Tutelage (Dramione)

Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

HARRY woke up to the sound of his alarm, which he had meant to turn off the night before. He groaned. He was meant to sleep in today­ it was his day off, after all. He rolled over to find the other half of the bed was empty. Ginny must have left already.

He hated that Ron thought that their relationship was going wrong. Actually, it had never been better. It may look like he was hurting her but Ginny was the rough one, and he kinda liked it.

He walked to the kitchen, grabbed a bowl of cereal and took out his mobile.He had 12 messages and 5 missed calls from Hermione. Shit. This couldn't be good. It was like missing calls from Mrs Weasley­: she would kill you for not answering.

Harry finished his breakfast, put the bowl in the sink to wash later (something that Ginny hated) and rushed to get dressed. Picturing their apartment, Harry apparated.

+++

SHE was absolutely furious. What the hell was Harry thinking? Why wasn't he answering? He surely wasn't with Ginny. She had spoken to Hermione just a half hour ago.

Hermione tapped her fingers against the counter, earning a death glare from Ron. She pulled her hand away. She needed to busy herself, keep her mind off of thinking about the Death Eaters. She had heard about them but only inklings here and there. Rumours spread that they were reforming and that they wanted complete control. That's when the Muggles started disappearing and Hermione had decided to set up the Muggle Protection Agency. It was there to protect the important Muggles­: Prime Ministers, the Pope, Royalty­; any sort of Muggle that had influence over others.

It was why she was at an interview yesterday. Tony Blair, the current Prime Minister, had been advertising for a new nanny for his youngest son, Leo. It was we chance to watch over the family and make sure that they were safe.

"Hermione," Ron said. "You're doing it again." He pointed to her fingers. She stopped. She couldn't stay here. She needed to find Harry. Hermione took her coat off of the rack.

"I have to go and find him," she slipped the jacket on. "If he comes here, slap him for me, yeah?"

Ron laughed and Hermione left. He started to wash up. He heard a pop behind him. Ron dried his hands and walked towards him. He put all his power behind the slap, creating an ear splitting crack sound.

"What the fuck?!" Harry shouted. Ron held his hands out in surrender.

"It was from Hermione."

+++

HERMIONE was in the office when she received the call from Ron saying that Harry had arrived.

"Did you slap him?"

"Yes."

"And it bloody hurt!" Hermione heard in the background. She giggled. She liked this. The way that they could keep up the humour even though everything could go wrong at any moment.
"I'll see you later. Make sure you come for the meeting. I love you."

"I love you, too." This had become a habit for the 2 of them. They never knew when they would see each other again, or what would happen, so they always said it to make sure.

Hermione took her jacket off and hung it from the back of her chair. She opened a few folders and filed the previous events before locking them away. She wanted to keep everything on
record, just in case.

It was about an hour later, as Hermione was leaving her office, when she got a phone call. She quickly pressed the answer button.

"Miss Granger?" The voice was one Hermione didn't recognise.

"Yes, this is she. Who's speaking, please?"

"It's Mrs Hinkley. I'm calling about the job."

+++

NO one was in the meeting room when they arrived. Considering Hermione had told them that the meeting was important due to the current events, it was surprising at the lack of people
there. They would at least expect Neville to be there.

Harry made them both a cup of tea and they sat waiting. They talked like they had in the old days, when they were children without a care. Quidditch, work and Hermione were among the
topics, and, once again after many years, so was Voldemort. He was definitely dead­; Harry knew that. But they couldn't help but wonder why the Death Eaters had reformed.

When Hermione finally appeared, followed by Neville and Kingsley, they went straight into their meeting. Luckily, despite the previous days events, Hermione had got the job.

"I start on Monday, so I won't be here when Luna comes back." She sighed at this. Hermione loved Luna and had been wanting to see her for the past few months as Luna had taken off travelling. She had been waiting for her to come back so that she could fill her in on everything but also to find out about the world, something Hermione doubted she would do over the next few years. She had plans to visit other wizarding colonies in America, Uganda and Scandinavia.

"When is Luna coming back?" Neville asked. He had not seen Luna for the last few months and things had become weird between them. Neville had started seeing Hannah Abott although he still had some feelings for Luna.

"Next week," Harry answered. "She said that she won't be alone, though."  He looked at Neville. Neville pretended to be shocked, like it didn't matter to him and that Luna wasn't important to him, but she was.

"I won't be here, either," everyone turned to look at Neville.

"Why?" Hermione asked.

"I..um.. I'm going to Hogwarts. To teach Herbology." They all stood up to congratulate him- their faces lit up with happiness. He hadn't told them in fear of not actually getting the job but he was ecstatic to start.

"Well," started Kingsley. "It's a good thing, too."

"Why?" Ron asked. It was question on everyone's mind.

"Think about it," Hermione stated. "In the last war, Hogwarts was the place for the final battle. The Death Eaters targeted it because they thought it was easy to control."

"Exactly. With someone on the inside, that's you Neville, we can keep an eye on things- make sure people are doing what they are supposed to do."

They all understood. It was hard for a small group of them to keep an eye on a whole country, but they could put people where it mattered most. And one of those places was Hogwarts.

+++

NO matter what Hermione did, it just wouldn't shut. Her suitcase, although quite large, refused to close and she was left struggling to fit everything in.

Ron had suggested an undetectable extension charm but Hermione wanted the Blair's to think that she was one of them- a Muggle. So, she had to act like one.

Using her wand, she bought some books over to her and placed them on top of her suitcase. They weighed it down enough for Hermione to zip the sides up. She dragged the case out of their room and left it by the door.

Ron was asleep. His body took up the length of the sofa and his chest rose softly with every breath he took. She studied his face, something she was good at.  She knew he was having a good dream due to the slight curl at the edges of his plump lips. He hadn't shaved in a few days, which meant that work was becoming stressful and he wasn't looking after himself.

Hermione grabbed the nearest blanket- a soft claret one she had knitted herself- and draped it over Ron. Sweeping his hair off of his forehead, she planted a kiss just above his eyebrow.

"I love you, Ron Weasley,"she whispered,just for him to hear. "No matter what."

A/n

I know this wasn't great but it's the best I could produce. And don't worry, Draco will most definitely be in the next chapter.

I hope you all have had an amazing holidays and please remember to vote and comment.

Leela xx