As Lucius walked down the corridor he suddenly felt much lighter. The day had taken a drastic turn in his favor, and he was very pleased indeed.
Assigned to work with Hermione Granger, princess of the mudbloods... it was too perfect to be true.
He was hoping to find a candidate for his plan at one of these horrid muggle events, but he now had something much better in mind.
She had been so shocked to see him there! He had to try hard to keep himself from chuckling as he played his little mind games with her. If his assumptions were correct, she had all her plans for the events ready long before he arrived. She just didn't want to spend more time with him than she had to. Little did she know how easily he could still persuade.
Maybe the events would go so well he would suggest having one every week? Or perhaps they needed to spend more time working in muggle environments to get the atmosphere just right.
He might not be a Death Eater any longer, but he certainly still knew how to torture the innocent. This was going to be quite a bit of fun after all.
He had taken a few of the pamphlets from outside her office. That evening in his study, as he sat down for a drink, he brushed up on the work she had been doing in the name of muggle awareness.
She must hate having to work on these. They are incredibly bland. A chance to work on something of substance must have felt like a miracle until she found out whom her partner would be.
He smirked as he read about muggle technology and it's useful applications to daily life. Some seemed rather silly, but he would likely need to familiarize himself with them if his act was to be convincing.
Perhaps he could find something to get himself acquainted with it in Diagon Alley in the morning.
"ARGHHHHHHHHH!"
She yelled as soon as she was back in her flat. A few things may have been broken in her outburst, but she quickly fixed them and collapsed on the sofa.
This was insane. How DARE the Minister even allow him to work with her! How was he even let in the building?
Hopefully Ginny was home, because she seriously needed to vent. She went over to the fireplace and stuck in her head.
"Ginny are you here? I really need to talk!" She yelled into her friend's living room.
"Mione is that you?" It was Harry.
Of course he would be in Ginny's apartment. She only moved out of the burrow to give her and Harry more alone time.
"Hey Harry, is Ginny busy? I need to talk to her." She could tell Harry about it also, but she didn't want to interrupt anything.
"Sure come on over! I'll go find her." Harry walked out of the room while Hermione floo'd over. She collapsed on the sofa while she waited for her friends.
"Hey there you are love, what's the matter? You look horrible!" Yep that was her best female friend, always honest.
"Thanks. Yeah I had a bit of a rough day at work. You two better sit." She said as they took seats on the opposite sofa.
"Alright, so I was working on my pamphlets this morning as usual, when Kingsley sends me a notification that I can finally work on my muggle culture project. You know, the one where we showcase muggle art and such?" She had mentioned it to them previously.
"Yeah it sounds familiar, like something you haven't stopped talking about for weeks." Harry groaned.
Ok so maybe she had mentioned it a few times too many.
"Right, so I start getting ready because he says he is sending someone who can help me plan. I have everything all laid out to explain exactly what I want when guess who walks in… Lucius Freaking Malfoy." Saying his name almost made her want to cry.
"No. No no no, how could that even happen? Didn't he JUST get off his house arrest? Why on earth would Kingsley allow him to ruin all our hard work towards muggle tolerance? I'm going to have a talk with him about this, it's an outrage!" Harry stood up and was pacing around the room, yelling about the blind faith peacetime was breeding.
"Calm down for a minute Harry and think about it. Maybe this is a good thing." They stared at Ginny like she had 3 heads.
"No just hear me out. I hate Lucius Malfoy just as much as you, but if he is willing to do this we should take it as an opportunity. The whole point of the project is to teach wizards that muggle culture isn't something to hate or fear. If you can make Lucius Malfoy even seem like he is opening his closed mind, how much more will that do for everyone else? He will want to look good for the Ministry, so in public you can use him as a vehicle. Get people to see that if the greatest muggle hater of all can appreciate muggle culture, they can too. Instead of letting him play you, be one step ahead and use it for your cause. This could be exactly what you need." She had a point, as much as Hermione didn't want to admit it. Harry even agreed that it would probably work.
"The only problem is having to actual deal with Malfoy. It may work, but it will not be fun." She sighed.
"No, but in all our experiences with him looking at muggle art certainly isn't the worst. It's just a challenge, and you are not one to turn a challenge down." Ginny knew her all too well.
"You're right, I can't just give up, so I need to make the most of it. Maybe he actually is a changed man, and will fight our cause to increase tolerance towards muggles!" All three of them had a good laugh at the idea.
Hermione went home feeling slightly less ill about her upcoming lunch meeting. It was just one more battle she needed to win.
A/N hey friends, this one is a bit short but it was a good place to end. Thanks for all the interest you have been showing!