Delighted To Love You: A Dramione Story

Part 3: Chapter 15

"Why?! Close the curtains!" she whined, squinting at the bright light.

Draco laughed and handed her a hangover potion and a cup of coffee. "Absolutely not! It's your first day as minister and you don't want to be late!"

"What time is it?" she asked, throwing back the covers and heading to the bathroom for a shower.

"6:30."

"Oh my goodness! I'm going to be late!"

"Herms you don't have to be there until 8."

"Yeah but there are going to be photos taken of me today! I actually have to look nice and that's going to take time!" she called from the shower.

Draco simply laughed, shook his head and continued to get ready for work.

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Hermione flopped into the chair behind her new desk in her new office, exhausted from the day's happenings. It was only 1:00 and she had already had five meetings, a press conference and had to sit for her official portrait. Luckily, Kingsley was still on hand for the first month of her term, to help her with the transition. Draco stopped by to have lunch with her and she was halfway through her meal before she realized she had never finished her conversation with Athena so she decided to write to her.

Athena,

Hello sweetheart! I hope all is well. I'm sorry we didn't get to chat last night; It was just so hectic. If you still want to talk, write me back and I'll see if I can get up there your next Hogsmeade weekend. I love you and I'll talk to you soon!

Love,

Mum

She sent the letter off with a sigh. She was overjoyed to finally be in the position she worked her entire life for but it was a lot of work.

Hermione checked her afternoon schedule and smiled. She had a meeting with the new Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, her replacement, at 2:00.

There was a knock at her door promptly at 1:59.

"Come in," Hermione called, putting the paperwork she was working on to the side.

Harry walked into her office with a wide smile on his face and sat down in the chair opposite her desk. "Good afternoon Minister."

"Good afternoon Head of Magical Law Enforcement," Hermione replied with a giggle.

Harry sighed. "Can you believe we're actually here 'Mione? We've worked so hard and it's all paid off."

"I'll say," Hermione said with a grin. "We still on for dinner at the Burrow tonight?"

"Yeah. Mum Weasley is cooking up a spectacular congratulatory feast from what Ginny told me."

"Oh I can't wait! I love Mrs. Weasley's cooking. Anyway, we'll have plenty of time to chat later. Do you have any important news?"

Harry frowned. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news on your first day, but these been a string of robberies in Diagon Alley over the last few weeks," he said, handing her a stack of files.

"Why am I just being informed of this now? I was Head of Magical Law Enforcement and should have been notified."

"Well uh, you see, Kingsley thought it best not to worry you with it while you were running your campaign."

"I see."

"You're angry," Harry said. It wasn't a question.

"Not angry, annoyed."

"I'm sorry 'Mione, we thought it was best at the time. You were so stressed out."

"You can beg my forgiveness later. For now, brief me on what's going on. And do it quickly; I have another meeting after this."

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Athena sighed after reading the letter from her mother.

Taylor turned to her and frowned. "What's wrong Athena?"

"Nothing. Hey do you have a sheet of parchment and a quill?"

Taylor nodded and put down her fork to reach into her knapsack. They were finishing up lunch in the great hall.

Hey mum,

Thanks for taking time out of what I'm sure is a busy first day to write me. Don't worry about it though. It's nothing important. I'll talk to you when I come home for Christmas. Love you too.

AGM

Athena sealed the letter and decided she would take it up to the owlery before class.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Taylor inquired. "You've been awfully quiet lately."

Athena smiled at her best friend. "Yeah I'm fine. It's just weird being here at Hogwarts when all of our friends have graduated. I miss them."

Taylor leaned in and hugged her. "Well we've got each other! And in seven months, we'll be out of this place for good."

"You're right," Athena replied, gathering her things. "I'm gonna dash up to the owlery to send this letter to my mum before my potions class. I'll see you at dinner?"

Taylor nodded and waved as Athena walked away.

Athena stood in the owlery near a window, closing her eyes and allowing the cold November air to wash over her. There was fresh snow on the ground, still undisturbed by footprints. Winter was Athena's favorite season. Not only because of her birthday, which had just passed, but because it was just so peaceful.

She sent her letter to her mother with a brown owl and was preparing to leave when she decided to pen another letter.

Hey Al,

It's me. It was good seeing you yesterday. I'm glad you and your dad are getting on; I told you he wouldn't care about you wanting to be a healer and not an auror like him, Teddy and James. He just wants you to be happy. I hope you are happy. It's so boring here without you and Marco. I mean I guess I should be happy that I'm head girl but more than anything I just want to come home. I'm rambling now so I'll stop. See you at Christmas.

All my love,

AGM

She sighed wistfully and headed down the stairs to get to potions.

A/N Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I can't wait for the next one; It's gonna be exciting! ;) Also, the first chapter of my original story Miss Communications is posted on my page. As always, thanks for reading. Please vote, comment and follow!

Here's a sneak peek of the next chapter:

Hermione found Draco in the library with a glass of firewhisky and his head in his hands.

"Herms?" he called without looking up.

"It's me," she replied taking the firewhisky from him and downing the glass.

"Wow. Haven't seen you drink like that in awhile. Not even during your campaign."

"Well," she said tiredly. "Nothing on the campaign was this bad."

"God tell me about it," he replied angrily. "If gouging my eyes out would rid me of the image of them permanently etched in my brain, I would do it."

"It gets worse," Hermione said, climbing into his lap.