Experience

La Bibliographe: She does seem to be doesn’t she? Don’t worry, she isn’t proud of it. I love Blaise but that was the only way he could be dealt with in this particular story. And I’ll try to tell Regulus, but if he does go for her then just attribute it to the fact that he hasn’t been on the scene for a very long time. Yeah, I enjoyed writing that scene. Thank you, and they have a lot to do. Yeah, I probably did, sorry about that. As for what happened to Hogwarts; all will be revealed.



Sapphire: Who indeed? I hope you all get guessing.



Criosdan: Will he? Hmm, might do. I might keep him chained there and ‘look’ after him myself.



Mary: Thank you. I hope you all enjoy the chapter after.



Sahira: Sorry for the length of time in updates. But here is another one to let you know that I haven’t forgotten about this story. Hope you like it.



BuckyKattGirl: Well, Blaise doesn’t bore me; he reminds me of a teenage Snape – however I hope you like this chapter.



Coraline Black: Well, the one that’s torturing him isn’t really that scared of fan girls, I don’t think. Anyway, here is an update.



Dee Dee: He could be couldn’t he? But I think Lucius will have a lot more problems than Mrs Zabini. I am pleased that everyone is guessing. However I have to say; keep guessing. Just read this chapter to find out the answer to that question, and as for being pregnant ... well ...



Cecilia: Well, everyone is making a guess to that. I have it sorted out I think. I hope that you all guess.



Pumkin: I leave you hanging because I got stuck myself, so I’m hanging with you. And I hope you have a few thoughts as to the faux Snape after this chapter.



Lyssa: Sorry, I hope to try and update this one regularly. I loved writing this story.



DB1: Thank you. Here’s the update.



Hilda Malfoy: Yes, Lucius certainly does. And, as for the impersonator? You’re all wrong so far.



Lord_Lust: I think I redressed that problem with another reviewer; she had plans with Molly whom she considered a mother to her. I am glad you think the story is fantastic. I hope you think this update is.



Emmah: Hmm, well this is fanfic and in fanfic you can do anything you like. Regulus Black was thought to be dead by Sirius. And I don’t trust anything that Sirius Black say’s – this is the guy that wouldn’t give Severus Snape an inch just because he was placed in Slytherin. So, in my mind Regulus is still alive, and I hope that he is the one that makes an appearance in DH, and not Sirius.



Ms L: Thank you. I try to keep it good.



Citten: Yes I am a little crazy, but all I do is write, I live, breathe, sleep, eat and drink writing. I hope you enjoy this update. And I think you should be petrified.



Megan: Here’s more.



Annie: Who is Snape? Good question.



Angelnomiko: Well, read on and some of those questions are answered in this chapter others aren’t.



Sinbad: I hope you love this chapter.



Lady Darcy: I absolutely agree. I like her being a Healer more than an Auror. I just see her as someone who organises other people for a living. I’m sort of trained as a Secretary, so I kind of now what goes into the job. Never managed to hold a job as one; I wish I had. Oh the banter I loved writing that. I can imagine that would be how they would be if they came back and were forced to work together again. And yes, I prefer the idea of Lily carrying the Gryffindor gene and not James; it’s too easy for it to be James, and Jo has said that there is something important about her eyes. You think wrong on the impostor. And as for Hermione’s plans with her mother she means Molly as she looks upon the Weasley Matriarch as her mother. Okay.



Northstar: I will update as regularly as possible. I have to plan this next week the way I planned the week before but now I know how it starts I can plan it better.



mary: Here’s more.



Amanda: Thank you. Here’s an update. I can’t seem to find your email.



Alabaster: You really do, don’t you? I hope some of those answers have been dealt with in this next chapter. I can’t answer them here, as I don’t want to spoil the plot.



Second Monday



Lucius was sitting at his desk. He rubbed his face. Today was going to be a dismal day indeed for Harry Potter. He would have to give the two Muggle boys a trial on suspicion of murder. He also had the added worry of Severus Snape. After a day to think things through he realised that it did make sense after all. Severus respected him too much to chase a woman he had earmarked for himself. He was worried over who it could be though.



He had also felt a shudder jolt through him when he saw the dead body of Minerva McGonnagall. He had never seen eye to eye with the old Witch but he never wanted to kill her because she was actually quite intelligent. Even the Dark Lord had spoken of her with respectful tones. Lucius had wondered if Lord Voldemort wanted her to be his Queen.



He took his steaming cup of tea and drank it greedily. He had summoned Harry to come to his office at eleven. Hermione was sorting through his mail at her desk and it was rather quiet in the office. He was grateful for the silence. He looked down at the copy of the Daily Prophet where someone had placed a picture of him hugging Hermione on the debris. He shook his head at the Headline: Love Conquers the Great Divide. The article was just a drippy as the Headline. He had shown it to Hermione at the breakfast table and she shook her head and simply said:



“More coffee, dear?” like they had been married for years.



He gazed at the rest of the Prophet. There was a double page spread of Minerva McGonnagall’s life. Apparently she was married to Dumbledore. They certainly kept that quiet. They even had a quiet cottage. No children though. He sighed and took another deep drink of his tea.



“Lucius?”



“Yes, Mia?”



“I was thinking,” she began as she leant back in the chair. “Maybe Regulus Black knows where Snape is.”



“If it is indeed Regulus Black,” Lucius said. “I thought he was dead.”

Hermione tilted her head to one side and shrugged her shoulders. “We’ll have to confront that possibility if it ever arises. If we go about with that attitude we’d talk to nobody.”



Lucius laughed and shook his head. “Oh the innocence of youth. Just remember how many people have tricked you with a false identity in the past.”



“I know, but then I think of all the honest people I know.”



“You like to weigh the good against the bad don’t you?”



“Always, it’s a much easier aspect of approaching life.”



She smiled and turned back around to attend to her duties. He watched her movement and checked his watch. He turned his eyes towards the sofa and considered the good against the bad of this situation.



“Admirable,” he said.



He got up and walked up to her. She was so busy scratching away at the letters she was asked to write that she didn’t hear him sneak up behind her. He grasped hold of the back of her chair and leant down to kiss the side of her neck. She screeched and jumped out of her chair.



“Don’t you dare do that again Malfoy!”



“Oh come on, Mia, you were seducing me all last week and now I finally return the favour you ask me never to do it again. You’re inconsistent you know,” he purred.



“At least I didn’t make you jump out of your chair.”



“You shocked me a few times though,” he said. “Especially with that dominatrix costume. Pity,” he sighed. “Why aren’t you wearing that today?”



“I thought you thought that, that was a bit slutty,” she said.



“Only because I was behaving like a stubborn ass,” he said. “Now I don’t care if you stroll around the Ministry naked.”



“Hmm, shall we petition for Naked Day?”



“I would,” Lucius said. “But there are certain Ministry members that I could do full well not seeing naked.”



Hermione giggled. She sighed. A naked Umbridge was the last thing she wanted to see. “Ah well, perhaps we can have our own Naked Day.”



“Well, Miss Granger, you certainly have a dark naughty side. I am pleased that you are mine.”



Hermione looked at her fiancé and smirked a little. She was proud of Lucius. She looked behind his shoulder at the sofa and walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. She tiptoed up and brushed her lips on his. He wrapped his arms tightly around her waist and smiled as he kissed her back.



“To think, a week ago you were just Lucius Malfoy, a dark, intricate, fascinating man. Now you’re my dark, intricate, fascinating man.”



He pressed her against his body and he would have picked her up and swung her to the sofa but there was a knock on the door. He regretfully let her go and walked to the door. He opened it up and standing outside his office was The Minister.



“Ah, Lucius, may I have a word with your delightful secretary?”



“Yes of course,” he stood aside and Rufus walked in the office and looked at the young woman before him. The sunshine gave her a golden glow. He shook his head. He looked at Lucius.



“All right, Miss Granger, it’s Monday and your Werewolf friend is now working for us. Will you uphold your end of the bargain and turn Umbridge back to normal?”



“As long as you promise to keep her locked up in a nice quiet job like archiving.”



He sighed. “Miss Granger, you have bargained enough as it is.”



“Oh, come on, Minister, really who would miss her?”



Rufus turned and looked at Lucius imploring the blond haired Wizard to get some sense into her. He shook his head.



“All right,” he said in a resigned tone of voice. “I guess no one really would miss her and she would cause less trouble down in the basement.”



“Then take me to her,” Hermione said. She looked at her fiancé and winked at him. He shook his head.



The things that wench had gotten away with. He smiled a little and looked at the clock on the wall. He went back to his desk and re read the Daily Prophet. He looked down at his crotch and grimaced. He folded his cloak over it and did the best he could to ignore the pain.



Rufus led the young Witch through the labyrinth of elevators, stairways, and passages until they ended up at Umbridge’s office. They walked in the door and found her soaking her toad’s legs in a pond. A fly whizzed in and she stuck her long tongue out to eat it. Hermione giggled. Umbridge turned around and her dark eyes narrowed when she saw the young woman.



“Is (croak) she (croak) going (croak) to (croak) get (croak) punished (croak)?”



Rufus looked at the half-toad/woman creature sitting there and found the situation rather too comical to punish anyone. He had wanted to do something to this woman for a long time.



“No, because she has graciously come to free you of the curse,” he said.



Umbridge leapt out of the pond and hopped up to Hermione touching her with slimy hands. She dribbled grimy lake water all over Hermione’s silk pink robes. She shook the young Witch violently croaking madly. The Minister tore Umbridge away from his companion.



“Perhaps an extra day?” he asked Hermione.



“No,” the girl said. “She will be suffering enough when she finds out that she is fired from this position and will be demoted.”



The creature was battling to get at the Witch again. Rufus shook his head.



“All right, Miss Granger, just give the counter curse.”



Hermione picked up her robe from her stockings underneath her robes and flicked her wand at Umbridge. In a few seconds Umbridge was relatively human again.



“You bitch!” she snarled.



“You asked for it,” Hermione said. “May I go back now? Lucius will need me for dictation.”



“And I’m sure that is not all he wants from you, you little slag.”



Hermione looked at Umbridge and shook her head. “I feel sorry for you I really do.”



She was about to walk out of the office when Rufus stayed her by his hand and looked around the office.



“How would you like this job?”



Hermione looked around the office. She then looked at the Minister.



“But I haven’t finished school yet, goodness knows what grades I will get.”



“I think we can safely say you’ll pass,” Rufus said. “Listen, Granger, you got balls. I want to give this job to someone that is ruthless, but fair. You display both those qualities.”



Hermione’s jaw dropped open. “I thought that this was supposed to be Work Experience fortnight?”



“Well, since the destruction of Hogwarts, it appears to be your first fortnight in your new job. Unless you want this one, besides you hold no prejudices. It would be rather refreshing to have a person like you in the Ministry,” he sighed. “One half is filled with sycophantic snivellers who crap their pants when they so much as hear the words Death Eaters. And the other half are Death Eaters. You aren’t scared of Death Eaters, and you aren’t one. So, you’re a fresh attitude.”



Hermione looked at the Minister like he had gone mad. “You’re serious aren’t you?”



“I don’t possess a sense of humour, Miss Granger,” he said. “At least think about it, eh?”



She smiled at the man. “I will, sir.”

“Good,” he said. “Talk to your fiancé about it though.”



“I will, sir.”



He led her back through to her office and he stopped just outside the door and raised her hand to his lips. “You’re a very attractive young woman you know,” he said.



He winked before he limped away leaving her frowning and looking at the back of her hand. She shook her head and walked back into the office. She smiled a little when she saw her fiancé hunched over the desk and writing things down.



“Umbridge back to normal?” he asked.



“Is that a word to describe her?” Hermione said. “He also wanted to offer me her job.”



Lucius hand quavered and he dropped the quill he was holding and it dropped on the floor. He turned pale. He looked at her and beckoned her over. She walked up to him and he pulled her into his lap.



“Did you accept it?”



“No, I thought I’d talk to you about it first. I mean, I am barely qualified, what makes him think that I’d want to be his Undersecretary.”



Lucius held her tightly to his body. “You have been given the job that most of us dream about. If you do a fantastic job I may be married to the Minister of Magic.”



“Do you think that I should take it?”



“I would miss you,” Lucius sighed. “I think you should go for it. You are too clever and qualified to be the secretary for an aging, old geezer like me.”



Hermione giggled and began to unclasp his cloak. He slipped her skirt up revealing nice bronze limbs. He leant down and kissed her breast and it hardened. He stared at the stocking. She really was a naughty Witch.



“Where did you get the idea to wear your wand there?” he asked when he saw it poking it out of her right stocking.



“Well,” she said huskily. “One of my favourite poems is Red Riding Hood – Roald Dahl’s version. In that there is a line that goes something like: The small girl smiles; one eyelid flickers. She whips the pistol from her knickers.”



He smirked as he picked up her right limb and raised it to meet his lips. He kissed her knee and groaned. He licked up her thigh, her leg shivered beneath his touch. He supported her as she fell backwards slightly. He lowered her leg and swung her around and laid her down on his desk.



“I can whip my pistol from my pants now if you’re not too busy,” he said.



Hermione giggled and raised her arms over her head. “I think I can take a break.”



Lucius was just about to disrobe them with a spell when there was another faint knock on the door.



“Go away!” he exclaimed.



“It’s Harry Potter,” the intruder said.



“Damn!” Lucius hissed.



Hermione raised an eyebrow. He stepped a few paces backward and she got up, she smoothed down her dress and straightened her hair and walked back to her desk. He watched as she moved.



“Can I come in or what?”



“Or what,” Lucius muttered earning him a dirty look from Hermione. “You may enter.”



Harry walked through the door into the office and looked at the two people in the room. He shook his head. Something was going on before he turned up.



“You requested my presence,” Harry said.



“Yes, take a seat,” Lucius said as he gestured towards the opposite chair.



Harry sat down and Lucius sighed. He looked at the young man before him and started:



“There’s no easy way to say this,” he said. “But I am going to have to arrest Mr Polkiss on the charges of Murder and your cousin as an accomplice to the Murder of Mr Blaise Zabini.”

He watched the young man’s expression. It was blank and emotionless. Harry sighed and squared his shoulders.



“I understand,” he said. “Besides, there is no love lost between me and my cousin.”



“Azkaban is bad enough for Wizards, Mr Potter, let alone Muggles. Do you think we should hand them over to the Muggle authorities?”



“The Muggle authorities won’t understand the intricacies of our world. Besides, it’s about time my cousin had a large reality cheque.”



“You really despise your cousin that much?” Lucius asked.



“How well did Bellatrix get on with Sirius?” Harry asked back.



Lucius sighed. “Good point,” he conceded. “Okay then we will proceed as planned.”



Hermione jotted down all that had been said. She looked at her friend’s expression. She coughed meekly and they turned towards her.



“What is it, Miss Granger?” Lucius asked.



Harry raised an eyebrow. “Why are you being formal? I know what you two are up to.”



Lucius blushed slightly but Hermione started to speak. Harry couldn’t believe he saw the man blush.



“Harry, you are neither Bellatrix or Sirius, you saved Dudley’s life once remember.”



“I did,” Harry said. “But he didn’t thank me for it. And look what he has done with it since. Sorry, Hermione, but there are so many times I can sit quietly by. I think Dudley Dursley should realise that he can’t get away with everything.”



Hermione looked down and jotted all that Harry had said. Lucius sat back, stretched his arms out and steepled his fingers on the desk. “So you are not going to step in the way if he is sentenced to the Dementor’s Kiss?”



“No,” Harry replied.



“All right,” he said. “I just wanted to make that absolutely clear before I proceeded with their arrests.”



“Thank you for consulting me before you did, Mr Malfoy.”



Harry stood up and Lucius did to, they shook hands and Harry nodded to Hermione. Hermione tidied her notepad away and ran out of the office so that she could talk to her friend.



“Harry!” she yelled.



“I don’t know why you’re defending my cousin, it was a boy you liked very much that he killed.”



“No, Harry, it isn’t that. Rufus Scrimgeour has offered me a job here already.”



“Wow, that’s great!”



“No it isn’t, it’s the Undersecretary to him.”



Harry blinked. “That’s fantastic, Mia.”



“I am pleased you think so,” she sighed.



“Miss Granger,” Lucius called from the door.



“We’ll talk later,” Harry sighed. “Kingsley would kill me if I am not by his side before lunch anyway.”



Hermione looked at Harry and smiled a little. “Yes, well, I think my boss would do something less unpleasant. See you.”



Hermione watched Harry leave and she turned around and walked back to the office. Before she knew what was happening to her she was picked up and flung on the desk and naked before she could blink.



“Well, someone is a little desperate,” she panted. He smirked. She loved the way his azure eyes sparkled when he was mischievous. He was naked to. He spread her legs apart and thrust into her so harshly that she screamed.



“I’ve been sporting this erection for nearly an hour and it’s raged every time I mentioned you. I want you!”



He thrust into her with each word. She twisted and writhed beneath him. The desk jerked and rocked beneath them.



“Do you mean to do that every time I happen to be here,” a voice said.



Lucius erection immediately deflated and he slipped out of her. Hermione was disappointed and angry. Whomever this person really was she wished he would go away. She was just beginning to enjoy her pre lunch snack.



“Who are you really?” Lucius asked. “We happen to know you aren’t really Snape.”



The faux Snape sighed. “Hmm, someone blabbed. Who was it?”



Hermione got up off the desk and looked at the faux Snape directly in the eye.



“As if I would tell you,” she snarled.



“Have you told your fiancé the truth, Mia? Have you told him that you do lust after me?”



“I know,” Lucius said stepping in front of his Witch. “But I also know that the real Snape would do nothing about it if he knew. He is like a brother to me, and would respect me and mine.”



The faux Snape looked at Hermione squarely in the eye. “If you knew who I really was, I am sure you would have no objections. You are a lovely woman, Hermione. One might say the cleverest Witch of your age.”



Hermione’s eyes narrowed. “I am sure you’re mistaken. I am in love with Lucius Malfoy.”



The faux Snape giggled slightly. He walked up to the couple that were now dressed and pushed Lucius aside. He tilted Hermione’s chin up and smiled a little. “You are a lovely woman, Hermione.”



He then walked away and glared at Lucius. “I so hope I find out who you are soon, and when I do I will kill you and find Snape.”



The faux Snape laughed. “How touching, I didn’t think that friendship was one of your strong points, Lucius.”



“Oh it is,” Lucius said. “You’d be surprised at how protective I can be about the things I love.”



“Couldn’t protect your son and wife very well could you?”



“I will make up for it though,” he said in a dangerous voice.



The faux Snape looked at his rival and shook his head. “Maybe the only way you can protect Hermione is by just handing her over to me.”



Hermione’s eyes widened and she looked at Lucius shaking her head. “I don’t think so!” she said.



The faux Snape shrugged his shoulders. “You may change your mind when you find out what a controlling, obsessive monster he really is.” He walked away and Hermione narrowed her eyes more, the faux Snape grinned. “You are so sweet when you’re angry you know.”



He walked away leaving them both quaking with anger. Hermione shuddered and she turned around to face her fiancé.



“Isn’t there some sort of spell you can cast to find out who he really is?”



“No,” Lucius sighed. “I don’t want to risk the few there are. All of them have the consequence of death hanging over them.”



Hermione sighed. “Harry thinks it is a good idea that I take the position.”



“Well you are the sort of person that shouldn’t really climb a ladder. You’re the type that is already at the top.”



Hermione smiled and blushed. Lucius loved her blushing like that. She sat down in her chair. “I don’t like the feeling faux Snape gives me. Something tells me that he is here in the Ministry.”



“Who the impersonator?”



“Yes,” Hermione said. “Maybe I should take this job. The higher I am the more privy to information I become.”



“True.”



Hermione smiled and set to work on her letters. She would find out who the faux Snape is. She thought about David Smith.



“What about the man who almost raped me?”



“We’ll see about that as well,” he sighed. “In fact that is Remus first job - to find him.”



“Thank you, and when you do find him, let me deal with him.”



“I don’t think so, Mia!”



She pouted. He sniggered slightly. “Spoilsport.”



“Listen, I am the last person that would stop you from getting your revenge but we both answer to a higher power. And I want to keep my job this time around.”



She looked at her letters. “Lucius, I just want my revenge on a man that is completely and utterly despicable.”



“You really hate him, don’t you?”



“More than you think.” Hermione shuffled the papers. “How long do you think it will be before I have to give my decision to the Minister.”



“By the end of the day,” he said. “The Minister has just memo’d me.”



Hermione looked at Lucius. She got up and looked at her robe. “Could you clean me up a bit please? Umbridge got her filthy, slimy hands on my robes.”



Lucius looked at them and he noticed that they were ruined. “I tell you what, why don’t you go back to the Mansion and change. This is going to affect your future. May I suggest the wine red robes? You could do with the colour of confidence.”



Hermione grinned. “I love you.”



He shook his head and smiled. “Just go will you before I’m tempted to throw you on the sofa and have my wicked way with you.”



She giggled and walked over to the fireplace and said her destination. Lucius was almost tempted to follow her but shook his head when he saw the piles of paperwork he had to attend to.



~*~*~*~



Harry was just about to walk back into Kingsley’s office when he heard Rufus voice behind him. Harry turned around.



“If it isn’t Dumbledore’s Man,” he said. Harry didn’t trust Rufus any more than he trusted Cornelius, and Rufus was more dangerous; he was clever. “How are things with you lately?”



“How do you think?” Harry said. “I have lost another person I care deeply about, and my cousin is going to be arrested. You could hardly say that I am skipping with joy at the moment.”



Rufus laughed, it was hollow, and cold. Harry shook his head and pushed the handle down.



“One thing puzzles me about you, Harry, you had a very beautiful friend for all your life and if rumour is true you never asked her out.”



“If you’re referring to Hermione I have never fancied her,” Harry said. “She’s more like a sister to me.”



“She’s quite a beauty isn’t she,” Rufus said. “And quite ballsy.”



“She’s spectacular yes,” Harry agreed. He wondered where the Minister was going with this.



“I am sure you wouldn’t want anything to happen to her, would you, Potter?”



“Of course not!” he snapped.



“Neither would I,” the Minister replied. “I have offered her Umbridge’s position. She’ll certainly be a nicer thing to look at than Umbridge and she’s less annoying than that Weasley kid.”



Harry furrowed his brow. Why was the Minister of Magic detaining him with something that could be construed as gossip? Surely the man had something more important to do.



“Why are you telling me this?” Harry sighed.



Rufus smiled and patted the young man on his shoulder. “I’m just trying to show you that we can work together, and that I am not trying to make a mockery of Albus Dumbledore’s memory. He taught me, I understand how charismatic he was, and I can understand why you are so affectionate and loyal to him. But he is dead now and I am sure that he would prefer you to be helpful. Especially now that his beloved Hogwarts is destroyed.”



Harry sighed and looked at the Minister’s retreating back as he limped off. Why was he being so complimentary about Hermione? He opened the door and saw Kingsley slumped over the desk.



“What did Mr Malfoy want?”



“He only wanted to make sure if it was okay to proceed with the arrest of my cousin and his friend.”



“What did you say?”



“I said that whatever the verdict I wouldn’t stand in the way,” Harry replied. “He gets away with far too much. It’s about time he realised that there are things he just can’t get away with.”



Kingsley nodded. “And um, how is Hermione?”



Harry shook his head. He tried to think about when his friend became so popular with the male adult population.



“She’s fine. She seems to be happy with Mr Malfoy.”



“Good, at least she’s happy.”



Harry nodded. “So, what are we going to do now?”



“We’re going to your Aunt and Uncles to inform them of the situation.”



The dark haired Wizard slumped his shoulders. “Wonderful,” he said sourly.



“Harry,” Kingsley said in a warning voice. “I must ask you to be silent. They are human at the end of the day, and they have made a mistake.”



“Human? Are you sure about that?”



Kingsley offered a wry smile and gathered some note parchment and a quill. Harry walked out of the office and they made their way out of the building. The Minister did not make him very comfortable with the way he spoke about his friend. When he had some time he would talk to her about it. Maybe it wouldn’t be such a good idea that Hermione takes the job after all. There was a strange glint in the Minister’s eye when he spoke about her.



~*~*~



Hermione rooted through her Wardrobe and finally found the wine red set that Lucius had mentioned. She walked into the en suite bathroom and put the shower on. She stepped out of the pink robes and walked into the warm fountain of water. She picked up her shampoo and washed her hair. She had to be her best after all. Once she was showered she walked out of the en suite and dried herself off. She placed her black corset and stockings out on the bed.



“Hmm,” a female voice said. “Lucius sent you home to dress up? Going out are you?”



“Hello, Narcissa,” Hermione greeted. “No, I have been offered a proper job. It’s the Undersecretary to the current Minister of Magic. I have to look confident. Lucius suggested the wine red robes. I decided to add the corset and the stockings.”



Narcissa smiled. “I think that you should be careful, Hermione, there is not one Minister that has a hidden agenda. Especially when one offers a barely qualified Witch the sort of career that even a Wizard of Lucius age and calibre isn’t ready for.”



“Lucius thinks I can do it,” Hermione sighed. “I am not sure. Anyway, I feel that I should talk about it with him.”



Narcissa bit her lip. “It’s Rufus that is the Minister now, isn’t it?”



“Yes,” Hermione sighed. She sat on the bed and pulled her stockings on.



“Hmm, I’d watch out if I were you,” Narcissa replied. “He was the Head of the Auror department before. He always had a little grudge against Lucius for some reason. And it has nothing to do with the fact that Lucius was one of Voldemort’s top supporters.”



Hermione shook her head and stood up attaching the suspenders to the stockings. The other end of the suspenders was attached to her silk black knickers. She placed the dress over her head and took the straps out of the corset.



“Why does Rufus have that animosity?” Hermione asked as she straightened up the dress.



Narcissa sighed. “I was quite popular at school with the male population. Rufus was a year above me, and a year below Lucius. He asked me out the same day that Lucius did, I accepted Lucius.”



Hermione arched an eyebrow. “Perhaps Voldemort is right in certain aspects.”



“What do you mean?” Narcissa asked.



“I mean, that maybe love is the cause of all human problems.”



Narcissa chewed her lower lip keeping silent. Hermione clasped her corset. She grabbed her cloak and clasped it around her throat. She went to her jewellery draw and found a silver pendant with a ruby teardrop. It was something that arrived for her this morning; Lucius had the nerve to look sheepish. She clasped it around her neck and the teardrop nestled between her plumped up breasts. She placed the matching earrings on. She then put on some light make up. She brushed her hair and she turned around for Narcissa’s opinion.



“Very nice, Hermione, but if you spell your nails red that would complete the look.”



“What?”



Narcissa rolled her eyes and said the spell. “Rubus!” she exclaimed. “Just wave the wand at your nails and they should be polished.”



Hermione sighed. She held out her left hand and waved the wand at her nails and said the spell. They were polished straight away. She swapped hands and soon she had ten nicely polished nails.



“Thanks for the tip,” she said.



“Now, if you are going to work for Rufus, just be wary.”



“I will,” Hermione said. “Now I must apparate.”



~*~*~*~



Rufus sat in his office twirling his quill in his hand. When she walked in his office a week ago to present herself for duty he had wondered why he had handed her over to another person. He couldn’t believe that someone that looked that womanly was only wearing a school uniform a week or so ago.



He walked around his supremely large office. He sat on the table. He hated Lucius. He thought that giving Lucius a Muggleborn would be a punishment for the blond wizard, instead it turned out to be paradise for him. He had been watching her and he smiled. She had indeed blossomed the past week in a way that he had never seen before. He was also extremely impressed with the way that she handled Umbridge. Not many eighteen-year-old Witches would have that capability. Not many Witches would confront Umbridge full stop.



He was about to sit back at his desk to deal with all the Owls that had dropped letters on his desk that morning and was about to open the first of the third pile when he heard someone walk through his door. He looked up and his junior secretary walked in.



“A Miss Hermione Granger to see you sir,” she said.



Rufus smiled and nodded. “Send her in!”



A/N – So, the plot thickens. Rufus Scrimgeour has taken our heroine away from the hero, which means that there won’t be much Office hanky-panky between our favourite couple – ah well! I am sure you all will forgive me for that plot bunny soon got to keep the UST alive somehow. And there is a past between Rufus and Lucius, (I couldn’t resist!) What a lot of stuff to happen and it’s not even lunchtime yet! What will happen Monday PM? Tune in on the next exciting instalment of Experience!