Minister's office, London, England
Hermione Granger sat outside of the Minister's office. She had phoned ahead, telling him it was urgent, but she still found herself waiting longer than she had expected to. He had told her he was available at 11 and it was already 11:30. She felt exposed, just sitting there waiting. One of coworkers could see her sitting there, waiting to speak with the Minister, right after she was accused of using her connections to get to where she was. She looked around the waiting room again, but thankfully, she did not see anyone. She fixed her suit jacket. The minister's personal assistant stepped out of his office. She was a serious woman with a deep brown complexion and thick, dark hair, pulled into a tight bun, not unlike Professor McGonagall.
"Ms. Granger, the Minister will see you now," She said. Hermione followed her inside. Unlike many senior offices in the ministry, Kingsley's was sleek and modern. It was a pale cream color. The wall behind Kingsley's desk was panelled with pale wood and had a black and white art piece in front of it. Kinglsey's desk was facing two armchairs. There was also a table and chairs along with a sitting area. Kingsley was sitting in an armchair with Gawain Robards, the head auror on a couch across from the empty one.
"You can take a seat Hermione," he said
"Thank you sir,"she mumbled
"I was told you needed to speak with me urgently"
"Yes, sir, I need to be transferred out of the department of magical creatures" she said. He furrowed his brows
"Hermione, you were so excited to get to work on house elf legislation, what brought this on?" He asked
"I can't work in the environment of that office anymore." She said
"Did something happen?" He asked
"Peter Loweman, my boss, called me a mudblood" She was stiff. Kingsley's brow furrowed further. He opened his mouth to speak but then closed it again. He thought for a moment before opening his mouth again
"Was this the first incident?" He asked her
"It was the most obvious. He did, however, call my hair unprofessional and implied that I could not be as smart as I am" she said, crossing her arms. Kingsley sighed
"What did he say before calling you that?" Kingsley asked. Hermione began to get annoyed
"Why does it matter the context? He called me a slur, Kingsley." Hermione said
"Hermione, no matter the context, none of those incidents are acceptable, but the Aurors and I need to know the context of this incident. Do you have any idea what set him off?"
"I used Voldemort's name. He said 'don't say that name you mudblood'" Kingsley leaned back in his chair. He nodded to Robards
"Ms. Granger, I don't believe that we have ever been properly introduced, Gawain Robards" he said
"Hermione Granger," she shook his hand
"As you may be aware, the Aurors have recently opened a new case." He said
"Ron filled me in. It's directly related to the death eaters" She said
"Auror Weasley, along with the rest of the Aurors were directed to leave out much of the known information." He said
"That's all Ron told me," she said.
"This case is far more complex than that. We can confirm that there is a new group following Death Eater principles. They call themselves the risen followers. They have already been linked to 4 murders, one kidnapping and one attempted kidnapping of an Auror." Robards said
"Which auror?" Hermione asked forcefully. She felt her stomach sink. She had a suspicion of who the Auror was
"I think you can answer that for yourself, Ms. Granger" Robards said
"Harry," she said. Robards and Kingsley nodded.
"Now that you have been filled in Hermione, I need to ask you to stay in your current position" Kingsley said
"Why?" Hermione asked. Robards and Kingsley looked at each other.
"We have reason to suspect Peter Loweman's involvement in the group" Robards said
"What?" Hermione asked
"Loweman was part of the old government. He even managed to keep his job when He who must not be named took over the ministry. That was red flag number one. He managed to use his friends at the ministry to secure his job when we restructured the ministry. We know he was involved in the Muggle-Born Registration Commission but we were unable to prove it. Senior Auror Grey suspected someone here at the ministry informed the Risen Followers that the aurors were speaking to Knells. Grey and Neville bumped into Loweman on their way to speak to Knells. Right now he is our prime suspect for their informate. You can imagine why we would need someone keeping an eye on him." Kingsley said
"You want me to spy on him for the Aurors" Hermione realized.
"Yes, we do," Kingsley said. Hermione leaned back in. She thought about it for a minute. She thought about everything Mr. Loweman had put her through. She thought of having to keep showing up and working for him until this case was over. But then, she thought of Ron and Harry. This group had already tried to hurt them once. She couldn't let that happen again
"I'll do it." She said