The Argument

"William Michael Weasley, what the hell do you think you're doing?!"

Bill looked up from the tedious TPS report he was proofing at his desk to see an extremely pissed off Hermione Granger standing in the doorway to his office. He gulped.

"Hermione, would you care to step inside?" he asked, at the same time knowing that inviting the fuming brunette to come any closer was a mistake. He jumped as she slammed the door and stalked over to his desk, looming over his seated form.

"You did this on purpose! You knew that I was going to that tomb and you purposely cleared it out and had security set around it knowing, fucking knowing full well that without a pass from the Ministry or Gringotts I wouldn't be able to get inside."

"Yes, I did." Bill spoke quite calmly and looked directly into Hermione's eyes. He sensed that trying to defend himself right now would just get him into deeper trouble. Hermione looked taken aback for a split second; as if she couldn't believe that he had just admitted his wrongdoing. That lasted for only a moment before she started again.

"Why, Bill? What the hell gives you the right to decide whether I can or cannot enter a tomb? Whether I can or cannot do my job? I am a field researcher, and that was my assignment. Do you know how long it took me to get that job? The University of Cairo Wizardry isn't exactly woman friendly. I looked like an idiot today, unable to get into a simple tomb because an agent from Gringotts, an agent from my home country who I know personally, pulled some strings and closed down my work site. Why would you do something like that?"

"Because it was too dangerous for you to go in there," Bill said quietly.

This was not what Hermione wanted to hear at all. "Too dangerous?" she repeated, incredulous. "Too dangerous? I went to Hogwarts during Voldemort's reign of terror, I helped Harry Potter form a student army, I fought Death Eaters and devised potions and spells that helped bring about the demise of the Dark Lord himself, and you think that going into a tomb is too dangerous for me?" She was livid now. "Let me tell you something, Mr. Weasley," Hermione said, walking around his desk so that she stood directly in front of him. "You don't get to decide what's too dangerous for me. I am a grown woman and I can bloody well decide for myself what is and is not too dangerous! You may be my best friend's older brother, but I am not your little sister and you do not get to look out for me. What the hell do you know about what's too dangerous for me?! You chauvinistic ass! I can't believe -"

"Well believe it," replied Bill angrily, standing up. "I was working in Cairo before you knew what magic was, and I know a lot about what's dangerous and what's not. You're a brilliant witch and a brilliant woman, but you don't know much about the curses placed around Haramshad's tomb. You called me a chauvinist, and that's fine, but Haramshad was one of the biggest misogynists and darkest wizards in history. Those curses come at you rapid fire and half of them were created by him for no other reason than to keep women out of his sacred tomb. I've never even heard of half of them, and I have 11 years' experience in this field, you barely have one. I offered to help and you refused; you wanted to go it alone, knowing the risks. That wasn't the action of a grown woman; that was the action of a child. I did this to keep you safe. I know that you are capable of taking care of yourself in many instances, but this was not one of them." Bill had begun the argument shouting but ended in his normal voice.

"You don't get to judge that, Bill," said Hermione, no longer shouting. "I'm not a little girl."

"I know that," Bill said.

"And I know I hang around Ron and Ginny a lot, but I am not your little sister."

"Believe me, I know that too."

"Then why did you -?"

"Because I care about you."

Something in Bill's voice made Hermione think that Bill was definitely not talking about a friendly type of care. "You what?"

"I care about you. I care about you more than one should for his baby brother's best friend."

Hermione smiled. "You and I are friends too, you know. Or at least I thought we were before today."

"I know, and I'm really sorry about what I did, Hermione, but I thought it was in your best interest. I just couldn't stand to see you walk into a situation where I knew you'd get hurt."

"I've been hurt before. I'm a big girl, I can take it."

Bill sighed. "I know you can, Hermione. I just...I don't like seeing you get hurt if I can help it. I'm a bit protective of you." Hermione chuckled.

"You don't need to be. I've got Harry and Ron for that. Plus Fred and George, sometimes. For an only child, I've acquired an awful lot of big brothers."

"I didn't mean in a big brotherly way, Hermione."

Hermione's breath caught in her throat. She tried to speak, but couldn't. She cleared her throat and tried again. "In what way did you mean, then?"

Bill looked her directly in the eye. "You know exactly what I mean."

And then they were kissing, softly at first, not quite sure if this was real. Then Bill wrapped his arms around Hermione's waist and she wrapped her arms around his neck and the TPS report on his desk and her indignation were all but forgotten for the moment. Later, as no one could decide who had won that fateful argument, the dispute was declared a draw.

The End