Chapter 1

Harry merrily walked to his auror office with an extra pep in his step this morning, waving at several people on the way and disarming them with a hero worthy smile. He had just spent the night with a nice bloke and managed to get enough sleep not to need coffee to get through the auror's morning briefing. Harry tended to be late most days, for various reasons really, and needed an extra kick of coffee just to function the first half of the morning. Some days it seems he simply couldn't get out of the door without tripping over his trousers or forgetting important files he strewn all over his kitchen table studying the night before, but most days it was because he'd spent the night at some bloke's place, shagged all night, and tended to forget the time the next morning. But he was fine with that as he'd never bring them home to his flat and that's what mattered most to him, no matter the persistent and vehement protests of his conquered objective that night. It's not that he didn't want to bring anyone to his flat, it's just…..well he didn't want to bring anyone to his flat. Harry had cut a nice little slice of home for himself in his comfortable flat and was weary of people he did not particularly know to be in its space. Most, if not all of the blokes, were nameless faces that Harry could not even point out in a room the next day anyway, so he was not keen on sharing something so intimate with them. Never mind that Harry went through so many blokes they could probably fill the auror's conference room by now anyway.

Harry was now "living out his best days" as he so eloquently put it and was experiencing what he thought he should have been doing when he was in his younger years, not still chasing down the remains of Voldemort's factions. Harry and Ron had dived into the auror program as soon as the new Minister of Magic extended the invitation to them, skipped the qualifications-Golden boy and all that-and set about trying to clean up the mess left behind by Voldemort. It was not that he was upset about it as he would never regret his decision, but just felt he probably should have at least given himself some time to think things through, or at least a vacation. However, the efforts of him and other aurors were fruitful and was able to round up many of Voldemort's sympathizers and with no time to spare as some of them were desperate enough to bring their noseless, snake lord back that a lot were taken to using dark magic that only increased in frequency across Europe. But Harry, now a ripe age of 27, was finally feeling a bit of normalcy as he took on regular auror cases and was able to have Friday night meet up with his friends where they went drinking until they couldn't feel their limbs. Not to mention all the free time that gave Harry to explore his sexuality and all other options. He smiled as he strode into his office and dropped gracelessly in his comfortable leather chair. A petite, strawberry blond head poked in at the corner of his office door and knocked on the frame.

"Mr. Potter? Good morning! I have those files for you that you asked for yesterday. Micheals took so long actually finishing them up that I had to just bring it first thing today," sniffed the woman as she walked in and placed the bulky file in front of him. Harry grinned at his assistant Leena as she still took to calling him Mr. Potter, even though he'd objected, and they'd worked together for more than 5 years now. Her blue eyes squinted at him.

"I know that look," Harry thought as he flipped the file open to the first page, still not breaking eye contact with his secretary. "Oh don't worry Leena. I figured Michaels wouldn't be done with his report even after all the time I gave him until it was truly due. I told you to just leave him a note and don't even bother going all the way there." Micheals was a fairly experienced auror, but absolute pants at paperwork and Harry could relate to this. That's why he never truly chastised him. Harry was just the head of their team on this particular case anyway, not truly his boss or head auror, so he didn't try to push too hard. But the late paperwork was not the reason his small secretary was currently squinting her sky-blue eyes at him.

"Must have had a pretty good night, sir. You look quite rested," she said pointedly as she looked at her watch. "And early today too. I wasn't actually expecting you in here until a little later." She said this with a slight tilt of her head, creating a perfectly innocent portrayal of a concerned friend. But Harry knew better. He could hear the "so who is the lucky bastard this time" with all the sarcasm dripping from the word lucky. Harry had to bite his inner cheek to keep from chuckling. Honestly, she reminded him so much of Hermoine sometimes that he had to question if they truly did not talk more than she let on. Leena was professional towards him at work, especially in front of others, but fussed over him as a friend as their relationship grew over the years. And she has let him know, on more than one occasion, of her disapproval of his current lifestyle. Honestly though Harry thinks it's simply because she did not approve of the men Harry took him as he tended to drag anyone who was wiling. And for a Slytherin like Leena, that was simply not on, muttering the occasional "should've been more handsome" or "really? Him?" with a sneer. He knows she does not mean any harm, but simply believed Harry should be more selective in his exploits. Besides, she was one of the few people who did not judge him, chastise him, or try to fit him into the Golden Boy mold; not one time. And that's saying more than the Prophet and plenty of others who felt they had a piece of the Boy-Who-Lived.

In the beginning, Harry's exploits were plastered all over the Prophet thanks to Rita Skeeter ("How does that woman manage to keep her job?" Hermoine had screeched one evening as she read her descriptions of Harry's recent late night). No one approved of the Golden Boy caught in very... ahem, precarious situations and seemed to be with a different wizard every time. Discovering his attraction for the same sex was hard enough as he was sure his friends who he considered family would abandon him and leave him feeling like the freak the Dursley's made him to believe. But once again, his friends had proven him wrong and dove headfirst in their support. Turns out being gay isn't a big deal in the wizarding world as it was in the muggle world and with everything Harry's gone through, his friends were simply happy if he were happy. Harry had broken into tears with Hermoine rubbing his back in comfort and with Ron awkwardly telling him that they were friends and accepting your gay mate was damn easier than hunting down a murderous lunatic, to which Harry had to hiccup-laugh at. Ron was shocked at first but promised Harry he'd talk to Ginny to try and calm the fire. If Harry ever thought Ron didn't care for him, he sure as hell did now as Ginny needed more time to accept the truth and was whirlwind of tears, hexes, and finally understanding after a while. That's when he decided to figure it all out; slowly at first and Harry, like everything else he did, grabbed curiosity by the horns and rode as hard as he could. Literally. Once Harry became fully accepting and had enough time on his hands, Harry rode many blokes he could grab onto, muggles first for curiosity and experience, then wizards. And the Prophet could not get enough. Hermoine was gob smacked at his behavior at first then became extremely worried as did Ron. Ironically, it was Ginny who stood in his defense demanding "what the fuck do you want from him?! Really, tell me! He put his life on the line for you lot not to mention his entire childhood was shite and you've got your kickers in a twist because he wants cock up his arse!" she'd screamed one drunk filled night in the middle of the Hog's Head with all their friends. Harry could not do anything but gape and turn red as a cherry as he stammered for Ginny to get down from the chair. "No! I'm bloody right!" she'd screamed at Harry and had to be pulled down by a laughing Seamus and Dean. Ginny went on a tirade for a while and has now made it a personal mission to piss off The Prophet whenever she could. Ron and Hermoine came to understand Harry's feelings (no matter how much Hermoine still pursed her lips when she hears of his deeds) and accepted that he just wanted to live his life and was not on a self-destructive path to cope with all the shitty years life had dealt him. Now Ron simply talked with Harry about hilarious incidents of his exploits and betting with their friends on who Harry would take home that week or what their hair color would be. Harry loved them all, he truly did. Which is why he treasured Leena. Not just because she was good at her job of keeping Harry and his paperwork in order, but because she truly cared for him. He'd never let on that he knew she'd sent more than one (or four) hexes discreetly to gossiping employees saying very rude things about Harry.

Harry finally broke eye contact with Leena and began looking through the opened folder with Michael's poor handwriting. "Why yes, it was actually. Had enough sleep this time 'round and he didn't keep me all night trying to persuade me to be his new official lover, boyfriend, or husband," he chuckled. Harry was referring to a time when an Italian ambassador he'd met on an investigation and slept with, began showing up at the Ministry demanding he was Harry's lover, that they were to be engaged, and proceeded to weep on Harry's good hardwood desk that they were meant to be when Harry flat out refused and insisted he leave. That was the last straw for Leena and would've hexed the man to the moon for wetting her carefully put together paperwork if she did not know that it would be an international incident. Harry was mortified and had an earful from Shacklebolt, their head auror.

Leena could barely keep from rolling her eyes but folded her petite arms. "Well at least you're here early I suppose. The morning meeting is about to start soon, and I believe the head auror would like to speak about some changes and it concerns the potions case you've been heading." Harry looked up at this and didn't even question how she'd known what Shacklebolt was going to speak to them about. Leena would never reveal her sources and simply raised a manicured eyebrow at him when he asked one day. "Changes? My case? What? Why?" Harry asked closing the folder and giving her his full attention. She simply shrugged her shoulders and looked at her French manicured nails. "I'm not sure Mr. Potter, but I did hear there were several new recruits in a couple of departments, especially potions." Harry was about to pry a little more when Ron suddenly stepped through his office, hastily fasting the buttons on his official auror robes. "Oi, Harry! You're actually here! I really thought I'd have to track you down again! Come on! Shacklebolt seems to be in a foul mood this morning and he's been eyeing our case file."

"We didn't cock up anything on this case!" Harry said facing Ron and hearing a muttered "this time" from Leena. "This time!" parroted Harry.

Ron simply shrugged, fighting with the last button and muttering in agreement. "I have no idea mate, but I reckon we'd better at least be on time for this shite show."

Harry heaved a heavy sigh and raised from his comfortable seat. He really hoped they didn't cock up anything on this case. He and Ron have had worked on more than a dozen cases and lead teams together, always getting the best results, but not with a few incidents on more than several occasions. And an angry Shacklebolt means more work and headaches for them. He really, really, hoped that wasn't the case. He was having such a good morning too. Harry straightened his auror robes and walked around his desk to join Ron out of the door.

"So how was last night? Couldn't have been too bad since you're actually here on time," Ron said absently waving at a passing co-worker. Harry grinned and fell into the story of his most recent escapade when he suddenly spotted a distinctive head of silver blond hair. Harry abruptly stopped speaking and followed the head among the crowd as it made its way to the lifts. Harry knew that blond head of hair anywhere, but he had not seen it in years. Not since he the death eater trials, but it couldn't have been him…. right? "Harry? Harry! You there mate?!" Harry was brought back to the present by Ron waving his hand in front of his face. "What's the matter mate? You just stopped talking all of a sudden." Harry turned to face Ron with a small frown on his face.

"Sorry, I thought I saw someone I hadn't seen in a while. But it must have been my imagination," Harry muttered quickening his pace to the conference room.

"Hm? Who? Who'd you think you saw?" Ron was also quickening his pace just to keep up with Harry.

"I thought I saw….." Malfoy, but Harry couldn't say that out loud. It would just seem too weird to suddenly bring up the name of his old nemesis after a decade of disappearing. He didn't need to give them a reason for concern over his sanity. And thank Merlin he didn't have to. Because Ron said it first. "Oi! I don't believe it! I heard Malfoy was going to be at the Ministry, but I didn't think he'd actually do it!" Ron said now also spotting the back of silver blond head heading further and further away from them.

Harry whirled his head to Ron so quickly he heard a crack in his neck. "What?!" he screeched. Ron looked back at Harry and nodded his head.

"Yea, I know. Imagine that. I wonder what that's all about." But Harry wasn't listening as he felt his stomach flop as if he'd missed the last step on a staircase.

"Malfoy. Malfoy. Malfoy. Draco Malfoy" The chant kept repeating in his head. Harry felt his heart sped up and could not explain why. "Stupid git." Harry hated that Draco could still have this kind of reaction from him, like when he'd see him in the hallways at Hogwarts and braced himself for a fight. Braced himself to be near him to see those molten silver eyes spark in loathing and made his blood pump ferociously though his ears. Draco was always able to get a rise out of him; whether it was insulting his friends or competing for the snitch and it pissed Harry off to no end. "Well it won't happen this time. It's utterly ridiculous that I won't be able to keep it together because of that bastard." Harry resolutely nodded his head to himself and didn't notice the closed doors of the lifts until he ran into them and landed flat on his arse. "Fuck," Harry muttered with a crawling