Aurors Most Wanted

A/N: This is my first fanfic. I had posted the draft of this story previously as "the mess" . I have decided to redo those 3 chapters as they weren't up to scratch. Hope you guys enjoy!

Hermione Granger glanced at her watch as she nearly knocked into a passerby."Crap, I have 5 minutes to get there now," she muttered to herself as she internally apologised to the man she almost hit. She had always been early to these meetings and here she was late all because of one Harry Potter.

He had come over late last night reeking of alcohol and looking thoroughly trashed. Seeing her best friend on her porch with a very forced smile that seemed to crack any second she quickly ushered him in. She sat him down on her couch while she looked for a hangover potion (these had been created after the war thanks to Fred and George).

After no such luck she went to tell Harry the disappointing news. However, before she could, Harry blurted," She's leaving me... Cho," He didnt know what else to say or how to say it, but he didnt need to. Ron and Hermione had been his friemds for so long they were practically his family. " Im sorry Harry," Hermione said softly squeezing his hand. He nodded his head in acceptance and was suddenly very interested in her new rug as he stared , trying to burn a hole in it.

"Harry I dont have any hangover potion but I will make a batch for you now," Hermione said trying to get him to stop staring at her rug with his piercing green eyes. Harry looked up at his best friend, "Its fine dont worry about it I'll try to sleep it off.. Its okay if I crash here for the night right?" he said slurring a bit of the words. Hermione rolled her eyes, "Ofcourse ,you and Ron practically live here," she said with a smile.

The news of her best friends breakup didnt exactly surprise Hermione. While she was upset for Harry, she and Ron both knew that Harry and Cho were a longshot. There was nothing wrong with Cho, she just wasnt right for Harry. Their relationship was based on their school crushes and it just wasnt enough for the real world. Cho wanted a career just as much as Harry did but her work took her away from home and Harry had to available 24/7 for his job as an just wasnt enough time. Even in the wizarding world long distance relationships were hard to maintain, Hermione thought to herself.

After sending Ron an owl telling him where to find Harry ( Ron had been rather frantic over the telephone,which he had learnt to use (sort of), when he had come home to an empty apartment and promptly threw it when Hermione tried to call him back) and ensuring that Harry wasnt going to cause any accidental harm to himself, Hermione finally drifted off to sleep..

Hermione woke up to insistent knocking on her front door. "what the .. What time is it?" she asked to no one in particular quite groggily. "HERMIONE OPEN UP ... ITS RON BY THE WAY!"

"Ron you have a key for goodness sake use it! " Hermione yelled back. She checked the clock at her had two clocks, one at her bedside and her alarm clock next to her door so that she would have to wake up and put it off. It read 7:45 . "Oh no, no, no ," she groaned. She had exactly 15 minutes to get there on time. She dashed to the bathroom to try to make herself decent. Running a hairbrush quickly through her hair and ferociously brushing her teeth (her parents would be devastated she didnt use the full 3 minutes they insisted on -normal dentists recommended 2 but not her parents) ,Hermione wondered why her alarm hadnt gone off..She couldnt remember passing it this morning.

A very sober and guilty Harry Potter stood downstairs with an empty hangover potion that Ron had brought with him. Luckily they both started work an hour after Hermione (they didnt need to attend the meeting). "Hey dont you have that thing today?" Ron asked Hermione who had come running own the stairs, taking two at a time. "Yes yes and im late!" she almost yelled as she grabbed an apple to eat on the way. Now would not be the time for Harry to confess, but Harry being Harry felt obliged as he started, "uhm Hermione I put off your alarm this morning. You see I was trying to sleep and I completely forgot about your meeting and the noise was just so annoying so I used a silencing charm and threw your alarm clock out the window .." he finished rather meekly with his hand at the back of his neck waiting for Hermione to explode at him.

"What ?! Harry we will discuss this when I get back." she said as she grabbed some floo powder and said very clearly,"Ministry of Magic". In a flash she was gone. "Phew! You got lucky there Harry,"Ron exclaimed with a huge smile. "Tell me about it," Harry replied. "Want to ask Fred and George for a friendly game of quidditch?"

Hermione arrived at the ministry with a few minutes to spare as she thanked her lucky stars she was one of the select few who had their fireplaces linked to the ministry and didnt have to use the regular toilet entrance. Alot in the ministry had changed post war. There wasnt a huge statue of the current minister of magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, like there had been for Cornelius Fudge. Kingsley was different, he was fair and just and Hermione's boss. The department of muggle artifacts and liason was up to date on the latest muggle technology and clothing. Many people still preferred wearing their robes, but wore muggle clothing underneath. The department of mysteries was practically blown apart and nobody really knew if anything was down there besides Kingsley and a few others. Hermione would have liked to pursue law but after all the adventures with Harry and Ron she knew she wanted to become an auror. And Hermione Granger always came up top in class thats why she was head auror. Harry was better at defensive spells but Hermione orchestrated the plans and with the criminals of today, plans were everything.

She walked into the meeting with a few seconds to spare, feeling relieved that she had made it on time. Sure, her hair wasnt as neat as she would have wanted it but it wasnt entirely bushy. Her eyes quickly scanned the room and saw Kingsley talking to someone who was blocked completely from her view and Parvati Patil with Pansy Parkinson. It was strange seeing Parvati with Pansy at first but as they both were responsible for public relations they quickly bonded and became fast friends. Parvati was more self assured around Pansy and Pansy became more grounded with Parvati. Gryffindor and Slytherin friendships were not very popular but slowly people became more open to them. It was one of reasons Hermione was put into a team with a Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff in her last case. She didnt want to talk about that case, she had lost a team member then.. She didnt want to think about it. She pushed aside her turmoil thoughts and took her place at the table. She looked up for Kingsley, it wasnt like him to start late, she bet he even had a bathroom schedule, that's how punctual he was. She met the eye of the man who Kingsley was talking to and she gasped, because giving her a playful smirk was the not so dead Draco Malfoy.

Draco had seen her as soon as she came in, and he very cowardly hid behind Kingsley while conversing. He knew he would have to face her but Granger was feisty and she was bound to hex him into oblivion. His past year had been a secret kept only by Kingsley and his mother who would have died if she thought he was really dead. Narcissa Malfoy was a brave woman but her son was her life, he was all she had left. So she accepted the news that her son was going on a mission and he had to 'die'. His mother was a good actress, the newspapers he had seen of her in mourning almost made him chuckle as she did tend to over dramatise.

Draco was torn from his thoughts by a very ,very angry woman who looked like she very much wanted to kill him. Draco gulped. "Granger ... I can explain," he said in a calm voice. But he knew he wasn't going to get to until she calmed down a notch.

" You complete arse Malfoy !" She shrieked not caring if she was making a scene. (there were only about 10 people and they quickly evacuated at Kingsley's signal leaving the three alone)

"I went for your damn funeral, " she looked close to punching him again. Draco was uncomfortable, "Granger look if it were up to me I would have told you but it was classified."

Kingsley sensing his turn to pull this in his favor, added " I briefed him on this case it was vital that he went undercover the way he did."

Hermione after letting this all sink in finally said in a cold deadpan voice, "was it a success? Your case?"

Draco felt a little threatened by her cold demeanour.

" yes," he sighed, "thats why im here or I would be really dead." He noticed the blood drain from her face as he finished. He contemplated, he knew they had slowly become friends, not that any of them had admitted it, but did Granger have feelings for him? No, he decided this was just her being her overprotective self. Still the thought lingered in his brain longer than he dare care to admit.

"so I need the two of you to grab Potter and Weasley, the other two members of the team," Kingsley finished as Draco finally started paying attention. "Wait what? Potter and Weasley? What happened to Susan and Luna?" he questioned loudly. "susan is on maternity leave and Luna left," Hermione said in a quiet voice. "Seamus managed to create a kid?" he asked incredulously. If looks could kill Draco would have been dead the moment he met Hermione Granger. She shoved a glare his way before leaving the room. Well he didnt think his question deserved to be walked out on, maybe Granger was emotional.

"Really Kingsley you left me with the golden trio? " he asked, knowing that he was stuck and Kingsley wouldnt change his mind. " I know you arent on the best of terms but this case is important and I hope you will get over your past grievances,"Kingsley said with a tone of finality. It was done. He was spending this case with the golden trio and he couldnt do anything about it.

Hermione left the room to go find Harry and Ron and because she couldnt stand to look at Malfoy right now. She understood his reasons but he couldnt just jump at her back from the dead as if she hadnt mourned him. It was unsettling, she was relieved he was alive it just seemed surreal to her, as if any moment someone was going to scream ," Aprils fools!" But Malfoy was back and Hermione didnt know how she felt about that. Her heels clicked on the floor as she bristled and picked up her pace.

Harry was in his office when she walked in, he immediately woke up when he saw her and Hermione sensed he was about to apologise again for this morning. "Hermione look im sor-" he started but Hermione cut him off. "Malfoys back," she said in a neutral voice. Harry looked shocked for a moment before he said," well thats good." He didnt meet her eyes.

Harry looked to his desk for support, unfortunately Hermione knew him like the back of her hand.

"You knew!" she said accusingly.

Harry hesitated before replying, "Yes I had to help with the cover up, you knew I was involved in that know I would have told you if I could. Malfoy didnt have a choice either, dont be too hard on him."He finished rather grudgingly.

Hermione sighed. "I know Harry, I dont blame you, hell I dont even blame Malfoy anymore" . That much anyway, she finished in her head. "I guess i just needed to think it through." And she had, because Hermione Granger knew she could never be angry with Harry Potter for long. And she realised if she were put in the same scenario, she would have done the same thing they did. Malfoy and Harry were doing their jobs. That did not mean she was going to apologise to malfoy for her earlier stunt in the boardroom. And considering they were all starting work together tomorrow, she supposed she could be less icy towards Malfoy.

Harry gave her a tentative smile. "This doesn't mean you're completely off the hook Mr Potter,"Hermione said as she was walking out. Harry figured she was going to tell Ron next. "Ron doesnt know about this so he's not going to take the news the way I did," Harry suddenly pointed out. "That's why im giving you the job of telling him and the fact that Malfoy is our new team member". "What?" Harry asked in disbelief."how did we end up with Malfoy, I cant manage with him everyday Hermione, the least I have is a respectable tolerance."

"Goodluck breaking the news to Ron and both of you meet us in the boardroom in exactly 15 minutes!" Hermione called pretending she hadnt heard him.

She left behind a very dumbstruck Harry Potter and that made her smirk a little.

She returned to the boardroom and saw Malfoy nose deep in the case file. She smiled as he furrowed his brow in confusion as he read the confusing case. Somehow it made him seem human, less like the guy she knew in school. She was glad Malfoy was no longer picking on her blood status. The first time they met at auror training he had suprised her by not throwing a single insult at her. She was to put it mildly, surprised. The Draco Malfoy who had bullied and teased every gryffindor in sight, had grown up. He didnt use his famous " my father will hear about this" line anymore, infact he didnt speak about his father at all. It seemed a very sore subject and Hermione didnt want to bring up old wounds. His father was never mentioned, not even by harry when they came into contact. There seemed to be some new found respect between them and it showed the maturity of these two young men. Ron and Draco still bickered but everyone expected it, they would never see eye to eye.

"Ron and Harry will be here soon," she said breaking the silence." Can't wait," he replied sarcastically before getting back to the file. "This doesnt make any sense," he muttered to himself. "How could the security cameras and the neighbors not see or hear anything?"

"oh that, well I think he or she apparated in obviously," Hermione said matter-of-factly. "The floo powder network hadn't picked up anyone getting in the apartment," she filled in.

" Wouldn't the apparition wards be broken? It says here they were still up when the Purgers arrived at the scene to take away the body." Draco puzzled.

"That's the mystery," Hermione mused.

Harry and a very sickly looking Ron walked into the room. Harry and Malfoy gave each other curd nods while Ron forced out a half grimace. Well this was going to be fun, Hermione thought as they began explaining the case.

A/n : And that's chapter 1! Tell me what you think comments, questions and critism all welcome xx

Love Mels