Monday morning, Hermione was awoken by sunlight streaming in through her windows. She blearily made her way to the bathroom and began her morning ablutions. Once she had washed and dried herself, she dressed smartly in a pair of heather grey trousers, a white button-up blouse, and a tailored blazer in the same grey as her trousers. She tamed her curls as much as they would allow and stuck her wand in the dragonhide wrist holster she'd worn since the summer before the war. Before she left the house for work, she set the muggle alarm system and grabbed her briefcase. She made her way to the closest apparition point and apparated to the Ministry.

Checking the time as she made her way onto the lift, she noted that she was running a few minutes late for her meeting with Adrian Pucey. She sighed and thanked Merlin that no one else was in the lift as it quickly made its way through the Ministry and to the floor where her office was located. Lavender met her as she stepped off the lift, relieving her of her briefcase and handing her a to-go cup of tea. Taking a sip, Hermione sighed, it was perfect.

"Mr. Pucey is waiting in your office, Minister," Lavender said as they walked down the hall. "After you meet with her, you have a meeting with Mr. Weasley, and after him, former Minister Shacklebolt has requested a meeting as well."

Hermione nodded, "Did Kingsley say why he wanted to meet?"

"No, ma'am," Lavender replied, "He only said it wasn't urgent and understood if you couldn't meet today."

"I should be able to meet him today, although I'm unsure how long my meeting with Mr. Weasley will be," Hermione said as they reached her office.

"I'll send him a note and let him know. Also, Lucius Malfoy has requested a meeting, but I haven't responded and he didn't come here to schedule the meeting, he only sent a letter." Lavender said, her nose wrinkling a little at the slight.

Hermione paused for a moment before rolling her eyes, "Don't respond to him. If it's important enough, he'll come to me."

Lavender nodded and moved to the seat behind her desk and Hermione opened the door to her office.

"Good morning, Adrian. I do apologize for my tardiness," Hermione smiled at her former schoolmate.

"It's no problem, Minister. Thank you for meeting with me. I know you're busy." Adrian Pucey gave her a small grin.

"It's not a problem at all. How are your uncles and your mother?" Hermione asked.

Adrian winced, "The doctors say it's a curse and they won't live out the holidays."

Hermione frowned, "I'm sorry to hear that. If there's anything I or the Ministry can do to help you and your cousin, please let me know."

Adrian nodded, "Thank you, I appreciate it, Minister."

Hermione nodded, "Of course. I understand what it's like to lose the people you love. I know I called this meeting so we could discuss the appointment of your family seat in the Wizengamot, but given the circumstances, we can place the family seat under a proxy house until after the new year. Will that work for you?"

Adrian nodded again, "Thank you, yes."

"Lavender, my assistant, mentioned that you are not living in your ancestral home?" Hermione asked, looking up from the notes Lavender had left her.

"Yes," Adrian started, "The doctors believe the curse on my uncles and mother was placed over the manor itself. I've asked Gringotts to send curse breakers, but they won't do it unless I can pay three times the normal rate."

Hermione blanched at this, "Three times the normal rate? Why?"

Adrian looked embarrassed, "My father incurred a lot of debt through the goblins during the war, before he died. The goblins cleaned out four of the family vaults to pay his debts off. We only have one family vault left. The business vaults do place a stipend in the family vault monthly, and they pay my cousin's tuition, but the board won't allow me to use money from the business vaults to pay for a curse breaker for a family issue. And with not being able to live in our ancestral home, I've had to use the family vault to pay for housing elsewhere."

Hermione nodded, "Well, I am sorry about that. There's no reason they should be punishing you for your father's mistakes. Especially when they've already seized four of your vaults. I will get you the best curse breakers in the business, free of charge."

Adrian looked close to tears, "You really don't have to do that, Minister. I appreciate it, but-"

Hermione cut him off, "It's not a big deal, Adrian. Bill and Fleur Weasley are the best curse-breakers in the country. I really must insist that you allow me to contact them."

Adrian sighed, "If you insist, Minister. I appreciate it."

Hermione smiled, conjured her Patronus, and sent it to Bill and Fleur requesting they come to her office. Not ten minutes passed before the striking couple floo-d into her office with their eight-year-old daughter.

"What's going on, Hermione?" Bill asked with a no-nonsense look on his face.

"Bill, Fleur, thank you for coming so soon. This is Adrian Pucey. We believe there may be a curse on his ancestral home. The goblins are refusing to help unless he pays three times the normal rate. Both of his uncles and his mother are still in St. Mungos due to the curse and aren't expected to live out the year. I was hoping you could go along with him and take a look at the home?" Hermione asked in an equally no-nonsense tone.

"Oui, we can do that." Fleur nodded with a smile, "But can you keep Victoire for us until we have finished?"

"Of course," Hermione agreed as the small girl took a seat on the couch near the fireplace, "I have a meeting with Arthur next, so it shouldn't be a problem for her to stay here."

Adrian thanked her again as he lead Fleur and Bill out of her office and down to the lifts. She peeked out the balcony doors and made sure they made it to the apparition point without being held up by anyone or anything. Once she saw them apparate, she poked her head out of her office and asked Lavender to send for Mr. Weasley for their meeting.

While she waited for Arthur to arrive, Hermione found some muggle coloring books and colored pencils for Victoire.

"Minister, Mr. Weasley is here," Lavender said, knocking on the doorframe to get Hermione's attention.

"Thank you, Lavender," Hermione smiled, moving back towards her desk, "You can send him in."

Arthur Weasley looked nervous as he entered her office, but he didn't let that stop him from greeting his granddaughter before turning to Hermione.

"Minister," Arthur nodded to her.

Hermione sighed, "Arthur, you can call me Hermione. I may be the bloody Minister of Magic but you're still my pseudo-father."

Arthur looked chagrined, "Am I in trouble?"

"No, not at all," Hermione assured him, "Please, come sit. I wanted to discuss something with you."

Arthur moved towards the desk, leaving Victoire to her coloring, and took a seat across from Hermione.

"Arthur," Hermione started, "I wanted to discuss your department with you. You've been working in the department of misuse of muggle and magical items for over twenty years now."

Arthur nodded, "It has been a while."

"I think it's a waste of your time, Arthur," Hermione said calmly.

Arthur sighed but didn't refute her, "If you think I should retire, I won't disagree with you. You are the Minister, you have to make sure the Ministry is at its best."

"I want you to promote Percy to head of the department," Hermione said, sitting back in her seat, "And I want you to take your family seat on the Wizengamot. It's sat empty for the last twenty-five years since your father died. I know you didn't want to take the seat during the first or second war, but the wars have been over for ten years now and the new Wizengamot session starts after the new year. It's a part-time job, with a full-time salary. It pays an exceptional amount more than your current title, and it would give you more time to spend at home and with your grandchildren."

Arthur looked shocked, unsure of what to say. He would have to discuss this with Molly, of course, but she wouldn't know much more about it either.

Clearing his throat, he spoke, "May I think about it for a few days? I need to talk to Molly."

"Of course," Hermione smiled, "You can have until the new year. I would prefer to know sooner rather than later, but I know it's a big decision to make."

Arthur nodded, thanked her, kissed his eldest granddaughter on the head, and left the Minister's office. Hermione decided to call one of the Ministry elves to bring her, Victoire, and Lavender tea that way Hermione could spend some one-on-one time with her niece. They spent the next hour and a half coloring together and snacking on tea sandwiches and cakes. Once they'd finished eating, Bill and Fleur returned from the Pucey's ancestral home. They explained that they had been able to remove not only the curse on the house itself but the seventy-eight extra curses left on various rooms and items in the home as well. Hermione rummaged in her desk for a moment and drew out a bank slip, filling in her signature, before handing it to Bill.

"You can calculate your own price," she smiled, "On the ministry. Thank you for helping. Pucey's about to lose his mother and his uncles, I didn't think he should lose his family home as well."

Bill nodded, "Not a problem. And I appreciate it. I'm just going to go with a blanket amount for the first curse because it was the worst. The rest were all smaller and easier to break. The one on the house was anchored in the runestones around the property."

Hermione winced, "Yikes, that definitely would've taken the goblins much longer than it took you two."

Fleur nodded her agreement over Victoire's head as her daughter showed her the pictures she'd colored. After a few minutes, the small family departed her office via the floo, and Hermione was left alone for the first time that day. She let herself relish the moment for just a few minutes before she poked her head out into the antechamber and asked Lavender what else she had on the schedule for the afternoon.

"I contacted Former Minister Shacklebolt, he's agreed to meet you during his lunch break at one. After that, you have a meeting with the muggle Prime Minister, Mr. Gordon Brown. It's mostly just the signing of the contract for the Dragon Reserve. Otherwise, your day is fairly free," Lavender replied as she looked over the schedule log.

Hermione thanked Lavender and went back into her office, shutting the door. She had two hours until Kingsley would meet with her. She could go visit Neville for lunch before then and even pick something up for Kings since he was giving up his lunch break to meet with her. She was curious about what he wanted to meet about, but she wasn't going to worry about anything until he got there and told her what was going on. She grabbed her coat and purse and left her office.

"Lavender, I'm going out for lunch. I'll be back before Kings gets here. Do you want me to pick anything up for you while I'm out?" She asked her assistant.

"Could you get me something for lunch? I'll be here in case anyone needs you." Lavender smiled, she was glad to see her boss coming out of the shell she'd built around herself earlier this year.

Hermione smiled, "Sure thing."

Hermione left the office antechamber and made it into the lift without anyone stopping her to talk about something trivial, she silently thanked Merlin that when she'd become minister she'd had her office moved from the Wizengamot corridor and into her own area. Once the lift made it to the atrium, she quickly exited the building, and out into the muggle world. Once in the muggle world, she stopped at a muggle florist to buy some flowers for Neville. He was always giving her flowers, she thought he deserved some as well.

Leaving the florist shop, she popped into an empty alley and apparated to the alley beside the Leaky Cauldron and went through to the back door, after greeting Tom. She stepped into the back alley and tapped her wand to the bricks, opening the entrance to Diagon Alley and stepping through before the bricks closed behind her.

She was greeted by a few shopkeepers as she made her way through the alley, the owner of Flourish and Blotts stepping out to let her know that the newest version of Hogwarts, a History had arrived and that he'd already sent a copy to her office. Thanking him, she continued on her way to Neville's shop. She saw him working with a customer and saw a few other people in the shop, so she carefully walked around the shop, looking at the magical flora section and petting the kneazle that seemed to always be around. After a few minutes, there was only one customer left and Hermione thought she looked a bit familiar, so she moved closer to the duo as Neville prepared a bouquet for the woman.

"There you go, Mrs. Brown, I'm sure Padma will love the bouquet. I think it's quite lovely that she offered to be a surrogate for Lavender and Parvati," Neville smiled at the older woman.

"Oh, yes, she's such a dear. And those husbands of hers as well," Mrs. Brown smiled at him.

He nodded, "Dean and Seamus, they're all pretty good people. And you can't get a better set of friends and family for your grandchild. If I do say so, myself."

Mrs. Brown giggled, "Oh yes, even Lavender's boss seems to already be spoiling the baby and it's not even here yet!"

Neville chuckled and nodded, "Well, Minister Granger is quite a generous person. And she, Parvati, and Lavender were roommates back at Hogwarts, so I'm sure she's quite excited for Lavender and Parvati to be mothers."

"Yes, well, she's quite nice. I'd love to meet her at some point, but Lavender says I'll just embarrass her," Mrs. Brown sighs, "That's what children think of you once they're older."

"Well, I don't think you'll embarrass her," Hermione smiled as she walked up to the counter, "I've been wanting to meet you as well, and Lavender said I'd embarrass her in front of you."

Mrs. Brown turned toward her, almost gaping at her, her eyes wide, "Minister!" was all she was able to squeak out.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Brown. It's lovely to meet you," Hermione held out her hand to the woman to shake.

Mrs. Brown shook her hand after a few moments of staring, "It's nice to meet you, Minister Granger. I've heard all about you, of course. Lavender and Parvati talk about you fairly often. They told me about the bedroom suite you bought for the baby and said that they almost refused to take it until you insisted they take it. They said you have a lot of nieces and nephews and that you should give it to one of them but that you refused to listen to them."

Hermione laughed, shaking her head, "I saw Lavender looking at the suite in a magazine and figured since she's refusing to take maternity leave when the baby comes that it was the least I could do. I've also demanded she take at least two weeks' leave when the babe does arrive, but she doesn't know that yet. She'll refuse if I tell her too early, so don't mention it to her."

Mrs. Brown frowned, "I did hear about your divorce, you have my condolences. And Lavender mentioned you caught your husband with your other assistant. She says that's why she's not taking leave because you can't be left without an assistant. And I surely agree, the Minister needs an assistant at all times."

Hermione grimaced, trying to smile, "Yes, it was unfortunate. I will be hiring another assistant when I can find someone I trust as much as Lavender. I appreciate her, but she doesn't need to forgo her maternity leave because of that. I'll try to talk to her about it again."

Mrs. Brown excused herself and left, stating that she was having lunch with Padma and Parvati and that she must dash, leaving Neville and Hermione alone. Neville flicked his wand and locked the front door, spelling the sign on the door to say they were closed for lunch.

"You've got flowers, has someone else decided to court you?" Neville asked a bit nervously.

Hermione smiled, "No, I got these for you."

Neville's eyebrows raised in surprise, "You got me flowers?"

Hermione nodded, "I thought you deserved flowers just as much as you believe I do."

Neville blushed, "No one's ever gotten me flowers before. Let me see them, then."

Hermione handed him the bouquet and he set them gently in a vase.

"Hmm, borage means bluntness or directness…and it looks like you've got pink, white, and red camellias. Pink camellia means longing for you, red means you're a flame in my heart, and white means you're adorable," Neville said all this in a somewhat reverent tone and Hermione tried not to blush at the almost worshipping look in his eyes when he looked up at her and away from the flowers.

He carefully moved away from and around the counter and to the other side of the store, plucking a flower and returning to stand just in front of Hermione. He knew they'd only been on one date and she'd only gotten divorced a few weeks ago, but he knew a long time ago that he loved her, he'd just always been too scared to tell her. He was worried she'd reject him, but she hadn't rejected him in the last two weeks that he'd been sending her flowers and successfully (he hoped) courting her. (And besides, they're soulmates. It's not like he'll ever love anyone else. She was worth the risk.) He turned the flower over in his hand, carefully clipped the thorns, cut the stem to be a bit shorter, and tucked it behind her ear.

"Do you know what red roses say?" He asked in a whisper.

She did, of course, she did. She'd read the book he'd gotten for her a dozen times since he'd started courting her.

She bit her bottom lip, "Tell me."

He blinked slowly, suddenly unsure of himself, before he breathed, "I love you."