It had been a hectic day. There were three inquiries due tomorrow he was in the middle of processing, and to top it off, the Daily Prophet had chosen that day to send over a reporter to try to dig up what the Ministry was keeping quiet. He had tried to fend the awful girl off, before finally giving up and calling security. In addition, the temperature control spells had decided to malfunction, and the early September heat was oppressive and stifling. And that was all before lunch.
He headed, tired and hot, down to the main lobby to get some lunch before returning to his veritable mountain of paperwork. Rubbing his eye as he pushed through the crowd, he didn't even see the girl before he knocked to the ground.
"Oh, I'm sorry," he said, holding out a hand to help her up. The girl slowly collected her stack of files before standing on her own.
And in the instant before she pushed the curtain of blonde hair back from her face, he realized it and took a half-step back. She brushed the hair behind her ears, large blue eyes belying her otherwise calm exterior.
"What are you doing here?" he asked hoarsely, oblivious to the throngs of people pushing around the two of them as they stood in the middle of a crowded room.
Her eyes flashed, and for a split second he was abjectly afraid that she was going to walk away, or scream at him. But she didn't, and instead when she spoke, her voice was sweet and calm, which was somehow so much worse.
"Oh hello, Draco. I've just taken up a post as an apprentice in the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Although controlling innocent creatures is not something I am in favor of, I do think that with this position I am putting myself in a good position to make policy change in the future."
He nodded slightly, mouth still hanging slightly open.
She smiled brightly, but he could see it wasn't sincere.
"Have a lovely afternoon, Draco," she said cheerily, and walked off.