Chapter One
The ministry of magic
Hermione walked briskly down the hall, her heels clicking loudly against the tile and her finger tapping the folder she carried in an annoyed rhythm. Most days she loved her job at the ministry, today was not one of them.
After the war and the trials were done there had been some discussion amongst the trio about what to do next. It had been odd, having it finally over, not knowing what to do or expect. They had gone through the last several years of the war with such a clear goal it was jarring to lose that sense of purpose and drive.
Unsurprisingly, Harry had decided to become an Auror. There were always going to be dark wizards running around, fanatics trying to revive the old ideologies of pure blooded supremacy or other problematic ideas. He felt useful there and a calling that Hermione genuinely envied. He had risked his life over and over again to save the wizard in world, it only seemed fitting that he spent the rest of it trying to protect it.
Ron had struggled for a while trying to help George with the joke shop, trying to fill Fred's shoes but ultimately (and in Hermione's opinion for the best) decided to follow Harry. They had always done better together but they truly thrived being partners in the department. Ron's boldness complimenting Harry's new found good sense and reserve.
Hermione had struggled the most with finding her place in the world. She had considered teaching or following Harry and Ron or even working at St. Mungos but all of those options had involved reliving so much of the war, and Hermione was tired.
Tired of war and loss and pain.
Tired of caring for so many other people and always coming last.
Tired of the weight of responsibilities that had been pushed on them when they were far too young.
So Hermione had set to work to find the most mundane job that would also be interesting enough to keep her busy.
After some trial and error within the Ministry of Magic (including a rather unpleasant two month stint with the department of magical creatures where her advocation for rights for house elves was universally laughed out of the office) Hermione had landed in the Department of Magical Law- Customs, specifically dealing with the legality and licensing for the import and trade of magical goods.
Naturally, she had quickly risen through the ranks and though it was a smaller sub-department she was proud of her accomplishment as under deputy.
Hermione now had her own corner office overlooking Diagon Alley and two newly hired and fresh from Hogwarts graduates who answered to her.
As a rule she didn't bother her department head unless it was absolutely necessary. In fact Hermione took it as a personal failure if she had to resort to bringing an issue to Ms. Worthington but there was no way around it with her latest assignment.
"Ms. Worthington? Could I borrow you for a moment?" Hermione asked as she knocked two knuckles on the open door frame of her department heads office.
Ms. Worthington beckoned her in without looking up from the letter she was writing and gestured to the seat in front of her desk.
Ms. Worthington reminded Hermione a lot of Professor Macgonical, stern but matronly and kind. She was about sixty, always immaculately dressed with graying ebony hair neatly pinned up into a bun. Hermione had never seen so much as a hair out of place on the older woman and she subconsciously sat up a little straighter in her chair and tried not to fidget with the folder she carried.
Ms. Worthington signed the letter and put it to the side. She removed her reading glasses and regarded Hermione from across the mahogany desk. "Ms. Granger. To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"It's the potion supply business you had assigned me." Hermione slid the light blue folder across the desk to her waiting hand. "All the documents are signed and there's only a few loose ends, however I've noticed what is potentially a larger problem. None of the documents are signed by an actual person, they are all under company titles or signed by proxy."
Ms. Worthington flipped through the papers "That's not particularly unusual in this line of work. Are the documents like this?"
"All except one, the initial loan for the building space in Diagon Alley was signed by a person but that person was-" Hermione pulled the bottom piece of paper from the folder and placed it on top.
Ms. Worthingtons eyes narrowed as she read the name. "Theodore Nott."
"As you know, all those with previous connections to the Death Eaters get special scrutiny when it comes to these sorts of ventures. Despite weeks of Nico and June digging into this we've had little success in finding out Notts involvement or if he is indeed behind the 'Zosimos Emporium'." Hermione said, trying to bite back her irritation at the failure.
When June and Nico had brought it to her she had been fairly sure that with a bit of leverage and some digging she'd have the answers within a week but it had been nearly a month with nothing to show for it but a very vexed Gryffindor.
Ms. Worthington steepled her long fingers together and examined the paper more closely. "So the options are, we can either dig in deeper and have you root them out so we know what we are dealing with, which will take manpower and time. Or we can let sleeping dogs lie and allow them to move forward since all their paperwork is in order and legal, knowing this Nott might be up to no good."
"Those are the options, but either way I would feel more comfortable with the call coming from you." Hermione said stiffly.
"Nott was in your year at Hogwarts." An observation not a question. "If we dig in you're worried about our department looking prejudicial against the remains of the 28, yet if we let it slide we will look like they can get away with bending the rules and that is a slippery slope to be on." Ms. Worthington mused. Hermione's hands were clenched in her lap so hard her rings were cutting into her fingers as she waited for the verdict.
Seconds ticked by feeling like an eternity before Ms. Worthington smiled and tossed the folder back across the desk to Hermione.
"Better get a shovel Ms. Granger. Start digging"
A/N: I hadn't originally planned on another chapter this weekend but after running errands and spending four hours at the lake yesterday I woke up feeling terribly under the weather. I canceled all my plans for the day and since my headache won't let me sleep I decided to work on another chapter. Hope you all have a wonderful and productive week ahead of you!