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
Hermione trotted into the Ministry much later than usual on Wednesday morning, and she was glad she had been wearing jeans and her trainers. Having stayed with her parents much longer than expected last evening made her sleep through her alarm clock ringing in the morning.
Dennis was already at his desk hard at work when she ran in. "Morning, Hermione," he said, handing her a pastry and a mug of coffee as she went by.
"Thanks," she replied, shooting him a smile as she entered her office.
And there was Bill, sitting in her chair, feet propped up on her desk. He was reading The Daily Prophet, and without looking up he said, "You're late, Ms. Granger."
Hermione snorted and set down her breakfast. She took a good look at him. He was wearing a black tee shirt that fit him snuggly across the chest, worn jeans, and old dragon hide boots. He finally glanced up at her, and she felt slightly giddy when he smirked. He seemed to know when she was checking him out for a few seconds longer than she should be.
"Feet off my desk, Mr. Weasley. Ten points from Gryffindor," she said, doing her best impression of their former head of house.
Bill laughed and set down his newspaper. "I was beginning to think you weren't coming in today," he said, holding her chair out for her.
She took her seat and yawned. "Oh you know how parents are, they kept me way past dinner, and then we argued about why I haven't found a nice young man and settled down yet." She rolled her eyes. "So I went home, drank some wine and slept in accidentally." She didn't mention the fact that she had been thinking about Bill the entire time her mom was lecturing her about dating.
"Totally justified," Bill promised her. He was less willing to admit that he had spent his evening trying not to think about how much he wanted to snog her. "So what's on the agenda for today?" he asked.
Hermione sipped her coffee and handed him a sheet of parchment with the Minister's signature on the bottom. "A Muggle farmer was on the news claiming someone ruined his field by carving out crop circles."
"So what's the big deal? Why is the Ministry involved?"
"The patterns are in the shape of the Dark Mark," she replied handing him a photograph. "Kingsley wants us to check it out, see what we think is going on. But, he's getting nervous. Maybe there are others like Willard Macnair out there. Other dark wizards and witches who still have anti-Muggle ideals."
Bill watched the tense line of her jaw as she looked at one of the photos. He knew he could never relate to how a Muggle-born witch or wizard felt. Surely it was a complete shock to be plucked from one life and thrown into a completely new world.
"So we'll check out the farm?" he asked, and when she nodded they both stood. She grabbed a broomstick from Dennis on their way out, knowing they might need to use it later.
Hermione apparated them together, and they arrived on the edge of the field right in a patch of mud. Hermione looked up at the grey clouds above them and frowned.
"Perfect," Hermione snarled, realizing her trainers were complete soaked. When she noticed that she was still holding tightly to Bill's arms, she released them as if she had been burned.
"It doesn't look much better anywhere else," Bill noted as he looked around at the field which had been soaked from excess rain. "At least it's not raining right now."
Hermione took a large step up onto a rock and caught her balance. "I think that we should examine the field first." She looked across some of the crops that had been flattened.
"No, we definitely need to check the area for any curses," Bill replied, pulling out his wand.
"Well we can do that while we check over everything."
"That's not how it should be done. We need to confirm that the fields are safe."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "You're so argumentative," she muttered and stormed away from him. Bill could only smile as he scanned some diagnostic spells around them.
"Better safe than sorry," he said as he followed after her. They spent several hours this way, Bill casting spells while Hermione examined the fields.
Once they had checked everything on the ground, Hermione held out the broomstick. "Now we need to examine the image from the air."
"Want me to do it, since you're afraid of flying?" he asked, reaching out for the broom.
She yanked it away from him with a scowl. "I'm not afraid!" she cried indignantly.
Bill sighed. "I know you're not fond of it."
"I can do it just fine!" she said, stomping her foot.
"Why don't we go up together?" he asked, more than slightly amused by her hysterics.
She looked from the broom to Bill and glared at him. "Fine."
Bill sat on the broom with Hermione in front of him and kicked off from the ground. He heard her stifled cry of terror as her feet left the ground. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine!" she squeaked, gripping tightly to the broom handle. Bill felt her slide herself backward against his body until her bum was pressed up against him. He had to bite his lip to avoid an audible groan.
Her whole body went tense as he guided the broom upward. Bill tried to keep the broom very steady as he looked downward at the Dark Mark carved in the farmer's crops; it really was an eerie sight to see.
Bill leaned slightly forward and heard Hermione muttering to herself. "Hermione are you reciting the twelve uses of dragon's blood?" he asked gently.
"No! I'm just thinking out loud!" she nearly screamed back at him as she shook.
Bill started to guide the broom downward. "Honestly, we aren't gathering any information up here. Let's get back on the ground."
Hermione wrapped her body so tightly around the broom as they neared the ground that Bill wasn't sure he would be able to get her to release it. Once he touched down, she jumped off of the broom like it had tried to attack her.
"You don't have to act like you're great at everything, Hermione," Bill told her. "It's all right."
"What do you mean?" she bristled, eyeing the broom warily in his hand. She had always felt like a failure when it came to flying, and it automatically set her defensive barrier in place.
"You're good at tons of other things. You don't have to be good at flying. Hell, you don't even have to enjoy it," Bill said as he set the broom down in the mud.
Hermione closed the gap between them. "How do you know that I can't fly better than you? Maybe that would have bothered me less if I had been the one controlling the broom!" she said, her tone turning accusatory.
Her cheeks were flushed, her fists were clenched; she was wound up to the point of boiling over.
Bill crossed his arms over his chest and glared down at her. "I find that hard to believe since I have been playing Quidditch seeker for literally decades," he growled, eliciting a squeak of annoyance from her.
Hermione huffed. "Perhaps you're the one who needs to accept that they aren't the best at everything, Bill Weasley!"
"Hermione, just accept that your talents do not extend to flying."
"Make me!" she cried, jutting her jaw forward and throwing her fists to her sides.
Unable to prevent himself, Bill roughly pulled her body against his. His breath caught in his throat as her eyes grew wide before fluttering closed. He pressed his lips to hers with feverish passion, and Hermione staggered back a step. She clung onto his shoulders, stood on her toes and kissed him back with bruising force.
Their fervent argument continued, not with words but with a new kind of passion found only in each other's lips. Bill tilted her chin upward and she parted her lips as his tongue met hers.
Hermione moaned and wrapped her arms around his neck before abruptly thrusting her hands between them and pushing him away. She took a step back, eyes wide once more.
"I-I… sorry," Bill muttered, startled back to reality as he looked at her, bruised lips and all.
"Just keep in mind, this doesn't mean you win the argument, Weasley," she hissed before grabbing him by the shirt and pulling him into another kiss. This one was less forceful and yet even more ardent.
Bill smiled against her lips. "No, of course not," he whispered between kisses.
Hermione's body was giving in to the recent craving she'd had; she realized she had been specifically longing for Bill since the previous week. She let her fingers explore every part of his neck, chest and arms, memorizing each scar as she went.
As he let his hands trail down her back to her hips, Bill was certain that at any moment she would push him to the ground and hex him to bits. But it was worth every moment it lasted.
Their breathing became uneven as they snogged until a loud clap of thunder finally drew them apart.
They gaped at each other momentarily before Hermione picked up the broom and apparated them back to the Ministry, unable to speak until they were back in familiar territory. She took a deep breath and said, "I think we have a problem."
And the pot has boiled over! I hope you liked this chapter! Don't forget to review... it might persuade me to update faster...