Ch 1
“Congratulations Miss Prince,” The aged wizard spoke, extending his right hand, “You are now an employee of the Ministry of Magic.” Agyness immediately stuck out her hand to meet his and shake it, “Thank you so much, sir. I promise, I won’t let you down.”
Agyness walked out of the employment office, located in the entry level of the Ministry of Magic, dodging the other employees that were bustling about. My first job, she thought, her full lips forming a smile on her heart-shaped face. Only nineteen years old, two years out of Hogwarts, and she had finally scored her dream job. Her parents would be so proud. “Oh darling, seven years of being a Ravenclaw has suited you well,” her mother would gush as her dad would tower off to the side, smiling and nodding in approval. Her parents would finally give her some recognition, after all of those years of fawning over her famous friends that she had gone to school with.
Not noticing where she was headed, Agyness flew into a curly-haired woman, almost knocking over her stack of books. “Agyness, how did it go?!” Hermione demanded of her friend after making a quick recovery, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her viciously. A wide grin formed on Agyness’s face before answering, “I start on Monday.” Hermione shrieked and threw her arms around Agyness’s petite frame, embracing her. “Hermione… can’t—breathe,” Agyness squeaked. Hermione eased her hold on her, then began interrogating, “Well, what department are you in? What are your hours? You can’t keep me waiting here all day.” Hermione began tapping her foot impatiently, and Agyness began with a little laugh, “I’m in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, of course-” Hermione interrupted her and began raving, “Oh, you’ll be with Harry, Ron, and myself; lovely! You’ll fit right in, I can introduce you to-” “Hold on, Hermione,” it was Agyness’s turn to interrupt, “I’m not a full on auror… not yet, at least. The man said that all aurors are mentored for a full year before they begin…” “Well, of course! How silly of me-” Hermione began again, but Agyness silenced her enthusiasm with the raise of her hand. “They said I’ll be mentored by someone named…” Agyness began unfolding a piece of official-looking Ministry paper, “Draco Malfoy? Heard of him?”
Hemione’s jaw dropped and she almost dropped her stack of books, again. “What?!” She almost shrieked, her cheeks flaming and her nostrils flaring. Hermione then proceeded to grab Agyness by the arm and lead her to the elevators, her curly hair flying behind her in a whirlwind. “What’s wrong?” Agyness spoke, trying to keep up with her frenzied pace. “You’ll see. My office. Now.” That was all that Hermione could muster without completely losing it.
The elevator ride was silent, with Hermione silently fuming in one corner and Agyness almost cowering in the other. When they finally reached the right floor, Hermione almost forced the elevator doors open herself and once again grabbed Agyness, almost dragging her down the hallway. When they reached Hermione’s office, Agyness was flung into a red-leathered seat as Hermione began pacing around the room in a furor. Letting her cool off, Agyness decided to look upon the organized room that was Hermione’s work space, envisioning herself soon to have a similar office of her own. A bulletin board with many colorful tacks and newspaper clippings showed pictures of fugitives, some in prison (like Bellatrix Lestrange), some still at large (like Macnair), and some that had died in incarceration (Agyness could not recall their names). Hermione decided to speak, interrupting Agyness’s thoughts, “Malfoy… Malfoy… How can you not remember that little rat?” Hermione gave her a pleading look, as though trying to force her to remember their years at Hogwarts. After a minute of thinking, Agyness responded, “Hermione, I honestly do not remember a boy named Draco Malfoy. I remember some people, like Neville, Luna, Parvati, Padma-”
Now it was Hermione’s turn to raise her hand to interrupt Agyness. She took a deep breath before she spoke, “Oh, how stupid of me. Of course you don’t remember; I can’t recall you being with us when he was around. Besides, you were a year behind us and are a year younger... Draco was… well—to put it nicely, a rather rude Slytherin.” “That’s it?” Agyness replied, raising her eyebrows so high that they couldn’t be seen beneath her dark bangs. “To tell the truth, he hasn’t changed much since...” Hermione responded. It was silent for a second, and then Agyness giggled slightly. Hermione gave her a scorching look, “What’s so funny?” “Hermione,” Agyness said, trying to speak between her chortles, “do you honestly believe that a nasty little Slytherin can intimidate me? Okay, maybe not little but… twenty year old Slytherin? Why do you think I was hired as an auror in the first place?”
At that moment, there was a knock on the door. Hermione grasped the handle and turned it open. There was a black-haired man with thick glasses and another man, who was freckled and towered above his companion. “Hello,” Harry and Ron said to Hermione at once, Ron adding a peck on Hermione’s cheek to his greeting. “Hey,” Hermione responded, her cheeks now flaming from joy while opening the door to let them in and to allow them to see Agyness, “Guess who just got hired?”
“Agyness!” The men said in unison, both running over to their old friend and grasping her in a group hug. “Guys…” Agyness squeaked, her petite frame not equipped to being squeezed by two strong men at once. When they released her, Harry began, “So, who’s going to be your mentor? Hermione, right? That’s why you’re both chatting in here?” “Actually,” Hermione began, “I was just going to let you guys know…” She grasped Harry and Ron, Ron with a bemused expression on his face, by their arms and led them outside, closing the door firmly behind her. After a few minutes, the echo of two male voices shouting, “What?!” could be heard throughout the corridor. After a few minutes of audible squabbling, the trio reentered Hermione’s office, all with the same irritated expression on their faces.
“Okay, anyone care to give me a valid reason why I should be fuming like the rest of you?” Agyness said, a hint of exasperation in her voice. At that moment, a phone rang. “Granger’s office.” Hermione answered it lightning fast. After a minute of “really?” and “uh-huh.”, Hermione hung up and turned to face Harry and Ron, starting to speak in a serious tone, “We’ve got a lead on Macnair. A big lead. If we want a chance, we have to act now.” Harry and Ron shot out of the office like bullets, leaving Hermione alone with Agyness. “Care to explain before you guys save the day…yet again?” Agyness said, somewhat sarcastically. Hermione grabbed Agyness’s hands in a motherly fashion and kneeled to chair-level to be even with her. Agyness was surprised, to say the least. “Sweetheart, just be careful. He has history.” And with that, Hermione grabbed her wand from her desk and almost ran out, leaving Agyness sitting in slight awe.
After a minute, Agyness recovered herself from the day’s madness and made her way out of Hermione’s cramped office to the elevator down the long corridor. She walked, half in a daze, absorbed in her thoughts. “What’s the big deal?” Agyness thought to herself as she gazed through the pseudo-windows on the wall, “A nasty old Slytherin bully. I think I can handle it without all of the commotion that everyone’s causing…” At that moment, Agyness almost ran into an auror who was stepping out of his office, a stack of papers almost as large as he in his grip. “Not again!” Agyness spoke when she recovered herself, her mind now set on fixing her mistake. “I am sooo sorry-” She began again, frantically trying to help the man pick up his stack of papers.
“Don’t fret… here.” The man finally spoke, turning to her and placing the papers back properly into their place with just the flick of his wand. When he turned to look at her, Agyness was speechless. He had fair skin, and was almost a good foot taller than her. He had brilliant white teeth (Agyness could tell because his perfect lips were formed into a broad grin). His eyes were a deep, blue color, and his fair blond hair was set in a perfect, half-unkempt, half-styled look. Before Agyness could gather herself, the gorgeous man spoke, “You must be the new girl, Agyness, right?” She managed to splutter out, “Y-Yes… I am.” He once again spoke before she could think of something to say, “You’ll have fun here. The year of being an auror-in-training really prepares you for the real world…” He stopped and noticed the direction that she had been walking in before, “Would you care for me to escort you to the elevator?” Agyness just smiled and nodded, becoming slightly more comfortable with this handsome stranger.
As they walked, Agyness managed to speak a coherent sentence, “So, how long have you been employed here?” “Oh, about two years. I got the job almost immediately after I finished my schooling.” The walk to the elevator was short, and the gentleman pressed the button to open the elevator for her. Agyness stepped in and said, “Thank you for the lovely chat. See you around?” “Definitely,” the man responded, winking at her. The elevator doors silently closed, and he was gone. Agyness made the slow climb up to the entry level.
She arrived at her quaint flat, located in the heart of London, in the still of the night, still pondering about the mystery man she had met earlier. As she laid her head on her pillow and tucked herself into her plush, white cotton coverlet, she realized that she never did ask the man his name.
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Hey there, I'm Melissa (Mel for short) and this is my first fan-fic. 
Over the past few years, I've written a few fan-fics on my computer but I've never had the courage to finish them or put them online. Big thanks to Dee/Gryffindoll for the beautiful image at the top & GINORMOUS thanks to Mione/mione_girlgwp for inspiring me to make this fan-fic with her amazing story, Only Time - Sa13+. I'm open to comments, criticism, suggestions, etc. Hope you enjoy!
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