Kingsley left the room and only a few people lingered behind, until the rest of them finally filed out. Except for Malfoy. Hermione was still on an emotional high after the successful passing of her proposal to the Wizengamot, but she knew it would soon be tainted by whatever Malfoy spewed out next at her. She tried to ignore him as she gathered the left behind scrolls, but she wasn't foolish enough to actually believe that they'd remain in peaceful silence for long.

He pushed in his chair and slowly strolled in Hermione's direction, a much too cheerful smile creeping on the edges of his lips. "Looks like we'll be spending another weekend together, Granger."

"I don't need your help, Malfoy," she calmly countered, refusing to even acknowledge his completely unnecessary insinuation.

Malfoy laughed to himself. "I beg to differ, Granger," he said as he bridged the gap between them. "You and I did make quite a team this morning."

Hermione picked up the final scroll and angrily shoved it into her bag, the parch ment folding under the pressure. "You and I were not a team. I did not ask for your assistance and was doing just fine on my own."

"Oh, come on, Granger," Malfoy tormented with a coy smile. "Just admit it. I knew more than you for once."

"You did not!" she immediately refuted, her cheeks turning bright red, all her celebratory elation already gone. "I could have easily made those arguments for myself!"

Malfoy released a short huff and shook his head back and forth. "Hermione Granger is a liar. Who would have thought?"

"I'm not -"

"Don't even bother defending it," Malfoy said lazily.

"And what makes you say that?" Hermione promptly retorted. "It's not like you're a legilimens."

Malfoy scoffed. "Is that the only explanation you can think of as to how I can best you in something?" He subtly shook his head again but his arrogant smile never faded from his face. "Swallow that Gryffindor pride of yours for a moment and admit for once that I'm right."

"I absolutely will not!" Hermione said, grabbing the straps of her bag and hauling it over her shoulder, making her way out the door.

Malfoy sauntered after her, following her down the hall towards Kingsley's office. "Fine," Malfoy said from behind her. "But if you're going to be this stubborn, it's going to be a long weekend."

Hermione stopped in her path and turned to face him. "You and I will not be working together," she stated firmly.

"Oh?" Malfoy asked, a pleased expression on his face. "Is Goody Granger defying the Minister's orders?"

"Stop calling me that," Hermione said, pointing her finger in his direction. "In fact, stop talking to me all together."

"You know, that's quite difficult when we're heading to the same meeting."

Hermione grunted in exasperation and resumed storming down the hall, undoubtedly with Malfoy not far behind. Just as expected, he was back to his insufferable, arrogant self and she had no patience for it. It didn't matter that he was right. All she wanted was to get Kingsley's meeting over with so she could get permission to write the whole thing by herself.

Malfoy caught up to her, keeping pace with her long strides. In a huff, she faced the other direction so she wouldn't have to suffer looking his boastful expression, but Malfoy clearly wasn't going to drop it.

"Tell me, Granger," Malfoy said. "You also knew about the incidents with the French and American ministries?"

"Yes," she curtly lied.

"Really, now?" Malfoy said in enjoyable disbelief. "And where exactly did you read about the French Ministry?"

Hermione looked at him out of the corner of her eye, and he was slyly smiling back. He was trapping her in this lie and she didn't like it one bit. Especially when she had no ground to support it on.

"Fine," she surrendered. "I didn't know about that one, but I knew about the American incident. And where exactly did you learn about it?" She paused for a moment and stopped mid-step to face him. "You didn't make it up, did you?"

Malfoy let out a low laugh. "Perhaps you should have paid more attention in History of Magic."

"Codswallop!" Hermione retorted, offended by his accusation. "I was the only person who paid attention, so perhaps you should start telling the truth too!"

But Malfoy merely winked and continued walking, rounding the corner to Kingsley's office.

"That's not an answer, Malfoy!" she shouted down the hall.

She paused, grateful to catch even a short break from him. Gods, he was insufferable! How on earth did Kingsley expect her to work with such an infuriating individual when he wouldn't even share with her where he got his information from? Kingsley wanted what was best for the bill and forcing her to spend any more time with Malfoy wouldn't be beneficial for anyone involved.

Hermione resumed down her path and caught up to Malfoy who was standing outside of Kingsley's office, chatting with the receptionist.

"How nice of you to join us, Ms. Granger," he said casually as if it was their first time seeing each other in ages, not a handful of seconds.

"The Minister is already waiting for you inside," the receptionist kindly greeted her. "It was nice to see you again, Mr. Malfoy." The receptionist stood up and grabbed a pile of parchments before leaving her post.

"Always a pleasure, Audrey," he said after her. He then turned to Hermione and motioned towards Kingsley's door. "Shall we, Granger?"

Hermione glared at him and slowly walked towards the door, Malfoy beside her.

"You know, Granger," he whispered, "I can't help but notice that you seem to be quite curious about me again."

"Am not!" Hermione adamantly refuted.

"Actions speak louder than words, sweetheart." He gave her a quick wink and Hermione resisted the urge to slap him right there as Malfoy opened the door.

Kingsley arose from behind his desk, welcoming them into his space. "Ah, Mr. Malfoy, Ms. Granger, take a seat."

Hermione shined a faux smile as she approached the Minister and sat in one of the chairs in front of her desk, Malfoy doing the same. Merlin's beard, if she could barely tolerate the idea of sitting next to him for the rest of this meeting, there was no way she was leaving this room without Kingsley dropping this insane request.

"This addendum about wolfsbane," Kingsley began, taking his seat behind his desk, "it needs to be entirely airtight. Ms. Granger, you know how important this committee would be for our wizarding community, and I don't want to see it fail, just as much as you don't. We can't have a repeat of what happened with Ms. Knox."

"Yes, of course, sir," Hermione agreed. "But if I may, sir, with all do respect, I have been working on this for many weeks. I can finish it all on my own as well."

Kingsley took a moment to consider, closing his eyes to think. Hermione waited painstakingly, hoping desperately that the Minister would concede, but her desire was shortly shattered. "While I admire your work ethic, Ms. Granger, this is larger than that," Kingsley said. "You have created a strong initial proposal, but the majority of your background is only with house elves." He paused to face Malfoy. "Have you been reading those books I recommended?"

"Yes, sir." Malfoy answered firmly.

Hermione looked at Malfoy curiously, her eyebrows scrunched in confusion about what books the two men were discussing, but Kingsley quickly carried on.

"Good." Kingsley nodded to himself. "Mr. Malfoy will be a good addition to our efforts, Ms. Granger."

Hermione kept her gaze on Malfoy and could see that he was maintaining his professional demeanor. That wasn't the Malfoy she'd be forced to work with, though! "Sir," Hermione protested, leaning in closer to the Minister, "I assure you that I can do the research on my own."

Kingsley laced his fingers together and rested them upon the desk before him. "If we had more time, perhaps that would be an option, but you are clearly tired and need assistance," Kingsley said.

Hermione instinctively ran two fingers under her eyes, hoping it would cover up her eye bags for even an instant, but she knew it was to no avail. "But, sir -"

"Ms. Granger," Kingsley sternly interrupted. "I have made my decision and that is that. You will be working with Mr. Malfoy."

"Yes, but -"

"And that's final."

Hermione sat back in her seat, knowing that there was no more fighting it. She turned to Malfoy, but all she saw was that stupid, plain faced, Ministry approved expression. If only Kingsley knew what Malfoy was really like when it was just the two of them! Although Kingsley had made his final decision, it wouldn't inhibit her from finding another way to avoid working with Malfoy without the Minister knowing. But for now, she would agree. Sort of.

"We will make sure to have the final draft on your desk by Monday morning," Hermione eventually said with her fake smile, still refusing to promise any sort of actual collaboration. The addendum would be completed and on his desk by Monday. Just perhaps with not as much assistance from Malfoy as Kingsley intended.

Malfoy nodded in agreement as the now partners stood up.

"Thank you, Minister," Hermione said, sticking her hand out to shake the Minister's.

"And thank you, Ms. Granger," Kingsley returned.

"Minister," Malfoy said with a nod.

"I would actually like to speak with you more in private, Mr. Malfoy." Kingsley turned to Hermione. "You may now return to work, Ms. Granger. But remember, I expect you to prioritize the bill."

He raised an eyebrow at her and she understood exactly what he meant. After years of working together, Kingsley knew Hermione well enough to figure that she was already brainstorming ways to complete the addendum without Malfoy's help, but he should also know her well enough to conclude that she would always prioritize the bill. And in this instance, if prioritizing the bill meant ignoring his command, she would.

"The bill comes first, Minister," she assured him.

Hermione grabbed her bag off the floor and headed towards the exit, and as she left, made sure to leave the door slightly ajar. Kingsley's receptionist wasn't back at her desk yet, and Hermione was curious about what Kingsley had to say to Malfoy. She had a sneaky suspicion that it had to do with her proposal and anything Kingsley had to say to Malfoy about it could be said in front of her.

She carefully set down her bag and aligned her ear just shy of the doorframe so she could just barely hear Kingsley begin to talk.

"You did good back there, Draco."

Hermione was immediately startled by Kingsley's use of Malfoy's first name. He had only referred to her as Hermione outside of Ministry walls! She held her breath to avoid making more noise than necessary so that she wouldn't miss a single word of what Malfoy had to say.

"Thank you, Kingsley."

Hermione jaw physically dropped this time. Never would she dare call Kingsley his first name to his face! He was the Minister of Magic and deserved to be referred to accordingly! Hermione expected Kingsley to respond in a similar regard, but the conversation continued unhitched.

"You know we need to talk about your reaction to Ms. Knox's actions, though."

"She provoked me!" Malfoy quickly defended.

"I am not denying that," Kingsley stated calmly, not rising to Malfoy's level, "but we have discussed how you should control yourself in those situations."

"And what did you expect me to do? Just sit there idly while she demonized me in front of everyone?"

"I was there to defend you, Draco. Her comments were unwarranted."

Malfoy scoffed. "At least she had the guts to say it to my face." His voice seemed to falter for a moment, slightly weaker than normal. "You know half the wizards in that room were thinking the same thing as her."

Hermione felt her gut turnover. This conversation was not going as she expected. Malfoy and Kingsley were acting like… friends? And Malfoy was sharing more with him than she had ever heard him open up to anyone else. She almost felt guilty for eavesdropping on what was clearly a personal conversation, but she was much too interested to pull away.

The deep voice of Kingsley brought her out of her thoughts and back into the present conversation.

"Draco -"

"You know I'm right," Malfoy interrupted, his voice growing stronger and turning to outrage. "I still face it all the time! People whispering about me in the hallways, pointing at me from across the street. Hell, even Granger…"

His voice trailed off and Hermione's heart nearly jumped out of her chest at the mention of her name.

"What about Ms. Granger?"

"She…" Malfoy began to stumble over his words but hastily cut himself off. "Forget it. My point is that they all still see me as this… menace."

"Even Ms. Granger?"

Hermione leaned in closer to hear Malfoy's response, surprisingly curious to know what he thought her opinion was of him. The floor beneath her feet creaked, and she instinctively drew back slightly but ensured that she was still within range.

Malfoy remained quiet for a handful of seconds before speaking up again, his voice low and choppy. "I don't want to talk about her."

"Seeing as which I just ordered for you two to work together on this addendum, we need to address this, Draco." The men sat in silence for a moment before Kingsley continued. "I am more than fully aware of your history with her -"

"You don't know the half of it," Malfoy grumbled under his breath.

"- but I think it will be good for you."

Malfoy scoffed again. "And how's that?"

"You're tired of people seeing you as a menace? Then show them that you're not a menace. Starting with Ms. Granger."

The conversation kept going, and Hermione could already hear Malfoy beginning to raise his voice again, but she opted to back away from the door, having already heard more than enough. She placed her hand on her heart to try to placate its rampant beating, but it was proving futile. Her mind was racing, trying to rationalize what she had just heard.

Malfoy was clearly still miffed about Knox's allegation that former Death Eaters couldn't be trusted, but even Hermione had to admit that she herself had difficulty completely trusting Malfoy. Who could blame her! He had made her school years hell and had treated her like scum. A week of mildly better behavior did nothing to erase that.

But Hermione trusted Kingsley. She had no reason not to. He had been a loyal member of the Order, was a strong leader for the wizarding community, and continued to assist her in her career. Back during the war, she had put her life in his hands as he guided her polyjuiced self to the Burrow, and to this day, she had full confidence in his loyalty.

It pained her to even consider it, but what if…

Oh gods.

What if… she did listen to Kingsley and… gave Malfoy a chance to prove himself.

But just once! If he irked her even the slightest bit, it was over.

The door next to her flung open and Malfoy came storming out. Hermione was so startled by his resurgence that she called out after him before she even realized it. Malfoy whipped his head around and blinked quickly as if making sure that he wasn't imagining Hermione's presence. His eyes narrowed as he slowly and deliberately walked towards her.

"I thought the Minister told you to get back to work."

"He did," Hermione stammered, "but I was, um, waiting for you."

Malfoy arched an eyebrow at her suspiciously. "And why's that?"

"I can't exactly get started on the addendum without you," she rationalized.

"You don't fool me, Granger," Malfoy scolded, though his eyes didn't hold the same anger that they typically did during one of their usual arguments. "You and I both know perfectly well that you have no intentions of actually listening to that order."

He made to walk away, but Hermione latched her hand onto his shoulder, locking him in place. Malfoy slowly twisted his head to glare at her over his shoulder before shoving her hand off of him. He turned to face her again, crossing his arms. "Okay, Granger, what do you really want?"

Hermione shifted the weight on her feet and adjusted the heavy mass of her bag on her shoulder. "What did you and Kingsley talk about?"

"Nothing that pertains to you," he sharply responded, clearly indicating that he didn't want her to press any further.

A pit momentarily formed in her stomach before it quickly faded away. It wasn't as if his response was unexpected, though. He certainly wasn't going to admit to her anything that he had said behind what he presumed was a closed door. She ran her fingers through her hair and gathered all the curls over one side of her shoulder. "Well, in that case, we need to set up a time for us to meet and write this addendum."

"You're serious?" Malfoy looked at her incredulously and if she wasn't mistaken, there was a flash of relief on his face before it quickly returned to its normal sternness. When Hermione didn't react, he checked his watch. "I have a meeting at one, so you can meet me in my office me after."

"Can't," Hermione said. "I'm giving a report to Hopkins at three."

Malfoy checked his watch again and pursed his lips. "I guess we'll just have to meet some time tomorrow then."

"Wait til Saturday?" She may have agreed to working with Malfoy, but they were still going to do things her way, and that meant starting as soon as possible. "You do realize that we have to research and write an entire addendum by Mo nday, correct?"

"And you do realize that your eye bags are so large that they rival that bloody bag you carry with you everywhere?" Malfoy shot back.

Hermione crinkled her nose and secured her grip on the strap of her bag. "I need to keep my things somewhere!"

Malfoy scoffed. "Go home, Granger, and get some rest. We'll resume tomorrow." He began to walk away, but Hermione wasn't losing this battle, even if she was already starting to regret complying with Kingsley's wish.

"We start tonight or I will do it on my own," she demanded, storming after him.

Malfoy hastened his pace back to his office, but Hermione kept up. "And what if I already have plans?" he asked.

"Like what?" Hermione scowled. "Found someone else to ensnare in your trap when I turned down your flimsy request of a date tonight?"

Malfoy's pace became irregular for a few steps before it returned to normal. He looked at Hermione from the corner of his eye and huffed at her. "What's the matter, Granger? Jealous?'

She shot a handful of curious glances in his direction while still maintaining his speed. "You mean you actually have a date?" He gave her another cursory look over and she knew he was telling the truth. "I'm not jeal- No, I just thought -"

Malfoy stopped in his tracks. "That I'd sit around waiting for you to agree to go out with me?" He shook his head slightly before resuming down the hall with a scoff. "Believe it or not, some of us are smart enough to realize when someone doesn't like them back."

Hermione raced to keep up with him. "Well maybe if you stopped acting like a ten year old boy with a schoolyard crush and weren't so bloody mean to me all the time -"

Malfoy halted again. "Then what, huh? You and I would ride off into the sunset together?"

"Stop interrupting me, Malfoy!" Hermione cried.

They stood there, alone in the hall, glaring at each other. Hermione's chest was huffing up and down at an alarming rate and both of Malfoy's hands were balled up into tight fists. They couldn't even agree upon a time to meet to discuss the addendum, so how in Godric's name were they ever going to design an entire piece of legislation together!

She was doing this for Kingsley.

She was doing this because it's what Kingsley thought was best for the bill.

And if tonight turned out to be the waste she expected, she still had all of Saturday and Sunday to rectify whatever it was that Malfoy screwed up. Then, when it all went up in flames, she could honestly tell Kingsley that she tried.

"What time is your date?"

"Eight."

"Then we have plenty of time after work to get started."

The upper edges of Malfoy's lips twitched. "You can't be serious."

"I'll meet you outside your office when my meeting is over, and we can stay here working until your date," Hermione resolved.

Malfoy's lips settled into a grimace, but he eventually conceded. "Fine. Meet me at my office. But we're doing this at my place. I have things there that will be useful."

"Fine." She wasn't thrilled at the prospect of returning to his place, but at least it was a plan. Without any sort of farewell, she turned from Malfoy and proceeded back down the hall in the opposite direction.

"It's a date, Granger!" he sneered as she stormed away.