A/N: Things are heating up, but no worries, there's fluff if you squint lol

—

The stomping boots of Artemis Jigger, his snarling mutterings and the subsequent slamming of Snape's office door made the employees at the Department of Potions Research and Development nervous. What was happening? What was this about? Well, they could guess at that. Everyone had seen the article. No one was bothered by this. As long as he wasn't going to start favoring Hermione, it was fine in their book. They all privately hoped that him getting laid regularly would improve his mood. But obviously there was some trouble brewing. This was confirmed when Hermione Granger herself stormed in, clutching some sort of document, making a beeline for Snape's office.

Today was going to be an interesting day.

—

"This morning while packing my bags to move into Snape Manor, I received a Ministry owl containing this," she deposited annall too familiar looking piece of parchment on his desk. "Relocation papers, Severus! Did you know about this?!" Hermione queried, visibly upset.

"Of course not! Artemis Jigger just came in this morning to tell me about the Board's decision," Severus snapped, causing Hermione to flinch and seeing that made him frown. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Sorry, they just sprang this on me as well. Apparently the article has the Board up in arms. They were upset about not being told first. So they called an emergency meeting, purposefully leaving me out of it and have pulled this crap to save face. There's no precedent for this level of retaliation I'm sure of it."

Hermione looked ashen as she sank down into the chair opposite his desk. "So what's next? Am I going to be reassigned?"

"No. We are not taking this lying down. I have requested a meeting to get this decision overturned," Severus reassured, "There's no way that I will let them do this. You belong to R & D. These men are idiots."

"But what if the decision is not overturned. What then? I don't want to work anywhere else. This is the top potions department in the Ministry and probably the private sector as well. I don't want to end up brewing a boil cure for St. Mungos. I want to do more with my life!" Hermione exclaimed, eyes tearing up in obvious frustration.

Severus felt his heart twist at her tears and he rounded the desk to gather her in his arms. "I...I'm sorry that you are taking the brunt of this Hermione. But I promise I will fight for you. Plus you're coming with me. If they stand by their decision even after facing you, then I'll quit. I couldn't continue working here and have them treat you like that. You are far more important." More tears trickled down her face and he wiped them away gingerly, "Please, trust me, I never would've put your career in jeopardy if I had any inkling that the Board would react like this. But we will fix this. So please don't cry. I can't bear seeing those tears in your eyes."

Hermione nodded, "I'm sorry, I'm just frustrated with all of this. What did we fight for if we aren't allowed to love who we want in peace? I love working here and I wouldn't stand for any special treatment. I want to earn my place and the respect of my peers. And I've worked hard just to be here. If they can get away with this it's like it's all been for nothing. And I don't want you to have to quit. You love this job!"

"True, but not as much as I love you. If worse comes to worse, I will be fine. Now, my lioness, you and I need to focus on our plan of attack. I don't want to walk into that meeting unprepared."

He smirked when he saw the fire in her eyes once more. She looked determined, fierce, and extraordinarily beautiful when she was on a mission. "You're right, time is of the essence. Let's get to work, Severus. They're going to rue the day they ever messed with us."

—-

The first thing Severus and Hermione did was collect as many books, articles and any other materials they could find related to employees dating, specifically when it was the boss and his or her subordinate. As expected it was actually much more common than what the Board was making it out to be, but there didn't seem to be any standard protocol for this type of incident. In some departments nothing was done and in others there was an internal quarterly review to ensure partiality and adherence to that specific department's code of ethics. There was only one case of relocation, but it was between two aurors and neither lost their job, they just couldn't be placed on the same squad nor could they be partners. But there was no precedent for a complete relocation to a different department or any other disciplinary actions.

So the real question was why were they being punished?

"Why do I have the sneaking suspicion that all of this goes deeper than us being together?" Hermione said quietly, looking up from her notes.

Severus sent her a look that was clearly one of agreement. "I've been thinking the same thing. What that reason is I cannot yet decide. I'm sure my own enemies are various, but…" he paused, not sure how to phrase his next few words. He did not want to alarm her unduly, but it was a gut feeling that he had and during his many years spent as a spy he learned to trust those feelings.

Hermione's eyes narrowed, and she bit her lip, "What is it Severus? What are you thinking?"

"That it isn't me that they have a problem with, or rather, me alone…. Think about it, even with my trial and troubled past I was still granted top pay and I am the head of a department, automatically placing me on the Board. Now, I have no seniority, but it's still more influence and power that they had to give me," Severus pointed out. "True, I've only been in position for a few years but I've already accomplished more than my predecessor. A fact which was acknowledged openly in the department and on the Board. But then I hired you, and in less than six months you've managed to put us closer to a viable treatment for after effects from the Cruciatus curse than we've had since the research began. You're a genius Hermione. And someone is obviously threatened by it."

The curly haired witch blushed at his words, the fact that he was speaking plainly and not trying to flatter her made the compliment feel all the more sincere. It wasn't the first time that he called her brilliant but he never put it quite in those terms. "So, what does that mean for us? We obviously can't tackle that now. We don't even know who it is or how deep this all goes…"

"True," Snape agreed, "But I wasn't expecting for us to do that. At least, not today anyway. This meeting will be a good launching point for that investigation. No matter what happens, I want you to remain calm and follow my lead. You need to also read the reactions of the people in the meeting. And I mean everyone, not just the person speaking. I will be doing the same. Pay attention to their body language. People often give off several nonverbal cues that say much more and are often truer than the words coming out of their mouth."

Hermione couldn't help but feel like she was going into battle. "Okay Severus, I'll do my best."

He nodded, "That's all I ask. Now, it is nearly noon, gather your notes, we have a meeting to attend."