Hermione stepped into Kingsley's office prepared for another fight. She fully expected him to tell her to stop whatever nonsense she, Ron, and Harry were up to and was unhappily surprised when she found tea freshly poured and waiting for her instead. Kingsley was standing at the window, his back to her as she entered. Even though his wand was nowhere in sight and this meeting was very clearly not an attack, she kept her wand in hand and her eyes on the Minister.

"I know what you're doing, Miss Granger," Kingsley said, turning his head to look at her. Hermione stared blankly at him and watched as he walked from the window to his desk. He gestured for her to sit, but she did not move. "This is not a hostile environment, it is simply a meeting between fellow Order members."

"It became hostile the minute you decided to fuel prejudice against those who only did what was best for their families," Hermione said. Kingsley's mouth twitched but he did not frown. "I'm not here for tea, Shacklebolt, I'm here because you asked for me. What do you want?"

"I want you to sit and have tea, Miss Granger," he said tightly.

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him but sat in the chair across from him. She did not touch her tea.

"I've read the Daily Prophet," he told her, pulling out a stack of papers. Even if she hadn't seen the front page of the top one, she would have known they were all posts from that week.

"I'm sure you've figured out what your options are by now," Hermione said. She vanished the tea cup wandlessly and nonverbally before Kingsley could tell her to take a sip again.

"I have fought in two Great Wars, Miss Granger," Kingsley said darkly, narrowing his eyes at her as he spoke. "I will not be bullied by a trio of children. You've made your point and I understand your concern, but you are in no place to—"

"I am in exactly the place to do what I have done," Hermione hissed, hands slamming onto the desk. Kingsley leaned back slightly and Hermione leaned forward, almost snarling as she said, "You have done nothing but promote the same popular opinions that lead us into both of those wars you fought in and we will not stand by and watch the wizarding world make the same mistake for the third time."

"You forget yourself, Miss Granger."

"No, Shacklebolt," Hermione said slowly, standing and pointing her wand at Kingsley's chest, "You forget yourself. You may be a Minister and I may be a child, but I will bring you to your knees before the end of next week."

The room was filled with a tense silence as Hermione and Kingsley stared at each other for several minutes. When it became clear Kingsley had no intention of agreeing to Hermione's thinly veiled warning, she straightened and smoothed her robes.

"Mr. Shacklebot," she said calmly, "You will have exactly one opportunity to prove to us you are not going to be a Minister who sees the next Voldemort-upstart to power. Should you choose to pass on your chance—Well," Hermione said, glancing at the door, "I imagine you'll find the public is no longer fond of you."

Before Kingsley could say anything else, she walked out of his office and onto the lift. When the lift doors shut and she was finally alone, she slumped against the wall and took a deep breath.

She really hoped Kingsley would take the out. She wanted him to move forward from the war and change both his personal biases and the public biases, but she wasn't sure if he would. There wasn't really anyone nearly as popular right now who could replace him, but Hermione knew it could be done if necessary. However, there was always the risk that while he appeared to promote unity in public, he could run the Ministry in a way that would undermine everything Hermione hoped it would achieve.

The lift doors opened, though, and she stood straight as she walked through the atrium and over to where Draco waited patiently by the fountain. She glared at everyone who gave him a strange look, but Draco didn't look like the stares and whispers affected him in the slightest. As soon as his eyes landed on her, he smiled and stepped forward.

"How did it go?" he asked, reaching out and wrapping an arm around her waist.

"I have doubts," she murmured. Ever aware of the stares they were receiving and the fact that they were in the Ministry, she refrained from kissing him. "Are the papers still outside?"

"Oh, yes," he replied with a grin. Hermione rolled her eyes as they started toward the Floo. "I have been feeling a little left out," Draco told her, moving his arm from her waist to her shoulders as they moved through the crowds. "You've been busy undermining our newest Minister with Potter and Weasel while I've been at home."

"I didn't want you to feel forced out into the public after what happened with your pardon," Hermione told him. Draco pulled her closer and pressed a kiss to her temple. "I'm not above using Harry, but I don't want you to feel used."

"On the contrary," Draco said, grinning as they approached the Floo. "I think I'd rather enjoy being used to overthrow a potentially corrupt Minister."

Hermione just grinned at him and as they stepped through the Floo, her hold on him tightened and they stumbled out of the fireplace and into a grand entryway. Hermione wasn't sure what she had expected from the Daily Prophet's office, but this hadn't been it.

It didn't take long for the receptionist to clear Rita Skeeter's schedule at the temptation of a Tell-All story by Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy. They were escorted back to Rita's private office just a few minutes later and didn't need to say anything before Rita was pulling out her quick notes quill and offering them both seats so they could begin.

* * * * *

The Saturday morning edition of the Daily Prophet sent the wizarding world into a frenzy. What had started out as a way to force Shackelbolt's hand into publicly acknowledging Draco as a hero instead of a Death Eater had turned into the public turning against Kingsley very openly. Hermione couldn't say she was unhappy with the results, but they hadn't exactly been what she'd expected. Of course, she probably should have accounted better for what Skeeter would spin out of her and Draco's testament.

Of Love & Pain: A Tell-All by War Heroes Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger had been a rather dramatic title, but upon actually opening the paper and reading the article, Hermione found it hardly did the story any justice.

Abused since he was a child and longing to be seen as equal amongst his peers at Hogwarts, Draco Malfoy's story is not one of anger and hatred for muggles and lesser creatures, but one of pain and manipulation by even his closest family members.

Rita dramatised what short information Draco had shared about his upbringing so much that by the time she got to when Draco had been forced to take the Dark Mark, it seemed there was no possible way for Draco's story to get worse. They had refrained from telling Rita about Draco being a werewolf, finding it would do more harm to tell the public than it would to keep it a secret, but she didn't need that information to draw up even more sympathy for what Draco had allegedly been through.

Forced by You Know Who himself to torture and kill or risk the life of his lover—our very own Hermione Granger—Draco did all he could to survive without causing more suffering. While his father battled on the front lines, Draco stayed behind to help children and the elderly to safety at the risk of his own life.

"Merlin," Ron scoffed, glancing from the paper to look up at Draco. "Rita really does layer it on, doesn't she?"

"It says here that several sources have come forward saying it's true," Ginny said, pointing near the bottom of the page. Ron frowned and looked at the paper again.

Across the table, Draco continued to eat his breakfast without a word. Hermione sat beside him with a small smile and waited in silence for the others to get to the part implying Kingsley was attempting to stifle the real hero of the wizarding world.

In the end, it is Draco Malfoy we have to thank as without him, our Golden Trio would not be whole and we would be slaves to a dark wizard's worst fantasies. However, I cannot help but ask myself why such an honorable and important hero such as Draco Malfoy never received the recognition he deserved. Is it because we too have failed this young man? Or is it because even now someone longs to keep a true hero hidden by the secrets of war?

"Have we failed you, Draco Malfoy?" Harry asked with a smirk, pushing his glasses up his nose.

"Bugger off, Potter," Draco snorted. He rolled his eyes and Harry grinned.

The paper was set aside after that even though Rita Skeeter continued rambling on about some theory involving Kingsley, but the article was enough to spur what Hermione needed.

Come Saturday afternoon, the wizarding world was so upset with how Draco had been treated that the Ministry had to make an official announcement the following Monday morning. It was unexpected and without prior announcement, but Hermione, Draco, Ginny, Harry, and Ron were all there to watch as Minister Kingsley Shackelbolt publicly recognised Draco as a hero and awarded him a medal of honour. He called for Draco to accept the medal, clearly expecting them to not be there, and barely hid his surprise in time.

"Thank you, Minister," Draco said as the medal was placed around his neck. He flashed Kingsley a smile that was dangerously close to showing his extended canines. "I do believe you've made a wonderful choice."

Kingsley just narrowed his eyes at him as they both turned to face the cameras and smile. Familiar with the role of public appeal, Draco waved politely and shook Minister Shackelbolt's hand before stepping off the platform and finding Hermione. He immediately pulled her to his side and pressed a kiss to her temple. As of lately, his wolf had become more possessive of her than usual and while Draco wanted to attribute it to the nearing full moon, he knew it had something to do with the stress they'd both been under and the unending nightmares.

"Do you think he'll comply with the actual Order now?" Harry asked, joining Draco and Hermione behind the Ministry platform. Ginny was at his side, bickering quietly with Ron while still managing to smile at the cameras, something even Draco was mildly impressed by.

"For a while," Hermione admitted. Nothing could last forever, but Kingsley was now very aware just how thin his line of support was. With Hermione joining the Ministry later that fall and Ron, Harry, and Draco all joining as aurors, it would be difficult for him to get anything by without them knowing.

"This didn't seem like a lot of work when you consider what we've done," Ron said. He pinched Ginny's arm and she scowled, swatting his hand away where the cameras couldn't see. "Shouldn't it be harder to destroy the Minister?"

"Well, I am Harry Potter," Harry said. They all rolled their eyes as he grinned. "Hermione's the real genius though." Turning to her he asked, "You'll let us know when we get to do this again, right? I'm sure being an auror will be fun and all, but how many times do you get to bully the Minister of Magic and win?"

"Hopefully just the once," Hermione replied. Harry shrugged and while Hermione didn't promise it would happen again, they all knew she'd let them know if it did. With a little luck, Kingsley wouldn't pose a potential problem ever again. However, Hermione knew that should he try to, it wouldn't take much to get him removed. After all, what was overthrowing a new government compared to fighting in a war?

Fin

And that's the end! Thank you everyone for your comments and for taking the time to following my story. If you enjoyed this one, I have a few other Dramione stories and one-shots published, so go check them out!