Previously on Returning To His Roots: Chapter 45

Once Draco was in the bed, Hermione began running her hand up and down his inner thigh which was the first step of her foreplay. Hermione's touch normally inflamed him to where his dick stood up soldier straight, but tonight, neither his top nor bottom head was in the mood.

When Draco didn't respond to her ministrations, Hermione removed her hand, laid back on the pillow and began to spout off.

"If you didn't want me here, why not tell me to leave."

Normally, this is where he'd turn over, cuddle with her, murmur how sorry he was for making her feel unwanted then probably have sex. Tonight, he wasn't falling for it. Even though his stomach was churning over the position he'd taken, he wasn't going to act the arse, but neither was he going to play into her hands. Without turning, Draco answered with a yawn.

"We sleep together seven days a week. Why would you suddenly think I don't want you here? I'm just tired. We'll talk tomorrow. Goodnight."

/*/

Hermione laid there frowning and scowling wondering what was going on. Still unable to comprehend that a few soft words from her would have prevented the confrontation, her mind went into overdrive. At one point, Draco's words about equal footing passed through her head but were immediately discarded as she found them to be untrue. She knew how to apologize when she was wrong. It wasn't her fault she was seldom wrong.

By the time Hermione dropped off to sleep, she had just about convinced herself that Draco couldn't get hard for her and was treating her coolly because he'd been with another witch.

Already fast asleep, Draco didn't have any inkling of the shite storm brewing in Hermione's head….

….. but he would learn soon enough.

///

So sorry for the long delay between chapters. RL can sometimes be foreboding.

Returning To His Roots: Chapter 46

/**/

Hermione was up very early Monday morning. By 6:00, she had showered, dressed and had a bite of toast. By 6:30, Draco was up and in the shower. Hermione didn't wait around for him to get out. Instead, she walked over to the bathroom door to wish him a pleasant day. By the time Draco finished his shower, Hermione had been gone for a good ten minutes.

Draco who hadn't heard Hermione over the running shower grimaced as he checked the entire house to find her gone.

After realizing he was alone, Draco felt a small knot begin to form in the pit of his stomach. He had upset Hermione. Until they got things straightened out, he would suffer the consequences.

Draco would have dwelled on the matter until it was time to leave for work, but the thought of OTS immediately reminded him that his mentor, friend and boss would be coming through the office like a hurricane. Reminding himself of the telling off he and Donald were sure to receive, Draco hurriedly dressed and got himself to the Ministry to take his medicine.

/*/

When Hermione arrived at her flat, she was well into a foul mood. In her mind, Draco had treated her poorly, and she didn't like it. Going on about always giving in to her. Where had that come from? They were in a relationship for fucks sake. There would be times each of them would be at fault. He hadn't ever minded giving in to her in the past. His little snit had to be about something else.

As Draco had pointed out the previous evening, Hermione again fell back on the point which irritated her most, the attitude of his parents. Even though Draco hadn't ever acknowledged that his parents spoke of her disparagingly, or at all, Hermione was sure something had been said during the visit to set him on edge.

/*/

The foul mood continued to envelop Hermione as she dressed for work, and hadn't dissipated by the time she reached her desk. Hermione knew it was time to reassess her attitude after snapping at Walter King who only stopped in to wish her a good morning and discuss a few concerns. A surprised Walter had begun to back slowly away from Hermione's door when she beckoned him back with a much more professional tone.

"Come in and have a seat Walter. How are things going? I mean other than facing an ogre of a boss first thing Monday morning."

Walter smiled. "I'm used to it." He replied without realizing how his words must sound. "What I meant was," he stammered, trying to soften his reply. "You've always been quite firm."

"Yes, I have been that," answered Hermione, moving a few pieces of paper around. "Now that we have the Monday morning drivel out of the way. What can I do for you?"

Walter wasn't sure he wanted to discuss what he'd stopped by to discuss. Today did not seem like the day to get a positive answer to the inquiry he'd made over a week ago, but he had Hermione's attention so he felt he should just go for it.

The conversation was quick as was the answer Walter received from Hermione. After sharing his plans, Hermione agreed he would be allowed the last hour off on Wednesdays and Thursdays to pursue his studies as long as his duties were covered.

Walter had waited a nerve wracking week for this answer and was chuffed. The Head of Magical Transportation had spoken to him about a position in the department once he had studied up a bit. Walter didn't want to leave Granger &Associates short of help, but nether did he want to remain in a position that couldn't offer him any opportunities to advance.

Hermione wasn't at all insulted that Walter wanted to move on. In fact, she was pleased with his ambitious nature. Her only caveat was he give her as much advance notice as possible before committing to another position.

Walter shook Hermione's hand as though sealing a deal then stood before her giving assurances he would never leave the company short handed. "Thank you so much for this chance Hermione. I appreciate your support."

Before leaving the office, Walter also mentioned several things that would make his current position a bit more interesting. Perhaps it was her state of mind, or feelings of unrest, but whatever it was, Hermione listened.

"I'll see what can be done Walter. Thank you for the suggestions."

/*/

"Another thing to further upset the balance of my life." Hermione mumbled to herself as she pulled the small pile of cases in front of her.

Hermione was three pages into the first case file before the magnitude of what she had mumbled sunk in. No matter what she had said to Walter, she was taking his opportunity as a personal affront which was ludicrous. Then Draco's words suddenly popped into her mind. It isn't always about you Hermione. Leaning back in her chair, Hermione admitted, it wasn't always about her, but she often made the situation all about her.

Hermione couldn't concentrate on the cases in front of her. A simple conversation with a staff member had made her realize what Draco could not. She could be a bit overbearing, but not to the point where their relationship had become lopsided. That was so untrue. However, the outrage she had felt the previous night and this morning had dissipated. The ugly thoughts about the Malfoys and Draco having another witch had been relegated to the back of her mind. For several seconds, a hot wave of embarrassment flowed through her as she recalled the words she had thrown at Draco. The truth was the light. She had acted like a petty bitch for no other reason than Draco hadn't acted as she thought he should. The sad part about it, if she had not spoken to Walter, she would have walked around with a deep pout until Draco babied her back into a good mood. She was that spoiled witch who expected concessions.

/*/

Before Hermione could figure out her next step, Terry and Gloria appeared at her door asking to have a quick word. From the look on their faces, Hermione concluded they had had their talk and were there to disclose.

"Good morning," said Hermione, beckoning them in with her hand. "Come in and close the door."

Gloria sat, but Terry remained standing. "I'll make a long story short so as not to take up too much of your time."

"We'll," added Gloria.

Both Terry and Hermione glanced at the slightly red in the face witch.

"We'll what?" Questioned Hermione.

"We'll make a long story short so as not to take up too much of your time."

Although she shouldn't be, Hermione was a little annoyed by the word game. "Listen. It's Monday, and not a very good Monday, so please get to the point."

They were there to disclose their relationship not to get on the wrong side of their boss.

"Alright then." Terry replied glancing at Gloria. "Gloria and I are here to disclose our relationship, and assure you we are well aware of the rules about fraternizing on company time."

Unwilling to let their declaration fall exclusively to Terry, Gloria added her comments. "Terry and I have already spoken to Justin. It is understood that Terry cannot oversee my cases, or take any disciplinary action against me. We'll leave that to Justin or yourself. It will be business as usual. Nothing else needs to change."

Hermione smiled as she congratulated her prosecutors. "Well done. Thank you for being so forthright. That's one less thing I can be blindsided about. If there are any other changes to be made because of your relationship, I'll trust you to make them as I'll trust you to keep your personal business out of the office. Believe me. If there are problems, one of you will find yourself out of a position.

"Understood," Terry and Gloria replied in unison on their way out the door.

/*/

While Hermione was dealing with her staff issues, Draco and Donald were dealing with their irate boss. Blaise had not pulled any punches which hadn't surprised either of the two wizards. Blaise was on fire. They had fucked up, and it was their time to face the music.

"Your lapse of judgment has filtered through the entire department leaving me no choice other than to set reprimands. I will not be seen as showing favoritism." Blaise growled as he handed Draco and Donald a one page disposition. "The rules you chose to ignore are clear. Therefore, I will take the steps outlined on the sheet I've just handed you. For the next two weeks, Team3 will not take on any cases of their own. You will be assigned to in house follow up for the other teams. You all want to behave like nitwits, that's how you'll be treated. Draco, you will Rick Walters and his team. Donald, you will assist Harry and his team. Brian will take care of the day to day of Team3 when he is judged well enough to return to work. At the end of your two week interruption of duty, the three of you will be required to work as many hours as is necessary to get your team back to normal.

"I'm disappointed in the entire team. Friendship and camaraderie aside, I suggest the three of you decide if this position is where you really want to be. I'm sure there are jobs in this very Ministry which allow employees to do as they wish. It's just not this department. Think about what I've said. Every agent in this department was brought on board by my word. I won't allow anyone to run down my name. Think about your future gents. If anything like this happens again, you'll all be out without any further discussion."

/*/

Draco and Donald sat immobile for ten minutes after Blaise left the room. Donald was actually petrified. He had worked hard to get into this position and was not going to give it up willingly.

Neither Draco nor Donald was happy about the telling off they'd received, or their Friday faux pas that had caused it. Their simple circumvention of the rules had allowed Brian to get injured. Their intention to get finished early had backfired, there was nothing to do but deal with it.

/*/

Draco and Donald gathered up their OTS kits and headed to their assigned teams where each team leader was waiting to make an example of them.

Rick Walters assigned Draco the most menial of tasks without so much as a facial tic. Harry did the same for Donald.

Draco and Donald felt certain they wouldn't be able to hold out for two weeks while Blaise, Harry and Rick laughingly placed bets about how long it would take Draco to pull one of those Malfoy moves.

Knowing his best mate, Blaise was sure Draco would be in his office at the crack of dawn growling over the state of things, even though he knew he was wrong. That was the Malfoy way.

Blaise couldn't wait to put Draco properly in his place… again.

/*/

Draco was going through the minutia Rick had assigned to him when his thoughts turned to Hermione, his witch, his woman. They could argue over the slightest thing. Draco knew this. As his fingers sorted the case file pages, Draco thought about the things he should say to Hermione when they next spoke. He was convinced he'd lost his own sense of self in their relationship, so there were still issues that needed to be sorted.

Draco knew he was about to do exactly what he'd promised himself he wouldn't do, coddle Hermione. Then again, it really wouldn't be coddling, if at the end of the conversation, he and Hermione had reached a reasonable understanding.

Setting his work aside for the moment, Draco scribbled a note to Hermione then stepped outside the OTS doors to send it off.

Private and personal: Hermione Granger

Granger and Associates

Top Level, Back Building.

With the message sent, Draco resumed working, wondering if Hermione would agree to his request. She had, after all, left the house that morning without a word. Perhaps she would refuse to meet until she felt vindicated.

Draco stretched his arms out in front of him, thinking how beneficial it would be for his dick if he and Hermione could reach a positive conclusion. However, Draco knew, for as much as he wanted and needed some loving comfort, Hermione needed to be right.

It was at that moment Draco realized he should remind Donald to check for their mail. If Hermione answered, he didn't want the reply laying around for ages waiting to be picked up, even though the answer might be one he'd rather not see.

Hurrying to the Team4 offices, Draco was happy to find Donald alone solemnly categorizing wands.

"Hello mate. Two hours in and I'm already bored as shite. What about you?"

"You needn't even ask Draco," replied Donald dryly with a very unmanly sigh. "I was bored before Blaise stopped all that bellowing. Is there something you need?"

Draco laughed at Donald's remarks, but stated his purpose. "I stopped over to remind you about the mail, but now that I'm here, I realize either of us can pick it up. Blaise was overly annoyed, but I'm sure he didn't mean for us to let everything to fall by the wayside. For the time being, I'll take care of the morning mail and leave mid-morning and afternoon mail for you. When Brian is back, he can do it all."

"Fine Draco. We wouldn't want something important to slip past us. I'm glad we cleared this up, because I had planned to make all three pick-ups and drop the bloody stacks on Blaise's desk."

"Good man." Draco replied. "If that's what you've planned, we'll stick with that. Give Blaise something more to bellow about. Please keep an eye out. I'm expecting an envelope from Hermione. Thanks. I'll be getting back to my big job over there at Team1. See you later mate."

With a huge grin plastered across his face, Donald agreed to look out for Draco's letter.

Draco headed straight back to his temporary desk knowing, even if Hermione was in the best of moods, which she wasn't, there wouldn't be a reply this soon. Shortly after returning to the desk, Hermione's response left his mind. Draco had become absorbed in inventory verification.

/*/

Hermione's foul mood dissipated for good when she received the note from Draco. He wanted to get together to get things sorted. As she read the message over for a second time, Hermione concurred. She wanted to have a discussion with her wizard which would hopefully lead to some exceptional sex. It was time to have a conversation which wouldn't end in animosity. Hermione sent a return note with a very short message.

I'll see you at 7.

/*/

Severus was a bit aggravated, but in a state of anticipation as well. He had received a lengthy letter from Jean in which she had ticked off each and every reason why they should be together. The letter was so blunt, Severus couldn't keep from smiling. Jean had made salient points with which Severus couldn't disagree. In fact, now that his project had been presented and accepted, and that load of worry was off his mind, being with Jean didn't seem undesirable at all.

Severus leaned back in the chair visualizing the brilliant, sensual, sweat soaked witch lying beside him in his Oregon bed after an extremely intense round of sex. Jean was not only his equal when it came sex, but a formidable research partner as well.

/*/

A small smile played across Severus' mouth as he reached for a few sheets of paper and a pen. Jean would be so surprised. Not to hear from him as they had been corresponding, but at the content of this letter. He was inviting her to come to London for a brief stay as his primary researcher and sexual relief. If she found either or both positions acceptable, they could talk about making the change permanent.

Once the letter had been picked up by International Owl Services, Severus allowed himself five minutes to wonder if he'd done the right thing. After the fifth moment, all doubt was cast aside as the telecommunications master hurried to the shower to relieve the throbbing erection that had formed at the thought of Jean coming to climb back into his life and his bed.