The Silver Envelope

Epilogue

"I'm sure that would be fine," she said, and he trailed after her to the lift. "Ignoma should be meeting us there as well, by the way. We needed an S.P.E.W. representative besides me."
"Excellent."
Potter was the only one there when they arrived, standing at the head of the large table in the main meeting room of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. He was busy arranging some notes when Hermione greeted him cheerfully, making him look up.
"Harry, look who's here!" she said.
Potter's bespectacled face stared blankly at Draco as he entered the room.
"Potter. Thought I'd pop by and say hello, since I'm here," Draco said with a wink.
Potter blinked.
"Er." Potter said thickly, scrambling to figure out what Draco was up to.
Draco had never come to visit him at work before. Their Quidditch games, which had evolved into a weekly occurrence since that first one they'd arranged months ago, were usually the only times Potter ever saw him. And even then, Draco was really more friends with Ginny.
Before Potter could give him away, several others walked into the meeting room. Draco didn't know them all. He spotted a few Aurors. a representative he thought might be from the press secretary's office, and John from the Department of Mysteries. He exchanged a nod with John when he walked by. Hermione didn't notice, as she was busy staring at the doorway as someone she wasn't expecting to see walked in.
"Ms. Granger!" Tillo exclaimed, beaming up at her as he extended a hand to shake. She took it, taking in the sight of his red robes with pride.
Privately, Draco thought Hermione shouldn't have been all that surprised to see Tillo here.
Considering the fact that the meeting was about the implementation of measures to prevent elf trafficking, it only made sense that he would be. He was, after all, the first elf in history to be hired.
Potter had been truly impressed by Tillo's heroics in the Anobeith Forest. He'd championed Tillo's Auror training himself, often likening him to Dobby, much to Tillo's amazement. Not many people knew about the elf's new position, as Potter preferred it that way. Draco imagined it would be extremely useful to have a small spy who could easily slip past anti-apparition wards on the Auror team, and obviously it was much better if no dark wizards knew they needed to set up special defenses to keep out elves. Draco and Hermione only knew about it because Ignoma had told them directly. She was extremely proud of her fiancé. Draco knew.
Ignoma herself walked in then as well, casually flashing her diamond ring as she waved hello to Hermione and Draco before choosing a seat next to Tillo. They both transfigured their chairs to raise them up higher before they sat, and although they were still much shorter than everyone else in the room, they were at least able to see over the table.
As funny as Hermione's surprise at seeing Tillo was, her shock when Draco chose a seat near the front of the room, laying his briefcase flat on the table as he sat, was so palpable that it almost made Draco double over with laughter right there in front of everyone. She looked to Potter, who didn't seem at all surprised that Draco had seated himself at their meeting, and her puzzlement deepened.

"Alright, I think that's everyone," Potter announced, pointing his wand at the door to close it, muttering a few protective enchantments to prevent eavesdropping. Startled, Hermione took the last available seat, nearly all the way across the room from Draco's spot.
"Okay, we're here to discuss the various preventive measures we plan to implement to stop elf-trafficking, a problem which has been steadily worsening over the past few months, as I'm sure you all know," Potter said. In the middle of the table, an enchanted quill noted everything he said.
"I've got Hermione Granger here from the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures; she'll be briefing us all on a few pieces of proposed legislation. But first, Draco Malfoy from the Department of Mysteries has a short presentation for us all." Draco nodded to the table, repressing an amused snort at Hermione's expression of pure
dumbfoundment.
Potter seated himself, turning to face Draco with interest.
"Hello, everyone," Draco said as he stood. "I'm here to tell you about a little project I've been working on."
He had to avoid Hermione's eyes entirely now. He would break into hysterics if he saw her reaction to this news. Instead, he looked at everyone else, particularly Ignoma, who was beaming at him from her place beside Tillo.
"As we all know, the SOCKS Act was instrumental in freeing elves from enslavement, but the problem with freeing elves is that once an elf has been released from their Master's Bond, another bond may take its place. Since we all want elves to have the freedom they deserve, this vulnerability has been an obstacle." Most everyone in the group frowned and nodded at this, their attention unwavering. "As it happens, I started this project before SOCKS was passed. I'll admit I didn't anticipate that Ms. Granger would be so rapidly successful with her initiative to change minds. So I took on the project of creating an alternative solution, which I think can help us in our current predicament."