A/N: Wow, you guys, it has most definitely been a while! Forgive me, forgive me. Hopefully this chapter will make you happy since it's much longer than the others (I really had no idea how short the earlier chapters were until the other day).

As always, I loved and appreciated your reviews.

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Chapter 5 – The Proposition

"Hello, Pansy."

"Up to evil deeds, I see," she said, eying the plush carpet on the floor.

"That's your area of expertise, isn't it?" He sat down nonchalantly in the dark leather chair, gesturing her to sit across from him.

She cackled, and a toothy grin took her face. "Who me?" she asked, following his lead. She smoothed imaginary wrinkles out of her posh robes while crossing her legs. "Why would you assume such a thing?"

"You are a Parkinson."

"And you're a Malfoy."

Touche. "What do you want?"

"Can't an old friend make a friendly call?" She cocked her head and looked at him with innocent eyes that were almost convincing. Almost.

He just looked at her, waiting for her to get to the point. The woman cleared her throat and removed her masked smile. Time for business.

"I know that you're working for them, Draco, but the rest of us aren't very happy about what the Ministry did to our parents, our families. We want revenge." She paused. "Blaise and I decided that we are not going to sit around and let the people who destroyed us run around without punishment.

"Your parents were killed too, Draco. You were able to keep the manor, unlike us, but they killed your family. Though it seems that you forgot that immediately after it happened."

"No, Pansy, Voldemort murdered my mother, and my father brought his death upon himself. Without Voldemort, you're nothing. You will never be able to fight the ministry alone."

"Which is why I have come to you, Draco." She grabbed his hand. "Join us. Lead us. Take back the Malfoy name!"

He tossed her hand away. "You're fucking crazy."

"What? It would be perfect. You must meet with Weasley all of the time, you must know the ministry's secrets. You must know its weaknesses."

"Pansy, get out."

She stood, sighing. "Think about it, Malfoy. Or should I say Draco? I'm not sure you deserve that name anymore."

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"Hey sweetie! I see that you got my note."

Hermione smiled and nodded before hugging Ginny. "I went to the ministry to see Dad, and I was gong to stop by and see you as well. They said you were away on research, so I thought it best to just leave you a note on your door. I figured you and I were in need of a girls' night."

"Yes. A girls' night is badly needed." Hermione walked into the kitchen while Ginny shut the apartment door. "Where's Harry tonight?"

Ginny lifted a lid from the pot in front of her, the steam flushing her face. "Some sort of auror business. He'll be gone for a couple of days.

"I hope pasta is okay?"

"That's fine." Hermione pulled two white plates from the cupboard and began to set the table will glasses and silverware. "Incendio." Fire immediately danced on top of the table's plum-colored candlesticks.

"So," Ginny grinned. "Have you met any hunks at the Ministry yet?"

Hermione's eyes rolled. "Oh yes, they're in such abundance in the Potions Department."

"There's a certain blonde cutie who happens to be the head of the Dark Arts Council."

"Yeah, well… he's a bit of a prick."

"Perhaps he's changed since Hogwarts. Did you see him today?"

"Yes."

"Well, what happened?" The girls sat down at the table and Ginny poured two glasses of wine. "I want every last drop of juiciness."

"There are no 'drops of juiciness.'" Hermione twirled her spaghetti.

"You saw him today. That right there is a huge drop! How did it go?"

Uncomfortably. "Ginny, you act like I'm lusting after Malfoy or something."

"It wouldn't be the worst thing, ya know? Draco has really proven himself in the Dark Arts Council, at least that's what Dad says. He was a git at school, but let's face it," Ginny leaned into the table, as if she had a deep secret to spill to her friend, "he's premium hunk."

Hermione laughed. "You're crazy."

"Enough already! Spill!"

"Well, I walked into the department today, and I was told that I would be working on my research at Malfoy Manor. So I apparated there and he said that he and I would be working together for the project."

"What is this project anyway?"

She shook her head. "Top secret."

"No fun! Harry always gets to know all of this cool top secret stuff and I'm always out of the loop!"

"That's why you should work for the ministry instead of keeping the books for your brothers. How is the shop doing anyways?"

"Shop? How about shops? They're all over Britain."

"I've been gone so long that I had no idea!"

"Yes, I only keep the books for the main shop in Diagon Alley."

Hermione became quiet. "I've missed a lot in the past five years."

Ginny grabbed her hand and gave Hermione a comforting smile. "We're just glad to have you back. Harry is thrilled! He has really missed you. I think it's good for him to have one of you back."

Hermione tucked a loose curl behind her ear and nodded sadly.

"You still miss him, huh?"

"Well of course. I loved him, and I still do. It's not as bad as it was five years ago, though. The pain is almost completely gone. There are still nights when I'm so lonely and it tears me apart to know that I will never have him again. And there are the nightmares. I used to relive that night every time I went to bed, but, thankfully, it doesn't happen much anymore." The witch cleared her throat, forcing down the lump that had formed. "Let's move onto happier things, shall we?"

The red head grinned. "I have something to show you." With a flick of her wand, the dishes appeared in the sink and began to wash themselves. Ginny took Hermione by the hand and let her into the bedroom.

"I have to ward the closet so that Harry won't take a peak." The wardrobe door swung open to reveal her wedding dress – a simple, long, strapless ivory gown made of silk organza with small pearl accents on the bodice.

"Oh Ginny! It's beautiful!"

She giggled. "Isn't it?" She picked the white gown up and pressed it against her body, twirling around in front of the mirror. "Harry would die if he knew how much it cost, but I had to splurge a bit!"

"Are you ready for the big day?" Hermione asked as she moved Harry's clothes off the bed so she could sit.

Ginny snorted. "Yeah right! It's a month away and I still have so much to do. Of course this is a huge deal because the Boy Who Lived is marrying the Minister's daughter, so it's even more nerve-wracking than usual.

"You know, Hermione, if I knew that you were going to be back, I would have asked you to be in the wedding." She hung the dress back in the closet.

She nodded. "I know. It's okay though. Everyone would be so shocked to see me back and in your wedding. Can you imagine the headlines? 'Potter's Former Love Steals Spotlight at His Wedding.' 'Minister's Daughter Proves to Harry She is Over His Tryst.'"

"Oh, there will still be headlines! Just you see. It will be on the front page, too."

"That's the scary thing. Merlin forbid The Daily Prophet would write real news."

Ginny pounced on the bed. "Hermione, I have an assignment for you."

"What?" This could not be good.

"You have one month to find a date for the wedding! A whole month! There are lots of boys in the Wizarding World who would be more than willing to whisk Hermione Granger off of her feet."

"Eh, I don't know Ginny—"

"No, no, Miss Granger. Or I will find one for you, and you don't want that."

Hermione looked at her friend and sighed in defeat, but could not help but grin. "Fine. I will look for someone, but if I don't find anyone, don't force some pig on me, please."

She laughed. "Okay, okay, 'Mione. I'll be nice."

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Draco needed to talk to Arthur Weasley. Immediately. He grabbed his wand and quietly muttered, "patesco," to search the room for any spying devices that Pansy might have left behind. A bright blue light began to glow from behind the seat that Pansy was sitting in. A simple "aboleo," and the bug and the light vanished.

He walked across the room in long, quick strides to the fireplace, where he threw a handful of floo powder into the flames. "The Burrow!" Draco appeared in the fireplace of the Weasleys' home. He was one of the few employees in the ministry whose fireplace was networked with the Minister of Magic's.

Arthur was the head of the British wizard community, but he refused to leave his home in the Burrow, though the Weasleys had made several improvements. The whole magical world believed that he lived in the Minister's Manor, but it was merely a façade for international purposes. Couldn't have Britain's minister living in a shack, could they? Plus, it was a good security measure.

"Draco!" Arthur Weasley entered the office and sat down at the desk. "How is the research going? Please, have a seat."

Draco nodded his thanks and sat. "Well, it's still a bit too early in the game to decide how it's going. But that's not why I'm here, Minister. Pansy Parkinson came to the manor this evening, wanting to… persuade me to lead a group to overthrow the ministry. She and others want revenge for what happened to their parents and homes."

"Hmm." Arthur nodded. "Do you have any ideas of how to handle this?"

"Well, that's why I came to you and brought it to your attention. Should we just ignore it, should aurors spy on them or infiltrate them? What?"

"It's definitely not something to ignore, Draco. I don't expect a group of Death Eater impersonators to overpower the Ministry of Magic, but to turn a blind eye to it would be foolish. Do you know how many are in their numbers? Did she divulge any plans?"

"No. I basically told her she was delusional and to fuck off. The only name she mentioned was Blaise Zabini."

The minister chuckled. "I must say that I was hoping you would have shown just a tiny bit of interest. That way, you could tell her you're interested and lead them into a trap."

Draco nodded, an idea suddenly popping into his head. "I think I know someone who, with a bit of persuading, might agree to help us out with that."

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A/N: Patesco: to be revealed

Aboleo: to destroy

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