A/N: Yeah AsanteSanaSquashBanana I wonder about my grammar too :P. Thanks for being my beta again :).

Thanks for all the reviews. And remember review, review, REVIEW!! The more you review the more I write, it's like a fuel for me :P.

Anyway, this chapter is the answer to one of the most bugging things in my story, namely - why the brightest witch of all time wasn't able to find a job? Here you go. :)

Chapter IX

The New Year started but Hermione was no more successful in finding herself a job than she was in the previous one. She read the offers in papers everyday but they always wanted a male, a blonde, a pink haired tranny, a cat or other creature, she never met with the requirements. She was so frustrated with it. How come that the brightest witch of all time couldn't find herself a decent job? Was it some sort of joke? Were the fates that set on making her life miserable? She groaned and threw the paper to the bin. George had offered to employ her but she knew it was just because he liked her. She wasn't qualified for the job and they already had all posts filled. There was no work for her there. She thanked him none the less.

She really needed to relax that's why she asked Ginny if she would like to meet with her today. Ginny of course agreed and they were to meet in the new ice-cream parlour in an hour. Meanwhile Hermione decided to wander round Diagon Alley for a bit. When it was near the meeting time she made her way over to the parlour. She didn't notice a mysterious individual following her quietly.

"It can't be THAT bad Hermione."

"Oh but it is! Look at us. I invited you and look who's paying! I need money but suddenly everyone turned their backs on me! I can't believe!" She was waving her arms wildly and the three scoops of

ice-cream she was holding were dangerously close to falling out of the waffle.

"You'll find something, I'm sure of it."

"I'm desperate! I'd take any job, seriously! Well, apart from the brothel of course." She stopped waving her hands and sighed in defeat. She started massaging her temples with her free hand. Neither she nor Ginny noticed a cloaked man sitting few tables from where they were sitting. He smirked to himself, folded the newspaper he was pretending to read and walked out of the parlour. Finally... I got her.

Hermione was sitting in the flat staring into the fire when suddenly she heard a loud scrapping from the kitchen. She followed the noise until she found herself before its source.

"Hello owl... What do you have here, eh?" She untied the letter from the owl's leg and checked the address. That's weird... Who would've sent me a letter? She opened the envelope tentatively and took out a piece of parchment she found inside.

Dear Mrs. Weasley,

She cringed inwardly at the name.

You have been appointed a meeting with a representative of the M&R Legal Office concerning a job offer this Friday at noon.

Yours sincerely,

Cassandra Hitchclark

Personal Assistant of Sergei Rimsky, the cofounder of M&R Legal Office

Hermione stared at the letter with a look of disbelief on her face.

Huh? A job offer?

She shook her head and pondered at the letter. Maybe it was a trap? She took her wand and checked the letter for any possible hexes. She fired spell after a spell and got more and more frustrated that none of them detected any suspicious meddling.

"Are you quite done with torturing that poor piece of parchment?" She looked over her shoulder to see a highly amused George leaning against the doorframe. He pushed off the frame and walked over to her. He snatched the parchment from her hand and read the contents.

"Hey! It's impolite to read other people's correspondence!" She tried to snatch the letter back but he held his hand high way out of her reach. She huffed angrily and sat on the kitchen stool grumpily.

"Sooo... Why exactly were you hexing this letter?"

"I wasn't hexing it. I was checking it for hexes."

"Um... Why?"

"I found it suspicious."

"It's just a job offer..."

"Exactly."

"Whatever. So are you going to come? It's tomorrow isn't it?" He sat at the other stool and tried smoothing the parchment. It looked quite worn from all the spells.

"I'm not sure."

"It may be the only chance."

"Yes... That is a huge pro."

"What are the cons?"

"It may be a trap."

"You're paranoid."

"Prat."

"Your insults are getting old you know?" He smirked at her and she stuck out her tongue in response.

"How... mature. Who are you again?" She laughed and snatched the paper from him while he was distracted. "So?"

"Yeah... I think I should give it a try..."

"Good choice. Now... the dinner." He smiled and went over to the fridge taking out random products. She was sooo getting used to that.

She stood before a rather nice old brick building. The golden letters M&R LEGAL OFFICE written in a fancy script on the sign above the entrance were glistening in the winter sun. She took an encouraging breath, placed her hand on the handle and pushed. She was greeted with a dusty office full of various papers and documents. Her first impression of the place was just like a muggle movie. She stood beside the door uncertainly when she noticed a middle-aged woman in robes waving her over. She glanced at the wizards and witches she passed on her way and suddenly felt really underdressed despite wearing her best woman's suit. Everyone was dressed in robes. She went over to the waving witch and introduced herself. The witch's eyes lit up at her sight and she beamed at her.

"Yes, yes. Mrs. Weasley. Muggle. Very muggle. Splendid!" Hermione looked at the woman weirdly.

"You make it sound like a compliment"

"But it is dear! It is! I'm Cassandra Hitchclark. Come with me."

The witch led her upstairs and invited her to a small office. She offered her a cup of tea which Hermione politely declined. She was way too nervous to drink anything.

"You'll meet your new boss in a minute." New boss? I didn't agree to anything yet...

"Mr... Rimsky, was it?"

"Not quite." Said a voice from the doorway. She turned around and almost fainted when she saw the owner of the voice. He just smirked at the look on her face.

"... Malfoy?" She tried to catch Cassandra's eyes to make her confirm that it was indeed true, that her mind wasn't playing games with her, but she was already gone. Great... I knew it was suspicious!

"The one and only, now stop looking like a deer caught in the headlights. I'm not going to kill you."

"That's not exactly comforting." He smirked and offered her a seat. She didn't realise that she was standing until he pointed that out. She took the seat reluctantly. I might as well listen to what he has to say now that I'm here...

"Do you know why you're here?

"I was told you have a post for me."

"That's true. We've found ourselves in need for a... muggle-born." Hermione looked at him quizzically.

"Amuggle-born? My, my... You've certainly changed." He looked quite amused.

"People grow up."

"Not all of them... Anyway, why do you need a muggle-born?"

It turned out that Malfoy's reputation wasn't always something to be proud of. He was a very successful lawyer but he had a very limited clientele. Namely, all muggle-borns and halfbloods were scared of coming to him with their problem. And there were only so many purebloods in need of a lawyer.

"See Rimsky here is even worse than me, he's a Durmstrang graduate. What we need here is someone to convince the people that we're not muggle haters."

"Aren't you?"

"Seriously Granger, I'd have to hate the majority of the population. Be realistic." He took off his stylish glasses and crossed his fingers on his lap. He looked really serious and professional. She was actually considering agreeing to his proposition.

"Why me?" He actually laughed when she said that.

"Are you for real? You're a war hero, the brightest witch of our age and the best known muggle-born there is. Any other reasons? Seriously, do you know anyone that has better chance to convince muggles to do something against their reason? I don't."

"So... What do you expect me to do if I agree to this?"

"Marketing. You'll be responsible for selling our company to the people. Making them trust us. The more people you bring the higher your salary gets I might add." Hermione was getting really interested in taking the job. It sounded really promising and creative. Who would've though... Malfoy of all people...

"Yeah... about that..."

"200 Galleons a month" He interrupted her.

"WHAT?!"Is he completely MENTAL?! 200 Galleons a month? I'll be able to buy a flat in three months time!

"You heard me. Or is it too much for you?"

"No! Not at all! 200 Galleons. Is. Just. Fine. Yeah." She was bewildered. This was almost too good to be true. "I agree."

"Great. You're starting on Monday. Till then." He got up and waited for her at the door. She started getting up too when something suddenly dawned on her. I knew it was too good...

"Malfoy..." He looked at her questioningly. "Now that you have me working for you, and I promise I won't resign so be honest, did you have... anything... to do at all with the fact that I... that I was unable to find a job until now?" He smirked.

"Would you have agreed to work for me if you weren't desperate?" He looked really satisfied with himself when he asked her that question.

"No." Simple but true.

"There you go."

"Prat." She barely refrained from smacking his arm. This is no George, Hermione.

"Watch your mouth. I'm your boss after all."

"You've gone through a great trouble to have me here. Possibly lost some money for bribes as well... You wouldn't fire me for name-calling."

"I would. Just to spite you. 200 Galleons is no trifling matter."

"There's the Malfoy I know."

Hermione still could not believe her situation when she was making her way home. She found a job. A good job. Actually no, she was tricked into taking the best job ever. 200 Galleons a month. I'm going to shit money from now on… She actually laughed and twirled ignoring the weird stares she was getting. She forgot apparating into the flat and went inside through the front door instead. She skipped every other stair and swung herself on the couch sighing happily.

"What's with the mood?" George just came out of the kitchen carrying two steaming mugs. Raspberry tea for her and cocoa for himself. He sat on the opposite couch and Fireball jumped on Hermione's stomach purring contently.

"You won't believe it when I tell you."

"Try me."

"I'm the new marketing advisor at the M&R Legal Office."

"Well this is really good news but... not entirely unexpected, so I guess you're leaving something out." She looked at him and deliberately prolonged the pause before answering.

"The 'M' stands for Malfoy." George nodded. Hermione looked flabbergasted. He raised a questioning eyebrow at her.

"You're not going to shout about how irresponsible I am being, fraternizing with the enemy and all that?" He raised the other eyebrow and looked genuinely surprised.

"Fraternizing with the enemy? We're not in school anymore and he's not a death-eater or anything, we're adults, why would I do something as... immature, as shouting?"

"I'm sorry. I just can't keep myself from comparing you to Ron all the time. That's what he would have done. I should have known that you're nothing like him by now. I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing all the time or the words will lose the meaning when you would really want them to have it." He sipped his cocoa and she just stared. Is this really George Weasley the prankster extraordinaire that's saying those wise things? Am I not imagining it? Fireball's meow bought her back from her trance.

"Anyway, I'm starting on Monday... You won't believe my salary..."

"Oh?"

"He has offered me... 200 Galleons a month."

George spluttered his drink and Fireball got so frightened by it that she threw herself at Hermione's face scratching it badly in the process. She threw the cat off her and touched her face. Her fingers were slightly bloodied. She cursed under her breath and went to the bathroom to tend to her face. However, before she could think of any spell she caught her reflection in the mirror. She was quite... pathetic really. Her bushy hair was, just that – bushy. Her face was really plain and she didn't really have a good figure. Blood tricked down her face and it was smeared over her forehead where she touched it before.

"What are you doing?"

"Thinking."

"Care to share?"

"I just... It's no wonder... It's no wonder he did what he did..." She looked at the sink sadly.

"Stop. Saying. Things. Like. That... Not while I'm... unable to prove you just how... wrong you are." With that, he walked out. Hermione looked up sharply but he was already gone.

End of Chapter IX