A/N: Obviously all rights to JK Rowling, etc, I make no money from this & it's all for fun!
Review, review, I love to hear what you think!
At the sight of Malfoy standing in the now open doorway Blaise rose from his chair, Hermione began to massage her temples, Kingsley merely raised an eyebrow, and before anyone could do anything to stop him, Ron exploded. He raised his wand and with a quick spell had Malfoy pinned against the wall.
And at that moment, everyone began to shout.
"Mr. Weasley, you stop immediately," Kingsley shouted jumping to his feet.
"Let my client down right now," Blaise yelled.
"Ronald!" Hermione cried.
But Ron didn't seem to hear any of them as he stared fiercely at Malfoy, who was now beginning to turn purple from the lack of oxygen as the spell began to squeeze his throat. Blaise tackled Ron and Malfoy dropped to the ground grasping his throat and gasping for air. Blaise and Ron began to punch each other and Hermione shot Kingsley an exasperated look.
"Enough," Kingsley shouted but the two men continued to take swings at each other.
With a sound of disgust Hermione pulled out her wand and with a wave, had Ron and Blaise pinned upside down against opposite sides of the room. Without looking at Malfoy, she used wandless magic with her left hand to cast a spell in his direction ending the spell Ron had cast upon him. The minute the spell was lifted Malfoy attempted to launch himself at Ron who tried to fight against Hermione's spell. But before Malfoy could take his third step Hermione had him plastered against the third wall with a flick of her wand.
"Are you quite done?" she shouted, looking at all three men with a fierce glare. "You are adults, I suggest you all act like it."
"Ms. Granger," Kingsley said. But Hermione didn't respond, choosing to continue to glare at Malfoy, Ron, and Blaise instead.
"Hermione," Kingsley said gently, rising from his chair and stepping in front of her. "Hermione, you can let them down. If, however, they begin to act in a way that is less than professional I give you permission, as Minister of Magic, to put them back up against the wall."
Hermione looked away from the three men and looked at Kingsley. With a sigh she ended the spell with a quick "finite", lowered her wand and they all dropped to the ground with a loud thud.
"Now, if everyone could sit down," Kingsley said as he returned to his chair. "We can finish this meeting in peace."
Ron shot a look at Malfoy and Blaise before sitting to the right of Kingsley. Without a word Hermione sat to Kingsley's left and Malfoy and Blaise took seats opposite them at the other end of the table.
"Now, Ms. Granger, in the spirit of acting like adults, will you work with Mr. Malfoy?" Kingsley asked.
"I don't want to," Hermione replied honestly, pausing when Draco snorted and mumbled something under his breath which earned him an elbow in the ribs from Blaise. "And I don't think that I can, I have three interns already, I really don't have enough work to take on another."
"I am NO ONE'S intern," Malfoy growled from the end of the table. "Certainly not an intern to a Mu-"
Blaise gave him another elbow in the ribs.
"-uggle born," Draco said through his teeth. "I don't want to intern with her."
"Actually, Mr. Malfoy, you wouldn't be Ms. Granger's intern," Kingsley said with one eye on Hermione.
"He wouldn't?" Hermione questioned.
"I wouldn't?" Draco asked simultaneously.
"Ms. Granger, Mr. Malfoy is, as I said, very intelligent and a very talented potions master," Kingsley said carefully. "I believe your research could benefit greatly from his insight and his talents."
"I doubt he could contribute to Hermione's work, she's done brilliantly on her own," Ron said, proudly. "She's the leading research expert on the long term effects of the Cruciatus Curse and other dark spells on people. All Malfoy could contribute is his first-hand knowledge of what it's like to use all of the Unforgivables on people."
"Mr. Weasley," Kingsley said in a warning voice and Ron sat back in his chair fuming but didn't say more.
"So, Hermione," Kingsley continued, looking at Hermione. "Will you allow Mr. Malfoy to work with you on your work?"
Hermione sat silently for several minutes, staring at her left arm through her jacket.
"If it helps," Blaise said, breaking the silence. "I personally promise Draco won't give you any trouble nor will he treat you with anything less than courtesy."
Ron and Malfoy snorted in response then glared at one another.
"May I think about it?" Hermione asked Kingsley.
"Blimey, Hermione, you can't actually be considering this, can you?" Ron cried, rising from his chair.
"Mr. Weasley, sit down or I will remove you from this room," Kingsley said sharply. Ron sat and crossed his arms, fuming.
"Unfortunately, Ms. Granger, I need a response now," Kingsley continued. "As you know, the rehabilitated must be placed within 24 hours of release from Azkaban. Mr. Malfoy has been out of Azkaban for about 18 hours."
"The answer is no," Ron said assertively. "Hermione is not going to work with him."
"Honestly, Ronald, I do not need you to speak for me," Hermione admonished.
"Sorry, Hermione," Ron muttered.
Draco said something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like "little bitch" earning him a withering look from Blaise.
"Kingsley, I really don't know, I..." Hermione started to say.
"What if Mr. Malfoy had more to contribute to your research Ms. Granger than just his sparkling wit and giant brain?" Blaise asked, interrupting her.
Hermione turned her head to the side pensively. "Like, what?"
"Yeah," Draco said looking at Blaise questioningly. "Like, what?"
"Draco will fund your research for the entirety of the time that he is working with you on the project," Blaise proposed.