Entering the pub where she was meeting Ron, Hermione paused in the doorway to find her friend. Not that it proved too difficult as he was settled in a corner of the pub, surrounded by people who all looked to be having a good time. And a good time was exactly what Ron deserved as he, and the other Auror trainees, were celebrating the fact they'd passed their first year of training and after a few weeks break, they would be back to start on their second year of training.
Making her way over to Ron, who had spotted her and had jumped to his feet, Hermione smiled proudly, thrilled that Ron had defied the odds and rather than give up he'd kept fighting and managed to succeed in passing his Potions test, and then his end of year exam. Even though Ron going into Auror training had come about thanks to it being what Harry had wanted to do, Hermione knew it had come to mean a lot to Ron over the last few months and she had every confidence that he would make an outstanding Auror. In fact he might even be a better Auror now Harry was gone and he could step out of his best friend's shadow.
"Hermione, let me introduce you to everyone," Ron said, after greeting Hermione with a hug.
However, when it came to the introductions it turned out the only people Hermione didn't know were the two older wizards, who had entered Auror training after years of working as M.L.E Officers. Ron's other trainee partners, Draco Malfoy, Michael Corner and Ernie McMillan, were all people she'd gone to school with. And the other people at the table were also people she knew from school. To help Ron celebrate Neville Longbottom, Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan had joined the celebration along with a couple of former Slytherins, Blaise Zabini and Theo Nott.
"Here Hermione, squeeze in and I'll grab you a drink," Ron offered, gesturing for Hermione to slide into the seat he'd just vacated.
"I'll sort it Weasley, it was my round anyway," Blaise Zabini offered, allowing Ron to slide into the booth beside Hermione, who was sitting between her best friend and Draco Malfoy. "What are you having Granger?"
After requesting her drink, a muggle concoction of Malibu and Pineapple juice which she knew the pub served as she'd visited a few times with Harry and Ron, Hermione spent a few minutes catching up with her friends, whom she didn't see on a daily basis like Ron.
"I hope you didn't mind me offering to help Weasley with his Potions work," Draco said quietly, shortly after Blaise had arrived with the drinks and captured most people's attention by regaling them with his seduction techniques, which he was determined to use on the very attractive barmaid who had served him. "I didn't want to step on anyone's toes."
"Honestly, I was more than happy to let someone else take over," Hermione admitted.
She'd made the offer to help Ron on the spur of the moment as she hadn't wanted him to give up on something that was clearly so important to him, but when she'd had time to think about it, she had slightly regretted her offer as like Ron, she valued their friendship too much to put it at risk by clashing over something like Potions. So when Ron had told her that Draco had offered to help him, she'd been more than happy to stand back and let the former Slytherin take charge.
"Although I have to admit, I wasn't sure if you and Ron spending so much time together was going to work," she added. Like Harry and Ron she'd put the past with Draco firmly behind her and had been more than happy to give him a second chance, but since she hadn't joined Auror training she'd spent even less time with him than her friends.
"I had my doubts as well," Draco conceded with a chuckle. "But I think it's safe to say we've both grown up quite a lot in the last few years."
"I think everyone has," Hermione agreed with a solemn nod. Even though everyone's experiences in the war were unique, and Ron and Draco especially had gone through very different things, they'd still all experienced a life-changing couple of years, and after everything they'd been through it would have been childish to hold onto such petty grudges from the past.
"I never thought I would class Weasley as a friend, but I do," Draco said.
"Just not enough to use his first name," Hermione teased. She strongly suspected Ron would also class Draco as a friend these days, but as with the former Slytherin he still referred to Draco by his surname.
"You can't rush these things, Granger," Draco tutted. "It'll happen when it happens."
"Wizards," Hermione retorted with a roll of her eyes.
"Are you mocking our gender, Granger?" Blaise questioned, having overheard the latter part of Draco and Hermione's conversation. "Do I have to remind you that you're outnumbered here? You're the only Witch here tonight."
"I had noticed," Hermione remarked. "And what is up with that anyway? Where are all the other females?"
"Pansy and Daphne were both busy tonight," Theo Nott answered.
"And we've just popped in for a quick drink before heading off to meet our girlfriends," Michael added, gesturing to himself and Ernie.
"What about Luna?" Hermione asked, focusing on Neville, whom she knew had kept in close touch with the younger witch.
"She'd already agreed to have dinner with her father," Neville replied. "Xeno said they could do it another time, but Luna had already promised, and she didn't want to break a promise. She said we could do something next week."
"What about Sunday?" Ron asked. "The pair of you can join the family for Sunday lunch. We're celebrating."
"That sounds good," Neville said with a nod.
"You can meet your new colleague," Ron remarked.
"What new colleague?" Neville asked.
"What do you do, Longbottom?" Draco questioned.
"I'm doing a Herbology apprenticeship with Professor Sprout," Neville explained. "In time, I'll take over as Herbology Professor."
"Cool," Theo said. "I saw McGonagall last week and she said when I'm finished with my Potions apprenticeship and have some experience, I would be a good candidate for the Potions Professor. If of course she hasn't filled the post by then, but she seemed confident she can convince Slughorn to carry on for a few more years."
"Unless someone else comes along and nabs the job in the meantime," Blaise remarked with a mischievous smirk.
"If it happens, it happens," Theo said with a pragmatic shrug.
"So who is this new colleague?" Neville asked Ron. "Do I know them?"
"It's Bill," Ron answered, quickly explaining to the Slytherins that Bill was his eldest brother.
"Is he the one married to the sexy French witch who competed in The Triwizard Tournament?" Blaise asked.
"Fleur," Ron confirmed with a nod.
"Lucky git, she was gorgeous," Blaise said with an appreciative whistle.
"Is he the brother who worked with dragons?" Theo asked.
"No, Bill's a curse breaker," Ron answered with a shake of his head. "He used to work in Egypt, but he came back during the war and he and Fleur settled down over here after they got married. Mum's been on about Bill getting a safer job ever since Fleur fell pregnant, and since she had the baby, Fleur started to agree with Mum. So when McGonagall mentioned wanting to try and sort a proper staff as soon as possible, Mum suggested Bill as the new Defence Professor."
"A curse breaker who fought in the war will certainly be well qualified," Hermione commented. "Bill will be a good Professor. The kids will love him."
"I would have thought you might be suited to the Professor role, Granger," Draco remarked as the others continued to chat about what Bill would be like as a Professor.
"McGonagall has approached me about taking a teaching job, but I've got a job," Hermione replied.
"Which department do you work in?" Draco asked. "I know you work at the Ministry as I've seen you around, but I'm not sure I've ever heard where exactly you work."
"Regulation of Magical Creatures."
"Regulation of Magical Creatures," Draco repeated uncertainly, half sure he'd heard wrong.
"And what exactly is wrong with that?" Hermione demanded, hearing the scepticism in Draco's voice. "Some of us happen to care about those less fortunate than ourselves."
"I never doubted that for a minute, Granger," Draco chuckled. "Didn't you have some sort of protest about House Elves going on at Hogwarts. What was it, Spunk?"
"S.P.E.W," Hermione corrected, explaining the acronym. "And how did you know about that?"
"Do you think I spent all my time in school so caught up with myself that I didn't know what was going on with anyone else?" Draco questioned. "On second thoughts, don't answer that," he added hastily, spotting the glint in Hermione's eye and guessing that she was going to say just that. "Contrary to how it may have appeared, I did pay attention to other people. So I heard about your little protest group."
"I'm not sure how, it never took off," Hermione grumbled. "No-one was interested."
"And you think that working in the department that regulates magical creatures will aid with your crusade?"
"Clearly you don't," Hermione accused, hearing the scepticism in Draco's words.
"I don't," Draco replied bluntly. "You'll have to work your way up the ranks to be taken seriously, and to have your ideas even considered. How many years will that take? I suppose it's worth it if you like your job, but somehow I can't imagine it's that fulfilling for someone like you."
"Someone like me? You mean a muggleborn?" Hermione snapped.
"No, I meant someone super smart who could do anything they wanted," Draco countered, unfazed by the assumptions Hermione had made. "You could be Minister of Magic one day, and then people will listen to you."
"I could still make Minister working where I am," Hermione argued.
"You could, but do you get job satisfaction or are you just there because of what you hope you can achieve?" Draco questioned.
"It's not really where I would have chosen to specialise," Hermione admitted. Deep down she'd always known she'd chosen which department to work on based on her passion for helping magical creatures, rather than choosing somewhere that would challenge her and keep her fulfilled.
"Then do something about it," Draco urged. "Switch departments and find some fulfilment in your work. You could always campaign in your free time, and as a war heroine people will listen. And if they don't listen right away, they will when you start rising up the ranks and they realise how important you are going to become."
"And what about you, Malfoy, are you fulfilled in your work?" Hermione asked. "Being an Auror wasn't exactly a choice you made for yourself."
"It wasn't, and I have to admit I was unsure if I could do it at first," Draco admitted. "But I made the decision to commit myself to being an Auror, and it's not something I regret. One day I'm sure I will move on, but not for several years."
"What would you have been doing if you hadn't been sent into Auror training?"
"Working with my father in the family business," Draco answered. "Although maybe that wouldn't have been the smartest move. We might have killed each other by now. At least I don't have to worry about father and Blaise coming to blows, I think Blaise is rather taken with father."
"Blaise works for your father?" Hermione questioned in surprise.
"He's pretty much doing the job I would have been doing," Draco explained with a shrug.
"Does that bother you?"
"No, I think I'm going to like being an Auror," Draco answered with a grin.
"I think Ron's going to like it as well," Hermione remarked, glancing towards her friend, who was laughing with Blaise, Theo and Neville. "What will happen if you two end up as partners at one point?"
"We won't kill each other if that's what you mean," Draco chuckled. "As I said earlier, we're friends. Or at least on the way to becoming friends. Although to be honest out of everyone in training, I would much prefer to be partnered with Weasley."
"You and Ron as partners, I guess stranger things have happened," Hermione laughed.
"I'm sure they have," Draco agreed. "Like me buying you a drink. It's my round, so what are you having, Granger?"
"The same again," Hermione answered as Draco checked what everyone else wanted.
"Oh no you don't," Blaise cried, jumping to his feet the second Draco mentioned getting another round. "That witch behind the bar is mine."
As Blaise rushed off to buy another round of drinks, Hermione found herself laughing along with everyone else. She strongly suspected that thanks to Ron working with Draco, he and his friends would become part of her life, and strangely enough she found herself rather liking the idea of spending more time with the Slytherins.