Author's Note: Written for LuminaCarina as her prize for winning 2nd Place and Best Angst Fic in the Time Travel Competition. Congratulations, I hope this is what you wanted!
Change For the Better
War changes people. No one knew this better than Hermione, who still woke up from nightmares of acts she took part in ten years before.
It wasn't just war, though. She felt herself changing with every new step in her life, and at times she wasn't sure if she was even recognizable from the quiet, frizzy-haired girl who stepped onto the Hogwarts Express without any idea what she was getting herself into all those years ago.
"Granger."
Hermione flinched, pulled out of her thoughts by her boss's calling.
"Daydreaming, are we?"
She glared at the man standing in the doorway of her office. "Just making a list of everything I need to do this week, Sir."
Lee came fully into the room and sat himself down in a chair opposite her desk. "Well, I've got one more thing for you to take on."
"Dare I ask?"
He grinned. "We've got a new employee. I want you to show her the ropes before you leave."
Hermione stared dumbfounded at him. "You do realize I'm going on maternity leave in a week, right?"
"You're the best in the division. Hell, you know more than I do and I've been here longer."
"That's because you never read through the regulations handbook," she put in.
"You're probably right, but see, that's what makes you so great at training people!" When she didn't budge, he added, "It won't even be that much trouble. She's transferring from Administrative Registration."
"AR is a lot different from Regulation and Law Advisory," Hermione commented, drumming her fingers on the desktop. "What's her name?"
"Parkinson."
:-:
Pansy was certain she'd never been as nervous as she was the day of her transfer.
She'd been through a war and the ten subsequent years of discrimination afterwards for the mistakes she'd made as a teenager – when she was too naïve and scared and infatuated to know any better.
Had she changed at all? She considered the question every morning as she looked in the mirror. She thought she had, but it had taken so long … she was so stupid.
A fresh start was what she needed. Moving out of the country was impossible at the moment, but a transfer would suit her well. Unfortunately her future hinged on meeting her supervisor. Mr. Jordan had been very clear that even though all her paperwork was in order and her initial interview had gone well, her supervisor had the authority to deny her transfer request.
She hadn't been given a name, just a room number. She made sure she was waiting outside it minutes before her meeting was due to begin. By the time her name was called she found herself trembling.
:-:
To say Hermione had been dreading the meeting was an understatement.
Gracious and eager to forgive past mistakes as she was, there were some people she'd been glad to never have to see again after she left school. Pansy Parkinson had been near the top of the list.
You can't always get what you want, she reminded herself as she prepared for the meeting. She had everything she would conceivably need to start training someone – the regulations handbook, the ninety-third edition of The Condensed Manual of Wizarding Law, and various guidebooks to help Pansy get settled into the office.
When she finally called Pansy into the office, she wasn't sure what she expected. Certainly, she hadn't expected the former Slytherin to look exactly as she had back in their school days. Hermione could honestly say that anyone else – her husband and in-laws, Harry, Neville, Luna, even Draco – they all looked different in some way or another.
Pansy, on the other hand, still wore her dark hair in the same way. There wasn't a single grey strand among them – which, Hermione shamefully admitted, she could not say about her own brown curls. It seemed Parkinson's fondness for dark clothing hadn't changed either as she dressed in a dark grey pantsuit and navy blouse, looking much more put-together than Hermione felt in her maternity wear.
The supervisor thought she might've seen something close to fear flicker in the other woman's eyes when she recognized her, but she brushed it off, shutting the door behind her and stepping up to the desk to shake Hermione's hand.
"Thank you for meeting with me," she said kindly. Hermione was taken aback, but quickly composed herself, offering Pansy a seat.
:-:
"I'm going to ask you a series of questions, Ms. Parkinson. I expect you to answer honestly as they will seriously influence my decision in whether or not you're a good fit for this division. If I agree with Mr. Jordan's assessment that you belong here, we will then begin your training. Do you understand?"
Pansy nodded, suddenly finding her throat very dry. She'd been full of confidence that morning, as she excitedly explained to her father over breakfast that she was going in for a job interview.
She blamed her new anxiety on the fact that her supervisor was her school nemesis. And of course, she looked so much better than Pansy did. Not a hair out of place, perfect posture, well-manicured nails, and heavily pregnant. Pansy glimpsed a family picture on the desk as they shook hands and saw her supervisor's husband and little girl smiling and waving.
"What made you choose the Regulation and Law Advisory Division?" Hermione asked, seemingly reading off a sheet of parchment. Standard interview questions.
"I thought transferring here would be a good use of the skills I picked up from working in Administrative Registration for the last decade."
"And what do you hope to do here?"
There was a harshness to her tone that had Pansy quivering slightly.
"I hope to be able to have a hand in bettering the wizarding world. It's been my life's ambition to make a difference. Working in AR, being a glorified secretary … hasn't exactly fulfilled that."
"May I ask why you stayed there so long, then?"
Pansy bit her lip. She'd hoped she wouldn't have to get into this. Not with Granger – not with anyone.
"My … I needed to get a job after I got out of school. It was an easy choice at the time, but I've outgrown the position."
Hermione nodded, and then opened the file on her desk. "It says here your employer was a Mr. Angus Parkinson. Any relation?"
Pansy sighed and nodded. "He's my father. He got me the job, initially, but I haven't been working under him for six years."
"You understand the work we do here is very serious, don't you, Ms. Parkinson?"
"Yes, Ma'am."
"We don't have time for hand-holding or expectations of favoritism. My job right now is to weed out the people who could potentially hold us back from doing our jobs – in particular those who may try to sabotage our attempts at getting more modern laws passed."
"You're worried I'm going to try and stop you from going ahead with those muggle-favoring laws they've been talking about in the Prophet?" she guessed.
:-:
Hermione waited patiently for Pansy's calm, carefully collected exterior to crumble and reveal the snide girl she'd once known.
"I'm sorry."
"I beg your pardon?"
"I said, I'm sorry," Pansy said clearly, looking Hermione in the eye. "I should've said it the minute I came in here, but I was surprised to see you and … and I'm sorry. For everything I did and said when we were in school. It was uncalled for, and I've had ten years of reminders of how horribly I acted."
Hermione didn't know what to say, but she didn't have time to react before Pansy was speaking again.
"My mother was ill when I started working for my father. She had to quit her job and we needed the money – we're not rich people, no matter how I may have portrayed us. I didn't have any ambition when I was younger. My desire to make a difference is a new goal. My wish to leave AR is partially fuelled by the fact that everyone there remembers me as a smug and delusional eighteen-year-old and I want to be taken seriously.
"You have every right to hate me, and I know I'm not getting this job, but I just wanted you to know why I wanted it, and they I never would have jeopardized anything."
Hermione sat in a stunned silence as she registered Pansy's words. Pansy seemed to take the silence as a dismissal, because she headed for the door.
"Wait," Hermione called. She waited until Pansy was seated again to speak. "I may have been too quick to judge you. I apologize for that. I suppose I'm guilty of a little prejudice myself."
"You don't have to apologize," Pansy assured her.
"Just the same, I shouldn't have treated you the way I did. If you're still willing to work with me, I'd like to being your training now."
Pansy's face split into a wide grin and Hermione couldn't help smiling back. "I'd like that very much, thank you.