Yay! Another chapter :) A shoutout to Charlotte Bird for being my first reviewer, yay! Thank-you!


Year 2003, June
Ministry of Magic

"So, how was the honeymoon!? You have to tell me all about it!"

Hermione looked up from her desk, in her office, at the barging voice in the doorway. Ginny Weasley was beaming madly as she made her way towards the working witch. Her smile was radiant, as if having Hermione as her new sister-in-law, was one of the best things that happened to her. And Hermione truly believed that to Ginny, it kind of was. The red hair witch took a seat in front of Hermione's desk, fidgeting impatiently.

"It was good. We had a lot of fun!" Hermione replied, as she took a break from the stack of paperwork that adorned her desk.

Ginny waited for the older witch to continue, but Hermione seemed content with the simple answer.

"AND?" Ginny pressed on.

"And… what?"

"Details!"

Hermione usually didn't like to go into details when it came to the privacy of her own life, but she supposed Ginny was having none of it today.

"How many times did you do it? A lot I reckon!"

"Ginny!" Hermione blushed at that.

The ginger witch laughed, used to the prudish side of Hermione Granger. True, she could ditch the details about her brother's skills at lovemaking, but she couldn't help but feel ecstatic at their wedding. She knew her brother had always loved Hermione, almost from the very first day, even though he thoroughly denies it. And she knew Hermione always had a soft spot for Ron, even though their bickering had not diminished, whatsoever, in these past couple of years of dating and, now, as husband and wife. So, naturally, she wanted to know everything there was to know about the two of them, just so she could feel happy all over again.

"I'm sorry Hermione, I'm just excited about all of this. I still can't believe it. We're family!"

Hermione laughed softly, absently stroking her wedding ring. Yes, they were family now, but it's not like they weren't before. A mere formality, that is all.

"Did he at least eat with his mouth closed?"

"Surprisingly enough, he did! He was a gentleman."

"Ron Weasley and gentleman in the same sentence… I'm appalled!"

"He has a good teacher."

Both witches giggled at each other. Both of them knew about Ron's lack of table manners, but Hermione was very strict about it and, eventually, it would pay off.

"What is the plan now? When am I going to be an aunt?" Ginny asked.

"Whoa. Calm down, Gin. I'm currently deciding on what I want for lunch."

Ginny giggled again "I know, I know. I'm just messing with you. A lot of work, huh?"

"A ton." Hermione sighed, taking a once over at the papers on her desk. She had only been away for a week and the stack had doubled. And they had wanted her to take two weeks off! Bloody lunatics.

"I was thinking about inviting the newly-weds for dinner tonight. Harry misses you."

And Hermione missed him as well. Even though they both worked for the Ministry, they hardly ever saw each other, lately more than usual because of all the wedding preparations and honeymoon. As an Auror, Harry was often out of the country or on special missions and Hermione… well, she had this office. Not to get her wrong, she loved her work. Ever since she formed S.P.E.W, she knew this was where she wanted to be. Nothing gave her more pleasure than defending the wonderful, magical creatures of the Wizarding World. But, sometimes, she missed the excitement of the dangerous life. And that was something so ridiculous to say, but after almost 10 years of peril, a person kind of gets used to it.

"Has he returned from Sweden already?"

"Yesterday. He is exhausted, but is looking forward to see you guys tonight."

The brunette witched smiled, hoping for a bit of normality. The last couple of weeks were stressful. Preparing a wedding is such hard work. If someone had told Hermione how many details and specifics you have to deal with, when it comes to wedding planning, she would have never gone through with it. Honestly, it was Ron that had insisted in the whole ceremony ordeal thingy. If it had been up to her, they would have done something more practical, with very few friends and family, no big, fancy dresses or two-meter cakes. So, after this was all said and done, Hermione just wanted to go back to her normal life and a dinner with three of her favourite people ever, sounded just right.

"Harry needs a break, especially now, with all this ludicrous, nonsense floating around!"

Hermione looked questioningly at her husband's younger sister, having absolutely no clue of what she was on about.

"Oh, you don't know!" Realization swept over Ginny's face.

Hermione's eyebrows raised even higher, if possible.

Ginny slapped her own forehead, in an over dramatic fashion before replying:

"How could you know? You were away in your blissful honeymoon! And it is all still very fresh and well… classified."

"Ginny, what happened?"

Hermione was getting anxious. What had happened? Was it Voldemort? Was he back? No… she would have heard it by now. Was it about Death Eaters? Were they planning something? Was it something do to with Harry, Ron, the Ministry, her department?

Her thoughts were rushing through her head, as Ginny kept rambling about how she had been so silly.

"Gin! What is going on?" the bushy-haired asked again, trying to get the small witch out of her little incoherent speech.

"Well wait 'till you hear about this!" she snorted.

"Oh for Merlin's sake, what?"

Hermione wasn't the most patient person.

"Apparently someone with inside information about a new Death Eater congregation, has volunteered to work for the Ministry."

Well that certainly wasn't something new. There had been several cases where former Death Eaters would offer their services to the Ministry. These were few and most of them wanted to keep their identity a secret. Some sold information in exchange for protection or to try to lighten their sentence in Azkaban. Others did it for revenge of a lost family member or loved one. And there were even a few cases where strict purebloods actually wanted to make amends for their actions. The latter were the rarest, of course; most of them just wanted to see if they could skip jail time.

But, for Ginny to be so annoyed about this, that wasn't all.

Hermione waited for her friend to continue.

"This supposed informer claims to have a source that can confirm the existence of several reunions taking place, between some older followers of Voldemort. These were, supposedly, never captured or found."

"That is a lot of supposes Gin. If there had been Death Eater gatherings, we would have known by now."

Hermione wasn't one for speculations. She liked facts, hard, known facts. After the war, the Ministry had assigned special Aurors just for the purpose of keeping an eye out for returners or deserters, especially those who were known to have played an essential part in Voldemort's army. Most of those were in Azkaban doing time or being present to trial. Those who were effectively free or with unknown whereabouts, also had a hard time. The Ministry was taking extreme measures to prevent any recurrences of anything that resembles a cult or a War. The Wizarding World wanted nothing more to do with Wars and they made sure of it. Hermione made sure of it. So, if this was, in fact, happening, they needed a lot more than someone who thought they had information.

Even so, she figured that was not all, since the subject was apparently leaving Harry tense and uncomfortable.

"The source appears to be kind of reliable…" Ginny answered, looking hesitant.

Hermione did not like the sound of that.

"He's well known for his insufferable attitude and striking resemblance to a small, animal belonging to the Mustelidae family."

How Ginny even knew the class family of the ferret was unknown to Hermione, but, wait, scratch that. Hermione absolutely loathed the sound of that.

"Malfoy."

Ginny nodded in agreement.

Hermione tried to breathe normally, not wanting to alert Ginny of anything that was going on through her body, since the moment she had referred to this informer as insufferable. Hermione knew her body language was not the most subtle of languages and this was a moment where she utterly despised that fact. There had been many moments where her body language had given her away; important moments, dangerous ones and embarrassing ones. That one time she had taken chocolate from the kitchen drawer without asking. Her mom saw straight through her lie. Or that one time Ron had given her a hideous looking bracelet and she couldn't hide the fact that she thought it was hideous. Or even that one time when Malfoy –

No. Stop right there. There will be no thinking of Malfoy right now. She was trying hard enough to keep her body from hyperventilating in front of her sister-in-law, she didn't need any more hyperventilating reasons.

Her heart was racing, her palms were sweaty.

Keep calm Hermione and keep a straight face.

She had learned, over the years, to keep her cool. She trained her poker face that had been essential, back in the day, when peril was around every corner. She mastered the art of undercover missions and was taught how to sound secure and confident, even when she was anything but. And right now, she needed to stay tuned and focus on that exact same training. Because Ginny, of all people, could not know how much this new piece of information was affecting her.

Malfoy wanted to work for the Ministry. Malfoy had information. Malfoy, who had been missing for years. Malfoy wanted to collaborate with them. Malfoy was back. Where had he been? How did Malfoy know about these meetings? Was his hair the same? Malfoy was back.

Malfoy, Malfoy, Malfoy, Malfoy.

"Hermione, you ok?"

Crap.

"I'm processing."

"It surprised me to, really. I mean, can you imagine the nerve of that bloke? Showing up after all these years, after all he has done, claiming he wants to work with us?" Ginny didn't seem to notice.

Good.

"Are you sure about this?" At least she managed to keep a straight voice. If it were for her heart, it would be bouncing all over the place, running around in circles, making big U-turns.

"Harry is beyond himself. You should have seen the amount of foul language he used to describe the meeting he had with Kingsley."

"When was this?"

"Two days after your wedding, hence you not knowing."

Perfect. Just perfect.

Hermione could feel a slight headache begging to form. Her knees were trembling under her desk, as she tried, so hard, to keep a straight posture and face.

"I still really can't believe it. Last time I heard, he was engaged to Astoria Greengrass, before disappearing off to Merlin knows where. And now he wants to serve the Ministry? Load of bollocks, if you ask me."

"And Kingsley is ok with this?" Hermione asked.

"It seems that way. They are going to interrogate him in two days."

Two days? Two days and Draco Malfoy is going to walk through the Ministry. Two days and the son of Lucius Malfoy is going to be interrogated concerning his actions and intentions. Two days and…

Merlin, Hermione just wanted her normality back and this was far from it.

"Why was I not informed of this?" it slipped her mouth before she could even think of it.

"You were on your honeymoon! Why would you want to be bothered by that filthy, little ferret?"

"Because if there really have been these gatherings, we must be prepared and think of a plan."

"We don't even know if this isn't all just some Malfoy scheme!" Ginny replied "Besides, I think you were right the first time. If there had been Death Eater activity, we would have known about it."

Hermione could not think properly right now. She need fresh hair. The room was too hot, she was too hot. This was not how she had wanted to start her week. Her anxiety had finally began to subside during her honeymoon – she had Ron's magical fingers to thank for that – and this was not the situation she wished to be in, at all. Draco Malfoy being back in her life was not good. It had never been good and it would never be.

"Yes, well… Who else knows about this?" she asked.

"If you are wondering if Ron knows, he doesn't. I don't think Harry has told him yet. Harry and Kingsley are the only ones on top of the situation. And now you know, as well." Ginny replied.

Ron doesn't know. Good.

Ron is going to know, tonight. Not good.

Hermione desperately needed to get out of this office.

"Yes, well… Thank-you Gin, for telling me. I really have to get some work done now." She tried to say this the smoothest way possible.

"A little gossip never hurt anyone. We are sisters-in-law now, we are allowed to gossip about our husbands' private, secret information."

Hermione gave a small smile, wondering if the other witch suspected that this, to her, was not just some harmless gossip. She hoped not. Her body language cover could not hold much longer.

"Anyway, I'll see you tonight then. You don't have to bring anything. I'll make sure to make enough food for your pig husband." Ginny said, getting up from her chair and making her way towards the door.

"He doesn't like my cooking anyway. Prefers to cook himself."

"If only his table manners could be as good as his cooking. You would be even luckier!" Ginny beamed, a large smile on her face.

Hermione smiled back. Yes, lucky. That she was.

Right?

"I'll leave you to your work then. See you tonight."

"Bye, Gin!"

And just as the door clicked shut, Hermione began to hyperventilate.


Once again, thank-you for reading :) Hope you are having a fantastic day!