Author's note: Hey 2 chapters in one day! Whose excited? Disclaimer by the way. Hope you enjoy

Chapter 10

Hermione had an amazing time catching up on Blaise's life and it was nice to have him back in her life. She was still struggling to believe that he wasn't going to up and disappear on her again, so she played her cards very close to her chest last night. Now she turned her focus on her werewolf laws and amendments paperwork. This was a huge portion of her life's work in front of her.

After the war was over Hermione went back to Hogwarts so she could finish her schooling before heading off to study law. At first she had wanted to be a lawyer fighting against the unjust government and helping to protect those who's rights had been mitigated. It had actually been Draco who pushed her to assume a different approach. He had pointed out in the room of requirement, as they lay in bed together, that as a lawyer she would still have to work with in the corrupt laws and that many things would be out of her control.

"Being a lawyer would help some of the folks you're trying to assist but it won't get rid of the corruption. If you want to get rid of that you have to deal with the laws that gave birth to it," Draco had murmured in her ear as he played with her hair and she had nodded and snuggled deeper into his chest.

Hermione gave herself a moment to sink into that memory and the feeling of total security she had felt with in his arms. She missed him to this day because he had kept her on her toes. He was never afraid to point out when she was wrong or to debate facts. She had tried dating, but it seemed every guy wanted to date her just to say that they managed to bag one third of the golden trio. Or she scared them off with either her intellect or her two children. Not many 31-year olds had children nearing their teenage years nor, as she had come to find out, did they want their lives mottled up with children that weren't theirs. In the two years she and Draco had been together they had never gotten sick of each other.

Tears prickled in the corners of her eyes and she shook her head to clear her thoughts and look at her proposals. One was to make wolfsbane readily accessible to the werewolf community through government stipends, another was making it so that a person had to be qualified for the job based on their own merit and not their species and finally one that offered schooling for werewolves who had been unable to complete their education or unable to pursue further school due to their furry nature. This battle that she was taking on had been an ongoing trial for the last 6 years. The wizarding community as a whole was still stuck in a backwards way of thinking and the war had only seemed to strengthen the beliefs that most of their rules and regulations were in place for a reason.

Greyback had been killed in the battle at Hogwarts but not before inflicting his curse on many of the battlers on both sides. He had seemed to know he would die and so decided to leave the biggest mark on the wizarding community that he could. Due to the increase in the werewolf numbers the ministry had debated having any uncontrollable werewolf locked away in Azkaban and that would have included any newly turned werewolves. Remus had stood up against this law and rallied many people to his point of view but earned him a lot of bad favor from the ministry.

In retaliation the ministry quickly passed what they called the 'werewolf safety law' which basically stated all werewolves must be registered and would only be allowed certain jobs and to attend certain schools if any at all. Hermione had been enraged by this and quickly went to work to rectify the situation and now, finally, after 6 years she felt she may begin to make a true difference. She had worked for equality for many of the other humanoid species, but this werewolf initiative was her main focus and drive.

She quickly flooed to her office after finishing the last set of edits. Everything had to be accounted for and triple checked because if she made one mistake she knew from experience that the whole project would get tossed aside and remain untouched for another 6 months when she could appeal the decision. The ministry couldn't completely get rid of her work because they knew it would cause an uproar they could however have the council pick it apart and keep making her fix it stating that it isn't ready to be presented. She was getting this through today because right now she could really use a win.

The council consisted of the Sacred 28 houses of the pure-blood families. Another archaic convention that she hoped to one day rid the British wizarding community of. The Sacred 28 consisted of the following families, Malfoy, Zabini, Goyle, Crabbe and several others that tended to slip her mind.

"Good morning Ms. Granger I thought you were working from home today," chirped her secretary, Mary happily. Mary was a slightly larger witch with an addiction to dying her hair. Her current colors were a bright florescent green and a dark indigo. Hermione loved her eccentric nature and how her hair seemed to brighten up the bland drab offices.

"The powers that be have decided that the first day I try to have off in years is the only time they can meet with me this month so here I am ready and prepared," Hermione replied shrugging. She had known it would be too much to ask for one day off but if it meant that she got to get this done today than she was excited.

"Oh, those silly old men should have known that calling you in on a day off wouldn't stop you. You're a force of nature. Good luck," Mary grinned at her while shaking her head.

"Well wish me luck because with those windbags I'm going to need it. Thank Merlin Draco let Remus have his seat on the council. That means that there will at least be two people who have their heads out of there asses for how the world has evolved," and with those parting words she headed off towards the meeting room.

The council was already seated and waiting with bored exacerbated looks on their old wrinkled faces. Hermione fought down her inner warrior who wanted to smack that stupid look off of each of there faces and instead focused on Kingsley and Remus who smiling at her warmly. She started to organize her papers and get completely set up for her presentation for the umpteenth time.

Hermione began her presentation hit on all of the important issues her addendums would make without posing a threat to the wizarding community. At the end of her presentation she handed out her information to the various council members and went back to the front of the room to handle questions which was always the most difficult part for her because most of the bigots in this room always tried to rile her up.

"Now Ms. Granger on your stipend information you are requesting a lot of funds to be allocated to this wolfsbane. Why couldn't we simply have them continue to purchase the potion as they have been required?" Greg Goyal questioned.

"Well as things are right now the potion shops are able to set their prices to whatever fee they deem desirable and because of this most shops seem to be charging a huge mark up simply to remove having to deal with werewolves in general. Without this potion werewolves can be extremely dangerous on the night of the full moon and with the current jobs available to them many werewolves cannot pay these preposterous prices. Wolfsbane itself cost less then 20 sickles to create per potion and yet when I went and had a friend of mine get prices on it in shops some were charging as high as 50 gallons for a single potion. Even the lowest was still 20 gallons. At these prices with the current jobs available to them and the normal cost of living for every member of the wizarding society it is nearly impossible for them to get the potion that they need. With this potion the werewolf population on a whole become much less dangerous," Hermione replied in a cool and collected manner holding Goyal's gaze with steely determination.

"But with your other addendums there would be a lot of more prosperous jobs available for the werewolf population. With this increased revenue surely we don't need to supplement the wolfsbane." Another member pointed out.

"There is nothing stopping the potion shops from simply increase their prices to compensate for the increased wages. Also, if the afflicted is a young adult still in school they may not have the time to work one of the higher paying jobs," Hermione responded through gritted teeth.

"What if we placed a cap on the price of the wolfsbane? That way the shops are forced to adhere and the government doesn't need to spend this money," Mr. Zabini, Blaise's father, pointed out.

"Simply placing a limit on the potion could potentially fix part of the problem but it doesn't solve the issue that the shop owners do not and have not been willing to deal civilly with werewolves. With the hostility many werewolves will feel like they can't walk down populated streets let alone shops. By the government financing the potion we can have it sent discretely to their homes making them feel less persecuted and then more will to take the potion and making the community as a whole a safer place." Hermione could feel the beginning of a migraine and they were still working through the first part of her proposal.

After a lot more back and forth the group moved on to the next issue which was the schooling fund and workplace inclusion. Hermione prayed to Godric Gryffindor for the strength to survive this meeting without killing someone. The issues went the majority of the council had went back and forth for what seemed like forever and ranged from cost to the idea of werewolves being active members of society and the potential dangers and exceptions an employer would face.

Finally, it seemed like the council was finally coming around to Hermione's plans and she could see a light at the end of the tunnel she had been running down for the last 6 years and a lot of that was due to Kingsley and Remus helping her out with the ridiculous objections the group seemed to have. Hermione knew this time her plan would pass because this was the most headway she had ever managed to make. She was just about to take a vote and she could feel hope and accomplishment filling her chest like the warm sunlight breaking through the dark clouds of a dreary day.

Then the door to the meeting room flew open and Lucius Malfoy walked in with an aristocratic air around him. He looked down his nose and sneered at Hermione before walking over to Remus.

"Mr. Lupin you appear to be in my seat. I would kindly ask you to leave this room as you as you are not a true member of this council," Lucius drawled motioning for Remus to leave.

"Actually Mr. Malfoy your son designated me his seat on the council as I am a member of your family through my wife and he had no wishes to get involved in politics," Remus replied leaning back in his chair comfortably.

"Well as I am now a free man and a true Malfoy I am here to take back my seat. As Draco's father I have much more right to his seat than you do through a disowned diseased branch of my family's tree." Several of the council members were nodding with Lucius's words emphatically but Remus just held Lucius's gaze and refused to move.

"Actually Mr. Malfoy according to the Ministry bi-laws the only Malfoy who is able to reclaim the seat from Mr. Lupin would be Draco or his son Scorpius. Of course, if your son were to reclaim his seat and then hand it back to you that would be sufficient." Kingsley pointed out diplomatically. Lucius turned his harsh glare upon the Minister and let out a little growl of displeasure.

"I am a Malfoy by blood Minister I have every right to this chair whereas this mongrel has no place in this room," Lucius bites out starting to lose his temper.

"That may be biologically correct however due to your recent incarceration your son was named head of your house and he chose to hand his seat off to Mr. Lupin and in doing so he circumvented your claim to your seat. I say this is a conversation you should be having with your son and not during a council member." Kingsley responded in a bored tone hoping to get Lucius out of this room so they can finally pass the very important laws Hermione was pushing for and he fully supported.

"Well my son has not been made aware of my intentions so I believe any important issues that are being worked on in this room should be tabled until I have spoken with him," Lucius stated gritting his teeth as his mind whirled trying to form a plan to get his seat back. He would not be powerless. An uproar of agreement came from the majority of the council and Hermione watched in horror as they ordered on a vote to hold the meeting for a month when an agreement on who held the Malfoy's seat could be made. All her hard work and struggles on this project had just been washed away by Lucius FUCKING Malfoy!

Authors note: Wahwahwaaaaaah. Thoughts? R&R