The Other Half is Luck

The next few weeks were a flurry of activity for Hermione, who was definitely playing a larger role in this case than she had in any previous one. Her supervisor Hebe had been pushing her to get involved with all the aspects of the trial, which resulted in Hermione bringing a fair amount of her work home with her.

‘Hermione, tell me they will at least promote you after this!’ Cried Ginny, exasperated as she walked into the kitchen to find the table covered with her flatmate’s case notes.

Hermione looked up at Ginny with bleary eyes, noticing it was nearly time for dinner, and knowing that Ginny, as a Weasley, would never miss a meal. ‘Good grief, I hope so. Sorry, Gin, I didn’t realize how late it was. The trial is next week, and I just have a few more interviews to go over, then we can eat.’

Ginny’s eyes immediately lit up, and not because of the promise of food. ‘Oooooo, are you going to interview Draaaaaco again?’

Hermione was never surprised at how many vowels Ginny could put into that certain wizard’s name. She had made the obvious mistake of telling Ginny that she would be working with Malfoy, and the nosy redhead had soon noticed that Hermione seemed to be interviewing him rather frequently. Having been a year behind the Golden Trio in school, Ginny had never really built up the level of hatred for the younger Malfoy that had possessed her older brother and her boyfriend, so when Harry had let that animosity go, Ginny had moved Draco from the ‘hate on principle’ list to the ‘regard as any other person’ list. Ok, maybe his name had also made it on to the ‘would shag in a heartbeat if not for my love for Harry’ list as well. But frankly, if Ginny would never be unfaithful to the man who was clearly the love of her life, that didn’t mean she couldn’t tease her best friend mercilessly about the very attractive blond.

‘Shut up,’ Hermione responded fondly, blushing only a tiny bit. ‘His interviews are over. He will be at the trial, but I probably won’t have to deal with him.’ She tried to sound pleased, as if she really hated Malfoy and didn’t want to see him at all, but she wasn’t fooling herself or her flatmate. The truth was, Hermione had begun to enjoy the idea of seeing Malfoy during their interview sessions. Great Merlin, the man looked good in a three piece suit. That was as far as it went, though; Hermione didn’t fool herself that Malfoy, whose demeanor was always formal but cold, would ever be anything more to her than a very delicious piece of eye candy. Still, she enjoyed looking.

‘Well, tomorrow is Friday,’ Ginny’s voice interrupted her thoughts, ‘and I think we should have a girls night.’ Hermione thought to herself for a moment.

‘Ok, if I can get through these folders tonight,’ she sighed, gesturing at the three to her left, ‘then I can probably come home from work in time to have a nap before we go out.’ Ginny clapped her hands in delight, and Hermione couldn’t help but smile as well. A night out would do her good, she thought, and she couldn’t help but remember how well the last girls night had gone… Mark hadn’t owled, but Hermione hadn’t really noticed. It had been a one night thing, and they had both known that going in, plus she had been so busy with the upcoming trial that she wouldn’t have been able to go out anyway. Hermione had long since decided that her usual control-freak tendencies didn’t work at all in the romantic sphere, and had vowed to let love (or lust) rise up wherever it would.

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Hermione woke from her nap the following afternoon feeling ready for a night at the pub. Ginny had invited a few of the MERLIN girls, and Hermione’s friend Cordelia, who worked at another law firm, was coming as well. Turning on the radio, Ginny poured glasses of wine for herself and Hermione to drink as they were getting ready. Choosing an outfit suitable to the early March weather was a challenge, but eventually the two roommates were dressed and leaving the flat.

Arriving at the pub, they found Luna in her usual spot, staring dreamily at the barman. ‘She does this practically every week,’ Ginny rolled her eyes at Hermione, who giggled. The rest of the girls arrived soon after, and the first few rounds of drinks went quickly. Two hours later, Cordelia, who was a very respectable junior lawyer by day, was clutching at Hermione’s arm, glasses askew, tears streaming down her face. The two girls were laughing uncontrollably at a story Cordelia had told about her boss being caught in a compromising position with his wife, of all people!

‘Oh H, you should have heard it the way Edward tells it!’ Cordelia wiped the tears of laughter from her eyes. ‘He’s the one that caught them going at it- oh!’ She stood up as straight as she could. ‘I’m going to call him! You have to hear this, H!’ And she whipped out a mobile phone.

Hermione was a bit jealous. Ah, the private sector, she thought to herself. At the Ministry, people were still using owls and floo for the majority of communications. Part of it was sheer force of habit, but part of it was the fact that muggle technology just went haywire around magical places like the Ministry. Drunk Hermione left a mental memo for Sober Hermione to talk to Minister Shacklebolt about getting someone in Experimental Charms to start working on developing a way to use mobile phones at work. She had one at home, of course, but rarely used it, since most of her friends were magical.

Cordelia’s coworker Edward showed up about half an hour later with a few other guys- clearly, Cordelia had let on that a girls night was happening, and most men with half a brain knew what that meant. Still, Hermione was sober enough to realize that Edward was a pretty fine specimen of a man, and when Cordelia introduced her, she couldn’t help but flush a little.

‘Nice to meet you, Hermione,’ he said, chuckling as he shook her hand. ‘Delia tells me that I absolutely MUST tell you this story!’ He mocked Cordelia in a high pitched voice, patting Hermione’s hand like a gossipy grandmother. Hermione laughed at his easy humour, and was secretly pleased to assess that he had also been drinking.

Edward regaled the entire group of girls with his epic discovery of his boss in the throes of passion with his wife in conference room 3, dressed as a house elf. He was a good story teller, and Hermione was inordinately pleased when he came and sat down next to her at the end of the tale. His blue eyes were sparkling from the performance and the alcohol, and Hermione found herself telling him so as she sipped her cocktail through a straw. The two of them were flirting like mad, something that didn’t escape the notice of Cordelia or Ginny, unfortunately. The girls began making faces at Hermione behind Edward’s back, and when Hermione snorted out suppressed laughter for the third time, he finally turned around and saw what they were doing.

‘That’s it!’ He cried, laughing, ‘We are leaving this pub! It is time to go dancing!’ And he grabbed Hermione’s hand once again, helping her stand from the table. Everyone else quickly followed suit, and the whole group trekked the 3 blocks to the dance club raucously laughing and shouting. The club was hot, and Hermione took off the blouse she had been wearing, leaving just her tank top, jeans, and boots. It wasn’t a very fancy club, so she didn’t feel underdressed. At least, not until Edward began dancing with her. The heat between the two of them was rising, and Hermione decided to step back from the dance for a moment.

‘You’re really pretty!’ He shouted at her over the music.

‘That’s your big move?’ Hermione shouted back, teasing him.

‘No, this is my big move,’ He shouted back, and kissed her thoroughly.

Hermione was surprised, but very pleased, to feel his lips on hers, and then his tongue at her mouth. Deepening the kiss, she pulled at his dark hair, bringing him closer to her. When they broke the kiss, she smiled fiercely up at him, and he said,

‘Let’s get out of here.’ She nodded, and as he went to retrieve he coat and blouse, she said goodbye to Ginny, Cordelia, and the rest of the girls.

Outside, Edward explained that his flat was quite close, if she didn’t mind walking just a bit. Hermione silently thanked Professor Flitwick for teaching her cushioning charms as she walked with Edward in her high heeled boots.
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Ahhh, I know, a terrible way to end a chapter. There is some smut coming now, but I wanted to put this chapter up before I take a little break. The smut will either be a new chapter, or I will add it to the end of this one. As always, please read and review!