Simple Kind Of Life

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Swallowing the bit of tea she drank, Ginny furrowed her brows at the couple. "Oi, what are you two doing here? You better not be planning something stupid."

"Of course they're planning something stupid," Pansy huffed. "That's why I was dragged out of bed so early in the first place —  to make sure the likes of them didn't show up and cause a disturbance." Glaring at Cho Zabini, Pansy crossed her arms seriously. "What's with the files? Planning a legal fight with the Auror Department?"

Not backing down from the intense stare the ex-Slytherin witch was giving her, Cho glared with the same emphasis. "If you must know, Pansy, these are the financial records of Zabini Corporations since my husband took reign of his father's business." She turned away from the dark-haired woman to look at the one that used to be her undeclared rival. "And not to worry, Ginny, we aren't here to cause an argument."

"Not that she can anyway, she is a muggle lawyer. We don't have those here," Teddy piped in. "What?" he asked skeptically, his grey eyes opening wide as the women frowned.

Pansy rolled her eyes and caught Cho's attention once more. "I'm glad you and Zabini aren't here to do something shameful, then. I was not going to let you two ruin Ron's career for something that Teddy let slip. I am not going back to when he and I first started and he attempted to run Weasley's Wizard Wheezes with George." She pulled out her wand, just to get her point across. "I will not."

"Settle down, settle down." Teddy stood, slapping on his trainee badge onto his robes as he walked away from the desk and to the group. "Pulling out your wand inside the Ministry, unless asked by a certified official, is against the law. I'm going to have to ask you to put you wand away, Mrs. Weasley, or you shall be escorted out of the premises."

"That's a lovely badge, Ted," Pansy replied, lowering her wand from Cho's annoyed face and Blaise's partially terrified expression. "How many tests did you have to pass in order to get one?"

Trainee Lupin cleared his throat, looking somewhat in authority as he adjusted his robes.

Laughing to herself, Pansy pointed her wand at Teddy and said, "Evanesco."

Horrified as the little silver badge disappeared from his robes, Lupin gasped and stomped to his mother. "Mum, tell her to give it back!"

"Oh, for goodness sake!" snarling to herself, Hermione took the chance of Teddy's dramatic tantrum to strut herself away from her friends.

"—Hermione, no!"

"—Oi, Granger! Get back here!"

Ignoring the calls that Ginny and Pansy shouted after her and the footsteps she was hearing behind her, Hermione marched to two massive glass doors. Breathing in enough air to ignite the flame inside of her, she pushed the  doors open. She was tired of waiting, tired of doing nothing. It was time.

"—This group was selected for obvious reasons."

"—No one is being ungrateful to that, Minister, but we are just asking to have some trainees bumped up in the ranks. We can't handle the pressure of pending cases."

"We will not—" Boom.

Startling those gathered in the Head Auror's office, Kingsley Shacklebolt stopped his discussion with the Auror in front of him as the doors burst open; an infuriated-looking brunette marched in with a look of burning determination living in her brown eyes— a look the Minister knew so well from her past.

Standing beside the Minister, Harry scowled as his best friend stood inside of his office, distracting the meeting that was going on at the moment. "Hermione, now is not the time. Come back later."