This fic is for the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Quote Challenge and the Adventure Takes Precedence Competition. I hope I did it some justice. I have the second chapter written, and being beta'd and will post it next week sometime. This is my first action/adventure so I'd be very very happy to hear what you think. =]

As always, thank you tygermine for being a lovely beta.

This wasn't a typical mission.

Initially, they thought it would just be your standard dark object retrieval, hence why it was just her and Malfoy that they sent. But as soon as they landed at the target location via Portkey, spells were flying in their direction.

She was on the floor, on her stomach, and she was pretty sure she saw some green in the plethora of colored spells being fired above her. She wasn't sure where Draco was, but she heard him shouting "Code AK47" and knew he was sending for back up.

If she wasn't in a life threatening situation, she would have laughed at the fact that the Auror Office called 'Avada Kedavra has been casted' a Code AK47. She did chuckle a little as she rolled onto her back and jumped into the fray.

She was in the middle of casting a complex spell she had created towards the five thugs that jumped from the lake, when several Aurors popped into existence. Luckily they were prepared and started firing spells immediately.

Once the thugs realized they were now outnumbered, they Disapparated in the blink of an eye.

Hermione was bent over, hands on knees, trying to catch her breath, when a hand fell onto her back.

"You ok?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, how about Malfoy?"

There was a chuckle several feet behind her so she turned around to look at the git. "Glad you care Granger, but yes, I'm good." He raised his right arm, "Just a little cut up."

Before she could have a go at her annoying partner, Ron quickly interrupted, "What happened?"

"Well, we were sent to retrieve something. And we received a Portkey that took us here, straight into the ambush." Hermione answered.

"And before you ask, we got the mission directly from Robards." Draco added.

Everyone was bewildered by that. Robards was the Head of the Auror office, so it didn't make sense that they would be ambushed.

"We should go report in." Hermione said.

"So you're saying you were ambushed when you arrived at the location?" Robards asked. He was sitting in his comfortable chair behind the desk littered with parchment. There were a few objects interspersed with the endless parchment, but the desk might as well have been made of parchment for the amount there was.

Hermione was trying to figure out why he needed all this parchment, some of it didn't even have anything written on it, when Malfoy answered their supervisor, "Yes, there were five men who were on the shore of the lake and as soon as we landed they started firing spells."

Robards nodded his head, and moved some of the parchment away from his desk. He was looking for a specific one when Hermione saw wood. All she thought was "Aha! There's the desk!"

She was pulled out of her musings when Robards found what he was looking for and responded, "That's interesting, because I'm pretty certain that, when I requested the Portkey from the Department of Magical Transportation," He handed Malfoy the parchment, "The object you were looking for was something once owned by Helga Hufflepuff. You should have been Portkeyed to Braga."

Hermione was wondering what the hell was in Braga when Malfoy walked out of the Head Auror's office. She shrugged at Robards and ran after him.

She was gasping "Malfoy...your legs...they're so long..." When she finally reached him at the lifts. When did he get that fast?

Apparently the situation was serious enough that Malfoy didn't deem it a good time to make fun of her slowness. When they stepped into the lift, she quickly schooled her face into her serious face and looked directly at Malfoy's calculating expression. "What's in Braga?"

"Other than the Broomfleet Quidditch team, I'm not even sure." He seemed to be pondering telling her more, so she glared at him, which seemed to do the trick. That was why their partnership worked, they could pick up on each other's nonverbal clues. It also helped that no one else in all the Auror office would work with them. Either of them.

"All right. I remember my father having to go to Portugal once. During that time." That time, when said the way he did, meant during the Death Eater days. Hermione knew that it was a touchy subject, and to delve further could potentially cause a blow up. She decided that this could help to find out why they almost died that morning so she raised her eyebrow at him.

He rolled his eyes, "That's all I know. We'll go see him after we talk to the Portkey Office."

Hermione just nodded, hiding the shudder when she realized they would have to go see Lucius.

"Well, that was helpful." Hermione sighed sarcastically as she sat down in her cubicle.

Behind her Malfoy also sighed and rolled his chair so that it crossed the invisible line that separated their workspaces. Hermione eyed where the invisible line was supposed to be, willing it into existence, right under his chair, when Draco spoke up. "Shut up, the line isn't real, no matter how much you stare at it, and I want this to be hush-hush."

Hermione stopped looking where the invisible line should be, and quickly casted a Muffliato, causing Draco's cheeks to redden - redden as much as a Malfoy would allow that is, so they were a very light pink, the pink that goes into a girl's nursery - and rolled back into his cubicle.

"Okay, you're right. That was absolutely unhelpful."

"Maybe I should go without you. All she could do was stare at you."

"It's not my fault I'm beautiful. Kerra Moreno just has eyes she uses."

Hermione threw a scrunched up piece of parchment at his head. She knew he was beautiful. She didn't like him being told he was beautiful by buxom dark haired beauties. She knew he was beautiful even when he was spewing hurtful words when they were in school. His personality however, made her want to punch him in the face. Even if he wasn't as bad as when they were in school, he still deserved a good punch every now and then. Be it a love tap or something harder.

"Seriously though, all we learned from the visit was that the Portkey needs to be checked for tampering."

"Yeah, you're right. Let's check the lake and then we'll go see my father."

"Bloody hell."

"That was a rookie mistake."

"Well, we're technically still rookies."

"No we're not. I've fought in a war since I was eleven. You've lived on the other side your whole life. Where do you see Robards thinking us as rookies?"

"Fuck."

"Language!"

"So bloody is okay but fuck isn't allowed?"

"The situation warranted it. But now you're just cursing."

He rolled his eyes. "Let's go see my father first. I don't want to have to get told off and then see my father."

"Okay..." Hermione says apprehensively which stops Malfoy from side-along Appariting.

Malfoy turned to look her straight in the face. "Look. Granger, we're not going near that room. So you don't have to worry about that. Secondly, my Father has changed. Trust me."

Hermione isn't sure whether to believe him. Lucius Malfoy was one scary wizard on his off days. "How do you know?"

"Trust me. You'll understand when we see him."

She didn't think she could do that. But knew that she had to if they were going to get anywhere with this case.

She grabbed his arm.

"Are we in your bedroom?"

She looks around the new location. The bed is unmade and isn't the green she was expecting. Instead, it's a very deep shade of purple. She giggled.

"When school finished, I got rid of the green."

"So you chose plum?"

"Shut up. The catalogue said it was amethyst."

Hermione doesn't stop laughing, and it only gets harder when she sees the latest issue of Play Wizard on his night stand.

Malfoy sees where her eyes lay, and quickly jumps across the bed grabbing the magazine and throwing it under his bed.

"But I was going look at that." She fake pouts.

He gets up from the bed, grabs her arm and pulls her out of the room. "Just shut up. We're going to find my father."

That does shut her up. She even lets him continue to hold her arm. It gives her some peace of mind. She doesn't even notice the shivers.

"Remember, he isn't scary. Well, he is, but not in the way you think."

That didn't help her at all. Her other hand flies to the hand wrapped around her arm and she holds it tight - as if him letting go of her means she's going to her doom, which is exactly how she feels.

When they reach Lucius' study, Hermione is ready to turn tail and go back to the office. Screw Gryffindor tendencies, she really didn't feel like reliving the old days. She really didn't want to be called a Mudblood again.

Once Malfoy opened the doors though, she thought she should have left, but for completely different reasons.

"Ah son, so nice to see you. And who is this? Did you finally find a suitable fiancé?"

Malfoy just clears his throat and pulls Hermione from behind him. She expects Lucius to instantly glare, show teeth, yell, or something violent. That would have been better that what he did though.

He looks up and sees Hermione, smiles, and says, "Oh, Miss Granger. That's wonderful. I'll let your mother know to get started on the wedding plans." He then looks back down at his desk and begins to draft a letter.

Hermione was rather confused. What the hell just happened? So, according to Lucius, she was engaged to Draco and he was okay with that? Something was definitely off. She looked to Malfoy who only shrugged and mouthed, "Told you."

She scowled at him.

Malfoy turned back to his father to set him straight, at least she hoped. That was far more important than questions.

"Father, what can you tell me about Braga."

Hermione was going to punch him. Work could happen later. After his father no longer thought they were going to get married. She scowled even harder.

Malfoy ignored her and looked to his father for answers. Lucius didn't even flinch at the question. Hermione didn't know if that was a good or bad thing.

He simply looked up, sat back in his chair, and steepled his fingers. "Well, as you know, I had to go there once. I think it was during your sixth year, or was it seventh? It must've been seventh as I did not have my wand." Hermione was seriously wondering what was wrong with Malfoy Senior. He acted as if working for Lord Voldemort was like having afternoon tea. Just an everyday thing, nothing to worry over. "Your mother helped me get there. We had to meet with a Mr. Lobo."

Malfoy just nodded his head, trying to commit everything to memory.

Hermione, while keeping one part of her mind on the conversation - Who is Mr. Lobo? Why Braga? - was glaring daggers at Malfoy. Lucius still thought they were engaged, and it didn't look like that was going to change anytime soon.

"We were dropping off a bag for the Dark Lord. We couldn't open it, obviously, as it was cursed. We gave the bag to Mr. Lobo, who didn't look too happy receiving it. And then we left."

"That's all you remember?" Malfoy asked.

"Yes, nothing really happened or mattered then. As you well know, your mother and I were very afraid of what was to become of you. We did as we were told, did not ask questions, and merely survived." Lucius answers in an even tone, no anger, no sadness, just… nothing.

Hermione flinched at that, and decided to set him straight later, "Who is Mr. Lobo? What can you tell us about him?"

He looks back to her, "Welcome to the conversation Miss Granger," Oh lovely, now he's the Mr. Malfoy she remembers. "I was afraid that you weren't as intelligent as my son led me to believe. But I'm glad that the future mother of my grandchildren has a valid thought in her head." Hermione sputters. Yes, she needed to set him straight, right away in fact. Children indeed!

But before she could interrupt, he continued on, "Mr. Lobo was very subdued. He was very quiet, dark, and broody. Imagine a Portuguese Mr. Borke." He cocks his head and ponders, "I don't think either of you had the displeasure of meeting him. He was a lot worse than Mr. Burgin, let me tell you. May I offer the two of you something to drink?" He gets up from behind his desk and walks to the corner.

Before Hermione can say no, or even no I'm not going to marry your son, Malfoy shakes his head.

Lucius opens the liquor cabinet and begins pouring himself some of Ogden's Finest. "Alright, don't say I didn't offer when your mother asks if I behaved. Now, Mr. Lobo, I believe was related to Mr. Borke, distantly of course. Not sure how, but you could see it in their faces. Like I said, Mr. Lobo was just a darker version." He looks at both of them "I assume you are here for a case, yes?"

They both nod.

"I thought so. Then you should know this. Miss Granger, I'm fairly certain you are already aware of Mr. Borke's relation with the Dark Lord?"

Malfoy looks to her as she just nods, she doesn't see why this matters.

"Well, why would the Dark Lord send an object to someone related to his first employer?"

Wheels are turning in her head as she ponders the question. It's a good lead, she realises. Lucius, when not trying to be an intimidating Death Eater, would make a fine teacher, she muses. As she tries to hold in the giggle, Malfoy jumps up and quickly fires questions.

"It must have been a dark object. It would be safe to assume that regardless of where it went. But to go to someone related to Mr. Borke, maybe it needed identification? Or he wanted to get rid of it? Granger, start writing this stuff down. We need to figure this out."

Lucius hands her a quill and parchment and then reprimands his son, "Draco, you must treat your fiancé better than that."

Hermione drops the quill. He is still on about that?

Malfoy picks up the quill and hands it back to her and finally, finally, sets his father straight. "We're not going to get married now or in the near future father. I've been telling you this for months."

Hermione drops the quill again. Now she's really confused. Her eyes widen and her mouth quickly forms an 'O'. What the fuck?

"Granger, seriously, stop thinking about it. We're supposed to be working a case."

Hermione's cheeks flush at the admonishment. She grabs the quill and writes down the questions he was asking. Right. The case. "Well, Mr. Borke was dead, as your father mentioned, but did his family also deal with Dark Objects? Where did you meet with Mr. Lobo? Was it only him? Or were there others?"

Lucius went back to his seat and smiled, yes smiled! "Good questions, both of you. I'm not certain what was in the bag or the purpose of giving it Mr. Lobo, so I can't help you Draco." He looks back to Hermione, and his smile turns brighter, "To answer your questions Miss Granger, I believe the Borke family, including extended, always delved into the Dark. We met with him in a back office. More than likely his. I believe he runs a store similar to that of Borgin & Burkes. It was just him."

Malfoy nods to his father and turns to leave, "Thank you father. If we have more questions, I'll let you know."

Hermione stands up and puts the quill back on Lucius' desk and also whispers "Thank you."

"I'm still telling your mother you found her." He shouts as they walk down the hallway.