Hermione said in a hoarse voice, sniffing.
"Do you intend to sleep in the bathtub?" Amanda asked, looking amused. "Are you crying?"
"Amanda, can't you just go away?"
"You have to make up your mind, you know. First you begged me to stay, now you're just throwing me out without even saying goodbye?"
"Well, I've changed my mind. Get out!"
"Hermione, you didn't really believe him, did you?" Amanda said in a tone as if she was hurt. "That I'm married?" she snorted. "Right."
Hermione looked up, seeing Amanda leaning against the sink.
"He really knows you so well. He knows how to get to you that easily, and honestly, I was surprised that you believed him that," Amanda said sadly, biting her bottom lip and then dropping her gaze to her bare feet. She always took her shoes off when she was at Hermione's place even though the floor was cold and Hermione had told her not to; it showed her respect to the owner. "Bradley Simms, not Watson, used to work with Mr. Malfoy before, but he quit his job since his position required a lot of travelling. I dated him back in school, we even lived in together for a few months, then we broke up. Perhaps he mentioned me to Mr. Malfoy, told him that I was working for you, I dunno."
Turning around to check herself in the mirror, Amanda removed the clips from her hair and ran her hand through it. She was watching Hermione from the mirror reflection as she re-did her hair, combing it neatly with her fingers.
"Bradley was just not the One for me. I was young and naïve, and due to family issues I ended up living with him in a small, run-down apartment. I had no other places to go and no money," she explained. Then her eyes drifted back to Hermione's. "Maybe we should get to know each other better, Hermione, I mean, on a personal basis. We might even become good friends." She flashed Hermione her patented killer-smile, her hair shiny and neat, her cheeks rosy. "As far as it concerns men, we seem to have the same type, and I still think that Mr. Malfoy is breathtakingly hot, his arrogance is even a plus. I love self-confident men."
"I don't understand," Hermione said slowly, confused. "Can I ask you something personal? But don't get it the wrong way, all right?"
"Oh, sure."
"Am I correct to assume that you…like men, as in…you're straight?" Hermione said, feeling uncomfortable to ask the other woman about her sexual orientation in such a clumsy way. And why it even mattered to her. "And I assume you have only been in heterosexual relationships before, you fancy men, but—" Hermione faltered, looking away bashfully. "—I don't understand. When you look at me—argh, nevermind. I knew I've only been delusional and even entertained the thought that someone else might fancy me," she cringed, giggling nervously, "—and then the kiss. It felt so real. Oh goodness."
"When I first kissed you in the night club?" Amanda asked out of the blue, her eyes crinkling at the corners, her smile reaching her eyes. "I'm sorry about that."
"What? So you do remember?" Hermione half-shrieked, gobsmacked. "I—I—Oh Cripes! Do you think this is funny? Some stupid joke?"
"No, I don't really remember," Amanda replied, "but Landon told me I made out with a woman. Two weeks ago you asked me if 'I remember'? So I asked Landon if I did something stupid lately, and the last time I went out was over a month ago, when I got wasted. So I added one and one together, though I never would've thought that the woman was you. I mean, you—going to such a party haunt like Hell's Night Club? And then suddenly you invited me over to your place, then you kissed me." She added dreamily, closing her eyes, "I'd never forget that." She giggled and blushed.
"Oh God!" Hermione moaned, hiding her face. "So, what do you mean? You like women, too?"
"No," Amanda replied tersely, "I don't like women. Just one in particular."
Hermione gripped her knees tighter. "And Landon, who's he?"
"I thought you met him already. Didn't you see the resemblance?" Amanda laughed, not catching Hermione's confusion. "He's my fraternal twin brother. His hair is lighter than mine, while his eyes are brown instead of blue. He comes more after our mother, while I come after my good-looking father."
"Oh." Hermione laughed now, too. "I didn't know you have a twin brother."
"What else do you want to know?" Amanda encouraged her, moving closer to sit on the edge of the bathtub. "Uhm…There's one thing I'd like to ask you, Hermione, but it's very personal. And you don't have to answer if—" she trailed off.
"Well, ask me anything. I don't have any secrets," Hermione replied lightly, reaching up a hand to brush a hair strand behind her ear.
"It's something I can't ask you," Amanda looked at the ceiling, not explaining further. "I've been wondering about it the whole time. But I'm almost certain you won't tell me. Ah—just forget about it." She giggled and sighed at once. "Anyway, anything else you'd like to know about me? I don't have children, so we can cross that out from the list, too."
Hermione hesitated. There was a question on her mind. "So the woman you're interested in—"
Amanda flinched, looking embarrassed. She coughed in her fist, her cheeks and ears red. "Hermione, you probably should get out of the tub," she said instead, disregarding Hermione. "Isn't it a bit uncomfortable sitting there?"
"Yes, right." Standing and trying to get out of the tub, Hermione slid off the edge and fell directly into Amanda's arms, colliding with the softness of her chest. Squeaking in shock, she pulled back quickly, her face feeling hot. Amanda was still holding her.
"You okay?"
"Nothing happened, I'm fine. I'm fine," Hermione reassured her, waving it off. Since the bathroom was too small for two people, and Amanda was blocking her way, she didn't know how to move without touching Amanda again. Amanda released her arm and leaned against the sink again, looking at her from the side. Hermione just couldn't look at her.
She headed quickly for the door, when Amanda kicked it shut with her foot. There was a mischievous smile on her face, a glint in her eye. "Is it such a hardship for you, Hermione, to be alone with me in one small room?" she asked in a low voice.
"N—No. It's just—it's really late," Hermione said lamely, gesturing with her hands. Why is she doing this? "You should leave now," she said, looking directly into Amanda's eyes.
And this was a big mistake…
Amanda tugged at Hermione's blouse, lightly, her smile playful though somewhat wicked, to pull her closer to her, until they stood only inches away from each other. Hermione couldn't help but give in to this invisible force, her body not even making any effort to protest. The sudden closeness made Hermione feel nervous and uncomfortable, simply because Amanda just looked at her through heavy-lidded eyes, as if she was seeing through her, their lips almost touching but not close enough that they actually touched. Hermione held her breath, whimpering at the back of her throat. She placed her hands against the sink behind Amanda as she felt her knees buckle.
Amanda looked at her, intently, with just thumb and indexfinger holding the hem of Hermione's blouse to keep her from moving. And all she did was—stare.
And Hermione felt a sudden desire to kiss her, filling her body with heat. She looked back at Amanda's eyes—blue—as if looking into them for the first time. But she felt too shy and too insecure to do the first move; the light was just too bright, and Hermione felt too exposed. No, she couldn't. It was so wrong to even think it. She wanted to move, draw away, lean back, look somewhere else. But she couldn't.
What's happening? Why can't I move?
After what seemed like several minutes, Amanda smiled, nodding once. "Now I know how he did it," she said in her normal voice, almost contented with herself.
"What?"
"Draco Malfoy—I know now how he did it, and how you fell in love with him," she said.
Then, as she turned off the light, she finally leaned in and kissed Hermione.
A/N: 30 people so far have added this to their story alert/favorite. ehem... thank you. Thanks for reading and sorry for the slow update. I'm not sure whether I should finish this story. It's almost always the same plot as my other ones, except this one contains Dramione, a straight pairing as the supporting main pairing. . I've put my priorities on my other femmeslash fictions. You might want to check them out: "What A Wicked Game You Play" and its spin-off, "Fire In The Belly".