Chapter 17
"Unacceptable." Stefano's deep voice had an edge and a snap to it, an odd contrast to his typically solemn if not somewhat stony countenance. "If Clemencio may maintain his originator claims, there is simply no acceptable reason that Arnaldo should not be able to keep his."
Blaise and Stefano had been going back and forth on the matter for at least thirty minutes, hitting stalemate after stalemate despite both Hermione and Draco's support with previous case studies, explanation of the stringent requirements and regulations needed for approval of a product through the Potions and Cures Board, and appeals to logic.
Blaise narrowed his eyes almost imperceptibly at the Minister's comment, his glance quickly flicking to Clemencio's smug smirk. Before he could comment, Hermione cleared her throat. "If I may, Blaise." He nodded.
Hermione focused on the quietest person this entire meeting, despite being at the very center of the dispute. "I simply cannot understand this one thing, Arnaldo," Hermione said tiredly, though she did her utmost to underlie the words with a steel that left no room for questioning. If he were surprised by her directness, he didn't show it as he met her eyes without hesitation. "If this is a matter of credit, filing the international originator claim to the company does not remove you from being credited with the work. Obviously, your claim has been settled within Italy, and that will not change. It is merely the appearance to the Potions and Cures Board that we wish to address." Hermione paused slightly before deciding to layer on a bit of ego-stroking. "I must admit that it is awfully narrow minded of them to question the legitimacy of your inventions, for anyone who would meet you would know how capable you are. Regardless, the credit is yours. So why deny a profitable portfolio of products the ease of approval through the regulatory channels present?"
Arnaldo rolled his broad shoulders as he sat forward, smirking as Hermione's eyes were drawn to the movement. "Indeed," he said slowly, flashing Hermione a brilliantly white smile. "Father, why deny ourselves the ease of approval?"
"Perhaps another suggestion, a compromise if you will," Blaise interrupted, recognizing Stefano's hardened gaze. "If the international paperwork proves to send the wrong messages of credit given the unbalanced filing under Clemencio name and not Arnaldo's, it may be prudent to file all originator claims under the company rather than to any individual. It would provide a united front, and prevent the unbalanced reputation discrepancies."
Stefano relaxed, but it was turn for Clemencio to pulse red with anger. "Now just wait here a second. If the only thing that needs to be changed is Arnaldo's claims, there's no reason to do so for mine. It's not my problem!"
Stefano raised an eyebrow at his cousin's outburst. "Why, Clemencio, this directly concerns your company. I would have thought any challenge to the official claims of this company would be a direct issue for you."
Clemencio practically snarled at his cousin, but Arnaldo intervened before Clemencio could growl any obscene comments towards Arnaldo's father. "Uncle Clemencio, please. A united front is important, is it not? This is larger than you or me; it's the company's, and thus our family's, reputation. As dear Hermione so eloquently inquired, why should we deny ourselves the ease of a regulatory approval? We all remain internally aware of the royalties that we are due for each of our products, and that's all that matters once we begin selling in Britain. To deny ourselves of the opportunity to even begin selling, indeed, is folly."
Clemencio deflated, replaced with a slightly petulant sneer. "I suppose that is the only real avenue we can pursue. As you say, Arnaldo, profits will be handled internally, and a united front is indeed important."
Blaise observed Arnaldo's carefully crafted smile at his uncle silently. No wonder Arnaldo held so many originator claims: he had Clemencio wrapped right around his finger. Remove Arnaldo from the equation, however, and the friction between Stefano and Clemencio would become unbearable. Draco glanced sideways at him, and Blaise nodded almost imperceptibly. So Draco had seen it, too. Blaise filed this information away for later, and Draco surely did, too.
"Excellent," Blaise smiled. "Now that that's settled, Hermione and Draco have prepared the forms you will need to file with the Potions and Cures Board to approve each of the products you'll be selling in Britain. Hermione's summarized the purposes of the forms and the required information you'll fill out in a short document in the front." Blaise caught Hermione's slight bristle, and he sighed internally. He and Hermione had fought on some of the wording of her summaries yesterday. She called it malicious intentional misrepresentation. He called it leverage.
Hermione distributed copies across the table, briefly explaining that they'd be required to file this for every item they wish to sell in the UK. A few questions from Arnaldo and Stefano later, and they had concluded the main portion of the meeting.
"If we return these to you in a week, approximately how long will the approval process take?" Stefano asked.
"Typically less than ten months-" Hermione began.
"Ten months!" Clemencio exclaimed, but Arnaldo again talked him down.
"Now let Hermione explain, Uncle," Arnaldo interrupted. Clemencio crossed his arms, bouncing his leg in impatience that vibrated the table with each punctuated jostle. Blaise wanted to petrify the annoying man - honestly, how could Stefano, a stone mountain, possibly be related to this bumbling buffoon?
"Thank you Arnaldo. Ten months is the maximum of a typical review process, as there are multiple tiers of validation that the potion or cure must pass before we allow it to market. The Ministry does its best to keep its citizens safe, especially after the neo-Death Eaters attempted to poison all those taking Pepper-Up potion a few years ago."
All the eyes in the room flickered briefly to Draco before snapping back to Hermione. Blaise felt sympathy for his friend, knowing how personally Draco took such looks. For all the swagger, smirks, and sneers, Draco Malfoy's true core lay in sensitivity and insecurity. And Blaise, like any good Slytherin, knew his friend's strengths and weaknesses like his own.
Hermione continued, oblivious. "However, because some of your elixirs and potions are novel and address diseases like cancer, where there is no pre-existing therapeutic, it may be possible to fast-track some of your products. It is up to the discretion of the Potions and Cures Board, but if we're lucky, we can reduce the maximum time for approval to four or five months. If you can provide us a list of all of the products you'll be selling in Britain and the experimental data for each, we can compare it to the current items in the British market and let you know which ones will be most likely to receive the fast-track."
Clemencio nodded stiffly, appeased. Arnaldo tilted his head. "Hermione, that is an awful lot of work for you and your team to do. Surely, it would be less of a burden for the three of you if you were to simply send us the list of the British items and their data - we have workers within Medici Pharmaceutical that can do the heavy lifting. We can have a list of fast-track candidates to you in a few short days."
Draco interrupted before Hermione could answer, and Blaise sighed in relief. Blaise wasn't sure that Hermione would see this play for what it was. "How very gracious of you to offer, Arnaldo, but the list is long and tedious. The number of products you have in your portfolio is surely a significantly scant amount in comparison to all of the products on the British market. There would be less work all around if you send your portfolio to us - we're familiar with British items, and we'd be happy to take this on while your employees help fill out the forms in the next week."
"Mm, yes," Arnaldo slowly agreed, nodding. Blaise could tell Arnaldo was quickly calculating another excuse to receive all the British product information. It would be enormously beneficial to know the exact mechanisms that each of their competitor's products used to facilitate their desired effects. With so much data, they could attempt to reverse engineer the products without the same heavy overhead cost of development, price it just slightly lower than their competitors, and then outcompete them. It could be disastrous for the British potion economy if the Medicis received so much knowledge and power from their team. "However…"
Arnaldo was stalling for time, still thinking. Blaise felt a little pleased at that. He realized he had thought that too soon, as Arnaldo's gaze cleared and refocused on Draco.
"There is unfortunately, a small matter of classified data and trade secrets."
Blaise internally groaned. Whenever a company dropped the 'trade secrets' bomb, it made it infinitely harder to do, well, anything.
"You'll have to disclose the data to the Potions and Cures Board anyways," Hermione said, confused. "The Ministry unfortunately cannot work without evidence."
"I'm sure you can also appreciate the same concerns countless British companies would have if we were to disclose their data to you," Draco added.
Arnaldo, sensing he had been backed into a corner, smiled with a hint of unease. "We understand a certain amount of data will be disclosed for approval purposes. However, I'm sure you can empathize with our concerns that our trade secrets may be leaked."
"Are you implying-" Hermione began, but Stefano interrupted her.
"I think this is a point that will require more discussion than our time allows us," Stefano said. "I hate to hasten you out of the Ministry, but I do have other meetings I must attend to. You must forgive me."
"There is nothing to forgive, Minister," Blaise smiled. "I am pleased we have resolved the issue of originator claims when it comes to filing internationally and the forms required for approval through the Potions and Cures Board. We may reconvene to discuss the matters of maintaining your intellectual property, and we'll do our part in confirming the information needed for both approval and fast-tracking."
"See that you do," Clemencio sneered.
"Excellent, I will see you all in a few days, Thursday, I believe?" Stefano asked.
"Yes, that is when our next meeting is scheduled," Draco answered.
"Good. Until then," Stefano stood, and they filed out of the conference room in the Ministry.
As Blaise, Hermione, and Draco made their way towards the Floo Hall, Arnaldo called out from behind them. "Hermione!"
Hermione turned as Arnaldo caught up to them. "So glad I caught you all before you left. I just wanted to apologize for my uncle's short temper. He has a way of getting on people's nerves."
"Nonsense, Arnaldo. There is nothing to forgive," Hermione answered.
"I'm glad for it. I'll see you soon - oh, and the family is hosting a dinner to celebrate Michelangelo's newest work. It is in a few weeks - would you be interested?"
"Michelangelo? Not the original?" Hermione asked, flabbergasted.
"The original? I only know of one," Arnaldo said, confused.
"The artist, from the Renaissance. The Sistine Chapel ceiling? David?" Hermione asked.
"Yes…?" Arnaldo answered uncertainly. "Why is this problematic?"
"But… that would make him over five hundred years old!" Hermione cried.
Draco chuckled. "It appears Nicolas and Perenelle had a soft spot for artists, then?"
Arnaldo nodded. "None of my family members had the good fortune of meeting the Flamels, but we have heard incredible things." Blaise detected a hint of bitterness laced in Arnaldo's words. "Luckily, we've rekindled the family's relationship with Michelangelo. He did the halls in our Ministero, if you recall. You held such wonder for them - I thought you might like to meet him."
"I-I would love to!" Hermione said excitedly. "It would be an honor."
"Excellent. You can be my plus one. Draco and Blaise, feel free to bring along plus ones as well. I'll send the details with my osprey later this evening."
"Thank you for the gracious invitation," Blaise bowed slightly to Arnaldo.
"Of course. I will see you on Thursday."
"Goodbye!" Hermione called as Arnaldo walked away.
"To the villa?" Draco asked.
"To the villa," Blaise nodded.
Once they had flooed back to Blaise's estate, they congregated in his office to debrief the meeting. In the last few conversations, Blaise had taken it upon himself to begin educating Hermione in the constantly dangerous subtext of their conversations with the Medicis, and Draco occasionally added a few insightful remarks. "You did well, Hermione," Blaise said. "You always ask excellent questions, something that I know Draco and I personally struggle with."
"Speak for yourself," Draco hissed under his breath, but Blaise continued on, ignoring him.
"Draco interrupted you though towards the end of the conversation. Do you know why?" Blaise asked.
"Other than his usual Mighty Prickishness?" Hermione asked sarcastically, before adding more genuinely, "Probably because he was afraid I'd agree to provide all of the British companies' intellectual property to the Medicis, which would have been a horrible loss of the UK's competitive edge. I wasn't planning on agreeing, especially after the hissy fit you both had over publically available laws."
"In that case, it was more because we know how thorough and concisely explained your summary would be, Granger. And we knew we wouldn't be receiving treatment of equal quality," Draco explained.
Hermione looked at him confused, unsure of how to respond to an implied compliment from a Malfoy's mouth.
"Regardless, I'm glad you understood the danger of that part of the conversation and agreeing to that. Did you notice anything about Arnaldo's relationship with Stefano and Clemencio?" Blaise asked.
"Other than being related to them?" Hermione asked, now doubly confused.
"How about this - when Arnaldo and Clemencio were speaking with each other, was it positive or negative?" Draco asked, pointedly looking at Blaise as if to demonstrate I can ask excellent questions, you tosser.
"Positive," Hermione said slowly as she thought about it.
"Arnaldo and Stefano?"
"Positive," Hermione said without hesitation.
"How about Stefano and Clemencio?" Draco asked.
"Negative - incredibly fraught with tension," Hermione said, and her eyes widened. "Oh."
"The genius bookworm gets it," Draco said triumphantly. "Due to my well led questions."
"Do you see why that might be useful?" Blaise asked, ignoring Draco.
"Yes. If you prevent Arnaldo from mediating between the two, it would be incredibly explosive. They would never be able to agree on anything," Hermione concluded.
"Right," Blaise nodded. There was a moment of silence as Hermione digested
"Who do you think is the most powerful person in that room?" Draco asked Hermione.
"Stefano," Hermione said instantly. "He runs the country, and Clemencio and Arnaldo have to live by those rules. He also appears to be the head of the family, and there's a certain amount of deference that both Arnaldo and Clemencio use in their interactions with him."
"No," Blaise disagreed. "I'd argue it's actually Arnaldo."
"Really?" Hermione asked, dumbfounded. "Just because he mediates between the two family branches doesn't mean he's more powerful than his father. His father makes the decisions."
"Fair," Draco said, "But look at the evidence, even in the conversation we just had with the three of them. Arnaldo's mediation facilitated the decisions that needed to be made. We were at a stalemate until Arnaldo decided to grace the conversation with his presence. Arnaldo obviously has influence on his father given their familial relationship, and Arnaldo clearly has huge influence over Clemencio. Just look at how quickly Clemencio turned around his opinion once Arnaldo asked a few questions! Arnaldo is Stefano's only son, likely successor to the Minister of Magic, and is for some reason present at all of our meetings despite holding no real public official position. He's there because Stefano wants him to be, because Stefano needs him to rein in Clemencio. Arnaldo has all of the cards, since Stefano needs him and Clemencio listens to him. Arnaldo is definitely the most powerful man in the room."
"How interesting," Hermione said, mulling over Draco's words.
"And he seems to… desire you, which if cultivated, could easily place you, Hermione, as the most powerful person in the room," Draco added. She looked at him, shell-shocked.
"But I don't want power. Power corrupts, it shouldn't be the focus of our talks. I just need to know how to phrase things well and make sure how not to be taken advantage of-" Hermione began.
"That is stupid," Draco said harshly.
"Draco! It is not stupid, it is naive," Blaise snapped back. "Educate Hermione, do not belittle her."
"Thank you Blaise," Hermione said as she glared at Draco.
"No, it's still stupid. Power, Granger, is not something to dismiss. You have your values, your causes, your visions. If you have no power, no influence, no voice, will any of those grand ideas ever come to fruition? If no one listens, you're as good as mute. If you have no influence, your projects will fail. If you have no power, you do not impact the world."
"I see what you mean Malfoy, but desiring power for the sake of power is something I greatly detest," Hermione countered. "In theory, you're completely right. In practice, every person who has ambitiously sought out power has consistently exploited other people, destroyed communities, and generally inflicted more harm than good. Look at Voldemort"
"I'm not disagreeing with you, but I think Draco is saying you should separate out the connotation that power must mean negative impact. If you think about the people who have had the most positive contributions to the world, philosophically, physically, or personally, they all had influence on other people in order to make those contributions happen," Blaise clarified.
"Not courageous enough to take on the great responsibility of power?" Draco took one last jab at Hermione's Gryffindor roots.
Hermione looked at him. "I'm human, Malfoy. I'm not infallible."
"As long as you maintain sight of that, you won't be corrupted," Draco smirked slightly.
Hermione looked at him for a long time. "And you?"
Draco's grey eyes hardened. "I think I learned how impressively imperfect I am while on the receiving end of the occasional Crucio."
The tone of the room instantly darkened, souring. Blaise looked on helplessly as Draco proceeded to stiffly excuse himself. Blaise found himself alone with Hermione, who was visibly shaken.
"So does being in Slytherin actually mean you get lessons like this in the common room?" Hermione attempted to lighten the mood.
"Not really, but when the power struggles and manipulations begin, you're either a quick learner, or you're… a Goyle. Or a Crabbe."
Hermione laughed softly, before sobering.
"With Malfoy, I didn't mean-" Hermione began, stuttering to a stop.
"I know you didn't, but you must understand..." Blaise trailed off.
"I do," Hermione said softly.
AN: Hello, hello! Thank you all for following and favoriting me! Sorry for the long gap in updating, but I hope you enjoy the chapter! It's been tough for me to write recently, so I would hugely appreciate any feedback that you all have for me. I wish all of you the best and hope your summers have been going well. What do you think of Draco's thoughts on power versus Hermione's? How about Arnaldo? Let me know in a review!