"Congratulations Mr. Malfoy on such a high profile arrest," Granger says to him. They are in her office, somewhere in the bowels of the Ministry. (Someone really needs to give him a map.)

"Thank you," he says. He does not need to say that it is because of the Reliquary that he'd had any idea that Nicholas Wise had been the Book Thief. Everyone in the room knows it.

"Now that we've seen the full potential of The Reliquary project," Granger continues. "It is high time we started training you for more field operations." She holds up a hand as Draco starts to protest that he has already been on field operations. "Yes, Draco, I know you've been a valuable asset in the field." She gives him a small smile and for the first time (in perhaps his whole acquaintance with Hermione Granger) he appreciates her smile. And, perhaps for the first time, he notices that her teeth aren't nearly as large as he thought they were. But that has no bearing on their conversation, so he banishes that thought for another time.

"So," she continues. "I would like you to come in to the Ministry training rooms once a week going forward to start your Auror training." She looks down at the papers in front of her. "Now, I know you don't have the N.E.W.T.s that are strictly required for Auror training, but in your case we will make the exception."

"Thank you," he says. He glances to the chair next to him where Harry is sitting and sees that Harry is beaming.

It has been several days since their ill-fated "date", where Harry had let slip that he would rather be on a date with someone else, and in that time, Harry has been just as "hands on" as he has needed to be to keep up the charade of their relationship, but nothing more. Just as many "impromptu" make out sessions against the bookshelves of Flourish and Blotts, but no more than that. It's almost as if Draco's mentioning dating someone else has reminded Potter that yes, in fact, he would rather be with someone - anyone - else. Which is to say that it has been rather miserable.

True, Draco does have the fresh memories of Harry sucking him off, but this pales in comparison to his memories of their stolen night (and shower) at the start of the whole Reliquary adventure. But Draco will take what he can get, even if it hasn't happened again.

"What N.E.W.T.s would I need?" he asks out of curiosity. Having never gone back to Hogwarts after the second Wizarding War, Draco has no N.E.W.T.s. It is something his parents have always been disappointed about.

"Potions, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Herbology, and Charms," Granger says.

"Oh," he says. "I mean," he pauses, thinking carefully for a moment. "I could try to take them if you need me to?" But Granger waves this suggestion off.

"No need," she says. "Croaker has personally approved your acceptance into the program. Secretly, of course, as you will then progress to Unspeakable training, and, well, we don't necessarily want people to know about your being part of the Department."

"Just like me," Harry says and Draco detects a hint of pride in his voice.

"Almost," Granger says with a smile. "People know you were an Auror, Harry." Harry grins.

"But now they think I'm a professional celebrity."

"Yes, well, we can't all have your shiny reputation, Potter," Draco says. Pansy, who is sitting on Draco's other side, snickers.

"Moving on," Granger says, doing just that with the conversation. "You will now stay over at Harry's at least once a week and in that time, you will train with Harry and I. As I said, we will start with Auror training and move on from there."

"Ok," Draco says because there is nothing else he can say about that. When the your boss says you will do something, you do it. He doesn't mention that he has been working on his defensive magic in his spare time because he is sure that he doesn't know half the things he needs to.

"Any questions?"

"When do we start?" Draco has learned from working for Big Dick that it is always good to appear enthusiastic about anything your boss tells you to do.

"Tomorrow."

And that is that.

...

Harry is practically bouncing as they leave Hermione's office. Draco is finally going to be trained to be an Unspeakable. He knows it will take time, but at the very least it is one step closer to Draco no longer being his asset, and potentially being his partner.

"Congratulations," Pansy says to Draco.

"Thanks," he says.

"Though, I'm rather jealous that you don't have to sit your N.E.W.T.s. They were a bitch."

"Are you sad that I'm not going to be a Hit Wizard with you?" Draco asks. Pansy scoffs.

"No," she says. "I don't want to train you." But she gives Draco a playful nudge.

"Charming."

"Plus, you couldn't be anonymous on our team. Hit Wizards are much higher profile than Unspeakables, for obvious reasons."

"As long as you're not saying that I couldn't cut it as a Hit Wizard," Draco says.

"No, I'm sure you could, but it would definitely raise a lot more questions."

"How does no one at Flourish and Blotts know about your position?" Draco asks. It has never occurred to him to ask until now. Pansy sighs.

"Big Dick knows," she says. "But none of your idiot coworkers have put two and two together."

"Not even Greg?" Draco asks.

"I confund him every now and again," she says breezily.

"You what?"

"Well, he reads the Prophet. The others don't. I just make him think that my sister, Daisy, is the Hit Wizard, not me."

"Oh."

"Yeah, he still thinks I'm a Slytherin fuck up like the pair of you."

"Harsh."

"Draco, you work in a book store."

"I happen to like working in the book store." But Pansy waves him off. They have reached the elevators now and Draco angrily stabs the up button.

"Do you know what's going to happen to the team once Draco's trained?" Harry asks in order to diffuse the situation. "Has Dempsey talked to you about that?"

"I'm not sure Dempsey knows Draco's being trained," Pansy says. She is now examining her scarlet painted nails with feigned interest.

"Are you going to tell her?"

"It's not my place."

"Circe," Draco says. "The office politics around here are a nightmare, aren't they?"

...

"Draco, darling," Pansy says. "If you're going to be a top secret, higher up approved Unspeakable, I'm not going to be the one to blow your cover. Even within the Ministry. I'm sure if Dempsey needs to know, she will know."

"Right," Draco says. "So who knows Potter is an Unspeakable?"

"Only those who need to know," Harry says.

"But then what badge do you keep flashing at people? Like security? Or the line of people outside of Bertie's office?"

"My old Auror badge. No one quite knows if I'm still an Auror, or if I'm retired, or what, so they just keep letting me use it."

"They what?" Draco is flabbergasted, but Harry just shrugs.

"Perk of being The Savior of the Wizarding World. Everyone's so awestruck that they don't think twice about me."

"Tosser." Draco frowns again. "But then how did Pansy know you were an Unspeakable?"

"Pansy has security clearance," Harry says simply. "Do do know she's a Major, right?"

"Um."

"Darling, it's fine," Pansy says, brushing it off. "I outrank you both."

"But how?"

"I worked bloody hard for it," she snaps. It is clear she has been asked this question more times than she would have liked.

"In which case, will you help train me?" Draco asks. "I mean, like extra training? Since you appear to be the best." Pansy puts a hand on his shoulder.

"Since you asked so nicely, I will." Draco smiles at her and for the first time since Granger had mentioned training him, he feels a bit more sure of himself.

"I hope we can still be a team," he says. But Pansy smiles at him in a way that makes it seem like they won't be.

...

Training turns out to be much harder than Draco had anticipated it being. They go through everything he had been teaching himself during his breaks in a matter of a weeks worth of lessons. Soon he is learning complicated counter-jinxes and brewing potions that are well beyond N.E.W.T. level. He is surprised to find that Harry is much better at Potions than he remembers from school. When he asks Harry about this, Harry just laughs.

"It's easier without Professor Snape breathing down my neck," he says.

Every lunchtime, he practices dueling with Pansy, and if Greg ever seems suspicious of Draco's rumpled clothing (he falls over a lot, particularly the days he spends perfecting an advanced shield charm), Draco plays it off as having visited Harry in the ice cream parlor's store room.

Draco continues to run after work, pushing himself to run farther and faster every night. He is grateful for the stamina he has built up from his daily run, as it proves helpful during his various spell casting lessons.

He is so tired most of the time, that he doesn't have the energy to think about his relationship with Harry. They keep up with their cover of dating by kissing each other at what seems like every opportunity, but Draco worries less about what the kisses mean. Which is not to say that he doesn't enjoy them - he just doesn't think about how they make him feel.

He does think from time to time about the blowjob Harry gave him. How could he not? It had been bloody brilliant. But there is still no repeat performance and he does his best not to dwell on why this is.

Harry moves into his new house, and he and Draco spend the occasional night there. True to his word, Harry has left half of his giant closet open for Draco and Draco has moved some of his fancier dress robes and suits in. They have decided it is easier to stay at Harry's place after missions, so that Greg doesn't wonder as much about how many events they seem to attend.

Plus, Greg is happy enough with the addition of Kreacher's weekly cleaning of the house that he doesn't seem to mind Draco's absences. He often remarks to Harry that Kreacher is the model house elf, at which Harry just laughs. But it is true.

Aside from the occasional muttered invective against Harry, he is perfectly pleasant. He is thrilled to be helping Master Malfoy and eagerly does anything that Draco asks. It is a great help, particularly as Draco's training often takes place on his days off or after work, when he would previously have had time to keep up with his chores. Though Harry had said Kreacher would be visiting once a week, after the first few visits, he starts to come every day, and Harry grudgingly allows this as it's the first time he thinks he's ever seen Kreacher even remotely happy.

On top of all of his training, Draco continues to read the Prophet from cover to cover each morning and report on any sparks. He is taken along on more of the subsequent missions with P Squared. Though he is still mostly relegated to being a glorified lookout, he is pleased that he is being trusted to not fall into immediate danger.

It is in this manner that almost two months pass in what feels like the blink of an eye, and Draco walks into Flourish and Blotts one Tuesday and is surprised to find the store decorated for Halloween.

"What?" he asks, vaguely gesturing at a giant spider hanging from the ceiling.

"Halloween is on Friday," Greg says.

"Right."

"Do you have a costume?"

"Of course," Draco lies. "It's top secret though," he adds, before Greg can ask what it is.

"Are you and Harry doing a couple's costume?"

"I've been sworn to secrecy," Draco says quickly.

"So that's a yes then," Greg says with a grin. Draco plasters a similar smile on his face, wondering what he has gotten himself into.

This feeling is compounded when Hannah stops by the shop and invites them to her annual Halloween party.

"And of course Harry is invited too," she tells Draco.

"They've got a couple's costume," Greg says with a wink that makes Hannah smile so widely that Draco realizes that he and Harry are really going to have to have a couple's costume or risk letting her down. So instead he just smiles and nods until she leaves the store.

At lunch he all but runs to the Parlor and into Harry's arms. The words tumble out so quickly that Harry is sure that there is a Reliquary related emergency. He steers Draco quickly to the Cooler.

"What is it? What's wrong?" he asks as soon as they're through the hidden door.

"Costumes," Draco cries. "We need costumes!" Harry frowns at him.

"I'm sorry?"

"For Hannah's party. We need costumes. Halloween costumes." Harry's face breaks into a smile.

"We've been invited to a party?"

"Hannah and Ernie's annual Halloween party."

"That sounds fun!"

"Greg told her we would have a couple's costume," Draco mumbles.

"Then we will," Harry says simply.

"Yes, but what? We only have a few days to come up with something."

"Leave it to me."

"Really?"

"Really." Harry reaches out and squeezes Draco's shoulder and Draco feels his worries dissipate.

"Thank you," he says.

...

"Hi Hannah," Harry says, walking up to the bar in the Leaky Cauldron where Hannah is busy wiping down the countertops.

"Harry, hi," she says. "What can I help you with?"

"Draco just told me about your party." She grins at him, her smile making her eyes crinkle in the corners.

"Oh yes," she says. "Ernie and I are very excited about it."

"I had a favor to ask."

"Oh?" She cocks her head to the side and stares at him.

"Would it be possible to invite Ron and Hermione as well?" Harry usually spends Halloween with them, watching scary movies and drinking cheap wine.

"Of course!" she cries. She claps a hand to her forehead, and smacks herself in the face with her rag. "I can't believe I didn't think to invite them. Do you think I should invite other members of the DA? Goodness, I haven't seen them in ages. I mean, Ernie will be there, of course, but I could invite Susan and Justin and..." she trails off, lost in thought. Harry waits until she remembers he is there before answering.

"Yes," he says as her eyes focus on him again. "I think that would be lovely."

"Perhaps not Zacharias though," she says and Harry has to suppress a laugh at the face that she makes when she says his name. He leaves Hannah to her planning and begins to think in earnest about his and Draco's costumes.

He is almost to the ice cream parlor when the idea comes to him. He grins to himself and considers going to tell Draco forthwith, but decides to wait until later in the day. Instead he spends the day scooping ice cream and posing for photos with people, which is a standard afternoon for him. He leaves around four forty five in order to collect Draco from Flourish and Blotts. Tuesday is Draco's day for training with Hermione, which Harry accompanies him to in order to help protect his cover.

Draco is waiting for him when he enters the bookshop, a smirk playing about his features. Harry walks up to him and kisses him hello on the cheek.

"You ready?" he asks. He hears a howl of frustration from behind the bookcase that Draco is leaning against. He frowns and peers around the side. Joe and Luca are crouched there, wearing lime green top hats with matching robes. "What's wrong fellas? Were you wanting to get into the gossip magazines in those get ups?"

"See, Joe," Luca says, excited. "I told you he could read minds." Harry does not try to correct them, but instead faces Draco again. Draco raises an eyebrow at him.

"Shall we give them a show then?" Harry asks. The corner of Draco's smirk twitches and he nods. Harry reaches out and rests his hand against the bookshelf, next to Draco's head. Then he leans in and whispers his costume idea in Draco's ear. He pulls back briefly to see Draco's expression. The blond appears to be considering it at the very least, and that's the best Harry can do for now. So he takes a step closer to Draco and leans in again, this time capturing Draco's lips with his. He hears a small cheer from behind the bookshelf and he can't help but smile against Draco's mouth. He thinks he feels Draco smile as well, but he can't be sure as he is already deepening the kiss.

He revels in the feeling of Draco against his body and the feeling of their lips pressed together. If he could, he would distill the swell of joy in his chest and bottle it. Then maybe he could work on purifying it - taking out the bittersweet notes that taint it. He moves his hand to cup Draco's cheek, stroking it with his thumb as their tongues roam.

He catches lime green movement out of the corner of his mostly closed eye, and opens it more to see Joe and Luca striking poses behind them. He keeps his face pressed against Draco's for another few seconds and then pulls away. Draco's eyes are slightly unfocused and his lips are pink and Harry's heart melts a little bit before he pushes all his emotions down again.

"Ready to go?" Harry asks and Draco nods. Harry takes his hand and they walk out of the shop and onto Diagon Alley, where they promptly diaspparate and reappear in the Ministry.

...

"Today we will be training with veritaserum," Hermione says, watching Draco carefully for a reaction. But he remains professional, his face neutral. It seems that it is only Harry who is nervous about this. He is, of course, worried that someone will ask about their relationship. He knows that it is possible to resist veritaserum - that is the whole point of the training - but if anyone asks about them before any training has happened... Well, it doesn't bear thinking about.

His feeling of dread is compounded by the appearance of Parkinson. The Major has seemed more interested in their cover relationship than Harry is comfortable with. He wonders how much she suspects and fears that she knows something. But no one has said anything untoward about Harry and Draco's relationship, so if she does have any suspicions, she has not shared them with anyone. Parkinson is shrewd, however, and Harry doubts she would report anything without being sure. Particularly not if it involves Harry, because she surely knows that both Croaker and Hermione hold Harry in high regard. Either way, Harry is sure to watch himself around her at all times.

But now she is here for Draco's veritaserum training and this could give her the evidence that she needs to jeopardize Harry's career. A small voice in Harry's head says that it was Harry himself who jeopardized his own career, which he acknowledges and then ignores. There's no helping it now.

So he follows Hermione, Draco and Parkinson down the corridor to the training room. He concentrates on taking deep, calming breaths to stop the mild shaking of his hands. Part of him considers asking to be excused so that he can go to Croaker and preemptively hand in his badge, but he can't bring himself to do that. If he's going to lose his job, he's not going to go without a fight. After all, technically nothing has happened between them since Harry was officially assigned as Draco's handler. (Aside from one ill advised blowjob but Harry's not going to think about that either. It was a favor anyway. It was not done out of affection. Or so he tells himself.)

Hermione sits Draco in a chair in the middle of the mostly empty training room. The only other furniture is another chair, opposite the first.

"Ok, Draco," Hermione says. "We are going to start out the training with some baseline questions, and then we will move on to concealing the truth, even when under the influence of veritaserum. How does that sound?"

"That works," Draco says. He briefly catches Harry's eye and Harry gives him a small nod. He hopes he appears calm. He is trained to be cool under pressure, but his stomach is trying itself in knots as he stands there and he is worried some of his concern shows on his face.

"Very well," Hermione says. She leaves the room briefly and comes back holding a glass of water. She hands the glass to Draco. "Drink this please."

...

Draco bites his lip nervously for a moment but then does as she asks, gulping down the water in one go. She takes the glass from him and hands it to Harry. Harry leaves the room and Draco isn't sure if he is glad about this or not. He glances instead at Pansy who is lounging against the wall behind Granger. She flashes him a thumbs up.

"Right, we will start with some baseline questions. What is your full name?"

"Draco Lucius Malfoy," Draco says promptly. He can feel the veritaserum in his system, compelling him to answer truthfully. It feels almost like a strong Legillimens and Draco wonders if he can employ the skills he learned from his aunt to fight any questions he doesn't want to answer. He starts methodically putting up the various barriers in his mind, and though he hasn't done this in years, it comes easily to him.

Granger asks him a few more basic questions before nodding, clearly satisfied that the potion is working.

"Right," she says. "Now we will work on resisting the veritaserum. By now I'm sure you have felt the compulsion to tell the truth, yes?"

"Yes."

"What form does your boggart take and how do you typically deal with it?" Pansy asks, cutting off whatever Granger was about to say.

"Voldemort," he says automatically. His voice cracks and he winces. "And I put him in a flowerpot and turn his head into a daisy."

"Yes, he's ready," Pansy says. Draco looks at her and she nods, clearly satisfied that the veritaserum is working.

"Thank you, Major," Granger says testily. "If you don't mind, we'll begin now."

"I'll leave you to it," Pansy says and walks out of the room. Draco is sad to see her go. He had felt less nervous with her there.

"For these first exercises, I would like you to resist the veritaserum if you can." Draco nods. His mouth is dry. "And don't worry if you don't get it on your first try, or even on your second or third. It requires a lot of practice before most people are able to mislead or lie under its influence. For this, we will pretend that you have been captured by a rogue witch, who wants to know if you are a Ministry employee. You must try to keep your cover intact. Ready?"

Draco wants badly to say no, for he doesn't feel ready, but he forces out a yes. And once he has done that, he realizes that he has already done what Hermione is asking. Hope flares in his chest. Perhaps this won't be as bad as he fears.

At this point, Harry sidles back into the room. "Ah, good, Harry. We are working on baseline questions." Harry nods stiffly and then conjures a chair for himself. Draco's eyes flick briefly to Harry's and he sees the other man tense for a nanosecond. "What is your relationship with Harry Potter?"

An almost overwhelming desire comes over Draco to tell her about his true feelings for Harry, about their one amazing night, about the blowjob, about… but he squashes these down. He concentrates hard on what he needs to say, though he feels like he's about to spit out the truth at any moment. The actual physical feeling of being about to vomit is overwhelming - there is a moment where he is about to physically retch - but Draco ignores it and focuses on the official line of his cover story.

"He's my handler and my cover is that we're dating. Our relationship is professional. I think we are friends now though, which is an improvement on our relationship during school." It is the partial truth, so it comes out easily enough. Unsaid and pushed down, of course, is the fact that Draco dreams about their being a real couple. Also unsaid are any of his true feelings about Potter.

"Very good. And your romantic relationship is just that? A cover? No secret feelings for each other? Nothing untoward has happened?"

"No feelings and nothing unprofessional has happened," he says although it hurts. He nearly retches again. He bites his tongue so hard he is worried he will start bleeding. They move on. Draco steals a glance at Harry and thinks he can see a frown on the other man's face, but the emotion is fleeting and he can't be sure he saw it. He wonders briefly why Granger asked him at all.

"Very well," she says. "Let us begin the training exercises now. Remember, you want to try to keep your cover intact." Draco nods.

He blinks and when he opens his eyes, the room has transformed. He is in what appears to be a barn, with a horse tied up in a stall in the far corner. A stooped witch with wispy gray hair is staring at him, brandishing a walking stick at him.

"I just know it!" she cries, spittle flying out of her mouth. "You's one of them Ministry wizards, ent you?"

"I'm afraid you're mistaken," he forces out. Even in his agony, he is polite - his Malfoy upbringing coming through again. "I work for Flourish and Blott's. You know, the bookstore? On Diagon Alley?" And then he snaps his mouth shut for fear that he will be sick, though the mention of Flourish and Blott's, his actual other employer helps to temper some of the nausea.

"No," the woman shrieks. "You're a Ministry brat. I knows it."

"You have the wrong person," Draco cries. "I don't work for the Ministry." He concentrates on anything except the feeling of rising bile in his throat. He takes a few breaths and forces the feeling down again. His skin feels like it is crawling with ants, but he's felt worse, so he ignores that too.

"Well then," spits the woman. "What is your role at this ruddy bookstore?" The fact that he can tell the truth floods Draco and he nearly cries out with relief. But this is a test too, so he merely answers the question.

"I'm the assistant manager. I help my boss keep the store running smoothly." The barn scene melts away and becomes the room at the Ministry again. The crazed witch disappears and turns back into Hermione Granger, albeit, a very pleased looking Hermione Granger.

"That was excellent, Draco," she gushes. "I've never seen such natural talent."

"I've had Occlumency training," Draco says because it is easier to keep telling the truth if it can't hurt him to tell it. Granger nods slowly.

"That makes sense," she says softly. "May I ask who taught you?" Draco grits his teeth before realizing there is no shame in admitting who it was.

"My Aunt Bellatrix." A flash of irritation crosses Granger's face but she nods.

"I see," she says. She checks her watch and nods. "Moving on," she says. "We will practice lying about things that spark the Reliquary." Draco nods slowly. "I imagine this might be easier as you won't have any emotional connection to the information. Harry, I'm going to ask you to help me with this round." Harry nods.

And so it starts again. The room shifts and they are sitting in a Muggle police station. Draco is handcuffed to the table in front of him. Hermione and Harry sit across the table, both wearing Muggle police uniforms. Draco almost laughs at how incongruous it looks on Harry, but he stops himself.

"Tell us about Felix Green," Hermione says. The name sparks the Reliquary and Draco's mind is flooded with information about the man. He's a suspected Muggle arms dealer who amplifies his wares with magic.

"I don't know who you're talking about," Draco says. "I've never heard that name before." Which is strictly true. He hadn't heard of Green until Granger had mentioned him just now. He is discovering that mixing in as much of the truth as he can to his lies, makes them easier to tell.

"You have no idea who Felix Green is?" Granger presses.

"No," Draco forces out. He bites the inside of his cheek to distract him from the growing nausea. He concentrates on compartmentalizing again, forcing himself not to think about Green, but rather to think about innocuous things like what he had for breakfast this morning.

They continue to ask him about Green, and then other things in the Reliquary. He continues to fight the veritaserum, finding that it gradually gets easier as the potion starts to wear off. By the end of the session, he is exhausted, but pleased with himself.

…

Harry feels both relieved and a little deflated as they are leaving. Relieved, of course, that Draco was skilled enough under veritaserum to lie about the full nature of their relationship, deflated that Hermione'd had the gall to ask about it. He knows it's her job and that she just wants to keep them safe, but Harry is still upset that she doesn't trust him.

To be fair, a little voice says in his head, you would throw those rules out the window in the blink of an eye. Just look at Oliver. He wonders if Hermione had been thinking about Oliver when she asked Draco about Harry and he grinds his teeth in frustration. He had told her about that in confidence, as a friend, not as a coworker.

But it was just like her to meddle in things that didn't concern her.

He wonders briefly if Draco's skill with veritaserum will make her more or less suspicious of his answer that they were professional. Harry had been impressed at how quickly the blond had mastered it. He wants to ask him about it, but Draco looks so tired that he decides to wait until he's had time to rest.

Instead, they apparate back to Harry's house, order take out and eat it, sprawled next to each other on the sofa. When they are done, Harry turns on the television and Draco falls asleep, slumping sideways into Harry. Harry carries him up to bed and helps him out of his shoes, trousers and shirt before tucking him in. Then he stands for a moment, just looking down at Draco. He smiles and tucks a stray piece of hair behind Draco's ear. His heart gives a painful lurch of affection. And because Draco is asleep - and only because Draco is asleep - he whispers,

"I love you."

He realizes, with another painful jolt of his heart, that it's true.