Chapter 8: Moral Scruples

Lunch went splendidly. Tom took Harry to his favourite restaurant a block down the street. There was a bit of fussing over the menu selection—Harry was hesitant to pick anything too costly, lovely man—which resulted in Tom ordering for them both. This was the preferred result because Tom knew what dishes were best, and now that they had spent some time together, he had an idea of what Harry would enjoy the most.

When the meal was done and paid for, Harry took out his phone to glance at the clock.

"Christ, we went well over." Harry grimaced. "I should have kept a better eye on the time."

"No one will notice," Tom said cheerfully. Truthfully, he was delighted to have kept Harry's attention so thoroughly occupied. "We've had a busy morning, Harry. No one will fault us."

"Maybe. I still feel a bit bad, though." Harry sighed, then tried and failed to surreptitiously glance at the bill. "Usually I don't dine out like this for lunch because it takes up a lot of time."

"Certainly I don't make a habit of it," Tom agreed, folding his copy of the receipt up and tucking it into his wallet. "But I can always be persuaded to make exceptions."

Harry let out a half-laugh that was far more nervous than it had any right to sound. "All things in moderation," he agreed. "Shall we head back? I wish I'd taken my car so we didn't have to walk. Ron and Ginny were insistent about the carpool. Global warming and, er, my car not having Bluetooth installed being a crime?"

Tom had driven to work. He had encouraged them to walk so he could monopolize their time together. "Next time I'll drive us, then."

"Next time," Harry repeated distantly. Then his brows furrowed. "Well, next time I'm paying."

"Of course," Tom said smoothly, standing up and pulling his coat on. "To be fair."

"Right." Harry stumbled to his feet, shoving his chair back with an awkward motion. "You've really got me digging a hole for myself with all this coffee."

Tom flashed a smile. "I'm afraid I don't know what you mean, Harry."

Harry squinted at him. Tom took the opportunity to gather Harry's coat into his hands and hold it out.

"I mean," Harry said, not moving, "it doesn't feel very… reciprocal when you're the one always paying for coffee. And it's not like I need to buy coffee every morning. The stuff at the office is alright. Which isn't to say I don't appreciate it!" Harry added hastily. "Because it's very nice of you. But you know that you're not really my assistant, right? You don't have to fetch me coffee or anything."

"I am very much aware of that," Tom said smoothly, choosing to gloss over the rest of Harry's statement, "And I agree: I am much more than your assistant."

"Yes, so…" Harry trailed off, perplexed by Tom's response.

Tom gave Harry's coat a shake and raised an expectant brow. Face flushing, Harry stuck his arms into the sleeves and allowed Tom to adjust the collar.

"There," Tom declared, "perfect."

Harry's flush darkened further. "Thanks. Um. I can put my own coat on?"

"Obviously." Tom kept a deliberately neutral expression on his face and stared into Harry's eyes.

Harry coughed. "Right, let's head back."

When they arrived back at the office, a few things became clear. Firstly, their absence had most definitely been noted by their co-workers. Secondly, Tom worked with a bunch of gossiping ninnies. Ginny was holed up in Granger's cubicle again, muttering in undertone. As Tom and Harry passed them by, the two women smiled in a synchronized way that only raised suspicion in Tom's eyes.

"Back to the grind," Harry joked as they returned to their stack of accounting files. "Ah, this is important stuff, though." He lowered his voice slightly and added to Tom, "Keeps me up at night wondering if there's something I've missed that could be blamed on someone who doesn't deserve it. Suppose I'll feel better once the court case is settled, though that's not for some time."

Tom wished he could reassure Harry that everything was fine. Quirrell's downfall had been orchestrated, for one, and for another, today's 'emergency' had been designed by Draco Malfoy. It was hardly the cleverest manipulation, and if not for the fact that Tom was dragging this out, the problem could be solved before the end of the day.

Although, considering lunch had gone so well, perhaps that was no longer necessary.

"Harry," Tom began kindly, "I know you haven't been here very long, so I hope it reassures you when I say Draco was exaggerating as to the importance of these errors. Really they are rather minor, and I have confidence we will be able to set everything to rights before the day is out."

"Oh?" Harry smiled. "That does make me feel better. You have been here longer than I have, so I'll definitely take your word for it. Thanks, Tom."

The rest of the afternoon passed quickly. Tom and Harry identified the source of the inconsistencies—a few minor errors in maths and an incorrect cost allocation—before making the corrections. When it was settled, Harry seemed very relieved. Prior to today, Tom had not given much thought to how this branch looked to an outsider. Unfavourable, but not something to worry about personally.

But for Harry, fear of further embezzlement or other such crimes being uncovered was very real. Another fatal error like that could result in terminations and transfers. This branch would have a difficult time recovering from the loss of yet another manager. If Tom had become the manager here as planned, this branch would have been performing in the top percentile.

Though the employees here were ridiculous at times, Tom had to admit they worked well together. If the dynamic was disrupted, it would be a shame. The workers here were intelligent and hardworking—they simply lacked direction and initiative. Harry was doing an admirable job with pulling them all together, but he was not as ambitious as Tom was, and he lacked the knowledge of Quirrell's failures.

Tom knew all, saw all, and understood this particular branch better than anyone else did. Together with Harry, he would see this place succeed.

At the end of the work day, Tom braced himself against the edge of Harry's desk while Harry tapped out an email to his superiors outlining the issues that been uncovered and fixed today.

Accountability was important to Harry. He was noble enough to right the wrongs he believed had been committed against the employees here. It was sweet that Harry was so worried about them all. Harry didn't want them to get in trouble and was willing to stick his neck out to help them.

"How does this look?" Harry asked, shifting backwards in his chair and tilting his screen in Tom's direction. "Am I missing anything?"

Tom skimmed the email over. All the relevant details were there, and— "You mentioned me?"

Harry frowned. "Yeah, absolutely. You really helped me today. And Draco did too, but since he was the one who made the mistake in the first place I felt like it was better to leave him out of it."

Tom snorted. "Well, thank you."

"I did mean it when I said I want you to be recognized for your accomplishments."

Harry was far too kind. Tom slid closer, drummed his fingers on the surface of the desk. "I appreciate that you put actions to words."

"I'd be a horrible manager if I didn't," Harry joked. His eyes flickered to Tom's hand, then back up to his face.

Harry's jovial attitude was not enough of a deterrent; Tom would not be put off. He was determined, ambitious, and unwilling to concede to Harry's bashfulness. "Send the email off," Tom said lightly, and then proceeded to watch as Harry did so.

"All done," Harry said proudly, clicking 'send' with an exaggerated tap of his index finger. "And now we're free for today."

"Free for dinner?" Tom asked innocently.

"Ah, well—" Harry fumbled with shutting his computer off, then gazed awkwardly at the dark screen. "The Weasleys are going to drop me off at home. I have leftover lasagna from the night before."

"Hardly a way to end such a stressful day," Tom mused. "Leftovers alone at home. I'm certain they won't mind if I whisk you away to supper."

"We already did lunch," Harry argued weakly. He seemed torn, which was not quite the reaction Tom wanted—outright enthusiasm was preferable, of course—but it was clear to him that Harry would like to say yes. It was proprietary that held him back.

"You can pay for supper, if you like."

"That's…" Harry trailed off. Then he looked back up. "Lunch is one thing, Tom. People grab lunch together all the time here, and at my old branch. But I don't—I don't think it's very appropriate for us to have dinner together. If it was a group function or something, maybe. But this is a bit weird, isn't it? Like, er, not like we're going out on dates or anything, but people might think—"

"Are we not above what others think of us?" Tom interjected.

Harry stood up. "That's not exactly what I mean, and you know it."

Tom bristled. This was no longer what he wanted. Harry was rejecting him—not because he found Tom unattractive, but because Harry had moral qualms.

Perhaps Tom had pushed too far, too soon. Harry was not ready to cross the line, and now Tom's chance might have been ruined for the foreseeable future. Tom knew that Harry would prove to be stubborn, would hold firm ground even in the face of Tom's advances.

"Dinner between friends," Tom tried.

Harry faltered, hands falling to his sides. Then he reached for his coat and tugged it on. "Maybe some other time," Harry allowed. "But not tonight, Tom. Thank you for offering."

Tom stepped back and let Harry leave the office, but inwardly he was… disappointed. Not seething the way he might have expected himself to feel. Honest to goodness disappointment that Harry had turned him down.

After a respectable few seconds had passed, Tom took his leave of Harry's office. He packed his things up in his cubicle and ignored Granger and girl-Weasley's questions. The rest of his evening would be spent plotting ways to convince Harry to forgo company policy once and for all.

A/N:

this is still a thing that is happening and being written and maybe, even, possibly finished? i was struck by a mood to write this chapter, so i reread the entire series and got myself back into the groove. hope you all enjoy!