AN: I know that I have Sirius' Letter to finish, but I am at a standstill. I have the direction I want to take it I just need sometime to think of how I am going to get there. It is this chapter that is hard for me to get past and pretty much everything else should go smoothly after that. Be patient with me I will finish it and until then I hope you enjoy this story which is going to be much shorter than that one.

And to new readers I hope you like this and please do not mind my grammar and spelling I try but it was never strong point I ever had.

Beauty and Madness

Chapter One: The Storm is Over Now

"You must be kidding!" Draco said as he stood up abruptly from his chair. " There is no way in this world or the next that I will ever be willing to do this."

"Draco, the dramatics are quite enough." Lucius said as he turned the page of his newspaper, not even looking up at his only son. This was a common statement he made to his son, "Listen to your mother."

Draco sat down, unwillingly but obediently. And gave his mother his full attention, trying to keep a scowl off his face.

"As I was saying, the committee needs someone to help host the Hogwarts Annual Fundraiser for the Orphans of War. And since you have no idea what you are going to do with your life, and have abundance of time, I volunteered you to assist in the Ball and Auction." Narcissa said a bit harshly Draco thought. It was not as if he was a slacker or an idiot, he just didn't know what he wanted to do. He had options, and companies banging on his door, trade schools and even his own father wanted him at the company. But none of it felt right. Until then he was not going to settle on some career that he was going to hate ten years down the line.

"Mother, just because I have not found a career yet does not mean that I have a 'abundance' of time. I happen to be a busy man and I cannot fit this nonsense into my schedule."

"The only nonsense is the nonsense coming out of your mouth, and I do not recall giving you a choice in the matter. You will go down to Hermione Granger's office tomorrow morning and you will help her with this event, and I tell you now if I hear even the slightest rumor that you are slacking on this project so help me…" She didn't get to finish out her threat, because Draco had heard enough.

"HERMOINE GRANGER! You expect me to work with Granger. Out of the question, after I graduated from Hogwarts I made a pact to myself saying I would never go within ten foot radius of any member of the golden trio, if it could be helped. And I am not going to be working with the insufferable know-it all." Draco said, in a stern, out of the question voice, that would of scared anyone but a Malfoy. His mother just looked at him smugly. His father was shaking his head, when would the poor boy learn never to cross his mother.

L

"Hermione, you need a break." Harry said as he looked at the files that cluttered his best friends desk.

"I do not need a break, a break is the last thing that I need. If I were to have a break, who would do this. No one and then it would just gather and gather and be even more unmanageable than it already is." Hermione said as she took another file from her cabinet and added it to the ever growing pile. She was junior assistant in the Charity management for Government funded project that also accepted private donations.

"Calm down a bit, And I meant a coffee break." Harry said with a chuckle, amazed that his friend still felt flustered as she did when she was studying for the NEWTS.

Hermione smiled, "Well coffee I can do, let me get my purse." she looked around the disaster she called an office, "Let me find my purse." she amended.

"It is a scary thought that I used to consider you organized." Harry teased. Banter was easy between the two, it felt good to banter considering everything they had been through with the war. When all you had to worry about was a mountain of paperwork instead of your friends lives.

"Hey now, this is an organized mess." she said as she pointed around her office with a laugh, "you just have to be careful were you put stuff, this pile over here likes to eat stuff." she said as she pulled up her purse that was carefully hidden behind a pile of paperwork she put there this morning when she came in to clear her desk of clutter, which was pointless in the end.

Smiling Hermione took Harry's arm and they walked down to the cafeteria.

"So I hear you are in charge of the Hogwarts Annual fundraiser for orphans of the War. This is a great opportunity for you." Harry said taking a sip of his coffee.

"It is a great opportunity for me, and I don't have to run it all by myself so you can stop worrying that I am going to overwork myself. I get a partner." Hermione said, already knowing why Harry even brought it up. "And you can tell that to Ron too. You boys worry to much, if anyone should worry it is me with you two running around the country tracking down bad guys."

Harry playfully narrowed his eyes. "Yeah paperwork is definitely a dangerous field, I risk bleeding to death by paper cut." Harry said a bit bitterly.

"What did you expect, you are a new Auror. They want to make sure you know what you are doing before you are sent into the field."

"And defeating Voldemort was not enough training? I have been dealing with life and death situations since we were in first year. All this paper pushing is an insult to the skills and knowledge I do have." Harry said in angry whisper. His famous temper rearing again, especially when he thought he needed to prove himself.

"You never liked your fame and you never wanted to use it to your advantage. Kingsley knows this and acted accordingly. Unless you want to use your fame and fortune to get ahead." Hermione said.

Knowing she made a point Harry changed the conversation back to were it was originally, " So who is your partner."

"I don't know yet, the committee is supposed to chose someone who is…how did they say it without sounding like they were insulting me oh yeah…they wanted to chose someone who is well rounded with the tradition and culture of the wizarding world, to make sure 'we' don't insult anyone from high society." She said in an overly sweet voice that kept her from ranting and raving about Malfoy's mother.

"So more than likely a pureblood snob." Harry said, "You don't think it could be Malfoy?"

"I will kill myself if it is, but I doubt it. I do not think that party planning is one of the skills that the Malfoy man was taught growing up." Hermione joked.

"True, plus the fact the board probably knows that the two of you in a room together will lead to someone's death. But it would be funny." Harry said chuckling, imagining the Slytherin Prince and Gryffindor Princess in the same room forced to be civil.

Hermione smacked his arm, "That is not funny Harry."

"Ow. And yes it is, picture Malfoy's face, sneering and all pinched up."

"Oh yeah him looking down at me like I am not even worthy to be in his presences real funny."

Harry sipped his coffee smiling, he liked getting Hermione flustered.

Later that day Draco was on the balcony of Blaise Zabini apartment with a tumbler full of fire whiskey. Blaise noticed that Draco was gulping more than sipping, "You want to tell me what is wrong?" He knew his friend better than anyone, and Draco could honestly let down his guard around him, hence the reason he was drinking like a fish and not caring how it appeared.

Draco finished off his drink and glared at the scene before him, children playing, women laughing, couples being oblivious to the world around them. It was a perfect day and everyone was happy, everyone but him. "You should of got an apartment with a private balcony."

"You are pissed off about my balcony position?" Blaise laughed. "I doubt that. Now I will ask again because that is what friends do when they care. What is wrong?"

"Life. Life is what is wrong." Draco said as he summoned the bottle to his hand and poured another drink. Blaise waited, used to Draco's moods. "It seems my mother thought it would benefit the family if I help host that Hogwarts Ball and Auction."

"And what is the problem with that, you complain about how dreadful those events are every year. With you planning it I am sure it will not be that bad. I am actually looking forward to this now." Blaise said being supportive.

"Other than being a pain in my ass, no it is not that bad. But it does get worst. My partner is none other than one third of the Golden Trio, bane of my existence, insufferable know-it-all Granger." Draco said as he downed another drink.

"The Mudblood. Your mother wants you to work with that." Blaise laughed, "Man that is just awful. I can not wait to watch you suffer. Merlin am I looking forward to this ball."

"Remind me why am I friends with you?" Draco asked annoyed.

"Who would you rather talk to, Goyle?" Blaise asked, knowing it would touch a nerve considering that Goyle was known now a days to be the lackey of Theodore Nott. Nott and Draco did not get along, not since forth year when Draco told Nott off for being an arrogant prick. Blaise still laughed at that, Draco never did like competition.

"Point."

"So when do you start." Blaise asked, trying not to laugh and failing.

"I really really hate you." Draco said. Blaise was getting to much amusement out of this.

"Come on now, clearly you can see the humor in the situation. You would be laughing your arse off right now if it was me and not you."

Harry was at home finally, a long day at work trying to rise through the ranks. Savior of the world did have its benefits but he did not want to use his misguided title to gain what he wanted. Hermione was right, he wanted to earn everything by hard work. He just wished that he wasn't surrounded by idiots. He heard the floo flare to life, he did not get up to greet the person, who ever had access to his floo was comfortable enough in his house to come find him.

"Long day?" Ginny said as she stepped into the kitchen. Harry looked worn down.

"Extremely, remind me again why I wanted to be an Auror." Harry groaned out as he stood up and stretched.

"Well you do have a horrible hero complex." She said with a small laugh.

"Funny." He spun around to face Ginny. "I never did tell you why I wanted to be an Auror did I."

Ginny shook her head, "My father was an Auror, So was Sirius."

"Not to seem insensitive but is that a good reason because your father was one, so you have to be one?"

He smiled at her, "I may have a small hero complex also."

"Imagine that Harry Potter with a saving people issue."

They laughed a bit together, "It is not like I am saving many people behind a desk."

"Well that is just the process, I am sure you will move threw the ranks quick enough."

"That is the problem though, the process. The department is swampt as it is, and they say the reason why I cannot be in the field is because I do not have enough experience, which is a joke, but how am I supposed to get experience. By battling the evil interoffice memos and dueling with the filing cabinets."

"How about this, no more talking about office work. We should go out for some drinks, help you clear your mind a bit." Ginny said.

"Sounds good." The floo flared to life again and out stepped Ron and Neville.

"Just in time guys we are going to go get some drinks." Harry said as he grabbed his jacket. Missing the frown on Ginny's face.

"Great idea mate, after the day we had we could use it." Ron said as he followed Harry out the door.

"Don't worry Gin." Neville said as he steered her out the door.

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