Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original characters or elements of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter. Anything written here is purely for entertainment and will not be making any profit.

The Wheels Are Falling Off the World

- Chapter Two -

Stepping out of the fireplace into the Atrium of the reformed Ministry of Magic, Hermione nodded towards the familiar security guards manning the central desk, before making her way down to the lifts at the end of the hall.

Heading up to the higher floors, this was not an unfamiliar route for her to take. Although her former office had been positioned lower down in the labyrinth of the Ministry, she had frequently visited her friend and mentor, and incidentally the Minister of Magic himself, Kingsley Shacklebolt.

He had proved to be the finest choice for the position after the devastation and revelation of the war, steadily reforming the whole organisation from the inside out in addition to rebuilding the Wizarding society from the ruins left behind by Voldemort's reign.

Hermione mulled over her departure from her old, much loved job within the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Her passion for righting wrongs against the underprivileged, not to mention her enthusiasm for continuing her childhood activism with S.P.E.W., had led to a triumphant success in passing new legislations in favour of non-humans. She felt confident in passing on the work to a new set of hands, but she still missed the prospect of working for a cause so close to her heart.

Her new position in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement offered an entirely new set of opportunities, with rewriting the old laws that favoured purebloods highly above others, particularly muggle-borns as well as squibs and muggles themselves. Although it was an essential case for the reconstruction of Wizarding Britain, a feat that had taken much longer than expected, nothing could quite fire her up like fighting for a case of house-elf abuse in front of the Wizengamot or conferencing with centaurs to establish wider boundaries for their roaming.

She exited the lift, passing familiar faces as she headed down the corridor to the Minister's office. Knocking on the door, she recognised Kingsley's deep baritone bidding her enter, as she stepped into the soft-carpeted room.

'Hermione,' Kingsley stood to greet her, 'how are you?'

'Not too bad, thank you, Minister. Excited to get started on this.'

'Do we have to slip back into formality, simply because you've moved to a higher department, Miss Granger?'

'Of course not,' She smiled, 'I just didn't want to express any favouritism.'

His deep chuckle sounded as they seated themselves across the large desk from each other.

'You know, I've always been disappointed that we've never been able to snap you up in my own offices. You'd have made a fine Senior Undersecretary.'

'I'm sure we'd have made a solid team,' Hermione replied, reaching for the tea that had poured itself into a cup in front of her. 'I guess I'm a sucker for the disadvantaged and deprived.'

'That you are, Hermione.' He smiled; placing his fingertips together, not unlike Dumbledore had been fond of doing.

They spent some time catching up on old members of the Order, now disbanded since its central focus had been vanquished once and for all. She was pleased to hear of plans to create a monument within the grounds of Hogwarts in respect of the fallen, with the 10th anniversary of the Battle approaching in just two years time.

Hermione could not help glancing more and more frequently at the clock on one side of Kingsley's desk, as the minute-hand ticked further and further past the official start of the meeting she was there for, until her frustration could no longer be contained.

'I'm sorry to interrupt, Kingsley, but weren't we supposed to start twenty minutes ago?'

Checking the clock, the Minister sighed in agreement.

'I suppose we'd better. I had expected your colleague to be here on time of course. I'm sure there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for his lack of punctuality today.'

Gathering her notes, and entirely unimpressed with Anthony's tardiness, Hermione pulled her notes from her folder ready to launch into her general aims for the direction of the project. As Kingsley began to make suggestions for possible resources, a loud rapping sounded at the office door, and her assistant stumbled into the room, red-faced and out of breath.

'Ah Mr. Goldstein. I assume there is some justification for this delay?'

'Yes, Minister. Terribly sorry, of course.' He took a moment to catch his breath before slumping down into the chair to Hermione's right. 'I'm afraid it's my wife, sir. Thought she was going into labour. Huge panic. We managed to get her to St. Mungo's, though. Turns out it was nothing to worry about. Brandon Kicks or something.'

'Braxton Hicks.' Hermione corrected sharply, familiar with the symptom from Ginny's previous pregnancy.

'Probably,' Anthony dismissed, leaning over to offer his hand to her. 'Good to see you again Granger, glad we'll be working together.'

She hesitated momentarily, before accepting the handshake.

'Yes, I'm sure you'll make a good assistant to my work.' She conceded.

'Well, provided your wife is well, we can make a start.' Kingsley determined.

Hermione's irritation still evident, the Minister went on to impress how important the project was on to the both of them, clearly more for Anthony's sake than her own.

'I must stress that if either of you feel you cannot commit fully to this, then I must know now. Your previous position will of course still be open to you, and it will give us time to find a replacement before this really takes off. But this must become a priority in your lives.'

'I can assure you, sir, I am fully prepared to undertake this project. I am more than up to the job.' Her colleague insisted.

Hermione merely nodded at her superior, his faith already strong in her success.

As the group settled into the initial meeting, half an hour later than scheduled, she chose not to take the shaky start as a sign of things to come, determined to work hard at the new assignment, and hoping against hope that her colleague felt the same.

Cough. Sniff.

There it was again. That incessant sound that accompanied her assistant's working.

Sniff.

Cough. Sniff.

Short of ripping his throat out in sheer irritation, Hermione chose to ignore the recurrent noise that was surely existed to frustrate her into committing such a crime.

Anthony leaned back in his seat, stretching and yawning loudly.

'Mr. Goldstein, I understand that things at home must be hectic and your focus is bound to drift back to your wife, but please, whilst you are here in this office under my supervision, I need you to be at the top of your game and your concentration to be thoroughly fixed on going over these case notes.'

'Mr. Goldstein? Really?' Anthony leant forward onto his desk, facing Hermione's in the small office. 'Come on, Hermione, we've known each other for years. I think you can call me Anthony.'

Hermione nodded crisply, apparently not quite having forgiven him for his late arrival the day before.

'Hermione, look, I know you don't believe it, but this is important to me too, you know. I want this to work, and I really do understand how this is going to change our society. Please, have some faith in me.'

She looked up, a little startled at his speech. Realising that she had perhaps been harder on him than was entirely necessary she sighed, nodding again.

'I'm sorry, Anthony, I am. I've just worked so hard for this already; I want this to go well.'

'With you at the helm, it can't go anything but.' He smiled. 'Besides, you know, we're reshaping society, writing history right here. And I'm about to have twins. Above all else I want my sons or daughters to be born into a tolerant and open-minded world. I want them to grow up knowing an understanding civilization.'

She paused, taking in his words.

'You're right. You're right, I'm sorry.' She apologised, smiling at her workmate. 'Twins? Wow, you'll have quite a handful there I can imagine.'

'Well, their mum's one of a pair.' He began, before a loud knocking at the door interrupted them.

The all too familiarly scruffy head of one Harry Potter appeared around the door, his glasses sliding down his nose as he tilted his head to focus on his friend.

'Wow, working hard then?' He questioned with a grin.

'It's only the second day in, Harry, no need for slacking just yet.' She smiled back.

'Harry, good to see you again, my man.' Anthony interjected.

'Er, yes, you too. Anthony, right?'

'Goldstein. I still remember the good old days of the D. A.'

'Erm, yes, I remember now. Well, must be going. Don't forget Friday, 'Mione.' He grinned in her direction, eyebrows raised in response to her colleague's feigned familiarity, before sidling out of the cramped office.

'So what's going on, on Friday then, 'Mione?'

Bristling at his gratuitous use of her nickname, Hermione straightened in her chair, focussing all her energy on straightening her papers rather than giving the man sat across from her a hard smack across the face.

'Well, Anthony,' She began, aiming for civility, 'I'll be attending dinner with friends.'

'Ah, nice. Reunion dinner then?'

'Erm, not exactly. We all still see a lot of each other. More of a catch up than a reunion.'

'Really? You still hang around with that bunch?'

'Excuse me?' She flattened the parchment she had been examining, irked by his query.

'Well, we all know about your break up. I'm just surprised you bother to stick around with them after everything that happened.'

'Everything that happened? I believe you are sorely mistaken, Anthony. I still retain a close friendship with most of my friends from school, romantic relationships or not. And I don't feel it is your place to pass judgement on myself or my personal life. That is not what we are here for.' Her eyes darkened, her resentment for her former classmate growing by the second.

The man held his hands up in mock-surrender. 'Alright. Just stating what I know.'

'I beg to differ, Goldstein, for you seem to know very little of much in general.'

'No need to get personal.'

'I believe you already did.'

The tension in the room heightening to suffocation-levels, he stood from his desk, picking up his mug from beside a stack of papers.

'Right. Coffee, Granger? Might do you good.'

'I'm fine.' She retorted, taking a moment to compose herself. 'Thank you.'

He left the room without another word, leaving her to beat her head against the desk several times, before reluctantly turning to the filing cabinet to her left to rifle through another file.

By the time Anthony had returned, Hermione had gathered herself into a calm state of collection, back to her previously polite self.

'Ok, I think I'm done with these ones.' She told him as he settled down at his desk once again. 'I've gleaned as much information as I can and we've got a few leads, one looks promising, but as far as previous use of this particular law goes, there doesn't seem to be much evidence of application.'

'Mind if I look over your notes? Just so I can get a clearer picture.'

'Of course.' She handed her parchment across the desks to him, attempting a smile.

'I received a memo from Kingsley earlier, on an area of the Ministry archives that might be useful to look into as well. We might find some decent research down there, or at least pointers for other areas to look into.'

'Want me to put this on the wall?' He gestured to the large blackboard filling most of one wall in the room, some notes and basic starting points already posted.

'Sure.' She allowed.

As Anthony leant across to reach his wand from under a stack of parchment, his elbow nudged the mug he'd just brought back, filled with steaming hot coffee. As if in slow motion, Hermione watched the scorching liquid tip until seeping through her precious annotations that she had yet to make a copy of.

With a strangled cry, Hermione stood swiftly, slamming her chair into the wall behind her.

'That. Is. Enough.' She spat, through clenched teeth. 'You will leave this office now. You will go home, and you will sure as hell get yourself together in time for tomorrow.'

'Shit, I'm sorry.' He dabbed at the sodden paper with the end of his tie, only succeeding in further smudging the ink of her past two days of solid work.

'Home, Goldstein. Get out and go home.'

'Look, it's only a few notes, right? You've got other copies.' He looked up. 'You have made other copies, haven't you?'

Deathly quiet and eerily steady, anyone who knew Hermione Granger well could have seen the manic look of fury in her eyes, and with any sense would have fled as soon as commanded to. Anthony, unfortunately, did not know her well.

'Oh come on, surely you thought to make back-ups.'

'Funnily enough, I had been planning on doing just that. Right about the point when you threw your drink across the room.'

'I hardly threw it...'

'GET. OUT.' She bellowed, snapping at last. 'Get the hell out of this damn office before I swear to Merlin, I will be sure to kick your useless arse off this project! If you have any sense of self-preservation, you will be gone from the Ministry by the time I open my eyes.'

She heard him scuffling about, gathering up the last vestiges of his day's work, her eyes firmly clenched shut, not daring to release her death-grip upon the edge of her desk.

By the time she heard the door shut and muted footsteps picking up speed down the corridor Hermione let out a deep sigh, unaware she had been holding her breath, as she slumped in her chair.

Her head in her hands, she bit back the tears that threatened to spill over. It wasn't the notes. It wasn't even damned Anthony.

She rested her forehead against her desk, hands lying limply in her lap, as she realised that her heightened state of tension had more to do with the fact that she wouldn't be able to speak to her friends and vent her frustration to them tonight, as they would surely be at The Burrow for family.

It was then that it dawned on her that her gradual departure from the Weasleys, her adopted family, had perhaps had more of an effect on her than she had originally anticipated. She missed her former home. She missed Molly and her cooking. And she missed the sense of kinship that was unavoidable when sat at the kitchen table.

This, she slowly comprehended, was in fact the first week she hadn't received an invitation. Whether by owl or red-haired messenger, no one had futilely reminded her of the weekly plans so that she could politely decline with some feeble excuse.

Running her hands through her hair quickly, she glanced up at the clock, realising that for once her previously feigned pretext of having to work late was true. She gathered her notes into her folder, before casting a quick and hopeless Scourgify at the decimated mess on Anthony's desk. Scooping the saturated parchment into the bin, she straightened up and headed out of the now seemingly claustrophobic room.

Wandering swiftly down the silent corridors, aware that the Ministry was probably empty at this time, she reached the lifts at the end of the hallway conceding that she should perhaps have sent Anthony home a touch sooner, and in fact could have avoided the whole sorry debacle.

The vehicle arrived as she stepped in, letting the grate begin to slide closed behind her, and pressed the button for the Atrium.

'Wait! Hold the lift!' A voice called out to her, as she slammed her hand in front of the grille to allow the Ministry employee to catch up.

She took a step back, allowing the tall blonde to slip in just before the door closed, as Hermione realised who she would be sharing the journey with.

'Granger.' He nodded, not making eye contact with his past fellow student.

'Malfoy.' She returned, just as briskly.

As the lift moved off Hermione felt the tension rise in the air, although not as she'd expected. It was more of an awkwardness at being around one another in close proximity for the first time in many years, since they had graduated from Hogwarts after retaking their N.E.W.T.s together.

'I wasn't aware you were working up here,' He broke the silence.

Startled at his attempt at small talk, Hermione left an uncomfortable pause to build whilst she sifted through her weary mind for a suitable response.

'Yes,' she began, somewhat lamely. 'New project. The Minister thought it prudent to position us in the appropriate department.'

'Us?' He replied, taking interest. 'Head of a team now Granger? Can't say I'm surprised.'

'No, not a team. Just an assistant of sorts. I've never really been one for delegating.'

'Can't imagine you've had many suitable candidates for delegation before. Potter and Weaselbee aren't exactly the brightest sparks of all.' He teased, light-heartedly she could tell from the smile on his face.

'They're good friends,' she compromised. He chuckled, acknowledging her verbal side-stepping.

'Department of Magical Law Enforcement, though, Malfoy? Now I am surprised.'

'Got to give a little back at some point, haven't we?' He grinned, though the look in his eyes suggested there was more to his career choice than he suggested.

'I suppose.' She smiled back.

The lift came to a steady halt, as the cool voice announced their destination.

'After you.'

'Ever the gentleman, Malfoy. Another revelation.'

'Always assuming the worst, no surprises there, Granger.' He smiled again, as Hermione found herself enjoying their light verbal sparring, much as she used to back at school, although she'd never admit.

'Well, nice seeing you... Hermione.' He nodded to her as he stepped towards a fireplace set against the wall.

'Yes, you too. Although I'm sure I'll be seeing you around more frequently, now we're situated in the same department and all.' She waved once as he took a handful of Floo powder, casting one last smile in her direction before disappearing amongst the green flames.

Hermione held tightly to her briefcase as she went through the same motions, finding her shoulders slightly loosen with the unexpected reunion she'd just encountered. The evening of bad muggle television and rewriting spoiled notes stretching out ahead of her seemed a touch less overwhelming.

A/N: I'm so sorry this is late already! We're now entering deadline season, so things are a little hectic here, but I promise to be more reliable from now on. So Hermione's started her new job, and Draco has finally been introduced. Things will start to build now that the scene's been set, so get ready for some plot development!

[Shameless Plug Alert] Please feel free to check out my other stories! I'm a definite Dramione fan so there's a few of those, as well as a Harry-centred mystery that I'd love your opinion on. And of course, if you can find the time to review this one I'd be super grateful. Posting will resume again as normal on Wednesday.

Thank you!

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