Blanket Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. The only character that is mine is Maia, my fan-fic character for Harry Potter. If necessary I will have a profile up for her on dA within the next week or so.

As some of you might have noticed already, this fic has morphed into a HPDM slash fic. Apologies to anyone who might be upset by this, but the change demanded to be made. I still plan on having lots of action and impossible-to-understand Muggle references simply for the pure pleasure of annoying dear Malfoy. Also, don't be surprised if some Otaku-ness finds its way in here. I kind of modeled Maia after myself and I'm a big fan of J-rock and anime.

Chapter 1

Old Assignment, New Partner

Draco strode down the hall of the Ministry's second floor, a grim look on his face. Shacklebolt had insisted on seeing him early, eight in the morning if you could believe it! So, being the good little Auror he was now, Malfoy had dragged himself out of his comfortable bed and down to the Ministry at the Head of the Auror Office's request. He even managed to make it to Shacklebolt's office a few minutes early and lifted a hand to knock on the open door. Only Kingsley was present, but Draco never entered without permission just in case. After all, the war had not been kind to people like him.

A haunting melody made him freeze, hand still raised. Fortunately, Kingsley was distracted by the paperwork on his desk and did not notice the blond's odd reaction, or the singing either, apparently. The voice was drawing closer and Malfoy strained to hear the words floating down the hall, but either couldn't make them out or didn't understand the language because they made no sense to him at all. He did sense the emotion behind the words, though, causing strange, fluttery things to happen to his insides. Malfoy was just about to leave his position at the door and wander off down the hall to find the source of the singing, but Shacklebolt looked up and saw him standing there.

"Come in, Malfoy," he growled. Clearly, Kingsley wasn't much of a morning person either. "Have a seat. The other person we're waiting for should be here soon."

The blond did as he was told and staked his claim on one of the two guest chairs in the Auror Head's office. He angled his body slightly so he could still see the door and crossed one ankle over his knee in a relaxed position. Shacklebolt never mentioned what this meeting was regarding or who else was attending, but Draco refused to let that make him nervous. He was a Malfoy after all, and Malfoys did not get nervous.

Just a minute or two later, a knocking sound interrupted the persistent scratching of quill against parchment. Draco looked up to see the other person invited to this meeting, fellow Auror and former classmate Maia Hawkins entered the room and took the only remaining chair without bothering to wait for permission. She gave him a suspicious glare before quickly turning her attention to their boss.

"Now that everyone has finally joined us we can get started," Shacklebolt said, flicking his wand toward the door which closed and locked itself. Neither Auror made a move to speak, instead waiting for Kingsley to explain why he had dragged them down here. "I'm sure you're both wondering why I asked you here, and at the same time no less."

"Not to mention at this ungodly hour of the morning," Draco drawled. Maia merely rolled her eyes, but said nothing.

"Yes, Malfoy, at this ungodly hour of the morning as well," Shacklebolt pressed his fingers into either side of his head, as if nursing a headache. Well, that wasn't surprising, considering who sat in his office. "Before I begin explaining the situation I want both of you to agree to be silent until I finish. Especially you, Hawkins."

Draco quirked an eyebrow, glancing at the dark-haired woman next to him before turning back to Kingsley and nodding. Hawkins responded similarly, though she seemed reluctant to do so.

"Good," Kingsley took a deep breath before continuing. "As you already know, Hawkins has been assigned a very dangerous, high profile case. Unfortunately, no new leads have been produced in over a month and the case has become too dangerous for one Auror to work alone. So, I've decided she will need a partner."

Grey and blue eyes stared at the Auror Head with trepidation. Both of them realized at the same time what Shacklebolt was about to suggest. Hawkins opened her mouth to make some sort of protest, but Kingsley cut her off with a glare. Draco was too stunned to make any comment at all. Instead, he just sat back in his chair and pulled the Ice Prince mask on to hide his surprise.

"As I was saying, she needs someone to watch her back," Kingsley continued after Hawkins had lapsed into a fuming silence. "Malfoy, since you have no pending cases you have been assigned to her case and will work as her partner for its duration. Hawkins, you are still the lead on the case, but I will not be losing one of my best Aurors due to pure stubbornness and pride. You will accept this new arrangement or be pulled from the case."

Hawkins looked like she was about to protest again, but shut her mouth with their superior's threat. Draco, however, had finally managed to process the information thrown at him and spoke up in her place.

"Excuse me, sir," Draco drawled, tacking on the polite title as an afterthought. "Why don't you just have Potter or one of the others be her partner. You know very well the two of us are not going to get along."

"Potter is currently on assignment, Malfoy," Shacklebolt explained. "You are the only one available for the position, so I suggest you two make it work, or else. Dismissed."

With that, Kingsley returned to his paperwork after waving his wand at the door to unlock and open it. Both Draco and Hawkins stood and left, the dark-haired witch exiting ahead of him. She paused just outside the door and waited for the blond to catch up to her.

"I'll see you tomorrow at eight A.M., Malfoy," she said, then departed with a swish of her robes.

Draco stood in the hall for a moment, fuming silently at her arrogance and wishing Shacklebolt hadn't assigned him to the annoying woman. With a sigh, he turned and walked the opposite way down the hall. If he was going to have to be back here tomorrow at such an ungodly hour he would need to take the rest of the day off. Besides, he was going on some kind of mission with Hawkins, his former school enemy. There were preparations to be made, including telling as many people as possible what was going on just in case he didn't return. He even considered placing a temporary Tracking Spell on himself too, but disregarded the idea as too ridiculous before Flooing home for the day.

Draco sighed, making sure no one was around to see or hear the gesture first, and made his way down the hall toward Hawkin's office. The woman was a slave-driver, probably from going through school with Granger as her friend. No self-respecting person was even awake at this hour, let alone at work. The blond shook his head, resigning himself to this cruel twist of fate. Not only was he assigned to work with a Gryffindor, but he was forced to work with one of the most obstinate and irritating Gryffindors. Scratch that, she was the most obstinate and irritating one, no one could outrank her in that respect. Draco theorized it was because of her constant Muggle references.

After what seemed like hours he finally reached the door to her office. It was closed, which the blond hoped meant she wasn't there yet. He knocked anyway and was rewarded with the portal opening of its own accord. Hawkins sat at her desk, not even looking up to see who it was. Arrogant prat, that one. Draco stepped through into the rather small room, noting with annoyance that the door closed behind him, and took in the decor It was relatively simple, though several posters and pictures adorned the walls. He noticed they didn't move, Muggle then. They all seemed to feature the same man too. A closer look told him that, no, in fact, there were several different men, some of them in groups, but one man in particular seemed to be her favorite.

Hawkins must have seen him studying her posters and was now watching him warily as if afraid he would make a snide comment or two. To be honest, Draco had considered it, but the sheer lack of knowledge behind the subject matter had thrown him for a loop and he couldn't think of anything. At least, not anything that would be appropriately scathing. She seemed to realize this, her eyes turning malicious as she stood, pulling something white out of her ears as she did so. The blond's attention went to those next and he found they were small ball-shaped plastic and metal things attached to a white cord that lay across the desk and attached to a blue, rectangular object with a white circle painted with odd symbols and a screen.

Hawkins watched him as he examined her latest surprise. The woman had a lot of Muggle objects for a witch. Finally, his eyes lifted back to hers and he raised a brow questioningly. Yes, he was curious but he would be damned if he asked her outright about her strange interests. Hawkins seemed reluctant to answer at first, no doubt thinking it would be amusing to leave him in the dark for a while, but she gave in with a sigh when he showed no sign of relenting.

"It's called an iPod," she explained, picking the device up and giving him a better look at it. "It's an electronic device Muggles use to play music. Attaching these," here she lifted up the white plastic things, "lets someone listen to it without bothering other people. They're called earbuds and are bloody uncomfortable."

"If they're so uncomfortable then why do you bother to use them?" Draco sneered, glad to finally find something to fault her for. Hawkins gave him a grim smile.

"Normally I don't, but my speakers are broken and I haven't had a chance to fix them," she explained, pointing to a small black, triangular device with metal ends. "I've had to ward all this stuff against magic since electronics are quite sensitive to magical energy, so repairing the device with magic would probably only make it worse. I might just buy a new one. Fortunately, they're not that expensive."

She shrugged and began putting away her Muggle devices. Draco went back to staring at the posters on her walls. "What kind of witch are you?" he asked. "This room is completely devoid of all Wizarding décor. It's like walking into a teenage Muggle girl's bedroom."

"How many teenage Muggle girls' rooms have you been in lately, Malfoy?" Hawkins retorted, her face remaining impassive and bent to her task. The Muggle devices disappeared into a desk drawer and were locked and warded with several spells before she returned her attention to him and noticed what he had been referring to. A distinctly mischievous grin split her features. "Clearly, you don't know what a typical teenage Muggle girl's bedroom looks like. Not many know about them." She waved a hand to take in the posters on the wall.

"They're Muggle aren't they?" Malfoy retorted. "Why wouldn't Muggles know about them?"

"I never said Muggles didn't know about them," Hawkins' grin grew wider. "Typical British Muggles do not. Only certain types of people in the west know about these groups and they are a minority. When I was a child I was actually a part of this group. My Muggle friends introduced me to them around third year."

Draco glared at her, his annoyance level reaching its peak after only a few minutes in the infuriating woman's presence. She watched him for a moment, the expression on her face suggesting she was thoroughly enjoying herself, before his annoyed features finally swayed her to explain herself.

"They're singers and bands. J-rock, visual kei to be more specific. From Japan," she gave him a mischievous look before continuing. "In fact, several of them are wizards. Japan is much more lax on wizard/Muggle relations than we are. Several people have even suggested they're not entirely human. I know rumors about Gackt abound about whether or not he's part Veela. No one has proven it conclusively, though, and he's not saying."

Hawkins shrugged, stepping out from behind her desk and striding toward the door. She ignored Draco's look of astonishment that wizards would ever mingle with Muggles and opened the door, standing next to it as if waiting for him to go first. He tossed her a glare and left the disturbingly Muggle room, stopping in the hall and waiting impatiently for her to seal the door.

"Yes, make sure it's locked," Draco sneered. "We wouldn't want anyone stealing your precious Muggle pictures."

"They're posters, Malfoy," Hawkins replied, her calm voice infuriating him to no end. "Now come on. I'm not Apparating to our destination. We'll take the Floo."

She left him to walk down the hall toward the lift that would take them to the Atrium. Reluctantly, he followed behind, vowing to himself that Kingsley Shacklebolt would rue the day he ever assigned him to work with this Muggle-loving, dark-haired, infuriating prat.