All characters belong to JKR and I make no money from using them in this story

Chapter 34: Hypocritical:

Hermione didn't know she could move so fast. Draco was halfway down the hall before she caught up with him. When she finally caught him, she grabbed his arm and pulled him around to face her.

"WAIT!" she yelled.

"For what?" he screamed back.

"Violence doesn't solve anything!" she scolded.

"Who said anything about violence?" he yelled. "I assure you, I'm going to kill him in the least violent, most humane way possible. I'm told the Avada doesn't hurt very much at all. It's quite civilized, but highly necessary." He shrugged off her hand and started to stomp back down the hallway. She grabbed his arm again, and instead of stopping him this time, it merely slowed him down, as he was now pulling her down the hall in his wake.

She fell down, and he looked back. He turned quickly, about to leave her on the floor, when she grabbed his leg. He found it difficult to run towing a clinging Hermione Granger behind him. He looked down at her and said, "Is there something mentally wrong with you? Get off the floor!"

She was breathing hard. She held on tightly to the hem of his pants and said, "If I stand up, will you promise not to run away. Please."

"I'll give you five seconds to stand." He started counting, "One", she let go of his pants, "Two" she scrambled to her knees, "Three," she got up slightly, "Four, Five!" He started running back down the hall.

She was bent at the waist, hand on her side, and she yelled, "That's not fair!"

He stopped and said, "Fine, catch back up with me." She almost wanted to laugh. He waited for her to catch up and then said, "May I start running again?"

She stood in front of him and said, "You don't really want to kill him, Draco."

His face was red, his hands clenched, his jaw set, and he exhaled deeply and said, "I assure you, Granger, I have never proclaimed a more truthful statement than when I said I wanted to kill him!" He pushed her aside and walked briskly away from her.

She wished she hadn't left her wand in her office. She ran after him again and jumped on his back. This shocked him so badly that he stumbled and fell to his knees, cursing all the way. A few employees who were working late looked out of their office doors, but then decided not to intervene. A couple of them wouldn't have minded tackling Draco occasionally.

He turned to his back, and she straddled him. She placed her hands on his shoulders and he laughed and said, "I'm much stronger than you, you know. I could get up easily."

"Okay, but please, let me catch my breath." She took a few, quick breaths, in succession, and then she sighed.

"You're out of shape, old girl. Being thirty doesn't agree with you." He reached up and stroked her cheek.

"Oh, Draco," she said, "Please, don't be angry with Adrian. Don't hurt him."

"I won't, not really," he said soothingly. She smiled. He said, "I'm rich. I'll hire someone to kill him. Why should I soil my hands?"

She looked in pain. He said, "Who is he to toil with our lives?"

"Draco…"

"I mean, he's playing God, that's what he's doing!"

"Draco, wait…"

"He lied about me saying that I only wanted you for the challenge."

"Draco, please, listen to me," she begged.

He looked up at her and said, "May I get up first?"

"If I let you up do you promise not to run to Adrian's office?" she asked.

He thought for a moment and said, "Now that I'm being truthful, I can't lie. The moment you get up, I'm out of here."

She giggled. Then she said, "It's nice that you want to be so truthful to me, but that just means you'll have to stay on your back and listen to me."

"I like it when you're rough, Granger," he said with a sly smile. He stroked her face again and said, "Kiss me."

"Wait," she grabbed both his hands in hers.

He actually crossed his legs at the ankle, as if he had all the time in the world to laze about on the floor of the hallway at his office. He said, "What?"

"I have confession to make," she finally said.

In a move that surprised her, he wrenched his hands from hers, and swiftly changed places with her. He was now straddling her, her hands in his.

"Hey," she said, indignantly.

"Confess, Granger," he urged.

"Well now, I don't know if I can. You have the upper hand, and I feel slightly vulnerable." He moved off her and sat up against the wall. She moved to her hands and knees, and crawled over to where he sat. A few people walked past them, and she waited until they were alone in the hallway and she said, "Everything is my fault."

He took her hand, and this time, she let him. He said, "None of this is your fault. You've done nothing wrong. This is his fault for not disclosing that contract to you, it's his fault for threatening to fire you, and sue you. I can't believe he would hold that contract against you. I could fire him for that. In fact, I think I will."

She shook her head and turned to face him slightly. "No, Draco, your anger is justified, but it's pointed toward the wrong person. Please, listen to me, because as I said, I have a confession to make."

"So do I," he said.

"Me first," she insisted.

"No, I simply must go first," he interjected.

"Please, let me go first," she begged.

"No allow me, because I'm afraid that Adrian's anger is really at me, and he's taking it out on you," Draco said.

She was slightly interested in his confession, but she still had to go first. She wanted to tell him that they had lied to him. She couldn't stand being a hypocrite for one second longer. She placed her hand over his mouth and said, "Shut up and let me talk."

He bit her finger and she screamed. "That hurt!"

"Fine, go first. Age before beauty," he insisted.

"Thank you," she said. Then she realized the implication of his statement and said, "Hey."

He laughed and said, "What can I say. You're old and I'm beautiful." He leaned over and kissed her lightly. She felt so guilty.

"Draco," she started, only to falter again. She didn't know how to proceed. After a few seconds, Draco said, "If you're going to take this long to make your confession, might I go ahead and make mine. I know exactly what I want to say. I would have been done by now."

She threw her hands up in the air in defeat. She glared at him and said, "Confess away."

"Okay, that contract," he started, "that stupid, bloody contract, may have been justified. I've had quite a few flings with underlings, which have hurt our business in the past. I've been sued for sexual harassment twice, totally unjustified, but it probably happened because I broke things off badly. One woman I jilted went so far as to quit and then sell some of our business secrets to my father's company."

"Four months ago, after the last dalliance ended badly, with the witch quitting and selling our story to the gossip rags, Adrian came up with this employment contract and at first I was really, really angry about it."

He took her hand and kissed the tips of her fingers. He stood up suddenly, and helped her to stand. Without further ado, he ushered her into the conference room. He sat on the top of the table, and placed her slightly between his legs. He held both of her hands.

"When Pucey first implemented the contract, the first one to sign it was a pretty, little witch, named Jody. I did actively chase her, on the side, to see how far I could get without Pucey knowing. I didn't get very far. He fired her. From that point on, I was determined to best him. I wanted to prove to him that no bloody contract could dictate my personal life."

"It's my company, it bears my name, and I'm 29 years old, dammit! While he owns a third of the company, I'm still the major stockholder."

Hermione closed her eyes and she felt herself shaking. He placed a hand on her face and said, "Look at me, my Granger." She opened her eyes.

"As I said, I thought, what right does he have to dictate my personal life? Therefore, I went after another pretty, little witch in accounting. She was his second victim. He fired her and she was left without a job, with a large severance package, and no hope for future employment."

"Draco, that's awful," Hermione said. "Did you even care for her at all?"

"No," he answered, as a matter of fact.

"How does this relate to us," she asked, though she was afraid to do so.

He didn't want to continue. He couldn't. She looked so sad and upset. After he confessed, she would leave him. He knew it. He said, "You know what, I think I'll tell you the rest later. I've decided to go back to trying to kill Adrian, unless you can give me a good reason why I shouldn't." He smiled to alleviate the mood in the room.

Hermione felt so guilty. She blamed Adrian for allowing both her and Draco to believe that there was a contract, but she finally saw the reason for it. Draco had abused it in the past, as he had abused his position in the company before Adrian came up with the contract. After hearing Draco's confession, or part of it, she wasn't sure his anger at the man was justified, even if Adrian and she had lied about its existence, she still wasn't certain Draco should be angry. She was also slightly aware that perhaps she should be angry with Draco. He apparently went after her, thinking that there was a contract in place, and not caring in the beginning if Adrian fired her or not. That part unsettled her greatly.

"Have you thought of a reason yet? A reason why I shouldn't kill Adrian?" Draco challenged, as she had been quiet since he first posed that statement to her.

"You'll go to prison, and you're too beautiful for jail, aren't you?" she asked.

"I think its justifiable homicide, sweetheart," he taunted.

"You could just fire him," she suggested, trying to let on that she was joking.

"That is a better solution." Draco pushed away from the table and said, "Now I see what all the hype over your being so smart is about, because that's brilliant. I should fire him and then kill him! If I kill him while he's still an employee, I would have to pay out his life insurance premium to his survivors. Thanks, Granger."

He opened the conference room door. He was no longer running. They walked side by side, still toward Adrian's office. Hermione said, "You might muss your clothing if you kill him."

He laughed and said, "Dear, sweet, naïve, Granger. Someone as practiced at the Dark Arts as I am would never soil himself. I know ten ways to kill a man that wouldn't even dirty my nails."

"How will you dispose of his body?" she asked.

He stopped and seemed really to consider this question. "I could chuck it in the rubbish bin, and let the cleaning crew dispose of it."

"Would he fit?" she asked.

"He would if we chopped him into bits. There's only one way to find out," he said with a gleam to his eye.

They had just reached the door to Adrian's outer office, when he opened it and said, "If you are both done plotting my demise and dismemberment, might I interject?"

"If you must," Draco said, his anger abated.

"I lied. There. Makes me a bit of a hypocrite, aye?" Adrian said. Draco looked confused as Adrian continued. "I wanted to give you a dose of your own rotten medicine, Malfoy. We both lied, Hermione and I, but I want it put down in the records that while my biggest lie precedes all of your known lies, mine and Hermione current lie is directly because of your lies, and Hermione only did it to teach you a lesson, and I did it because you pissed me off royally."

"What do you mean?" Draco asked, beyond confused.

Adrian walked into his outer office, crossed over to his office and sat at his desk. Draco followed. He looked back once and said, "Join us, Granger, because I feel like I need someone to explain this to me, and I might need you to translate." She started to back out of the outer office. Draco made his way to her in two strides. He grabbed her hand and pulled her into Adrian's office.

Draco slammed the door shut. He pushed Hermione, not lightly, into a seat. He sat in the other. He said, "What's going on, Pucey? Was it a lie that you were going to prosecute Granger? Was it a lie that you were going to fire her? Did you cause her undue anguish for nothing?"

"Oh, Draco," Hermione said softly. He was worried that Adrian's lies had hurt her, when it was the complete opposite.

"Those are lies, yes, but Hermione was well aware that they were lies when she told them to you," Adrian said pointedly.

Draco quickly glanced toward Hermione, then back to Adrian. Adrian continued, "Our lies were necessary to give you a jolt. To let you see that all lies are wrong, Malfoy."

Draco looked at Hermione again, and all she could do was shrug. Finally, Adrian dropped the big bomb, the one that once detonated, was likely to destroy them all. He knew Draco's reaction would be quick and severe, so before he said anything else he said, "Hermione, stand up and come over here for a moment."

Draco's hand clamped down on her arm and he said, "She's fine where she is."

"Let her go," Adrian said steadily. He stood up. So did Draco. Hermione remained sitting, until Draco pulled her up as well. "Hermione, over here, please," Adrian urged again.

"GET ON WITH IT!" Draco shouted, holding Hermione's wrist in a death grip. Adrian opened his top desk drawer, and drew out his wand. He held it in his hand. Draco pulled his out.

Finally, Hermione had, had enough. She pulled her wrist from Draco's hand and went to stand at the end of the desk. She said, "Draco, there was never an employment contract. Adrian didn't have me sign one, because he thought you might seriously have an interest in me, and he didn't want to have me sign it, in case that was true. He didn't tell me that he didn't have me sign it, in fact, he never said anything to me about it, and I only found out about it after you told me this weekend."

Draco looked beyond stunned. Hermione continued, "He never told you he hadn't had me sign it, because he said he asked you plainly if you liked me, and you said that you didn't, so that made up his mind for him. He decided he would have me sign it when I came back to work after my long weekend. He never imagined that we would get together this weekend."

Draco reached across the desk, grabbed Adrian's collar, and then he hit him square in the nose. Adrian fell back in his seat, and held his nose. Draco danced around, holding his hand in his other hand.

"Ouch!" Draco shouted. "They never act like this hurts in Muggle movies."

"You broke my nose!" Adrian squawked.

"Well, your nose might have broken my hand," Draco said back. "It hurts like hell."

Hermione shook her head and started to leave. Before she could open the door, Draco turned her around with his other hand. "You lied to me."

"Yes, I did, which makes me the worse sort of hypocrite. That was my confession." It was the only thing she could say. She opened the door, and walked back down the hallway to her office.

Hermione stayed in her office for another hour. The sky was beginning to turn dark. She didn't know what to do. She wasn't sure she still had a job, a boyfriend, or her dignity. She felt horrible for lying to him. She felt horrible that he had lied. She was about to leave when there was a knock at her door.

Without her consent, the door opened and Draco appeared. Without preamble, he sat down in front of her desk.

"How's the hand?" she asked.

"Bruised, along with my pride and dignity," he said wearily. "You know, that was a lowdown, dirty thing you and Adrian did to me. You caused me unnecessary worry and pain with your little lie, and it wasn't fair. None of my lies was done callously. None of them were intended to cause you pain."

She knew she deserved everything he was saying, and perhaps more. She laid her head on her desk and said, "Can you forgive me?"

"It's not that easy," he admitted. "It was equally low down and dirty of you to pretend that Adrian threatened you with prosecution. Adrian explained everything however, and I've decided to forgive him."

She looked up. "Only him?"

Ignoring her question, he said, "I'm sorry for the thing with the Johnsons."

"I don't care about that," she said with irritation.

"What do you care about?" he asked flippantly.

"I care if you forgive me or not," she said back.

"Well, I don't think I do. Not yet. And the truth, as much as I now hate that word, is that after I finally confess everything to you, you may not forgive me either," he said.

She placed her head back on her desk and said, "Go on with it, then."

A/N: I changed the name of this chapter due to a review left by Robyn Hawkes, so this chapter is dedicated to that reader! Thanks! Also, the random number I picked (I really had my daughter pick) of the review, which will get to decide which story comes next (although I will probably be able to handle both of them after I finish with FPIII and this) will undoubtedly be a review in this chapter. So there.

Thanks to my beta, DHLane. I know this chapter had more mistakes than most, because I didn't give it a read through before I sent it. Thanks for fixing everything, sorry, and thanks! ONLY TWO MORE CHAPTERS!!!!!