It wasn't an uncommon for Dante to get completely lost in his after-hours research.  Being the department head meant an endless daily routine of meetings, paperwork, and underlings requiring his attention.  Today had been worse then usual.  It was Friday and that meant everyone wanted his attention for their last minute requests before the weekend.  As the clock had ticked near to five o'clock, a relatively new member of his staff had asked if she could have a moment of his time.  He had responded that based on his day he highly doubted whatever if was would only take a moment and that she shouldn't make requests for periods of time she couldn't stick to.

That, of course, hadn't gone over particularly well, and he had been forced to seek out the sniffling young woman to find out what exactly she wanted.  Honestly, he hated when people used phrases that underplayed what they wanted.  No one wanted simply a moment of someone's time.  So why should he be expected to simply be subjected to request after request with no retort?

In a fit of frustration he had shut himself away in his office as the final employees left for the evening, all thoughts turning to his research.  Minutes had turned to hours and he knew as he stirred the latest ingredient that it was getting late.  His refusal to write personal commitments on his work calendar meant everything else had been forgotten.  The last thing he needed was some noisy gossip poking into his personal matters.

Reaching for the next ingredient, he prepared to add it, knowing it was a critical moment for the particular brew he was working on.

Without so much as a knock on the door, it was pushed open carefully by a smartly dressed blonde witch. The cloak covering her shoulders opened to reveal a slim black knee length dress and smart black heels. The mass of blonde hair fell loosely, curling atop of her shoulders. The expression the pretty witch wore was not as sweet and attractive. She didn’t look impressed as her bright blue eyes narrowed on the cause of her irritation.

“What ze hell, Danté?” Her irritation sparked the return of an accent revealing too much time spent abroad before she took a breath and stepped into the room. “I waited. Half an hour!”

The couple had agreed to meet that evening. It should have gone just like every other evening they had met. They would drink, enjoy each other’s company in a private stall at the bar before going back to Ward’s home to continue enjoying each other’s company. That had been the set up for almost a month now and Eve certainly had no complaints about this. Until this evening when Dante Ward thought he could get away with standing her up. She had never taken to that well.

The door was pushed closed behind her and Eve walked further into the room. “I don’t wait for anyone, Ward.” Her bright eyes danced across his face, her gaze somewhat threatening.

He didn't hear the door open, but the sound of a rather irritated voice behind him caused him to flinch and spill the herb he had been about to had all over the floor.  A moment later there was a small belching noise from his cauldron as a large bubble burst and the purple liquid suddenly turned a murky gray.  If she had come in five minutes later he would have been cleaning the contents of the cauldron off his furniture.

"Merlin's bloody beard," he swore, his Irish brogue extremely evident.  "It'll be another three months before I can get my hands on another shipment of that herb."

He slowly turned to face the woman who had just barged into his office annoyed with himself for forgetting the date and causing his experiment to be ruined.  This is why his relationships rarely lasted longer then a few months.  He was driven by work, and business was kept separate from personal.  It was a good practice in general and meant when the relationship reached it's natural end the whole world didn't know about it.  He was still dealing with whispers about what had gone on between him and the former Ministry psychologist.

"Then I should consider myself someone special that you stayed a half an hour," he retorted dryly, walking a fine line with the formidable witch before him.  He took a breath, letting his frustration ease a bit knowing he would have some explaining to do to the blonde witch.

"I am in the wrong though," he admitted gruffly, leaning back against the lab table where he had been working.  "It's been a long day, and I got caught up in my work.  That's not an excuse though... I don't like to make a habit of standing up attractive women."

For all his bluster he could admit when he was wrong.  Evangeline was a smart and beautiful woman, and a good distraction from the unexpected turn his last attempt at a relationship had taken.  Things were certainly a bit on the casual side for now, but it was working for them.  Why mess with something that wasn't broken?

"Let me make it up to you," he said, pushing away from the table and moving towards her, hoping this wouldn't end with a series of spell being fired off at him.

To say that Eve cared for his herb shipment would have been a gross misconduct of the truth. She cared for the fact that she had arrived half an hour late to the bar to find he hadn’t been there. She’d looked around, demanded of the bartender if Ward had even shown up before leaving to track him down. He’d stood her up and he cared about some rare herbs that turned a potion grey with a big messy bubble reaction? It was his fault he’d dropped them to the floor in the first place.

She’d been about to point out that he was not a special person and she did not in fact stay there for half an hour when Ward did something she had never known a wizard to do before. He admitted he was in the wrong. Seconds passed with Kuester staring at him as if he’d grown warts, a hooked nose and a third ear on his forehead. It was quite the strangest thing she’d ever heard. Having been married to Rosier for four years not once had she heard the words ‘I’m sorry’ or ‘I’m wrong’ cross his arrogant lips and now she was getting that from Mr Grump himself. The wonders would never cease.

But that didn’t mean she wasn’t angry with him.

Before she knew it, the wizard was advancing on her and Eve’s eyebrows shot up. Her fist reaction would have been to cross her arms over her stomach as a silent ‘will you hell’ but instead the witch offered the wizard a playful smirk. She let him advance and as he grew closer, she lifted her arms, wrapping them around his neck, difficult with their height difference.

Their lips were almost touching when her bright eyes shot up to meet his, her gaze revealing she was not happy or appeased. Next she reached up more, standing on tip toes to brush her lips against his ear.

“Calling me attractive does not get you off the hook, Ward.” The lawyer whispered “If you do make a habit of it I know exactly what I’ll be doing to your little jewels.” Pale lips twisted into a small smile against his skin. “It won’t be joy you’ll be screaming out for, mein lieber.” Perhaps a stint in Azkaban hadn't done much to the witch's conversation skills.

When her arms wrapped around his neck, Dante's encircled her slender waste, watching her carefully.  Evangeline could frighten most men with a single glare.  He was not most men, but that didn't mean he wasn't a fan of self preservation.  He didn't trust that smirk for a moment, but he played along as her lips drew closer to his.  His suspicions were apparently not completely unfounded.

"Believe me, I like my jewels exactly in the state they are currently in," he responded in more of his usual grumble, pulling away from her.

He shook his head as he turned again to the mess left behind by the failed potion.  He had seen worse...much worse.  He was convinced though distraction caused by a woman would be the cause of nearly every major failure he had when he was so very close to a success.

Taking the last few unused ingredients from the table, he made his way over to the supply cabinet and then said, "But to be fair you have had a bit of revenge.  Do you have any idea how long it took me to find someone who could supply that particular ingredient?  Or, how long I've been trying to work on this particular potion?  Your entrance, while very dramatic and grand, is a major set back to my research.  If I hadn't forgotten our little date tonight, you wouldn't have heard any kind words."

Putting the ingredients back in their appropriate containers he locked the cabinet.  His frustration with his failed experiment had crept into his tone a bit, and he paused for a moment before adding, "Now, either I can make it up to you in some way and salvage the evening....or you can continue to be cross with me."

For the past month the cantankerous head of the Department of Mysteries and the catty international lawyer had been having what could only be described as a dysfunctional fling. For a month Evangeline had been questioning the attraction. Dante Ward was cranky, he was unenthusiastic and his lips rarely cracked into a smile. His ornery attitude reminded Eve so much of her ex-husband who she most unquestionably loathed yet somehow the sullen wizard drew Eve in and she was unexpectedly enjoying time with the wizard similar in age to her.

As the Dante complained like usual, Eve’s blue eyes rolled back and she leant back against the wall, arms folded as if bored by his words.

“I have not been putting up with you for the overwhelming mass of kind words you flood our ‘little’ dates in, Mr Ward.” The slightly younger witch watched her…acquaintance as he proceeded to tidy the mess she had apparently caused. She would have offered to help but she wasn’t kind enough to get her hands dirty and with her wand skills, the mess would have only become worse. Eve had never quite mastered the art of practical magic with a wand. She was far more theoretical.

The tone of Ward’s voice failed to conceal his frustration and this caused Eve’s pale lips to twist into a smirk, her eyes dancing with amusement, irritation somewhat forgotten, replaced by an amusement with Mr Grumpy, presently unmysterious head of the department of mysteries.

“It is a problematic decision to make.” She responded, eyes travelling the body of the six foot frowning wizard. “How exactly would you make up for such a terrible inconvenience?”

For Dante their relationship up until this point had been mainly about fulfilling the need for human contact without all the complications and strings of a real relationship.  His missing their date had him teetering dangerously close to a fight that usually only happened among committed couples.  As far as he knew, they had no such commitment to each other and the last thing he needed was another failed attempt at something serious and lasting.

Of course he also thought she was making way more of this then she needed to.  This was not a habit of his, nor did he intend to make it one.  It was one occurrence, when usually he was the one waiting around for her.  He had taken to coming ten to fifteen minutes late to their dates and still found himself sitting around nursing a drink until she got there.  The only leverage she really had at the moment was that she never failed to make an appearance.

He finished what cleaning he felt had to be done immediately before turning to her once more.  She was a beautiful woman, that was sure.  She was strong willed and some even considered her bitchy...Dante was convinced though it was to hide vulnerability.  She had been hurt in the past, but who hadn't.  And he wasn't about to say a single world that would paint him a hypocrite.  After all, one does not turn into the Ministry grump without cause.

"Let's skip drinks at the bar tonight," he said, knowing he would have to get home soon anyway due to the last reminder of one Candice Stevenson...the dog she had given him last year as a Christmas present, Conner.  "We can order take away from the place of your choice...and have drinks in front of a fire.  And whatever else your naughty mind can come up with after that."

There was a small smirk one his lips as he said the last part, probably the closest thing to a smile most people would ever see from him.

Dante’s suggestion wasn’t a terrible one. Take aways weren’t something Eve tended to choose for an evening meal but when he mentioned it she realised that she hadn’t in fact eaten yet that evening. Her new job and the need to catch up on backdated paperwork from her predecessor had left Evie with a huge amount of work to do. She’d been late in the department for several nights now, trying to wade through the mess of an unorganised lawyer. Yes she’d changed before their forgotten date but she’d managed to eat.

“I don’t expect anywhere local specialises in German food.” The accepted witch commented quietly before her eyes fell on Ward’s handsome face. The product of the explosion was slattered across his left cheek. Tiny droplets of the viscous brown mixture clung to the minute hairs of his face, giving him and unclean appearance.

Stepping heeled foot closer to Ward, Evie buried her hand the expanded pocket of her robes and retrieved a clean facial tissue, grasped between her thin fingers. She got closer to the wizard and told him to stay still in a voice barely above a whisper.

Close to the wizard, Evie pressed her body against his as she lifted her hand to slowly wipe his cheek.  “Perhaps, Mr Ward, it might be beneficial to wear something more protective when playing with such volatile, problematic to procure ingredients.” Her blue eyes scanned up to reach his gaze. “Or perhaps you may end up missing more dates.  If there are more that is.”

I don’t expect anywhere local specialises in German food.

"This is a rather large city," he said.  "I can't imagine there isn't some place that will suite your tastes."

At this point if it meant that going clear across the city to retrieve German take-away would fix the problem he had created by missing their date, he would do so willingly.  If the conversation were to simply come to an end it would mean things could go back to the way they were with little to no talk of feelings or anything else that he dreaded discussing.  He had spent enough time in the last year having his feelings prodded out of him.

She approached then, telling him to hold still.  At first he wasn't sure if he should trust her intent to be innocent.  After all, she had threatened his manly bits just a few moments ago, and he wasn't keen on the idea of not giving he a moving target to work with should she try something out of revenge.  However, when he saw her produce the tissue he became aware of the truth behind her actions and complied.  A hand came to rest on her hip as her body pressed into him.  One side of his mouth quirked a bit and a single low chuckle that was barely audible escaped him.

"I have had virtually no accidents since my third year at Hogwarts," he told her.  "I find that on the rare occasion when one does happen it usually involves a woman in some way."  When she was done wiping his cheek, he dipped his head to trail his lips along her neck.  Then added, "Every man can be distracted."

A small moan escaped Eve’s lips as Dante bent down to brush his lips against her neck. So apparently they weren’t leaving for the takeaway immediately. Instead they were here with him blaming accidents on being distracted by women. Eve’s lips twisted into a small smirk as she considered this. Of course, for wizards, it was so easy to blame anything on a woman. They tended to have little control around the female sex. Or from Eve’s experience. How cute.

The smirk didn’t last long. Behind Dante a strange sound was coming from the cauldron and the smell that was reaching them was foul, thick and made Eve screw her face up slightly, pulling back from Ward. Her eyes shot up to his, full of suspicion before a bubbling sound got louder and the witch looked past her companion towards the cauldron.

BOOM!

The liquid exploded in all directions, a hot sticky gloop shooting at the ceiling, the walls, the floor, the couple stood near the door.

His arms tightened around her waist when she moaned, the sound causing him to smirk a bit against the soft skin of her neck.  She was beautiful, that much was certain, and that meant her very presence was intoxicating to his senses.  Despite the cranky exterior, he was still a man with the same needs as any other.  The current arrangement with Evangeline meant that his needs were meant without a lot of other complications.  Although, this particular evening was certainly not complication free.

He continued to trail kisses along her collar bone when he heard a noise behind them.  Acting on instinct he moved to shield her from as much as of the projectile liquid as possible.  He tried to suppress the groan of frustration with the entire situation.  First the experiment was ruined and now the date he was trying to salvage was well on it's way to being in the same category.

"Damnú aír*!" he swore in Gaelic as the hot goop covered them.   This evening was clearly not meant to go smoothly.

"Are you alright?" he asked gruffly, looking her over before checking on the state of his office.  "Perhaps we should change takeaway to delivery."

---

*Shit