Then…

Stale air lingered over the Great Hall. The stench of death was thick, the toll the Battle had taken on the school of Hogwarts great. The injured and the dead filled the now open Hall, the space resembling a morgue more so than a school.

In the centre of it stood He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and the Boy Who Lived, the two who would surely bring about the end of the war. All attention had moved to them, an eerie silence falling over the crowd. The fighting on each side had ceased, all eyes on the pair.

Lord Voldemort's arms tremored with rage.

The end was nigh, all knew it. A matter of a single spell would end this war here, now.

The Potter boy - the pesky, insolent, bane of his existence - raised his wand. Glancing around quickly, the Dark Lord was unable to locate any faces of his remaining followers. The majority, he knew, had fallen, and the anger of witnessing the death of his prodigy still ran deep. Those who had not fallen had run, abandoned him –

Traitors.

Instead, all he could see were children, their parents, their teachers, their loved ones. The stubborn dregs of society, standing together like a band of ants, all basked in a hue of red.

There were two clear options left to him. Though he could hardly see straight, that much was clear; cast the spell and kill the boy, or... run. The wards surrounding the castle had been broken, he could simply apparate away, bide his time.

Yet he hesitated. Would he ever get another opportunity like this one? The chance to make an example of his power, the chance for all to finally see the death of the infamous Harry Potter?

But with Nagini no longer by his side, he was vulnerable. Even if he killed the boy right now, what would stop the spectators sending their own killing curses back? He was the greatest wizard who'd ever lived, yet even he would surely struggle to fight them all off at once.

He sneered.

Making a split-second decision as he watched the boy open his mouth to send a curse, Voldemort span on the spot and vanished from the battlefield with a satisfying, resonating crack.

As he opened his eyes and inhaled after the pressure of apparition, Voldemort took in the familiar surroundings of the forest of Albania. He stood as the silence of the trees rung loudly in his ears, breathing in and out deeply to quell the bubbling fire in his veins. He wasn't one for such indecencies, he never had been, but in the current circumstances, there was not a hope of it being withheld. As loud as he could, he yelled, "fuck!" and threw the Elder Wand in rage.

"Expelli-" Harry's voice broke off as he witnessed the man who had made his life a living hell disappear. No. He could not run. Not now, when it was so close to over. He looked around anxiously, anticipating seeing him appear behind him.

But the snake-like face he searched for was not there. He did not appear in the crowd, not behind him, not in front.

He was gone.

No. No, no, no, COWARD.

"COWARD!" Harry yelled.

His voice echoed through what was left of the Great Hall. The students, teachers, and families surrounding him murmured amongst themselves, before they slowly began to approach. The first ones to reach Harry were, of course, Ron and Hermione.

Who else?

"I... I don't think he's coming back, Harry," Hermione said in a small voice as Harry spun, still looking for any sign of the Dark Lord.

"He can't be gone! This needs to end!" Harry yelled. "NO!"

"Mate, it is over," Ron encouraged. "For now, at least."

Harry knew his friends were right. The crowd seemingly agreed with Ron and Hermione as well; they had huddled, families checking on their relatives, others wandered over to where their loved ones had fallen.

"No... no..." his voice trailed off as his vision blurred. The last thing he saw before exhaustion took over were the faces of his best friends.

Now…

"Urggghhh, get it!" Ron Weasley groggily ordered as his wife's magical alarm clock coo-cooed at 5.30 am sharp.

Hermione rolled over and switched it off, forcing herself out of bed before she had a chance to reconsider.

It was the day – her first day working as the Deputy Head in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. It had only been a year since she had been promoted from the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures to Magical Law Enforcement, and yet she had already risen in the ranks to become the second in charge. Admittedly, she had the incompetencies of the previous team to thank for her success – partially, at least. If there hadn't been a complete overhaul of the department after the seven-year anniversary of Lord Voldemort's disappearance, she never would have risen so high so soon.

It also didn't hurt her cause being so well connected to the famous Harry Potter and the Minister for Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt.

She dressed quickly in excitement, choosing her favourite set of maroon dress robes that reminded her of her Gryffindor roots which she had laid out the night before. She hurried as she tamed her bushy hair into a reasonably neat bun and applied a thin layer of makeup, leaving herself with time to enjoy her toast and morning coffee.

She sighed happily as she relaxed into her chair at the dining table. Hermione loved the small cottage she and Ron called home. After getting married a year ago, they found the cottage with the help of Bill and Fleur, not far from where the Lovegoods lived. It reminded her strongly of the Burrow (Mrs. Weasley wouldn't have had it any other way), but smaller. With only a single bedroom, it was perfect for the couple – though not so perfect for if and when they had children. Ron's family seemed to want them to have children more than Hermione did, and it didn't help that Ron had been growing increasingly fond of the idea. Why they couldn't understand that having children at this point in her life was a career-ender, she didn't know. Trying to explain that to Ron had caused such an argument than it almost stopped them from getting married in the first place.

Shaking her thoughts away from family, Hermione charmed her dishes to clean themselves, grabbed her things, and straightened her robes before heading to the fireplace. She was eternally thankful for the Floo connection between their house and the Ministry - something that Harry had arranged for them one they moved in. Tucking her arms in, Hermione stated 'Ministry for Magic', and was engulfed in green flames.

She took in a deep breath to calm her nerves as she stepped out of the fireplace onto the hard-wooden floors of the Ministry Atrium. At only seven in the morning, the Ministry was already bustling. Crowds of robed witches and wizards hurried every which way, owls flew overhead, and in the centre stood a newly erected monument to the lives lost during the Battle of Hogwarts. Hermione's heart panged as she stopped and took a moment to look over it, something she had been doing fairly often since it had been built. It had taken a long time to grieve the losses of that day, and even longer to stop the nightmares.

With a sad smile, she looked away from the monument and carried on over to the lifts.

She got out at the second floor and headed for the east side, through the Investigation Department towards the offices.

Her new workplace.

The Department, she knew, had never been as large as it was now. Since Voldemort's disappearance, the staff had slowly risen in number over the years, and it had grown to become the Ministry's largest Department by far.

It was also the largest in terms of staff turnover.

It was a running joke the Daily Prophet simply loved to draw attention to.

The most recent target of the newspaper's scrutiny had been the former Head of Department. After having insisted upon replacing more than half of staff due to the failure to catch Lord Voldemort, the media's barrage had been relentless, and it wasn't long before he was sacked. They hadn't yet announced who Hermione's new boss was to be, leaving Harry, who had been in the position of the Head of the Auror Office for a year, and now herself in charge.

She made her way through the main hall and into the Head's office, where her booth was located. Really, it was more like an office itself, the booth took up about a quarter of the office and was walled off with half-walls topped with glass windows. She made her way inside and plonked her bag on the desk, immediately drawing out her things and expanding them back to their proper size. She drew out the picture of her parents and magically attached it to the wall. Next to that, she arranged a photo of herself and Ron, next to one of herself, Harry, and the Weasleys all together. Satisfied, she started unpacking her quills, parchments, and muggle pens, which she found to be far easier to write with.

"Hermione!" A booming voice greeted from the booth door. There, in his very impressive colourful robes, stood Kingsley. "Good to see you! Early on your first day?"

"You know me, I wouldn't have it any other way," she chimed. "How are you? How's the job treating you?"

"Good, good, it has its moments of course, and the Improper Use of Magic office is close to making me want to throw myself out of a window, but mostly it's going well," he laughed. "Now, before you get lost in the ocean of work to do, I would like to introduce you to someone, come."

Hermione followed Kingsley out of the booth and back into the main office where he gestured towards the desk. Seeing no one there just as it had been when she entered, she frowned. As she was about to question Kingsley, a tall man rose from where he had evidently been crouching behind the desk at the drawers. It was surprising that he was able to fit behind it as he was quite tall.

"Miss Granger, I presume?" the man asked upon seeing her. Immediately, Hermione noticed that the man was attractive. Ridiculously so. He looked about her age, with short black hair which was combed back, and a fine layer of stubble over what looked like a strong jaw line. His cheek bones were prominent, and he had some of the darkest brown eyes she had ever seen. Even his posture was perfect.

"It's Weasley now, but yes," Hermione chimed, blushing lightly.

"Oh, my apologies," he said as he made his way around the desk. "Ben Jenkins," he extended a large hand and took hers in greeting, his hand was cool and his grip firm. His eyes didn't leave hers until he released his grip.

"Now, it hasn't been officially announced yet, but Ben here has just been appointed as the new Head of the Department," Kingsley explained, smiling lightly.

"Oh!" Hermione was genuinely surprised. "That's... that's great!" In truth, she was a bit disappointed. She had been hoping that Harry would have gotten the promotion, even though his rise to the Head of the Auror Office had been very quick as well. But this Ben? She couldn't remember ever hearing of him. And Hermione made it her job to know people.

"I didn't realise the appointment had already been filled! I thought we'd be without a Department Head for weeks!" She said to Kingsley.

"Well, we were beginning to think that way too. But, when the Scandinavian Ministry forwarded the recommendation to me, I couldn't ignore his outstanding qualifications. Had I known of you before we appointed Williamson, you would've been given the position then and there!" Kingsley said, before muttering, "What a nightmare."

"You're much too kind, Minister," said Ben.

"So, you're from the Scandinavian Ministry then?" Hermione inquired.

"Yes, from the Stockholm branch. I was part of the Investigation Office there."

"'A part'," scoffed Kingsley. "From what I hear you were the Investigation Office."

"Well, yes, the office certainly had far fewer aurors than here. And rightfully so, here is in far greater need."

Hermione racked her brain. She had heard something in the Prophet about the Stockholm Investigation Office. But what was it...

"His office have been the only ones to have found a peep from You-Know-Who in the last two years," Kingsley said, memories of the news came rushing back to Hermione. "Borderline embarrassing, how can a country lose a wizard? And such a notorious wizard at that."

"Notorious yes, but also brilliant," Ben said with an odd sort of smile.

"It didn't harm his cause that this office has been such a disaster either," Kingsley said more to himself than to either of them. "But no matter, this is where the two of you come in. With your knowledge, and Hermione and Harry's experience, I'm sure we'll have the best possible chances of actually getting somewhere."

"Yes, I must say, I'm rather excited to be working with the famous Hermione Granger," Ben said warmly. Hermione restrained the urge to correct him about her name again. "And you of course, Kingsley, and Mr. Potter. What it must have been like, to actually meet You-Know-Who himself. What I would give to have that opportunity. And to duel him no less," he directed at Kingsley.

Hermione frowned. Why would he speak in such a manner about the dark wizard who had terrorised the country for years? The wizard who he had been appointed to track down? The very wizard who had made her youth - and Harry's - a living hell?

His smile died down as he took in Hermione's expression.

"Oh, I'm sorry, it's a delicate topic, I'm sure. I meant no harm," Ben said quickly.

"That's quite alright," she said grimly. "The wounds are still quite raw, you understand."

"Of course."

"Yes, well, Williamson has left all of the files we have on You-Know-Who in the boxes here next to the door. Hermione, that will be a good place to start until Ben officially takes the lead of the Department. Also, the Heads of the Divisions will be meeting in my office at 1pm with the three of us so you can all become acquainted, and we can decide on our future directions from there," Kingsley explained. "Now, I must be off, I have a meeting in ten minutes, but I'll be seeing you in a few hours."

"Thank you, Kingsley," Hermione said as he left the office.

Ben cleared his throat before the silence could grow awkward. "That's a lot of files for a case that hasn't found anything in years," he said, nodding to the stack of boxes.

"Lucky me," Hermione uttered facetiously as she drew her wand and levitated them into her booth. "Are you a native to Sweden, then?"

"No, no, I lived there for a few years while I worked, and travelled for a few years before that, but in truth, I am English. Once You-Know-Who quietened down after the first war, my family fled; they didn't want to take any chances. I lived and went to school in Australia which turned out to be pretty lucky for me, with the Battle of Hogwarts and all," he explained.

"Right. So, had you been here, the Battle would have affected your education?" Hermione asked. "If you don't mind me asking, how old are you? You look... well... very young for this position."

"I could say the same about you," Ben smirked. "Twenty-seven in December."

Hermione felt a sharp pang of jealousy. He was only slightly older than her, and he had leap-frogged her to Department Head. It was petty, she knew, as Deputy Head was still impressive in its own right, yet in her mind there was still a big jump.

"Well, I should leave you to it," he said as the conversation died and went back over to rummaging through the drawer of the desk.

Hermione retreated to the safety of her booth and sat down ready to start looking over the files. She slouched. How was she meant to work for him, and share an office with him? She expected an old geezer, or a stern older lady like Professor McGonagall, or even Harry.

Not a young man.

Especially not an attractive young man.

"Granger?" Ben had poked his head through the opening to her booth.

"Weasley," she corrected quickly.

"Right. You missed one," he tossed another file onto the pile of boxes and flashed her a smile before disappearing around the corner again.

Hermione grunted. It would take her weeks to sort the files and find details which were actually important. At least she was interested in the topic at hand. All she had learned thus far from Harry and her time working in the department was that Voldemort had last been traced to Germany. Or, rather, traces of him previously being in Hamburg had been found. No reports of actual sightings had been made for years, the last one being a year after he disappeared not far from Albania. Williamson had been furious after the traces were found. 'How could he possibly be in a city such as Hamburg and not be seen by a single person?!' His yelling had apparently been heard all the way up to the fourth floor. After the Hamburg report, there had been nothing. Not a whisper, not a peep. All the reports from then on had been mere speculation.

It was ironic really, after the year of running from him and his Death Eaters, Voldemort was now the one on the run from them.

Hermione looked sadly at the boxes. There probably wasn't even enough useful information to fill one box, yet alone 6. If only there was a charm that could sort through them for her...

An idea sprung to mind that would have made her muggle parents proud. She got up and left the booth and the boxes, and headed back out onto the staff floor.

"Penrose?" Hermione knocked on the door as she entered their Investigation Office. Euan Penrose, the Head of the Investigation Office, now reported directly to her, followed by Ben.

"Mrs. Weasley! First day?" He greeted happily. She was sure that she'd never get used to being called 'Mrs. Weasley'.

"Yes! I was just wondering; do you have any reports or summaries on the You-Know-Who case?" She asked, getting straight to business.

"Of course, didn't Williamson leave you the files?"

"Yes he did, but I was hoping for a summary of the files, one that would be quicker to get through to start with to catch me up on where we're at?"

"I'll see what I can come up with. I can get one to you in a few hours?" He said almost nervously.

"Perfect. Thanks Euan."

Feeling smug, she made her way back to the office to start the slow process of manually sorting the files. As she entered, Ben was busy at work. He had levitated the desk, and a small dustpan and broom was sweeping underneath it. Meanwhile, she immediately noticed the curtains had changed, the desk had been transfigured into a larger one and the bookshelves lining the side wall had been rearranged. What used to be floral printed beige curtains had changed to dark, velvet green ones, blocking out most of the sunlight.

"Reorganising?" she asked timidly as he turned to her. She was mildly impressed by the speed at which he had made the changes. Levitating and moving objects was one thing, but the sorting, and transfiguring were things she was sure Ron and Harry wouldn't have been able to do.

"Yes, this place is filthy," he scowled as he glanced at the dustpan. "And there was absolutely no order to the books, the décor was foul..."

She took another look at the books and instead of them being sorted by author, they had been rearranged by subject. That was a change she could appreciate.

"Don't worry, I left your things as they were," he said quickly, seeming to read her mind.

"Thanks," Hermione said. "I like your new desk."

"Yes, there wasn't much space in the old one. And Williamson had doodled all over it, like a schoolchild," he said, the scowl still on his face. It was strange, even with an expression of disgust he still looked very attractive.

"How rude of him," she commented, noticing his scowl turn into a smile, before returning to her booth.

Hermione thought that the meeting went well. Along with herself, Ben and Kingsley, there were nine in attendance. There was Lewis Caldwell, the Head of the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes. Alice Dorsey, the Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures (and Hermione's previous superior). Iris Paterson, the Head of the Department for International Magical Cooperation. Percy Weasley, who had recently been promoted to the Head of the Department of Magical Transportation. Hamish Ainsworth, the Head of Magical Games and Sports. And finally, Saul Croaker, Head of the Department of Mysteries. They were an odd bunch, and initially seemed a bit unsure of the appointment of the mysterious Ben Jenkins to what was arguably the most important department, however come the end of the meeting, they all acted as old friends. It unsettled Hermione; she had never been the most sociable, and it had always taken her a while to become friendly with others, as was the case with Ron and Harry. However, Ben seemed the opposite - a few jokes later, and everybody loved him. She had always thought that at the top it was merit that got you there, and she had always felt that that had been the case with her, but now she wasn't so sure. What if she had only been appointed because of her friendship with Harry Potter? Or only appointed due to her past correlation with Lord Voldemort? Weren't her knowledge and skills the most important things? Hadn't she proven herself capable time and time again?

"Do you know when you'll be officially starting?" Hermione asked Ben once they arrived back in their own office after the meeting.

"Well, since the meeting went well, my appointment will be announced in the Daily Prophet tomorrow, and I'll be starting immediately. So technically, I start now," Ben said with a smile.

"Congratulations then, boss," Hermione mockingly saluted.

"Why, thank you."

A knock on the doorway interrupted their conversation.

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed, and rushed over to give him a hug. "Good to see you!"

"I wasn't sure if you'd forgive me if I didn't say hello on your first day in the job," Harry laughed. "Settling in alright then?"

"Yes, just finished a meeting with the rest of the Department Heads, it went well. Also, let me introduce you to Ben Jenkins, he's just been appointed as the head of the Department," Hermione said with a smile.

"Mr. Potter, it's an absolute pleasure!" Ben made his way over to the door and extended a hand to shake Harry's.

Harry however, did not respond. As soon as he looked at Ben, his smile slowly faded from his face. He paled as if he had seen a ghost. After a moment passed, Ben slowly lowered his hand.

"Harry?" Hermione asked with a tone of concern. "Are you alright?"

Harry's expression had turned into a frown. "What? Oh – oh, yes, I'm fine," he stammered feebly. "Head of Department? That – that's great. Hermione, I – I didn't just come to say hello, would you mind helping me out for a moment? In the Auror's office?"

"Yes, of course," Hermione said while Harry quickly retreated from the office. She shrugged at Ben who looked very confused, and hurried out after Harry.

Once out in the corridor, Harry took Hermione's hand and pulled her towards his office in a hurry.

"Harry? What's wrong, why are we hurrying?"

Harry didn't reply. He pulled her into his office, made sure no one was around the door, and briskly pulled the door shut. Hermione took a seat while Harry remained on his feet and began pacing past the door.

"Harry...?"

"That man, Ben, was that his name?"

Hermione nodded.

"Do you know who he looks like?"

"...no?"

"So you didn't recognise him? At all?"

"No? Where are you going with this, Harry?"

"He looks like-" he broke off and massaged his temples. "He looks just like Voldemort."

If Hermione had had a drink, she would have spat it out. She had to take in his words for a moment. "Are... are you alright Harry?"

"He's a spitting image of him Hermione!" Harry yelled.

"I don't know where this is coming from, Harry. He looks perfectly normal, nothing like him at all!"

"No, no... you're misunderstanding me," Harry said angrily. "He looks just like Voldemort when he was young. I forget that you wouldn't have known. In our second year, when I saw him... he looks just like Tom Riddle. Just... a little older. He looks like the memories that Dumbledore showed me in sixth year, you know the ones when he was trying to get the cup from that old woman?"

Hermione let out a nervous laugh. "You can't – you can't be serious Harry?"

"Do I look like I'm joking?!"

"But – but you saw those memories years ago! You could just be confused! After hunting him down these seven years, of course it would have gotten to you," Hermione rationalised. "It's probably just a coincidence even if he does look a bit like Tom Riddle."

"You think I could ever forget? After all he put me through?!" Harry yelled. "It's not just a coincidence! There's no way it could be. Think about it! What if that's why no one has heard from him or seen him in so long? Because he doesn't look like he used to!"

"Alright," she stared slowly, raising her hands submissively, "hypothetically, even if you're right and he has altered his appearance – which I don't think you are – don't you think I would have recognised a glamour? Or Kingsley? It can't possibly be polyjuice potion, that wouldn't act on age. If he had taken unicorn's blood or had somehow found another Philosopher's stone, he'd still look old and evil. The parts of his soul were destroyed, he can't have split it further. There's no way to reverse age, or soul destruction, Harry. There's just no way," Hermione said, taking a deep breath at the end of her rant.

"Well... there must be. Maybe I can ask Ginny, she'd recognise him," Harry thought out loud.

"Don't tell Ginny. If you bring her in and say 'point out Voldemort', of course she'll think she recognises him, because you would have already put the idea there yourself. Bring her in and accidentally bump into him. She'd be sure to tell you if she had suspicions," Hermione suggested.

"Why would the universe be so cruel to make two of him?" Harry pondered.

"Surely someone else would have noticed if he looks so much like Tom Riddle. You weren't the only one to have seen him. Don't you think they would have mentioned the resemblance?" Hermione asked.

"Maybe... maybe since it had been so long, and they didn't think much of him at the time... maybe they just didn't put it together..."

Hermione sighed. "I really think you should let this go Harry. He's going to be your boss now too, you can't treat him differently because of who he might look like. It's his job to look for Voldemort too now, remember?"

"Well... at least check him out," Harry said. "Look into his background. See if it stands."

"I'm sure if it's been good enough for Kingsley, it'll be good enough for me," Hermione commented.

"But... it's perfect. Who would possibly think to look for him in the Ministry Department that's looking for him? No one!" Harry continued.

"But you work here. Why on earth would Voldemort want to work for the Ministry of Magic, with you of all people? Please Harry, please let it go," Hermione pleaded. "For your own sake. I'll look into him as much as I can, if it will make you feel better."

"Thanks Hermione," Harry said sadly.

"That's alright," she rose from her seat and gave him another light hug. "He won't stay gone forever, don't worry."

"Give Ben my apologies, will you? Busy day and all..."

"Of course," Hermione said. "I'll see you later."

As she made her way back to her own office, her mind ran wild. It had to be a coincidence. It just had to be. Voldemort had never shown any interest in working for the Ministry, why would he start now, when it was more dangerous for him than ever? No, it had to be a coincidence.

"Strange fellow, isn't he?" Ben looked at her curiously as she passed through the office again.

"He's just been having some stressful days lately, I'm sure you can understand," Hermione said quickly, trying to analyse his features without staring too much. Honestly, where had that idea come from? The man looked nothing like Voldemort! Maybe except for his height... and possibly his posture...

"Yes of course, what it must be like, being the Boy Who Lived," Ben smiled.

His teeth. Although they were much cleaner than Hermione could remember, his teeth looked... almost identical to the teeth that had belonged to Lord Voldemort.

Maybe Harry wasn't completely insane...

"Are you alright, Granger?" Ben asked after a pause. Hermione had been staring.

"Yes, yes, fine. And it's Weasley," she frowned.

"Right you are."

Hello there, it is I, the author of this monstrosity. To those of you who may be reading this (if there are any of you, warmest welcomes to my trash heap), I would like to let you know that I'm currently in the midst of re-writing/touching this story up. So, if you come across a chapter or two and it doesn't quite flow very well, that might be why!

Also, I invite you to join me over on tumblr! You can find me at the same username as here, and you can ask me shit, occasionally I post stuff. It's a nice place…