Chapter Four

It was another busy night at the Leaky Cauldron and the rowdy bar patrons at the Leaky Cauldron barely noticed the famous Trio sitting at a table in a far corner all wearing glum expressions.

"Hermione, are you sure you can't get out of working for Malfoy?" asked Ron for the umpteenth time.

"Yes. I'm positive, Ron. I've been through every possibility…there's just no way out." Hermione sighed.

"Well, I don't know what to say, Mione. Maybe you could look on the bright side of all this. I mean now that you're working for Malfoy, why don't you find out some inside information about him for us." Harry suggested, taking a sip from his glass.

"You want me to spy on Malfoy?" Hermione repeated doubtfully.

"Why not? I think that it's the only useful thing that could come out of this situation." Ron said brightly.

"Yeah, and you know how long we've spent trying to dig up dirt on Malfoy himself being a Deatheater. If you could just try and keep an eye out for anything suspicious it would be a huge help." Harry added, turning his puppy dog eyes on her.

Hermione felt uncomfortable enough working for Malfoy given their past animosity and her past feelings for him. In her opinion, having the added burden of spying on her former enemy would probably drive her crazy in her new job but she couldn't let her friends down. She knew how much it would mean to them if they were the ones who finally exposed Malfoy for the Deatheater that he was but at the same time she didn't want to see him being thrown in Azkaban…

She sat there feeling torn between her two options but she softened when she saw the look on Harry's face. There really wasn't anything for her to lose if she did spy on him. She would lose Malfoy's trust but so what? It could only help her get over him once and for all.

"Fine, I'll do it."

Harry and Ron beamed at her happily.

"Excellent! We'll have Malfoy locked away in Azkaban where he belongs before you know it!" Ron exclaimed enthusiastically while Harry nodded his agreement but both of them didn't notice the look of apprehension that had suddenly graced Hermione's face.

Hermione woke up late the morning after drinking with Ron and Harry and turned up to work at Macmillan International looking flustered, as she had hurried all the way to the office for the fear of Malfoy getting angry and punishing her in some incredibly cruel way for her tardiness.

But her concern was unwarranted.

When she stepped out into the foyer of the 100th floor she saw that she was the only one there – Malfoy was late for work. So she set about smoothing down all the creases in the blue blouse that she hadn't had the time to iron and the sensible black pencil skirt that she had thrown on haphazardly when she woke up. She ran her fingers through her curly hair in an attempt to make it more presentable. While her hair now was tamer than it had been at Hogwarts it was still not the sleek mane that she wanted and she also didn't want Malfoy coming in and taunting her about her bushy hair again.

She had barely sat down at her desk for a few seconds when the elevator doors opened and someone stepped out. She had been expecting Malfoy of course, which is why she was surprised when she saw none other than his sidekick from Hogwarts – Blaise Zabini.

He hadn't changed much since Hogwarts, though now he was dressed in an immaculate navy blue suit which flattered his physique, under a matching robe and had even more of an air of superiority about him. At Hogwarts people had rarely noticed him even though he had been with Malfoy constantly throughout their seventh year probably because he wasn't quite as handsome as Malfoy (though she had noticed him, she thought disgruntledly to herself). He was as tanned and olive as Malfoy was fair and pale and had inky black hair and bright green eyes – though he didn't resemble Harry in any sort of way. He was quiet, clever and very ambitious, which was why he and Malfoy had been such good friends.

Now he stood in front of her desk looking at her with a bemused expression on his face.

"Well I didn't expect to see you here, Granger. You're working for Draco?" He drawled.

Hermione forced herself to smile at Blaise.

"Yes, he offered me a job as his secretary and I…accepted." She responded carefully.

"It was that easy, huh? I thought that you would've put up more of a fight, Granger." Blaise pressed on, smirking at her.

"I tried my best to decline but he insisted." Hermione shot back.

Blaise gave her another smug disbelieving look before another voice interrupted their conversation.

"Now, now Granger, don't go telling lies about me behind my back." Malfoy said, coming out of the elevator to stand next to his friend.

"Good morning to you too, Malfoy. You're late." Hermione responded, ignoring his remark.

"Well fancy that, Blaise. My own secretary telling me off for being late." Malfoy smirked.

"Yeah how come you're working as a secretary now anyway, Granger? Weren't you doing a Wizarding law degree after Hogwarts?" Blaise asked pointedly.

"Why don't you ask your friend? Its his fault I'm sitting here working for him." Hermione answered acidly.

"My fault? Granger, for your information, you could've remained as a lawyer at Macmillan International had you not decided to resign. It was purely out of the goodness of my heart that I offered you this job as my personal secretary – so don't complain." Malfoy stated smoothly.

"The goodness of your heart! Oh come on Malfoy -" Hermione spluttered in response before Blaise cut her off.

"As charming as it is to see you two bickering, Draco and I have some important business to discuss. So please excuse us, Granger." He said with a hint of amusement in his voice.

Hermione rolled her eyes at them both as they sauntered into Malfoy's office and shut the door. She shook her head in defeat.

How on earth was she going to live through another six months of this?

"So, Malfoy. You never told me that you had acquired such an interesting new secretary! Care to explain?" Blaise drawled as they made themselves comfortable in Draco's new plush office.

"It's a bit of a long story, Zabini. Are you sure you want to waste time talking about Granger?" Draco replied coolly.

Blaise responded by lying down on Draco's chaise lounge and placing his arms behind his head to cushion it. Then a slow smile spread across his face as he turned to face Draco.

"I have all the time in the world, Malfoy. This lounge thing is very comfortable by the way. Do go on."

Draco rolled his eyes at his best friend. He could be an arrogant son of a bitch sometimes.

"Fine, fine. But please do me a favour, stop calling me by my last name – it reminds me of Granger too much." Draco snapped, shaking his head.

Blaise smirked and then nodded.

"Well, when I first took over Macmillan International, Granger was already working here as a lawyer. But when she found out that I was going to be her new boss, she quit on the spot." Draco explained.

"Feisty as usual." Blaise remarked.

"Exactly. But I didn't want to lose her as an employee I mean come on, she was the smartest witch in the grade. So, I concocted a plan to lure her back without her knowing, I must say now that I look back on it, it was quite an ingenious idea." Draco grinned.

"And what was this idea, Draco?"

"I placed an ad in the Daily Prophet and put a strong Enhancement Charm on the ad so that Granger would notice when she decided to look for a new job. Let me tell you, there were a hell of a lot of other applications for the job because the charm was so strong, but at least it worked on Granger."

"So how come she didn't know that you were the one who put the ad in the Prophet?" Blaise asked curiously.

"I used an anagram of my name and deliberately didn't mention the company she would be working for. Then when I went to interview her, I used Polyjuice to disguise myself. Aren't I clever, Blaise?" Draco finished triumphantly.

"Yes, you were very cunning, Draco." Blaise answered dryly.

"You don't sound too impressed though." Draco said slowly.

"I'm just wondering whether it's such a good idea to be working so closely with the girl who was absolutely infatuated with you in seventh year." Blaise commented sagely.

"Oh come on, Blaise. I've already set the record straight with Granger – I told her that I do not have feelings for her and that I have a gorgeous girlfriend. I think she's gotten the message." Draco defended, going to pour himself a glass of Firewhisky.

"I don't know, Draco. You know how office relationships go…the dashing boss and the sexy secretary…things happen when you're working late nights together…" Blaise wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at Draco who almost choked on his Firewhisky.

"That is definitely not going to happen because there will be no late nights and it will be a strictly professional relationship. God, Blaise, how low do you think I am? While I agree that I fit the mould of the dashing boss, Granger certainly doesn't fit the role of the sexy secretary! Don't you remember her at Hogwarts? She had teeth to rival a beaver and that unruly mass of hair! It's hard to be attracted to someone who looks like that." Draco sniffed contemptuously.

Blaise raised his eyebrows.

"Right, Draco. I guess you're vehemently denying that anything will happen between you two because you're worried that something will happen." He responded smartly.

"W-What! No!" Draco spluttered.

"Shut up for a moment, mate and hear me out. I cant be the only one who's noticed how much Granger has changed since Hogwarts. I mean she's still the same fiery Mudblood that she was back then but looks wise…she's definitely changed for the better. I think you think that she's hot." Blaise chanced smugly.

"No! How could you even think that, Blaise? I have Gabrielle! I don't need Granger!" Draco denied angrily.

"We've known each other for more than a decade, Draco. You're more transparent than glass to me." Blaise replied.

"Ugh! You're insufferable, Blaise. Fine, I'll admit that Granger does look better than she did back at Hogwarts but that's because she's matured! Everyone matures! Also, just because I think that she looks better these days doesn't mean I think she's hot. Now, can you please talking about her? We need to discuss important business remember?" Draco exclaimed heatedly.

"Oh, no Draco. I think we've discussed enough important business for today – I need to get back to my office. I'll meet you tonight at the Manor for a nightcap. Until then…keep your manicured hands off Granger if you can." Blaise winked at his friend and Apparated before Draco could react.

Oh, he would get back at that cheeky bastard one day.

Draco drained the rest of his Firewhisky in one gulp before sitting back down in his leather chair. His friend had brought up a lot of interesting issues surrounding his decision to make Granger his personal secretary but they were all unwarranted…right? Nothing could possibly happen between them even with Granger's past feelings for him because hewas already seeing someone and he wasn't even mildly attracted to the Mudblood.

Blaise was just trying to scare him into firing Granger or something. He probably wants her for himself, Draco thought to himself amusedly.

He decided to push these uncomfortable thoughts out of his mind and then walked out of his office to delivers his first orders of the day to Granger. As he stepped out, he caught a quick glimpse of the woman herself stretching upwards to reach a file on top of one of the taller cupboards and couldn't resist giving her an once-over while her back was turned.

Blaise's words drifted into his thoughts making him jerk guiltily out of his momentary lapse in sensibility. Had he really just been checking Granger out!

He cleared his throat awkwardly and Granger turned around slightly startled, having not noticed that her boss had left his office.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" She asked warily.

"Er, I need you to go through these papers. Get them back to me by lunch." Draco said civilly, giving them to her.

As the papers were transferred, his hand brushed softly against hers, making him jolt and pull his hand back suddenly. Frustration and a hint of anger flashed across his face as he stared at the offending hand for a moment, wondering why he had felt so guilty touching Granger, even as lightly as he had. She gave him a strange look at his actions but accepted the papers without a word.

"Is that all, Malfoy?" She asked. There was a pause before Draco regained his composure and replied.

"Yeah. Oh and could you call me Mr. Malfoy? Malfoy is too nasty and informal for my liking. I am your boss after all." Draco said stiffly, his face masked once again.

Granger threw him a dirty look and narrowed her eyes at him.

"Only if you do the same for me, Mr. Malfoy." She said lowly.

"Fine, Miss Granger." Draco answered tightly.

They shared one last tense look before Draco broke eye contact and strode briskly back to his office and shut her out once again, leaving Hermione to wonder about her boss' strange behaviour.

A/N: Ah! Finally another chapter finished! It was a hard chapter to write because I didn't know exactly what I wanted to happen and it also took a long time because I was completely drained from Christmas and New Year festivities, so here's a present to you all from me!

Happy New Year! (Please review! I need some feedback and perhaps some ideas on where you guys want this story to go)

psychohart