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It was barely two weeks into dry January and Hermione Granger was already beginning to regret her life decisions. More specifically, it was the well-meaning, health-conscious choice that prevented her from throwing back a shot of tequila with lime when met with the prospect of confronting her childhood nemesis. Again. Bloody health be damned, seeking out the irritable blond was not high on her bucket list. Especially on her day off."Sorry Miss, all sales are final."Hermione frowned, blinking down at the strawberry-free, sugar-free, practically fun-free, plain scone the barista had set before her."I understand that," she forced a smile usually reserved for Head Auror Fawley at the Ministry. "But this is not what I ordered," she looked down at the sad excuse of a pastry. "Is there is any way I could—""Did you want another one?" The young cashier smiled, her long acrylics hovering above the register. The girl's large sparkly pink earrings swung back and forth with her grin, catching the bright artificial pendant lights from the coffee shop ceiling and casting pink sparkles all over the counter.Hermione sighed, wondering how hard it really was to heat up the strawberry scone she'd ordered the first time. She checked her watch, biting down on her lip."Alright," she managed, accepting defeat. Her eyes caught on the pink hearts attached to the teen's nametag."Great!" the teen chirped, sporting a large grin. "That'll be another three quid."She groaned. Bloody inflation. She wondered idly if she could submit her receipt for reimbursement since she was technically on the clock.Hermione began to dig out another £5 note, handing it over."Wait," the girl paused mid-motion, frowning. "What kind did you say you wanted?"It took a herculean effort not to crawl over the counter and click the tiny numbers in herself. Her eyes darted towards the pink-tinted door. "Strawberry.""Oh sure," The younger girl smiled again, her earrings glimmering. "That'll be another quid. Flavours, you know."
Breathe in...
Hermione's smile bordered on serial-killer territory, stretching impossibly wide on her face. This is nothing but a nuisance, she reminded herself. Just another thorn in her side today meant to keep her on her toes and—"Wait, I think we're out of strawberry..."Hermione sucked in a breath.The teen gave her an apathetic look. "They're quite popular with the holiday coming up." She pointed to the red and pink paper hearts strung along the counter as if they were possible to miss. As if all the cheap red tassels and pink streamers along the walls were paying homage to anything other than next month's festivities. It vaguely reminded her of Madam Puddifoot's."Forget it," Hermione's eyes went to her watch again. "I'll just take this one." She scowled at the unassuming scone, picking it up with a napkin."Wait I—" The teen frantically went back to the cash box, trying to pick up her change. "You need your—""Keep the change," she called over her shoulder, making her way towards a side table that her laptop was already sitting on. It was a strategic location, with a direct line of sight towards the lone entrance facing the townhouses along suburban Hayles Street. It might be a Muggle coffee shop, but Hermione didn't take any chances. Not when it came to her work, and especially not after a botched attack mere miles from the establishment.Taking a seat, Hermione carefully eyed the other patrons in the small coffee shop in Southwark, London. For being a short walk from both West Square and a famous War Museum, it was remarkably slow for a weekend afternoon. There were only a handful of other customers sitting around the café. A blessing in disguise really, knowing she would only have to Obliviate a few witnesses when she undoubtedly strangled the man she was set to meet.It was inevitable. With Malfoy, violence was always on the table.Hermione grit her teeth. For all intents and purposes, there really was no legitimate reason for the two of them to cross paths. Not professionally, not platonically, and most definitely not purposefully. In what world did a professional Quidditch player cross paths regularly with an Auror? Yet, in the six years that had followed the war, she'd had the unfortunate pleasure of the blond's company over a dozen times. In fact, in the last few months alone, there were three separate occurrences.She could excuse the Ministry Christmas Gala, and perhaps the stray time they'd run into each other in the Leaky almost two weeks prior, but her girls' night out with Ginny and Luna for New Years? At a Muggle club? And always with a loathsome smirk and a clever quip she always seemed to think of a comeback far too late for...Before the war, during the war, and even after the war—she found Draco Malfoy to be infuriating. Just because he didn't taunt her in school corridors anymore, didn't mean he was immune to getting under her skin. With the impending tête-à-tête looming, she was almost ready to crown him the "most irritating man alive." And considering she regularly sent wizards to Azkaban, this was saying a lot.She cursed Fawley for calling her in today all over again.Hermione's eyes went to the door again while she mindlessly picked at her scone. Maybe he wouldn't show... she let her mind wander. Maybe practice ran late—or he forgot and the department would have to reschedule and send someone else out to meet and—"Here you go!" A young voice chirped.Hermione jolted in her seat as the barista set down a steaming mug in front of her."We ran out of vanilla syrup, sorry, so I went ahead and put in the sugar-free version for you."Hermione seriously considered banging her head against the crepe paper covered wall."The supplier comes in tomorrow morning, if you come back." She grinned like someone who had far too much access to caffeine. "Enjoy!"Hermione sucked in a breath and began to count to three. 1...2...3—Hermione blinked when the door to the café opened. Draco Malfoy strutted into the building as if he owned the whole damn block, letting a biting winter draft in with him. Smirking, he ran a hand through his chin-length hair while his eyes flittered about the room. She would have never known he'd just come from practice had she not spotted his flushed face. His posh black travelling cloak certainly didn't give him away.When his eyes finally caught on her, his smirk only grew whilst he made his way towards the shop counter.She wanted to roll her eyes. Sure, why not take his time? According to her boss, she had all the bloody time in the world, weekend be damned. Pffft. If it weren't for Malfoy, she could've been leaving her house all done up right about now. A nice jumper, her mother's perfume, sensible yet flattering trousers perfect for—Ahck. She grimaced, realising she'd taken a sip of the cursed coffee. She set down the mug with a proper clunk, understanding she'd have to forego caffeine for the afternoon. Another win."Well, well, Granger. I should've known you'd ask to be assigned to my case," Malfoy slid into the chair across from her with ease, wrapped pastry in hand. "Miss me?"
I like my job, I like my job, I like my job.
She didn't look up, instead pushing her mug to the side and opening her laptop. "Cases are randomly assigned." Her words were clipped, wanting to sound as clinical as possible. "Now, a couple hours ago there was a disturbance at your training facility and—""Come now, Granger. Surely you look forward to our sparring matches as much as I do."So off put by the statement, she forgot she wasn't going to look at him.Peering properly at him, she realised his grey eyes were purposefully trained on her, crinkling along the corners. At some point he'd unbuttoned his cloak, letting it fall open. With his arms crossed casually behind his head, the shock of his subtle pink jumper was on full display.She frowned, considering. It was beyond her, how he could be so at ease, given there was an attempt on his life just that morning."The disturbance," she repeated. "You told the Auror on site you'd been getting death threats?" Her fingers were poised above the keys, itching to sink herself into the familiar drawl of work.He hummed in the affirmative, barely shrugging.She bit down on her bottom lip. "For how long?"Malfoy shook his head, picking up his wrapped pastry. "Six years or so," he paused. "Maybe seven."Both of her eyebrows skyrocketed, scanning the notes of the Aurors first on scene. "You've never filed a report."His smirk was back in place as he waved a hand. "The Ministry has better things to do than chase down everyone who has a grudge against me."She paused, considering this. That... that could potentially be a long list. Especially if he'd been getting letters during and immediately following the war.She felt some of her earlier ire chip away. After all, it wasn't like Malfoy had been prancing about the Falmouth Falcons practice field two blocks away with a Death Eater mask and a sign reading 'I hate Muggleborns!'. In fact, since the war he'd made several public statements denouncing this very sentiment.The way she understood it from her notes, it'd been a perfectly normal team practice. Players were working through drills and tricky maneuvers to score on Malfoy, the team Keeper, before the stadium's security team had found a group of wizards leaving the Falcon's locker room. Once a dark artefact was found in Malfoy’s locker, the Aurors were summoned. She'd only been called after the fact for a follow up interview on background information hoping to lead them towards potential accomplices.So no, she couldn't entirely fault the wizard in front of her for ruining her promising evening. Even if he still was unapologetically Malfoy."Has there been a frequency in how many—""Your hair looks different."Hermione's fingers stopped abruptly, hovering over her keyboard. "Pardon?""Your hair, Granger. Keep up." He took a bite of his scone, making a swirling motion towards his own locks.She had to fight the burning urge not to tuck a few stray strands behind her ear. "Malfoy," she bit out. "This is—""There's less of it." He peered at her curiously, his lip curling slightly.Her face burned. No matter how many years had passed, and how much she'd grown to love her curls, her hair would always remain a bit of a sore spot."Malfoy," she began again, practically sneering. "Death threats." She snapped her fingers twice. "This is serious. How many have you had in the last month?"When his eyes continued to openly roam over her face, she furiously fought the urge to take out her wand. It didn't matter that her hair did look rather different today, being that most of it was pinned back behind her head in a twisted sort of updo. She had plans. But she imagined this wasn't what he was referring to, rather cruelly drawing attention to her frizzy locks."Seven, maybe." He finally answered, eyes going back to his scone. "Bit of a light month."If she were taking a sip of her coffee, she would've spit it right out. And not just because of the sugar-free vanilla."Back to your hair—""Have any escalated in tone?" She cut him off, not wanting to encourage him further. "Any signed? Dated?"A single brow shot up as he eyed her. "I don't read them, Granger. How daft do you think I am? Every last one of them goes into the fireplace."Her brows furrowed, typing that into her notes. "How do you know they're death threats?""A spell."It was the casual way he said it that caused her to look back up at him. "The Inspection Charm?" Said spell only had the ability to detect whether the sender had good or bad intentions in writing, something that could easily be manipulated, but it was the only relevant one she could think of."Something like that." At the subtle raise of her brows, he continued, "It's more of a Screening Spell. It searches for key words, namely 'die' and 'Death Eater scum' and that usually weeds them all out.""Where is it from? I'm not sure I've heard of it." She was immediately curious. How had she not heard of something like that before? It'd solve many problems with false leads in the department."You wouldn't," he smirked again, tipping his scone towards her. "I invented it."She barely reigned in her surprise. "You...""Don't look so surprised, Granger. I was right behind you in marks."She supposed that was true, although she hadn't given it much thought after Hogwarts. 10 points to Slytherin. The sudden picture of Malfoy huddled over a cauldron in his Quidditch kit fluttered through her mind.She shook the image away, typing in a personal note to ask him about it later. For the Ministry, of course."Auror Dawlish mentioned that you heard—""What's this then?"Hermione's eyes shot up, having been distracted again. She blinked as Malfoy reached over for her mug. "What do you think you're doing?" She made a careful grab for it, shoving aside her laptop as he straight-armed her hand away. He leaned back into his chair, taking a large sip."Salazar," he grimaced, swallowing thickly. "What did you order? Snake piss?"She pursed her lips, leaning back and crossing her arms. He could bloody keep it then. "They were out of vanilla." She supplied defensively, scowling at the man across from her."And they thought this was an adequate substitute?" He gingerly shoved the mug as far as the wall bracketing their table would allow. "That's disgusting."She privately agreed."Anyways," she grunted out, pulling back her laptop. "Back to the letters. We're going to need to reroute your mail for a short time to sort through all..." she trailed off, her eyes narrowing. "What is that?"Malfoy glanced up at her whilst his mouth closed around his scone. His brows fluttered up as if asking 'what?'"That." She spat, pointing at his red spotted scone. "Are those strawberries?"He swallowed and cleared his throat. "Yes?""You're shitting me."He paused, looking down at his pastry in confusion. "Are you allergic or—""That bitch." She seethed. The corner of Malfoy's mouth ticked up at her irritation. "She told me they were all out.""Oh is that it?" he replied sarcastically, drawing the phrase out. He pushed his chair back from the table, standing up."What—"He waved her off, reaching to grab the banished white mug. She stared, perplexed, while he sidled back up to the counter, signature smirk in place.Letting out a frustrated sigh, Hermione turned back to her notes.This interview was not going to plan. Not that anything ever did when Malfoy was involved. She'd never been that lucky. Two years prior, she'd run into him in France of all places while on assignment. He'd had the nerve to muck about with her time then too, after they'd run into each other while she was trailing a potential suspect. He'd practically announced her presence to the whole street market the way he called out her surname in the crowds.But unlike then, and unlike the last several minutes, she was determined to get through the rest of this interaction swiftly. And if she did her job correctly, there would be no need for a follow up.'We'll definitely need to check the post, and cross check any potential relevant threats.' She typed into her document. 'Check for magic signatures...'"There we are." A pink steaming mug of something appeared to her right, along with a strawberry scone on a napkin.She eyed the new additions to the table skeptically, distrusting everything about his intentions. "What is this?"Malfoy took in a slow breath over his own matching mug from across the table. He'd taken his cloak off, revealing the entirety of his soft looking pink jumper. She had so many questions."Something with a semblance of sweetness in it," he replied. She peered at him skeptically. He sipped out of his own mug slowly, drawing suspense. "If you're wondering if I poisoned it or not, I did."She gave him a flat look as he smirked, waggling his brows over the ridiculous pink mug. She ripped off a large piece of her scone without comment, ignoring him."As I was saying," she tried, exaggerating the words. "The Auror department will want to have your mail advanced to the Ministry for a time. Did you want to file a report going forward about the post? We can look into any other threats you’re receiving once we get this all cleared up." She popped the bit of pastry into her mouth and had to visibly stop herself from groaning aloud. Gods, that was so much better.Unaware of the culinary orgasm going off in her mouth, Malfoy shook his head. "No. I'd rather keep the Ministry out of my mail if I can help it," he stated. Hermione narrowed her eyes. "For entirely innocent reasons, I assure you."She purposely ignored the mirth reflected on his face. Not my circus, not my monkey. "My understanding is that a few suspects were apprehended on site but—""Do you have plans for the holiday, Granger?"Her mouth was moving but no sound came out. "Wh—what?""Plans," he repeated slowly, making a purposeful glance towards the paper hearts on the wall. "Valentine's Day is coming up, isn't it?""I—" she shook her head, hands twitching over her keyboard. "As I said previously, this is a very serious interview regarding threats to your life so if—""About two...three weeks?" He frowned. "Little less than a month, actually." He took another sip out of his mug.Her teeth grinded together like sandpaper on cement. "Malfoy.""You seeing anyone?""Oh my god," her hands immediately went to her head, scraping painfully against her scalp. "Can you stop being a complete arse for one second? This is my job, not twenty questions with the Gryffindor. This is how this works: I ask you a few damn questions, get your short damn answers and get this sent to my boss sometime in the next century so we can both be on our merry way and back to our regularly scheduled weekends," she huffed loudly. "Understood?""Whatever you say, Auror Granger," he smarted, looking properly chuffed as he crossed his arms over his chest."Right then." She let out a breath, looking back to her computer to track where she was. "Back to what—""What were you doing before this?" he interrupted. "Hot date?" He had the audacity to punctuate his comment with a wink.Hermione wanted to cry—no, she wanted to send a few anonymous death threats of her own.The world around her moved like molasses while she fought not to make any sudden movements. She was one little quip away from blasting him out of the café, Statute of Secrecy be damned.Two could play at this game, blondie."I propose a deal." She folded her hands together over her keyboard. "I ask a question and you answer, you ask a question and I answer. Fair?"He eyed her with renewed intrigue, his smirk bordering on predatory. "Interesting proposal.""Honestly," she added, realising with a sinking feeling what exactly she was agreeing to. "Questions must be within reason, understood? I reserve the right to request a different question."He grinned and nodded, gesturing for her to start. "Witches first."She took a breath, steeling herself before going back to her notes. "Have you noticed anyone following you lately?""No," he answered immediately, eyes crinkling in suspense. "How do you like your coffee?"Damnit. A piece of her pride slipped away as she picked up the drink she had yet to try and lifted it to her lips. Firmly holding his eye, she took a exaggerated swig of it.Malfoy's eyes darted to where she licked at her bottom lip.She cleared her throat. "It's fine."He gave her an accusing look. "You're an awful liar."Am not, she wanted to retort. "It's a little bit more than fine.""Just a little?" he shot back, folding his arms and sitting back in his chair. Despite his casual demeanour, she had the feeling he was privately assessing her."Yes.""Liar."She huffed, regretting ever signing up for Auror training. "It's wonderful. There. Is that what you want to hear?"He grinned. "Is that your question?""No!" Bloody all seven circles of hell. "Have you had any security concerns at your home? Any attempts of someone recently trying to access your Wards?" She went back to her notes, exasperated. I like my job, I like my job, I like my job."Yes.""Oh?" Now they were getting somewhere! "When was that? We can send someone to check them in case it's a familiar magical signature.""Ah ah." He waved a finger in her direction. "It's my turn."She slouched in her chair. "Out with it then.""Why is your hair tied back?"Why is...what? She blinked several times, not having expected the question. "I erm—" she swallowed. "I was trying something different." She admitted.Malfoy narrowed his eyes but didn't comment further.Hermione cleared her throat. "When were your Wards tested? Recently?"He ran a hand through the length of his hair. She wondered fleetingly if it was as soft as it looked."Just the once, last week. It was barely a nudge against them really. I got the feeling whoever it was didn't know what they were doing."She tilted her head, typing this in. "And you didn't think that—wait, what's your question?" It was killing her to have to hold her tongue. But if this was the only way to finish her bloody assignment…"Why were you trying something different?"Hermione pursed her lips. She could skate around the question, but she was clever enough to recognise that Malfoy would pick up on it and ask a more personal question later. He'd been fishing enough as it was. "I had a date."Malfoy's mouth opened and closed in rapid succession.She was quick to move on. "Did you not find it strange that someone tried to access your Wards? Why didn't you report it?""It didn't seem malicious," he shrugged. "Every few years, the Manor gets a couple stray, unwelcome guests. The Wards are nearly impenetrable so it didn't seem important." He frowned, eyes calculating something in the distance. "I hadn't connected it to the threats..."Finally the man showed some semblance of concern over his personal safety. It was rather peculiar now that she thought about it, considering self-preservation was a classic Slytherin trait.She waited not-so-patiently for his next question. In the silence, she took a sip of her unfortunately excellent white mocha. Was that a shot of strawberry syrup in there?"I didn't realise you were seeing someone, Granger." He finally settled on. "Is that new?"She immediately let out a breath, absorbing another personal question. Honestly, what was with Malfoy and his one track mind today? Was he gleaning information for future barbs or just doing his best to be persistently annoying?"Are you keeping tabs on me now?" If she wasn't so certain she had an excellent security team—thank you war heroine status—she'd be concerned he was stalking her. Him and that bloody irritating smirk. "Not that it's any of your business, but yes," she commented bitingly.She privately hoped that would be the end of it. Frankly, her lack of personal life was rather embarrassing. It'd only been a recently—since the girls' night when she had unexpectedly run into Malfoy actually—that she'd begun to open up to the idea of seeing someone again. It'd been just about two years since hers and Ron's explosive breakup and she wanted to get back out there. It was silly, but she had hoped to find someone to share Valentine's Day with.The overly decorated room mocked her as she realised phase one of said plan had already been foiled today."Interesting," he commented, eyes roaming over her flushed face.She bit down on her lip at the not at all promising response. "Is it alright to send someone over to check your Wards?" Damn, that wasn't the question she wanted to ask. "For the investigation?"He waved her off. "Sure, sure. Who?"She relaxed, thinking through the capable Aurors. "Erm—probably Buxley. Buxley or Travers, I expect. They're usually assigned to warding. Very capable, I assure you.""I don't care about that. Send whoever you want." He said it quickly, stumbling to his next breath. "Who are you seeing?"Hermione's eyes darted to the door. Surely she had enough information, right? It's not like Malfoy was exceptionally helpful anyways. He was like a damn niffler with a shiny coin... "Why do you want to know?" She shot back."Quidditch player?" She frowned, wondering where he'd pulled that out of. Not that he was wrong. She did have a type."Yes?" That was safe right? Not that it particularly mattered, she'd only met the man once when Ginny introduced them. She barely remembered what team he was on. "How did you—""Professional?" he asked quickly.Was it his turn to ask a question, or was it hers? She took a bite of her strawberry scone, feeling somewhat defeated. "He plays for the Arrows."Malfoy tilted his head looking panicked. "Position?""It's my turn."He waved her on, his pink jumper again catching her attention."Why on Earth are you wearing that?" She blurted it out before she could stop herself.Malfoy didn't look at all surprised by her question, pulling at the fabric across his chest. "What, this?" Unfortunately all the action did was cause further attention to how wonderfully fit he looked in it. Bloody Quidditch. "It's festive."The holiday was practically a month away but the longer Hermione sat there, the more she began to loathe it. She eyed her pink mug with disdain as Malfoy considered her."Position?" he repeated.She sighed, massaging her temples. How in Merlin's name had she gotten into this mess? She might as well throw in the towel now. "I don't—his name is Albert.""Albert? Albert Chambers?" She saw in real time the abrupt way his face relaxed. "He's a Chaser.""And?" Did that count for a question?"Granger," he peered at her through confident eyes, the corners of his mouth turned up teasingly. "Witches like you don't date Chasers," he spat the word as if it had personally offended him."What is that supposed to mean?" Hesitating only for a moment, Hermione closed her laptop sharply. She was getting nowhere with this infuriating wizard. She'd go home and type up what she could from the conversation but anything else, Fawley would have to send another Auror. She was done juggling Malfoy's antics.Before she could shove her chair from the table, Malfoy's hand shot out to stop her. "Chasers are fine, sure. But they're a bit of a loose canon. Flighty." Was that a joke? "They're not at all dependable."She frowned, wondering what source he was citing. Was this a professional diagnosis or personal? "I don't recall asking for your opinion.""You don't date Chasers," he repeated, tapping her hand. "You date Keepers."Her eye twitched back and forth from his grin to the hand still over hers. "I suppose you're referring to upstanding citizens like yourself."He winked at her as if that was a proper answer. "You can write that down, too." He tapped again on her hand, sitting over her closed laptop."Ron played Keeper," she quipped back, not at all sure why she was still sitting there. "How does that fit into your logic?" Work that one out, ferret.His carefree expression soured, and his hand curled ever so slightly around hers. "Professionally, Granger. A little match at Hogwarts doesn't count.""Good thing, too," she said, pulling her hand away to tuck a curl behind her ear. Had her heart rate picked up? "I don't recall you ever catching a Snitch." she reveled. His lips curled. "Let alone keeping it."He frowned, looking away. His eyes went to the paltry paper hearts lined along the wall. "Cancel your date, Granger.""Oh?" she shot back, a smirk threatening to overtake her face. She crossed her arms. "Why should I?"He turned back to stare at her. Hard. "You want to be difficult? Fine then, open up your little Quick-Quotes box." He gestured to her laptop. "I have a lot more to say. In fact, I think I'm rather terrified for my life. I'd like to file a report. Several, actually."A dry chortle echoed out of her without her permission. She'd finally begun to catch up. "This is absurd.""Come on, Granger. No time to lose." He tugged over her computer, shoving their drinks to the side. "How do you—aha!” He opened up the laptop with gusto and snapped twice just as she had earlier. "It might take awhile too. So many letters, so many threats. I'm so scared."Hermione snorted, pulling her laptop back to her. "Did you know I was assigned to your case?"He sucked in a quick breath and let it out slowly. "No but I..." he winced, "hoped?""Oh my god." At least his steadily increasing appearances in her life made sense. "The Leaky two weeks ago?"He visibly cringed, rolling up his sleeves. "I'd heard you were a regular attendant of their trivia night.""Heard?" She eyed him."Tom mentioned something in passing." He pulled at the neck of his jumper."The Ministry's Christmas Gala?"He ran a hand through his hair, looking more pale than usual. "Pansy needed an escort," he tried. She rose a brow. "Well maybe she didn't need one but I was available..." he trailed off."How you ended up in Muggle London for New Years is what I want to know."Malfoy's face began to match his jumper. "That—yes, well. We played the Harpies just before that and I happened to overhear Potter's wife in between fouls—""Ginny?""—and she'd mentioned taking you all out. Some club in Wiltshire, not far from the Manor actually so it wasn't terribly hard to pin down—""And you took that to be an open invitation to crash girls' night?" Her eyes widened."I didn't know any of that, I—" he held up his hands exasperated, drawing attention to the way his forearms flexed. "I assumed there'd be more of you. Potter and Weasley and some other blokes." He grit his teeth. "For obvious reasons, my intentions were erm—poorly executed.""You practically spilled tequila down my dress!""Sodding hell," he groaned. She was marginally concerned about his eyes with the way he was rubbing at them. "That was an accident; it was rather crowded for a weeknight. People were dancing..." he mumbled something about cleaning charms."What about France?" she snapped. She swore if Malfoy followed her all the way out to Bordeaux..."Okay, that one was entirely unintentional. Blaise's family have a vineyard nearby and—I recognise in hindsight it might not have been the most ideal occasion to get your attention when you were clearly hiding behind a stall cart.""You think?" She plucked the remaining bite of her scone up, tossing it back in amusement.He let out a long breath. "This is not going at all as I'd hoped."She nearly choked, coming to a dawning awareness. "Malfoy," she threw out his name accusingly. "I swear to god if you hired someone or summoned some of your friends to plant a dark artefact in your locker... Tell me you didn't!"Malfoy's face jolted up from where he'd been hiding it in his hands. "I didn't! I swear Granger, on my mother's grave, I didn't," he pleaded, panicking. "Putting my teammates in danger is where I draw the line."She was relieved if only for a moment that he hadn't gone and wasted her department's resources. In hindsight, it made more sense why he didn't appear to be at all concerned over his near-death experience. Not when he'd gone to such questionable lengths to orchestrate her company previously.She couldn't help but laugh at that moment. Unabridged, pure delirium bubbled out of her as she fit all the odd shaped pieces together in her mind. She wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, simmering in befuddlement.Malfoy eyed her in concern. "I should expect a Howler, shouldn't I?"She might as well have plucked his peacock for how troubled he looked.She shook her head, eyeing him with dawning interest. "How long?" She shut her laptop again, pushing her chair out from the table."Sorry?" he squeaked out the word."How long?" She stood up from her chair, picking up her mug.Malfoy sighed. "I'd rather not say.""A year? More?"He stared down into his empty cup with contempt. "I'd... rather not say.""And the pink shirt?"The bottom of his wooden chair scraped against the tile floor as he moved. "Couldn't hurt, right?" He rose from the chair giving her a bit of a self-deprecating smile. "Little nod to the holiday?"He'd worn pink... to hint at Valentine's Day? Gods. She shook her head back and forth and swallowed the last bit of her coffee. "Malfoy, you really are annoying—aren't you?"He sighed but didn't say anything, gingerly moving to pick up his cloak slung across the back of his chair."So if I agree to a date, will you teach me that Screening spell?"His hands stopped abruptly, his face spinning to meet hers. "What?""It's only fair to warn you that Valentine's is completely off the table as far as first dates go—unless you consider the last half hour as one, but I could not, in good conscience do so, considering I'm on the clock. A personal rule, if you will.""I—" he swallowed thickly, his Adam's apple bobbing. "Completely understandable.""What do your next couple weeks look like? I'd be willing to renegotiate the holiday given a previously agreed upon date goes well."He appeared to be regaining some of his normal colouring. "I have practice most days." He coughed out, running a haphazard hand through his hair. "What—what about two Saturdays from now? I can—I'll owl you the details?"She nodded, very businesslike. "I look forward to it." She watched him carefully while he donned his cloak.Malfoy was rather clever. Clever enough to dabble in spellwork at the very least. He was single, exceptionally easy on the eyes, had a steady career—Quidditch at that, and he was certainly persistent enough to keep up with her ever-changing work schedule. Annoying or not, she was cautiously optimistic.After all, she could be rather annoying herself.After depositing both of their mugs by the rubbish bin, she joined him as they made their way to the pink tinted door together. "I suppose I should tell you now that I asked Tom to pass along my whereabouts on pub nights."He stopped in his tracks, staring at her accusingly. At her cheeky grin, he sighed deeply, moving back to her side. "Nothing is ever easy where you're concerned, is it Granger?" She laughed outright, deciding that she rather liked that."Funny,” she chuckled. "I've been thinking the same thing about you."His responding grin was everything. "Hey, Granger?""Hmm?"Malfoy's hand reached out to stop her as they stood in front of the door. Hesitating only a moment, he leaned over to tuck a runaway curl behind her ear, his eyes lingering. "Would you wear your curls down?"She pulled back almost shyly, pleasantly thrilled that all the missing puzzle pieces of the afternoon were fitting into place. "As long as you promise not to wear that jumper."He snorted, shaking his head. "Agreed." He pushed the glass door open, gesturing her forward."Agreed," she affirmed, following. The chill of the winter air left her shivering and she sucked in her bottom lip. As they fell in step, walking toward the Apparition point half a block away, she peeked over at him.There was a soft blush painted over Malfoy's features. His eyes were downcast, staring resolutely at his cloak. It was almost endearing.She rolled her eyes, practically shoving her cold hand into his to pull him along. "So annoying."He shot her a look, guffawing while he adjusted their hands to hold her own properly. "You like it."She smiled to herself, privately thanking her boss.Yes. She supposed she did.