Chapter 22

A/N: Hello readers! I know this one's short, but I got it to you in a timely fashion, which counts for something, right?

As always, thanks to everyone who reviewed!

~Frosty

Hermione was still a little red-cheeked from her talk with Toby of the coffee cart when she arrived at the training room. The man was certainly an interesting character. She almost didn't want Draco to scare him away just to watch Toby frazzle her partner again. Hermione really wanted to witness that in person at least once, it would keep her entertained for a long time.

From outside the training room door she didn't hear any yelling, which was encouraging. Still, she set the tea down in the corridor and drew her wand before entering. One never knew when a stray spell could take out a door, a chunk of the wall, or an innocent bystander. She had the baby to worry about, after all.

Surprisingly, the training room didn't look like the warzone she'd been expecting. Draco was sitting by himself at the far end of the room, his elbows resting on his bent knees with his hands dangling towards the floor. He didn't look up from his brooding stare at the ground when she entered.

After quickly going back into the hallway to get their tea, Hermione joined him on the floor. She gave him a chance to speak to her on his own, but he remained silent.

"You have a black eye," she observed, the statement really more of a question.

"There was a class of trainees in here when I arrived. Their instructor thought it would be a good idea for them to learn to subdue a criminal in groups."

From Draco's lack of obvious injury, she assumed that the class of trainees had actually learned to never let Draco participate in their lessons. The last thing he needed was another Ministry employee with a long-lasting grudge against him. She hoped that he hadn't sent anyone to the hospital.

Not really wanting to know, Hermione handed him his tea.

"I met the newest coffee cart attendant," she said. "He's very nice."

Draco rolled his eyes and muttered just what he thought about beverage slaves that didn't cower in fear as they were supposed to. He made sure to keep his voice low enough that Granger wouldn't hear him though; it wasn't worth the argument to let her hear what he thought.

They both sipped their tea. Hermione gave Draco a few minutes to calm down before she broke the news about what Blackleaf had told her.

"Was it bad after I left?" he eventually asked.

"Horrible." Hermione sighed and drank some more tea while she tried to think of exactly how to word it in the least offensive way.

"Just spit it out, Granger. Your stalling is transparent."

"To support his new policy of no relationships within the department, Blackleaf has assigned another team to work with us. He's concerned that we're misusing Ministry time and resources to take little vacations and the like together."

There, like pulling off a plaster. She took another sip of her tea and cast a sideways look at her partner, who was worryingly silent. He seemed calm enough on the surface, but Hermione hadn't failed to notice that he was completely still.

"There's more," he said without inflection. It wasn't a question.

"Auror Smith transferred to our department and volunteered for the job."

Draco actually growled as he clenched his fists. He stayed sitting with her instead of storming off to bash some heads though, so she knew that he hadn't completely lost to his temper.

"So the god of war has signed up to be our babysitter?" he finally asked.

Nodding, Hermione took another sip. They were going to need more tea.

"Come on." She stood and then tugged on Draco's hand until he stood as well. "We have one more day of freedom until Blackleaf sticks spies on us. Let's make the most of it."

"When you said 'make the most of it' I thought we were going to have as much sex as possible before we had to take a little break."

"We're only going to have to abstain during work hours." She rolled her eyes at his grumble and tensed slightly, waiting for his objections.

Draco was silent for a moment, long enough that she had started to relax, and then, "I hate Athens," he complained, glaring at tourists and then up at the hot sun. "Why do you insist on taking me places that make me miserable?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "You hate almost everywhere. If there's too many people, you hate it. If there's too much sun or it's too cold, too hot, too muggy – pretty much anything other than dry, mid-temperature weather – you hate it. If we left it up to you, we'd never leave the bedroom."

The usually surefooted Draco stumbled a step. "Are you saying that's an option?"

"No!" Hermione whacked him and went back to searching the shop signs. She knew that the shop she was searching for was around here somewhere, but the streets were like a maze and she was struggling with her usually reliable sense of direction. It was almost like someone didn't want her to find their destination and was actively working against her.

Draco wasn't helping her frustration. She hadn't exactly warned him that they were going to Athens, but she didn't usually warn him about their destinations ahead of time unless she knew that he really wasn't going to be happy. At least that way, she got to put off dealing with his whinging until they actually reached their destination.

She looked over her shoulder when Draco was suspiciously silent. There was a smirk on his face and he was watching her arse as she walked. If she had to guess, he was picturing what they'd do to entertain themselves while trapped in the bedroom all day. At least he wasn't complaining anymore.

Instead of being annoyed with him as she probably should have for having his mind on other things while they were working, Hermione found her mind wandering in the same direction as his. She'd yet to tire of touching him and she wasn't sure that she ever would.

Somehow, even from behind her and focused on her arse, Draco could tell that her mind had wandered from the job. He had some sort of radar for when she was thinking naughty things.

"You're starting to consider the bedroom thing, aren't you?" he asked, voice huskier than it had been only moments before.

"I'm not. A small child is missing and creatures are dying at an alarming rate. There's a time for sex and it is not now."

"The sacrifices you make for work are admirable, Granger, but I just can't approve this most recent sacrifice since it so heavily affects me."

Well, he was going to just have to deal with it. Hermione had always known that he didn't care as much as she did about their work, now it just happened that he needed her cooperation for his favourite distraction. She had a feeling that he was going to be a little more dedicated to the job in the future.

"Or not," she mumbled as Draco wrapped a hand around her hip and led her around a corner to a street where there were no people. She didn't resist near as much as she should have – or at all – as he kissed her against the sun warmed brick of the building.

Losing herself in Draco was something she dearly wished she could do, but she just didn't have his ability to completely dismiss those that needed her help. Sure, Draco would remember them eventually, probably after he and Hermione were both either sated or arrested for public indecency. Hermione was the one who had to be mature and remember that by then it may be too late.

"Draco," she mumbled around his lips.

He groaned and leaned his forehead against hers. "I was hoping it would take you longer to come back to reality."

Instead of answering, Hermione just grinned. At first, Draco thought he'd kissed her out of her senses, but then he realized she was looking at something over his shoulder. He had to suppress an initial stab of irritation that she was looking elsewhere while he was so focused on her. It was gone quickly though, he grudgingly accepted that their relationship came second while they were working.

When he realized what exactly it was that had her attention though, the irritation made itself known once more.

"Gelato, Granger? I would – barely – understand cutting this short if lives were at stake, but for a frozen dairy treat?"

Hermione put her hand over his mouth before he said something about pregnancy changing her priorities to food. If he did that, she'd be obligated to yell at him, maybe send a minor hex his way, and they just didn't have the time.

"Not the gelato, the woman eating it."

She'd gambolled that the Pythia would still be on her gelato binge, and it seemed that it had paid off.

Hermione thought it telling that they'd only been able to find the woman once they'd stopped looking. Clearly the Pythia didn't want to be found.

Just as before, the Pythia was sitting under an umbrella on the patio of the gelato shop. Her huge sunglasses covered most of her face but did nothing to hide her inherent inner radiance. Said radiance was partially dimmed by the massive scowl on her face when she noticed Hermione and Draco approaching her.

"I've told you all I can," she said with a dismissive wave of her tiny plastic spoon.

Used to being unwelcome and ignoring it, Draco pulled out a chair opposite the glowing woman and made himself comfortable. Hermione followed suit, though her expression was all apology instead of her partner's arrogance.

Effie stared towards Draco but addressed Hermione. "Is your plan to offer him to me in exchange for a vision? It's not going to work. I've sworn off men."

Apparently the price of a vision had risen since the last time Hermione had seen her. Looking closer at the woman, Hermione didn't blame her for wanting something other than gelato. It must have been some binge the Pythia had gone on; in only a few days she was noticeably plumper in her cheeks and Hermione could see the starting of three zits on her face. Heartbreak was not treating her well.

Hermione almost felt guilty for what they were about to ask of her. It was bound to make her misery worse. She comforted herself with the fact that there was the minuscule chance their request could become something of a healing experience for the Pythia. Maybe.

"You can't have Draco," Hermione said crisply. "He's mine." She blushed a little and wasn't able to look at him as she said it, but chanced a glance at him once it was out. He was smugly amused at her discomfort. Prat.

"Well you're certainly not getting a vision in exchange for a serving of gelato again." Effie pushed the bowl of soupy remains away from her. "I'm done with the stuff."

"We're not here for a vision, but we do need your help."

Effie stopped scowling and leaned forward in her seat. She was careful to keep her expression neutral though, not wanting to appear overly eager. "What is it you want me to do?"

Hermione had thought at length how to present her request, she'd even tried to ask Draco his opinion on the matter. Unsurprisingly, Draco had been no help, but he did remind her to make sure that her assumption was correct before presenting the rest of her plan.

"You're pining for Apollo, right?" Draco asked. "And he doesn't even notice because he's too busy chasing after anything that moves."

Effie turned red and even with her glasses on, it wasn't hard to tell that she was shooting a nasty glare at Draco. Sharing her sentiments, Hermione levelled a glare of her own at the blond. She'd been planning to be much more subtle in her questions, feeling out the woman and her reactions before making their request.

"Sorry about him," Hermione sighed.

She should just make a label for him that said: "He's going to say something offensive eventually. I'm sorry in advance". It could go on his forehead.

"Was I that obvious?" Effie asked.

"Obvious enough that Granger over there noticed it, and it took her a bloody long time to even realize her own feelings."

Under the table, Hermione pointed her wand at her partner and silenced him before he ruined everything. Draco tried to say something else, found his voice gone, and turned his attention to the tourists around them, glaring until everyone glancing their way looked elsewhere.

"What was it you want my help with?" Effie asked again. Surprisingly, Draco's callous words hadn't deterred her, they seemed to peak her interest.

Hermione hesitated only a moment before a look from Draco daring her to say what she needed to spurred her into speaking. "We need you to seduce Apollo."