AUTHORS NOTE:

First... I'm feeling so much love from your reviews and follows so far. THANK YOU! Everytime my email dings I do a little dance and can't wait to jump back on and write some more!

This chapter is by far the shortest in the story, so I thought I should go ahead and get it up for y'all now!

ALSOOOO, I'm so embarrassed. .

I've never posted to FFN before and I didn't realize that my normal line breaks (which are '-') would be somehow be deleted. They appear still on A03, so idk what in the world happened, but I've gone through the first post and revised it and added in the line breaks where they should have been all along. I'm so sorry if was confusing! I can't imagine that had been easy, especially during the quick bursts of time. Thanks for sticking with me!

Hermione began her day in the lifts by bracing herself on the elevator wall and taking in a shallow splintered breath.

What in the fuck was he even doing here? Lest, he be so stupid to think she would be late on her first day just to reconcile with him.

Reconcile. She let out a small puff of air. As if that's what he even wanted. She had been his holiday girl.

It shouldn't have been so surprising.

Purebloods and their mistresses went back as far as Wizards and their wands. But she hadn't been involved in the decision making process of making her the mistress, he had taken that decision solely on himself. Had he consulted her, the outcome would have been far different.

The lift stopped abruptly, shifting her body forward and making her stomach lurch. The doors opened and standing there, grinning at her like a fool, was Harry Potter.

She shook away the encounter downstairs, her hand still tingling from meeting with Malfoy's cheek, and smiled brightly at her friend.

"Harry," she greeted, "I didn't think you were on this floor?"

"I'm not! But I had to see you on your first day," he beamed and handed here a to go cup of coffee.

Thank Merlin for tiny miracles that he hadn't been downstairs to greet her, although she had no doubt he would soon hear some gossip from someone or another.

"Ron and I want to take you out lunch on your first day, alright? Kind of a welcome to the Ministry dregs sort of thing," he shrugged as they walked across the floor, eyes following the great Harry Potter wherever he went

She laughed hollowly, her mind somewhere else, "Sure, that'd be brilliant. I'll meet you in the Atrium at 11?"

Harry grinned and stopped at a door with a frosted window, Department for the Control and Regulation of Magical Creatures, Senior Representative of Magical Being Welfare, Hermione Granger.

She looked at it and her worries melted away, she was grinning at her door. She had earned this day.

"I better go say hello to the boss," she nudged Harry with her elbow, "See you at 11! I'll send a memo if something changes."

Harry wished her good luck and disappeared the way they had come.

She opened her door and found a completely mediocre office with ugly brown carpets and 3 vinyl chairs that looked a decade old. There was a desk shoved up against the left wall and it smelled slightly of pumpkin.

But she beamed at it.

She walked around her desk and sat down in the squeaky chair and placed her bag on top of the desk. Sitting here, she would make a hundred changes to the infrastructure of Wizarding Society. She wouldn't do it with an Elder Wand or an army. She would do it with a quill and her voice and her mind. Her most dangerous weapons, she smirked.

The familiar smile threatened to bring Draco Malfoy back to the forefront of her mind, but she tamped him back down to where he belonged.

She took a deep breath and walked back out into the bullpen ready to begin the first day of the rest of her life.

Her morning had flown by. She had spent it meeting different Department Heads and the Associates that she would be working with. She sat in on her first meeting where they discussed an upcoming collaboration with the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary and creating protected lands for a small herd of Unicorn that had been sighted near Wales.

Hermione was buzzing with caffeine and adrenaline and when she finally noticed the time, she sprinted towards the lifts. She almost didn't want to break for lunch, much more preferring to get started on the research needed to start on these cases.

The lifts arrived with another jolt and she rushed through the gated doors and towards the Floo Network. Her eyes darted around the room and found a shock of red hair, Ronald. She hurried towards them, throwing her bag over her shoulder.

Ron turned and scanned the room, his eyes falling on her and she grinned. As he turned, her heart sank. Next to him was Harry…. And Draco Malfoy.

Bollocks.

"There she is," Ron grinned and wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her quickly. Her eyes were trained on Malfoy though. He set her down and she returned her attention to her friend.

"Ron, how are you! It's been ages," she smiled sweetly at him.

"Too long. I can't wait to hear all about your holiday! You look incredible, 'Mione. I don't know what you did in South America, but you need to keep doing it!"

She flushed and pursed her lips as Malfoy hid a chuckle behind a cough.

"Malfoy," she gritted and Ron rolled his eyes.

"Granger," he smirked.

"Play nice, 'Mione," Ron admonished playfully, "You ok if Malfoy joins us for lunch?"

Hermione let out a rush of air, "What? Malfoy at lunch?"

Harry laughed, "He's not as bad as he would have you believe. He's working with us up in MLE today, he was on his way out so we invited him."

She realized that Harry and Ron probably thought she was being incredibly rude. They had no idea the situation and would probably deck Malfoy on the spot if they did.

"Why don't you all go along without me? I've got a ton of work to do anyway…" she retreated and tucked a curl behind her ear. She met two pairs of confused eyes and one pair of narrowed ones.

"Nice try," Harry snagged her elbow and dragged her towards the Employee Entrance.

They made small talk as the they rounded the corner to a small cafe with outdoor seating and grabbed the nearest table of four. They ordered with a round little witch with blue eyeshadow and lipstick on her teeth.

"So, tell us about Columbia!" Harry turned to her and smiled, leaning his elbows forward on the table.

She felt a blush spread across her chest and felt Malfoy's eyes on her.

"It was… it was fine," she swallowed and took a long drink of water.

"Fine? You spend two weeks in South America and all you can say is fine? What did you do?"

She lifted her eyes to Malfoy and he looked pained, a secret hiding behind his silver eyes.

"A whole lot of nothing," she said with a tight smile to Ron, "It was a nice trip, lots of good food and relaxing. Happy to be back to reality."

"I can't get over how great you look. You're so tan!"

Her eyes glazed over as she remembered splashing in the surf with the man across from her, sitting between his legs as he peppered kisses across her shoulders as she read aloud from a Muggle book of poetry. She shook her head and the memory fell away.

"Thanks, Ron. How've you been?"

They caught up over lunch and Malfoy stayed quiet, almost like a snake waiting to make his move. The more he sat there as though nothing was wrong, the more infuriated she became.

He met her eyes and she narrowed them into slits.

"Malfoy," she began quickly, "I hear congratulations are in order. I've been so out of touch in Paris. But wow, Astoria Greengrass! She's beautiful," Hermione said acidicly.

He paled and his eyes grew wide.

"When is the date, mate? Read about it in the papers yesterday that you'd made it official, congratulations," Harry slapped a hand on his shoulder but Draco's eyes didn't flinch from Hermione.

"It's complicated," he answered quickly.

Ron let out a laugh, "I know you aren't the brightest wizard in London, but dates can't be THAT complicated."

"Yes, do tell," Hermione straightened her spine, "Unless you're still working on those tricky months and what order they go in," she tipped her nose up in the air and peered down her cheeks at him. An action that she knew aggravated him.

Draco let out a deep sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose, "It's August 12th."

"Soon!" Harry said with a happy grin.

"Very soon," Hermione breathed while staring at her lap, the fire dying in her belly, "I've just realized, I've got to go. Forgot to tell Wendy something at the office."

She knew, in an abstract way, that Draco Malfoy was getting married. Part of her still hoped for an explanation… that Skeeter had grabbed a hold of some silly gossip and jumped the gun.

Hearing him say the date aloud... gutted her.

Her chest felt tight. Too tight. Like a balloon that was over inflated and begging for someone to put a tiny pin into so air could leak out.

She reached into her robes and dropped a few coins on the table, not knowing how much it even was and pushed her chair back without another word. She pushed the gate to the patio open and stomped up the street.

"Hermione!" Ron called after her, confused.

"Excuse me, boys," Draco stood, closing the button of his suit jacket and dropped some additional money onto the table in front of them.

"MALFOY!" Harry called as he apparted where he stood, the small wire dining table shaking from the swirl of magic. "What in the bloody hell was that about?" Harry asked looking at Ron.

Ron shrugged and took a large bite of his lunch.

Hermione's heels slapped against the concrete with a quick tap,tap,tap as she tried to put as much distance between her and the boys behind her.

She heard a pop and an arm reached out from the alley by the Employee Entrance and dragged her into it. She would be frightened, but she knew who it was. There were tears already forming at the corner of her eyes and it just took him wrapping her in his arms for them to spring forward.

She wasn't sure if she was angry or heartbroken or some combination of the two but she beat her tiny fists against his chest and shoved against him so hard that his back hit the brick wall behind him.

"You are an ARSEHOLE! You lying, cheating BASTARD! I hate you! Do you hear me?"

"I told you I needed to explain. I told you things were complicated…." He hissed into the air and she walked further into the alley, the dampness of the stone causing a moldy smell.

"It's not complicated, Malfoy! Were you or were you not engaged for the last two weeks," she whipped around and glared at him.

"It's complicated," he growled.

"It's not. Answer me," she demanded in rage.

"I've been engaged since I was 14 years old," he said through gritted teeth, the lines of his neck protruding.

"What?" she shook her head.

"It's tradition, Pureblood Betrothal. I told you it's complicated," he pushed the hair back from his eyes.

"You've dated other people than Astoria Greengrass," Hermione's brows furrowed together. He had lost his virginity to Millicent, she knew he dated Pansy and probably countless others. Who would do that if they were engaged.

"Yea, well, I wasn't exactly ecstatic about my parents choosing a wife for me. I've been trying since I was 14 to get out of the fucking contract but it's old blood magic. I can't…. And now I'm out of time," he looked exhausted as he said the words.

"They can't force you to marry anyone! Just don't say 'I do', don't show up to the ceremony!" she was heated, not seeing what the issue was.

"You don't understand, Granger," he cracked his neck from side to side.

"Make me understand!" a sob ripped its way through her chest and she wiped the tears that were falling down her cheeks of their own volition now.

"My inheritance. That's what's under control with the blood magic. If I don't fulfill the contract, I lose my inheritance," he was ashamed. She could see it on his face. And he should be.

"Money," she let out an exasperated burst of air, "It's always money with you!"

"It's not what you think…" he growled as she tried to stomp past him.

"You remember when you told me to drop my prejudices? I did! I trusted you! You've just proved everything I thought about you to be true," she shook her head, disappointed.

She walked out of the alley and into the drizzling rain.

"Granger! Please!" he grabbed her hand and turned her to face him.

Her eyes caught on the witch standing just outside the alley they had been occupying. Her heart sinking as she took in the beauty of Astoria Greengrass.

"Malfoy," she swallowed tightly, "Your Fiancee is here to see you," she whipped her hand back as her eyes settled, and she was thankful it was raining, hoping it might hide the tear stains on her freckled cheeks.

Her blonde was more of a golden shade than Malfoy's white, but Hermione's gut wrenched as she imagined their beautiful golden haired children playing on the grounds of Malfoy Manor.

"Hermione Granger, as it were," Astoria's voice was authoritative and confident... it didn't shake the way Hermione's did. Hermione sucked a breath in through her nose.

"Astoria," the rain was soaking her and she noticed that Astoria was using an umbrella charm, only the bottom inch or so of her robes were getting wet.

"Are you done here?" Her face was pinched, like she'd smelled something rotten.

"Quite," Hermione replied in a clipped tone and looked right at Malfoy as she spoke, who was frozen between the two witches, eyes only Hermione, "He's all yours," she turned and made her way into the entrance of the the Ministry.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Hope you enjoyed it! Sorry if it wasn't the answer we all hoped for from our boy :(

Big fat thanks forever to SweetLilBullet. You're the best in the world!