White is such an underrated color spectrum. It's regarded as the simplest and plainest of colors, and hardly anyone would ever name white their favorite color. It is mundane, and often forgotten in favor of blues and reds and yellows.
Hermione Granger was no ordinary person, however. She had always loved the color. It is an amalgmation of every color, and yet, so humble and muted. It never screamed out at you from an array of colors, yet it is an important part of the color spectrum around the world. She leaned back in her chair and stared at the ceiling in her office. It was white at a fleeting glance, but if you looked carefully, you would see the grey grain running through it, and the yellow reflection from the sun hitting the window.
White gave Hermione Granger hope and peace. All the important memories of her life were now bathed in a white light as she reflected upon them. Chasing butterflies in her parents backyard as a child, Professor McGonagall's visit to her house when she was 11, the troll from first year, seeing Harry return from the maze their fourth year, obliviating her parents, seeing Voldemort's body after the war, finding her parents, Ron proposing, them breaking up.
After the war, Hermione had been the first to volunteer at the restoration committee to try and piece back the community and help everyone move on. The committee had gone all over the country charming, spelling, and in the worst cases, physically undoing the destruction the war had brought with it. She had always believed that work made her forget herself, and at that time, it is what she needed. Stopping meant giving her brain time to remember everything that she had seen and been through, and she could not allow that. So she worked. She worked until she forgot her past, and it wasn't soon after that she lost track of her personal life. Ron waited for three years for her, attempting to take her focus off work by taking her on dates, attempting to get her to be in the relationship as much as he was. He proposed two years after the war, and she accepted. She still didn't stop working, and he didn't know how to be in a relationship only he was present in. So he left. She didn't cry.
Now, it had been 8 years since the war. She had done everything she could for the community, and had taken up a job as the Education Secretary at the Ministry. It was just demanding enough that she was busy, but not so time consuming that she didn't have a life outside the ministry. Ron and her had long accepted that friendship suited them more, and he was happily married to Lavender Brown now. Harry and Ginny had married and already had a baby on the way.
She was happy with her life. It was peaceful and calm, and just what she needed.
She straightened up, as she heard a knock on her door. "Come in," she called.
Lucy, her assistant, popped in to her office. "Hermione, the undersecretary owled just now and asked to re-schedule tomorrows meeting. Is Wednesday at 3pm good for you?"
"Yeah, that's fine."
Lucy made a note on her clipboard, and read ahead. "Headmistress McGonagall asked to speak to you about the new Arithmancy curriculum, and about increased funding for Magical Creatures. What should I tell her?"
"Ask her if tomorrow morning is fine with her, and I can take a portkey there."
"Okay. Last thing, Malfoy Enterprises wants a meeting with you."
"Malfoy? As in, Lucius Malfoy?" Hermione asked, confused about why Lucius Malfoy wanted from her. The Malfoys had fled from the war, and distanced themselves from all old associates after the battle was over. Lucius Malfoy had even testified against some of his old "friends" and guaranteed immunity for his family. Now, the company had garnered a reputation as philanthropic and charitable, instead of the former anti-muggle and blood elitist mentality it supported previously.
"Malfoy, as in Draco Malfoy," Lucy corrected.
"What does he want?" Her former nemesis might have changed as the community changed, but she could only associate his name with the boy who called her a mudblood in school.
"I really don't know, his secretary wouldn't say," Lucy said, apologetically.
Hermione sighed. She couldn't let her childhood issues with someone stand in the way of a potential opportunity for her department. She would be professional, and listen to what Draco Malfoy had to say just like she would any other person.
"Okay, when?" she asked.
"You can meet him today at 2..."
Outwardly, Hermione nodded calmly. Inwardly, she was panicking. She was not ready to meet Draco Malfoy today.
