Disclaimer: Not Mine.

Author's notes: Big thanks to groolover and ali_wilde for the beta work *smooshes* Hope you guys enjoy this introduction to Draco.

jamie

xxx

The premises Harry arrived at the next day hardly surprised him at all. He'd not been in this part of town often, but the up-market feel it had about it seemed to suit what he knew of Malf- no, he'd have to start thinking of him as Draco all the time now. If he wanted to insinuate himself into Draco's life then calling him Malfoy was hardly going to work in his favour.

The front of the building was ultra-modern; sleek and shiny, dominated by huge windows and doors joined by silver handles and frames. It looked slick and professional – sterile. The interior was not much different; though it carried an indefinable smell – rather like being in a hospital ward where the antiseptic smell was overpowering. This smell wasn't as pervasive but it was a singular smell that Harry was sure he'd have no difficulty remembering. It must have come from years and years of research and potions being developed in the building.

No wonder the actual structure looked sterile then.

One side of the interior was taken up with a massive aquarium that filled the entire wall and rose what looked to be ten stories high. In the tank swam every fish Harry thought he'd ever seen and then some he'd only ever had nightmares about. It was impressive and not only let a softened light permeate the building but gave the place an air of calm and peace.

Harry stood for a while just watching all manner of interesting fish swim by. From schools of tiny shrimp to sharks, they all either lazily floated in the water, or quickly scurried around. Minute by minute Harry felt the slight anxiety of meeting Draco again, for the first time in a decade, slip away.

The sudden sight of a suited diver with a spear gun in his hand, aiming for and shooting a large tuna, stole his peace. Every other fish in the vicinity fled, fright chasing their tails.

Harry sighed as a voice said softly in his ear, 'Shame about the fish, but I need the freshly processed oil for my cream.'

Harry turned to face the voice. He'd recognised it, of course; it was still the same cultured, well-modulated drawl Draco had used in school. Older and deeper, perhaps, but the voice was the same. The man, however, was quite a contradiction.

Draco wore what probably should have been a sterile white lab coat, but was actually covered in smudges of various textures and colours – clearly the markings of a dedicated scientist. There were also smears of something on Draco's nose, and his hair looked like it wouldn't have been out of place first thing in the morning, having spent the night with someone's hands running though it. But the thing that really lit up Harry's insides with mirth was the pair of glasses Draco had perched on the end of his pointy nose. Not only did they make Draco's eyes look huge, but they were also splotched and dotted with what was obviously something to do with Draco's work.

'Hello to you too,' Harry said, trying to suppress his grin.

'Right. Potter. Good day to you,' Draco replied rather formally. 'My receptionist advised me that you were examining my tank. What, may I ask, are you doing here?'

Harry studied Draco's face for several seconds but decided that he couldn't take the huge eyes seriously when they looked at him so ingenuously from behind the glasses – it just wasn't one of the Draco expressions that he'd known.

'Do you need those glasses or are you trying to intimidate me?'

Draco looked cross-eyed down at his nose as if not having remembered he was even wearing them, then he blinked and removed them. 'Better?' he asked, looking up at Harry again, this time with an expression Harry remembered clearly. A scowl.

'Much. Why do you wear them?'

'Protection mostly.' Draco shrugged. 'Besides, some of the close work needs magnification. Sometimes I just forget I have them on if I've been wearing them for a long time. I've been working eighteen hours straight.'

'You'll weaken your eyes like that,' Harry replied.

'And you'd know, seeing as your eyes are barely functional, I suppose?' Draco raised an eyebrow and Harry could see how tired he was now.

'Common sense,' Harry disagreed.

'Yes, well I'm sure the Assistant to the Minister for Magic has better things to do than stand around here and advise me on proper eye care, so what is it that you want?'

'Hermione mentioned that she uses your cream the other day and I just felt I should look you up, see how you're doing.'

'Curiosity? Hmm, that sounds like you; never could keep from sticking your nose into other people's business. Mine especially. You're not going to stalk me again, are you?' The sneer Harry remembered was there, too. Harry bit his tongue at the irritation Draco's words raised in him.

'Got something to hide?'

'Of course I have!' Draco retorted. Harry blinked in surprise and Draco rolled his eyes. 'Only my experiments, you moron. If anyone managed to get their hands on my next potion they'd make themselves a fortune. My potions recipes are closely guarded secrets and I've already foiled a number of sabotage attempts and people trying to steal my formulas.' Draco crossed his arms and glared at Harry. 'Why are you really here?'

Harry held up his hands in mock surrender. He was well experienced in dealing with people that were difficult to get to know. Trying to really understand a drug addict or an alcoholic or a thief was more difficult than he'd thought and he'd had to work on adjusting his approaches. In mid-stream at times.

'All right, all right,' Harry said. 'I admit that I saw your picture in the paper last week and I felt some sort of curiosity. I put it off for obvious reasons - we've never been friends - but when Hermione mentioned your cream and that you were single, I just had to give in to it and come and see you.'

Draco stood there, eyes widening initially and then forming into an expression of total disbelief. 'You expect me to believe that tripe?' He laughed. 'That's even more stupid than your first attempt. I think you can leave now, Potter. Good day.'

Draco turned and began to walk away but Harry caught him by the arm, stopping him. 'Wait, Draco. I'm telling the truth.' Harry'd lost count of the number of times he'd lied and wondered if one day they would all come back and bite him on the arse.

Draco glared at him. 'Is the Ministry after my latest invention? Do they want to keep all the accolades to themselves? Did they send you along to try and steal it from me?'

Harry actually laughed. 'You think if they were after your invention they'd send someone you dislike? I'm not after your potion, Draco. Honestly.'

Doubt flickered across Draco's features. When Harry looked at him closely, he could see fine worry lines around the corners of Draco's eyes that he couldn't see from further back. Perhaps he wasn't using his own cream then. Harry also saw the small smattering of the palest of freckles across the bridge of Draco's nose.

After several moments, Draco blinked and wrenched his arm free of Harry's hold. 'It doesn't matter anyway, I'm not interested, so I'll ask you to leave now or I'll have security escort you out.'

'How about having a drink with me sometime?' Harry asked, unable to just leave.

'I don't think that would be appropriate,' Draco said and walked away. He called back over his shoulder. 'Tell the Mudblood that she needn't have bothered spending a fortune on my cream. The only thing that could possibly improve that face would be a blasting charm.'

For the first time in many years, Draco wished the day were over already. Potter's visit had unnerved him to the point where he was snapping at staff and they were all giving him filthy looks. He told himself he had no reason to be so unsettled by Potter arriving in his building because Potter was not an Auror and was not attached to any MLE department that he knew of. Even if he were, Draco was certain that he could not possibly know…

'No, you imbecile,' Draco shrieked at Turner who had his wand out and was about to slice into the belly of the large tuna he'd recently speared, which was now lying on a steel table, ready for dissection. Draco snapped his fingers, casting a non-verbal, wandless IAccio,/I and the wand flew out of his incompetent worker's hand and into Draco's. 'Surely I taught you better than that?'

The shocked Turner spun around and glared at Draco for a fraction of a second, then remembered where he was and who was berating him, and had the sense to look shamefaced. 'Sorry, Mr. Malfoy, I see a beautiful creature like that and I feel like I'm back out fishing with my dad again.'

Vane, who was at another table chopping aloe, snickered, and Draco pinched the bridge of his nose so hard it hurt. 'Merlin, give me strength,' he whispered. 'Kindly see that you do not touch this fish with magic, Turner,' he said, forcing himself to calm down. 'But if I need to remind you once more, you'll be out on your arse. These animals are far too valuable for me to be putting up with your incompetence. And you, Vane, pay attention to your own work. I don't pay you to stand around snickering at other people's misfortunes. If that batch of potion is ruined you'll be wishing you'd stayed with your previous employer.'

'Who crawled up your arse today?' she countered. Draco winced at her tone and wondered, for the hundredth time, why he put up with her coarse language and complete lack of respect. She smirked at him. 'Actually, don't bother answering, I bet I can guess.'

'Vane…' he warned.

'Ever since that little visit with Harry Potter earlier, you've been like a dragon with a sore head.'

'How did you know Potter was here?' he snapped.

'Hyacinth was only too pleased to come down here and brag that she'd met the great Harry Potter,' Vane replied, waving her knife around in the air.

'She's another one that should mind her own business. I'm sure that gossiping isn't part of her duties either.'

'Oh, don't worry, Draco, I soon put her in her place. Told her I went to school with him and I'd had better.'

A slight smile cracked Draco's face despite himself. 'You're lucky she didn't have a heart attack. You really should go easy on the poor dear.' Hyacinth was seventy if she was a day, with grey hair she wore in a bun so tight Draco was positive it gave her headaches, but the customers seemed to like her and so she stayed, despite her penchant for gushing over celebrities.

'She did look a bit green there for a moment,' Vane agreed, smiling vaguely.

'I wish you wouldn't remind her of your previous occupation quite so much,' Draco said.

Vane snorted. 'Why not? You remind me of it all the time.'

'Only when you're being obnoxious and not showing me the proper respect.'

'Every day?'

'If you'd do your job, then I wouldn't have to resort to such crass reminders.' Draco was laughing inside now. Romilda Vane had surprised him since she'd walked through his doors about five years ago. She'd looked like a Knockturn whore, make-up streaked, face gaunt and what he could see of her body – which was quite a lot more than he'd wanted to – almost skeletal. When she'd asked for a job, he'd almost laughed and turned her away, but there'd been a look in her eye that he'd found hard to ignore. Then she reminded him that all she was after was a chance to prove herself, just like Draco had wanted and needed in order to become successful. She also intimated she had some valuable knowledge that he'd really like to know.

Against his better judgement, he'd given her a chance and she'd proved to be well worth it. These days, she was what passed for a friend. Basically his only friend, which explained his leniency toward her. There was something about her bluntness that reminded him of Pansy, and he'd missed her since she fled into exile after the war.

She also had the ability to drag Draco - kicking and screaming sometimes - out of a bad mood.

Draco picked up a knife and prepared to dissect the tuna himself. He told Turner to go and decant the ready cauldrons of the nerve regrowth potion in the other lab and, when he'd gone, Vane moved to stand by his side.

'So, what happened?' she asked, a softer tone in her voice now.

'Nothing happened,' he replied, pushing his glasses back up his nose with one finger. 'Potter arrived, we chatted like old friends and then he left.'

'Rubbish. You two were never friends.'

Draco remained silent; he really did not want to discuss Harry Potter with Vane who, if she had one disturbing quality, almost hero-worshipped Potter. It irritated Draco so much that he had banned her from speaking about Potter in his presence.

'I always thought the tension between you two was overtly sexual in nature,' Vane continued. 'All that excess testosterone bouncing around in your bodies and –'

'I do have a knife in my hand, you know,' Draco said, a warning growl in his voice.

'Fine.' Vane moved away. 'But he might just want another chance too, you know.'

'What? How…?'

'Hyacinth overheard everything.' Vane grinned at him when he shook his head and sighed.

'Bloody nosey staff,' he grumbled before glaring at her and turning back to his fish.

'I'm serious, Draco. You gave me one, why not him?'

'Because I'm positive that he has an ulterior motive and I'm so close…'

'But if he didn't then you'd be interested?' There was a hopeful lilt to her question.

Draco thought for a moment and then shook his head. 'I have too much to lose.'

'What if he has what you need?'

Draco gave a longer pause. 'Now you're just sounding desperate. Not an attractive trait.'

'Not desperate, just trying to help you out like you helped me.'

'How does that work?'

'He's a good man, Draco, and you could do a lot worse – you have done a lot worse – than to date him.'

Draco sighed. 'Why are you forever trying to set me up? The last one was a complete and utter shit.'

Vane blushed, but shrugged. 'You should be happy and you're not.'

'And you're alone, too, but you don't see me trying to set you up.'

She scowled at him. 'Don't even think about it. I've had too many people pawing at my body to ever be interested in dating again and you know it.'

Draco turned his attention back to the tuna, his silence an apology of sorts – as much of an apology as he ever gave, that was. He had to slice the fish open at just the right place in order to remove the innards cleanly. One nick of the intestines would contaminate the flesh and render it useless.

'Will you think about it at least?' Vane asked as he was sliding his knife into the flesh.

'I should fire you.'

'Is that a yes?'

'It's a maybe, now get back to work.'

'Yes, sir,' she said cheekily and Draco could see her grinning from the corner of his eye.

She was right in one sense though; Potter could have exactly what he needed.