Chapter 1
Hermione was bitting her nails. Again. She thought she had gotten rid of that disgusting habit but, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t avoid it when she was this nervous.
Six years had passed since she graduated Hogwarts and she was currently one of the best positioned members of the Magical Creatures Department. Having befriended Winky while she worked at the Hogwarts Kitchen, she had encouraged her to establish the “Organization for House Elf Welfare and Equal Rights”, serving as its main representative. At first, Hermione and Winky had a really tough time convincing elves to join. It was understandable considering they really didn’t knew better. Thankfully, after putting up a long campaign showing elves that they could fight for better work conditions, the organization’s popularity started to pick up.
Following Winky’s acceptance of Hermione's proposal, significant strides were made. Changes included a mandatory day off, provisions for paternity and maternity leave, a two-week annual vacation, and compensation in the event of being freed. Their progress had been substantial, leaving little room for further improvement - except for one small detail: the implementation of a wage system.
Foreseeing that giving payment to elves would be really controversial and hard to accomplish, Hermione decided to choose a different path than what was expected. Instead of drafting a law, submitting it to the Wizengamot and waiting for a decision, her strategy was to gauge popularity among the public - which she expected to be really high within the less privileged segments of the magical community. Her plan was to use this popularity to pressure the Wizengamot into passing the law.
Oh god.
She really couldn’t stop biting her nails.
Having decided to present the project as a treaty for al Europe to implement, she was in Paris and in less than thirty minutes was expected to go out there and give a speech that was supposed to radically transform wizarding society. To say she was a bundle of nerves would be an understatement.
In the adjacent room she could hear the muffled voice of the Head of the “Secretaria Española de Criaturas Mágicas”. Hermione had left the conference room with the intention to go over her notes one last time. However, seeing that she was unable to concentrate, she settled for brewing herself some tea to try to stifle her nerves.
…
“Hello Everyone, I welcome you to the last press conference of the European Advocacy Forum to Defend Magical Creatures Rights. We will start with the statement of the representative of the English Magical Creature’s Department, Miss Granger.” The host presented her and immediately went back to his seat.
As Hermione strode to the lectern, she observed that the room was filled to its maximum capacity. Evidently, word had gotten out about a big announcement being made at her speech. While adjusting the microphone and placing her notes in the lectern, she tried to suppress a smile. The event was being televised, too - this was great. Hermione knew she was good at this. She welcomed the attention, and if rumors helped garner it, so be it.
After giving a brief introduction (which she knew by heart) on house-elves working conditions and outlining the Organization for House Elf Welfare and Equal Rights positive impact on the matter, she started leveling the ground to prepare for the big news. “It is fair to say that house-elves lives have improved considerably in the last couple of years, not only due to the efforts in England but also because the whole Magical European Union has been endorsing laws that are increasingly progressive. In light of this, the United Kingdom would like to initiate discussions and take a step that we believe would be final.” And then, she froze.
What the fuck was Fleur FUCKING Delacour doing here???
She gaped at her for about ten seconds when the incessant clicking of cameras and Fleur’s uneasy expression prompted her to re focus.
You can do this. It’s just Fleur, you’ve known her for years. She took a deep breath.
“As I was saying, the British Department of Magical Creatures, in collaboration with the OHEWER, is urging all the European Union to recognize house-elves with a fair wage for their labour. As a matter of fact, right now a legislation ensuring this is being sent to the English Wizengamot, with hopes of the swift consideration and implementation.” After a moment of shocked silence, fortunately applause was heard. Hermione let out a sigh of relief and glanced at Fleur, who was looking at her with mild surprise and appreciation.
“Thank you for listening.” She smiled and continued “Now, you may ask your questions.”
In one second a bunch of people, including Fleur, were heard.
“Miss Granger, may I ask you a question?”
“Hermione, une question, s’il vous plaît.”
“Señorita Granger, aquí. Pregunta por favor.”
“Fräulein Granger, ich habe eine Frage. Hier."
Hermione picked a random one and pointed at him.
Fixing his tie, he proceeded. “Thank you, Miss Granger. From the Daily Prophet, my question is in regard of your ‘support’ of house elves. If you advocate for equality as much as you say, why didn’t a house elf at least accompany you to this conference?” He finished with a malicious grin.
“I understand your concerns and to answer,” Hermione fixed a polite smile. “I will have you know that I’ve largely spoken with house-elves regarding this topic and insisted that Winky, the founder of the OHEWER, should be in my place instead. Unfortunately, she refused.” She finished. “Thank you for your question. Next, please.”
An Italian journalist grabbed the microphone and asked “Oltre agli ovvi vantaggi, prevedi qualche obiezione?" (Besides from the obvious advantages, do you anticipate any objections?)
After the question was translated to Hermione, she answered. “I assume from obvious advantages you mean that house elves will finally be rewarded for their work?” He nodded so she smiled and continued. “Right. The answer to your question is simple: yes. I will warn all of you and say that we are expecting a huge backlash from this project, mainly from the more privileged part of the magical society. Both the magical industry and affluent households are profiting from free work that shouldn’t, under any circumstances, be unpaid. This is exploitation and our hope is that people will finally be able to see this.”
She finished and looked around to assess the faces of the crowd of journalists. While most of them were just eager for their questions to be answered, some others seemed unsettled. Turning her gaze to Fleur, Hermione noticed that she was wearing a confident smile.
After answering some more questions, Hermione ended the press conference. As she was gathering her notes, she saw that Fleur was waiting for her down the platform of the lectern. Hermione approached her with her stomach twisted in nerves “Hermione, hi. That was brilliant.” Fleur smiled softly at her.
“Thanks Fleur, you too.” What? Hermione mentally facepalmed herself. Why did I just said that?
Fleur twisted her head a bit and looked at her with a weird smile. Hermione couldn’t take the awkwardness she’d just caused. “I’ve got to go. See ya, Fleur.” She blurted out while she turned around and walked as fast as was socially aceptable.
Oh god. See ya, Hermione? Really?