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Hermione got to the ministry a half hour early the next morning. She wanted to gather her thoughts before Cormac barged in, asking about her “date”. Draco must have had a similar idea because he was waiting by her door when she arrived. She was oddly pleased to see him straight away.

“Good morning.”

“Morning, Granger.”

The moment she opened the door to her office, a strong floral scent filled her nose.

“What on earth?”

Dozens and dozens of flowers decorated her office. Carnations, to be specific. They covered her desk, her bookshelves, her floor. Red and pink hues were every direction she turned as she looked around the room.

“This really was not necessary,” she said shaking her head.

Draco frowned. “This wasn’t me.”

“Oh,” Hermione paused, “Oh no. No no no.”
Movements brisk, she searched her desk for a note or card. She located a small piece of parchment tucked into a bouquet. Quickly flipping it over, she read it out loud.

“To my Little Minx.”

She must have seen the confusion on Draco’s face, because she offered an explanation.
“His little nickname for me from 6th year. Don’t look at me like that, nothing happened between us.” Hermione threw the note down.

“If you say so. Seems like we haven’t silenced him, though,” Draco said.

Hermione set her jaw.
I don’t even like carnations.

“You’re right. Looks like he’s not giving up so easy,” she said aloud, “What if you stop by around lunch and we try to put him off again? I’ll send a patronus message your way when I need you. ”

“A what?”

“A patronus message. It’s something Dumbledore created to use with the Order back in the day to relay information quickly. Pretty nifty.”

Draco tilted his head, his lips pursed in interest.

“Okay, I’ll see you later,” Hermione said, almost more to herself.

She began banishing her flowers with such disgust that Draco grinned in amusement all the way back to his office.

——————

Lunch came and went, but Draco never showed. A note, however, did.

Sorry Darling, but I’ve was detained for lunch and will be for the remainder of the day. I got assigned a werewolf case that’s going to require some overtime. I promise to make it up to you this weekend. How does France sound?

Hermione was reading the note as Cormac stepped through her doorway.

“Well?” His mouth curved in a self-assured manner.

Hermione did not look up from her note. Her ankle jiggled beneath her desk.

Cormac’s face fell as he scanned her office.
“Wait a second, where did all my flowers go?”

Hermione inclined her head, full of innocence.
“You sent flowers?”

Once again, Cormac was speechless. He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it after a moment. He turned to leave the room, muttering something to himself about a refund.

Hermione slumped down in her chair.
“Crisis averted,” she breathed to herself.

-------------

The next week Cormac wore a navy suit that bore a striking resemblance to Draco’s from a day or two before. He strutted into her office first thing, and began fussing with his hair in the reflection of the mirror by her door.

Hermione did not find him near as impressive as he found himself. She deftly sent a patronus message to Draco’s office to page him.

Within seconds Draco was at her door trying to determine the most fun way to get Cormac to leave her office.

“McLaggen?”

“Hmm? Oh, Malfoy. You’re here.”

Draco gave a thoughtful nod.
“For the foreseeable future yes. Do you have a good reason for being in Hermione’s office on a daily basis- wait. Is that my suit?”

Cormacs ears tinged pink.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Malfoy inspected the jacket closer. “You’ve got to be joking. It is. This suit is exactly like mine from the other day.” He lifted a sleeve to show Hermione who gave him a sharp look.

“Right.” Draco said. He turned to Cormac and barked, “Out. Get out.”

This irritated Cormac. With clenched fists he stood at his tallest height. His foolish way of being intimidating. Draco was at least a head taller than him.

“Why should I?” He sneered.

Draco opened the door for him.
“You have ten seconds to leave. That is, unless you want to watch me snog her senseless.”

He threw a wicked grin back at Hermione who, to his surprise, winked back at him.

That was hot.

Cormac left, but he was not happy about it.

Draco closed the door, and cast a silencing charm for good measure.

“Thank you,” Hermione said.

He crossed the room towards her, taking his time.
“Thanking me already? I haven’t even snogged you yet.”

This earned him a burst of loud laughter from her. She set her quill down and pushed away from her desk. Her eyes held a note of intrigue. “Do you think we should practice?”

Draco’s stomach flipped.
“Practice?”

She shrugged, standing. “Sure. I don’t want to be put on the spot at some point and it not seem believable. And after those ruddy flowers the other day who knows what he’ll come up with next.”

She took a step closer to him, a question in her eyes. On reflex, Draco took a step backward.

He had to think fast. He didn’t want his first kiss with Hermione to be because of putting off someone else. He also wasn’t sure he wanted to start this sort of ‘practice’ at 9:00am on a random Thursday in their workplace.

If he was going to pursue her, it had to be better. He wanted to practice...did he ever. Just not like this.

He pasted on a smirk.
“Practicing is a good idea, but not right now. I’d hate for you to not be able to get any work done for the rest of the day.”

Hermione scoffed, and shooed him out her door.