Act I: I Can't Believe I'm Doing This

Part 10

I walk into work the next day ragged and exhausted. It's been months since my last nightmare. I'd almost forgotten how draining they could be. Almost.

Unfortunately, I'm not met with an easy day, as the first thing I see sitting on my desk is a copy of the Daily Prophet.

Golden Girl up to her old Gold Digging Tricks?

Hermione Granger (ex-wife of Ron Weasley, former girlfriend of Harry Potter and Viktor Krum) has been seen visiting the home of England's most infamous divorcee - Narcissa Malfoy.

The divorce proceedings between Narcissa and her ex-husband Lucius Malfoy were private and short, but sources say the divorce was bitter and spiteful. Is the Golden Girl playing her old hand and offering the devastated ex-Malfoy a shoulder to cry on in hopes of running away with the Black family fortune? Or is she simply taking advantage of a poor old woman who has been solitary for the ten years since the war?

Is she perhaps seeing the young Malfoy heir, who is married to Astoria Greengrass? It wouldn't be the first time we've seen Granger try to break up a happy couple for the sake of some extra gold to line her vault.

Only time will tell which fortune the Gold-digging Girl is after!

I spend the day literally locked in my office. Nobody comes in or out, and I only accept memos from other department heads. The frustration bubbling under my skin is so potent that I know casting would be a bad idea. I focus on getting work done as best as I can, trying not to set any quills alight in my hand.

I can't believe the gall of that woman! The instant the work day is done, I make my way to the records department, only briefly pausing to smile apologetically at the clerk who was about to lock up as I walked in. "I promise I won't be long!" I call as I briskly make my way to the Animagus Registry.

If she isn't here I am immediately filing a report against her. Unfortunately, my eyes instantly land on Rita Skeeter, registered as a beetle. I definitely do not slam the door on my way out of the department, but it's a close call.

By the time I've made my way up to the floo atrium - because I definitely don't trust myself to Apparate - it's almost completely empty. The few stragglers that are hanging around mercifully ignore me, though perhaps they're only doing so because I am visibly upset. I step up to the nearest fireplace, trying to think of somewhere close enough to my flat that I can walk home. There's really only one person I can think of.

I cast some floo powder into the fireplace, calling "Tonks residence!"

"Sh- Hermione?! You scared the hell out of me! Is this about Cissy? Already?"

"No, no, sorry. I just don't trust myself to Apparate at the moment, and you live near my flat. Would it be too much of a bother for me to step through so I can walk home?"

"Oh, not at all, come on through." Once I am through, Andromeda dusts me off with a quick wave of her hand. I didn't realize Andromeda is proficient in wandless magic. "I suppose you saw that article, then?"

"Unfortunately, yes ." It's hard to keep the frustration out of my voice. "Why does everyone think I'm sleeping with one of them? First it was Harry, now half the bloody population of wizarding Britain. If I ever get my hands on Rita Skeeter again, I'll- well I don't know what I'll do, but it won't be nice!" Before I can continue my rant, I have a mug of tea shoved into my hands with no warning. When did she even-

"It's been a few days since we last had a chat, Hermione. How has your clandestine relationship with my estranged sister been going?" Not the most subtle topic shift I've ever heard, but at this point I think I'll take anything to get my mind off of Skeeter. She leads me to sit next to her on the couch. "I can't imagine that she's been particularly easy to deal with since your falling out."