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

"What are you doing here?"

Hermione turned an annoyed glare on the man next to her, but Zacharias Smith merely graced her with a smile that would have made a lesser woman swoon.

"Hermione, I haven't seen you all week," he told her with a pout, pulling out some notes for the meeting. "One might think you were playing hard to get."

"One might think I was outright avoiding you," she muttered to herself. She plastered a fake smile on her lips, not wanting to cause a scene in the conference in front of her colleagues. "I thought I made myself perfectly clear last weekend," she managed to say through her clenched teeth.

Zacharias chuckled and smiled at her as if she had only been joking at her apartment. "I'll take you out again tomorrow night, and you can make last weekend up to me."

The quill Hermione had been holding snapped in half, and she knew her cheeks were bright red. Seething, she was about to give him a piece of her mind, and then Kingsley called the group to attention.

"We have an update from the Aurors office and Magical Law enforcement. An Armenian wizard was taken into custody at King's Cross station yesterday for attempted murder of a Muggle in a public restroom. He is believed to be related to Antonin Dolohov. There seems to be activity amongst followers of the dark arts who never pledged direct allegiance to Voldemort, and they are targeting Muggles."

The dozen or so Ministry of Magic employees who were present shared startled looks up and down the conference table. Hermione kept her eyes fixed on Kingsley, afraid of inadvertently matching gazes with Zacharias again. Instead she held onto her broken quill and kept listening to her boss.

"Several employees in different departments are working to get to the bottom of this and to uphold the Muggle and Magical alliances we live by," Kingsley continued. "I have already spoken to some of you individually, but any questions can be directed to my office staff. Now, I'll have Marcus Belby fill us in on the details from yesterday's arrest."

Hermione listened as much as she could to what Belby was telling the group. Apparently there was some hope that they would be able to obtain information from the two already taken into custody. When Belby finished divulging his information, Hermione popped out of her seat, anxious to get on with the rest of her day.

Zacharias' hand immediately flew to her shoulder and spun her around to face him as the other occupants of the room chatted and filed out.

"What do you want now?" she nearly yelled at him.

She was gratified to see that he looked slightly startled. "I wanted to make plans for tomorrow evening," he said with uncertainty.

"Why can't I get through to you?" she asked, fully exasperated. She gestured to herself as if he were hard of hearing and said clearly, "I don't want to go anywhere with you." She jabbed him in the chest with her broken quill as she spoke the last word.

"But-"

"Fine, you know what? Just go ahead and make a reservation at Chez Blanc, and maybe when I don't show up, you'll get the picture," Hermione spat as she stormed out of the room. By the time she made it back to her office, she was still fuming.

"Rough meeting?" Dennis asked as he handed her a muffin.

"Thanks," she mumbled, eternally grateful that her assistant always seemed to know when she had skipped meals. She picked at the muffin as she told him about her meeting.

"Doesn't sound too bad to me. Why do you look like you've just seen a boggart?" he asked.

Hermione sighed. "Has there ever been a girl who wouldn't leave you alone, even though you tried to let her know just as nicely as you could that you did not have any romantic feelings for her?" she asked and received a completely puzzled look in return. "No? Well, never mind then. I had best be off to King's Cross to see how Bill is getting on."

Suddenly thoughts of the dream she'd had the previous night flooded her mind, and she could picture nothing but Bill taking a shower with her. Biting her lip and trying to fight off the blush she knew was coming, she cleared her throat. She spun on her heel and left Dennis before he could suggest she might need to see a Healer.

She managed to apparate to King's Cross station, her mind still swimming with thoughts of both Bill and Zacharias. She gathered her thoughts and found the area that was taped off with yellow police signs. When she was near enough, she felt a privacy charm envelope her body, and she realized that none of the Muggles would be able to see this particular part of the train station while the Ministry was investigating.

Hermione clicked along the tiled floor in her high heels, aware that this part of the train station was eerily empty and quiet. She couldn't wait to find Bill. She pushed the men's restroom door open and was met with a wand in her face.

Bill let out the breath he had been holding. "Oh, Hermione, it's just you," he said, dropping his wand. His heartbeat sped up a little bit as he took in her appearance with his hungry eyes.

Hermione's hands instinctively settled on her hips. "Who were you expecting? Gilderoy Lockhart?" she asked with a laugh.

"Well, seeing as this is a men's loo, I wasn't expecting a woman to come waltzing in," he replied with a smirk.

She glared at him playfully, "Why did you pull your wand on me anyway?"

Bill looked around at the dingy white tiled bathroom. "It's this room I think. My nerves are on edge. There were a lot of remnants of dark curses when I arrived. I took notes and recorded everything, and then the silence was just too much. I'm glad you're here," he admitted keeping her eye contact.

Hermione blushed, thinking only about the snogging they managed to fit into their work schedule the previous day. She wanted Bill, but she wouldn't admit to herself that she was allowed to have him.

"I'm glad I'm here too. This morning's meeting was a little too much," she muttered, magically cleaning off the counter next to the sink until it was shiny white. "May I look at your notes?" she asked, taking a seat on the counter.

Bill handed over his parchment and sat next to her. He watched her face as she read, her emotions and thoughts clearly displayed. She changed gears from concerned to surprise to calculating. As she muttered to herself, he compared her to the photograph he'd kept at his flat. She had matured, of course, but she still looked the same to him. She was always beautiful, even when she was wearing torn jeans and trainers, but there was something extra special about seeing her like this.

Instinctively, Bill reached out and tucked a loose curl behind her ear. He froze when Hermione's gaze met his, and then her eyes fluttered closed.

What's up next? Could it be more snogging? Please review!