AN:
School: Durmstrang
Year: 6
Word Count: 2960
Theme: Medical Muggles
Prompts: 11. Promotion (main prompt), 5. Professor Umbridge, 9. Hate-filled gaze
"There you are," Ron said as his fiancé walked through the door of their shared London flat.
"Sorry I was running late," Hermione said, pulling off her white medical coat. She stepped over and gave him a quick kiss.
"Don't worry about it, mum won't mind," Ron said, returning her kiss. "She's just glad you're finally able to make a dinner. She knows how busy they keep you at the hospital. So what was holding you up this time? Discovering the cure for another horrible disease?"
"Ron, you make it sound like I'm some sort of saint," Hermione scoffed, rolling her eyes. "But I do have some exciting news."
"So do I," Ron grinned. "The Cannons football team finally scored a goal during their match today! Granted, they were still creamed nine-to-one, but that's their first goal in two seasons!"
"Ah, is that why you painted your face orange?" Hermione chuckled, using her thumb to wipe a smudge of orange paint off of his long nose.
"Had to, the entire pub was celebrating," Ron said. "You're lucky Harry convinced me not to paint my whole body."
"Yes, quite lucky," Hermione agreed, rolling her eyes playfully.
"Sorry, didn't mean to cut you off," Ron said. "Go on then; what's your news?"
"I got a promotion!" Hermione beamed.
"You-Are you serious?" Ron exclaimed, rushing towards her and swinging her around. "That's brilliant! Congratulations, love!"
"Thank you," Hermione said, a large smile still stretched across her face. "It was such a shock. I got called into the Chief of Medicine's office when I was in the middle of collecting cell samples in the lab. At first I thought he wanted to talk to me about the vaccination presentation I am scheduled to give at the hospital's next conference, but it turns out Horcruciatus has had their eye on me for a bit of time now. They came in to make me an offer!"
"Er, let's just pretend for a moment that I don't know what Horcruciatus is," Ron said slowly.
"It's the largest medical research firm in all Europe!" Hermione said.
"So did you take it then?" Ron asked eagerly. "The promotion?"
"Well…" Hermione said, biting the corner of her lip nervously. "I know I should have talked it over with you first, but it was such an amazing opportunity. I didn't want-"
"So you took it then?" Ron interjected. "Hermione, this is great! Long time coming too. You definitely deserve it. So when do you start?"
"Right away," Hermione said. "The new head of Horcruciatus wants to talk to me at eight tomorrow morning."
"Blimey, they're not waiting at all, are they?" Ron commented. "Ah well, we'll just have to make sure we don't stay too late at my mum and dad's. Which could be a good thing, now that I think about it. My dad's been obsessed with magic tricks lately. When I went by the other day, he spent an hour showing me how he could make a coin disappear behind my ear…it's mad."
"Oh, it's nice that he's finding new hobbies," Hermione replied. She leaned up and kissed Ron again. "And thank you for being so supportive. I'm probably going to be working more hours now, but I really think that I'm going to be able to do so much good here."
"Course you will," Ron said, kissing her back. "They didn't call you the smartest medical student in the university for nothing, did they? You're bound to do great things. It's who you are."
Hermione stood in the elevator the next morning, fiddling with the collar of her shirt. She could feel her nerves dancing around in her body, and the breakfast that Ron had made for her as a surprise (or attempted to; but the gesture had been so thoughtful that Hermione forced herself to eat the burnt toast and overly-runny eggs) was churning around in her stomach.
It had been five years since she had finally finished school and started to practice medicine. She knew that landing this position as the head researcher at such an influential firm was an honor those even much older than her could only dream of.
It'll be alright, Hermione told herself. You're going to have the chance to help millions of people here. This is why you decided to study medicine.
The elevator dinged on her floor, and the silver doors slid open. She had a received a message earlier in the morning that she was supposed to report directly to the new head of Horcruciatus. Hermione had searched and searched, but she couldn't find even a name to place to her new boss. Not being able to learn as much as possible about her superior did nothing to relieve Hermione's sense of anxiety, so as she stepped out of the elevator and headed down the long corridor to the only office on the floor, it was all she could do to keep her hands from visibly shaking.
She took a deep breath as she knocked on the office door.
"Come in," came a high-pitched, girlish voice from within.
Hermione turned the knob and stepped inside the office.
Any expectation of what this office would look like was instantly wiped from Hermione's mind. Nearly all of the vast office was covered in pink. The walls were adorned with several framed pictures of cats, and frilly dollies were thrown over nearly every surface. The entire office smelled as though a truck of potpourri had been dumped inside of it.
"Hello," said a short woman who had a face, Hermione couldn't help but notice, that looked an awful lot like a toad. She stood up from her desk and pulled a wide smile across her face. "You must be Dr. Hermione Granger."
"Yes," Hermione nodded, quickly getting over the shock of the office. She extended a hand to the woman. "I am thrilled to be starting here at Horcruciatus. I can't wait to get to work."
"Well, I am certainly glad to hear that," the woman said, still smiling. "I am Dr. Dolores Umbridge; head of operations at Horcruciatus. I've heard very promising things about you, Dr. Granger. They say you are a remarkable medical researcher. I hope that it is true; I have big plans, you see. Plans that need the brightest minds we have to offer. Now, you will be leading our research team focusing on improving the quality of insulin that we are able to distribute. It is a new project that we have developed, and I believe you will do very well with it."
"Of course, Dr. Umbridge," Hermione nodded. "Thank you for this opportunity."
"You're very welcome, my dear," Umbridge said sweetly. "I'm quite sure you won't let me down. Now, let me show you to your lab. I think you'll find it quite impressive."
Umbridge led Hermione out the door and back to the elevator. They went down many floors to the lowest level of the building.
"As you can see," Umbridge said as her and Hermione entered the large lab. "We've spared no expense."
Hermione's jaw fell as she looked around the lab. Microscopes, Bunsen burners, petri dishes, and much, much more filled the pristine lab. The entire back wall of the lab was filled with shelves of thick medical textbooks and journals, and dozens of high-tech computers were set up all around the room.
"We've recently finished up some thorough census analyses," Umbridge said to Hermione. "And it appears that a growing proportion of the European population is getting diagnosed with diabetes."
"Yes, I've reviewed several papers on the trend," Hermione nodded. "It's terrible. My fiancé's mother has struggled with diabetes for the last ten years."
"Ah, so you'll be invested in this research then," Umbridge said cheerfully. "Excellent. Well, I won't keep you from your work any longer, dear. The rest of your team will be joining you in a few hours. Keep me up-to-date on any progress that you make."
"Yes, Dr. Umbridge," Hermione said. "Of course."
Several weeks later, Hermione fought to keep her eyes open as she let herself into her and Ron's flat.
"Ron?" Hermione called, letting out a long yawn. "Ron? Are you still up?"
"In the kitchen," Ron called back.
"Sorry I'm so late," Hermione said, coming into the kitchen. "Again. But I have some exciting new! I-Oh, Harry, I wasn't expecting you here."
"I was just getting ready to leave," Harry said, stepping over to give her a short kiss on the cheek. "I was just giving Ron the news, I'm afraid."
"News?" Hermione frowned, turning towards her fiancé. "What news?"
"Mum's back in the hospital," Ron said heavily.
"What?" Hermione gasped. "What happened?"
"Nothing too serious, according to her doctors," Ron replied. "But she was over at Harry and Ginny's, helping them unpack their new place, when she said she felt faint. She ran out of insulin this morning and the Pharmacy didn't have her reorder ready, evidently."
"Why didn't you call me?" Hermione exclaimed.
"I-I didn't want to disturb you at work," Ron said. "Look, she's alright. She's staying the night, but she'll be out tomorrow morning. Dad's with her now."
"He's right," Harry said. "You know how tough Molly is, Hermione. She's sitting in her hospital bed right now working on her knitting, I'd bet."
Hermione sighed. "You still should have called me, Ron."
"I'm sorry," Ron said, stepping over to her. "How about we go by and see her before she gets released tomorrow morning. Think you can go in an hour late to work?"
"Well…that shouldn't be hard to arrange," Hermione said slowly. "Especially since, well…I-I finished. I did it."
"Did what?" Harry asked.
"I've been researching ways to improve the insulin medication that diabetic patients are given," Hermione said. "And last week I thought I had something…I've been testing it out over the last few days to confirm, but all the tests came back perfect. I-I've discovered a way to replace the typical insulin injections with a simple pill that one can take orally once a month."
"Once a month?" Harry repeated. "That's it?"
"Yes," Hermione said. "That's it. No more needles, no more pumps. Just a pill."
"Bloody hell, just when we thought you couldn't get more brilliant!" Ron grinned, pulling Hermione into his arms. "You've been at that place less than a month and you're already making history!"
"There's still a lot of work to be done," Hermione told him modestly. "We'll have to conduct a larger test study of course. And then we'll need to deal with the government, but the point is, it's coming."
"Can you imagine how much easier it would be for mum to just have to take a pill once a month?" Ron said. "I bet she'll be in the hospital far less than she is now."
"I'll say," Harry nodded.
"And you're going to be famous for this, I guarantee it!" Ron continued. "Hey, maybe once this hits the shelves, I can use your name to get front-row tickets to the World Cup this year!"
"Oh, I won't be famous," Hermione said, her cheeks flushing.
"Sure you will," Harry grinned. "It'll be interesting having a famous friend; wonder what it will be like."
"I'm just glad that this new medication will be able to help so many people," Hermione said. "The best part is that the pills won't cost very much to make. Anybody who needs them will be able to access them."
"I told you," Ron said, looking down at his fiancé with adoration. "You're going to do great things. We can count this as one of the few times I was right about something."
"Shame you couldn't be right about the score of the Cannons game," Harry muttered. "I wound up losing twenty euros to Bill, you know. Should've known you'd be too optimistic with them."
"Well everyone said this was going to be the Cannons year!" Ron defended.
"You say that every year," Harry scoffed.
"As exciting as this sounds," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. "I'm going to bed. As soon as we finish visiting your mum in the morning, Ron, I'm going to be meeting with Dr. Umbridge to give her the final details of the medication."
"Alright, I'll be up in a bit," Ron said, giving her a short kiss. "Night, love."
"Good night." Hermione replied. "I'll see you in the morning."
The next morning, Hermione sat in Umbridge's office, watching nervously as Umbridge looked through the lengthy report the had put together on the new medication. Hermione tried to read Umbridge's expression as she flipped through the report, but Umbridge was focusing so intently on the pages in front of her that it was impossible to get a reading on what was going through her mind.
"Well," Umbridge finally spoke, closing the report and looking up at Hermione. "It seems we made a very wise move seeking you out, Dr. Granger. This is brilliant work."
"I'm so glad you think so," Hermione said.
"This will be a very appealing alternative to the traditional insulin treatments," Umbridge continued. "You, Dr. Granger, may just change the face medicine as we know it."
Hermione couldn't help but beam. "Thank you, Dr. Umbridge," she said. "What I'm most excited about is that this medication is very inexpensive to make. Even when you factor in production costs and other fees, I estimate that we can have this product sell for about ten euros for a year's supply. And maybe in a few more years-"
"Well Dr. Granger, why on earth would we sell this product for such a small profit?" Umbridge asked, smiling. She let out a girlish laugh. "Why, it sounds as though you have no idea how a cooperation like Horcruciatus works. We must make a profit; how else would we stay operational?"
"I thought Horcruciatus was funded by grants and donors," Hermione pointed out slowly.
"Yes, yes, of course," Umbridge nodded. "However, we at Horcruciatus need to keep our top people…how should I put this…happy. Grants and donors cannot give those people the salaries they truly deserve, I'm afraid."
Hermione said nothing as Umbridge flipped through the report. "Hmm, yes, I believe that this medication can easily market for…two thousand Euros for a six-month supply."
"Two thousand Euros?" Hermione exclaimed. "But-But hardly anyone could afford that! And the research shows that more and more low-income individuals are being diagnosed with diabetes. How can we expect them to afford that?"
Hermione thought of Molly. Her future in-laws had very limited funds. She knew it would be impossible for them to afford such a price, no matter how much they saved.
"That is not Horcruciatus' concern," Umbridge said simply. "Our job is to provide the best medications on the market."
"I thought our job was to help people," Hermione said, crossing her arms across her chest.
"We are helping people, dear," Umbridge smiled sweetly. "And if patients cannot afford this new medication, they are of course free to continue using the cheaper options…for now."
"For now?" Hermione repeated.
"Well it makes no fiscal sense for multiple medications for the same disease to be produced, does it?" Umbridge pointed out. "I'd say by the end of the year, your new medication will be the only one on the market."
Hermione took a step back. "And for the people who can't afford it?"
"As I said, that really is not Horcruciatus' problem," Umbridge said. "Maybe next time someone gets sick, they'll think about whether or not they can afford it first."
Hermione shot Umbridge a hate-filled gaze. "You can't do this. I want my research back."
"That," Umbridge chuckled. "Will not be happening. Your research is the property of Horcruciatus. You submitted it to us willingly, after all."
"Before I knew that you were going to use it to extort innocent people!" Hermione exclaimed.
"Enough! You are out of line, Dr. Granger!" Umbridge said firmly, getting to her feet. "I will have order in my office! Now, if you do not wish to continue at Horcruciatus, you are more than welcome to leave. Your research, however, stays. That is all. You may see yourself out."
Hermione opened her mouth to argue, but closed it a second later. She could tell that any argument she could make would be falling on deaf ears.
"Well then, consider this my resignation," Hermione said simply, pulling her lab badge off from around her neck and slamming it onto Umbridge's desk.
"You're making a mistake," Umbridge said. "Horcruciatus is the top medical research firm in Europe."
"Maybe," Hermione said. "But if I have to work another minute here, my soul will break apart from my body. You, Dr. Umbridge, are nothing short of evil."
A cruel grin spread across Umbridge's face. "Have a nice day, Dr. Granger."
Hermione turned to exit the office. Before she turned the knob of the door, though, she paused for a moment. Then, she took a deep breath and hurried back over to Umbridge's desk. She grabbed her research book and then bolted as fast as she could from the office.
"Dr. Granger!" she heard Umbridge screaming behind her. "You are stealing Horcruciatus property! You will be arrested, do you hear me! Dr. Granger!"
But Hermione kept running. She ran out of the building and hurried through the crowds of people and across busy streets. She ran and ran until she reached a large bridge. She stepped up to the railing and held the research book over it. Without stopping to think any further, she acted purely on instinct and dropped her research; sending it all falling into the large, murky lake beneath.
Hermione smiled, satisfied, as she stepped back from the bridge.
I did good, Hermione told herself. I did good.