"Mr Potter, the question might sound stupid to you but it's mandatory, why do you want to be an Auror?"

Harry was in the Ministry of Magic, at level two, sitting behind a desk, in a little and bright room. In front of him, across the desk, a strict looking woman was looking at me, waiting for him to answer. She somehow reminded him of the professor McGonagall.

It had been days since Harry and Draco's affair, days Harry spent in Grimmauld Place before deciding that he had had enough. It was the first time he left the house since he had returned from the empty room.

"I've passed all my life fighting Voldemort so…" The woman behind the desk wrote something on the piece of paper in front of her. Harry did not know what to do. He had always been terrible at interviews and exams. As the interviewer remained quiet, Harry felt the urge to speak, though he did not know what he might add.

"But, unfortunately, I did not finish my studies and I only got a few O.L.W. And er"

The interviewer looked up from her piece of paper, adjusted her glasses and looked into Harry's eyes.

"And of course, those are very important. I should say mandatory. It doesn't matter if you faced Voldemort more times than anyone ever did since a very young age and you defeated him. You absolutely need a piece of paper."

Harry blushed, feeling stupid, and looked at his feet. "I decide who could be a good Auror and the diplomas are not that important to me. An interview is much more revealing of one's abilities. Of course, you'd have to be training if you are engaged. I'd send you an owl to let you know. Goodbye, Mr Potter". She rose up and shook Harry's hand before leading him to the door.

As Harry walked out the door, he passed the other candidate. A young, tall blonde guy with blue eyes and pale skin. Harry's heart jumped out his chest as he turned his head to see Draco Malfoy walked into the office. Once again, their paths crossed each other and Harry liked to believe that it was a sign.

He sat on the closest chair, in front of the office's door, unwound some extendable ears to listen. He pressed the ear close.

"Mr Malfoy, I'm very surprised to see her, to say the least. I thought you'd never come here again, especially after the trick your father used to do here. Anyway, I'm curious and willing to give you a chance. Why do you want to be an Auror?"

"I know most people wouldn't understand. I was one of them, it's true. I didn't have the choice, really. All my family were Death Eaters or keen to his ideas. I know the names of the others, the ones you did not catch. I could give you them right away. I know how they feel, what they think. I know how to spot the weak one, to make him talk. I was one." Malfoy stopped a few seconds, then took a deep breath. "Listen, I know I've made horrible mistakes and I want to pay for them, to make finally some good…"

Harry heard footsteps on the hallway, maybe from another candidate. He winded the ears and hid them in his pockets. He then left his seat and, with it, his chance to meet Draco again.

He walked into the first pub he found. It was a muggle one, almost empty. Harry sat down at a table near the window and ordered a coffee. He waited, hoping to see Malfoy walking past the pub. And then what? Harry did not know. He did not think that through, he just knew that he wanted to see him. He took the newspaper that was lying around and pretended to read it.

A few minutes later, maybe ten minutes Harry thought by the heat of his beverage, he saw the tall silhouette of Draco Malfoy walking down the street. He looked more worn out that the last time. He stopped a second in front of the pub, looked around and walked in. Harry slipped on his chair and hid behind the newspaper. In time like this, Harry truly missed his Invisible Cloak he left in Grimmauld Place. Not perfectly hidden, he was quickly discovered by Malfoy. Their eyes met, Draco blushed and turned away. That was unusual…unless they really spent the night together before Harry left him, without a word. Draco turned around and left. Harry put down the newspaper, grabbed some coins and dropped them on the table without checking before rushing behind Malfoy.

He was only a few steps before him as he did not think Harry would follow him. Actually, Harry did not know why he was following Draco nor what he would do then. Would he talk to him? Then why not calling him out now? Would he keep on following him until he found it out? He walked behind Malfoy's tall figure for a few minutes, a few steps away from him, until Draco turned and walked in a pub. Harry stopped in front of the window of the closest shop and pretended to look at it, while waiting for Draco to walk out. But was not that what he was hoping for? Now that he had stopped, should not he go and talk to him?

Harry's heart was racing, nearly jumping out of his chest, as he walked in the pub. Draco was sitting at a table not far from the door and kept on looking at it, as if he was waiting someone. Without waiting any longer, Harry sat down at the table, in front of Draco.

"Look, I'm not sure of what happened last time" Feeling embarrassed, he looked down at the table. He started to mumble.

"On the contrary, I believe that you clearly remember what happened." Draco's cheeks were reddish, his eyes sparkled and a smirk brightened his face. The waiter brought a glass of whiskey he put down in front of Harry. He raised an eyebrow to Malfoy. "I was waiting for you. I knew you were following me". He drank a mouthful of his own glass and leant on the back of his chair, gazing at Harry. He felt uneasy under his gaze, vulnerable. He wanted to escape these pale blue eyes. To gain confidence, he drank. He felt the heat of the golden liquid in his throat.

"About last time –"

"What? Do you want me to tell you every detail?"

"No, that's fine, I love having a whole night blackout."

"That's more like the Potter I know."

"You're exactly the Malfoy I loathed at school."

"Ouch, I'm crushed" Draco said while playing absent-mindedly with his glass, as if the subject was a dreadful bore.

"So, will you tell me or not?"

"No" Malfoy answered still looking at his empty glass as if he hoped that it would refill magically. Harry, exasperated, sighed and stood up. As he made his way to the exit, he heard Malfoy's voice "But I can show you". He turned around to see Malfoy's eye sparkling.