Chapter 8

Draco sauntered into the Ministry of Magic Thursday morning. The summons he received Tuesday had been very vague and only told him what floor and department to report to, however the Department had been enough of a clue. It seemed the ministry was finally taking actions in the Werewolf attacks that had been reported to the paper. Typical government. He strode over to the lift and took it to the fourth level to the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures department.

Draco had not been open with his condition as it wasn't widely accepted in the Wizarding community and even less so in the pureblood families. Many families still considered werewolves dangerous with a need of eradication to all those infected. Naturally his mother felt the need to keep his state a closely guarded secret until society became more accepting of werewolves. His father went to great lengths to keep his trial closed and made sure that the documents were sealed, so there was a bit of shock when the ministry had come calling.

The door to the lift slid open and a cool female voice spoke, "Fourth Level, Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures." The voice continued on with the sub departments, but Draco quickly exited the lift hoping no one there would recognize him or his hair. While he appreciated his natural platinum that he had inherited from his parents, he did hate that it made him easily identifiable, and yet he couldn't bare the thought of changing his color, as if he would be less of a Malfoy without it. He strode down the hall looking for the correct door, there on the left he saw the Department name and emblem, he pushed open the door into what seemed to be half of the floor divided up in to several smaller offices.

"May I help you?" A kindly older woman asked.

"Yes, I have an appointment, Malfoy, 9:15" Malfoy stated in a cool tone. He had decided that if anyone were to ask he would say he was there to work with some foundation or fundraiser. His family had become particularly involved post war.

"Ah, yes Mister Malfoy, you're going to head straight down this aisle then take the left at the end. Miss Melody will check you in from there." The older woman pointed down the aisle.

Draco nodded and proceeded down the aisle until he turned left, there he saw a plaque on the desk for a Melody Matlock. He looked at the girl, she was probably with age of him, she had long long dirty blonde hair and typical blue eyes, her skin pale like milk. She looked up at him. "Malfoy, 9:15."

Melody smiled at him, "Of course, Mister Malfoy, please take a seat." She gestured towards the chair across from her and next to an office door with another plaque he didn't care to read.

Draco grimaced at her, she didn't seem to understand that Malfoys did not take seats to wait on other people. It was below his family. "I do not appreciate being shuffled around and made to wait," he icily cautioned the woman.

The woman continued to smile sweetly at him. " I understand, Mister Malfoy." Unfazed by his tone the woman stood and walked to the door and knocked. Draco heard a woman answer, and Melody opened the door and spoke again. "Ma'am, your 9:15 is here." The woman in the office said something and Melody nodded again and closed the door, and with another calm smile looked at him. "She'll be with you shortly." Melody walked back to her desk and then continued her work.

Draco jaw clenched, whoever "she" was would regret making him wait, Draco waited on no one. As Draco turned to leave, he heard the door open once more and looked over his shoulder to find Granger.

Hermione looked over Draco. Since the war, more muggle clothing had come into popularity, as a kind of social push to be more accepting of muggleborns, and while older more traditional pureblood families had been reluctant to the change preferring the 17th century style clothing, many of the newer generation adopted a kind of modern style with a 17th century twist. Draco was wearing a charcoal gray trousers with a matching waistcoat, with a stone gray shirt and a black tie. Hermione did note that he had not rolled up his sleeves, she also couldn't help but notice that he looked incredibly handsome. No, no no no. You do not care what he looks like, period. Her common sense screamed at her, her brain seemed to be doing a lot of screaming these days. "Mister Malfoy, please come in." Hermione smiled sweetly and gestured towards her office.

Draco stood for a moment, surely the fates hated him. She was the one person he did not want to see right now after he had scared her off by snogging her, and there was no doubt in his mind that she knew about his condition, knew he was dangerous. "Granger." He spoke somewhere between a question and a statement he was sure she was just at confused as he was.

"Malfoy." She stated back, this was getting more and more awkward the longer he stood and stared at her. Hermione looked over at Melody who was watching so intently that she may as well have a bag of popcorn, she laughed internally. Hermione knew that this was the most exciting thing to happen in the office since someone let pigmy puffs loose in the office as a prank. "Please" She stepped closer to Malfoy, hoping that he would move.

Draco grimaced, Granger was wearing a pencil skirt and a white button up blouse without any frills or ruffles, and a pair of black heels, overall it was a simple professional outfit not at all like the one he had seen her in almost a week ago and yet some how she looked just at good in it. He gave a quick nod and walked into her office.

Overall, it was a small office with a simple desk in the middle and two chairs on the wall facing the desk. Behind the desk in true Granger nature were shelves full of books. While the office itself seemed clean and organized there was an underlying chaos to it, papers were strewn about in some sort of odd orderly fashion. Draco found this curious, how could an office be both tidy and messy at the same time. It wasn't until the door clicked closed that he realized that he was standing rather dumbly in the middle of her office.

"Please take a seat" Her voice had a sense of professionalism to it.

Draco sat down in a confident controlled way, body language is a tool his father taught him to control the environment without ever saying a word. So Draco grew up carefully watching the way his father moved and controlled the room, he imitated it at school and found that girls in particular were very receptive to his controlling movements. Not that he thought Granger would be susceptible to the manipulative tactics but he was also taught to never let your guard down, which last time they were in a room alone together, Draco failed miserably at.

Hermione eyed Draco carefully, as she sat down across from him, he was almost unnerving in his confident air, but she wouldn't let that mess with her. The Malfoy men were all mind games, she knew that and she was not about the get played. "So." She started, "I'm sure you know why you're here." Hermione pulled out his file and opened it, looking over the notes she had taken. Draco cocked an eyebrow at her but said nothing. She huffed, a little annoyed that he didn't answer her. "Well, we are starting a werewolf protection and awareness program in light of recent events. The Ministry found it important to contact listed werewolves." She continued looking him in the eye and maintaining contact. He remained silent, not breaking his stare. "So I have a few questions for you and then we will go over your security, and talk about necessary precautions you should take."

"Precautions?"

"Yes, there are steps the ministry feels you should take," her voice brisk. "But we'll cover those in a moment." Hermione looked at the first question on her list."There is some information that I need from you. First, at what phase of the moon were you bitten?"

Draco's smirk fell, he knew there would be invasive questions but she had taken the power from him that he had just gained over her. "I'm supposed to remember what phase the moon was in on the night I was attacked? Tell me Granger, are you this kind to all your victims?"

"It may seem silly to you, Mister Malfoy, however recent studies have found that based on the phase of the moon will determine the potency of the bite, so we find it necessary to ask our clients to assess their overall risk factor." She explained.

Draco rolled his eyes. "It was a half-moon"

"Waxing or waning?" Hermione took more notes, not looking at Malfoy

"Waxing." Draco glared.

Hermione looked up at him with almost a piteous look in her eyes. "Then you have a transformation?"

Draco stiffened. He knew this was going to be a question but he hated that he had to even talk about this entirely. "Yes."

Hermione nodded, jotting down his statement. "Do you find you have consciousness during your transformation?"

Draco eyebrow twitched. "Doesn't everybody?"

Hermione sighed with some relief. "No," she answered simply. "According to what we have found those who have been bitten during a complete full moon lose all consciousness during their Transformations. People who are bitten prior to a full moon tend to still have transformation, however have more consciousness the closer they were bitten to the half-moon. Those bitten on the half, have the most consciousness." She trailed off. "Finally individuals bitten after the full moon when it is in a waning state tend not to see transformation period."

Draco watched her intensely. "So the waxing half moon seems to be the cut off for the transformations?"

Hermione nodded. "Not that you probably would have known, but your transformations are far less intense than someone bitten at a full. You still transform yes, however you'd be a smaller, weaker version of the werewolf, which is why we think people bitten on halves maintain consciousness, because the venom doesn't over take your body completely."

Draco sat silent for several moments, it was true he didn't have any werewolf friends to compare notes to, and the only one who had seen him during his transformation was the poor girl in Germany. So Draco had no way of knowing what he actually looked like while transformed.

Hermione hesitated, watching a pensive Malfoy as he mulled over this information. She softly cleared her throat. "Have you attacked someone?

Draco's eyes shot up at her like a bullet train. "Are you accusing me?" he growled from behind his knuckles again.

Hermione bristled this time. "No, it's a question I must ask you in order to learn of any unlisted Werewolves."

Draco leered at her. "And if I had attacked someone? What would you do, throw me in Azkaban?"

"The ministry has yet come to a consensus on what to do with werewolves who attacked while transformed. While we understand you may have consciousness, we also take into consideration that you also have little control in that state," she countered. "Either way, we need to know if there are any other werewolves out there so my question stands, did you attack someone?"

"No," snapped Draco.

Hermione looked over him, she wasn't sure if he was lying or not, and she didn't know if she should press the subject either, he already seemed defensive and it was her job to build up a rapport with him so he would come to her if there was an attack; by him or someone else. "Okay." She decided to move on. "Do you take remedies to help with your transformation and how effective are they?"

Draco relaxed slightly grateful she wasn't pushing the subject. He straightened his head and placed his hand that was holding his jaw on the arm of the chair. "I do, and they make the transformation less painful, shorter and I can sometimes control it."

"Do you have any control without them?" She asked, glad to see him loosen up.

"It's as you said earlier, I know whats going on, but it is impossible to control my actions, the instincts are..." he trailed off. "Overwhelming," he finished carefully.

She stared at him for a moment longer, and then took her note pad again. "Whom have you told of your condition?"

Draco's eyes lingered over her leaning figure as she wrote on her pad. Her hair was pulled up in to a messy bun, while a few loose strands draped over her shoulder, and just a hint of cleavage showed through the undone top button of her blouse, teasing his eyes for more. Even more tantalizing was her smell, to anyone else she wouldn't have any discernible scents, but to him and his enhanced sense of smell he could smell the delicate fragrances of her shampoo, conditioner and soaps, with just a hint of mint that lingered over her breath. He felt a instinct to grab her wash over him, but resisted with all the strength he could must, his nails gripping into the arms of the chairs.

She looked up at him his body visibly tense. "Malfoy? Is something wrong?"

Draco barely hung on to his control. "No," he breathed slowly. "My Mother and Blaise Zanbini."

Hermione gave him a concerned look. "Are you sure?" she asked gently.

"Yes, Granger I know who I've told!" Barked Draco.

Hermione was startled that he just out of no where started yelling at her. "I was actually asking if you're sure you're okay."

Draco breathed heavily, he needed to get himself under control."Yes Granger, I'm fine. Is there anything else you need from me?"

Hermione examined him, now she knew he was lying something had happened in the few moments she looked down to read her other questions but wasn't sure what. "Is there anyone you think might wish harm to you?"

Draco scoffed. "Yeah, most of Wizdaring Society, half think I'm a Death Eater, the other half want me dead for turning on Voldemort. Anything else?"

"I mean serious threats," she implored. "It makes it hard to protect you if I don't know who to protect you from."

"If someone openly threatens me I'll let you know," he growled again, his instincts were like waves, ebbing and flowing over body.

"Fine." Hermione spoke shortly, she then grabbed a galleon from he desk drawer and handed it to Malfoy. "This is a fake Galleon you must carry it on you at all times. If for some reason you find yourself in danger if you spin the outside twice, it will alert me and the Aurors department at once. It clicks when you turn it full circle, if you accidentally spin it and do not need to us to come simply twist it counterclockwise three times. If the ministry feels you're in danger and need protection, the coin will get hot, at which point it will turn in to a port key, to activate the key, spin it clockwise three times and the port key will take you to a safe house. If you do not turn your coin with in a half hour of the warning there is a tracking spell that will activate so the ministry will be able find it, and if you keep the coin on you, you as well." She paused, not sure if he was listening because he had not looked at her once while she was explaining it.

"Okay." Draco snatched the coin from the desk. "That it?" he asked, irritated at himself for his lack of composure.

"I need to check the Wards on your house, but yes for now that's it." She replied apprehensively

"Send an owl." And with that Draco got up and left the office, leaving Hermione confused.