Minister Riddle Will See You Now

Chapter 1: Promising Introductions

*Disclaimer: I don't only Harry Potter or 50 Shades of Grey

**A few things to note for the story/world to make sense:

Riddle graduated Hogwarts in 1988 (he's 28)

Hermione is finishing her 7th year at Hogwarts in 1998. Story begins in mid-late June when she's 18 and preparing for her NEWTs

Tom Riddle never became Lord Voldemort. He was a poor orphan boy who attended Hogwarts. Tom was treated badly in the orphanage despite asking Dumbledore to remove him from it. Instead, he attended Hogwarts with strong motivations to overcome his past. His housemate, Draco's parents took him in as an unofficially adopted son.

After his graduation in 1988 at the top of his class and with many prestigious awards and accolades, Tom took on an entry level position in the Ministry and began making positive changes for the wizarding world. He was slowly, but properly, promoted to Minister for Magic, the youngest Britain has ever had.

Since there was never a Lord Voldemort, Harry is not the Boy Who Lived.

7th year students are granted more privileges than other students. They can take weekends off and visit Hogsmeade if they wish to, provided they are 17.

Hermione is a muggleborn student with a mother in Australia. Hermione lives with her father who is a hardworking muggle with a basic job and Hermione chose to stay and care for him. She's not poor but she works weekends to be able to afford her Hogwarts tuition.

Hermione was rushing so she wouldn't be late. She hated being late. It was unprofessional and rude and she'd never been late for anything in her life, so far.

Thanks, Luna, for setting me up to fail.

Her friend Luna Lovegood had sent a patronus to her in the library beseeching her to please come to the hospital wing. She was fearful as she shoved her books into her messenger bag and all but ran to the hospital wing.

Luna had been looking over her notes as she was on her way to the gates to leave for her interview with the Minister of Magic when she'd had an accident and Madam Pomfrey wasn't going to allow her to leave before nightfall.

Hogwarts had never had a school paper before but Luna and Ginny Weasley had started one. Both girls wanted to be journalists so it seemed smart to create a legacy to leave behind after graduation. Especially one that would be a stepping stone for their career fields. Ginny planned to play quidditch and write the sports columns while Luna was going for the human interest pieces.

Today happened to be a Saturday, a week before NEWTs began, to be exact. Ginny was at the pitch playing a scrimmage game as scouts from all over England came to see Hogwarts' finest. Luna had lamented that she couldn't ask Ginny to take her place. It would ruin her chances at getting a spot on a good team.

She had agreed with the blonde but really, was she the only person Luna could think of to take her place? They'd already selected the students who would take over the paper next school year. Why couldn't they?

"Hermione, it's the freakin Minister of Magic! I can't send a rookie out to interview him? I need your brain on this. Please?" Luna begged as Madame Pomfrey was dosing her with potions.

Luna was sedated before Hermione could agree.

Thus, Hermione Granger was running towards the castle gates, hastily trying to sweep her hair off her face as she transfigured her Gryffindor necktie and her Hogwarts crest into something more business like.

She hit the apparition point and barely stopped to catch her breath.

She stepped out of the grate in the Ministry lobby and was shocked to see how empty the place was. There was but one lone worker at the visitor's station.

As her wand was checked, Hermione tucked in her shirt from where it had come untucked during her mad dash to make the interview on time.

"There's no 'Hermione Granger' listed for today," the balding middle aged man running the visitor's desk told her as he took her wand.

"Sorry, I'm here in place of Luna Lovegood. She's expected to interview the Minister," Hermione explained apologetically, hating Luna for putting her in this position even though she knew her friend had not done it on purpose.

A memo was folded up and sent through the air. Hermione watched it disappear down the hall and tried not to fidget with nerves. She received her wand back while she waited and cast a few nonverbal charms to freshen herself up after the hurried journey.

A return memo neatly landed on the visitor's desk. The balding man read it and waved her to the lifts. "The lift is already charmed to take you straight there. Have a magical day."

She hurried to the lift and watched the gates close her in before zooming diagonally upwards towards her destination. She cast a tempus and saw that she had two minutes until the exact time of the scheduled interview.

Without anyone else in the Ministry using the lifts, she arrived quickly and was pleased that she would arrive precisely on time, even if she would have preferred to arrive much earlier.

This lobby was a bit sparse but there was an elegant L-shaped desk of glass with a dark haired beauty waiting behind it. This woman seemed to be in her early to mid thirties and was gorgeous. Hermione instantly felt inadequate. Her black hair was straight and sleek in a way that not even potions could tame Hermione's own hair. She had a heart shaped mouth and a smooth peach complexion that looked like it didn't have a freckle, mole or imperfection on it. Her grey eyes were trained on Hermione.

"Hello, the Minister is expecting you. Can I take your cloak?"

Realizing she hadn't even worn a cloak in her haste to leave straight from the hospital wing, Hermione removed her robe instead and handed it over.

The dark beauty pursed her lips but took her robe and flicked her wrist to send it sailing towards a row of hooks on the wall meant to hold the cloaks of visitors. Now Hermione felt vulnerable in a childish way. She was a Hogwarts student and she felt like a first year standing in the Minister of Magic's receiving lobby in a uniform skirt, oxford shirt, her stockings and shoes. Even without any insignia, it was painfully obvious that she was a student.

"Go on in, Minister Riddle will see you now," said his secretary. Assistant? Deputy?

She grasped the strap of her messenger bag where it lay between her breasts and knocked on the door to be polite before opening it.

She had not expected the Minister himself to be in the doorway as she entered. She was startled and instantly tripped. This would not have been so bad had her messenger bag not caught on the doorknob as she pitched forward. The most awkward moment of her life seemed to stretch out over a decade as she was jerked backward by her bag caught on the knob. Arms came out to settle her and she jumped again, overcorrecting. Her bag ripped and gave way. She stumbled slightly before staring in dismay at all of the items spilling out of her bag.

She began collecting her belongings and trying to shove them back in while casting 'reparo' but the bag refused to mend. She knew it was a worthwhile task as her bag had been repaired far too many times already. She snatched up the first piece of cloth she found (a handkerchief) and transfigured a new bag of sorts. She shoved all the parchment and quills and inkwells and books that she could fit into the new bag before realizing that she was in trouble.

Her messenger bag had an undetectable extension charm on it. An illegal undetectable extension charm on it. She could not cast the same charm on the handkerchief-bag in front of the Minister of Magic nor could she let him see that she'd had one on the broken bag. She hastily conjured stitches and sutured the old bag closed and hoped that if she treated it delicately, it would hold until she returned to Hogwarts.

She stood on shaky legs with both bags in her hands and looked up and got her first look at the newest Minister of Magic.

He was leaning against the door jamb, long legs crossed in front of him at the ankles, arms crossed against his chest and he was smirking at her. A cocky smirk that said that he knew her secrets, past, present and future. She felt her face color and she was irritated by it.

"Miss Hermione Granger, sir, how do you do?" she greeted him in an attempt to regain control. She couldn't offer to shake his hand as hers were full and that put a damper on her greeting but she stood tall and tried not to show any humiliation at her entrance.

The smirk on his grew wider, as though she were amusing to him in a surprising way. She realized that despite his annoying cocky smile, this man was the most attractive man she'd ever met.

His dark hair was neatly styled and his dark eyes were fixed on her so solely that she felt he was staring at her soul. His cheekbones were high and his nose perfectly straight.

"Quite an entrance, Miss Granger, was it? And here I was expecting a Miss Lovegood," he spoke to her from his relaxed position against the door jamb.

Her brain took an embarrassingly long time to reply. "Luna, err, Miss Lovevgood sends her regrets that she could not be here today. I'm sorry you'll have to suffer me, if that's okay?"

The smile fell from his face as he stood and gestured to a sitting area to the side of his office. There was a fire in the floo grate and a large sumptuous leather couch flanked by two matching wingback chairs.

Hermione looked around as she approached the couch that he had motioned her to. She saw that an entire wall of his office housed bookshelves, stuffed with books. The side of his office that had a desk, was rather simple aside from the wall behind his desk where on a shelf on the wall were two small branches. They looked to be different types of wood but they were raw, unrefined. Between them was an old, leather bound tome with burnished golden corner protectors. The book's title was written in fading gold but Hermione would recognize the book anywhere.

She gasped and the Minister looked to see what she was looking at.

"Is that-?" she questioned weakly, forgetting her manners.

"The original journal of Merlin? Yes. It's technically the Ministry's property, but I like to have it displayed here in my office," he informed her proudly.

She turned to look at him and saw that he was looking at her curiously rather than the relic behind his desk. An odd churning in her stomach had her looking away.

To cover up her strange behavior, she took a seat in the center of the couch and sat both of her bags beside her. She ripped open a suture from her messenger bag and summoned the questions that Luna had pressed into her hands less than 30 minutes ago. She hastily stitched the bag closed again and fished out a fresh roll of parchment and a quill from the handkerchief bag.

"Again, I'm very sorry Minister for all of the trouble so far. If you don't mind, I've got a few questions for you," Hermione told him as she set her parchment and quill on the coffee table

"I would hope that you have some questions after coming all the way here on a Saturday," Minister Riddle teased her.

A flush bloomed across her cheeks and she tried to tamp it down. She hated that she was so easy to read.

"Yes, well, I've charmed my quill to record your answers, if you don't mind. I'll leave it where you can see it to ensure that your answers are accurately recorded," she informed him as she set the items on the coffee table where they could both read it.

"Curious," Minister Riddle said, as he settled back into the wingback armchair, crossing an ankle over a knee and bringing his fingers to a triangle as he rested his elbows on his knees. He seemed to be utterly at ease unlike Hermione.

"I'm sorry?"

"It is curious that a reporter would take such lengths to prove that an interview was being recorded fairly.

"Oh, well, I'm not a reporter, really," she stammered. "I've been interviewed before and I didn't care for the way my answers were twisted back at myself when the article came out," she told him.

He cocked his head as he looked at her for a moment before pointing his fingers at her quill and parchment as if to tell her to continue.

And so Hermione began the task of asking Luna's questions. Some were rather boring, asking about what policies he was most proud to have passed or what his favorite subject in school was. Hermione was surprised to learn that he was only 28 and had graduated Hogwarts only 3 years before she started.

There were a few personal questions that Hermione was shocked to see that Luna had the gall to ask (why are you never photographed with a witch on your arm at functions?). If she thought that question was bad, the next was even worse.

"Are you gay, Minister Riddle?"

As soon as she read the question, she choked and blushed. "Oh, you don't need to answer that," Hermione rushed to say. "I can't believe that Luna has written that question in."

His face which had been firmly set in irritation, relaxed a bit. "These are not your questions?"

She swallowed at seeing his gaze once again fixed on her. "No, I'm not a part of the paper. The founders of the Hogwarts Happenings were indisposed. Miss Lovegood had an accident as she was leaving for the interview and Madam Pomfrey was sedating her as she requested for me to take her place here. The other founder of the paper is in the middle of the quidditch scrimmage. There were scouts there, you see. Ginny is an amazing flyer and she'll have her pick of any English team."

"You speak very well of your friend," the Minister commented.

"She's my best friend. I know Luna a little less but she's a friend nonetheless," Hermione stated as she shifted, uncomfortable with the shift in conversation.

Leaning forward a bit to glance at the list of questions in her hand, Minister Riddle said, "I do hope that Miss Lovegood will make a full recovery. I recall how dedicated Madame Pomfrey can be towards the health of her patients. You said you were drafted into this interview shortly after her accident?"

Hermione cleared her throat in hopes of sounding more in control. "Yes, I was in the library revising for NEWTs when I got the message. I had literally 20 minutes from receiving the message to the time I had to be here for the interview."

The Minister's eyebrows raised up in surprise. "And you still made it here exactly on time? I'm impressed."

He looked as though he meant it, his dark eyes had not stopped regarding her since she'd arrived, it seemed.

Shuffling her parchements a bit, Hermione informed him, "I've only a few more questions, I promise."

With an open palmed gesture, Minister Riddle replied, "Take your time, Miss Granger."

"Hermione, please," she said, wishing to feel less like a schoolgirl by being addressed by her last name.

"Hermione, then," he smiled.

A quick glance at the notes, and she asked, "As a Hogwarts student, you began as a ward of Wool's orphanage. Past references have implied that you found a different living situation during your 4th year. What was that situation and how has it shaped who you are today?"

She did not need to look up to know that this question was nearly crossing the line. For the second time, she wanted to strangle Luna for her questions.

"Most of that is well-known within the pureblood circles of society, Miss Granger. You could have asked any of those families to find the answer to the first part of your question. As to the latter, I won't ever really know, will I? I believe that I was headed down a dangerous path and that the Malfoy family taking me in gave me a new direction. What would have happened to me if that were not the case? I'll never know."

Nodding as the answer was recorded, Hermione asked the last question which was thankfully a decent question.

"You are projected to confer the Hogwarts graduates in less than two weeks and it has been rumored that you have begun a scholarship fund for students who cannot afford the tuition to begin next year. Is there any truth to this rumor and if so, why did you deem this a worthwhile endeavor?"

"Given the question you've already asked about my background, I'm sure you can piece together the answer but I will grant you an answer anyway.

"I grew up having very little and at the mercy of others. It's a pitiful feeling and I wish to encourage learning while also helping out a student or two. The actual details of the scholarship will be revealed during the graduation ceremony, I'm afraid."

Hermione could not help the smile that slowly took over her face at hearing him speak so kindly of those less fortunate.

She reached out for her parchments and wandlesslessly and non-verbally spelled the ink dry before she rolled them up and tucked her supplies back into her rudimentary bag.

"I can't thank you enough for giving up a part of your Saturday for this interview. Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood are very appreciative of this. I believe the final edition of the Hogwarts Happenings will come out in a week. I'll be sure they owl you a copy directly," Hermione promised, making a motion to stand.

"Well, they are most welcome," Minister Riddle replied. He stuck his arm out to cease her motions to leave. "I think it's only fair that since I answered your questions, that you answer some of mine."

Setting her bag back down, Hermione asked, "What would you like to know?"

Those dark eyes were searching her again. "Tell me about yourself."

She dropped her gaze to the dark wood flooring. "Oh, well, there's not much to know about me."

Undeterred, the Minister insisted, "Tell me anyway."

Sighing, Hermione answered a little tonelessly, "I'm a seventh year student and I take my studies seriously. I live with my father in Birmingham. My mother lives in Australia now. I work on the weekends at Tomes and Scrolls in Hogsmeade."

"What do you plan to do after you graduate," Riddle asks.

"Oh, well, I really want to make a difference in how people are treated. I've an invested interest in resolving bigotry and racism and classism," Hermione says vaguely.

"Lofty goals but for the Head Girl, I've no doubt you'll reach them," he tells her seriously.

Sputtering, Hermione demands, "How did you know I was Head Girl?"

A simple point reveals that she had left her pin on the collar of her white oxford shirt. She blushes.

He smiles that cocky smile at her.

"Since you're Head Girl, I would be correct in assuming that you're a good student? How many NEWTs are you taking?" he asks, politely, but his eyes belie his interest.

"All of them," she whispers, embarrassed at her own swotty tendencies.

He lets out a low whistle. "My, my, that is one ambitious work load. No wonder you were in the library on a Saturday rather than watching the quidditch scrimmages."

She squirms. "I like to read. I like to learn. I always have."

He takes pity on the Head Girl and asks about her favorite subject. She tells him about her recent successes with her potion's project and her personal independent study for transfiguration and charms. He asks a few questions about them that show that he's a very smart wizard. She is captivated as he reveals his own final potion's project and the work he put into creating a potion that could help recover lost memories.

When the conversation lulls, Hermione casts a tempus and jumps up. "I'm so sorry, Minister Riddle, I've taken up nearly an hour of your time past what you've allowed me. I must get back to Hogwarts. I have a shift at work tonight and I was hoping to catch up on the revision I lost time to do today."

"Let me walk you out," Riddle offers as he stands. She realizes that he's wearing a suit rather than wizarding robes. She'd noticed earlier but it only now dawned on her as odd since most Ministers have been stuffy purebloods who stick to the fancy opulent robes that most of high society wears.

She picked up both of her bags and allowed him to open the door for her.

Catching his smirk, she mutters a thank you.

"Can't have you falling through the door again, now can we Miss Granger?"

"That's very kind of you, sir!" she grinds out, trying not to be annoyed at his obvious amusement at her expense.

"Romilda, could you fetch me Miss Granger's cloak?"

My plain school robes are handed to the Minister as he holds them out for her to put on. She can tell he is checking the texture and quality of her robe and she flushes in shame at his knowing that her robe is cheaply made. She didn't care for having the nicest quality of clothing but she did not like to be ridiculed for it.

As she straightens her robes as best she can while awkwardly holding two odd bags of her belongings, she looks up to see his dark eyes regarding her again.

"Miss Granger, I hope you'll consider applying for a position here at the Ministry after you graduate. We could sure use a keen mind like yours regardless of how many of those 11 NEWTs you achieve," he tells her as he leans his arm on the wall, his body closer to her as he leans around her and summons the lift.

"I'll keep that in mind, Minister Riddle," she tells him.

"Are you flooring or apparating?" he asks as he opens the gate to the lift.

"Oh, I'm apparating. I'm hoping if I arrive to work a little early, I can get my work done and Mr. Tolliver might let me go sooner so I can make it to the library before curfew."

The Minister's face tightens a moment. "Well, you should be careful with your apparition, then."

She nods as she steps into the lift. What does he care if I splinch myself or not?

"It has been a most illuminating afternoon, Miss Granger. Thank you," he says smoothly and with a smile that makes her stomach clench. He's very handsome.

"Thank you for the interview, Mr. Riddle."

And then the gate closes and the lift is moving again. Hermione watches his dark eyes as the lift takes her away thinking about how no man has a right to look that sexy.