I've been busy all week, and I wrote this in an hour because I'm leaving to the US today. I may or may not have enough time to update during camp. I'll be writing on the plane~ Cross your fingers.
Serious Disclaimer: All references and ideas related to the Harry Potter universe belongs to J.K. Rowling and Co.
Not Serious Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, I wouldn't have to cook my own food. Since I cook my own food, I obviously don't own Harry Potter.
"Hermione!" A voice called. Hermione's head snapped up, her wand in her hand before she could even distinguish who had entered the room. Theodore sheepishly froze in the doorway, holding a mug in his hand. Hermione embarrassedly lowered her wand.
"Sorry, Theodore. I'm a little jumpy these days." Hermione confessed quietly. He nodded sympathetically. Choosing to ignore the incident, he kept talking.
"How is the studying going along?" He chose a safe topic, steering them away from the topic of the war. She sighed frustratedly and slapped down a stack of stapled papers.
"I am doing fine, Theodore, thank you." She wearily replied, before standing up and stepping away from her desk. "Is it time for lunch already?" She suddenly asked, alarmed, looking away from the painting she had been examining.
"No," Theodore smirked. "I just stopped by to see how you were settling in. Have you met Daphne yet?" Hermione nodded.
"She's a very talented person," Hermione commented. "When did she join the Ministry?" Theodore paused, and tilted his head to the side to think for a moment.
"I believe she joined directly after the Battle of Hogwarts." Hermione's new boss answered. "I have a meeting to attend in the courtrooms. I'll see you in an hour?" He continued, after casting a quick Tempus charm. Hermione nodded before looking back down at the folder in front of her. Theodore left the room quietly, with one last smile. 'Time to get back to work,' Hermione thought to herself.
'Igor Ankundinov' The next page read, as animated ink wiggled from the top of the page to below a picture of a sneering man. Hermione briefly ran her eyes over the features harshened by many years of scowling and frowning. 'Russian diplomat. Characteristics: stubborn, patriotic, pureblood elitist. Known to be aligned with Dark Russia.'
Not wanting to read another depressingly thorough file, she continued to the next page. Various black-and-white moving photos were clipped together. A picture of the Russian diplomat and his family glared up at her, two sons imitating their father while a daughter looked off in another direction. There was no wife in sight. The man waved a derogatory gesture in her direction, then pointedly looked away. She sighed and brushed the page away like the last. On and on, she skimmed various files on the foreign diplomats, many of them similar to the ones she had already passed.
"These are the men I will soon have to be working with." Hermione murmured to herself quietly. "Sounds like we'll get along just great." Her ears perked up as a voice rose above the normal monotone of the workplace. She ignored it and continued roaming the pages and taking notes on a small pad of white paper with a quill Ron had given her. More voices joined the first, all chattering outside her office door.
Gradually, the noise outside of her office grew to a roar. As the curiosity got the better of her, Hermione stuck her head out of her office. She peered down the hallway to find the source of the commotion. A crowd was gathering, pouring out of their offices and mingling to chat. She cast a Tempus to confirm her suspicions. As she thought, it was time for lunch. 'I should really get a conventional clock. It's more convenient in an office than constantly casting 'Tempus''
She walked back to her desk and neatly rearranged the folder. She had already raced through more than half the files inside, memorizing the names, faces, and personalities of about 20 people. She now knew more than she ever wanted to about the Dark Purebloods of Europe. She brushed an unruly lock of hair behind her ear with an absent hand as she shoved the last of the papers back in.
"How goes your progress?" A feminine voice asked, originating from the doorway. Hermione spun around in surprise, she had not heard the woman enter the room. Daphne smiled at the slightly aggravated expression Hermione was directing at herself for her lapse of attention. "Don't frown, it'll give you wrinkles." She joked, stepping forward to place a hand on the shorter woman's head.
"I've memorized about a couple dozen files on various diplomats." Hermione answered the blonde woman's question, and chose to ignore the statement that followed it. "How was your meeting?"
"Hmm. It went fine. Maybe you should sit in on one of those meetings, to gain experience." Daphne mused quietly, running one of her hands through her hair. Her eyes flickered back and forth as she thought. "Well, we should go now. It IS lunchtime, Theodore will be wondering where we are. He sent me to pick you up, in case you get lost in the journey down the hallway." Daphne lightly teased. Hermione tried to frown, but found that her lips tugged up into a small smile.
Daphne slipped one of Hermione's hand into hers, and tugged her out into the hallway. When Hermione raised a questioning eyebrow at the linked extremities, Daphne smirked.
"To keep you safe." She yelled over the commotion, and pulled her into the crowd. Despite the strange likeness to a child being led around, Hermione had to concede that without the hand safely gripping her, she would have been sucked in by the mass of people socializing in the hallway. With a stumble, she stepped out of the other side of the crowd. Theodore was standing there with several strangers, all chatting amiably. He smiled at the disheveled state of his newest employee. Hermione hurriedly patted down her hair (it was starting to frizz) and straightened her clothes.
"Er... Hello." She said in response to the group staring at her. They broke out in a round of chuckles. One by one, they stepped forward and introduced themselves.
"I'm Natasha Shire. I'm the main editor of laws that need to be revised." A tanned, dark blonde, athletic woman said. "This is my assistant, Sheila Tanden." Another women stepped forward, and stood slightly behind Natasha. She was pale and had dark hair. The two contrasted each other nicely. Hermione felt a whisper near her ear as Daphne leaned forward to say something.
"They're together, if you know what I mean." Her amused voice confided confidentially. Hermione blinked in surprise. She whispered back, out of the corner of her mouth.
"Is that allowed here?" She frowned. "Wouldn't that disrupt the workplace?" A chuckle sounded, rumbling from Daphne's chest.
"As long as it's kept subtle and under wraps, Theodore lets it go on. And before you ask, it's pretty normal for two woman to be together." Hermione let the question that had predictably been on the tip of her tongue dissolve. She didn't know what else to say, so she just whispered a word of thanks to the light blonde before continuing to listen.
"-and I'm Michael Wearsworth." A confident, brunette man was saying. "I'm the leader of recruitment and Human Resources."
'The Magical world is not so different from the Muggle world in terms of business.' Hermione thought to herself. She felt a nudge on her shoulder, and realized that everyone was moving towards the elevators.
"Zoning out, Ms. Granger?" A mock angry voice reprimanded her. "Daydreaming is frowned upon here in our office." Daphne continued, letting a note of humor bleed into the false tone.
"Oh, come off it," Hermione grinned happily. It had been too long since she had a carefree moment. "Where exactly in Tom's Alley are we going for lunch?" She asked.
"Don't know. Suppose it's a surprise." Daphne commented airily. "Theodore likes to treat us occasionally. That man's a strange one." She chuckled. Hermione tilted her head back to smile at the friendly Slytherin, and paused momentarily as she admired the aristocratic features. Even under the harsh lights, Daphne's skin remained smooth and rosy, her sharp eyes softening in laughter. Blushing slightly, Hermione jerked her head back down, facing forward. They stepped into the elevator, rejoining the group that they were heading out to lunch with. Theodore stood at the back, chatting with anyone who would talk to him.
'Level four. Level three. Level two.' The elevator's melodic voice chimed at each floor, stuffing in more people with each stop. 'Atrium." The elevator finally reached the lobby, and people practically fell out the open doors as they were released from the tight confines. Hermione exited quickly, not wanted to spend more time pressed tightly against the blonde. It was a highly awkward experience, one that she was not keen to repeat. She waited and tried to get her lungs to function properly again, as people kept pouring out of the elevator.
Finally, everyone was out and lingering about in some crowd form in front of the elevator.
"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Some random worker shouted as he tried to get to the elevator before it closed. The group scattered, and Theodore shouted from near the floo.
"What are you all waiting for? Get over here!" He yelled. "We're going to 'Donovan's Dining'. Got that?" With that, he dropped a Knut into a bowl, grabbed a pinch of floo powder, and disappeared into the green flames.
The rest followed suit, dropped money to pay for the powder and spinning away. Hermione wrinkled her nose at the smell of magical discharge with each floo. She had never enjoyed magical transport, but she supposed it was unavoidable this time. She dropped her Knut into the bowl, grabbed the gritty powder in her hand, and threw it into the flames. The magical green flames roared upward, and she shouted "Donovan's Dining, Tom's Alley." She stepped confidently into the fire, and her whole world spun. She was spat out of a fireplace in a well-furnished restaurant. She held onto a nearby chair to reorient herself, and checked out the place.
"You okay over there?" Daphne asked as she stepped out of the fireplace, impeccable as always. Hermione straightened up as the room stopped spinning, for the most part.
"Never been better." She lied as she queasily made her way over to where Theodore was commandeering various people to move several tables together. She sat down at the seat to the right of the one at the head of the table. Theodore flopped down in the seat at the head of the table a moment later, tired from shouting orders.
"You won't mind if I order for you, will you?" He asked. "I've been here a lot, I think I know something you'll really enjoy." Hermione nodded. She had already glanced at a menu brochure, and most of the courses sounded foreign and she had no idea what they had meant. Daphne gracefully slid into the seat across from Hermione.
"Are you feeling ok?" She asked worriedly. Despite Hermione's best efforts, her nausea had returned.
"Just feeling a bit sick from the floo. I'll be fine in a bit." Hermione smiled weakly. "Could I have a glass of water?" She asked, after thinking for a bit. Theodore called over a waiter, and soon Hermione was sipping from a glass of cool water tinged with a slice of lemon. The water helped settle her stomach, and soon the room stopped spinning altogether.
She glanced in the opposite direction, and realized Theodore had created a long dining table using many small square table. Her coworkers settled down in their own seats, and were busy ordering. Theodore had already placed his and Hermione's orders, while Daphne had chosen for herself. She glanced over at Daphne, and she caught Hermione's look. A silent smirk was comforting for Hermione in this situation.
"Any questions?" Theodore asked kindly, knowing that Hermione was feeling slightly overwhelmed by the rich settings. She thought for a moment, before sorting out several.
"How do you make one of those flying paper cranes with messages?" She asked. She had seen them everywhere, and wanted to know if she could create them. It would be much more convenient than walking to someone personally and delivering a note.
"You write a note on an enchanted piece of note paper that the Ministry hands out, and tap it with your wand and say 'Animo Grus'." He replied. "It means 'Animate Crane' in Latin, and the paper is enchanted to do the hard things. All of you have to do is say the charm and think of who you want to send it to. Then it'll be off." Hermione marveled at the things the Ministry could come up with.
"Of course, if you're in a higher position," Theodore continued. He coughed. "Like me, of course." He jokingly boasted. "You can create your own animal note paper. Mine is blue and a raven, since I was in Ravenclaw. I have to say a different charm, which would be Animo Corvus. Much more elegant."
"He's an arrogant one, isn't he?" Daphne rolled her eyes at their playful boss. He pretended to be offended. Hermione smiled at their antics, and it was at this moment their food arrived. The smartly dressed butler-like waiter placed a soup and ravioli combo in front of her. The soup was a creamy brown color, and a buttery scent rose off it.
"You're supposed to dip the pasta in the soup." Theodore helpfully explained. "It's a special kind of Japanese broth. The ravioli is stuffed with specially shredded cheddar and garlic." Hermione's eyes widened at the fanciful dish.
"Try it." Daphne nudged Hermione's hand. Hermione stabbed a piece of ravioli with a small, spear-like fork that was provided. The rich smell of garlic poured out of the ravioli with the penetration, and she quickly dipped it in the soup. She delicately placed it in her mouth, and the mouth-watering morsel tasted every bit as good as it smelled.
"Wow, Theodore." She commented. "This is amazing!" The man smiled kindly.
"I knew you'd like it." He said. He clapped his hands abruptly, and stood up. Everyone at the table turned their attention to him.
"In honor of our newest employee, Hermione Granger, lunch is on me today!" He announced. There was a cheer. "Everyone, raise your glasses!" He continued. Countless glasses were raised, and with a toast to Hermione's continued employment, lunch was resumed.