When Voldemort was officially proclaimed alive and active once more by former minister, Cornelius Fudge, the wizarding world went into a state of chaos. In response to this the hard-as-nails new minister of magic, Rufus Scrimgeour, brought back an old system of law and order that dated back to the golden age of wizardry: the bounty hunters. Draco Malfoy, who has betrayed Voldemort after his father and mother are murdered, now is a licensed bounty hunter employed by the Ministry of Magic. This is his story. . .

The Sword Of Govannon Part One

Joyous laughter was heard from the inside of Krugen's Fancies shop at Knockturn Alley as Draco Malfoy and his two companions, stood in front of the door, wands raised, waiting patiently for Daniel Mulciber to emerge from the inside. It was around one o'clock in the morning and one of his companions, a tall and muscular man, attempted to stifle a yawn but it came through regardless.

"Quiet you," Draco reprimanded him, softly, "if you mess this up for me, you won't get a single knut of the reward."

Draco Malfoy had been after Mulciber for about a month. A whole month of nothing but leads that turned up fruitless. However this time, he had finally struck gold. His informant had tipped him off that Mulicber was buying illegal Dark Arts objects from a dealer here and Draco followed up this lead which, to his surprise, turned out to be correct.

He heard a noise coming from the inside of the shop and he motioned for the others to hide. They scattered to either side of him while Draco waited patiently outside for Mulicber to come out. The door creaked open and he heard Mulciber giving the dealer a hearty fair well. Draco magiced the door closed and Muliciber looked sharply ahead of him and saw Draco there, standing tall in the darkness, his Fedora hat low over his face and wand pointing directly at Mulciber.

"Long time no see, Mulciber," he uttered, with a smile.

Mulicber's eyes widened and he reached for his wand but Draco threw a spell at him and Mulciber slumped back against the door with a simple thud. His companions emerged from the shadows and came over to him. Seeing the shocked look on one of their faces, Draco told them "He'll be alright. I just stunned him."

Together, the three of them carried him off to Diagon Alley and they apparated in front of the ministry of magic, bringing with them Mulciber's body via side-along appariation. Draco was used to getting funny looks when he brought in new bounty heads but it never ceased to amuse him. During the time since he became a bounty hunter, Draco had earned a reputation as being one of the bounty hunters that actually surpassed some aurors in dark wizard detection. He even had a nickname, 'The Dentist', because he once beat up a bounty head with his bare hands, knocking out most of his teeth. Bounty hunting wasn't much of a living, but Draco enjoyed it immensely. He used the galleons he earned to buy a small cottage in Hogsmeade and buy assorted luxuries.

After collecting his money and distributing it to his assistants, Draco took out his address book and looked up an old name on there. It had been awhile since he had talked to her but he still thought about her often and he always meant to call on her, though he was very busy. Now, however, he found sometime to visit her and he was greatly looking forward to it. Unlike his visit with Crabbe, he was planning on visiting this person for more pleasant reasons.

Draco apparated in front of Pansy Parkinson's house. He checked his surrounding, as he always did after he apparated and saw a suburban street that looked very muggle-like. Way too muggle like for Draco. However, he didn't mind as long as he was able to see Pansy. In front of him was the house he needed to go to. It was a beautiful white house, not as big or as rich as Draco's but still a very nice house. It looked similar to a small suburban house that Draco saw in the muggle neighborhoods. He strode up to the front steps of the house and straightened his tie a bit. He then flicked his wand and a bouquet of flowers came out. Draco took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

The door opened. In front of Draco stood a rather large woman with a face that had Pansy's likeness. She was looking rather irriated but Draco chose to ignore this fact. "Mrs. Parkinson," Draco said to her smiling ,"Is your daughter home?"

Mrs. Parkinson looked at him frowning but then broke into a smile as she recognized who it was. "Ah its you, Draco!" she said, "I thought you might have been someone from the ministry, with the way your dressed. Come in, come in." She ushered Draco into her home and he came in willingly.

As she led him in, he noticed that the interior was as dreadfully ordinary and beautiful as was the outside. All the comforts of a small suburban home. It had a nice kitchen with a stove, a series of countertops, and even a refrigerator. In the living room was an assortment of still pictures of Pansy and her mom just as any good muggle family should have. There was also a nice couch with a fireplaces sitting in front of it. All the comforts of a regular, ordinary, muggle suburban home. Mrs. Parkinson noticed him looking around and said hurriedly "She's upstairs dear." Draco thanked her and proceeded up the stairs, slowly. He walked over to Pansy Parkinson's room and knocked.

Pansy Parkinson opened the door. She was a short girl with a squished nose and wide forehead with very defined cheekbones. She was pretty in a sense, but Draco didn't like her because of her beauty. At the moment she was dressed in a red t-shirt and jeans. She took a couple of seconds to register who it was. When she finally realized she screamed "Draco!" and threw herself onto him.

Draco smiled at her and kissed her tenderly on the forehead then said in an almost exhausted way "How are you doing Pansy?"

"Excellent! Thank you so much for visiting me!" she said excitedly.

Pansy seemed ecstatic that Draco had visited her. Indeed, she was almost always ecstatic when Draco was around. She took his coat and the flowers and led him inside her room. "I've been so worried about you, Draco," she said, taking a seat on her bed. Draco remained standing. "Ever since you joined the dark lord, I've been afraid for you. With all the ministry raids and stuff going around. . ." At hearing the Dark Lord mentioned, Draco grasped his arm rather abruptly but otherwise showed no emotion.

"Pansy," he interrupted, "I don't serve the Dark Lord anymore. I'm a bounty hunter working for the ministry of magic."

Pansy looked slightly taken aback but she recovered herself and replied slightly quieter, "What made you decide to stop serving the Dark Lord?"

"Listen, Pansy." he said, slightly anxious, "I deserted the Dark Lord because he had my parents killed. Maybe I made a mistake I don't know. . .but joining him had decreased my chance of survival and I got out of it. I have been asked to commit so many crimes that would land me in Azkaban for the rest of my life. . . I just didn't think it was worth it." Pansy gave him a startled look. This certainly wasn't the Draco she remembered from school "You know why I'm telling you this don't you?" Pansy shook her head. "Well, maybe you will. Listen," Draco took out his planner and scanned it for a second, then asked, "Are you free on Tuesday? We could go to Hogsmeade and, I dunno, hang out?"

Pansy hesitated for a second, smiled and then said. "I would love to."

"Excellent!" said Draco grinning, "I have to go take care of something now. Sorry that I couldn't stay longer. Bye now." Pansy was startled at Draco's behavior and his abrupt exit but she was still happy at the prospect on going on a real date with Draco Malfoy.

Draco Malfoy bid Mrs. Parkinson farewell and he walked out the door his hands stuffed in the pockets of his trench coat. It was December 27th and he had completely forgotten about Christmas but it seemed a silly thing now. He didn't miss Christmas as much as he thought he would. Every day was just another day to him and he was satisfied with that. As long as he head bounty heads to go after, he was happy.

And now Draco Malfoy, feeling satisfied that he took care of that thing with Pansy, strolled towards the Ministry of Magic once more for new bounty heads. He had two days before he met Pansy Parkinson again and he wanted to kill some time. When he got to the Bounty Head office, he scanned the pictures of death eaters and other criminals on his list. There were many bounty heads he could've taken but one in particular caught his eye. Bellatrix Lestrange. It had only been two months previously since he almost re admitted himself into the service of Voldemort when he went after Fenrir Greyback. He was at their mercy that, but he smiled to himself to think of those roles reversed. 'Oh that would be so sweet if I could capture her!' Draco thought to himself gleefully 'There is a problem with that though. Bellatrix is a very loyal and important death eater. There's no way I can take her by myself. I'm going to need to get some help. Those bozos who worked with me last time won't be any good but I think I can find someone.'

He pondered some names of people who he knew might be interested. Goyle was one name that crossed his mind, but he knew that was impossible because his father was a death eater and he would never agree to it. Crabbe could probably be forced to do it, but he would only help him out of fear rather then friendship and would run away as soon as real trouble came around. One particular name came to mind though. 'Nott!' thought Draco suddenly. 'he'll help me, if I can convince him.'

Draco had begun to take out his address book and look for Nott when suddenly he heard screaming coming from outside the Ministry of Magic. Draco instinctively took out his wand and ran outside quickly. Draco was shocked at what he saw. Two giants were heading to the Ministry of Magic building. They were huge, monstrous things that shook the ground as they walked. People were running from the giants, trying to get into the ministry of magic. They were screaming. The giants enjoyed the terror, laughing. Then one of the giants stopped, scooped up a whole bunch of people, and stuffed them in it's mouth. 'Whoa' thought Draco fearfully as he observed the scene, 'Man-eaters'. Charging in front of the giants were at least 60 death eaters . The Death Eaters were all cloaked figures, not unlike dementors (there may have been some dementors in that army for all he knew.) and they were all shooting spells at whomever they saw. A hellish scream of an army that had an indecent enjoyment in the slaughter of innocents was heard across the area. Down below him, he saw that the Ministry's aurors were being beaten back and Draco wondered if it was worth risking his life for.

It only took a few seconds for Draco to consider this. Then he smiled to himself. ' Well.' thought Draco 'What else should I do? Run? It might be fun even' Draco drew his sword from his cane and jumped down the stairs that sat below him. A couple of aurors were ahead of him, dueling the death eaters below but they were in trouble. Draco was greatly outnumbered as he jumped down to face the death eaters but suddenly he didn't care. He was possessed with a warriors spirit that happened whenever he was ever afraid to do something. It made him mad and it drove him to do things that ordinary people would never do. Every single person in this world possesses a spirit such as this. If you don't allow yourself to be afraid, it can happen to you too but now it filled Draco as he yelled out with furious anger. Draco charged the death eaters , screaming a challenge and throwing spells and slicing open bodies with his sword, so that the streets were littered with blood and human remains. He would duck a spell and throw one out again then would charge the first death eater he saw and slice him open with his sword. He did this at least 10 times as if it was instinct and his enemies became fearful. They started to run away and the aurors stunned the ones who fled. Then the giants, seeing that their comrades were running, charged Draco with furiously, who was alone by himself. Draco dropped his sword and took out his other wand so that he had one in both hands for extra power. He and the aurors shot volleys at the giant until at last he started to collapse. Draco ran out of the way of the falling giant and he heard a gigantic THUD behind him. Then the other giant started charging the aurors and died in a similar fashion. The death eaters regrouped and tried to charge again but Draco was not intimidated and he spat death in the face, charging the death eaters all by himself. He killed two death eaters before the remaining 20 fled and still he shouted curses and spells towards them . The stairs leading up to the atrium were littered with corpses and it was deserted but still Draco screamed challenges at invisible opponents and shot spells out. He kept cursing and screaming until another auror came up and touched him on the shoulder and Draco took up his sword and had begun to slash downwards but stopped himself when he recognized the face of Kingsley Shacklebolt looking at him with fearful eyes. Then Draco collapsed from exhaustion.

Draco opened his eyes finally and stared up into the face of Kingsley Shacklebolt, who was becoming a familiar sight to him He was in a what looked like an office and he was lying on a couch. "Not you again," Draco moaned. Kingsley chose to ignore this and instead drew up a chair with his wand and sat down.

"Mr. Malfoy, do you have any idea what you did?" asked Kingsley with the same astonished voice that he heard in Fenrir Greyback's hut. Draco shook his head. "You just killed fifteen death eaters single handedly." said Kingsley, who seemed not able to believe it. "That's amazing. Absolutely amazing. Nothing like this has ever happened. Not for a long, long time. "

Kingsley continued to stare at Draco thoughtfully, while Draco seemed pleased that Kingsley was so impressed "It happens. It's no secret I'm good at these sorts of things. You saw it for yourself at Greyback's place." he said with just a hint of gleefulness.

"Yes well," Kingsley coughed, "your going to receive the Order of Merlin Third Class for contributions to the war against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and his followers. Congratulations." Kingsley extended his hand. Draco didn't shake it but instead looked at Kingsley rather confused.

"So. . . Order of Merlin Third Class. . . That's rather sudden. . .What does that mean exactly?" Draco asked.

Kingsley raised his eyebrows. "You've never heard of it? It's basically just an honorary award given to people who helped the ministry in something, that's all."

Draco scowled. "Are you telling me. . ." Draco started menacingly. "that all I will receive for risking my neck for this stupid Ministry . .is a trophy? There must be some kind of bounty on one of those Death Eaters. "

"Nope," responded Kingsley, "Most of these Death Eaters were new meat. None of them are important enough to be worth any kind of money."

"Aw, bullshit!" Draco yelled furiously, "What am I going to do with a trophy? Eat it? I don't need a trophy, I need money."

"Well I suppose you could sell it," suggested Kingsley.

Draco paused as he absorbed these words and then laughed at Kingsley's joke. He stopped after a moment and frowned again as he considered something else. "I hope there's not going to be a presentation award or something stupid like that, is there? Cause I would refuse to go then."

"Oh no," said Kingsley. He tossed him a small bronze trophy and Draco barely caught it. He turned it around and saw inscribed on it 'Order of Merlin Third Class' "It doesn't have to be formal if you don't want it to be. Now if you'll excuse me I must be off now. Good bye."

Draco sat there, dumbfounded. Then he burst out laughing. The whole idea of this was just hilarious. 'What a bunch of pigs!' Draco thought. 'As if I would really be flattered by a trophy.' Draco continued to laugh and didn't stop until someone stepped in and told him he had to leave cause he was disturbing people. Draco was annoyed at being told what to do but got up and obediently walked back to the entrance of the ministry.

When he got down to the Atrium, he spotted a mother with two young children who were sitting on a bench, still terrified at what had taken place. He stopped and took a look at the trophy he had in his hand. Then he smiled as he thought of something to do with it. He strode over to one of the young boys and said with strangely high pitched voice "Hey there, little man! Would you like an Order of Merlin Third Class?" The boy said nothing. "Come on kid, it's a great honor! You're a hero!."

The boy looked pleased with himself. "Ok then," he responded.

"Well then here you go kiddo. Congratulations." he ruffled the youngsters hair up a bit and walked away quickly before the harassed looking mother could reprimand him. Then he laughed to himself 'Order of Merlin Third Class?' he thought 'What a joke.'

Draco thought it was terribly funny the way things turn out. One second, he's charging an army of Death Eaters and then he's offered the Order of Merlin Third Class and now he's at the same spot doing what he was doing previously

Draco sighed sadly and took out his address book a second time. He found the address he was looking for but before he was able to apparate, somebody shouted "Hey, Mr. Malfoy!"

Draco turned to the man who shouted his name. He was an earnest looking man., dressed in extravagant wizarding robes, about 40 years old, graying hair, and had a type of face that you trusted upon sight. Draco hated him the minute he laid eyes on him. 'Jesus Christ!' Draco thought angrily 'Do people have nothing better to do then bother me when I'm working?'

The man strode up to him grinning. "What do you want?" said Malfoy nastily.

"Mr. Malfoy!" said the man excitedly, who seemed too excited to notice Draco's hostility. "It's an honor to meet you." he stuck out his hand.

Draco didn't take it but continued to look at him suspiciously and asked "Who are you?"

The man put down his hand unconcernedly and announced pompously "Sam Blaine, at your service!" and he gave a little bow.

"And what." Draco asked, whose patience was being severely tested. "do you want of me so much that you would disrupt me while I am working?"

Sam Blaine gave him a look of surprise. Then he said in a voice that sounded very patronizing, "Oh, I do apologize! It hadn't occurred to me that you were working," but then, in a wink, Same Blaine was smiling at him again rather indifferently, "however since you have my attention--Hey, wait!' He said this because Draco was now walking away from him. The ever persistent Sam, ran after him shouting "Now wait a second , Mr.Malfoy. I have an offer that might be of interest to you. You may end up regretting it later if you don't listen to me."

"Go away." Draco snarled back, and he quickened his pace.

"Now Mr. Malfoy! There really is no reason to--oh please God NO!" Draco had lost his temper and was now pointing his wand at Mr. Blaine's neck. "Please don't hurt me Mr. Malfoy! I just thought you would be interested in a proposal. . . "

"Ok. . .listen." Draco said slightly more calmly but still as menacingly. "leave me alone all right? I don't have time to deal with people like you right now. I have business."

Sam was absolutely terrified but somehow he managed to squeak out. "But Mr. Malfoy. . .I know you'll like what I have to say. . .just hear me out, please?"

Draco was stunned that the man was this persistent. Draco dropped his wand slowly from Sam's throat and Sam sighed in relief. "Ok. . .tell me what it is you want to tell me but you better not be trying to sell me something."

"Yes. . .yes. . ." Sam started, smiling, "You're a bounty hunter correct? And very good at it from what I've heard and seen! You should've seen yourself out there a few hours ago. You were like a demon!"

"Thank you I guess," Draco said impatiently, "Can you get to the point?"

"Certainly!" replied Sam, who seemed to be gaining his confidence back " I was just wondering if you would mine capturing someone for me. That's what your good at, yes? It's my wife. She ran off with some guy to Scotland and she stole something that is of great value to me. I need it back. I will pay very well for its return."

Draco sneered at the man. "I'm not interested in chasing after your wife, Mr. Blaine. That is very boring. It's true that bounty hunting is my profession but I do it for fun also and chasing after runaway wives isn't very dangerous or exciting. Why don't you hire a private detective or something?"

Draco then turned his back on the man and started walking away once again. Mr. Blaine stuttered a bit and thought fast. Then, just as Draco was about to apparate once again, he yelled out, "I'll pay you 2 million galleons!"

Draco stopped dead. He looked over his shoulder and saw Mr. Blaine standing there eagerly. Draco strode over to him and said, as if he couldn't believe his ears, "Did you say two million galleons?"

"Yes," said Sam with a slight smirk on his face, "two million galleons for you to bring back my wife and the unusual object that is of great value to me."

Draco was suspicious. Why in the world would he want to pay him 2 million galleons for getting his wife back when he could hire any kind of Magical Law Enforcement officer could do it for him? "Your not telling me the whole story.," Draco said to him, "I don't trust a word your saying. Why hire me and not just go to some auror and ask them to do it?"

Sam Blaine stood there, his face looking a little bit disappointed. "I didn't want to tell you this," he started slowly "but I can understand your concerns." He looked slightly frightened. He paused and looked over his shoulder. Then he said in a voice just loud enough so Draco can hear him "My wife's name is Alexis. Alexis Blaine."

Draco was shocked. 'Alexis Blaine, the death eater?" he thought. 'well it has to be. Do I know any other Alexis Blaine?' Alexis Blaine was a death eater who had only just recently came out into the open as a supporter for Voldemort. Draco had known her when he was a death eater for that short amount of time and she was always a bit frightening to him. Cold and calculated and who, unlike Bellatrix, neither laughed nor smiled.

"Come with me," said Mr. Blaine in the same low voice. He led Draco outside of the Ministry of Magic and as they did , they passed Ministry of Magic workers cleaning up bodies that were left on the stairs from the attack that happened before. Someone hailed him and Draco nodded to him as he struggled to keep up with Blaine, who was walking at a very quick pace. He led him to an alleyway that sat between the Ministry of Magic (which is disguised to muggles as a very big construction site) and a muggle 99 cent store. Blaine kept checking around him as if he was afraid of being followed and then whispered to Draco, "Look my wife Alexis, as you probably know, is a death eater. I had only recently discovered this because I absolutely do not support You-Know-Who or any of his followers.. . ."

'Bullshit.' Draco thought, but he didn't say anything.

Mr. Blaine paused as if expecting Draco to challenge him but when he said nothing, Mr. Blaine continued "however, I do admit that I am a wizard who has had a great interest in the Dark Arts." after he said this Draco raised his eyebrows, not bothering to hide his disbelief now. Seeing this, Mr. Blaine said a bit more quickly, " Not that I would ever use them! No, no, no, no, no. I am simply just fascinated by these objects. But anyways," he paused to give a little cough, "this one particular object is very, very dear to me. Very valuable. . .I have to get it back. I couldn't give a damn about Alexis but I must have that object back!" He paused suddenly because he realized how loud his voice had gotten and then repeated a bit more quietly, "I must have that object back. Will you do it?"

Draco was watching Mr. Blaine very carefully. He seemed to be telling the truth for the most part, but Draco knew he was still hiding something. Draco, however, chose not to say this and instead replied, "It would be helpful if I knew what exactly this object is. Could you tell me?"

Mr. Blaine looked even more nervous at being asked to reveal this. However, his desire to get the object back must have exceeded his fear of revealing this information because he then said, "Ok, but you must promise you will not tell anyone about this."

"I swear," Draco said solemnly "on the souls of my children." Draco had no children.

Mr. Blaine didn't seem wholly convinced at Draco's oath but leaned in a bit closer to him and said very quickly, "Have you heard of something called The Necklace of Gwydion?"

Draco felt as if he was hit hard in the face with a hammer. "The necklace. . . ... ," he repeated slowly, "of Gwydion?"

"Yes," said Mr. Blaine looking nervous, "the Necklace of Gwydion. So you've heard of it?"

Draco had heard of it. The Necklace of Gwydion was one of the most powerful magical objects in existence. It was able to deflect any spell that was thrown at it, including the Killing Curse. There was only one in existence and it had been sought after for many years. "How. . ." Draco said slowly, in a voice that sounded as if it was being strangled. "did you ever gain possession of such a thing?"

"I inherited it," Mr. Blaine responded., "It has been passed down in my family for many hundreds of years. I was never told what it was until I was 17 years old--"

"You're an idiot," Draco said with disbelief, "how in the wide, wide, wide, wide world of quidditch, did you ever let your wife get a hold of such a thing? Do you know what she could do with it, you clumsy, half-witted moron?"

"It wasn't my fault!" Mr. Blaine cried out, desperately, "My wife is such a temptress! She can seduce anybody into telling people information."

"You really are pathetic," Draco said snarling., "how in the world am I supposed to defeat a death eater who has an object that can deflect any magical spell with the god damn Necklace of Gwydion? You were going to send me off to die without me even knowing this small little detail? I should report you to the god damn aurors right now! What in the world made you think that I could get the Necklace of Gwydion back for you?"

"Well," Mr. Blaine squeaked back in a small voice. "your sword. . .I thought you could use your sword. . ."

"What good is my sword if I can't get close enough to use it?" Draco asked angrily. "I'll be dead before I reach her. There is no way you can deflect Avada Kendavra, you know."

At hearing Draco utter the name of this curse, Mr. Blaine bowed his head in defeat. "Your right, of course, your right. How foolish of me!"

"You better hope that necklace doesn't find its way to the Dark Lord. Or else we're all going to be in some very deep shit. So long, dumbass." Draco gave a mock bow and then stepped quickly out of the alleyway. Mr. Blaine, however, remained in the alley way. He felt a horrible chill pass through his stomach. 'I'm gonna die.' he thought, despairingly . 'Oh sweet Jesus. Why, oh, why did I marry that vixen?'

Then suddenly, another thought passed through his head. Another object that he possessed. 'Wait a minute.' he thought excitedly 'He could use that! There isn't a way she can deflect that, even with the necklace!'

He looked around quickly and then seeing Draco he called out "Wait a minute, Mr. Malfoy!" and started running after him. Draco looked back at him with anger.

"Stay away from me!" he shouted. "I already told you that there's no way--"

"To aid you in getting the Necklace of Gwydion back," Mr. Blaine interrupted with a smile "I'll give you The Sword of Govannon!"