The following morning, I got to work a half hour early, two coffees in hand from my favorite shop. It hadn't taken long for us to learn each other's preferred morning beverage and I thought of it as a peace offering. I set Draco's on his desk and set about getting started.

Draco arrived a few minutes early and was surprised to see me already at it. "Early bird gets the worm I suppose." Spotting the coffee on his desk he added, "Thanks for this."

I simply smiled and returned to the form I had been filling out. We sat in comfortable silence for a while, the only sound was the scratching of our quills on parchment, before Draco spoke up.

"So, how is Mrs. Potter?" He was clearly trying to hide his curiosity, but it wasn't working well.

"Oh, you know. Just a working mom enjoying a night off from responsibilities. There was plenty of wine involved."

His eyebrow quirked up. "I see. How was the conversation."

He had turned back to his parchment and was clearly trying to sound as if he was just making polite conversation and not at all curious about the outcomes.

"We talked. It was good." I shouldn't be playing with him, but it was kind of fun.

"That's good. About anything or anyone in particular?"

Goodness, he was starting to sweat! Better put him out of his misery.

My heartrate increased as I knew now was the time to get this out in the open. "Yes. We spent a great deal of time discussing a certain blonde-haired man that isn't very good at subtlety."

He looked up then, face turning red. "Busted. Forgive me. I've had a bit of a rough night's sleep wondering about it."

Enough playing around. "I'll be honest with you, Draco. I have some concerns." His face fell. "Ginny is on your side and practically screamed at me to give you a shot. I think she's right, but it's not that simple for me. Do you think we could get together outside of work to talk about it?"

This caused him to brighten a bit. "You mean like a date? Hermione Granger, are you asking me out?"

"Oh, I, um, well, yes. I suppose I am." I felt like a fumbling fool.

His signature smirk made itself known. "It would be awfully rude of me to decline such a request from a lovely lady. We've got a pretty hectic week ahead of us. How about dinner on Friday?"

I agreed and we returned to work without mention of our previous conversation. Though I did catch his lingering gaze every so often and it caused a heard of hippogriffs to flutter in my belly.

Just after lunch we welcomed Brielle Bonacord to our conference room.

Draco got her some water while I offered her a seat. "Thank you Mrs. Bonacord for meeting us today. I know it was a long trip."

She looked at me with teary eyes. "The letter said it was in regards to my nephew. Is everything ok?"

Mrs. Bonacord had travelled from France where she has been living with her second husband, in response to a letter we sent earlier in the week.

She seemed to be looking to me for answers, so I took the lead. "Bryson is currently at Hogwarts and doing fine at the moment, but there has been an incident." I grabbed her hand in support. "His father has been beating him and using unforgivable curses as punishment. It was discovered after the Christmas holidays when Bryson returned to the school injured."

Her other hand flew to her mouth and the tears that had been waiting began to fall. "I knew that man was a different brand of awful! I tried to tell my sister but she was too lovestruck to listen. It all began to fall apart so quickly after their marriage. Please, tell me there is something you can do for my nephew."

Draco spoke for the first time. "That's where we are hoping you can help. Bryson spoke of you fondly and as someone that he could trust. We have arrested Mr. Burke and he is currently awaiting trial and if convicted he will be serving a life sentence. While this is good news, it leaves a bit of problem for Bryson who is a minor. We are obligated to ask blood relatives first if anyone will take him in to raise. If no one agrees, he will end up an orphan." Draco gave her a pleading look. "I hope you understand the implications of this Mrs. Bonacord. Because of his age, Bryson has some say into who he goes with, but if you decide you cannot or will not take him, we will be forced to call on Mr. Burkes family to step in and I am afraid that he will be mistreated further."

Horror crossed her face as she realized the implications. "Yes! Of course I will take him! My new husband, Archie Agustand, he is a muggle, but he has been so supportive of me and my children. He is a pediatric doctor and he is so kind and caring. He will welcome Bryson with loving arms."

"That is so good to hear." I said.

"What of his schooling? I'm sure he has made friends at Hogwarts. Will he be able to continue there if he chooses?"

"You'll be able to work out all that with Bryson. Headmistress McGonagall would be happy to keep him as a student if he so chooses." I paused and pulled out a sheet of parchment. "We will have a few things that you will need to sign to become his legal guardian, but we can start that process immediately. There are a few more questions we have for you before that though."

"Of course. Anything you wish if it will help."

Draco and I eyed each other and he took over the questioning. "We would like to get your impression of the relationship between Mr. Burke and your sister. After reading the reports and in light of the new information from Bryson's case, we question whether your sister's death was the accident he claimed it to be."

"Bless the pair of you with all my heart. I never believed for a second that her death was an accident. She's a witch for crying out loud. She had absolutely no reason to be on a ladder washing the large windows of that manor. She may have been accepting of muggles and their culture, but she didn't want to be one! There is no way she was intentionally on a ladder in the first place. Him claiming she fell off and hit her head is simply preposterous. The fact that the aurors at the time accepted the explanation so readily was appalling. I am glad to see there are more competent people here now. I hope you are able to uncover the truth and punish him accordingly. My sister was an incredible woman and did not deserve to die so young. My first husband told me I was in denial over her death and we divorced shortly after her death, but I always suspected it wasn't an accident."

That was what we were expecting to hear. We asked a few more questions, then filled out the necessary paperwork and sent her on her way.

To say the day was exhausting would be an understatement. It did feel good to know we were leaving Bryson in such capable hands. We didn't need to mention that we had already done a background check on her and knew of her family's reputation. Her first husband looked like a real piece of work, but her current husband held numerous awards for medicine and she for her charity work, mostly involving organizations that worked with under privileged children.

While he had to go through hell to get there, I was confident that Bryson's life had just changed for the better.