Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. If I did, things would have been different. Probably not as good.
This is A) something I've already written in Proverbially Harry Potter, but moved because I like the universe it is in and had a few more ideas for it. B) This is my attempt at making canon work for me, because I am cynical and don't believe that everything was golden and good after Voldemort died.
*Please be aware that this chapter mentions events that might be triggering to people. Auror's are involved. There will be no detail, as I am unwilling to actually write scenes of that nature. There will be mentions of rape, torture, and other unpleasantness*
Also, swearing
After the war, Draco Malfoy had decided he was going to try and atone for his mistakes. The best way to do that would be to work as an Auror. After all, he knew many of the people the Aurors were going after, having been forced to become a Death Eater. Granted, he got a lot of looks and snide comments and insults since he was working with a lot of people who viewed him as just as bad as many of the criminals they were chasing. Luckily, Draco agreed with and could pretend that everyone saying "Death Eater scum" around him were referencing all the bastards who had escaped death. Or Azkaban.
It was easier that way. Draco hadn't realized how frightening it was to be alone. Sure, his family had survived the war, but they hadn't come out unscathed. His father had been sent to Azkaban. He deserved it, even though Draco missed him. Lucius Malfoy had been his father, and had been his hero until everything fell apart. His mother had divorced his father, citing irreconcilable differences. Lucius believed in power, Narcissa believed in family. Lucius believed in bowing to insanity, and Narcissa was done with it. Neither one would talk to the other, and Draco felt torn between them. Crabbe was dead, Goyle was in Azkaban and Draco had no other friends.
At least two good things came from his time suffering under the Dark Lord. He was able to keep his mouth shut and take insults without exploding, and he realized that the path he had been on during school would lead to his destruction.
And maybe he had prayed to the ancient gods when Crabbe had set that room in the castle on fiendfyre that if he was allowed to live he would spend his life trying to make up for all the mistakes and crimes his family was responsible for. Harry Potter had saved him, and Draco was just confused enough over whether the ancient gods still existed that he figured it would be safer to do what he promised.
He was even learning about the Muggle world. Slowly. He had no idea they were so inventive.
All of that had lead to his current predicament. He was an Auror, and had helped bring in about twenty rogue Death Eaters or dark creatures that had served the Dark Lord. Some because of information he gave up to the department and some because he had turned out to be a damn good Auror. A damn good Auror who wasn't able to keep a partner for more than five months at a time.
To be fair, three of them had been unmarked sympathizers who made the mistake of commiserating with the 'poor Malfoy scion' trying to convince the world he had changed and being forced to work with Mudbloods. One had got himself blown up by not following proper procedure on a potions bust, and most of them asked for different partners, citing personal differences.
Twenty-one years old, and seven partners in the two years he had been an Auror.
"What was it this time? Wrong quidditch team?" Kevin Proudfoot, the Head of the Auror Department asked as Draco presented himself before him for partner reassignment, massaging his temples.
"Officially? No. This time it's because I don't like the Weird Sister song 'Do the Hippogriff'. Unofficially? I think I may have cursed him at Hogwarts, but I don't remember," Draco said, looking at the wall with his hands behind his back. Proudfoot just sighed.
"I'm running out of people to stick with you. Not that I'm complaining you turned in the Pureblood Supremacists we missed, or complaining about your work, but seven partners in two years is a bit... ridiculous," Proudfoot closed his eyes. "If only Davis hadn't got himself blown up."
Draco remained quiet, knowing that Proudfoot was just thinking out loud.
"Look, I have an Auror on assignment who needs a partner temporarily. His partner is going to be out for at least a few months. Hopefully knowing there is an end date will help. I really need this crime solved," Proudfoot said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Draco nodded.
"I'll do my best to solve this and get along with the Auror," Draco said.
"I'm going to hold you to that," Proudfoot said, his eyes zeroing in on Draco. This made him a little concerned, since Proudfoot had never acted like this before.
He was getting a bad feeling about this.
"No," Harry Potter said, as he looked from Draco to Proudfoot. "Isn't there anyone else?"
"No, and you damn well know it, Potter. Suck it up, it's only for a few months. The most important thing is catching this bastard before more innocents get hurt," Proudfoot said, glaring at Potter who glared back.
"What about Ron? Can't I work with him?" Potter asked.
"He's busy in Scotland on the case with Boot. They've been working it for three months, I'm not pulling either one of them off it now. There's no time to get someone up to speed on that case. The Brathford case is newer. Besides, that's his last case before he retires," Proudfoot fired back. "I'll leave you two to discuss the case."
Proudfoot left Draco and Potter staring at each other.
"I'm not any happier with this than you are," Draco pointed out after it was clear neither one wanted to speak first. Potter sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Personally, I'm just relieved it's not Weasley. Or Longbottom."
"Neville would probably hex you," Potter agreed with a sigh.
"Accidentally, of course," Draco added. "All we have to do is keep our interactions focused on work. Now, let's get this bastard and be done."
"Right, so Richard Brathford. He's been targeting muggleborns, as well as muggleborn students. He was a member of the DMLE before we figured out what he was doing. Robert Birch managed to survive the attack and provided us with the details of the attacker. His family was not as lucky. After that, other victims came forward with other disturbing tales. Some muggleborn women said he attacked and raped them, and some of his neighbors have come forward saying that they heard disturbing sounds coming from his house. A few muggleborn students have not returned to Hogwarts, and upon visiting the parents we have discovered they have no memories of them. He is considered to be dangerous," Potter said in a monotone voice.
Draco swore. He had heard rumors of missing students, and it was still recent after the war that muggleborns and half-bloods had problems coming forward to report crimes. Especially if they recognized or realized he was in the ministry, specifically the DMLE. "Any leads?"
"Neville and I went to his house, but we ended up running into a few...traps. Put Neville out of commission," Potter said. Draco nodded. "We've sanctioned it off, but I needed a partner to go back. Some pretty dark stuff up there. Right up your alley."
Draco ignored the dig at his past. Now wasn't the time. That, and he didn't have a good comeback. "Well, let's get started."
"What in Merlin's name did this guy do in our Department?" Draco asked, as he went to work on a runic array for one of the darkest wards he had ever seen, which was saying something considering how he grew up.
"Recently, he was desk bound. Recovering from a bust gone wrong a month or so back. People said he was itching to be a Hit Wizard," Potter said, leaning against the wall, waiting. Potter wasn't as proficient in Runes, and he had easily agreed that Draco was probably more familiar with possible wards.
"Shows. I'm pretty sure he invented the damn ward. This thing is brutal. Good thing Longbottom didn't wander into this one. He'd be dead in a second," Draco said, trying to find an easy way to disarm it. "Merlin, I think we're going to need a Curse-Breaker."
Potter groaned in irritation. "Great. Bill and Fleur are on vacation in France, and I don't know any other Curse-Breakers who would come immediately. The longer we leave this place untouched, the farther away the bastard can get."
"What about Granger?" Draco asked.
Potter stood still for a minute, and unreadable expression on his face. "She can't."
If Draco were younger and the war hadn't happen, he would have made some comment about Granger being too nosy and smart to resist. Or make some kind of insinuation that there were problems between the two, but he remained quiet. Something in the way Potter said that made it obvious that there was something wrong. Wasn't his place to ask.
"What about Lovegood?" Draco asked instead. The girl may have been odd, but she was a Ravenclaw.
"Don't know what country she's in right now. And I can't ask her to do this," Potter sighed.
"Great, so one of us needs to run to the Department of Mysteries for an Unspeakable," Draco said, frustrated.
"You go," Potter said immediately. "I don't want you here on your own."
Draco bit his tongue to avoid saying any biting comments or to yell at Potter. "Fine."
None of the Aurors liked to involve the Unspeakables. They had a tendency to treat everything as an academic question, even things better left untouched and forgotten. Like the bloody ward. If it wasn't imperative that they find the bastard quick, Draco would have gladly waited for the eldest Weasley. He stood outside the Department, waiting for someone to come out.
He had been waiting for half an hour, sure that some of it was because the Unspeakables were about as fond of the Aurors as the Aurors were of them. That, and Lisa Turpin, the one who had greeted him, hated his father with a passion. Understandable, since he was in for murdering her parents, but that wasn't helping the case get solved.
"Alright, you said that it was a newly created ward?" a voice came. Draco turned to see a young girl standing in front of him. He stared.
"You're an Unspeakable? Aren't you a bit, young?" Draco asked, surprised. The girl scowled.
"I happen to have been one of the top students of my year, thank you very much," the girl informed him. Something about her seemed to be familiar. "Where are we going?"
"Sorry, have to side-along apparate with you. Precaution," Draco said, reaching for her arm. The girl slapped his hand and rested her hand on his arm.
"Don't grab me," she said, right before Draco left.
Potter hadn't moved, which was a good thing in Draco's opinion. The last thing he needed was to have Potter die while partnered with him. The public would probably try and have him thrown in Azkaban for it. The girl removed her hand from Draco's arm as soon as she was able and moved to investigate the array. She whistled.
"Merlin's balls, this is nasty," she murmured, pulling a device out of her robes and looking at it. Potter moved closer to Draco.
"Okay, if an Unspeakable says it's nasty, I know it's trouble," Potter said.
"What, don't trust me?" Draco asked, forgetting who he was talking to a minute.
"No, no I don't," Potter said bluntly.
"Hey, you were the one who tried to kill me Sixth year," Draco said, forgetting himself.
"Boys, quiet," the girl demanded. Potter and Draco shut up, glaring at each other. "Son of a bitch. This bastard deserves worse than dementors."
"What?" Potter and Draco asked at the same time, forgetting to glare at each other.
"This is a Blood Magic ward."
Draco swore while Potter looked confused.
"What's wrong with Blood Magic wards?" Potter asked.
"What do you mean, what's wrong with Blood Magic wards? Haven't you learned anything about the wizarding world?" Draco asked. "They are the Darkest magic out there."
"When used incorrectly. Which it is, most of the time," the girl said, moving back after setting something up on the runic array. "In this case, this ward would only function if blood magic was used incorrectly."
"What's wrong?" Potter said again, glaring at Draco. "I'm pretty sure this wasn't really covered in any of the classes I took."
"Of course not. No one teaches blood magic in schools. It's dangerous!" Draco exclaimed.
"So is magic," Potter shot back.
"Not like this. Potter, my father balked at blood magic. Only the most deranged of the Death Eaters use or practiced it. It messes with you. Surely Weasley told you, or Granger read about it. How could you possibly not know this?" Draco asked. "Was it too dark for your pretty little head?"
The minute he said it, he knew he had gone too far. Potter just had the ability to rile him up. That, and knowing he was so close to blood magic was disturbing him.
"My house was protected with a blood magic ward."
Potter's voice was stone cold, and his wand hand was twitching. Draco swallowed, remembering that time in Sixth year he had just mentioned.
"Mother's sacrifice. Rare, I take it Professor Dumbledore placed it?" the girl said, diffusing the tension. Both Potter and Draco turned to her. "That's a correct use of blood magic. Blood magic generally requires a sacrifice, of blood generally. The amount differs. The higher the amount, the more likely the donator is to accidentally die. For some, the addition of more blood than required strengthens the wards or the spells. The abuse comes from unwilling donations that are taken from people. Generally an abuser of blood magic will sacrifice people. For your ward, it was probably the act of sacrificing herself and her blood running in your veins."
Potter shrugged, still glaring at Draco.
"Who are you?" Potter asked the girl, who was messing with something on her device.
"Astoria Greengrass, but you can call me Tori."
"Daphne's younger sister, right?" Draco said, realizing why she looked familiar.
"Mm. Step a bit farther away please," the girl said, not paying attention. Potter and Draco moved back, right before the runic array blew up. The ward flickered into existence and then died. Tori looked pleased, and continued forward. Draco put a restraining hand on her as Potter took the lead. Tori glared at him.
"Auror procedure. No civilians until we know it's safe," Draco explained. Tori snorted.
"Weren't you two stuck without me?" she asked. "I can take care of myself."
With that, she marched right past Potter and farther into the room.
"I hate Unspeakables," Draco muttered. Potter nodded in agreement.
"So, do you think Proudfoot would mind if we took him in dead?" Draco asked Potter.
The two of them were back at the office a few weeks later, having looked at their memories in the penseive for the five hundredth time looking for clues they may have missed. Richard Brathford was one of the worst wizards Draco had run into, and he had met many Death Eaters. They had caught up to Tori Greengrass to find her green in the face and trying not to vomit, and neither wizard could blame her. They had found a few of the missing students.
"We'd have to make it an accident. Cover ourselves for the public," Potter said, scowling.
"I'm sure we can think of something. Maybe we got in a fight and he was a casualty? Our history would support that," Draco said. Potter nodded absently, glowering at the reports the forensic magic had come up with.
"It's been to long since he's been in his house. No magical traces, place wiped clean of his essence. Bastard knows all our tricks," Potter complained. They had been trying to find him ever since getting into his house, but they hadn't found anything. No one had disappeared that they knew about, and the muggleborn students were in school at the moment so he wouldn't be able to get to them. "Desk was clean too."
"Wonder if the janitorial staff and maintenance fixed Proudfoot's wall."
Proudfoot had been none to pleased when he had been shown the house. Upon coming out of the memories, he had cursed a blue streak and thrown a reducto at the wall that had almost completely leveled it. Luckily the Auror department was warded since that was occasionally something that happened, but everyone had been walking on eggshells around him.
Draco and Potter had been informed that they no longer had months to spare, he wanted the bastard and he wanted him last year. As they left the room, Draco had muttered that he had had the bastard last year, and he could have sworn Potter fought off a smirk. Luckily Proudfoot hadn't heard him. With Proudfoot bearing down on the two of them, they had been forced to work overtime, and pull several other Aurors off other non essential cases, like Mundungus Fletcher's fifth robbery attempt that month.
"Found a way to trace the bastard," came a new voice. Tori Greengrass was standing in Potter's office wearing her Unspeakable robes. Her eyes had a hard glint and she sat down between the two boys.
"You do?" Draco asked. "Where was it two weeks ago?"
"Not yet invented."
"You invented a tracking method?" Potter asked, surprised. Tori nodded.
"That bastard is right up there with the Carrows. I want to see him...well, suffering at the very least."
"You did this in two weeks?" Draco asked for clarification. Tori glared at him.
"Is that so hard to believe?"
"No, it's the fact the Department of Mysteries allowed you to work on it," Pottered answered. Tori looked a little uncomfortable at that.
"Well, they didn't. Not exactly. I was doing this in my spare time."
Draco looked at Tori with newfound respect, taking a sip of water. Most Unspeakables who were called in to assist with Aurors continued on their merry way afterwards. This was dedication.
"One catch," Tori said, looking between the two of them. "I want in."
"Will they let you?" Potter asked while Draco choked on the sip of water he had just taken.
"If I phrase it right," Tori shrugged.
Potter was nodding while Draco sputtered.
"Wait a moment," Draco said, and he dragged Potter out of the office. He turned around as soon as he closed the door and got in Potter's face.
"Are you insane? We can't let her come with us," he hissed. Potter looked surprised.
"Why not? This could be the break we need," Potter responded.
"She's a civilian! What if she gets hurt?"
"She's an Unspeakable, she'll be fine."
"She wasn't fine when she saw that scene at the house."
"Like you weren't affected."
"We trained for this."
"Unspeakable."
"She's barely out of school."
"And an Unspeakable."
"Her sister will kill me."
Potter stared at him incredulously.
"Are you afraid of Daphne Greengrass?"
"You do not get between Daphne Greengrass and her sister. Even Crabbe and Goyle knew that."
"Look, we can't afford to let this lead go. You know that. You're just going to have to hope she can take care of herself."
Draco stared at the wall as Potter went back into the office to tell Tori the 'good' news. He was just going to have to keep her in his sight the entire time. He sighed and rubbed his eyes. He hadn't gotten enough sleep.
Back in the office, Tori was explaining her theory.
"Blood magic leaves a distinct trace. It's different from the essence of a wizard, which can be erased, but each ritual leaves a unique trace due to the different blood used. For example, the blood ward on Harry's house would have left a different trace if his father had been the one to sacrifice himself instead of his mother, even though it would have been the same ward. Blood magic seeps into a place, and there are specific rituals that have to be done to clear a place of it's effect if it has been done in massive amounts. In small amounts, the trace can dissipate after a time, but that isn't for several years. If you keep repeating the small amounts in the same place, it is the same as having done a massive amount at once. Now, since the magic is relatively new, the trace is still there. It should also still be on him. I was thinking that since we have access to the trace at his house, we could use that to locate any other places that share the concentration of that specific type of trace," Tori explained.
"How come no one had come up with that idea before?"
"Well, they have. It's just, no one could ever implement it. Most of the time, you don't know where or who the castor is, so you have to search everywhere and everyone. That uses up a lot of magic, and is impractical. However, since we know who the castor is, and have the trace, I came up with a device that should locate him specifically. If this works, I'll probably be able to get this into a project and make something that could be more widespread. Since he was a ministry employee, I was able to get access to his magical signature, which will be able to boost the devices ability to find him. If he is still in England, that is," Tori said, placing the device on the table. "All I need is to go to the house and get the blood trace."
Potter and Draco stared at her. "You did this in your spare time?"
"It's ugly and I brute forced it. Come on."
"I can't believe the damn thing worked," Draco muttered as he, Tori and Potter crouched down in the bushes outside of a small cabin. "It took five seconds."
"Amazement later, justice now," Tori said tersely, eyes watching the house. "There's a ward stone south of here, I can feel it. I'm going to disable it. Should be able to make it fall silently."
She disappeared before either Potter or Draco could tell her not to.
"She's quite a handful. No wonder Greengrass worried about her," Potter said, turning back to the house.
"Damn it, Potter. Now we have a civilian running loose. This is a horrible plan," Draco hissed. "I'm not letting any more innocents get hurt."
"She'll be fine. Unspeakable. Who knows what their training is like," Potter dismissed.
"They're a research group. A very secret research group, but a research group nonetheless. I knew Rookwood, and he was no fighter. The Dark Lord used him for research primarily."
"I'm sure she'll be..." Potter was interrupted by a scream. "Fine?"
The two Aurors ran towards the sound, only to find absolutely nothing.
"I have a bad feeling about this," Potter said, as Draco knelt down to examine something in the grass.
"Found the ward stone, but..."
There was a thump behind him, and Draco cursed. He spun around, keeping low to the ground but all he could see was a blue light coming towards him.
"Uh, that's it, I'm never drinking again," Draco muttered as he woke up. He was in a dark room that was definitely not his. He heard a groan from another person. "Potter, is that you?"
"Did we really let people sneak up on us?" came Potter's voice, disgruntled.
"I blame you for bringing along a civilian. Clearly it impaired me."
"I think it's your fault for not thinking she was able to take care of herself."
"Clearly she couldn't!"
"Wait, is she in here?" Potter asked. It sounded as if he was moving around, trying to find something. A hand smacked Draco in the face.
"That's me, Potter," Draco said, moving away. He hit a wall. "Wall behind me."
There was more scuffling. "Wall behind me too. I'm in the corner."
Draco moved to find a corner opposite where Potter's voice came from. "Me too."
"Rooms not big, didn't feel another body," Potter said, concerned.
"So we don't know where she is," Draco concluded, scowling. There were footsteps overhead, and then coming down a flight of stairs.
"Well, looks like our two guests are awake," A light flared, and both Potter and Draco shielded their eyes.
Richard Brathford looked from Draco to Potter. "Surprised the two of you were working the case together. I was even more surprised you managed to find me so fast."
"Well, you know us Aurors. Never sleep when there's crime to fight," Potter said sarcastically.
"Yeah, I know Aurors. Which is why I was surprised to find a civilian tampering with my array. Luckily that was a fake one filled with enough stored magic to mask the real one."
Draco wanted to curse. Of course someone who invented their own ward would have a safety measure. He probably had this place set up since he started his business.
"Anyway, I'm taking Malfoy here to have a little talk with. You, Potter, are going to stay right there and not do a thing when I open this cell."
"Why would I do that?" Potter asked, voice acidic.
"Because you're a hero and if you do I'll kill the bitch."
Brathford conjured ropes on Draco, before shackling Potter to the wall. Draco allowed himself to be taken out of the cell without fighting. He needed to make sure there were no other innocents in the building, and figure out what Brathford's game was. Brathford was none too gentle while dragging Draco up the stairs. Finally Draco was thrown in front of a chair. On the floor next to the chair was Tori.
She seemed to be alive, just unconscious. She had a bruise forming on her cheek, but other than that she seemed uninjured. Draco looked up at the person in the chair and gaped.
"Davies?!"
"Surprised to see me alive?" Roger Davies asked, smiling.
"What the bloody hell is going on here?" Draco asked, confused.
"Simple. We think the government is making a mistake," Davies said. "The Dark Lord had the right idea."
"You're a Pureblood Supremacist?" Draco clarified. "Aren't you a half-blood?"
"I'm not a Pureblood Supremacist. I just recognize that muggleborns and half-bloods who continue to have contact with the muggle world are a threat to wizards. The Dark Lord had the right idea in eliminating the problem, that the ministry wasn't working. He just went insane," Davies explained casually.
"What?"
"Come on Draco, you know the dangers. Muggles and Wizards need to remain entirely separate. Muggles hold the muggleborns back, get in the way of wizards. We need to eliminate the problem. The half-bloods and muggleborns who threaten our existence, keep us tied to the muggles."
"You're insane. What Brathford is doing isn't right. There are better ways to deal with this," Draco said. This was a position he had never expected to be in.
"I had high hopes for you Draco, that you would join us. You served the Dark Lord, hell I even remember how you acted at Hogwarts."
"I grew up, Davies. I realized it was wrong," Draco said.
"I'm sorry to hear that. Brathford."
Everything went dark.
"So, do I want to know how it went?" Potter's voice came after Draco groaned. He winced as he began to feel pain. It felt as if he had suffered from a crucio.
"Davies is alive."
"What?"
"Davies. Didn't die in the potions bust. Thinks we need to get rid of half-bloods and muggleborns who keep ties with muggles. Wanted me to join," Draco said. "Said no."
Potter was silent for a minute. "Why didn't you say yes? Probably could have surprised them and taken them down later."
"I'm trying to fix my mistakes. I'm not going to compromise my principles again, not after seeing what it got me the first time," Draco explained, annoyed. "Greengrass is alive. Seems mostly uninjured."
"Great. Did you see our wands?"
"No."
"Damn." Potter was silent for a little while before he spoke up again. "Did you say Davies looked down on muggles?"
"Yeah, why?"
"You aren't shackled, right?"
"No, guess they thought I'd be too hurt to move."
"Great. Get over here."
"Why?"
"I have muggle lock picks on me. Do you know how to use them?"
"Uh, I know the theory. I've been doing some research on muggles."
"Well it will have to do."
"Where are they?"
"My right pocket."
Draco dragged himself over to where Potter was, wincing as pain shot through his limbs. He reached into Harry's pocket, feeling around for it.
"This is awkward," Draco said, digging through the pocket. "How deep are these?"
"To the left more."
"Got it," Draco said. "Magically resistant?"
"Yeah, but I can cast a little light," Potter answered. Draco used the light and the lock picks to open the shackles. It took a little getting used to, but after ten minutes he was able to get Potter out of them. Potter rubbed his wrists, trying to get feeling back into them.
"Useful. I need to get myself a set," Draco commented, handing the lock picks back to Potter. Potter opened the cell door faster than Draco did the shackles, and the two of them were out of the cell, quietly sneaking around.
"We need to incapacitate Davies and Brathford, get Greengrass, and get back to Headquarters," Potter said quietly.
"We probably should have called Proudfoot instead of leaving a memo," Draco muttered, wishing they knew backup was on the way.
"We wouldn't have been able to use Greengrass' device," Potter replied.
"You're a monster," came Tori's voice. Potter and Draco quieted down, and peaked around the corner.
Tori was sitting, tied up, in front of Davies. Brathford was standing beside Davies, and another Auror was behind Tori.
"And I wanted to know how you managed to find us," Davies said, resting his chin on his hands.
"Like hell will I tell you," Tori spat. Draco clenched his fist when Brathford cast a crucio on her.
"Boss, why are we leaving Potter and Malfoy alive?" the other Auror, Peterson, asked while watching Tori thrash around.
"Their deaths make blood magic much stronger. So we'll keep them alive until we've developed that spell," Davies answered, before indicating to Brathford to lift the curse. Tori was panting, although she was able to spit at Brathford's feet.
"There are our wands," Potter whispered, nudging Draco and indicating a shelf across the room.
"I'm not the best at wandless magic, can you get them?" Draco muttered, eyes not leaving Tori's shuddering form.
"Yeah, need a distraction though," Potter said, since the wands were in sight of Davies.
"What the hell, life worked out well for you, so I guess I should take a page from your book," Draco said, breathing deep. Potter looked confused and was about to ask what he was planning when Draco straight up tackled Peterson to the ground.
"Bloody hell," Potter whispered, summoning the wands. "Malfoy, catch!"
Draco dodged the spell that Brathford shot at him, and caught his wand. He grabbed Tori and pushed her behind him, casting hexes at Brathford and Davies.
"Malfoy, untie me," Tori hissed, struggling with her bonds.
"Bit busy," Draco muttered, stunning Peterson while Potter dueled both Brathford and Davies.
"Could use a little help here, Malfoy," Potter called, dodging a sickly yellow spell while sending a bludgeoning hex at Davies.
Draco cast some hexes at Brathford and Davies, but didn't move since that would leave Tori open to attack.
"Seriously, Malfoy. Three on two is better odds," Tori hissed, still trying to untie herself.
"Malfoy, more help!"
"You beat the Dark Lord, how hard can they be?" Draco shot back. He ended up ducking an Avada Kedavra. "That's it."
Draco transfigured a stone wall around Tori despite her complaints, and joined Potter in fighting the two Aurors. Potter managed to get a solid hit, breaking Davies' knees. Brathford continued to fight both Draco and Potter after Draco kicked Davies' wand away from him. Potter got the tail end of a bludgeoner to the leg and stumbled. Brathford took the opportunity to shoot a slicing hex at him.
"Potter, look out!" Draco managed to knock him out of the way when Potter didn't move fast enough, wincing as he felt his arm get cut open. As the two were struggling to untangle themselves behind Potter's shield, Brathford turned to the transfigured stone walls protecting Tori.
"Finite," he said, pointing his wand at the walls. Draco struggled to get his wand pointed at Brathford, trying to not pass out from the pain and blood loss. Tori was yelling at Draco while Brathford pointed his wand at her neck. "Lac..."
Draco didn't even speak, just slashing his wand as hard as he could. Brathford didn't even know what hit him and he fell to the ground, dead.
Draco lowered his wand, his ears ringing and blocking out most noise. Tori seemed to be screaming and yelling, eyes wide. Looking behind him, Draco noticed that Davies had retrieved his wand and was pointing it at him. All Draco could do was watch, just barely holding on to consciousness. If this was how he was going to go, not a bad way to die. At least he took Brathford with him.
Potter's wand flashed and the spell hit Davies. Draco recognized the results as the spell used on him Sixth year. Potter's head was then in his field of view, mouthing moving and trying to get Draco himself to move.
"'Course the last person I see is you, Potter," Draco said thickly, before passing out into oblivion.
Oblivion didn't last forever. Draco woke up to his mother sitting by his bedside in Saint Mungo's, crying and furious and proud of him. Peterson had apparently confessed to everything after seeing what had happened to Brathford and Davies. Potter had managed to stabilize him by using some spell that Tori had shouted at him before freeing Tori and trying to send her for reinforcements. While he was recovering, he received a visit from Proudfoot, who yelled at him for making a rookie mistake and getting caught, Daphne Greengrass who, after yelling about getting her sister involved in a violent crime, thanked him for saving her, and even Potter who ducked in to tell him about Peterson before hastily leaving.
He was stuck in the hospital for three weeks, since the cut on his arm had been resistant to direct magical healing. Luckily he managed to avoid most of the paperwork. Unluckily, Potter had saved him some for when he got out of the hospital. As soon as he got out, he headed to work to grab the paperwork to take home. He was about to leave the office when he ran into Potter again.
The two of them stared at each other.
"Thanks for knocking me out of the way," Potter said, rubbing the back of his neck.
"First time I was glad to see that spell cast," Draco responded, not being able to help the wince as he remembered how painful it was Sixth year.
"Greengrass was by. Wanted to see how you were doing. They're letting her work on the project," Potter said after a few awkward seconds.
"She told you?"
"No, she said she couldn't tell me about the project," Potter and Draco shared a laugh at that.
"Working with you wasn't half bad Potter," Draco said as Potter turned around to leave. He turned back at that, a faint grin on his face.
"Sometimes you aren't half bad yourself."
Draco smiled as he left the office, until he ran into someone who was waiting right outside.
"Careful, don't want to reopen the wound," Tori said. She fidgeted a little, before handing Draco a piece of parchment. "Someone needs to teach you how to protect yourself better. You don't have any protective runes on gear. If you don't call, I'll sic my sister on you."
Draco looked at the piece of paper as Tori left to return to the Department of Mysteries. Smiling, Draco folded the piece of parchment in half and placed it in his pocket. He had a little bit of a skip in his step as he returned home. His mother, who had decided that Draco was staying with her until she felt he was better looked up and asked him what he was so happy about.
"Nothing. I just have an appointment with someone who is going to teach me runes."
"Potter, Malfoy, sit down," Proudfoot had called the duo in together as soon as Malfoy was back on the job. Potter hadn't been assigned another major case, instead dealing with paperwork and Mundungus Fletcher's tenth through seventeenth drunk and disorderly conduct that month. The two sat down across the desk from Proudfoot. He looked the two over.
"While I'm not happy that two of the three ended up dead, I am glad that you two managed to solve the case and get the crook. I'm even happier you both survived. Peterson took a deal, so this isn't going to trial. Now that I've chewed you out and you've finished your punishment time for allowing a civilian to go with you," At that both Potter and Draco glanced at each other confused. He hadn't done any of that. "Guy upstairs likes your work. Wants you to keep it up. I have a proposition for you."
Draco and Potter waited for him to go on.
"Longbottom's decided he wants to retire. Sprout's retiring from teaching, so the herbology spot is open. We all know Longbottom's the best with plants. That leaves Potter without a partner. I was going to assign him to Boot since Weasley's retired as well, but this case changes things. I want you two to consider being partners going forward. You two do damn good work, and neither one of you has complained about the other once. Well, besides Potter moaning about being left alone for most of the paperwork," Proudfoot leaned back in his chair while the two took in what he said.
"I suppose the assignment wasn't too bad," Potter said cautiously.
"True, you didn't try to recruit me into your pureblood supremacy group," Draco allowed, cracking a small grin that Potter shared.
"And we've already had our major disagreements and tried to harm each other. It's all in the past," Potter added. "Another few cases couldn't hurt."
"Good, it's settled then. Here's your next case. Hopefully we won't discover any more budding conspiracies in the Auror department. Now get back to work," Proudfoot said, pointing out of the office. Potter and Draco left, going back to Potter's office to look over the case.
"Who would have thought we'd end up fighting dark wizards together?" Draco asked after they had familiarized themselves with the newest case.
"Not me, definitely not before the last case. What a strange pair we make," Potter said, smiling. Both were quiet for a minute.
"No one's ever going to let us live this down," Draco said. Potter nodded.
"Especially not the getting captured."
The two got back to the case. Draco couldn't help but keep smiling. Life was looking up. Finally.