Nice Things

Chapter 3

Wednesday

It was now forty-eight hours until the engagement party and Hermione still hadn't made any decisions. How was one supposed to assess all the pros and cons of a situation in that amount of time? There was more to consider than just the actions that led her to this moment. There were the questions that came with it, the implications that would follow if she called it all off. What would happen to her? Would anyone else ever love her? Was Ron's indiscretion a one-time occurrence? Surely he loved her, didn't he? He had proposed to her. She was trying to dissect every moment and memory she had with him and for that reason, she was no closer to making a decision than she was the night it had happened.

Now, as she found herself in the lifts on her way up to the DMLE, she was about to have to face the man that had propelled her into such mental and emotional turmoil. She had done a good job at avoiding him so far throughout the week, making up excuses to be able to steer clear. It wasn't hard to make anyone believe she was buried in work in her office, especially since she was supposed to be taking the day off on Friday. No one would bat an eye at the lie, especially not Ronald Weasley. Now, however, she had to go and drop a report off about illegal dragon egg poaching to her Uncle James which meant that there would be no avoiding anyone.

Exiting the elevator, she took a deep breath and plastered the best smile she could on her face as she entered the bullpen. The moment she was spotted friendly faces smiled and waved at her as she made her way through. It didn't take long before she heard the familiar boom of her uncle and father laughing.

"You know," Hermione chuckled as she approached them. "For the two best aurors in the department, not to mention one of you being the head of said department, you are the absolute worst at blending in. I found you literally moments after stepping foot on the floor."

"There she is," Sirius smiled as he watched his daughter walk up to them.

"Well you are the brightest witch of her age," James smirked. "I would be disappointed if I was able to hide from you."

"Perfect tiny kitten," Sirius smiled brightly kissing the top of her head. James laughed as she playfully scrunched her nose up but then smiled regardless.

"I just came to bring these reports you asked for," she said, handing them over to him. "I combed through all the reports over the last one six months and crossreferenced that with all of the usual suspects. It's all in there."

"And you're positive you don't want to work up here in the DMLE with us?" James chuckled, tucking the folder under his arm. "I'll give you anything you want."

"Like you could pry her away from all the good work she's doing down there," Sirius boasted proudly. "My daughter is going to be the youngest department head the ministry has ever seen."

Across the room, Draco was leaning against Harry's desk watching James and Sirius fawn over Hermione. She was smiling radiantly and Draco just knew that there would be a twinge of a blush on her cheeks from the praise she was receiving. He knew he was staring but did she have to wear that skirt to work today? How was he supposed to concentrate when there she was, on his floor, flashing that smile that could quite literally make his heart stop and wearing that black pencil skirt that hugged her body in all of the right places? He knew it was wrong, she was bloody engaged for merlin's sake but he couldn't stop. Hermione Black was the most exquisite woman he had ever seen and she didn't even know it.

His excitement in watching her was short-lived though. A grimace settled on his face as he watched the bane of his existence walk right up to his favorite witch in the world. He should be used to this by now. Ronald Weasley had been stealing Hermione's attention away from everyone for years now, but it still got under Draco's skin. As he watched Hermione turn her head to the side as he tried to kiss her, allowing him to only kiss her cheek, the blonde wizard immediately became curious. That was a new reaction on her part. His curiosity grew exponentially as he watched Harry rise from his desk and look like he was about to storm over to Ron and Hermione and break them apart. Clearly, he was missing something that had happened but he wasn't about to miss whatever was about to go down so he followed Harry as he made his way over to the happy couple.