So I'm a veteran of this site. I've been posting for years but I've changed my name quite a few times and deleted my old stories because I've gotten older and slightly better at writing. This story is obviously set three years after the war. The Golden Trio and the rest of their class of Hogwarts are twenty and everything it pretty much cannon but we're disregarding the epilogue. Obviously Hermione is a little OOC but come on its fanfiction here people. Anyways, as always reviews are appreciated and I hope you enjoy.

Rock Bottom

For once, in her twenty year old life, Hermione Granger did not want to get out of bed and start her day. It was a rather cold November morning and this cold seemed to seep through every nook and cranny and envelope her into its vice-like grip of cold fingers. She shivered just thinking about it and snuggled up more into her bed. It wasn't like they would be missing her at work or anything. The worst that could happen is that her boss had to openly check out, demean, and harass someone else. This day off was sounding better and better.

Hermione Granger, after graduating from Hogwarts top of her class, was offered many jobs but the only one that she could really take was the one in the Magical Law Enforcement Department of the ministry. Sure the aurors went out and caught the bad guys but, wizarding world needed some kind of lawyers to argue cases for the death eaters caught after Harry defeated Voldemort. Instead of the old way where anyone associated with the Dark Lord they threw in Azkaban, they finally got some semblance of muggle lawyers and a lot of the once death eaters that were only involved to save their families were cut a deal.

This was the only place that she could work in peace without people giving her promotions only because she was THE Hermione Granger; best friend of Harry Potter, smartest witch of her age, top of the class at Hogwarts, one-third the Golden Trio, girlfriend of THE Ron Weasley the keeper for Puddlemere United, and recently heartbroken by the same Ronald Weasley. Of course there is always a price to any route you take in life and hers was that she was stuck as secretary to the World's biggest bigot, that never let her get further than secretary because he had his head so far up his ass that he did not realize women were just as smart and good for more than the enjoyment of men.

It's not that she couldn't quit, she could, but then she would prove everyone right that she couldn't get anywhere without her fame. By taking this low-life job she had expected to work her way up the hard way but it never happened The stupid idiot that is her boss John Wright was thought that because she was his secretary that meant he could say suggestive things to her, demean her, openly check her out, and many other things. It was quite tiring but luckily he had not taken it far enough that she had to hex him and lose her job. He was the highest ranking lawyer in the entire wizarding world. Everything had gotten so screwed up after the whole debacle with Ron and taking the stupid job. If she had just listened to Harry and let him use his connections, hell even used her connections she could have gotten that idiot Wright fired a long time ago and be in his position right now. But no, she had to be all prideful and not ask for Harry's help after she realized what she'd gotten herself into. Basically, she had hit rock bottom and had no one to help her back up.

Sometimes she wondered if her title as the smartest witch of her age was correctly given after all. Merlin knows Rita Skeeter had been trying to prove that statement right for years.

Groaning Hermione glanced at her clock and after a silent debate her goody-two-shoes side from her school days won over and she decided to brave the cold and go to work. She rolled out of bed, literally, and crawled toward her bedroom door. Her black cat, Deuce, (Crookshanks died sometime after the war and she had felt the need to replace him) stared at her with his bright green eyes from his perch on her bed and almost seemed to raise an eyebrow at her. She scowled back,

"Don't even say anything mister you still get to be all warm and cozy on my bed while I have to go to hell…I mean work."

The cat stared at her a little more and then lay back against her pillows.

Great now she was talking to cats, could her life get any more pathetic? Even the cat thought she was pathetic.

She made it all the way to the kitchen area of her little one bedroom flat and finally decided that coffee was much more important than her inability to stand and her coldness so she stood and started a pot of coffee. Sighing, she went back into her room to change into some work clothes.

Hermione had changed a lot since her school days. The war changed everyone really, but Hermione had lost a lot. Her parents were the first thing. She had travelled to Australia to find them only to discover that they had been found by death eaters and killed. All of the people killed during the war was a huge toll on Harry, because he felt responsible but he had Ginny and Teddy to help pick up the pieces, but Hermione had no one to tell about her nightmares of when she was tortured in the Malfoy Manor, or her grief over her parents, or any of the others killed in the war, or her break-up with Ron, or her crappy job, or the fact that she felt very alone in the world. Sure Harry and Ginny, Luna, Ron; all of them were there, but she felt distant from them, they wouldn't understand because they were all finally happy with life. They lost people but they had others there to help them through it. She didn't, she had no one to wake up to and cry about her nightmares.

There were many times that she woke up and contemplated apparating to the Potter residence, but then she remembered they had their own lives to worry about. With little James Sirius a year old now and Teddy three, they had more than enough to handle without Hermione's petty problems. And Luna, she couldn't bother Luna when the girl was just getting over her father's death and finally happily dating some whack job just like her. And Ron, well, that had ended badly. They were still friends of course but he was just too hung up on Fred's death. He couldn't get over the fact that one of his brothers was dead. He tended to get a little bit too drunk and she had been expecting it really but eventually he decided he didn't want anything to do with her, she just wished it hadn't been on their wedding day. They made up but didn't get back together, he couldn't deal with any of his issues so he moved in with Ginny and Harry for a while and he was definitely doing better.

It's not like she was still alone because men didn't ask her out, or she wasn't pretty or anything. She was actually quite pretty, or at least she figured she was. And men asked her out plenty of times, and she went on a few dates here and there she just never really connected with any of them. They didn't understand…

Hermione glanced into her full length mirror to gage her looks. She wasn't exactly tall and blonde or supermodel material. But she at least had less bushy hair and it had darkened to a rich brown. She had thinned and toned out as well. She was pretty enough she supposed.

A glance at the clock told her that she was almost late for work so she quickly pulled on her black boots over her black tights. Groaning, Hermione grabbed her wand and the usual ministry employee robes over her dress, then ran into the kitchen to get her coffee. As soon as she poured it into her mug she apparated into her office only to find John Wright sitting on her desk. She shrieked and spilled her coffee down the front of her robes.

"Drink much Hermione?" he sneered at her, "You've kept a very important client waiting and I am not pleased."

Hermione turned away from the man to hide her scowl. But he had already turned to a person standing behind her presumably the client.

"So sorry to keep you waiting sir, so sorry, now that my assistant is here we can get down to your business. Women, am I right? What are they good for besides their looks. Anyways, I am here to serve in any way I can sir."

Frowning at the fact that John Wright sounded like a groveling imbecile and his blatant women bashing but secretly very appreciative of anyone who could make him act that way, Hermione glanced to the person standing behind her and found a smirking Draco Malfoy in his expensive muggle suit, looking every bit the Slytherin Sex-God he supposedly was at Hogwarts. After gaping like an idiot for a couple of minutes she finally realized that they were both expecting her to say something, Malfoy looked amused and Wright looked like he was ready to smack her.

"Granger, may I see you outside the office for one moment?" Malfoy asked just as she was about to ask what they had asked her.

She opened her mouth to protest and voice her opinion of where he could accompany himself to when he opened the door and none-to-gently, pulled her into the hall, effectively shutting the door on an open-mouthed John Wright.

As soon as the door was closed, Hermione snatched her arm back and began to fume at the pale-faced ferret.

"This is the bloody worst day of my life! First, I wake up only to find that it is negative a million degrees outside and I cannot get out of bed, then my cat thinks I'm pathetic, then I realize I am pathetic, then I'm late for work, spill coffee on myself, get insulted by my boss, find out that I'm apparently going to work with Draco Malfoy the bane of my existence for my entire schooling career, wait what in the bloody hell are you doing in my office, with my boss ferret?"

He smirked at her red-face and out of breath from her tangent.

"Nice to see you too Granger, how am I? Oh I'm wonderful and yourself? I see very good, well this has been a lovely chat," he said sarcastically.

She stared at him,

"Well excuse me if we had never been on the best of terms seeing as you were either teasing me, teasing my friends, trying to kill me, or trying to kill my friends," she retorted, "Not to mention the fact that your aunt tortured me in your house."

She wasn't surprised when her words seemed to not affect him in the least. Instead he stared at her, and then cleared his throat.

"I am here," he began, glancing at her with his pale gray eyes, "Because I need the services of Mr. Wright as a lawyer and as he is weighed down with cases already he has appointed you to my case."

"I'm not technically a lawyer you do know that right?" she told him confused, "I mean I am but Mr. Wright appointed me his secretary instead of official lawyer. I help him with cases, actually I do most of the work but he argues the cases."

"I am aware," he nodded.

Hermione was a little bit confused and she stared dumbfounded at the man in front of her, who was being polite, not even polite, civil to her.

"I'm confused," she stated rubbing her forehead tiredly.

It was only eight o' clock and she was already drained.

"Let me break it down for you," he said gaining back his smirk, there's the Malfoy she knew, "You are going to be working for me for the next couple of months on my case, your lovely boss already sealed the deal."

"I don't even get any say in this?" she screeched, "No, this is not happening, you can't just waltz in here Mr. I'm-so-good-and-rich-and-sneaky-and-big-CEO-man-no-one-can-stop-me-because-I'm-a-pureblooded-prat Malfoy, I am not going to take your bloody bull-shit! You used to torture me and I bet this is just some sick ploy to humiliate me, or, or something! You go in there and tell my boss that I am not doing this do you understand me?"

"Merlin Granger!" he fumed startling her with his change in demeanor, "I've been trying to be bloody polite to you this entire time, and it has taken my very small amount of patience to a new level of strained. Why in Merlin's beard would I waste my time on the brainiac little Gryffindork of the Golden Trio when I have so many better things I could be doing! And you think you could be an adult and just help me and be done with it, but no, you're still the same goody-two shoes prideful Granger from Hogwarts with her Gryffindor pride stuck so far up her..!"

"Ms. Granger!" the old secretary for the magical law enforcement department interrupted them with a sharp glare to Hermione and a cursory glance at Malfoy, "You would do well to bite your tongue and act like a young lady and not a bumbling baboon! What is this? Coffee? Unacceptable go clean yourself off and I will escort young Mr. Malfoy here into your office, hopefully he can forgive your outburst and still accept our Mr. Wright as his representative."

Hermione scoffed at the old woman's blatant sucking up and stomped toward the ladies' room. Muttering about killing ferrets, old ladies, and prejudice bosses. Today was just not her day.

Remember to review! The next chapter will be up within the next couple days.

~Ace~