Fic; Beneath Your Window; Chapter 23//The Newbie
Title: Beneath Your Window
Summary: Hermione's life is turned upside down and she figures that the best solution is to run away from it all. What will happen when she realises that she's not the only one running from life?
Characters/Pairings: Draco/Hermione, Harry/Ginny makes an appearance
Genre: Romance/humour
Rating/Warnings: PG-13. Some swearing and mentions of sex, but not much else.
Word Count: 3550
(......)
Chapter 18//The Change
Chapter 19//The Pain
Chapter 20//The Office
Chapter 21//The Office
Chapter 22//The Dance
Chapter 23 // The Newbie
The ceiling in her borrowed bedroom was very white. It was almost blinding. She found a crack in it and tilted her head to the side. Her arms lay motionless by her side on top of the blanket, her deep red dress robe now wrinkled and dishevelled from the run and her restless turning under the covers. She had long since stopped being annoyed at the fact that her pillow was wet. It was no one's fault but her own, after all.
A commotion outside her room made her blink, but she remained perfectly still, her head tilted to the side and her eyes locked on the crack in the ceiling. Her door then flung open and she finally rose her head slightly from her pillow finding Ron standing in the opening, his cheeks flushed and his sister hanging onto his arm with her nails digging into his flesh.
"Leave her alone, you great big oaf!" Ginny shrieked, and Hermione realised she was clinging to his arm because she was trying to keep him back. "You've already ruined about 75 percent of her life so far, I won't let you any more. Get the fuck out of my flat and stay away!"
He ignored her completely and it was as if he didn't have a human being attached to his arm at all.
"Hermione, what the bloody hell was that display back there?" he asked, his voice frighteningly calm.
She didn't answer, she just let her head fall back against the pillow without a word.
"You ran over to Malfoy like some love-sick puppy, and when he turns around to leave you run after him as if your life depended on it. What's going on?" he demanded, still ignoring Ginny's desperate tugs of his arm. "Answer me!"
"It's not your sodding business!" Ginny cried, and Hermione wondered why she wasn't pulling her wand and just hexing him to bits.
"Did you run straight into his arms when we ended? Right into the arms of the man I've hated my entire life?"
He didn't need a verbal answer. Her motionless body just laying there as she stared vacantly into the ceiling was answer enough.
"I can't believe you," he spat, nearly shaking with fury now.
The words rang in her head, reverberating through her to hit that painful nerve. She heard the words over and over in Draco's voice with the same pained tone it had held earlier. When Ron was about to open his mouth again, she threw the covers aside with force and leaped from the bed immediately.
"Will you shut up before you get us right back to square one after all the progress we made today?" she remarked in a stony cold voice.
He snapped his mouth shut and Ginny put up a smug expression at Hermione's interruption of his tirade.
"You have nothing to say on my personal life any more and it makes me downright pissed off that you have the nerve to come barging in here like you do," she continued, the volume of her voice growing louder. "You cheated on me! Stop pretending you have any say on who I love."
"Oh come off it, Hermione. I'm just trying to spare you the pain, there's no way it could work between you and Malfoy. You're much too different and he's a self-righteous arse."
"When is it going to sink in that you have nothing to say on the matter? It's my life. I've been seeing Draco for over 2 months and I think I know better than you if our relationship will work or not."
Ron made to retort, but ended up howling out in pain as Ginny had kicked him in the shin.
"Give me back my wand, you wanker!"
Hermione rolled her eyes when Ron swore loudly and tried to sooth his aching leg at the same time as he tried to fight off his little sister.
"There's no way we can go back to being friends if you don't learn to keep out of the parts of my life you don't belong in any more."
"But I'm trying to be your friend right now. I'm trying to tell you you're making a mistake!"
"I need you to back off and let me live my life as I please. You really have some nerve talking about mistakes after all the shit you put me through," she bit, crossing her arms angrily over her chest.
"Stupefy!"
Hermione's arms fell to her side as she looked up to find Ron frozen in place, his mouth open in an attempt to retort. She blinked in confusion before she saw Harry moving up behind Ron, a look of shock etched onto his face as he took in the scene in front of him.
"I had my back turned when he Flooed in and he summoned my wand," Ginny explained, trying to figure out where he had hid it.
Harry muttered 'Accio' under his breath and her wand came shooting out from Ron's belt.
"Ew," she groaned, looking at her wand in Harry's hands with disgust. "I'm going to have to disinfect that thing now."
"He's such a git," Harry sighed as he returned her wand. "Why is he here making a scene? You'd think he'd learn to keep his yap shut."
"Just get him out of here," Hermione replied, her voice tired and hollow. "I'm not in the mood to answer his stupid questions and accusations about my ungodly sins with Draco."
"I swear that guy is the poster-kid for hypocrisy," Ginny complained, as she watched Harry trying to figure out what to do with his stunned partner. "How many girls has he gone out with in the past few months? And it's not like he's gone out with any decent girls either. At least you and Draco are serious, he just sleeps around and then gloats about it later."
"Were," Hermione corrected. "We were serious."
"Don't give up just yet, love," Ginny replied, before turning to her boyfriend. "Can't we just carry him down the stairs and you can Floo him back to his flat?"
"We could just turn him back to normal," Harry said in a hesitant voice, but Ginny shook her head.
"He'll just refuse to leave and start bickering again."
"Yeah, I suppose. You take the other end and I'll try to...grab this end," Harry said, tipping Ron backwards by the shoulders.
Ginny grabbed him by the legs she had previously kicked and lifted him from the floor, staggering a bit under the weight.
"I'll walk backwards down the stairs and you guide me," her boyfriend suggested and started backing up towards the door.
Hermione watched them with a quirked eyebrow, finding the image unfolding in front of her utterly surreal. Harry turned the corner by the door successfully and they managed to get him out the door. Seconds later Hermione heard a loud thud followed by swears and laughter. Peeking around the corner by the door, she found Ginny laughing uncontrollably while she tried to hold Ron up.
"Harry bumped Ron's head on the banister," she wheezed out between guffaws of laughter.
"We may have hurt him, Gin, it's not funny," Harry hissed between gritted teeth, checking Ron's head before he started walking backwards down the stairs again.
"Not funny?! It's hilarious! And only about a tenth of the pain he deserves. Be glad I haven't kicked him in the bollocks yet."
"I obviously put you in the wrong end," he replied dryly.
Ginny just continued laughing until they successfully reached the living room floor below. With great effort they managed to up him back in an upright position. Harry stared at him in puzzlement for a few seconds before turning to Hermione who was standing on the stairs.
"You don't happen to know if I can shrink him?"
She chuckled, almost surprised at the warm sound coming from her lips.
"I wouldn't try a shrinking charm on a human if I were you, Harry," she commented.
"I suppose not," he sighed, and with that grabbed Ron by the shoulders and heaved him towards the fireplace.
Hermione watched, a smile playing her lips as she listened to Ginny laughing so hard she was about to puncture a lung.
"I like him better this way," she joked half-heartedly, making Harry snort as he staggered into the Floo with the very life-like statue.
"I prefer when he can walk on his own."
They were engulfed in green flames and disappeared before Hermione's eyes, leaving the flat otherwise empty and quiet except for Ginny who was now trying to recover from her rather violent fit of laughter.
Hermione felt the involuntary laughter escape her lips, breaking free from the barriers of grief that had seemed to keep all things positive locked inside. Miraculously, it seemed to lighten her mood and her spirits lifted marginally with every trill of her laugh. Before she knew it she was in hysteric fits, falling onto the couch with Ginny following close behind. They leaned onto each other and laughed until tears were streaming down their cheeks. It was the second time that night she cried, but this time it felt liberating.
They eventually calmed and remained leaning against each other breathing heavily.
"He is a git, but at least he managed to get you out of bed," Ginny finally commented, and instead of sitting up straight she pulled a hand around Hermione's shoulders and pulled her even closer.
Hermione gave a sniff and a short laugh, knowing Ginny was perfectly right. He may be a lot of things and his intentions may have either selfish or selfless - or both, in a weird sort of way - but he did get her out of bed and he had caused a fit of gut wrecking laughter that seemed to clear out her entire system.
Ginny bent down and fumbled underneath the table.
"Here's your shoe."
"Oh right. Is this where you get down on one knee and slip it on my foot to see if it fits?" Hermione asked bitterly, grabbing the shoe forcefully from Ginny's hold.
The redhead's hold tightened around her shoulders as she chuckled sadly at the remark.
"As much as I'd love to be your Prince Charming, we might run into a few problems," she retorted with a badly disguised smile. "Firstly I lack a very important body part to fill that particular role. And even if I had that body part I would still be shagging Harry."
"Ew!" Hermione exclaimed, trying to wriggle out of the embrace, but failed miserably.
"Oh, as if you and Draco haven't tried some deranged things in bed."
Hermione scowled at her, making her friend sigh. Reluctantly loosening her hold on Hermione, she pried the shoe from her grip and fell to the floor. Hermione's eyebrows shot up into her curls as she watched Ginny slip the shoe on her foot.
"Since Draco isn't here to do it, I'm doing it for him," she declared. "Because he will come around, and you will get your fairytale ending, and there will be ice cream at the bloody wedding!"
----
It was Monday, and the first day of her first full week as Head of the Potions Department at the Ministry of Magic in London, England. It was a position she had worked towards for a lengthy period of her life. She had climbed the ranks faster than even the most optimistic could've foreseen, and even though she had initially been disappointed at the circumstances in which her promotion had come about, she no longer let that put a damper on the feeling of accomplishment that filled her.
She had deserved it, but it had come at a price. It was a price she wasn't sure she would want to pay if she had to make the choice over again. She often stood in the elevator as it took her down to the lower floors of the Ministry and envisioned that day she left Draco Malfoy standing behind almost in tears because of their broken relationship. Even on her best days she knew she wouldn't have made that decision again. Now that her work-life was back on track - even better than just back on track - she could rebuild the connection to the people in her life she considered family, she could find herself a new place to stay and sort her life out. But if she had the choice again, she wouldn't have done it all now. She would have waited until she and Draco were in a more secure place, after having discussed it and prepared for it.
As she stood in the elevator again, the same thoughts were occupying her mind. This time they were hitting her with more force due to the drama at the Dance that weekend. She was trying to block out the look of pain on his face, the words accusing her of betrayal. She tried to replace the bad memories with happy ones, accompanied by Ginny's assurance that he would come around and that they would work it out - somehow.
She was the only one left in the elevator as it stopped on her floor and she stepped out, walking down the hallway with determined steps, seeing the circular room appear before her eyes again at the end of it. She wasn't particularly early and she could see Miriam and Adam buzzing about the cauldrons as she neared. That was one thing she had always loved about working in the Potions department. Everyone loved what they did for a living, and none of them had a habit of slacking off. And now, as she was the one to lead the work, she was confident that they would be a very successfully run department.
She had not plans to return to Merewood's way of running things around the place. First of all, she was going to actually make sure they did what they were supposed to do. Secondly, she had no intentions to just sit around on her arse watching people work. She was going to be right in there with them. She hadn't taken a job in Potions making to sit behind a desk filing papers all day.
"G'morning." She smiled as she entered, turning both Miriam and Adam's attention towards her.
"Morning, Chief!"
Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Will you stop this Chief business?" she laughed. "I've known you guys for years as 'Hermione' and I'm perfectly content to stay that way."
"Oh, you've always been 'Chief'," Adam assured her. "We've just been waiting for the joyous day that you'd start your reign."
Hermione swatted him on the arm, rolling her eyes again but not quite disguising her smile.
She left the two in the workroom and proceeded to her own office. Despite the fact that it was smaller than Merewood's old office, she much preferred this and had asked to keep it. She loved the oval shape, making it feel so much more open and inviting. It just felt more like hers. And she associated the other office with Merewood - which was definitely not a good thing these days.
On her desk was a number of files, her calendar lay open and the curse detector lay on display at the front of her desk. It had begun as a painful reminder of what she had lost, but it had become more and more of a comfort for her on bad days. It was the only thing of Draco's she had close to her. Technically, she supposed it was hers, but somehow she thought of it as her only connection to Draco these days.
She sat down and flicked through the files, picking what she saw as the most urgent requests, and headed back out into the workroom. More of her employees had shown up, as it was past 9, and she gave a loud whistle for their attention.
"I want you 5 on the Auror order. Some of these potions can mean life or death in a tricky situation, and as much as my ex can annoy me, I don't particularly want him or any of his co-workers to die," she announced, making them all snigger. "The rest of you work on the order for the Department of Mysteries."
She had just delegated the work, watching her workers scatter, as someone gave a slight cough from the doorway. When she turned she was met with the sour face of the Minister's secretary - a woman she'd never been very fond of.
"The Minister has appointed someone to fill your old position, Ms. Granger. I'm bringing him down to you and I'm assuming you can show him the ropes."
The secretary turned on her heels and left before Hermione had even formed a reply in her head, and the absence of the tall woman left a sight that made any coherent word in Hermione's mind disappear for good. She opened her mouth only to find that anything she might have wanted to say had fled, and she was left standing there with her tongue on display.
He entered with a confident swagger - that she knew very well was forced - and stopped right in front of her, holding his hand out.
"Draco Malfoy, your new employee," he said in a dull voice.
She looked at it with a frown, knowing all of the others were watching them intently. Then, she looked up at him and pursed her lips together as she folded her arms over her chest.
"Don't give me that shit, Draco," she declared loudly, and she heard unmistakable gasps.
She thought she saw a glimmer of amusement in his eyes, but it quickly disappeared and he shrugged.
"I thought I would introduce myself, since I'm entering your life in a new role - your employee."
The implied rejection of the statement made her wince visibly, and she flushed in embarrassment of letting him see just how much it hurt her.
"Which is no one's fault but your own," she told him fiercely. "I'm not the one making assumptions left and right."
The workers' heads were now whipping between Hermione and Draco as they spoke.
"I think it was a pretty fair assumption, considering the circumstances."
Heads whipped towards Draco.
"You should know me better than that, you wanker!" She bellowed, holding back tears.
Heads whipped towards Hermione, eyes widening.
"I thought I knew you! Do you think I took this job for myself?" he said in a harsh voice.
Back to Draco.
"I know you sacrificed a lot and that you were disappointed at what you found, but you're disappointed over things that never took place!"
"I don't care any more," he muttered between clenched teeth.
"Liar!" Miriam shrieked, and clamped her hands over her mouth as the other workers glared at her.
Hermione just then realised just how public this argument was getting, and at the place they were both supposed to be working at no less. She swallowed heavily and placed her hand on his arm steering him towards his office. The contact made her body scream for more. This just wasn't right.
Once they were safely inside Merewood's old office, she closed the door behind them as he walked slowly into the middle of the room. She remained standing by the door as he studied the office in silence, taking in every detail. He looked tired, she noticed. The dark rings under his eyes told her he lacked sleep. His hair was just as unruly as ever, but it looked duller in colour. She felt tears burn in her eyes, but she kept them back as she watched him in silence. Her eyes followed him as he walked around the desk and sat down behind it, rocking slightly back and forth on the chair.
"I know it was difficult of you to leave everything safe behind to come here. You have no idea how happy I am you did, and you definitely don't know how happy I am you've taken this job. We really do need someone competent to help," she told him in a hushed voice, contrasting the argument out in the workroom. "I know so well that it scares you, Draco. And I know it took you a lot of courage to show up for that Dance and that you were probably scared shitless, but you can't take it out on me."
He was about to retort, but she held up her hand to keep him quiet.
"No, Draco. You know you're being irrational. You know the only thing you saw was me dancing with Ron. And the only reason I danced with Ron was because he asked me to dance so he could apologize. You know that you overreacted because you were scared you'd made the wrong choice. So don't argue me on this and don't contradict me, cause you know you'd be lying."
He merely watched her for a second.
"I'd like it if we could avoid more displays like that in the workroom," he said, his voice holding no emotion. "I'm new, and I shouldn't be giving such an unprofessional impression."
She gave a jerky nod, turning the doorknob with her back still turned to the door and slipped soundlessly back into the workroom.
The next to last chapter!
Ing//Hufflepuff
Summary: Hermione's life is turned upside down and she figures that the best solution is to run away from it all. What will happen when she realises that she's not the only one running from life?
Characters/Pairings: Draco/Hermione, Harry/Ginny makes an appearance
Genre: Romance/humour
Rating/Warnings: PG-13. Some swearing and mentions of sex, but not much else.
Word Count: 3550
(......)
Chapter 18//The Change
Chapter 19//The Pain
Chapter 20//The Office
Chapter 21//The Office
Chapter 22//The Dance
Chapter 23 // The Newbie
The ceiling in her borrowed bedroom was very white. It was almost blinding. She found a crack in it and tilted her head to the side. Her arms lay motionless by her side on top of the blanket, her deep red dress robe now wrinkled and dishevelled from the run and her restless turning under the covers. She had long since stopped being annoyed at the fact that her pillow was wet. It was no one's fault but her own, after all.
A commotion outside her room made her blink, but she remained perfectly still, her head tilted to the side and her eyes locked on the crack in the ceiling. Her door then flung open and she finally rose her head slightly from her pillow finding Ron standing in the opening, his cheeks flushed and his sister hanging onto his arm with her nails digging into his flesh.
"Leave her alone, you great big oaf!" Ginny shrieked, and Hermione realised she was clinging to his arm because she was trying to keep him back. "You've already ruined about 75 percent of her life so far, I won't let you any more. Get the fuck out of my flat and stay away!"
He ignored her completely and it was as if he didn't have a human being attached to his arm at all.
"Hermione, what the bloody hell was that display back there?" he asked, his voice frighteningly calm.
She didn't answer, she just let her head fall back against the pillow without a word.
"You ran over to Malfoy like some love-sick puppy, and when he turns around to leave you run after him as if your life depended on it. What's going on?" he demanded, still ignoring Ginny's desperate tugs of his arm. "Answer me!"
"It's not your sodding business!" Ginny cried, and Hermione wondered why she wasn't pulling her wand and just hexing him to bits.
"Did you run straight into his arms when we ended? Right into the arms of the man I've hated my entire life?"
He didn't need a verbal answer. Her motionless body just laying there as she stared vacantly into the ceiling was answer enough.
"I can't believe you," he spat, nearly shaking with fury now.
The words rang in her head, reverberating through her to hit that painful nerve. She heard the words over and over in Draco's voice with the same pained tone it had held earlier. When Ron was about to open his mouth again, she threw the covers aside with force and leaped from the bed immediately.
"Will you shut up before you get us right back to square one after all the progress we made today?" she remarked in a stony cold voice.
He snapped his mouth shut and Ginny put up a smug expression at Hermione's interruption of his tirade.
"You have nothing to say on my personal life any more and it makes me downright pissed off that you have the nerve to come barging in here like you do," she continued, the volume of her voice growing louder. "You cheated on me! Stop pretending you have any say on who I love."
"Oh come off it, Hermione. I'm just trying to spare you the pain, there's no way it could work between you and Malfoy. You're much too different and he's a self-righteous arse."
"When is it going to sink in that you have nothing to say on the matter? It's my life. I've been seeing Draco for over 2 months and I think I know better than you if our relationship will work or not."
Ron made to retort, but ended up howling out in pain as Ginny had kicked him in the shin.
"Give me back my wand, you wanker!"
Hermione rolled her eyes when Ron swore loudly and tried to sooth his aching leg at the same time as he tried to fight off his little sister.
"There's no way we can go back to being friends if you don't learn to keep out of the parts of my life you don't belong in any more."
"But I'm trying to be your friend right now. I'm trying to tell you you're making a mistake!"
"I need you to back off and let me live my life as I please. You really have some nerve talking about mistakes after all the shit you put me through," she bit, crossing her arms angrily over her chest.
"Stupefy!"
Hermione's arms fell to her side as she looked up to find Ron frozen in place, his mouth open in an attempt to retort. She blinked in confusion before she saw Harry moving up behind Ron, a look of shock etched onto his face as he took in the scene in front of him.
"I had my back turned when he Flooed in and he summoned my wand," Ginny explained, trying to figure out where he had hid it.
Harry muttered 'Accio' under his breath and her wand came shooting out from Ron's belt.
"Ew," she groaned, looking at her wand in Harry's hands with disgust. "I'm going to have to disinfect that thing now."
"He's such a git," Harry sighed as he returned her wand. "Why is he here making a scene? You'd think he'd learn to keep his yap shut."
"Just get him out of here," Hermione replied, her voice tired and hollow. "I'm not in the mood to answer his stupid questions and accusations about my ungodly sins with Draco."
"I swear that guy is the poster-kid for hypocrisy," Ginny complained, as she watched Harry trying to figure out what to do with his stunned partner. "How many girls has he gone out with in the past few months? And it's not like he's gone out with any decent girls either. At least you and Draco are serious, he just sleeps around and then gloats about it later."
"Were," Hermione corrected. "We were serious."
"Don't give up just yet, love," Ginny replied, before turning to her boyfriend. "Can't we just carry him down the stairs and you can Floo him back to his flat?"
"We could just turn him back to normal," Harry said in a hesitant voice, but Ginny shook her head.
"He'll just refuse to leave and start bickering again."
"Yeah, I suppose. You take the other end and I'll try to...grab this end," Harry said, tipping Ron backwards by the shoulders.
Ginny grabbed him by the legs she had previously kicked and lifted him from the floor, staggering a bit under the weight.
"I'll walk backwards down the stairs and you guide me," her boyfriend suggested and started backing up towards the door.
Hermione watched them with a quirked eyebrow, finding the image unfolding in front of her utterly surreal. Harry turned the corner by the door successfully and they managed to get him out the door. Seconds later Hermione heard a loud thud followed by swears and laughter. Peeking around the corner by the door, she found Ginny laughing uncontrollably while she tried to hold Ron up.
"Harry bumped Ron's head on the banister," she wheezed out between guffaws of laughter.
"We may have hurt him, Gin, it's not funny," Harry hissed between gritted teeth, checking Ron's head before he started walking backwards down the stairs again.
"Not funny?! It's hilarious! And only about a tenth of the pain he deserves. Be glad I haven't kicked him in the bollocks yet."
"I obviously put you in the wrong end," he replied dryly.
Ginny just continued laughing until they successfully reached the living room floor below. With great effort they managed to up him back in an upright position. Harry stared at him in puzzlement for a few seconds before turning to Hermione who was standing on the stairs.
"You don't happen to know if I can shrink him?"
She chuckled, almost surprised at the warm sound coming from her lips.
"I wouldn't try a shrinking charm on a human if I were you, Harry," she commented.
"I suppose not," he sighed, and with that grabbed Ron by the shoulders and heaved him towards the fireplace.
Hermione watched, a smile playing her lips as she listened to Ginny laughing so hard she was about to puncture a lung.
"I like him better this way," she joked half-heartedly, making Harry snort as he staggered into the Floo with the very life-like statue.
"I prefer when he can walk on his own."
They were engulfed in green flames and disappeared before Hermione's eyes, leaving the flat otherwise empty and quiet except for Ginny who was now trying to recover from her rather violent fit of laughter.
Hermione felt the involuntary laughter escape her lips, breaking free from the barriers of grief that had seemed to keep all things positive locked inside. Miraculously, it seemed to lighten her mood and her spirits lifted marginally with every trill of her laugh. Before she knew it she was in hysteric fits, falling onto the couch with Ginny following close behind. They leaned onto each other and laughed until tears were streaming down their cheeks. It was the second time that night she cried, but this time it felt liberating.
They eventually calmed and remained leaning against each other breathing heavily.
"He is a git, but at least he managed to get you out of bed," Ginny finally commented, and instead of sitting up straight she pulled a hand around Hermione's shoulders and pulled her even closer.
Hermione gave a sniff and a short laugh, knowing Ginny was perfectly right. He may be a lot of things and his intentions may have either selfish or selfless - or both, in a weird sort of way - but he did get her out of bed and he had caused a fit of gut wrecking laughter that seemed to clear out her entire system.
Ginny bent down and fumbled underneath the table.
"Here's your shoe."
"Oh right. Is this where you get down on one knee and slip it on my foot to see if it fits?" Hermione asked bitterly, grabbing the shoe forcefully from Ginny's hold.
The redhead's hold tightened around her shoulders as she chuckled sadly at the remark.
"As much as I'd love to be your Prince Charming, we might run into a few problems," she retorted with a badly disguised smile. "Firstly I lack a very important body part to fill that particular role. And even if I had that body part I would still be shagging Harry."
"Ew!" Hermione exclaimed, trying to wriggle out of the embrace, but failed miserably.
"Oh, as if you and Draco haven't tried some deranged things in bed."
Hermione scowled at her, making her friend sigh. Reluctantly loosening her hold on Hermione, she pried the shoe from her grip and fell to the floor. Hermione's eyebrows shot up into her curls as she watched Ginny slip the shoe on her foot.
"Since Draco isn't here to do it, I'm doing it for him," she declared. "Because he will come around, and you will get your fairytale ending, and there will be ice cream at the bloody wedding!"
----
It was Monday, and the first day of her first full week as Head of the Potions Department at the Ministry of Magic in London, England. It was a position she had worked towards for a lengthy period of her life. She had climbed the ranks faster than even the most optimistic could've foreseen, and even though she had initially been disappointed at the circumstances in which her promotion had come about, she no longer let that put a damper on the feeling of accomplishment that filled her.
She had deserved it, but it had come at a price. It was a price she wasn't sure she would want to pay if she had to make the choice over again. She often stood in the elevator as it took her down to the lower floors of the Ministry and envisioned that day she left Draco Malfoy standing behind almost in tears because of their broken relationship. Even on her best days she knew she wouldn't have made that decision again. Now that her work-life was back on track - even better than just back on track - she could rebuild the connection to the people in her life she considered family, she could find herself a new place to stay and sort her life out. But if she had the choice again, she wouldn't have done it all now. She would have waited until she and Draco were in a more secure place, after having discussed it and prepared for it.
As she stood in the elevator again, the same thoughts were occupying her mind. This time they were hitting her with more force due to the drama at the Dance that weekend. She was trying to block out the look of pain on his face, the words accusing her of betrayal. She tried to replace the bad memories with happy ones, accompanied by Ginny's assurance that he would come around and that they would work it out - somehow.
She was the only one left in the elevator as it stopped on her floor and she stepped out, walking down the hallway with determined steps, seeing the circular room appear before her eyes again at the end of it. She wasn't particularly early and she could see Miriam and Adam buzzing about the cauldrons as she neared. That was one thing she had always loved about working in the Potions department. Everyone loved what they did for a living, and none of them had a habit of slacking off. And now, as she was the one to lead the work, she was confident that they would be a very successfully run department.
She had not plans to return to Merewood's way of running things around the place. First of all, she was going to actually make sure they did what they were supposed to do. Secondly, she had no intentions to just sit around on her arse watching people work. She was going to be right in there with them. She hadn't taken a job in Potions making to sit behind a desk filing papers all day.
"G'morning." She smiled as she entered, turning both Miriam and Adam's attention towards her.
"Morning, Chief!"
Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Will you stop this Chief business?" she laughed. "I've known you guys for years as 'Hermione' and I'm perfectly content to stay that way."
"Oh, you've always been 'Chief'," Adam assured her. "We've just been waiting for the joyous day that you'd start your reign."
Hermione swatted him on the arm, rolling her eyes again but not quite disguising her smile.
She left the two in the workroom and proceeded to her own office. Despite the fact that it was smaller than Merewood's old office, she much preferred this and had asked to keep it. She loved the oval shape, making it feel so much more open and inviting. It just felt more like hers. And she associated the other office with Merewood - which was definitely not a good thing these days.
On her desk was a number of files, her calendar lay open and the curse detector lay on display at the front of her desk. It had begun as a painful reminder of what she had lost, but it had become more and more of a comfort for her on bad days. It was the only thing of Draco's she had close to her. Technically, she supposed it was hers, but somehow she thought of it as her only connection to Draco these days.
She sat down and flicked through the files, picking what she saw as the most urgent requests, and headed back out into the workroom. More of her employees had shown up, as it was past 9, and she gave a loud whistle for their attention.
"I want you 5 on the Auror order. Some of these potions can mean life or death in a tricky situation, and as much as my ex can annoy me, I don't particularly want him or any of his co-workers to die," she announced, making them all snigger. "The rest of you work on the order for the Department of Mysteries."
She had just delegated the work, watching her workers scatter, as someone gave a slight cough from the doorway. When she turned she was met with the sour face of the Minister's secretary - a woman she'd never been very fond of.
"The Minister has appointed someone to fill your old position, Ms. Granger. I'm bringing him down to you and I'm assuming you can show him the ropes."
The secretary turned on her heels and left before Hermione had even formed a reply in her head, and the absence of the tall woman left a sight that made any coherent word in Hermione's mind disappear for good. She opened her mouth only to find that anything she might have wanted to say had fled, and she was left standing there with her tongue on display.
He entered with a confident swagger - that she knew very well was forced - and stopped right in front of her, holding his hand out.
"Draco Malfoy, your new employee," he said in a dull voice.
She looked at it with a frown, knowing all of the others were watching them intently. Then, she looked up at him and pursed her lips together as she folded her arms over her chest.
"Don't give me that shit, Draco," she declared loudly, and she heard unmistakable gasps.
She thought she saw a glimmer of amusement in his eyes, but it quickly disappeared and he shrugged.
"I thought I would introduce myself, since I'm entering your life in a new role - your employee."
The implied rejection of the statement made her wince visibly, and she flushed in embarrassment of letting him see just how much it hurt her.
"Which is no one's fault but your own," she told him fiercely. "I'm not the one making assumptions left and right."
The workers' heads were now whipping between Hermione and Draco as they spoke.
"I think it was a pretty fair assumption, considering the circumstances."
Heads whipped towards Draco.
"You should know me better than that, you wanker!" She bellowed, holding back tears.
Heads whipped towards Hermione, eyes widening.
"I thought I knew you! Do you think I took this job for myself?" he said in a harsh voice.
Back to Draco.
"I know you sacrificed a lot and that you were disappointed at what you found, but you're disappointed over things that never took place!"
"I don't care any more," he muttered between clenched teeth.
"Liar!" Miriam shrieked, and clamped her hands over her mouth as the other workers glared at her.
Hermione just then realised just how public this argument was getting, and at the place they were both supposed to be working at no less. She swallowed heavily and placed her hand on his arm steering him towards his office. The contact made her body scream for more. This just wasn't right.
Once they were safely inside Merewood's old office, she closed the door behind them as he walked slowly into the middle of the room. She remained standing by the door as he studied the office in silence, taking in every detail. He looked tired, she noticed. The dark rings under his eyes told her he lacked sleep. His hair was just as unruly as ever, but it looked duller in colour. She felt tears burn in her eyes, but she kept them back as she watched him in silence. Her eyes followed him as he walked around the desk and sat down behind it, rocking slightly back and forth on the chair.
"I know it was difficult of you to leave everything safe behind to come here. You have no idea how happy I am you did, and you definitely don't know how happy I am you've taken this job. We really do need someone competent to help," she told him in a hushed voice, contrasting the argument out in the workroom. "I know so well that it scares you, Draco. And I know it took you a lot of courage to show up for that Dance and that you were probably scared shitless, but you can't take it out on me."
He was about to retort, but she held up her hand to keep him quiet.
"No, Draco. You know you're being irrational. You know the only thing you saw was me dancing with Ron. And the only reason I danced with Ron was because he asked me to dance so he could apologize. You know that you overreacted because you were scared you'd made the wrong choice. So don't argue me on this and don't contradict me, cause you know you'd be lying."
He merely watched her for a second.
"I'd like it if we could avoid more displays like that in the workroom," he said, his voice holding no emotion. "I'm new, and I shouldn't be giving such an unprofessional impression."
She gave a jerky nod, turning the doorknob with her back still turned to the door and slipped soundlessly back into the workroom.
The next to last chapter!
Ing//Hufflepuff