Enchant: A Dramione Tale

Three

"Tonks?" she hissed at the stranger under her breath.

Hermione didn't seem to recognize the person she had forcibly bumped into, but then again Nymphadora Tonks was a skilled Metamorphmagus and could change her appearance at will.

The plump curly-haired witch gave a small wink and then her irises flashed a rainbow of technicolour for a split second before she blinked the magic away.

"I have questions but now is neither the time nor place," Not-Tonks murmured quietly while quickly pulling her out of Knockturn Alley and checking that the coast was clear.

They stood in the shadows just before reaching the main street, and Tonks used her body to shield Hermione while she finished her transition. Her waist shrank down to its normal boring shape and then she slowly shortened until at her usual average height. In her peripheral she could see her hair growing longer and poofier by the second.

It only took a minute or two for "Hermione" to fully reappear.

In contrast, Tonks changed back into her true form almost instantaneously. She had a beautiful heart-shaped face, dark twinkling eyes, and short spikey hair that was a violent shade of violet.

They walked back into sunlight and the hustle and bustle of Diagon Alley together.

"I've been trying to run into you for weeks," Hermione whispered as they walked.

"Did you intend for it to be such brutal contact?" She playfully rubbed her ribs.

"You know what I mean, Tonks. And you know why. Where have you been?"

They meandered side by side and gave polite smiles and small waves to different people they knew. Both were Ministry employees - Tonks worked in the Auror Office of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and although no one knew exactly what Hermione did as an Unspeakable in the Department of Mysteries, she was a familiar face in respectable society.

Both were also secretly recruited into the Order of the Phoenix for reconnaissance purposes, which was what Hermione so desperately needed to talk to her about. But that conversation couldn't be had on the street, even in whispers.

"I've been on assignment, I'll explain later. I can link up on Tuesday night."

Tonks winked again and then made herself scarce. Her violet hair morphed into a neutral shade and then Hermione eventually lost sight of her in the crowd as she disappeared into some new form.

Back in her own body and back to reality, Hermione did a bit more shopping and then went home to her flat and normal life.

She unpacked her groceries and stored her potions ingredients, then cast some basic spells to do laundry. She was always working to maintain her perfect cover like acing some sort of a practical exam. From the outside it was a very simple, very average day.

And she was just a simple, average witch in the eyes of the world. Nothing to see here, she often thought to herself.

Sunday and Monday passed without incident.

Hermione went to work at the Ministry as usual. She diligently experimented in Cerebrum, this week her research involved unconscious magic. She had a few hypotheses about the similarities between accidental spellcasting and neurological seizures - she wanted to get some imaging to compare how they were similar uncontrollable bursts of electrical activity between brain cells.

She also collaborated with her colleagues on their own projects - checking in with Laurel Fiddlewood's space/time paradoxical equations, Miranda Bogg's brain scans of Seers, and Nicholas Crane's death draught analyses.