A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! BTW, this chapter has hints of H/G, so if
you don't like just gloss over it; I don't think it's very important to the
plot.
Disclaimer: All characters except for Robert Honeyduke and Paul Eastwood belong to J.K. Rowling.
Even before she spoke with Seamus, Hermione knew that she would stop working for him. It wasn't just because of Paul Eastwood's visit or because of the tabloids, she also didn't want Seamus to read so much into their relationship. She just wasn't sure of where they were heading. He didn't push the marriage question, and for that she was glad.
After going to a dinner party with some of Seamus' friends (mostly young businesspeople Hermione didn't know,) she decided to broach the subject of the job to him.
"Want to come in for a nightcap?"
"Yeah, thanks." He followed her into the apartment, stretching out on one of the sofas and watching her prepare his drink. After pouring him a whiskey, Hermione tentatively struck up a conversation.
"What'd you think of the party?"
He yawned slightly, sloshing his drink around. "It was all right, although I wish I could have introduced you as my fiancé. It was on the tip of my tongue at the meeting in Hogsmeade, when all the questions about girlfriends and wives went around."
This was her chance. "What happened at the meeting? I don't think you told me." She curled up on one of the huge leather armchairs across from him.
"You could have asked Ron."
Hermione could feel her temperature rise slightly. "Oh, could I? I suppose I should just stop working for you altogether; that way there'll be no Weasleys on the premises."
"That's not what I meant! It's just that your estranged husband comes out to be one of my biggest rivals for a company that could very well double the size of mine. It's (New sentence again) just a question of who will go the farthest to gain Honeydukes' favour."
"'Favour'? Are you talking about bribes?"
"Well, in a way. Robert Honeyduke is the current owner of the company…It was passed down through generations, see. Anyway, Honeyduke's really traditional, a devout believer in pro-life and the sanctity of marriage. He wants someone who shares his views. I'll bet Ron's already told him how happily married he is. I'd have set Honeyduke right if I had known."
Hermione sucked in a sharp breath.
"Sorry. I wouldn't have, really."
She regarded him for a moment before saying, "Seamus, you know that I'm still undecided on this marriage question?"
"I've decided enough for us, Hermione. I want you as my wife. You know that, don't you?" She let him wrap his arms around her, grateful for the extra warmth but not much else. "I'd marry you no matter what."
"Not while Honeydukes is selling out."
"I don't think that can be helped, love." She frowned at the 'love,' but luckily Seamus wasn't looking into her face at the time.
"I didn't say it could be. But I think…I think we should stop seeing each other for now."
"No! Look, we can still see each other. It'll just be more discreet, and you won't have to be working in the offices. Plus you'll have time to decide if you'll have me." She smiled at him, wanting to be in love with him with all her heart, but she still wasn't sure. He kissed her briefly before pulling away, checking his watch. "I've got to go."
********
The next day Hermione began cleaning out her office at Zonko's. Her team bought accepted her story of additional studying and didn't dispute her appointment of Dr. Berklin as the new head, getting to work at her insistence. She began Summoning her belongings into a bottomless bag, leaving the files for Berklin, who would be occupying the space. Hermione Apparated back to her home, where she set down her things.
Should she go and see Paul Eastwood, tell him that she left her job with Zonko's? Frowning, Hermione decided that it was a good idea, but she had no idea where to contact him. She didn't want to go through Ron, but then it dawned on her.
"Harry and Ginny!" She hurriedly grabbed her purse and Flooed there. She had Apparated enough for the day. As soon as she got there, a whirl of Titian-coloured hair enveloped her in a warm hug. It was none other than her sister-in-law, Ginny.
"Hermione! It's so good to see you." She beamed at her friend, beckoning her to the couch. "You've only been to see us once since you got here, and that was only for a few minutes."
"I thought we were your best friends," A mock-pouting voice interrupted them. Hermione turned and faced an older, more level-headed Harry Potter.
He had certainly grown. When she had left, Harry looked largely the same from when they were at Hogwarts; messy, longish black hair with those black round glasses, always swathed in too-big clothes, his eyes and face barely managing to hide an inscrutable sadness. This Harry was drastically different. No gigantic glasses; they were now thin golden frames, slightly oval. His hair was cropped short, (since Voldemort had been defeated his scar had faded to an almost imperceptible state) yet still unmanageable and sticking out at all directions. His clothes, well-fitting; jeans and sweaters gave him the look of a suburban Muggle instead of The Boy…erm, Man Who Lived. The largest change, however, was in his face. His eyes shone with happiness and his expression was almost always cheerful. He looked more like his father than ever. Hermione could see the photograph Harry had shown him in her head, and he looked just like it.
"Of course you are, I just had a report on cauldron bottoms I've been working on for the past month and I just COULDN'T tear myself away." She adjusted invisible horn-rimmed spectacles and looked down on the both of them severely. "Ten points from Gryffindor as well, for being disrespectful to the Head Boy."
"You sound just like Percy, Herm, honestly." Ginny giggled. "Harry, where's Jamie?"
"In his room…wait, scratch ignore that. He's right behind me. Come on out, it's Aunt Hermione." At this a 3-year-old boy stepped out from behind his father. He toddled towards Hermione as fast as his legs could go.
"Hi Aunt Hermione! Lookit my boomsthick." He held out a toy Firebolt 16 for her to examine.
"Wow, that's really something really impressive." She ruffled his auburn hair affectionately.
"Uncle Ron says I fly good." Her smile faltered a bit at the mention of Ron, but she continued talking to the child ungrudgingly. He smiled at her and Harry's green eyes shone at her from a very Ginny-ish face, complete with freckles. "Want to play Quidditch with me and my dad later? You can be on my mum's theam."
"I'm not very good..."
"Neither is mum." Harry burst out laughing.
"I hate to say it, Gin, but…Jamie's right!" he managed between laughs. Ginny glared at him and mouthed some words, which looked suspiciously like 'couch tonight.' At this Harry stopped abruptly.
"I don't think that's a very good idea, Jamie. I'm sure your Aunt Hermione has work to do."
The boy's face fell a bit, but he perked up again as his mother grabbed his hand. "Come on, I'll play Exploding Snap with you for a bit." Their footsteps got less and less noisy, and Hermione guessed they had gone to the little boy's room.
Harry turned his attention back to his friend. "So what's up? I know you; you wouldn't be here in the middle of the day for no reason."
She shrugged. "I just quit my job at Zonko's."
He stared. "What? Why?"
She was loath to reveal the extent of the increasingly more complicated situation to him, but gave him a brief, edited version of the events that had transpired. "So that's why I came; I thought you might have his phone number or something."
"I don't see why you'd think that but…one of the twins left his address book here the other day. If you don't mind snooping a bit, I suppose you can look in there."
"I don't mind."
He laughed at her and disappeared into an adjacent room, coming back a second later with the book. "Enjoy."
It was hard to read the handwriting and there was a strange odour emanating from some of the pages, but eventually Hermione managed to find the E's. She felt a bit squeamish about looking through other people's things, but the fact that the twins did not share the same scruples made her feel better. "Eastlake...Eastwood. There it is." She copied the number down, said her goodbyes to Harry, Jamie and Ginny, and Apparated down to her local pub, which had several payphones in the corner.
The phone rang twice. "Paul Eastwood."
"Mr. Eastwood? This is Hermione Granger."
The line was muffled, but she could still hear the sounds of a chair scraping back and a door being shut. It was picked up again a second later. "Call me Paul. How did you get this number?"
"The twins."
"Really?"
"No." She heard a stifled guffaw.
"I didn't think so. Would you mind stopping by my office?"
"May I ask why?" She was wary of going to the Headquarters of the Wheezes, especially right after leaving the Headquarters of Zonko's.
"There are some things we have to discuss about this agreement."
She frowned, but agreed. "Yes, I suppose we do. I'll Floo over right away."
********
"Mrs. Weasley-"
"Ms. Granger, please."
Paul's face did not hide his discomfiture. "From now on, the media, other executives, and employees of this company will be calling you by your married name ... I suggest you get used to it."
"Then call me Hermione."
"All right. Hermione it is." He gave her an appraising look.
"What? What is it?"
"I have a favour to ask of you." His fingers drummed the tabletop nervously. "I'd like you to move in with Ron."
"I thought you were insane before, but now I'm completely convinced." She shook her head. "There is no way I would ever do that. I'm sure Ron would agree with me."
"Hermione, if you two supposedly got back together after all this time, why would you be living in separate homes? That makes absolutely no sense. And I'd bet a great Galleon that Ron would feel the same."
"Then you'd better hand over the money, Eastwood." Ron's face was impassive. "No bloody way is that happening."
Paul shook his head. "This charade you two are willing to play is not going to come through without it." His eyes gleamed for a second. "Imagine what great press we'd get if it got out that the prestigious Hermione Granger and the famous Ron Weasley got back together, your love for each other winning out over any logic or reason. It'd be fantastic, Honeyduke would definitely notice."
"The answer's still no, Paul." His reply was so dismissive and impatient that Hermione longed to give him a good kick in the arse. Was he so unattracted to her that even a temporary reunion was repulsive? That She was definitely cut to the quick and she turned hastily, ready to leave. Then it struck her.
"I'm game." If this was all about spite, and power plays, and dishonesty, then she could play with the rest of them.
"WHAT?" Two voices echoed one another perfectly, but the faces were different. Ron's, shock and disbelief, Paul's happy and relieved.
"I say, Ron, if she's willing to do it, you should be too. She's trying to save your hide here."
Ron watched her with slightly narrowed eyes, making her swallow convulsively. The blue fire blazing in them made her turn to stare in the other direction, focusing instead on a Monet reproduction hanging from the wall. "I don't know. I know my wife much better than you do Eastwood; this sudden aiming to please is rather unnerving."
She kept her jaw clamped firmly shut; it was in danger of dropping open. "This isn't about revenge, Ron. It's about your business record. You're at the pinnacle of success and I'm glad to see you've finally got there."
"I didn't know success was such a turn-on for you."
"That's what attracted me to Seamus," she replied airily, and was ecstatic to see his mouth tighten.
"That's what this is all for, isn't it? So you can help out Finnigan."
"I just want to even the playing field."
"Good, I like a fair fight."
Paul could sense the storm clouds subsiding and hastily interrupted. "So you're both going to do it?"
Hermione nodded her assent.
"Fine," Ron replied. "I'll do it." He turned a sardonic eye towards his Public Relations head. "Are there any more requests before this is over?"
"Hmm..." Paul smirked. "How about the pitter-patter of little feet?"
"No, no, and no," she replied.
"No more jokes, Eastwood...this is hard enough as it is."
Was Ron's sense of humour completely demolished by his job? Or did he just recoil at any notion of her mothering his children? She felt that strange prick of sadness again, but held it firmly in check. "So what time should I Apparate there?"
"I'll send someone over to your place, so they can pick up your things first," he replied confidently. A moment's pause. "I'll see you tomorrow."
She watched him leave, feeling something like regret before she snapped to her senses. The two of them were back together, but under such horrible circumstances...
'What could possibly come out of it?'
A/N: Please review!!
Disclaimer: All characters except for Robert Honeyduke and Paul Eastwood belong to J.K. Rowling.
Even before she spoke with Seamus, Hermione knew that she would stop working for him. It wasn't just because of Paul Eastwood's visit or because of the tabloids, she also didn't want Seamus to read so much into their relationship. She just wasn't sure of where they were heading. He didn't push the marriage question, and for that she was glad.
After going to a dinner party with some of Seamus' friends (mostly young businesspeople Hermione didn't know,) she decided to broach the subject of the job to him.
"Want to come in for a nightcap?"
"Yeah, thanks." He followed her into the apartment, stretching out on one of the sofas and watching her prepare his drink. After pouring him a whiskey, Hermione tentatively struck up a conversation.
"What'd you think of the party?"
He yawned slightly, sloshing his drink around. "It was all right, although I wish I could have introduced you as my fiancé. It was on the tip of my tongue at the meeting in Hogsmeade, when all the questions about girlfriends and wives went around."
This was her chance. "What happened at the meeting? I don't think you told me." She curled up on one of the huge leather armchairs across from him.
"You could have asked Ron."
Hermione could feel her temperature rise slightly. "Oh, could I? I suppose I should just stop working for you altogether; that way there'll be no Weasleys on the premises."
"That's not what I meant! It's just that your estranged husband comes out to be one of my biggest rivals for a company that could very well double the size of mine. It's (New sentence again) just a question of who will go the farthest to gain Honeydukes' favour."
"'Favour'? Are you talking about bribes?"
"Well, in a way. Robert Honeyduke is the current owner of the company…It was passed down through generations, see. Anyway, Honeyduke's really traditional, a devout believer in pro-life and the sanctity of marriage. He wants someone who shares his views. I'll bet Ron's already told him how happily married he is. I'd have set Honeyduke right if I had known."
Hermione sucked in a sharp breath.
"Sorry. I wouldn't have, really."
She regarded him for a moment before saying, "Seamus, you know that I'm still undecided on this marriage question?"
"I've decided enough for us, Hermione. I want you as my wife. You know that, don't you?" She let him wrap his arms around her, grateful for the extra warmth but not much else. "I'd marry you no matter what."
"Not while Honeydukes is selling out."
"I don't think that can be helped, love." She frowned at the 'love,' but luckily Seamus wasn't looking into her face at the time.
"I didn't say it could be. But I think…I think we should stop seeing each other for now."
"No! Look, we can still see each other. It'll just be more discreet, and you won't have to be working in the offices. Plus you'll have time to decide if you'll have me." She smiled at him, wanting to be in love with him with all her heart, but she still wasn't sure. He kissed her briefly before pulling away, checking his watch. "I've got to go."
********
The next day Hermione began cleaning out her office at Zonko's. Her team bought accepted her story of additional studying and didn't dispute her appointment of Dr. Berklin as the new head, getting to work at her insistence. She began Summoning her belongings into a bottomless bag, leaving the files for Berklin, who would be occupying the space. Hermione Apparated back to her home, where she set down her things.
Should she go and see Paul Eastwood, tell him that she left her job with Zonko's? Frowning, Hermione decided that it was a good idea, but she had no idea where to contact him. She didn't want to go through Ron, but then it dawned on her.
"Harry and Ginny!" She hurriedly grabbed her purse and Flooed there. She had Apparated enough for the day. As soon as she got there, a whirl of Titian-coloured hair enveloped her in a warm hug. It was none other than her sister-in-law, Ginny.
"Hermione! It's so good to see you." She beamed at her friend, beckoning her to the couch. "You've only been to see us once since you got here, and that was only for a few minutes."
"I thought we were your best friends," A mock-pouting voice interrupted them. Hermione turned and faced an older, more level-headed Harry Potter.
He had certainly grown. When she had left, Harry looked largely the same from when they were at Hogwarts; messy, longish black hair with those black round glasses, always swathed in too-big clothes, his eyes and face barely managing to hide an inscrutable sadness. This Harry was drastically different. No gigantic glasses; they were now thin golden frames, slightly oval. His hair was cropped short, (since Voldemort had been defeated his scar had faded to an almost imperceptible state) yet still unmanageable and sticking out at all directions. His clothes, well-fitting; jeans and sweaters gave him the look of a suburban Muggle instead of The Boy…erm, Man Who Lived. The largest change, however, was in his face. His eyes shone with happiness and his expression was almost always cheerful. He looked more like his father than ever. Hermione could see the photograph Harry had shown him in her head, and he looked just like it.
"Of course you are, I just had a report on cauldron bottoms I've been working on for the past month and I just COULDN'T tear myself away." She adjusted invisible horn-rimmed spectacles and looked down on the both of them severely. "Ten points from Gryffindor as well, for being disrespectful to the Head Boy."
"You sound just like Percy, Herm, honestly." Ginny giggled. "Harry, where's Jamie?"
"In his room…wait, scratch ignore that. He's right behind me. Come on out, it's Aunt Hermione." At this a 3-year-old boy stepped out from behind his father. He toddled towards Hermione as fast as his legs could go.
"Hi Aunt Hermione! Lookit my boomsthick." He held out a toy Firebolt 16 for her to examine.
"Wow, that's really something really impressive." She ruffled his auburn hair affectionately.
"Uncle Ron says I fly good." Her smile faltered a bit at the mention of Ron, but she continued talking to the child ungrudgingly. He smiled at her and Harry's green eyes shone at her from a very Ginny-ish face, complete with freckles. "Want to play Quidditch with me and my dad later? You can be on my mum's theam."
"I'm not very good..."
"Neither is mum." Harry burst out laughing.
"I hate to say it, Gin, but…Jamie's right!" he managed between laughs. Ginny glared at him and mouthed some words, which looked suspiciously like 'couch tonight.' At this Harry stopped abruptly.
"I don't think that's a very good idea, Jamie. I'm sure your Aunt Hermione has work to do."
The boy's face fell a bit, but he perked up again as his mother grabbed his hand. "Come on, I'll play Exploding Snap with you for a bit." Their footsteps got less and less noisy, and Hermione guessed they had gone to the little boy's room.
Harry turned his attention back to his friend. "So what's up? I know you; you wouldn't be here in the middle of the day for no reason."
She shrugged. "I just quit my job at Zonko's."
He stared. "What? Why?"
She was loath to reveal the extent of the increasingly more complicated situation to him, but gave him a brief, edited version of the events that had transpired. "So that's why I came; I thought you might have his phone number or something."
"I don't see why you'd think that but…one of the twins left his address book here the other day. If you don't mind snooping a bit, I suppose you can look in there."
"I don't mind."
He laughed at her and disappeared into an adjacent room, coming back a second later with the book. "Enjoy."
It was hard to read the handwriting and there was a strange odour emanating from some of the pages, but eventually Hermione managed to find the E's. She felt a bit squeamish about looking through other people's things, but the fact that the twins did not share the same scruples made her feel better. "Eastlake...Eastwood. There it is." She copied the number down, said her goodbyes to Harry, Jamie and Ginny, and Apparated down to her local pub, which had several payphones in the corner.
The phone rang twice. "Paul Eastwood."
"Mr. Eastwood? This is Hermione Granger."
The line was muffled, but she could still hear the sounds of a chair scraping back and a door being shut. It was picked up again a second later. "Call me Paul. How did you get this number?"
"The twins."
"Really?"
"No." She heard a stifled guffaw.
"I didn't think so. Would you mind stopping by my office?"
"May I ask why?" She was wary of going to the Headquarters of the Wheezes, especially right after leaving the Headquarters of Zonko's.
"There are some things we have to discuss about this agreement."
She frowned, but agreed. "Yes, I suppose we do. I'll Floo over right away."
********
"Mrs. Weasley-"
"Ms. Granger, please."
Paul's face did not hide his discomfiture. "From now on, the media, other executives, and employees of this company will be calling you by your married name ... I suggest you get used to it."
"Then call me Hermione."
"All right. Hermione it is." He gave her an appraising look.
"What? What is it?"
"I have a favour to ask of you." His fingers drummed the tabletop nervously. "I'd like you to move in with Ron."
"I thought you were insane before, but now I'm completely convinced." She shook her head. "There is no way I would ever do that. I'm sure Ron would agree with me."
"Hermione, if you two supposedly got back together after all this time, why would you be living in separate homes? That makes absolutely no sense. And I'd bet a great Galleon that Ron would feel the same."
"Then you'd better hand over the money, Eastwood." Ron's face was impassive. "No bloody way is that happening."
Paul shook his head. "This charade you two are willing to play is not going to come through without it." His eyes gleamed for a second. "Imagine what great press we'd get if it got out that the prestigious Hermione Granger and the famous Ron Weasley got back together, your love for each other winning out over any logic or reason. It'd be fantastic, Honeyduke would definitely notice."
"The answer's still no, Paul." His reply was so dismissive and impatient that Hermione longed to give him a good kick in the arse. Was he so unattracted to her that even a temporary reunion was repulsive? That She was definitely cut to the quick and she turned hastily, ready to leave. Then it struck her.
"I'm game." If this was all about spite, and power plays, and dishonesty, then she could play with the rest of them.
"WHAT?" Two voices echoed one another perfectly, but the faces were different. Ron's, shock and disbelief, Paul's happy and relieved.
"I say, Ron, if she's willing to do it, you should be too. She's trying to save your hide here."
Ron watched her with slightly narrowed eyes, making her swallow convulsively. The blue fire blazing in them made her turn to stare in the other direction, focusing instead on a Monet reproduction hanging from the wall. "I don't know. I know my wife much better than you do Eastwood; this sudden aiming to please is rather unnerving."
She kept her jaw clamped firmly shut; it was in danger of dropping open. "This isn't about revenge, Ron. It's about your business record. You're at the pinnacle of success and I'm glad to see you've finally got there."
"I didn't know success was such a turn-on for you."
"That's what attracted me to Seamus," she replied airily, and was ecstatic to see his mouth tighten.
"That's what this is all for, isn't it? So you can help out Finnigan."
"I just want to even the playing field."
"Good, I like a fair fight."
Paul could sense the storm clouds subsiding and hastily interrupted. "So you're both going to do it?"
Hermione nodded her assent.
"Fine," Ron replied. "I'll do it." He turned a sardonic eye towards his Public Relations head. "Are there any more requests before this is over?"
"Hmm..." Paul smirked. "How about the pitter-patter of little feet?"
"No, no, and no," she replied.
"No more jokes, Eastwood...this is hard enough as it is."
Was Ron's sense of humour completely demolished by his job? Or did he just recoil at any notion of her mothering his children? She felt that strange prick of sadness again, but held it firmly in check. "So what time should I Apparate there?"
"I'll send someone over to your place, so they can pick up your things first," he replied confidently. A moment's pause. "I'll see you tomorrow."
She watched him leave, feeling something like regret before she snapped to her senses. The two of them were back together, but under such horrible circumstances...
'What could possibly come out of it?'
A/N: Please review!!