-FURY-

'Ahem.'

'Good morning to you, too, Granger,' Malfoy said, barely looking up from his desk. 'And how are you on this beautiful, sunny day?' Hermione didn't miss the carefully combined sarcasm and amusement rolled into one question.

'It's thundering.'

Malfoy grinned. 'It's called being polite, Granger. A trait you sorely lack.'

'I can be polite,' Hermione snapped. At his arched eyebrow, she remedied, 'Most times.'

Malfoy tapped his Parker pen on his chin as he leaned forward on his desk, addressing Hermione who still stood at the door, 'Would you like to know what I think?'

'Quite frankly, it surprises me that you have the mental capacity to even think –'

'Tell me something, Granger,' he interrupted. 'Did you treat the Minister of Magic so disrespectfully when you worked under him?' He paused to throw in a smirk. 'And by under, I mean –'

Her nostrils flared. 'Kingsley is a happily married man, Malfoy,' she seethed. 'How dare you insinuate –'

'So adding to your list of undesirable traits,' Malfoy annoyingly continued, 'after "disrespectful to fellow superiors", we'll put "too serious to appreciate sexual innuendo".'

Hermione narrowed her gaze in silent fury. I need this job. I need this job. I need this job. Gritting her teeth, she spat, 'Would you like to know what I think?'

He flashed his teeth in a feral grin. 'Of course not, Granger. What a stupid question. Now what do you want? Your shift's already started.'

Hermione clenched her jaw. 'I need a favour.'

Her ears stung as he barked out a short laugh. Her eyes widened in horror, anger quickly forgotten. Malfoy knew how to laugh?

'Oh, Granger, you do amuse me,' he grinned. He leaned back in his chair, crossing one foot over the other as he placed them on his desk. 'You address me in harsh tones and insult me, and then demand a favour from me? I mean, another favour, considering the first one being giving you a job.'

Malfoy, being Malfoy, was going to make this hard. He brought out the worst in her, she couldn't help it. 'Firstly, I didn't demand a favour,' she stated, holding up a finger. 'Secondly, you deliberately provoke me. Thirdly –'

Malfoy rolled his eyes. 'You're just weak enough to feel provoked, Granger.'

'Thirdly,' Hermione continued, ignoring his jibe, 'I promise –' at this, she inwardly cringed, '—to not insult you, if—'

'No, you don't,' Malfoy said, grinning again. Hermione dearly wished she could set fire to that grin.

'I beg your pardon?' she bit through her teeth.

'It is impossible to refrain from insulting me. So don't bother making promises you intend on breaking.' He shrugged.

'Fine,' Hermione snapped, having lost her patience in the early parts of their conversation.

'Tell you what,' Malfoy said, dropping his feet from his desk to stand up. 'Let's make a deal.' He walked towards her, coming to a graceful stop.

She looked up at him, distrust written clear on her face. She opened her mouth to retort, when, Malfoy tut-tutted. 'No, Granger, don't even think about it,' he said in amusement, shaking his head. 'You came to me, remember?'

Hermione stiffened as he leaned close to her, his arm snaking around her to...

...close the door. She breathed out a sigh of relief as he straightened away from her.

'Let's talk business,' he said, pulling her none-too-gently further into his office.

She shrugged his hand off her arm, and took a seat.

Malfoy sat across from her. 'Rule number one, you need to treat me civilly.'

Hermione snorted. 'Need I remind you, Malfoy, that you –'

'-have treated you civilly from the very beginning.' Malfoy said, raising a brow in challenge. 'Granger, I can't tolerate disrespect from any of my employees.'

'Respect needs to be earned, Malfoy,' Hermione couldn't help but saying.

'Something that I am well aware of, which is why everyone on my staff is happy working for me. Everyone except you.' He regarded her with a cool look. 'If you're not happy here, Granger...'

'I didn't come here for a heart to heart, Malfoy,' Hermione said. A small part of her admitted that she was acting immature, and that, yes, Malfoy had treated her somewhat civilly since her arrival at work, but damn it! She couldn't help it!

'True, you came here for a job, which you're not even doing properly.'

Indignation lit her eyes. 'I am trying!'

'Maybe,' he said, lifting a shoulder in a light shrug. 'I'm ordering you to be civil, Granger,' he said pleasantly, as if he was wishing her a good day. 'Don't make this hard for the both of us.'

Hermione acknowledged the quiet glint in his eyes that qualified his last statement. 'Fine.' She inwardly winced at the harshness of her tone. She needed to work on that.

He smirked. 'Good. Now, what is it that you want from me?'

Hermione bit her lip. She had thought about this on the way to work this morning. She would try to make it sound as normal as possible. Don't make him curious. 'I need to use your Floo.'

He gazed at her calculatingly. 'My Floo,' he repeated.

She nodded. 'Please,' she added as an afterthought.

'What for?'

Hermione mentally cringed. She knew he was going to ask – this was Draco Malfoy, for crying out loud!

'To communicate with someone.'

'Really,' he said sarcastically. 'I was wondering what else the Floo was used for.'

Hermione held on to her resolve, and the fact that she needed to be civil with this man. She leaned forward. 'It's important, Malfoy.'

'Why don't you use your one at home?' he asked, grinning. Hermione took a closer look at his expression, and frowned. He knows more than he's letting on.

'It's complicated,' she said shortly.

'I see,' he said. Abruptly, he changed the topic. 'Granger, why did you leave the Ministry?'

'I felt for a change of scene,' Hermione said, narrowing her eyes. This conversation wasn't going the way she planned. Nothing with Malfoy went according to plan. 'Malfoy—'

'So you completely abandoned magic,' Malfoy said slowly, his grey eyes piercing into her, 'to work in a Muggle environment.' He nodded, as if it made sense.

'I didn't completely abandon magic,' she muttered. She hated that Malfoy loved to probe. Hated that he loved to interfere. Hated that he loved to mind someone else's personal business. Hated that he was so good at slipping past her defences.

'Oh?' he asked, a challenging note in his voice. 'No wand, no Floo, specifying to work in a Muggle industry...' He suddenly reached over the table, grasping Hermione by the shoulders, pulling her closer. She gasped, shocked at the sudden contact. 'What the hell is your agenda, Granger?' he demanded quietly, his face mere inches from hers.

'Let go of me,' she ordered, her heart picking up a sputtered beat as his grey eyes penetrated her brown ones. She attempted to wriggle out of his tight grasp.

'Why is the greatest witch of our age without magic?' he breathed into her face, and Hermione caught a strong whiff of coffee.

Hermione placed her hands on his chest, ignored how good it felt, and angrily pushed him away. She stood up, heat flooding her cheeks. 'You talk about me breaching the office code, Malfoy, but you are no better,' she fumed.

Malfoy dropped himself back into his chair, and pulled open a drawer. He pulled out a metal container, sliding it over the desk towards Hermione.

'Floo powder,' Draco said tightly in response to her outburst. He had been out of line, he knew, but it bloody frustrated him that he couldn't fit the pieces of the puzzle together.

Her brown eyes flickered to the box and then back to him, regarding him cagily.

'Be back in ten minutes.'

He watched her deliberate for a few slow seconds, before she hesitantly reached out to flick open the lid of the box. In mild confusion, he watched as she fingered the soft green powder, as if relishing the feel of it, before her slim fingers curled around a fistful of powder. She walked towards the fireplace, and stopped just before she got in. Turning around, she muttered, 'Thank you.'

He tilted his head. 'You're welcome.' He eyed her, curious to hear her destination.

'Can I have your word,' Granger began, suddenly looking very vulnerable, 'to not follow me?'

Curiosity flickered beneath his surface, but he coolly nodded. 'Of course.' He waved his wand at the door, Muffliato!

Just as he had finished casting the spell, he heard her yell, '12 Grimmauld Place!' before disappearing in a swirl of green smoke.

Draco's eyebrows lifted. Where the hell was Grimmauld Place? he wondered, as he took out his phone. More importantly, he thought, hitting numbers on the keypad, who lived there?

'You work for Malfoy?' Ron yelped.

Hermione grimaced. 'My best option.'

'Malfoy's your best option?' Ron said disbelievingly.

'What I don't get,' Harry said, coming into the room, pulling a clean shirt over his head, 'is why you'd tell Isabelle that you needed work. The competition's going to be taking up a lot of your time as it is.'

Hermione glanced up at him as he tiredly took a seat on the couch. She had come into the familiar house five minutes ago to find Ron there, eating. After hugging the life out of her, he Floo'ed Harry at work to come home immediately, as it was deathly urgent. Harry had been training, and thinking there was a major crisis, Floo'ed home in his fighting gear. Harry shook his head in amusement – crisis indeed! - stooped to hug Hermione, his previous resentment for her for setting him up with Sabine Carmell forgotten. Hermione had thereafter caught them both up in what was happening.

'But don't you see, Harry? This is perfect! Of course, I hadn't anticipated working for Malfoy, of all people, but this way, I can actually ... It can work.'

`This is Malfoy we're talking about, Hermione,' Harry reminded her. 'He'll figure your story out soon enough.'

Hermione sighed. 'I think he's already halfway there, Harry.'

'What if he tells the papers, Hermione?' Ron asked gently. 'He's well-connected to the media.'

'He wouldn't,' Hermione said immediately.

Ron raised an eyebrow. 'Oh yeah? You sound pretty confident about that.'

'Harry's right, Ron. Something about Malfoy's changed.I don't think he'll sneak –'

'I might have said that he's changed for the better, Hermione,' Harry interrupted. 'I didn't say he's become incapable of sneaking.'

'He wouldn't,' Hermione stubbornly repeated. Draco Malfoy was a slimy bastard, but that didn't make him a cruel one.

'Does he know you're here?' Harry asked.

Hermione shook her head. 'I told him not to follow, so the only thing he knows is the address, and that's thankfully untraceable.'

Ron sighed, rubbing his hands together to keep warm. 'Okay, problem one sorted out. How are you going to sort out problem two?' His blue eyes looked at her seriously.

'Problem two?' Hermione echoed.

'The competition's at midnight every night, Hermione,' Ron said. 'How are you going to work around that when your shift's in the morning?'

'Oh,' Hermione said, her shoulders slumping. 'I didn't think of that.' She sighed, looking at the ceiling. She was losing it. Her sanity, her intellect, her...spark.

'Hermione,' Harry said slowly, regarding her closely, 'stupid question, but have you read the books yet?'

She glanced at him guiltily. 'Isabelle reclaimed my wand. We shrunk those books so that they'd fit in my bag remember? Well, she took the wand back before I could enlarge them. So, they're practically illegible.'

'We can work around that,' Harry responded. He waved his wand, telling Hermione, 'I have a few that you could read.'

Hermione looked up as she saw a few books sailing her way. Harry slowly lowered them onto her lap with his wand. 'I'll only be able to read these at work,' she said.

Harry lifted a shoulder. 'The competition's in just under three weeks, Hermione. You need to know what you're getting into.'

Hermione smiled. 'I can do this,' she said. 'Thank you so much for your help.' Glancing at her watch, she frowned. 'I have to get back.' Her frown was mirrored on their faces, too. She stood up, giving each of them a kiss. 'I'll try to stay in contact this way, if I behave with Malfoy.' She pulled a face at this.

'I'm surprised you've lasted two days,' Ron laughed. 'I would've knocked the bloke's nose in by now.'

Hermione smiled. 'There's a thought.'

She stepped back into the fire, gripping the books tightly to her chest. Her heart clenched at the sight of her two best friends waving her off. I miss them. Sighing, she yelled, 'The Ocard!'

And in a puff of green smoke, she was gone.

Ron and Harry lowered their hands, their smiles simultaneously slipping off their faces.

Ron stared at the fireplace. 'She'll be alright.' He looked up at Harry. 'She will be alright, right?'

Harry glanced at him. 'She's strong,' was his answer.

Hermione toppled out of the fireplace, coughing as she choked down soot. Brushing at her clothes, she got up, shaking her head so that the soot would fall out. Malfoy's fireplace was a lot more sootier than Harry's.

'I trust you gave my regards to Potter?' came a familiar drawl.

Hermione snapped her attention to Malfoy. His gaze swept over her clothes, before locking with her startled eyes. He can't possibly know...

She cleared her throat, walking towards the door, 'I don't know what you're talking about,' she said, trying to sound indifferent.

'Please,' he said, and she heard him push himself away from his desk. Her hand fell to the knob of the door. 'Don't play innocent with me, Granger,' he said in mild amusement. 'What books did he give you?'

Damn. So he'd seen them. He'd also figured it was Harry's house she'd been to. Pointless trying to fight it. She pulled the books closer into her stomach. 'Fiction,' she lied, twisting the knob on the door.

Locked.

'Hey, Malfoy, could you—'

'Nope, but I appreciate the almost genuine politeness,' he remarked from behind her. He was close enough that she could feel the breath he let out as he laughed quietly.

She turned around to face him, simultaneously sliding the books behind her, holding it between her back and the door. She looked up into his face which appeared too close for comfort. 'I thought,' she said, her voice coming out scratchy. She cleared her throat, and looked back into the eyes that were looking into hers with such deep amusement.

'You thought...' his voice a soft murmur, and he leaned in fractionally closer.

She stood her ground, trying to remember what it was she was thinking. Oh, right. 'I thought that 12 Grimmauld Place was off the map,' she said, refusing to lower her voice to decibels that copied his. Maybe her normal volume would make him lean away.

'It is,' he said, placing a hand on the door.

'Then how do you...' Damn it, she could smell him. 'How do you know?'

'I have my ways,' he said quietly, the corner of his lips lifting into a subtly smirk. Out of her periphery, Hermione saw his hand slip lower on the door, and against her will, her heart picked up speed. This is ridiculous! She cursed her body for reacting to him.

'I...' she held her breath as she felt the heat between her body and his hand as his hand dipped lower and lower down the door. Before she could say anything, she felt his hand swiftly dislodge the books she'd tried so hard to conceal. The books fell to the floor, and he bent to pick one up.

Hermione's nostrils flared. How dare he! Although she was grateful for the distance he'd put between them, how dare he! Those were her books!

She aimed to snatch it out of his hands, but he held it up, out of reach.

''The Masqueraded Duel',' he read out loud.

'Give it back, Malfoy!' she shouted, height working out of favour with her.

He handed her the book, the amusement gone. He wore a guarded expression, 'Granger, why do you have that?' he asked in a neutral voice.

'Extra reading,' she snapped, still furious that he had manipulated her defences. Still furious that her body had reacted to him.

His gaze flickered to the books that were still at her feet. He narrowed his eyes. 'Extra reading on the same subject?'

'Yes,' Hermione said, sticking her chin out stubbornly.

'Are you planning on participating?' he asked her, his eyes cool.

'It's just extra reading, Malfoy.'

'Just wondering, because if you are, you'll need a wand.'

She stared at him silently.

'Something you don't have,' he added.

'It's just extra reading, Malfoy,' Hermione repeated, clenching her fists behind her back.

'If you insist,' Malfoy replied. He flashed a quick grin. 'Either way, I'll keep them with me.' His wand appeared out of nowhere, sending the books into his drawer. Hermione stared at him. Why were people doing this to her? Why were things constantly being taken away from her? Her wand, her friends, her freedom, her damn borrowed books, her pride. She was sick of it.

'I'll collect it when I'm done,' she said stiffly.

Draco nodded. He was close enough that he could see a light go out in her eyes. Close enough that he could feel her body relax – not in comfort, or relief. But in defeat.

Hermione the defeatist?

He needed to figure out her story fast.

He waved his wand, and he heard the lock on the door unclick. He reached behind her, deliberately narrowing the distance between their bodies. It hadn't gone unnoticed that she reacted to him. Oh, he noticed alright.

His hand on the knob, he pulled out his wand, waving it over her clothes, 'Scourgify,' he murmured, watching her pupils dilate as he stared at her. He slowly wiped a finger across her forehead, causing her to stiffen. 'Missed a spot,' he murmured.

Her response was something he hadn't anticipated. 'You are unbelievable, Draco Malfoy,' was her statement of whispered fury. She shoved at him roughly, leaving his office in a sharp breeze.

-to be continued-