[CookingwiththeCobra]

“Well I’m glad that you didn’t let me drown. I know how much you hate getting wet,” she said.  

She walked back over to the Kappa and knelt down next to it. She carefully rolled it over and closed its eyes. This one would probably weigh on her for a while. Taking a deep breath she contained her emotions. Sometimes this happened. It was a casualty of the job. It just hurt because it had been her fault. She just couldn’t stomach hurting creatures that didn’t know any better. They were the ones that had been marching around its territory. It was only defending itself.

[CookingwiththeCobra]

After another moment of silence she slowly stood back and looked over at Malfoy. He was leaning against a tree.

He had been waiting as she did what she needed to do, “stop looking so sad Granger. You're going to make me wanna apologize.”

“Would that be so bad?”

“Yeah it would be. I didn’t do anything wrong.”

She nodded sadly, “I know.” He never had any problems with making the difficult decisions and she was thankful for that most of the time. It had gotten them out of a lot of difficult situations in the past.

[CookingwiththeCobra]

He reframed from groaning as he saw that she was probably going to be in this mood for a while. In an attempt to get her mind onto something else he said, “let's just get what we came for so we can leave. I think I’ve started to sweat. Which is something I didn’t think I could do.”
       
Knowing what he was attempting to do she let him change the subject. “I just have to get the vile out,” she pulled her bag out of her pocket.
       
Malfoy walked over and peered into her bag as she rummaged through everything, “what in the hell Granger. Why do you have an entire portrait in there?”

[CookingwiththeCobra]

She at least had the decency to be embarrassed, “I really haven't cleaned this out since I put the undetectable extension charm on it.” She continued to push stuff around looking for the glass vile.
       
Reaching in he tried to snag something out of it as he asked, “I’m guessing you haven’t gotten the Ministry to sign off on using that charm?”

She swatted his hand away, “technically no. In my defence though at the time the Ministry wasn’t to be trusted.”

[CookingwiththeCobra]

“So the war?”
       
She hesitated with her rummaging “maybe...”
       
He let out a laugh, “you've been carrying this around collecting stuff in it for over ten years? What’s going to happen when the spell wears off and all this shit comes bursting out?”
       
“Ah! I found it,” she pulled the vile out and she walked back over to the river. “I’ve been meaning to clean it out. I just haven’t got around to it.”
       
“Try not to fall in this time,” he told her while she crouched and scooped up some water. “So who’s the painting of that you have in there?”

20 posts

[Wild Pet Found]

[CookingwiththeCobra]

She corked the vile and handed it to him, “probably be safer if you hold onto this. It’ll take forever to find it if I put it back into my purse and the painting is of Phineas Nigellus Black.”

“Why do you have a painting of one of my ancestors in your purse?” he put the vile in his pocket.

“At the time it was important that I kept him hidden but now I’ve just been neglective of putting him back in Grimmauld Place.”

He extended his arm to her as he pulled out his wand to take them back to the Japanese Ministry, “that is a story I wouldn’t mind hearing but first let get out of here. You need to tend to your bleeding.”

She grabbed a hold of his arm in agreement so he could take them away from the wilderness.

[CookingwiththeCobra]

They walked together through the bustling crowds of Diagon Alley. Looking upon all the shops that she had visited as a child it was hard to believe there had been a time where the streets were vacant and deserted. Those had been dark times. Most of the shop owners had come back but some of her childhood hangouts hadn’t survived the war. One of those places she remembered as she passed the place that used to be Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour.

[CookingwiththeCobra]

Her and Malfoy rented a space of their own that had been squeezed into the alley between Markus Scarrs Indelible Tattoos that sat on the corner of Knockturn Alley and Flimflam's Lanterns that was on Horizont Alley. The previous owner was able to stick the small shop between the two with magic. It was skirting the edge of Knockturn Alley so not many people knew they were there.

That wasn’t the point of they’re business though. Those who truly needed they’re aid knew how to find them. The magic was very similar to how the Knights Bus worked. It however wasn’t the most profitable job. She was sure that the building had probably seen better days but she had never had the privilege of seeing that. The owner had stopped keeping up on it and then in the end tried to rent it out. Lucky for him it had been the only place that they could afford.

[CookingwiththeCobra]

Malfoy stuck his key into the lock and spotted another notice stuck to the door. He  snatched it and stuffed it into his pocket before entering. He dropped his bags onto the floor of the entrance room.
       
Hermione followed him in, “was that another notice to pay rent?”
       
“Yeah when we get paid for this job we’ll have enough,” he said absently as he picked up the mail they got slid under the door while they were gone.

[CookingwiththeCobra]

She walked into the back office and started unpacking her things. The past weeks had ended up being oddly stressful and now that they accomplished the task she was completely knackered.
       
Dragging her feet she went back into the entrance room. She let out a yawn, “okay well I think I’m going to head home and try to fix my sleep schedule. I’ll see you tomorrow Malfoy.”

Draco was amused by her sudden change in mood, “just crash here.” He was extremely tired as well and he couldn’t imagine trying to apparate somewhere. He lived in the flat upstairs.

[CookingwiththeCobra]

Hermione debated his offer. A month ago she wouldn’t have thought twice about. They stayed in close quarters often enough. Recently though regrettably she somehow ended up with a crush on her work partner.

Apparently she took too long answering because he was already carrying her things up the stairs. He called out over his shoulder, “I’ll transfigure the couch into a bed for you for the night.”

Upstairs was neat and minimalistic. It was very different from how her flat looked. She loved keeping everything she had come across in her life, especially her book collection. Draco on the other hand didn’t like to keep things that weren’t necessary. If she hadn't known that he had been living there for the last few years she could have made the assumption that he just moved in.

[CookingwiththeCobra]

He set her bags down by the couch before turning it into a bed for her. She looked at all the blankets that appeared with it. He knew her too well.

“Thanks Malfoy,” she mumbled half-heartedly as she slumped onto the bed.

He was already on his way to his own bedroom, “don’t worry about it.” With that his door shut and she was alone to groan loudly into a pillow.

She flipped over and stared at the ceiling. What had her life come to where she was secretly lusting after Draco Malfoy. They had been working together for the last three years and things had been fine until recently. It started a month ago when they were in their office.

[CookingwiththeCobra]

She had been at her desk deep in research for their current client. A large crash pulled her from her work as she watched Malfoy barge into their joint office only moments later drenching wet. If he hadn’t been so angry she would have laughed, “are you alright?”

"No I'm fucking soaked," he pulled off his button up shirt leaving him in his white under shirt. He hadn't been lying; he was definitely soaked. The shirt clung to him leaving nothing to the imagination.

[CookingwiththeCobra]

Her eyes grew a fraction with surprise when she realized she had been checking him out. He was fit! It would make sense. Their job was an extremely physical occupation and he did most of the heavy lifting. He was just normally so private. She couldn’t remember ever seeing him showboat himself or catching him not fully put together.

Grumbling, he left the room again and she followed him. Walking into the small bathroom she saw that the cabinet that she had hung above the sink had fallen and broken the faucet making it spray water everywhere. Now she understood why he was so mad. The cabinet was a piece of junk that she had found out in the back alley trash can and decided to repurpose it.

[CookingwiththeCobra]

“This is why I told you to not bring garbage into the office,” he watched her assess the situation.

“Reparo,” she spoke clearly. Waving her wand she fixed the faucet.

“It’s not funny,” he said with his arms crossed.

“I wasn’t laughing.”

“I can see it all over your face.”

“Whatever. Stop being a baby about it.”

Then just like that he went upstairs and cleaned himself up.
       
After that encounter she had found herself trying to catch him when he wasn't prepared and with his guard down.