As they pulled apart, she sighed, her mind was screaming that it was too soon and too fast, but her heart spoke for her before she could stop the words from escaping, "I love you too."
The tips of Neville's ears were turning red but he was smiling widely, "Thank Merlin."
Hermione grinned and took an infinitesimal step back.
Neither noticed the bottle-blonde reporter outside the shop with a camera as they turned back to the flowers Hermione had gifted Neville.
Neville carefully extracted the flowers from the paper they were wrapped in and set them gingerly into a vase behind the counter. He tilted his head, indicating to Hermione to follow him, before leading her through the door behind the counter and to a small set of stairs that lead to what seemed to be a flat above his shop.
"I thought you lived at Longbottom Manor?" Hermione asked as Neville ushered her towards a comfortable-looking sofa.
"I do. This was the previous owner's flat, and when I bought the shop, he included it in the price. I use it as a sort of office. I have two employees that work on the weekends, and they use it as a break room," Neville grinned as he rummaged around the kitchen area.
"What are you in the mood for?" He asked, peeking over at her from the muggle refrigerator. As he looked through the fridge, he explained that he remembered her telling him about how she'd charmed a few cabinets in the tent while on the run to emulate an ice box and he'd ended up using the same charm on the muggle appliance to keep food in the space for himself and his employees if they got hungry during work.
Hermione was touched that he'd remembered such a trivial conversation, "Whatever you'd like, I'm not very picky."
Neville grinned and got to work, insisting that she stay put. They talked while he worked, every so often, he'd have to tell Hermione to sit back down as she kept trying to come to help him with the cooking, his refusal and demanding tone both exasperated her and turned her on.
Thirty-five minutes later, he came back over to the sofa, handing her a glass of pumpkin juice, and telling her that it would be ready in a few minutes as well as apologizing for not offering her something to drink earlier.
Hermione waved his apology off and thanked him for the juice, with a small smile, noticing how he'd remembered it was her favorite. Ron always assumed that the muggle equivalent of orange juice was her favorite, and it had gotten to the point where she'd just stopped caring enough to tell him it wasn't.
After a few minutes, Neville returned with two steaming plates of what looked to be some kind of ravioli. Hermione smiled as he explained that it was butternut squash ravioli in a brown butter sage sauce. He told her how he'd first tried the recipe when he was visiting Luna and Rolf in Italy while they were looking for one of their invisible magical creatures.
He watched, nervously, as Hermione enthusiastically tried his cooking and bit back a self-satisfied smirk when she moaned almost indecently at the taste of the pasta.
"Neville," Hermione said as they finished their lunch, "That was absolutely amazing! I never knew you could cook!"
Neville grinned and shrugged off her compliments, "It's just a fun little thing I enjoy. It's almost like potions, but it's a bit easier."
Hermione told him that he shouldn't sell himself short, and told him that she'd love to see what else he can cook. He decided then that if it would make her moan as she had earlier, he would spend the rest of his life cooking for her.
The couple spent the next half hour talking about different things and some of Neville's customers that had been in earlier that morning.
Eventually, Hermione had to leave to go back to work for her meeting with Kingsley. She kissed Neville a bit more chastely than she had earlier, and left Neville's shop, making her way through Diagon Alley towards the Leaky Cauldron and then out into the muggle world. She stopped at McDonald's on her way back to the Ministry, picking up a few things for Kingsley and Lavender.
When she returned to the Ministry, she quickly made her way up to her office. She dropped Lavender's food at her desk and refused to take the money that Lavender kept trying to use to pay her back.
"Has Kingsley arrived yet?" Hermione asked, pushing the galleons back towards Lavender and changing the subject to her next meeting.
"He sent a Patronus and said he is on his way up from the DMLE. He should be here in a few minutes," Lavender said, taking the galleons and putting them back in her purse in her desk drawer after the third time Hermione had pushed them back towards her.
"Wonderful, I'll be in my office, let him know he can come on in when he gets here," Hermione smiled, before flitting into her office, closing the door, and moving over to her desk chair to get comfortable before Kingsley arrived.
Five minutes later the former Minister entered the office.
"Kingsley," Hermione smiled at her friend, as she stood to greet him properly.
"Minister," Kingsley smiled, his eyes glinting mischievously at her.
Hermione rolled her eyes, "Kings, you know you don't have to address me so formally."
Kingsley chuckled, with a slight nod as he swept her up into a hug.
Once he set her back on the ground and they took their seats she tossed the fast food bag to him and sat back as he peeked into the bag.
"You would remember all my favorites," Kingsley grinned at her and pulled a few chips out of the bag, munching on them before closing the bag and sighing, "I wish I weren't here for business, but alas…"
Hermione nodded, sitting up a bit straighter, "What's going on, Kings?"
"First off, you need to stop hexing your Aurors. They are just following orders, you know they don't have a choice," Kingsley gave her a serious look, "You know the Aurors are only there for your protection. And before you say you don't need protection, I already know that. But it's an extra precaution, and you need to accept it. You're the Minister of Magic now, which means you're even more accessible to the public than you were before, which brings an extra layer of danger to your already danger-prone life," Kinglsey trailed off trying to compose his thoughts.
He couldn't imagine a world without Hermione and he just wanted her to be safe. He'd once thought that he might pursue a more intimate relationship with the brilliant witch if she and Ron ever parted ways, but over the years his feelings for her had turned from romantic to seemingly familial in the oddest way. He just needed her to stay safe, and she seemed to love to test the boundaries of her own safety.
Hermione sighed, "Fine, I'll stop hexing them. But they need to stop reporting everything I do to you and Harry. You two don't need to know when I use the bathroom or have a glass of wine or have friends over. Just because you're co-heads of the DMLE doesn't mean that I can't fire them."
Kingsley nodded, "I can accept that. Secondly," he paused, unsure of how she might react to his next bit of news, "I'm retiring from the DMLE and formally taking up my family seat on the Wizengamot, effective in the new year when the new session begins. I wanted to let you know now because Arthur mentioned that you were trying to fill the family seats that have been left empty since the war."
Hermione nodded, "Well, the DMLE will be down one of their best, but I think it's great that you're going to take your family seat. I know your father was wanting to step down soon. Have you spoken with him?"
"It was his idea, actually. I admit, I didn't want to do it at first, but we discussed it at length and he convinced me. I think my mother just wants me to not be in the line of danger anymore. They've also been asking when you'll be coming back to visit them," Kingsley chuckled.
Hermione grinned, "I'm sure that she'll be glad that you're not putting yourself in danger anymore. Tell them I'll see them at the Weasley's Samhain celebration." She sighed and turned to the filing cabinets along the wall behind her desk, "So, you'll be retiring from the DMLE," she rummaged through her files for a moment before pulling his file out, "Your yearly contract with the DMLE ends on Christmas eve, we can let it end and I can have the lawyers draw up a Wizengamot contract for you. That will give you one week off between Christmas and the new session, which starts on January 1st. That gives you two and a half months to prepare Harry and the rest of the DMLE for your departure. Does that work for you?"
Kingsley agreed and Hermione told him she'd have the lawyers send the contract to him to look over before signing it before she sent it off to the Ministry's lawyers' office a few floors below her office.
"Now that the business is over," Kingsley smirked, opened the McDonald's bag, and began eating the fast food, "Harry tells me you've been seeing the Longbottom heir?"
Hermione groaned as Kinglsey chuckled heartily, "Yes, I've been seeing Neville. We haven't made it public yet. The divorce was only just finalized."
"It's been over a month, Hermione, and Ron made his relationship with Draco public before the divorce proceedings even began. I don't think anyone will judge you harshly for being happy," Kingsley said, trying to reassure her that she doesn't need to worry about the public thinking badly of her. She was the Wizarding World's Sweetheart where most everyone was concerned, even Rita Skeeter had begun to paint her in a favorable light.
Hermione nodded, "Logically, I know that, but I also feel like it's too soon and like I still need to grieve the loss of my marriage, but I also don't feel like I have anything to grieve. Does that make sense?"
Kingsley gave her a small smile, "It does, you lost your marriage, and a loss should always be grieved, even something that doesn't feel like it needs to be grieved. You might not feel the need to grieve the loss of the marriage, more likely, you probably need to grieve the loss of two friends that you trusted."
At Kingsley's words, Hermione felt like she understood her feelings a bit better, now that someone else had put it into words for her it made more sense. After they talked about it a bit longer, Kingsley had to go back to the DMLE and Hermione had to get to her meeting with the muggle PM.
She let Lavender know that she shouldn't be gone too long and took the pair of Aurors that Kingsley had assigned as her guards through the floo to the office of Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
"Ah, Minister Granger, thank you for meeting with me today," an older man smiled as he stepped up to the fireplace to greet her, his own security officers standing to either side of him, similarly to how her Aurors were standing with her.
"Good afternoon, Prime Minister. Thank you for agreeing to meet," Hermione smiled as she shook hands with the muggle.
"Have you had a chance to look over the paperwork?" PM Brown asked as he lead Hermione from the fireplace and through a set of doors into his office.
"I have and I agree to the terms you set forth about the dragon reserve. We've already sent workers out to set the muggle-repellent charms and the wards seem to be working. As soon as muggles get too close to the wards, they'll be sent in the opposite direction back the way they came. We have fire-repellant wards set up on the inside of the wards to keep the dragon fire inside the barriers," Hermione said as they gathered around his desk.
The PM nodded, happy that she understood his wariness about the reserve being in a muggle national park. They were both happy with the paperwork after discussing it for a few more moments. They took a photograph for the wizarding world's papers as they signed the contract, and once the signing was finished, they shook hands for another photograph. Once everything was signed, Hermione duplicated the document for each of them to take back to their own governments. They bid each other farewell and Hermione left with the Aurors to return to her own office.
Stepping back into her office, the Aurors left to stand guard again and Hermione sat back at her desk.
"Minister, this came for you while you were away," Lavender smiled as she brought in a modest bouquet.
"Thank you, Lavender," Hermione smiled, "Did you ever hear anything else from Lucius Malfoy?"
"He stopped by on his way to his office in the Wizengamot hall and asked to set a meeting. I've scheduled him for your next availability," Lavender gave her a sympathetic smile, "That is to say, it's at six."
Hermione glanced at the clock and grimaced, she had ten minutes to prepare for Lucius bloody Malfoy to descend on her office.
"Very well, thank you, Lavender," Hermione said, suddenly feeling unsure of how she might be able to converse with a Malfoy when she was still feeling the sting of betrayal from Draco.
Lavender left the office and Hermione sighed. She perked up a bit when she glanced at the colorful bouquet that was obviously from Neville as the note with her name on it was in his handwriting.
Red roses, I love you. Ivy, affection, friendship, and fidelity. Iris, faith, trust, wisdom, hope, and valor. White jasmine, sweet love, and amiability. Yellow jasmine, grace, and elegance. Lilac, the joy of youth. And larkspur, also known as delphinium, open heart, levity, and lightness.
She smiled, feeling a calmness wash over her as there was a knock on her office door and Lucius sodding Malfoy stepped in. He was dressed in his usual over-the-top finery.
"Minister," Lucius bowed his head slightly to her.
"Lucius," Hermione stood to greet him, "What can I do for you today?"
Lucius took a seat across from her, and hummed quietly before speaking, "I am aware of the betrayal my son committed against you, and for that, I can only apologize and ask that you not judge my request based on him but out of mutual respect between you and myself."
Hermione steeled herself, "And what is your request, Lucius?"
"I would ask that you hire Draco back…as anything. I don't care what kind of job you give him. I know he deserves your anger. He broke your trust. I understand how you feel. I felt the same way when Narcissa left me for Theodore Nott Sr. after the war," Lucius sighed, "But he is my son and as much as I love him, I cannot stomach having that Weasel living in my home any longer. Scorpius, Draco's little brother, will be the Malfoy heir as Narcissa has requested that Draco take the Black family seat in the Wizengamot after her since Potter gave it back to her. I just need him to have a job so he and the red-headed menace can find their own place to live."
Hermione nodded, she remembered the scandal that filled the papers when Narcissa left Lucius and married the elder Nott. She also remembered the rumors that covered the papers when two years after Draco broke his engagement to Astoria Greengrass, she had been betrothed and married off Lucius to fulfill their familial betrothal contract. A year after they married, they'd had Scorpius. Hermione remembered Astoria had a particularly difficult pregnancy and Lucius had stayed by her side, forgoing most of his Wizengamot responsibilities to be with her. He had certainly changed and Draco had as well. Hermione reflected for a moment before tuning back into their present conversation.
Hermione frowned, "They've already blown through the galleons from the sale of our home?"
Lucius bowed his head, "You weren't kidding when you testified that you were supporting the Weasel on your salary alone."
Hermione grimaced, "Right, well, he's always been prone to spending his money on frivolity. What would you have me do? I cannot forget what they did to me. I cannot give him his old job back, I do not trust him and I need to be able to trust my assistants."
Lucius nodded, "I understand, and Astoria and I have discussed it at length. She doesn't want Ron's bad habits to rub off on Scorpius. Astoria reminded me that Severus trained Draco to be a potion master before he retired. Maybe you could use him for that?"
Hermione hummed, "I believe the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes is looking for a junior-level potions assistant."
Lucius nodded but knew she wasn't finished speaking, so waited patiently.
"I can put in a word for him, however, he will need to go through the normal channels of the hiring process. That includes sending in his resume and going through the interview process. It might be best if he had a letter of recommendation from Severus," Hermione said as she watched Lucius's face for any reaction to this.
He didn't react negatively, instead, he surprised her by grinning, "That should teach him a lesson."
Hermione held back a laugh before nodding succinctly, "I'm sure it will be difficult for him to swallow his pride. Although, he did apologize to me multiple times, which must have been hard for him as well."
Lucius thanked her and complimented the bouquet on her desk before excusing himself to go force his elder son to apply for a job that any recent Hogwarts graduate would be able to handle. He hoped it might knock his son down a peg or two.
Hermione groaned as she sat back in her leather chair, rubbing her hands over her face. Lavender came in to check on her and Hermione filled her in on what Lucius had wanted.
"Well, that job doesn't pay as much as Draco is used to and it's an entry-level position, he could eventually work his way up, but the potions master in the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes is nowhere near retiring, and they only ever really need him when there's a major accident that St. Mungos can't handle on their own," Lavender said with a small shrug, "Do you think he'll learn something from it?"
Hermione shrugged, "We should be so lucky. Now, go home. You should have left before Lucius got here."
Lavender smiled, "I just wanted to stay and make sure you were okay. I know the Aurors are here for your protection, but I just wanted to be here just in case."
"Thank you, Lav. Have a good night. I'll see you tomorrow," Hermione smiled and ushered Lavender out of the office, reassuring her that she was fine and would be fine on her own as she would be finished with her work soon.
Sitting back at her desk, she finally opened the note Neville had tucked into the bouquet.
"I hope you'll accept my official declaration of intent. This is a traditional courtship bouquet. I love you.." She smiled, before reading the post signature note, "I hope you don't get angry but I have also sent a letter of intent to the Head of the Weasley household, as well as to Harry."
Hermione huffed out a laugh, shaking her head in exasperation. She was a bit annoyed about the fact that he'd sent letters of intent to Arthur and Harry, but she had also read the Longbottom family's courtship rules detailed in the Soul Journal he'd given her and knew that his family took soulbonds and courtships seriously.
She smiled and wrote out a short note to him, before sending it off with the owl that had taken up residence in her office recently. She gathered up her paperwork and stuffed it in her briefcase before picking up the bouquet and leaving her office. She handed the bouquet and her briefcase to one of the Aurors as she grabbed her coat and slipped it on quickly. She took the bouquet and briefcase back before telling the Aurors that they were free to go for the night and that their night shift replacements could take up their posts outside her home.
The two Aurors left, heading back to the DMLE to give their daily report to Shacklebolt and Potter before sending their night shift counterparts to their posts at Grimmauld Place.
Hermione warded her office and disillusioned the bouquet in her hand before making her way into the lift and to the atrium. She apparated home as soon as she reached the apparition point.
Neville was going out of his mind after Hermione had left him after lunch. He called in his employees and offered them double ay to fill in for him while he ran some personal errands. They agreed and he left the shop in their capable hands to return to Longbottom Manor.
He found his gran and great-uncle in the solarium having tea when he arrived. He joined them and waited for them to finish their conversation before he summarily announced that he was going to initiate an official courtship between himself and Hermione. His gran congratulated him and Uncle Algie reminded him that the Longbottom family took courtships seriously and that he needed to make sure that he was serious about her before he sent a courtship bouquet.
Neville agreed and told his great-uncle that he was serious about Hermione and that he had loved her since he'd met her on the train in their first year. Uncle Algie nodded and agreed to stand by Neville if this was the decision he chose to make.
Augusta Longbottom knew that she had been hard on her grandson as he grew up, but she also knew that he had grown into a remarkable and honorable young man. She also spent some time getting to know Hermione Granger when she became the youngest Minister of Magic in the world. She was both frightening and impressive and Augusta couldn't have picked a more suitable match for her grandson. Looking at him, she knew he would never love anyone the way he loved Hermione. She gave him her blessing and offered to go through the greenhouse with him to sort out the bouquet.
Neville was relieved when his gran offered to help him put the courtship bouquet together and happily accepted her offer. After tea, they spent half an hour walking through the greenhouses to pick the perfect flowers for the bouquet. Neville wanted everything to be absolutely perfect for Hermione.
He wrote his letters of intent, one for Harry and one for Arthur Weasley. He knew Hermione thought of the Weasleys as her own parents and siblings, even after her divorce from Ron, so he knew that he needed to send him a letter. He wrote a note for Hermione, explaining that this was his official courtship declaration. He sent the bouquet off to Hermione's office after wrapping it and placing it under a stasis charm, he knew she would be in meetings for the rest of the afternoon. He waited for the rest of the afternoon, hoping she wouldn't deny him after the time they'd spent together this afternoon.
He was relieved when he received a note later that evening from her, and smiled widely when he read the words, "I could never hate you, I am not angry. I accept your courtship offering. I love you."