Chapter 7

Harry drove home deep in thought. Why did he kiss her? He wanted to show her they could spend time together without him letting his moods get in the way. But NO, I had to go and blow it, one things for sure though, it wasn't her being with Jake that would make her leave her job, it was me and my bloody hormones.

Harry arrived home and threw Jake's keys on the counter. He walked up the stairs to his room and on the way he heard his mother call to him.

"Harry, darling," Harry turned around and walked back to where she was coming out of her office. She had her arms full of papers, and Harry took them from her.

"Mother, do you need to take so many papers with you, you will hurt yourself." Lily laughed and kissed him on the cheek.

They walked into the dining room, where the pile of papers on the table exceeded the pile Harry was carrying.

"Mum, what is all of this?"

"Oh Harry, it's all the preparations for the St Mungo's Ball, it's becoming bigger than Merlin himself," Lily laughed.

"Anyway, I just wanted to remind you about the meeting tonight your dad and Sirius are already over there trying to organise everything, apparently it's been a mess down there." Lily continued with her sorting and Harry nodded and walked out, Lily noticed he looked like he had a lot n his mind.

"Harry, care to talk about it?" Lily didn't look up but she knew that Harry had stopped.

"Nah Mum, it's ok, I am fine." Harry walked up the stairs and went to have his shower, maybe the hot water would relax his tense muscles.

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Harry walked into the meeting about 20 minutes before it was due to start. He saw his father and Sirius and walked over to greet them. He was trying very hard to concentrate on what his father and Godfather were saying but he found his eyes were scanning the room, as there was already about 30 people in the large convention room. Hermione had seen Harry walk in but as she was talking to Amy, James Potter's assistant, she didn't want to appear rude by leaving. She watched him scan the room and since she was with a group of people he could not see her.

She was so angry with her self once she got home, she did something that was completely out of character for her, she threw a tantrum. She walked in and threw her handbag on the lounge, she screamed and then picked up the scatter cushions and threw them into her fireplace. She did this for a while and when she was finished, she sat down on the floor and laughed. Yes, she laughed. She decided she was not going to let Harry Potter get the better of her and she was certainly not going to let him put her in a position where she would jeopardise her job. She had a nice shower and with an improved outlook, she dressed to kill and went to work.

Harry was talking to his father when the coordinator asked for everyone to be seated. He turned around to walk over to the large meeting table when he saw her standing by his seat. She was wearing a tight black skirt that came to mid thigh, considerably shorter than what she would normally wear and a low cut black jacket. Her hair was laying down in loose curls and she applied some light make up to emphasise her features. James, Sirius and Harry approached the table where she was standing.

"Hello Hermione, I wasn't sure you were going to make it." Harry had the decency to look embarrassed. James smiled and walked over to introduce Sirius to Hermione.

"Very nice to meet you Mr Black." Hermione shook hands with him.

"No it's nice to meet you Miss Granger, I have heard quite a bit about you." Sirius smiled and James stepped in to join in with the conversation.

"Sirius, don't embarrass her, leave the poor girl alone." James laughed at his best friend.

"James thinks you're wonderful Hermione, he doesn't stop talking about how efficient you are, how organised you have managed you get my Godson," Hermione blushed and giggled. Harry tried to step in,

"Oh come on Sirius, I am not that bad."

"So Hermione, where were you working before you started with the Potters?" Harry stood there looking very lost. He sat in the chair where his name was placed and started to look through his papers. The conversation between the three of them went on for a few more minutes then Hermione excused herself and sat next to Harry.

"You look nice."

"Thank you Mr Potter, but I am sure my attire is not on the agenda this evening." Hermione didn't make eye contact with him and Harry was starting to get frustrated.

Hermione was busy taking notes and passing papers that Harry required. The reason the meeting was called was because they had conflicting evidence over a prisoner who was charged with using Dark magic. It was a very heated meeting and Harry was very involved in the conversations. At times Hermione lent into him, giving him some advise. Most times it was just bringing his attention to something one of the others members had stated earlier.

Sirius and James were watching the interaction between Harry and Hermione and they winked at each other. When they were busy, they worked exceptionally well together, it was all the other times that they managed to stuff up and annoy the crap out of each other.

After three hours the meeting ended and most of the officials had left with their assistants, Harry was still talking to James and Sirius and they suggested dinner at home, Hermione tried to refuse but James and Sirius wouldn't have any of it.

"Hermione, how did you arrive tonight?"

"I apparated in Harry, I will meet you at your place."

"Hermione, wait...." She stopped and turned to look at him, Harry found he could not voice what his was thinking.

"I will see you at home," Hermione nodded and walked to the apparition spot.

Once at the house Hermione walked into her office to drop off her papers and make a few quick notes to follow up on Monday. She was leaning over her desk, giving Harry a lovely view of her long legs. She stood up and Harry stepped back into the doorway so she would think he just arrived. He was lucky this time, she didn't turn around instead she walked over to the filing cabinet and placed a few files in there. She turned around to see Harry standing at the doorway. Her heart skipped a beat and luckily for her, he wouldn't have noticed.

"Harry, is there anything you need?"

"Oh Yeah," Harry mumbled.

"Umm, mum's waiting for you so she can serve dinner." Harry was leaning against the door frame looking completely and absolutely irresistible. He had removed his tie and just had his black shirt unbuttoned and pulled out from his pants, hanging loosely over his body. Hermione nodded since she couldn't voice anything at this point in time, and walked past him, out into the dining room. Harry followed and they sat down to enjoy a lovely dinner. Lily very conspicuously, made sure Harry and Hermione were seated together with James at the head of the table and her and Sirius on the opposite side. They had a great dinner with the antics of James and Sirius' school days holding most of the conversation. Hermione could not remember the last time she had laughed so much as well as laughing with Harry. During the course of dinner, he had placed his arm across the back of her chair and had been unconsciously playing with her hair.

"So Hermione, what do you do in your spare time?" Sirius was pouring some scotch for everyone as they had finished the wine and decided to move on.

"Not much spare time I am afraid." Hermione thanked him for the drink.

"Has Harry taken you down to the stables to ride the horses yet?" Hermione was just about to say that Jake had offered, but decided against it so she just shook her head no.

"Jake had offered to take you down to the stables, didn't he get to do it before he left?" Lily had such an innocent look on her face, it was hard to think she was stirring the pot.

"Oh do you know our Jake?" Sirius asked. Harry's arm dropped from it's resting place and the movement did not go unnoticed by Hermione.

"Oh yes" Harry's sarcastic tone cut through the air and if fate was just trying to test Hermione it was playing one beauty of a game with her, because who should walk in at that moment, yes, Jake.

"Hey everyone!," Jake's excited voice broke the silence and Hermione spun around on her chair. He saw her face and his lit up.

"Oh man, what a greeting party, Mione, you're here!" Jake yelled her name and dropped his bag to get a hug from her. At seeing his face, she immediately smiled and stood to greet him. James, Lily and Sirius were standing to greet Jake as well while Jake grabbed Hermione and spun her around. The length of her skirt was not a wise choice but Harry was the only one who noticed.

"Wow, she does know Jake huh!" James laughed at Sirius and they spent the next couple of hours chatting to Jake about his tour and why on earth he was back home so early. He told them they had two buys in a row, which was rare, so the team got permission to go home for a couple of days. They all chatted until it was very late. James and Lily excused themselves and went to bed and Sirius was getting up to leave as well but after some, not so gentle persuasion he stayed for another hour. It was getting close to 3.30am and Hermione decided to make it a night. It didn't escape her that Harry was a little off edge since his brother arrived, so she took the opportunity to hopefully, keep Harry in a good mood. She stood up to get her bag and Sirius and Jake looked at her to say goodnight. Jake stood up to take Hermione home.

"It's OK Jake, I am going to apparate home, you get some rest." He wasn't going to take no for an answer and Hermione knew she was fighting a losing battle with Jake. She looked at Harry and he was looking at his scotch, not paying any attention to what was happening around him. Sirius said goodnight and walked Hermione out to the car.

"Bye Sirius, it was so wonderful meeting you, hopefully we will see each other again." Hermione hugged him and he whispered into her ear, "Oh I am sure you will be seeing me again, Miss Granger, and do me a favour, look after him." Hermione pulled back sharply and looked at him with a confused look.

"Who?" "I think you know Miss Granger, you are a very clever young lady." Sirius smiled and gave her a peck on the cheek. Jake walked around to open her door and said goodnight to his 'uncle'.

The conversation on the way home consisted of Jake telling Hermione how his team were progressing. It was good for her as she knew all the people he was talking about. They pulled up in her driveway and she went to say goodnight but she noticed how tired he was and suggested he crash in her spare room for the remanding part of the night, which was very little by this time. Jake refused, saying he would be fine and that it wasn't too far to drive back home. After trying to convince him unsuccessfully, Hermione said goodnight. Jake leaned in and gave her a kiss on the cheek, this small action shook Hermione to her core. She smiled at Jake and raised her hand to gently stroke his face. She turned and left to retire for the small amount of night she had left. She had a nice hot shower and went to lay in bed. She laid there for a few minutes thinking about Harry and Jake, she can't kid herself anymore, she needed to decide where her feelings lay and not lead the other one along anymore. There was Jake on one hand, he was kind, loving and a generally wonderful man. He has also been so nice to her from the minute she saw him in the pool that day of her interview. And he has certainly made his interest in her known. On the other hand we have Harry, there has been a certain something about him since she met him. Something deep inside her stirs every time she is with him or she sees him. It is so deep she can't even explain it in terms she can understand and that kiss she had with him yesterday was completely unbelievable. But it all came down to one thing, he was her boss. Whereas Jake was free, good looking and certainly willing. Hermione let out a frustrated gasp and decided to think about it when she wasn't so tired. She turned over and snuggled into her blankets and just before sleep overtook her, she jumped up with a fright and a horrible shiver ran down her back. She had a horrible feeling something terrible had gone wrong.

Further away, on the bend that you take to turn into the Potter's street, a car laid slumped up against a tree with the driver bleeding furiously from the multiple wounds. His last breathe before he blacked out was Hermione.

Hi Guys

hope you like it, sorry it's a cliff hanger ;-)

as always, review if you like!!

Sirius xoxox