Chapter 1
As Hermione entered her office, she immediately slumped back onto the door, loosing a long breath.
That certainly could have gone a lot worse.
She was anxious, you see. She had just returned from a 4 hour long briefing on how they are to handle the incoming flow of transfers from the French Ministry of Magic — due to the mass dismissal of former-death-eater-turned-Order-sympathizers. Apparently the French Minister of Magic was still skeptical of their allegiance and was downright convinced that there was going to be a coup of some kind, by way of former death eaters plotting against the Ministry.
It’s possible the French minister may be too seasoned in his position and it was time to re-elect.
By any means, the notion itself was ridiculous. Hermione had seen first hand in the British Ministry how these former death eaters — whom deserve to be referenced by their given names, by the way — are hardworking individuals, willing to prove their loyalty to everyone. The lot of them were forced into the life by Voldemort and their parents anyways.
Theodore Nott, for example, is a member of the Department of Magical Artifacts. Apparently Thoe’s father was rather studied in the art of cursing items in the name of the Dark Lord, and intended to pass that onto his one and only heir. But in trade for his pardon, Theo offered his knowledge and services to the Ministry. Something a decent handful of Slytherin students of the like followed as well.
Unsurprisingly, he had to undergo a different trial of sorts, to prove his talent. Turns out he is also very skilled in undoing curses as he is cursing them, as his father taught him to do. The Ministry thought he would be of great use to us in the Magical Artifacts Department and the Department of Mysteries. Although, unfortunately for him, that also means he is unable to be promoted to any sort of authoritative position.
Theo, to his credit, was willing to do whatever it took, so this does not bother him one bit. Hermione took quite a liking to Theo.
She recognized the true guilt in him at being a part of Voldemort’s regime during the war, and believed him when he said he did not intend on overthrowing the Ministry if given half a chance. She supposed it also helped his case that he was under the influence of Veritaserum during his trial.
A few others are of the same mindset as Theo; Pansy Parkinson, Blaise Zabini, and Astoria and Daphne Greengrass. Although, out of the five, only 3 of them work for the Ministry. Astoria and Daphne are perfectly content to live the remainder of their lives on their estate away from judgmental eyes.
Hermione often wonders how the sisters are doing, as no one has heard from them in quite a while.
Hermione herself was Senior Assistant to the Minister for Magic — Kingsley Shacklebolt — which often led to her overseeing a lot of the goings on in the Ministry. In this case, she is to process all of the transfers and ensure the transitions are smooth; that the witches and wizards are organized into their proper departments and are faring well under new leadership. She is always on call since there still seems to be quite a bit of prejudice against them. Hermione doesn’t stand for it one bit. It’s one of the main reasons Shacklebolt trusted her enough to appoint her the position. After she worked herself up the chain of command in just 8 years on her own, of course. She would dare accept a position handed to her simply because of her role in the war. She was determined and humble, if nothing else.
There were around 20 or so names that were listed, but only one of which made her face go pale; Draco Malfoy. Not that she was scared of him or anything, she just had some very difficult memories related to the Malfoy family — and their estate.
When she spotted his name in the stack of files, the blood drained from her face and all noise ceased to exist. She thought she was going to pass out. Needless to say, Hermione was on autopilot for the rest of the meeting. Doing and saying the bare minimum to get her through to the end, and then leaving the meeting as swiftly as possible.
Hermione hadn’t known that anyone noticed until she heard a light knock outside her door, right behind where her head rested. So she straightened herself and turned to open the door. Naturally, it was Harry who stood outside her office. She should have known that her closest friend would be able to tell when she was being suddenly avoidant.
She ducked her head and greeted him, “Oh, hey Harry.” She tried to smile, but it looked more like a grimace, and Harry just looked back at her with one of his own. She definitely should have known.
“Hey Mione. Are you alright? I could tell something was off back there.” Hermione stepped back to allow him in.
As he walked into the room towards the hearth, she replied, completely aware that the chipper tone of her voice sounds fake, and that Harry caught onto it. “Erm, yeah, I’m great Harry. How are you?”
“Hermione,” Harry simply said. She was looking down to the floor, not wanting to meet his eyes. “I know when something’s the matter, you know.” a breathy chuckle left him.
“Harry, honestly, I-“
“It’s Malfoy isn’t it?” Hermione unwillingly flinched at the sound of his name and looked up at Harry, but didn’t say anything more. He already knew. “I know you have a lot of bad memories connected to that name, I understand. I’m not exactly his biggest fan either,” Harry said, look at her with pleading eyes. He wants her to open up to him and Hermione knows that.
It’s just so hard to talk about.
He spoke again, “Mione, you know you can talk to me, right? Ron, Ginny? There’s a lot of bad memories from the war, but there is also a lot of support and help. Please don’t internalize it. I think you need to talk to someone.”
Hermione’s arms slacked at her sides before she strode off to her desk in the back of the room. “Harry, i don’t want to talk to anyone about it. I just want to forget about it. I was doing quite well actually. Until…,” Hermione paused, then continued, “anyways, it’s not like i have a choice in the matter. it’s part of my job. I’ll see to him as i would any of the others. I’ll get past it like i always do.” She looks up at Harry again with a fake smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes.
“I don’t want you to think you can’t talk to anyone about it. It’s okay to talk about it. You know that?” Harry simply stood there, staring at her with his hands in the pockets of his long tan coat.
She exhaled, “Of course i know that Harry. There’s nothing to talk about.” She tried to put on the most convincing smile of her life, just to get him to drop it.
The look in Harry’s eyes was now defeated, she could see that he was not going to pry anymore, and for that she immediately started to relax a bit. “Come over for dinner this Saturday, yeah? Gin’s making her mum’s roast beef and chicken for dinner and baked pumpkin pie for dessert. Ron and Pansy will be there too, y’know. They miss you.”
Her heart warmed at the thought of her having a dinner with her family for the first time in a while, “Of course i’ll be there, Harry. It’s been too long.” This time her smile was genuine.
It seemed to satisfy Harry enough, so he nodded and simply said, “six o’clock,” before he walked out.
This time Hermione slumped all the way down into her chair and laid her forehead down on the desk, arms dangling towards the floor.
From across the room, the enchanted door knocker with a mind of its own said to her, “he can tell you’re full of shit, you know.”
Hermione sat up and glared at the door knocker. Folding her arms, all she said was, “Aren’t you supposed to only relay Ministry correspondence and not life advice?”
“Even i can tell you’re full of shit, and i’m a harmless, animated piece of hardware with no life experience.”
Hermione begrudgingly scoffed a laugh right before she lifted her wand and uttered Silencio right at it.