Chapter Two
Draco Malfoy would have noticed the red head even if she'd been invisible.
As it was, he first took notice of her when the train pulled into the station. He'd been thinking about the inaguaration ceremony tomorrow and wondering if his name would come up. He was top in their class but a lot of the existing Aurors had fought in the war. Though he had done his best, there were some who weren't able to put aside their feelings towards his father.
All of which meant he had to be the best to even stand a chance.
He was staring out the window, trying not to dread the following day's events when he noticed the girl with the red hair. She was standing on the edge of the platform, her long hair tied back in a ponytail. She was arguing with a man in silver trimmed black robes and Draco suddenly sat up straighter.
Like Harry, he had been in the Auror Protocol class when they discussed the mythical International Auror League. Unlike Harry, he'd actually been paying attention in that class.
The girl flicked her head and for a second their gazes met as the train ground to a halt.
He rose in his seat to watch her as she broke off from the black robed man and positioned herself before the exit. Her stance was antagonistic, her arms crossed over her chest and a frown on her pretty face.
The trainees began to exit the train and her face shifted to a happy smile.
Before he could think better, Draco raced to the doors and all but stumbled down the stairs.
He cast about for the red haired girl and saw her acost Ron Weasley. The horrid similarity between the two hit Draco just then and he barely managed a polite nod to Harry Potter before he turned and made his way to the main entrance.
His car, a baby blue Ashton Martin was waiting in the parking lot. He pulled out the keys and unlocked the trunk so one of the aides could load his luggage.
"Going my way, stranger?"
He spun around and grinned at Pansy.
"Damn, girl, give us a hug," he said, wrapping his arms around his best friend.
"How was training?" she asked as he helped the porter load his bags.
"Cake walk," he boasted. "Yours?"
She shrugged. "You know me better than that. Potions are in my blood."
"And your lab partner?" he asked, knowing full well who her partner had been. Ron hadn't been able to shut up about the fact that his girlfriend had made it into the training program for the Ministry's Experimental Potions group.
"She's a bloody genius," Pansy said. "If you tell anyone I said that, I will murder you slowly."
He laughed. "Good to know. Then she didn't talk about Weasley that much?"
She shook her head. "We kept all our talk to potions and non-boyfriend stuff. Still, they seem on good terms which is good."
Draco had heard from Harry that Hermione had an awful temper and he could imagine her taking out her relationship frustration out on anyone.
He held the car door open for her and then got in himself. Safe in the car he hesitated, then asked "Hey, have you heard about the International Aurors League?"
"The IAL? That's just an urban legend to keep kids in line," Pansy scoffed.
"What if they weren't?" he mused.
"What?"
"What?"
"Draco, don't tell me you ran afoul of them. If they're real, they can make you disappear without a trace."
"I have no plans of running afoul of them," he told her. "I just wondered."
"Mmhmm," Pansy said and her tone implied she didn't believe him.
Draco had heard stories of the IAL all his life. They were rumored to be an elite guard of Aurors, handpicked from all over the world. They were the kind of people Voldemort feared.
He wondered if they were real and if they were, why they hadn't they put a stop to Voldemort decades ago.
(A/N: Here's chapter two! Glad you guys all liked chapter one!
