"He said what?" Minister Kingsley exclaimed, his deep voice rumbling off the walls of his office.

"I know. Trust me, I was just as shocked," Hermione nodded knowingly.

"It's a brilliant idea, though," Kingsley said after a brief silence.

"I know that as well," Hermione concurred.

"Do you think you can get a cost estimate to me by early next week?"

"I don't need to. Malfoy literally has thought of everything," Hermione said. Kingsley thought he heard a slight awe in her voice. "And he offered to pay for the entire thing."

"That's too much. I'd like to have the Ministry put its full weight behind this thing. It'll only help encourage people to be more accepting of yet another community."

Hermione nodded in agreement, and slid down in her chair slightly.

"It's absolutely brilliant," she said, deep in thought. "I still can't believe Draco Malfoy thought of this, and not me."

"Do I sense a tinge of jealousy, Ms. Granger?" Kingsley asked, his eyes twinkling.

"No, no. Don't get me wrong. What I meant was that he stood for everything the dark side believed in. He made fun of the Weasleys for being blood traitors, he looked down on me for having muggle parentage, his family helped in the return of Voldemort, he stood there while his Aunt tortured me, he even openly joined Voldemort when Harry pretended to be dead. Suddenly, his beliefs have changed now? He thinks people without the same capabilities as him are worth treating with respect? I just can't believe that I kept crusading for equality, and focused all my attention on Muggleborns, and completely forgot about squibs all these years. The worst part is, I don't even think he's doing all this only to stay in our society's good grace. He genuinely seems concerned and interested in solving all these issues."

"Maybe he is, Ms. Granger. Can I trust you to keep what I'm about to say between us?" he asked.

"Of course, Minister."

"The war left the Ministry with almost no funds. Everything we had went towards the burials of the fallen soldiers, and the remaining went towards the committee you worked with to restore our community. We were on the verge of announcing our funding limitations to the public, when we received an anonymous donation and no note or identitification. We used it to fund the trials, increasing the capacity at Azkaban, and even some of the basic functioning of the Ministry. I tracked the amount at Gringotts later. It came from Draco Malfoy's personal account."

Hermione looked at him, stunned.

"A lot of our community rebuilding events have been donations of his, you know. His only condition is to never reveal the donor. I think your assessment is true. He's doing it because he genuinely wants to mend his ways and repair all the destruction he and his family caused," Kingsley continued. He straightened up in his chair, and went back to being professional. "So you will tell Mr. Malfoy that the Ministry would like to go 50-50 on the funding for the school, and that we want the school to open this September."

"B-but it's almost the end of June!"

"I have faith in your abilities, Ms. Granger."

"Yes, Minister," Hermione said, knowing that there was no use arguing.

She thanked him, and left the office. She would have to go and talk to Malfoy again.

(A/N: Thank you for reading! Please let me know your thoughts so far. The story has a direction I don't think a lot of you will expect. You'll see a glimpse of it in the next chapter!)