Hermione’s dreams were incoherent that night. They were jumbles of different people and had no true purpose. Malfoy’s face appeared and disappeared at some points. It was the first time Hermione had dreamed of him without suffering a dreadful nightmare. She slept calmly through the night, and Malfoy’s face lingered in her thoughts.
She woke up the next morning at a reasonable time, which shocked her. Her clock told her that it was 6 o’ clock. It gave her enough time to get dressed, run a brush through her hair, and eat a quick breakfast. Though her hair was unruly and frizzy at Hogwarts, it had transformed into soft curls. She didn’t need to usually do anything with it; just leave it down. She brushed it carefully, not wanting to make it bushy.
She gazed at herself in the mirror and saw a person who looked excited. That wasn’t a usual thing. She despised going to work in the mornings, and she usually wore a tired scowl on her face. She was getting used to the idea of liking her job, now.
Just then, she faintly heard an owl screeching outside of the bathroom. She opened the door and allowed the owl to soar in and perch itself on her shower curtain rod. It was a handsome brown barn owl. He pecked at her finger, wanting her to hurry and detach the letter from its leg so he could be on his way. She worked quickly, then walked the owl outside of her flat.
“Miss Granger, I don’t mean to be a bother… but, er – is that an owl you just let go?” said Hermione’s neighbor, Mrs. Arbold as the owl disappeared into the fog.
“Oh, er, yes. Poor fellow must have been lost.” Hermione offered dubiously.
Mrs. Arbold shot her a confused look, but probably decided it wasn’t worth an explanation. Hermione sighed and walked back into her flat, almost forgetting the growling that erupted from her stomach. She made a quick breakfast of toast and tea, gobbled it in two minutes, then disapparated to the Ministry.
When she arrived, she was nearly shoved down by a foreign group of wizards They disregarded her completely and went on there way, chatting in a language Hermione didn’t even know existed. She rubbed her temples in circles, already deciding that it was going to be a long and annoying day.
“Hermione! Fancy seeing you here so early.” Ron walked up to her wearing a goofy grin.
“Ron, fancy seeing you here on time.”
“Hey, I haven’t been as bad the past few days.”
“Not AS bad, but still a bit late.” Hermione chided with a smile on her face.
“I’m not late, everyone just arrived too early.”
Hermione rolled her eyes and began walking to her office.
“Hermione, I actually needed to tell you – Kendrina wants you in her office as soon as you can get there – it’s apparently urgent. Want me to tag along?”
“Harry is your partner, Ron. You’d best go find him. He’s had enough on his mind, lately, anyways.”
Ron looked at her with a defeated expression and sulked as he walked away. Hermione continued on in the direction of her office, as Kendrina’s was only a few doors away. She wondered if Malfoy would be there, but caught herself and tried to think about something else. He wasn’t worth her time to be thinking about. Her shoes clacked against the marble floors loudly, and she realized that there were less people at the Ministry that day. It was usually so crowded, so it seemed a bit odd.
“Miss Granger, there you are.” Kendrina said with a stony expression. “Come in, Mr. Malfoy’s already come by. You can sit and wait next to him while I round up a few more team members. I have something important to discuss with you all in regards to the investigation.”
Hermione nodded. If it was any worse than what she thought it was, she’d be worried sick for the rest of the day. She pried Kendrina’s office door open as Kendrina marched away. Malfoy had his face in his hands, and he looked upset. Hermione’s overly active imagination kicked into gear.
“Someone’s been murdered, haven’t they!” She yelled and flung open the door.
Malfoy jumped nearly three feet in the air.
“Cripes, Granger!” he had an annoyed look on his face, mixed with a bit of sleepiness.
“ANSWER ME!” She angrily fumbled for her wand in her robes and shakily held it up to his
face.
His eyes grew wide and he knocked the wand out of her hand.
“What is your problem, you stupid mudblood?!” he shouted.
“Who’s been killed?!”
“No one, who the he|l told you that?!”
“Oh, well, um…” she looked away.
Malfoy straightened up his robes and fell back into his chair. He was breathing shakily.
“Ask before you go and nearly curse someone next time!”
“I just assumed that, well… Since she called us in here…”
Malfoy’s chest seemed to be slowing down on its fast heaving.
“No one’s been murdered, Granger. We haven’t even fully began this investigation yet.” He rolled his eyes at her.
“Then what did she call us in here for?”
“If I knew that, I wouldn’t be here, would I? What the he|l makes you think I know?”
Hermione plunked into the chair next to him and brushed some stray hairs away from her face.
“Sorry.” She mumbled.
Malfoy cast a dark look at her and put his face back in his hands.
“For someone to be so smart, you really can jump to some stupid conclusions.”
“You looked upset, so I just assumed the worst.” She said plainly, as if it were a mistake anyone could make. “What’s your problem, anyways?”
“Besides people shouting nonsense at me while I’m half asleep?”
Hermione huffed impatiently. “Never mind. I don’t care, anyhow.”
Malfoy looked slightly amused.
“Well, Granger, if you MUST know, I was up half the night finishing off that bloody paperwork you had.”
Hermione’s mouth dropped open.
“Yes, so next time, thank me instead of screaming at me.”
Kendrina bursted through the door with five other people. She looked extremely worried and rushed.
“Now that we’re all here, there’s some important news I must share with you. Miss Granger,
Mr. Malfoy, we need you to start your patrolling immediately. The Ministry thinks that there’s going to be a murder today.”
