A/N: Anything you recognize probably belongs to JKR, though I probably should also mention that this fic was at least partly inspired by watching too much Covert Affairs.

Prologue

Hermione didn't dally too long before making her move, as her delay tactics were hardly preferable to the daunting task she faced. She had swallowed half her flute of cheap sparkling wine over a quarter hour spent in receiving intimate, preening confidences from Percy Weasley, who had been cataloguing his colleagues' filing missteps in almost lurid detail. She learned that Gampus Bulgoad' fine spell for detangling goat beards had nearly been classified under cosmetics rather than creatures, thanks to what Percy suspected was a vindictive ploy by Irene Mottle, the recent ex-girlfriend of Bulgoad's daughter Gertie. Crucial information to some, but not precisely the intelligence she sought that evening.

Hermione glanced fleetingly in the direction of an equally one-sided, dull-seeming conversation and observed that Professor Snape was being talked at by a toad of a man swathed in grey silk who looked like he could easily be related to Dolores Umbridge. As at May's annual victory ball, Snape looked healthier than she had ever seen him at Hogwarts, but hardly pleasant. The too-sweet bubbly alcohol sloshed in her stomach as she tried to catalog her feelings: nerves, righteous indignation, excitement. Nothing new for a war heroine such as herself, but she'd had a goodly reprieve from such things in the past two years as she finished her studies at Hogwarts almost uneventfully, then devoted the following year to attaining an informational magics certification and ultimately landed a coveted research position at the Ministry Library. That the Library vaults stored all original Ministry patents as well as documents pertinent to government-funded research explained her presence at the annual cocktail party celebrating new magical inventions, but it did not account for her queasy stomach or her interest in the two ill-matched gentlemen.

With a resolute sigh, she interrupted Percy's continuing diatribe. "I guess there's no chance I'll manage to speak to him alone."

He followed her gaze. "Who, Zeuler? No, I doubt he'll leave Mr. Snape be unless Minister Shacklebolt himself makes an appearance, and I happen to know that that's hardly likely! Why this very afternoon - "

Hermione patted Percy's arm, and briskly stepped away, a resolute look on her face. "Well, at least he can't give me detention anymore. Wish me luck!" She pushed her way through the thickening crowd, pretending to spot Leopold Zeuler for the first time. Noting Zeuler's empty glass, and that her old professor was himself empty handed, though doubtless not by accident, she snagged additional drinks from a passing server and pushed her way between the two men, face flushed in a show of youthful eagerness and admiration.

Snape noticed her first, and acknowledged her with a cold, "Miss Granger." He must be truly desperate, she decided, if he isn't doing more to push me away.

"Gentlemen. I'm so sorry to interrupt, but if I may offer a small bribe to excuse my rudeness?"

Snape plucked the glass from her hand with a suspicious scowl, making no move to drink the offensive beverage, while Zeuler began to look at her with interest. "Thank you my dear, I was just about to search out another." She watched him identify her, deem her important enough to warrant attention, then unsubtly evaluate her body. Clammy fingers caressed her own as he took his glass, while Hermione did her best to maintain eye contact and convey nervous admiration.

"Professor Snape, Sir," she asked, not bothering to meet his eyes, "I'd be ever so grateful if you would introduce me to your esteemed friend. Dr. Zeuler, I'm simply fascinated by your recent work on Goblin psychology, and I'm curious, have you considered the implications of your studies for related species, such as house-elves?"

Zeuler looked confused, pleased with the praise, but a bit perplexed with Hermione's rapid turn to interrogation.

"Mr. Zeuler," Snape drawled, simultaneously demoting and defamiliarizing the other man, and, Hermione thought, reminding her that it was no longer appropriate to refer to him as her professor. "Hermione Granger is a particularly eager ex-student. Her exploits are extensively documented, and I imagine she needs little introduction."

"Why indeed, Hermione, the pleasure is mine. I am flattered by your interest, but remember, Goblins, unlike house-elves, are clearly classified as Beings. I see little benefit to extending my study to entities that do not share that status."

"But Sir, the data you present, when one considers the specific physiological similarities between house-elves and Goblins, clearly implies that the status of elves ought to be reconsidered. This could be truly revolutionary!"

"I'm afraid such speculations exceed the parameters stipulated in my research budget. Oh my, it appears the Minister has decided to make an appearance after all. I simply must congratulate him on the success of the recent Death Eater convictions. Severus, I imagine you'll want to join me?"

"No need, Zeuler. I attended the trials myself. Kingsley is aware of my support."

In his eagerness to get away, Zeuler barely managed to look deflated at Snape's abandonment. Hermione and Snape watched him waddle off with nearly identical looks of disgusted amusement.

"Does it every time."

Snape turned and gazed at her suspiciously, catching the amusement in her voice. "What?" he asked, almost as if in spite of himself.

She smirked, more to herself than at him. "Me bringing up house-elves. Makes everyone uncomfortable." His eyebrow twitched, and his lip quirked. She didn't say anything, but she met his eyes and made it clear she had recognized his amusement. He glanced around the room, but she cut in again, just as she suspected he was about to make a curt excuse and take his leave. "Of course, his conclusions about Goblins are so off-base to begin with that any extrapolation would be worse than useless."

"I could have told you as much, and I haven't bothered to read a word of it."

"A hazard of duty for me, I'm afraid. My first assignment for the Library was cataloging his publications."

"Am I to assume, then, that one of your dunderheaded schemes lies behind the bootlicking charade?"

"Oh, I had plenty of reasons, but nothing terribly important. Percy was boring me, Zeuler has been boring me for weeks and deserved a bit of revenge... and I daresay you looked like you could use a distraction as well."

Snape seemed to relax, almost deflate slightly. "What frivolous lives we lead."

"It's a novelty, in any case."

But he hardly looked frivolous to her, and she hardly felt frivolous herself.

"So, which of your frivolities earned you an invitation this evening? Erm, normally I'd keep up, of course, but Zeuler's quite appallingly prolific, and I might have gone into perfectionist mode a bit, seeing as it was my first assignment and all."

He rolled his eyes, but another survey of the room seemed to confirm that he would be hard pressed to find a less annoying conversation partner, and as several particularly sycophantic acquaintances were glancing in his direction, he gave in to Hermione's bold query. "I've been experimenting with supplements to the Polyjuice, as a matter of fact." He nearly groaned at Hermione's evident eagerness. "I discovered that the base potion could be blended with an ingestible pigmentation glamour so that the user maintains the target's coloring - hair, eye, skin, etc. - even after the standard hour has elapsed. It makes the transition less noticeable, and the glamour can then be countered with a spell at the user's convenience."

Hermione nodded thoughtfully, considering far more factors than her old professor realized. She opened her mouth, about to ask for more details, but noticed that Minister Shacklebolt was preparing to speak and replied with a quip, rather than the planned query.

"So, I know all too well how Polyjuice works with cat hair, but I'm curious, what would happen if one were to treat the potion with hair form a different, but also rational species, such as house-elves?"

Hermione felt almost smug as she turned to listen politely to the Minister's speech, ignoring Snape's failure to suppress an amused snort. She didn't know how well she'd fulfilled her cryptic assignment, but for the moment at least, she couldn't help feeling that the evening was a success.