Dabbling With The Dark

Chapter 31

Three Years Later

Standing outside the windows of Hermione's office in the Ministry with Ron beside him, people inclined their heads and greeted him as they walked by. He returned the greeting, but didn't speak to any of them more than that as he quietly talked and joked with Ron. After the war ended and months of talking and them apologizing, he'd worked out his problems with them for their betrayal of him to Dumbledore. By the time they'd all finished their seventh years at Hogwarts it appeared to everyone that the Gryffindor trio were close friends again. He'd even paid for their wedding five months ago as a show of his support and friendship. Yes, Ron and Hermione were close to him and trusted him with their lives. What fucking fools.

"Oh," Ron whispered leaning towards his ear, "I put aside those front row seats for the Quidditch Cup Semi-Finals for you. Who are you taking?"

While Ron's position in the Department of Magical Games came in handy for Quidditch tickets, Hermione's as an Azkaban inspector for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement was a blessing too. He'd suggested her for the job a year ago when he'd been Ministry liaison for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Since then, he'd just been biding his time.

It had taken him three years of careful planning, but so far he'd worked his way up the ranks at the Ministry with little opposition. He'd finished his seventh year at Hogwarts with exceedingly high marks as a means to get a job in the Ministry in the first place. His N.E.W.T.s scores had been the top story the day they were announced in the Prophet. Everyone said that was because he didn't have Voldemort hanging over his head anymore and could concentrate on his studies. They were all idiots, every last one of them.

He'd taken the job of assistant in Minister Scrimgeour's office at the age of eighteen immediately upon leaving Hogwarts. Dumbledore, of course, had hated the idea and he, of course, didn't care less. He didn't care about the overwhelming boost in popularity Scrimgeour received with him accepting the position; all he cared about was that it was his foot in the door to the plans for him having a career at the Ministry.

By Christmas of that year he was moved to the Minster's Public Relations team. That had been part of the plan, too, and he used the exposure the position gave him to his advantage. Using lessons he'd learned from an old, very close friend, his charm and charisma made him the media darling that The-Boy-Who-Lived should be. Yes, everything had been moving along on schedule.

In early spring the following year, he'd had an ever-so-minor setback. The wizarding world having been without a reigning Dark Lord for nearly two years by then, someone had decided that trying to assassinate him was the way to make a name for themselves. His defense of himself during the attack had been harsh and vicious. The wizarding world had been stunned at how violent he'd been, but his response that he wasn't going to let any fool with delusions of grandeur use him to try to make themselves the reigning dark wizard of the wizarding world had people cheering because he, The-Boy-Who-Lived, Harry Potter, was still protecting them. He let them think that since it went along with his plans.

The attack and publicity generated by it caused Scrimgeour to move him from the Public Relations Department to a new post as liaison to the MLE. He worked hard with the MLE to make the wizarding world a safe place and people relaxed more and more knowing he was. To further that along, because people being calm and relaxed never suspected danger lurking on the horizon, he's convinced Scrimgeour to appoint Hermione as an inspector to Azkaban.

While the public loved that he had one of his best friends keeping close watch over the prisoners in Azkaban for him, it was her natural inclination against the mistreatment of anyone that made him do it. He had people in Azkaban that he needed to make sure stayed alive and well until he had the chance to keep a promise he made to them. He had no problem in using Hermione to make that happen, and as the still newly appointed Junior Minister of Magic, he had the authority to do it. The wizarding world trusted him way too much.