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Research & Development	By : BooBack Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 13779 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any associated Charaters. I make no money from writing this.

Chapter List
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A/N: I wrote a story about 12 years ago under a different penname with very nearly the same opening chapter. Reading through it again now, I realised how silly some of the character developments and plot points were, so I’ve rewritten the story from (hopefully) a more mature point of view.
The story is EWE (Epilogue, what Epilogue?) and is slightly AU in that it takes place in modern day re: muggle technology. Main couple is Draco/Hermione, but there is also some Charlie/Hermione and Draco/Charlie/Hermione.
Hope you enjoy. 😊
1.
The day that Hermione Granger was promoted to the Head of Research and Development for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures was the day that she found out something that she had not known previously.
Draco Malfoy worked for her.
She had been perusing a flow chart of those that she was responsible for and there at the very bottom of the chart was a small square titled ‘Admin’ with a name that she had not seen or even thought about in years.
She knew that after the war, the elder Malfoys had been trialed and found guilty of war crimes and the Ministry had seized their manor and assets. They had apparently been living in a small cottage in the country ever since, but she had never heard of what had happened to the ferret that had made her life miserable in school.
She asked around and finally found someone who knew where his office was. She made her way down a dark hallway to find a door with just a piece of parchment tacked to it that read simply, ‘Malfoy.’ She opened the door.
She wasn’t sure what she was expecting to see, but it wasn’t this. The room was dark and tiny, more akin to a broom cupboard than an office and the desk took up more than half of the space. There were two large stacks of parchment, one of either side of the desk. There was a man with long blond hair that was pulled back into a disheveled ponytail bent over the desk scribbling on a bit of parchment with a quill. He didn’t look up when she opened the door, just said ‘just put them on the right stack,’ and carried on.
Hermione instead sat down on the chair opposite him. When he still did not acknowledge her, she said, ‘Draco Malfoy.’ His head popped up and his mouth opened in shock for only a moment before he composed himself. ‘Granger?’ he asked.
‘Hiya Malfoy,’ she said happily.
Confusion was evident in his pale grey eyes. ‘What do you want?’
‘Honestly, I just wanted to see what you were up to,’ she said. ‘I saw your name on a flow chart and hadn’t even realised that you worked here. How long have you been in this…office?’ she stammered out the end.
‘You mean broom cupboard?’ he asked with a scowl on his face. ‘I’ve worked here for three years now, Granger.’
‘Three years?’ she asked. She looked at his face again. He honestly did not look well. His light blond hair looked like it had not been washed in a while, and his face was pale, his cheeks sallow and gaunt, like he was malnourished and devoid of sunlight. He looked worse than he had during sixth year – and she thought that that had been bad.
‘My father still had enough pull to be able to get me something here,’ he said. He gestured around, ‘How the mighty have fallen.’
‘Have you thought about applying for any other positions?’ Hermione asked genuinely.
‘I have,’ he said. ‘They’ve always been rejected. The Malfoy name doesn’t exactly inspire confidence anymore.’ He bowed his head and started writing on his parchment again.
Hermione sighed and looked at the man that was sitting across from her. He had been through so much; they all had. It was unfair to blame him for what had happened during school. He was forced into the same situation that Harry had been—used as a pawn in a dark life-threatening game, while being far too young to have to bear that responsibility.
‘Well, there’s a couple research positions that have opened up in R&D. I think you should have a look into it,’ she said.
He looked at her in confusion again. ‘Why are you telling me this, Granger?’
‘Because I know how smart you are, Malfoy. You deserve to be able to show your potential.’ She smiled at him again and she thought she could see a hint of a smile flit across his lips. She got up from her chair and moved towards the door. ‘I’ll see you soon, Malfoy.’
‘Bye, Granger.’
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The next morning, when Hermione was on her way into work, she decided that she would stop and get a coffee. While she was in the queue, she decided to get one for Malfoy as well and ask if he had had a chance to look at the open position.
She knocked on his office door and there was a gruff ‘come in.’
She walked in and set the coffee and a donut down on his desk. ‘I got you breakfast,’ she said with a smile.
He looked at the coffee and then looked up at her. ‘What do you want, Granger?’
‘Just wondering how you were getting on with your application?’ she asked, hopefully.
‘Granger, there is no point in me applying for that position,’ he said with resignation in his voice.
‘Why not?’ she asked.
‘It’s about 3 grades above what I’m doing just now,’ he said, gesturing to the work around him.
‘But it’s perfect for you. And it is a much higher salary,’ she said.
He shook his head, ‘There’s no way that I would get it.’
Hermione turned serious. ‘Malfoy, I need you to apply for that position.’
His eyes showed uncertainty and shock at how intense she had spoken the words. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Look, I’ve just become the head of the department and I need to fill these positions quickly. I know how smart you are, I know you got just as many O.W.L.s as I did in school. I need someone like you to do this work and I don’t think I’ll find anyone else half as qualified.’ When he looked utterly unconvinced, she added, ‘Please, you would be doing me a huge favour?’
He looked at her and opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it again and looked down at his hands. ‘Okay, Granger, I’ll have a look.’
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Two weeks later Hermione was sitting in her office with her Deputy Head, a man called Barry McBride, who had been a few years ahead of Hermione in school. She turned to him and asked, ‘So, what do you think?’
They had just finished their last interview for the research positions. They had had five applicants and their last interview had been with Draco Malfoy. Before it had started, Barry had said with a grin on his face, ‘This should be interesting,’ but by the end he actually seemed quite impressed. Hermione knew that she was.
She had also been shocked at Malfoy’s appearance when he had first come into the room. She hadn’t really seen him since he had agreed to apply, and in that time he not only looked a bit healthier (his face looking slightly less pale and slightly less gaunt) but he had also axed his longer hair and opted for a short, messy cut instead. She thought that it actually suited him better and looked more professional.
‘Well, Sandra is a shoe-in,’ Barry said. ‘She is already a research assistant, so it’s a natural progression.’ Hermione agreed. ‘I liked Charles, but he doesn’t have the experience in this department that’s helpful for the position. The other two, Elizabeth and Humphrey? I don’t think they were qualified enough, but we could maybe get one in to replace Sandra.’ Hermione agreed again. ‘I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think I’m actually inclined to give Malfoy a chance. I didn’t know he had done so well on his O.W.L.s, and he has been with the department for ages so he knows all the rules and bureaucracy. He doesn’t have the research experience, but he has taken all the right classes in school.’
Hermione smiled. ‘I was thinking the same thing.’
‘Is there a conflict of interest there, though?’ Barry asked.
Hermione knitted her eyebrows and asked, ‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, everyone knows he was horrible to you in school. Will you be okay working so closely with him?’
Hermione shook her head, ‘That was a long time ago. I have no ill feelings towards him anymore.’ When Barry looked unconvinced, she continued, ‘We were kids. Kids do stupid things. I mean, I even dated Ron Weasley at one point,’ she joked and Barry chuckled. ‘I’m not going to let anything that has happened in the past get in the way of Malfoy being able to live up to his potential. I think we should hire him and Sandra.’
‘Well, as long as you’re sure, then I agree.’
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A few days later, one of the HR witches dropped two contracts off on Hermione’s desk. Hermione smiled broadly. She picked them up and headed to Barry’s office. ‘Hey, Barry. I’ve got the contracts; can you follow up with Sandra and get her to sign hers. I’ll go see Malfoy with his.’
She headed back down to the small dark hallway where Malfoy’s ‘office’ was. She knocked on the door and was greeted with the same gruff, ‘come in.’
She let herself in and sat down eagerly on the chair across from Malfoy. He looked up at her. She slid the contract across the desk so that he could see it. He looked down at it and perused it quickly. ‘Really?’ he asked.
‘I told you, Malfoy, you were qualified.’
He looked up at her. ‘This isn’t just out of pity, is it?’ he asked. ‘You feel sorry for me, so you’re giving me a leg-up to make yourself feel better?’
Hermione looked at him seriously. ‘No, that’s not what this is at all. You deserve this and I need you on my team to make this department better.’ He shook his head. ‘Even Barry agreed, so it wasn’t only my decision.’
He looked like he was thinking it over for a few long moments as he looked at the contract again. ‘Okay,’ he said with a sigh. ‘Where do I sign?’
Hermione smiled. She showed him the last page and his eyebrows jumped up when he saw the salary. ‘Are you serious, Granger?’
‘I told you it was higher,’ she chuckled. ‘Sign there.’ He signed.
She looked around his cupboard and said, ‘Well, enjoy your last couple of days here. You start downstairs on Monday.’
He gave her a look that wasn’t exactly warm – this was Draco Malfoy after all – but definitely wasn’t cold either and said, ‘Thanks, Granger.’
Hermione smiled, ‘No problem.'
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After a few months, Hermione was happy that Malfoy had finally settled into his new role. It was a little tense at first. The first day that he had walked into the office – with three other research associates, and four research assistants—it had gone deadly quiet as if everyone had just stopped talking about him. Hermione had introduced him and there was a spattering of ‘Hello’s,’ but they still stared openly as he walked towards his seat.
Hermione had shown him to his desk and told him that his research assistant, a younger boy just out of Hogwarts by the name of Norman, would let him know what the current project was.
It had taken a while for Malfoy to open up, with him mostly keeping to himself and staying quiet during meetings and sitting on his own or going out during lunch, but eventually, after several months, he seemed to relax and even started chatting more to the others and even to Barry and Hermione.
Though she sometimes saw him having a joke and even a smile with some of the other research associates, he always kept it professional with Hermione. She hoped that it was just because she was his boss, rather than their past. She had put the past behind her, and she hoped that he had as well.
He was getting his work done, and was contributing greatly, and that was what Hermione was concerned with. She was very happy that she had promoted him and that she was right about him. She wasn’t sure if maybe he had been ill when she had first seen him down in that dingy broom cupboard, but he seemed much better now. He was looking healthier and overall, more content.
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One day, Hermione was out for a run in a park that was only a couple of streets over from her flat. She had moved to Muggle London after the war, as it had been too difficult to stay in Diagon Alley or other parts of Wizarding London. She hadn’t liked all the attention, what with getting constant requests for pictures or autographs as a heroine of the war. In Muggle London, no one recognised her.
She was jogging along her usual route when someone passed by her, jogging the opposite way around the park. She had to do a double take. It couldn’t have been him. She turned around but he was already too far away. She could have sworn that had been Malfoy. But why would Malfoy be running around a Muggle park wearing headphones?
She kept running along her route, which took her in an oval shape around a pond. As she was reaching the opposite side of the pond, she saw him again, and this time, she was sure. She stopped running and stood in front of him. He had been concentrating on a spot ahead of him, but when he saw her, he stopped and gave a chuckle. He pulled a phone out of his pocket, punched in the passcode and paused his music, while pulling an earbud out of his ear. ‘Granger,’ he said, slightly out of breath.
Hermione gaped for a moment at the ease in which he had done so many Muggle things and then just said as she gestured at him, ‘What the,’ she took a deep breath as she was still out of breath from running, ‘fuck?’
He smiled, an actual genuine smile, and said, ‘Well, I live just round the corner and thought this would be a good place for a run.’
Hermione gaped at him again. ‘You live in Muggle London?’
He shrugged and pulled her off the side of the path, so they weren’t in anyone’s way. His face darkened as he said, ‘No one recognises me here.’
She understood immediately but was still shocked to see Malfoy so at ease with using Muggle technology. She pointed at it, ‘you have a phone?’
‘I was told I needed one to get a flat,’ he said, then he pulled it out of his pocket again. ‘I never would have thought Muggle stuff would be so interesting,’ he said. ‘Have you heard of memes, Granger? That shit is brilliant.’
Hermione laughed out loud. ‘I’m sorry, Malfoy, I just never would have guessed.’
He smiled and paused. ‘Hey, do you want to get a coffee or something? I feel like I can’t chat to you at work as you’re the boss. It would be good to hear what you’ve been up to?’
Hermione smiled, ‘That sounds great.’
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