Disclaimer: I do not own the characters. I only own the Deathly Hallows poster that resides in my room as inspiration.

A/N: Made a quick word change at the end of this chapter. This is why I shouldn't publish things in the middle of the night. Oh well on to the fic :)


"Go! Get away from here!" A man's voice yelled out.

"No! I am not leaving you here, like this. I can't, please don't ask me to." She gestured emphatically around them, then swiped away her traitorous tears. He then roughly grabbed her and hauled her towards him. He placed a brief kiss on her lips before pushing her away.

"Go now you stupid girl." She immediately started running away, compelled involuntarily. She tried to stop but found that she couldn't. Not even when she heard him scream.

She woke up breathing heavy. That dream left her shaken. It felt too real to her, and she didn't like that one bit. It felt like she knew him, but she didn't. At least she thought she didn't. She could still feel his lips on hers. She shook herself to try and rid herself of it. It was still early, pre-dawn but she decided to get ready for the day. She took her time showering and getting dressed and finally decided to just go into work early.

She worked in a branch off of the Auror department. She was the equivalent of a muggle detective. Although she rarely did field work, she was in charge of Intel and profiling. That equated to long hours at the office concentrating and planning. Most of the times she was perfectly content, research was her thing. There were some times though, where she just wanted to be back in the thick of things where the action was at. She had been at the office for approximately three hours when the rest of her co-workers showed up for the day.

"Good morning Hermione!" Harry yelled right next to her ear. She could only wince in response. "Merlin, how long have you been here?" He asked once he saw the piles of work on her desk.

"A while." She mumbled.

"Why?" He asked her pointedly.

"I couldn't sleep, figured I'd make a better use of my time here." She responded, noncommittally. "I've gotten way behind honestly and so it all worked out fairly well if you ask me."

"This is not a better way to spend your time." He stated gesturing to her cluttered desk.

"Honestly Harry, I am not a child. I can spend my time the way I see fit." She snapped. He stepped back with his hands up at her tone.

"I'm just concerned for you Hermione. I don't want anything else to happen to you." He said with a morose smile.

"I'm going to be fine Harry. Thank you for worrying and I'm sorry for snapping."

"It's alright. I've done that to you too many times. Well better go see what the Minister wants, the man is insane; sending his bloody owl at the crack of dawn."

She smiled as he left, then immersed herself back into her work. She had been serious when she said she was behind, which by many's standards was in fact several days ahead of schedule. She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't notice anyone enter her office, not until someone slammed their fists down on her desk top.

"Hermione, the Minister is going to call you in to his office shortly. I need you to tell him no. He has finally lost it." Harry ranted to her.

"Harry I am certain that the Minister is in fine mental condition. And he probably has good reason for whatever his request may be." She said calmly, trying to placate Harry.

"I knew you would say that." He said narrowing his eyes. "Oi! Ron!" He then yelled out. Ron quietly came into her office, nervously avoiding eye contact with her.

"Ron?" She was confused at his actions. What on earth was going on?

"Sorry Hermione." He stammered before he quickly clambered over and grabbed her out of her chair. She didn't have a chance to say anything because the next second she was hauled over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and carried out of her office.

"Ronald Weasley! Set me down this instant! I refuse to be man-handled!" She screeched. She loved her friends honestly, but it was moments like these that made her question her choices in life. She hated it when they tried to control her like this. "Harry Potter, what is going on?" He chose to ignore her question; oh there would be hell to pay when they put her down.

Ron finally sat her down, in Harry's office of all places. She righted herself, crossed her arms, and gave them the death glare she had learned from a friend. Ron actually whimpered and Harry's left eye was twitching.

"One of you is going to spill or so help me I will hex both of your arses." She finally bit out.

"Listen Hermione," Harry started saying.

"Listen? I was listening before you carted me off! Explain yourself right this instant Harry James Potter."

"You can't agree with the Minister on this decision."

"And why not mister?" She was tapping her foot angrily now.

"Because I need you on a field mission." Minister Shacklebolt stated as he burst into Harry's office. "And honestly Harry, could you have chosen a more obvious location?" He mused, more as an afterthought. "Anyways Miss Granger, I would like to ask for you to go and work on a case. You are the most qualified. And I know that if we capture him, he will lead us to Dolohov."

"Who Minister?" She asked, though she was afraid she already knew the answer.

"Thorfinn Rowle."

"See Hermione, I told you he has lost it. There is no way now," He started, but she interrupted.

"I'm aware Harry! I don't need you reminding me every single moment! However I'm sure the Minister has accounted for that, otherwise he wouldn't have asked me." She stated pointedly.

"Exactly right my girl. Mr. Potter here just wouldn't hear me out. Now stop glaring at me Harry, I wouldn't be asking if it wasn't necessary. Hermione here is an expert on the both of them and the most qualified to do the task quickly and expertly."

"She could tell us what to do from here though." Harry whined out. She rolled her eyes at his tone.

"Harry if there is a trail, it won't hold. I want Dolohov too much to let it go cold because I'm trying to explain the nuances of Rowle so you can complete the mission." Hermione stated, as if explaining it to a child. Not a bad comparison given his current antics.

"Right again." Shacklebolt said with a Cheshire-like grin. "Now I am going to assign you a partner for the duration of this case. Normally I would assign Harry to you, however with this being a special case I have decided to call in one of my Hit wizards." Her eyes widened at this. The Hit wizards were an elite group, top of the hierarchy at the office. Though they were rarely there, their missions were highly confidential. Many of their identities were confidential as well. "Best of them all he is." He added as an afterthought. Harry and Ron both looked at each other quickly with wide eyes.

"Tell me it's not him." Ron asked quickly.

"Not who?" Hermione asked. What was she missing, who could it possibly be? Ron and Harry both gasped sharply and she looked at them inquisitively. Their gazes were locked on the doorway. "Could you two be any more dramatic?" She asked before turning to see who was there. "Oh, hullo. I suppose you are my new partner?" She asked, before she bit her lip. He gave her a curt nod. "Excellent."

"Hermione!" Ron yelled.

"What?" She hissed.

"Why are you okay with this? He may be the best, but he is a slimy Slytherin." Ron bit out in a rush.

"He is?" She asked with mock shock. "I never would have guessed. Some of us have gotten over out past house rivalries Ronald. Besides…" She couldn't help but trail off. She was grinning inwardly at Ron's face, he was nervously waiting for her to finish.

"Besides what?" Harry finally asked. The both of them were practically bouncing with anxiety. She flicked her eyes over to her partner with a mischievous glint in her eyes. He gave a small nod to go ahead with whatever she had planned.

"Doesn't matter. I can make my own decisions you two. Minister I accept your assignment."

"Great. The briefing is on your desk. Good day all." And with that statement, Shacklebolt swept out of the office.

"Hermione I think you are as nutters as he is." Ron mumbled. She just smiled at him and stood up to walk up to her new partner.

"Hello again Marcus." She said smiling up at him.

"Hello Mya." Marcus replied.

"Marcus?"

"Mya?" Harry and Ron said simultaneously. She then made to leave Harry's office. "Wait, what were you going to say a moment ago Hermione?" Harry asked, not wanting her to leave. Ron couldn't cart her off again, not if Flint was her partner. The man was huge.

Hermione turned her head and smiled at Harry. Oh you just had to ask. "I was going to say, 'Besides he's a great snog.'" She then turned and waltzed out of his office leaving Harry and Ron frozen in place. Flint just smirked at the both of them and followed her.


A/N: I know this is going to be a weird pairing, but I couldn't help it. I was reading "The Flint Grin" by LemonStar and kinda got infatuated with the idea. Check out that story and you'll see what I mean. There is much potential, and I'm excited to work with a character that doesn't have much background. Send me a review and let me know what you think, I love hearing from you :)