The Proposal

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I do not own The Proposal either.

A/N: So I thought I would start another fanfiction right off the bat. I'll be updating my other one as well periodically. This story is based off the new movie, The Proposal starring Sandra Bullock and the mouth-watering Ryan Reynolds. Of course, this story is AU and is a much different setting than what the Harry Potter series was. :] Enjoy.

The Proposal
by Hermione Potter

Chapter One

“One cup of skim milk. Three teaspoons of sweetener. Half a stick of unsalted butter,” Hermione Granger looked down at her cookbook as she tried to crack an egg into the mixing bowl. “Set aside for half an hour. Half an hour? Bloody hell,” she muttered to herself, taking out her wand and muttering a spell under her breath. In an instant, a small stack of waffles sitting on a plate with strawberries. Keeping a warming charm on it, Hermione walked into her bathroom, climbing into her shower after a rest.

Across town, a sleeping wizard rolled around in his bed having comfortable dreams. A green eye popped open to be greeted by the sun's rays blinding him. Wait. Why is it so sunny out? Glancing at the clock on his bedside table to see that it was flashing 12:00. Shooting up in bed, he grabbed his wristwatch and saw that it was almost nine.

“BUGGER!” He shouted, hopping out of bed and scrambling around his flat for his business robes. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. He thought as he tried to adjust his tie, looping it the wrong way several times before he finally got it in the right setting and zipping out of the door, leaving everything in disarray.

Wiping the mirror of its fog, Hermione ran a hand through her wet brown hair, getting out the knots. Leaning close to her reflection, she squeezed her cheeks. “You're getting old, Hermione. You need to work out more,” she frowned, smacking her cheeks to bring in some color. Performing a drying spell on her hair, she slipped on her purple robes and swept her hair over her shoulder before grabbing a briefcase of paperwork and important documents. Making her way over to her fireplace, she stepped inside and gathered a handful of green powder. With a shout of “THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC!” Hermione disappeared, green flames bursting.

Walking into the coffee shop, Harry sighed in exasperation as he saw there was an incredibly long line. Looking over the counter, he quickly made his way through the line to the front to see a blonde Lavender Brown turning around and handing him two large cups of coffee. “Here's your regular,” she smiled, her eyes brightening at him.

“Thanks. You saved my life,” he thanked, giving him a charming smile before running out of the shop and toward the Ministry of Magic. He cursed himself for not installing that fireplace when he got his new place. He thought that since he only lived five blocks away, there was no point in one. However, that seemed like a bad choice now.

Sprinting into the building past the bustling employees of the Ministry, Harry squeezed into one of the elevators, nearly dropping his coffee. He glanced at a wizard that was looking at him oddly. “We okay?”

Harry swallowed. “We're good.” The elevator began to pull back, him tapping his foot impatiently. As the door opened to his floor, he zipped out and down the corridor into his sector. “Shit, shit, shit.” He was relieved when he felt the cool air of the office hit his face. The running gave him a slight sweat.

“Cutting it close, aren't we?” Morag McDougal smiled, looking at him over her window.

“I still made it here before she did,” he grinned before colliding into one of the other employees. “SWEET. MERLIN!” He shouted, looking down at his dress shirt to see new coffee stains.

“Sorry!” Dennis Creevey squeaked, shuffling the cart of boxes away quickly.

Looking at the coffee he had gotten for his boss, he shook it slightly to feel that more than half of it was gone. Cursing to himself, he chucked it into the waste bin and told himself to remember to give her his own. He scanned the office to see his best friend's red hair stick through one of the windows.

Walking over, he leaned over. “Ron, switch shirts with me.”

The ginger twisted around in his seat and blinked. “What? Are you serious, mate?” He asked incredulously.

“Chudley Cannons. Puddlemere United. This Tuesday. Front seats. Two tickets. You have five seconds to decide. Five. Four. Three. Tw-“

“Okay! All right.” Ron exclaimed, getting up and following Harry into one of the bathrooms.

Meanwhile, the clacking heels of the head of department clicked against the floors as she made her way down the very same corridor that Harry had come through, although he had a poise and ease about herself.

Morag turned to see Hermione Granger making her way in. “It's here,” she whispered, taking out her wand and shooting a single red spark that zipped through every cubicle to signal her arrival. Every person's eyes seemed to widen as they got back to their seats, pretending to work diligently as she walked through the aisles, glancing around every so often.

For the second time that day, Harry was adjusting his tie in the privacy of Hermione's office as he straightened his back and waited anxiously, picking up the cup of coffee and looking at the door.

Hermione quickly made her way in, grabbing the cup and sitting down in her chair.

“Morning, boss!” Harry greeted with false cheerfulness. “We have that conference with Ireland in about thirty minutes.”

“Right. Right. Did you owl…What's her name? The one with the weird eyebrows.” She snapped her fingers, looking through the new stack of paperwork.

“Morgana? Yes. Yes. I told her that if her agency doesn't get their documents finished on time. She said that the meeting tod-“

“Push the meeting to tomorrow. And have Remus Lupin schedule a press conference on the debate between Wizarding Britain and Wizarding South Korea.”

Harry quickly made notes on his roll of parchment, looking at her. “Nicely done.”

“Years of experience.” She muttered, picking up her coffee and turning to a stack of books behind her. As she took a sip, her eyes caught sight of writing on her cup and pulled back. Turning back to see Harry walking out, she added, “Wh-Who is Lavender?” She asked, raising the cup to reveal Call me! 07149-950182-Lavender. “And why does she want me to call her?”

Harry halted and turned to see the writing before he panicked. He lowered his notes and sighed. “Well, that was originally my cup.”

Her expression remained emotionless. He hated when he couldn't read people's faces.

“And I'm drinking your coffee why?”

She gave a nod and took another sip. Looking thoughtful, she gazed at him. “So you drink unsweetened, soy lattes with a shot of chocolate and cinnamon?”

He nodded and said with all seriousness. “I-I do. It's like Christmas in a cup.”

Hermione sat back. “Is that a coincidence?”

“It incredibly is. I wouldn't possibly drink the same coffee as you do in case yours ever spilled,” Harry explained, listening as the wireless phone began to ring. Walking over, he picked up the receiver. “That would be pathetic.”

“Hey Roger. We-“ Hermione made a hand gesture. “We're actually heading to your office right now. Yep.” Putting down the phone, he looked to Hermione. “Why are we going to see Roger?”

She clicked her teeth before he imitated, running out of his office and sending a flurry of red sparks around the office to signal everyone she would be coming out. Once more, the sounds of shuffling papers, rocking seats, and phone being picked up were heard as Hermione came out of her office, Harry trailing behind her.

“Uh, did you read over my resume that I gave you?” He asked casually, looking at her.

“I looked at the first few pages. Not bad.” She responded without stopping.

“Can I say something?”

“No.”

“I've seen a lot of people go for this position and I've never asked you for anything. This would be a great opportunity. Seeing as you're head of International Magical Cooperation, I thought maybe you cou-“

“We'll see,” Hermione silenced him, crossing paths with Ron Weasley who was clearly wearing the shirt that he had exchanged with Harry, dry coffee stains and all. “I thought you said that it would have been pathetic if you drank the same coffee. But in fact, you spilled the same coffee and decided to change clothes with someone is even more pathetic.”

“Yes, we-“

“Remember, you're just a prop in here,” Hermione was nothing but business. Harry opened the door for her, following her in.

“Oh. Her highness and her liege. Please, do come in.” Roger Davies muttered, sorting through papers.

“Beautiful shelf. Is it new?” She always made sure to make conversation first.

“Well, it was built in the 1700's. But sure, it is new to my office,” he smirked.

“Ah, witty,” said Hermione flatly. “Roger. You're fired.”

He looked at her, startled. “Pardon?” Harry looked at her as well.

“I asked you over a dozen times to get Tonks that press conference and you said it couldn't be done. I'm letting you go.”

“I told you it was impossible. Tonks hasn't done an interview in five years,”

“Well, that's interesting because Tonks told me that she would be more than happy to do so,” Hermione retorted. “You didn't even make the owl, Roger.”

“Bu-“

“I know. I know. Tonks can be a bit eccentric. For you, at least. Now, I'll give you two months to find a job. And you can tell everyone that you were switched to another job,” she explained, leaving him looking shocked as she departed, Harry following.

“He's got the crazy eyes,” Harry muttered, looking back through the door window of Roger's office.

“Don't do it, Roger. Don't do it,” muttered Hermione.

But he did.

“YOU INSUFFERABLE BITCH!” She closed her eyes and stopped, turning around with the rest of the sector as they watched this display. “You think that this will make you look good? Just sacking me so you can look good to the Minister? You know why you're doing this? Because you're threatened by me! And you can't stand it.”

“Roger. Stop while you can.” She sang, looking around with a pleasant smile.

“Just because you don't have any kind of life outside of this building, you think you can work us like dogs. I feel sorry for you, because you know what you're gonna have on your death bed? Nothing and no one,” Roger laughed, smiling bitterly as he looked at his colleagues.

Hermione's smile dropped as she looked at him in seriousness. “Roger, I did not sack you because I feel threatened by you. I sacked you because you're lazy, unmotivated, conceited, and you spend more time cheating at your wife than you do behind that desk, actually working. And if you say another word, Harry will have you thrown out on your arse.”

“I-“

“Another word.”

“This is done. You now only have one month,” she turned on her heel and walked away in a fast pace, Harry trying to keep up with her. “Have security take him out. I need you around this weekend to keep matters under control.”

“This weekend?” Harry blanched. It was grandmother's ninetieth birthday.

“Is that a problem?” She stopped to look at him.

“No. No. It was just going to my grandmother's birthday. And thought I would go home.”

She began walking away.

“I'll just cancel it!” He sighed, running a hand through his hair.

A/N: Review, please. :] I hope you enjoyed that.

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