"So, are we going to gaze lovingly into each other's eyes all day or are we actually going to get some work accomplished?" Malfoy, always the charmer, Hermione thought with a shake of her head.

Catching herself mid eye roll, "By all means, I'm eager to get into the swing of things," she looked at him evenly, "where do we begin?" His eyes pierced her attempting to judge how well she was reacting to their new partnership, she imagined. Like she previously said, she was more than capable of remaining business-like and professional. It had yet to be seen whether he was capable of the same.

He seemed to accept her calm demeanor as genuine and went behind his desk. He picked up a large file and slid it across the sleek mahogany top toward her. "In this file are a number of pending regulations the Treasury has issued. They, of course, have yet to be approved-that's where you come in. As the new Assistant Director"-he gave a brief nod with a gleam in his eye that did little to convince her that he was sincere in his acknowledgement of her new title-"your responsibility is to sign off on them, so they can be set in place as soon as possible. There is a back log, as you can see, since dimwit Dilley vacated his position a few weeks ago." He opened the folder to gesture to the forms. His tone condescending, "I have taken the liberty of putting the most urgent on top for your immediate perusal." He made to hand her a quill, but, when he looked up at her from his desk, his hand halted in mid air.

Her arms were crossed across her chest and she could feel her face in what the boys affectionately referred to as her 'McGonagall imitation'. "Let me get this straight. You expect me to actually believe that I am to blindly sit here and sign off on all of these regulations without any amendments from my department, no researching to see whether they actually adhere to goblin's rights, zero say so from Director Callaghan...do you really think I'm that stupid?" Her tone and countenance disbelieving, she held his gaze refusing to be stared down.

After swearing to herself that she was going to remain professional, here she was letting herself get irritated and actually engaging him verbally. Was it because he was her school bully? She could have sworn she was long past that. She held the lift doors for him some mornings, for cripes sake! If she had hated him, she imagined she would be one of those who looked pointedly at the ceiling, pretending not to see or hear the person hurriedly dashing for the lift crying out for some kind soul to hold the doors.

She was fully of the opinion that she didn't hate him. Hate was the very thing that was wrong with the Wizarding world when she was at Hogwarts. Would she not be hypocritical if she herself hated? No, she didn't hate him. She was annoyed by him, plain and simple.

He plopped back in his plush, expensive-looking chair with a disgusted look. "You know, Granger, you're a real nuisance."

She sent him a tight smile. "From you, I'll take that as a compliment."

He sighed deeply. "Okay. Fine. Take them; do all your little research," he sat forward then, "but be aware that Regulation 2874 to Regulation 2895 are due by the end of the day Friday." He reached forward and snapped the file shut. "That's in two days..."

She considered that to be the conclusion of their meeting. She jerked the file from under his hand still resting on the cover, stood with great dignity, head held high, "Lucky for me that I have you to help me count." Hermione smiled tightly and left the office followed by the firm snap of his office door closing.

Not exactly the best first meeting together, she thought later while sitting behind her new dark cherry desk. Two hours had passed and she had already finished approving 2874 to 2889. They had all been brief and fairly straight forward requiring little to no research on her part. She spent the rest of the day working on the next three that required more research into goblin rights.

The next morning, Hermione spotted Malfoy in the Atrium heading for the lifts. As she was waiting in the queue, she took the time to surreptitiously observe him from under her lashes as he stood a few lines to her right. Yes, he was definitely much taller than she remembered him being from school, but, then again, it wasn't exactly as if they were the best of friends at Hogwarts; she didn't spend much time standing next to him. The Mafloy blond hair was the same as always, if not kept a bit shorter these days in a more mature cut. His clothes were expensive and well-tailored, but that wasn't a surprise. Gazing at him with fresh eyes, she noticed that he was a bit broader than his teenage self, also, and his once angler facial features had filled in to what some might refer to as "chiseled". Hermione's thoughts came to a screeching halt as she realized that she actually found him quite attractive. Pigs have officially taken flight...

She was shuffling forward in line when Harry walked over and pulled her from her thoughts. She smiled in greeting. "I didn't figure you for a line jumper," she teased. He rolled his eyes and pulled a cup of hot liquid from behind his back and handed it to her.

"You were holding my place while I went to fetch you coffee from your favorite little bistro down the street, but, if you don't remember, I can certainly take the coffee back..." He was teasing also but she narrowed her eyes threateningly just the same. He laughed in response.

Harry's eyes looked to the right to the person that Hermione herself had just been scrutinizing. She followed his eyes and noticed that Malfoy's eyes met Harry's and they both did their nod of acknowledgement. Hermione grinned widely. "It's so very nice to see the two of you getting on so well these days!"

Harry snapped his eyes back to her. His expression clearly saying 'you're quite mad'. "You call that getting on well?"

Hermione inspected her cup, her grin still in place. "Well, you haven't accused him of some ulterior motive or dastardly deed in quite some time...For the two of you? I'd definitely call that getting along." She looked back to him with an innocent look, but amusement twinkled in her eyes. "You'll have to give me suggestions, since I'll be seeing him on an almost daily basis now. Did I mention he's my new partner?"

Harry chuckled. "You may or may not have mentioned that once-or eight times-when you floo-ed last evening. Hermione, you were the one who was always telling us to ignore him and not to let him get under our skin. If anything, you know more about getting along with him than I do."

They ended their conversation as it was their turn to file into the lift with a handful of other people. They spent the ride standing companionably next to one another with the buzzing of office memos hovering overhead.

Hermione's stop was before his, so she exited the lift with a "Thanks for the coffee!" thrown over her shoulder.

She spent her morning in with the Director having him look over the regulations that she had researched yesterday. She had finished the remaining six regulations at home, three of which she did not approve. Was it childish to look forward to throwing those back at Malfoy in rejection? Probably so.

After she had returned from lunch, she decided it was time to visit Mr. Malfoy. She rode the lift and strode with confidence and grace through Magical Accidents and through the wall of magic glass. She was almost humming, such was her good mood. Down the hall to the left, the third door on the right, she knocked. At his brisk bid to enter, she sailed through the door with a bright smile. She inclined her head with a "Mr. Malfoy" as her greeting.

His only response was to raise a brow. If she didn't know any better, she would swear that amusement twinkled back at her in his eyes. He indicated she sit with a sweep of his hand toward his guest chair and took the thin file that she proffered. He shuffled idly through the file as he sat. Without looking up, "Just 'Malfoy' will do or-if you dare-'Draco'. 'Mr. Malfoy' is my father who is now retired." He looked up with a polite smile, but gone was the amusement from his eyes; it was replaced by annoyance. "I see a few of the regulations weren't up to your standards..." She smiled sweetly. "Was it really necessary for you to stamp REJECTED across the form like this?" He held up the offending parchment definitely not looking the least bit amused.

The corners of her mouth quivered in her effort not to laugh. Maybe she was a bit childish afterall... She sighed, relishing the moment a little longer before adopting a more serious mien. She unfurled a roll of parchment and lay it across his desk. "This a list of reasons why those three particular regulations were not approved. I've separated the reasons by regulation and I've also taken the liberty of citing my sources at the bottom for your perusal . I'm assuming you have the latest copy of the goblin rights handbook...well, the numbers to the left correspond to the page number, paragraph and section, so you're able to look directly without any searching on your part." She was feeling very satisfied with her work.

"How very thorough of you, Granger," he said with a sneer. She saw that she was getting on his nerves, which was a nice change of pace from the norm-or rather, what used to be the norm. He sighed and his expression cleared. "As much of an inconvenience this is, I suppose I should be grateful that you at least have reasons for why they weren't approved...rather than out of pure spite, that is."

Her chin lifted a degree or two, with a sniff, "You think so much of yourself that you think I would factor you into my decisions?" She tsk-ed. She opened her mouth to tell him more just how ridiculous the idea was and express the importance of objective reasoning when he held up his palm.

"Enough," he said so forcefully that she actually did as she was told. She didn't think it wise to push him too far. "I wasn't serious; it's called sarcasm. Maybe you've heard of it?" She knew it was rhetorical and had to press her lips together to keep from responding to his condescending tone. "I assure you that I haven't forgotten your status as a self-righteous Gryffindor." Her eyes narrowed. "I suppose that somehow makes you perfect for your job though. You're reasoning will be sound and I'll have no issues with the treasury board."

"Which is your main concern?"

"Pardon?"

"The fact that you'll have no issues with the board...that's your main concern." Said as more a statement rather than a question.

"Well, of course." She just shook her head. "Why are you surprised by this? It's your job to care about the goblins, mine is to tend to the money. I'd say we're both fit for our posts." He smirked then. "Why do you think they make it a point to partner the positions together?" He made sense, but she refused to acknowledge it.

"Fine, I get it."

The next hour was spent looking over the remaining stack of forms he had given her the previous day. She had made a list of questions to ask. They took turns aggravating the other, but they didn't squabble overmuch and remained on the task at hand.

Hermione supposed that she was taking up more of his time than her predecessor had. With a slight smile, "Missing "dimwit" Dilley yet?"

He sat back and regarded her thoughtfully. "There's a reason I dubbed him a dimwit, Granger." She let out a laugh.

"Okay, well, I'll leave you to your work then." She gathered her things. When she got to the door, she turned. "I had those regulations all done for you today. I believe that's the day before Friday, isn't it?" She pretended to think seriously over her question for a second before flashing him an innocent smile. His eyes narrowed and she turned, walking out the door closing it behind her.