A/N: First off, thank you to everyone for all of interest in the first three chapters! I know MM/AB isn't a common couple, so I wasn't quite sure who all would find this piece. I'm envisioning the chapters of this story as snapshots into the lives of these three characters to give some emotionally intense moments without running out of steam trying to write a long fic.
Tomorrow. Maybe everything would start making sense again tomorrow.
The next day, Hermione once again made the trek through the castle to Minerva McGonagall's office, timing it so she would arrive towards the end of her office hours to hopefully have some alone time with the woman she was quite keen on one day calling her mother. Pamphlet in hand, she knocked on the door.
Her professor soon appeared, a bit of a glimmer in her emerald eyes as she opened the door. A smile graced her lips as she greeted her young protégé: "Come in, I had a feeling you would be stopping by."
Comfortably seated with a nice warm cup of tea each, Minerva began explaining the basis of the Ministry of Magic summer program and how Hermione could apply. Hermione listened attentively and took notes on the back of the pamphlet regarding what they were looking for with the program. Something bothered her, though. The Ministry of Magic was certainly not Hermione's dream job, even if the options were a bit limited in the wizarding world and most working professionals passed through the Ministry of Magic at some point in their lives. She was a diligent, hardworking student who would be well-suited for a variety of careers and higher education. Surprisingly, Minerva had never even asked if Hermione was interested, it was just something she seemed to be expected to do, which bothered her.
"Erm, professor, can I add something?"
"Yes, dear, I'm seem to be going on quite a bit. What did you want to say?"
"Well, I'm honestly not quite sure about doing this summer internship. It sounds great, don't get me wrong, but I don't see myself heading in the direction of working in the Ministry of Magic, even if most jobs are connected to the magical government."
Minerva nodded her head thoughtfully and explained, "That's quite all right, I suppose I assumed you would immediately jump on this sort of opportunity since you've been taking so many different classes and have wanted exposure to every aspect of magical and muggle education available to you. You seemed like a good fit, although I also sent along copies of this pamphlet to the Patil twins and a few sixth year students. I'm sorry to say that there just aren't as many career paths in the magical world as what you might have learned about in muggle primary school. You'd be hard pressed to find anyone who hasn't ever worked at the ministry except those who devote their lives to their studies and teaching."
"You're right, I suppose I'm not too excited about it, is all. I would like to go, however, and I think it would be a productive and eye-opening summer. I apologize for my lack of enthusiasm"
"Think nothing of the sort! I believe it would be a good use of your summer, perhaps a bit of a different pace from Hogwarts with this year certainly proving more enthralling for the adventurous crowd. There is, as it were, an ulterior motive behind me sending you." Minerva deepened her voice a bit for dramatic effect.
Hermione giggled and said, "How very Slytherin of you, professor."
"There's another reason I want you to go, but that's all I will say on the matter. Well, I will say one thing, this isn't another one of those dangerous Triwizard tasks or anything to do with You know who. Think of it more as a puzzle to figure out and I look forward to hearing from you when you come back to Hogwarts in the fall."
Hermione's breath hitched. An ulterior motive. A reason for her to be at the Ministry of Magic that wasn't so much about completing the program as her needing to be there. To see something, to meet someone, to piece together clues and report back to her. Interesting. But Hermione felt crestfallen at Minerva's last admission. The fall. She wouldn't see her mother all summer, it appeared. She hardly felt it would be appropriate to push the issue given how generous she had been until then, but she couldn't leave without telling her something to the effect of wanting to spend more time with her.
"I see, I look forward to it then. I'll keep my eyes and ears open." Hermione nodded, wondering if there would be an easy way to broach the subject.
"Now that that is settled, was there anything else you needed?"
"I was wondering…I know you've been quite generous about talking to me and getting to know me better, but I was wondering if, well, to be blunt. I'd miss you if I didn't see you all summer."
Minerva smiled and shifted in her seat. She'd be spending the summer mostly at her family estate in Scotland and Hermione couldn't enter, couldn't be present at all on the property or it would be known that another McGonagall heir was alive. She already snooped around one too many times with Amelia and she was, unbeknownst to Hermione, about to send her to her other parent. She couldn't take the risk and three months apart simply was not worth it.
"I've made you uncomfortable," Hermione frowned, unsure how to interpret her mother's quiet deliberation.
"It's…complicated. I'll be returning to my family estate, and you are not to enter under any circumstance. You cannot be known my child, which would happen as soon as you pass through the wards. This isn't to say that I want things to be this way. I know I'm very reticent about my personal life, but I want to share that with you and, for reasons out of our control, I can't. I wouldn't normally see you during the summer, and we likely wouldn't coincide in London. I'm sorry, but you are welcome to owl from time to time."
"I'd like that. I'll try to keep my letters a little shorter than my essays." Hermione tried to lighten the conversation with a bit of humor.
And off she went, to apply for a program and figure out what mysteries awaited her there.
The next day...
Drinking her morning pumpkin juice in the Great Hall, she listened to Ron tell her, in his exaggerated fashion, all about the boring and sometimes outright bizarre things his father got up to at the Ministry of Magic. She was all but tuning him out when his tone of voice changed and he got quite serious, or as serious as Ron could be while taking bites between speaking.
"Watch out though, Mione, I heard that program is run by Amelia Bones, head of the Wizengamot and you do NOT want to get on her bad side. I heard that she kicks people out for stepping too close to the podium. If you ask me, McGonagall must really trust you to represent Hogwarts at the Ministry. I'd be out of there on day one," laughing at himself for his self-deprecating humor.
Hermione had only heard of Amelia Bones in passing and hadn't filed away much information about her in her encyclopedic memory. She sounded strict but fair, a lot like Professor McGonagall she supposed. Her thoughts went back to her earlier conversation with her mother. Did she want her to meet this Amelia Bones? She did know one thing, now that she was quite sure her father was a second mother, it would definitely be easier to narrow down potential candidates.
She'd need to take some risks and put herself out there, but she was ready.