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Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters used in this fanfic.

Chapter 2 : My Boss is Crazy

Draco received a reply in the mail from Astoria a few days later informing him he had got the position. The letter also sent a reply asking him to respond as quickly as possible as to whether or not he was certain of taking the position, and that if he was, he was to come back to Greengrass' Greengrass on Monday. It was Friday when Draco received the letter, and after he mailed her a reply, he spent the weekend at home listening- or pretending to listen -to Lucius's drunken ramblings while Narcissa went out shopping.

Lucius had become something of an alcoholic after the war, but he was not abusive towards his family and he never got alcohol poisoning; he was however a nuisance and an embarrassment for them. Narcissa did not like the prospect of him leaving the house very often and shaming the family further, so Lucius seldom left the house. Draco did not have anything to do that evening- or any excuse to leave the house, like Narcissa did- so he was stuck taking care of Lucius. Lucius was not cruel to Draco; on the contrary, he was actually nicer to Draco drunk than he was when he was sober. However, Draco did grow wary of having to babysit his own father, and sometimes even went shopping with his mother just to avoid the tediousness.

Tonight though, he was unable to accompany his mother, because she was shopping for something personal; lingerie. Neither Draco nor Narcissa fancied the idea of going women's underwear shopping together, so Draco decided he'd rather be stuck at home watching Lucius rather than being humiliated in public by going into a store selling women's undergarments with his mother. For some reason, he also had a feeling he wouldn't even be allowed in the store due to his Death Eater past, so since he did not want to create any potentially awkward situations, here he was now listening as Lucius drunkenly rambled about his youth. Lucius wasn't always boring when he was drunk; occasionally he could be rather exciting, even amusing, but tonight was one of those nights where Draco wished he could be anywhere except home.

Draco was actually thinking about work and was hoping for the weekend to end. Five years ago, when he had been thinking about his future, he had imagined working alongside You-Know-Who, not being stuck at home with his drunk of a father, actually hoping he could go to work so he could leave the house. Funny how times had changed. Now he found himself thinking about his new boss Astoria Greengrass. They had spoken to each other for less than an hour, yet she was without a doubt, in his mind, a very strange witch indeed.

G~G

Eventually, Draco's torturous weekend ended and he returned to the Greengrass Estate Monday morning. Astoria was the one to answer the door this time instead of Daphne when he rang the bell, being as the door was locked. He was surprised that he was actually relieved when she answered. He was worried for a moment he had gotten the date wrong and would have to go home. Shaking off his feelings- which were not major or anything, he told himself, it wasn't like he really cared about this job, of course, or the witch currently holding the door open for him, or anything like that obviously; he just didn't want to be completelybored out of his mind all day- he entered the building without so much as a greeting.

"Good morning to you too," Astoria commented as she shut the door. Her hair was worn loose and, when Draco looked at her, was longer than he would have expected it to be, cascading past her shoulder blades in a golden waterfall. She had on the same sweater as last time, but she was wearing a different sundress, although it was still white. Her dress from last time had had ruffles, whereas this one was smooth and had a couple of fake white roses sewn into the front skirt of the dress.

"Come this way," Astoria told him and they stepped into the room the job interview had taken place in just under a week ago. "Do you know what this position requires of you, Draco?"

"Of course I do," He replied even though he didn't. He was a Malfoy, and stubbornness was in their genes, particularly when it came to being wrong and not knowing things.

"What is expected of you then?" Astoria quizzed him.

He thought for a moment. "Organizing papers…. making and reminding you of appointments, er…" he was running out of ideas as soon as he looked into her eyes. There was something about that intense blue gaze that made him feel as if he were being inspected under a microscope. (Even though he didn't know what that was.)

"All of what you've said so far is accurate Draco," Astoria informed him. He was relieved he had not made a fool of himself. "However," she went on, and he realized he had not fooled her for a moment. "I can tell you weren't being honest with me a minute ago. As my personal assistant, my career is, in a sense, essentially in your hands. If you want to keep your job, total honesty is required. How can I trust you if you're dishonest? This is a situation that requires a mutual amount of trust from both parties cooperating. I may ask your opinion on certain matters and decisions I plan on making, and that requires you being entirely truthful with me Draco. Understand?"

"Yes," Draco replied stiffly. He wondered how she had been able to see right through him. He was a Malfoy, and Malfoys were good at hiding their emotions and true intentions. Anyone else would have believed him. Why didn't she?

"Good, now Draco, today we will be sending replies to people who did not receive any of the job positions offered informing them of this. How fast can you write?"

"How fast do you need me to?" He smirked.

"Well then, let's see the full range of your abilities," Astoria declared. "Also how neatly can you write?"

"Very, "He sneered.

"Really," Said Astoria. "Could you give me a writing sample then? My own handwriting is abominable, so I need someone with neat hand writing to write these so that the replies are actually legible for the people reading them. "

"What do you want me to write?" Draco asked.

Astoria pulled out paper and a pen as she answered," The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog."

Draco was mildly surprised that she was giving him a paper and pen, rather than a quill and parchment. Astoria must have noticed because she said," I have quills and parchment if you don't know how or are uncomfortable writing using those. I always use those because I find them easier to use, but if you'd rather-"

"I can use these," Draco interrupted. Quills and parchment were what wizards should use as writing utensils; not pens. Pens were for Muggles. Some of Draco's prejudice towards Muggles and Muggle–Borns had died down since the war. He regretted his actions towards them as a Death Eater, and would certainly never consider becoming one again, but he was still rather uncomfortable amongst Muggle customs that the Wizarding world was starting to become accustomed to, to a certain extent. Since the war, Muggle objects and customs were starting to become more popular in the Wizarding world these days.

However, Draco did not want her to think him inferior, or unknowledgeable about how to even use a pen, or that he was still too prejudiced against Muggles to even learn; because he wasn't, he knew very well how to use Muggle writing utensils, he just preferred Wizard ones.

He wrote the sentence as Astoria asked and gave it to Astoria when he was done. She looked over it and beamed. "Good job, Draco. This is very legible. By the way, do you know why I chose that particular sentence for you to write? "

"It contains all the letters of the alphabet," Draco answered after a moment of thought. "Therefore, it would be a good way to examine my handwriting skills in just one sentence."

"Very observant, aren't you?" Astoria nodded. "Yes, that's correct. Now, let's begin…"

G~G

For the next hour or so, Draco dictated Astoria's replies as she spoke. He noticed how her replies were a perfect combination of both not unkind but firm. He also noticed a few familiar names as he wrote the letters, but he did not say any of his smug thoughts aloud. Finally she stopped and said, "Okay, I think now would be a good time to take a break. Draco, would you please go and make me some tea?"

"I don't remember that part being in the job description!" Draco replied before he could stop himself. Making tea? That made him sound like a bloody house elf. She was lucky that he had dictated for her without complaint, and now she wanted him to make tea for her?

"Well, it's part of the job," Astoria was unfazed by his outburst. "You go the kitchen- three doors down and to the right you'll find a narrow passage at with a door at the end that's the kitchen- and please make me some tea, I'm thirsty. On the way, you can just stop by Daphne's room, directly across the hall from us, and she'll show you how I like my tea. "

Draco considered arguing with her, when a horrible thought set in. This young witch before him, who was not even twenty years old yet, was his boss. And he actually was expected to do what she asked without too much if any complaint. And she could theoretically fire him if he refused to make tea for her. And he would then be stuck at home jobless, possibly for the rest of his life. So unless he wanted the rest of his life to be more miserable than it was now, he must do as she asked.

"Fine then," He obeyed through gritted teeth, and left to fix his boss tea.

G~G

He knocked on the door to Daphne's office, which she opened immediately. He explained his situation and she instantly dragged him by the hand and led him to the kitchen.

If hiring and trusting a former Death Eater wasn't enough to convince him there was something at least a little off about his boss, finding out how Astoria Greengrass took her tea did. Her tea was not tea with sugar, oh no: It was sugar with tea. He poured and stirred the tea as Daphne instructed him, and then was told to proceed to pour five tablespoons of sugar into her tea, and an extra tablespoon of honey to top it off.

"Five tablespoons of sugar?" Draco repeated .

"And one tablespoon of honey," Daphne added.

"That's mental!" Draco exclaimed. "My God, is she trying to give herself diabetes?"

"She's been doing this for years and she's had no health problems yet," Daphne shrugged. "I've asked her and she assures me she talks to a Healer, and so far the only side effect noticed is that she becomes a little hyper and positive after taking it. I think she's taking necessary precautions for drinking this, probably; she knows how to take care of herself, she's an adult now, and she's always been responsible. If she wasn't, do you really think our dad would give her the company?"

Draco had no answer to this and decided to just pour the amount of sugar in that he was supposed to.

G~G

Draco returned to the office with tea.

"Thanks, "Astoria smiled and took the tea, and then proceeded to take a nice long gulp of it.

"Hey Draco, do you want to take a look at my handwriting? It's REALLY bad!" Astoria said this all very fast and in such a hyper tone of voice that it was honestly a bit frightening. He strongly suspected it was the tea. He decided there was no harm in looking at her handwriting if she really wanted to show it to him.

"If you want to," he agreed. Astoria took the pen Draco had been using earlier, tore out a sheet of paper from a notepad, and proceeded to write the same sentence Draco had done earlier. As Draco looked at it, he realized she was right: It truly was abominable.

"If you don't mind my saying that is the worst handwriting I have ever seen before in my life." Draco stated bluntly.

"Well duh," Said Astoria, giggling. "Of course it is! I'd be shocked if it wasn't!" Then she proceeded to have a rather unprofessional giggling fit.

Once she settled down a few minutes later, he asked cautiously," Miss Greengrass, I have to admit, I'm curious: Why do you take so much sugar with your tea?"

"It gives me visions," Astoria mentioned casually.

"Visions?" Draco repeated. "Are you a Seer then?"

"No, I wish," Astoria sighed, and it occurred to Draco how oxymoronic it was that she could sigh and still sound hyper. "What I mean by visions is that it gives me ideas, or even epiphanies. Inspiration, if you will. It also gives me energy when I'm tired and actually manages to calm me when I'm upset, strange as that may sound."

"I see," Draco said carefully.

"Oh!" Astoria exclaimed so suddenly and enthusiastically it surprised Draco. "We should be getting back to work, shouldn't we? I've got it, instead of getting back to the rejection letters, we should work on the acceptance letters so people who were accepted will receive them sooner, and therefore hopefully be more joyous sooner. Also, there are less acceptance letters to write than rejection letters, and I do hate writing those. Or rather, saying them while you write them. "She laughed again, and Draco wondered how she could be laughing when she was just talking about something she hated to do. They got back to work soon enough though, and Astoria literally squealed with glee a couple of times while she told Draco what he was supposed to write. He paid extra attention when writing these letters, making sure to listen to names so that he would know who he'd be seeing around the place.

His co-workers shocked him immensely. He learned that within a few days he would begin to work with: Seamus Finnegan-the idiot from Hogwarts who always blew things up or set them on fire- Dean Thomas,-a Gryffindor Muggle-Born, Lee Jordan, Luna Lovegood-the crazy Ravenclaw- and last but certainly not least, Neville Longbottom.

"Longbottom!" He spluttered when Astoria had got to him.

Astoria raised an eyebrow at him. "Yes, have a problem with that?"

"I have a problem with all of the people you just mentioned actually!" Draco enlightened her. "Loony Lovegood will give people the impression that your company is a joke, Seamus Finnegan set everything on fire at Hogwarts, he'll probably set the building on fire, Thomas is a Mud- Muggle-born" he amended himself quickly, trying to think of a reason Dean Thomas would not work well with the company. "He didn't finish his last year at Hogwarts, therefore he's probably not qualified, Lee Jordan never kept a level head at Hogwarts during Quiddich matches, he probably won't work well with others, and Longbottom was terrible at nearly every subject at Hogwarts!" Draco finished ranting.

"Draco, do you really think I would have hired these people if I didn't think they were qualified or if they were unreliable?" Astoria reminded Draco after a moment's pause.

Well, you hired me. He thought to himself.

"Luna Lovegood is a very talented witch, Neville Longbottom has improved his magic very much since Hogwarts, and I've met him before now so I know for a fact he would do well in the company, Lee Jordan actually does work well with others, Dean Thomas finished his education after the war, and Seamus Finnegan… well, I think he'll do well with what I have in mind for him." Astoria explained. "But let's be honest Draco. You weren't really concerned so much about the rest of that, were you? You just don't want to associate these people because they all associate with your past in one way or another. "

Draco wondered how she could read him so well. He also wondered how she knew Neville Longbottom.

"If you're really so against this idea, Draco, the door's that way. " Astoria motioned towards the door.

He thought about it for a moment. It wasn't like he'd be working with the Weasleys or Potter or anything like that. And compared to his alternatives if he quit, he supposed he'd better keep his job. Besides, he wouldn't really be working with them so much as just aiding Astoria in her work. Right?

"I'm going to go take my lunch break now," He decided looking at the clock and Apparated home for lunch. Lucius was drinking again when he got home, and as he watched his father talk like an idiot, he realized what he'd be stuck with if he quit just because of a few co-workers, he knew instantly he would be returning to work as soon as he finished his lunch.

G~G

After lunch, Draco returned to work and finished dictating Astoria's letters, and made her more tea a couple of times. Afterwards, Astoria led him to a room in the building where they would mail the letters. The room reminded Draco very much of the Hogwarts Owlery. There were literally dozens of owls, of all varieties. Draco gave letters to each owl while Astoria watched, and they all flew away at once as Astoria told him how to instruct them to do so.

"Isn't it amazing?" She said, as the owls all flew away into the blue sky. "I'd always do this when I was younger on days the company had off. I usually wouldn't even be sending letters; I just liked seeing them fly all at once, you know? Wouldn't it be so cool if humans could grow wings and fly like that? I know we have broomsticks to fly with, but I get the feeling it's just not the same. "

Draco couldn't help but nod at that. He had to admit she had a point, but he wasn't willing to admit to something that sounded so silly out loud. He thought of his life since the war; sometimes he really did want to fly away…

"Hey, do you want to play Quiddich?" Astoria solicited suddenly.

"What?" Draco was broken from his train of thought.

"Maybe I'm just overly hyper from the tea, and I know work doesn't end for another hour or so, but frankly I'm bored. I feel like flying on my broom. Care to join me?"

"No," Draco answered without considering. He adored flying, but honestly. This was utterly ridiculous. Flying on a broom on the job? They weren't Quiddich players, for crying out loud. He might as well just leave early. Besides, he had a feeling that with all that caffeine in her system, maybe Astoria shouldn't be on a broom. They'd just have to do more work tomorrow anyway if they slacked off today.

Astoria pouted, looking slightly disappointed. "I suppose you're right, we really should go back to work. We need to make a schedule for the week. Let's go back to my office…"

Astoria and Draco discussed her schedule for the week, and Draco wrote down all of the details. Draco then went home. As Draco arrived home from work, he found himself thinking one thing: His boss, he had to admit, really was exceptionally nice. But she still was more than a little eccentric, to say the least.

A/N: Draco's bashing of some of the characters earlier is not my own opinion. I actually like all of those characters; it's just that Draco doesn't.

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