This is set 5 years after the war.
When Draco Malfoy entered the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures on a rainy day, he was not looking forward to it. He had been working in the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes for the last four years, and had been pressured into moving departments because of a "shortage of employees". He didn't really care about magical creatures – he realized the importance of the department, of course – but he didn't want to work there.
He entered the department with a boxful of things from his last desk, and was suddenly assaulted by the amount of sights, smells, and sounds that were coming at him. In one corner, a wizard was busily talking to someone and pointing to a box that kept making squealing sounds and then exploding. The people in the offices kept yelling at each other across the room, making everything very loud. Papers were littered on everyone's desk, and every now and then someone would run across the room doing one thing or another. Draco stood there for a moment, taking everything in, when one of the wizards that was standing noticed him and ran over. He shook Draco's hand.
"Hello Draco, my name is Stan Bullfred, and I'm the head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. I'm so glad you're joining us," he said with a smile. Stan was an older man, probably in his 50's, Draco thought. He was about 5'5" and balding. However, he stood tall and was very friendly. "Now, if you'll follow me, I'll show you to your desk, and then you'll be meeting with the young lady that I want you working with for the next few weeks."
Draco followed him as he went down a hallway, wondering who this witch might be. Looking around, Draco definitely felt like he stepped down in departments. The witches and wizards in this department didn't seem to care much about appearances – the robes most wore to work looked shabby and not very well taken care of. They looked disheveled, like they had woken up late to work. Draco, on the other hand, wore his best robes to work today and had immaculately combed his hair back.
"Ok, we're here!" said Stan with a smile, gesturing to a desk that was shoved in a small corner cubicle. Goodness, Draco thought looking at it. It was smaller than his old desk, and that had been the smallest desk in the department! He sighed. This was not going to be a fun transition.
"Well, put your things on your desk, you can get settled in later. I really want to introduce you to your new partner; she's your age and has been working on some legislation for elf rights that I really would like you to take a look at. I know you have some background in magical law, and I think you would really be able to help her out!" With that, Stan looked at Draco enthusiastically. Draco weakly returned the smile, but inside his mind was whirring. Elf rights… a woman… his age…he secretly hoped he wasn't right about who this might be. As they went around another corner, Stan opened another door which led into a well-lit conference room. At the table was a slender woman with curly hair pulled back into a ponytail. She was bent over some paperwork, so Draco couldn't get a good look at her face at first. Stan coughed, and she immediately looked up. Brown eyes met grey, and he immediately knew who it was. Hermione Granger. She had matured in the five years since he had last seen her. She was dressed in very professional dress robes and her once frizzy hair was now tamed into soft curls. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, but some curls had escaped and were framing her face. Beautiful, he thought, and then shook himself. This was Hermione Granger. He can't be attracted to Hermione Granger.
"Draco, this is Hermione Granger. She has been working on some really exciting legislation for elf rights that I want you to help her with. Hermione , Draco has some background in magical law and I think that he could really enhance your bill." Stan looked between the two of them, and then they both nodded and Draco went to sit down. Draco was still in shock that he would be working with Hermione Granger.
"Ok, well, I'll leave you two to it. Hermione , I'll check with you in a couple days." And with that, Stan left, leaving them alone.
"Hello Malfoy," Hermonie said, and there was no trace of anger in her voice. She was merely greeting him, although it was very distant and polite.
"Hello Hermione ." She looked momentarily taken aback at the use of her first name, but then collected herself and proceeded to launch into a speech about her vision for elf rights and what she was trying to get accomplished with this legislation. Draco had to admit, she knew what she was doing. She had already gotten tremendous work done, with her bill already passing through two phases of law making already. There were only two more to go, and those were the hardest to get through in order to get your bill passed. After she explained everything, he took a look at the legislation and they sat together and went over ways to improve it so that it was more able to pass.
Three hours later, Draco looked up at the clock and was startled that the time had passed so fast. He had to admit, working with Hermione wasn't too bad. She was very intelligent, but she didn't act smug about it. She just wanted to get work done. When he pointed out the time to her, she looked shocked and started stacking paper. She insisted that he go eat some lunch and settle in his desk, and then they could meet again at the end of the day.
Leaving the room, he had to wonder how he had never gotten to know her before. Oh that's right, he thought, because I was obsessed with blood status. Well, the war had changed that. He saw many muggle-borns acting much braver than he ever could be, and saw his father crumble right in front of him. He hadn't spoken that dirty word, mudblood, in five years. He made it his vow to get to know Hermione, because she seemed worth getting to know.