Disclaimer: The Harry Potter universe, everything and everyone it are the creations and property of the brilliant J.K. Rowling, not me.
Chapter One: Guess Who?
She'd been told that another Unspeakable was going to join her in her research about the properties of elf and goblin magic, that he shared her drive and determination to prove the value and potential of that magic and the sentient beings who wielded it. She'd been told that he was about her age, that he'd also attended Hogwarts. She'd been told that he'd been taken advantage of during the war and had made bad decisions with all the impulsivity of youth and the heavy influence of people close to him.
Hermione had not been told that her new research partner was Draco Malfoy.
The moment he entered their joint office with measured steps and a carefully blank expression that twisted into shock when their eyes met, she had to stop herself from screaming. Brightest witch of her age and she hadn't put the clues together, or perhaps she subconsciously had and just refused to actually admit it to herself.
Her new colleague was her childhood nemesis, grown into a man who was every bit as pale and pointy as his younger self.
"Granger," he acknowledged her with a slight incline of his head, shock masked by a polite smile. "You're looking well."
Hermione blinked in surprise before shaking her head slightly in hopes of clearing her brain, which had fogged into unresponsive confusion at his courteous manner. It didn't work. "How kind of you to say so, Malfoy," she settled on. "I assume you're my new partner in the research of goblin and elvish magic?"
"Yes, I am," he confirmed. "I assume that this office is where we'll spend the majority of our time?"
"Yes, it is," she replied, forcing her own smile. Judging by his wince, it might not have been as convincing as she'd hoped. Merlin, she didn't have anything in her teeth, did she?
Thick, uncomfortable silence and tension wrapped around the two new co-workers as they stared at each other, both lost for words. Hermione's thoughts, clear at last, raced. How would they be able to work together if they couldn't even hold a basic, civil conversation? They wouldn't make any progress! She might lose her job! She might get a warning! Worst of all, all those poor, innocent elves and goblins, disdained, abused and full of potential, would continue to suffer with no one to speak out for them and give them rights! The initial panic that she'd suppressed returned with a vengeance. Act like petty children, continue with juvenile grudges and conceptions, and they would hurt those downtrodden magical beings far more than themselves. But that meant...that meant that...
That meant that would have to get along, and since Malfoy showed no signs of wanting to really do so, she'd have to try and instigate some vaguely functional partnership between them. Hermione stuck her whole forearm into her charmed satchel with a groan, searching with her fingers until she found a familiar small glass bottle. Malfoy watched in apparent fascination as she plopped the bottle on her desk and unscrewed the lid of her metal water bottle. His eyes widened when she emptied a white pill from the bottle into her hand, tipped the pill into her mouth and chugged it down with a gulp of water. She put the aspirin tablets back into her bag and closed her water container with a sigh. This wasn't going to be fun.
The silence continued for a few more moments until Malfoy seemed to lose whatever internal battle he'd been having with himself.
"Less than five minutes with me and you have to resort to your secret drug supply, Granger?"
Drugs or not, it would be a miracle if she didn't end up brutally murdering the git by the end of the week.
Probably even earlier.
He was smirking.