Chapter 8

Bill forced himself to remain composed, or his hiding spot would be compromised. A disillusion charm made him good as invisible, but he doubted anyone would believe that the wall had a case of the sniffles.

After having calmed down and managing to push his reaction to Hermione to the back of his mind, Bill went back to work to finish a mound of paperwork he still had to do before the end of the day. After playing some serious catch-up, he gathered together documents that had to be filed or sent out through the inter-office mail. He figured out the intercom pretty quickly, but didn't receive any answer. Shrugging to himself, he stood to bring the documents to Hermione by hand, but when he exited his office, he was greeted by an empty reception area. He frowned and his eyed narrowed, finding the room to feel strangely lacking without her presence, wondering where she'd disappeared to. Quickly, he dropped the parchments on her desk somewhat haphazardly and opened the front door to peek out.

He was just in time to see Hermione begin to walk in the other direction, and turn the corner, talking to someone he couldn't see. Curious, Bill began to follow them, casting a disillusion charm to avoid being caught.

He had followed, hiding his presence without a second thought. Not in a million years would he have done it in the past. But something about this woman, and this day, he found himself acting without even thinking, not even realizing what he was doing until it was too late. Damned if he knew what compelled him to do it, but now he was glad he did.

After a while, the tears began to ebb, and violent sobs faded into uneven, deep, shaky breaths. Silence ruled the room as Hermione and Norman tried to wipe away one another's tears. His own face now tears stained, Reggie offered Hermione his handkerchief silently. It was yet another gentlemanly gesture she was unaccustomed to.

"Thank you," her voice was husky. She dabbed away her tears, then Norman's. As she handed back the handkerchief, she cast charms to remove the evidence of their tears. It was a charm she was far more familiar with than she cared to admit. A small owl flew from its perch and landed on Norman's outstretched arm. He cleared his throat momentarily.

"This girl here should do well for you. She is quite fast," Norman murmured. Hermione nodded and attached her letters. The three occupants of the room watched as the owl took off in a strong, rapid flight. There was an extended, thoughtful silence in the room as the small owl slowly faded into a speck in the sky. Just as she crossed the horizon Norman turned to Hermione, somewhat hesitantly. "I was wondering if you would consider allowing my family and me the honor of having you over for dinner. I know they would all appreciate the opportunity to properly thank you. Even Luca," Norman met her eyes surprisingly shyly, looking as though he scarcely dared to hope.

"I always wondered what happened to them. I'd love to see how they're doing," Hermione nodded, smiling at the broad smile that spread across Norman's face. "Just let me know when you don't mind the extra company. I'm sure it'll be a pleasure to meet everyone."

"Of course, I'll talk to Eleanor as soon as I get home. She'll figure it all out, and send you a letter."

A knock at the entrance drew their attention to the doorway. Hermione gasped, seeing Bill standing there, she'd totally forgotten about work. "Damn it Hermione, get your head in the game! This is your job. You can't go running around doing whatever the hell you please. It'd serve you right if he fire d you right her and now," Hermione scolded herself, her head tilted down as she stared a hole in the ground, her brows furrowed, her lip once again under attack.

"Afternoon Mr. Weasley," Reggie called out brightly, oblivious to Hermione's distress.

"Afternoon Reggie… Norman," Bill forced his voice to sound chipper as he approached the trio, his eyes focused on Hermione. Hermione heard his approaching footsteps and automatically stepped back as several feet so smoothly neither other man noticed. "I was wondering where you'd disappeared to, but I see you beat me here," he patted Hermione on the shoulder figuring the reason for her strange reaction easily. He stepped up to the window and looked out it for a moment, just to cover the fact that he'd only crossed the room to try and reassure her a little. He stared blankly at the horizon just long enough for Hermione to realize what he'd just said and turn to him in confusion. "I was actually going to bring you here with me, Reggie told me about the new system and I wanted to get both of us registered quickly." Bill improvised before she could question him. Technically it wasn't a lie. He did want to get them both registered quickly, and he had intended on being the one to bring her down; just not at this exact moment.

"What a happy coincidence," Norman smiled. His impressive voice somehow failing to break Hermione's focus on Bill. Something about him was wrong. His demeanor, his behavior… something. "If you will follow me, this will only take a few minutes."

"I better head out. I'll catch you later Norman… Mr. Weasley." Both men smiled in response. "It was an honor to meet you Miss Granger. Thanks for your help."

"Thank you," Hermione responded with a smile and a wave of her own. Feeling somewhat as though on autopilot, she followed Bill and Norman through the door that Norman had originally appeared from. Inside was obviously his office. It was undeniably cluttered, though Hermione was fairly certain that Norman knew where absolutely everything was and would most likely be unable to find a thing if he did clean up. It was also free of any evidence of the owls' presence just next door, most likely thanks to some charm or another.

Quickly, Norman registered their wands by holding the tip of his wand to the tip of each of their own, one at a time, and using a brief incantation. After the, he taught them both how to send out their 'signature' to call an owl. They repeated the charm several times before Norman finally took down the barrier charms on the office so the birds could fly in and out.

He wasn't surprised to see them both put down their wands. It was common for people to want to try and summon the owls with wandless magic. Normally he simply allowed everyone to give it a few tries, knowing they wouldn't listen anyway if he tried to tell them they wouldn't be able to do it. He watched and waited for Bill and Hermione to start trying, knowing that once they were satisfied it wouldn't work, he would have to explain once again that with a wand the magic was very simplistic, but without the wand's guidance it was extremely difficult to perform. After several seconds of silence ensued, he began to glance back and forth between the two, wondering who would make the first move. He nearly shouted in surprise when a large, powerful bird such a dark shade of brown it appeared black flew into the room and perched on Hermione's shoulder. Seconds later, a light brown, very young owl zoomed in to perch on Bill's head. Comically, Bill turned his head to grin at Hermione, the bird's body remaining stationary, and now facing Hermione as well. Hermione laughed when the owl blinked at her well… owlishly before settling more comfortably on Bills head.

"Well how about that? I have had witches and wizards of all sorts of power levels come in here. Never before have any of them been able to do that," Norman explained, stilled floored by their amazing display. He extended an arm and hummed a low note. Immediately Bill's new hat took flight and landed on his arm. "Well, I suppose I should not be too surprised, all things considered."

Quickly they both thanked Norman for all his help, exchanged a few more quick pleasantries and left. They left in a somewhat comfortable silence, each pretending not to notice that the silence was largely enforced by Hermione's fast paced power walk.

"Bloody hell she's fast! What the hell's she running for?" Bill thought wildly, watching her outpace his long, powerful stride.

"I'm not running away, I'm making a tactical retreat," Hermione kept repeating to herself. Each time, that annoying little voice in the back of her mind responded, "Yeah right."

Reviews make the pen flow faster