"Bloody fucking hell, I can't believe the Chosen Git assigned me to work on this case with you of all people!"

"Trust me, Malfoy, I'm not happy about this either, but sometimes we have to grow up and get over having to interact with certain people we don't like"

"Ahh, yes, right on time. Please tell me more about how much smarter and more mature you are than the rest of us mere mortals, Granger. You're so damn predictable with that 'holier than thou' routine you insist on keeping up."

"I'll have you know Draco Sodding Malfoy-" Hermione yelled, before Harry's voice cut her off.

"Oi! Listen up! The two of you are best aurors we have, and we need nothing less for this case. I don't care how much you hate each other, or if Malfoy is being a ferret, until this assignment is finished, you're going to be partners. Now, if we're all finished throwing tantrums, we can begin," he finished, raising his eyebrows in a manner strikingly similar to the way he looked at his children.

"Fine, Harry. You owe me for this one," Hermione grumbled, shooting daggers at her blonde haired coworker.

"Potter, as if I wasn't already predisposed to dislike you, I'm sure I'll end up wanting you dead by the end of this," Draco replied, returning Hermione's glare with one of his own.

"What a tragic day that will be," Harry added dryly, rolling his eyes before passing two folders across his desk.

"We have evidence that there is a time turner hidden somewhere in this property," Harry continued, lifting a photo of a decaying manor out of his own folder, "Rumor has it the house once belonged to a family that associated with Death Eaters, and Voldemort might have ordered one to be placed there." Harry paused, and Hermione couldn't help but feel like he was doing it only for the dramatic effect. "The house itself was all but destroyed during the War, but there are still plenty of places it could be hiding. I'm sure I don't need to remind the two of you how important the recovery of time turners is, and that this mission is of the highest priority."

"Right, Potter, you mean to tell me that there's 'evidence' that a time turner has been secreted away into this pile of rubbish, and yet you have no 'evidence' that could make it easier for Einstein and I to find the damn thing? You know they're bloody tiny, right? You're sending us to search for a needle in a fucking haystack, Golden Boy Wonder," Malfoy whined, looking none too pleased at the idea of picking through ruins.

"Thanks for the compliment, Malfoy," Hermione drawled, rolling her eyes. "Anyways, Harry, the ferret is on to something. How are we going to find it, especially when we have to be covert about it all? It's not likely that a simple retrieval charm is going to do the work for us."

"Ah, yes. That's where the two of you come in. Draco, you're intimately familiar with the hiding spots of rich people. Hermione, you can keep that one in line," Harry sighs, closing his folder and propping his feet on his desk.

"Right then, Potty, the two of us will be off while you're living a low stress life of relaxation in your fancy little office. Let's go, Granger," Draco seethed, abruptly standing and moving to the door.

Hermione was quick to follow, shooting Harry one last angry look before following her temporary partner into the atrium of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

"Keep up, Granger, I have plans for tomorrow night that don't involve camping in some ruddy shack with you," Draco called over his shoulder as he stalked out of the office and towards the lifts.

"Damn ferret," Hermione muttered, quietly so that Draco wouldn't hear.

"Oh, and Granger, that wasn't a compliment, it was an observation regarding the general state of that mop you call hair," He said, gesturing to the pile of chaos Hermione had managed to coax into a bun.

"It's only temporary, Hermione. You just have to make it through this case and then you can go back to pretending he doesn't exist," Hermione reminded herself, repeating it like a mantra to dull the intensity of her desire to kill the git.

"I suppose I should be thankful to Harry for this."

"I'm going to do my best to pretend that you didn't say that, Granger. I cannot think of a single reason being forced to work with a bushy haired, know-it-all is advantageous for either party."

"I'm sure you'll be singing a different tune as soon as I save your arse from the threat of danger. I was, however, referring to the happy coincidence that ferrets are quite adept at digging which will probably prove to be useful given the circumstances." Hermione quipped, barely stifling a giggle.

"How charming of you, Granger. I see the constant time spent among the Weaselbees has greatly tarnished your sense of humor," Draco mocked, grabbing Hermione's arm before apparating away from the Ministry of Magic in a blur.

They landed just outside a small, dreary town that had clearly been supported entirely by the large estate they had been sent to search. It didn't look like the cluster of sagging buildings down the lane would offer them any help, as most of the windows had been boarded up. Hermione wasn't entirely surprised; she supposed that if the Death Eaters had taken up residence in the biggest house the rest of the locals probably left soon after.

"How charming," Draco stated dryly, setting off toward the dilapidated mansion at the opposite end of the road.

"Alright then, where do you reckon they might have hid something as valuable as a time turner?" Hermione asked, feeling an abnormal sense of nervousness wash over her, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand.

"Anywhere but the vault," Draco replied, not bothering to make eye contact as he gingerly stepped over debris that had fallen onto the walkway.

"Really? Isn't that what vaults were built for, to protect important things?"

"Obviously, Granger. That's exactly why rich people don't actually store their most valuable things in vaults, they're the first place anyone would look for things worth stealing." Draco replied, sounding rather bored with Hermione's apparent ignorance. "The wards and enchantments are generally enough to keep intruders occupied long enough for the most important things to be moved somewhere safe."

Hermione didn't reply, she refusing to stoke Malfoy's ego any further by admitting that he had a point. It wasn't like it was a result of his own cleverness anyway; he had simply been born into a wealthy family where that sort of knowledge would have been mandatory.

"Well, fuck," Draco muttered, trying unsuccessfully to unlock the front door.

Hermione huffed, shoving past him and giving her own wand a neat wave "Honestly, Malfoy, are you that staggeringly incapable of doing simple magic?".

She waited to hear the tell-tale click, feeling confident that she had shown up her obnoxious partner, feeling sick as the silence stretched on.

"Huh. Would you look at that, even Hermione 'You're All A Bunch Of Bloody Idiots' Granger can't unlock the door. It has obviously been enchanted with extra protections so that it isn't possible for anyone with a wand to enter, you bimbo." Draco drawled, leaning against the railing of the porch with a particularly irritating smirk.

"Would it actually kill you to be less than an absolute arse? You are so ridiculously lucky that I cannot strangle you with my bare hands right now."

"Regardless of how kinky that sounds, I think it might be a worthwhile idea to go around back, Granger. We don't want any passers-by to see two miscreants up to no good in front of the creepy house, do we?"

Without bothering to reply, Hermione turned on her heel and stomped to the corner of the house, pausing to make sure her partner wasn't abandoning her. They walked in silence, Draco having quickly outpaced Hermione's strides with his own, trying to minimize the noise of crunching leaves underfoot, both on high alert.

When they had rounded the rear corner, the overgrown gardens gave way to a large patio that surrounded the skeletal remains of a once grand conservatory.

"How lucky, it seems like we've found our ticket in," Draco whispered, casting a wary glance at the thick tangle of shrubs that had knotted themselves together in their neglect.

Hermione was secretly glad that Draco seemed to be as nervous as she is; a fog had settled itself around the grounds, which had brought an unshakable feeling of apprehension with it. A small voice in the back of her head nagged Hermione to be vigilant, reminding her that this was the perfect opportunity for anything to go wrong.

"Maybe one of us should send a patronus to Harry, just to let him know that we've found a way in."

"Alright then, Granger, be my guest. I certainly won't be communicating with Saint Potter by choice any time soon."

Rolling her eyes, Hermione cast the spell, sending a silvery otter sailing off into the mist towards the Ministry of Magic. As she watched her patronus disappear, Hermione couldn't help but shiver.

As if he had read her mind, Draco suddenly whispered, "It's gotten cold out here, we should probably get inside before we both die of exposure."

Hermione followed him through a missing window, careful not to cut herself on the shards of glass still clinging to the iron.

"It looks like whoever lived here left in quite a hurry," Draco said, pausing at a table still set up for a meal.

"You have no idea who it was?"

"What's that supposed to mean, Granger? Just because my family was involved with the Dark Lord doesn't mean that I have some sort of mental encyclopedia of every manor and country home!" Draco snapped, stalking off towards the doorway.

"That's not what I meant, Draco. Harry said that there was a connection with Voldemort, so it must've been a family with some amount of power and influence, even among the Death Eaters. It's not likely that Voldemort would have picked a cozy little cottage to settle down in."

"That's not likely to be very helpful. He moved around frequently, especially when he was still weak. I'm sure most of the wealthy purebloods played house with old Voldy at some point or another."

Hermione couldn't stop the dry laugh that bubbled up out of her throat.

Draco turned to glare at her, clearly unhappy to be the butt of a joke, "Excuse me for interrupting, but what the fuck are you laughing about, Granger? Has a ghost just told a good knock-knock joke?"

"It's nothing really. I just had imagined Voldemort dressing up for pretend tea with some stuffed toys."

"As positively hilarious as that thought is, we have a job to be doing that does not involve standing around fantasizing about Voldemort," Draco scolded her, stepping into the hallway.

"In that case, Malfoy, where would you hide an illegal time turner? A secret brick inside of a fireplace? An heirloom teapot? A hollowed out book?" she asked, hurrying to catch up with her partner.

"Stop being ridiculous. I'd hide it in my mattress, where anyone else would hide something of such great value?" Draco replied flatly, as if it were a well known fact, as he followed the hallway towards the middle of the house.

Hermione followed quietly, taking in the ruins of the house around her.

"It's awfully sad, isn't it. A house like this falling apart because there isn't anyone left to take care of it," She mused, wondering what the house might have looked like at the height of its splendor.

"A sweet sentiment, but sometimes houses like these die for a reason. Maybe they left by choice, it's possible the skeletons in the closets became too much." Draco muttered, trailing off.

Hermione didn't want to press him any further, it seemed like something far too personal to discuss with Draco Malfoy, of all people. She supposed he had a point though, no matter how beautiful a house was, it would probably be hard to erase such a dark spot from its history.

They make their way up a grand staircase, stopping when they come to the large, open landing.

"This way, Granger," Malfoy commanded gruffly, turning to the left.

"How do you know that? I thought you said you'd never been here before." Hermione asked, suddenly feeling a fresh wave of panic that stopped her in her tracks.

"Relax, Granger, I'm not luring you into a trap. That vase is a reproduction," he said, pointing to a large vase decorated with intricate scrollwork, "but that one, is the real deal. You'd never display fakes near guestrooms, otherwise you'd be asking for social embarrassment. Obviously this family had to sell off a few of their good pieces to fund other activities," he answered coolly, making Hermione feel dense once again.

"Are you an expert at antique vases then?" Hermione asked, trying to get under Malfoy's skin.

"Don't be daft. I'm an expert about rich people, purebloods in particular. There are plenty of tricks some families use to try to keep up appearances, but the really rich can see right through it all."

She decided that it probably wouldn't pay her any compliments to tell Draco that she didn't see a difference. Rather Hermione decided to her head in solemn agreement.

Walking along, they finally come to a set of double doors at the far end of the hall. Without hesitation Draco threw them open, coughing when a cloud of dust erupted into the air.

"Cheers." He muttered as he paused in the doorway, before flicking his wand and filling the room with light.

As Hermione stepped across the threshold, another wave of uncertainty washed over her. It felt wrong to be rummaging through someone's bedroom, the most intimate room in their home, for something that may or may not even exist.

"I have a bad feeling about this, Malfoy," Hermione warned, hoping that he would agree with her hesitation.

"I do too, Granger. I've had it since we stepped past the front gate. It's probably just an enchantment meant to distract unwelcome visitors." Draco answered, sounding confident that there was nothing more malicious.

Despite the assuredness of his statement, the look in his eyes and the lack of Hermione's knowledge of any such charm did little to convince her. But before she could protest, Draco had already begun rummaging under the mattress, shoving back the moth eaten bed covers unceremoniously.

"Aha! I knew I'd find the little bugger here," Draco drawled smugly, withdrawing his hand from the crevice, a golden time turner gleaming in the hazy sunlight.

"Perfect. Now we just need to get this back to Harry and we can pretend like none of this ever happened." Hermione sighed, dreaming of a hot bath and a large glass of wine.

"How positively prudish of you. I thought we might have a little fun before we run back to Potty."

"Absolutely not, Malfoy. Time Turners are not toys! They can cause catastrophes if used recklessly!"

"And yet that never stopped anyone from letting you play with one in fourth-year," Draco shot back, rolling his eyes. "Besides, if we end up sending the world to absolute shit, we can just come back to this very moment and stop ourselves," he continued, draping one of the delicate gold chains around his neck.

"You're out of your mind! We can't come back and stop ourselves! If we were to see our future selves it would cause a rift in time! Give me that bloody time turner so that we can leave!" Hermione shouted, attempting to pull it off of Draco's neck.

"Ouch, woman! Alright, you win!" he conceded as he began lifting the chain back over his head.

Before Draco could could completely remove the turner, a loud crash came from outside of the bedroom. Hermione jumped suddenly, yanking on the chain once more. With that final tug, the small screw holding the rings in place popped off, sending the pieces to the floor with a rich ring.

Before Hermione had a chance to react, the room started spinning around them, a dizzying blur of color and movement that sent a sickening jolt of panic straight to her stomach.

"What the hell is going on Granger?" Draco demanded, grabbing her arm and pulling her alongside him.

"It looks like you got your wish, after all, Draco."

"What the fuck does that mean!? I wish for plenty of things!"

"We're going back in time and we're absolutely fucked, Malfoy," Hermione snapped, trying to figure out how they were going to get out of this mess.