Chapter 3

The next morning, Hermione was up bright and early as Mr. Colfam had said and was now looking apprehensively at the blank card that he had given her yesterday. After the job interview she had gone to meet up with Ron and Harry as she had planned to and they had discussed her potential new job. They had been equally as intrigued as she had been by the card – no matter what spell they used on it, it refused to yield any sort of message. Ron and Harry had told her to be careful because they were worried that this was some sort of bogus job advertisement and this Mr. Colfam was going to abduct her if she followed the directions.

But Hermione had a feeling that it was pretty genuine and that Ron and Harry were just overreacting because their jobs as Aurors had made them more paranoid than ever about magical objects that were out of the ordinary.

So now, she was standing in front of her bedside table staring at the card when silver flowing script appeared on the previously blank surface.

Go down to your ground floor.

Hermione raised her eyebrows but grabbed her things nevertheless and set off downstairs. When she had reached it, the script on the card had changed.

Turn left and keep walking until you reach the next corner.

She obliged and so she kept doing as the card led her towards her office. The route that it led her on was a very familiar one as it was the same one that she had taken when she worked at Macmillan International and she would probably go past it today on the way to her new office.

She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw that the card had gone blank. With a sense of dread coming over her, she looked up at the name emblazoned on the plaque hanging outside the building.

Macmillan International

Hermione let out a gasp.

It couldn't be.

She hastily took out her wand and prodded the now blank card several times, willing it to finish off its directions but nothing happened.

She was re-employed at Macmillan International! Malfoy was still her boss!

No! How was that even possible! Mr. Colfam had even asked her why she had left Macmillan International and yet he still wanted to hire her?

This was crazy. It just wasn't possible…

Hermione snuck a glance at Frank the security wizard who was inside the foyer as always, though he hadn't seen her yet, thank god. Was she prepared to go back inside and take up the job, even though it would be admitting defeat to Malfoy?

As she stood there contemplating all the options that she had to get out of this mess, a man brushed past her on his way into the building. He was walking briskly, wearing a tan coloured suit and…

Oh god. It was Mr. Colfam.

"Mr. Colfam! Mr. Colfam!" Hermione cried out, rushing after him.

The man seemed to take no notice of her and kept walking. She became frustrated and grabbed his arm when she caught up to him, making sure he couldn't walk away from her.

"Mr. Colfam!" She said.

"I'm sorry, miss. You've got the wrong person. I'm not Mr. Colfam, whoever he is." The man replied slightly apologetically, tugging his arm away from her grasp.

She searched his eyes looking for a hint that he was joking. But he was dead serious. He wasn't Mr. Colfam…except that he looked exactly the same as the man who had interviewed her yesterday afternoon.

Which meant that someone had lied to her.

Someone had taken Polyjuice Potion and assumed the role of this fictional Mr. Colfam.

Hermione was getting angrier and angrier with each passing moment at the situation that she had landed herself in. She strode purposefully towards the elevator, ignoring Frank and got in, pressing the 100th floor button.

She had some business to sort out with Draco Malfoy.

Meanwhile, Draco Malfoy was sitting comfortably in his office and taking in the wonderful view of Wizarding London below him. He was smirking as he saw Granger stop in front of the building and gaze in shock at where the card had led her.

Yes, everything was going according to plan.

She disappeared into the building and Draco twirled his wand as he waited for her to make her way up to his office.

Sure enough, about five minutes later, he heard the elevator doors open and imagined Granger stepping out of it, positively fuming. There was a crisp rap on his door, followed by a more vicious knocking when he didn't answer it straight away.

He sauntered over and then opened the door casually, his smirk still in place.

"Why hello, Granger. What are you doing back here? I thought you said that you had quit?" He said coolly.

"You know very well why I'm here, Malfoy." She spat back at him.

"Fine, come inside and we'll talk things over." He answered courteously, holding the open for her.

She sat herself down on one of the chairs and crossed her legs, as well as folding her arms across her chest. She was very angry.

Draco took a seat across from her and surveyed her carefully.

"Why did you do it, Malfoy?" She asked coldly.

"Do what?" He replied innocently.

"Stop pretending that you don't know! You placed an ad in the paper to lure me back to Macmillan International! You took Polyjuice Potion to make sure that I didn't recognize you and so that I would agree to work as a secretary for you! How dare you reduce me to this!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Whoa, Granger. I didn't realise that you would see through my elaborate plot so quickly." Draco responded with a small smile playing on his features.

"It doesn't take a genius to realise that you used an anagram of your name to fool me into thinking that it was someone else." She spat.

Draco laughed heartily at her scowling at him.

"This isn't funny, Malfoy! I already told you that I'm unwilling to work in the same building as you and I am most certainly not going to be your secretary!" She said.

"Well isn't that a shame because you already agreed to it yesterday." Draco replied with a smirk.

"That was because I didn't realise that you were trying to con me into working for you!" Hermione cried out shrilly.

"Unfortunately for you, Granger, when you shook hands with me yesterday afternoon that constituted the sealing of a magically binding contract." Draco answered.

There was a silence as Hermione absorbed this fact.

"B-But…that means I don't have a choice! I have to work for you!" She spluttered.

"Something along those lines." Draco answered nonchalantly.

"How dare you do this to me, Malfoy! After all that's happened between us, I thought that you would at least let me go with some dignity." Hermione murmured.

Draco gave her an amused glance before responding.

"So you think that I brought you back because I have a thing for you, Granger?" He drawled.

Hermione glared back at him, trying to keep her expression as neutral as possible but on the inside she was annoyed because he had voiced her thoughts exactly. Even though she knew they couldn't possibly be true…

"No." She replied bluntly.

"Good. Because I don't. The only reason I want you here is because I don't want someone as smart as you working for the competition. Especially since you've probably got a grudge against me now." He added as an afterthought, flashing a cold smile at her.

"Relax, like I said before, the pay will be more than enough for you." He continued on when she didn't answer.

"What's it going to be then?" asked Hermione in spite of herself.

"The same that you were being paid as a lawyer for this company." Answered Draco.

Her eyes widened in surprised but she quickly composed herself before Malfoy could see how relieved she was. She pulled her eyes away from his stormy gray ones, not saying a word and instead focused on the photo of a young woman on his desk. He followed her gaze and then his smile widened.

"That's my girlfriend Gabrielle." He said, as the woman in the photo winked at him saucily.

"I figured." She answered dryly.

She hadn't been so naïve to think that Malfoy would still be unattached so long after graduation. He was the wealthiest young man in Britain after all and a good-looking one at that, it was inevitable that women would be attracted to him. She looked closer at the photo and then saw that she had strikingly blond hair, sparkling blue eyes…just like…

"Wait, Malfoy, is that Fleur Delacour's sister!" Hermione asked suddenly.

"I see that you're still observant, Granger." Draco answered.

She gaped at him.

"B-But she was like eight years old when we were in fourth year at the Triwizard Tournament…which means she's like six years younger than you. That's like the equivalent of a seventh year dating a first year! That's disgusting Malfoy!" Hermione exclaimed shrilly as Draco looked at her coolly.

"I appreciate your concern, Granger. But let me assure you that Gabrielle is anything but immature." He smirked, eyes twinkling suggestively.

She rolled her eyes in response and instead turned around, planning to make her way out of the office. It seemed to her that this discussion was over – she was doomed to work for Malfoy as his personal secretary for as long as he wanted to torture her.

"Where are you going?" He asked, moving forward to catch her arm.

"Let go of me." She bit out.

"I am your boss now, and you don't walk away from me before I tell you to." He said firmly, turning her around to face him.

"I'm sorry, Malfoy but I'm not going to let you order me around. I'll do the damn work for you but don't expect me to suck up to you, because it's not going to happen." She seethed.

"Look, Granger, I think that its not too much to ask for you to respect me as your employer. Forget the past. Lets have a fresh start." He suggested, looking almost sincere.

Hermione smiled at him before wrenching her arm out of his strong grip.

"I've already moved on from the past, Malfoy. But that doesn't mean that I don't still hate you." She said quietly.

He looked at her, with an expression of confusion and frustration on his face for a moment before he covered it up with his usual bored expression.

"Fine. If that's the way it's going to be, Granger, how about I strike a deal with you?"

Hermione glanced at him skeptically.

"What type of deal?" She asked doubtfully.

"In return for your respect, I will only require you to work for me for the next six months. After that, you're free to leave if you wish however you must treat me as you would treat your boss if it was somebody else. Is that clear?" He explained.

"Crystal clear." She answered.

"So you agree to it?" Draco asked.

"Do I have a choice? If I want to leave this damn job, this is my only chance isn't it?" Hermione shot back.

"Glad that you and I understand each other perfectly." Draco responded frostily.

Then he extended his pale hand gracefully. Hermione glanced at it dubiously before hesitantly placing her own petite one in his and shaking it. He smirked at her.

She shook her head at him and then proceeded to walk out of his office, stopping in her tracks when she saw that the prim secretary from Ernie's days was still working away diligently at the desk outside. The woman hadn't been there on her way into Draco's office.

She whirled around in confusion to face Draco.

"You've still got a secretary!"

"Well observed Granger." He replied wryly.

"Are you going to fire her!" She demanded to know.

"Only if you insist." Draco answered, moving forward to tap the secretary on the shoulder.

She turned around and smiled at her boss and Hermione.

"Good morning Mr. Malfoy. Miss Granger! What a pleasant surprise it is to see you again!" She beamed. Hermione smiled nervously back at her, looking at Draco to see what he was going to do.

"Good morning to you too, Glenda. I'm afraid you've just been replaced." Draco said agreeably, as though he was telling her about the weather.

There was a silence as Glenda gaped at him in shock.

"I-I'm sorry…what do you mean, Mr. Malfoy?" She stammered.

"Miss Granger here has just agreed to take over your job." Draco said pleasantly, with his most charming smile.

Hermione sneaked a glance at Glenda and found that she was frightfully pale and trembling.

"B-but I don't understand…what have I done wrong, Mr. Malfoy! I didn't mean to offend you…please…" She stuttered pitifully.

Hermione looked at Draco with a pleading expression, silently asking him to stop torturing the poor woman.

"You haven't done anything wrong, Glenda. Its just that Miss Granger was so adamant about getting this job." Draco said apologetically, sending Hermione a stern look.

Hermione let out a shriek of irritation as Glenda turned to her in disbelief.

"Is this true Miss Granger? How could you! This job is my life! Weren't you satisfied with your high-powered lawyer job downstairs!" Glenda sobbed.

"No, Glenda! Its not like that at all, Malfoy's trying to justify his actions by shifting the blame onto me. You shouldn't be fired – it was his idea to replace you, not mine. Unfortunately, I've just agreed to a magical contract which bound me to accept this job…" Hermione explained gently.

"But that doesn't change the fact that you're stealing my job!" Glenda cried.

"No. I guess it doesn't." Hermione answered softly. She turned and glared at Draco pointedly.

"Well, I'm afraid that you'll need to leave immediately, Glenda. Miss Granger needs to get settled in." Draco said sweetly, making Hermione roll her eyes at his fakeness.

Glenda picked up her personal belongings and stepped out from the desk, leaving the chair out for Hermione. She strode to the elevator, with Hermione and Draco following her and her nose held high in the air although her eyes were still red and puffy from her cry.

The elevator doors opened and she turned around to face her replacement and her former boss with a sad expression on her face.

"Goodbye, Mr. Malfoy. It was a pleasure working with you, if only for a while." She said in a tight voice. Then she turned to Hermione, who waited apprehensively.

"Goodbye, Miss Granger. I-I can't completely blame you for this situation but I want you to know how much this has devastated me." She hiccupped and then stepped into the elevator, the doors closing to shield her from their view.

"Sorry Glenda." Hermione murmured.

"What are you sorry for, Granger? I'm the one that fired her." Draco sneered.

"Well unlike someone, I happen to have feelings and right now I'm feeling sorry for the poor woman. She didn't deserve what you did to her and you didn't have the right to lie to her about the situation!" Hermione exclaimed, firing up again at her new boss.

"You're just angry because she hates you now." Draco said snidely.

"No I'm angry because I'm stuck working for a bastard like you for the next six months." Hermione spat, glaring daggers at him.

"That's too bad. Life's tough, Granger – learn to deal with it." Draco drawled indifferently.

And with that, he sauntered back into his office, leaving a very annoyed Hermione Granger standing outside feeling helpless and entrapped within the cunning web he had weaved about her.

A/N: Thanks again for your positive feedback (my lovely reviewers!) and I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter. Please review if you want to read more because I'm still not sure whether or not to continue this story further.

Thanks!

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