April 2003

Hermione burst through the door to her shared flat. Ginny was standing in the kitchen, finishing cooking stir fry when Hermione rounded the corner, not even bothering to drop her bag or coat.

"They've done it!" Her eyes were wild with excitement and she felt like she might just burst through her skin.

"What?" Ginny put the pan back on the stove and turned around in shock to see her roommate so energetic.

"Didn't you see?! Didn't you hear?! It's been all over the news—"

"Hermione," Ginny interjected before she could continue, "you've lost me."

Hermione pushed a muggle newspaper into her face, smiling with glee. "They've sequenced the human genome! It's amazing!"

"The human what?" Ginny raised an eyebrow as she moved the paper out of her face.

"Genome! It's basically the entire—" she pursed her lips after taking a glance at Ginny, "okay, it's science. They've been working on this for a long time. It has to do with genetics."

At Ginny's expression, Hermione sighed and sat at the table. "It has to do with DNA—the template that encodes all the genes in your body. It determines your physical and some mental characteristics."

"Ah… interesting."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine, you don't have to find it exciting but just know it's pretty cool and important. I've decided what I'm going to do with my life because of it."

"Oh?" That piqued Ginny's interest. "Finally decided what you're going to do with your Uni degree?"

"I know you and Ron don't always understand why I went to muggle Uni after Hogwarts, but it's actually for this reason. It opens me up to getting my PhD in genetics, which is exactly what I'm going to do. I've already sent in applications so now we'll just hear back soon."

"Why genetics?"

"Because," Hermione met her eyes with a thrilled smile, "I'm going to find the gene that makes us have magic."

There was only one wizard who had an academic position at Oxford, involved in research and science. Luckily, he was also working in genetics, studying chromatin architecture, and he was more than welcoming to Hermione and her aspirations. She went to visit him after her acceptance to his institution, which happened to be none other than Oxford.

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Hermione Granger," Dr. Taylor ushered her into his office and closed the door. "It is not every day one gets to meet the brightest witch of her generation."

"Oh, thank you," she tried not to blush, but the compliment never ceased to embarrass her while also making her flush with pride. "I'm very excited to meet a wizard and geneticist of your caliber, Professor."

"Thank you," he nodded, and adjusted his spectacles, "So you indicated in your email that you would like to complete your PhD thesis here, and you have quite the ambitious goal. Finding the gene that causes us to be witches and wizards? Very impressive, but very challenging."

"Yes, but I think this is very important. I'm highly motivated."

"That's all well and good," he looked up from her resume, "but you need a reason why. A thesis is a terrible amount of work, and you need to have a reason why in mind to keep you motivated. A superficial reason is just simply not enough."

She sat up straight and looked him in the eye. "I assure you; I have a reason."

"Oh?"

"I'm going to prove there's no such thing as blood purity."

She watched him raise his eyebrows in shock as he processed her statement. She smiled politely and waited for him to recover.

"Not that I think anything of that rubbish—but what do you mean? I'm sorry Miss Granger, I just don't see how that factors in."

"Of course, it does. Think about it, Professor. If there's one gene that makes us magic, then we all have it. And if we all have it—muggle borns and purebloods alike—well then there's no differences between our right to magic. We all have the mutation, gene, whatever it is. So we all have an equal claim to magic."

Dr. Taylor blinked at her. Opened his mouth and then closed it. And then burst out laughing.

"Merlin, my dear. I can tell you right now—your thesis will be the talk of the entire wizarding world!"

She nodded, grinning.

Her first day of work was Monday the next week. She'd been emailing Dr. Taylor all weekend about the first few experiments she'd set up, and how they should approach her question. Looking for a gene that caused a 'disorder' was like asking for a street map of the world. They were going to look for other markers of the condition first and hope it would lead them to some preliminary ideas.

She entered the lab and put her stuff down at her new lab bench. All polished and pretty—she was more than excited. Never in her life had she been as excited about a mental challenge as this—and it was exhilarating.

Dr. Taylor entered the lab, and introduced her to the other PhD student, a wizard named Emma Davies. She'd been six years older than Hermione so she didn't recognize her from Hogwarts, but the comradery was nice.

"Oh, and before I forget—we have another new PhD student. He was a late applicant but he's looking to tackle a similar project to you, Hermione."

"Oh?" This was news to her.

"Yeah, you might know him from school. You both are about the same age."

She frowned, confused. She wasn't aware of anyone else in her year at Hogwarts that went into science.

"What's his name?" She asked tentatively.

"You've definitely heard of him, very prominent family," Dr. Taylor began and Hermione closed her eyes, steeling herself for bad news.

"Draco Malfoy."

She sucked in a breath.

Dr. Taylor looked at her quizzically. "Is this a problem?"

She blinked, in utter shock. He took her silence in stride, and nodded.

"I'm assuming you're a responsible and open-minded young witch, who doesn't let old prejudices get in the past. Mr. Malfoy has already confirmed it will not be a problem for him. It is 5 years after the war, after all. We all must move on, and science is a great equalizer!"

Thinking he had just delivered an inspiring speech, Dr. Taylor left the room looking rather pleased with himself. Hermione couldn't say anything, could barely even see, and crumpled into her chair.

Each day she entered the lab with fear gripping her heart, wondering if she would see him. Draco Malfoy. The boy who'd tormented her for their entire adolescence, and had fought against her in the war. The very same boy who'd hated her for her very existence.

And when she left lab on Thursday, she was at her wits end. Spending her days in complete nervousness anxiety, worried about when she'd have to face him was making her go crazy. Luckily Dr. Taylor knew of a secure fireplace she could use to Floo back to her apartment with Ginny, so she didn't need to relocate for the job.

As she entered her apartment, she saw Ginny sitting at the table with a glass of wine in hand. She looked up from her book and smiled at Hermione.

"Hey! How was your day?"

She slumped her bag off and threw it on the couch. "Good. Still no sign of him."

"Oh, Merlin, really? Why didn't that professor tell you when he'd start?"

"I don't know," she said miserably, "but I can't take the anticipation anymore. I could just ask but… I don't think I can handle talking to Dr. Taylor about it. He has no clue."

Ginny made a sympathetic noise, and poured Hermione a glass of wine. "Here. Wine before dinner is always appropriate when you've had a rough day."

"And you?" Hermione asked, trying to be mindful of her friend.

Ginny shrugged. "I'm fine. Alright, I suppose. Harry and I got into a fight this morning."

"Oh no, what happened?"

"This and that," she waved her hand. "I don't know. I'm just tired of it already. He either needs to propose or it's over."

"Do you really mean that?" Hermione shifted upright in her chair. "Are you feeling alright?"

Ginny bit her lip, and hung her head in her hands. "No, I'm honestly fine. I'm just… I really like playing Quidditch in the big leagues but… I'm ready for something new!"

Hermione patted her hand on her friends back. "I'm here for you, Gin. And there's plenty of time to change your career! What do you want to do?"

"I don't know. Anything. Something. I want to be as passionate about it as you are about science. I thought Quidditch was my end-all but now… I don't know."

"Don't worry," Hermione smiled, trying to reassure. "You'll figure it out, soon. And maybe this is why you're actually fighting with Harry? Outside stress can have that impact."

Ginny looked up at her and sighed. "You're too smart, you know that, right? What would I do without you?"

Hermione took another sip of her wine. "Hmm… Good question. Something crazy. Something like working with Draco Malfoy."

Ginny laughed. "Oh no. That's all you, my friend. And you're doing that out of free will. Good luck tomorrow, I have a feeling he'll be there."

Hermione frowned. "What were your scores in divination? I don't believe you."

"Whatever they were, they were much better than yours!" It was good to hear Ginny giggling again, so Hermione sipped her wine and smiled.

A/N: Hello, welcome to my newest fic! I'll post updates weekly, and I'm so excited to share this little idea I had. I think it's such an interesting idea of what science would look like in the magical world, so please let me know what you think! And obviously, if it wasn't clear enough already, there will be some serious dramione in this fic. Enjoy, and please review!