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Harry Potter wasn't known for being the most observant, but some things he couldn't help but notice.
He noticed when Hermione would huff at him in annoyance, when Ron would whine that he was working too hard and when Draco-bloody-Malfoy was transferred to his department with that annoying smirk, his annoying hair and his annoying...self. Hermione didn't take it well either, if the yelling matches were any indication.
Every time he passed her office, Harry would wince when he heard the familiar voice of the blond state curtly that he deserved to be treated with respect followed shortly by Hermione's haughty tone that he had to earn it first. And that worked fine with Harry. Hermione and Malfoy at each other's throats was a welcome, albeit annoying sound to hear every morning and most of the afternoon. It made him thank his lucky stars that the prat had to answer to her and not to him. There was even a betting pool to decide how long Malfoy would stay without asking for a transfer.
The first two weeks went as expected. Hermione would order him to do something, and Malfoy, being the know-it-all 'Prat of the Century' would then do the very thing she would demand him not to do, which caused her problems but left him sitting pretty and ultimately the whole thing always worked out. Harry stayed silent as Hermione talked his ear off about Malfoy's lack of respect for the hierarchy.
The next two weeks went worse. Hermione would give him near impossible tasks just to spite him and Malfoy would do them all while not following the proper procedure. Naturally, Hermione found out and Harry had to endure listening to a list of one hundred reasons as to why she didn't like him.
The two weeks after was complete torture. The fights were louder, the insults more creative, and Harry found it difficult to hire anyone who was willing to stay long enough and endure the back and forth that was going on between them. But still Harry stayed silent as Hermione spoke splendidly of the various undetectable methods of murder she had designed just for Malfoy.
The final straw came the week after, when Harry just couldn't take it anymore. He just couldn't.
Storming into Malfoy's office he demanded that the git do everything in his power to satisfy her and stop her from talking to him about how disappointed she was.
It was later, when he had walked into Hermione's office without knocking and suffered a mild stroke at the image of his best mate being violated by a git -on her desk, no less -that Harry finally admitted defeat. The image of Malfoy's pale bum didn't help matters either.
Obviously, he should have been more specific.
As Harry closed the door on their stunned faces, he decided that he had made one other mistake. He should have hexed Malfoy that first day he saw the git eyeing Hermione's arse.
