72. Chapter 72 (1/2)

previously on returning to his roots: chapter 71

after studying the list of teams, hermione had tracked down nils whose team only had two members. after a short discussion of what was what, hermione had found herself a team. twenty minutes after joining nils, the team was on the way out to their afternoon assignments. each member was given ten appointments with instructions to return everything to nils' desk at the end of the day. they would meet in his office in the morning for the next assignments. hermione took her ten appointments, waved to her team and was out the door.

hermione finished up around 5:40, dropped her ten completed customer orders on nils desk, used the ladies then headed outside to apparate to her flat. as

ight as the smile was on her face, she wasn't feeling it inside. she needed time to decompress. she had snarled at leon, simpered at severus and almost outsmarted herself. she needed a wine.

sitting sipping the wine, hermione laughed out loud at her self serving idea of putting one over on severus. then she began to sigh. she'd been so sure of herself. hadn't she planned never to share getting over on severus with draco. that was laughable. in fact, it was downright delusional. she only hoped severus wouldn't share her faux pas with jean.

stepping into the shower, hermione reiterated. "please don't share my idiocy with jean. i don't want her on my arse too."

/*/

after a quick dinner, hermione sent an owl to draco to let him know she was spending the night at her flat and would see him friday evening. the wine and the hot shower had decompressed hermione so much dmts didn't even cross her mind. she was asleep two minutes after her head hit the pillow.

/

returning to his roots: chapter 72

draco, donald and

ian arrived back at ots around 7:00 pm which didn't allow for much chit chat. draco suggested they lock everything away and call it a night.

ian and donald were all for it. their time in the field had been long and tiring.

"go on ahead men. i'll see to everything," remarked draco.

"thanks draco. we'll just put everything in the work room and be done," answered donald. "with this much evidence, finch-fletchley won't even have to open his mouth. the guilty blighter will be under the jail before he gets to plant his arse in a chair."

draco shrugged. "come now mr. macomber. we don't judge. we simply pass on evidence. maybe the guilty

other as you call him isn't guilty. perhaps he was provoked."

donald let out a snort. "perhaps. in my opinion, there are several different ways to get a point across and defuse a hostile situation other than killing your own

other."

"too bad someone didn't share those ways with the dead

other," offered

ian. "i'm sure he'd be much better off."

"and the smart arse speaks. i only meant…."

letting out a very loud sigh, draco cut across donald. "i think we each know what the other means. it's late. i'd like to have dinner and a wash before midnight. we can revisit this discussion in the morning. get on your way. i have a few owls to answer but i won't be long behind you. have a good night."

"alright boss, goodnight."

ian called over his shoulder.

"see you in the morning draco. have a good wash. get in those crevices." donald cheeked, hurrying into the corridor.

draco's mouth turned up at the corners in what might be called a smile. "you're hysterical mr. macomber. i'm just too tired to laugh."

/*/

after locking up the evidence, draco returned to his desk to look at the three messages. the first two were informational messages. the third was from hermione, also informational, who had written to tell him she would be spending the night at her flat. draco's first thought was to apparate to hermione's flat. then he had a second thought. i'll leave her to herself this one night. much like myself, she must have had an extremely tiring day. he imagined the humming hadn't lasted.

as he reread the short note, draco grumbled about witches who didn't have dinner ready after a long day, but had quickly chastised himself for being a self entitled prat. he knew how to make a dinner. at least he knew how to make a lovely chicken or beef sandwich which would have to suffice.

there wasn't any need to reply to hermione so draco stowed his wand and put on his coat. as he was adjusting his coat, draco realized there was more than one way to get a meal. hurrying to the lifts, draco ran a litany of takeaway places through his mind. he had choices. ten minutes later, he was standing in a fairly long queue at total cuisine when he felt someone touch his arm. he was about to turn to tell the person that unwelcome touching didn't sit well with him when the person came into his line of sight.

"hello there draco. looking for a bit of beef wellie? great minds think alike. fancy seeing you here though. i'd have thought some comely house elf would be slaving over a hot wand making you some exotic dish fit for a malfoy."

even though he didn't care for the words or tone, draco greeted pansy parkinson with a smile. "hello pansy," he replied, giving the witch a quick glance up and down. "still with the big mouth and smart arsed remarks i see."

pansy pulled on a pout before replying with a semi-sarcastic remark. "you never complained about my mouth while we were at hogwarts. in fact, …"

draco held up a hand to stop her from talking. "we aren't at hogwarts anymore parkinson. that was a long time ago. you must be at very loose ends to be running me down at the local takeaway shop."

pansy had a quick answer. "as if i came here especially to run you down. i think not. i came because i want some takeaway. seeing you is just an unfortunate side event."

pansy was annoying him, so draco went low. "just like old times pansy. you came, and just like back then, all it took was some words or a flick of the finger."

by this point, pansy was red in the face and seething. "same old malfoy bull shite. let me school you. you weren't that good. i had to have goyle finish me off most of the time. suddenly, i'm not hungry. have a nice, fucking life draco. kiss your house elves for me and kiss my arse."

a slightly aggravated draco turned to face forward in the queue only to find an older wizard giving him the stare down. draco stared back. suddenly, he too found the place and the atmosphere unappealing. hurrying outside, draco immediately turned into apparition. ten seconds later, he was removing his coat thinking about making a large turkey sandwich with lettuce, tomato, cheese and onion while wondering what hermione was up to.

thirty five minutes later, after a quick meal and a quicker shower, draco threw on jeans, tee and a jumper before apparating to hermione's flat. he wasn't going to sleep without his witch if he didn't have to.

/*/

jean came through wcs at 6:30. severus wasn't in his office, but she grabbed the notes from his earlier visit to dmts then headed to her old office to check them over. the messiah had a few opinions on what he'd like to see. strong opinions. looking over the notes, jean agreed with most of what severus had written. the few things she disputed would have to be discussed.

speak of the messiah and up he jumps. severus was standing in the doorway smiling.

"you have been installed in your chosen department miss

adford. you should be more than chuffed. remove that frown from your face."

jean grinned at severus. "i don't have a frown on my face. it's called deep thinking. i've come to get my department sorted. how was your afternoon?"

"my afternoon was busy. i see you've found my notes. when you say get your department sorted, are you referring to my suggestions?"

"i am." jean replied, holding up the two pages of notes. "these pages warrant a discussion. the upshot of which will be you revising everything on these pages to my way of thinking."

severus took a seat. "i had high hopes we would be going to the house to indulge in a hot meal, some cursory conversation, dessert then bed. is it imperative we have a discussion this particular evening?"

pointing to her

ow, jean spoke her thoughts. "this is a frown. i was under the impression i had final say on my department. these notes suggest…"

"calm down jean," said severus, raising a hand up in the air. "you've hit the nail on the head love. they are not mandatory. they are suggestions. my visions. i'm sure we can come to a melding of the minds."

"alright mr. melding of the minds. we really aren't that far apart. i was practicing to be hermione."

severus gave her a severe roll of the eyes. "i'm not doing this jean. please keep miss granger out of our conversation. put my notes aside, gather your things and either grab my arm or meet me at the house. i'm tired and hungry. this conversation can wait."

"now you're just being antagonistic. you still have to get your coat and case. if i had grabbed your arm, what would you have done?"

giving her a sheepish grin, severus admitted knowing she wouldn't have grabbed his arm because she was a know-it-all.

jean laughed long and loud as she grabbed her own things while giving severus a cheeky wink. "that was funny mr. snape. now grab your things so we can go. like you, i could use some food, relaxation and dessert. i'm going to apparate to the cottage for a quick shower and change of clothes. i'll meet you at the house."

severus had started towards his office but turned around and came back to stand in the doorway. "why stop at the cottage? you have clothing at the house which, as you know, also has water."

jean gave severus a hard stare. "there are a few things i'd like to do for my feminine state of mind. i won't be long. i think creamed cod would be a nice dinner. i'll see you at the house."

with a pronounced frown now on his

ow, severus turned back towards his office grumbling how jean's feminine state of mind hadn't needed pampering up until now.

jean let out a soft chuckle before lowly responding. "you'll thank me for it in the end."

/*/

as promised, jean took care of her business at the cottage and was at the house before the creamed cod was finished. "is my dinner ready? i'm here as promised."

"almost," replied severus. "five more minutes at most which gives my illustrious second more than enough time to prepare some mashed and asparagus."

"just what makes you think i'm here to cook? i'm here to eat," joked jean before grabbing severus around the waist and laying her head on his back.

severus twisted himself around to look jean in the face placing both arms around her shoulders replying in a whisper. "since you choose to be arbitrary, i'll take one or two of your delightful kisses in exchange for preparing the vegetables myself."

with those kisses, the atmosphere became sexually charged. when their lips parted, the last thing on severus and jean's minds were creamed cod and vegetables.

in a hoarse voice, severus requested they eat a bit later because, at the moment, he was hungry for her.

jean responded in an equally hoarse voice. "request granted mr. snape. i believe you'll appreciate the few minutes i took to pamper my feminine state of mind. let's get to the bedroom to appease our hunger."

it was well after 9:30 when the two lovers sat down to creamed cod, mashed and asparagus.

/*/

at the end of the work day, cassie invited conor to her flat for dinner and drinks. conor asked for a rain check because he'd promised theo he and mick would sit down for a discussion about nannies. although they wouldn't be seeing each other this evening, cassie gave conor something to think about when she pulled him into a tight hug giving his dick a hard rub as they rode down in the lifts.