CHAPTER 9

Draco put out his wand arm to hail the Knight Bus. He couldn't very well apparate, not just because his wand was on the table but because the ministry had put up some restrictions on former death eaters and one of them was no apparition. Probably the ministry believed that if they gave them the basic privilege of using all spells and access to apparition, the death eaters might venture out to be the next Dark Lord...? This thought process led to Draco rolling his eyes.

As soon as he reached home and his head hit the pillow, he was asleep. After ten minutes, there was a tap at the window and he groggily opened his eyes to see an owl waiting for him impatiently.

An owl? It has been a long time since he got an owl...

He opened the window and the owl nipped him on the finger.

"Ow! You stupid cocky creature!" Draco glared. "You are only a screech owl and therefore have no right to be snobbish! You better learn to behave yourself! " he lectured the owl who blinked up at him. Feeling stupid for scolding a bird, Draco pulled the letter and shooed it away.

Dear Mr. Malfoy,

The Ministry of Magic has scheduled your next Ministry check

at thirty minutes past five on 9th August, 2004 at the Department

of Magical Law Enforcement. You are asked to report on time.

Hoping you are well,

Sara West

HOD of

Wizarding Administration

Draco sighed. So it was the ministry check again. The ministry conducted these checks on former death eaters at a random. He had to admit, it had been a while since he had been called, but he wasn't at all comfortable with going there now. He knew he couldn't skip it, so he put the letter on the kitchen counter and decided to go back to bed when he noticed the time.

Shit! So he wasn't rudely awaken after ten minutes of sleep. It was 7:25 pm and he was late. Hoping against hope that Graham hadn't gotten wind of his blemished punctuality, he got dressed and left for work.

Thankfully, the night was uneventful. The clients were all of Draco's regulars, for which he was glad. Of course he wasn't enjoying it, nor was he very comfortable, but somehow he made it through the night and went back home to shower and change.

He picked up Scorp from Granger who insisted on breakfast since she was already feeding Scorpius. He ate quickly as it seemed like Granger was already getting late.

He reached home and decided to take Scorp to the park. Scorpius liked the swings there and it had been a month since Draco had taken him anywhere. So he decided to spend some quality time with his precious son.

Meanwhile, in a nice cosy flat in Hambledon, a certain black haired individual was very restless. He had hardly slept the previous night and was now pacing his flat. Bedroom to kitchen, crossing the living room reach the spare room, turn around and go to the bedroom before doing it all over again.

Harry didn't even know why he was so restless. The only thing he knew was that his mind doesn't seem to want to forget his ex-archnemesis. His brain was plagued with thoughts of Draco the whole day and the whole night from the time of his abrupt departure last morning.

What will he be doing? Will he be alright? Was he still mad at Harry? ...

Why the hell was Harry bothered if Draco was angry or not? Harry himself was still pissed at him...or was he? He couldn't bring himself to still stay angry... no matter how much he willed himself to do it.

Irritated, Harry banged his head against the wall before yelling unpleasantries and deciding to just go to the ministry to forget about all this.

Alas, to no avail. Harry had reached the ministry on time and as it was, there weren't any new cases, so all he had to do was sit and brood in his office. He had already completed what little paperwork he had had yesterday and was now left with nothing to do but to think of Draco.

He was pulling at his hair in annoyance when Ron came in.

"Finally decided to get rid of the bird's nest, I see. I must say there are easier ways to do that rather than plucking it off." Ron sat on Harry's desk, pushing the ink bottle to the floor.

"Hello to you too, Ron." Harry glared, casting a reparo on the broken ink bottle.

As usual, Ron didn't pay mind to Harry's glare.

"So, what happened at that restaurant?"

"Straight to the point, I see."

Ron shrugged. " To be honest with you, I did come in here only to know what happened before I arrived there yesterday."

"Well, that man decided to rob us." The lie came easily, but it wasn't a very good one.

"Rob you? So you cast such a strong stunner because someone decided to rob you? Before you answer that question, I'll let you know that it took us half an hour to Renervate him before erasing his memory." Ron looked suspicious.

"Sometimes you can't control your magic, Ron." Harry said as confidently as he can.

"And why was Malfoy unconscious?"

"Because...because he was shocked." Come to think of it, Harry really didn't know why Draco had fainted. He was so consumed by the anger of seeing Draco with someone else that he didn't even think about anything else. So he decided to stick with his lame theory of Draco being shocked and leading to passing out on the floor, which sounded very - very stupid to his own ears.

Ron just stared at him.

"That man decided to rob you?" Ron asked.

"Yes."

"So you decided to use powerful magic on an unsuspecting muggle?"

"Yes."

"And Malfoy passed out because of shock?"

"Yes."

"Do I look stupid enough to believe this?"

"Yes... I mean NO!...Um..." Harry tried to look anywhere but at Ron, but Ron kept staring at him. Oh yes, he was very suspicious now.

"What?" Harry snapped, feeling awkward.

"Nothing." said Ron.

"I hope you have better work to do than staring at me." Harry said, attempting to rearrange the files on his desk to do something with his hands.

"I'll be going then." Ron jumped down the desk.

What? Ron was going? Harry knew Ron didn't believe him and he had every reason not to. But it wasn't like him to just let it go. Ron always prodded out information and wouldn't leave Harry alone until he was satisfied with the answer he got. So what changed?

"Just so you know, mate, I know you will tell Hermione what happened and just so you know, she will let me know!" Ron said with a grin before slipping out the door.

Ok, so Ron still knew his best friend as well as he always did. Harry thumped his head on the desk. Seemed like it was a bad day for his head.

Three o' clock found Harry at the Ministry cafe with a plate of untouched food. Hermione was sitting in the seat opposite him, already done with lunch ten minutes ago.

"Harry?" she began. "I know I'm very patient when I have to be but I will appreciate it if you don't test my patience."

Harry nodded but still didn't say anything.

"You called me here as though it was really urgent and haven't uttered a word for the past forty five minutes. If you aren't going to say anything, I'll just be going then." she made to stand up.

"No! Wait!" Harry pulled her back to the seat.

"You better make it worth my time."

Harry took a deep breath, attempted to speak, took a breath again and told her everything he saw at that restaurant. Hermione nodded at the right places, encouraging him to continue. When he got to the part where Draco left his flat, Hermione gasped.

"Harry, why did you say that?! You do realise that it was very rude, don't you? You have no right to go questioning his actions!"

"I know, Mione...It was just...I was furious and you know I don't think before talking." he sighed.

"But Harry, that was the meanest thing you could say."

"Yes, I know and now I can't seem to forget Dra-Malfoy! The events of yesterday keep replaying and it's making me want to do something about it! I feel so irritated and I don't understand why. I don't even know what I want to do!" Harry exclaimed desperately.

"It is your conscience, Harry. It has always been like that, hasn't it? You do things without giving them a second thought and then you regret it. You're annoyed at yourself for saying what you said. What you are feeling is guilt." she explained.

"Maybe." Harry shrugged. "But what do I do now?"

"Apologise."

"What? I can't apologise to Malfoy. He-"

"Harry, remember you are not enemies anymore. You're both adults now and shouldn't let your childhood rivalry influence your lives. Hogwarts was years ago, Harry...Don't let the animosity continue. Everyone grew up and people changed. Malfoy is not the same git we knew." Hermione said calmly.

"How can you say that?"

"I spoke to him, Harry. Not once did he insult me or any of you people. Not a single nasty comment about parental lineage or blood. I can see he has changed for the better. I offered to help him and he accepted. He works night shifts so I agreed to have Scorp with me at nights."

"Oh... Scorp is a lovely kid." Harry observed.

"Yes and his dad adores him. Draco is nothing like his father." Hermione said.

Harry nodded, lost in his thoughts.

Hermione extended her hand and grasped his wrist in a comforting gesture.

"Do it, Harry. Apologise. Trust me, you will feel better. You might not be the same person you once were but you still have the good within you. It's one of the qualities I admire in you, no matter what reckless action it was, you always realise your mistake. You still have a very kind heart, Harry...and no one can change that." Hermione encouraged.

Harry nodded. "Ok...Okay, I'll apologise."

She smiled.

"I'll be going then, can't spend the whole day here." she made to leave before turning back "I just had a doubt, why were you angry with whoever Draco sees?"

"Huh?...I don't know, he was-...Is that going to be a problem?" Harry asked, bewildered.

Hermione's small smile turned into an almost-smirk but she quickly covered it up.

"No. No problem at all. Just remember that Draco does not need to be a victim of your extreme moods. Stay calm, Harry and everything will go the way you want it to." she winked.

Puzzled, he asked "The way I want it to? What do you mean?"

This time she fully smirked and left the place. Confused, Harry looked around the empty cafe, still thinking about Hermione's comment.

Scorp was with Claire and now he had to go to the ministry. He wore his old robes and black trousers, he couldn't remember when he had last worn anything remotely wizard-like amidst the muggle attire. The colour was a little faded but that wasn't a problem. He smoothed down the wrinkles in front, his own face beaming back at him from the mirror. These charcoal grey robes were his favourite. How he missed being a proper wizard...

He entered the ministry and as usual people gave him disapproving stares. He slowly made his way to the DMLE wherein he was asked for his wand, questions about his whereabouts were posed at him, any changes since the last time he was here, etc etc etc. After he was done with the old routine, he made to leave but one of the aurors told him that his wand was still being checked and he will have to collect it from Auror Potter. Draco wasn't surprised, he knew his luck never favoured him.

He marched to Potter's office, determined to be done with this as quickly as possible. Knocking, he entered and Potter was seated behind the desk with Draco's wand in one wand and his own in the other.

"Hi." Potter said, smiling.

Draco looked at him through narrowed eyes. He walked to the desk, extending his hand, palm up.

"I'm not done yet." Potter said.

Draco folded his arms, waiting for him to complete whatever it is he had to do. Potter ran his own wand in an up and down motion over Draco's. He did it many times before Draco spoke.

"I know how this works, Potter. Checking a wand doesn't take this long. So stop trying to delay and give me my wand."

Potter look startled at being caught but nevertheless placed the hawthorn wand in Draco's outstretched hand.

"Malfoy-" Potter began but didn't get a chance to complete the sentence.

"I'm not interested in listening to anything you have to say." he said, walking towards the door.

"Draco! Please..."

Draco didn't know what made him stop, Potter calling him by his given name or Potter pleading. Whatever it was, he stopped walking but didn't turn around.

"Draco...I...you know...what happened yesterday...well...you see..."

Potter went on blabbering in broken sentences and unable to take it any longer, Draco turned around fixing him with the Malfoy glare.

"WHAT do you want to say?" Draco snapped.

"Sorry!" Potter blurted out.

Draco raised an eyebrow, surprised and waited for him to continue.

"I want to say I'm sorry for what I said yesterday." Potter spoke slowly. "I was angry... I know that's no excuse and I know you have the liberty to do anything you want but don't you think that man is a little too old for you?"

As he was talking, Potter kept shooting him nervous glances. Rolling his eyes Draco opened his mouth to say that he wasn't in a relationship with that stupid old codger, but Potter cut in.

"Alright! Alright! I'm not saying anything against him! You can date anyone you like. I don't have any problem with it." he said, raising his hands in a spirit of surrender.

"Potter, I'm. not. in. any. relationship." Draco said, stressing each word.

For some reason, Potter's face expressed relief before quickly morphing into confusion.

"Then why did you...Then what were you doing in the loo with him?" he asked.

"He was forcing me, okay? Now if you're done, I'd like to leave." Draco said hastily.

"WHAT?!" Potter looked like he had just seen a ghost. If it wasn't for the situation, Draco would have started laughing looking at his expression. "Draco, don't tell me-"

"It is exactly what you are thinking." Draco confirmed.

"That bloody asswipe! Why didn't you tell me?!" Potter was still horrified, his eyes bulging from the sockets.

"Did you give me a chance to explain anything at all? I was about to thank you, you know, before you started accusing me for everything that happened." Draco blamed him.

"I'm so sorry! I really didn't know... I should've realised..."

"I don't have time for this, Potter. I will be going then."

"Someone tried to rape you, Draco! How can you take it so lightly?!"

"Nothing actually happened, Potter...Thanks to you. So there's no point in making an issue out of this."

"I don't believe this! Are you the same Draco Malfoy who used to throw such huge tantrums and complained to his father for every silly little thing? Where is the Malfoy who grumbled about everything and wouldn't rest until he had gotten revenge?!"

"It might have slipped your notice but my father isn't here anymore. But to answer your question- no, I'm not the same Draco Malfoy." Draco shrugged.

They both stayed quiet for a minute lost in their own thoughts.

"I don't think I could ever be." Draco whispered in a more serious tone and walked out of the office, leaving Harry even more confused.

It had been two weeks since that conversation with Potter. He had gone back to Graham to get the money. Graham had not been there but he had instructed one of his men to give Draco the money, for which he was glad. Thank Merlin for small mercies.

The money was already paid at St. Mungo's and Scorp's sessions have been going well. They haven't detected anything yet but atleast something was better than nothing. Everything was as normal as it could be.

He hadn't seen Potter after that. His work life was fine. He left Scorp at Granger's house every evening, went back in the morning and had breakfast there (Granger never let him go without eating), got back home, played with his son, slept in the afternoon, then went back to work again.

Scorpius had three meals a day. His breakfast and dinner were at Granger's place and Claire had been kind enough to offer him lunch and Draco had grudgingly accepted for his son...so that was alright. Claire always asked Draco to eat as well but he never did. He knew that Claire's meagre earnings were only enough for her own food and rent and he didn't want to be a burden. Besides, he could survive with breakfast alone. His own deadline for paying the rent was looming close and he had no idea what he was going to do.

His clients were okay too...not as brutal as Cole. Speaking of which, he hadn't seen Cole after that fateful day. He wondered what had happened of him. Draco strongly suspected that Potter had done something terrible to him and he half-wished it was true...he just hoped Potter hadn't done something as disastrous as killing him. He knew Potter wasn't capable of gory murder but from the fury he had seen on his face the other day, he didn't know what to believe.

He was in the shower at the moment, scrubbing his skin raw again. It had become a daily routine. Every morning when he got back home, he took very long showers, trying to wash away the taint of the previous night. As days went by, he sometimes got a feeling that the filth was gradually becoming a permanent part of him...no matter how much he might wash, he will never be clean again. He always tried to suppress such emotions. He knew he will never be able to go back if he encouraged these thoughts. So he quelled such feelings and tried not to think of them...but a part of him was sure that it was slowly turning out to be true...

It was seven in the evening and Harry was at the ministry, poring over files, trying to find anything at all which will help him in Bradshaw's case. His assistant was on leave and Ron had already left to go home...Hermione had asked him to be home early and both Harry and Ron have learnt not to take Hermione's words lightly. Sighing, he went back to the files again.

A certain someone named Dal Kenzie had been missing for three months and his body was found outside his own cottage about three weeks ago...The murderer had not been found yet.

There had been an attack at a small muggle clothing store, magic had been used and there was a suspected robbery...though the aurors weren't sure if really anything was stolen because all the workers there had been confunded and they don't seem to keep track of their goods.

And now, Ollivander had complained that he had been getting letters threatening his life.

Harry had an inkling that these cases were somehow linked. Edmund Bradshaw had been suspected of the robbery but he was cleared of all charges under veritaserum and it was confirmed that his wand hadn't performed any confundus charm...but to Harry, the man had looked suspicious. So he hadn't closed the case and had appointed a few aurors to trail him...but they always lost him and he was later found in his own home. This made Harry all the more doubtful that something was not right with Bradshaw.

He was still immersed in his files when the floo chimed. He looked up to see Draco's face in the hearth. Harry broke into a broad smile. He had wanted to see Draco again so many times in the past two weeks but couldn't pluck up the courage to go there. Harry couldn't forget the grey robes that had adorned him the last time he saw Draco. Wizard robes suited him much better compared to muggle clothes. He had looked really smart, Harry thought.

Harry had been regularly asking Hermione about Draco which led to her wearing that all-knowing smirk before she could reply with 'He's fine.' As days went by, Hermione had started talking very fondly of Draco and even Ron seemed to be getting along.

"Hi, Draco!" Harry greeted, walking over to the fireplace and kneeling in front of the fire.

But Draco didn't look happy. Even through the different shades of red playing over his face, Harry could see that Draco was frantic.

"Potter, it's an emergency." he said, his voice constricting.

Harry tensed. Those four words were enough to set Harry into action. He quickly stood up, lurching to grab the floo powder.

"I'm coming over." he announced and was almost inside the fireplace before Draco can pull his head out. He flooed to Malfoy's flat and what he saw made his stomach sink to the floor.

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