A Gift Fic awarded to Catlyn for her hard work in Round 9 of the Houses Competition!
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"Back again, Granger?" Draco Malfoy asks from the other side of the bar, wiping it down with a dirty rag. Pretending that I don't come here often.
"Don't act like you don't like my company," I mutter in response, grimacing at the stench of alcohol surrounding us. And the fact that the barstool is uncomfortable and slightly damp is not exactly appetising either. He raises an eyebrow in response. "Just get me a drink."
"Please?"
"Thank you? What do you want me to say. I'm paying you, isn't that enough pleasantry?"
Draco laughs shortly and passes me a large glass of red wine. He's watching me with that funny expression, his eyes narrowed ever so slightly. Like he's thinking something a little too difficult, like there's something quite implausible on his mind. I try my best to ignore him, but he just won't look away from me.
"If you don't quit staring at me, I will ask for something stronger," I threaten. He backs down, rolls his eyes, and moves away to the other side of the bar where a balding man is vying for Draco's attention. I scowl. Not that it should really bother me, his attention being elsewhere. It's just one of those dumb things where there's a total paradox between... everything. I don't want his attention, but I don't want his attention to be diverted elsewhere?
Does that even make sense?
I pull the stack of casefiles from my bag and lay them out of the bar. Draco usually doesn't mind, and he seems to be ignoring me now so that works too. They're not entirely confidential, but it's also not common knowledge that there have been three homicides in this area in the last week, all with similar causes of death - an obscure poison that is almost exclusively obtained on the Black Market, or through collecting ingredients and brewing separately. It's a tough one, in so many words.
Also, I'm not sure so many people would be psyched to hear that their lead homicide detective likes to work best with an enormous glass of merlot - so much so that it is my regular, and Draco knows it.
"What is it tonight?"
Speak of the devil and he shall appear.
"Juicy homicide," he comments, leaning over the papers and reading upside down. "Can I get in on that?"
Draco Malfoy. Simple bartender. Annoyingly attractive when he attempts to think. And frustratingly brilliant at helping solve cases. He was recently brought on to my team as an civilian advisor. I'm not sure anyone really knows what that means, but it allows him access to crime scenes to provide external details and whatever else crap he can include that helps the rest of us solve cases.
"Not tonight," I murmur in response, looking over the details more closely.
"Can I come by after work?"
"Sure."
Malfoy allows me to work in silence and disappears to entertain someone else for the evening. Probably some gorgeous blond or a leggy brunette that would far outshine anything I have to offer. You know, other than my wild intellectuality. Somehow I doubt that anyone Malfoy picks up would have the sense to even know what a homicide is, let alone be able to solve one.
Not that I care about who Malfoy picks up.
Well, not really.
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Thanks for reading!
