Title: Process of Change (3/?)
Disclaimer: Characters belong to JKR and the challenge idea belongs to Jasper. So only the way the words appear on the page is my idea.
Rating: PG-13
Couple: Draco/Hermione
Spoilers: None
Summary: Redemption is a road wrought with many obstacles, not the least of which is the familiar comfort of 'old habits'.
Author's Notes: This story was written as part of a series of stories written for the Destruction Challenges on Cauldron Chronicles. The challenges come from a book called Life's Little Destruction Book. This one is #88: Sneer at people who try hard; it needs to be 500-5000 words long. There are extras that can be put into this one, but I think I will leave the extras to write individual stories on. :)
This story is a continuation of the stories Woman of Action and Opposite of Nice. If anyone is interested in reading the two stories that precede this one, you will soon be able to find them on my web site, and you can email me for them. Or you can join Cauldron Chronicles, if you haven't already, at and read them there. And while you're there you can take part in these challenges if you like.
Just some notes on the story: All the kids in Harry Potter are adults now and the core group works at the Ministry of Magic. So all of them are old enough for adult situations and we might just have to test that out later.;)
Please email me if you want to put this or any of my stories on your website. I never say no, but I like knowing which sites are supporting my writing. Thanks!
*~*~*
It was an amazing day. He couldn't have asked for better. His lips still burned from when they blazed a trail down Hermione's neck. He touched his tongue to them as he sat in his cubicle. He gave a satisfied sigh.
Something bumped the cubicle across from him. Weasley's workstation. Draco knew that Weasley had left. His mind flashed to the scene in the lobby when he and Hermione were faced off with Weasley. A part of him, an old part of him, reflexively smirked. He got the girl. But very quickly he reigned in that feeling and frowned at himself. That wasn't him anymore.
Draco stood up and walked around the row of cubicles and made his way to Weasley's. When he reached it, he saw who was making the noise over here. Potter was on his knees picking up papers that were strewn all over. Draco took inventory of Weasley's station. It was a mess. He must have torn it up after the park incident. When he looked down again, he realized Potter was looking up at him with an odd expression on his face.
This would have made him happy, years ago. First to have gotten Weasley so upset that the chap was throwing things around would have given him a special kind of happy. But also that Harry Potter was on his knees in front of him. His mind easily conjured up dozens of snide remarks that could be made at a time like this.
"Will he be all right?" Draco asked in stead. He knew his face was carefully schooled, as it usually was. He was careful not to show too much emotion at work. He was the Frost King. It was a nickname given to him by some of his co-workers. He didn't let it bother him, since he was purposefully hiding any emotion he could from the masses. But Potter was different. He was the closest Draco had come to having a friend at work. Everyone else avoided him like he were Voldemort back in the day. That was fine. But once in a while he'd be paired with Potter and Weasley on a case and so far Potter had been decent to him. Given everything that had happened at Hogwarts, decent was better than Draco had expected.
Potter was looking up at him with a very curious stare. Finally he nodded a little and resumed picking up papers. "I think he'll be fine. It'll just take him some time to adjust."
Draco nodded silently and looked over at the picture of Hermione on Weasley's desk. Well, it was a picture of the three of them, but Hermione was who he was drawn to first.
"It was quite a shock," Potter said suddenly, breaking Draco's thoughts. His eyes went back down to Potter. He didn't know what to say to that. He wasn't sorry it happened. It was about time that people knew he and Hermione had been dating. But he felt funny about leaving the statement unanswered. Instead of answering he knelt down and started to help Potter clean up. He could see Potter staring at him in shock out of his peripheral vision.
"It's not new."
"I gathered. Hermione doesn't strike me as the type to snog in public on the first date."
Draco smirked at that. "No, she isn't."
"So how many dates did it take?" Potter asked him.
"I assume you mean 'how long have you been dating.' Because otherwise it's none of your business." Again Potter was watching him with some astonishment and like he had expected the bragging. Draco handed the other man the stack of papers he had collected and began throwing obvious trash back into the waste can. "We've been seeing each other for a few months now."
He could see Potter nod a little. He looked like he had something on his mind. When Draco was done with the trash he looked at Potter. Potter was on both knees next to him, while Draco was on one knee. Anyone passing by probably would have been caught staring had the men been looking in their direction.
"Go on, Potter. You can say it," Draco said with an impassive look on his face.
"Say what?" Potter looked confused.
"Aren't you going to tell me that if I hurt her I'll be at the receiving end of your wand?" Draco wanted to smirk as if that would be a laughable threat. Instead he kept himself cool and let little emotion pass onto his face. Truthfully, he didn't want the threats, but he would understand them.
"No." Potter stood up and offered a hand to him. Draco's left eyebrow shot up and he clasped arms with him, letting Potter help him to his feet. Draco let go, but Potter held fast to his arm. Draco's ice-blue eyes touched green ones. "I suspect that if you hurt Hermione you would feel more pain than I could give you with my wand, or without it," he added.
Draco blinked, not trying to yank free of the other man. They stared at each other in silence for nearly a full minute. Draco could tell the office got real silent. They could be seen, now that they were standing, and most everyone looked as if they assumed Potter was doing the brotherly thing and threatening to beat the tar out of him. But Draco stopped worrying about them and what they thought and focused on what Potter had said. Yeah. If he hurt Hermione it would be far worse than what Potter could do to him. But that would only be true if he truly cared for the girl, and the way Potter had said it led Draco to believe Potter believed he cared for her. Finally he nodded.
"That's right," he said softly. "It would tear me up inside."
Potter smiled a little and let him go. "Well, then it wouldn't make much a difference what I'd do, would it? Although, I think it's only fair to warn you," he said, looking at Draco with a half-smile, "if Ron were to find out you hurt her, I don't think he'd care if what he could do to you would rival what you already felt. He'd try."
Draco smiled at that. He couldn't help it. Even though Potter was doing his best to be diplomatic in a difficult situation, he still found a way to fit a very deliberate but subtle threat in there somewhere. Maybe things were going to be ok after all. Weasley had made him start to think that the next few weeks were going to be a battle.
"Is everything ok here?" Hermione's voice sounded from beside them. Both of them looked over to her, relaxed and smiling. She looked confused.
"Yeah, everything's fine," Potter said. "Draco and I were just cleaning up Ron's station." He set the papers down on Ron's desk and Hermione stood there blinking at the other man. In truth Draco was surprised as well by the use of his first name. It was the first time Potter-or maybe he could just be Harry-had called him just Draco.
Hermione was looking at him and he couldn't help but smile at her tenderly. He knew Harry was staring, but he didn't care. He didn't want to hide how he felt anymore. Then he realized, Hermione was looking at him for conformation. She thought Harry was picking on him and hiding it. It was enough to make him laugh, but he refrained.
"Everything is fine, like Harry said. I just though he could use some help. Since this," he motioned to the half-cleaned mess, "is partly my fault."
"You trashed Ron's station," she asked with her eyebrows raised.
"No, that was Ron," Harry said.
"Well," she said looking from Harry to Draco, "then it's not your fault." He could see her back and shoulders stiffen a little at the talk of Weasley. She was mad that he didn't seem to understand the two of them together. But Draco didn't really expect that either of her friends would understand. He wondered if she secretly thought it would all just be ok. He wondered if she was aware that Weasley still coveted her. He thought about how he would feel right now if he were Weasley and something dark and dangerous rumbled in the back of his mind. He took a step towards Hermione, capturing her full attention.
"Don't be so hard on the bloke," Draco said softly so that only she and Harry could hear. "He still fancies you. Always has. And now he knows you're mine. I can see what's got him so upset. I wouldn't do so good if I lost you to anyone else, but I'd probably do worse if I lost you to someone I couldn't stand." He swallowed and purposely fixed his face into a blank look. He didn't want anyone to see how all of this affected him. He couldn't help but acknowledge the truth that ever since he'd broken away from his father and the teachings of the Dark Lord, he's wanted to bury the hatchet with Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. But even as he could not help but acknowledge that to himself, he did not want anyone else to know it. Hermione knew, but that was different. Besides, there were parts of him that still believed he deserved the treatment he got from the others. It didn't make the change harder, but rather easier.
Hermione was smiling at Draco as if he was some sort of demigod and it was intoxicating. He was wishing them on a park bench this moment, but was interrupted by Harry's tasteful clearing of his throat. He let his attention be drawn to the work space.
"Well, shall we?" he indicated to Harry and then started putting Weasley's writing utensils into the cup where he'd seen them before. Harry continued helping him and Hermione went back to her office. No doubt she had seen the pair in the cubicle and had come to rescue him. He thought that was sweet and planned to show his appreciation to her tonight.
"You're surprising," Harry said finally, after the cubicle was straightened up.
Draco just nodded, accepting that. Harry smiled and headed back to his own workspace. It felt good to be on this side of Potter and for the first time since he'd started as an Auror, he had to try not to smile to himself as he walked to his desk. The temptation to smile did not last, however, as he turned the corner around his cubicle to see his father lounging in his chair. Draco forced himself to keep from reacting.
"Father," he said stiffly, acknowledging the man he was growing to despise.
"Draco," his father acknowledged, his voice taking on the light almost sing- song nature it did when he talked to people he loathed. Well, at least it was mutual.
"What manner of hell has frozen over to make ready for this occasion?"
His father smiled, almost as if pleased by that response. "Interesting choice of words, dear Draco. Yesterday I would have thought it would take sub-zero weather in the pits of hell before my son dated a mudblood." Draco narrowed his eyes and tensed up. "Since it is obviously snowing there now, I dare say a lot of unexpected events will be occurring."
It was subtle. Too subtle to know whether his father's threat was serious or not.
"You don't control my life anymore. That includes who I see."
"So you say," Lucius said with a dangerous gleam in his eye.
"What do you think you're doing here?" they heard as Hermione came up the line of cubicles to stop at Draco's and glare at his father.
"Miss Granger. How lovely to see you," he said with a sneer.
"Yeah, I'm thrilled to see you too. Get out."
Lucius' eyebrows rose and Draco thought his father might burst into laughter. One thing Draco knew his father liked was a good challenge and he always found those people ballsy enough to confront him without fear the source of great challenges. When Lucius stood up to tower over Hermione, Draco let his hand visibly trail to his hip, where he kept his wand.
"Well now, Miss Granger, I'm not sure the Minister would share your enthusiasm for throwing me out of your offices. After all," he said, lazily looking around, "Malfoy money did pay for a great deal of this."
"Be that as it may, that does not give you the right to be here. You gave your money freely and the moment you did it became property of the Ministry of Magic. Therefore anything spent with that money also belongs to the Ministry. And since I am in charge of this particular office I will thank you to be on your way. You are not welcome to dally in these offices whenever you choose. Unless you have an appointment or business here, I suggest you go."
Draco almost swallowed his tongue. Where had this woman come from? Where was his soft and pliable Hermione? All of the sudden she very clearly fit the roll of Madam Enforcer.
He saw motion out of the corner of his eye and when he turned his head he saw Harry Potter coming to stand shoulder to shoulder with him, his wand pointed to the ground, but out nonetheless. Draco looked back at his father because to not see this reaction would have been criminal.
If possible, Lucius' face got more rigid as his eyes fell on Harry Potter. His eyes barely flicked to take in the odd sight of Draco and Harry standing side by side, but other than that, he didn't give as much of a reaction as Draco would have liked. It was almost disappointing.
When Draco's eyes met the similar eyes of his father, his head came up.
"Actually," Lucius said smoothly as he looked down at Hermione. "I did have business here. With you, actually. I was merely dropping by to pay my respects to my son."
Something wasn't right, because suddenly he seemed much more respectful than he ever had to Hermione. Draco looked at him passively, but he was very concerned about this new chain of events.
"I wasn't aware we had an appointment," she said icily.
"We do not. I apologize. I had thought that I could drop by to take a brief moment of your time without the hassle of an appointment. I will not make so grievous an error in the future." He accentuated his apology with a slight bow.
Hermione looked unsure, but she just nodded. She gestured for Lucius to precede her to her office and Draco felt alarm wash over him. He did not like the idea of Hermione being alone with his father.
"Are you sure?" Harry said, his thoughts obviously in line with Draco's own.
Hermione only nodded and made eye contact with Draco for a moment before following the senior Malfoy up the stairs.
It was an agonizing ten minutes before the office door opened. Harry, who had stayed at Draco's workspace incase he was needed, looked up as Draco did and watched as Lucius Malfoy descended the steps separating Hermione from the many Aurors under her care. Hermione watched him as Lucius walked out of the offices altogether, sending a small smile Draco's way. That smile chilled him.
Draco looked up, but Hermione was no longer at her office. Instead she was walking towards him and Harry.
"I have an assignment for you two."
Harry's eyebrows rose in question and he looked to Draco. Draco just nodded. Although he could not quite keep the worry out of his eyes, he was sure the rest of his face was blank.
"There is a family of muggles in the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes. Their child was kidnapped. There is evidence to lead us to believe a Dark Wizard was the kidnapper. I'd like the two of you and Ron to take this case." Draco nodded and gathered a stylus and some cut parchment. "I want you two to see what information you can get from the family before the Obliviators blur their memories."
"Meet me at my desk, I have to grab a few things," Harry said, throwing a small smile to Draco. He was giving Draco the opportunity to talk to Hermione. At that moment, Draco felt something akin to genuine friendliness towards Harry Potter. When Harry had left the two of them, Draco focused his attention to Hermione.
"What did he want?"
"For us to have dinner with him and your mother."
"No."
Hermione's eyebrows rose. "Draco, I already accepted."
Draco blinked. "What in the devil made you do that?"
"I don't know your mother."
"So?" Draco was looking at her as if he believed she might be suffering from some sort of mental deficiency.
"So, while I know your father is a prat, I have no idea what your mother is like, and I'm curious."
"Well, you could have asked. I'd have been happy to answer any question on my mother you had."
"Well, now I don't have to," she smiled sweetly before turning on her heel to go back to her office. Draco watched her leave for a moment and shook his head. He grabbed his stuff and met Harry by his desk, which was to the left of Weasley's. They left together and headed towards the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes.
"What did he want?" Harry asked after they were alone in the lift.
"To cause trouble," Draco said. "He invited Hermione and I to sup with he and my mother. She accepted."
Harry groaned, making Draco's lips turn into a half-smile. "My sentiments exactly."
When they reached the third level they made their way to the Obliviators' offices. There they were greeted by Neville Longbottom. He seemed to be surprised to see Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy walking side by side to his office. At the last minute, Draco decided to let Potter take charge of this part of the operation and he let himself trail a step behind so that Longbottom naturally would address Harry.
"Alright Harry?" Longbottom asked, shooting a furtive look towards Draco. Draco just leaned against the doorframe and gave a small dangerous smile. Some of his old self wanted to bleed through. He was actually considering what Longbottom would do if Draco growled at him. It might be fun to see him wet his pants.
"I'm fine, Neville. We're here to see the muggle family that's here."
Neville got a sad look on his face and nodded. He looked at Draco again, accusatory and less afraid. The look made Draco's chin raise as well as his ire. This was the part he always hated. Every time a Dark Wizard was blamed for something looks were given to Draco as if he had some knowledge of it or as if he had helped said Dark Wizard.
Draco followed Longbottom and Potter into a room where three scared muggles sat. The two older ones were obviously the parents of the child, while the other was possibly a brother of the missing child. He looked to be about seventeen years old, and obviously rattled.
"I'll take the boy," Draco said quietly after Potter had made the introductions. He led the boy into a small room and offered him a seat. He sat across from him in the room and took out his cut parchment and stylus. After speaking a command word, the stylus stood upright and was readied for recording. The muggle, Jeremy, stared at the sight with wonder.
"I'll be using this to record our conversation so it can be of some use to my co-workers." Jeremy just continued staring at the stylus as it wrote what Draco said. "Jeremy?" Finally Jeremy looked up and into the face of Draco.
"They took her," he said and the stylus wrote what he said.
"Who took her?"
"I don't know."
"What did they look like?"
"I-I don't know."
Perhaps it was the stress that he felt at a dinner with his parents or maybe it was the way Longbottom kept staring in at him suspiciously from the doorway, but Draco suddenly had no patience to call his own.
"What were they wearing?"
"I don't know."
Draco sneered. It was obvious the boy was scared but this was not productive.
"Well, were you present when the child was kidnapped?" Jeremy nodded. "Well then, can you tell me anything at all about what happened."
Jeremy looked up at Draco for a moment. "They took her."
Draco's sneer deepened and he rolled his eyes. "Obviously."
There was a knock at the door and Harry was there. Draco blinked like he was coming out of some trance. His eyes went to the content of the parchment and he read what he had said. Shame flooded him.
"Is everything ok here?" Harry said, looking primarily at Draco.
Draco nodded and looked from Jeremy to Harry. "He's frightened."
"Can you handle it?" Harry asked. Draco thought about that for a moment and then nodded.
Harry nodded before leaving, pulling the door shut.
"I apologize, Jeremy. Let's start again." Jeremy nodded. "Is there something I can get you? Coffee maybe?" He shook his head. "Ok. Any help you could give us will ensure your sister comes back safe and sound. Can you remember anything about that night?" Draco carefully schooled his expression into one of concern.
"It was dark. And, I think he was wearing a dress." Jeremy's eyes went to Draco's black robe.
"Like this?" Draco asked. Jeremy nodded, turning his attention back to the stylus.
"His hair was long. He had a midget with him. It was bald with big ears." Jeremy just seemed to focus on the stylus as he talked. It seemed to help, so Draco tried to do nothing to needlessly draw his attention away from it. He turned the pages of the parchment slowly, hoping that the action would not distract the boy from the train of thought he was on.
"Is there anything else?"
Jeremy shook his head and finally looked from the stylus to Draco. "'Cept the tattoo."
Draco's skin started to tingle.
"Can you describe it?"
Jeremy nodded and immediately and accurately described the Dark Mark to the very location they were usually placed.
When Draco finally rejoined Potter and Longbottom he had everything he could get from the boy. Harry looked at him and he nodded to confirm that it was indeed a Dark Wizard that took the young girl.
"Take care of them," Harry said to Neville. Neville just nodded with a sad smile and wished Harry good luck. He said nothing to Draco.
As they walked back to the lift that would take them to their own floor Harry was glancing at him.
"What?" Draco asked finally.
"It bothers you, doesn't it?"
"What does?"
"That you're still lumped with the Dark Wizards."
Draco stepped onto the lift, followed by Harry and waited for the witch to leave it. When the doors closed he sighed.
"Compared to many of the wizards around here, I am a Dark Wizard."
"I suppose. But some things are different," Harry said softly.
Draco smiled a little and nodded. "Some things are the same, though," he said as he pushed the sleeve of his robe and shirt up to reveal the ugly black mark that Jeremy described so perfectly moments before.
Disclaimer: Characters belong to JKR and the challenge idea belongs to Jasper. So only the way the words appear on the page is my idea.
Rating: PG-13
Couple: Draco/Hermione
Spoilers: None
Summary: Redemption is a road wrought with many obstacles, not the least of which is the familiar comfort of 'old habits'.
Author's Notes: This story was written as part of a series of stories written for the Destruction Challenges on Cauldron Chronicles. The challenges come from a book called Life's Little Destruction Book. This one is #88: Sneer at people who try hard; it needs to be 500-5000 words long. There are extras that can be put into this one, but I think I will leave the extras to write individual stories on. :)
This story is a continuation of the stories Woman of Action and Opposite of Nice. If anyone is interested in reading the two stories that precede this one, you will soon be able to find them on my web site, and you can email me for them. Or you can join Cauldron Chronicles, if you haven't already, at and read them there. And while you're there you can take part in these challenges if you like.
Just some notes on the story: All the kids in Harry Potter are adults now and the core group works at the Ministry of Magic. So all of them are old enough for adult situations and we might just have to test that out later.;)
Please email me if you want to put this or any of my stories on your website. I never say no, but I like knowing which sites are supporting my writing. Thanks!
*~*~*
It was an amazing day. He couldn't have asked for better. His lips still burned from when they blazed a trail down Hermione's neck. He touched his tongue to them as he sat in his cubicle. He gave a satisfied sigh.
Something bumped the cubicle across from him. Weasley's workstation. Draco knew that Weasley had left. His mind flashed to the scene in the lobby when he and Hermione were faced off with Weasley. A part of him, an old part of him, reflexively smirked. He got the girl. But very quickly he reigned in that feeling and frowned at himself. That wasn't him anymore.
Draco stood up and walked around the row of cubicles and made his way to Weasley's. When he reached it, he saw who was making the noise over here. Potter was on his knees picking up papers that were strewn all over. Draco took inventory of Weasley's station. It was a mess. He must have torn it up after the park incident. When he looked down again, he realized Potter was looking up at him with an odd expression on his face.
This would have made him happy, years ago. First to have gotten Weasley so upset that the chap was throwing things around would have given him a special kind of happy. But also that Harry Potter was on his knees in front of him. His mind easily conjured up dozens of snide remarks that could be made at a time like this.
"Will he be all right?" Draco asked in stead. He knew his face was carefully schooled, as it usually was. He was careful not to show too much emotion at work. He was the Frost King. It was a nickname given to him by some of his co-workers. He didn't let it bother him, since he was purposefully hiding any emotion he could from the masses. But Potter was different. He was the closest Draco had come to having a friend at work. Everyone else avoided him like he were Voldemort back in the day. That was fine. But once in a while he'd be paired with Potter and Weasley on a case and so far Potter had been decent to him. Given everything that had happened at Hogwarts, decent was better than Draco had expected.
Potter was looking up at him with a very curious stare. Finally he nodded a little and resumed picking up papers. "I think he'll be fine. It'll just take him some time to adjust."
Draco nodded silently and looked over at the picture of Hermione on Weasley's desk. Well, it was a picture of the three of them, but Hermione was who he was drawn to first.
"It was quite a shock," Potter said suddenly, breaking Draco's thoughts. His eyes went back down to Potter. He didn't know what to say to that. He wasn't sorry it happened. It was about time that people knew he and Hermione had been dating. But he felt funny about leaving the statement unanswered. Instead of answering he knelt down and started to help Potter clean up. He could see Potter staring at him in shock out of his peripheral vision.
"It's not new."
"I gathered. Hermione doesn't strike me as the type to snog in public on the first date."
Draco smirked at that. "No, she isn't."
"So how many dates did it take?" Potter asked him.
"I assume you mean 'how long have you been dating.' Because otherwise it's none of your business." Again Potter was watching him with some astonishment and like he had expected the bragging. Draco handed the other man the stack of papers he had collected and began throwing obvious trash back into the waste can. "We've been seeing each other for a few months now."
He could see Potter nod a little. He looked like he had something on his mind. When Draco was done with the trash he looked at Potter. Potter was on both knees next to him, while Draco was on one knee. Anyone passing by probably would have been caught staring had the men been looking in their direction.
"Go on, Potter. You can say it," Draco said with an impassive look on his face.
"Say what?" Potter looked confused.
"Aren't you going to tell me that if I hurt her I'll be at the receiving end of your wand?" Draco wanted to smirk as if that would be a laughable threat. Instead he kept himself cool and let little emotion pass onto his face. Truthfully, he didn't want the threats, but he would understand them.
"No." Potter stood up and offered a hand to him. Draco's left eyebrow shot up and he clasped arms with him, letting Potter help him to his feet. Draco let go, but Potter held fast to his arm. Draco's ice-blue eyes touched green ones. "I suspect that if you hurt Hermione you would feel more pain than I could give you with my wand, or without it," he added.
Draco blinked, not trying to yank free of the other man. They stared at each other in silence for nearly a full minute. Draco could tell the office got real silent. They could be seen, now that they were standing, and most everyone looked as if they assumed Potter was doing the brotherly thing and threatening to beat the tar out of him. But Draco stopped worrying about them and what they thought and focused on what Potter had said. Yeah. If he hurt Hermione it would be far worse than what Potter could do to him. But that would only be true if he truly cared for the girl, and the way Potter had said it led Draco to believe Potter believed he cared for her. Finally he nodded.
"That's right," he said softly. "It would tear me up inside."
Potter smiled a little and let him go. "Well, then it wouldn't make much a difference what I'd do, would it? Although, I think it's only fair to warn you," he said, looking at Draco with a half-smile, "if Ron were to find out you hurt her, I don't think he'd care if what he could do to you would rival what you already felt. He'd try."
Draco smiled at that. He couldn't help it. Even though Potter was doing his best to be diplomatic in a difficult situation, he still found a way to fit a very deliberate but subtle threat in there somewhere. Maybe things were going to be ok after all. Weasley had made him start to think that the next few weeks were going to be a battle.
"Is everything ok here?" Hermione's voice sounded from beside them. Both of them looked over to her, relaxed and smiling. She looked confused.
"Yeah, everything's fine," Potter said. "Draco and I were just cleaning up Ron's station." He set the papers down on Ron's desk and Hermione stood there blinking at the other man. In truth Draco was surprised as well by the use of his first name. It was the first time Potter-or maybe he could just be Harry-had called him just Draco.
Hermione was looking at him and he couldn't help but smile at her tenderly. He knew Harry was staring, but he didn't care. He didn't want to hide how he felt anymore. Then he realized, Hermione was looking at him for conformation. She thought Harry was picking on him and hiding it. It was enough to make him laugh, but he refrained.
"Everything is fine, like Harry said. I just though he could use some help. Since this," he motioned to the half-cleaned mess, "is partly my fault."
"You trashed Ron's station," she asked with her eyebrows raised.
"No, that was Ron," Harry said.
"Well," she said looking from Harry to Draco, "then it's not your fault." He could see her back and shoulders stiffen a little at the talk of Weasley. She was mad that he didn't seem to understand the two of them together. But Draco didn't really expect that either of her friends would understand. He wondered if she secretly thought it would all just be ok. He wondered if she was aware that Weasley still coveted her. He thought about how he would feel right now if he were Weasley and something dark and dangerous rumbled in the back of his mind. He took a step towards Hermione, capturing her full attention.
"Don't be so hard on the bloke," Draco said softly so that only she and Harry could hear. "He still fancies you. Always has. And now he knows you're mine. I can see what's got him so upset. I wouldn't do so good if I lost you to anyone else, but I'd probably do worse if I lost you to someone I couldn't stand." He swallowed and purposely fixed his face into a blank look. He didn't want anyone to see how all of this affected him. He couldn't help but acknowledge the truth that ever since he'd broken away from his father and the teachings of the Dark Lord, he's wanted to bury the hatchet with Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. But even as he could not help but acknowledge that to himself, he did not want anyone else to know it. Hermione knew, but that was different. Besides, there were parts of him that still believed he deserved the treatment he got from the others. It didn't make the change harder, but rather easier.
Hermione was smiling at Draco as if he was some sort of demigod and it was intoxicating. He was wishing them on a park bench this moment, but was interrupted by Harry's tasteful clearing of his throat. He let his attention be drawn to the work space.
"Well, shall we?" he indicated to Harry and then started putting Weasley's writing utensils into the cup where he'd seen them before. Harry continued helping him and Hermione went back to her office. No doubt she had seen the pair in the cubicle and had come to rescue him. He thought that was sweet and planned to show his appreciation to her tonight.
"You're surprising," Harry said finally, after the cubicle was straightened up.
Draco just nodded, accepting that. Harry smiled and headed back to his own workspace. It felt good to be on this side of Potter and for the first time since he'd started as an Auror, he had to try not to smile to himself as he walked to his desk. The temptation to smile did not last, however, as he turned the corner around his cubicle to see his father lounging in his chair. Draco forced himself to keep from reacting.
"Father," he said stiffly, acknowledging the man he was growing to despise.
"Draco," his father acknowledged, his voice taking on the light almost sing- song nature it did when he talked to people he loathed. Well, at least it was mutual.
"What manner of hell has frozen over to make ready for this occasion?"
His father smiled, almost as if pleased by that response. "Interesting choice of words, dear Draco. Yesterday I would have thought it would take sub-zero weather in the pits of hell before my son dated a mudblood." Draco narrowed his eyes and tensed up. "Since it is obviously snowing there now, I dare say a lot of unexpected events will be occurring."
It was subtle. Too subtle to know whether his father's threat was serious or not.
"You don't control my life anymore. That includes who I see."
"So you say," Lucius said with a dangerous gleam in his eye.
"What do you think you're doing here?" they heard as Hermione came up the line of cubicles to stop at Draco's and glare at his father.
"Miss Granger. How lovely to see you," he said with a sneer.
"Yeah, I'm thrilled to see you too. Get out."
Lucius' eyebrows rose and Draco thought his father might burst into laughter. One thing Draco knew his father liked was a good challenge and he always found those people ballsy enough to confront him without fear the source of great challenges. When Lucius stood up to tower over Hermione, Draco let his hand visibly trail to his hip, where he kept his wand.
"Well now, Miss Granger, I'm not sure the Minister would share your enthusiasm for throwing me out of your offices. After all," he said, lazily looking around, "Malfoy money did pay for a great deal of this."
"Be that as it may, that does not give you the right to be here. You gave your money freely and the moment you did it became property of the Ministry of Magic. Therefore anything spent with that money also belongs to the Ministry. And since I am in charge of this particular office I will thank you to be on your way. You are not welcome to dally in these offices whenever you choose. Unless you have an appointment or business here, I suggest you go."
Draco almost swallowed his tongue. Where had this woman come from? Where was his soft and pliable Hermione? All of the sudden she very clearly fit the roll of Madam Enforcer.
He saw motion out of the corner of his eye and when he turned his head he saw Harry Potter coming to stand shoulder to shoulder with him, his wand pointed to the ground, but out nonetheless. Draco looked back at his father because to not see this reaction would have been criminal.
If possible, Lucius' face got more rigid as his eyes fell on Harry Potter. His eyes barely flicked to take in the odd sight of Draco and Harry standing side by side, but other than that, he didn't give as much of a reaction as Draco would have liked. It was almost disappointing.
When Draco's eyes met the similar eyes of his father, his head came up.
"Actually," Lucius said smoothly as he looked down at Hermione. "I did have business here. With you, actually. I was merely dropping by to pay my respects to my son."
Something wasn't right, because suddenly he seemed much more respectful than he ever had to Hermione. Draco looked at him passively, but he was very concerned about this new chain of events.
"I wasn't aware we had an appointment," she said icily.
"We do not. I apologize. I had thought that I could drop by to take a brief moment of your time without the hassle of an appointment. I will not make so grievous an error in the future." He accentuated his apology with a slight bow.
Hermione looked unsure, but she just nodded. She gestured for Lucius to precede her to her office and Draco felt alarm wash over him. He did not like the idea of Hermione being alone with his father.
"Are you sure?" Harry said, his thoughts obviously in line with Draco's own.
Hermione only nodded and made eye contact with Draco for a moment before following the senior Malfoy up the stairs.
It was an agonizing ten minutes before the office door opened. Harry, who had stayed at Draco's workspace incase he was needed, looked up as Draco did and watched as Lucius Malfoy descended the steps separating Hermione from the many Aurors under her care. Hermione watched him as Lucius walked out of the offices altogether, sending a small smile Draco's way. That smile chilled him.
Draco looked up, but Hermione was no longer at her office. Instead she was walking towards him and Harry.
"I have an assignment for you two."
Harry's eyebrows rose in question and he looked to Draco. Draco just nodded. Although he could not quite keep the worry out of his eyes, he was sure the rest of his face was blank.
"There is a family of muggles in the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes. Their child was kidnapped. There is evidence to lead us to believe a Dark Wizard was the kidnapper. I'd like the two of you and Ron to take this case." Draco nodded and gathered a stylus and some cut parchment. "I want you two to see what information you can get from the family before the Obliviators blur their memories."
"Meet me at my desk, I have to grab a few things," Harry said, throwing a small smile to Draco. He was giving Draco the opportunity to talk to Hermione. At that moment, Draco felt something akin to genuine friendliness towards Harry Potter. When Harry had left the two of them, Draco focused his attention to Hermione.
"What did he want?"
"For us to have dinner with him and your mother."
"No."
Hermione's eyebrows rose. "Draco, I already accepted."
Draco blinked. "What in the devil made you do that?"
"I don't know your mother."
"So?" Draco was looking at her as if he believed she might be suffering from some sort of mental deficiency.
"So, while I know your father is a prat, I have no idea what your mother is like, and I'm curious."
"Well, you could have asked. I'd have been happy to answer any question on my mother you had."
"Well, now I don't have to," she smiled sweetly before turning on her heel to go back to her office. Draco watched her leave for a moment and shook his head. He grabbed his stuff and met Harry by his desk, which was to the left of Weasley's. They left together and headed towards the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes.
"What did he want?" Harry asked after they were alone in the lift.
"To cause trouble," Draco said. "He invited Hermione and I to sup with he and my mother. She accepted."
Harry groaned, making Draco's lips turn into a half-smile. "My sentiments exactly."
When they reached the third level they made their way to the Obliviators' offices. There they were greeted by Neville Longbottom. He seemed to be surprised to see Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy walking side by side to his office. At the last minute, Draco decided to let Potter take charge of this part of the operation and he let himself trail a step behind so that Longbottom naturally would address Harry.
"Alright Harry?" Longbottom asked, shooting a furtive look towards Draco. Draco just leaned against the doorframe and gave a small dangerous smile. Some of his old self wanted to bleed through. He was actually considering what Longbottom would do if Draco growled at him. It might be fun to see him wet his pants.
"I'm fine, Neville. We're here to see the muggle family that's here."
Neville got a sad look on his face and nodded. He looked at Draco again, accusatory and less afraid. The look made Draco's chin raise as well as his ire. This was the part he always hated. Every time a Dark Wizard was blamed for something looks were given to Draco as if he had some knowledge of it or as if he had helped said Dark Wizard.
Draco followed Longbottom and Potter into a room where three scared muggles sat. The two older ones were obviously the parents of the child, while the other was possibly a brother of the missing child. He looked to be about seventeen years old, and obviously rattled.
"I'll take the boy," Draco said quietly after Potter had made the introductions. He led the boy into a small room and offered him a seat. He sat across from him in the room and took out his cut parchment and stylus. After speaking a command word, the stylus stood upright and was readied for recording. The muggle, Jeremy, stared at the sight with wonder.
"I'll be using this to record our conversation so it can be of some use to my co-workers." Jeremy just continued staring at the stylus as it wrote what Draco said. "Jeremy?" Finally Jeremy looked up and into the face of Draco.
"They took her," he said and the stylus wrote what he said.
"Who took her?"
"I don't know."
"What did they look like?"
"I-I don't know."
Perhaps it was the stress that he felt at a dinner with his parents or maybe it was the way Longbottom kept staring in at him suspiciously from the doorway, but Draco suddenly had no patience to call his own.
"What were they wearing?"
"I don't know."
Draco sneered. It was obvious the boy was scared but this was not productive.
"Well, were you present when the child was kidnapped?" Jeremy nodded. "Well then, can you tell me anything at all about what happened."
Jeremy looked up at Draco for a moment. "They took her."
Draco's sneer deepened and he rolled his eyes. "Obviously."
There was a knock at the door and Harry was there. Draco blinked like he was coming out of some trance. His eyes went to the content of the parchment and he read what he had said. Shame flooded him.
"Is everything ok here?" Harry said, looking primarily at Draco.
Draco nodded and looked from Jeremy to Harry. "He's frightened."
"Can you handle it?" Harry asked. Draco thought about that for a moment and then nodded.
Harry nodded before leaving, pulling the door shut.
"I apologize, Jeremy. Let's start again." Jeremy nodded. "Is there something I can get you? Coffee maybe?" He shook his head. "Ok. Any help you could give us will ensure your sister comes back safe and sound. Can you remember anything about that night?" Draco carefully schooled his expression into one of concern.
"It was dark. And, I think he was wearing a dress." Jeremy's eyes went to Draco's black robe.
"Like this?" Draco asked. Jeremy nodded, turning his attention back to the stylus.
"His hair was long. He had a midget with him. It was bald with big ears." Jeremy just seemed to focus on the stylus as he talked. It seemed to help, so Draco tried to do nothing to needlessly draw his attention away from it. He turned the pages of the parchment slowly, hoping that the action would not distract the boy from the train of thought he was on.
"Is there anything else?"
Jeremy shook his head and finally looked from the stylus to Draco. "'Cept the tattoo."
Draco's skin started to tingle.
"Can you describe it?"
Jeremy nodded and immediately and accurately described the Dark Mark to the very location they were usually placed.
When Draco finally rejoined Potter and Longbottom he had everything he could get from the boy. Harry looked at him and he nodded to confirm that it was indeed a Dark Wizard that took the young girl.
"Take care of them," Harry said to Neville. Neville just nodded with a sad smile and wished Harry good luck. He said nothing to Draco.
As they walked back to the lift that would take them to their own floor Harry was glancing at him.
"What?" Draco asked finally.
"It bothers you, doesn't it?"
"What does?"
"That you're still lumped with the Dark Wizards."
Draco stepped onto the lift, followed by Harry and waited for the witch to leave it. When the doors closed he sighed.
"Compared to many of the wizards around here, I am a Dark Wizard."
"I suppose. But some things are different," Harry said softly.
Draco smiled a little and nodded. "Some things are the same, though," he said as he pushed the sleeve of his robe and shirt up to reveal the ugly black mark that Jeremy described so perfectly moments before.