Hermione wasn't able to go down to the second level where the Aurors' office was until around lunch to check and see if Ron was there. He still hadn't come home Sunday when she had returned to the house and when he wasn't there that morning either, she had really started to worry about him.
After writing a quick response to Draco's last note about lunch probably not being a good idea, she sent it off with a slight frown and decided it was time to go check on Ron.
She noticed that Claire also wasn't at her desk as she passed by, but she assumed her assistant was at lunch and continued to the lift. A few minutes later she stepped out onto the second level and walked around, searching for Ron's office. She had only been to his a few times as he usually came to hers and he said he had moved around a bit so she wasn't quite sure where his office actually was.
After a few moments of aimless searching, she finally saw Harry in his office, sitting at his desk.
"Hey Harry?" She asked, leaning into his office.
"Hey," Harry said, somewhat surprised to see her down there. He then lowered his voice and asked, "How are you doing? I heard you and Ron had a bit of a fight."
"Yeah," Hermione sighed, shifting and leaning slightly against the door. "It was definitely a rough weekend."
"I can understand that, I'm having some problems with Ginny as well..." Harry shook his head then and asked, "What brings you down here?"
"Well, I was hoping to see if Ron wanted to get lunch so we could talk about what happened," Hermione explained. "He didn't come home at all this weekend."
Harry's brow furrowed as he stood up. "He didn't? Here, I'll take you to his office."
Harry followed her out of his office and led her towards Ron's office, pausing when he saw the lights were off and the door was closed. "That's strange; he was in here a few minutes ago..."
Hermione frowned and was about to turn away, but then noticed there was movement in the dark office. "Wait, I think someone's in there..."
Harry narrowed his eyes and drew his wand. "Stand back."
Hermione drew her own wand from her boot and aimed it at the door as well while Harry quietly did an unlocking charm before throwing open the door, his wand at the ready. Neither one of them were prepared though for what they saw, and Hermione's heart broke when she saw just who was in the office with Ron.
"Claire?"
Her assistant quickly shuffled to hide her half-naked body with her clothes as she exclaimed, "Hermione! I am so so sorry!"
"You're shagging my assistant?!" Hermione exclaimed, looking over at Ron.
"Are you bloody serious?!" Harry yelled, aiming a jinx at Ron who quickly dodged it with a yell.
"Wait, just- just let me explain!" Ron yelled in return as he quickly pulled up his jeans. "Hermione, wait!"
Hermione didn't listen though as she turned away and ran towards the lift, holding a hand over her mouth to stop the sob from escaping. She had to lean against the wall to stop from falling to the floor of the lift, taking deep breaths and waiting for the lift to return to her floor.
As soon as the doors opened she rushed out and ran into her office, slamming the door shut and summoning her bag. She rarely apparated out of her office as the Ministry usually didn't allow it, but she decided to take the hit this time and locked her office with every charm she could think of before disapparating.
Harry continued to point his wand at Ron, casting a quick glance over to Hermione's assistant. "Claire, on behalf of your boss, your position is officially terminated. Please leave the building immediately."
The blonde nodded solemnly as tears filled her eyes, but she rushed out of the office with her head hanging, leaving just Ron and Harry. Harry noticed that others had started coming out of their office with the outburst, but after Hermione had ran off he ordered everyone to get back in their office.
"Are you serious, Ron?" Harry asked again.
"Harry, don't," Ron said, putting up a hand. "I had a moment of weakness-"
"How could you do this to Hermione?!" Harry demanded. "Especially this close to your anniversary?"
Ron sat down in his chair, a defeated look on his face. "I don't know. I don't know what happened. I just...she was talking to Malfoy, Harry, and he invited her out to lunch..."
"So you go and cheat on her with her own assistant?" Harry exclaimed. "How does that even equal out in your mind? And in your office of all places!"
"It's Malfoy, Harry!" Ron said, gesturing towards the door.
"I don't care who it is!" Harry said. "Do you even realize that Hermione has cut off contact with every man that she doesn't have to work with because of your jealousy?"
Ron didn't answer this time, avoiding his friend's eyes. Harry fumed silently and put his wand down, muttering under his breath. "I can't believe you did this..."
"Like you're one to talk," Ron fired back accusingly.
Harry narrowed his eyes and pointed a finger at Ron. "You better not say another word."
They continued to glare at each other even as someone approached, and soon the authoritative voice of the Head Auror, Daniels, could be heard behind them.
"Someone better explain what is going on very quickly."
Harry took a deep breath as Ron narrowed his eyes at him, but neither of them said anything. Daniels stepped into the room, looking between the two of them. "Well?!"
Ron shook his head slightly at Harry, but Harry sighed and looked up at the older man. "Sir, I came in to check on Ron and he was in here with a woman and the lights were off."
Daniels inhaled and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Weasley, you better not have been doing what I think you were doing..."
"He was, sir."
With a sigh, Daniels turned to look at the angry red head. "Weasley, you are on suspension for the rest of the week while we investigate. Please leave the office."
Ron stood up and glared at Harry as he stepped out the door. Under his breath as he passed by, he growled to Harry, "I'll be telling Ginny about your little adventure a few missions ago."
Harry glared in return at Ron as he walked towards the lift, sighing; he was going to have to get to Ginny before Ron did.
Draco,
While I greatly appreciate the invitation, unfortunately I am going to have to decline as my husband is not comfortable with the idea of you and I going to lunch.
I'm happy to hear that your employee is doing better; I will be reaching out again on the next full moon.
Hermione Granger
Draco frowned at the note, genuinely disappointed that he wasn't able to take her out to lunch. And just because of that Weasley husband of hers. It didn't sit right with him that Weasley had that much influence on her life, regardless of the fact that they were married. She should be able to spend time with whoever she wanted.
Still, the tone in the letter sounded off as well. More professional than her other notes. Of course her notes were always professional but they had a hint of her regular humor in them, whereas this one didn't. It was almost as if something happened to cause her to have to back away.
"Knock knock."
He looked up and saw Blaise standing in the doorway with a grin on his face. "What's got you in such a good mood?"
Blaise shrugged. "Just about to go meet her for lunch; want anything?"
Draco raised an eyebrow. "Is that where you've been going for lunch for the past almost month or so?"
"Not every day but close, yes."
Shaking his head, Draco sighed. "She's still married, Blaise."
"I know, it's just lunch," Blaise retorted.
"It better be." Draco sighed and set the letter down, rubbing his eyes.
Blaise looked at him curiously. "Everything alright?"
"I don't know," Draco said truthfully, leaning back in his chair and looking down at his desk.
Blaise stepped in and shut the door behind him. "What's going on?"
"So, Hermione and I have been working together on my condition," Draco started slowly. "She oversees all of the others as well so when Wilkins got murdered, I had to go to her."
Blaise nodded, knowing all of this already but letting his friend talk.
"She's married to Weasel though, and he's very controlling over her, Blaise," Draco said, his brow furrowing. "He doesn't take care of her either; he was too blind to see that she wasn't eating from being too stressed out."
"But you saw it," Blaise said observantly, sitting down on the corner of Draco's desk.
"It was hard not to, the woman nearly fainted in front of me," Draco said. "But it's not right, how he speaks to her."
"What do you mean?"
"Remember how I said we ran into each other at lunch?" When Blaise nodded, Draco went on: "At that point it was before the decision was made and I asked her how it was going. He immediately rounded on her and demanded to know how I knew about her work and was demanding to know why I was writing to her."
Blaise raised an eyebrow. "So he took it out on her, pretty much?"
"Mate, I've only ever seen her look that defeated once before and I never want to see that look on her face again," Draco said in a low voice. "And then when she nearly fainted, instead of trying to make sure she was alright and making her eat, he got angry again that I was simply there in her office. What kind of husband does that? So I threatened him, telling him to never talk to her like that again."
"And how did he take that?"
Draco shrugged. "I didn't stay to see. Didn't hear from her again either until Friday when she sent that letter checking in on me."
"As part of her job, I'm assuming."
"Yes." Draco sighed and shifted in his chair, putting his chin in his hand. "I sent her a response, asked her if she was eating. She replied Saturday morning, checking in again and then she added that yes, she had been eating. I essentially said that I didn't want to have to threaten her husband again and asked for some advice on alleviating the pain and soreness. She sent back a short note with some tips and made a snarky comment about how she can handle her own husband. So, I decided to ask her out for lunch as a thanks for taking care of everything."
Blaise hummed slightly. "I'm guessing that didn't go over well."
"I have no idea," Draco said quietly. "I sent that Saturday before lunch, and didn't hear from her until today when I got this."
He held up Hermione's note and Blaise reached out for it, scanning over the short note. "Ahh. 'My husband is not comfortable with the idea'."
"It's not just that," Draco said, taking the letter back and looking down at it. "The tone of the letter is off too. It's much more professional than it was before, and I'm wondering if Weasley did something."
"You don't think he physically did something, do you?" Blaise asked then.
"He better not have," Draco growled.
This reaction caught Blaise off guard slightly. He tilted his head and then asked, "Draco, do you like her?"
"What?" Draco looked up and then scowled. "No! I just don't like how he treats her; it's not right."
"I have to agree with you on that," Blaise said. "But it does sound like you're getting protective of her."
Draco stared at him. "I'm not getting protective. I'm simply trying to make sure that she..."
He trailed off and then groaned. "Fuck..."
As he pinched the bridge of his nose, Blaise chuckled and said, "I mean, there's nothing wrong with that. She seems wonderful, and it's not like she doesn't know everything about your condition. I think she could handle it."
"You're jumping way too far to conclusions," Draco said, holding out a hand to stop his friend while avoiding his eyes. "She's nice to chat with, and I don't like seeing people get hurt. That's the only reason this whole situation is bothering me."
"Are you trying to convince me or are you trying to convince yourself?" Blaise asked smugly.
Draco scowled at his friend. "Don't you have a lunch to get to?"
Laughing, Blaise stood up. "Yes, I certainly do. We can discuss more over firewhiskey later."
"There's nothing to discuss," Draco muttered, trying to busy himself with his paperwork.
"Whatever mate," Blaise sighed. "I'll be back later."
Draco didn't answer as Blaise left the office and he tried to focus on the papers in front of him. His mind kept shifting over to Hermione though, and eventually he let out a groan before rubbing his face in frustration. He did not like her. He couldn't. It was too dangerous for her anyway, even if she knew everything about his condition.
There was a thought wiggling its way through his mind about what could happen though, and as much as he tried to ignore it, it finally forced itself to the front of his mind and he looked up, staring at the wall as he finally thought it through.
Hermione knew everything about lycanthropy; the symptoms, what to expect, how to handle it. She wasn't afraid of him. He never wanted any of his past girlfriends to find out about his condition, but with her that factor was gone because she already knew. And clearly she wanted to help him. Up until that point he had accepted the fact that he was most likely going to be a lifelong bachelor, doomed to a life without love. But there was now a small ray of hope that maybe, just maybe, he wouldn't have to spend his life alone anymore.
He shook his head, glaring down at his desk. No, that wasn't possible. She was still married regardless. They could be close, friends at the most. After all, they were going to be working together. They were bound to become close anyway. But absolutely nothing else could happen; that was hoping for too much.
A/N: aaaaaand the long-awaited scene! I was really eager to get this one up and I nearly posted it yesterday but decided I didn't want to make you guys wait a day longer for the follow up. Next chapter will be up tomorrow! Love you all! <3