It's here, guys. This is the multi-chapter story I've been working on for a while. It's all written minus the last two chapters. As I post (about once a week) I'll edit and from there finish the last two chapters based on edits. It's going to be a bit of a slow burn at first, or at least that's what I'm going for. I hope you guys enjoy it. Please let me know your thoughts in the reviews. Thanks!

Notice: I own nothing. All credits to J.K. Rowling.

Hello Again

They'd circled around her again. Trapped her in a ring of snakes.

Harry and Ron had gone ahead so they wouldn't be late for quidditch practice. She regretted stopping to have a word with Professor McGonagall before making her way to the library.

Alone again, they'd cornered her and now other students were watching from outside the ring of Slytherins.

Hermione sighed and tried her best to hide the way his silver eyes unnerved her.

Draco Malfoy sauntered past Pansy Parkinson and Theodore Nott to stand right in front of her, looming over her by a good foot.

"What do you want, Malfoy?"

She'd become somewhat numb to his insults over the last six years. Though they'd grown increasingly nastier every year, she generally refused to let him see when he did make her cry.

"No friends to watch your back, huh, Granger?"

His lips tilted into his normal smirk and his grey eyes slid over her form from head to toe.

Hermione fidgeted under his gaze, unsure as to why he was looking her over so intensely.

"Been asked to the Yule ball yet, Mudblood?"

Her brown eyes narrowed at him but she didn't react to the old slur. She'd stopped reacting to it the same way after the first time he'd used it and she'd been told what it meant.

"Why do you care?"

He shrugged nonchalantly, "I don't. Nott and I had a bet though, you see. He says someone would ask you…eventually. Me…I don't think so."

The fact that they were betting on her stung but she willed herself not to show any emotion on the matter.

"You think I care what any of you think?"

A few chuckles rumbled around her and Draco smirked wider.

"You're delusional, Granger. It's high time you wised up. No one here likes you. Not only are you ugly, but you have to be the filthiest mudblood bitch I've ever had the misfortune to lay eyes on."

Hermione swallowed and tried not to let her eyes water.

"I mean, would you shag that, Goyle," Draco called over his shoulder at his friend. "Maybe drunk?"

Goyle snorted and merely shook his head. Draco turned back to her and sneered.

"Ugly and unwanted. Must be horrible to wake up and face the mirror every day, huh, Granger?"

Hermione's eyes darted discreetly past the circle of snakes surrounding her and caught some lingering Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs watching with wary expressions. None seemed ready to put themselves in Malfoy's path when he was being so especially nasty.

"I mean, she's not especially pretty but he's just being sort of cruel," one of them muttered.

She shook her head and attempted to shove past him and break through them but they only shoved her back roughly, causing Draco to break into peals of laughter.

"Oi! Leave her alone, you pasty git."

Fred and George shoved their tall frames through the circle of Slytherins, earning themselves a few glares. The two redheads flanked her on either side and stared Malfoy down.

"All right there, Hermione," George asked gently.

She drew a tight breath, still fighting back tears and nodded. "I just need to get to the library."

"This is your last warning, Malfoy," Fred warned him darkly. "Let us catch you cornering her again and that's it for you."

Draco merely laughed when they shoved past the group with Hermione shielded between them.

"Enjoy your filthy prize, Blood-Traitors," he snickered.

~o~O~o~

The muggle alarm clock blared out a loud tone and a slender hand reached from beneath the covers to slap the offending object and silence it.

Hermione groaned and rolled onto her back for a moment as the gears in her brain kickstarted. She sat up with a deep sigh and quickly swung her legs over the side of the bed. Her toes pressed into the soft carpet and she made her way into the bathroom.

She lit the room with a flick of her wand and stared at herself in the mirror. Every day was always the same. She breathed deeply as she observed her appearance. Her hair hadn't escaped the freezing charm she'd placed on it the night before and the curls were still sleek and tame. Her skin was clear but her eyes still looked tired.

She was thin, probably too thin really. Small breasts and a small rear. Her legs were long for a woman of her height but that was all that she saw positively.

Her nose was small and lips full but nothing special and her eyes were a dull brown.

She was still as she was eight years ago. Unattractive and unwanted. Except for her brain. They all wanted a piece of her mind it seemed.

She brushed her teeth and applied the light amount of makeup she'd taught herself in order to mask her tired eyes and make herself feel somewhat less unattractive than she knew she was.

Hermione dressed in her usual clothes—a plain black pencil skirt which ended above her knees with a plain red blouse. No frills. What was the point?

After pinning half her hair back from her eyes and slipping on her simple black heels, she petted Crookshanks on the head, and grabbed her briefcase before entering the floo.

The Ministry was beginning to buzz with activity when she reemerged in the atrium. She glared up at the statue in tribute to herself, Harry, and Ron—three lions standing proud with water flooding the pool around their paws. She hated that statue more than words could describe. She didn't ask for anything after the war except to finish her schooling and a job.

The Ministry hadn't deemed that enough for their participation in the war. She'd been granted the opportunity to return to Hogwarts and finish her seventh year and a job of her choice in any department. The $500,000 galleon reward deposited into her vaults seemed beyond excessive. Kingsley had seemed appalled when she'd tried to return it.

Co-workers from various departments nodded politely to her as they passed each other on her way to the lifts. She'd accepted an entry-level position in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, intent to work her way up by her merit and not her war credentials.

She needn't have been concerned. They wanted her more than they wanted Harry and Ron as aurors, though they did want that as well. With her brains and spellwork and their defensive skills, they shouldn't have questioned the reasoning in their being hired.

"Good morning, Everett," she greeted her secretary with a bland smile.

The blonde wizard handed her the post with a nervous smile in return and she quickly retreated into her office and seated herself behind her desk.

Another day, another part of her quiet routine.

~o~O~o~

"Isn't there someone else," Harry asked. He turned and glared at the man next to him.

Kingsley sighed and folded his hands on his desk as he shook his head. "It's not possible, Harry. Mr. Malfoy's law firm won the contract fairly. He'll be working on your department's case against Albindor Tilshire."

Harry bit his tongue on the words he really wanted to say to the wizard standing next to him. Instead, he turned to face Draco Malfoy and narrowed his eyes in warning.

"I'll only say it once, Malfoy. If I had things my way, you wouldn't come within an inch of the Magical Law Enforcement Department. But let me be clear about something. Since Hermione is the Head Law Liaison, you'll be working directly with her for your evidence and warrant needs. Mark my words, if you so much as make her blink uncomfortably, I'll have your arse."

Draco rolled his eyes dramatically. "What are we, Potter? First years? Get a grip. This is business and nothing more. Grow up, won't you?"

Harry snorted derisively, "We'll certainly see if you have."

Draco shook his head irritably and followed his former nemesis out of the Minister's office.

Frankly, he hated the Ministry. No matter how many years it had been and how far he'd come in proving that he wasn't the sinister brat he once believed himself to be, people still did a double take when he walked past them. But being a wizarding attorney, it was impossible to avoid the place entirely. The Wizengamot was a regular stop for him but he rarely visited any of the departments.

The idea of working closely with Hermione Granger made him cringe internally. The witch had hated him in school and with good reason. He'd been a right prick to her the entire time. Watching her being tortured on his drawing room floor by his aunt and doing nothing because he was scared to death did nothing to help his case, he was sure.

He'd not seen the woman in years and frankly just wished to get through the next few months as amicably as possible.

Draco followed Harry through the halls and stood stiffly next to him as they rode the lift to the fifth floor. Harry didn't bother to speak to him as he led him silently into the office for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. A few aurors stopped and eyed him curiously before resuming their conversations. They moved swiftly past them and into the Magical Law Liaison wing of the office.

He withheld the urge to snort when they stopped in her open doorway. The plaque next to her door read 'Head Magical Law Liaison—Hermione Granger'. Was there any end to that woman's need to reach the highest position possible in any given field?

Harry waited for a moment to see if she'd notice them standing there, not wanting to startle her as she seemed so engulfed in her work.

Draco eyed her for the first time in roughly eight years. His eyes scanned over the bits of her he could see from her hunched over position behind her desk, noting that her small build hadn't changed any and her hair seemed more curl than frizz. She still had the same pout on her mouth when she was completely lost in her work, much the way she used to in their potions class.

"Same old Granger then," Draco muttered drily. He met Harry's gaze when his eyes whipped over to him. "Looks the same, too."

Harry narrowed his eyes at the blonde again and pushed him aside before Hermione did in fact notice them.

"I'm only telling you one more time, Malfoy. Upset her the way you used to and I'll hex you myself."

Draco rolled his eyes and shrugged. "It was just an observation, Potter. I wasn't insulting the woman."

The dark-haired wizard looked doubtful but nodded and stepped back to her doorway. He rapped his knuckles on the doorframe and smiled when she finally lifted her head.

"Morning, Hermione. I've got the attorney assigned to our case." He tipped his head as Draco stepped into her doorway calmly and waited for her response.

Hermione eyed the blonde wizard blankly and merely nodded dismissively. "Thanks, Harry." She set her muggle pen down and gestured to one of the seats across from her desk. "Have a seat, Malfoy."

Draco lifted an eyebrow in mild surprise and glanced next to him again. "I suppose she does remember me then."

Harry nudged him discreetly from behind when he went to enter the office and lifted his brows expectantly when the man cast him a look over his shoulder.

"Remember what I said." He mouthed to him before turning on heel and making his way back to his own office.

Draco took a calming breath to stop the old urge to sling some sort of petty insult and shook his head as he took up the offered seat across from the witch. He crossed an ankle over one knee and waited expectantly as she shuffled through some folders on her desk.

Getting slightly annoyed by her silence and indifference to him, he glanced around her office at the various knickknacks on her bookshelf closest to him. Non-moving muggle photos of a couple he could only assume were her parents, an inactive snitch given to her by Potter no doubt, various books on random topics…there was no particular theme.

"Well, Malfoy, I believe this is what you need from me to get started."

He jerked his attention back to her abruptly and reached out for the folder she was handing him. He glanced inside at the various bits of documents and photos for evidence. He hesitantly lifted a plastic baggie with some sort of potion sloshing about between two fingers. He glanced up at her with a questioning quirk of his brow.

"That's the potion he was feeding to his victims," she supplied. Her tone was bored, uninterested, and…a fair bit cold.

"Lovely," he sneered.

He'd not been extremely excited about the idea of taking on the case against Albindor Tilshire. The Tilshires were a known pureblood family and he knew they likely had expected him to defend his murder case due to the old social codes. He expected he'd receive a rather scathing owl once word got out that he'd taken the Ministry's side and was preparing to defend their case against him murdering multiple Department of Mysteries employees in some misguided attempt to get close to one of the women in the department that he'd been pining after.

"I don't expect I'll have any issues out of you staying true to the Ministry," Hermione asked him, drawing him out of his thoughts.

Draco sighed and closed the folder before giving her his full attention. With her head up and focus on him, he could see her eyes now. The same rich brown curtained by her long lashes peered at him curiously.

"Give me a break, Granger. Have I still not redeemed myself in the eyes of the Ministry in the last eight years?"

She shrugged nonchalantly and picked up her pen again. "How should I know? I don't follow your every move."

Hermione nearly flinched at her choice of words, flashbacks of him trailing her through the halls of the castle and taunting her until she broke into a dead run for safety in the library or Gryffindor Tower assaulted her mind's eye. If he noticed, he didn't indicate as such.

Draco ignored her comment and tucked the folder under his arm as he stood. "Where am I supposed to report to then to begin work? I need to start organizing all of the evidence those nutters you call aurors have gathered."

Hermione sighed at the thin insult and sat back in her chair. "Unfortunately, there's not an empty office available at this time. Kingsley is arranging to have a small work area setup in my office for your use while you work on the case."

He nearly cringed at the thought of having to work with the witch every day until he could finish the case but he wasn't a child anymore and not about to back down from the challenge.

"Very well," he nodded. "I'll see you in the morning then, Granger."

"Thanks for the warning," she quipped darkly.