Author's Note: Hey everybody! I can't believe it's been more than a week since my last update. October and November rolled along so well writing wise. Sorry for the long author's note last chapter; guess I was feeling a little insecure. Anyway, it's been a crazy week this week: got a shipping container in at work, and then the fork lift broke down, and my husband and I started a new diet, so tons and tons of homemade everything. Anyway, Draco and Hermione are back!

Chapter 31: Situations

Draco was nervous as he prepared for his job interview. He wasn't the best educated for this position. He had no political influence. No one was going to be bowled over by his devilish good looks. He was going to have to get this job entirely on merit and he wasn't sure he was qualified enough for that. He took a deep breath.

He went over the sample interview questions again that Hermione thought he might be asked. He just had to be charming, not say anything stupid, and not reveal that he had major parts of his life he couldn't explain because of wizardry. He supposed there wasn't anything else for it. He left for the library. This had to go well. He was sick of carrying other people's food and dishes around all evening and hardly seeing Hermione.

With one last look in the mirror, he left for the library, continuing to go over possible questions in his head. His hands were sweaty in his gloves by the time he arrived.

The library felt too quiet as he entered and upon inquiring, was directed to an office he'd never been in before. He was early, but he'd felt it was better to be early rather than late. The door was shut. As he'd been instructed, he sat in the chair outside it and waited. He couldn't hear the sound of people talking on the other side of the door, but couldn't make out anything they were saying.

Feeling foolish (and hot) indoors in his jacket and gloves, he carefully stripped away both and tucked his gloves in his jacket pocket, folding it over the arm of the chair. He waited.

It seemed like an eternity before the door creaked open. He did his best to look nonchalant as he observed a perky and professional looking young woman saying goodbye to whoever was inside the room. She looked pleased with herself. Draco was just debating whether he should get up and tell whoever was inside that he was there when an elderly man he'd never seen before came out of the room. "Draco Malfoy?"

"That's me," he said. He kicked himself. That's me. Salazar, his brain better start working soon.

"Well, come in, we'd best get started," the man said, shuffling back into the room without another glance.

Draco sprang out of his seat to follow him and took half a second to smooth his shirt and pants before proceeding in. There was a chair just in front of him, and three other seats were crammed behind the desk. Theresa was there, as well as the old man, and another woman Draco vaguely recognized.

Theresa led, introducing the other two behind the desk. Draco reached out and shook their hands, introducing himself.

The woman Draco only vaguely recognized, who'd introduced herself as Marissa Tommes, began the questions. "Tell us about yourself."

Draco's mind blanked or a moment. Wizard? Nope. Slytherin? Crap, no. Blonde? That was safe to say, but stupid. Words, man, find words, he admonished himself. How had Hermione suggested he present himself? "Well, I'm not sure there's much to tell really. I did well enough in school, but I hadn't really picked a field that I wanted to be in, so I didn't go off to university after I finished my exams. I've been working for the last several months, while trying to decide what I might want to do. I began volunteering here in the library over a month ago. I've really enjoyed it. I've started to feel like it's something I'm interested in. Something worthwhile." He wondered if he'd said too much or not enough. He watched Marissa nod slightly, and the elderly man, Earl, asked the next question.

"As you've presumably read from the job posting, this position requires you to remain organized and able to pay attention to numerous things at once. We have quite a lot of inventory, and we're always introducing new programs. What do you do to keep yourself organized?"

Draco smiled. "Well, I'm a big fan of planners and schedulers. If everything is written down, it's easier to keep everything straight. I'll do my best to learn whatever organization system is in place, and if there isn't one, to create one. There's no system that can't be fixed."

"And if things are in too much mayhem to have a system or a proper place?"

"Can you give me an example?"

"The children's section. Even with a full-time attendant in the children's reading room, it's near impossible to keep it tidy over the holidays when all the schools are out." The tone left little doubt that Earl didn't approve of messes (or probably children).

Draco's frozen smile fell from his face and he chewed the inside of his lip for half a moment in concentration. "Find a way to reward them for doing it right. Make it a game. Children who put all their books back where they belong get a star on the wall or…or something."

There was a slight smile on Theresa's face. "That's a good idea. We're beginning to make the change over from a paper card catalogue and check out system to a computerized one. How much experience do you have with computers? And how well do you learn something new?"

With that little vote of confidence in him, Draco felt a little better. His smile was back and he felt he managed to hide whatever nervousness might be in his voice. "Well, I've been working a little with the new systems here, helping with the barcoding and scanning. I've also completed an introductory computer class, covering the basics of computer use and the internet. I think I pick up new things extremely well. Give me a task and I will find a way to get it done, and get it done well. "

"I see that you've only held one job and you are currently employed. Would you care to comment on your short work history and why you wish to leave your current employer after only a few months? There will be a good deal of training and trust involved in this position, and I've no desire to have to train someone over again in a few months," Marissa told him.

"As I've mentioned, I've only just finished my exams in secondary schooling. It took a few months for me to find a job, but I've been hard at it since I began there. Feel free to call my manager for references if you'd like. However, the hours are terrible—evenings and weekends. There's no time to see the people who are important to me. That's the principle reason I've been looking for another job. Somewhere I can have a lasting impact."

There was another round of nods, and some of the interviewers made notes. The questions continued for several more minutes. Finally, it was down to the last question. "And what makes you the best candidate for this job?"

Draco swallowed. Why him? Why him over anyone else? Because he wanted it. "I want this job very badly. It's important to me to find a career where I can work hours that are suitable to the life I want to build with the people I care about. Why this job?" He paused. "Because I'd work hard. Because I am one of the most adaptable people you've ever met. I'm organized. Having already volunteered here for weeks, I'm familiar with the layout, the rules, the routines. I can absolutely do this, and do it well."

More nods, more scratching of notes across the pages.

"Thank you for your time. We should have an answer for you sometime next week." He was shown out of the room. He saw another young man sitting in the chair outside the office. More competition. Great. Shrugging into his jacket, he gathered himself together and started the trek home. He had some time to relax and change before going to the restaurant. Hopefully since it was a Thursday the crowd wouldn't be too bad.

Hermione yawned over her reading. Belby had assigned her half a dozen books from his personal library (complete with notes written by him in the margins) regarding werewolf transformations and everything that was known about them. Some of the reading was gruesome. There were illustrations depicting how specific bones changes shape or broke themselves during the transformation process. He said she needed to understand all of that if she had even the faintest desire to create any potential new potions that might ameliorate the condition—he didn't go so far as to say that might cure it, even though he knew that was her hope.

She had made it through most of the first book earlier in the week and was now working on the second. Belby had advised her to take notes, but to take them on separate sheets of parchment—he didn't want her notes in his margins.

Setting the book aside, Hermione got up to make some tea. It was late, but she'd told Draco she'd stay up until he got back from the restaurant. She wanted to hear how his interview had gone. She'd made her tea (and a cup for him) and just sat back down with it when there was a knock at the door. Rising, she went to the door and opened it.

Draco looked exhausted. His hair had fallen to his forehead down from where it had been carefully combed. Someone else's dinner was on his shirt. But there was a smile on his face when he saw her.

Ignoring the red sauce about to get on her bathrobe, Hermione kissed him and brought him inside. "So, tell me how it went. There's tea for you on the counter."

Draco looked over his shoulder at his girlfriend, who had already settled herself on the couch. She was so impatient. "Not even a hello first? Just give me the news, there's your tea?" he asked with mock mournfulness.

Hermione laughed. "You've already had your hello, and I've been staring at this book for hours. If you don't entertainment, I'll fall asleep right here. So. News."

He took his tea from the counter and joined her on the couch, sitting close enough that their knees touched, though their hands were curled around their cups. "Well, I think it went okay. I was ready for most of the questions. I don't know how many people they're interviewing. There was someone there before me today, and someone waiting when I left." They sat and talked for a long while—Hermione wanted to know all about how it went. She was doubly curious about the process having never actually interviewed for a job herself (aside from her apprenticeship with Belby, which hardly seemed like it ought to count since the man was eccentric to say the least).

When he was done, she told him about her day, and the reading she was doing for Belby. He insisted that it was necessary before she could start learning the Wolfsbane potion. Her tea was long gone by that point and she rested her head against his shoulder. One of his arms was around her. The other still held his tea. He didn't want to get up, but he'd started to learn that a stain like this one needed to be dealt with if he ever wanted to wear this shirt again. Who thought it was a good idea to put people who worked with food in white shirts? He played with his fingers in her hair. Getting off of the couch did seem like a lot of effort.

Still, it had to be done. He kissed her forehead. "Thanks for waiting up for me," he said quietly, disentangling himself from her. He took both of their cups over to the sink.

Yawning, Hermione looked up. "Hmm? Oh anytime." She smiled.

"You look exhausted. Go to bed. Morning is going to come early."

She rolled her eyes. "It'll be just as early for you, and you've been on your feet for hours."

"Well, I'm still fresh as a daisy," he said, "except for this large part of a nice old man's dinner that I'm wearing as a decoration. I've got to go wash it off before I can go to bed. Unless…" He looked at her hopefully and she laughed, getting up and crossing the room to stand in the kitchen with him.

"No magic. I've already told you I'm not breaking your probation for you. If I did that, I might start thinking you only wanted me for my wand."

"Never," he said, putting his hand over his heart. She put her hand on top of his and pulled him close, kissing him until they were both breathing hard. She rested against him, and he leaned against the counter top. "You don't make it easy to say goodbye."

"It shouldn't be easy," she told him.

He chuckled. "I do have to go."

She brushed her lips lightly against his. "You do. And I should sleep." They lingered in the kitchen for a few minutes longer before going their separate ways. Draco spent the better part of twenty minutes trying to scrub marinara out of his shirt. He'd looked at the schedule before he'd left tonight; of course he was working Valentine's Day in a week and a half. And it had to be a Saturday. He'd have to come up with something for them to do during the day that day, or reschedule Valentines Day for another night. Finally, he was more or less satisfied with his shirt (it only had a faintly detectable pink splotch on it now) and hung it in the bathroom to dry. He checked Xavier's water bowl and the owl nipped him affectionately.

All the necessary tasks done, he took himself to bed.

The rest of the week passed as it normally did, with Draco and Hermione getting to spend some time together during the weekend. Draco waited in suspense for the result of his interview. While he was still volunteering at the library, Theresa had told him in no uncertain terms that she couldn't say anything about the results of the interviews. Like everyone else who had been interviewed, he would simply have to wait until they'd been called. She pointed out that lots of people submit resumes and never receive an interview even. He really wanted this to work.

She set him to a task and disappeared. Ms. Smith was finally gone and she was ready to start making changes.

Draco sighed. He was cutting stars out of sheets of yellow paper. Scissors were not his friend. Who would ever use such a barbaric tool when you had slicing and severing charms? Evidently Muggles. And himself. He did his best to get the lines straight and the corners pointy, but rather suspected most of them were lopsided.

He wanted to just give up and go home, but…if there was any chance he might still get the job, he wanted it, so he stayed and cut out stars for the wall of the children's section. Him and his bright ideas.

One week after his interview, Draco was just getting ready to go into the library when his mobile phone rang in his pocket. He knew Hermione would already be at Belby's. No one else had this number. Except…he hurriedly dug the phone out of his pocket.

"Hello?"

"May I please speak to Draco Malfoy?"

"This is Draco."

"This is Marissa from the library. I was calling about the position you applied for."

"Yes?" He barely breathed.

"We would like to hire you. Can you start Monday?"

"Absolutely," he said, no hesitation.

"If you'll come down sometime today or tomorrow, we can get all of your paperwork filled out."

"I'll be right there." He had hardly hung up before he was out the door. He still held the phone in his hand. Call Hermione? Tell her in person? He'd tell her tonight. He backtracked through the hallway back to his flat, scribbled a note, and put it under her door.

Hermione came home from the joke shop exhausted. She did thoroughly wish that George wouldn't sell love potions. There was nothing good about them. A Daydream Charm…well, that was a brilliant bit of magic. But love potions really had no place, even if everyone they were being sold to was of age.

Valentines Day was only a few days away. They hadn't come up with any new products for the occasion, but everything from the year before was selling well. The calling mirrors were coming along, but still had a ways to go.

She set her handbag on the kitchen table and set about making herself some dinner. It wasn't until she was getting up to do the dishes that she noticed a note wedged under the door. She opened it.

Please stay up tonight. I'll see you when I get off work.

Hermione hoped it was good news. But if it was good, why wouldn't he say? But if it was bad…It had to be good. Didn't it?

To keep her mind off it, she got out the next lycanthropy book from Belby. She'd force herself to work her way through it for a few hours, and then maybe treat herself to a novel and a bath. She set to work.

When Hermione couldn't stare at Belby's cramped writing in the margins of the book any more, she rubbed her temples and with a flick of her wand, started the bath water running in the other room. While it ran, she picked out a book from her shelf and settled in to relax for the next couple of hours.

Draco knocked on the door and half a moment later, it opened. Hermione was standing there in a large t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants.

"Hi there," she said.

"Hey."

She caught something in his tone. "What's the matter?"

Draco sighed, pushing his hair out of his face. "I got the job."

Hermione's eyes lit up. "That's fantastic! Why do you sound like someone's put a noose around your neck? If you don't want it, you don't have to take it." She took his hand.

"I want the job. I was all set to tell my manager that tonight I was going to be my last night. Then I could take you out properly on Saturday." He felt better with her holding his hand. "I told Rick I was quitting tonight and he said something about 2 weeks notice. That has to be some sort of joke, isn't it?"

Hermione looked at him with sympathy and squeezed his hand. "Draco…that's normal. I don't know about the wizarding world, but at least in the Muggle world, you give your employer two weeks' notice to find a replacement for you or to straighten out the scheduling so someone else can cover those shifts. I would have assumed it was the same in the wizarding world, though I've never exactly looked into it." She frowned, wondering at that.

He shrugged. "I've never held a job. And my parents don't exactly work in a traditional sense. I've never thought about it."

"Well, now is a good time to think about it." She tugged gently on his arm and they made their way to the couch together.

He sat in silence for a moment, staring at the floor. "What happens if I just don't show up tomorrow?"

Hermione ran her fingers through his hair. "Well, if word got back to you new employers, it might make things sit not too well. If things didn't work out at the library, the restaurant probably wouldn't take you back. You'd also have a hard time getting anything else, because you'd basically be starting from scratch again if the restaurant wouldn't give you a good reference, and they're the only place you've worked."

"Two more weeks?"

"Two more weeks," she confirmed.

He rested his head on her shoulder. "I was hoping I could give you a nice Valentines evening this weekend, but I'll be working instead."

"Hey, you got the job. There will be other weekends. And in two weeks…when you start only working the day shift, we'll have evenings together any night of the week you want," she said, kissing him on the forehead.

He sighed, quite content to rest against her. "I was going to come home all victorious and happy tonight. I got the job. I was going to bring a bottle of wine. Two more weeks."

"You'll survive another two weeks and so will I," she said firmly. "In the meantime, tell me all about the job."

He perked up a little as he told her, and they stayed entwined on the couch for some while.