Chapter Three, dear readers. Like last chapter, much of this was written on my phone, so excuse the mistakes. I will go over it again once I have better access to a computer.
Thank you so much for your wonderful reviews, favorites, and alerts. I had a small fangirl attack when I saw. Keep it up!
I know NOTHING about law, much less about Wizarding Law. I hope you'll forgive that I may or may not have seriously fudged up law.
Rating: T, for language and because I'm paranoid.
Characters: Hermione G. and Draco M., sometimes mentioning/featuring Astoria Greengrass, Ginny W., Ron W., Harry P., and two (minor) OCs.
Summary: Five years after the Battle of Hogwarts, Draco Malfoy gets the shock of his life when Astoria Greengrass ups and leaves him. He needs a good divorce lawyer. That was what he needed and what he expected. But what he didn't expect, however, was a certain bushy-haired brunette in lawyer's clothing, reeling from a break-up with the Weasel King himself. Ignores epilogue. Eventual Dramione.
Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I also do not own any songs that I may/may not mention in this story. :3
This story was corrected by several people along the way, you know who you are, and I give you a lot of thanks :)
Virtual cookies to everyone who understands/can point on the minor Phantom of the Opera cameo/reference!
"There is no lawyer that can get me out of this mess?" Draco was pacing back and forth in the law firm's main office, glaring at the unsuspecting receptionist.
"Well, -"
"There is no "well!" Either you have a good lawyer for me or I will be bringing my business and my money somewhere else!"
"Well, sir, there would be one lawyer-"
"Then what is the problem?" Draco was getting quite angry.
"You see, sir, she's rather new, and has only just finished her studies..."
"Can she represent me and succeed?"
"Well, she has succeeded in all of her cases so far, so I would say so."
"Fine. Get me the lawyer girl and make sure she's availabe as soon as possible! I have a divorce to regulate, and little time to do it before Astoria sends her lawyer after me!" Draco stalked out of the office.
He was too angry to hear the receptionist shout, "Wait, Mr. Malfoy! Don't you want her name?"
Hermione was stressed. She was running extremely late and arrived at the firm out of breath. An extremely angry looking man rudely rushed past her, a sneer on his face.
"What was that about?" Hermione asked the receptionist.
"That, Ms. Granger, is your new client. He wants to meet with you as soon as possible."
Hermione nodded. "What kind of case?"
"Divorce."
"Ah, alright. The name?"
"Draco Malfoy, Ms. Granger."
Hermione felt her face pale. "You have got to be kidding me. This can't be."
"But...it is, Ms. Granger." The receptionist was confused. "What's wrong?"
But Hermione was no longer listening.
After Hermione had recovered from the initial shock, she asked the receptionist to floo Malfoy.
"Yes, Mr. Malfoy?" Hermione could hear the woman's voice from the other room.
"Yes, the lawyer has agreed to represent you. Mmmhmm. Yep. That would be good. Yes, that's alright. Fine. Yes. Good. We will be expecting you." The receptionist returned to where Hermione was still slumped in her chair.
"Mr. Malfoy will stopping by soon."
Hermione, who had stood at the prospect of news, sat down suddenly again and seemed to nearly faint. "Oh, dear."
"Is he here yet? Is he here yet?" Hermione was getting more impatient by the second, irritating the poor receptionist greatly.
"Of course not, Ms. Granger. Don't you think I would notify you when your goddamn client arrives?" The receptionist snapped.
"Sorry..." Hermione said, blushing. Trying to overcome her awkwardness, she decided to make some small talk with the receptionist. "What's your name, anyway? You seem rather new around here."
The girl sniffed. "I am, actually, just started this past week. It's Christine, just by the way."
"Oh, well welcome. I'm rather new here, too."
The girl smirked slightly. "So I've heard." She looked over at the door. Her eyes grew wide. "Oh, crap!"
"What is it?" Hermione asked, worried.
"Mr. Malfoy has been ringing the doorbell for the past three to five minutes."
"Ah, crap." Hermione hurriedly looked for a place to semi-hide. Abandoning that idea, she told the receptionist-no, Christine- "I'll be in my office. Send him in."
"Will do."
Hermione rushed to her office. This was ridiculous, she told herself, why did she even care about Malfoy? Perhaps it was simply because she didn't want to appear like some weak, useless Mudblood? Maybe to rid him of the useless prejudice that had so followed him in his youth? Yes, that must be it, she told herself desperately.
"Ms. Granger?" Christine called her through the intercom system.
"Yes?"
"He's coming in."
Within seconds, she heard a knock on her door. "Come in," she called, still seated at her desk.
"Hello." And there he was. Draco Malfoy, the boy who had made her school years hell. The boy that hadn't even batted an eyelash at her being tortured, the boy that had mocked her and ridiculed her for the better part of six years. She stood to greet him and mustered him, taking in his differences from his school years.
But he looked good. His blond hair was rather closely cropped, and age had caused his rather thin face to round out a bit.
"Hello?" Draco slightly waved his hands in front of Hermione's eyes.
Hermione blinked. She hadn't even realized that she had just stared, shell-shocked at him, for the past good 40 seconds.
"Sorry, I've been tired."
"It's quite alright." Malfoy sat down at the chair across her desk. He studied her. She looked really...familiar? He couldn't quite place it. The face was pleasant enough, brown locks falling gently to the skinny shoulders. Brown eyes. No glasses. A slender nose. Perfect skin. He knew that face from somewhere, that hair, those eyes, oh god, those teeth. Understanding dawned on him.
He was sitting across from Hermione Granger.
"Why didn't the receptionist tell me this?" Malfoy fumed, madly pacing across Hermione's office. This wasn't the worst of his anger. This was probably the third phase, the first being shock, the second being pure, unadulterated rage, and the third being "It's-not-my-fault-it's-someone-else's."
"I don't know, maybe you didn't ask?" Hermione asked, slightly cynical.
"I'm quite sure I did...wait...no...I didn't."
"Exactly." Hermione smirked slightly. Typically Malfoy, to blame others for his mistakes.
"So, how can you help me?"
"Wait...what?" Hermione was stunned. Malfoy actually still wanted to work with her on this?
"On the case. You're my lawyer, remember?"
"Uh...yes..." Hermione stuttered, blushing like some schoolyard girl.
"Well, then, aren't you supposed to help me? I don't know, defend me in court or something?"
"I represent you, Malfoy. And are you sure you still want me to represent you? I mean..considering our history..." Hermione trailed off slightly, but with no trace of anger or bitterness. She was determined to stay professional. Professionalism was going to have to win, not petty personal grudges, no matter how deserved they may be.
"Of course, Granger. No offense, but I don't really have any other choices at the moment." Malfoy had silently agreed. Professionalism was going to have to prevail instead of personal biases.
"Obviously." Hermione smiled slightly.
"Alright, so what do I do?"
"You-" Hermione motioned to Draco- "Sit down and let me do the entire work. First, let's start with a couple of questions.
"The basic ones: Who are you currently married to?"
"Astoria Malfoy. Or Greengrass, then."
Hermione swished her wand at a quill which picked itself up and took notes for her. "Right. For how long have you been married?"
"The year after she left Hogwarts."
"How long have you been together?"
"Since the year before."
"Living together?"
"When we got married."
"Aha. Who made the money?"
"Me. I have a business."
"Oh?" Hermione's eyebrow raised in genuine curiosity.
"Yes. I sell books. We-my store- are quite popular."
Hermione's eyes lit up, though briefly. "Really?"
"Yes." Draco looked at Hermione in confusion for a moment. "What, you think I'm lying?"
"No, of course not." Hermione cleared her throat. "Anyway. What did Astoria, or Mrs. Malfoy, or Ms. Greengrass, or...whatever..." she blushed, the man sitting across from her making her lose her common sense.
"Just call her Ms. Greengrass. It's over."
Hermione quickly regained her air of professionalism."Fine. What did Ms. Greengrass do while you were working?"
"Took care of the house, cooked, cleaned, heard music...things like that..."
"Aha. Children?"
"No, but we were..." Draco paused. "Trying." Draco looked at the ground, obviously embarrassed.
"I see."
"Yes." Draco cleared his throat, breaking the awkward silence.
"Anyway... who owns the house?"
"I do."
"The furniture?"
"Family heirlooms. Most from my side."
After another fifteen minutes of similar questions, Hermione decided she had had enough. With another swish of her wand, the quill stopped writing. "Well, Mr. Malfoy, I have enough information for now."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
Draco stood up out of the chair with a curt nod. He walked to the door and paused, turning around. "So, until next time? I'll owl you."
"Until next time." Hermione looked down at her notes. She didn't look up.
She heard the click as Draco closed the door.
A little short, brash, and not-well written, but necessary for the plot. I really appreciate all this feedback. You guys make my day, every day. Thank you so much.
A reason why Hermione and Draco may not be like: "Ewwww, it's Granger!" Or "OMG, it's Malfoy, I hate him!" (Not in so many words, of course) is because they've simply grown up.
On a more technical note, 95% of this was written on a touch phone, so any grammar, consistency, or spelling mistakes are because of that, and I would really appreciate it if you would tell me. Thanks! I love you guys!
For every review, a Potter fangirl is born! (Not really, but you get virtual cookies!)
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