"I passed." Draco said breathlessly as he held the Ministry official letter in his hands. "I… I passed."

Narcissa, a woman who wasn't much for strong displays of affection, suddenly hugged her son in a back-breaking gesture. "Oh, Draco, I'm so proud of you!"

"Thank you," he choked out. "Um, can I breathe now?"

"Oh! Yes, yes, of course."

Narcissa let him go, her joy written neatly on her face. It was strange for Draco, honestly. He'd seen his mother happy before, but this was bordering on the excessive. At least it was better than having her brood.

"So, is that all then?" She asked. "Is there more that you have to do?"

"There's still Divisional training." Draco said as he looked back at his letter. "I have to go to the Auror Head and tell him which one I want. It starts next week Monday."

"Well, then go!" Narcissa shooed. "Go to the Ministry now then and get it over with. Tomorrow we can have lunch to celebrate."

Draco smiled. "Are you sure you don't want to throw a party? That is your signature move, after all."

"Not at all. We'll have one after you receive your Auror badge, naturally."

Draco rolled his eyes. Naturally. He bid his mother goodbye and left to head to the Ministry. It would be closing soon, although he did know that out of all the Departments in the Ministry, the Auror Department was notoriously known for having the most random and longest work hours.

His letter had given him directions to the Auror Head's office, and he went inside after knocking and being given the okay.

"Auror Warren?"

The Auror looked up, and immediately Draco could feel the tension. This man… This man did not like him. There was a strange pool in the pit of the blond's stomach that perhaps he had a legitimate reason for said hatred. It didn't help Draco any that the man looked like someone he had seen before.

Draco kept in his sigh and instead held his head up high as he closed the door behind him. "I just wanted to inform you of my Auror Division."

Auror Warren seemed like he was trying to restrain himself. "Trying" being the key word. His face was stern, jaw clenched, and his eyes narrow. Draco watched the man as he leaned back in his chair casually.

"Ah, yes, I was expecting you." He drawled lazily. "Albeit not so soon. Eager, are we?"

Draco cupped his hands behind his back in an effort to restrain his own self. "I wouldn't say eager. More like just on top of what I have to do. So, my Division?"

Auror Warren huffed. "Right." He leaned forward and fished around for some paperwork. When he found what he was looking for, he grabbed a Self-Inking Quill and poised it over the parchment. "Your Division?"

"Dark Arts," he replied curtly and then waited to see the expression on his future Auror Head's face. It was priceless, really. A vein in his neck throbbed. His face grew Weasley-hair red. And his grip on his quill would surely break it in half.

Draco honestly couldn't help himself any longer and in the most patronizing manner he could possibly muster, he said with a smile, "Is there someone wrong, Auror Warren?"

"Officially?" He asked as he wrote in the proper places and signed off where he was supposed to. He passed it, albeit roughly, to Draco so that he could sign too. "No. But off the record? I have a problem with Deatheaters in my Department."

Draco kept his scowl in check once he'd finished signing and stood to his full height. Clearing his throat and casually shrugging, he said, "I suppose I should apologize that my presence bothers you." And then his scowl appeared, full and heavy as he added, "But I won't."

"You're a Malfoy." Auror Warren spat at him. "I don't expect you to do anything worth a damn. Although," he said with a smug smirk. "I still think you should say thank you to your girlfriend for this."

Draco faltered. "Excuse me?"

"What, you don't know?" He asked tauntingly. "I was ready to throw your Auror application out until Miss Granger saw it rotting away on my desk. So, let's get one thing straight, shall we? It doesn't matter that you made it through Auror Training. With Potter as your instructor, of course you would." He added in a scoff. "But the only reason you made it into training at all was because of her. Without her you'd be just another Deatheater and living out the rest of your days as a black spot on the Wizarding word.

'So, it's like I said." Auror Warren continued with a huge grin. "You should go thank your girlfriend."

Hermione was cleaning up all of her paperwork from her desk. She would head home, shower, change into something more attractive than work robes, and then head to dinner with Draco. There was a huge possibility that he would already be at her apartment, and the thought of it she found interesting. She wouldn't say that they were "living together," but with how often he was at her apartment it was a somewhat accurate description. If anyone had told her that this would be her life after the war, she wouldn't have believed them in the slightest.

"Hermione,"

She looked up and smiled when she saw Draco in her doorway. She frowned shortly after when she realized that he looked completely distressed.

"Draco, what's wrong?"

"You helped me get into the training program?"

"Who told you that?"

"Is that a yes?"

Hermione sighed. She gestured for him to move from the doorway and she used her wand to close, lock, and silence the room. "Your application was going to be thrown out. Quintin –I mean Auror Warren –he is…a right arse and he wasn't going to give you a fair shot simply because of your past and his personal issues-"

"Personal issues?" Draco echoed. Hermione nodded and nervously played with her sleeves.

"His cousin. She was… She'd been killed during the war." Hermione paused and looked up at him as recognition seemed to be slowly dawning on him. "In your Manor."

The air felt thick around Draco as he emitted a soft, "Oh." That's why he had looked so familiar. It was because he'd seen a member of his family. A dead member of his family.

"Draco,"

He looked up, nearly jumping out of his skin when he saw that Hermione was standing directly in front of him. He didn't even hear when she had moved from her desk.

"I know what you're thinking."

Draco snorted. "Do you?"

"Yes," Hermione insisted as she placed a hand on his cheek to make him look at her. "You got into the training program on your own."

"No, I didn't." Draco argued as he shrugged her off of him. "You know that I didn't. You said it yourself. My application was going to be thrown out if you hadn't interceded!"

"What was I supposed to do? Do nothing and let Quintin mistreat you all because of his own problems?"

"Yes!"

Hermione blinked rapidly in surprise. "Yes?"

"…No. I…I don't know." Draco reluctantly admitted. He heaved a heavy sigh and shook his head. "I need to get some air."

"Draco," Hermione called as she watched him undo the charms on her door. "Draco!" She called again, but he was out the door faster than she could've imagined. She just stood there, in disbelief at the turn of the conversation. In fact she was so out of it that she didn't even realize that Harry had walked into her office.

He'd been on his way to give her a few files on a case that she was helping out the Auror Department with when he saw Draco rush past him. That had been red flag number one. The second was hearing Hermione call out desperately for him, and then to find her looking like she'd just failed a class.

"You and Malfoy have a fight?"

Hermione turned her blank gaze to Harry and hesitated. "I… Yes? I don't know what to make of it really."

"What happened?" Harry asked as he closed her office door behind him.

"Malfoy talked to Quintin, I suppose. He found out that I stopped his application from getting trashed. I don't get it." Hermione frowned bitterly. "I thought that he would be happy, but instead he flipped out! I didn't want to hurt him or make him feel… I don't know, inadequate? I just wanted to help. Was I wrong, Harry? Should I have…not helped?"

"For you to not help isn't in your nature. It's what you do, Hermione. What you did wasn't a bad thing."

"Oh, well, tell Malfoy that." Hermione scoffed. She felt water build in her eyes, but she fought to the death to make sure they didn't slip. Instead she sat on the corner of her desk and stared at any and everything that wasn't Harry's concerned eyes. "I don't even know where he is so we can talk some more." She added softly. "He just…stormed off."

Harry didn't know what to say. He just stood there, taking in the distraught appearance of his friend and felt his heart ache. Damn Malfoy. Now he was going to have to do something that he really didn't want to do.

Author's note: It can't all be sunshine and unicorns unfortunately… Auror Warren needs to get fired.

Thanks for reading everyone!

-WP