AN: I am so sorry that it has taken so long for an update and that I haven't replied to comments. Over the last six months or so I haven't really been that engaged with my creative side at all, I have had no urge to write, or felt any real inspiration at all. Within the last week or so I have changed my place of work (same job, same company, just another location) and despite having further to travel and later finishes and more sporadic shifts I am actually feeling the buzz of creativity again. I started with an advent challenge on the 1st of the month and am now working on my dusty works in progress as well. I will get to my comments in the next few days, I just want to say that I am grateful for anyone who has stuck with this story in spite of its flaky authoress.
Hermione Granger was not unintelligent by any stretch of the imagination; she had been regarded as the most intelligent witch of her age by more than one of her professors in her adolescence. In fact she had come out of Hogwarts in the top percentile, despite being distracted by the war and all that had gone on around being a central figure as a result of being Harry Potter's best friend and confidant.
After leaving Hogwarts she had considered various career paths, having thought about going into the Ministry to work for creature rights, but felt that the ministry itself was too oppressive and that she would never manage to succeed in her work from inside the Ministry. Instead she began to work within society, using her small amount of fame that had gotten her noticed as a platform to work from. She was working on the creature rights much like Harry was on the orphanage, as a side project that was close to her heart. As a career she had gone into the Ministry, but not in any roll that anyone would have expected of her. Hermione Granger was one of the elite within the Ministry, unable to tell you anything about what she actually did, her role was so secret that it was only known that she worked in the Department of Mysteries, nothing was known about what she did on a daily basis.
Her job was fascinating to her, it was ever changing and she didn't think it would ever bore her. Many people who knew that the Department did a lot of research would say that it was a perfect fit for the girl who had spent a large majority of her life buried in books, but there was a practical aspect to that research. She had only been in the Department for about a year now, but she was a good way in to her thesis for both Transfiguration and Charms, her research into magic and spells prompting her to seek a double mastery in the two subjects. She had considered doing a triple mastery, but decided to hold off on Potions for a while and do the more wand intensive subjects first before devoting her time to a cauldron.
Hermione had loved her further pursuit of knowledge, it was a state in which she was wholly satisfied, and had been bemoaning to herself the fate of her friends and their career prospects. Ron had tried and failed to become accepted into the Auror department and was currently working with the twins in their store, doing nothing more than filling up stock and serving customers. He had no ambition to do anything to further himself or make a future for himself, and Hermione no longer had the time or patience to make sure that he succeeded. Harry on the other hand seemed to have been floundering for a while, other than his work with the orphanage he had been completely unsure about what direction he wanted to go in. The orphanage was the only thing that he had shown an interest in, but he didn't personally want to work with the orphans himself, he just wanted to work in the shadows of the orphanage and make sure the orphans had everything they needed.
When he had started to take lessons in Wizarding culture, etiquette and history so as to be able to use his role as Lord Potter-Black to its full extent, a thing she was sure he was only doing at first to make sure he could provide for the orphans, he had found that without Binns putting him to sleep he actually had a passion for history. Hermione couldn't have been prouder than the day Harry had dragged her to Flourish and Blotts with him and proceeded to buy out an entire section of History books, before announcing to her that he was going to pursue the field of study for Mastery. Now that he could actually focus on his studies, without the threat of Voldemort looming in the background, or Ron pestering him constantly to slack off to play chess or go out on their brooms, Harry seemed to excel.
He had thrown himself into his studies with a zeal that reminded Hermione of herself, and had actually questioned him on the subject. Harry had admitted to her when he asked that he was fascinated by what he was learning, but that he also wanted to know more and show that he had learned a lot in order to gain Lord Malfoy's approval. Hermione had been rather shocked when she had heard the words come from Harry's mouth, and she could tell that she was not the only one, Harry himself looked shocked at the words he had spoken. She had questioned him further, wanting to get to the bottom of things, and perhaps understand why he was now looking for Lucius Malfoy's approval.
Harry had then explained to her who was behind his lessons and the lessons that the children were receiving at the orphanage. Through discussing the situation they had figured out between them that Harry's desire for Lucius' approval was along the lines of showing that he was worth the time the Lord was putting in and that he was grateful for the lessons he was being taught. Privately Hermione thought that there may be a bit more to it than that, but she could tell that Harry wasn't ready acknowledge anything more than he already had. She wouldn't push him on the subject, but she would be close at hand if he needed her to talk with at any point.
With Harry's newfound knowledge of traditions and history came his transformation in a way. He began to change his public appearance to match his station, having bought a proper Wizarding wardrobe and the correct attire for different occasions. This, as Hermione expected when Harry mentioned his intentions to her to do so, began to cause some tension with the Weasleys. Ron believed that Harry was becoming an uptight snob, even though he was nothing of the sort, but rather observing and utilising correct manners and graces. Ginny on the other hand began to picture herself in matching attire, it was obvious from her looks she was dreaming of being Lady Potter, but Hermione could tell that the more time Harry spent around Ginny the less enamoured with her he became.
Due to the attitude of some of the Weasley family they had decided, when Harry formally invited her into his families, not to release the news straight away. It would be evident at the first formal function she attended or if anyone were to look at her hand, which displayed the Heiress rings for both House Potter and House Black. Upon completing the ritual bringing her into the families as Harry's sister he had immediately made her his heir, insisting that she should inherit if he died without having a child.
Transitioning to her new place in society for Hermione was much easier than it had been on Harry, the limelight was not as bright on her for a start, or rather it wouldn't be until people started to realise her new position then courtship requests may start to appear. She had also been raised with parents who were determined to see her succeed in whatever she set her mind to. She had lessons in etiquette from a young age and had read, even if she hadn't fully understood all the nuances until later, many books detailing the Wizarding structures of society when she arrived at Hogwarts and had the library at her disposal.
Her first formal engagement since her adoption was to be the Ministry Ball in honour of the orphanage and while she felt ready for it she knew that she would no doubt be scrutinised by the matriarchs of society. She would be arriving alone as Harry was taking Ginny with him and would be collecting her from the Burrow. She hoped that Ginny didn't do anything that would reflect too badly on them, as her actions reflected on Harry and the rest of his families. She knew Harry was finding it hard to be around her in the way he once was, having no real feelings of affection left for the girl. She believed that it wouldn't be long before the relationship between them completely withered, Harry having confided in her his misgivings about the relationship.
Arriving alone for the ball didn't bother her, and after speaking with a few people she knew and making some small talk with some she didn't, she sought out company that she was comfortable with. Lord Longbottom had always been able to put her at ease and make her feel welcome, ever since they had first met on the train to Hogwarts, the other pre-teen almost inconsolable at having lost his toad. Conversing with him was always a pleasure, and the spent some time catching up with each other's lives whilst listening to some of the conversations going on around them.
Hermione could tell that many people were anxiously waiting for Harry's arrival to see what scandal Ginny may cause this time, but what intrigued her was the way that Lord Malfoy's eyes kept surrepticiously scanning the area around the doors for Harry's entrance. The Lord was doing an admirable job of not looking too interested in Harry when he arrived, but there was definitely something lurking beneath the surface of his feigned disinterest.
Lady Narcissa of House Black was definitely involved as well Hermione could tell it was obvious in little ways. They had lived together for so long and had survived two wars by working as a team, they were definitely working together on something, there were too many little looks shared between them. Meeting with them the next day would give her a chance to study them some more and try to piece together what they were up to. Even if they weren't forthcoming with their plans she was sure she could gather enough information to start working out the mystery that was their plans. She had smiled politely at them as they had separated to their separate seats for the meal, a smile that almost turned into a grimace when she realised that Ginny was floundering. Hopefully the girl wouldn't make any grave social faux pas, as she would be unlikely to accept any help or guidance to fix the situation, and Hermione didn't have the time to fix her errors, she had a mystery to solve.