Mastering Temptation

CHAPTER FIVE: The Witch Takes Over







The first thing Severus noticed when he walked into his office was that it smelled of cinnamon. He stopped just inside the door to the outer chamber and sniffed as he looked around. He couldn’t recall seeing things so clean and neat before. Every surface had been dusted, the wood furniture polished to a high shine and the rugs littering the stone floor had obviously been recently cleaned.





Severus walked over to the desk that had been moved to sit just under the window. On her desk he could see photographs of Potter and his wife, Weasley and a young woman that Severus assumed was his spouse and another photograph of Hermione and Draco at a Quidditch tournament. He looked around and noticed all the little candles burning and realized that they were the culprit for the spicy fragrance of the room.





Obviously his industrious assistant had been there for quite awhile. He looked towards the door that led into his office and noticed for the first time that it was partially open and voices were coming from the other side. Curious, he moved closer.





“I swear the previous assistant must have been completely incompetent to allow these rooms to get in this condition!” Hermione said.





“Mr. Dillon did not care Missy Granger, he was old and sleeping most of the time.” Severus’s eyes widened at the sound of a house elf’s voice. They didn’t like him and never came to clean.





“Well, his dereliction will be rectified soon enough. I refuse to work in such filth and I can’t believe the headmaster was forced to do so as well. I have to say Duffy that I am sorely disappointed in the Elf staff for allowing his offices to get into such a state.” Hermione said, gentle but firm in her rebuke.





“Duffy is very sorry Missy Granger; the elves will do better by headmaster in the future. What would Missy like for our punishment to be?”





“No punishment is necessary Duffy. Just do not allow these rooms to be neglected in the future, and if you are neglecting his living quarters as well then I want that changed also, am I understood?”







“Yes Missy Granger, Duffy will get right to work cleaning headmaster’s rooms.”





“You can go now, Duffy, I will finish up here.” Severus heard the loud crack of the house elf disappearing and pushed the door open further. Immediately he wished he hadn’t. His office was spotless and it too smelled of the cinnamon candles burning on the window ledge and on his desk. But the most interesting thing in the room was his secretary, perched at the top of a rolling ladder attached to the floor to ceiling bookcases.





She wore a skirt similar to the one from the day before only this one was shot through with silver pinstripes that matched the silver color of her blouse. She was wearing those damnable black stockings; their black seam tempted a man to trace its straight length over rounded calves and up. What he couldn’t figure out was why she was cleaning when he had just overheard her chastising the house staff. Yet there she was, diligently dusting the bookcases.





“Do you always arrive to work so early, Ms. Granger?” Severus asked, standing at the bottom of the ladder staring up at her delightfully round bum as she cleaned. She gasped softly in surprise and lost her grip on the ladder. She fell backwards with a soft scream of fear. Severus caught her instinctively and nearly dropped her when he became aware of her rounded curves pressed into his chest.





“Oh my goodness! Thank you for catching me!” She said, placing her hand over her pounding heart as she tried to calm herself.





“Um….well it was my fault you fell, I should not have startled you as I did.” He said. He wasn’t looking at her she noticed. Despite the fact that he still held her cradled in his arms his eyes were focused on the rod iron candle chandelier hanging from the ceiling above their heads.





“Sir?” Hermione called softly, a slight smile on her lips.







“Yes, Ms. Granger?” Severus continued to stare above his head.





“You can set me down now; I think the danger has passed.” There was clear amusement in her voice. Severus looked down at her and frowned for a moment before hastily setting her on her feet.





“I apologize, my thoughts got away from me.” He said, looking over at the bookcase instead of at her.





“Not a problem sir. To answer your question, yes, I generally come in early and see that all is in order before whomever I work for comes in.” She said, turning to make her way to his desk. “I have taken care of the correspondence already; you will find it stacked on your desk along with a list of last minute enrollments that require your signature. Contracts for the new DADA professor need your approval and you will find applications for the Potions Master position sorted with the most qualified applicants on top. If you don’t mind my saying so sir, the current substitute the ministry sent is incompetent.”







Severus stared at his desk, then around the room at his newly cleaned office in amazement. She had cleaned the offices, organized his documents, and taken the house staff in line and all before he, an early riser himself, had even set foot in the office.





“I see you have clearly earned your reputation for being indispensable to your employers, Ms. Granger. No wonder Lucius speaks so highly of you.” He said. It would have probably been a more meaningful compliment had he been looking at her when he said it instead of the hourglass on the corner of his desk.





“Thank you, sir. Have you had breakfast?” She asked, noting that it was still very early.





“No, I’m afraid I was distracted this morning and simply forgot.” He said, frowning slightly. Since when did anyone care if he ate or not?





“Well, why don’t you have a seat and I will get you a tray.” She said before turning on her heel and exiting his office only to return moments later carrying a tray of food. “Why don’t you go ahead and have your breakfast. Your schedule is light today, the accounting goblin from Gringotts will be here at ten to discuss financials, Professor Sprout is due for her annual review at eleven, and Draco will be sitting in for his father to discuss the board of governors’ decisions regarding the current school years event calendar. The rest of your afternoon is clear, sir.”







“Well…..erm…..thank you, Ms. Granger.” He said, trying to remember if old Dillon had ever managed to run things so efficiently.





“I’ll be right outside if you need me, sir.” Hermione said, intent on leaving him alone with his breakfast. He couldn’t resist watching her walk away, however. She stopped at the door and looked back over her shoulder. “May I ask you a question, sir?” She was surprised to see him actually looking at her.





“I don’t recall you ever asking my permission before.” He said.





“Is there a problem with my appearance? Is there a uniform you would prefer me to wear?” She asked.





“There is no uniform for secretaries that I am aware of. Why do you ask?”







“You never look at me, sir. I thought perhaps you were displeased, that perhaps my wardrobe was a problem.” She said.





Severus should have known she would pick up on his avoidance tactics; she was and always had been a clever and perceptive witch.





“No, why would I have a problem?” He asked, forcing eye contact.





“Forget I asked. Enjoy your breakfast, sir.” She said, closing the door behind her and leaving him alone.