Thank you allisath and fangirl4eva for your reviews!


Chapter Two: In which there is a lot of eye rolling

Hermione was exhausted by the time she was done with her report. It was a full sixteen pages, with facts, sources, and a few theories on the motive of the wizarding terrorist group. So far the theories were just that. Hermione didn't even know what was motivating them, what they were trying to accomplish; the attacks were completely random. Or even for that matter Hermione didn't know if the terrorist group was a terrorist group at all. So far they hadn't found any political means to their violence. She was frustrated by the entire case. Luckily, the wizarding world wasn't aware of the terrorist group. Or the fact that there even was a group of wizards going around killing muggles. Usually Hermione would want the public to know this sort of thing. But then she knew it would only add more stress to the case and the wizards would be in hysterics.

Putting her quill down, Hermione backed away from her desk and stretched. Her fingers were cramped from all the writing. She couldn't wait to go home and take a nice long bath. Maybe she'd even be able to convince Crookshanks to cuddle up with her tonight.

Glancing at the time on the small radio in her little cubicle, Hermione decided to head to Harry's office. By now her team would have handed in their reports to Harry and gone home.

She stood outside the Head Auror Office, raising a hand to knock when she realized the door was cracked open a bit. "Harry?"

"Uh, yeah just minute," came Harry's frantic voice. There was a slight rustling and he cracked open the door a little more. "Oh, it's you, Hermione."

"Yeah, it's me," Hermione said sarcastically. "Now are you going to make me stand out here all night?"

She pushed the door open, stopping dead in her tracks when she noticed Harry wasn't alone in his office. "Vane?"

Romilda Vane flashed a pearly smile, straightening her blouse. "Evening, Hermione. Well, I'll be going now," she said to Harry, with a slight purr. Harry flushed, looking away until the woman had finally exited.

"Seriously? Romilda Vane of all people?" Hermione asked incredulously.

"It wasn't what it looked like," Harry said running a hand through his messy black hair. "We were just uh, talking about the-Hogwarts."

"It's none of my business, but how long have you two been . . . you know, sleeping together?" Hermione asked, really not wanting to know the answer.

Harry stuttered for a few minutes, turning a slight shade of pink. "S-sleeping together? Like I said-"

"Oh give it up, Harry," Hermione sighed. "I'll try my best not to judge."

"That'll be a tad difficult," teased Harry.

"Nice try, Mr. Potter. But answer my question. How long has 'this' been going on?"

"This was a onetime thing. And we were just snogging," Harry explained pathetically.

"You mean she threw herself on you? And you didn't resist her advances."

Harry frowned at Hermione. "I thought you weren't going to judge. But that about sums it up. It's just-I saw Ginny with Dean at Florean Fortescue's the other day. I don't know. I'm just not over her."

Hermione rubbed Harry's shoulder soothingly. "I think we need to set you up on a date. With someone other than Vane."

Harry shook his head miserably. "I can't stop thinking about Ginny. She was-I loved her."

"Loved," Hermione pointed out. "When you loved someone, it takes a while to move on. What you need is someone who will help you relax, someone you're comfortable with. I think Hannah is currently unavailable."

"Hannah Abbott?" asked Harry with raised eyebrows. "I haven't seen her since Hogwarts."

"She's quite different from then. We get together sometimes at the Leaky Cauldron."

"Hold up," said Harry. "Didn't you say she was going out with Ernie the other day?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, "That was last year. And they broke up after a few months. Poor girl, she was all torn up over it."

"I don't know, Hermione," Harry said hesitantly.

"How about you have lunch with me and Hannah at the Leaky Cauldron? It's not exactly a date. And if things go well between you two, you can ask her out on an official date."

Harry finally relented. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt. But I'm warning you; don't expect me to go on a date."

"Fine."

"Hey, Harry, have you heard about who came in today?" Ron barged into the office, his face lined with stubble. "Oh, hey Hermione."

"Hello Ron."

"No I haven't heard. Who came in?" asked Harry, taking a seat behind his desk. He noticed the report Hermione had placed on his desk earlier, rolling his eyes at the stack. He probably wasn't going to get home until eleven.

Ron slumped into one of two chairs in front of Harry, while Hermione took a seat in the other one. "Malfoy was here in the Auror department a few hours ago. He stopped by your office."

"Who told you that?" asked Harry with a frown.

"Bibbles. He was going to tell you that Malfoy was looking for you. Apparently Malfoy refused to speak to anyone unless it was you about something."

"I wonder what it could be," Hermione mused. "It feels like ages since I've seen him or anyone from Slytherin, as a matter of fact."

"Didn't you spend the summer at Zabini's bungalow in Italy?" pointed out Ron.

"Oh, yeah," Hermione admitted sheepishly.

"Wait, you're friends with Zabini?" Harry asked thoroughly confused. "When did that happen? And how does Ron know about it?"

"Well we became friends during our seventh year at Hogwarts. He was one of the few Slytherins who came back that year. And as for Ron, how did you know about that?" asked Hermione.

Ron turned a shade almost as red as his bright hair. "I overheard you and Ginny talking about it when you came back."

"You were eavesdropping on us!" exclaimed Hermione.

"Not really. As if I want to listen to your stupid gossip."

"Next time I come over to your house I'm putting a Mufflliato charm in each of the rooms. "

Ron rolled his eyes at Hermione's dramatic declarations. "Whatever. I still don't know why that git would come here to talk to you of all people."

Hermione and Ron looked at Harry expectantly. He threw his arms up, "As if I would know! What did that idiot tell him?"

"Bibbles isn't an idiot," Hermione protested.

Ron gave her a look. "Oh, he's an idiot all right. As daft as they come."

"Well, I admit he sometimes is a bit clumsy, but he's charming," Hermione smiled.

A look of shock and horror filled Ron's face. "Don't tell me you're in love with the git! You're totally bonkers if you think that idiot is charming."

"Oh, Ron stop being so dramatic!"

"Guys, can we get back to the topic?" Harry interrupted.

"Bibbles said you weren't in but offered to take a message," Ron answered.

"So where's the message?" asked Hermione.

"What do you think?" scoffed Ron. "The idiot lost it on his way back to his cubicle."

"Great," muttered Harry, massaging his forehead.

"Well I'm sure it was an honest mistake," Hermione defended Bibbles.

"Sure," Ron rolled his eyes.

"I suppose I'd better owl Malfoy before I forget," said Harry. He picked up his quill and parchment.

"Why would you do that?" asked Ron. "I doubt whatever the git has to say is important."

"Do you honestly think Malfoy would come all the way to the Ministry Level Two to speak to Harry about something that wasn't of considerable importance?" Hermione asked.

Harry had finished his letter, read it over once, and then rolled it up tying it with string. He put it to one side of the desk, folding his hands on top of his workload. "When will you two stop fighting like an old married couple?"

"When he stops being so pig-headed," Hermione answered.

"When she stops being so bloody stubborn," added Ron.

Harry sighed, "I knew it was helpless. What are you two doing tonight?"

"I have a date," Ron said smugly.

"Oh really?" asked Hermione with vague interest. "Who's the lucky girl?"

"Luna Lovegood."

Hermione laughed, "For a second there I thought I heard you say Luna."

Harry looked at Ron carefully, noticing the sickeningly happy smile pasted on his face. "Really, Luna? I never would have thought."

"You can't be serious. How did-when . . . what?"

"You can close your mouth, Hermione," teased Ron. "Honestly, I don't know. She moved to Iceland following the War. I met her the other day in Diagon Alley. So we had lunch together. Did you know that Iceland isn't completely covered in ice? Luna described it as Europe meets America. We spent the day talking about her trip and Hogwarts. I never noticed how pretty she was."

"Iceland?" Hermione raised her brows.

"Yeah," Ron grinned. "Isn't that lovely?"

Harry and Hermione gave Ron a strange look. They had never heard Ron use the word lovely. And neither had ever seen Ron this love struck since Romilda Vane's love potion. It was startling to say the least.

"How serious are you about her?" Hermione asked, genuinely interested.

"Luna is something else entirely," Ron stated, with silent agreement from both Harry and Ron. "I really like her. I haven't been this serious about anyone since Lavender."

Hermione wiggled her eyebrows. "You mean Lav-Lav?" This drew a chuckle from Harry's side of the room.

Ron groaned, "You think you're funny don't you?"

Hermione grinned. "Oh I know I'm funny. Speaking of funny, how are Fred and George? I didn't see them on Sunday."

"They're somewhere in France, decided to take the joke shop international."

"That's impressive," stated Harry. "I never thought they would be so serious about something."

"Oh trust me, they're not all that serious," said Ron. "They're trying to move as far away as they can from Mum. Apparently Diagon Alley isn't far enough."

"They're moving to France?" Hermione had that dreamy look on her face. "Maybe I should look into buying a flat in Paris."

Harry and Ron rolled their eyes. Ever since their previous visit, Hermione had been living and breathing anything French. It'd taken her days to snap out of her stupor. But whenever anyone brought up the country, she'd go into a daze.

"Snap out of it, Hermione." Ron shook her gently.

"So what happened between the twins and Mrs. Weasley this time?" Harry asked.

"Mum's always visiting them at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Fred and George put up with it until this one time where Mum walked in on Fred snogging some girl on the bed. She nearly had a heart attack," Ron chuckled. "During dinner, she brought it up. Fred's still angry over the whole thing. Just don't mention it when you see him. It'll start him on a rant of all things Mum."

Harry and Hermione had a good laugh, until Hermione realized the time. "Merlin, it's getting late. Do you need help with anything before I go, Harry?"

Harry glared broodingly at Hermione's unread report. "Maybe if you could stick to writing a small passage rather than an entire bloody novel."

Hermione rolled her eyes; Harry was always so dramatic. "Well if that's it I'm heading back to my flat. See you guys tomorrow."

"See you," the two men echoed.

Hermione stopped by her cubicle before going home; a bad habit she could never rid herself of. She made sure everything was in place, before heading to the lifts. In the Atrium, Hermione waved to Eric Munch who'd been a watch-wizard for almost twenty years at the Ministry. Eric waved back, continuing his patrol. And Hermione took the right fireplace to transport to her flat.

"Crookshanks," Hermione whispered into the dark. "Lumos."

Using her wand to illuminate her way around the apartment, Hermione flipped the light switch. Bright light flooded the flat, inciting a hiss from Crookshanks who was curled on the sofa.

"Someone's grumpy today," cooed Hermione, petting Crookshanks. It was only nine. Hermione sighed; maybe she would go take that relaxing bath she'd been fantasizing about at work. Leaving Crookshanks to himself, Hermione grabbed her bathrobe. She shed her clothing as the water filled the tub. Once the water was at perfect temperature, Hermione eased into the porcelain bath.

Baths were heaven and they gave Hermione the perfect opportunity to let her mind wander. Her thoughts strayed from work to her social life. Sadly the latter was doing poorly. She hadn't been in a relationship since, Hermione frowned, Cormac McLaggen. If that could even be called a relationship; they'd only gone out for a week before Hermione had broken things off. Things were moving too fast. And she wasn't entirely happy with Cormac. He'd been a bit stubborn about ending their relationship. Honestly, Hermione couldn't even remember why she had even agreed to going out with him. Around the time they broke up, Viktor had moved to England. He'd only been single for two weeks before he reconciled with an ex-girlfriend, a Bulgarian native. Hermione had felt slightly disappointed, thinking that she was finally ready for a relationship with the famous Bulgarian seeker.

"Hermy-own-ninny, vot are you thinking about?" asked Viktor, his Bulgarian accent prominent as ever. "You seem very upset."

"Oh, no," Hermione smiled, flattered. "No, it's just I was thinking about my training."

"Training?" The two were sitting outside a small muggle café, having learned their lesson from hanging out at a restaurant in Diagon Alley.

"I'm officially an Auror. I finished my training. It was tougher than I thought it would be."

"An Auror, that's vonderful," commented Viktor. "Hard job?"

"Not exactly. Just different. So what did you want to talk to me about?" Hermione asked, wondering if Viktor would ask her out.

"Yes. I have very good news. I have thought much about vhat you said last time ve met," Viktor looked at Hermione with an unreadable expression.

Hermione swallowed. "Really?"

"I met vith my girlfriend from Bulgaria. She told me she missed me. Ve are together again," Viktor smiled.

The cloud of disappointment hovered over Hermione's head for a few seconds, before she managed to return Viktor's smile. "That's great. I'm really happy for the two of you."

"It is all thanks to you. Thank you, Hermy-own-ninny."

Hermione hadn't spoken much to Viktor since that last meeting two years ago. He still lived in England. And his girlfriend had joined him. Hermione had never met her; she didn't even know her name. But she saw Viktor and his girlfriend in the Daily Prophet pages, occasionally.

As she realized her bath had managed to make her feel melancholy, Hermione climbed out of her tub, wrapping herself in her fluffy red bathrobe.

She picked up Crookshanks on her way to the kitchen to warm up a mug of coffee. Hermione cuddled Crookshanks in the crook of her elbow amid the cat's hisses. Once her coffee was ready, Hermione arranged Crookshanks on the sofa next to her and grabbed the Daily Prophet newspaper from on top of the coffee table.

The headlines practically screamed out the words DRACO MALFOY SECRETLY WEDS! Hermione scanned the column.

Women around the world will be disappointed to know that Draco Malfoy, one of the wizarding world's most eligible bachelors is married! Draco Malfoy is currently number two after the legendary Harry Potter-Hermione snorted-on the Daily Prophet's WQ (Wizard's Quarterly not to be confused with Witch's Quarterly). Mr. Malfoy was wed only two days ago! The wedding was a lavish event attended by several prominent wizarding as well as muggle figures. He and his reportedly stunning wife are set to arrive in Britain this afternoon. Soon the identity of his mysterious bride will be unveiled!

Written by, Rita Skeeter

Of course, Hermione thought, only Rita Skeeter would come up with a headline like this. She flipped through the newspaper, reading articles that caught her interest. In the middle of reading an interview with Miranda Goshawk, author of the Standard Book of Spells series, who had recently celebrated her eighty-second birthday, Hermione was interrupted by an owl tapping on her window.

When she opened the window, a Ministry owl flew in, waiting impatiently for Hermione to remove the note tied to its leg.

"Alright, alright," Hermione mumbled. After she released the owl from the note, it zoomed out the window. Shaking her head, Hermione closed the window.

The note was from Harry:

Report to my office first thing in the morning. Malfoy.

Love, Harry

Hermione wondered what it was that could concern her with Malfoy. Her mind flickered to the article of his wedding to some woman. She hadn't seen Malfoy since their seventh year at Hogwarts. He was less rude than he had been in previous years and kept to himself most of the year.

Well tomorrow she would find out about what Harry had in store for her. Perhaps he was going to dismiss the case he'd assigned her as inconclusive until more evidence was found. Although Hermione would be a bit relieved to have her hands washed of the terrorist group, she didn't like the thought of a case she'd been assigned to being labeled inconclusive. The thought irked her.

Perhaps Malfoy had information regarding the case, Hermione mused. It was likely; otherwise she wouldn't be called in to meet with Harry on such short notice. If anyone could help her with the case it would probably be Malfoy. He still had strong connections to powerful people. The Malfoys had slightly redeemed themselves in wizarding society after the Second Wizarding World.

Although Hermione didn't like the thought of an ex-Death Eater roaming the country free, she had to believe Lucius Malfoy had changed for his family. After all, he had betrayed Voldemort in the end. She hadn't seen the Malfoys or in fact heard anything about them until today. Malfoy was married; it was a hard thought to swallow. She wondered who he married, or who would marry him. But the article was written by Rita Skeeter and she was hardly truthful. For all the wizarding world knew, Malfoy probably wasn't married.

Draco Malfoy had changed a lot from the arrogant, spoiled bully during their first year, Hermione knew. His last year at Hogwarts proved that. She just hoped he would help her crack the case.


A little peek into the next chapter:

"I doubt you'd be able to pull off the position of my wife," scoffed Malfoy. "You don't know the first thing to being a Pure-blood wife."

Hermione rolled her eyes. Apparently the Pure-blood supremacy hadn't entirely faded away with Malfoy.

Harry surprised Hermione when he spoke up. "You could teach her. Whisk her away to some remote place under the pretense of a honeymoon."

Review, follow, favorite, etc!