Hermione didn't like parties. Parties meant presents. As much as she loved her friends, their gifts were always the same.

Because they meant well, she'd unwrapped nine nonsensical novels and opened three tokens for a bookshop she never visited, conjuring smiles for all. The effort left her cheeks aching.

Pretending eagerness she didn't feel, Hermione unwrapped the last gift and found… neither a book nor a token cleverly hidden in a weighted box.

The spill of silvery silk flowed into a (modestly) sensuous negligee when she lifted when she lifted it out.

"Congratulations on your appointment, Minister Granger," Snape murmured


A/N: Written for of_anoesis's prompt – In the spirit of the fest, may I suggest, "the unexpected gift"? – at lj's sshg_newbies community.

Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me. Everything recognisable was the invention and is the property of Jo Rowling.