I turn to face the newcomer, a man dressed in dark grey robes cut similarly to a muggle suit. He has fine slicked-back blonde hair and almost colourless eyes. "Are you all right?" he asks me, his hand still on my back.

I nod. "Yes, thanks."

"Good." He smiles and moves away to peck his mother on the cheeks.

"What about that introduction then?" Sebastien asks dourly.

Lady Malfoy smiles thinly. "Miss Granger is apparently more than capable of introducing herself." There's a strange message hidden in the tone she uses- polite but guarded. She's probably trying to warn them all about SLOW.

I couldn't care less; it's too late for them.

"Yes, thank you Lady Malfoy. I'm Hermione Granger," I say, waving a small 'hello'. "And I'm very pleased to have the opportunity to talk to all of you about the newest non-profit organisation born right here in Hogwarts, the Society for the Liberation of Omega Witches. Or SLOW, if you will."

Ignoring the looks of confusion on their face, I plough bravely on. "It recently came to my attention that these women have been unfairly marginalised by the wizarding world. Our group aims to shed light on the oppressive and obscure laws pertaining to Omega rights. Our long-term aims are to influence local and international laws as well as to help write policies on reproductive and marital rights."

Now my audience looks nothing short of astounded. They've remained courteously silent throughout my entire speech, but the dark-haired woman's mouth is slowly falling open. I'm pleased to have made such an impact.

Her son Sebastien sneers. "Is this a joke?"

I chuckle. "Believe me, that was the very question on my mind, when I first found out about this."

His mother blinks several times before snapping her mouth shut.

Lady Malfoy is attempting to catch her son's eye, who initially rendered speechless by my earnestness like the others, now has a slow smile tugging at his mouth. "Well, this is certainly different," he finally says.

His Aunt Bella has drawn herself to her full height, shoulders thrown back. "I presume you'll both be declining," she says. "Again."

Draco Malfoy steps forward and offers me his hand, lips quirked up. "I'm Draco Malfoy," he says, bending his neck slightly towards my upturned face. "Why don't we take a closer look?"

"Okay."

"Draco." His mother's voice is tight; I can hear the slight strain in it.

"Mother," he replies. There's a note of warning in his. He hasn't let go of my hand. "Let's go to one of our booths," he tells me. "We can discuss your project there."

"I'll come too," says Sebastien. His own mother grabs his arm, but he brushes her off. "I'm also interested."

Perfect.

We wend through the aisles as a group before coming to a standard white booth with an arch over the entrance displaying the logos of various Malfoy companies. When we pass under the arch, the space transforms into a wide floor that's already full of students and employees.

One of them, a young witch carrying a clipboard, detaches herself from the crowd to hurry over. "Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Lestrange, Lady Malfoy, Lady Lestrange," she greets, so quickly it's evident she's used to speaking like this. She pivots to face just the Malfoys. "I've compiled a list of the interested families as you've directed, and these-"

Draco Malfoy raises a hand. "Not now," he says, and she nods and scurries away.

"Look! It's the Malfoys!" I hear a distinctly feminine voice squeal. "And the Lestranges!"

I would know that irritating voice anywhere. I swivel to locate its source and spot three shockingly ginger heads by an enquiry desk. Lavender, Rohesia, and Ron are here, and it looks like his sister Ginny's tagging along.

I return their wave and gesture them over. The Weasleys and their cousin are already familiar with the adults, but Lavender needs and gets a proper introduction. She doesn't even finish saying her name when we are besieged by other students, all clamouring not so subtly for jobs.

"Isn't it Hogmeade's weekend for you?" I ask Ginny, after I've been pushed to the periphery by my highly pro-active schoolmates.

She shrugs. "Yeah, but I've nothing to do there."

"If you want something worthwhile to do, why don't you volunteer with my non-profit?"

She shrugs again. "Nah. I've heard about it and I think it's a waste of time, honestly."

"A waste of- You can't really think that!" I splutter indignantly. It's exactly that sort of attitude that needs changing.

I'm still attempting to recover from her blatant rudeness, when Ron very loudly announces, "My brother Bill crushed your team five hundred and fifty to seventy in his third year."

Oh, dear God. Somebody needs to medicate the Weasleys.

Ginny's turning away from me, her bored look shifting to an excited one.

"Honestly Ron." Their cousin Rohesia is turning as red as her hair. "Don't mind him he's just erm- erm…" She obviously can't come up with a credible excuse, and I don't blame her.

"Do you mean William Weasley?" drawls an unperturbed Draco Malfoy. "I'm trying to remember him, but there are so very many of you, it's hard to distinguish one from another."

We all stiffen, even Lavender. Some Slytherins around us laugh nastily.

"And where is William now?" asks Sebastien. "I do remember him. He was a few years older than me."

"In Egypt," Ginny says proudly. "He's Gringotts' best curse breaker."

"Not for long," says Sebastien darkly, and his mother smiles.

I don't like where this is headed so I withdraw from their midst, stepping backwards stealthily until I'm at the edge of the crowd. Then I turn to slip away. But I don't get two steps before someone clamps their hand around my upper arm.

It's Draco Malfoy. "Where are you running off to, Ms. Granger?" he asks pleasantly.

"Er- the Career Fair."

"But what about your project? I really would like to hear more about it."

"Yes, er, hold on." I rummage in my satchel for a copy of our manifesto while he looks on amusedly. "Here. This contains all-"

He shakes his head. "It's too noisy in here," he says, bringing his mouth close to my ear to exaggerate his point. His breath tickles my ear. "I have a better idea. Why don't you come by my office in London? We won't be disturbed there."

The witch with the clipboard returns. He slips a business card into my hand before moving away with her. "Do contact me, Ms. Granger. I'm always on the hunt for people with…" He cocks his head, searching for the right word. "…potential."