The New Minister

A/N: If you know me as an author, then you know that I don't like Ron, and I usually make him either an arse, an idiot, or asinine. So, my flatmates wanted me to write a good Ron, and I have done so for this story and have found that I really don't mind it much, so I hope that you enjoy nice Ron instead of arse Ron. :)

Chapter 3



‘Hermione!’



Oh, sweet Circe was that voice good to hear again. I looked up from my desk. ‘Ron!’ I cried, jumping out from behind my desk and hugging my best friend.



‘I hadn’t heard that you were made Minister. How’s it going?’



‘It’s normal. Nothing too interesting going on. How’re you? Are you enjoying Romania?’



‘Of course,’ Ron said. ‘Of course, Sarah is getting close to her due date, and she really wants to come back to England. Her mum wants to be able to visit her grandchild, and you know that my mum will be the same…’ He looked at me shyly, ‘Maybe you could find me another position here?’



‘Is that why you’re here?’ I asked with a laugh. ‘Just to use me and abuse me?’



‘Haha,’ he laughed. He rolled his eyes. ‘Okay, I sort of did come here for a favour.’



‘Well…’ I said softly. I tried to think through anything that I had, but I couldn’t think of anything that had to do with Dragons that Ron could do… ‘Actually, I do have something!’



‘Really? What?’



‘Well, it wouldn’t be in England. It would be Southern Scotland, but one of my lower-level employees is trying to start a new branch of the Romanian Reserve there on some empty land in Galloway. The project hasn’t really gotten off the ground yet, but if you wanted to work with him on getting it started, I could let you head it up when it opens, and you could stay in London while you do the research.’



‘Oh, Herms, that sounds amazing!’ Ron said happily. ‘Who would I be working with, then?’ he asked…the question that I had been hoping that he wouldn’t ask.



‘Er…okay, well, it’s Draco Malfoy.’



‘Malfoy?’ he asked dubiously. ‘When did he start working here?’



‘I’m not sure exactly. I just found out about a month ago that he worked here. And he’s been shoved into this tiny little broom cupboard because no one thinks that he’s worth shite, so I told him if he had any good ideas that I would look at them, and this is his project, but it’s rather a really good idea, and he’s done a lot of research for it already…’



‘Okay, Hermione, I get it,’ Ron interrupted me. ‘I won’t fight with him if he doesn’t fight with me. If this gets me and Sarah back into the UK for the baby, and I still get to work with Dragons, then I’ll put up with ferret-face.’



I smiled. ‘Oh, Ron. I knew there was a reason I loved you so much!’ I hugged him happily. I pulled away after a moment. ‘I haven’t even told Malfoy yet. I should probably go down there. Do you want to come with me? We can tell him that you’ll be a part of his team.’



‘Sounds good.’



‘Okay, let’s go,’ I smiled, and pulled him out of my office.



-o-o-o-o-o-o-



When Ron and I walked through the small door to Malfoy’s cupboard, I heard Ron groan, ‘Wow, this really is a broom cupboard.’



Malfoy’s head shot up as he perused the two of us. ‘Granger,’ he acknowledged. ‘Weasley.’



‘Hey, Malfoy,’ Ron said happily. ‘Looks like we’ll be working together.’ Ron was taking this a lot better than I had been hoping he would.



Malfoy cocked his head. ‘I don’t think there’s room for two people in this cupboard, Weasley. I’m sorry.’



I snorted before I could help myself. ‘Malfoy, Ron’s been working as an apprentice under his brother Charlie in Romania for the last five years. He knows a lot about dragons and the reserve, so he’s going to help you with the research that you need to do to open the reserve in Galloway.’



Malfoy’s eyes lit up. ‘You mean I can actually do it?’



‘You have to get funding first,’ I told him, as well as telling Ron. ‘I need you two to look at the land up there, let me know an estimate, and talk to Charlie to see if they really need the extra branch. If you can do all that, then I’ll give you the money to work on it.’



Malfoy nearly fell over jumping up from his desk. He grabbed me round the shoulders and spun me around in a quick circle before setting me back on my feet. I stared at him, stunned. I was not expecting that violent of a reaction from Malfoy. ‘Thank you so much, Granger. You don’t know how much this means to me.’



I smiled. He smiled. I only realised when Ron coughed and said ‘Should I leave you two alone?’ that we were still standing with his arms around me, his body pressed fully against mine.



‘Actually, yes, Ron,’ I said sarcastically. ‘I was hoping that Malfoy would shag me against the wall, so if you would…’ I stopped when Malfoy gasped softly, too softly for Ron to hear, and I felt evidence of his obvious arousal at my words. His eyes met mine and he let me go.



I cleared my throat nervously, trying to figure out how my knickers could become so suddenly drenched. ‘Dinner,’ I said shortly. ‘Dinner at my flat on Friday night.’ I looked away from Malfoy and to Ron. ‘Ron, you and Sarah should come, too.’



Ron smiled. ‘Okay. She would love that.’



‘Okay,’ I said, trying to get myself out of this suddenly awkward situation, ‘I should get back to work. Why don’t you two bounce some ideas off of each other? I’ll put in a request to get you two a team and an office.’



Malfoy was sitting back behind his desk. He coughed lightly. ‘That’s great, Granger.’



Ron hugged me. ‘Sarah is going to love you forever, you know that?’



I hugged Ron back. ‘I’m just hoping she’ll let me babysit, is all,’ I laughed.