AN: Short one. The format sometimes leads to cutting off in odd places due to the perspective change. Might post the next one sooner than later.
Chapter 2 - Harry's Hero Complex
April 6, 2001
Ministry of Magic
Atrium
03:23 pm
Harry was becoming more and more certain that Draco Malfoy was falling for Hermione.
Ever since he had correctly deduced Draco's status as a Death Eater, Harry had been very impressed with his own investigatory talents. Either of his best friends could contest to this; they'd certainly heard 'I told you so' often enough.
When Draco had entered the Auror program, Harry had been more than a little surprised. Ron had been irate. Hermione had been downright terrified. None of them knew what to expect, but in all of their musings, they had never guessed what would actually come to pass.
Draco slid into the department quietly and uneventfully. He preferred to work alone, he stayed out of the spotlight, and he turned down any invites to social events, always leaving work on time, never staying after to chat. He was stiff but polite, brief but thorough, sarcastic but light, and he avoided the Golden Trio more often than not. He was unrecognizable as the Draco Malfoy they had known; the snide ferret they'd attended school with would have taken credit for other's work, revelled in the spotlight, and probably hosted any social events, inviting only those he deemed worthy. The old Draco would have sought out the Trio just to harass and belittle them, and bribed his way out of any trouble this brought on.
Harry waited with bated breath for his secret to come out. It was only a matter of time before Draco and Hermione would feud, and Draco would reveal that he knew; he knew Hermione had helped him, and he knew Harry had broken his word and told. Harry waited for Draco to crumble; to tell Hermione he hadn't needed the help of a Mudblood, that he resented her for her intervention, and that to him, she was still no better than dirt. Harry readied himself to console Hermione, to tell her she had done the right thing, that Draco would eventually realize what he owed her. Harry readied for a fallout that would never come.
Draco did not tell Hermione. In fact, he seemed to go out of his way to avoid her altogether, more so even than Ron. As soon as Harry noticed this behavior, he began studying it, his self-professed investigatory talents hard at work. If Draco still thought Hermione below him, then they were going to have a very serious problem. After a few months of monitoring him, Harry noted a few very important things.
One, that the tabloids of the wizarding world had pictured Draco with three women since the war, each looking progressively more like Hermione - at least in their wildly curly locks - and only one of them a Pureblood. The last woman he'd been seen with was ages ago. Unless there was something the tabloids didn't know (and Harry begrudgingly acknowledged this was often the case), Draco was single, and had been for a while.
Two, that Draco often walked through the office in ways that avoided passing Hermione's desk. Harry was stumped by this, as he had not yet discerned a pattern between days Draco would walk by her desk and days he would not, but it still seemed significant, as walking by her desk was by far Draco's easiest course through the department.
Three, that when Draco was partnered with someone for an assignment, he had no issues working with the person and accomplishing flawless work, unless that person was Hermione (alright, or Ron, but there was no question as to Draco's feelings for Ron). In those instances, Draco would hoard the case to himself and finish as much as possible on his own, before turning it over to Hermione for review and finishing touches. Hermione had interpreted this as ongoing prejudice and reluctance to work with her. Harry had other suspicions, but he had not yet shared them with her, confiding only in Ginny.
Four, that Draco watched Hermione, much as Harry watched Draco, although Harry was fairly certain he didn't sport the same expression of longing when he looked at Draco.
Individually, perhaps, these observations did not mean much. Added together, though, they led to a conclusion even a novice Auror could make. Draco was falling for Hermione, and he was terrified of it. His attempt at teasing her, before he'd seen Harry there, now became observation number five.
"Hermione Granger, buggering off early? Am I in the wrong dimension?"
Hermione had jumped, not expecting anyone to see them leaving early, least of all Draco Malfoy. When she turned, Harry leaned forward slightly and shined a smirk at Draco, who, if it was possible, paled, and shifted his stance, for some reason pulling his hips back almost imperceptibly.
"We have permission, Malfoy, if you're thinking of turning us in," Hermione replied coldly, hand automatically flying to one hip. The only time she was ever slow was when it came to recognizing men flirting with her. It would be even more difficult for her to recognize Draco doing so. As far as she knew, nothing had changed between them since Hogwarts. As far as she knew, Draco believed it was Narcissa who had begged for Harry's testimony.
"Hullo, Malfoy," Harry grinned.
Draco nodded in Harry's direction, but never took his eyes from Hermione. "I didn't mean -" he started, pinkness forming high on his cheekbones. His protests died on his tongue as he glanced down, clearly disheartened, and moved his lower jaw side to side. Harry felt a bit of pity for the man; Hermione was an intimidating witch to be attracted to for anyone, let alone Draco, whose relationship with her was... unique, to say the least.
"Tell me, do you have permission to skive off?" she pressed on, oblivious to Draco's discomfort, cocking her hip even further to the side in her distress. Harry was among those who knew better than to even imply Hermione was breaking a rule, unless of course it had been her idea to break it.
Draco's still moving jaw snapped shut so hard his teeth audibly clicked, and he tightly responded, "No."
Hermione hummed, but declined to comment further, for which Harry was thankful. His awareness of Draco's unrequited feelings was making him decidedly uncomfortable. Hermione turned to lead the way to a fireplace, and Draco, so obviously dejected it was almost pathetic, turned as well.
Harry could feel his hero complex kicking in, but as usual he was unable to stop it. "Malfoy," he called to Draco's retreating back. He had never felt much of a want to help Draco in the past, but the fact that he seemed to have fallen for Hermione made him much more likeable. Draco's shoulder twitched slightly as he stopped and turned towards Harry. Hermione's eyes followed as well, one eyebrow slightly quirked.
"A group of us is going to the pub later on. Care to join?"
Harry had never played matchmaker before; in fact he usually stayed as far out of people's relationships as he could. His attempt to intervene in the destruction of 'Romione' had taught him to keep well away. To the credit of whatever higher power existed, Romione had been able to retain their friendship. But this had all been well before Draco's trial, and the awkwardness Harry had felt was a distant memory.
Ron had moved on, flitting through relationships one after the other. Hermione had gone on a few dates, but no man had lasted very long. Whenever pressed about it, she'd say she was focusing on her career. Harry could tell she felt like a third wheel sometimes, though this feeling did not plague Ron at all during his single stretches, and she would often excuse herself early from more couple-centric events.
It was unlikely that she would return Draco's feelings, but would it hurt to invite him out and just see? Perhaps he could help two stubbornly, perpetually single coworkers at once. Harry ignored the glare Hermione was giving him; much like the new secretary Jessica, he only had eyes for Draco.
He was silent for a long moment, looking at Harry with eyes narrowed, as though searching for a trick. Harry shrugged, and added, "C'mon, mate. It'll be fun." One of Draco's eyebrows rocketed up at the word 'mate,' and he glanced briefly at Hermione, who was tapping her foot impatiently.
"I don't think so," Draco finally answered, absently swiping some errant hairs from his forehead.
At this, Harry turned to Hermione, and gave her a very pointed look. Hermione immediately recognized it as his 'I'm-trying-to-be-heroic-here' expression, and after an inaudible sigh, she took the hint.
"You should really consider coming, Malfoy," she said resignedly. "If you can recover from whatever illness has caused you to leave early, that is."
Harry watched Draco's reaction closely, keenly logging away the details. His eyes widened slightly in surprise, and he ran his hands along the front of his robes quickly as though brushing off dirt. He shifted his weight from one leg to the other, and rolled his neck as though frustrated. Finally, he gave Hermione a quiet, half-hearted, "Maybe."
Filing away the fact that the only maybe Draco had ever given to a social outing was in response to Hermione as observation number six, Harry quickly told Draco the when and where, and followed Hermione through the floo.
