A Post Hogwarts Affair 14

My feelings were bordering on savage. I didn't know quite what to think. After my business lunch with Draco Malfoy had come to an end, I'd Apparated back to work and stared forlornly at oil files. Suddenly they had really begun to bore me. I could care less, and for the first time in my life I found myself procrastinating (shocking, I know).

Now normally I would have called my muggle friend Teresa immediately, and prodded her in the direction of oil, but right now I felt like there was nothing in this world that I wanted except a steaming hot bath. With soft pink rose petals (an indulgence I would not admit under wandpoint).

Maybe I could leave early. There was a good chance that Draco wouldn't notice, and if I bribed Janice or Ellen or any of the other workers here, perhaps they could cover for me if indeed he came to check…er, perhaps, a family emergency would suffice?

Yeah, right. More of a social emergency. ("Lavender! What the hell are you doing interrupting MY social life?! You whore!") Okay, maybe not, but I wish.

Anyhow. Emergency is an emergency and that's the way it was going to be. I made my way over to Janice's little cubicle, feeling immensely sorry for her as one of the many, many employees who lived their boring lives in a teeny, almost invisible workspace. How awful. "Janice," I called as I looked in on her, typing furiously on her wizcom (an adaptation of muggle computers mixed with a bit of magic. Highly useful invention).

"Hermione," she looked up to meet my eyes and I was surprised to see she didn't look at all glad to see me.

"What's wrong?" I asked cautiously. Had I said something subliminal in the note I'd sent her, rejecting her lunch offer? Surely not!

"Well," she sighed, sounding a bit miffed, "You could have just told me you were out on a date instead of making up an excuse about too much work."

"What are you on about?" I demanded, and then the ramifications hit me. "Oh! Janice, you were there?"

"Well, yes. I took your advice and asked Ellen to go with me, and the two of us had a marvelous time at Rosetta's—fantastic place, isn't it—only, when we were leaving, I definitely saw you with someone. Couldn't see the face, but from the voice, I knew it was a male. Merlin. I can't believe you're already dating; didn't you just get a divorce?"

"Janice," I took deep breaths to calm my temper, but to no avail, because the next thing out of my mouth was, "How can you possibly think I am out on a date when in fact I was having a business lunch with our oh-so-kind boss Man Whore, oops, I mean, Draco Malfoy?! AND IT WAS NOT A DATE!"

Janice looked taken-aback, almost as if the air from my yell had ruffled her hair or something (oh dear, what if it had? How embarrassing!). "Okay, okay," she held a hand up as if to pacify me, "I'm sorry. But, wow, that was some vehement, violent way of denying it! You sure you don't have a slight crush on our boss or something?"

My nostrils flared, I'm sure of it. "Of course I'm sure," I snapped. "As if I would fancy that two-faced toad. Oh, and by the way, please inform said toad that I have left early because of an emergency. Good bye."

And this time it was my turn to Apparate away before she could answer. Finally!

I went straight to Lavender's flat and nearly banged down the door. Soon I was greeted by a Lavender with a mud mask on her face dressed in a tatty blue bath robe. "Hermione?" she asked in surprise. "It's two in the afternoon."

"I know," I asserted, "I left work a bit early, and I wanted to pay you a visit."

I searched for guilt on her face. None. Then again, it was difficult to tell because her features were dried into place by that mud mask. "Okay," she smiled, "come on in. I do apologize for the way I look and the condition of my flat. If you'd just told me five minutes before you came," she smiled wistfully.

"Sorry," I apologized genuinely. Lavender may have been a gossip, but she was still a very nice person and a good acquaintance of mine. There was no need to be rude. "Anyhow, I've just got a bit of a matter to discuss with you."

"Of course. You won't mind that we don't sit on the couch and sip tea? I've got to take this bloody mask off," she called as she walked towards the bathroom. "Come in, anyway."

I followed her in and watched, half-interested half-exasperated as she rinsed off the mask. "So, I'm just wondering if you told anyone about what we discussed last time I was here?" I began.

She grinned. "Of course not Hermione," she replied, sounding cheeky (oh God her tone sounded cheeky! She was up to something!). "Why would I do such a thing?"

"Oh, I don't know, Lavender," I continued in the nonchalant manner that she had started up, "Perhaps because you have a bit of a tendency to tell such things?"

"All right. If you must know, I didn't tell anyone…except for the one person who came to my door demanding it!"

"Are you joking?" I gasped, shocked. "Who was this?"

"Parvati's fiancé Blaise! I couldn't believe it."

"I can't either," I said in surprise, completely thrown off by this. "I couldn't imagine why he would be in the least bit interested."

"Neither could I," Lavender agreed, "so I found no harm in telling him. I mean, what could he do with the information? Tell it to Parvati?"

Oh, no. A queasy feeling settled in my stomach. Lavender must have seen my expression because she smiled knowingly. "Oh, no," she smiled, "Parvati and I have grown up. Unless someone comes knocking on our doors we'll keep shut. Don't worry; anyhow, Parvati is much too preoccupied with her wedding to worry about your affairs."

"Speaking of that," I turned conversationally, "when is it?"

"She's sending out invitations at this very moment," Lavender smirked. "It's going to be a month from now."

"Small or big?"

"Big! You know Parvati, if her party a while ago was anything to judge by. Tons of Hogwarts graduates will be there, and tons of people from her job—you know she's the editor of Witch's Couture—and then of course all of Blaise's friends."

"You know," I suddenly realized, "I didn't see Blaise at that party."

"Yeah," Lavender nodded, "he was out of town that night. He works a lot, poor chap, but mints money like anything. Combined with Parvati's excellent job, they truly have so much money at their disposal."

I felt guilty of accusing Lavender, but honestly, Malfoy's behavior had conveyed a sense of condescending arrogance, almost like he knew completely what was going on in my brain. Or at least as much as Lavender knew. But Lavender had only told Blaise…

Oh Merlin.

"Hey, Lavender," I changed the subject quickly as a new thought arose in my mind, "Is Draco Malfoy very good friends with Blaise?"

Lavender nodded. "They go way back. All the way to Hogwarts, although they weren't all that close then."

My mouth went dry. "Okay," I replied as normally as possible. "Well I have to go. Sorry for the intrusion."

"Oh, no problem," Lavender waved me off. "Go right out then. And start thinking about your outfit for Parvati's wedding! And please don't come stag; it will look so tacky."

"Don't worry, I won't," I called as I left her flat, although that gave me a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. Who was I going to go with?

But right now I had more important fish to fry.

I Apparated to my tiny flat which wasn't all that far from Harry's house either. At first I had been tempted to just pay Draco a visit in his little office and beat the information out of him, but it seemed kind of tawdry, so I decided to just wait a bit. I'd do this right when he wasn't expecting it; right when he thought he'd gotten away…no. He was going to pay.

By this time I was positive that Draco had convinced Blaise to ask Lavender and tell him. It wouldn't look suspicious because Blaise could care less about me, whereas Draco just wanted more ammunition to annoy me with. Evil, evil git.

After a few hours of grueling paperwork (I had finally buckled down and started my requests to Teresa; there was just no way I could procrastinate too long without suffering heart flutters), I decided that I really ought to comfort Ginny or something of the sort. Feeling guilty I called her up, wondering if she was still at the salon. It was five in the evening, usually the time that she left work, but I thought I might as well give it a go anyway.

"Hello?" came her voice.

"Ginny, it's me, Hermione," I chatted away as I made my evening tea.

"Oh, hey! How was Rosetta's? Did you have a fantastic time? How are things going with your stud muffin boss?"

"Ginny!" I gasped. "It wasn't that great, honestly. He kept flirting with a waitress."

"Well, was she hot?"

"Umm, she was pretty…"

"Well," came her compromising reply, "At least he has standards!" And we both burst out laughing.

"Ginny," I finally said firmly, knowing that now was the time to bring in the reason I'd really called, "So, um, how are things on the romance front?"

Ginny didn't say anything for a moment. "Okay, you know what, I'm coming over," she finally spoke. "Right now. Make tea. And those really good biscuits that you get from that muggle store. Be there in five."

I had to smile as I heard the click of the line. Ginny's way of doing things was hilarious; it was a good thing she was such a good friend. Quickly I pulled out the biscuits that she liked and put a platter of them on the table along with hot tea. Just as I was done setting up I heard my doorbell ring. I flung it open and there stood Gin. "Got biscuits?" she grinned.

"Yes, they're on the table, come on in." She followed me in and plopped down on one of the chairs.

"Sooo…the romance front, huh?" she started on a biscuit.

"Yes…I don't know what's wrong with me; I guess I'm just so caught up in my own life I haven't been asking about yours."

"Merlin," Ginny sighed, "To tell you the truth I haven't been laid in three bloody weeks. I'm about to bite my arm off."

Now was probably not a good time to tell her that I'd been holding off for three years. In fact I kept mum about it; although I was beginning to feel the pains of a suppressed libido. "Poor Ginny," I sympathized, "What about any of the cute lads you meet in bars and stuff?"

Ginny sighed. "I know, I know…maybe I'll take one home tonight. Seriously."

"You shouldn't just have sex to get over someone," I taught primly.

Ginny laughed. "Oh, Hermione. It's just sex. With a simple contraceptive charm nothing goes wrong and you feel a lot better. And please. I am so over Harry."

"Why'd you guys break up anyway?" I asked, as tactfully as possible.

Ginny didn't seem to mind sharing, however. "Differences…we fought a lot…it just didn't seem to be going anywhere. It wasn't going to work. But at least I got to try, right? God if only the chance had come when I was still in Hogwarts."

"Aw, it'll be okay. Go get laid. You'll feel better," I smiled.

"What is this? Hermione telling me to get laid!" Ginny smirked. "I think I'm going to go out tonight. Want to come? Maybe you can find someone to rebound with, too."

I shook my head. I already had set my sights on two prospects, neither of which was remotely likely. "No, it's okay," I reassured. "I'll just lay in tonight. Or you know, I'll go pay Harry a visit."

"Yeah, go," Ginny urged. "He broke it off with Mandy, anyway."

"Ginny," I chided, "I didn't mean it like tha—wait. He broke up with Mandy?"

She nodded. "She was too clingy for his tastes. Hah. Bitch."

And here is another example of women. Although Ginny was Harry's ex she still found fault with anyone that Harry dated. I suppressed a smile and nodded. "Okay, well, I'll get going, too."

After I changed quickly into something more comfortable (and Ginny had splashed more natural makeup on my face; she wouldn't let me leave without it) I apparated to Harry's place while Ginny went to a girlfriend's before heading out to the latest hot spot.

Harry opened the door and grinned broadly when he saw me. "Hermione! Doing nine-to-five again?"

I nodded. "Yep. Back to the old grind. How's Ron doing?"

"Just fine. He had another meeting with WAA today, which went really well, he said. I think he's going out with some sober guys tonight."

"Sounds good for him," I replied easily.

"Yeah. Can I pour you a scotch?"

He knew I loved that drink, but I really didn't think that alcohol was going to solve anything. Already my heart was thrumming just from being in such close proximity to such a great looking, generous unattached guy who also happened to be my best friend. Calm down, I instructed myself as a weird sensation rose in my stomach.

"No, thanks," I denied, although a scotch certainly sounded very good, "Don't want to end up like Ron."

Harry laughed. "One drink isn't going to make you like Ron. But if you don't want to…"

"No, I do!" I grabbed the drink from him. It wasn't much, not even enough to get me drunk or anything, just enough to calm me down and maybe let go of a few inhibitions.

Harry poured one for himself and sat down next to me. "So, how's life?"

"Okay," I acknowledged. "Except for my prat boss."

I was met by a sympathetic look. Encouraged I went on, "He's just being a complete and total arse. Seriously. One minute he's all sympathetic and the next he's just intolerably rude. And he asked me to a business lunch this afternoon and he spent the whole time checking out our waitress."

"Typical guy," Harry mused. "Hey, I thought you fancied that git a bit."

I sighed "Yeah, a bit, but not that much anymore. Well, a little, but he's so unpredictable and…oh, that prick!"

"Yes, that prick," Harry imitated me perfectly.

I had to laugh. And then suddenly something came over me that I couldn't describe. That sensation in my stomach deepened. "Hey, Harry," I moved closer to him, resting my hand on his shoulder—not sexual, mind you. Although somehow I had a pretty good idea that that's exactly what my intentions were heading.

"Yeah?" his voice had gotten deeper.

"I hear you broke it off with Mandy." I didn't know what came over me but suddenly my hands were in his hair.

Awkward.

He seemed stunned. "Hermione—"

But I cut him off with a hard almost bruising sort of kiss. He wasn't responding, but I turned said kiss a lot gentler and soon he was kissing me back. I was shocked. I had never been an aggressive lover in my life; I always let the guy take control… so what was I doing?

We pulled away only when we remembered that we would die if we didn't get air. "What was that for?" His voice was husky. It turned me on possibly more than I had ever been turned on throughout my entire relationship with Ron.

Somehow at that moment Draco popped into my head.

I ignored it.

"Because, Harry," I began slowly, and then nipped at his neck, "I want you."

"What?" he sounded scared, almost. I was delighted and in retaliation I moved my hands across his toned chest.

For the first time in months, I had power. Power to do this to a guy. A good-looking, normally very confident man, Harry seemed knocked off his feet. I pulled him by the hand and led him through the corridors of his house and into his bedroom.

"Let's finish what we started, shall we?"

He seemed to forget his reluctance as we kissed; his passion soon matched my passion. Only when my hands tugged at his belt did he pause for a moment, and then he resumed kissing my neck.

Even in the throes of passion I couldn't forget my privacy. I scuttled to the door and shut it with a bang, pulling off my shirt in the process.

Merlin, I needed this. I moved closer to him and as I felt his hands all over my body, touching places I didn't even know were sensitive, and saw his boxer-clad body, all rational thought escaped my mind except for one thing: I was definitely about to get that release.

A/N: I hate to stop it there, all you smut-lovers, but I don't want to make this an R-rated piece…it's going to stay PG-13. To the question I know is coming: she's sleeping with Harry? Hehehehe…what does it sound like? Poor girl needed to get it out of her system. Don't worry though, all Draco/Hermione shippers, this isn't over yet. You'll see. Anyway, be proud, I updated so fast for my usual standards. Just a little over a week! Don't expect this too often, but consider it a make-up gift for taking so long with the last update.

Don't forget to review! Please tell me what you thought. It's a huge motivation when people review; makes me update a whole lot faster.