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Thursday, June 23rd 1999 (A Week and Six Days Later)

Draco rubbed his eyes and took another sip of the strongest coffee he could find. It was the night before his final exam and he was attempting to cram as much information as he could into his mind. It oddly reminded him of studying for the O.W.L.S at Hogwarts in his fifth year. The history of Aurors was long and detailed. The textbook they had received was over two thousand pages long.

The next day the exam would begin at nine in the morning and each trainee would take the exam one by one until they were all through. It could take just through the day or all through the night; Draco's class was rather large so he hoped he would be one of the first so he wouldn't have to wait hours. The order in which they took the test was random so he had no way of knowing.

The clock on the wall across from his desk ticked midnight. Draco sighed, he needed a little break. Pushing his textbook and notes aside he laid his head in his arms and rested his mind. He thought about the last time he had seen Aurora, it was two days before. They had met up at Draco's house after she had work and his training and simply sat in his backyard and watched the sunset. He felt himself increasingly grow his feelings for her. It was weird for him to think that he may end up falling in love with her.

In the past few two weeks they had seen each other a few times but nothing as intense had happened as the night when they had an all-out make out session on her couch. He knew that he probably crossed a line when that happened, but he didn't know that she had never done anything like that before. What if he were to be her first? That was a thought that crossed his mind when he got home that evening. But he didn't know if she would even want to with him. He would wait for her as long as she wanted to. Sex wasn't something he thought about that often since his first time wasn't exactly pleasurable for him. Pansy wasn't really concerned about what he wanted.

He hadn't told Aurora that he wasn't a virgin. Unsure about how she would react he kept it to himself until he thought it was an appropriate time to tell her. She probably thought he wasn't anyways, most men his age weren't. He felt much older than his age; he had been through so much in only nineteen years.

Realizing that a decent amount of time had passed, he decided that he should start studying again. After taking his textbook out again he recognized that he couldn't possibly put any more information into his brain, he must know enough to pass the test by now.

Turning out the lamp in his office he made his way into his bedroom. After taking off his button up shirt and tie and slipping on his pajama pants he crawled into bed and went to sleep.

Friday, June 24th 1999

At precisely seven in the morning Draco's alarm clock chimed its annoying wake up call. He rolled over and rubbed his eyes. Knowing that today was the day he would either pass or fail the biggest test of his life Draco already felt anxious.

Getting out of bed he brushed his hand through his hair and made his way to the shower. While washing his hair he went over all the information he studied the night before and all he could remember from class. Spells and curses whizzed through his mind as he thought about the most challenging part of the examination, the duel.

After toweling himself off he put on his best button up shirt and nicest pitch black tie. He slid on his dress pants then combed through his light blonde hair. Approving of how he looked, he went put his black shiny loafers on and apparated to the Ministry of Magic.

As he arrived next to the gigantic fountain on the main floor of the Ministry he looked to the clock noticing he still had an hour before exams would begin. No doubt he wasn't the only trainee already there; many of them would want to arrive early to find out when they will be taking their exam.

Curious himself about the time he would be tested on his knowledge he went to the nearest open elevator and pressed the button for the Auror training floor. There were several other people in the elevator all going to different floors and departments.

When it was his turn to get off he took one last look at the elevator thinking, the next time I see that fountain I'll either be an Auror or a sad failure. His future was depending on the next few hours.

Walking down the hallway to where the list of trainees was posted he noticed that almost the whole class was there. Some of them were crowded around the board where the list was posted, the rest who already knew when their test was scheduled were milling about and chatting with each other.

Maneuvering around the other men looking at the list Draco set his eyes on it and searched for his name. When he found it he was pleasantly surprised with his placement, fifth. He would have time to think over what he had studied and relax a bit. Also he would know his fate sooner and not have to wait all day to take an exam that would take him just forty five minutes. Some trainees would take more or less time depending on their written test. How long the duel took didn't matter because they had at least ten experienced Aurors ready to duel them.

Now knowing when he would be testing Draco sat down on a bench across the hallway and tried to relax. He knew he would be waiting at least a few hours. Some of the other trainees brought copies of The Daily Prophet or books. Draco brought neither of those.

After a while the large clock at the end of the hallway chimed nine o'clock. In that second the head of the Auror Training Department, Phil Montgomery came out of a door at the very end of the hallway. When he made his way to the group of anxious men he stopped.

"Alright boys, today's the day. You will take your examination in the order posted on the board. Take as much time as you need on the written portion and be prepared for your timed duel." He said officially as he went to the list and looked back at one of the older trainees that Draco did not know very well. "John, looks like you're up first, come with me." Phil told him. They went swiftly back down the hallway and into the examination room.

Draco sighed and sat back down on the bench. Now that the exams had started he became even more nervous. What happens if he doesn't pass? There's nothing else he could see himself doing.

About a half an hour later Phil came back out of the room at the end of the hallway and called down the next person on the list. It was a younger man, probably only at the age of eighteen.

This routine went on for the next two people on the list. It was now eleven o'clock and Draco was up next. His nerves had hardly calmed down since he arrived. He hoped that he had studied and practiced enough to pass easily. As the seconds ticked by until his turn he noticed his hands started to shake and his heartbeat quicken.

A few minutes later Phil came out again. This time for Draco. He called his name and Draco stood up and walked down the seemingly long hallway to the testing room. It was small with only a table and a chair. Upon the table there was a quill and a bottle of ink. The walls were gray and the floor had wood paneling.

Sitting down in the chair Draco watched Phil take out the exam from a carefully sealed folder. Draco swallowed as Phil placed the test directly in front of him on the table.

"Take as much time as you need when you are finished leave through that door," He said pointing to a door on the other side of the room, "Someone will be out there to collect your completed exam and they will take you to the next part of your examination. While you are dueling your written test will be graded and at the end of the second part of your examination you will hear the results of both tests. Good luck." With that Phil exited through the door he pointed at moments before.

Draco picked up the quill and wrote his name at the top of the exam. He quickly looked over all of the questions; it was exactly as he had expected it would be. After answering a few questions easily he started to feel confident he would pass this portion of the exam. Out of all fifty questions there was only a couple he was not fully sure of. In order to pass he needed to get at least forty five right.

Looking over his answers one last time Draco put the quill back on the table next to the ink. He stood up and slowly walked to the door and thought, this is it no turning back now. Warily, he opened the door and stepped into a small room. There was a petite woman sitting at a desk correcting the exam of the trainee before him.

"Please place your exam here then go out that door and down the hallway, second door on your right." She said in a high pitched voice pointing to the corner of her desk.

Doing as she told him to he carefully set his test down on her desk and left the room through the door she indicated.

Draco knew the ministry was big but he didn't know there were so many little rooms and hallways dedicated to just one thing. He entered a hallway that looked just like all the other hallways in the ministry. Quickly he made his way to the second door on the right. There was a sign on the door saying "When entering, have your wand at the ready." Taking a deep breath Draco took his wand out of his pocket and went into the room in which the duel was awaiting him.

The room was dark; there were little lights around the room, but not enough to see much of anything. The timer of the twenty minute duel and begun. Knowing there was someone in the room who would be soon throwing curses at him he raised his wand. He stepped quietly forward away from the lights trying to keep himself hidden while he looked for the other person in the room.

Then he saw him, it was just a shadow in the light but from that he could tell precisely where he was. Draco quickly faced towards his opponent and shouted, "Stupefy!"

Right away he knew he hit his opponent, the man went flying through the air and landed with a thud on the floor. He quickly got up and that's when Draco knew who he was up against, Peter Jefferson, who was ranked just under head Auror. He was also not that much older than Draco, just by a couple years.

"Locomotor mortis!" Peter skillfully cursed him.

Suddenly Draco's legs were bound together and he could barely keep himself up. "Confundo!" He said to confuse Peter. In the time he was confused Draco quickly did the counter curse to unlock his legs and he ran back into the darkness.

Trying to remember useful curses and hexes Draco pulled himself together and slyly hid in the shadows trying to catch a glimpse of Peter. He pressed himself up against the wall and slowly moved to his left. Looking into the lights he found him again, he was obviously no longer confused and was also looking for him. Draco's heart was beating fast as he shouted out, "Incarcerous!" In a second Peter was wrapped up in ropes, he struggled to move his wand to do the counter-curse.

The timer high up on the wall showed that there were still ten minutes left. Draco thought he was doing alright so far, he managed not getting hurt or caught up in a spell.

Draco backed up a bit when he noticed that Peter was getting out of the ropes. He held his wand up in front of himself as Peter stood up and faced him. They stood there for a moment seemingly sizing each other up.

Deciding that he needed to make the first move he quickly said the first curse that came to mind. "Levicorpus!"

The next thing he knew he was on the ground. Peter had quickly dodged his curse and knocked him back with the knockback jinx. Hurriedly he got up and tried his luck again. "Expelliarmus!"

Peter's wand flew out of his hand as Draco uttered another curse, "Stupefy!"

His opponent was thrown through the air still without his wand. Trying not to waste any more time he quickly went to Peter who was again just getting up from the ground. He pointed his wand at him as he stood in front of him waiting until he was back on his feet. Draco didn't want to seem like a coward by cursing him when he was already down.

Again they were back facing each other. Thinking fast Draco shouted, "Impedimenta!" Peter froze. In that moment Draco knew that he had the upper hand in the duel and he needed to keep it up the last minute or two.

Slowly moving away from Peter, Draco waited for him to get his bearings. He gripped his wand tight and prepared for his next move. Just as Peter got up and was about to throw a curse at Draco, the timer buzzed. The duel was over.

Suddenly all the lights came on and Draco was relieved that he was finished with his exams. Peter walked up to him smiling and shook his hand firmly.

"Congratulations Mr. Malfoy I'd say that you passed this portion of your exam with flying colors. The results of your written test will be brought to you in a few minutes if you'll just wait in the hallway." Peter said still smiling.

"Thank you." Draco said happily. Now all he needed to know was how he did on the written portion. After shaking Peter's hand he went back out the door he came in into the hallway. He tapped his foot in anticipation while he could hear other trainees dueling in the other rooms down the hallway, there were loud crashes, thumps, and blasts of light from under the doorways.

Moments later the petite woman who seemed to be correcting the written exams earlier came out into the hallway with a clipboard in her hands.

"Draco Malfoy?" She called out looking at him.

Draco got up and made his way to her, "That's me."

"Your exam has been graded, you got forty eight out of fifty correct. Congratulations." She said as she smiled at him and went back into her grading room.

Draco smiled big and felt relief and joy spread though his body. He was really going to be an Auror. With the reality setting in Draco walked to the elevator with a certain spring in his step. He stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the main floor. While waiting for the elevator to arrive on the main floor he couldn't wait to tell his mother and Aurora the news. Being reminded of Aurora an idea popped into his mind.

Getting off the elevator he noticed that the ministry had gotten significantly busier in the last few hours. Countless witches and wizards were milling about either going to work or going home. He made his way to one of the red telephone booths which were stationed across from the flooing fireplaces.

Going in he slightly remembered how they worked.

"Hello, will you be leaving the Ministry of Magic or going to a another place in the Ministry?" The automated voice asked.

"Leaving." Draco stated clearly.

"Destination?" The voice asked.

"The south end of Diagon Alley." Draco said anxious to get out of the ministry.

"Thank you for visiting the Ministry of Magic today. Have a good day." The voice said finally.

The booth began to sink into the floor and went into an underground tunnel system that went miles and miles all over London. Within a few minutes the booth began to go up again and onto the street. Draco got out of the telephone booth and walked down the street to the store he had walked by so many times but never thought he would go into, The Enchanted Bouquet. Going in the wonderful smell of flowers overwhelmed him. Looking around there were rows and rows of bouquet displays.

Soon after he entered an older woman came out from the back of the shop, most likely the owner.

"Hello, is there anything I can help you with?" The woman said cheerily with a grin on her aged face.

"Yes, I need a dozen red roses please." Draco said politely, a little shy since he had never bought any kind of flowers for a woman before.

The woman went to work arranging the roses in perfect fashion. "Would you like to write a card with it?" She asked finishing up the bouquet.

"Sure." He said fiddling with his hands. Draco was still giddy from passing his exams; he also couldn't wait to give the roses to Aurora.

When the woman completed the bouquet he paid for it then immediately left the store. He knew that Aurora would still be at work so he knew he would just have to leave it at her apartment for her to find later. Disapparating to the hallway outside her apartment he quickly scrawled a note on the little card attached to one of the roses.

He cast a spell to suspend the bouquet in the air in front of her door so there would be no way for her to miss it. Remembering what he had planned for later in the evening for Aurora he quickly apparated to his home.

. . .

"Ugh!" Angelina grumbled down the stairs as Aurora finished ringing up a customer. As one of her best friends Aurora knew that Angelina and George's relationship had been on the rocks for the last couple weeks. She also knew that she would know all about it in a few moments.

Seeing no one else ready to buy, Aurora stepped away from the cash register for a moment to check on Angelina.

"Angie?" Aurora called to her as she went into the break room.

"Yeah?" She answered as she wiped her eye from a single tear.

Sitting down on the couch next to her she asked, "What did he do this time?"

"He's just so… impossible. I understand that he's still upset over Fred's death but he doesn't get that other people care about him, his drinking is getting almost as bad as it was before." Angelina explained still frustrated.

"I wonder what sparked him to start again." Aurora wondered out loud.

"I'm not quite sure. He seemed like he was doing fine just a few weeks ago. Maybe he was just reminded of him in some way recently." She suggested.

"Maybe. What helped him last time?" Aurora asked sitting back on the couch.

"Just his family, his friends, and maybe even me. He doesn't feel the need to drink if he's around people he loves." Angelina said.

"Well what's changed?"

"Family, I think. Ginny and Ron have only been with Harry and Hermione. They're all wrapped up in their romantic relationships they seem to think that George is just over it." She said sadly.

"But what about you? I know you're here all the time."

"Well yes, but he'll stay up after I go to bed and drink."

"I'm not sure how to help; I've never dealt with anything like this." Aurora confessed.

"Hopefully it will get better on its own; you should probably get back to work. Thank you for talking to me though." Angelina said as she got up.

"It's no problem." Aurora said as Angelina pulled her into a hug. At first she was surprised at her sudden show of affection toward her but she accepted it in a second. She felt good to have a friend that felt that comfortable with her.

After embracing Angelina, Aurora went quickly back to her station in which there was a line of customers ready to buy. She hoped that George didn't notice that she had left her post. In the last few hours of work Aurora couldn't stop thinking about George, she didn't know if there was anything she could do to help.

When her shift was over she got all of her things and quickly went out the door. She knew that today was the day that Draco took his Auror exams and couldn't wait to hear from him. Hopefully he would send her an owl when she got home.

Hurriedly she made her way through the crowded streets of Diagon Alley. When she got to Ollivander's she greeted the old man and went up the stairs to her apartment.

Immediately when she got to her door a smile lit up her face. She carefully put her hand up to grasp the beautiful bouquet of red roses suspended in front of her. Holding the flowers she smelled them and felt a warm fuzzy feeling overwhelm her. Noticing the little card on the side she opened it up and read the familiar handwriting.

Aurora,

Good news, I passed! Meet me at my house at seven o'clock to celebrate.

-Draco

Suddenly very happy and excited for later that night Aurora rushed into her apartment. She found a big enough vase for the roses and put them on her bedside table. Afterward she looked at the clock on her dresser and noticed she had an hour before Draco was expecting her. That gave her more than enough time to get ready.

Opening up her closet she scanned over all her clothes. After a few minutes of picking out and discarding outfits she decided on dark wash capris and a flowy white top with a V-neck. Setting the outfit out on her bed Aurora went into her bathroom to take a shower.

After drying her hair with a beauty spell, Aurora went back into her bedroom to get dressed. While slipping on her capris she realized something, for the first time in her life she was able to say that she felt good in her own skin and she knew it was only because Draco liked her just the way she was. Even though she hadn't even known him for three weeks she thought that maybe she was already falling in love with him. She desperately hoped he felt the same way.

Already dressed Aurora brushed through her hair and decided to leave it in its natural straightness. Seeing as her hair was in its natural way she wanted to keep the theme and only used mascara on her eye lashes.

Spritzing on a few sprays of her favorite perfume that smelled like vanilla, Aurora looked at the clock again which now read six forty-five. With fifteen minutes to kill, Aurora went into her living room and cleaned up the coffee table and the counters in her kitchen. When she was finished she was glad to see it was only two minutes away from being seven o'clock.

Knowing Draco wouldn't mind if she showed up a few minutes early Aurora apparated to the street Draco's house was on. She never felt comfortable just apparating into someone's home. Enjoying the night air Aurora walked down the street to his house.

When she arrived to his house there was nothing that could have prepared her for what she saw in the window that showed his living room. In the window she saw Draco kissing a petite black haired woman, she stared in disbelief for a moment. He pulled away from the woman quickly and somehow knowing Aurora was there he looked out the window and had a look of horror on his face that she had seen him kissing another woman. Instantly heartbroken and not caring who saw her, Aurora disaparated back to her bedroom and immediately began to cry.