Where I Belong (Dramione Fanfiction)

Chapter 3: Starting Over

As Hermione stepped out of the fireplace, all eyes were on her. Everyone at the Ministry of Magic was shocked to see the war heroine come back after disappearing 2 years ago for no apparent reason. However, many believe that she couldn't deal with her broken heart after the Golden Couple's famous split, so she ran away to drown out her sorrows. The Wizarding world thought they might never see the brightest witch of their age again.

Yet, as she stood there, drawing everyone's attention without intending to do so, Hermione paled as realisation of what she did hit her. Without another word, she pushed past the crowd of reporters and the inquisitive eyes of the Ministry employees and went into a quiet corner.

After a few deep breathes, Hermione made her way towards her destination.

"Good morning, Miss Granger. I was waiting for your word, but you decided to pay me a visit? I see the press is giving you a hard time."

"I am just not used to the press after spending 2 years away from them. It's one of the reasons I went away, you know."

"Of course, i know. I am the Minister for Magic, after all. Anyway, Miss Granger, you believe you came here to discuss more important matters?" Kingsley asked with a smile.

"Yes, Minister. You know as well as i do what went down in Australia. I know that i need to move on and start over," Hermione stated.

"Oh, I know more than you think i do. I know what went down back there," the Minister said with a sly grin.

"More about that later, Minister," Hermione said as she looked away, slightly embarrassed. "For now, I need a job. You know i don't have any experience compared to my classmates because i left right after i graduated from Hogwarts. What do you suggest i do?"

"Miss Granger, the mission i sent you on was a part of your job experience. What happened was quite a pity, but you still succeeded in bringing me the information i needed. Consider yourself an employee of the Ministry of Magic. You will be working on case files of lost wizards and witches. You will help in finding wizards who disappeared long ago, but their disappearance went unnoticed because everyone was too busy trying to protect themselves from Voldemort. But now that he is no longer a threat, the Ministry can focus on reuniting families and increasing our wizard population, which went down a considerable amount during the War," the Minster finished off.

"Thank you, Minister. When should i start?" Hermione asked.

"As soon as possible. We need to find these wizards. Their memories might help in identifying Death Eaters which will help our Aurors catch them. Remember, i have very high expectations of you, Miss Granger. Needless to say, this job is to be taken very seriously," the Minster said with a serious look on his face.

"I will not disappoint you, Minister. I will try to settle down by this weekend and will start on Monday, if that's okay?" Hermione asked as she stood up and walked towards the door.

Kingsley held his thumb up as a sign of encouragement and saw Hermione out the door of his office.