Ministry of Magic (Thursday, 19/10/2000)

Auror Malfoy was ready to commit murder, it was 11:30 in the night and he was on his fifth cup of coffee or at least whatever they passed off as coffee in this godforsaken office. Ideally he should have been in bed… asleep. He had just come off a fairly long and grueling assignment that had taken him across Europe and into China and Mongolia, chasing dragon smugglers who were smuggling unhatched eggs into Mongolia, where dragons were being used in violent games. Unlike how they believed, after the death of the Dark Lord the wizerding world didn't just fall back into a state of harmony.

Wizarding communities around the world were being held in the grips of dark wizards, Voldemort's lieutenants, dispatched with armies of their own to conquer and subdue wizerding communities around the world. Most of which were small, less powerful than Britain, hidden and reclusive. They had succumbed easily, folded under the threat of violence the likes of which they had never experienced before or they simply did not have the resources to fight back. Voldemort was the spawn of Britain, they had to take responsibility. Training young men and women as quickly as possible the Ministry of Magic was sending them into hot-zones as soon as they left the Auror Academy. There was no time to spare, there were more wars to be fought.

And Draco Malfoy was one of the first to be sent, while the Malfoy family was pardoned for their actions during the Great War when it came to light that they were providing information to the Order of Phoenix there was still a great deal of hatred and suspicion regarding them but Draco could care less. He hadn't survived one Great War at the age of nineteen just to die in a no name African country where a wizard so hopped up on his own importance and power had forgotten what it was like to cast an Unforgivable.

Draco hadn't forgotten and Draco knew exactly how to make the Cruciatus hurt the most, how to make the influence of the Imperio last so long that the person it was cast upon forgot who they were even when it was lifted and he most certainly knew how to prolong an Avada,to prolong it in a manner that the person he cast it upon felt a thousand little deaths… after all he had learned from the very best.

So at twenty Auror Malfoy fought in Cambodia where Lord Reeves Gentry, one of the Dark Lords main statistician and war chief was cowering… he left him as an indiscernible lump of flaccid pink flesh, in Ethiopia were he reduced Yaxley's stronghold into a burning pile of smithereens, in Pakistan, Gibbon's concubines found his naked body lying among the rose petals he was so fond of bathing in.

He was dangerous… the Ministry of Magic's war-animal, feared and many a time hated.

He shook his head again; his silver blond hair was dirty, still crusted with the dust of the Gobi desert and long, so long that it brushed his shoulder blades. His brown, sunburned hands held the Minister's letter with his latest assignment.

Guarding Hermione Granger at all costs.

….

Hermione Granger barged into the Minster of Magic's office, slamming the door behind her with the amount of force one wouldn't associate with a slim girl of around 5'1.

"Draco Malfoy." She hissed menacingly at Kingsley, "Really…Draco fucking Malfoy, you want to give me your rabid animal in my protection detail. He's more dangerous than anything I may encounter in Shanghai."

"Whilst that might be true Ms. Granger the fact remains that he would lay down his life to protect you… he is one of ours." Kingsley explained calmly

"I don't need protection Kingsley." Hermione tried reasoning. "You know who I am; you know what I'm capable of."

"It is precisely because of who you are and what you represent that we cannot allow you to go without a protection detail." Kingsley never raised his voice, but it rang with authority all the same.

"But Draco Malfoy… Kingsley this is a diplomatic mission." She implored gently.

"And Draco Malfoy comes from a long line of aristocrats, I'm sure he remembers his manners Ms. Granger." Replied the Minister calmly.

Hermione wanted to protest but it was futile, she knew that once the Minister had made up his mind she would be hard pressed to change it. So she just excused herself stiffly, throwing Shacklebolt a withering glare before departing from his office.

Draco Malfoy… the name rang ominously through her head, of-course she scoffed bitterly it was just her luck that she got him as a part of her crew during her assignment in Shanghai. This was one of most sensitive and lucrative deals she would be brokering for the English Ministry within the next week. China had always been guarded… heavily but due to Britain's recent help they were finally willing to allow trade ties to open between the two countries and as Junior Minister of External Affairs, it was Hermione Granger's duty to make sure nothing went wrong.

And Draco Malfoy was everything that could go wrong, he was 6 feet plus of pure unadulterated danger, the man wore a barely there garb of civility that allowed him to pass without people flinching in his presence but that was all. And that's where his civility ended and this was a diplomatic matter, one that had to be handled with tact and finesse. The Chinese were old world, traditional… they weren't pleased that they had to contend with a female minister for their trade talks but they'd be even less pleased if they saw Malfoy… his thin veneer of civility was exactly that… thin.

Hermione hadn't had more than a couple minutes of interaction with Draco since the Great War but she had heard the stories… they all had, Ethiopia, Fiji, Laos, Pakistan… she has seen the pictures.

She had to talk to him, explain just how much was riding on this trade deal. Britain was poor, the war and the subsequent reparations they had to give out were expensive, depleting more or less all the Ministry's resources. They needed the money that China would bring otherwise all the big projects that were on hold until the unrest in the Wizerding world came to an end would remain on hold and that included rebuilding Hogwarts to its former glory.

She stepped into the ladies room to calm her rattling nerves, in the mirror above the sink her cheeks had two hectic spots of color and her eyes were fever bright. She splashed water on her face and reapplied her lipstick, tightening the bun that held her unruly hair.

Another thing that disturbed her about Draco Malfoy… her wildfire, carnal attraction to him.

….

Hermione Granger, mused Draco would be great in bed, with a silent smirk he tuned back into whatever she was so passionately saying. It was those eyes he thought, they had captivated him during Hogwarts as well, like rich pools of Ogden's finest whiskey, surrounded by dark sooty lashes they curved almost downward in a charmingly doe like manner, except they were always shooting sparks. And that mouth, sensual full lips that hid what had to be of the most erotic things Draco had seen, a gap between her two front teeth… weren't her parents supposed to be teeth Healers or something he thought vaguely, imagining those shell pink lips wrapped around a certain part of his anatomy however pushed that vague thought out of head.

"Tell me Granger." He finally said, his voice coming out husky with arousal, "Why is it you think I can't handle an assignment as petty as protecting you." He left the end of the sentence trail off as his eyes leisurely travelled up her form.

"If you'd stop ogling for a scant second Malfoy I'll explain exactly why I don't think you should accept the assignment." Hermione retorted sharply albeit slightly breathlessly. "We don't get on, our energy could affect the outcome of this trip and you know how important it is that I secure the yes from Shanghai as soon as possible also the Chinese are traditional and look at you…" she sighed pointing to his long, dirty hair, his sunburned face and the emerald green stud that pierced the top of his left ear. "This won't be acceptable for them."

"My appearance can be altered." He said coldly, "What else do you have an objection to?"

"You and me working together!" she cried almost at once, "We don't get on, we never have… how am I supposed to work while having you around me glaring and making comments all the time."

"And doing that!" she said, pointing to his eyebrow that was raised in a sardonic expression.

"Well…" he said, uncurling himself off the chair he was lounging in and walking towards her, all 6 feet plus of barely leashed chaotic energy, "We must change that…" he said silkily and before Hermione could comprehend his words she was snatched up his arms, his warm, insolent lips probing hers apart as she opened them to protest.

Hermione felt drunk, he was warm and is chest was hard under her arms but his lips were soft, a day's worth of scruff was on his face, rubbing against her soft cheek. A strange contrast to his gentle lips, he smelt earthy… like rain and pine trees, which was strange considering he had just returned from a desert, one large hand held her much smaller body steady against his and the other was slowly detangling her carefully constructed bun… and just like he had kissed her he let her go… abruptly.

"I think that should show you exactly how I feel about you." He rasped out.

Hermione stood in shock for a moment and before she could remember where and who she was with she reached out and slapped him.

Draco caught the small hand in his and bent to whisper in her ear, "I allowed you that one sweet thing, but next time you try that I'll turn you over my knee."

Hermione hissed a curse at him and turned to leave; slamming the door hard behind her, her curly hair almost quivering with outrage… his indolent laughter followed her all the way down the hall.

Draco rubbed a hand over the cheek she had hit, an indulgent, predatory smile on his face. If that's how good Hermione Granger tasted the first time… he was going to have to sample again and again…

…

tbc