Muggle Liaisons, a harry potter fanfic

This story is canon compliant up until the epilogue. I hope you enjoy!

"Granger! Get your arse in here!"

Hermione Granger slammed her quill down on the stack of paperwork she had been working on. She stomped away from her desk and slammed the door to her boss' office open. "What the fuck do you want, Malfoy?" she glared at the platinum blond man.

Draco Malfoy sat behind an obnoxiously large, mahogany desk with his feet propped up as if he were lounging. It irked Hermione to no end that he had received the promotion to Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement last year. Sure Harry hadn't even applied for the promotion as he was content with field work, but Hermione had wanted the job and had been bypassed in favor of the insufferable ferret. Hermione had tried to convince herself that it was latent pure-blood supremacy thinking that made him her boss at age 24, but she knew that he was just as qualified as she was.

Draco Malfoy was a changed man after the Second Great Wizarding War; that much was obvious. He had been instrumental in rounding up the remaining death eaters, even going as far as to use himself as bait to lure them out of hiding. His personal knowledge of the thought process of dark wizards was unmatched, no matter how much research Hermione did. To be fair, Draco was a reasonable boss and got along with his subordinates very well. He and Harry could now be considered friends and would occasionally go out for pints after work. However, he seemed to enjoy needling Hermione and Hermione was not one to back down. While he no longer attacked her heritage or looks, he had a habit of making her skin crawl with his annoying quips and condescending smirks. Hermione relished any opportunity to fight with him.

"Well? I'm waiting," Hermione said and began to tap her toes impatiently. She knew that the sound would make Draco's teeth gnash together.

"Hhhmhmm," a throat cleared from a chair in the back of the room. Hermione glanced around to see the Minister of Magic looking at her.

"Oh Kingsley! I didn't know you were here!" Hermione greeted him warmly.

"That much was obvious," Draco drawled. "See what I have to put with from her, Minister? She has no respect for the authority of my office".

Kingsley smiled and replied, "Draco, I'm fairly certain that Hermione takes issue with you personally, not your office". Draco shrugged.

"What's going on Kingsley?" Hermione asked.

"We've received intelligence that there have been threats against the muggle government. The Prime Minister contacted me this morning regarding a letter he received," Kingsley explained.

"Do we have a copy of the letter?" Hermione asked.

Kingsley nodded and gestured to a small piece of paper on Draco's desk. Hermione bent over the desk and began to read.

The time has come for your superiors to rejoin society. Insignificant muggles have been in power for too long. You will learn your proper place. Dissolve Parliament immediately and drain the treasury. You have one month before I strike. Bow to my will or die. The choice is yours.

Magic is Might

"Magic is Might?" Hermione stated, "That was Voldemort's motto when he took over the Ministry. Has someone done a trace on the letter?"

"Gee, why didn't I think of that?" Draco snarked. "Of course I did. It's not my first day on the job. There's no trace of magical signature or fingerprints. The paper and ink are pristine".

Hermione expected as much. "Do we have any leads? A former death eater perhaps who wants to continue Voldemort's work?" she asked.

"No leads so far," Kingsley said, "You know that the only former death eater that is not in a cell in Azkaban is sitting in this room with us," he tilted his head in Draco's direction and the blond shrugged and rubbed at his left forearm. "Waterston said that the letter was waiting on his desk this morning and that his office had been locked all night. It would have been easy enough for someone to apparate in and out of the room unseen, so that's nothing to go on. The Prime Minister is understandably shaken up and I've agreed to increase security in his office".

Hermione had a suspicion where this was leading. "What's the next step?" she asked with a hint of trepidation.

"You're going undercover, Granger," Draco said.

"Me?" Hermione asked. "Why wouldn't you send one of the more senior operatives who have done undercover work before? This is a little high profile for someone without prior undercover experience".

"I considered assigning Robards or Kelvin, but they're embroiled in the magical beast smuggling ring case. Frankly, your work on improving the conditions for prisoners at Azkaban can be put on the backburner for a few months," Draco said.

Hermione huffed, "Thanks for belittling the work I've been doing for close to a year".

"Hermione," Draco said. He never used her given name unless it was a serious matter and so she paused. "It's got to be you. You are the only one in the office with enough experience in the muggle world and knowledge of muggle politics to take on this assignment. You can do this".

Hermione chose to take that as a compliment. "What does the assignment entail?"

"You'll be posing as the Prime Minister's temporary personal assistant. We'll be sending his original assistant on an all-expense paid trip to Buenos Aires until the matter is resolved," Draco informed. "You'll have to set up wards around the office to detect when a witch or wizard enters. Further, you'll serve as Waterston's personal bodyguard during the day".

"What about at night?" Hermione asked. "Won't the PM be vulnerable then?"

"Yes and no," replied Kingsley. "To make this convincing to the Prime Minister's office staff, you can only be seen with him during regular working hours. Another Auror will be posted to his private quarters at night".

"You'll be reporting in to me every Sunday," Draco added. "I want to know about anyone who appears suspicious or that you suspect of having ulterior motives".

"The Prime Minister is aware that you are a witch, so you may do magic in his presence," Kingsley said. "Be careful that no one else sees you. It could compromise our efforts and potentially leave you open to attack".

Hermione nodded as she absorbed the instructions. "May I tell anyone what I'm doing?"

"Just Potter and Weasley," Draco said. "I know you are incapable of keeping secrets from those two".

Hermione supposed she should be offended by his assumption regarding her ability to maintain confidential information, but he was right. If she did not tell Ron and Harry some details about what she was doing, they'd track her down in an attempt to "rescue" her and botch the entire undercover assignment. Never mind that Ron wasn't even an Auror anymore and Harry was well aware that Hermione could take care of herself.

"Alright," Hermione agreed. "When do I begin?"

Kingsley smiled and replied, "Meet here in Draco's office at 4am tomorrow. The three of us will floo over and I'll introduce both of you to Waterston. Hermione, why don't you take the rest of the day off to prepare? Draco can you forge some muggle credentials for Hermione's background security check?"

"Oh, I can do that, Kingsley," Hermione said.

Draco scowled, "It's my responsibility Granger. Go home," he said dismissively.

"It would not kill you to be a bit kinder to Hermione, Draco," Kingsley sighed and Hermione shot Draco a victorious smile. "Come on, Hermione. I'll walk you to the floo".

With one last glare at her blond boss, Hermione followed Kingsley out the door.

"Thank you for giving me this responsibility, Kingsley. I won't let you or the muggle Prime Minister down," she promised.

"I'm sure you'll do a fine job, Hermione," Kingsley said, "but I can't take credit for assigning you".

"Oh?" she asked.

"It was Draco's idea. I suggested that we send in Kelvin, but Draco insisted that you were the only auror who could handle this case. He made a very persuasive argument".

"Really?" Hermione said incredulously.

Kingsley nodded, "He thinks a great deal about your abilities".

"I don't believe that. I got the assignment because I'm muggleborn," Hermione stated.

"I'll admit that was one of his arguments," Kingsley acquiesced, "but he pointed out that you were the most intelligent person on his staff and the only one who possessed the subtly to pull off the undercover assignment seamlessly. Don't doubt your strengths, Hermione. I don't and Draco doesn't".

Hermione fought to keep her eyes from bulging. Most interactions with Draco involved him belittling her work and demeaning her abilities. They'd bicker and fight; he'd insult her and she'd return the favor. To hear that he actually thought highly of her was a surprise.

Suddenly, Kingsley halted. Hermione was startled to realize that they had arrived in the Ministry's lobby and were standing in front of the floos. Had she been that lost in her musings?

"I'll see you bright and early, Hermione," Kingsley clapped her on the shoulder. "I'll bring you a big cup of coffee to compensate for the unreasonable hour".

She thanked him in advance and grabbed a large handful of floo powder. "Hermione Granger's Flat" she called before she was transported away in a burst of green flames.

Thanks for reading! I'm aiming to update this story every Friday.