a/n: sorry it's taken so long. I'm on break now, so hopefully chapters will come faster

Disclaimer: I own no one, Terry Pratchett owns Rincewind and the luggage.

Chapter 4: See Him Again

Hermione woke up moaning in pain. She had a horrible hangover, and she couldn't seem to get Draco's smirk out of her head. He was constantly floating before her – if I am thinking of him as Draco, I must be hallucinating. That's what this is, a dream. Just a dream. She pinched herself. Hard.

You're not dreaming, sweetheart. She glared at herself in the mirror, and with a sigh, dressed and apparated to Diagon Alley.

After a quick run to Burger King, the only place to weather a hangover, Hermione was sitting at her desk in the quiet Bureau of Transfiguration and Charm Regulations. She was glad that it was quiet. It meant that no one was breaking the law.

While Aurors got all the glory of being dark wizard chasers, Hermione, her old partner Hannah Abbot, and the rest of the TCR got the "mundane" side of policing – robberies, patrols, and detective work. She couldn't be happier with her job – it took twice the brains and returned half the danger.

Hannah. Hermione smiled thinking about her ex-partner, a Hogwarts graduate who had recently left the Bureau to marry a wizard she had met on an assignment. Rincewind, a charming but incompetent Romanian wizard who reminded Hermione of Neville had hit it off with Hannah, but had taken so long in proposing that both witches had wondered if the proposal would ever come. Hermione had helped Hannah pack the week before, stuffing the luggage Rincewind had given his fiancée to the brim.

Hermione heard her boss' voice in the hall. "Let me introduce you to your partner…" The footsteps were nearing her door, and tired though she was, Hermione couldn't wait to see the look on Malfoy's face when he realized exactly who he would be working with.

"Oh shi-Granger!" he exclaimed, his blonde hair falling into his gray eyes. Malfoy was dressed in a black suit with a light green tie, and if he hadn't been her worst enemy, Hermione decided that she wouldn't have minded working with him. But he was Malfoy, and therefore, she would take delight in vexing him.

She laughed at his look, knowing exactly what he was thinking, because she was thinking the same thing. I was never going to see you again.

"Oh, so you know each other?" said Lucy happily, breaking the staring contest. "Hermione, you never said you knew any of the job candidates."

"I never knew he was a candidate," she muttered in the face of her grinning blonde boss. There was nothing that felt as bad as disappointing Lucy.

"We were heads together at Hogwarts," said Draco, causing her to quirk an eyebrow. "We were in different houses, of course, so we never really got to know each other. Recently, however, we've been making up for lost time." She glared ferociously, trying to wipe the smirk off his face. Unfortunately, it just doubled in intensity.

Lucy, of course, was oblivious. "So you're old friends then." She conveniently didn't hear Hermione's snort, and missed the instant Slytherin sneer that had graced Draco's face. "That's great. Well, Draco, I'm sure you'll fit in very well here, please both of you come to see me at 2:00 to discuss your future assignments."

They stared at each other for a solid minute. Draco was shocked that Hermione was a TCR agent. He thought she would have been an auror, like Wonderboy, Weasel, and Weaslette.

Suddenly her actions at the reunion made sense. "You knew!" he cried accusingly. "You bloody well knew, didn't you? That's why you were cussing all over the place."

"Unfortunately, yes, Ferret, but I tried hard to forget it."

He smirked. "I saw you down a butterbeer. I should've know Hermione Granger would never try something stronger. Next time, use firewhiskey. It's got more of a kick."

She groaned. "I know. I had six."

Draco sputtered. Was he that bad that Miss Perfect had to get horribly drunk to forget that she was working with him? Then he sneered. "I'm not that bad of a kisser, you know."

Hermione leapt up and drew her wand. "We aren't talking about that. Ever." She was inches away from him, staring up defiantly. Draco never could resist a challenge.

"Alright, Love," he said, and kissed her quickly. This seemed to be a repeating pattern. He swept away, catching the book that she hurled at his retreating form.

"Granger, you are too easy!" he called, before the door slammed behind him.

---------

Hermione snuck out of her office, trying not to disrupt her new partner who seemed to be engrossed in paperwork. How does he have a mountain on his first day? Unfortunately the hesitation cost her her cover.

"Going somewhere, partner?" smirked Malfoy.

"Lunch, as a matter of fact."

He brightened up. "Can I join you? I'd do anything to get away from this paperwork."

"Actually, I'm already booked. Has Luce loaded you up already?"

"It's all the old reports of yours and Abbots'. She wants me to get in touch with your style, not like I need reminding," he smirked. "I must say, some of the reports are impressive."

She was surprised to find herself blushing. "Than-"

Hermione was interrupted by a loud crack as Ginny apparated. "Hey, Mi," she said. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah. See you, partner," she laughed.

A look of disgust was clearly displayed on his face. "You're dumping me for Weaselette? But we could have so much fun together, Hermione."

Ginny ignored the stab and chose to look curiously at her best friend. "If I'm intruding, we can do lunch another time…"

"That's quite alright, Virginia Weasley. If you excuse me, Malfoy, we were leaving." With that, Hermione apparated.

Ginny shrugged at Malfoy, but added, "We always have coffee at Jekyll's, but I need to go early today. I'd hate to leave Mione all by herself."

And without knowing he had said it, Draco answered, "I hope you won't have to."