Much to Hermione's chagrin, there was yet another bouquet of flowers from Ron on her desk when she walked into her office Monday morning. She glared at them as she tossed them into the bin again, putting her head in her hands as soon as she sat down.
Unfortunately it was going to take a few business days for the divorce paperwork to be processed and served to Ron. She wasn't looking forward to the next months and only hoped that Ron would make it easy for the two of them.
"Morning, Hermione!"
She looked up and saw Harry walking into her office, shutting the door behind him. She smiled and said, "Good morning, Harry. What's up?"
He sat down and sighed before quietly saying, "I just wanted to let you know that Ron's week-long suspension is up. He's back in his office."
"Great," Hermione muttered. "I suppose I should expect a visit from him sometime today?"
"I won't deny the possibility of it happening," Harry nodded.
She groaned and leaned back in her chair, looking up at the ceiling. "I can already tell this week is going to be difficult."
"I'll try to keep him away as much as I can," He said reassuringly. "Right now they're investigating if that was the only time it happened, and whether or not they are going to terminate his position as Auror."
"I mean, my assistant was let go; it's only fair if he was let go as well," Hermione said.
"I agree, but at the same time it's not up to me," Harry said.
"I know." Hermione sighed and leaned against the arm of her chair. "How are you doing, by the way? Ginny told me."
Harry nodded. "I'm doing alright. How much of it did she tell you?"
"She said that you had been seeing one of the other Aurors?" Hermione asked slowly.
"Sort of seeing," Harry said with a sigh. "We've gone out on lunches a lot and yeah..."
She nodded in understanding. "But are you okay with everything that's happened?"
"Well, I'd be lying if I didn't want things to be different," He said quietly. "But at the same time, we both made our own decisions and this is honestly the best for us. And it's not like she and I don't still care about each other, we're still friends."
"Very true." Hermione looked him over for a few moments before saying, "Just let me know if you ever need to talk, okay?"
He smiled at that. "I'm alright, Hermione, I promise."
"I know, I'm just making sure," She said, returning the smile.
Harry stood up then with a slight groan and said, "Alright, I need to get back to my office. Let me know if you have any difficulties with anything."
She knew he meant Ron and she nodded before he turned around and left, shutting the door behind him.
Lunch came around and her stomach was a bundle of nerves again as she subconsciously waited for Ron to come to her door at any moment. It was annoying but she couldn't force the anxiety away, and she noticed that she was fidgeting quite a bit as the day went on.
She nearly jumped out of her seat when she heard a knock on her door, but when she saw it was Draco she calmed herself down before waving him in with a smile.
"Should I just expect you to come visit me every couple of days?" She asked as he opened the door.
He laughed as he said, "You can always tell me to leave."
"Well that would be rather rude, wouldn't it?" She grinned as he sat down. "Is everything alright?"
"Hm? Oh, yeah," He answered, pulling his leg up over his other knee and leaning back into the chair. "I've just come to pick your brain about a few things."
"What kind of things?" She asked as she gathered her papers together.
"Mainly werewolf things," He said with a slight shrug.
She raised an eyebrow. "You are asking me about werewolf things? I thought you as a werewolf would know everything about it by now considering you've been one for, what, six or seven years now?"
He laughed slightly. "Yes, but my knowledge is limited to my own experiences. You've had interactions with multiple different people so you've actually got a wider viewpoint on things than I would."
She tilted her head back and forth. "Okay, I can see that. So what questions do you have?"
"Well, it's kind of an odd question," He started slowly. "Blaise and I were discussing it somewhat on Saturday. Would a werewolf still attack any humans around them when they transform even if they've taken the potions?"
"So far none of my clients have," She said. "I've got quite a few with families, and that's always something I check on. While most of them are able to contain themselves to prevent anything from happening just in case, some do not have that capability but their families reported that their werewolf would simply hover around them a lot and act as a very overly-protective guard dog."
Draco's face scrunched up at this and Hermione quickly added, "Their words, not mine."
"But they wouldn't attack their family or significant others?" He asked.
Hermione shook her head and watched Draco's shoulders relax slightly. She smiled at that but the thought lingered in the back of her mind of why this would even come up. As far as she was aware, Draco lived alone.
"Did you have other questions?" She asked then before that thought could take over her mind.
"That was really the main one but I am curious about other things," He answered, leaning against the side of the chair.
Then his eyes caught sight of the flowers in the bin and his brow furrowed as he looked back up at her. "Is he still sending you flowers?"
She grimaced and nodded. "He's not getting served with the divorce papers for a few more days but..."
She trailed off while shaking her head and he continued to glare down at the flowers. He was considering taking them outside again when she shifted in her chair, catching his attention.
"I don't even know how he's getting them in here," She sighed. "No one's supposed to be able to get into my office."
"That's slightly concerning," Draco said. "Have you confronted him about it?"
"Nope. I don't even want to see him."
This made him smile but he hid it as best he could by chewing on the inside of his cheek. "He's not bothering you, is he?"
She shrugged. "Not really, though he did show up to my office after our lunch last week. That's when he started sending flowers."
Draco hummed slightly, looking at her for a few moments before saying, "You seem nervous."
"Really?" She brushed her hair to the side before tucking it behind her ear and looking away. "I mean, I'm just expecting him to walk in any minute and it's bothering me that I feel like he will."
"I could always whisk you off to lunch," Draco offered before he could stop himself.
She smiled and he saw her cheeks turn slightly pink again. "Actually that would be nice, thank you!"
"Of course!" He grinned and waited for her to finish putting her things away before following her out of her office and towards the elevator. "Are we wanting to go to the same place as before?"
"I'm fine with that if you are," She said.
The doors opened and Hermione froze when she saw Ron standing in the lift, staring at the two of them. Then he glared at Draco and asked, "What are you doing here?"
Before Draco could answer, Hermione quickly said, "He's taking me to go meet his employee finally at his office."
Draco stayed silent, only nodding. Ron looked between the two of them skeptically before looking at Hermione. "Well, I was hoping to take you to lunch so we could continue our conversation from last week."
"I told you, there's nothing more to talk about," Hermione said exasperatedly. "I'm not coming back to you, Ron."
"Please, I know we can work past this," Ron said. "I just want a chance to make things right!"
"I don't care, Ron!" Hermione said sternly before sighing and pinching the bridge of her nose. "Look, right now is not the time to argue about this, but I've already told you that we have talked enough. I know what happened, I know your reasoning, and I don't need to hear anything else."
Ron gave her a panicked look and reached out to grab her upper arms gently. "Please, I can't lose you!"
She tried to pull away but he held her arms tighter. "Let me go, Ron!"
"Weasley, I suggest you let go of her immediately!"
Draco's raised voice caught both of their attentions and Hermione took the momentary distraction to pull herself out of Ron's grip and she backed away. Draco was by her side immediately and he glared at Ron.
"Don't ever put your hands on her again," Draco growled in a low voice.
"You have no right to tell me what to do," Ron said angrily. "And she is still my wife; I have every right to try and talk to her!"
"Let me rephrase that..." Draco took a few steps towards Ron, glaring angrily at him and lowering his voice so that others around them couldn't hear. "If I ever see you grab her like that again when she asks you to let go, I will personally make sure you are unable to grab anything again for the rest of your life."
He glared at Ron for a few more seconds before turning back to Hermione and reaching out for her. She immediately walked past Ron and Draco followed with a hand protectively resting on her upper back, and when they got into the lift, Hermione stared down at the floor to avoid Ron's eyes.
She didn't let out a breath until the lift moved downward and Draco's hand dropped from her back.
"Are you alright?" He asked worriedly, thankful that no one else was in the space with them.
After a few moments she nodded and tucked her hair behind her ear, looking up at him. "Thank you for that."
He smiled down at her and said, "If you need me to, I can assign someone to make sure he doesn't bother you."
She laughed slightly and shook her head. "I don't need a bodyguard, Draco. I can manage him just fine on my own."
"I never said you couldn't," He said. "I'm just trying to make sure he doesn't hurt you."
"Trust me, he won't," She laughed again. "But if he does, there is a long line of people who will do the same to him, and his family will be at the very front of it."
"We'll see about that," Draco grinned. "I'm pretty good at beating other people out to be first."
"Except in grades."
He looked down to see her smirking as the doors opened and she stepped out, continuing to smirk.
"That was a low blow, Granger," He said as he followed her.
She simply laughed and he couldn't help but grin. "You know, I always forgot that you were right behind me in grades."
"Because you were so focused on your own grades that you never paid any attention to anyone else's," He said. Then he smirked as well, putting his hands in his pockets as he smugly asked, "How did it feel when Potter was besting you in potions class sixth year?"
Hermione instantly scowled at him and huffed before saying, "The only reason was because of that bloody potions book he had. It belonged to Snape previously, and Snape had written all sorts of cheats and shortcuts when he was in school."
Draco's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "You're kidding. Of course Potter was the one to get that book; he had all the luck."
"Hated that book," She muttered as they exited the Ministry building.
"You're kidding," Draco laughed. "Hermione Granger hating a book? That's a first!"
She couldn't help but grin at that, letting out a laugh finally.
A/N:Â I love writing books like this because it makes me wonder about things in the books that aren't otherwise spoken of, like werewolf behavior when on a Wolfsbane potion. It's fun to discuss and come up with theories. Anywho, hope you all enjoy! <3