After writing fanfiction for a while now, I finally gathered the courage to actually post something on this page. Hope you like it!

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-o-

Hermione sighed as she scanned through the new case she had been assigned. Another minor-detail-needs-to-be-solved case, she thought. Sadly, it was the description of just about all her cases.

She was working on improving the rights for muggle-born witches and wizards. Turned out the wizarding world was quite discriminating. Many laws were from ancient times, and she truly wished to right some wrongs. But often she ended up solving minor disagreements, inheritance cases, and generally fighting the system. She was sick and tired. You would think things got easier. It had been ten years, ten years, since the fall off The Dark Lord. Hermione sighed.

She put down the parchment as she heard a knock at her office door. "Come in."

To her surprise, it was the Minister of Magic himself, and she got to her feet, but he waved dismissively at her. "There is no need to get up. Please sit, Hermione. Do you have a moment? There is something I wish to discuss with you."

Hermione looked curiously at him. "Yes, of course. Please sit, sir."

He did not speak at first, and she was starting to feel nervous. "Is there a problem, sir? Have I done anything wrong?"

The Minister of Magic chuckled. "No, no, not anything of the kind, I assure you. You are the best employee we have, Hermione. And that is why I wish to speak with you. We just got information on a new case."

Her nervous feeling vanished to be replaced with curiosity. Before she could answer, he continued with a chuckle. "I can see that got your attention. I am hoping you will be the one to take this case, Hermione. It requires someone with skill, and knowledge beyond your average ministry-worker, I'm afraid. And before you think I am insulting my employees, let me explain to you what the case involves."

-o-

A little while later, Hermione was sitting gaping at the Minister of Magic. "You want me to do WHAT?"

The minister sighed. "I understand that you might not want to do this. But I don't know who else to send."

Hermione was still fuming when the minister left her office. He had somehow made her say yes. So tomorrow she was meeting with none other than Lucius Malfoy. He needed to be helped understand the new times. Helped my arse, Hermione thought before packing up her things and leaving to go home.

She went to bed that night feeling not just a little nervous. I can do this, she thought. I am Hermione Granger.

She went to work the next day feeling nauseous. There was still two hours until Malfoy was supposed to be here, and she sat down at her desk to prepare her things. She wanted to interview him first. Get a grasp on where he was standing these days, and how much his opinions had truly changed.

Lucius Malfoy was late. Almost an hour late. Finally there was a knock on the door, and Hermione answered with an annoyed voice. "Enter."

A blonde man stepped in to her office, and the first thing that came to Hermione's mind was that he was quite a striking man. And then she cursed herself in her mind at the thought.

But then again, he had quite the striking figure. Long, blonde hair, finely tailored clothes. Yes, this was the Malfoy she remembered. Right down to the Holier-than-thou expression. "Mr Malfoy. You are late."

Malfoy sat down in the chair across her desk with the elegance of a gazelle and looked at her. "A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to."

Hermione did not know what to say for a moment. But she could not stop herself from bursting into laughter. She looked at him with mirth in her eyes. "Lord of The Rings? Truly?"

Malfoy raised an eyebrow at her and she shook her head with a smile. "Well, consider me surprised if nothing else."

She gazed at him for a moment. "So you do not mind reading muggle literature then?"

Malfoy brushed a speck of invisible dust from his sleeve before looking at her. "If nothing else is at hand, yes. However, I am quite sure Tolkien had wizard relatives. Or was one himself."

"That would make him either a squib or a muggle-born then."

"Yes."

Hermione had to stop a bubble of laughter from emerging. "So you would say that there is a chance Tolkien was a mudblood? I find myself in good company."

If Malfoy had any reaction to her crude choice of words, he did not show it. "Tut, tut, Miss Granger. Such language."

Hermione just rolled her eyes. "Indeed, how offensive of me."

Malfoy gave her a bored look and she raised an eyebrow at him. "I would like to start interviewing you, if that would be at your approval."

When he gave her something she understood to be an intimidating look, she gazed at him, pleased to feel no fear whatsoever. She gave him a fake smile. "Here is the thing, Malfoy. You are pretty much stuck with me whether you like it or not. No one else would take this case, and it is, as I understand it, required by the Ministry. You need to be rehabilitated I am told. So you have a choice. Me, or Azkaban. I would choose me, to be perfectly honest."

He rolled his eyes and sighed. "It is a close call, Miss Granger. But I guess you favour slightly over the dementors. So let's get it over with. Ask your questions."

Hermione leaned back in her chair and cocked her head at him. "Have you been informed of how this will work?"

Malfoy sighed again. "I am supposed to follow you around like a pathetic puppy for the next three months. Believe me when I say it will not be exactly like that, however."

Hermione smirked. "I see you got the memo. I am glad. Now, let's begin, shall we?"

She flipped through some papers before looking at him again. "How do your wife and son feel about this?"

She could see that she had hit a nerve, and waited for his reply. "My son seems to think this is a good idea. For some forsaken reason. My wife has no opinion seeing how she is now my ex-wife."

"Oh. I was not aware. I am sorry."

Malfoy rolled his eyes. "There is nothing to be sorry about. The divorce was on mutual terms. Now, get on with it."

He almost hissed the last sentence, and Hermione looked at him. "Mr Malfoy. If we are to spend at least three months together, I would suggest you change your tone. I will try to respect your wishes if they are acceptable, but other than that, I would appreciate it if you could show some of those famous manners of yours."

-o-

Hermione lay in her bed that night thinking about her day. The meeting with Malfoy had gone much better than she had expected. The future looked brighter than she thought it would. And he was quite an enigma. Not to forget she got to boss him around for three months. She smirked into the darkness.