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Hermione walked along the Ministry halls to her office. When she opened the door, Seamus Finnigan was sitting in the chair next to her desk. He worked in the office right across from hers and going into each other's offices had become quite of a habit.
"What do you want Seamus?" she said pretending to be angry and frustrated by him. Hermione quickly started to settle into their comfortable routine of morning banter.
"I have come to tell you some interesting news."
Hermione's eyebrows raised. "What?"
This was new.
"Draco Malfoy, Blaise Zabini, Hestia Carrow, and Flora Carrow have all been promoted to the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. I just wanted to let you know in case someone starts an insane rumor about Death Eaters in the Ministry Departments or whatever."
"Thanks," a smile spread across Hermione's face. She knew Seamus would always look out for her. "Is that all you came here to say?" Hermione, putting her hands on her hips, tried to regain some of her playful tone.
"Yes, I'll be going now. Bye Hermione."
"Bye, Seamus." He purposely bumped into her shoulder on his way out the door.
Hermione started to think back to their Hogwarts days. She had barely even known him. First, he was the kid who blew everything up and then he was one of Ginny's stupid boyfriends. Now, since they were working in close proximity, they had become fast friends. Seamus had turned out to be smarter than she originally thought, so that definitely helped.
Hermione sat down at her desk and shuffled her papers. Four new people in a new compartment. That didn't happen often. And ex Death Eaters no less! There was something fishy about that. She stood up to go and get more information on the matter, simultaneously swinging her curls out of her face. She opened the door, took a left, then felt herself crash right into someone.
"Oh I'm so sorry!" She exclaimed, getting up and fixing her skirt.
"That's alright I - Granger?" A pale man said, his apologetic face turning into a smirk.
Hermione swore under her breath. "I don't have time for you Malfoy. Get out of my way."
"No, I think I'll stay right here if you don't mind."
"But I do mind," she quipped.
"Too bad," he replied.Hermione sighed, "Malfoy, I have to ask the Head of the...wait, you can help me. Why did all those…" she searched for the right words. "Ex Death Eaters get moved into a different department?"
"Clifford Helios died yesterday. They had
no one else to lead the department," he told her with a growl. "And I would like it if you didn't refer to me as a, what did you call it, 'Ex Death Eater'. I regret what I've done, now get over it!" His eyes immediate turned down to the floor, effectively avoiding any incredulous scare she could give him.
She studied him. His dirty blonde hair and squared jaw stood out against his slim, but muscular frame. Time had certainly been good to the Malfoy Heir.
She bit her lip, not quite sure what to do.
"I forgive you." Hermione decided to just get it over with.
"You, what?!" he said taken aback.
"I forgive you. Good day to you Mal-Draco." Hermione brushed past him.
"Hey, wait, Granger. This does not change anything. We're still enemies!" he called.
Hermione smiled and kept walking.
Wow. That's the first time Malfoy has made my day.
Draco was having a crappy day. First he got transferred to another department, and of course it had to be the worst one out of all the places they could send him. The idiotic Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Then, he ran into the Beaver, Granger. That bushy haired, buck teethed, bookworm! She had the nerve to "forgive" him of all the things he'd done to her. Honestly, it wasn't even his fault his father raised him to believe those things. Why couldn't she just move past it and accept that neither of them made good decisions back then?
Draco walked over to his desk, while Blaise sat down.
"Dray, did you hear the news?"
"Yeah, can you believe it?" He grunted slamming his head on the desk.
"We're going to end up like Loony Lovegood, I'm telling you Dray."
"I'd rather be like the Weaslette, than be like Loony."
The rest of the day passed by quickly. Draco soon grew bored of the stupid papers and random people asking him about God knows what. Really, some people needed to learn how to answer their own questions and fend for themselves.
Later, he walked to his new apartment that he shared with Blaise, and unlocked the front door. The apartment number was 13. Draco smirked, so much for luck being in their side. It actually was not that bad, with light green paint lining the walls , and a white sofa in the corner. It had a big black thin thing on the wall and a stick looking thing was hung next to it. When Draco questioned Blaise about it, he said it was a television. Whatever those things were. Apparently, it was some sort of muggle contraption.
Draco was just about to go to bed, when Ron obnoxiously banged on the door. Begrudgingly, the Blondie opened it
"What do you want?" Asked Draco half-asleep.
"Since when does the Ministry promote Death Eaters like you?!" Ron yelled.
"Since when does the Ministry promote people with bad tempers who can't handle it when a childhood nemesis gets a decent job?" Draco smirked.
Ron shut up real fast, his face turning as red as his hair. He turned on his heel to leave but not before Draco gave one last remark. "And for the record, I've given up my old prejudices." Ron stopped for scarcely a moment, but then crossed the hallway in one long stride and promptly slammed the door behind him. Draco went to close the door, when he heard shouting from Ron and Hermione's apartment. Blaise and Draco looked smugly at each other both thinking the same thing. They crept up to the apartment and put their ears to the door to listen.
"I'm telling you, Malfoy is up to no good!" Ron yelled.
"Give him a chance, Ron, the Ministry wouldn't promote him if he was still a Death Eater!" Granger shouted back.
Draco winced at the reminder of what he used to be.
Completely bewildered, Ron shouted, "How can you say that? Just a couple of years ago, you would be on my side!"
"His mom saved Harry, we should be thankful for that. And the Malfoy's were the first family to defect to our side after the war!"
"Did the Malfoy's hire you to be their main advocate now? Did you and Finnegan tell Minister Kingsley to promote him, in exchange for something else?" Ron said sinisterly.
"No! But I will say Malfoy is smart, and that is why he was promoted. I didn't say anything to Kingsley about it. And what does Seamus have to do with this?"
"I bet you the Malfoy's are paying you
and Finnegan big money to say this stuff about Mr. Blondie over there. And Finnegan has everything to do with this! You guys are always in each other's rooms doing, how should I say this... things."
Blaise and Draco looked at each other. They knew Granger was friends with Finnegan, but they didn't know they were close enough for Ron to suspect things happening between them.
"You are so gross Ron! Just because I'm dating you, doesn't mean I can't talk to other guys! We are just two people of the opposite gender who are good friends! And the only reason I'm sticking up for Malfoy is because he has so much stuff going on, especially since his father just died!" Granger said with a hint of sadness in her voice. Blaise gave Draco a sympathetic look. He knew his situation with Lucius.
"Oooh, feeling sorry for Blondie now are we!" Ron shouted, his voice dripping with disdain.
"I feel bad for him because I know what it's like to lose a parent. Thankfully, I got mine back, he will never see his father again." Granger said sounding on the verge of tears. This stopped Ron short.
"Just don't be too friendly to either Finnegan or Malfoy," Ron said obviously defeated.
Later, in the middle of the night, Draco heard someone crying in the hall. Climbing out of bed, he put his ear to the door...yes, it was definitely Granger. He tried to go back to bed, but he couldn't sleep with Granger crying. And his conscience nagging him, but he would be loathe to admit that to anyone. He opened the door walked over to her, putting his arm around her shaking body.
"Dra-Malfoy, you d-don't have to do this I'm-I'm fine. It's just, it's just Ron-" The last word was said with a huff of breath, like it was hard to say.
"Shh...Don't think about him, just try and go to sleep." Draco whispered. It was probably the nicest thing he'd ever said to her. She rested her head on his shoulder and started to relax. Draco felt her fall asleep. After a long while, he nodded off.
Draco woke up and promptly noticed that Granger was still in his arms. He studied her. She slept quietly, with no hint of a snore. Her face looked at peace. He'd never seen her like this. At Hogwarts she'd always had her nose in a book or was trying to save the world with the other two members of the Golden Trio. With a startling realization, Draco thought, This is how she was supposed to look.
Now, she had worry lines on her forehead and bags under her eyes. He wondered what the war had done to her, how it changed her for better or worse. He got a sickening feeling in his stomach, why was he generally concerned for her well being? Glancing at the clock on the wall he noted it was 4am. He knew Granger got up early and he didn't want to be there when she did. So he got up, careful not to disturb her, and tiptoed across the hall. Draco opened the door and crashed onto his bed. The last thought he had before falling asleep was,
this is so much more comfy than the floor.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Hermione woke up at 5:30 am. Upon realizing Malfoy wasn’t there, she felt abnormally cold. Who knew it was so chilly in the hallway? She got up and walked into her shared apartment with Ron. Ron, he had been so mean last night. Hermione wondered why Malfoy had tried to comfort her. He must’ve heard her crying, that was a given. But why did he spend a good portion of his night just to be with her? Why not put up a silencing spell and just go back to bed? The Malfoy she knew in school would’ve done it in a heartbeat. Why change now? Hermione’s head started to spin. It was too early in the morning to try and figure it out. Besides, she had to get to work. She transfigured her clothing into a blazer and knee-length skirt (no way was she going back into her apartment and risk bumping into Ron) and headed out the door. For a few minutes, she walked along the sidewalk, and then apparated to the Ministry. Arriving at the Atrium, she got on a lift to go to her department. The only other person on the lift was Ernie Macmillan who worked in the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes. They exchanged awkward pleasantries and that was the extent of the conversation. Hermione breathed a sigh of relief when he got off next. When the voice said, “Level 2, Department of Magical Law enforcement,” she stepped off and walked down the hallway towards her office. Hermione was just starting to turn the knob, when a thought struck her. She promptly turned around and walked straight into Seamus’ office, Surprisingly, he wasn’t there. But the lights were on. He must’ve been in her office. Oh, Seamus. She turned around and opened her door. Sure enough, he was right there sitting in her chair. A smile crossed her face, but as quick as it had come, it vanished. They had to stop doing this; Ron was already suspicious. She couldn’t let him think she was cheating on him. “Seamus,” Hermione said with an exasperated sigh, “What are you doing here?” “I have come here to tell you about your latest assignment.” “How come you always seem to know about my assignments before I do?”“I have my ways…” He wiggled his eyebrows. Hermione couldn’t help but laugh. They really had to stop doing this.“Anyways, what’s my assignment?” “There has been an infestation of nargles in London. Nargles don’t just appear out of thin air, and they usually are only found in Mistletoe, so someone put them there on purpose to cause havoc. There are several suspects that you have to investigate and interview. Here’s a file with a lot more detail on the case,” Seamus says matter of factly. “Wait, why am I being assigned this? Isn’t this more of a Department For The Control And Regulation Of Magical Creatures thing? “Usually it would be their cup of tea, but apparently it's a really huge infestation, so they want two people to work on it. The other person will be someone from the Department of Magical Creatures. I don't know who yet. According to the Ministry you are one of the best people in this department, so they wanted you to be part of the assignment.”“Ok. When is the other person going to get here?” As if summoned, the partner-to-be knocked on the door. “I think that's them right now.” “Come in,” Hermione said and the instant she laid eyes on who it was, a loud groan escaped her mouth. “Granger, Finnegan.” Draco nodded looking at each of them in turn. His face could’ve been the poster child for boredom. Turning to Hermione he said, “I believe I am partnered with you on an assignment involving Nargles. I don’t know why you are here Finnegan, unless they wanted to make it a three way project.” “Seamus was just telling me about my assignment, Malfoy,” Hermione remarked stiffly. “I have something to tell you later,” she whispered to Seamus a he casually walked out of the room. “So, how do you want to do this?” Malfoy asked.“Well, you can sit here,” Hermione pulled a spare chair up to her desk. “I was thinking we should both read through our files so we know all the details.“I already read through mine,” Draco said with a tone of indifference. He cocked his head to the side like a bird, almost as if he was asking, what do I do now? “Well, then you can start on the case. Just do something useful.”“Well for starters I could organize the growing stack of papers on your desk here or color code your pens or go out a do my groceries… you really need to be more specific.”“Can’t you just make your own decisions once in awhile, or do you need me to tell you exactly what to do every second of this assignment!?!”Draco knew exactly how to get under her skin, but Hermione was the determined to be the bigger person. Well, mostly. “I expected you’d be like this.”“Just, do something!” She huffed and started to read through her file. Halfway through, when she felt someone watching her. She looked up and there was Malfoy just staring at her like it was the most normal thing in the world. “What?”. A smirk tugged at his lips. “Ugh. I need to use the bathroom if you would excuse me.” Walking out of the room, Hermione breathed in a breath of fresh air in relief. “Hermione! How’s it going in there?” Seamus asked. “Horrible. What can you expect when you have to work with Malfoy?” “Yeah, I guess. Do you want to work in my office instead? You can just tell him you need some alone time to figure things out.” “You are a lifesaver, Seamus! I’d love too!” “What did you want to tell me earlier?”“Oh, um, nothing. It wasn’t important.” Hermione wondered if she was self-sabotaging herself. But, she figured, her relationship (platonic by the way), with Seamus wasn’t worth destroying because of Ron’s angry words.Concerned, Seamus said, “Ok, but if something’s going on you know you can tell me.” Hermione just shrugged and walked back to tell Malfoy about her moving rooms. “No need to say anything Granger, I heard your whole conversation.” I stare at him, bewildered. “Just run along to Seamus’s room and do whatever you are planning to do in there,” His eyes glinted mischievously. “Malfoy! Seamus and I are just good friends!”“Whatever you say, Granger.” His smirk grew by the second. With a slight blush on her cheeks, Hermione grabbed her papers and hurried out of the room. She quickly opened Seamus’s door and stepped into his office. It smelled of fresh parchment, just the right kind. She once asked him how he got it to smell like that, but he just smiled and said it happened. She sat down in her favorite chair. Worn, but still comfy. She got started on the files again. Finally she could get some actual work done. In what seemed like minutes, lunch break started. “I'm starving!” Hermione exclaimed, simultaneously opening her lunchbox. While they ate, talk turned to Seamus’ long and daunting case: the murder of Justin Finch-Fletchley. He had been working on it for several weeks now and was no closer to finishing it then when he started. “So the only former Death Eaters I can gather right that aren’t in Azkaban and haven’t defected are Antonin Dolohov, Goyle Sr, Rosier Sr, Selwyn, Thorfinn Rowle, Travers, Walden Macnair, Gregory Goyle.” He continued staring at his list of names . “Wait, Seamus what if we are doing this all wrong?”“What do you mean?”“Read the part where it talks about the culprit.”“Ok. ‘The suspect is most likely a former Death Eater.’ That's all it says.”Hermione suddenly had a realization. “What if the culprit isn’t a Death Eater?” “That means it could also be someone associated with a Death Eater. Or some other group altogether.” Hermione could hear a new determination in his voice. “There could be so many more possible suspects! Oh my god Hermione you are a genius!”“Aw. I wouldn’t say that.” Her face started to turn red.“You look beautiful when you blush, Hermione.” Seamus leaned closer to her. She was frozen, with what she didn’t know. Seamus was staring at her lips. He looked up and saw her face. “Don't be afraid Hermione, you can trust me.” And maybe it was the fight or maybe it was the stress of working with Malfoy or maybe it was more...no she wouldn’t let herself think that. We really need to stop this. Their lips met. Short, but sweet, the kiss was pure and simple, she’d never had that with Ron. He’d always been a rough kisser. But just at that moment, Draco Malfoy walked in. They immediately pulled apart and Hermione felt a pang of guilt. How could she do this? She wasn’t some lovesick puppy! Malfoy smirked, his eyes flicking between Hermione and Seamus. Finally he spoke, “ ‘Just good friends’ huh? I wonder what Ron’s face will look like when he hears about your shenanigans.” His smirk spread wider across his filthy face. The mention of Ron snapped Hermione into action. “You wouldn't dare tell him!”“What's my reason not to?” “I could tell the Ministry that you have been making a new Death Eater Group!”Malloy’s face fell and he looked almost murderous. “And YOU!” Hermione added, glaring at Seamus. He looked like he wanted to sink through the floor. “You said I could trust you! Well isn't that ironic!” She grunted and stormed out of the room.“Hey Granger! You forgot your bag.” “Thanks a bunch, Malfoy” As Hermione walked away, all she could think was she was a cheater. A no good, dirty, slutty cheater. She knew it would haunt her forever.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Chapter 3Cheater, cheater, cheater. It was all Hermione could think about. She was so disgusted with herself. She walked into the apartment. Because she came home before Ron, she had some time to collect her thoughts. While she waited, Hermione cleaned up the house and started making one of Ron’s favorites, Steak and Kidney Pie. When he got home, she greeted him with a smile and an offer to take his briefcase. She wanted, no needed to pretend everything was normal, if not better than usual.“Wow Hermione, you seem upbeat today,” Ron remarked.“Well, I thought we should try to make things better after last night.”“Oh about that ‘Mione, I'm really sorry. As long as you stay out of the slimeball’s way, it's ok,” Ron said, truly apologetic.Hermione embraced him while saying, “It's ok Ron. I forgive you.” She gave him a kiss which he returns. She gave him a kiss, which he eagerly returned. Her treacherous brain thought, you were doing this just earlier with Seamus. The stove timer beeped and they broke apart. In a few minutes the two were seated and happily eating.“This is great ‘Mione” Ron said with his mouth full of food.Hermione shook her head, “Don't talk with your mouth full, Ron.” He swallowed his last bit of food. “Oh yeah right, sorry Hermione. So, how was work today?”This was it. The moment. To tell or not to tell? That was the age-old question, right. Her brain couldn’t form coherent thoughts with all those stupid feelings swirling around. “Um, well you know,” why was she lying, “the usual. Work, and more work. Oh I also got mhwhmhw.” She mumbled the last bit.“What?” Ron asks confused. Hermione took a breath, and smiled. “Me and Draco Malfoy got paired together for a project.”Ron just stared unblinking at her. Then he started to sniger.“Ha! Nice joke Mione! That was hilarious!” his smile dropped away when he saw her face. “Wait, you’re kidding, right? RIGHT?!? ARE YOU? LOOK AT ME WHEN I AM SPEAKING TO YOU MIONE!”“Ron you are completely overreacting! Stop it!”“How am i overreacting?!? You got paired with bloody MALFOY!”“Just give him a chance, please, Ron.” Hermione was on the verge of tears. She had to try and fix this argument until it got ugly. Like that one time…NO she had vowed never to think about it again.“Give him a chance?!? Give him a chance?!? GIVE HIM A FUCKING CHANCE?!?!?! I’ll give him a chance when my Chocolate Frog Card is replaced by him!”“Ron..” Hermione whined.“Malfoy is the worst fucking git to ever walk the earth and I will not let you work with him! I’m gonna have a little talk with Kingsley!” Ron sneered.“Please don’t go to the minister. Please, Ron. It isn’t that bad. As long as we keep to ourselves it’ll be fine. I’m perfectly capable of being professional.”“It's not you I’m worried about, it’s Malfoy that's the problem.”“Let’s just see how these next couple of days go. We don’t need to jump headfirst into this.”“Why not? There’s nothing to lose! Let’s go into Kingsley's office and demand that Malfoy be moved to a different job. Or he could be fired altogether—As long as he’s out of sight.”“Ron. We can’t do that. This is not Hogwarts where the headmaster favors our house so we can get away with anything.”“C’mon Hermione. What’s wrong with the good ol’ days?”“No, we have to stay professional. I will not go stomping into the Minister's office just because you have a problem with my work partner. Even if I was paired with the slimiest git in the world. Even if he or she was TERRIBLY horrid, I would not talk to the Minister about it just because my boyfriend had a problem with it!”“Wow…” Ron whispered, “WELL I DON’T CARE!!!” he shouted all of the sudden.Hermione took a few steps back. “Ron. It. Doesn't. Matter! What’s done is done! And I have to deal with it! NOW GET OVER IT!”“No. What you don’t get Hermione, is that we can do something about this, ” he said his voice dangerously low.“You know what Ron? I’m done with your sick behavior today. I’m going out with Ginny.” Hermione stalked out and apparate to Harry and Ginny's flat. She rung the doorbell and a fire headed woman opened it.“Hey Gin. Want to go out?” Hermione asked hopefully.“Mione! How are you? I would LOVE to! Harry has been keeping me in this horrid place ever since I almost tripped on the sidewalk,” she started imitating her overprotective partner, “He’s all ‘Ginny don't hurt the baby’ this and ‘Ginny, I don't want you going outside for the baby's sake’ that! It's terrible!” She exclaimed shaking her head. “Alrighty! Where to?”“I actually have no idea. Just needed to get out you know?”Ginny joked, “I wouldn't blame you. I still can’t believe you got together with my terrible prat of a brother.”Hermione smiled, even though she got a sick feeling in her stomach. Several circles around the block later, they ended up at the movies. Since she was a little girl, the movies had always had an air of magic about them. After the war, Hermione introduced Ginny to them, and she quickly shared her enthusiasm for the theater.Ginny looked around at all the posters of the different movies playing at the theater. “It never ceases to amaze me how Muggles can think of all this stuff by themselves.”“Well we have very creative minds. I guess that's one of the pros of not having magic to explain everything we ever wondered.”“So, which movie do you want to see?”Hermione immediately gravitated towards a deep blue poster with two people dancing on it. She assume they were a couple. There was a city all lit up with lights behind them. She read the title La La Land. “Hey Gin, this looks interesting”“What?” She read the title. Her face broke into a smile. “Sure. I guess the dreamer inside of you never went away, did it?”Hermione smiled mischievously. “Let's go get tickets.” They linked arms and walked up to the ticket counter.Once they had tickets and popcorn, they found their seats. All around them there were happy couples smiling and laughing together. Hermione’s stomach feels like it just got hit with a sledge hammer. “Gin, you can have the rest of the popcorn, I'm full.”She looked confused for a second, but the expression quickly passed when she saw how much popcorn was left. “Ok, whatever you say. You know how I love my popcorn.” She dug into it ravenously, she was eating for two.The movie started and all feelings of sickness left me as soon as they come. “It's starting,” I whispered as excited as a 5 year old being presented with candy.The movie was perfect. It was about these two people, with big dreams, that were trying to balance their ambitions with keeping their relationship steady. Mia, the girl, wanted to be a famous actress. Sebastian, the guy, wanted to open his own jazz club. They were so cute together and worked perfectly. While watching it, a small part of her wished her relationship could be like theirs. They had fights and eventually, their ambitions got in the way of their relationship. Mia went off to Paris to shoot her first musical/movie. Sebastian stayed in Los Angeles to try and figure out his musical career. 5 years after that, Mia and her husband happened to walk into a jazz club. It turned out to be Sebastian’s.Hermione was overcome with emotion as she sat there watching it. Sebastian played their song, “City of Stars”. The little girl still inside her wishes that their relationship had worked out perfectly. But she knew it was for the best. Still, Hermione cried. She looked over at Ginny, one tear slid down her cheek, but she quickly brushed it away. She’d always refused to show weakness.Ginny turned towards her. “That was a roller coaster wasn’t it?”Hermione kept crying.“Oh, Hermione. Are you ok?”“I guess. It's just..just…”“I get it. That was very emotional. Did you like the music?” Ginny’s eye twinkled. She knew how much Hermione loved musicals.She laughed. “The music was great. I’m probably going to have the soundtrack memorised by the end of the week,” she said with a little sniffle.Ginny smiled. “Ok. I’m going to hold you accountable to that.”They walked to the edge of the parking lot so no one could see them apparate. Once getting to the apartment, Hermione checked her watch. 10:30.“Hey Gin, it's really late. We should get to bed. Especially because you want to give the baby some rest too,” She joked.“Oh my god Hermione, don't you start that up too!”“Ok sureeeee.. Goodnight!”Ginny tried to stifle her laughter. “Goodnight Mione!” Ginny closed the door to her apartment.Hermione apparated to her flat. She went to open the door, but hesitated. What was she doing? In a burst of courage she opened the door and walked into her apartment. Immediately she heard Ron talking on the phone, (He finally knew how to use it correctly now) so she stopped walking to hear what he was saying.“Goodnight, sweetheart. I’ll be dreaming of your sweet, little pussy tonight”Hermione actually threw up a little in her mouth. It took all of her self control not to scream with disgust. She tiptoed out of the bedroom in tears, stopping for scarcely a moment to grab a bowl of cherries. She hugged her comfort food close to her chest as she carefully closed the door behind her. She was just so tired. For once, Hermione didn’t want to think or to analyze. She just wanted to be in a state of nothingness. To not have to think about anything ever again.Just then, Hermione had a startling realization: their relationship was doomed. They were both cheaters. Well wasn’t that just great. A wry smile overtook her cherry juice covered lips. From the outside, Hermione must of looked insane. So be it, she thought.At that moment she finally understood her kiss with Seamus. It was a beautiful stained glass window with a crack in it. She’d managed to run her hand over that crack and come away with a shard of glass stuck in it.