"Dr. Hamlin? A word?"

"Eh? Of course," he answered. Yet Dr. Hamlin continued to stare at his beaker and scribble in his notebook.

"Dr. Hamlin! Please. A moment of your time?" She usually was not so forward but she knew for a fact that he had already placed a stasis charm on his beaker.

He finally relented and turned to her. "Yes, dear?" Truth was, he had been distancing her and decreasing her duties in hopes that she would leave on her own. He had been relieved to finally get her letter. Pity, what a waste of genius she was. All because of some silly concept of blood.

Now that she finally had his attention, Hermione wasn't quite sure how to say it. "I just wanted to make sure you got my letter?"

"I did. Is that all?"

She didn't understand. Their relationship had been so great when she first started. They had spent hours brainstorming and debating the essence of magical activity in those with wizarding gene. He had even given her free rein to conduct her own experiments on the side. But recently she had be relegated to a lab rat who cleaned beakers and wiped countertops. "Dr. Hamlin, at the risk of being awkward, did I do something wrong? What happened? I thought we had a great relationship in the beginning. But I have been feeling shunted these past few months."

She really was a dear and had been a great help to his research. "Sit down, dear. Perhaps you do deserve the truth. And maybe a warning before you leave to go face the real world." He absently poured them each a cup of cold tea.

Hermione discreetly pulled out her wand and did a warming charm on the tea. "The truth?"

"Yes, dear. There's been some pressure from above. Some nonsense of how I gave my assistant too much leeway with her research. Threats of pulling funding and such. Nothing personal, I promise you. But perhaps you should keep your head down at your next job? Granted it may be hard with all that hair..." He sputtered to a stop at the look on her face. Oh dear. That's right. Never talk to a woman about her looks. May result in negative explosive reactions. "Not that your hair isn't lovely, dear..." he tried to backtrack.

"Never mind my hair, Dr. Hamlin. I didn't become a researcher because of my beauty," she interrupted his awkward mumblings. "But why would they mind what your assistants do? I know for a fact your previous assistants did even more research then I did. Stephen Vetop even published an article while he was still working under you! What makes me different?"

Dr. Hamlin was starting to regret being honest. This is why he avoided confrontation and all conversation at all costs. "I doubt it's just you, dear. It's just some snooty higher-ups... Those that control the money, dear. No one of importance."

His awkwardness and talk of rich snobs struck a nerve with her. "You mean it's because of my blood??"

He cringed. Too smart, that one. Too smart. "Perhaps... I wish I could do something to change it, my dear, but my hands are tied. You know how we fight for absolutely every cent of funding. Besides, like I said, they really were not clear. They just said assistants in general... Oh look, my stasis charm is wearing off." He jumped off his bench. She had gotten the point. She was smart enough. "Well, I wish you the best in your future endeavors. You have been a grand assistant. I guarantee a superb reference letter if you should ever need it."

Hermione was flabbergastered. Blood prejudice. Again. She thought that had ended with Voldemort. And from someone sweet like Dr. Hamlin. Someone was speaking in his ear and that someone sounded a bit too familiar.

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Summary: Hermione's last day on the job and she learns blood prejudice is why she had been relegated to a lab rat.