Written for: hd owlpost
Beta: digthewriter
Summary: Harry didn't know what surprised him more: that Draco Malfoy wanted to be an Auror or that they had accepted him for training in the first place. Harry and Draco, along with their partners, are assigned a case where they have to pretend to be on a date.
Rating: PG
'This should be a quick one, boys,' Head Auror Taylor said as he passed out the case files. 'Potter and Malfoy, I want you to get in good with the owner. You'll be a pair who frequents the restaurant, and Weasley, we've got you a job as a cook and Brown as—'
Harry's head was still trying to grasp Potter and Malfoy, you'll be a pair as his boss went on about the details of the case. It was late December and generally their boss tried to stay away from undercover missions around the holidays. With crimes naturally on the rise around holidays and everyone asking for time off to be with their families, he didn't like special assignments which required taking even more Aurors away in case something big fell into his lap.
Thankfully, Brown jumped in with a joke, giving Harry a chance to catch up. 'A pair? A pair of what? They're already are a bloody pair of pricks.'
Okay, perhaps not all of it was a joke. Malfoy, for the most part, was still a prick. Harry thought he and Brown got on well, though. He hadn't heard anything to the contrary, but maybe that was just Brown's way and Malfoy didn't care. Malfoy didn't look like he cared if anything he looked slightly embarrassed like that day on the train when Ron laughed at his name.
Harry didn't know what surprised him more: that Draco Malfoy wanted to be an Auror or that they had accepted him for training in the first place.
They said anyone who participated in the war could join the Aurors as fighting in the battle itself proved they had what it took. Which Hermione thought was most irresponsible, but Ron and Harry took them up on the offer anyway when she'd decided to go back to Hogwarts. Harry expected Malfoy to do the same after his trial cleared him of all charges and he was placed under house arrest during the OWLs. At the very least, Harry expected his family to pull some strings to get him into another field-any other field's training. A Healer or such.
But for some reason, Malfoy chose to be an Auror. Maybe it was a fuck you to the MOM. They'd said anyone, and he took advantage of that loophole.
It created an opportunity after the war that Harry hadn't expected to have. Malfoy and Harry hadn't spoken after his trial, even though Harry was there and spoke for him. Malfoy didn't seek Harry out to thank him for that or for saving his life or for returning his wand via owl.
Not that Harry was waiting around for him to do so.
Malfoy couldn't avoid him during Auror training. Even though there was a free for all on acceptance, the groups were still small and there were only two groups.
Harry and Malfoy, as well as Ron, were in the same one learned everything together. Physically in the mornings and mentally in the afternoons. The second group did the reverse.
And there was the whole idea from the instructors that they should do everything in their power to make the students want to quit which somehow translated into always assigning Harry and Malfoy to work together.
Since Harry didn't mind this at all, was glad for the excuse to chat up—er, to talk with—Malfoy, and Harry couldn't tell if it bothered Malfoy at all, Harry lived in fear everyday that they'd switch it up as it clearly wasn't working.
'Maybe,' Ron pointed out during their lunch break one day, 'they aren't actually trying to get everyone to quit.'
'Okay, then explain why they switch Stone's partner every day when everyone knows she hates change?'
'I'm not sure forcing people to overcome their weaknesses is the same thing as trying to get people to quit. I mean if they really wanted Malfoy to quit all they'd have to do is make fun of his name or hair.'
Harry rolled his eyes. Plenty of other people did that, but Ron was right the instructors were fair. When someone accidently hurt themselves seconds after they said something stupid about Malfoy, they never punished or even accused him of sending a hex their way. Thankfully, as Harry was more often than not the one who really sent it, and it would only a take a quick spell to know that.
After training, Harry and Ron were partnered just like they'd wanted, and Malfoy was partnered with Brown.
It surprised everyone. Malfoy and Brown had never worked together during training. Brown was part of the other group. They rarely ever made a partnership across groups. During their last stages of training, Harry said he'd be happy to work with Malfoy even if he'd originally hoped to work with Ron.
Harry wondered if Malfoy said something much different when they'd asked him.
'We don't need much on them,' Head Auror Taylor continued, 'as everything we have on them is mostly speculation at the moment, and even if they are part of the illegal potion's ring they're at the bottom of the pyramid.'
Amore was a restaurant that had opened a few years ago out in the countryside that was so popular it was booked for a week in advance because everyone seemed to be falling in love there. Having a first date there was a sure way to find love. Or so the advertisement said. Which would have been fine if it wasn't working so bloody well.
If it were Muggles falling in love, then they'd have suspected the usual love potions.
They weren't illegal, except to use on Muggles, of course, and other than shutting that part of it down there wouldn't be a need to investigate the place. Amore wasn't a Muggle restaurant but a Wizard one. Wizards weren't as charmed by the standard love potions, or more often friends and family could easily detect them.
'We have a reservation for you two tonight. You're having your first date and were set up by close friends, but we want you two to fight a little in the beginning. Give the owners a reason to take an in interest in you.'
Ron laughed then. 'That sounds like how they already are.'
'Why do you think I picked them, Weasley? Plus, we need a couple that it will be easy to tell if they are under the influence of a love potion. You'll both have to report to medical testing early tomorrow morning. If you don't show up, we'll assume—we'll, find you wherever you end up. You're dismissed.'
Harry waited for everyone to leave before he stood up. 'Sir, um, about how easy it will be to . . .' How could he possibly explain it without just flat out saying, 'I might already fancy Malfoy a little bit. I'm not sure this is going to work—'
'What makes you think I didn't already know that, Auror Potter?'
'What?' Harry knew he was gaping at his boss. 'How?'
'That isn't important, other than you might want to pay more attention to where you look when you're letting your gaze wander.' Taylor crossed his arms. 'Like I said: what we have right now is mostly speculation. We want you to eat there so we can test you, but one of the theories right now is that the potion only works on people who aren't already in love. Other that it just magnifies feelings already present. Or my favourite, because it is the only one that will lead us on a case, it works on everyone but they chose couples who are already dating to keep from getting caught.
'No matter the potion, it is subtle. It might be the best love potion ever invented. But new potions have to be approved by the Ministry for a reason which is why we have to check this out, even if it turns out that all it does it help couple remember why they fell in love in the first place. You having feelings for Auror Malfoy will help us in the case or I wouldn't have picked you, but I do appreciate your honesty on the matter. Many others would have kept that secret.'
Harry swallowed and nodded as he felt his face grow warm. 'Oh.'
'It's my job to be perceptive—'
Holding up his hand, Harry stopped that train of thought. 'I know you're trying to make me feel better, sir, but it's all of our jobs to be perceptive. And I've worked with everyone enough to know who is good at it and who isn't. There's really not much you can say to make this any more comfortable for me.'
Auror Taylor shrugged and leaned back against his desk. 'Maybe, but when it comes to matters of the heart, I'm afraid you are one of the least perceptive people I've ever met. And, whether you believe it or not, that should make you feel better.'
'How?'
'Have you ever wondered why you and Malfoy weren't never partnered together after training together for months?'
'Of course, I have!' Harry lifted his glasses to rub his eyes and forehead. 'I assumed Malfoy said he didn't want to work with me.'
'I see, well, maybe you should use this as an opportunity to find out.'
Harry's jaw dropped. 'We aren't going in there as ourselves. I can't just ask him.'
'I said to start with a fight and this is obviously something you both have avoided for a while. Instead of fighting about your lack of fashion sense or his superiority complex, you should fight about something real.' Taylor stepped closer to Harry. 'You're right that you can't just talk about your training together, but read the file on the person you are pretending to be. I trust you to be discreet. Sometimes the most realistic acting isn't really acting at all. I'm sure the owner will love you and want to make a pet project out of you, everyone around this office seems to want to.'
When Harry left the office, he felt everyone's eyes on him. He stared back in defiance until they went back to their own work and then he went to his desk where he could wallow in his humiliation in privacy.
#
Dinner with Malfoy. Harry fidgeted as he dressed. It was long before he needed to meet up with Malfoy, but he wanted Ron's opinion.
'It's a good thing mum taught me how to cook,' Ron said as he got ready to leave for his shift. He'd just sat down on Harry's bed to put on his shoes. Harry didn't want to discourage his enthusiasm, but cooking for fun and cooking with a time limit were vastly different things. Still just Ron knowing his way around a kitchen was better than what most of the Aurors knew.
'I'm sure that's why you were picked, mate.'
Ron snorted. 'But Brown being a waiter? That might turn into a disaster.'
'I'm sure it will be fine.' It would be hilarious to see Brown having to be nice to people, but then Harry wouldn't know which waiter he was. At least, he hoped he couldn't figure it out to easily.
Ron looked Harry up and down as he got up. 'I'm sure that's fine, mate. They'll let you in the door, and it's not like you have to impress Malfoy. He's being paid to be there.'
That stung. 'Thanks, Ron, however would my self-esteem survive without your constant encouragement?'
'I do my best. Wow, these shoes are bloody amazing! Why don't we get things like this?'
'Because we don't work on our feet all day? And when we do we're walking and not standing in a small ten by twelve space?'
Laughing, Ron headed for the Floo. 'How can you remember things like that after hearing it once, but had to study for hours to remember the Auror's colour code system?'
Harry rolled his eyes. It was because of the way Malfoy had said it. It was funny and things that made Harry laugh were far more memorable than things that made him fall asleep.
'Well, I'm off. Take those off before you ruin them, and I'll see you at eight.'
'Hopefully, not since you'll be in the kitchen and I'll look like someone else!'
Ron couldn't answer as he was already gone. Plus, Ron hadn't taken his potion yet, so Harry had no idea what he'd look like. Harry didn't know what he would look like either or Malfoy would for that matter. Maybe it wouldn't be that awkward as it wasn't like he'd be looking at Malfoy during dinner, but some else who just acted like Malfoy.
It might even help Harry get over his silly crush on him if he had to deal with just his personality without his gorgeous body messing with Harry's libido.
#
After taking his potion, Harry gaped at himself in the mirror for a quarter hour. He was of a similar height, but his hair was gorgeous and styled. It was light brown like his eyes, which were bigger and gave him an innocent look, but they didn't need glasses. Looking at Dylan, at least, that was what they'd be calling him, he was the type of guy people wanted to trust as well as drag off to the bedroom. Harry could feel from just walking how much more fit Dylan was than he was himself, and Harry was an Auror. He ran regularly, but he didn't lift. Dylan certainly did.
Closing his eyes, Harry shook his inappropriate thoughts away. He did not need to show up on a date hard from looking in a mirror.
If that was what they'd chose for Harry, then how attractive would his date be?
There went Harry's hope that not being attracted to Malfoy would help him remember what a git he was.
Harry glanced back his reflection and instead of admiring Dylan glared him. They might never run into these people in real life, and he most likely wasn't even gay, but Malfoy was about to go on a date with him.
It was getting late, so Harry couldn't waste anymore time being jealous of his reflection, and he left his flat to meet up with Malfoy disguised as, Harry was sure, a devastatingly handsome man.
And he wasn't wrong.
The man sitting at their reserved table waiting for him was devastatingly handsome, even if he wasn't Malfoy. His hair was blond, not slicked back, and his eyes were blue and had that same wide innocent look about them that the man Harry was disguised as had. They must have done that for a reason.
'You're late.'
Harry couldn't help but smile. This man's eyes didn't have the sharpness of Malfoy's and it made his words lose much of their bite.
'Only a few minutes.' Harry held out his hand. 'Dylan.'
'I know,' Malfoy said, still not amused and not taking Harry's hand. 'We work together, but I'll take it that means you forgot my name. Sebastian.'
Harry let his hand drop and then took his seat. 'I am sorry for being late, I didn't realise it was so important to you.' Only Harry did and Sebastian's expression suggested as such. Malfoy hated it when Harry showed up late. 'I won't be late, again.'
'Assuming there is an again.' Malfoy picked up his menu.
He couldn't believe that Malfoy was being so testy over five minutes—and an admittedly slight misstep on his part. No one was near enough to them to have heard it though—when he remembered that they were supposed to be fighting. Harry leaned back against the chair and studied Sebastian for moment. His posture was all Malfoy. Even the way he held and looked at the menu, Harry could see Malfoy underneath the disguise. Malfoy usually changed everything about the way he sat and spoke when he was undercover.
But this case didn't require anything except them to be two random men on a date.
Looking down at his own menu, Harry tried to act nonchalant as he skimmed the names of the food and drinks. They were all in French, so instead he looked at their descriptions, which were thankfully in English.
'So, I've been meaning to ask you.' Harry thought about the best way to word the question Auror Taylor told him to ask. There weren't many professions that worked with partners, so he should steer clear of that word. 'What did you say to our teachers to keep them from scheduling us together?'
Malfoy looked confused as he puzzled out Harry's words. Obviously, they did work together. They simply weren't partners.
'What makes you think I said anything?'
Harry's eyes met Malfoy's. 'It was obvious to everyone during training that they thought we weren't together well, and they specifically asked me how I felt about it and then . . . nothing. It makes sense that you've had to said something.'
Malfoy's ears turned red and he glared at Harry again. If he hadn't caught on to the fact that Harry was talking about them and not making something up before, then he had then.
He was saved from having to answer by the waiter showing up. Malfoy ordered, but Harry hesitated. He glanced back at Malfoy who sighed and then ordered for Harry as well.
'Don't complain about—'
'I wasn't planning on it,' Harry interrupted him. 'Are you going to answer my question?'
'I'm here now, aren't I?' Malfoy said and rolled his eyes. Malfoy wasn't there willingly, they were working, but then that might have been Malfoy's point. They did sometimes work together even if they weren't partners.
With the menu's gone, Harry had nothing to fidget with. He settled on the silverware until Malfoy covered his hand with his own. 'Stop.' His voice wasn't as irritated then. He sounded almost sympathetic.
Harry pulled back. 'I'm sorry I brought it up.' Then shaking his head, Harry said, 'This was a bad idea.'
Of all the things Malfoy could smile at, he chose that.
'What? Harry asked.
'Nothing.' Malfoy tapped his fingers against the tablecloth where his hand still lay from when Harry took his away. 'Just your insecurity is cute. We're on a date at the most famous Amore and you still worried about something I might have said months ago?'
'You could be here for any number of reasons. Like maybe you just like their food or maybe you just wanted the chance to eat here because getting reservations is supposed to be impossible—'
'Maybe I just wanted to go on a date with you.' Malfoy held Harry's gaze and gave him a meaningful look. 'Even if we sort of work together and intra-office relationships are frowned on.'
That made Harry take notice.
He hadn't thought about that at the time. Of course, at the time Harry's interest in Malfoy had simply been an interest in general and not so much a crush. He became aware of his crush later after Malfoy—and Harry was sure then that it had been Malfoy—kept them from being partners.
The waiter arrived with their wine and pour them both a glass.
'Are they?' Harry asked.
Malfoy nodded with an amused look on Sebastian's face again. Harry wished he could look at Malfoy's real face then. It was hard to read Sebastian's expressions as Malfoy's. His face was too round and his smile far too friendly.
'But since we don't work much together now—'
'We're here,' Malfoy finished for him as he sipped on the wine. 'Are you satisfied that I want to be here now? May we move on to something else?'
Harry's mind was already moving on to something else, but it wasn't quite appropriate for the setting. Well, perhaps that was the wrong word. Couples all around them were being most affectionate, but Harry wanted to steal Malfoy away from the table right then.
Dylan's expressions must have been easier to read for Malfoy, because he arched an eyebrow and said, 'I must say you do clean up well.'
It helped Harry gain some control over his excitement. Malfoy wasn't looking at Harry but a much more attractive man that Harry couldn't compete with. He pulled self-consciously at his hair.
'Um, thanks.' Harry needed something to do with his hands. He looked around to see if the tables who were sat just before Harry arrived had received their food yet. 'I hope they don't take forever, sometimes—'
'I'm sure it will be fine,' Sebastian said in Malfoy's tone flat.
Taking a deep breath, Harry's senses were overwhelmed with the scent and warmth of the food all around them. It didn't smell like what Harry remembered of love potions, but as Auror Taylor had said: if it was a love potion it was the best ever created.
'Is something wrong?'
Harry shook his head. 'I just don't quite feel like myself all—' Harry gestured to his body.
'It does take some getting used to.'
Finally, when the food arrived at their table, so did one of the owners. Harry was even more out of his element then. He smiled and tried to look for clues as Malfoy chatted contently with the man. Harry hadn't questioned why he thought Malfoy and Harry would get the owner's attention, but once they met it was clear.
This was why they wanted a gay couple. The owners were gay themselves. Even if they were getting all sorts of people together, they'd be drawn to the ones that reminded them the most of themselves. At least, Harry thought that was what Auror Taylor was hoping for. It also explained why they chose such attractive men for Harry and Malfoy to become. They caught people's eyes.
'I sit at the bar,' Noah, as he had introduced himself, said. 'Mostly because Samuel works the bar.' Samuel smiled at Noah. 'And we couldn't help but notice you two. Is this a first date?'
'Yes,' Harry said, finally joining the conversation. 'A bit of a rough start, but the food smells amazing.'
'What you need is some wine.'
Malfoy gestured to their glasses of white wine they were already sipping on.
'Not this. Some of the house red.' Noah nodded to Samuel who set two glasses of on the bar and filled them with red wine, which Noah floated over to their table. 'On our first date, Samuel poured a bowl of soup all over my lap, and a very lovely woman brought us this wine. Sweetest wine we'd ever tasted, of course—' Noah laughed again. 'It was also the first wine we'd ever tasted. She said: love is like wine. It gets better with age, but you have to give it a chance. It makes a little more sense if you'd never had wine I suppose.'
'Thank you,' Malfoy said. 'We'll keep that in mind.'
With a, 'Have a good evening,' Noah disappeared and Harry shared a look with Malfoy.
Harry took a sip first and then smiled before taking a bite of his food.
#
They left a little bit tipsy and Harry let Malfoy walk him home.
After they had started eating, their evening had gone better, but then they'd run out of things to really fight about. Malfoy rolled his eyes at the way Harry cut his food, and Harry snorted at the way that Malfoy drank his wine, but that was how they always were. They slowly lost their stiffness and formalities with each other.
Still they weren't really themselves, so when Sebastian leaned in to kiss Dylan, as that was the only way Harry could really think about the moment, Harry pulled back.
'It's not really us,' Harry said. 'I don't want our first kiss to be between two strangers.'
'Our first kiss? Meaning: you want more than a first kiss.'
Harry rolled his eyes. 'Malfoy, I've wanted to kiss you for a while now, and I want that to be with you.' Shuffling his feet and looking down, Harry added, 'I also don't want your memory of your first kiss with me to be with this—'
Malfoy laughed and pulled a bottle out of his pocket. 'Let me in and we can use this, but for the record, I've seen you dressed up before and you do clean up well even when you're not using Polyjuice.'
'I'm not sure I'm ready to let you in yet.' But Harry took the bottle from Malfoy's hand and took a sip and held it out for Malfoy to take it back. 'I've been thinking all sorts of inappropriate thoughts tonight and we were working. In effort to keep our working relationship professional . . .'
After Malfoy changed back, he arched an eyebrow at Harry's comment, because really Harry hadn't given their professional relationship a thought until Malfoy mentioned that was why he didn't want to be Harry's partner, and Malfoy had obviously figured that out himself. Apparently the whole department had figured that out themselves, which was why it became important to Harry that they not go upstairs and do everything Harry had been imagining they would for months.
Because there was no way he'd be able to walk into work the next day without that written all over his face.
Harry finished, 'we should probably keep tonight to a more traditional ending.'
Pulling Malfoy to him, Harry kissed him. It was soft and slow, but a simple goodnight before turning to go inside.
#
'It was in the wine.' Malfoy sounded so sure that Harry didn't want to burst his bubble, but the lab would soon enough.
They were in Harry's office waiting for the results from the tests they'd gone through that morning while filling out their paperwork. Ron had said nothing out of the ordinary happened making food in the kitchen, and Brown found out nothing from the gossip of the wait staff other than they all loved their jobs and were glad they'd never have to see Brown again.
'It was nothing,' Harry said and everyone stopped writing to look at him. 'There was nothing in the wine—it was just the suggestion.'
'But,' Brown cut in. 'I saw you two kissing outside the toilets this morning.'
Harry blushed and Malfoy smirked. Malfoy had caught him off guard and pointed out they weren't at the office yet. The evil git.
Shaking his head, Ron smiled and laughed. 'Hell, Hermione was right again. I owe her ten Galleons now.'
'Aren't you married, Weasley? Isn't it already hers?'
Just then an owl flew in with their test results. They had no potions in their systems, either of them.
'See,' Harry said as he read the results. 'It was all speculation. Think about it. People who wanted to fall in love went there. They believed the place is magic. They were already in love and having petty fights, or just going on their first dates and nervous about it. They wanted their relationships to work out, so they made the changes to make them.'
'Huh, kind of like when you made me think I took Liquid Luck for that Quidditch game?'
'Exactly, Ron.' Harry nodded. 'They were the ones that made it happen, but they needed a little push to believe that they could. Noah and Samuel just give them that push.'