Hermione smiled graciously. She didn't take offense at Narcissa's comment though after a moment she wondered why she hadn't. She was usually quite quick to jump to the defense of the Ministry of Magic; at least as of late.
"The paperwork is hardly my favorite part," she conceded with a soft chuckle. When Narcissa added the compliment, Hermione felt her cheeks get very, very warm. She was sure they were glowing bright red too. She wanted to know why Narcissa said that but couldn't bring herself to spit out the question. Instead, she took another long sip of tea.
"I suppose that would be true," Hermione conceded with a small smile.
Hermione shrugged. "Well, we dated for a time after Hogwarts but..." She paused to try and explain. "You see, the thing is with Ron is... he is a total prat, I guess," Hermione said, hitting it way-too-on-the-nose for what she had planned only making her blush worse. "Don't get me wrong, he is a good friend and would do anything for people but..." She trailed off and shrugged. "He is just a terrible boyfriend. In fact, after dating schoolboys for a while, I am thinking of swearing off men all together," she added, wondering what sort of reaction she might get.
"Though, that might turn some heads at your party, don't you think?" Hermione quipped figuring that the topic of something as taboo as homosexuality might put the pureblood, conservative, witch a bit of balance.