Lawful Good

Is it better to know the potentially awful situations that await you, or to be blindsided by them? Hermione sat alone in her office early Monday, pondering this question. She’d had a lot of experience with it while in school trying not to get killed, but it all felt just as serious in her career life. She wasn’t exactly sure if she would rather face a werewolf coming after her or having to get serious work done with Parkinson and Malfoy.

Her work had gotten to the point where, yes, she did need to confer with them on certain topics so she could gain broader understanding. At the last moment on Friday, she had charmed notes to find Parkinson and Malfoy asking to meet with her first thing next week. She had dreaded waking up for Monday. She wanted to call in sick. But even though she had these thoughts, it was unlike her to back down from a challenge, and she would face it head on with a lot of coffee.

“Good morning,” Hermione cheerily sang to the barren boardroom save for Malfoy and Parkinson sitting on one side of the table. As she placed her coffee and stack of parchment down on the table, she rushed out, “Let’s get started, shall we?”

She wasn’t aware that they also had quills and parchment in front of them, as she kept her eyes trained on her own mess of papers to sort through. She was chatting away with different topics she needed information on, and across the table was so silent she almost thought she was alone. At last she grabbed her coffee and had a sip, which forced her eyes over to them. Them, who looked slightly confused, bored, and ready all at the same time. Pansy had her dark hair tied back and had a deep shade of magenta on her lips, and Malfoy looked as quaffed as ever. 

Hermione figured that if she asked direct questions, then she would get direct answers and all of this would be like pulling off a band aid: fairly quick and only briefly painful. To her credit, she was mostly right. Pansy did insert little quips here and there that Hermione ignored, because she had been warned and knew better. Malfoy was never malevolent or snarky in his answers, contrary to their interaction last week, and even gave Hermione-level detail so she didn’t really have to ask for anything further from him, which made the whole interaction easier. Somehow the time flew by, and they had been together for two hours before Hermione realized they should stop for the day. Of course she could go for hours on end, but she had learned to be mindful of others’ time once she started working at the Ministry. A coworker once joked that nobody else got off on working hard except for her, and she gave a little laugh but secretly wished somebody could even begin to match her lust for information gathering.

“Thank you both for your time and insights today. I’ll send a note this afternoon to each of you about when I’d like to meet up again,” Hermione stated in her most bland, courteous voice. Pansy nodded and gave a small smile, while Malfoy simply nodded. By the time Malfoy had reached down to grab his things, Pansy was out the door and Hermione was caught up in her own collecting of things to even notice he was lingering. Draco cleared his throat, and Hermione was caught off guard to see him standing there in his perfectly fitted suit, clearly wanting her attention for something.

“If you need to have longer sessions, Pansy and Blaise get fidgety, but I don’t mind. We aren’t as busy as you think we are,” he paused, “And I um, wanted to let you know I haven’t forgotten,” he finished solemnly and walked out. 

Hermione’s eyes were wide, and her stomach dropped while at the same time her chest was about to burst with emotion. She had no idea what this concoction of emotions was, but she was left feeling confused, if anything. Is Draco Malfoy a caring person? Was that a semblance of remorse I saw? Did he really just offer to spend more time with me? What on earth is going on?

Hermione decided to take an early lunch alone in hopes she might be able to clear her mind in order to get some work done. With each mindless bite of her food, she talked herself back down into reason. 

He’s a human; I have to remember this first.

It’s been 3 years, and I don’t understand everything he’s gone through. Maybe he has changed.

What if I’m the one who is being unreasonably judgemental here?

But her mind was ready with the counter arguments.

How can I forget how awful he was to us all from the very first day? 

How can I forget that he plotted to kill Dumbeldore, and hurt others along the way?

And for Merlin’s sake, I was tortured by his aunt in front of him while he stood there watching.

The last point stirred some emotions, but she was suddenly more open to his perspective. What would she have done in his place? She couldn’t fathom it to begin with, but probably something like he did. She remembered the feigned uncertainty of his voice, when she knew it was impossible to misplace the faces of the people you most enjoyed bullying. Especially after sitting with him for the last 2 hours, she knew he was anything but dumb. 

Truthfully, she had hated Malfoy for being the one to identify them, but anyone in the room with two brain cells could have done it sooner or later. She hated that maybe, just maybe he could have stopped it, but it was safer to stay spineless than dead. If she was being really honest with herself, she could hate him, but she couldn’t blame him. His survival instincts kept him alive, and apparently, that meant he was of some use to the wizarding world today.

By the time her lunch break was up, she had come to the more firm conclusion to keep an open mind, rather than the caution she was tip-toeing around with before this morning. With this matter somewhat settled for the moment, it meant she could dive into work wholeheartedly. She worked straight through the afternoon, almost missing the fact it was home time until some loud, jovial voices sounded outside her door and she decided to look at the clock. Her body suddenly felt lethargic, having been researching nonstop for the past 7 hours, but she was glad to go home and, if she was lucky, get some sun on her balcony with Crookshanks for company.

***

Tuesday went by quickly with continuing the research from the day prior, but now she wanted Blaise’s take. She decided to send a note for a 1 hour meeting Wednesday morning, and hoped it would go smoothly like it had gone with Parkinson and Malfoy.

When she got home that day, there was an owl waiting for her on her balcony ledge. She saw it was the owl Ginny and Harry used, a pretty speckled brown and white thing, but far from the pet Hedwig had been. She was glad to see it was Ginny’s elegant writing who had written her name, and opened it up.

“Dear Hermione,

We hope your new position is going well. It’s been tough not seeing you for the past few months, and yes I have said this before, but we miss you. I’ve got a game coming up next Saturday if you’re able to make it, and I know for a fact Harry would be going alone since Ron has other plans. He didn’t say what, but I’m guessing you don’t care anyway. It really hasn't been the same without you on Fridays at the Leaky, and hope you’ll be up for coming back soon. You’re always welcome to pop over for a visit after work, any day.

Much love,

Ginny & Harry”

Hermione’s heart warmed at the message, but saddened at the same time. She had only seen them for about an hour in the past 3 months when they went to grab coffee one Saturday morning in Diagon Alley, and Hermione was only there to pick up books she thought would help her in her new position. As much as Quidditch seemed like a waste of time, she knew it was important to Harry and Ginny and always tried to make Ginny’s England games. She penned back that she would do her best to make it, that she missed them too and work was going well. She couldn’t decide whether to let them know who she was now working with, and didn’t know if it was appropriate to share or if it was meant to be kept on the down low. Perhaps it was an unwritten rule, and the deterrent was that people didn’t want to be associated with the department that hired ex-Death Eaters to help make laws. Now that she was thinking of it, that didn’t sound good for the Ministry. She trusted herself that it would be an easy enough secret to keep.

***

Wednesday’s meeting with Blaise went well, and Hermione was definitely more relaxed than she had been on Monday. Blaise had made a lot of keen observations and eavesdropped on a lot of things he shouldn’t have, which made it clear to see why he was hired on the team. He was courteous with Hermione, and she didn’t feel like he was holding anything against her. Malfoy was right about him getting fidgety, because she had gone over time by 5 minutes and he started getting antsy. She looked at the time and decided to let him go, so she didn’t leave a bad taste in his mouth after their first meeting. 

As she was gathering her items from the boardroom, Rolfson walked by. For being so interested in having her, he didn’t seem very interested in how she was progressing. She had been there a week and a half and this was the first time she had seen him after he had shown her her office. They exchanged pleasantries, and he asked her to come by his office after lunch for a rundown of how things were going. Finally, Hermione thought. At least she was capable and could work on her own initiative, but some guidance and feedback was always welcomed. 

Hermione was clearly in the wrong department if she was seeking validation from her superiors. Rolfson only wanted a run down of efforts that had been made, and from now on would do a check every two weeks. With a large sigh she internalized, she headed back to her office feeling slightly deflated. Some time last week she had found a spare moment to grab the box from her old office she had packed and brought it to her new office. She had already taken most of her books home, because she highly doubted she would be needing texts on magical creatures, and brought the few pertaining to laws in the box along with the few trinkets she had on display. Now seemed like a good moment for a pick me up of personalizing her space. Some of her greatest breakthroughs came when doing mundane tasks, so in reality, personalizing her work space was productive.

For the longest time she had a picture of her, Harry, Ron, and Ginny, a picture of her and Ron, and a picture of her parents. She was taking “out of sight, out of mind” quite literally with Ron, and had managed to find some stashed photos of the weekend of her in Venice with her parents holding a glass of wine on a bridge, and her and Ginny together after one of her matches. This made her realize she really needed to take more photos of her with the people she cared about, since she thought it would be weird to put up a photo of when she was at the Yule Ball in fourth year with Harry, or a separate one she had with Viktor. 

Ron had also gifted her a replica of Helga Hufflepuff’s cup for their first anniversary, and she definitely wouldn’t be putting that on display any time soon. Thankfully she still had an enchanted globe with a flying broomstick zooming around inside it from Ginny, and Harry had bought her an ornately carved book holder and red and gold enchanted fan that was from wizarding Japan when he and Ginny went on their honeymoon last year. So her shelves weren’t totally barren, but without her normally huge collection of books, it was sparse. 

While putting everything out, she mulled over how to structure her weeks. To meet up with whom, and how regularly? She needed a lot of time to think on her own, but it was advantageous to talk things over with the people who had been in this department for longer than a week. She wanted a weekly team meeting, and settled on Tuesday afternoons. That way, if her or others were working on something new for the week, they could bring it and expand on it. She also liked the idea of keeping regular meetings with Pansy, Blaise, and Malfoy, so she made a mental note to keep them on a weekly schedule for now, until she felt confident in being able to call on them for specific things they would know about. Malfoy to start her Mondays off, and Pansy and Blaise to continue her week on Thursday mornings.

She wasn’t exactly sure how she felt about spending the beginnings of her week alone with her biggest bully through her schooling years, but best to get it over with than to let it simmer during her work week. Also, she would be taking advantage of his brain and his ability to sit for longer than an hour or two, unlike the others. She would keep them for an hour and a half max, unless they proved to be more annoying than helpful. She quickly penned notes that zoomed off down the hallways to each person, letting them know about her desired meetups and if they were all on board. If so, they would start this new schedule next week. She set herself to work for the afternoon as one by one, the notes flew back to her, accepting their new schedules. 

***

Her weekend was fun, for once. Hermione forgot what it was like to get out of the house and be amongst enthusiastic people, high off the emotion sport gives. It was also great to be with Harry again, watching Ginny give her best on the pitch. They all had drinks after the game, and Ginny kept saying that Hermione was her good luck charm because they hadn’t won a game since Hermione stopped coming. Hermione didn’t want to believe that, but smiled anyways, lest the guilt get to her. She also faced a tipsy inquisition from both Harry and Ginny about her new work, but she drank slowly so as to not spill all her secrets. It felt like she had a million things to tell, but only a few words would come out. She was still trying to process all of it and understand what she had gotten into... and was getting herself into.

Late that night she went home, heart full and throat hoarse, and let her boozy mind wander to her near future... Mondays with Malfoy. It rhymed, and it was almost funny, if it weren’t so foreboding. What did it mean? What would he think it meant if he was the first thing on her to-do list every week? Oh no, not that kind of to-do list... Maybe she should stop thinking about this... Does he even have one of those to-do lists? What would he even like... He seems so void and stony, but everyone likes something... Who could ever like him, like really like him? Does he have emotions, or is he more like a machine? What if she used this time to get under his skin and figure him out? That seems dangerous... Merlin knows she hasn’t had a bloody ounce of danger since working in an office... How has she kept sane these past three years? Life used to be so fun, but what the hell is it now? Perhaps she used up all of her nine lives as a teen and has to play it safe now... Don’t be ridiculous, Hermione Granger is not a cat and those rules do not apply... What other rules don’t apply? She had tested her luck with the pesky department heads hounding her before, so what can she do now? What will she do next...

The next morning Hermione’s head ached a little, and she could remember having vivid and adventurous dreams - but about what? Part of her wished she could remember, but a bigger part was glad it was a dim and cloudy day.

***

Malfoy was on time, impeccably dressed, and ready with parchment and quill. He had a steaming cup of something beside him, but Hermione couldn’t guess what it was straight away.

“Good morning Malfoy, I trust you are ready to get straight to work?” Hermione announced as she walked into the boardroom.

“Good morning Granger, of course I am,” there was a hint of arrogance in his response, but Hermione willfully chose to ignore it. Malfoy sat back slightly and took a sip of his drink.

“Might I ask, first off, what that is? I can’t place the smell,” she was going to play the courtesy card in this game she knew they had started.

“It’s a mixture of camomile, mint, and lavender with honey.”

“Oh, I’m surprised you would go for something so calming and relaxing this early in the day.”

“Granger, between you and I, someone has got to be relaxed and level headed,” he smirked back at her as he took another sip.

Smiling her fakest smile she said,  “Well, to each their own.” She snapped open her folder and dove straight into working. They carried on in a strictly professional manner for 3 and a half hours before Hermione started to get thirsty, and then realized she could do with a bite to eat as well.

“Seeing as it’s a half hour until lunch, I’m sure you wouldn’t mind us wrapping up this session for today? You’ve been very useful on the subject -”

“And now I get to go have a snack like a good little boy?” Hermione could hear the ire in his voice, but his eyes were playful and challenging. Hermione deadpanned him. “What, after nearly 5 hours working together, do you still just see me as a tool to use and set down as you please?”

“I didn’t mean to come across like that,” Hermione spoke down at her papers, “and I think you have valuable input. But yes, Malfoy, it is time for snacks. Run along,” she finished with her head cocked to the side, smiling sweetly. Malfoy raised an eyebrow at her and left silently without looking back. When he left she felt flushed with foolishness, still unsure of how exactly they were going to get along. Almost as important as the work they did today were the few personal words they’d exchanged. Malfoy wanted to be treated as an equal human. Hermione actually praised him. Oh boy.

She had to admit he was valuable, and didn’t seem concerned with the type of questions asked or how long they sat there. She doubted the same would be said for the other two, but that was for another day. She had laws to research today.

Tuesday’s team meeting went well and new collaborations started happening, and Hermione knew they were just days away from being able to submit their first bill to the Wizengamot. Thursday’s session with Blaise and Pansy would help tie up some loose ends, and she found herself relying on their input for some crucial details. She hoped this was a wise move.

Pansy seemed to be hormonal or something, because she was extra moody, couldn’t sit still, and whined throughout the whole session - as in, barely of any help. Thankfully Blaise had it together, but between trying to placate Pansy and focus on the task at hand, he was a bit too unfocused for Hermione’s level of detail required. Hermione was a bit uptight herself, knowing that they had set a date for the Wizengamot to review this bill - and that date was only four days away. Monday morning, 10 am, Hermione would face her first test. She decided to end this session with Blaise and Pansy early, because she could get better work done alone. Upon announcing an early end to their session, Pansy rushed out like she was late to something else, while Blaise stayed behind for a moment.

“I’m sorry about her, I think she’s just having a bad day. She’s not usually this difficult,” Blaise apologized.

“I appreciate that Blaise, and I do hope she’s able to pull it together, or I don’t think she’ll remain a part of these sessions,” frowned Hermione. “But, I was wondering, would it be possible for you to show me to Malfoy’s, er, office? I have something I need to get clear before Monday.” Hermione was out on a limb with this one. She definitely could have asked Blaise to stay longer and go through the same things with him, but she felt like tempting fate.

Blaise gave her shifty eyes, but agreed and led her along to the very back section of the department. If they wanted to keep the defectors out of mind, then Rolfson was doing a good job hiding them way back here. No wonder Hermione hadn’t run into them in the halls by mistake apart from once; it was an epic walk for them to get anywhere. Might as well just stay put.

Blaise motioned to Malfoy’s door and kept walking down the hall to the left until he reached his own, glancing back at Hermione before entering. Come on, she encouraged herself, this is no big deal. All work. She raised her knuckles to the door, took a deep breath and knocked. Hours of silence had passed, and the hallway swallowed her up before she heard footsteps approaching the door mere seconds later. She let out the breath she didn’t know she had been holding as it swung open. Malfoy stared at her, as caught off guard that she was there as she was surprised to find herself still standing there.

“Hi, Malfoy, I wondered if you could help me clear up a few details before next Monday? I mean, now, but in regards to the hearing on Monday,” she blurted out in one stream.

“Uh, sure, yes, come in,” he stepped aside and motioned her welcome into an office almost identical to hers, save for the custom mahogany desk and matching leather chair. Hermione appraised the office with a mental Of course, because while she was no design expert, she should have expected touches of wealth to be apparent in Malfoy’s workspace.

“I hope I wasn’t interrupting something important,” Hermione cringed at the fact she was being considerate and polite to the blond-headed snob.

“Not at all, nothing that can’t wait,” Malfoy smiled and clasped his hands in front of him as he sat. “What do I owe this pleasure, Granger?” His smile became even more mysterious, and Hermione wished she could perform wandless legilimency in this moment.

“Unfortunately my session with Blaise and Pansy wasn’t very fruitful today,” Malfoy snorted, “and I was thinking you could help me with some finishing touches. You expressed earlier your willingness to extend our sessions, so I figured I would try my luck.”

“Well I certainly didn’t mean call on me at any hour Granger, but I’ll let it slide this time,” his smirk widened. “Just because I know you’re working so hard and trying to make a good impression,” he ended off with an exaggerated wink. Hermione couldn’t tell if it was sarcasm, flirting, or if there was genuine sentiment in there, but it made her stomach turn all the same. She swallowed and remained neutral.

“Thank you for your, uh, kindness, Malfoy. I promise I won’t take up too much of your time,” Hermione somehow stifled her face flushing red by sifting through her papers and reading from them before chancing a look up at Malfoy’s smug face again. She refused to let him know he had won this round in whatever game they were playing.

The next 60 minutes flew by, and what had initially been only a couple of questions turned into discussions about how exactly things should be presented and the precise wording to be used. Hermione was shocked that she found it so easy to work with Malfoy, and that once they got into business mode, he was serious and intelligent. She had been so preoccupied with everything else going on in school that she had failed to notice anything beyond his self righteous exterior. In fact, it was hard to believe there was anything else going on besides his gigantic ego.

Hermione still wasn’t sure about Malfoy, but she was starting to see beyond the unfortunate boy he used to be. It was hard to call him a “boy” now: He was tall, well built, and always clean shaven with impeccably tailored clothes and perfectly styled hair. Hermione couldn’t not notice. She wasn’t concerned with vanity so much as if the person had a good heart, but she was still a woman with a discerning eye.

“I think that’s everything, so I appreciate you taking all this time for me. I really thought it was going to be just a few minutes. I don’t plan on making this a regular occurrence.”

“Pity, Granger. Here I thought we worked so well together that you might consider otherwise,” Malfoy toyed as he stroked his jawline with his long, slender fingers. “That is, if you aren’t too proud to admit how much easier I made your life by helping you out.”

“Let me just remind you that nobody gets their names attached to laws that get passed, or very rarely they do. This won’t be one of them. Besides, there’s other people on the team that have helped out besides you and I, even if I’m the one who has spearheaded this particular one. I’m not too proud to admit this was a team effort and I’m willing to share whatever praise with everyone who contributed. Merlin knows I’ve had enough excessive praise in my life,” she huffed out the last line before she realized her mistake.

“Hermione Granger has had her fill of praise? Now that’s not a line I’d ever expected to hear from the witch’s mouth,” Malfoy was in his glory now.

“Well maybe if you had a big hand in helping save the world, then yeah,” Hermione retorted indignantly.

“Sensitive, are we? But also very considerate. Could’ve tacked on a low blow, there. Nothing goes unnoticed, Granger.”

“I was talking about me, not you. You’re a completely different subject...” she trailed off looking to the side.

“Oh, am I? Please, do enlighten me. I’d love to hear about my own life,” Malfoy’s voice hardened slightly and the grin waned.

“I was trying to move on and be cordial, unless you’re up for strolling down memory lane and- “ Hermione caught herself before she provoked him like he wanted.

“And, sorry, what were you going to say?” Silence fell between them as they stared at one another, for what felt like the first time in years. 

“And I’m trying to be the bigger person,” Hermione finished firmly.

“Hmm,” Malfoy drummed his fingertips on the table, still staring at Hermione and evaluating her deeply. “I think I’ll let that slide for today too. You caught me in a generous mood, what can I say?” 

Hermione was rendered speechless for a moment. She should have expected anything after all this time, yet somehow she didn’t anticipate generosity and playfulness were the cards Malfoy would play her. After all he has allegedly been through. After all she knows he has been through.

“I suppose it’s my lucky day. I did always like Thursdays.”

“And why is that?”

“Because it’s one more day to get the job done.”