(I do not own Harry Potter or any of J.K Rowling's creations. I only own my character – Maron Delacour who I created using J.K Rowling's amazing magical world. I made no profit from writing this story and only hope you enjoy it!)

Chapter 1 – "The Proposition"

It was an early morning when she woke up tired and hungry. She rolled over and grabbed for her wand in the dark. When it reached the tip of her fingers she snatched it up and mouthed a spell groggily to open her shutter windows.

This was Maron's life, living in her tiny one bedroom apartment. She chose to live around muggles making the atmosphere she commuted in quiet and composed, however the apartment itself was dressed like a witch's commode. She lived there with her favorite book collection of advanced charm-related itinerary and her sheer orange and pink curtains.

She got up from her bed and slowly slipped a house coat on over her shoulders and walked into her kitchen. Her light blonde colored hair was a little messy from her pillow and her eyes were barely open, showing slight jewels of blue. She made herself a cup of coffee with another swish of her wand, her family's favorite French blend. She turned around to take a seat at her little breakfast nook when she was met with a familiar face, already in a seat across from her.

"I hope you don't mind my necessary intrusion Ms. Delacour." Albus Dumbledore said, putting down his own cup of coffee.

Maron hadn't even flinched by his sudden appearance and merely took a seat in front of Dumbledore, without much of a care, "Please don't worry about formalities this morning, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

Dumbledore looked over his half-moon spectacles and pursed his lips tightly in concern, "Perhaps you missed the Daily Prophet this morning?"

Maron made a slight scoff in the back of her throat, "I haven't had the pleasure yet Albus, as you very well know."

Dumbledore laughed, "I have to extend an offer to you my dear."

Maron pushed a few strands of her golden locks out of her face, "What kind of offer?"

"A job." Dumbledore replied, pushing the spectacles back up his nose.

"I have a job Dumbledore, working at the Ministry," she replied, standing up and taking the dishes to the sink where they began washing themselves.

"Working as a secretary in the Department of International Magical Co-Operation…not quite the job you have dreamed of back in school, is it?" he asked in the kindest tone he could muster.

Maron had been facing the sink, away from Albus. A light tear rolled down her cheek which she brushed away quickly, "So my dreams never caught up with me. There is no shame in doing secretarial work." She sighed; it was hard for her to hide her grief, "What did you have in mind?"

Dumbledore sipped his coffee once more as it seemed to refill by itself when it got low, "Come and join my staff," he simply replied.

Maron closed her eyes, walked forward and put her hands on the edge of the counter, "That's impossible Albus."

Dumbledore sighed and shook his head lightly, "You could teach advanced charms."

Maron flinched slightly, the thought of teaching was a dream of hers although it was not her biggest, "How can I," she tightened her grip on the counter, "It is not all forgive and forget with him…."

Albus lowered his head, "Perhaps not, but you two cannot keep living like this. You are both equal parts of something much greater and I hate to see both of you in pain."

Maron sighed releasing her grip, she hated the lectures Dumbledore continued to preach every time she saw him, "I'll think about it."

Dumbledore nodded and sighed, "Alright, but my offer is only good until this evening. Please come by my office once you have decided."

Before Maron could object, Dumbledore disappeared. She quickly eyed the time and nearly croaked, "I'm late!" she hurried into her bedroom and changed, using magic to completely get dressed and apply makeup. Once ready, she grabbed a pinch of floo powder, stepped into her fireplace, and mouthed 'the Ministry'.

She appeared in a much larger fireplace surrounded by many other fireplaces with appearing witches and wizards. She quickly made her way to the elevator in hopes of catching it before she was even later. Her luck must have run out because she had just missed it and instead waited for the next one just as her boss walked up next to her.

"Ms. Delacour, late again I see" a snide voice remarked in her ear in a rough whisper.

Maron quickly turned and looked up to the familiar scary face she feared, "Mr. Malfoy, I'm so sorry. I was rudely…." Before she could finish she was cut off by his hand in her face.

"Please save the excuses and just get to your desk immediately." He said, shaking his head lightly back and forth and pushing a stray platinum blonde hair behind his ear.

Maron sighed, getting on the elevator as soon as it opened; she was tired, and clearly bored with the dull life she was living. She thought it would have been more fun to jump off London Bridge, but she swallowed her pride and decided it was the best she would ever do.

Once Maron made it to her tiny office, she sat behind the desk and started filing a huge stack of papers left just for her. She pulled out her wand and started shrinking them into little filing cabinets. She admitted to herself this life she was living was the doldrums.

A few minutes later Malfoy walked in and dropped a tiny cabinet on her desk, "There are at least 100,000 documents in this cabinet about the treaty between the dwarves and the elves; we need them refiled under the magical treaty law files." Maron sighed heavily as she knew each page would have to be verified for information by hand.

Once the work day was done, she was more exhausted than before. She had already worked an hour over her shift. She looked at the clock on the wall, which was a distorted cuckoo clock that seemed to tick like a heartbeat. She hadn't even been able to think about the offer Dumbledore had given her. She leaned back in her moth-eaten chair and thought long and hard about how she was going to appear at Hogwarts without making her presence known.

"Goodnight Ms. Delacour" Lucius Malfoy said, sticking his head into her office. She nodded in his direction to show she acknowledged his leave.

After a few more moments of constant arguing in her mind she came to the conclusion she would just send an owl, a painless letter, stating she was undecided but certainly not capable of the position. She jotted the note down quickly and called an owl to her office with her wand. Before she had a chance to give the note to the owl a letter dropped from its beak. She began to read…

Dear Ms. Delacour,

It's almost time for our allotted meeting. I hope you've had enough time to think over the offer I gave you. Don't even bother sending a letter to me in response as I will only accept an answer in person.

Yours Truly,

Albus Dumbledore

It was inevitable, she thought, she was dealing with Dumbledore and expected nothing less from her former mentor and friend.

She quickly grabbed her coat and picked up her belongings, making her way down in the elevator to the Ministry's entrance. She then hurried over to one of the fireplaces, grabbed a pinch of floo powder and mouthed "Hogs Head", which was the little pub in Hogsmeade just a mile from Hogwarts.