The Malfoy-Incident – Chapter 1

Disclaimer, for the rest of the story: I do not own Harry Potter. If I would, I'd be a) a genius, b) superrich, and c) Draco and Hermione would be together. ETERNALLY.

Two days later, Hermione burst into the Auror office, said magazine swaying above her head.

"Morning, Malfoy", she chirped, still amused. The pureblooded, superior Malfoys. At Muggle partys.

The blond git had been sitting at his desk, brooding grimly.

He hated work, he hated the office, he hated the people around him, and he hated Granger most. Still. She was loud, annoying, a know-it-all, she had a stick in her arse, and now she stormed into the room, in a mood that could only mean no good for him. Oh, and she was a mudblood. He almost forgot.

"What is it?", he snapped, hoping she would be intimidated. No such luck. She knew him long enough, obviously, and was used to his – call it moody – tone.

"Oh come on, Malfoy, don't be such a prat", Hermione answered dryly, but not the least bit afraid or anything. War was over, Harry was down in the cafeteria, she'd seen him. Kingsley was somewhere close, for sure, being the minister and all. Mr. Weasley was in the building. She hoped Ron wasn't, but he was probably around too, and in case of emergency, she'd always trust Ron more than Malfoy, no matter what had happened between them.

Okay, she admitted it, if they had been alone she wouldn't feel all too well. He had been a Death Eater after all, and being an Auror now surely didn't make him less dangerous. Especially because he didn't even want to have the job in the first place, it was actually part of his sentence. Most people hadn't understood the Wizengamot after the decision they made concerning the Malfoys. Hermione was glad they weren't imprisoned for life; after all, Malfoy had been only seventeen back then, no matter what crimes he had committed, Narcissa had helped Harry and Lucius … oh well, she'd probably like him in Azkaban, no matter how good-natured she was. Which didn't mean she understood the verdict … but that was another story.

Nonetheless, Hermione now was in a rather good mood and handed the magazine to Malfoy, who looked at her with a mixture of confusion and revulsion.

"What's going on, Granger? Why should I care about that filthy magazine? Most people on this page are older than my–". He stopped. Hermione looked expectantly at him, amused, but also a bit curious.

Malfoy's expression changed within milliseconds. Before, he had sneered at her, now his cheeks turned slightly pink with anger and embarrassment.

"Where did you get this?", he hissed, not impressing her the least bit.

"Well, you might remember I'm muggleborn", she stated, ignoring his grunt. Sure he did. "I went to the hairdresser two days ago in Muggle-London, and stumbled over it. It filled me with joy, seeing your daddy finally coming to his senses."

She smirked at him. Hermione could tell her words hurt him, although she didn't even say something bad. She was actually sort of happy, seeing Lucius Malfoy communicating with Muggles, on good terms, obviously. She just didn't understand, and by the way, it was a good method to tease Malfoy a bit. He deserved it. Oh, he deserved much more.

"Well, going to the hairdresser didn't change your sloppy look at all, mission failed. And if you think you could blackmail be because of this" – he pointed at the magazine – "you're clearly wrong. Go on – tell everyone about it."

To say the former Gryffindor wasn't dumbfounded at all was probably an understatement, but she was able to keep calm. Her hair did change! And how could he even dare insulting her appearance? He was just such a git, it was hard to believe. And blackmailing? This wasn't war, literally.

After a moment of hesitation and bemusement she breathed heavily. "Malfoy, I'm just going to ignore your statement about me here. We're not in playschool anymore. Besides, who said anything about blackmailing? Are the Death Eater-sensed still there?" – Hermione saw him shudder, but it was his fault she'd brought it up so he might as well deal with it – "I was going to make a little joke! I don't see anything bad in your father's behaviour, it's just unusual to me. Probably to everyone."

She tried hard to stay calm, everything inside her just wanted to bicker, but she'd show him who was mature in this room. Additionally, Hermione heard the door opening, and she didn't want to be caught with Malfoy in a rather intimate moment, no matter if they'd fought seconds ago.

"See you then, Malfoy", she muttered and he just nodded at her shortly, grabbing the magazine and ripping it into pieces under his desk.

Harry watched the two irritated, but decided not to comment. Malfoy seemed sulky enough, and they had to spend the whole day together, just as usual. Sometimes Harry wondered if the Wizengamot had wanted to punish him as well when they entrusted him to Malfoy's care.

As Hermione went back to her office, she slowly gained back her good mood. She'd find out sooner or later, and she could wait. Probably. No, she could wait, and she wasn't that curious, right?

As she entered her office, Parvati had already started working.

"Huh, that's unusual, Hermione", her former classmate smiled, "I think it's the first time in seven months that I'm actually earlier than you. You ill or something?"

Hermione grinned, too. Parvati had never been her best friend back in school, but after Hogwarts, she'd spent less time with Lavender, which let her calm down a bit. She was smart, and pretty, Hermione could accept that without jealousy. She would never be an exotic beauty like her Indian friend anyway. Her biggest plus were her skills in Asian languages, Parvati had learned Indian at home, and could speak a bit of Chinese. Hermione was fluent in French on the other hand, a language Parvati couldn't stand, let alone understand. Her limits were 'Je ne parle pas francais, excusez-moi'. Working together at the International Magical Office of Law brought them closer than living in the same dorm for years, probably mostly because they didn't have to sleep in the same room.

"I'm perfectly fine, thank you", Hermione answered finally, helping herself to a cup of coffee and sitting down behind her desk, "Ran into a few people on the way, that's all."

Parvati seemed satisfied, and for the next hours, they went through their paperwork, sometimes making jokes about the desperate attempts of persuasion they were sometimes confronted with. It was hard to believe that the Chinese industry still couldn't accept the norms for safety on brooms.

That was something else, besides working with a Patil on perfectly good terms, that Hermione had never expected. She worked close with the Broom Regulation Control, and therefore sometimes also with the Department of Magical Games and Sports. She also always held contact to the Aurors – whenever she had to go abroad for negotiations one of them would join her and the respective professional. This meant she was often close to travel with Malfoy, but somehow Harry had always managed that the Slytherin prat wasn't available whenever Hermione had to leave somewhere. She wasn't sure if she should be thankful, but she probably was, although her pride wasn't too happy, nagging at her how she should tell Harry to get a grip and accept she was just as grownup as he was, probably more.

"Any appointments for the afternoon?", Parvati asked as they headed to the cafeteria, where they usually met with Harry and Anthony Goldstein, whom Parvati dated recently.

"No, at least nothing is scheduled. You?"

"I'm off to Egypt at three until tomorrow with the Department for Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Something about a Sphinx they wanted to ship to Portsmouth, I just wonder why they wanted to take me, I mean, Egypt? I bet it's going to be great fun, not being any help with the language, and spending the whole afternoon, night and morning with Daphne Greengrass. Oh, and I don't even know which Auror will join us."

"Better hope it's not Malfoy", Hermione muttered, "Two Slytherins … but Greengrass is alright, at least up to a certain point. She may be vain but that's about it."

"If you say so", Parvati sighed, as they reached the cafeteria and spotted Harry and Anthony.

They walked over and food appeared in front of them as soon as they decided what to have. While eating, Harry and Parvati tried to figure out who'd be in Egypt with Parvati, but he didn't know. At least it wasn't Malfoy then, Hermione mused. The idiot. She still couldn't believe his reaction this morning. Sure, they always bickered, and there was no way she could see herself liking him or vice versa. But–

"Hermione? Has your huge brain decided to leave the planet and join a superior race?"

Harry's question brought Hermione back to the table and her friends, and she blushed as she realised they must have tried to talk to her for several seconds.

"Uh, sorry, Harry", she muttered, still slightly pink, "I was thinking."

"Now that's unexpected news", he chuckled and Anthony and Parvati grinned.

"Look, I'm sorry", she repeated and he smiled at her, luckily not mentioning that she had been in his office with Malfoy in the morning. He probably didn't even connect her absent-mindedness and the incident. She'd find out soon enough he did.

After Parvati left with Daphne Greengrass and an Auror in his early fifties who looked overwhelmed with happiness that he was allowed to spend almost 24 hours with two beautiful, young women, Hermione kept working on her documents, at least she tried hard. She now had the office for herself, although their department was a lot bigger, it was constantly silent. Her brain, the total jerk, kept reminding her of Malfoy though, no matter how hard she tried to focus on cauldron thickness. She was still angry at him, although she knew he'd said much worse. But it somehow affected her, that he'd actually expected her to be so … so Slytherin and tell everyone about Lucius' new connections. It was his cup of tea after all, and Hermione didn't want to be confronted with more parts of this family than necessary. Even if the Malfoy patriarch seemed to be somehow royally afflicted now, he was still a Malfoy. A royal pain in the a…, that is.

Her bitter thoughts were distracted by a meme that softly landed on her desk. Eager for some new tasks, and probably a trip to another country, Hermione read it:

Miss Granger,

We had an incident in France, where a whole load of brooms on their way to England crashed right over Muggle-Paris and the French Gouvernment is blaming the Department of Magical Transportation. The Department of Magical Transportation, the Department for Magical Accident and Catastrophes and the Department of Magical Games and Sports have been informed, as well as an Auror. Please note that you have to leave immediately, you are awaited in the Atrium.

Kind regards,

The Muggle-Worty Excuse Committee

John Kiely

She couldn't help but sigh. Of course, her boredom came to an end, but sometimes she just wondered if wizards really wanted to hide from Muggles, how could you possibly loose around 50 brooms over Paris? At least it meant she'd be in France today.

Quickly brushing her hair and fixing her robes, she packed her bag which always held a toothbrush and some spare clothes, in case she had to stay somewhere overnight.

Reaching the Atrium, Hermione searched for a group of three or four people, and was lucky, when she spotted John Kiely instantly. She didn't know two of the others, but Alicia Spinnet represented the Department for Magical Games and Sports, and she was glad to have someone familiar around.

"Hermione Granger", she introduced herself to the two men standing next to Alicia.

"As if you need to introduce yourself, Saint Granger", someone snarled, and Hermione turned around, rolling her eyes. "Please, Malfoy, tell me you passed by and aren't going to France with us."

"Why would I walk around in the Atrium for nothing?"

Hermione decided to leave civil conversation behind and snap as well, since he was so good at it. "Oh yes, I forgot, you're being more than just common, why walking around in the Atrium!"

None of the two even realised the others around them were rolling their eyes, Alicia chuckled.

"Why don't you two get along", John proposed, "It would help us all a great deal, and you could finish your job before next year. This is sort of urgent, you know. The French wizards are having a hard time hiding this."

Hermione forced herself to be at least a tad professional, and Malfoy seemed to try the same, although he couldn't fully suppress his death glares towards her.

The other two men introduced themselves as Chilcott and Dekeyrel, and soon after they left through the floo network to the French Ministry. Before Hermione stepped into the fireplace, she turned around and saw Malfoy standing behind her. He smirked. She poked out her tongue at him and left, hoping he would get lost somewhere between the countries and drown in the English Channel.

Oh dear, I'm having a hard time fighting against all the formatting against :D

To clarify something, I may not be a mother tongue, but I've been talking a lot of English in my life, I've been an au-pair and I now study English as my minor subject. So I know my English can't be THAT bad, but I'd still like someone to look over my grammar though, sometimes I'm just not sure and I'd like it to be as good as possible :3 STILL LOOKING FOR A BETA! xx

P.S.: I'm not going to be annoying and beg for reviews, but I like them nonetheless, it's great to know someone likes what you're doing :x And concerning updates, I want to do it fast, and I'm motivated right now, but won't make any promises. I'll try it weekly. This one was up so fast because I'm so excited to write again! :D Oh, and the fic will be about 10 to 15 chapters, I'd say.

to pumpkin: First review! Thanks so much : ) I didn't expect anything so fast, since no one could possibly know me, haha :D Said something about the language before, but thank you so much for that! Made me blush : AND GERMAN IS HARD TO LEARN! Concerning the length, I've read nice short chapters before too, but I just always have a feeling the development is not described well enough then :D I expect myself to do longer chapters.

And a huge thank you to sweet-tang-honney for the review as well! And my love to the 4 people who have the story on their favourite-list so far, and the 7 follows : It's only been up for one day, you're awesome!