Hermione was positively fuming as she angrily packed her things into a cardboard box in her office after storming out of Ernie/now-Malfoy's plush office on the 100th floor. She couldn't believe that he had the sheer nerveto just come waltzing into her perfect life after five blissful years of non-contact and force her out of the job that she loved.
Hot tears began form in her eyes and she hastily tried to stop them from falling and she murmured a hasty goodbye to her co-workers who gave her a bewildered stare as she hurried into the elevator. She wanted to say more to them…but the shock of her resignation hadn't really sunk in yet and plus, she was afraid that she would start sobbing and that was something she really didn't want her co-workers to remember her by.
She promised herself that she would come back to say a proper farewell to all of them once she had settled down…in a new job somewhere else.
As the elevator rushed downwards this time, Hermione cursed Malfoy with all the insults that she could come up with for doing this to her – that sneaky, conniving, ferret-faced, arrogant, insolent, intolerable, despicable, irritating…
"Bastard!" She muttered under her breath as she stepped out of the elevator at the Lobby.
"What're you doing with all that stuff, Ms. Granger?" Asked Frank the security wizard, as he curiously observed her walking out.
"I've just resigned, Frank. So I guess I wont be seeing you around anymore." Hermione said blandly, feeling completely shocked at what she had done.
"But you love your job – what made you do it?" Frank pressed inquisitively.
"I'm unable to work with the new boss of the company." Sighed Hermione and with that, she said goodbye to Frank and Macmillan International for the last time for a while.
Hermione had plopped down on her couch in her apartment and was eating ice cream out of the tub as she silently contemplated all the consequences of her (uncharacteristically) rash actions.
Why oh, why had she let Malfoy get the better of her!
Now she was unemployed, humiliated and to top it all off, Malfoy had reappeared in her life.
When she had seen him in Ernie's office, a flurry of emotions had accosted her – ranging from surprise to curiosity to bitterness. They had behaved towards each other with a cold indifference, as former enemies should act. But she had expected so much more from him considering what had happened between them.
She hadn't seen him since they had graduated from Hogwarts, apart from the occasional photo in the Daily Prophet of him showing off his riches. They hadn't exactly parted on the best terms despite having to live together as they had been the Head Girl and Boy of the year but since it was expected of them to still hate each other because of Malfoy and Harry's mutual loathing, no one noticed the increased tension between them at the Graduation.
And that's why no one knew of her feelings for him during seventh year.
She blamed herself entirely for what happened – she had acted like such a girl over it. At first being forced to be in such close proximity to him annoyed her because he was a prat to her and always had been, but after awhile, she realised that he wasn't as horrible as he seemed. There had been moments that year when he had let his guard down around her and she had found that he was clever, witty and even charming at times. She was curious and she wanted to get to know the real Draco Malfoy, not the façade that he presented to the rest of the school.
Before the year ended, they had become friends in a sense – Malfoy had grudgingly realised that she was a decent person to talk to, even though she was a Mudblood and they would sometimes talk, especially when he had problems with his Father. Gradually, she developed feelings for him, like the naïve schoolgirl she was and she genuinely wanted to be the one to change Draco Malfoy – she wanted to make him see that he didn't have to follow the dark path that his Father had set out for him.
Now that she looked back on it, she couldn't help but cringe at how foolish she had been to think that it could ever work between them. But nevertheless, on the eve of their Graduation she finally plucked up the courage to tell him about her feelings for him but he had reacted in the worst way possible.
She could remember his exact words.
"You can't be serious, Granger. I know we've come a long way this year but come on it would never work between us."
She remembered arguing with him, asking him whether he had felt the chemistry between them too, determined to make him see what he could be if only he chose to use his intelligence and power for the better.
"You can't brainwash me, Granger. I respect you a lot more now than I did before but you can't change who I am. I'm different to you and Potter – I'm not a good person at all, despite what you want to believe. Just forget about me after tomorrow and I promise you that I wont bother you again after that."
He had promised her that he would stay out of her life that night and for five long years he had kept that promise…until now.
She had spent the whole summer after graduation moping quietly behind closed doors over him although when she was out with Harry and Ron she put on a happy face to keep up appearances. But on the inside, she was shattered by what Malfoy had done to her. She had honestly fallen for her former enemy and he had just thrown her feelings right back at her in that blunt way of his.
She had slowly gotten herself back together to do her Wizarding law degree and eventually work her way up to where she had been in Macmillan International and she liked to think that she had almost forgotten what had happened between her and Malfoy. She loved her life as it had been, just before it came crashing down on her.
All that she had worked for in the past five years had just disappeared in a flash when Malfoy came back into her life.
She sighed.
Life just wasn't fair.
That afternoon, Hermione met up with Ginny Weasley for a cup of coffee. She was still slightly shaken from the sudden reappearance of Malfoy in her life as well as the fact that she had lost the job that she adored, though Ginny wasn't to know the former.
"Oh, don't worry about it Mione. You're the smartest witch to graduate from Hogwarts for like a century – employers will be tripping over themselves to hire you!" Ginny reassured her kindly.
"I know, but what are the chances that I'll actually like the job? I was challenged by my job daily as a lawyer, but so far all the jobs that are available at the moment seem pretty boring to me." Hermione sighed.
She was reading the Daily Prophet and scanning the job vacancies section. It seemed hopeless. How was she going to get a new job that she actually wanted? Damn Malfoy. He seemed to bring bad luck into her life whenever he appeared.
"Well what are you looking for exactly, Hermione? Why don't you start with something that you're bound to get so you can earn some gold to get you back on your feet?" Ginny suggested.
"Yes but there's no way I can get a job that paid as much as Macmillan International did." Hermione said morosely.
Ginny gave her friend a sympathetic look and then scanned the Daily Prophet herself.
"Hey, what about this one?" She pointed to a large advertisement flashing on the page.
It read:
JOB VACANCY AT PRESTIGIOUS COMPANY SECRETARY POSITION AVAILABLEINTELLIGENT, HARDWORKING CANDIDATES WANTED – BUT NO PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE IN SECRETARIAL WORK NEEDED
VERY WELL PAID
Contact Mr. Rod Y. Colfam by owl to set up appointment."Hm." Hermione responded, sipping her coffee.
"I know it's a big drop from being a lawyer, but secretarial work is easy and it looks like this company's willing to pay a lot for a smart witch like you to do a job like this." Ginny cajoled, "You could even work your way up the company ladder –once they find out that you've got a Wizarding law degree they'll probably transfer you to the Legal department there."
"I suppose…" Hermione said, still slightly worried about filing and organizing other people's things for the rest of her career.
"You've got nothing to lose, Hermione. Just set up an appointment with this guy and go for it." Ginny coaxed.
After considering it for a few moments, Hermione gave in.
"Fine. I'll go home and send a resume off to this Mr. Colfam with my owl Amber." She finished off her coffee and gave Ginny a hug.
"I'll talk to you tomorrow, Hermione! Hope you get the job!" Ginny grinned at her friend as she turned to go.
Hermione was back at her apartment and had attached her resume to her screech owl Amber that Macmillan International had given to her as a reward for her hard work. She couldn't stop herself smiling wryly at the irony that the same owl was now taking her resume to her new potential employer.
How suddenly everything had changed in her life. It was only this morning that she had arrived at work as usual and everything had been so wonderfully normal. Now it was mid-afternoon and she was jobless, upset and shaken by the turn of events.
How dare Malfoy do this to her? After all he had done to her that night and all throughout their seven years at Hogwarts – he didn't feel as though he had hurt her enough already?
He really didn't have a conscience.
She was an idiot for ever thinking that he was good on the inside because evidently he was every bit the evil bastard that everyone had thought he was. She had half a mind to go barging into the Macmillan International now and tell him exactly what she thought of him and demand her job back.
But she had too much pride to humiliate herself like that in front of him. She would pick up the pieces in her life like she had done that summer after graduation and remain strong, and find a new job somewhere else.
Somewhere better.
Somewhere Malfoy couldn't touch her.
Suddenly, she was jerked out of her thoughts by the return of her owl, with a prompt and succinct reply from Mr. Colfam.
Dear Ms. Granger,
I would be pleased to meet you at Marple's Café in Diagon Alley in half an hour to assess your suitability to the job.
I will be wearing a tan coloured suit.
Yours sincerely,
Mr. R. Colfam
Hermione raised her eyebrow at the unusualness of the meeting place. Why would her future employer want to interview her at a café instead of at his office? Perhaps this company wasn't so prestigious after all…
Nevertheless, Hermione decided to go to the job interview. Like Ginny said, she had nothing to lose. She was still in her suit from this morning and all she needed to do was wash her face and put on some fresh makeup and she was ready to go.
Half an hour later, she was at Marple's Café and scanning the crowd for a man in a tan coloured suit. It was fairly busy even at this hour and she couldn't seem to spot him.
Suddenly a voice breathed into her ear.
"You must be Ms. Granger."
She turned around to face the owner of the voice, feeling slightly put off by the invasion of her personal space by the person. It was a man in a tan coloured suit – her potential future employer.
She swallowed once before speaking.
"Yes I am. You must be Mr. Colfam." She replied politely.
"How observant you are, Ms. Granger. Now, follow me." The man replied shortly and led her to a reserved table inside.
She sat down and glanced at Mr. Colfam. He was a man in his late thirties with mousy brown hair and plain features. He didn't look like a bastard (unlike Malfoy, she thought to herself angrily) but he didn't look particularly nice either.
"I understand that you're interested in taking up a secretarial job at my company?" Mr. Colfam started off.
"That's correct. I haven't worked as a secretary before but the advertisement said that no previous experience was needed." Hermione replied quietly.
"Yes, so if you haven't had any previous experience, why do you think that you're suitable to the job?" asked Mr. Colfam not unkindly.
"I've actually got a Wizarding law degree and I've worked at Macmillan International as a lawyer for the past two years, so I've had experience, just not in secretarial work. I'm also a hard worker and reliable." Hermione answered formally.
"I see. What made you leave Macmillan International?" asked Mr. Colfam curiously.
The interview had been going fairly smoothly so far but now Hermione felt a lump form in her throat.
"I-I was unable to work under the new conditions that my employer had imposed on me." She said finally.
"Is that so?" Mr. Colfam gave her a strange glance before clapping his hands together.
"Well I think that I'd like you to come to my office tomorrow morning for a trial. I think you're more than qualified for the job but I'd like to see how you work in a position like this. Take this and follow the directions that'll appear on it tomorrow morning to find the office." He said, handing her a white business card.
"Thank you. Um, if you don't mind me asking – which company will I be working for?" Hermione asked apprehensively.
"That's for you to find out when you get to the office tomorrow. I'll be looking forward to seeing you bright and early! I think you'll be very satisfied with the job – especially the pay." He winked at her and then extended his hand out for a handshake, which Hermione accepted.
"Okay, well thank you very much for this opportunity, Mr. Colfam." Hermione said courteously as they parted ways. He nodded at her and then strode off in the opposite direction.
Hermione looked down at the blank card she had been given and wondered why he was being so secretive about it. But she pushed the niggling thought to back of her mind and tried to focus on the future. She needed to do well at the trial tomorrow – otherwise she would have really lost everything to Malfoy and she couldn't let him take away anything more than he already had.
A/N: Thank you guys so much for your positive feedback from Chapter One – I really appreciated it. Hope that you enjoyed the second chapter and review if you want to read more!
Thanks,
psychohart
