CHAPTER ONE - A DAY AT THE MINISTRY

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own Harry Potter or anyone else.

Heads turned as she bustled through the halls. Her frizzy, brown hair bouncing around her. Hermione sighed, trying to push back her hair.

"This potion was supposed to straighten my hair, not curl it even further," she muttered, annoyed, to no one in particular.

Finally, she reached the door she was looking for. Pushing it open loudly, she waited for the man sitting by the desk to turn around.

"Oh, er hey Hermione, what's up? Isn't your section in the opposite side of the Ministry?" he said, clearly surprised.

"Well, Harry, yes it is, thank you for noticing." Hermione huffed. "Now, explain this." She said angrily, pointing to an article in the Daily Prophet.

"Gryffindor Princess and War Hero – a match made in heaven?" Harry read. "Wow, that's a new one. Do people actually call you the Gryffindor Princess?"

"That's not the point! I don't understand why the Daily Prophet always has to print this stuff. It's not even true! Ron and I don't even look like we're together!" Hermione exclaimed, throwing her hands up.

"Well, maybe, if you helpfully remind them that you once trapped Rita Skeeter in a jar, they'll back off a bit," Harry joked.

"You what?" A voice said from behind Hermione. She turned around to see a familiar face.

"Oh, yeah, Hermione, Malfoy here got hired as an Auror too," Harry said tentatively, trying to gauge her reaction.

"Oh. Well, then, congratulations on the job Malfoy," Hermione said, not sure of what to do. "I'll see you around, Harry."

She walked out briskly, hoping to get away faster. From behind her she heard the aurors talking to each other. A faint grin crossed her face for a second as she heard Malfoy ask:

"Did she actually trap Rita Skeeter in a jar?"

Hermione wondered if Harry had forgiven Malfoy. She wondered if she, herself, had forgiven him too.

Draco wasn't stupid.

He knew from the start that no one would want to accept him as an Auror, that no one would want to be his partner.

He heard the rumors, the ones stating that he only became one to try and make his family's reputation better.

Well, that would be true, besides the fact that he didn't really have a family anymore, unless you counted his father, who was in Azkaban, and his mother, who was in house arrest.

The real reason he became an Auror was because no one else would offer him a job. And, as rich as his family was, at least half of his money had gone to the Ministry after the war, and his mother insisted on donating practically all of the rest of it to helping rebuild the magical community.

So, Draco needed the money, and only Kingsley would hire him.

His first encounter with his fellow workers hadn't been pleasant.

Three weeks ago

Kingsley nodded his head toward the right.

"Follow me."

Draco entered the room after him, looking at the faces around him. Waiting for them to turn angry.

The first response came from Dennis Creevey.

"What is he doing here?" He asked, pointing an accusing finger at Draco. After that, more and more voices started shouting.

Draco spotted Harry in a corner. He was surprised to see that Harry wasn't joining in on the shouts.

Wonderful, Draco thought. Not only does every hate me, but I get to spend more time with the one guy who could actually have enough influence to make me lose my job.

"Everyone, quiet down now," Kingsley yelled above the voices of everyone else. No one paid him much attention.

"Fine, then, have it your way. Silencio!"

Now, everyone grew quiet.

"Thank you. Now, as I was going to say, Draco has become an auror. And before any of you try to say that he doesn't deserve it or anything, I'll have you know that he aced his exams and is very advanced in his spells. He probably did better than half of you here. So, naturally, he has every right to be working alongside you. I will be very disappointed if I find out that any of you treat him disrespectfully," Kingsley said, before turning toward Draco.

"Just to test how you do, I want to assign you a task. Here is the file. I'm sure you know the procedure already but I'll go over it again. Read the file, find a partner, and report to me before leaving. Someone will set up a portkey for you, finish your job, report back to me, and fill out some paperwork. Understand?"

Draco nodded.

Who in their right mind would want to partner up with me? Maybe Kingsley will let me go without a partner?

"And, before you ask, the answer is no. You may not go alone. And no, I did not read your mind. Every new auror asks that question."

With a "Finite Incantum" and wave at Draco, Kingsley walked right back out of the door he entered a few minutes ago.

Everyone stared at Draco.

He stared back.

"Well, don't expect me to be your partner for anything," Dennis said, wrinkling his nose. A few others agreed. Draco felt his heart sink a little bit more.

He walked over to his assigned desk and opened up the file.

"Muggle Attacks sighted in Russia.

Visit the Russian Ministry of Magic first for more information.

Death Eaters Nott and Dolohov set fire to the muggle village of Hemsworth. Investigate, and catch them if possible."

Along with that were pictures of burnt houses and a blurry shot of what looked like two people with death eater masks on.

Draco didn't really want to go investigate something that reminded himself so much of his past, but he figured Kingsley had done that on purpose. To test him, probably.

Draco turned around as he heard a knock on his office door.

"Yes?"

To his surprise, Harry was standing outside his office, looking sheepish.

"Well, uh, Malfoy, funny seeing you here."

Draco didn't comment.

"I guess not everyone took it very well."

Draco sighed. "As surprising as this might sound, I was aware of that, Potter. You know, with the screaming and everything.'

"Er yeah, right, but I just wanted to say that if you need a partner, well, you can always ask me," Harry said nervously. "I mean, not trying to offend you or anything, but it doesn't really seem like anyone else was going to offer."

Draco was astonished, to say the least, but he made sure not to show it.

"Well Potter," he drawled. "I had no idea that you wanted to spend so much time with me. All you had to do was ask."

Harry turned a faint shade of red. "Don't be such a git. You're welcome, by the way."

Draco stared at Harry's back as he walked away.

Guess I have to give a little more credit. Thank god the Weasel isn't here.