"Co-chairs?!" she shrieked, arms flying out wildly to slam Kingsley's missive on the kitchen table. "Is this some sort of a sick joke?"
Growling out a huff, she paced over to the stove and set a fire ablaze beneath the tea kettle with her wand.
"Harry, when I agreed to allow Malfoy on the case as an associate investigator, I most certainly did NOT sign up for taking him on as anything remotely resembling a PARTNER!"
By then she had stalked her way over to the den and was proceeding to take out her anger on errant sofa pillows, fluffing them with unnecessary force.
"And the fact that the Minister has taken liberty to manufacture a fictitious job title to accommodate this self-entitled, elitist prat is not only offensive, it is wrong!"
She picked up several unsuspecting books from the coffee table and slammed them back into place among their counterparts on her crowded bookshelf.
Harry quickly maneuvered out of the way when she came storming back into the kitchen, an unwitting witness to her manic tirade.
Hearing Hermione come up for breath, he risked expressing his thoughts on the matter.
"You are absolutely right," he finally managed with a placating calmness.
The past few years of dating Ginny Weasley had taught him that beginning a conversation with any incensed female was nearly always best begun with those four words.
"It does seem a bit overindulging that Kingsley would make Malfoy a partner without so much as a discussion about it. But what I'm wondering is what happened at your meeting with Malfoy to warrant his demand in the first place?"
Her chest rose and fell emphatically from the exertion of her recent outburst, prompting her to take a deep, settling breath before replying.
"That's the thing, Harry. I thought everything was going rather well at first. I relayed the facts of the MacNair case to Malfoy, just as Kingsley had asked me to." Carefully levitating two ceramic mugs from her cupboard and gently placing them on the kitchen countertop, she poured the scalding hot liquid from the kettle into each awaiting vessel. Offering one to Harry's eager hands, she gathered her tea along with her newly composed senses and made her way over to the kitchen table. With Harry following closely behind, she descended into her chair adding, "It wasn't until I got to the crux of the matter and told him we needed him on board for his expertise, that things turned completely sour."
She sighed, vividly recalling the events from the previous day that led to him storming out of her office. "Right before my very eyes, he quite literally morphed into the infantile arse we knew and detested all those years ago at Hogwarts. You would think after all the atonement his family depicted in the papers following the war, that as least some of it rubbed off on him. He is the exact same person he was then."
The revelation did nothing more than further rankle her already ill-tempered mood.
"And now Kingsley is forcing me to be subjected to his abhorrent hubris every day at my workplace. It isn't fair." Her elbows slumped forward against the table as she swiped a hand brusquely across her forehead. Aimlessly reaching for the creamer server, she stirred the usual splash of milk and one measure of sugar into her mug and took a comforting sip.
Harry reached across the table and placed a reassuring hand on her arm. "I know I wasn't there to witness his foul display, but I want you to know, I have it on good word from Theo that Malfoy is definitely a changed man since the years that we knew him at Hogwarts."
Hermione immediately rolled her eyes at this assertion but continued to give Harry her undivided attention, so he carried on. "I also know that he is rather looking forward to the two of you teaming up on this case." The lie escaped his mouth before he was able to think better of it and he briefly wondered if she saw through the untruth before he quickly amended, "He knows you're brilliant, Hermione, everybody does. I just think that maybe if he feels he's on a level playing field, he'll be more willing to do the job we so desperately need him to do."
Abruptly snatching her arm away from Harry's grasp, she glared at him with contempt. "So YOU think Malfoy should be my partner too?!" A slight crackling emitted from the ends of her hair at the traitorous realization and a deep frown knit the space between her eyes.
Harry fidgeted with the handle of his cup, gripping it tighter than necessary as he sighed with an air of remorse. "Not exactly. I just know how important solving this case is to all of us at the Ministry and I think that granting Malfoy this one little thing- a title- when you think about it, really they're only words, Hermione...that we can all just get on with it and work together for the betterment of wizarding society."
He paused.
"Say you'll at least think about it."
His soothing emerald eyes met her stony glower, her countenance loosening as she seemed to consider his plea.
She knew somewhere in a very remote part of her well-warded mind that her friend was right. The title of 'co-chairs' was such a silly notion it was actually laughable. They had a job to do and would get it done regardless of what title Malfoy thought he did or did not deserve. She hated giving in to the petulant child's demands, but if that's what it took to put MacNair behind bars for his horrendous crimes, then she could rise up to meet the occasion.
Almost on cue, a ratty barn owl tapped on the kitchen window just beyond where they sat. Hermione walked over to retrieve the missive, only to realize it was for Harry. "It's for you," she said, handing the parchment over to him while simultaneously reaching into her treat jar for a small token for the owl before sending him off.
Harry's eyes blew wide. "Merlin, Hermione, I have to go! I nearly forgot I'm taking an early lunch today with Ginny in Hogsmeade."
With a swift motion, he took one final sip of his tea and hastily levitated his cup into the sink. Sliding his chair under the kitchen table with an audible scrape, he leaned in to give Hermione a chaste farewell kiss on her cheek. Holding both shoulders firmly in his grasp, he met her eyes with a leveled stare.
"You got this, Hermione. You commandeered a Ukrainian Ironbelly dragon through Gringotts Bank, narrowly escaping death. I think you can handle a ferret like Malfoy."
Her lips stretched into a mirthful grin as Harry inched his way toward the Floo with a lopsided smile of his own.
Before stepping in, he added with a slight stroke of uncertainty, "Besides, how bad could it possibly be?"
And in a flash of green flames he was gone.
