"Ms. Granger?" My assistant crooned with a knock on my door. "Your 4 o'clock is here."

"I don't have a—" I started as a tall, suited blonde entered my office.

I choked back a dry swallow as he nodded to my assistant and turned to face me. Time seemed to slow as each muscle tensed within me one by one, bracing for the meeting of our eyes.

Even after ten years, there was no doubt in my mind, no forgetting those grey irises, porcelain skin, white blonde hair, impeccable suit, and that insufferable smirk.

"Surprised to see me, Granger?" He drawled, settling into the chair across from me as my office door closed, leaving us unbearably alone.

As if on cue, I became hyper-aware of every follicle of hair pulled into my tight chignon bun pulling at my scalp. I straightened in my seat.

"Well, if you'd bothered to–."

"Make an appointment?" He interrupted, "Your assistant seems to believe I did."

"Clearly." I huffed, annoyed by how quickly he'd managed to get under my skin. "Why are you here, Malfoy?"

I'd managed to avoid this ferret for nearly a decade, and he has the nerve to just waltz into my office? My eyes burned as I waited for him to answer.

"I'd like to ask you the same thing," he admitted, his voice deepening as he leaned back in his chair.

"Excuse me?!" This motherfu…

"This is the curse breaker division, isn't it?" He mused with feigned disinterest as he lazily eyed my office from the edge of his nose.

"Clearly," I sneered back through my teeth. What was he playing at?

I followed his eyes as they slowly slid around my office, drifting over each award, certificate, picture, and trophy I had displayed.

"Do you remember the job adverts Gringotts used to post at Hogwarts? How did they go? Something like, 'Are you seeking travel, adventure, danger, and possibly treasure? Thrilling opportunities abroad? You're in luck, Gringotts Wizarding Bank is recruiting Curse-Breakers!'" He scoffed with a disapproving roll of his eyes.

My mouth twitched uneasily, not sure where he was going with this, and more than ready for him to leave.

"They might as well have said, 'ballsy idiots looking for a quick and painful death, come help greedy goblins unlock cursed treasures…or die trying.'" He breathed a subtle chuckle before finally bringing his cool eyes back to mine. "Now look at you, heading the new Curse-Breaker division of the DMLE. Well done, Granger."

Years of his bullying made it all too easy to distrust his compliment, even as he arched an expectant eyebrow in response to my silence.

I cocked an eyebrow right back.

"After hunting and destroying dark objects during the war, I realized there was a greater, untapped need for the removal, countering, and breaking of curses and cursed objects than the Ministry had ever realized. So, I built a team of the cleverest witches and wizards I could find; there are 6 of us so far, and we're the furthest thing from treasure-hunting goblins I can imagine." I breathed, returning to an upright position and clasping my hands. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm extremely busy, so help yourself out; if you require further assistance, Jessica will schedule an appointment for you."

With a dismissive wave of my wand, I opened the office door and returned my attention to what I'd been working on prior to his interruption.

He pursed his lips appreciatively, combed his hair back with his fingers, and then, to my utter disappointment, he continued to sit.

I eyed him through my lashes as his body shifted, and he reached for his wand. Instinctively, I clenched mine beneath the desk.

With a cocky sneer, he flicked his wand, sending a parchment into the air to unfurl in front of my face. An unexpected crunch followed as my wand collided with the paper as I cast my shield.

I briefly thanked the paper's positioning for perfectly blocking my view of the smug look I was certain Malfoy had plastered on his face.

Then, spying the Ministry's letterhead, I recovered as quickly as I could and pulled the letter down to my desk.

"Perhaps, this would be a good time for you to explain why the CBD has demanded my presence and cooperation in a month-long inspection of my family's Manor!?" His voice had been cool and collected at first but swiftly elevated into a yell with each word as he stood to lean over my desk.

I read and reread the letter, certain that I had misunderstood. I verified Harry's correct signature at the bottom three more times before addressing the infuriated man towering over me.

"Th-this must be a mistake," I began, pausing as the appealing scent of his cologne invaded my airspace and seeped into my nostrils. "I'll get this sorted with Harry straight away."

I stood his letter in hand and prepared to walk upstairs to Harry's office.

"Yes, let's go see what Potter has to say. He's already been so helpful since the death of my Father, hasn't he?!" He gritted out sarcastically as I stepped around my desk.

I stopped, realizing his body blocked my path toward the door.

"Step aside, Malfoy; I told you, I'll sort this out. You can leave now."

He didn't budge.

"I'm not going anywhere, Granger."

His voice was a low whisper that only I could hear; it seemed to tingle in my inner ear as my body caught up to speed, taking in his close proximity.

"Step aside, Malfoy; I won't ask again." I seethed in response. This wasn't Hogwarts anymore, he was no threat to me now.

"Or what?" He challenged, leaning forward until his face hovered centimeters from mine.

Fucking prick.

"Or, I will relocate you myself, dragging your slimy, ferret self out through the lobby for everyone to see and all the way to your new cell in Azkaban. Try me, Malfoy, I dare you." I fumed, my eyes burning fire into his and his into mine.

His glare shifted into an amused smirk, one I despised.

"Miss Granger?" My assistant piped in nervously from the doorway. "You have a call on line one."

"Thank you, Jessica. Perfect timing. Malfoy was just leaving."

Jessica exits just as Malfoy releases a weighted exhale through his nose. His body shifts, and I think he's finally moving out of the way.

Then with a slide of his hand, a thin metallic object appeared between his long fingers.

"We'll be in touch." He breathed as he slipped it into the pocket of my blazer.

Taken aback, I move to remove the object.

The paper-thin, shiny metal had an intricate "M" engraved on one side and a phone number on the other.

Wow, only a Malfoy would have such a ridiculously absurd…

"Is this supposed to be a business card?" I huffed, looking up.

But he was gone, and I was once again alone in my office.

I released a sigh of relief before noticing the blinking light on my phone and returning to my chair.

"Curse Breaker Division, Hermione speaking," I recited in my chipper telephone voice.

"Mione, it's me." Harry's familiar voice came through the phone, and I relaxed back into my seat. Just the person I needed to talk to. "I tried calling your cell earlier, but you must have it on silent or something."

"Sorry, I had a meeting earlier, I must've forgotten to switch it back."

I reached into my purse and pulled out my phone; sure enough, 2 missed calls from Harry and 5 missed calls from an unknown number.

"I'm so, so sorry to do this, but I have a huge favor to ask of you. If you can help me with this, Mione, I will literally be in your debt forever."

"Let me guess, it involves Malfoy…" I mused with a roll of my eyes.

"Yeh…You know I've been working on Lucius' murder investigation, and honestly, there's something not right here, and Malfoy has something to do with it, I just know it."

"Why would he murder his own father?" I interjected with disbelief and an odd sensation of Deja Vu.

"Why isn't Malfoy the least bit interested in helping us solve this case? That's the real question here. He's been nothing but obstinate and dismissive since day one."

"I assume he has an alibi?"

"Yes," he groaned, "a bloody solid one, too, he wasn't even in the country when it happened. But he knows something, I know it, he's hiding information or evidence or something."

"Okay, so I saw the letter… how did my team get roped into this?"

"I've spent the past 6 months on this investigation, and I have nothing to show for it, not a single scrap of evidence. I've got less than a month before I've got to finalize my report on this case, and now Kingsley is sending Ron and me to the States to help MACUSA. I don't know how many weeks we'll be on assignment, and I can't submit my report with nothing to show. If your team can get in and really assess the space, it would add further credit to the Ministry's due diligence on this case."

"So, you think we'll be able to find something your team couldn't?"

I'd liaised on cases before, testified as an SME, and worked hand in hand with the Auror team on numerous investigations, but this was different…I'd never been handed a crime scene and full authority.

"You're the only option I've got at this point. Plus, if the brightest witch of our age can't figure something out, then who can? And, there's something off about Malfoy Manor, I hate asking you to go back there, but a fresh set of eyes and tests could go a long way. And…" he continued excitedly. "This could be just the project your team needs to get your department expansion proposal approved!"

I shoved my face into my palm in annoyance; he wasn't wrong.

"You have my attention…"

"You're the greatest Hermione, what would I do without you? Thank you, what a relief!" He exclaimed.

"Don't mention it." Another roll of my eyes.

"My assistant should have dropped off a copy of the case file for you to start with, and Glinda in Transport can set your office up with direct access to the Manor, but Mione, there's one more favor I need to ask of you."

Godric, what now…

"Go on…"

"Can you keep an eye out for Ginny while I'm gone? Molly is stopping by a couple of days a week, but with a baby on the way and me out of the country, I'd just feel better knowing she had someone else keeping an eye out too."

"Of course! You hardly need to ask that, Harry, honestly."

"Great, I hoped you'd say that. I finally managed to convince her to let me buy her a cell phone. That way, we can keep in touch while I'm gone. She doesn't really know how to use it, but I taught her how to make calls. I programmed my number and your number in for her, so she should be all set."

I looked at the call log on my cell again…

"Does her number end in 3864?"

"Yes, that's it."

"She definitely knows how to call. I'm saving her number now."

"You're the best."

"I know," I resigned at last, drained from the events of the day.

"We just got to the port key office, I've got to go. Thanks for everything."

"Safe travels."

Click.

I wasn't normally the type to say TGIF, but thank fucking Godric it was Friday.