Tainted Love

The Daily Prophet

IRIS

The twenty-third floor of the Ministry of Magic was completely empty and Hermione's office had the door locked. Iris was supposed to meet with her before the work day began, but the clocks rang ten minutes ago and she was still standing in the hallway.

It was unlike Hermione to be late, but Iris was almost thankful for it. It gave her a couple more minutes to ease into the knowledge that it would be her first day working alone. She supposed that wasn't strictly true - she and Draco had worked alone for most of their time as partners. But today she'd be working without anyone else in the room.

And what a cavernous room to be alone in.

Iris looked around the hallway to pass the time, reading plaques under portraits and scanning framed documents. The Department of Magical Law Enforcement was not of any particular interest to Iris, and she found most of the documents equally boring.

One of the portraits looked interesting - the woman in it had a patch over one of her eyes. The caption stated that she had lost it "at sea," which Iris found quite blunt and equally vague. She'd like to ask her about it, but the portraits at the Ministry never spoke.

Iris wondered whether it was a charm or just a matter of respect. If you were important enough to have your likeness in the halls of the Ministry, maybe you took it on the cheek and never spoke again.

If she ever got a portrait of herself done, Iris would like it to be put in a house with a family.

There was no more time to think that over, though, because the door to Hermione's office swung open and a man strolled out of it.

He had fiery red hair and a swath of freckles across his nose. A lopsided grin. He reminded her a little bit of Sebastian - if Sebastian was less brazen.

"Begging you to cook tonight," he said over his shoulders. Iris heard Hermione's voice sound from inside and the man immediately threw up his hands. "I take it back! I take it back."

Noticing Iris, he gave her a nod. Then he was on his merry way back down the hall. Iris supposed that was Hermione's husband. They seemed an odd sort of couple, but those are types that often work out best. She watched after him a second, then took a quick breath and walked inside herself.

Hermione was pawing at her hair, cinching into a bun, but she held out a hand to Iris as soon as she saw her, an expression somewhere between surprise and horror taking over her face.

"Iris! Oh, Merlin, I completely forgot! I'm so sorry - so much on my plate right now." She shook her head, replacing her worry with a smile. "How are you?"

Iris smiled back, shaking her hand. "Good. Congratulations on the promotion, by the way." Hermione had been promoted from deputy head to head of the department, which Iris thought she wholeheartedly deserved. She wouldn't be surprised if she became the Minister before too long.

"Thank you so much." Succeeding at tying her hair back, she moved behind her desk, where she pulled out a folder from one of the drawers. She opened it, flipped through a few pages, then slid it across the desk towards Iris.

"Meet your new partner," Hermione smiled.

Iris blinked. It had only been a day since Draco left, and he was already being replaced? It felt wrong. She couldn't deny that there was some part of her that thought he might change his mind soon, come back. Once he made decisions he rarely went back on them. Even so.

The folder made things feel much more permanent. She reached for it, tentatively pulling back the cover.

A blonde girl stared back at her, glasses enlarging her eyes. She had a nice smile, short hair. Iris's eyes flicked to the right, where she caught a few pieces of biographical information. Daisy McCarthy, 29.