Disclaimer -I do not own Harry Potter. All characters belong to J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros., Bloomsbury, and Scholastic, respectively. All original characters are products of the author. Copyright infringement is not intended.

The desolate white washed walls and bleak grey carpet had become home. At the age of 18 years old, Hermione had been unsure where she could best use her skills within the working world. After almost giving up on being interested in any type of Ministry career, the Minister of Magic had asked her to investigate the benefits of Muggle psychology and then develop her own theories that could apply to Wizards. She was now 24 and had successfully converted the Wizarding world to the ideas of a Muggle born concept.

Triumphant, she had gone on to create a basic but temporary replacement for the pensieves that had been destroyed during the Battle of Hogwarts and these devices could hear the sounds of memories and pinpoint certain strong emotions. This mechanism was simply known as Sound 3000. It had been an extremely complicated process but she had been rewarded for this difficult feat; she was now Head of her own department.

Tapping her pen against the side of her desk, Hermione heard a knock at her door. Looking up, she smiled as she saw her receptionist, Kate, bustle in, shuffling piles of papers from arm to arm and looking very flustered. Her cheeks were deeply flushed, her tight bun coming out in tendrils around her face and her forehead glistening with beads of sweat.

"Miss Granger" she puffed breathlessly, "The Minister wanted me to tell you that he is sending someone down to use the Sound 3000. He said that…" she looked confused and her eyes narrowed in thought. Amused, Hermione watched as Kate put down a very crumpled piece of paper on her tidy desk. "Read that, he said" Kate finally sighed out. She then turned on her heel and sped out the door, leaving only a flurry of papers behind her.

Hermione stood up and chuckled to herself while gathering the papers up from the floor. Putting them on a chair that was in the corner of the room, she picked up the note and began to read, with her face paling as her brain registered each and every sentence within it.

Miss Granger,

I would like you to use the Sound 3000 on a prospective employee who has applied for a job within the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. The applicant also happens to be an ex- Death Eater and while he has been formally forgiven for any crimes committed during the Second Wizarding War, for the safety of the Ministry and the Wizarding public, I feel it is necessary that we see if he can show true regret for any wrongdoings. I trust your judgement to decide whether his application should be taken seriously or not and I look forward to hearing your findings.

Signed,

Kingsley Shacklebolt

Minister for Magic

An ex Death Eater? All the Death Eaters Hermione knew of were either in Azkaban or dead. All but one. Draco Malfoy, she thought miserably. Although she had matured and had forgotten about everything that had happened during that gruesome time at Hogwarts, she still saw him as the ferret that had terrorised her and her best friends during their school years. In a way, she did feel slightly sorry for him and knew that he had been forced to do all the crimes he had committed. However, for him to work in the Ministry seemed a crime in itself. Hermione told herself to do anything she could to make sure that Malfoy did not get this job.

A brief knock on the door interrupted her tumultuous thoughts and she raised her wand and lazily made it swing open. In the doorway, Draco Malfoy stood there with a rigid posture and his hands folded in front of him. If his face hadn't looked so stern, Hermione might even have said he looked handsome. He was wearing a nice fitting tailored suit and his hair had minimal hair gel in it with his fringe slightly obstructing his unreadable grey eyes. He strolled in, carelessly nudged the papers off the chair, sat down and stretched out his legs in front of him.

"Shall we get on with this then, Granger?" he said, with fatigue clear in his voice. Hermione sympathized slightly; the Ministry application process was a rigorous and drawn out process. She cleared her throat and forced a smile.

Speaking through her teeth, she said "Of course, Mr. Malfoy. Let me just confirm a few details please. You are here because you have applied to a job and need assessment to make sure you fully regret your past crimes. Yes?" Hermione waited for his response and after waiting a few minutes without hearing one, she looked up curiously to see what was taking so long. Malfoy was looking at her with his lips pursed and his eyes narrowed.

"Shall we get on with this Granger?" he repeated. "You know why I'm here. I'll spare you the sob story. As much as your previous experiences speak differently, Malfoy Manor isn't actually that exciting. I want to work and I want my past to be forgotten."

Hermione cringed at the memory of his home. Exciting wasn't exactly the word that she would have used to describe the events that had taken place that day.

"You will not speak of that day again to me Mr. Malfoy. There are also events of my past that I would like to forget" she snapped. She watched him look almost ashamed as he hooded his eyes and nodded.

Reassured, she carried on and spoke with a brisk business like tone. "Okay then Mr. Malfoy, I think we can get on with proceedings now. I will perform a simple non-harmful spell on you which will mean that I can hear your strongest emotions from over the years and any events that caused those emotions. You will not feel anything and it will simply feel like you are asleep, however your eyes will be open. When the process is complete, I will remove the spell from you and we can all go on with our day."

Malfoy nodded and straightened out his posture. Sneering suddenly, he said, "Well Granger, don't get too embarrassed if you hear things that may have caused particularly strong emotions, if you know what I'm saying." He then winked and folded his arms in front of him.

Hermione blushed and cleared her throat. Raising her wand, she recited the spell. "Audite affectus" She immediately felt the familiar isolation from her own mind and entered the emotional world of Draco Malfoy.

Hearing a crackle, she heard slight whispers. Then, a crystal clear voice sounded… "I think I can tell the wrong sort for myself, thanks." It was Harry. Hermione suddenly had the sensation of what felt like a knife being plunged into her stomach. Rejection. The emotion was so strong that she doubled up in pain and tears came to her eyes.

There was another crackle and it sounded like the scene had changed. Her own voice startled her, "You! You foul, loathsome, evil little cockroach!" Another emotion jolted through Hermione – Terror. Her stomach twisted in knots at this unpleasant sensation and she could feel the waves of horror and fear that had passed through Draco when she had held her wand to his throat.

Another crackle and she felt the scene change again. A scream was torn from her lips as unbearable pain ripped through her whole body and she gripped her left forearm as it stung with the pulses of Dark magic rippling through it. Tears flowed down her cheeks and her lip bled from her teeth biting it in pain.

Hermione then heard sobs echoing through her ears and the feeling of immense sadness and fear. One word kept turning around and around in her mind. Katie Bell. Katie Bell.

Crackle. Dumbledore's wise voice was heard then, "Draco... years ago, I knew a boy who made all the wrong choices... please, let me help you..." Hermione could hear Draco's panicked breathing in her own ear. She felt like she even felt the sensation of his heart beating against his chest. He was terrified. "I don't want your help! Don't you understand? I have to do this! I have to kill you! Or he's gonna kill me…"

When Hermione later heard Snape utter the vile words of the Killing Curse, she still felt the tsunami tide of regret wash over Draco's whole body. It was as if he had done the deed himself. Hermione's stomach churned with nausea from her own emotions mixing with Malfoy's.

She couldn't listen to it any more. Ignoring the throbbing in her arm, she felt around for the wand on her desk, grasped it and holding it up to Draco's still figure, she roared in frustration, "Subsisto Sanus!"

Draco's body twitched then relaxed. He blinked and stared at her. Hermione buried her head in her hands and let the salty tears run down her face and let the unbearable sadness take her over. She was left to cry for about five minutes until she heard the chair scrape and movement come towards her. Glancing up, she saw Draco gazing down at her with a blank face but curiosity and fear in his eyes.

"Granger…" he started with anguish in his voice, "How… how much did you hear?" He lifted his hand up to his mouth and started biting his nails, still looking at her with uncertainty in his deep eyes.

Hermione wiped her face and attempted a smile. "I only heard you saying 'I wish it was different' repeatedly." She saw his face flicker with confusion so she added, "You know, I don't think this silly spell works! This device… well its very complex." Laughing nervously, she looked down to her desk and absently rubbed her left forearm.

"Are you hurt? Why are you rubbing your left arm?" Draco asked suspiciously. Hermione wanted to slap herself. Act natural, she thought.

Ignoring his question, she stood up to shake his hand. Holding her hand out, she stood there waiting for him to do the same. Hesitantly, he raised his own hand and clasped on to her small hand, enveloping it in his own cool grasp. They shook hands slowly, both avoiding eye contact.

Hermione pulled away and started shuffling the papers on her desk. "Okay Mr. Malfoy" she said shakily with nervousness evident in her voice, "I will report my findings to the Minister and recommend that he continue with your application. Everything seems to be in order."

Draco still looked at her doubtfully and Hermione didn't really know what else she could say. She was just about to snap at him for his hesitance when he said, "Do you ever wish things had been different, Hermione? You know. The last few years of Hogwarts, I mean." He held her eyes with a captivating stare and waited for her to reply.

"For you?" Hermione replied. "All the time. I wish it had been different all the time."

Draco stepped back then and frowned, "You know that's not what I meant. I meant for everyone, including me; not just me" he said with irritation in his tone.

"I know, Draco. I knew what you meant. I still wish it was different for you though" she whispered.

He walked forward then and went round her desk to stand next to her. She flinched at the sudden close contact and instinctively stepped backwards away from him. He sighed and she clearly saw hurt burning within the stormy grey eyes that he possessed. There was a sea of uncertainty and fear around him and she didn't know what to do with it all.

He abruptly walked back round her desk and swiftly walked to her door. Seizing it open, he stood in the doorway once again. He inclined his head slightly and the last thing Hermione heard from the great Draco Malfoy was her name softly spoken from his lips.

"Hermione Granger."

A/N - Just a quick one shot I thought of in the middle of the night! Some quite obscure ideas I realise, but oh well, fan fiction is all about unleashing your imagination! Read and review :)

P.S. Apologies if one of you lovely readers does Latin and recognises that the translation is completely wrong and means something very different to how I meant it... if it does, please PM me so I can change it!