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
Bill was having a late lie in when he heard a tapping against his window. In no mood for annoyances, he threw his pillow across the bedroom, hitting the window and leaving it rattling. He opened his eyes in time to see an owl flying away from his window ledge.
"It can wait," he muttered, rolling over and pulling his quilt over his head. He couldn't distinguish between the conflicting emotions of anger and disappointment. He wasn't angry with Hermione, not exactly. He was getting very frustrated though. They weren't even in a relationship, and she was already making his life difficult.
"Mixed signals," he snarled as he finally got out of his bed. He opened his window to find the owl had left his newspaper and an orange Gringotts envelope outside. Feeling immediately fully awake, he saw an interview Hermione had given on Friday had been posted on the front page of the Daily Prophet. He skimmed the contents of her verbiage regarding the attacks on Muggles and frowned. He just hoped that the information he gathered in Armenia was enough to push the investigation forward.
Dropping the newspaper in favour of the envelope, he tore it open and pulled out a letter bearing an official seal.
Mr. William Weasley,
On behalf of the Gringotts board of officials, I regretfully inform you that your position as a curse breaker has been eliminated. Unfortunately, the bank is in the process of removing the Department of Curse Elimination and Retribution and all of its current employees. As these changes will be effective immediately, your final paycheck has been attached. Please contact me directly as I would be more than pleased to recommend you for future employment outside of Gringotts.
Sincerely, Ned Barbary
Bill read the letter five times, his expression becoming grim. "You've got to be fucking kidding me," he growled, crumbling up the letter and getting dressed as quickly as possible. There was somebody he needed to talk to.
Hermione moped around her apartment all day on Saturday, not even bothering to change out of her pyjamas. After reading a book and taking a nap, she ate a carton of ice cream and allowed Crookshanks to lick the lid.
"What am I supposed to do with him?" she asked her pet. "I ran away like a complete nutter."
Crookshanks just meowed and turned his smashed-looking face up to look at her. Hermione thought back to all of the decisions she had been forced to make recently, and she wasn't at all certain that she was doing a good job of it all. Her personal and professional lives were all mixed together.
"Work is a disaster, Crooks," she said and she scratched him behind the ears. "And he's just making everything even worse." She knew what she needed to do with Bill; she just didn't want to.
Finally making up her mind to shower and eat a proper meal before the day was over, she stood and slid her feet into her slippers. She trudged to the kitchen, deciding that Sunday spent in her office would make her feel better.
Kingsley was just sitting down to a nice sandwich and a cold butterbeer when he heard someone pounding on the door of his cottage. He grabbed his wand, a precaution he was never able to shake since the end of the war, and opened the door just a slit to find Bill Weasley looking rather grim.
"I was expecting you," Kingsley remarked with a sigh, opening the door for the younger man to enter. "I was just hoping to make it through lunch first," he added under his breath as Bill marched into the small sitting room.
"You knew this was going to happen?" Bill asked, waving the orange envelope from his former boss in the air.
"It was something we expected, but I thought it was still further away on the horizon," Kingsley replied in his usually diplomatic tone.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Bill asked, clearly seething. "Curse breaking was my livelihood! My passion! It's basically the only thing I care about now!" But he knew that wasn't true. Hermione was already taking up residence in the empty place Fleur left in his heart.
Kingsley took a seat in a plush chair and motioned for Bill to sit as well. "I was hoping to yet retain your department, even if it meant eventually absorbing the curse breakers into the Ministry. However, there is no funding now, and such services are sought on a case-by-case basis; not quite the makings of full time, steady employment. Times are changing Bill, and you must as well."
"I'm not cut out for a desk job, you know that," Bill remarked, imagining his life as a Ministry employee. He ran his rough hands along his forehead and over his eyes.
"I see few other options for you at the moment," Kingsley said gently. "I know there are some permanent openings with the Unspeakables, and there may be some changes soon in Magical Cooperation-"
"Can't I just stay where I am for now? With Hermione?" Bill cut in before thinking about the unintended meaning of his words.
Kingsley raised an eyebrow, giving him a stern look. "If that's what you want, I'm sure the Board of Trustees will accept it temporarily. But, if you are to start working as a Ministry employee, you will need to abide by all of the rules," he told Bill as he stood and crossed the room to his bookcase. He tossed a booklet to Bill and took his seat once again. "Read it. Live it. Love it."
Bill looked down at the Ministry of Magic Employee Handbook that rested on his lap. He had a bad feeling about all of this. The last thing he really wanted was this type of employment. He could feel his freedom and dreams slipping through his fingers like the sands in Egypt.
Bill flipped through the booklet to find that a marker had been placed between pages 114 and 115, and his eyes caught the topic heading 'Romantic Relations in the Workplace'. His eyes flicked up to meet Kingsley's, and the older man nodded briefly before clearing his throat.
"Well, unless there is anything else I can help you with..." he said, leaving his desire to finish his lunch blatantly hanging in the air between them.
"As a matter of fact there is," Bill replied, dashing Kingsley's plans in half. "The more I think about what I found in Armenia, the more uneasy I feel," Bill told the Minister, and a new topic of conversation was born.
Bill and Hermione are both feeling out of control. I'll try to update again soon so they can feel a bit more grounded.
Thanks for reading! Please leave a review if you've enjoyed this chapter!
Thank you to Clover Bay for beta reading!