AN: Dearest readers and followers, thank you all for welcoming me and my stories back after my sabbatical to finish my studies! Sadly as it sometimes happens, a spiteful reader reported some of my stories and I have lost nearly half of my account along with your amazing reviews and support. But I have hope that there are amazing readers out there and by your reviews, I look forward to hopefully shaking off this bad experience and enjoying this story with all of you. Thank you for taking the time to follow and review, I hope you continue to enjoy Poisoned Heart as much as I do :)

Always,

Sybilla Slytherin

The next morning dawned early but Hermione slept through the sunrise, only stirred from a deep healing rest when her alarm clock rang unforgivingly at half past eight. She rolled over and flicked her wrist with a spell to silence it, blearily sitting up and starting to undress. The shower was hot and heavenly on her aching muscles and she made sure to stretch out and spend at least twenty minutes under the hot, powerful stream to relax. Prolonged Polyjuice was invented, unsurprisingly by Severus Snape, just a year before the end of the war. He nearly died the night of the final battle but surprisingly managed to survive, Hermione thought perhaps through sheer stubbornness to displeasing Voldemort with his survival, and has ever since patented a few of his inventions that her department now used on different missions. This version of the potion kept the chosen identity for 8 hours at a time, but was physically taxing for the one who drank it, and led to fatigue, migraines, and occasional nosebleeds. Hermione only ever used it when necessary and always made sure to take extra time to recuperate after a mission that required its use.

She finally settled on her sofa in a soft blue bathrobe, a plate of toast with apricot jam by her side, and a cup of iced coffee balancing on her knee as she turned on her television and searched for a celebrity gossip news. She turned the volume up as a young American presenter began discussing in faked shock the latest drama in the celebrity world, getting through the first two stories of divorce and heartbreak to the death of the famous Ukrainian model Anastasia Danilenko.

"The London Metropolitan Police is investigating the surprise death of model Anastasia Danilenko, popularly known on social media under her artistic name Dani. Her body was found late last night in a hotel in South London and our source indicated that she was alone in her hotel room at the time of death. Her death comes as a shock just two weeks after her appearance in Fergie's latest music video to a hit single Fergalicious…"

Hermione nodded in satisfaction and just to be sure switched to a news channel to confirm the news about the investigation. The muggle police and their CSIs would find no trace of foul play, the magical potion traces covered by the alcohol in the deceased model's blood stream. And Hermione saw Anastasia drink 3 or 4 glasses of the heady bubbly easily over the course of their light dinner. They would rule it out as accidental death caused by effects of years of bulimia and excessive drinking, causing the collapse of her lungs and heart. Nice and easy for the muggles, and nothing to suspect about her death in the magical world.

Anastasia Danilenko may have been a muggle model, but she was also a spy for Alexander Reznikov, nicknamed 'Sasha' by interpol and other secret services. He was the boss of Ukrainian muggle mafia and also the Dark Arts movement in the old Soviet block. They've been tracking his movement and actions for the past two years, and undermining his access to foreign intelligence Danilenko used to gather for him would definitely slow him down. Kingsley will be very pleased.

It took her another half an hour to get ready and don her Unspeakables Ministry robe before she flooed to the Atrium and headed to report to the Minister himself, Kingsley Shacklebolt. His secretary Athena, a bubbly young witch fresh out of Hogwarts, motioned for her to hold on just a moment as she peaked inside his office to announce her before sending her right in.

"Accidental death? Well played," Kingsley walked around the table and embraced the brilliant witch. She has been a most valued colleague and friend since the end of the war, and the fact that he was re-elected two years ago by a high popular vote was most definitely thanks to her help.

"She was too famous to disappear quietly or go violently," she explained and sat down into the comfortable armchair across from him. "I will have the final report for you by lunch time, but I first need to check in downstairs before I head off."

"Two weeks this time?" Kingsley asked as he signed her pay check and handed it over for her to claim in Gringotts.

"Yes, I plan to just lay low, enjoy some reading and catch up with the family," she smiled fondly. "So, tea on Thursday?" she asked.

Kingsley chuckled. "Absolutely. Matilda misses you, and she apparently started watching something on BBC to do with baking. I can't complain, her scones are to die for," he added fondly, his new bride bringing a fresh light to his life.

Hermione chuckled fondly at Matilda's latest interest. "Well, how could I ever refuse tea and scones! Give her my best and I'll come round at the usual time?" she suggested.

Kingsley nodded and stood to see her out of his office. "I'll see you in a few days then. Catch some rest?"

"Promise," she waved and headed down in the elevator to the nether depths of the enchanted building.

There were many rooms and offices in the Department of Mysteries. A lot of the people who worked here hardly knew anyone else at the Ministry, they were a very tightly knit group for a very good reason. Most of them were researchers, but the specialised unit Hermione belonged to was not quite the same. It took six years after the war to run the trials, make the reforms and purge the Ministry of the old regime. New blood from Hogwarts and other European schools came to enrich the workforce and the Ministry was actually not half bad these days. Trials were fair, the system timely and worked for the benefit of the new order in Wizarding Britain. They were finally recovered and the society was healing. But there were still foreign and new domestic threats to their world, their secrecy from the muggle world, and the peace that cost them so many lives in the fight with Voldemort.

So Hermione let Kingsley contemplate the idea for a secret services similarly ran to the muggle model, and Unit 25 was the result. There was only six of them in their unit, but life was never boring, and they were a surprisingly effective collective of colleagues. The one person no one would expect on their team was the officially retired Severus Snape. Despite his aversion to the whole espionage business following the many years of spying for Voldemort, Hermione managed to persuade him to come out of hiding and consult with them on potions. Everything he made was patented under his company name and he received dividends for. It was a deal that made sure his retirement in a few years was something to truly enjoy.

Another surprise field agent was Lord Malfoy, thought Draco rarely used his formal title unless they were arguing over something stupid and he wanted to wind her up. Kingsley hesitated with appointing the young Slytherin, but knowing how hard Draco worked following the incarceration of his parents after the war to restore the family name, she pressed for him to offer the blond a try. And it turned out to be a great success, because Draco was one of the best agents the Ministry ever hired. Just as Hermione's choice of weapon was poison, Draco's was rather surprisingly muggle firearms. Her bets were on Draco learning about guns through muggle films, and then ordering some to familiarise himself with. He took her to a range once and she saw just how skilled and precise he was when he practiced. Hermione hated guns herself, but as they often staged deaths of the threats to Wizarding Britain in the muggle world, she understood his method. Plus, she knew enough about the weapons to at least understand how quickly they dispatched the unwanted person. And despite having license to kill, they most certainly did not have license to do so by Unforgivable means, so the killing curse was not a possibility even in self defence.

Very few people would expect Neville to be involved with a secret Ministry espionage unit, and working with his childhood nightmare of a potions professor. But he was their lead expert on Herbology and grew many an ingredient for the dour Potions Master these days. Hermione even once caught them in the middle of an argument about Mandrakes and was proud to see the once stuttering classmate of hers was holding himself rather well in face of cutting words.

Receiving the occasional grumpy look in Gringotts was still rather amusing to her. Perhaps the dwarfs would never forgive her for taking their best curse-breaker and retraining him for their Unit. Bill Weasley was their third and final agent in the field, and his skills and experience were truly invaluable. He often took missions in North Africa and France, where he understood the culture and languages, a skill that Hermione forever envied. But his understanding of curses was an even more enviable skill that all of his colleagues occasionally relied on during their missions.

The three of them were the most valued spies in Wizarding Britain, and yet they couldn't do their work without the one person who understood the fast-developing muggle technology and helped them navigate it; Padma Patil. After the war her family tried to whisk Padma and her twin Parvati out of Britain, but Padma refused to leave and decided to contribute to rebuilding of the Wizarding society and Hogwarts. She often told Hermione she missed her estranged family, but they kept in touch with Parvati from time the time, despite her sister being busy with her husband and four children. Padma's life couldn't be any more different from Parvati's, Hermione secretly mused. Having studied IT in muggle London, she met the one person who made her question the foundation of her identity, her girlfriend Kai. The two women were the perfect comedy act, and whenever they headed out for drinks together, Hermione always ended up giggly and watching their verbal table tennis with great enjoyment. She hoped someday someone would look at her the way Padma looked at Kai, with love and passion.

Her magical signature let her through into their unit, and Hermione headed for her office which was tucked away neatly in the corner. Draco was already waiting for her in her office, feet propped up on her desk and a cheeky grin lighting up his face as she took her seat and regarded him from across her desk.

"You're grinning, dear," she raised a brow as she readied her laptop to type up her final report.

"You tested my poison prototype and it passed with flying colours, of course I'm grinning," Draco said flippantly.

"Your prototype?" Hermione asked pointedly.

"Well, yours and mine, but you know what I mean," he waved his hand dismissively, making Hermione roll her eyes at his aristocratic manners.

"Uh-huh, keep that up and I'll drop something in your tea," she snickered, tossed him the empty vial and let the blond examine it. "See any issues?" she asked.

Draco frowned as he looked at the colour of the copper vial. Certain brews could not be stored in glass vials and his guess was that the safest and least interactive of the possible vials for the poison would be copper. Hermione agreed. And they were sadly both wrong. "Discolouration at the bottom of the vial, how unusual," he mused.

"By the distinct pale green colour I would say there is some sort of corrosive reaction but I have no idea why," she mused.

"Hmmm….I'm going to have a look in the lab and maybe consult Severus," Draco stood and headed for the door distractedly. "I'll catch you later, Granger," he managed before the door snapped shut.

Hermione chuckled and quickly finished her report in peace before sending it up to Kingsley and leaving with a few final goodbyes to her colleagues. Perhaps a cup of tea and some lunch would do her good. She had some shopping to do this afternoon before she would get busy in the next two weeks.

Dragon Alley was busy as always and she waded through the mass of people, heading for a newly opened and not yet popular cafe on the corner. They served the most amazing carrot and coriander soup and she was in the mood for something light. Her plans were however altered when an unforgettable voice found her in the lunch hour crowd.

"MIMI!" a small bouncy girl dashed towards her.