How to Play Nice by WeasleyForMe
Bill finds out that his new work assignment has him paired with Hermione. Can he learn how to play nice with her? Bill/Hermione
Thanks to Clover Bay for helping out with this chapter, again! You rock!
Kingsley looked across the desk from Hermione to Bill and back again, and Hermione was unable to find the words necessary to explain herself. The last thing she wanted was to disappoint her boss who happened to be the Minister of Magic. A feeling of complete and utter dread begun to fill the pit of her stomach.
"It was my fault," Bill told Kingsley. Hermione's eyes grew to the size of saucers at she looked at the man next to her.
"What?" Hermione hissed at him under her breath.
Bill shot her a sideways glance and continued. "I thought I had the situation under control. It won't happen again, you have my word."
Hermione's cheeks were burning, and she wanted to shout that it wasn't only Bill's fault, but the look on his face held her in check. He was just trying to be nice.
Kingsley, clearly exhausted, slid into one of the chairs across from Hermione's desk. Bill and Hermione took his lead and sat as well and let him speak. "I don't mean to sound harsh. The two of you were brilliant members of the Order and both very good friends of mine. But you need to figure out this situation immediately and fix it! I have the Muggle Prime Minster and every media outlet hounding me about this," Kingsley informed them, none too happy.
Hermione cleared her throat and spoke out loud for the first time. "We realize that, and we have spent the entire afternoon devising a plan. Tomorrow we will head back to Crawley and try to capture whomever is responsible."
Rubbing his eyes, Kingsley grunted in response. "Just do what needs to be done," he said wearily.
"We will," Bill and Hermione recited in unison.
Kingsley smiled at them for the first time. "Is Molly having everyone over for meatloaf next Friday?" he asked Bill.
"First Friday of every month, like clockwork," he confirmed with a smile. Hermione's stomach growled just thinking about Molly's food, and she realized it had been a few months since she'd had time to make an appearance at the Burrow for dinner.
"You know I'll be there!" Kingsley said happily. "Now, finish off this Crawley fiasco and send me a report when you're done." With a nod, he stood and left the office.
As soon as he was gone, Hermione turned to Bill in the chair next to her. "What was that all about? We aren't even certain if the explosion was your fault. What if word gets back to your boss at Gringotts that you messed up royally when you really didn't? What if-"
"Hermione, a simple 'thank you' will suffice," he told her with a wink.
She huffed and crossed her arms. "Thank you. But, you didn't have to do that."
Bill studied her pretty face for a moment. "Your job is very important to you, obviously. I did it because you deserve a break," he said, gesturing to the stacks of parchment lined up on her desk.
Hermione really didn't know what to say so she just smiled. "Ready for another day in Crawley?"
Bill sighed. "I just hope it goes better than today."
Friday morning started the same as Thursday. Bill arrived in time to see Hermione singing along to the wireless, and this time she continued to sing loudly and badly in spite of his presence. She finished the song, stood and bowed at his applause.
"That was…lovely," he said while wincing.
"Thank you," she replied and threw a quill at him. "Let's get out of here while it's still early."
They made their way to the Apparation area, and this time Bill pulled Hermione against his muscular body. "What are you doing?" she asked, quite surprised.
"Getting ready to Apparate," he said with a chuckle.
"Oh," she managed, Apparating them to the same alleyway in Crawley. She pulled out of his grasp and started to walk out to the main street. "We need to set up surveillance at the post box on the edge of town. Then we wait to see who the culprit is, and turn them over to the Ministry," she informed him as they both marched down the street.
He had to admit, he liked her take charge attitude, but he wasn't so sure about her techniques.
"How are we going to hide ourselves?" he asked as they neared the location.
Hermione looked around. "Up there, in that shrubbery." Bill followed her up a small hill that would afford them the perfect view of the post box on the street corner.
"You want to hide in there, together?" he asked, motioning to the shrubbery before them.
"Yes, and the faster we get in there, the faster we can finish this," she said as she unrolled a flesh coloured string and tossed some binoculars to Bill. "And no magic whatsoever. It's too easy to trace, and they can't know we're here."
"What is that?" Bill asked as he took his spot behind the plant.
"Extendable Ears, courtesy of your charming twin brothers," Hermione told him, pulling the fleshy strand behind the bush. "Now we can see and hear everything happening on the street."
They waited for what seemed like an eternity. Bill was counting the random, harmless pedestrians crossing the intersection, and Hermione was going over the equations she had worked up to disarm the jinxed mail.
"How long do you think this will take?" Bill asked after a few hours.
"Not sure," Hermione replied, picking up the binoculars and having a better look.
"Well maybe we should be checking out a few different post boxes," Bill suggested, getting annoyed.
Hermione shook her head. "No, we have to wait for them to come to us."
"That's not the only way to do things!" he complained.
"Keep your voice down!" she hissed.
"You're not my boss!" Bill returned.
Hermione set down the ear and the binoculars and turned to face him. "Actually, right now I am! And, I can easily have you replaced with someone who wants to listen and do a good job! I'm sure any of the other curse breakers would jump at the chance to be outside on a real assignment, but no, somehow you're just too good for this!" she seethed at him.
Bill nodded his head slowly. "It's not you, you know that right? I just hate the idea of having no control over my own career," he informed her for the first time.
Hermione calmed down and whispered, "Yeah, I understand how you must feel, but if we mess this up, we'll both be making coffee runs for Kingsley until we retire."
With a laugh, Bill acknowledged that she was almost in the same position he was. She didn't have control any more than he did.
In an instant, Hermione had the binoculars held up to her eyes as a man in a cloak approached the post box. "Is it just me, or does that look like Walden Macnair?" she hissed, passing the binoculars to Bill and grabbing the Extendable Ear.
She waited to hear the spell that was performed once the culprit pulled out his wand. She turned to Bill, noting they both had their wands at the ready.
"That's impossible. He's in Azkaban!" Bill whispered, sharing a look of concern with Hermione.
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