Love and Other Misfortunes

Chapter 1

Hermione Granger was seventy-five pages into her revision of the Werewolf Rights Act when a butterfly shaped memo flitted into her office and landed on her paperweight.

'Miss Granger,
I have a matter I would like to discuss with you. I know you are quite busy, but if you have any time this afternoon please drop by. My assistant will let you in to see me immediately.
Emeliory Bogfeld
Secretary of Magical Bonds'

Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures

Hermione blinked at the note. Emeliory and she worked in different sectors of the magical creatures department and, in the past three years, had never crossed paths apart from an occasional greeting in the lift. Hermione's speciality was in legal, fighting for the rights of underrepresented magical beings such as werewolves, house elves, and centaurs; while Emeliory was in an older and more established branch, specializing in negotiating terms between magical beings and wizarding folk in the event of a magical bonding.

Hermione pursed her lips and wondered what Emeliory could possibly want to meet about. Probably, she realized, about how the Werewolf Rights Act might coincide with the magical bonds division. Werewolf bonds were rare, but there were records of them in wizarding history.

She nibbled on the tip of her quill. In the event of a werewolf bonding the legal ramifications could be difficult. She hadn't studied the legal system of the Magical Being Bonds, the area wasn't her speciality and didn't feature in the current draft of the Werewolf Rights Act. But, she realized, if the bill passed, it would set precedent that could be used to push for a Bonding Rights Amendment in the future.

With a small groan she slung her arm of her eyes and cringed inwardly at the thought of all the new revisions of the WRA that consideration for magical bonds would likely necessitate. She would have to go over the entire thing again, word by word. How could she have overlooked something with such large potential ramifications? A headache started creeping up on her, the tension radiating from her neck.

"Sleeping on the job again, eh Granger?"

Hermione's eyes popped open and she sat up to find Draco Malfoy looming over her desk. Since graduation when he'd begun being groomed to take over the Malfoy estate he had become more and more Lucius Malfoy-esque. He wore wizarding robes and cloaks, even now in the peak of summer, and swept through the Ministry and into offices as if he owned them. He tended to sweep into Hermione's office especially often, feigning support for her causes, but she didn't doubt, caring only to ensure she wasn't passing anything that might impeded the Malfoys from accruing an even more absurdly large fortune.

Hermione only put up with him because Narcissa Malfoy had funded Hermione's werewolf fosterage program to care for orphaned or disowned children who had been bitten during the War. Hermione had started her campaign for the program almost immediately following the war, but in the midst of the rebuilding efforts her fundraising had made little progress. She had been ready to despair when Narcissa Malfoy appeared with a Gringotts vault key and handed it to her, no conditions or questions asked. Hermione knew she was being bought but she hadn't been in a position to refuse; she would endure Malfoy's looming in exchange for giving a hundred and twenty-six werewolf children a chance to grow up safely and securely.

"I wasn't sleeping, Malfoy," she said primly, blushing faintly. Malfoy had once walked into her office and found her sleeping under the desk. She had yet to live it down. "I just realized I need to do another full revision of the WRA, and since it's supposed to be ready for the Wizengamot assembly by Tuesday that means I will probably be living off pepper-up potion for the next five days."

"Again? I thought you said it would be completed today." Malfoy's eyebrows arched.

"I thought it would too, until I received a memo from Emeliory Bogfeld asking for a meeting." She held up the note to show Malfoy. "Our sectors in the department have never crossed before so I can only imagine that she has concerns about the legal precedent of the WRA in regard to magical bonding."