1.
1st January 2002. Ministry of Magic. Fourth Level. Being Division. Office for House Elf Welfare and Relocation.
Minister Shacklebolt, as always, was extremely lax about employees having to work on New Year's Day. For many this meant a great deal to them as they could spend an extra day at home, sitting with their families and not needing to worry about the number of interdepartmental memos awaiting them when they returned to their desks. At least not for another day. The War was still fresh enough in people's minds to make them realise how important it was to be with family and friends and not take anything for granted.
Hermione Granger, on the other hand, was no such person. When there were tasks at hand and work to be improved, she was there without fail and more often than not it resulted in her being forced to take holidays by her superiors.
'My dear,' Melinda, her boss, said as Hermione had protested taking yet another day off, 'You ought to take advantage of the rights that you have been given as a witch. What use are you going to be for House Elves if you won't even set the example of having some occasional time off for yourself?'
She had agreed grudgingly in the end and taken a couple of days off at Christmas time but that was more than enough. Great progress had been made in her department in the last couple of years and she wanted to continue along that positive path. How was she to do that sitting at the Burrow, regardless of how much she enjoyed the company?
Harry and Ron were still there, of course. The former wanted to spend as much time with Ginny as possible before she had to go back to Quidditch training. It was nothing Hermione hadn't expected, especially since he had proposed to her the previous year – besides work, they were inseparable. Ron (also to no surprise) just wanted another day off. He tried to be with his parents as often as he could, often feeling guilty at leaving them in that big house by themselves. After all, their children were scattered across the country: Bill lived with Fleur and little Victoire, Charlie was in and out of Romania, Percy had moved in with his own fiancé Audrey, George still lived in Diagon Alley (although now with the addition of Angelina Johnson, his girlfriend) and both Ron and Ginny were constantly away due to Auror duties and Harpies games, respectively. Fred's death was still a black cloud that hovered over the Weasley household, but the tragedy has nevertheless brought the family closer together than ever.
Hermione herself tried to be better at visiting her own family as well as the Weasleys, but her commitments at work sometimes prevented it being a priority.
Her parents were now back living at their old house, where she had enjoyed a lovely Christmas dinner with them. She had noticed (quite happily) that Jean and Alexander Granger were getting back to their normal selves again. As soon as Hermione had found them in Australia and restored their memories, it had taken them quite a while to get used to the fact that they hadn't lived their own lives for a year. Her father in particular was absolutely furious with her, even though she had tried to explain it was for their own protection; however, that didn't really help her situation and her parents were horrified when she informed them of what she had been doing in their absence.
A number of arguments (and sleepless nights on Hermione's part) had resulted in them coming to a truce. Hermione had to swear to keep herself out of danger as much as possible, but if she did happen to find herself in some she would inform her parents and let them make their own decisions about how to deal with it.
Eventually – and probably due more to her mother's forgiving heart – their relationship became as it always had been before the War and they kept in contact with Hermione more frequently as a result. She even had introduced them to Harry and Ron on one occasion and her parents had taken to them immediately.
At that time, however, she had been dating Ron and was quite dismayed when they had asked her – almost as soon as the boys had left – why she wasn't with Harry instead.
Spluttering and choking on her words, Hermione had informed them most profusely that Harry was her best friend and she felt nothing but brotherly affection for him. Nonetheless, this was the first sign that her relationship with Ron was doomed to fail. It was only a few months later after all - almost a year ago now - that they decided to go their separate ways. After a wonderful few years together it was obvious they were too different to make it work and they still remained excellent friends.
And so, sitting in her little office on the fourth floor, it was Ron who was preoccupying her thoughts at this moment. He had chosen New Year's Eve to inform Hermione that he was officially dating Parvati Patil and although she had been rather shocked, she was happy for him nonetheless. The fact he had sought her out to ask if she was okay with it was sweet but also made her rather indignant. He had had a sort of conciliatory look on his face as he spoke, which had brushed Hermione up the wrong way. The drinks she had consumed, as she reminded herself, may have had something to do with it.
Needless to say, Ginny had ended up taking her inside and putting her to bed pretty early on during the celebrations, which was probably a good thing. It had meant no hangover for her this morning and saved her the embarrassment of having to face everyone else once she had sobered up.
Hermione slapped a hand to her forehead with a groan, as she realised she probably would have to speak to them all tomorrow. Most of all she wanted everyone to realise that just because she hadn't been dating whatsoever since Ron, it did not mean she was still pining over him. Last night's little escapade may have ruined that for her somewhat.
Shaking her head slightly, she put quill to parchment again and began rewriting the entire paragraph she had been working on.
Her most recent article was one she would be sending to the Daily Prophet and although it would be great publicity for the cause, she was slightly apprehensive as to how it would be taken by the wider public. The plight of House Elves, as she saw it, was not necessarily the way the rest of the Wizarding world viewed the issue at all. Her previous articles for various magazines and Wizarding journals had not been greatly reviewed.
But Hermione Granger was nothing if not persistent.
She and her colleagues had already been able to pass a law through the Wizengamot that forbade violence against House Elves and other 'beings' like them, which she considered one of the greatest achievements of her life. Of course, it may have just been passed due to her Order of Merlin, First Class as well as her amicable relationship with Minister Shacklebolt, but she liked to think she had provided a stellar argument as to why it should be approved.
There was small knock on the office door (which, she thought, was pretty pointless as she always kept it open) and her boss appeared, a giddy smile upon her face as she peeked in.
'Hermione, you have a visitor! Wouldn't usually disturb you, but …'
Melinda trailed off as another person came up behind, causing her to become even more flustered than before. Hermione rolled her eyes as she saw a familiar head of raven hair poking its way through the office door and she smiled kindly at her boss before turning to her best friend.
'Harry! Good to see you. Surprised you've been able to prise your hands off of your fiancé to make it into work today.'
Giving his friend a small hug, Harry chuckled but made no comment as they both sat down in the only two chairs in the room. Hermione noticed her boss had sneakily disappeared off, no doubt to boast to her husband – who worked in the Beast division down the hall – that she had just had another chat with Harry Potter. Turning her attention back to the man in question, she folded her hands upon the desks and crossed her legs as she surveyed him.
Harry began with, 'Well, you're looking decidedly better than you did last night, Hermione. Can't say I've ever seen drunk Ginny having to forcibly lift you up to your room before now. Is that a regular occurrence?'
Her only reply to this statement was a slight roll of her eyes and reddening of her cheeks. It was a well-known fact that Quidditch players had to keep extremely fit due to the intensity of the job, but Ginny had always been freakishly strong for her size without that. Hermione decided to ignore the question completely.
'To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit? You never come through this way if you can help it. And even though I was joking before, it is really unlike you to be in the Ministry on New Year's Day.'
Harry smiled a little before learning forward in his seat. This was a business call, then.
'There is a good reason, actually,' he replied, running a hand through his short, messy hair, 'It's actually to do with what we'd been discussing over the last few weeks. You know, your main goal for the department this year.'
Hermione's interest piqued even further. She knew he was referring to the fact that she had been planning to petition to the Minister about finding a benefactor for her cause, someone who she could count upon to fund any events or drives which she may organise in the near future. Not many people had taken a massive amount of interest in what she wanted to achieve in the next year or so, thus she had taken her issue to Harry just before the holidays. Although he reprimanded her a little for planning ahead into 2002 already, he had agreed to have a float around the Ministry and take note of anyone who could be useful to her. Hermione, although very popular throughout the Wizarding World, had nothing like Harry's influence and she knew he would help her in any way he could.
She also didn't have the salary to fund any of these things herself. She doubted the monthly salaries of all the people working in this department would be of any help, to be honest. Hermione needed something more than just writing articles and posting the odd letter to people's houses. She needed more coverage, more exposure. She needed more connections and more contacts throughout the Wizarding world (and possibly abroad if she could wangle it). She also needed to have contact with more House Elves in order to gauge what their reaction would be should she be able to get the support for the next act.
Well hopefully they would take it better than Kreacher, she thought, picturing the old elf's confounded face when she had asked him his opinion on what she had written already. Hermione knew that her friend was trying to keep Kreacher as happy as possible, but she was still annoyed that he hadn't been able to persuade his House Elf to take any form of compensation for his work.
'You've had some interest?' she asked him, leaning forward as well and daring to hope she would get the answer she was looking for.
'I've had quite a bit of interest,' Harry confirmed, folding his arms and scowling slightly, 'Though not all of it was anything to do with the House Elf legislation and more the fact that they would get to work with the Hermione Granger. Some of them seemed to believe you'd make an excellent wife as opposed to a brilliant co-worker.'
Hermione laughed awkwardly at Harry, whose face was like thunder and was quite obviously biting his tongue so as to keep himself from spewing profanities. She didn't need to know – she had had enough of that nonsense over the last two and half years and knew how to deal with it.
'Well, moving swiftly on,' she continued, 'You must have found someone who had more interest in the legislation, otherwise you wouldn't be here. So … who was it?'
'Oh, right,' Harry replied, rubbing the back of his neck, 'Well, that's where we hit a little snag.'
Hermione's bemused look was not lost on him and before she could interrupt he carried on.
'Not with the work, you'll understand, but I'm just not entirely sure you're going to be comfortable with who was interested.'
Hermione snorted. 'Yeah, because the rest of them sounded like excellent prospects. Come on, Harry, just spit it out. It can't be that bad.'
'Okay, well, believe it or not,' he said, sighing a little and preparing himself as if she was about to burst any second, 'It's the Malfoys.'