The Right Thing To Do

Chapter 21

Wednesday, she and Draco worked in silence for the majority of the day. She stopped at the café for a cup of coffee on her way up, and when she arrived at the Level 2 conference room, she saw Draco quickly vanish the coffee cup he'd brought up with his tea for her.

Thursday, they needed to talk to each other more. They couldn't land on any definite answers on the runes case, so they prepared reports for Robards, listing the possibilities. She headed back to Level 4 with thirty minutes left of the day, hoping for some time at her own desk before heading out.

Once she'd settled into her cubicle, Aiden knocked.

"Hey, long time, no see," he said. She smiled, politely. "Are you still interested in meeting up for drinks tonight?"

"Yes, definitely," she said, moving paperwork around. Ginny had slipped a tube of mascara into her bag just for the occasion. "I will meet you over at Rosenberg's party, though. I want to try and get a few things done at my desk."

"Great," he smiled at her. "I'll see you soon then!"

She stared at the spot he'd vacated. It was worth a shot. She might as well see if she could stand him outside of work.

She worked for a little while, listening to people bid each other goodnight, and when she checked her watch it was half past five already. She quickly closed up, making notes, and was glad she was not needed to finish the reports with Draco tomorrow, because this pile was ridiculous.

She conjured a mirror and attempted brushing the black goo on her eyelashes, and then headed out. She arrived at the café after the group had already ordered food. Aiden waved her over and directed her to a chair next to him that he'd saved for her, and she was pleasantly surprised at how well Aiden included her in conversations, especially the ones she had no interest in.

She sipped on a glass of water, politely declining half of Aiden's greasy sandwich and French fries, and she found herself laughing more, trying to get to know her coworkers better. Aiden rested his arm around the back of her chair, but he didn't touch her shoulders or neck like Ron used to. She always found that so nerve-wracking.

Once the party began winding down, she bid Rochelle a happy retirement, and blushed when Rochelle asked her quietly if she might mind signing something for her granddaughter for Christmas.

Aiden steered her outside with another two Ministry coworkers she recognized and one of their girlfriends. They took a nice walk for several blocks, and Hermione took the opportunity to get to know the girlfriend better. All in all, it was a pleasant evening so far. That was the thought running through her head when Aiden guided her into the next pub, hand resting politely on her back, and managed to knock the shoulder of a blonde girl on the arm of Draco Malfoy.

"Sorry, love!" Aiden paused when he caught sight of her date. "Malfoy! Fancy running into you!"

Aiden launched into a verbose story about Rosenberg's retirement party as Hermione cursed her luck. She looked up at Draco and saw his eyes on Aiden's arm, still curled behind her back.

"O'Connor, Granger, this is Noelle," Draco said once Aiden was finished.

Noelle smiled and laughed for no reason whatsoever. Her blonde hair was cropped short and curled loosely around her face and she had a tiny button nose and blue eyes. Hermione thought she recognized her as one of Draco's tabloid dates in the past.

"Hi! Aiden," he introduced himself. "Nice to meet you." Aiden shook her hand.

"Hi, I'm Noelle." She was American. And vapid. She assumed.

"Hello," Hermione said. "I'm Hermione Granger."

"Oh, my gosh! You are?" Noelle's eyes lit up and she grabbed Hermione's hand to shake it. "This is so cool!"