The Talented Mr. Malfoy

Chapter 2 - Hermione Granger and the Great Interruption

A/N: A huge thank you to my amazing alpha/beta team (aka my new besties): LeilahMoon, who is a genius editor... why didn't I find her sooner? And Lilithmorningstar69, who is wonderful at all things plot! I am beyond lucky to have found them!

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He walked in with his hands hanging before him, held together with a glowing wire that was leaving burn marks on his wrists. His shoulders were back, though, posture straight, chin higher than any other person's in the room. He glanced around at the faces surrounding the table, a slight smirk pulling at the right corner of his mouth. He knew he had the upper hand here, regardless of whose hands were bound.

It wasn't that Draco Malfoy's presence unnerved her. She would not be hoodwinked a second time. But the others – she was concerned for those who hadn't been acclimatized to Malfoy's artificial charm. Furthermore, his bloody smile irked her terribly. No, Draco Malfoy was not threatening. But he was a threat.

Hermione rolled her eyes and sat back down. She'd given them her ominous warning and now she couldn't wait to tell them all she'd told them so. She wouldn't participate in this charade. They couldn't make her. With a haughty air, she began to collect her things. For reasons she could not explain, she needed to make a scene. She wanted to make Malfoy amply aware that, while he may have fooled her colleagues, she would not be so easily swayed.

"Hermione," she heard from the front of the room. Harry was quite accultured to her antics and his voice was tired. He had on the jaded expression of an overworked and underpaid government employee. Which, she supposed, he was. He didn't even sound as though he were trying very hard to stop her. "Will you give it a rest, Hermione?"

"I will not have any part of this." She was shaking her head already; before he'd even finished speaking.

"Hermione, this is your job," Harry said. "You can't just walk away from it."

Hermione stopped rustling her things. Of course, she had no intention of actually walking out, but she wished Harry would fight a little harder. Otherwise, the scene would certainly fall flat. And Malfoy needed to know where she stood. "I can and I will," she said, deliberately avoiding looking directly at Malfoy.

"Hermione, we need you," Neville chimed in, although he was simultaneously sliding over those of Hermione's belongings which were just out of her reach.

She exhaled in frustration and looked to Harry, willing him to make at least one more moderately believable interjection. Harry just blinked at her; his obstinacy nearly rivalling hers. It was why he drove her absolutely bonkers. She pressed her lips together and stuffed yet another thick case file into her briefcase, feeling its contents shift with her fingers as the file folder shrunk in her grasp before she let go of it.

"Stay, Granger."

To Hermione's astonishment, it had been Malfoy who had spoken. She looked at him finally, at his face. His grey eyes looked almost luminous under the bright, overhead lights of the conference room. He had a mischievous grin on his face that told her he had no intention of staying out of trouble while on loan to the Ministry. But it was inviting – this grin. It was the promise of, if not honesty, at least a wildly good time. Oh, how she despised him.

He continued watching her as she studied his expression. "Stay," he repeated. "It'll be fun. Promise."

She scoffed. "As if your word means absolutely anything."

Malfoy placed a hand on his chest in mock surprise. "I'm hurt at your low opinion of me, Ms. Granger."

Hermione began to say something but then stopped. She stared at him for another moment before her eyes trailed down to the hand he'd placed on his chest. "Who uncuffed you?"