Word count:233
New Job
Hermione hadn't even been back for two weeks when she heard about the new assignments. Apparently the Wizengamot was pushing them to do more work in the Time department – which was ridiculous, considering the Wizengamot shouldn't have that kind of power in the first place, but her boss had always been somewhat of an idiot so it didn't really surprise her that he'd let their government dictate their research.
She has no choice but to do her job anyway.
(and if she protests loudly while doing it, well, she can always blame it on 'personal problems she's dealing with'. And no, she doesn't feel bad about using her recent break-up to get left alone. She really does want to be left alone after all.)
The file ended up on her desk the next day, and the man who delivered it (her superior so she can't inadvertently spill her coffee on him – what a shame) wore a nasty smile that almost made her shiver.
Almost, because she's seen things much scarier.
She opened the file, and her first thought was 'No way in Hell'. Her second was that she should have taken more vacations, because she was nowhere near ready for that. Her third was that there must be a mistake.
There, written clearly on the first page was the name of her future partner for this project.
And it's Draco Malfoy.