Quarrels & Loves

One in Four

Summary: It's not that Hermione was stupid and thought he'd change someday for her, it was more like if she said anything, she knew she'd be in trouble.  It's just luck that Draco becomes her partner and new best friend at work that finally gets her out of it.

Twigger warning: domestic abuse

Hermione felt like a muggle zombie. Not only did she have the motivation of a slug, but she was pretty sure that if she were to remove the dozens of undetectable glamour charms she'd put on herself, her skin would be purple enough to match that of the undead. Of course, glamour charms could only go as far as to make her look less like a human punching bag; they couldn't make her feel less like one. As long as Malfoy brought her regular coffee, though, she was certain she could get through what was sure to be a very long day. If the large file on her desk and the recent end to a big case was anything to go by, she'd probably not get a lunch break.

"It won't combust," Malfoy said, startling Hermione from where she was glaring at her desk.

She turned around to see Draco standing behind her in the doorway to her small office and holding a cup of coffee for her and a tea for him.

"I made sure to inform Dockens to fireproof anything he puts on your desk after last time," he teased, handing her the warm coffee as he said so.

"That was probably wise," Hermione muttered before taking a large gulp of her coffee. It was, of course, just how she liked it. Draco Malfoy was nothing if not observant and meticulous with everything he did, even when it came to her coffee order.

Malfoy moved further into her office, claiming his usual chair opposite her desk and twisting it slightly. Hermione knew she should quit trying to keep it straight since it was always the first thing he did when he arrived, but it was a small attempt to keep something in her life controlled. At least the chair didn't fight back when she corrected it.

"So, I was thinking," Malfoy said, taking a sip of his tea before continuing. "Since we have all the paperwork remaining for that Jansen case and Dockens assigned us the lovely task of organising all our case files, we should pull an all-nighter."

Hermione raised an eyebrow at him skeptically. She doubted Theo would like her coming home late, let alone pulling an all-nighter at the office with Draco.

"Hear me out," Draco rushed to say. He set his tea on her desk and leaned forward to say, "I'll bring tons of pillows and blankets and you can bring your muggle music thingy and we can see how many cookies it takes to finish that case of files."

"I don't know, Draco," Hermione said warily, taking a seat behind her desk. Draco gave her a look and Hermione sighed. "Theo worries when I'm not home on time so I don't—"

"Just tell him you're with me," Draco said.

Hermione absolutely was not going to do that. If she told Theo anything, it would be that she was staying with Ginny for the night. Even that was a bit of a stretch.

"I'll consider it," Hermione lied. Draco pursed his lips, staring at her for a moment before nodding and dropping the subject. "Now, you said Dockens wants us to organise all our past case files?"

Draco groaned at the reminder, slowly spinning around in his chair. Hermione smiled and shook her head, waving her wand to send all their old cases into the air. Spells weren't the most efficient way to file case files, so they would have to review and organise all the files by hand. Thankfully, Draco was good company and Hermione rather enjoyed boring office days with him. First, though, she had to get through the hassle of convincing Draco Malfoy to sit still and focus.