CHAPTER SIX: Astoria's piece of mind

After a month of Draco's absolutely perfect behaviour on the job, Hermione Granger found herself in her office, thinking again. If it looked like that, the weekly evaluations didn't make any sense. His attendance was perfect, and so was his engagement and team co-operation. Everyone at the School Board basically loved him now. And so, she had to change the tactic. They should meet every month now, instead of the week. Otherwise, it would seem that she doesn't see how well he's doing on the job. She had to trust him a little bit more. But still had some doubts.

When Astoria came in with her second coffee (eleven o'clock, sharp), she decided to ask her what she thought about it. Astoria proved one time after another that she was not only a good assistant and a good friend – she was also surprisingly insightful. In other words, a perfect person to seek help from when in doubt.

Astoria gave her a thoughtful look and sat opposite her.

"So you're still on that, huh?" she asked.

"You know that I appreciate him as an employee and as a person he is now. But… Honestly?"

Astoria nodded her head carefully, looking at her with concern. She felt that Hermione was being honest with her right now and that it was a big deal for her.

"I-I'm scared, okay? I'm scared that if I let him off the leash, he will go and do something stupid, even though he seems fine now. I'm afraid that I will screw this whole Minister-for-Magic-thing up, that I will let a Death-Eater in and that it will be my fault, not his and not anyone else's. Mine. And that I will disappoint all those people who appointed me the Minister and-"

"Okay, hold on right there," said Astoria, raising her hand to hush her. Hermione looked at her in surprise as if no one ever dared to cut her off.

"Now, I want you to be completely honest with me - and yourself - when you answer some questions. Can you do that for me, Hermione?"

Astoria was looking very serious, which calmed her down a bit. She nodded in agreement.

"All right. Now, please tell me: Are you sure, and I mean, are you absolutely sure that this whole freak-out thing is not about the pressure that is put on you from all over the place and from many, many different people, and you're just trying to pin it on one person because this way it's easier to find the source of your problems?"

Hermione looked at her with a blank expression. Was it really the case? She felt a sort of pinging pain in her heart which told her that Astoria got to the bottom of this, even though Hermione herself never would've figured that out. But Astoria got it right, didn't she?

Hermione thought about it. So much was expected of her when she stepped in after Kingsley's assassination. Everyone looked up to her. She still remembered the Daily Prophet's headline from that day "WAR HERO APPOINTED NEXT MINISTER FOR MAGIC AFTER HORRIBLE EVENTS OF LAST SATURDAY". War hero. That's what they called her. And she wanted to live up to the expectations, hope, and trust put in her so much. She felt good knowing she could really make a difference. It was her dream job, she knew it, but it was demanding and exhausting. But it wasn't just Malfoy situation that got her under so much stress. Astoria was right – it was easy to blame it on him. He was a former Death Eater, and – well, maybe not evil – but he definitely wasn't an entirely good guy, at least in the past. But the truth was, every step of hers was under the supervision, and everyone had something to say about whatever she was doing. It wasn't just Malfoy. In fact, when she read the papers, most people approved of this move. They said that it showed that she really did have a heart of gold and stayed true to her values. Others, of course, were outraged. "MINISTER FOR MAGIC LETS A DEATH EATER RIGHT INTO THE MINISTRY TWO YEARS AFTER THE ATTACK?". There were also a lot of opinions on how she handled the situation. Some papers said it was appalling to interfere with the School Board and that the Minister should have nothing to do with the recruitment process. While those in favour of this move called it a "necessary precaution". One thing was clear, and she had to finally come to terms with it – she would never be able to satisfy everyone, and not all of her choices would be the good ones. And even the bad decisions would be endorsed by some group of people. That's just how politics work.

But the truth was – everyone expected something, and even though Malfoy's situation was quite controversial, it was definitely not as important as other matters at the Ministry. She wasn't going to be judged by this decision any more than the others. So why did she let an old feud get in the way of her better judgement? It was a mistake – a big one. And some people noticed it.

"I-I think you may be right," Hermione sighed finally. "I guess I did blame Malfoy for my stress about the job and about the public opinion."

Astoria nodded.

"Okay, now please tell me if you're sure that you've taken all the precautions and that you've done a good thing."

"Well, yes, we've talked about it," Hermione said, luckily noticing that about that – she was sure.

"Well, now. You can't keep evaluations every other week if Malfoy is an exemplary employee, can you? Not only does it show you don't trust him – without any foundations, I might add - but it also shows that you don't believe in the fact that you've made the right decision. And it's not a very good look on the Minister, now is it?"

Hermione gazed at her with an impressed expression. She always knew Astoria was clever, but her wits sometimes still surprised her.

"No, it's not," she admitted sheepishly. "Merlin, I hate when you're right. I should change it to monthly evaluations, then. If he keeps being such a good employee, I should change it to quarterly evaluations after half a year. And then, after a year, I should just ask his boss to consult any problem that may occur with me. I think it's the best solution. One year – it's not short, and it's not long. For a former Death Eater, should be enough."

In the end, she started scribbling something in her notebook and sounded so much more confident than she was just mere seconds ago. Astoria looked at her with a smug smile.

"You are welcome, Madame Minister," she said.

"Thank you, Astoria, I owe you, I really do," replied Hermione, taking her hand in hers.

"Well, it's kind of my job, isn't it? What would a Minister do without her personal assistant that can give a boost like no other?"

"I'd truly be lost," said Hermione truthfully, but Astoria just laughed and threw her hair back.

"Therefore, here I am. I mean, unless you fire me. I mean, I suppose I'd still break in here to give you a piece of my mind and try to scare whatever loser you'd want to hire," grinned Astoria. Hermione laughed light-heartedly.

"If I fired you, I'd do it only to hire you as my vice."

"We don't have that position," Astoria said, half-amused.

"Well, I can invent it. I'm a Minister, aren't I?"

Both of them laughed for a second.

Astoria suddenly looked at her with a more thoughtful expression.

"You're gonna miss it, aren't you?"

"What?" Hermione asked, clearly confused.

"The weekly evaluations," Astoria said with a hint of an amused smile.

"What?" she repeated, feeling she was blushing. But why? It was completely and utterly ridiculous. Why on earth would she miss the weekly meetings with Malfoy? Quite the opposite – she would be relieved she didn't have to see him that often.

Astoria rolled her eyes.

"Of course you will," she murmured under her breath.

"Why would I?" asked Hermione, trying not to sound too squeaky.

She snorted.

"Don't give me that shit."

"What shit?"

Astoria rolled her eyes again.

"Are you even aware how long your last meeting was?"

"Well, I-"

She raised an eyebrow as if to challenge Hermione.

"Well, to be – um – perfectly honest, I – no, I don't know," she sighed, defeated.

"An hour! It lasted a whole hour!"

Hermione tried not to show her surprise. An hour? What the hell?

"What did you two even talk about?"

"Work," she replied quickly. Way too quickly.

Astoria raised eyebrows in disbelief, clearly amused.

"Okay, let's even say it was about work," she said with disbelief. "What about later?"

Hermione looked down at her palms, seeing she was rubbing them constantly. Was she really stressed? These accusations were ridiculous. What was that about?

"We talked about his project – you know, the one with workbooks-"

Astoria gave her a look, and Hermione knew that she was not done until she tells her everything. She reminded her very much of Ginny in that aspect. They both even put their hands on their hips, looking down on her threateningly.

"And then..." pressed Astoria.

"And then he mentioned that they had things like that in Finland, so I asked a little bit about his job there. You know, how the education system looked there, and things like that..."

Hermione felt very much pressured under Astoria's gaze. She also could feel the treacherous blush on her cheeks.

"And so he mentioned that he met… you know, the author of their Arithmancy book, I've read it too when I was preparing for my N.E. , an interesting book, actually, and-"

Astoria closed her eyes for a second.

"You talked an hour about a book?"

"Well, yes, but you see it's a fascinating take on the-"

"Hermione, honey, I love you, but I really don't care," she snickered, looking at her sceptically.

The two of them sat in silence for a moment.

"You two really deserve each other," Astoria sighed, shaking her head with a tiny smile on her face.

"I really don't know what you mean," said Hermione desperately.

"Of course you don't," Astoria winked to her and got up from her seat. "Well, it was a nice talk. Glad I could help and tease you at the same time, but we really should get to work, shouldn't we? We should be running the Ministry after all."

Hermione laughed and shook her head. When Astoria closed the door behind her, she let out a long sigh.

She was sitting at her desk, per usual, when Draco Malfoy came in for his weekly evaluation. Well, to be precise, his last weekly evaluation since she decided to see him once a month now. She felt a bit weird about this decision. It was clear it was a good one. But she still managed to feel… disappointed?

Rubbish, she thought to herself and smiled at the man who'd just entered.

"Hello, Madame Minister."

She rolled her eyes – he could not be more sarcastic.

"Mr Malfoy."

They shared amused looks, and he sat down opposite her. He handed her the documents, and she quickly scanned them through.

As usual – perfect performance on the job. Everyone was happy, and everyone seemed to love this new Malfoy.

"So tell me, Malfoy, how do you wrap everyone around your finger? Is it your ferret charm or some kind of a curse?" she mocked.

"Even you, Granger, have to admit that I make one hell of a ferret," he smiled provocatively.

Before she could stop herself, she rolled her eyes again.

"You've got quite an ego for someone who claims to hate his previous self."

"As you've rightly pointed out, Granger – previous self. I was already quite a terrific lad. Now I'm just a perfection incarnate, wouldn't you agree?"

"I can't believe you," she chuckled. "I knew you weren't that remorseful!"

He shrugged. "What can I say, Granger. Now that you've given me a chance, I was also allowed to embrace my most awesome and most real version of myself. And I have you to thank for that."

"Are you sure you're not just trying to get a promotion now?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"I'm not going to say no to that, Granger, since you're offering-"

"Malfoy!" she rebuked him, slightly amused.

He raised his arm defensively. "As much fun as teasing you is, what do you think of the evaluation?"

The smile froze on her face. Right. Professionalism. What has just happened? When did they even start talking like that? Wasn't she the one to propose burying the hatchet to maintain professional relations? Whatever just happened didn't seem… Never mind that – Astoria just got in her head. She shrugged with a smile and glanced back at the documents. They were perfect. She should tell him now that they were to change the frequency of their evaluations. So why couldn't she? She scolded herself in her thoughts. That was ridiculous! Why was she trying to delay this moment? If she told him now, she would've been done with it, and she wouldn't have to see him for another month – so an absolute win. What was wrong with her?

She glanced over at him only to see him staring at her intently. For some reason, her mind went blank. All she saw for a few seconds were these steely eyes, staring in her own curiously, waiting for a response.

When she realised that, she had to tell herself off again. What, on Merlin's beard, was going on?

She cleared her throat before she could blush. "Well, as always, it is great. I can see you're getting along with your colleagues. Anything went forward with your project?"

Coward, she thought to herself.

He smiled slightly, clearly proud of himself. "Actually, yes. We voted on it, and most of the Board members are pretty excited about it. As soon as Eugene accepts it, we'll go through with it."

"That's great! I'm happy it's moving forward," she smiled.

"Anything else, Madame Minister?" he asked after a moment of silence.

Okay, here I go, she told herself.

"Actually – er – yes. Um – I have a proposition," mumbled Hermione, cursing herself in her thoughts for this. He obviously noticed this because his brows shot upwards and an amused smile appeared on his face.

"Really? And what proposition would that be?"

Oh, Godric, I can't. It's all because of Astoria! She put this ridiculous nonsense in my head.

"You claim you have changed."

"Yes?"

"So, how do you feel about Muggle literature?" she asked.

Malfoy frowned, clearly confused. "I don't know much about it, to be honest."

"Look, I know it's stupid, but I have a book recommendation for you," she blurted out before thinking. It was definitely not what she was meant to say, and now she had about fifteen seconds to figure out a book to give Malfoy. But most importantly – how and why did her brain let this foolishness out loud?

"Since you must've read every book on this planet, I'll gladly read it," he said sincerely, taking her aback.

"What?"

He chuckled. "Yes, Granger, I know it's hard to believe, but I actually trust your taste. Now, feel free to pick that jaw off the floor any time."

She quickly composed herself. "Right. Um – So it is a muggle book, and it's kind of a romance, but I promise you it's a classic and-"

"Just give me a title," he laughed. "As you know, I'm a little bit more open-minded now. I will read a muggle book. And I'll even try to survive these mushy romance things."

"Well, actually, it's not mushy – that's why it's so great. It's also important for feminism and takes a closer look at the class system in Victorian England. At least in my opinion. So you may want to take a look at it in this context. It's called 'Pride and Prejudice', and it was written by Jane Austen. Wait a second."

She quickly got up and had to stop herself with all her might from banging her head on the wall. She managed to do that, but only because the book she was looking for on her bookshelf caught her eye.

"Here," she said sheepishly, giving him the book.

He looked it over critically. "Doesn't look so scary. It's bound to be more interesting than Binn's lecture, isn't it?"

"I suppose," she chuckled nervously.

"Thank you. But, what's going on, Granger? You're acting weird."

Well, it wasn't hard to notice, was it? She sat down and sighed heavily. She quickly composed herself, crossing her arms and looked at him decisively. Now, she finally felt she was ready.

"Well, Malfoy, after doing a lot of thinking, I decided to change your evaluation from weekly to monthly. You're clearly excellent at your job, and both your boss and co-workers respect you. You don't need to come here every week – it would seem I am prejudiced, which I hope I'm not. Therefore, I will see you here once a month from now on. If you continue to have a perfect performance on the job, we'll think of further adjustments."

He stared at her, even forgetting to put on his indifferent face. He was clearly dumbfounded about this news.

"What?" he blurted out.

"You're a good employee, Malfoy. It would be unfair of me to keep seeing you here every week even though you've proved yourself. Aren't you happy about it?"

"Er – yes, of course," he said, not very convincingly.

She smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Congratulations, Malfoy. I hope you can keep up the good work. And – uh – I'll see you next month, then."

"Right," he murmured, still in shock. "Well, then, I'll see you, Madame Minister."

He left the room without a second glance.

Hermione sighed as she sat down on her chair. What the hell was that? And why was it so hard? Ridiculous, absolutely and utterly ridiculous. If Astoria hadn't said anything, everything would've gone according to plan, and she wouldn't have made a fool of herself. She quickly pushed this weird feeling aside and put out her calendar to see whether she had anything planned for the next week. But then, Astoria peeked in.

"Hermione?" she asked, a sign of worry in her voice.

"Yes?"

"What did you say to him?" Astoria wondered and came into the office, sitting down opposite Hermione.

"What?" the Minister sounded surprised. "What do you mean?"

"He left here looking like he lost his job or something."

"What? No. I congratulated him on perfect performance and told him that from now on, we'll see each other once a month," she explained calmly.

Astoria's face suddenly lighted up as comprehension dawned upon her face.

"Ah," she said triumphantly. "Everything's clear, then."

"What?" Hermione frowned.

"Nothing, absolutely nothing," Astoria smirked to herself. "Coffee?"

"Yes, please."

"Maybe a latte this time? Extra foam?"

"That would be perfect, thank you so much," she smiled warmly.

Astoria left the office in high spirits. She knew perfectly well that the Minister drank coffee with foam only when she was down.