A/N: I really shouldn't be doing this... but like I said before, I have no self control. This is gonna be different from what you're used to from me: there's going to be some explicit language and some smut. If you don't want to read the smut, I'll put a warning for you so you can skip it if you like. I hope you like it!
Tallyho!
Chapter 1: Draco
There are only six things on this earth that I am completely sure about.
1) I am most definitely a Slytherin.
2) Despite some very, very poor choices, my father is actually a good dad. Always has been.
3) I risked everything to protect my mother once and I would do it again in a heartbeat.
4) I was a total jackass in school. Yes, I admit that.
5) I have read every book in the Manor library at least once.
6) Despite being a complete git in school, Potter - yes, the one and only Harry Potter - is actually a really good Auror and boss.
You're probably really confused right now, right? Harry Potter, my boss? Believe me, had someone told me in school that I'd be working under my school nemesis one day, I'd have blasted them off the planet. But let's backtrack for a second, here.
After the war, I did my time; not Azkaban, thankfully. I got off easy because I was a kid who had been forced to join the Death Eaters at the hands of a lunatic. Instead, I got put on six months probation and had to do eighty hours of some form of community service; I chose to help rebuild Hogwarts. And Potter, bleeding heart that he is, helped out too. While there, we made our peace with each other and actually got to know each other somewhat. After finishing up my community service hours (I was still on probation), I returned to school to retake my last year, as did the Golden Trio (big surprise there).
Potter made a point to continue to play nice however, and, although neither of us will ever admit it outloud, we actually grew to be friends… kind of. There are still days I want to punch those stupid glasses off his face, but I digress. Anyway, right before graduation, Potter started yammering on about what he wanted to do after Hogwarts and tried to get me to talk about what I wanted to do, all to no avail (Seriously. Do I look like a bleeding heart Gryffindor to you? I mean, what was the first bloody I said?). Eventually, he got me talking (I still don't know how) and somehow, he figured out that I had the N.E.W.T scores and the skills to become an Auror. So after his endless chattering about how great it would be to join the ranks of Aurors, I decided to go to the training just to get him to shut up and next thing I knew, I was an Auror; and a damned good one at that. As much as I detested the idea of a Ministry job at first, I have to admit, being an Auror is kind of fun; well, after you get past all the paperwork. I've been able to redeem myself and my family name by all the good work that I've done in this department and I'm happy here.
Potter was named Head Auror a couple years ago (like anyone was surprised) but I'll be the first to admit that he deserves it; yes, even out loud. For all the talk about him being The Boy Who Lived and whatnot, the guy's a good Auror. Half of the criminals that were caught in our first two years alone were by him and, sporting that ridiculous Gryffindor need to be brave, he's thrown himself into some pretty dangerous situations in order to cause a diversion while the rest of our team closed in to attack. I'll be honest, better him than me. I may like being an Auror but I'd rather stick with running my own team rather than the entire department. It's just too much work.
I knock on Potter's office door, lost in my own thoughts about the most recent case I just finished. Some idiot decided to Imperius a squib into trying to hijack a muggle car. The moron casting the spell was so inept at Unforgivables, however, that we found him within the hour, altered the memories of the muggles involved and returned the squib back to his home with no charges pressed. As I remember something I have to put into my paperwork later, I hear Potter's voice telling me to come in.
I look down at my watch as I enter his office and sigh as I realize I still have another three hours before it's time to go home. I begin to jokingly ask if I can go home early when I look up and stop short, finding that Potter isn't alone. Sitting across from his desk is my partner, Hermione Granger.
Oh, did I forget to mention that?
Granger joined the Auror department a year after Potter and I did (taking a year off after school to study psychology at a muggle university) and, just like everything else she did, she excelled and quickly made her way up the ranks until she was one of the top Aurors in the department next to Potter and myself. After Potter was promoted, she became my partner and, despite our immense dislike for each other in school, we managed to find common ground and actually make a pretty damn good team. Potter jokingly calls us the Lethal Duo but he's not entirely wrong; together, we've caught some of the most dangerous criminals in the wizarding world from serial killers to expert con artists to a lunatic who tried to become the next Voldemort (thankfully, he's locked up in the mental ward at St. Mungo's). With her brains and my ability to think like a criminal (the only good thing that came out of being with the Death Eaters), we've become one of the most powerful Auror teams the department's seen in years.
We're not friends but we're not enemies either. Our relationship stands on a line that neither of us quite know where or what it is but as long as we're not trying to kill each other, we're fine leaving it there. For now.
I furrow my brows and close the door behind me as I sit down in the seat next to Granger. "Potter, what's going on? And what are you doing here, Granger?" I ask.
Potter answers first. "I was just briefing Hermione on a new case I have for you guys. I think you'll find it interesting," he says, handing a case file to me. I take it and begin to flip through it as he keeps talking. "A man named Gabriel Morrison escaped Azkaban a few nights ago and is now on the run. You might recognize his alias: the Gemini Hunter." My head perks up at this. The Gemini Hunter is a power hungry serial killer who kills anyone who stands in his way of ultimate power (which is just about everyone in his eyes). The department had gotten a tip about him shortly after Potter and I started but the former head of the department (incompetent bastard that he was) didn't listen to it, brushing Morrison off as some crazed kid, until it was too late and he killed thirty people in a bombing just outside Devon. He immediately became the department's number one priority to find before he killed anyone else. It would be another year and a half before Granger (who had joined the Aurors by then) had found a pattern in his mannerisms and managed to track where his next attack would be. We sent in a team and after hours of waiting in agony, ambushed him and managed to bring him in to receive trial and be sent to Azkaban.
That was close to three or four years ago now. I hadn't thought about him in forever. How he escaped Azkaban is nerve-wracking because the man was already suggested to be unstable. Merlin knows how he would be after a stint in Azkaban.
"He hasn't killed anyone yet and we want to keep it that way," Potter continues to brief us. "Word is, right now, he's in New York doing God knows what. I fear that he's planning his next attack. I want you two to go to New York, track him down, and bring him back so he can be sent back to Azkaban, this time a full guard watching him 24-7. A team will be sent over with you a few days after you arrive and you'll also be working with some members of the Auror department at the American Ministry. I'd like to do this with as little trouble as possible, got it?" We both nod. "Good. Your portkey leaves Friday morning at 11am. Your housing information is in your file and I want an update on how things are going once a week." We both nod again. "Good. Let's bring this bastard back and put him away for good."
Potter dismisses us and we walk out, case files in hand. I smirk at Granger as we walk back to her office together to discuss the case. "Well, I've always wanted to go to New York. Shame it's for a case, though," I observe.
She returns the smirk. "Well, maybe we'll catch Morrison quickly, leaving you time to tour the city."
I purse my lips at the idea as we walk into her office. "That would be quite nice."
She chuckles and sits down at her desk and I sit down across from her. As she shuffles through the file, I study her for a moment. She's matured quite a bit since Hogwarts, mentally and physically. She's still a know-it-all and, infuriatingly, has this ridiculous hero complex that, I swear, comes standard with being a Gryffindor but she's also relaxed quite a bit. She's no longer uptight and has a pretty damn good sense of humor. But she could still seriously injure you with one word, if she wanted to. Trust me, I've seen it first hand.
That bush she used to call hair actually looks like hair now. She grew it out a bit and managed to discover the wonders of conditioner and even though it's still really curly, it actually makes her look more human now instead of a mad scientist. She also found a way to dress professionally without showing off every single feature of her body (something some of the other female employees here need to learn) and has caught the eye of most of the male population here but she's turned down every single person who's asked her out here.
You're probably thinking because of Weasley, right? Not exactly. Weasley and Granger broke up during our last year of school after a huge fight one weekend. According to the rumors (and Granger, who confirmed the story to me a few years ago), Weasley wanted to get married right after graduation but Granger wanted to focus on her career first. Weasley, insecure moron that he is, took it as a rejection and began to accuse her of not really loving him and whatnot and broke it off right then and there. Devastated, she locked herself in her room for the rest of the weekend and by Monday morning, the entire school knew what had happened. She handled it well, however, and put on a brave face and continued through the rest of the year with her chin up. A year later, Weasley ran off with an old classmate of his sister-in-law's from Beauxbatons (Jacqueline, is her name, I think). They ended up getting married while in France and have stayed there for the past five years until Potter and Ginny's wedding last year (yes, I was invited) when the weasel showed up with his very pregnant wife (Seriously; will that family ever stop breeding?). Surprisingly, Granger handled it very well and seemed to be very happy for her former friend (their friendship never really recovered after that fight).
Which made what happened later that night between us so much easier.
Yep. Granger and I slept together the night of Potter's wedding. And let me tell you, that was the best one night stand I've had in well, ever. I'm completely serious. We started off with playful banter which turned to full-fledged flirting which led to shagging her brains out at her flat all night (and even that next morning). She broke it off that Monday, though, before we could ever talk about it, saying that she felt we should keep our relationship completely professional. Idiot that I was at the time, I agreed because I couldn't stop thinking about that night. One year later and I still can't.
Which leads me to the dilemma that I'm stuck in right now. I lied when I said that there are only six things that I'm certain about. I should have said that there are seven.
7) I, Draco Malfoy, reformed Death Eater, one of the top Aurors in the Ministry, and former Slytherin, am madly, insatiably, and passionately in love with Hermione Granger.
P.S. Bet you thought it was Drarry for a quick second at the beginning, didn't you? Sorry guys. While I find Drarry hilarious, I'm a Dramione girl through and through.
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