A/N: Ugh, I spent days thinking about this chapter, don't actually know how to approach this- Nonetheless, it's not very long and some parts are unnecessary but I need to project Hermione's daily life of the now. Thanks to demonbarber14 as my beta for correcting all my endless mistakes.
Disclaimer: Honestly, if I owned Harry Potter, do you think I'll be lying on my bed writing dramione fanfiction? No, instead I'll just write another whole damn book and torture you all. I'm only joking, I think.
Chapter 1: A New Case
10th of March 2001
"Oh hey, you're finally awake, sleepy head," joked Hermione, all showered and dressed up in her usual business suit in the morning. Ginny with her both eyes half-closed shuffled across the floor, yawned and stretched her arms like a surreptitious cat. The drowsy girl gazed around the room, squinted and glared at the light glowing through the windows of the apartment. Hermione chuckled lightly as she watched Ginny dragged her feet to the windows, shut the curtains and stumbled slightly before dropping and settling down on the chair of the dining table.
She brought the breakfast she had made from the kitchen to the table, simply bacon and eggs as well as coffee. Placing one plate and a mug in front of Ginny as Hermione took a seat opposite her. "Mmmm, now this is what I call a perfect breakfast. Thanks Hermione," said Ginny but her words were slurred and indistinct.
Hermione grinned cheerfully and replied, "You're welcome, Gin. You know, I'm really delighted that after a year of living with me, you finally appreciate the scrumptious taste of Muggle food."
"Well, you can't say no to Muggle food especially when it's with umm- coffee, right?" smiled Ginny sheepishly and started eating. Hermione took the Daily Prophet newspaper beside her in one hand whilst eating with the other. She was looking at the latest news: "Macnair, former Death-eater finally caught and sent to Azkaban!" "Death-eater Nott Sr.'s wife fight for her husband's rights to free him from Azkaban." "Finnigan speaks out his experience of the war!".
Exasperated and irked by the headlines all regarding Death-eaters and the war, Hermione harshly flipped the paper to the sports section, ignoring the front page blatant headlines. Ginny stopped eating, glanced up when she heard her roommate muttering under her breath, "…no good writers, do they have to be so unambiguous? War, war, war, that's all they write about!" Her roommate huffed with annoyance whilst flipping the newspaper again as Ginny snickered with amusement.
"Really Hermione, you can't expect the Daily Prophet to be any better now…You don't have to get so worked up about it." The ginger extended her hand and lightly patted on Hermione's fist on the table. She took her mug and took a sip of her coffee, she remembered when Hermione once gave her this and she thought it was poison and mud. Laughing softly at the ridiculous memory, she shook her hand, stood up and went back to her room to refresh herself.
The brown-haired girl was still clutching at the papers and skimming through the words, reading each news quickly. She flipped the paper to the next section when she saw a column with a headline that caught her attention: "Malfoy Jr. finally revealed himself to the public after the long time of isolation." Hermione still remembered the first time when she read the last news article about the Malfoy family, it was a year ago stating that the Malfoys were free from charge or Azkaban due to Narcissa's lie to Lord Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest and some others arguing that the Mafloys should be punished even though they defected. Then there was the one when Draco Malfoy called off his engagement with Astoria Greengrass unexpectedly out of the blue which was the last news Hermione have ever heard from the Malfoys until now.
She was arguing with herself whether if she should read the short article or not, ever since her dreams last night, she tried so hard to ignore any news regarding the relations of the Malfoys yet she was immensely curious. Defeated, Hermione read on, "A year ago, Malfoy Jr., Draco Malfoy the son of the former death-eater Lucius Malfoy and also a defected death-eater himself disappeared from the public and social society, detached himself from the Ministry of Magic after calling off his engagement with the Greengrass family's youngest descendant, Astoria Greengrass who is currently dating Theodore Nott, former friend of Draco Malfoy himself." She came to an abrupt halt and groaned at the sight of the writing. Of course there must be some gossip, she thought with distaste. Continuing reading and ignoring all the minor useless details, "…It was reported that Malfoy Jr. was spotted at the Flourish & Bolts in Diagon Alley, a source informed that Mr. Malfoy was looking through the books during the potions section. Currently, many people are perplexed and interested on the reason why did Mr. Malfoy decided to make his unanticipated appearance now after one year of hiding…"
Hermione sighed, folded and placed the Daily Prophet at the table. She was wrapped around her own mind, asking the same questions like the writer of that article. Why did he come back? Why now though? What is his purpose…?, she thought with inquisitiveness. Wait, why am I even thinking about him? "Umm Hermione, sorry to interrupt your important train of thoughts but are you done?" Ginny's voice brought Hermione back to reality; she was standing by the side of the table and holding a plate with a confused look plastered on her face. Ginny was dressed up in her full Seeker Quidditch uniform and gear.
"Oh, of course. Sorry, I was just in the middle of…something. I'm done with breakfast," said Hermione, embarrassed that the important train of thoughts Ginny referred to were concerning Draco Malfoy. She lifted her plate and mug to Ginny and she heard Ginny mumbled a "Scourgify." cleaning the dishes spotless and effortless.
She grabbed her black cloak folded on the chair beside her, draped it over her shoulders before walking towards the fireplace with Ginny. The girls both took some floo powder in one hand, Ginny proceed moving to the fireplace and almost threw the powder before saying to her, "I guess I'll see you later, Hermione. Have fun working."
"Alright Ginny, have fun in practice!" replied Hermione and caught a glimpse of Ginny's mischievous grin before Ginny tossed the powder to her feet and disappeared leaving green trace of smoke. Then, Hermione did the same but her destination was to nonetheless the Mystery of Magic.
Brushing off the dust on her shoulders of her work attire, Hermione stepped out from the black marble fireplace of the Floo Network. The Ministry of Magic was occupied with many wizard and witches operating in and out everyday. Ever since the war ended two years ago and the boy who lived killed Voldermort, Minister Kingsley Shacklebolt ordered a new reign and governance. Prejudice and blood statuses were not as prominent as before yet there were still some pureblood families whom showed their disapproval of half-bloods and muggle-borns witches or wizards. Hermione sighed and jumped at the sight of paper aeroplanes flew past mere centimetres of her face. She shook her head slightly at the aversion of whoever who controlled the interdepartmental memos and made a mental note to rebuke against that department.
She walked from the Atrium Hall busied with wizards and witches moving around, stopped at the end of the hall and waited patiently for the lifts to be available. She stepped into the lift, pressing lightly on the button of the second floor. As the gateway of the lift was about to close, Hermione heard a distant shout: "NO! Someone! Please hold!" She fumbled with the buttons before the gate was opened again then she saw a witch rushed in and said, "Second floor, please."
The witch had red flaming hair and was rectifying her attire. Hermione recognised her immediately and exclaimed, "Oh Susan! How are you?"
Susan was still in the middle of distress and catastrophe but mindlessly said, "Ah-Oh Hermione, hello there. Oh, I'm fine, I'm just somewhat late for work." The lift suddenly jerked backwards, causing Susan to slipped but Hermione fast with her reflexes, grabbed Susan's arm and steadied her. They were lifted up again in fast motion, shortly a voice announced, "Second floor, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."
Both girls strolled out before the gate was shut and the lift descended back to the Atrium Hall again. Susan was still lost in her bewilderment before lifting her head, "Well then, I guess I'll see you later Hermione. Oh Merlin, I'm so late!" Hermione, smiling faintly, waved back at the anxious girl but she was already running to the Improper Use of Magic Office. Without a hurry, Hermione walked in a different direction, down the cold empty marble hallway. The hallway to the offices were always so unwelcoming, Hermione shuddered a little. When she reached the Auror office, she came to a sudden stop. Smiling and nodding familiarly at the receptionist, she went to the room with a gold sign engraved with the words, "Harry Potter, head of the Auror Office"
Gently, she knocked at the door after a short reply from the room, "Come in please." She twisted the knob and was in the sight of the room. Sitting in the black mahogany desk, occupied by the paper works was none other than the famous Harry Potter himself. "Hullo Harry, paperworks?"
Harry, finally showing a sign of his acknowledging Hermione's presence, said, "Hey Hermione, yeah." Harry rubbed his forehead wearily and traced over his legendary lightning before continuing, "And I thought becoming a Head Auror would not require so much writing and reading work."
Hermione disapprovingly tsk-tsked and scolded him playfully, "You know how significant and difficult becoming an Auror is, their job is one of the most dangerous occupations in the M-O-M. I thought you knew better than that."
Harry cut in, "Yeah yeah, all the glory and nonsense. Really Hermione, you don't have to lecture me about my job. I don't want my hears falling off, Mother." She glared at him and Harry laughed heartily.
Hermione huffed in annoyance but a smile threatened to show so she responded, "Ha-ha Harry, you're hilarious. Can I have my assignment now, son?"
Harry amusingly shuffled his papers, took a folder and handed it to Hermione's outstretched hand. She accepted it without hesitation but frowned slightly at the sight of the folder, it was so incredibly thin. Curious, she opened the folder and jerked when her eyes caught the sight of the name of her new assignment. "Draco Malfoy? Harry, really!" shrieked Hermione with outrage and aversion.
Harry winced at her sudden burst of rage, adjusted his glasses and murmured under his breath, "'Mione, calm down."
She spluttered, "R-really Harry, calm down? This is not an assignment, it's pathetic. Draco Malfoy out of all people!" She tossed the folder to Harry's desk and crossed her arms waiting. Tiredly, Harry tried to reason with his friend, "You know I don't get to choose whoever the next case is and apparently, Kingsley wants me to investigate Malfoy." Hermione was still standing with her arms crossed and showed a dissatisfaction at Harry's attempt of reasoning. Harry sighed again, "Didn't you see the news? Malfoy is back and we have to find out why."
"Yes, but he defected as well as the rest of the Malfoys, remember? You were the one who actually confirmed that Narcissa Malfoy lied to protect your life in their testimony." replied Hermione firmly.
"Of course I remembered but…after a year of his disappearance, Malfoy came back because he has a purpose and Kingsley wants to know what his motive is. We can't be sure if he is considered harmless." Harry briefly smiled and looked at his friend with a pleading message in his emerald eyes.
Hermione was shaking her head but she knew Harry had won her over, especially with that soft innocent pleading look in his eyes. "Oh all right, stop doing that. I don't want to be defeated easily like Ginny."
She took the folder reluctantly and tucked it in her case whilst Harry added, "Thanks 'Mione, you're the best."
She chuckled and replied, "Oh I know. I guess I'll see you later in lunch, Harry." She waved at Harry and he nodded once before she exited from his office.
After her departure from Harry's office, Hermione walked to her own but as she was reading her file, she bumped into a certain someone. "Merlin, I'm so sorry." cried Hermione apologetically. She muttered softly, "Wingardium Leviosa." and the papers were levitated slowly from the ground like soft feathers before Hermione piled them together and gave them to the person she knocked into. In fact, the wizard was a specific red head she knew, "Oh Ron! It's you!" exclaimed Hermione.
"Who else could it be? Thanks 'Mione." replied Ron, chastened and took the neat pile of papers from her hands.
"Ron, what are you doing here standing outside my office?" said Hermione whilst twisting the knob of her office. She continued, "Don't you have Quidditch practice today? I just saw Ginny off to hers yesterday, there's the League coming up and your team hardly can compete with it. Don't you realise that practice is important? Not that I object not practicing since Quidditch is such a dangerous sport, regardless. Although, you know, if you want to be the keeper of Chudley Cannons, you have to be at least dedicated to the job. I thought you wanted to attain the place of Team Captain, you can't skip practice and allow what-was-his-name? Oh! Galvin Gudgeon to just take the lead of everything. Ever since you declined the job of becoming an Auror, which is such a shame-" Hermione continued to lecture Ron about Quidditch practice, took her time walking to her desk, obtaining her books and folders. She started taking her books out from her charmed bag one by one, continued, "-since an Auror is one of the most significant jobs in the world yet you declined. Really, Ron. I still can't get over the fact that you turned th job of becoming an Auror. Nonetheless, I-"
Ron, annoyed and impatient, interrupted her babbling, "Hermione, I hate to interrupt but bloody hell, I'm just here to see you."
Hermione, baffled but blushing when she realised how Ron emphasised on the particular word 'you', finally looked up from her profound reading, "Oh. W-Well, why didn't you tell me in the first place?"
Ron paused and rolled his eyes before collapsing to a chair, "You didn't actually gave me a chance of speaking."
Blushing even harder, Hermione recovered and said, "I'm sorry, Ron. But you do have practice to attend to, don't you?"
Scratching his head and pursed his lips together, "Of course I do but ah-" Suddenly he stopped, looked down at his hands and extended his hand of papers to Hermione, "I saw Percy on my way here and he told- no, ordered me to give these to you. Said it'll help you with your case or something. He is still acting so bloody high and mighty." Ron huffed with irritation.
She took the papers from his hands, looked down and saw the papers of which they were records of the Malfoy expenses and sightings for the past 3 years. Her eyes widened at the sight of the Ministry monitoring Malfoy's moves, Why is the Ministry so curious about Malfoy…? They're still tracking him? "Speaking of cases, who is your next unlucky bloke of your mission?" Ron spoke, looking at Hermione intently and waited. Hermione widened her eyes even more and spluttered at the thought of Ron discovering her next case who was none other than - Draco Malfoy - the initial enemy of the trio since they started enrolling in Hogwarts. "W-w-what?", she stammered ungraciously.
Ron pointed at the papers in her hands, "Your case, 'Mione. Who is your next victim under your surveillance?"
"Oh! Ah well, it's…D-no. It's-ah- Well it's classified, Ron. I can't tell you. It's absolutely confidential," stuttered Hermione before spitting the few last words stuck in her throat.
Ron frowned and said with a tone of surprise, "What? You can't tell me? Why not, who is it? He's not that dangerous enough to be considered as a 'classified' case."
Hermione deeply sighed and echoed her last sentence, "I just can't tell you, Ron." Turning to her last resort, "Uh- Why don't you go and ask Harry?"
Ron was perplexed by Hermione's stammering tone of voice and decided to change the topic, "Fine. Hey 'Mione, you're still coming tonight, right?"
She was confused, looked at Ron intently and asked questioningly, "Tonight?"
"The restaurant, our umm- date…?", he replied, his voice croaking with embarrassment.
Startled by the sudden change of topic, she was still lost, "Oh of course Ron, why would you ask such a question? Regardless, you're still here. Aren't you going to practice still?"
Ron stood and went to the door but he was clutching the knob, paused and turned, "Uh- guess I'll see you tonight then."
Hermione flushed delicately and steadily replied, "Yes, I'll see you then."
When Ron was gone, she leaned back at her comfortable sumptuous chair. After the incident in the war, when Ron grabbed Hermione and kissed her intensely yet very ardently, she was shocked but also delighted that he finally managed to gather the courage to kiss her. She smiled at the contented memory, how even though at that time, war was ongoing around them, they still managed to breakthrough unwaveringly together. It was uncomplicated, she felt completely unaffected moments after the kiss. Even when Hermione and Ron both ran around, hands clasped together tightly, she felt exuberant, sublime; she felt like she could fly. Although, weeks past and they haven't really mention or discuss the subject of their relationship. Every time Hermione tried to talk to Ron about it, he always simply waved it off and changed the subject. She felt like Ron was avoiding the matter because they both have never been on this situation before.
Ron was her best friend, other than Harry himself but the trio have been through many circumstances and complications together, thick and thin. Now, Ron was not considered as her friend but instead her boyfriend. The mere thought of that made Hermione shudder with delight as well as fear. She feared that perhaps this relationship might not work, perhaps they might even endanger their friendship. Hermione was glad that Ron asked her out but some of the times, they tried to behave as a couple, it only constructed an atmosphere of tension and uneasiness.
She shook her complicated thoughts away and chanted her daily mantra, "Focus. Space. Clear thoughts, clear mind." Hesitantly, she reached and clutched the folder, she took out the papers and rearranged the stack of papers on her desk. After Hermione cleared her desk and the layer of dust, she wrote on a piece of paper: "Malfoy's records" before focusing on the documents. Apparently, Malfoy supposedly disappeared a year ago but in 1997, he was occupied with problems with Malfoy Inc. which was inherited from his father, Lucius Malfoy naturally after he resigned as an official in the Ministry of Magic. She shuffled the paper and the title was scripted, 'Malfoy Inc. charges.' Moving her eyes downwards, she nearly jumped out from her chair. Hermione's eyes was resting at the amount of revenue: 100,900 galleons. "Oh wait, that's not over exaggerating for a year…" She glanced up to the top of the paper and this time, she yelped before cupped her hand over her mouth quickly. Ostensibly, the units were not per year, it was for every galleon in millions.
"Merlin, wouldn't the Malfoys considered as the richest family in the entire world?" she muttered to herself. As far as one knows, the Malfoy Inc. was only a real estate business but she never knew that selling properties would earn that ridiculous amount. Hermione was annoyed by the fact that Malfoy is currently handling a company which probably is the largest and earns the most out of all the companies in the Wizarding world or maybe even in the Muggle world as well. When she glanced at the other papers, she realised that the Malfoy Inc. revenue was falling and currently, their latest which was 1999 held 67,560 galleons in millions. She thought that possibly since his year of absence, he could possibly be in the country to raise and increase the revenue of his company. Or maybe, just maybe he was back because his year of disappearance, he might be recruiting former death eaters, she thought recklessly. She scoffed and was embarassed that she jumped into conclusions so quickly. If Kingsley wanted to investigate Malfoy and his actions then Hermione has to find out what they are.
Tiresomely, she rubbed the back of her neck, she was uncertain how to approach this case. Generally, if she followed her own procedure which was going through the person's family background, guessed accurately at his/her next motive and investigate the person's latest sightings before calling extra Aurors to capture the person. However, since Hermione was only ordered to observe and discover Malfoy's reason of return, it wasn't as complex as her previous assignments. Yet, she couldn't just walk up to Malfoy and say, "Hey Malfoy, how are you? Oh, why are you returning? Do you still feel like a death eater? Possibly feelings deep inside that tells you to kill muggle-borns on the streets?" Hermione virtually screamed inwards at her mind for thinking such absurd ideas.
Draco Malfoy wasn't a pleasant man, he certainly wasn't exactly nice to Hermione when he was a boy as well, considering the years of taunting and insults that he threw everyday. He was the epitome of a bad character, he was always malicious and obnoxious at the abusive remarks he hurled when they were in Hogwarts. The Malfoy now certainly wouldn't be any different than he was back then. Hermione was confused because she didn't know how to approach Malfoy. He wasn't her friend, he was her enemy as well as Ron's and Harry's. But he wasn't a death eater, he defected, therefore she shouldn't feel the need to use her wand and hex him. Realising she couldn't come up with any conclusion on her method, she settled with just investigating his actions for now and nothing more.
Hermione stood up and get a hold of the papers before securing them into her bag. She decided to go to lunch instead and waited patiently outside Harry's office. Once Harry came out, she grabbed his arm and steered him away to the floo network. With a burst of green flames, they both stumbled and caught their balance. Harry grunted when he glimpsed at their surroundings, "The Leaky Cauldron. Really, Hermione? Can't we go to somewhere else?"
Hermione walking in and said over her shoulder, "No, unless you would like to eat in a Muggle restaurant today." They draped their outer-robes on the chair then the enchanted chair glided backwards as they sat on the massive dining table.
Tom, the innkeeper came and squinted sideways at Hermione and Harry before asking, "Order?" Harry, rubbed his forehead and said, "A butterbeer and a lasagne, please."
Frowning, Hermione asked, "A butterbeer, Harry?" He only glanced down in reply and Hermione shook her head before requesting pumpkin juice and jacket potato.
She was going to question Harry if he was feeling alright until unexpectedly, a man tapped on Harry's shoulder. Before Harry could even recover, the man was already shaking Harry's hand and saying, "Thank you, Harry Potter. It's such an honour to meet you. If it wasn't for you, we'd all be dead right now." The man laughed loudly and Hermione only lifted the side of her lips as a reproving smile. After the war, Harry's fame was greater than ever. When he killed Voldermort, the Dark Lord, the Daily Prophet was bursting with incessant news of how Harry was 'The Chosen One' and 'The Boy who lived defeated the Dark Lord!" Those news were only fuel to the fire of Harry's fame. Expectedly, the Daily Prophet also interviewed other Hogwarts students who took part in the battle but Harry was the highlight of the front page for weeks.
The man in the bar was still talking continually about him and his family were incredibly grateful of Harry's bravery and how Voldermort's defeat brought joy to his family and everyone. Hermione rolled her eyes, seeing as Harry was just nodding to the man's words and she decided to step in, "Yes, Harry's courage and strength finally defeated Voldermort. We are all in debt and obliged to Harry's actions. Now, if you don't mind, Harry and I have certain things to discuss as Aurors."
The man thanked Harry once more before shuffling off and exited the Leaky Cauldron. "Thanks 'Mione, if you haven't done that…" started Harry with gratitude.
"Yes, if I haven't done that then he would just be droning off until lunch hour is over." spoke with clear chagrin in her voice. "So…Harry, what's going on? I can tell you have something in your mind." Harry only smiled sadly at her, he looked down at his hands and pushed his round glasses back with his index finger when it slipped on the bridge of his nose. Hermione sighed empathetically, she knew Harry that he would take his time before answering her questions. She knew that Harry was still caught in the realism of the war era, even with Voldermort gone; he can't help but feel remorse and despondent for all the loss and pain he had to endure before his downfall.
Without getting the answer she wanted, Hermione simply slipped into her own wandering thoughts. She was thinking about tonight with Ron when she broke out of her contemplation, "'Mione, I'm sorry. There's just- with everything that's going on and there's just so much to do. I don't- I just don't feel…" Harry started, still avoiding eye contact with his best friend. He paused, struggling with finding the word he wanted.
There was an absolute unwanted silence between them until Hermione quirked an eyebrow and intercepted, "…like yourself?" Harry lifted his gaze and their eyes met as if he was communicating through each other's thoughts.
"It's alright Harry, we all feel that way sometimes. But-" Hermione grabbed his hands and gently squeezed them. She continued, "-you must tell me if there's anything wrong. I'd thought that 9 years of experience was enough to convince you that Ron, you and I are all in this together. You're not alone, Harry. You never were." Hermione softened her chocolate eyes and smiled before squeezing Harry's hands once more and letting them go.
After her innovative talk, Harry eventually pulled a convincing carefree smile. "Thank you, that made me felt a bit better. Though, the hand squeezing was a bit too much, don't you think?"
Hermione playfully shrieked, "A bit? REALLY, HARRY POTTER?" Unconsciously, she stood up and slapped her palms on the table, "I just made you smile again! I was trying to cheer you up, obviously my efforts are not appreciated. If you know what's good for you, take that back." She glared daggers at Harry who stared back up at her but he only laughed. Hermione, shocked at the sudden burst of laughter and screeched, "How dare you laugh at me? For goodness sake, stop laughing! Everyone's watching!"
Hermione sat down but still playfully glared at her best friend who sat opposite her. She was aware that the fact everyone in Leaky Cauldron was staring at them both so she grabbed his arm, leaned forward and scolded softly, "Harry Potter, you stop that laughing right now. I know you're just laughing on purpose! Stop it!" Harry obediently stopped his laughter but he still had the mischievous grin plastered on his face.
Inside, Hermione was delighted that Harry was finally his old self but in reality, she put an act as if she was angry at him for laughing at her. "Alright, alright. Hermione, you are honestly the brightest witch of your age."
She beamed at him and smiled gratifyingly, "Oh, I know." The best friends both had their meals when they arrived and Apparated to the Ministry of Magic before continuing their regular routine work day.
A/N: I will probably continue this from Hermione's POV but still written in third person…just more projected thoughts from Hermione. I don't know how this will end up but I hope that gave you a taste of what's coming after. Reviews please!