"Can you at least think about it?"
Hermione Granger sighed, setting her teacup down lightly before frowning at her best friend. His eyes pleaded with her to listen, yet she just shook her head and ran her fingers through her mess of curls. "Harry, I don't know. I do like my job- even if they are all bigots."
Harry Potter, her long time best friend and practically her brother, was only looking out for her. Of course she understood, but she could take care of herself and he knew that all too well. His proposal was for her to leave her well-paying government job after a small scare, which included a deranged man and a gun. The man unfortunately got away before his capture, but she doubted he would be back.
Removing his glasses, Harry pinched the bridge of his nose. "Ronald's worried about you too. For the whole night after we watched the news, he wouldn't shut up about how you could've been hurt. He insisted that I phoned you right then to see if you were all right."
"Ron worries too much. He's like a middle-aged house wife." Hermione laughed, bringing her teacup up to her lips, smiling until it hurt.
Harry chuckled and took her other hand, squeezing it. "We both worry about you."
Her smile faded and her felt her heart skip a beat. He was so cute when we worried about her. It was like they were actually siblings who couldn't stand to see each other get hurt. It was different from how he worried about Ron, who is his partner. Her brows scrunched together and her lips twitched. "I know."
"I mean, some psycho named Tom comes into the building with a gun. Hell yeah I'm going to be worried." He laughed nervously as she scolded him by slapping his hand.
She grew anxious again at the thought and looked away. Yesterday a man walked in and pulled out a hand gun, yelling about how he was going to take over. One man, claiming he could overthrow the government by himself. The ridiculous sod even gave them his name in what she assumed was some attempt as a power move. Did he think anyone would know who the fuck Tom Riddle was? When several employees pulled guns on him did he realize he was outnumbered and ran.
"Hermione."
Breaking from her trance, she blinked at him, giving a smile. "My break is over. You should get back to Ron before he starts panicking. Tell him I'll stop by tonight after work so he knows I'm alright."
Harry nodded, chewed his lip for a moment while watching her, and then nodded again before standing from his seat. "Alright. Call if you need us to come get you."
Hermione waved as he left and waited till she couldn't see him anymore to glance at her wrist watch. She actually still had fifteen minutes before she had to leave, so she sat there and finished her tea, pulling out a book for company. Although she could read the words clearly, they just weren't processing as her mind drifted to thoughts of her school days.
Harry, Ron and herself were inseparable in high school. She did well in classes and tried to get the boys to take it seriously, but they were too busy getting into trouble of all sorts. They would even pull her into their shenanigans which scared her endlessly. She worried about failing or being expelled but neither were bothered by it. She tried dating Ron, but they soon agreed their affection wasn't that of lovers and decided to stay as friends. As for Ron and Harry, they started dating a couple years after graduation when they realized that being apart was too much to handle.
Shaking her head, Hermione snapped the book close and placed it neatly inside her bag. She tossed down money for both her and Harry's tea and left, stopping outside the doors. The cold wind had immediately slapped her in the face and she tugged her scarf over her mouth.
The trip back to the office was short, and she relished in the warmth the moment she walked in. She greeted Neville Longbottom, a high school friend and colleague, who was seated snugly in his spinning chair at his desk, adjacent from her's. "So, how's Harry?"
"Just fine. He and Ron are doing great." The curls of brown hair bounced as she dropped into her chair, smiling at the man. "I told him about you and Dean." She grinned at his flushed face and as he tried to cover it with his scarf. "He said you two should go over for dinner."
Neville quickly recovered and nodded adamantly. "Yes, we will do that. I'll talk to Dean and text Harry soon about it. Will you come?"
Hermione stared at him, debating quietly, her lips pressed together. She knew she should, but wanting her friends to catch up on their own was something she wanted. She had plenty of times to speak with Neville and Dean and had recently went to dinner with them. "Sorry, I probably won't be able to. I hope you boys have fun though."
The rest of the day went smoothly, that is, without the disturbance of a manic man trying to kill everyone. The occasional accident of spilling coffee or, in Seamus's case, deleting a whole file occurred but was easily taken care of. She was just finishing up paperwork when her phone lit up and buzzed against her desk. Sighing at her best friends name, she tapped the green icon and pressed the phone to her ear. "Hello, Ron."
"Oh thank god, Hermione answered." Ron let out a deep breath and assumed he was speaking to Harry. "Is everything okay, 'Mione?"
She laughed as she stapled a stack of papers and handed them off to Padma Patil who was making rounds. "That's what I should be asking. Didn't Harry tell you I'd stop by after work?"
"He-He did. But 'Mione we just wanted to make sure you were alright. Another department has been hit and Harry got called in to go and check it out. He's leaving now, so he can come get you afterwards?"
Hermione glanced at Neville who was watching her. "No, that's fine. I drove today and I'm not going to leave my car again." She mumbled out, nervously tapping her pen against her thigh. The last time she left her car over night, the windows were busted and some of her belongings, thankfully nothing personal or valuable, were stolen. "I'm leaving now, I'll be right there."
The drive over to Ron and Harry's home was uneventful with terrible music that she wished would get out of her head. Jogging up to the front door, it immediately opened before she could knock and Ron pulled her into his arms. He dragged her into the house, taking quickly and asking her questions.
"How was work? Did anything happen? I know you met with Harry, but nothing happened on your way back to work?"
Hermione chuckled and she nodded. "Ron, please. I'm okay, if you keep worrying like this you'll sound like your mother."
Ron frowned as he crossed his arms. "I will not."
"I agree. You are starting to sound like your mother." Harry laughed as he stepped into the room, staring lovingly at his partner. "But that's alright, I sort of like it." He kissed the redheads cheek before hugging Hermione.
They moved to the living room, getting comfortable on the couch and cracking open a beer. She had denied it several times since she was driving but caved in eventually, taking small sips. The two were staring, watching her as if she were a stranger who invited herself into their home. "What?"
Ron sighed, gripping Harry's hand and looked away. Harry didn't meet her eyes either and took a drink from his bottle. Hermione narrowed her eyes and was about to say something when Ron looked up. "We want you to seriously think about leaving your job." Her jaw dropped but she couldn't get a word out before he spoke again. "There's a bookstore that opened up close by your apartment, I think it'd be great for you."
"Are you kidding me?" She hadn't meant to say that, but she was in shock that they would try to find her another job. "Guys, I love my job. It challenges me and keeps me busy. I'm not going to just leave because you two are fretting over one incident!"
Harry groaned and placed his bottle down, staring hard at her. "You don't understand. It's gotten worse and I fear it will only get scarier. This man, Riddle, has got supporters backing him and even doing his dirty work. Some people with freaky masks showed up at the other building. Two people were injured there, Hermione. We just want you to be safe."
Of course, that information just had to singe into her nervous as she tried to process it. It was highly possible this man would be back to the archives building, the one which she works in, and bring along his friends. Whatever he wanted, and she assumed he wanted the world, the place to start would be to take all the important information. Her nose scrunched as she debated the outcomes but all seemed mostly devastating on her end.
The couple was still waiting for her to respond but she didn't know what to say. She could lie to them, but Hermione hated lying to her closest friends. Grabbing her keys and sitting her half empty bottle, she gazed at them before saying, "I'll think about it."