Aconite - Dramione/Blinny

Ch. 6

She happily sealed the last letter and set it on the stack with the rest, leaning back in her chair. After a day and a half of trying to work with different potion brewers, she finally managed to bring an agreement between one particular potion brewer that she thought was the best candidate and a wizard who actually grew the wolfsbane plant for local muggles' need to study its toxicity. She felt a large wave of stress lift off her shoulders as she sent the letters off to be delivered to her clients and let out a sigh of relief.

After a small break, she started to gather her information so that she could present her findings to the Minister for approval, but her door opening suddenly interrupted her.

"So, who did you pick?"

Hermione didn't even look up, giving a small, frustrated groan. "You know, Malfoy, when I agreed to help you I didn't think you would be this involved."

"Well, I did warn you about that," He answered, pausing in front of her desk.

"And will you stop randomly popping into my office without warning?" She asked, glaring at him. "I've already told you that I require appointments, and you are not going to be an exception."

He smirked at her and said, "For your information, Granger, I was going to make an appointment to be had in the next five minutes, but your secretary is not at her desk."

Hermione peaked around him to see that Claire was indeed not at her desk, and she sighed. "Claire is probably at lunch. And she is not my secretary; she is my assistant."

"Same difference," Draco shrugged. "Now, will you please tell me who you've chosen?"

"It hasn't been approved by the Minister yet, so no," Hermione answered simply, shutting the folder for emphasis.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "You can't even discuss it with me?"

"Why should I? I'm the one making the decision," She said.

"Yes, but I'm going to be one of the people affected by it," Draco retorted. "I want to make sure the best candidate was chosen."

"And you think I'm incapable of choosing the best candidate?"

He shrugged. "No offense, Granger, but you're fully human."

"What is that supposed to mean?" She asked angrily.

"It means that you don't quite know what this means for us," Draco said in a low voice. "This is a very important decision that is going to affect hundreds of people across the isles, and if anything goes wrong, people could die."

She narrowed her eyes and leaned in. "Do you really think that I am the kind of person to make such a decision lightly? To put hundreds of people at risk like that? I searched for days to make sure that everything was perfect, to make sure that the candidate I had chosen didn't have some secret bias against werewolves and was going to get his kicks out of poisoning them simply because he had the power to. I don't know what kind of person you think I am, but I would never put anyone at risk like that."

They watched each other quietly for a few moments before Draco relaxed slightly and nodded. "I just wanted to be sure."

"I'd greatly appreciate it if you would let me do my job, Malfoy," She said as she returned to her papers. "I wouldn't have become Head of the Beings division if I didn't care. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to see the Minister regarding my decision so I will need you to leave my office."

She finished gathering her findings and gestured for him to leave first, locking her office after herself and making her way to the lift. She groaned inwardly when she realized that he was still following her, and didn't say a word after she announced the floor she was going to.