The following week found Kerr Black at work. On the desk in front of her were several scrolls of parchment that she was poring over. She hadn't even bothered to sit in her chair and was instead standing in order to be able to see the parchments spread out across her desk. At one point though she actually knelt on the edge of the desk and placed her hands at the other side of the desk. She then bent close to the parchment on the table as though she couldn't see it properly. It was like this that she was found by Kingsley Shacklebolt, Minister for Magic, and her good friend, Head of the Auror Office, Harry Potter. The two of them entered Kerr's office to the sight of her knelt on her desk, bum facing them. They exchanged confused glances before Harry decided to clear his throat rather than approaching her in that position.

"Ahem."

Not usually one to scare easily, Kerr jumped and then promptly fell off the other side of the desk with a loud crash. Kingsley and Harry rushed over and looked over the desk to find Kerr lying sprawled on the floor, her black hair a mess and her robes in disarray. Kerr looked up from where she was lying and saw the Minister for Magic and Harry laughing at her. She frowned at them.

"Ha Ha," she said picking herself up from the floor. "No need to laugh like a couple of schoolboys. Never seen a girl fall off a desk before?"

Kingsley and Harry stopped laughing but their smiles were still plastered to their faces.

"Well what the hell were you doing?" asked Harry as Kerr brushed herself down.

"I was studying some documents that recently came to my attention," she told Harry as she began to tidy up her desk quickly, trying to obscure a map she had found of the muggle village called Weedon. She didn't want Harry seeing that. He would immediately be suspicious. "Actually, Minister, you will probably find them most interesting but I have not finished decrypting them. I'll probably have them on your desk on Monday."

Kingsley frowned. Kerr Black was one of his best Aurors probably because of all the work that she put in. He thought she worked too hard but there was no doubt that she got results. A lot of the busts and raids they had done in the last year had been solely on her information and her determination to research everything thoroughly tended to yield good results. Those results usually led to a more discreet approach and less casualties.

"Monday?" Kingsley asked. "I thought you'd have it on my desk by Saturday evening knowing your usual rate of work."

Kerr blushed slightly and glanced between Kingsley and Harry. She hadn't particularly wanted to let them know why she wouldn't be handing it in until Monday but it wasn't like she could very well refuse to tell them now that Kinsley's curiosity had be piqued.

"Well, I'm finishing early today and won't be back in until Monday morning," she told them quickly before she buried her face in securing the papers away in her drawers. When she glanced back up both Kingsley and Harry were staring at her in shock. Merlin, she thought, I must work too hard if they react like this to one weekend off. She immediately wished she hadn't told them. The whole of the Wizarding world would soon know that she had taken the weekend off and she would have nonstop questioning about it.

"Why?" Harry broke the silence first.

"I'm just having the weekend off," she said frowning. "I am not obligated to work weekends am I?"

"Well no," Kingsley confirmed, "but ... what's happened?"

Kerr knew it. She knew that she wouldn't get away with this so lightly. She wished she had left the office earlier. Still, those papers were just so damned interesting and if they held the information she thought they did then it was all the better. Still the scrutiny that she was under made her fell rather uncomfortable. Nobody ever took this much interest in what she was doing. Normally, she thought to herself, because whenever anyone asks you what you're doing, you tell them you're working.

"Nothing has happened," Kerr told them. "Don't look so worried. Everything is fine."

Harry and Kingsley exchanged glances and Kerr blushed slightly. She hadn't realised just how bad she was. It made her feel slightly embarrassed that she couldn't even take a day off work without everyone thinking that something terrible had happened. She hadn't even made up a story of what she was going to be doing. Stupid of you, she reflected. She glanced down at the desk hoping that they wouldn't realise that she was blushing. She had the luck not to go red. Unfortunately for her, Harry's eyes were damned sharp.

"You've got a date," he said suddenly his eyes lighting up. "With who?"

"No one," Kerr protested. "I don't have a date. I just want a little time to myself."

Kerr's lies would have been convincing if she had not blushed and looked down making Harry laugh in triumph.

"You have a date," he said incredulous. "Who is it? Is it Neville?"

"No," said Kerr shaking her head. "It's no one you know, Harry and don't bother asking me. I'm not going to tell you so that you, Ron and the rest of males in both our families can decide that they need to give him fair warning."

"Who Kerr?" Harry questioned. "I could do some awesome Auror work and find out, you know I could."

Kerr let a sound escape her lips that sounded very like a growl.

"You wouldn't," she said. "You wouldn't be able to put a tail on me. You know I'd know and I'd take them out."

Harry grinned and then clapped Kingsley on the shoulder.

"Ah but with Kingsley here," he said, "I believe we could announce to the Wizarding World that we need to know everyone you meet with over the weekend."

"No don't," protested Kerr knowing that she would be proverbially screwed if they did anything of the sort. She had known that she was crazy for going along with this. She should have just told him that she couldn't meet him. She didn't even know why she was doing this. Maybe he had been right. Maybe she had tried to run from him. Maybe she had missed him but what they were doing was crazy.

"Who is it then?" asked Harry and Kingsley looked equally interested.

"He's a muggle," she invented trying to stay as calm as possible. "His name is Blair and he is taking me somewhere for the weekend."

The look on Harry's face could only really be described as Ron-like in Kerr's vocabulary. She had to stifle the laugh that she felt in the back of her throat. He looked quite comical standing there beside Kingsley who was appraising her. She shrugged and then gave them a tentative smile.

"A muggle, Kerr?" asked Harry when he seemed to recover himself. "Are you serious?"

"Why a muggle?" asked Kingsley.

"He's nice," said Kerr simply, "and I need a break from the Wizarding world for a bit. I'm used to live amongst muggles so I've kind of missed them."

With that she left the office leaving a bemused Harry and a surprised Kingsley behind, thankful that she had managed to lock up all the papers before she had left. Now she had to go home and get ready for her "date", if she could call it that. After all, he was married. Still, it wasn't stopping her going to him. She wondered briefly if she needed her head examined. It had been foolish to agree to this meeting but she had taken the weekend off anyway. Not just the afternoon, the whole weekend. She knew she was tempting herself to do something that she might later regret.

Kerr arrived in the muggle village of Weedon five minutes before she was due to meet with Blaise. She glanced around to double check that no one had seen her apparated and was satisfied that they only living thing anywhere near her was a rather large brown cow. It mooed at her and Kerr smiled. She felt the happiest she had done in months which surprised her. Surely the fact that she was going to meet Blaise Zabini, a married man, shouldn't make her so happy but it did. She had often wondered over the years were it would have been better if she had not turned to him that night when the Battle of Hogwarts had ended. She couldn't say whether she regretted it or not now but the morning after she had. She supposed she had run from him. She had lived in her father's house with Harry for the first year or so before moving into her own place so that no one could find her and she spent all her spare time at work, buried in learning to become an Auror so that she would not see him if he had passed her by.

She walked down the road in the dying light. The sun's edge had just hit the horizon and within a couple of hours would soon disappear. The moon was already high in the sky and she could see the distant sparkle of the North Star. She loved summer evenings where the moon was in the sky at the same time as the sun. She loved the warmth of the setting sun on her face and the sweet smell of the night that was about to draw in around her. She glanced around at the white washed cottages with thatched roofs. It seemed a strange place for Blaise to know about. It looked rather romantic and very old. As she came to the end of the street she turned to her right and there in front of her was the Witches Hat. It was a quaint looking pub with visible stonework and a thatched roof. It had picnic tables out the front although they were quite deserted. The door looked rather small, Kerr thought as she approached. There was no way a man as tall as Blaise would be able to walk through it without having to bend down. Sitting on the mat at the door was a sleek black cat whose eyes seemed to shine very brightly. The cat seemed to be staring at her as she moved closer and closer to the pub. It made Kerr rather nervous. Surely Blaise, if he was an animagus, wouldn't turn into a cat with green eyes. Other than that the only thing she could think about was that there was an animagus sitting watching her approach the pub.

As she reached the steps to the front door, the door opened and a man came out bending as he went. He almost collided with Kerr but then managed to look up just in time to miss hitting her. He mumbled his apology and he went off down the road. The cat took off after him without a backwards glance. Kerr watched it go and smiled. She was paranoid. Kerr then pushed her way into the pub. It was very quaint inside and obviously very old. The beams of the ceiling were quite a bit higher than the door which was a relief to Kerr. She couldn't imagine Blaise having to crouch all the time. There was a large fireplace which Kerr was glad to see wasn't lit. The bar was to the left of the door and there was a woman behind the bar with long dark brown curls and a wide, welcoming smile. Kerr smiled back and then glanced at her watch. She was right on time. She wondered where Blaise was.

As if called by her thoughts Blaise appeared from a small passageway to the left of the bar. He looked as though he had caught up on some sleep since she had last seen him. He'd had to duck to come out of the doorway and he caught sight of her as he straightened up. His face split into a dazzling smile which made her stomach do a somersault and he came towards her his dark hair ruffled.

"I was wondering if you would come," he said his voice low and husky.

Kerr suddenly felt a little scared at the enormity of her decision to meet him. She really shouldn't have come and yet she had. She did exactly understand why she had decided to come. It was the one thing in her life that she couldn't fully understand. Maybe it was because he seemed to know her better than she knew herself or maybe it was because she was so lonely all of the time and she needed someone.

"Well, I came," she said quietly noticing the barwoman's interest in the two of them. "I'm still not quite sure why."

His answering smile wasn't a smile really. It was more of a smirk.

"You came because you want me," he told her whispering in her ear.

As he drew back from her she raised an eyebrow but she didn't argue. He took her hand in his and she noticed fleetingly how small her hand felt with his large hand wrapped around it. He led her back through the passageway and up a small flight of stairs. At the top of the stairs he turned right and led her into a pretty bedroom. The windows looked out over the village and there was a large double bed complete with white linen decorated in rose petals. Kerr swallowed a little as she moved to the dressing table and dropped her small bag on the chair. She glanced at herself in the mirror quickly to see that her cheeks were slight flushed before she turned back to face him.

"So did everyone at your office have a heart attack when you told them you were taking the weekend off?" Blaise asked almost lazily as he sat himself down on the edge of the bed.

"How do you know I've taken the weekend off?" she asked him her fingers gripping at the smooth edge of the wooden chair. It really unnerved her when he did that.

He shrugged and a lazy smile spread across his handsome face.

"Well, I assumed that you would," he told her, "but I must admit that gossip travels fast in the Ministry. I heard about it just as I was leaving."

Kerr coloured slightly. Bloody Ministry gossip. She had never really taken an interest in the gossip and so never really realised just how quickly in spread. Now people would be talking for weeks about her weekend off for a date.

"I hear your dating a muggle," Blaise continued taking pleasure in her embarrassment. "What a lucky man he is."

Kerr narrowed her eyes at him.

"There is no need to tease, Zabini," she said in a cool tone. "It was the only thing I could think of whilst the Minister for Magic and the Head of the Auror Office were questioning me. I've never been under such intense scrutiny in my life."

Blaise tilted his head at that.

"Never?" he asked.

Kerr didn't even bother to reply but instead turned to look out of the window.

What are you doing here? Giving into my feelings for once. Yeah but with Zabini. Are you crazy? Maybe just a little. It feels good to be reckless.This isn"t reckless, it's downright stupid. He is married! But I need him.

That last thought shook Kerr. She didn't want to have thought it or felt it. She tried to push it away but suddenly became aware of Blaise standing directly behind her. She could hear him breathing; she could feel it on her neck where her hair had moved to the side. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach as she felt him draw even closer until he grasped her shoulders in his hands. He pulled her back a little until she was resting against his chest and then he wrapped his arms around her waist and planted delicate kisses down the left side of her neck. Kerr couldn't believe how nice it felt to be back in his arms, to feel him kiss her again. She let a sigh escape her lips and felt him smile against the skin of her neck.

"Do I amuse you?" she asked him with a smile.

"Always," he replied smoothly. "I remember that sigh."

Kerr turned to face him then and he looked down at her with passion burning in his eyes. His lips were slightly parted which made Kerr want to kiss them but she held herself back just a little until he closed the gap between them and planted a searing kiss on her mouth as he tightened his arms around her back. She responded to the kiss immediately almost as though he unleashed the pent up passion within her. She could feel the fire in her veins as he kissed him roughly and he returned it with a harshness that would bruise her lips. They came up from the kiss gasping for air.

"Merlin," he said breathlessly, "I have missed you."

She smiled a little cat-like smile as she ran her hands up his arms, over his biceps and onto his shoulders where they stopped.

"I know this is foolish," she told him honestly. "I knew it was foolish that night but ... I don't know how to explain it ..."

"Don't use words."

He kissed her again brutally as though his anger at her for running from him had all been put into the kiss. She responded in equal measure biting his lower lip until she tasted blood. He did not stop kissing her. His hands ran down over her arse and in one swift movement he picked her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist tightly as he carried her over to the bed. She broke the kiss and laughed before he threw her down onto the bed. Her back made contact with soft covers and sheets of the bed but she did not have time to think about it before he climbed onto the bed with her. He crawled up her body until his hips were between her legs and kissed her again. She lifted her bum up so her hips made contact with her and he ground his own down into her. She gasped for breath for a moment and then resumed kissing him. One of his hands made its way into her hair and clutched at her wild curls with playful roughness. His other hand was slowly making its way up her top. Kerr grabbed his shirt and in one sharp pull she ripped it apart to show his muscular chest. He stopped kissing her for a moment to remove the shirt and then helped her take off her top until she was lying beneath him in her deep pink bra. His smile was one of triumph and delight as he began kissing her neck, slowly making his way over her breasts and then down her stomach until he came to her top of her trousers.

Blaise smiled as Kerr seemed to hold her breath nervously and then he pulled down her trousers until he came to her shoes. He took her shoes off and chucked them over his shoulder making Kerr giggle. He then stood up and pulled off her trousers. He stood there for a moment to look at her on the white sheets sprinkled with rose petals in nothing but deep pink underwear. Her black hair spilled out across the white pillows and her pale skin seemed to gleam in excitement. He saw her cheeks flush with colour.

"What?" she asked a little gruffly.

He finally tore his eyes away from her wondering why he felt a little guilty and he began fiddling with his belt buckle. He didn't see her moved but suddenly her fingers were at his belt releasing the catch. Her small fingers worked deftly undoing the buttons before she finally pushed the jeans down to around his ankles. He stepped out of his trainers and then pulled each leg from his jeans. He looked down into her bright green eyes as she knelt on the bed in front of him. She looked a little wary, a little unsure but most there was just passion smouldering in her eyes.

"You are beautiful," he whispered in her ear and then planted a kiss on her neck. Her little cat-like smile returned to her face as she raised her mouth to his ear. For a moment he thought she was going to kiss his ear lobe but then she said,

"Make sure you take your socks off."

Well I hope you enjoyed that chapter.
I'm not so sure about it myself.
As always please let me know what you think.
Love always.

Kerr x.