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Chapter Text

The Ministry of Magic

June 2005

“Listen up! Head Auror in the office!”

Harry Potter shot the Auror who had uttered those words an amused look, “Acting Head Auror, Cauldwell.”

Sorenson Cauldwell headed up the Organised Crime Unit; he grinned, “Still the Head Auror, mate!”

Harry shook his head and jumped up onto a table. The bullpen where they held emergency meetings or briefings was full of Aurors, who were watching him curiously.

“This is it, guys,” Harry said, “Today is the day.”

He was well aware that he sounded like Oliver Wood. But this wasn’t a pre-Quidditch match speech; it was something bigger. And it was on days like this that Harry remembered why he loved being an Auror. It wasn’t so that he could play babysitter to the muggle Prime Minister or work crowd-control at an international Quidditch game.

It was to catch criminals, particularly the smug, sophisticated ones that winked as they evaded capture.

Harry had been chasing down Draco Malfoy for three years, and four arrests later, he still hadn’t found enough evidence to convict the bastard until now.

“Our target is Draco Malfoy. We all know the name. We’ve all arrested him or attempted to arrest him.”

There were nods around the bullpen.

“He’s a high-end aristocrat who claims to live off Daddy’s money when really, he lives off his illegal earnings. We have suspected him of running a black market in illegal goods for the past three years, but we have never been able to nail him for it. Every time we’ve gotten close, the evidence has mysteriously disappeared, or he’s pulled out a team of lawyers that cost more than the healthcare for this entire department.”

A few snorts or chuckles went around the room, but it was sickeningly true.

Ron nodded distastefully at the front of the room, which amused Harry. At the moment, he and Ron were Auror partners, but it hadn’t been Ron who had tracked Malfoy for the past three years; it had been Harry and his previous partner. His last partner was fired for being a hotheaded idiot, which still irked Harry six months after the event.

He didn’t like working with Ron. Being friends with someone was one thing, but working with them in a high-stress job was another, especially when that person tended to cut corners in places they really shouldn’t.  

“Malfoy has contacts everywhere, especially in the Ministry, which means he usually knows when we’re planning a raid and can clear out before we get there. But this time, we have new information.”

Harry could practically feel the adrenaline pumping through him right now. The thought of finally catching Draco, who was always smug while evading capture, was a thrill.

“His girlfriend has informed us that he’s operating out of a shop in Knockturn Alley disguised to look like it’s in a state of ruin. He’ll be moving premises tomorrow, so this is our only shot at getting him while he’s in this location.”

“Auror Potter?” One of the Aurors asked.

“Yes, Lorne?” Harry said, glancing at the Auror in question.

“What if it’s an ambush?” Auror Lorne asked.

“We considered that possibility, and we highly doubt that it is. That’s not his style. He's slippery, he doesn’t like to get his hands dirty, and we doubt he’d try to take on a team of Aurors. At best, he has a couple of helpers and a lot of outside connections.”

Lorne nodded, and Harry continued, “As I said, he’s slippery, so this must be handled carefully. Organised Crime and Vice are going to surround the storefront. Then Homicide and I will break the protective charms and slip in under disillusionment charms. If all goes well, we will arrest him on the spot, and then Vice will seize the goods while Organised Crime handle the press and control the crowds. Any questions?

There was silence and no questions, so Harry nodded, “Good. Robe up. We leave in 10 minutes from the apparition point.”

The room began to empty, leaving Harry with his partner, Ron, and their other two team members, Junior Aurors Emma Dobbs and Ritchie Coote.

“You really think we’re going to get him?” Ron asked.

Harry nodded, “He’s slipped up this time.”

“Isn’t that what you said the last four times?” Ron asked with a raised eyebrow.

“We’ll get him, Ron,” Harry said darkly. He flicked his head in the direction of the corridor, “Come on, we need to get ready.”

They worked on the Homicide team, which officially meant they solved murders. Still, they were regarded as the best in the department, which meant they sometimes got elite jobs unrelated to murder.

However, the teams worked together on almost every big job anyway, so it didn’t make a difference most of the time, apart from to Ron’s ego.

They whispered about the case in the changing room where all Aurors had to change their inside shoes for work boots and robe up in their protective leather cloaks.

“Why did his girlfriend give him up?” Dobbs asked. She was classed as a ‘junior’ Auror because she had only graduated from the auror training academy last year. She was a reasonably attractive young woman with long dark brown hair, greeny-brown eyes and a pale complexion.

“Maybe she realised how much of a git he is,” Ron pointed out, making Dobbs and the other ‘junior’, Coote, smirk.

Ritchie Coote was a little older but had his ‘calling’ to join the Aurors later in life. He was a handsome guy with sandy blonde hair (that he always styled), blue eyes and a permanent boyish grin.

Harry rolled his eyes, hiding his smirk, “Why she gave him up isn’t important. Catching him is.”

“You really want to get this guy, don’t you?” Coote asked as they walked down a cold concrete corridor to the apparition point.

“Auror Potter has some beef with Malfoy,” Ron said in amusement.

“So does Auror Weasley,” Harry said, glancing at Ron with a knowing look, “He was our…rival during our Hogwarts years.”

“And by a rival, you mean….” Dobbs said, trailing off with a smirk.

“Arch-nemesis, yeah,” Ron said casually.

“He was my arch-nemesis Ron,” Harry said, “He just hated you because you were poor and your family were blood traitors.”

“Oi!” Ron remarked.

“It’s the truth,” Harry said, smirking as Dobbs and Coote sniggered.

The concrete corridor then gave way to a large room buzzing with magic that already had a lot of people filling it up, and the light-hearted air between the team was dropped.

“Is this everyone?” Harry asked.

“Yes, sir,” Sorenson Cauldwell said with a note of teasing in his voice.

Harry hated being called sir, especially by Aurors like Sorenson, who were older than him. The Aurors he liked knew that and never referred to him as such.

Harry glanced around and, after a moment, nodded, satisfied everyone was here, “Okay, everyone. You know the plan, we disillusion ourselves and apparate a team at a time to the hidden courtyard in the old inn at Knockturn Alley. The moment we get there, we assume our positions. Remember, this case requires us to bring back Malfoy in one piece. No lethal spells are permitted under any circumstances.”

Another round of nods made their way around the group of people tightly packed in the room. Then Harry gave the order for the apparition to start. He and his team began, disillusioning themselves and apparating away. They kept watch as Organised Crime and Vice trickled into the courtyard under disillusionment charms. They all took their positions around the shop-front of Draco Malfoy’s hide-out.

Homicide ran a diagnostic charm, which told them every enchantment on the miserable place. They weren’t surprised to find that there were over 20, and then they set about breaking them, but this was the hard part. They had to act fast, or Draco would realise what they were up to and flee before they could catch him. For that reason, the moment they broke through enough charms to do so, they put up anti-apparition wards on the hide-out.

When the extensive charms on the place had been broken, it was time to go in. Harry gave his team the go-ahead through a series of taps on their shoulders. They made their way to the door and slipped in quietly to a large square room lined with illegal potions ingredients, dark magic artefacts and second-hand, unregistered broomsticks. Draco Malfoy was in the midst of it, looking suave in an expensive black suit as he spoke to a customer.

The charms came off, and Harry shouted out words he had wanted to shout for years, “This is an Auror Raid! Nobody is permitted to leave these premises! Draco Malfoy, I am arresting you for the possession of illegal potion ingredients, dark magic artefacts and illicit trading in broomsticks!”

He no longer looked smug; the grin had been wiped entirely from his face. It gave Harry great pleasure to know that he had not been expecting this as he bound Draco’s hands and took his wand from his pocket.

“I told you the law would catch up with you one day Malfoy,” Harry said, perhaps a little too smugly.

“Get your filthy hands off me, Potter!” Draco barked.

“No can do, Malfoy,” Harry retorted, “We’ve yet to develop a hands-free method of arresting someone.”

Draco stopped struggling but glared at Harry, “How did you find me here?”

Dressed in fur robes and looking the part of a high-end aristocrat’s partner, Draco’s girlfriend stepped forward and said firmly, “I told them you were here.”

“Wh…what?” Draco asked in shock.

“I find it hilarious, Malfoy,” Harry said, “That after three years of trying to catch you and three years of you slipping through our fingers like the snake you are, in the end, it was your own girlfriend who gave you up.”

“What does that say about him, mate?” Ron asked with a grin.

“Apart from that he has terrible taste in women?” Harry joked.

“Oh, you’re loving this Potter,” Draco spat.

“What, finally having arrested a scumbag like you?” Harry asked sarcastically, “Now why would I possibly enjoy that?”

“You won’t get me,” Draco said, the smirk snaking its way back onto his face, “My lawyers will swarm your office when they find out you have arrested me.”

“I don’t doubt it,” Harry agreed calmly. He smiled at Draco, “But even your lawyers won’t get you out of this one, Malfoy. You can’t worm your way out of the fact that we have caught you red-handed on premises in your name. To make matters worse, with stock that we know you signed for upon delivery because we have both the paperwork and the delivery wizard’s confession and memory of the event.”

Draco’s face had paled even further when he realised the true seriousness of his situation.

“Why would you do this, Tracey?” he asked his dark-haired girlfriend angrily.

Tracey, his girlfriend, narrowed her eyes at him, “I overheard your conversation with Fletcher, Draco! You pawned the engagement ring you were going to give me for some stupid antique! You deserve all you get, you selfish bastard!”

Draco’s eyes widened, and Ron, Coote and Dobbs tried not to snigger as this motive was revealed.

Harry, of course, had already known this, so he merely smirked at Draco, “Come on, Malfoy, we’re taking you back to the Ministry for questioning.”

Draco couldn’t hide his look of distaste as Harry gripped one of his shoulders, and Ron gripped the other. Together they steered him out of the old shop to cheers and applause from Organised Crime and Vice.

When Harry walked into the interrogation room where Draco was being held, he felt nervous, which was rare for him. Every aspect of this case had been in the planning process for the last three months, and two weeks ago, when Draco’s girlfriend had come forward, things had heated up. At that point, there was a meeting about what to do with him when they caught him, assuming they did catch him.

Harry was the best person to dish out Draco’s options– being an expert in interrogation and fieldwork. He didn’t have a rule book for his interrogations per se, but he had to make sure he offered the right options, or his job was on the line. This case was too big to let Draco slip through their fingers again.

As Harry took his seat opposite Draco, the former Slytherin tapped his fingers impatiently on the table and tried to hide behind his smug façade. However, it was now well and truly cracked, and no amount of acting could hide his pale pallor or the anxiety in his eyes.

“Good afternoon Mr Malfoy,” Harry said politely.

“Where are my lawyers?” Draco asked briskly.

“They are next door with Auror Weasley, discussing your rather dismal situation,” Harry replied.

Draco snorted, “Weasley? He’s still your sidekick after all these years?”

“And Crabbe and Goyle weren’t yours?” Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.

Draco didn’t say anything, so Harry continued, “All heroes need sidekicks, but so do all villains.”

“You think I’m a villain?” Draco asked with vague amusement.

“Well, you are in a holding room with some pretty serious charges against your name,” Harry pointed out.

“Charges that will not be upheld,” Draco added.

“Need I remind you how serious this is?” Harry asked as he placed some documents on the table, “This is the deed of the premises we found you in. The deed states that they were granted to you by your father.”

“So?” Draco asked, “I own the place; I admit that. I was just shopping there.”

“Even if that were true, we would still find it very suspicious,” Harry said.

“After all, you know how that story sounds, right? You just happened to be shopping at a black market - in premises you own,” Harry said, raising an eyebrow at Draco.

Draco narrowed his eyes at Harry but said nothing.

Harry smirked, “How many times have you been arrested for charges relating to the black market? Oh yes, ten times over the last three years.”

“Potter, I’ve had enough of you throwing baseless accusations at me,” Draco drawled, “I demand to speak to the Head of Department.”

“No problem,” Harry said, barely containing a smirk as he got to his feet, “If you give me a minute, I’ll go and get him.”

Draco smirked triumphantly and watched Harry leave the room. Seconds after the door had clicked shut, it opened again, and Harry walked back in.

“Good afternoon Mr Malfoy,” Harry said overly cheerfully, “How can I help you today?”

“You cannot be serious,” Draco said dryly.

“No, he was my Godfather,” Harry said, sitting down across from Draco once more, “You know, the one your aunt killed?”

Draco gave him a sceptical look, “I keep up with current affairs, Potter. I believe it would make front-page news if you were appointed as Head Auror; you are not the head of this department.”

“I’m not Head Auror,” Harry agreed, “But as the Head Auror is on leave due to an injury sustained in the field, as Assistant Head, I am now acting Head until he returns. You don’t get any higher up in the Auror department than me, Malfoy.”

“Terrific,” Draco said dryly.

“Look, the way I see it right now, you have two options,” Harry said, “Option one is your lawyers do all they can, but you still go down for this. You’re looking at ten years in Azkaban at the least.”

“And what is option two?” Draco asked sarcastically, “The easy way?”

“It’s certainly the easier way,” Harry said, “You confess to all charges against you and work for us. We drop all charges, and you can carry on with your life.”

“Work for you?” Draco asked in disbelief, “You must be joking, Potter.”

“I’m not,” Harry said, surveying Draco closely, “We are in the process of setting up a new department, and we think you might just be the right man to head it up.”

Draco leant back in his chair, “You want me to work in the DMLE? You hate me, Potter.”

Harry shrugged, “I don’t hate you, Malfoy. There are very few people in this world that I do hate, and most of them are dead.”

“You spent three years trying to catch me,” Draco pointed out, “And as you said yourself, I’m the villain here, so why on earth would you want to offer me a job?”

“Because I didn’t call you the villain,” Harry mused, “I said all heroes and villains need sidekicks; I didn’t say you were either.”

Draco frowned but said nothing.

“I don’t think you are a villain, Malfoy,” Harry said honestly.

This made Draco’s expression flicker, “No?”

Harry shook his head, “I think you have made some questionable choices, but I can understand why with several of them. What I am offering you is a chance to right those wrongs.”

Draco raised an eyebrow, “To repent? So I’m a sinner, Potter?”

Harry leant forward and smirked, “I don’t know, Malfoy, are you?”

Draco laughed humourlessly and shook his head, “I am not playing this game with you. I want my lawyers.”

“They will be here in due course,” Harry assured him, “But until then, why don’t we talk about this job offer?”

Draco narrowed his eyes at his former enemy, “Fine, I’ll bite. What exactly is this new department that you speak of?”

Harry smirked. He knew that Draco would react this way, “It isn’t really undercover…but it’s not exactly official. There are some people, like you, that we normally struggle to apprehend or we can’t touch for political or diplomatic reasons. These people have done much worse than run a black market, and they get away with it because of our rules and regulations.”

Draco said nothing but kept his sceptical gaze on Harry, who continued, “Our new department has one goal - to get these bastards by any means and bring them to us so we can prosecute them.”

“And why do you think I would want any part in that?” Draco asked.

Harry frowned and studied Draco for a moment, clearly making him feel uncomfortable.

“Ever since I got your case three years ago, I’ve wanted to ask you one question when I finally caught you. Do you know what that is, Malfoy?”

“I don’t know, nor do I care, Potter,” Draco drawled.

Harry sighed, “Given everything you’ve seen and everything that has happened to your family. Why did you choose the same path of self-destruction that they did?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Potter,” Draco bluffed.

“I’ve read your file, Malfoy,” Harry said, “I know everything about you. Abused by your father as a child and taken out of his custody until he proved he could look after you - covered up with a bribe.”

Draco’s face began to pale, and Harry continued, “Used by Voldemort in an attempt to get you killed and embarrass your family, and then outcast because you attempted to kill Dumbledore…tortured by Voldemort, leaving you with-”

He opened the file in front of him and continued, “Fractured bones and a mild case of post-traumatic stress. Then there was the war - you were tried as a war criminal and received 20 hours of community service for crimes committed. Those crimes were torture and attempted murder, one against Muggles and the other against Dumbledore,” he glanced at Draco, who now looked white as a ghost.

“Your mother was pardoned because your father controlled her with the imperius curse for several years,” Harry continued. Still, he spoke a little more softly now, “Your father received a 15-year jail sentence on which his early release could be negotiated for good behaviour.”

Draco swallowed, and Harry sighed, “Two months after she gained her freedom of mind back, your mother was found dead. The suspected cause was suicide; she overdosed on pain potions.”

“Sleeping potions,” Draco said quietly, and the break in his voice made Harry hesitate.

He looked at the man across from him, who looked a little less smug and a little more broken. Maybe it was the hero complex he seemed to have been born with, but he felt sorry for him.

Harry frowned, “And then, less than six months later, your father jumped into the sea and drowned himself en route from his cell to the bathroom.”

Harry shut the file with an audible clap, and Draco jumped.

“So Malfoy, you lost everything because of Voldemort and the criminal lifestyle your father led. Which makes it hard for me to understand why you chose this path when you could have chosen to make a difference in the world.”

Draco was silent, his eyes boring into the table, “That’s none of your business, Potter,” he said weakly.

“Why didn’t you try to redeem yourself? You could have done so very easily,” Harry pointed out, “You saved my life. Why didn’t you play on that?”

“Redeem myself?” Draco asked in disbelief, “In whose eyes? Yours? The Ministry’s? No matter what I did, I would still have been seen as the war criminal son of Lucius Malfoy.”

“So you chose the easy way out,” Harry said with a nod, “And stuck to what you knew, being a criminal.”

“I didn’t choose anything, Potter,” Draco muttered bitterly, “People like me don’t have much in the way of career choices.”

“Well, I’m giving you one,” Harry said bluntly, “You aren’t the villain, and you never have been. Villains do horrible things for fun or some misguided purpose, and that has never been you.”

Draco met Harry’s eye, and Harry sighed, “If you were that guy, why did you help me in the war? Why did you look like you were close to tears when Hermione was being tortured?”

Draco frowned and looked back down at the table.

“I’m giving you a way out, Malfoy, a way to help people.”

“And I don’t deserve it,” Draco snapped, his eyes still not meeting Harry’s.

Harry paused, then asked quietly, “You don’t think you deserve to be saved?”

Draco scoffed, “What are you trying to save? My soul? Because I hate to break it to you, Potter, but I think it’s too late for that. Sometimes bad people are redeemable, and sometimes they are just bad people.”

“You’re not a bad person, Malfoy,” Harry said with complete confidence. So much confidence that it floored Draco for a moment.

“And I’m offering you this job because you do deserve it. You deserve a way out,” Harry said sincerely, “I didn’t happen to mention that it pays 2,000 Galleons a year, did I?”

“2,000?” Draco asked in surprise.

“It’s nothing compared to what Aurors at the top of their game get paid, but you get free health care,” Harry continued nonchalantly.

Draco raised an eyebrow, “Does that come with the package for a reason?”

Harry smiled slightly, “Everyone in this department gets free health care, Malfoy. It’s a gift for risking your life every day.”

“Who’s going to be on this team?” Draco asked, surveying Harry with interest.

“We have a few people in mind. Criminal geniuses mostly who we don’t think should waste their talents in Azkaban,” Harry said.

“You think I’m a criminal genius?” Draco asked with a raised eyebrow and the hint of a smile, “I’ll take that as a compliment, Potter.”

Harry smiled slightly, “I think you think you’re a criminal genius, Malfoy. What I do know is that you are good at evading capture, and those sort of people are usually just as good at catching bad guys.”

“Because we think alike,” Draco said with a nod, “It’s easy to capture someone slippery when you are slippery yourself.”

Harry got to his feet, “Exactly.”

“Auror Weasley has just explained everything to your lawyers, and when they come in here in 5 minutes, I assure you, they will be unanimous in their opinion,” Harry added.

He surveyed Draco as he grabbed the door handle, “You’re far better off joining us than fighting us.”

Draco sighed and let his head drop onto the table as the door clicked shut behind Harry.

Unfortunately, he had a feeling that his old adversary was right.

.

“Do you think he’ll agree?” Ron asked Harry as they sat in the Homicide office with Cootes and Dobbs.

“Do I think that Draco Malfoy will decide to avoid going to prison but, in doing so, will have to earn an honest living?” Harry asked sarcastically, “I dunno Ron, what do you think?”

Ron frowned, “Uh…is this a trick question?”

Harry rolled his eyes and looked at the door of the holding room where Draco was currently talking with his lawyers.

“Honestly, I think he knows joining us is his only way out.”

“So, you still think this is a good idea, Harry?” Dobbs asked, her observant eyes seeing right through him as they did with the criminals they brought in.

Harry sighed but nodded, “Yes, I do. There are different sorts of criminals, Emma. There are those people who hurt or kill people for no redeemable reason, and there’s no reforming a murderer or rapist. But some people don’t have a choice, they are pushed into doing terrible things, and then they can’t find a way out. I think this team could give those people a way out. It would give good people, who were forced into making bad decisions, a chance to right their wrongs.”

“So this is your whole ‘saving people’ thing playing up again then, Harry?” Ron said, giving his best friend a knowing look.

Harry chuckled, “Maybe, but it’s more than that. There’s always a bigger fish, and a team of people who know how the criminal world operates could help us catch it.”

“The whole thing just seems very political,” Coote said.

“It’s a very political game,” Harry countered.

Ron sighed, “I don’t think it’s right. Giving Malfoy the chance to work with us, how do we know he won’t betray us at the first chance he gets?”

“He won’t be able to,” Dobbs said with a sly grin, “Ritchie and I have been working on a plan that should hopefully prevent it.”

“Well, Emma has been working on it. I’ve just been helping,” Coote added.

“Sounds about right,” Harry said in amusement, “What is it?”

“It’s a mark imbued with magic that is imprinted into the skin. It’s an ‘M’ in the style of the M on the Ministry logo. It will alert us if he’s anywhere he shouldn’t be because it can be programmed to respond to certain places or people,” Dobbs explained.

“Yeah, convincing him to take that will be near impossible, Emma,” Harry said, and Ron nodded in agreement.

“Is it based on the case study you did in Auror training about the Dark Mark?” Ron asked.

Emma nodded, cringing slightly, “Right…I didn’t think of that. Of course, ex-Death Eaters will be sceptical about something permanently being burned onto their skin.”

“Yes,” Harry said, “Can’t you do the same thing through another means? Because it’s an ingenious idea.”

Dobbs blushed slightly, and Coote said, “It’s not easy to transfer the magic to another object. The mark was the best idea because it can’t be removed or hijacked like a bracelet or an ankle cuff.”

“So we convince him to take it? That’s our only choice?” Harry asked.

Dobbs and Coote both nodded, and Ron said, “I think we should knock him out and then burn it onto his undeserving arse.”

“Noted, Ron,” Harry said dryly as Coote sniggered, and Dobbs rolled her eyes.

“He’s a prick,” Ron added irritably.

Harry snorted, “Mate, this is why I am on liaison with Malfoy, assuming he accepts the offer.”

“You think I wanted the job?” Ron asked with a raised eyebrow.

Harry smiled slightly, “I know you didn’t. That’s why I volunteered.”

“At least this time, you’ll have a reason for following him into a bathroom, Harry,” Ron said, grinning at his best friend.

Coote snorted, “What?”

Dobbs raised an eyebrow, “Please tell me that comment makes sense in context.”

Harry gave Ron an irritated look, “I knew he was a Death Eater, and nobody else believed me. So yes, I engaged in a little surveillance to confirm my suspicions.”

“That didn’t give you an excuse for the rest of the year, mate,” Ron sniggered.

“You stalked Malfoy for a whole year?” Coote asked in disbelief.

“He was a Death Eater, and nobody believed me!” Harry exclaimed.

“Right,” Ron said, nodding and looking very sincere, “And Death Eaters have secret meetings in bathrooms at midnight all the time, right?”

“Bathrooms are dangerous at Hogwarts, Ron,” Harry said pointedly, “Myrtle got killed in one, remember?”

Ron shrugged, “That’s a fair point, actually. Hermione nearly got killed by a mountain troll in one too… maybe that’s why girls always go to the bathroom in packs, safety in numbers, you know?”

Dobbs rolled her eyes and said, “Can I hit him with a stinging hex, Harry?”

Harry grinned, “Please do, Emma.”

Ron made a face, and Harry chuckled, “Anyway, my initial assessment after that interrogation is that Malfoy isn’t all bad.”

“And that is why you are assigned to him,” Dobbs said, “Because nobody else would say that.”

“He saved my life in the war. He didn’t have to do that,” Harry said, defending his former enemy.

“But does that really forgive the seven years he spent tormenting you for being a Gryffindor, not having any parents, and for pretty much everything?” Ron asked bluntly.

Harry shrugged, “We were kids, Ron. He was a nasty bully; does that mean he has to have a miserable life? You have to remember that all bullies are insecure for a reason, and Malfoy’s childhood was almost as traumatic as mine.”

“Did he get locked in cupboards and hit with frying pans too?” Coote asked sarcastically.

Harry chuckled, “Shut up, Ritchie,” he said half-heartedly.

Coote smirked and pointed to the door behind Harry, “You’re needed with your new assignment.”

One of the lawyers was waving Harry over, so he got to his feet and crossed the office to where the man stood.

“Our client has made a decision,” The stout man said.

Harry nodded, “And?”

“He wants the full terms and conditions of the agreement and to see the contract,” The lawyer said.

“So he agrees?” Harry asked.

“He realises an agreement is his only way to avoid jail time,” The man said.

Harry nodded, “Okay, can I talk to him?”

The lawyer nodded, “He is willing to confess once he has heard the full terms and conditions and seen the contract.”

“Then I’ll give him the terms and conditions now, and I’ll show him the contract,” Harry said as he waved a folder in front of the man irritably, he hated lawyers.

“Potter,” Draco said, almost politely.

“Have your lawyers told you to be nice to me, Malfoy?” Harry asked in amusement.

“Perhaps,” Draco said with narrowed eyes, “Why have I not seen a single Auror, apart from you, since I arrived here?”

“Because,” Harry said as he sat down, “I’m assigned to you.”

“Assigned to me?” Draco asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Nobody else wanted to deal with you, Malfoy,” Harry said as he opened the file in his hands.

“I’m hurt, honestly,” Draco said sarcastically.

Harry gave him an unamused look, “Your lawyers said you wanted to see the contract. This is it,” he said as he slid it across the table.

Draco examined the contract, skimming over everything, including the small print. When he looked up again, he didn’t look happy.

“I have to work in this department for ten years?” He asked with distaste.

“The same amount of time you would serve in Azkaban,” Harry said.

“Ten years? How is that any different from a prison sentence?”

“Well, you get to keep your estate, and you get paid. You also get to leave whenever you want, and considering we are in an economy crippled by war, you have a secure job for ten years,” Harry said bluntly.

Draco narrowed his eyes and looked back down to the contract. After a few minutes, he looked up with steely eyes, “What is this?” he hissed, pointing to the smallest of the small print.

“There has to be a degree of trust, Malfoy. We are giving you this job, but that doesn’t mean we trust you,” Harry said.

Draco crossed his arms but said nothing.

“You have been tried as a war criminal, so the department classes you as a security risk. Some of the things we see and hear in this department are more classified than what they do in the Department of Mysteries.”

“Really, Potter?” Malfoy asked in disbelief.

“Really,” Harry said seriously, “Some of the cases we work on are top secret. Do you know what the highest security clearance level in the Ministry is?”

“Level 6, or ‘Secret’ as otherwise known,” Draco said.

“My clearance level is 7, otherwise known as Top Secret, and if you sign that contract, yours will be too,” Harry said honestly.

“Can you understand the need for security now?”

Draco sighed, “But a mark? Is there no other option?”

“Anything else can be removed or hijacked,” Harry said, “A mark is the only way, I’m afraid.”

“Where will it be?” Draco asked.

“Somewhere is normally hidden beneath your clothes, so it can’t be seen when you go undercover,” Harry casually said.

“Where under my clothes?” Draco asked with narrowed eyes.

“I don’t know,” Harry said honestly, “You’d have to ask my junior Aurors. They are the ones who invented the mark.”

“I’ve no idea where they got the idea from,” Draco said sarcastically.

“I knew you’d be sceptical, and I don’t blame you,” Harry said, “But it's part of the agreement. The mark, and the job, or Azkaban.”

“Yes, Potter, I’m aware of that. You don’t have to remind me,” Draco said bitterly.

“So?” Harry asked.

Draco was silent.

“Are there any other terms you want to be explained to you?”

“How does this team work?” Draco asked, “Who chooses my team members?”

“My department and I will make suggestions, but it’s your department, and as head, you get the final say in who joins your team,” Harry answered.

“Hmm,” Draco said thoughtfully, “And all you want me to do is hunt down criminals and bring them to ‘justice’ in any way I can?”

“You can be as unethical as you like, as long as you bring them to us alive,” Harry said.

“Okay,” Draco said after a moment of consideration, “It’s better than prison.”

“You have to confess first,” Harry reminded Draco as he slid a piece of parchment across the table.

“I just have to write it down?”

“No, you have to say it out loud too,” Harry said, not able to hide his smirk, “Legally binding contract and all.”

Draco rolled his eyes, “I hate you.”

“I know,” Harry said, grinning cheerfully.

Draco glared at Harry and sighed, “I wasn’t shopping there. It was my black market, and I want compensation for the goods you seized, by the way.”

“I’m pretty sure insurance companies don’t cover illegal, stolen goods, Malfoy. Write your confession down and sign on the dotted line,” Harry said smoothly.

Draco sighed and did so without another word, handing the confession to Harry.

“All charges will be dropped,” Harry then assured him.

“And the public will want an answer. We will tell them you have received community service and are redeeming yourself for your crimes by rehabilitating yourself into civilised society.”

Draco snorted, “The illegal world isn’t entirely uncivilised, Potter.”

“I know that,” Harry said, “But the public doesn’t. Are you going to sign that contract?”

Draco nodded, but his hand was still poised over the dotted line. He sighed and signed his name neatly, “I feel like I’m signing my life away.”

“Only ten years of it,” Harry said happily as he took the contract and the confession, then put them in his file.

Draco gave him an exasperated look, but Harry ignored it.

“Oh, and one last thing,” Harry said, pulling a piece of parchment out of the file, “I need you to sign this waiver.”

“Why?” Draco asked, narrowing his eyes as he looked down at it.

“For insurance purposes,” Harry said with a shrug, “The Ministry employs you, but you can’t expect to do anything stupid and have the Ministry payout, so this explains those terms to you.”

Draco raised an eyebrow.

“If you get injured, you can’t sue the Ministry,” Harry said, tapping the parchment.

“Charming,” Draco muttered.

Harry ignored him and continued, “If you get killed-”

“My lifeless remains cannot sue the Ministry?” Draco cut in, looking at Harry sceptically.

Harry chuckled, “Your next of kin cannot sue the Ministry, Malfoy.”

Draco snorted.

“Just sign the damn waiver.”

And miraculously, without argument, Draco did.

Harry grinned and held his hand out to Draco, “Welcome to the justice team Malfoy.”

Draco took Harry’s hand, shaking it tentatively, “I think I might be sick.”

Harry fought a laugh and smiled, “Once this is processed, you’ll be able to leave. You start on Monday.”

- TBC -

Chapter Text

Draco Malfoy expected his first day working with the ‘justice team’, which was the corniest name for a legal department he had ever heard, to be awful.

And low and behold, it did not disappoint.

When he walked in, the first thing that happened was that his wand was checked. Then, as if he wasn’t offended already, he was rather vigorously frisked by a short, fat wizard who didn’t appreciate his joke about buying him a drink first.

Now he found himself leaning in the doorway of the lab he had been told to report to, eyeing a couple of junior Aurors suspiciously.

“Where the hell do you intend on putting that thing?”

Dobbs and Coote shared a glance. That ‘thing’ was a large ‘M’ embodying the ministry logo.

Harry brushed past him in the doorway, and Draco moved aside too abruptly to pass it off as casual. If the former Gryffindor noticed, he didn’t say anything.

He turned to look at Draco and said, “Good morning, Malfoy,” far too brightly.

Draco rolled his eyes and stepped into the room properly, “Good morning, Potter.”

“I see you have met Junior Auror Emma Dobbs and Junior Auror Ritchie Coote,” Harry said with a slight smile, “They are the brains behind our team.”

“What does that make you, Potter?” Draco asked smoothly.

“The leader,” Harry said honestly.

“You like to boss other people around, don’t you?” Draco asked with a smirk, “You have done ever since Weasley started following you around, and look, all these years later, he still is.”

Ron had just entered the room, eyeing Draco warily.

Harry ignored the comment, “Ron, you’re late.”

“Sorry, Hermione had an appointment,” Ron said, “I was just dropping her off.”

“So you and Granger really are a thing then?” Draco asked as he sat down on the hospital bed in the little lab-type room, “There was me thinking she had brains and taste.”

Ron’s ears went red, and Harry said sharply, “Malfoy, shut up.”

“Control your assignment, Harry,” Ron muttered as he kept to the other side of the room.

Draco smirked at Harry, “Your assignment?”

“Told you nobody else wanted you,” Harry quipped.

Emma cleared her throat, “Okay, Mr Malfoy, the procedure will only take a few moments, and it might sting a little, but it shouldn’t hurt. Rather like the-”

Harry shook his head, so she cut herself off, looking sheepish.

“The Dark Mark?” Draco asked smoothly, “No, that was supposed to hurt. It was his way of proving a point.”

“Well, he was a psychotic bastard,” Harry remarked, crossing his arms and glancing in Draco’s direction.

Draco’s eyes darkened, and Emma looked sheepish, “I’m sorry. I didn’t know about that, Mr Malfoy.”

“Clearly,” Draco said coldly, “And where exactly do you intend to put it?”

Harry smirked, “Well, we were going to put it on your arse Malfoy. But we figured too many people kiss it as it is.”

Draco rolled his eyes, “How very unprofessional of you, Potter.”

Ron grinned and said, “No, it would be unprofessional if we stayed to watch you get something burned into a very private part.”

“And since we are very professional,” Harry added, “We will leave you, and your private parts, in the very capable hands of Junior Auror Dobbs.”

Coote snickered as he walked towards the door with Harry and Ron.

Draco’s face had paled considerably, “You’re letting her burn something into my private parts? She isn’t even fully qualified!”

Ron grinned, “Enjoy, Malfoy. I’m sure it won’t hurt too much,” he said wickedly as he left the room with Coote.

Harry hovered in the doorway and shot Draco an amused look, “She’s going to put it on the inside of your thigh, Malfoy. It probably won’t hurt, but your modesty won’t exactly be protected, which is why we’re leaving.”

Draco looked relieved for a moment, and Harry turned to leave.

“Wait, what do you mean it ‘probably’ won’t hurt?!”

Harry just chortled and joined Ron and Coote in the corridor.

“Do you think he’ll cry?” Coote asked as they walked towards their office.

“No, but I expect he might-”

A very girlish scream cut off Harry’s words. They tried to contain themselves, but they laughed uncontrollably when Harry caught Ron’s eye.

When Harry reconvened with Draco after his procedure was over, it was to show him to his new office and help him pick his team members. He walked into the lab and smiled slightly at Draco, who was gingerly pushing himself to his feet.

“Ready?” Harry asked.

Draco shot him a glare, “What was the point of that?” he asked.

Harry leant in the doorway, “It will tell us if you are in any dodgy locations. Anywhere you shouldn’t be, or places known to have criminal activity associated with them.”

“Potter, you’ve asked me to work for you,” Draco said in disbelief, “If you want me to track down criminals, I will be in dodgy bloody locations!”

“Yes, but ones we’ve asked you to go to, not the other ones,” Harry pointed out, “Now we really have to get a move on. I need to show you to your new office.”

Harry smirked as Draco walked towards him stiffly, wincing as he did so, “Your Junior Auror is a liar.”

“Hurt more than you thought it would, Malfoy?” Harry asked in amusement as they walked along a long, concrete corridor.

“I’ve had the cruciatus curse used on me, which hurt more,” Draco said coldly.

“Well, the inside of your leg that close to your…private parts…is a sensitive area, so I’m not surprised it smarted a little. After all, I don’t expect you’ve ever had the cruciatus curse used there,” Harry pointed out, “Unless you’ve really pissed off any ex-girlfriends.”

“Sounds like you know from experience, Potter,” Draco joked.

“Ginny Weasley,” Harry said, wincing at the thought, “Bad break-up.”

“Well, you did cheat on her with the Slytherin ice queen,” Draco pointed out.

“Not true,” Harry said as they entered a dingy, damp smelling concrete stairwell and made their way down, “The press just said that I had. We were working on a case together; it was an undercover job.”

“So she does work for you,” Draco said, “I suspected it, but she never confirmed anything.”

“Only special jobs, and we pay her a fortune to do them,” Harry said, “I suppose it was my own fault about Ginny. I probably should have told her about the case.”

“Why?” Draco asked with a frown, “It would have been top secret, surely?”

“It was,” Harry said honestly, “But the target we were trying so hard to arrest was her brother.”

“Ah,” Draco said in realisation, “So that’s why Charlie Weasley vanished off the face of the earth. Did you put him in Azkaban?”

“Not exactly,” Harry replied as they reached a stainless steel door. He pushed it open, and they walked into a large basement; it was set up with desks, chairs, sofas and even a small kitchen at the back, “Here’s your office, Malfoy.”

Draco raised an eyebrow at him, “A basement that stinks of damp?”

“We thought you’d feel at home,” Harry joked, “Looks like the Slytherin common room.”

“I won’t even ask how you know what the Slytherin common room looks like,” Draco said dryly.

“Oh, look, there’s even a lake at the back,” He added sarcastically.

“Yeah,” Harry said sheepishly, “We’ve got magical maintenance coming down tonight to give it a clean and stop the leaks, but you’ll have to make do till then.”

“Great,” Draco muttered as he sat down heavily on a moth-eaten sofa.

Harry smiled slightly and sat down at the largest desk, “If you want a say in your team members, you better get over here.”

Draco crossed the room and sat down across from Harry, “How many do I have to pick?”

“Three,” Harry said, “And I’ve got ten possible people in this file,” he added as he opened it up.

“Candidate number one is Marcus Flint, former Slytherin, I’m sure you know. He is 30 years old, and his known crimes involve trading on the black market and-”

“No,” Draco said simply, “Nowhere near unique.”

“Good,” Harry smiled, “I hoped you’d say that. Candidate two is Adrian Pucey, also a former Slytherin. He is 28 years old. Known crimes include fraud and-”

“No,” Draco said again, “Besides that big fraud gig he got, he hasn’t done much. That wasn’t even him anyway. I know the genius behind that; Pucey just got paid to take the fall.”

Now smirking slightly, Harry said, “You’re pretty good at this,” he discarded the file, “For the record, I agree with both those decisions.”

“Not that I care, but I never thought I’d see the day we agreed on anything,” Draco said with a raised eyebrow.

“Well, today's your lucky day,” Harry retorted, “Candidate three is Wayne Hopkins, a former Hufflepuff, 25 years old. He is known as an art thief and faker in the criminal underworld, engineered the big heist of 1999-”

“Put him in the maybe pile,” Draco said a little distastefully, “If his achievements are correct, he’s a consideration. However, given the loyalty and general attitude of Hufflepuffs, I suspect he’s just a pawn in somebody else’s game.”

Harry put the file to one side with a nod, “Candidate four is Eddie Carmichael, a former Ravenclaw, 26 years old. He is mostly known for the illegal brewing and selling of potions and the import and export of potion ingredients. He’s made jaunts into fraud and art theft too. He was part of the duo who stole the old atrium statue after the war and defaced it as a statement.”

Draco nodded thoughtfully, “My sources tell me he’s the real thing. I know the guy he did that job with. I hope he’s in your pile somewhere.”

“I suspect he is,” Harry said honestly, “So are you saying yes to him?”

“I’m saying maybe,” Draco said, so Harry put the file on top of Wayne Hopkins's file.

“Candidate five is Stewart Ackerley, a former Ravenclaw, 23 years old. Known for his-”

Draco scoffed, “Bin it; he’s a wannabe. Public protests and hunger strikes? He’s not a criminal.”

“So picky, Malfoy,” Harry said as he discarded the file.

“If I’m picking a team, Potter, I want the best,” Draco said dryly, “Not has-beens and wannabe's.”

Harry smirked and said, “Which brings us onto candidate number six, Marcus Belby, again a former Ravenclaw. He is 26 years old, and he’s involved in the illegal potions business-”

“Too soft,” Draco said quickly, “I knew enough of him at school to judge that.”

“People have changed since Hogwarts, Malfoy,” Harry pointed out as he discarded the file.

“Not that much,” Draco said simply, “Who’s next?”

Harry shook his head in amusement and exasperation, “Candidate seven is Charlie Weasley, former Gryffindor and 32 years old.”

Draco raised an eyebrow at Harry, “Weasley?”

Harry nodded, “Arrested for dragon smuggling, as you probably know. He escaped time in Azkaban, but he won’t be able to find respectable employment now. He was involved in the great smuggling ring that spanned the globe, operated out of Europe with a couple of others.”

“Dragon smuggling? What do I need with a dragon smuggler?” Draco asked in disbelief, “What good would that do me?”

“Well, he has connections globally,” Harry said, “He understands the illegal world concerning magical creatures. You can’t just pick people who have the most impressive skills, Malfoy. You need a balance.”

“I may need a balance, but I don’t need a Weasley. Discard him,” Draco said with a steely look in his eyes.

Harry sighed and discarded the file, “Bear in mind you ought to pick someone with some knowledge of the Muggle world. Some jobs will require going undercover there.”

“I’m aware of that,” Draco drawled, “Who’s the next candidate?”

Harry rolled his eyes, “Candidate eight is Daphne Greengrass, former Slytherin, 25 years old-”

“Yes,” Draco said simply.

Harry looked at Draco in amusement, “Really?”

Draco smirked, “I know she’s the real deal. She’s intelligent and incredibly sneaky.”

“I assume you know why she’s on this list then,” Harry said in amusement.

“I know she’s been connected to a few high profile assassinations,” Draco drawled.

“Which either meant she was working for you or against you. So, since she allegedly broke up your golden engagement with Weaslette, I’m going to hazard a guess that she is, in fact, a Hit Witch.”

“You might say that, I couldn’t possibly comment,” Harry said with a slight smirk.

Draco scoffed, “You always were a terrible liar, Potter.”

Harry didn’t let the comment phase him, “I’d recommend her for the record. I’ve worked with her. She’s professional and excellent when it comes to working undercover.”

“I don’t need your recommendation,” Draco said smoothly, “She’s on my team.”

“Alright,” Harry said, placing the file as the first in the resolutely ‘yes’ pile.

“Is the next candidate Theodore Nott, by any chance?” Draco asked, “Because if it isn’t, it should be.”

Harry smiled a little, “Yes, the 25-year-old former Slytherin. Known for engineering several art heists and as one of the few wizards to orchestrate a successful break in to Gringotts. He never gets caught; someone else always takes the blame for him.”

“Like Pucey and Hopkins,” Draco remarked, “They didn’t do what they claim to have done; he did.”

“What about Carmichael?” Harry asked curiously.

“They really did work together. Carmichael has some potential,” Draco admitted, “But it’s a definite yes to Theodore Nott. He’s a genius, and what you know he’s pulled off is only a fraction of what he’s actually pulled off.”

“That doesn’t surprise me,” Harry said honestly as he put the file on top of Daphne Greengrass’s, “You can’t pick a team of only Slytherins you know. That’s very biased.”

“I can’t help it that the only people with potential on your list are Slytherins,” Draco said smugly.

Harry narrowed his eyes at the man, “Our last candidate is a Gryffindor, and I highly recommend you consider him. He’s 24 years old, and he’s called Neville Longbottom.”

“And why would I hire someone who murdered my uncle?” Draco drawled.

Harry gave him a disbelieving look, “Firstly, that is not supposed to be common knowledge. And secondly, don’t pretend you ever gave a shit about any of the Lestrange’s. Your aunt scared you shitless, and whatever she did to you, I’m sure they helped.”

Draco glared at Harry, “Nevertheless, why would I want Fatbottom on my team? A criminal genius he is not.”

“I didn’t say he was,” Harry said calmly, “He did kill a Lestrange, though, a dangerous criminal who was at large and do you know what he got for it?”

Draco looked up and caught Harry’s eye.

“He got tossed out like a piece of rubbish,” Harry said darkly.

“I killed Voldemort, the man who murdered my parents, and they gave me an Order of Merlin. They made me Assistant Head Auror stupidly early in my career. Neville killed the man who drove his parents insane, and they gave him this. They took his pension, healthcare, and dignity, and they threw him out like he was nothing.”

Draco sighed and looked back down at the file.

“And that’s why we need this team, Malfoy. We need people who can operate outside the red tape, and Neville can help you with that,” Harry pressed, “But you already know that. Because if you knew that he had been fired and the reason why then your gossip must be pretty good.”

“Intel,” Draco corrected.

Harry gave him an amused smile, “Gossip. And the point is, you’ve probably heard that he’s operating on the other side of the law now. He’s got himself tucked up nicely in the criminal underworld, and that’s because he’s been doing unofficial jobs on the side for me, the kind of jobs I want you and your team to do.”

“I know he has connections,” Draco admitted, “But do you really expect me to hire a Death Eater killer when I am a former Death Eater? And Theodore Nott, who I just agreed to recruit, is the son of a Death Eater? It’s not exactly going to make us feel welcome, is it, Potter?”

Harry gave Draco an amused look, “Has anyone ever told you that you’re a drama queen?”

“Not recently, no,” Draco retorted.

Harry shot Draco a smile, “You should recruit Neville because you know as well as I do that he’s not a Death Eater killer. He was someone who wanted vengeance, and he doesn’t give a shit about getting revenge on you for bullying him senseless; he’s over that. But he wasn’t over his parents being tortured to insanity, just like I’m not over anything that happened in the war, and Hermione’s not over what happened in Malfoy Manor.”

Draco swallowed, and Harry noticed.

“Something that you’re not over either,” Harry added perceptively.

Draco shot him a glare, “Don’t presume that you know anything about me, Potter. Keep this professional and tell me what unofficial jobs he’s been doing for you.”

“Fine,” Harry said harshly, “He has completely infiltrated himself into the underground black market. He’s part of the reason you’re here, thanks to a tip he gave us. Combined with your rather unsuccessful love life and the tip from your now ex-girlfriend, I presume.”

Draco didn’t even warrant that with a glare. Instead, he drawled, “Yes, she is my ex-girlfriend. What else has he done?”

“I told you, what we want you to do - he’s been bringing in people we can’t touch. He kidnapped a politician last week,” Harry replied.

“If he’s so good, why am I leading this team, not him?” Draco asked, leaning back in his chair and surveying Harry.

“Honestly?” Harry said, “Because we need someone without too much of a moral compass to call the shots. That’s also why you need him on your team; however, with three Slytherins, you need someone with a moral compass. It just wouldn’t be wise to put him in charge.”

Draco was clearly thinking about it, “Neville Longbottom…I just can’t see how we will ever be able to work together after the way things transpired between us at school….”

“You and I were arch-enemies, Malfoy,” Harry pointed out, “And now, look at us. We’re in a secret bunker together. Either of us could kill the other, but neither of us has even reached for our wands. That’s a hell of a show of faith, don’t you think?”

“Indeed,” Draco said, raising an eyebrow at Harry, “Alternatively, we could go with the logic that I never wanted to kill you in the first place.”

Harry looked up in surprise, “No?”

“No,” Draco said calmly, “Disliking someone when you are a child and wanting to murder them are very different things, Potter. Has anyone ever told you that you’re a drama queen?”

Harry bit back a grin, “Hermione, regularly.”

“Hm,” Draco mused.

“Although, I still think you win this round,” Harry added, “I mean, I wasn’t the one who got attacked by a hippogriff and screamed ‘it’s killed me’, was I?”

Draco shot Harry a long-suffering look.

Harry smirked, “Still scared of Hippogriffs, by the way? Or are ferrets the bigger fear these days?”

“I’m considering going back on that show of faith,” Draco said dryly.

Harry smirked in response.

“Add Longbottom to the maybe pile and discard Hopkins from it,” Draco said in a bid to change the subject.

Harry did so, laying his two options in front of him, “Neville Longbottom or Eddie Carmichael?”

“Is there a set rule saying I can only have three other members on this team?” Draco asked as he surveyed the two files, “I want them both.”

“You can only have five people on this team,” Harry told him, “If you want them both, you can have them both. But you can’t recruit anyone else.”

“Done,” Draco said, picking up the two files and putting them in his ‘yes’ pile, “I have my team.”

“There is just one slight problem,” Harry pointed out as he glanced at the clock. It was nearing lunchtime, and they still had a lot of work to do.

“There’s always a catch with you, Potter,” Draco said dryly.

“These people may agree to this team, but chances are we’re going to have to give them an ultimatum, as we did with you,” Harry pointed out.

“Neville is desperate for that adrenaline rush of catching bad guys, and this will be a godsend compared to what we pay him for his illegal jobs. He’ll take it in a heartbeat, and I don’t think he’ll even care about the Slytherin aspect.”

“If we recruit Theo, we recruit Carmichael,” Draco said thoughtfully.

“Carmichael is basically just his sidekick, Theo’s far better, but Carmichael idolises him.”

“So if we arrest one, we’ll find the other in the same place?” Harry asked.

“More than likely,” Draco said, looking at the other file.

“And what do we do about Greengrass? She’s on our radar because she’s done jobs for us before, but I’m not sure if she will agree to this,” Harry admitted.

Draco shrugged and leant back in his chair, “I wouldn’t be so sure about that. Yes, this will pay less than the current assignments your department gives her, but it’s also a stable wage.”

“With healthcare,” Harry added sincerely

Draco gave him a sceptical look, “People don’t join the DMLE for the healthcare, Potter.”

“No, they join it to do the right thing,” Harry said, smirking at Draco, “And I think, with the right person to do the prodding, Daphne might be turned.”

“You think I’m the right person?” Draco asked in disbelief.

“No, I was referring to myself, actually,” Harry said with a shrug, “But I don’t suppose you have any blackmail? You know, just to help convince her?”

Draco smirked and said, “Oh, I have blackmail on everyone in my little black book. I do happen to have evidence on the death of her father that incriminates her.”

“She might kill you for giving her up,” Harry pointed out.

“No, she won’t,” Draco smirked, “She can hurt me all she wants. But kill me? She wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for me, she can’t kill me. Life debts are a wonderful thing.”

Harry smirked back, “Oh, I know all about life debts,” he said, “That was my plan B, you know? If you didn’t sign on. You still owe me one, if you remember.”

“I haven’t forgotten,” Draco said dryly, “But I can’t believe you would use it against me like that. Aren’t Gryffindors supposed to be good?”

“Not all Gryffindors are good, and not all Slytherins are evil,” Harry said calmly, “I’m surprised you see things in black and white though, Malfoy. I rather thought we operated in shades of grey together.”

“Touche, Potter,” Draco said reluctantly.

Harry grinned, “Come on then, Malfoy, let’s get some lunch and get on with this. We’ve got four team members to recruit before 5 pm.”

“Are you always this upbeat about crime?” Draco asked as they left the basement together.

Harry’s grin widened, “Of course I am. I’m an Auror!”

Draco rolled his eyes, “This is the next ten years of my bloody life, working with you. I’m starting to think Azkaban was a better option.”

“If it gets too much, you can always transfer there,” Harry joked, patting Draco on the back as he shut the steel door to the basement.

“So it begins,” Draco muttered under his breath.

Harry heard him and said, “Oh, admit it, you’re excited about this really. You always wanted to become an Auror.”

Draco snorted, “I don’t know where you get your information from Potter, but your sources are incredibly wrong.”

Harry shot Draco a smirk, and Draco rolled his eyes. They made their way back into the main department together, and Draco had to admit, this wasn’t as bad as prison. In fact, it might even be quite enjoyable.

“Who lives in this dump? Carmichael?”

Draco asked as he and Harry stood outside an old tenement building that was falling apart.

“Neville,” Harry said darkly, “The Ministry doesn’t pay you off with a huge amount after you murder someone.”

“I can’t imagine why,” Draco remarked as they walked into a dingy stairwell that stunk of dampness. He felt incredibly out of place in his black suit.

“Our next stop is Diagon Alley,” Harry said, noticing Draco’s discomfort, “You can’t dress like that. You are way out of place in the ordinary criminal world.”

“Are you saying I’m a classy criminal?” Draco asked with a smirk as Harry knocked on a door with the label ‘101a’ hanging off.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” Harry said with a chuckle as a voice called, “That you, Harry?”

“Yeah, it’s me, Nev. Can I come in?”

“What’s the password?” Neville’s voice called from inside the flat.

Draco rolled his eyes, “You Auror bunch are pretty paranoid, aren’t you?”

“We catch bad guys for a living, of course we are,” Harry said under his breath, “Unless you’ve changed it since yesterday, it’s Godric.”

“Predictable,” Draco muttered.

The door snapped open, and Harry walked into the small flat with Draco at his heels, “You’re getting as paranoid as Moody in your exile,” he said to Neville. The latter sat on the sofa in jeans and a baggy t-shirt with a glass of firewhiskey in hand.

“I can’t imagine why,” Neville said bitterly, “It’s not like there are angry ex-Death Eaters who want revenge. Don’t suppose that’s why you’ve brought him here, to off me?”

“Nah,” Harry said, shutting the door and walking further into the flat, “We’ve got a job offer for you.”

Neville narrowed his eyes at them, and Draco felt uncomfortable. This definitely wasn’t the Neville Longbottom he’d gone to school with. He almost missed the bumbling fool.

“We? As in you and Malfoy?”

“Malfoy is now, technically, a member of the justice department,” Harry said with a slight smirk.

“What was his other option, Azkaban?” Neville asked, his face lighting up slightly at Draco’s downfall.

Harry grinned, “Bingo! You guessed it. We’re setting up an unofficial team to do the jobs you’ve been doing for us. It’s good pay, you get to be in a team again, and the ministry will officially employ you so you can stop living like a bloody tramp.”

Neville seemed brighter just at its mention, “A team, you say? To do the illegal jobs?”

“Not exactly,” Harry said, “A team to catch the bad guys, by any means.”

Neville nodded thoughtfully, “Alright…I’m intrigued. Why’s Malfoy in charge of it?”

“He’s a criminal genius. We can’t deny that,” Harry said with a sideways glance at Malfoy, “He knows the criminal world like the back of his hand. He’s a more corrupt version of an Auror.”

“I’m a pretty corrupt version of an Auror,” Neville retorted as he got to his feet.

“Well, you’ll make a fantastic team then,” Harry joked.

“Who else?” Neville asked.

Harry opened his mouth to answer, but Neville smirked, “No, Harry, let Malfoy speak. I want to see if he can get any more uncomfortable than he is right now.”

Draco rolled his eyes, “Have it your way, Longbottom. The team will have three other members - Daphne Greengrass, Theodore Nott and Eddie Carmichael.”

Neville scoffed, “Greengrass, really? I guess that means you don’t want us to bring in anyone alive, Harry?”

“She has several other talents,” Harry said, crossing his arms and looking at his former partner, “I’m sure you’ll know all about that, Neville.”

Draco raised an eyebrow, “What?”

Neville shrugged, “Let’s just say we had a fling.”

“You?” Draco asked in disbelief, “You had a fling with Daphne Greengrass?”

“See,” Harry said, smirking at Draco, “Never judge a book by its cover.”

Neville chuckled, “Well, I’ll give you one thing, Theodore Nott is a bloody genius. Harry can’t stand the fact he’s never been able to catch him.”

Harry shook his head in amusement, “I have to admit it, he’s too good for me to catch.”

“What about Carmichael?” Draco asked, “What’s your take on him?”

Neville shrugged, “He’s alright, he’s basically Nott’s lackey, but he’s a half-blood. You’ll need someone with knowledge of the muggle world on your team.”

Draco nodded slightly, “Good, I’m glad you agree,” he said awkwardly.

Neville grinned, “So what’s my role in this? If I know Harry, he’ll have let you pick your own team, but why would you pick me, Malfoy?”

“Potter gave me a convincing argument,” Draco said simply.

“Let me guess. He said you need someone with a moral compass?” Neville asked with a smirk.

Harry smirked slightly, “Well, I had to convince him somehow, didn’t I? You need a job.”

“What?” Draco asked with a frown.

“You believed Harry when he told you I had a moral compass?” Neville asked in amusement, “I got fired for killing someone. Yeah, that’s some moral compass I’ve got right there.”

Draco rolled his eyes, “And this is why I never trust Gryffindors.”

“You’re the slimy snake,” Harry remarked, “But that’s beside the point, Neville; your part in this is to provide the official side of the team, as the former Auror.”

Neville raised an eyebrow, “Alright, I’ll do it.”

“So, how’s the drinking going?” Harry asked as he sat down on an armchair, leaving Draco standing awkwardly by the door.

“Not bad, down to two glasses a day,” Neville replied.

“It’s better than two bottles,” Harry remarked.

“Don’t even start, Harry,” Neville said darkly.

“I was just going to say the offer of getting you help still stands,” Harry said simply.

“I don’t need your help,” Neville said bitterly, “I got myself into this mess, and I’ll get myself out of it. Stop trying to save me with your bloody hero complex.”

Draco raised an eyebrow at the two men, “How do you two know each other so well? You never talked at school. You were too busy hanging around Weasel.”

“Big misjudgement on your behalf, Harry,” Neville said sarcastically.

“We could have been killing snakes and dark lords together for years if you’d just paid attention to me.”

Harry smirked, “Shut up, you git,” he said, almost affectionately.

“This is charming,” Draco said dryly.

“We were Auror partners, Malfoy,” Harry said as he got to his feet, “Until this idiot decided to go and kill someone.”

“Thanks for that, mate.”

“You probably would have gotten away with it if the guy you killed hadn’t been the guy who tortured your parents to insanity,” Harry remarked.

“That kind of takes away the argument of saying it was an accident.”

Neville rolled his eyes, “Yeah, I probably should have thought that one through.”

“You should have bloody told me, I’d have done it for you, and we’d both have gotten away with it,” Harry said, “You got me doing paperwork for a month after that, and I had to get partnered up with bloody Ron.”

“You and Ron are fine,” Neville said with another eye roll.

“He’s not as good as you though. He knows it too. He only got promoted cause you got fired,” Harry said.

“What the hell happened to the whole golden trio thing?” Draco asked in amusement.

“Ron’s fine, but he likes to cut corners,” Harry said with an eye roll.

“What Harry is really saying is - Ron’s a lazy git who only got the job because of what he did in the war,” Neville translated.

“What about Granger?” Draco asked, leaning against the door.

“Let’s just say her and Ron’s first shot at a relationship was short and ended with a bang,” Harry said with a slight frown.

“Since then, it’s been an on-off thing, and I can’t be bothered being in the middle of it.”

Draco smirked.

Harry and Neville narrowed their eyes at each other, “What?” they asked in unison.

“I may have helped with that,” Draco said in amusement, “As you probably know, Weasel slept with some intern. Granger wanted to piss him off, and she decided the best way to do that was through me….”

Neville grinned, “Wow, I have more respect for Hermione now.”

“I know,” Harry said in amusement, “She went to such lengths to piss off Ron. How noble of her.”

“Lengths?” Draco objected, “I am an esteemed bachelor.”

Harry snorted, “Right, keep telling yourself that, Malfoy.”

“I suppose some girls are into the bad boy thing,” Neville reasoned.

“There’s the bad boy thing and the convicted criminal thing, slight difference,” Harry grinned as he made towards the door, “Glad to have you back, Nev.”

Neville smiled slightly, “When do I start?”

“Tomorrow morning, 9 am,” Draco responded, “You better not be drunk because I’ll be testing you.”

“Don’t worry, he doesn’t get drunk anymore,” Harry said as he opened the door, “He’s immune after the amount he’s drunk in the last few months.”

“And I’d pass your tests even if I was,” Neville retorted in amusement, “See you around, Harry.”

“See you, Nev,” Harry said, shutting the door and smirking at Draco, “One down, three to go.”

When Harry and Draco walked into The White Wyvern (the only pub in Knockturn Alley), Draco had undergone a wardrobe change. Harry was in what he termed his ‘undercover wear’, slightly shabby but straightforward black robes. On the other hand, Draco was mixing with the criminal underworld now, not just running classy illegal operations. He was wearing black leather robes, his hair was no longer slicked back, and he fitted in perfectly.

They wandered up to the bar and sat down next to two people sitting on barstools. Then they made their move.

“Theo.”

“Draco.”

“Carmichael.”

“Malfoy.”

“And who is your mysterious friend?” Theodore Nott asked, glancing sideways at Harry, who he didn't recognise with his stubble and his glasses removed.

“Oh, just someone I’m using for the moment,” Draco said offhandedly.

Theo accepted this with a nod, “What brings you here? You got a job for me?”

“I’ve got a job offer for you,” Draco remarked.

Theodore narrowed his eyes, “You fucking coward, you’ve turned, haven’t you? That an Auror you got there with you? You bloody git, what did he offer you, money? Fame?” he scoffed.

“Hear this, Eddie? Draco’s got a fucking Auror with him.”

“An Auror?” Eddie asked with a raised eyebrow.

Draco glared sidelong at them, “He’s an Auror who has a good job offer for you both.”

Theo scoffed, “I’m not working for any Auror, mate. Just because you’ve turned doesn’t mean I’m going to.”

“Or me,” Eddie added.

Draco rolled his eyes, “Well, you would agree with everything Theo says.”

Eddie glared at Draco, “He happens to be right, unlike you, joining up with the bloody Aurors.”

“He has a point,” Theo said darkly.

Harry opened his mouth to argue their case, but he didn’t get a chance to say anything. A rather large man covered in tattoos had appeared behind them. He nudged Theo hard on the back, “Oi.”

Theo turned around, “Want something?” he asked casually.

“You spineless bastard,” The man said, “You slept with my wife.”

“I think you must be getting me confused with someone else, mate,” Theo said.

“Nah, I saw you two together in here last night, and I followed you,” The man said gruffly, “And now I’m gonna kill ya.”

Draco and Harry stayed put as Theo and the jilted husband got into a fistfight which escalated into a duel. Eddie jumped in to duel the man’s henchman, and after 5 minutes or so, Harry got to his feet.

“Alright, break it up!” He ordered, “I’m an Auror, and if you don’t stop right now, all four of you will be getting arrested for assault!”

The fight instantly broke up. Harry smiled slightly as he looked at Theo and Eddie with their bloody noses, “Want to reconsider that offer? Because otherwise, I’ll bring you both in for assault, and then it’s likely we’ll be able to book you for all your other crimes, including fraud, theft, attempted murder-”

Eddie and Theo shared a glance, then Eddie said, “Yeah, mate, I’ll reconsider your offer.”

“You fucking traitor,” Theo muttered under his breath.

“I’m not going to Azkaban for you like the idiots you employ,” Eddie said, glaring at Theo.

“Good choice Eddie,” Draco said with a slight smirk, “You’ve just saved yourself time in Azkaban. I do hope you enjoy prison Theo, but I don’t suspect that you will. There are far more men than women, and with how lonely it can get on that little island, I’m sure they would have a whole lot of fun.”

“Oh alright then, I’ll hear your bloody job offer,” Theo caved, “Fucking traitorous bastards, the lot of us.”

Harry and Draco shared a glance, and Harry smirked, finding himself actually enjoying working with Draco Malfoy.

“Come on,” Harry said, binding their hands, “I won’t blow your cover. We’ll discuss this somewhere more private.”

“So much bloody courtesy for an Auror,” Eddie said sarcastically.

Harry grinned and waved over the huge guy who had started the brawl, “Thanks for your help, Jimmy; here's something to help with that baby your wife’s got on the way. What’s that gonna be, six?”

“Seven,” The man said as he accepted the bag of galleons, “Cheers, mate.”

“You sneaky shit,” Theo breathed.

Harry grinned and transported Theo and Eddie upstairs to an empty room. It was only as Harry sat down in an old dusty armchair and put his glasses on that Eddie and Theo recognised him.

“You’re working with Harry bloody Potter? Have you lost your mind, Draco?” Theo asked in disbelief.

“It’s distinctly possible, but unfortunately, here we are,” Draco said dryly.

Eddie looked at Draco with a frown, “What did he have on you?”

“Everything,” Draco said, rolling his eyes, “It was this or ten years in Azkaban.”

“I would have taken Azkaban,” Theo remarked.

“You’re free to it,” Harry said smoothly, “But before you decide, you should hear our offer. The ministry has decided to set up a team of criminal geniuses. Some criminals keep slipping through the system. This team, which Malfoy will lead, has the job of catching these guys by any means necessary.”

Eddie smirked, “You think we’re criminal geniuses?”

“Of course we are, you imbecile,” Theo said with a roll of his eyes.

“I handpicked the team, Theo,” Draco said as he leaned against the wall, “And I lead it, Potters just here to help with the set-up and pay us.”

“Yeah, alright, I’m intrigued,” Theo said, pushing his shoulder-length black hair behind his ear, “What about you, Eddie?”

Eddie shrugged, “Sounds okay so far,” he admitted.

Theo was the womaniser, but Eddie was good looking too, with blonde hair and blue eyes, he looked a lot like Draco, only a little bulkier.

“Who else is gonna be on this team then?” Theo asked Draco.

“Well, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Longbottom,” Draco admitted.

Theo snorted, “Fatbottom?”

“Yeah…I wouldn’t call him that to his face these days,” Draco remarked.

“He did kill a giant snake with a sword,” Eddie said. “And he murdered a guy on the job and got the sack for it. I heard he hit him in the face with the killing curse.”

“He castrated him first, but yeah,” Harry watched Theo and Eddie for a reaction.

“Merlin, that’s another level of evil,” Eddie winced.

“I like the sound of him,” Theo grinned, “When do I meet him?”

“So you’re up for this then?” Draco asked hopefully.

“Let’s put it this way, I’m not doing time in Azkaban,” Theo remarked.

Eddie nodded, “I’ll do it too. I always thought it would be cool to be an Auror.”

“From what I saw down there, you’re both pretty good,” Harry admitted, “And trust me, it will be worth it for the pay. That’s the best thing about the justice department.”

“Please stop calling it that,” Draco said dryly, “And stop calling this team the justice team.”

“Salazar, that’s a shit name,” Theo said, “From now on, you’re not allowed to name anything Potter.”

“How about the kick-ass team?” Eddie suggested.

“Bloody hell Eddie, that’s about as bad as the justice team,” Theo remarked.

Draco smirked, “We’ll name it properly later. For now, let’s talk business. You both start at 9 am tomorrow.”

“Alright, we’ll be there,” Theo said for himself and Eddie as Harry and Draco walked towards the door.

“Hang on, is that it? Longbottom and us?” Theo asked.

Draco turned around in the doorway with a slight smile, “No, don’t suppose you know where we could find Greengrass?”

Eddie laughed loudly, and Theo’s eyes widened, “No way! I can’t work with her!”

“Why not?” Harry asked in confusion.

“She’s tried to kill me three bloody times!” Theo remarked.

“Well, you shouldn’t have screwed her over three times then. You know her reputation,” Draco said matter of factly.

“You fucking arsehole! She will kill me if we have to work together,” Theo said, actually looking quite scared.

“No, she won’t, just don’t try to sleep with her, double-cross her or steal from her again, Draco said simply, “Do you know where she is?”

“Probably shagging and stabbing some poor guy as we speak,” Theo said darkly.

Draco rolled his eyes, “One newspaper called her a Black Widow, and now she only shags and kills men?”

“I’m pretty sure she doesn’t discriminate,” Harry agreed from where he was leaning in the doorway.

“She doesn’t care much about gender when it comes to shagging, or stabbing.”

“So,” Draco said slowly, “Where is she?”

“She’s staying at the Leaky,” Eddie informed them, “She just got disowned. All the inheritance goes to her bitch of a sister.”

“You bloody traitor,” Theo mumbled.

“Oh shut up, you git,” Eddie said, “We just agreed to work for the fucking ministry.”

Harry hid a smile as they left, leaving Theo and Eddie to bicker amongst themselves, “Good luck with that,” he muttered to Draco.                

- TBC -

Chapter Text

Harry and Draco got some odd looks when they walked into the Leaky Cauldron together, but they ignored them and sat down at the bar.

“Hey Tom,” Harry said brightly, leaning forward ever so slightly, “I’m here on Auror business. Slip me a copy of your guest list?”

Tom gave him a slight nod, “Alright, Mr Potter, good to see you.”

“You too,” Harry said, “Do you want a drink, Malfoy?”

“I’ll have a firewhiskey,” Draco replied.

Harry smiled, “Just water for me.”

“You don’t drink?” Draco asked.

“I’m on the job,” Harry reminded him, “Technically, so are you.”

“But since the justice department unofficially employs me, I can drink,” Draco said with a smirk as he sipped his firewhiskey.

Tom slid the guest list onto the bar, and they both looked down at it, talking under their breath to each other.

“She’ll be going under a fake name.”

“Of course she will,” Draco whispered, his eyes scanning the list.

“Natasha Romanoff,” Harry said in amusement, “That’s her.”

“How do you know?” Draco asked with a frown.

“This is why you need someone with Muggle knowledge on your team,” Harry smirked.

“It’s the real name of the ‘Black Widow’, a Muggle fictional character who is a female assassin and what do the press like to call Daphne?”

“A Black Widow,” Draco said with a slight nod, “Very good.”

Harry smirked, and Draco finished his drink. They made their way up the stairs and knocked on the door to her room. There was silence and then the click of high heels walking across the floor. The key went in, and the door unlocked, then it swung open, and Daphne Greengrass stood in front of them wearing skin-tight red dragonhide trousers, black high heels and a low-cut black top. Her long platinum blonde hair was pulled up into a bun, and her wand was in her hand.

It took a brief glance into the room to see a shadowy figure tied to a chair.

“Draco, your timing sucks,” Daphne drawled, glancing at Harry, “And you’ve brought a pet Gryffindor, how cute.”

“Yes, I can see we’ve interrupted something terribly important,” Draco remarked, glancing further into the room, “Your next victim, I presume?”

Daphne smirked at Harry, “I’ve got to do as I’m told. Isn’t that right, sir?”

Harry smiled, “You’re impossible, Daphne. Is that the rapist I sent you after last week?”

Daphne narrowed her eyes at him, “Yes.”

“Hm,” Harry said, stepping into the room, “Sure you aren’t losing your touch? You normally track them down within days.”

Draco followed Harry into the room, and the door swung shut behind them.

“I am not losing my touch, Potter,” Daphne said, crossing her arms to survey him, “But if you’ve come here with Draco Malfoy on your arm, you must be desperate for my help.”

“Regrettably, I am,” Harry admitted.

Draco surveyed the woman standing opposite him, “Probably ought to let you finish the job first, though. You’ll need the money.”

Daphne rolled her eyes, “Yes, I do need the money. How you heard about my unfortunate disownment so quickly, I don’t know. I didn’t realise illegal black market men cared about pureblood aristocracy.”

“I don’t,” Draco said dryly, “But Eddie happened to mention it.”

“You’ve been talking to Eddie?” Daphne asked, leaning against the doorway.

“We’ve recruited him, actually,” Harry said, “For a new team that Malfoy’s leading.”

“Aw, how sweet, Potter and Malfoy working together through all the sexual tension,” Daphne said sarcastically.

“Sexual tension?” Harry asked with a raised eyebrow, “I don’t know what you saw at Hogwarts, but it clearly wasn’t the same thing everyone else saw.”

“Oh, I think it’s exactly the same thing that everyone else saw,” Daphne said smoothly, “You two gazing at each other across the great hall. Draco, going out of his way to shout at you across three tables. Let’s not even get started on those midnight duels, hm?”

Harry gave Draco a long-suffering look, “I’m pretty sure I just hated you.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure I just hated you too,” Draco said dryly.

Daphne chuckled, “Well, thanks for the offer. I’m honoured, really, I am. Unfortunately, I don’t play well with others.”

She tried to push them back in the direction of the door, but Harry stopped her in her tracks with a shield charm.

Daphne glared at him, “I’m busy, Potter, and I can’t be bothered with your ‘find your moral compass, Daphne, I know it’s there’ bullshit right now.”

“Look, Greengrass,” Harry said, “This isn’t an offer. You’re joining the team.”

“Or what?” She challenged him.

“Or you go to jail,” Draco said quietly, “Because I have evidence on your father’s death, you know I do, and you know I can use it against you at any point.”

“You fucking bastard,” Daphne hissed, dragging him further into the room and attempting to punch him. As soon as her hand got close to touching his skin, it hit an invisible wall, and she swore loudly.

“Life debts, sweetheart,” Draco smirked, “They are a wonderful thing.”

“I hate you,” Daphne said venomously.

“I know. But listen to me, Daphne,” Draco said, grabbing her wrists before she could hex him, “This is a good offer. You’re getting paid to go undercover, to be a legitimate Auror, not just some person that the Aurors use when convenient for them.”

Daphne shot him a glare, “Yes, but I’m also then tied down to their stupid rules.”

“Not exactly,” Harry said, smiling at her knowingly, “You guys will operate independently, outwith the Auror department. When I say anything goes, I mean that pretty much anything goes.”

Daphne looked interested for the first time, so Harry continued, “They need you, Daphne. You are cunning, intelligent and beautiful. Three traits that are very important when it comes to doing undercover work.”

“You would know from experience, Potter,” Daphne said, eyeing him with an amused smile.

Harry chuckled, “You know I do. You’re good enough with me, and you’ll be even better on your own. Nobody else on that team is subtle enough. They need you.”

“How much more than you pay me for my undercover stints?” Daphne asked with narrowed eyes.

“Double that for a month’s work,” Harry said, “And you get immunity. You won’t get any time in Azkaban.”

“Who picked this team, you or Draco?”

“I did,” Draco said simply.

“And you’ve recruited Eddie? Who else?”

“Theo,” Draco said honestly.

Daphne rolled her eyes, “That dog, really? Does he know about me?”

“Yes,” Draco said, fighting an amused smile.

“He freaked out,” Harry grinned, “Thought you’d try and kill him.”

Daphne laughed, “I might consider joining this team just to mess with him. Anyone else?”

“Uh, yeah…Neville Longbottom,” Draco admitted.

“Okay,” Daphne said, “Sounds good.”

Draco raised an eyebrow at her, “Really?”

“Hey, don’t knock Gryffindors till you’ve tried them,” Daphne smirked, “He beheaded a snake; that’s pretty hot already. Then he went and got sacked for murdering a guy on the job. He cut the guy's balls off first. That’s my kind of man.”

“So you really did sleep with him? He wasn’t just making that up?” Draco asked in disbelief.

“Yes, I really slept with him,” Daphne replied.

Harry smirked slightly at the look on Draco’s face, “Neville good enough for you yet? I told you he’d become part of the criminal underworld since getting sacked.”

“Bloody hell, yeah,” Daphne said, “He sold me a whole stash of illegal potions the other day. He’s got connections.”

“As good a criminal as he was an Auror,” Harry said in amusement.

“Yeah, I’m sure he’ll prove himself tomorrow,” Draco said. He turned to Daphne, “So. are you in?”

“Why not?” Daphne said with a shrug, “I’ll try anything once. When do I start?”

“9 am tomorrow,” Draco said as he opened the door, “And maybe consider wearing flats?”

“What would be the point?” Daphne grinned, “I could easily beat everyone on that team in stilettos.”

“But Potter's poor innocent eyes won’t be able to handle seeing you like this every day,” Draco teased.

Daphne’s grin widened, “What did I tell you about underestimating Gryffindors Draco?” She asked as she pushed them out of the room and shut the door on their faces.

Harry rolled his eyes and flung a charm through the wall, vanishing the suspect to the cells in the DMLE. From inside the room, Daphne called, “Merlin Potter, would you quit ruining my fun?”

Draco laughed as they walked back down the stairs into the main pub, “So you have slept with Daphne?”

“No,” Harry answered honestly, “She’s just messing with you. I’ve seen her naked; we had to do undercover work together, remember?”

“Ah, of course,” Draco said as they left the pub and paused on the street, “Are we done?”

“Yeah, and I think that was a good day's work,” Harry said with a smile, “Good luck with your team, I’ll pop in periodically to give you jobs, but it’s all down to you now.”

Draco smiled a little, “Thanks for the opportunity, Potter.”

Harry nodded as they went their separate ways, “Do me one favour, Malfoy.”

Draco looked back at Harry with a frown, “What?”

Harry smiled slightly, “Prove me right,” he said before turning and heading on down the street.

8.45 am…

“Harry, where are you going?” Ron asked as Harry walked towards the office door,

“Malfoy’s team are meeting downstairs in 15 minutes,” Harry explained, “I’ve got to make sure they don’t kill each other.”

Ron shook his head in amusement, “So they all agreed, even Nev?”

“Nev is desperate for a job,” Harry said honestly, “He’d agree to any paid work, even if it is under Malfoy.”

“Now there’s an image,” Dobbs said with a smirk.

Ron grimaced, and Harry snorted, “Thanks for that, Dobbs,” he said from the doorway.

“Harry, can I come down with you?” Dobbs asked, “Eddie Carmichael is-”

“He’s a criminal, Emma. I don’t care how hot you think he is,” Harry returned, “You can’t come down, sorry. I’m assigned to this team, and you guys aren’t even supposed to know it exists.”

He walked away, and Ron followed him, “But I don’t count in that, right?”

“No, Ron,” Harry said seriously, “I mean it - just me. Nobody else has a part in this. If things go bad, I take the fall. I don’t want it to affect your career or Dobbs and Cootes.”

Ron frowned slightly but said, “Alright.”

Harry nodded and walked swiftly down the corridor, then down the concrete stairwell to where the metal door to the bunker was slightly ajar. He walked in, smiling when he saw Malfoy sprucing the place up, “Got an eye for interior design?”

Draco rolled his eyes, “Interior design? All I did was replace the furniture, I sat on that sofa, and a spider came out at me. You Aurors are filthy.”

“Well, up until yesterday, this was a morgue,” Harry said casually.

Draco’s eyes widened, “You have got to be kidding me.”

Harry grinned, “Yeah, I am. It was used for storage. I’m just messing with you.”

Draco breathed a sigh of relief, and Harry looked around the bunker. It now had a couple of new sofas, five desks complete with comfortable looking chairs and a small kitchen space at the back. It was amazing what a few spells could do, the lake at the back was gone too, and the place seemed water-proofed.

“It looks good,” Harry said, “It could just do with a bit of natural light, though,” he flicked his wand, and three windows appeared on either side of the room, showing a fake view of grassy hills and a sunny landscape.

Draco scoffed, “At least make it accurate to the weather outside,” he said, waving his wand and causing rain to lash against the windows.

“You Slytherins seem to like the wet and the damp,” Harry retorted in amusement.

“Sounds like our last undercover job, Potter,” A smooth voice said from the doorway.

As Daphne walked into the room, Harry chuckled. She was dressed similarly to how she had been the previous day - in jeans and a t-shirt. She hadn’t scrapped the high heels though, despite Draco’s comment.

“What the hell was your last undercover job?” Draco asked in amusement as he leant against one of the desks.

“It was a smuggling ring; they had a lair underneath a lake,” Harry said, “And we had to infiltrate it.”

“Reminded me of the Slytherin common room actually,” Daphne said, sitting down on the sofa, “So I’m the only one on time then?”

“I’m on time,” Another voice said from the doorway, and Harry smiled slightly as Neville walked in, looking far less homeless and desperate.

“Wow, you’ve shaved.”

Neville rolled his eyes and sat down next to Daphne on the sofa, “Looking forward to working with you again.”

She raised an eyebrow at him, “You know my reputation, right? I don’t do white picket fences, Longbottom.”

“I wasn’t looking for a picket fence,” Neville said sarcastically, “But a bit of respect would have been nice.”

Draco looked at Harry in disbelief, “And you suggested that these two ought to work together?”

Harry shrugged, “Nobody’s perfect.”

Neville snorted and glanced up at Draco, “Why am I not surprised that Nott and Carmichael are the last to arrive?”

Harry chuckled, “They’ll be here. They know their only other option is Azkaban.”

Draco nodded and glanced at the clock, “I told them 9 am, so I expect them to be here at quarter past,” he said, vaguely amused.

“What are you doing hanging around here anyway, Potter?” Daphne asked, eyeing him curiously.

“I’m assigned to you lot. I need to make sure you don’t kill each other when you’re all in a room together,” Harry joked.

“Basically, he’s here to tell us the rules while we’re all together,” Draco remarked.

“Pretty much,” Harry admitted as Theo and Eddie walked in.

“Do you two do everything together?” Neville asked in amusement.

“We live together,” Theo said, sitting down heavily on the other sofa, “So obviously we’re going to arrive at the same time.”

Daphne sniggered as Eddie sat down next to Theo, glancing around the room curiously.

Harry smiled, “Well, my role here at the moment is to get you all settled in. So let’s do some short introductions.”

Daphne raised an eyebrow at him, “Really, Potter? We all went to school together.”

“Which was years ago,” Harry said, “Did you ever talk to each other? No. So we’re doing this my way. Let’s get the introductions over, then we’ll do Malfoy’s tests, and you can be on your first case.”

“Sounds fair,” Neville said.

“Well, you start then, Fatbottom,” Theo retorted.

“Does he look fat to you?” Daphne asked with a raised eyebrow.

Neville leant back and smirked as Theo glowered at them.

“Yeah, but looks can be deceiving,” Theo said with narrowed eyes, “I bet he’s still the bumbling idiot from school.”

Neville raised his eyebrow at Theo, and with a flick of his finger, Theo was thrown backwards off the sofa. Daphne smirked, and Eddie roared with laughter.

“Nice choice, Potter,” Draco muttered to Harry.

“Told you he was good,” Harry whispered as Theo picked himself up from the ground and glared at Neville.

“So, that’s Neville Longbottom,” Harry said a little louder, not even bothering to hide his amused smile, “Fancy telling the team your expertise, Nev?”

“Apart from Death Eater killing,” Eddie grinned, “Theo was shitting himself last night thinking you had it out for him and Draco.”

“Shut up, Eddie,” Theo hissed.

“Well, it could be arranged if you piss me off,” Neville glanced towards Theo, who paled significantly.

Harry rolled his eyes, “He’s not going to kill you. It would be a breach of contract.”

“That didn’t stop him before,” Theo said, looking suspiciously at Neville.

“Well, he’s not stupid enough to make the same mistake twice,” Harry said in amusement, “So Nev, expertise.”

Neville still smiled slightly, “Duelling, field healing, and I can do wandless magic.”

Draco nodded thoughtfully, “Pretty well rounded.”

“Daphne, expertise?”

“Apart from the obvious?” Theo asked snarkily.

Daphne raised an eyebrow at him, “If you are scared of me, Theo, insulting me isn’t the best idea..”

“And her abilities are a skill,” Harry added, “Including her ability to seduce men into doing her bidding.”

Daphne grinned, “Oh, I’ve seduced some women too. But thank you for defending me, even if you are the only man who has turned me down, Potter,” she teased.

“Daphne is also incredibly clever,” Draco cut in, “With a mind for strategy. Don’t judge a book by its cover.”

Daphne smiled slightly, and Harry nodded, “Theo?”

Theo didn’t look quite as smug as he had when he first entered the room, “Well, Legilimency, for one, I can read people like a book.”

“That’s how you always got in and out of places before the Aurors showed up,” Harry realised.

Theo smiled a little smugly, “Yep, it has all kinds of uses.”

Draco rolled his eyes, “But apart from figuring out how to get a woman in bed and robbing banks, you don’t use it for much.”

Theo smirked, “Getting women into bed is a great use for it.”

“Anything else?” Harry asked.

“Mapmaking,” Theo said, “With a few spells, some ink and some parchment, I can sit on the roof of a building and make a fairly accurate map of its layout. With some tracking charms, I can even track people inside of it.”

He seemed so smug, like this was ground-breaking magic, but Harry knew it wasn’t. It was very similar to the Marauders Map. He hid his smirk and said, “Alright then, Eddie, what about you?”

“Apart from being Theo’s lackey,” Neville said in amusement.

Eddie glared at him, “I’m not Theo’s lackey. He gets us in and out of the place, but I do the defence charms and the wards. I’m the one who breaks the codes on the safes.”

Theo nodded, “That’s true; we’re a team. Eddie isn’t like Crabbe or Goyle were to you, Draco.”

Harry frowned slightly, “Right, Malfoy is leading this team. I assume you all know why. He’s got a good head for strategy, he’s a natural leader, and he’s respected in the criminal world.”

“It’s about the only world you’re respected in,” Theo joked.

Draco laughed, “Very true,” he said, leaning against his desk, “Now, if you’re done, Potter, I would like to conduct my tests.”

“There are actually tests? I thought you were taking the piss,” Eddie said in disbelief.

“There are tests,” Draco said in amusement, “And Eddie, you’re up first. Duel Potter.”

Harry raised an eyebrow at the blonde, “Really? Why the hell are you using me?”

“We’re unofficial, so if anything goes wrong, it's Aurors we’ll have to face. Aurors are better than any criminal,” Draco said simply, “Besides, since you’re here, I might as well make use of you.”

Harry gave him an exasperated look, “You say that like I enjoy fighting.”

“That would be because you do,” Draco said, smirking at Harry, “You get an adrenaline rush from a fight.”

“You don’t actually know me, Malfoy,” Harry pointed out as he walked to the centre of the room.

“I went to school with you for seven years, Potter. That was long enough to let me know you were an adrenaline junky,” Draco remarked with a smirk, “It might have had something to do with fighting a three-headed dog, then a giant snake, and then entering yourself into the Triwizard Tournament.”

“I didn’t enter myself into the Triwizard Tournament!” Harry said testily.

“That’s a touchy subject. Probably best if you don’t bring it up,” Neville said in amusement, “Harry spent more of that year hanging out with me than Ron because he was being such a dick.”

“Yeah, well, I’ve realised the error of my ways now,” Harry said, “Although I didn’t care that the rest of the school thought I’d entered myself, you’d have thought my best mate would have believed me.”

“But your best mate was a dick, no offence,” Eddie said with a slight smirk as he got to his feet.

“None taken,” Harry said, gearing up for the duel, “And you won’t be smirking when I’m done with you, Carmichael.”

Eddie chuckled slightly, “Bloody hell. You really are an adrenaline junky.”

“Look at the blood pumping in your veins,” Daphne teased, “You can’t wait to duel him.”

Harry grinned and admitted, “Alright, I’m a bit of an adrenaline junky. I had a troubled upbringing; what can I say? My career options were this or a serial killer, and this pays better.”

Eddie chuckled, and the duel began. He was pretty good actually, but no match for Harry.

Harry started by going easy on Eddie so that Draco could assess Eddie’s skill. It was clear he was the fighter of the duo, and Theo was the thinker. Eddie was fast, his knowledge of spells was excellent, and he could do quick defence charms. Harry got bored after about 5 minutes and upped his game to its normal level; Eddie didn’t last a minute after that.

“Bloody hell, you’re good,” Eddie said as he picked himself up from the floor and dusted himself down.

“Well, he is the great Harry Potter,” Draco said sarcastically.

Harry smirked at the former Slytherin, “I’ll take that as a compliment, Draco,” he said offhandedly, causing Draco to raise an eyebrow at the use of his first name.

“Aw, you’re on a first-name basis now,” Daphne said as she got to her feet, “That’s cute.”

Draco rolled his eyes, “Less talk, more action, Greengrass. Let’s see what you can do.”

“You know what I can do,” Daphne said darkly, “You saw what happened to my father.”

“I saw what happened to your father,” Harry said with a slight frown, “And it really wasn’t pleasant.”

Daphne wasn’t smiling or joking around anymore as she took her stance, “He deserved every second of it,” she said darkly.

Draco obviously knew the details because he nodded, “He had it coming.”

Daphne looked Harry in the eye and smiled, “Don’t worry, Potter, I’m not stupid enough to murder an Auror. Especially not one as pretty as you.”

“Try duelling him instead of chatting him up,” Draco said from the sidelines.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were jealous, Draco,” Daphne joked with a grin as the duel began.

Daphne was good, and she was also fast. She didn’t need to use defence or shield charms a lot of the time because she weaved and dodged spells instead. It meant she could keep throwing offensive spells instead of slowing herself down with defensive ones. Harry could see her pattern and break it whenever he felt like it. Still, he kept going for the best part of 10 minutes because he was intrigued at some of the hand-made spells she was throwing at him and glad he was dodging them. He eventually took her down with a simple jinx and helped her to her feet.

“You are good,” Harry said, sounding genuinely impressed, “And fast.”

Daphne smirked as she sat back down on the sofa next to Neville, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”

Draco smiled slightly, “I knew you were good, Daphne. That’s why I picked you. Now Theo, on the other hand…I could rip you apart in a duel while we were at school. Let’s see if you’ve gotten any better.”

“Look, I’m not the fighter; that’s Eddie. I’m the one who plans it all out,” Theo said as he got in position, he looked uncomfortable.

“I’ll give him two minutes, even with you going easy on him,” Eddie said in amusement as the duel began.

Theo didn’t last two minutes; he lasted three. He wasn’t great, he knew enough to keep himself alive until he could flee, but his reactions weren’t swift.

“Right,” Draco said, “That confirms my hunch. Theo, you’re the thinker. You’re the one who I’ll send on recon and leave here to go through files.”

Theo actually smiled, “I’d rather that than being out risking my life with you adrenaline junkies,” he said.

“Theo is a typical Slytherin,” Daphne said in amusement, “A coward who’s willing to sit on the sidelines, unlike me.”

“And Malfoy,” Harry added.

Draco frowned slightly, “Well, that’s nice of you, Potter, but I think it’s safe to say I am a coward. I ran away in the final battle. I didn’t even switch sides at the end.”

“You saved my life back at Malfoy Manor in the war,” Harry said, catching Draco’s eye, “Going against your parents and risking your life to do that. That’s not the kind of thing a coward would do.”

Daphne raised an eyebrow at Draco, “This is news to me.”

“It was nothing,” Draco muttered awkwardly.

“Saving the life of the guy who went on to defeat the darkest wizard of all time?” Neville asked as he got to his feet, “That’s pretty awesome. I wouldn’t say it’s nothing,” he enjoyed making Draco feel uncomfortable.

“Especially since you hate me,” Harry added.

Theo snorted, “He doesn’t hate you. He talked about you way too much for that.”

“Yeah, our Drakey here admired you, Potter,” Daphne teased, “He wanted to be friends with the great Harry Potter.”

Draco scoffed, “No, I didn’t.”

Harry smiled slightly, saving Draco from any more awkward questions, “Come on then, Nev, give me a real challenge.”

Neville grinned broadly, and they dove into a real duel that was both amazing and scary to watch.

“Oh, I’ve missed this,” Neville said brightly as he casually attempted to behead Harry.

Harry grinned, “I’ve not had this much of a challenge in ages!” he said happily, dodging Neville’s curse and throwing a blasting charm at his friend.

The others were looking on in disbelief at the exchange between the friends. Draco asked, “Do you two do this for fun?”

“Yep,” Neville answered over the roar of the fire they were sending towards each other, which was turning into a fireball in the centre of the room, “Used to do it every Friday night.”

“Most normal people just go out for drinks or hook up or play poker….” Theo said with a chuckle.

“Most people didn’t fight in a war. Therefore they don’t need an adrenaline buzz every so often to keep them from going crazy,” Harry said in amusement, “Some people drink or do drugs, some people have a lot of sex, and some people try to kill each other once a week.”

“This is the kind of relationship I want….” Daphne said longingly.

Draco laughed, “You’re almost as crazy as Potter and Longbottom.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment in this case,” Daphne said in amusement as she turned back to the duel. It lasted for nearly 20 minutes before Harry finally beat Neville. They were both sweating and still high on adrenaline as they shook hands.

“Oh, I do miss having you as my partner, Nev,” Harry said, patting his friend on the back, “But at least you’re in good hands here.”

“And from that show, you’ve just been promoted,” Draco said in amusement, “You’re my second in command.”

Neville chuckled, “Well, I am the most qualified,” he said.

Harry laughed, and then Daphne said, “Go on, Draco. If we all have to do the test, you should too. Duel Potter.”

Draco looked slightly uncomfortable with the idea, but Harry grinned, “Good idea, it will be just like old times.”

A look flashed across Draco’s face, and Harry knew instantly what he was thinking of, “Sorry, Draco, that was a stupid thing to say. I meant in second year, not….”

The others were looking on with frowns. Only Neville knew what had happened between Draco and Harry in that bathroom during their sixth year.

“No, it’s fine,” Draco said with a wave of his hand, “I’ll duel you, Potter. I’m probably better than you think.”

They both drew their wands.

“Scared, Malfoy?” Harry asked, his lips quirking into a smirk.

Draco returned the smirk quickly, “You wish.”

Daphne and Neville looked at each other in amusement. Neville rolled his eyes, and Daphne mouthed, “Sexual tension?”

The duel then commenced, and although none of them would have admitted it, the others found it both mesmerising and terrifying to watch.

Harry Potter was the number one dueller in the world. Everyone knew that, well, everyone who read Witch Weekly or the Prophet anyway. However, Draco Malfoy could easily have been number two.

“My bets are on Draco,” Theo muttered, holding out a handful of galleons to Eddie.

Eddie scoffed, “No way, Potter’s got this.”

They shook hands and returned their attention to the fast and furious duel. They weren’t quite using murderous spells, but they could easily maim each other pretty badly if anything went wrong. The spells were powerful, and the casting was spot on. The speed of the whole thing was so fast that sometimes the onlookers just saw various beams of lights shooting through the air and bouncing off shield charms which never seemed to drop.

“Not bad, Malfoy,” Harry said smoothly.

“Not bad?” Draco scoffed, grinning smugly, “You know I’m good, Potter.”

“He is good,” Neville murmured to Daphne, “Harry’s stretching himself here, he’s going full out, and he’s struggling.”

“How do you know?” Daphne asked in a curious whisper.

Neville chuckled, “He’s sweating. He doesn’t do that unless he’s in a tense, difficult duel.”

“I knew Draco was good, but I didn’t think he was this good,” Daphne admitted.

“He’s better than me. I can see why Harry let him lead the team,” Neville said as Harry narrowly avoided an entrail expelling curse.

“If I didn’t know better, Potter, I’d say you were getting tired,” Draco said, “Ducking like that instead of strengthening your shield charm. Aren’t Aurors supposed to have good stamina?”

Harry shot the blonde-haired man a glare, “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with my stamina. You’re the one who looks like you’re about to faint, but then it’s hard to tell since you’re always that pale.”

As Draco rolled his eyes, Harry did a spell Draco couldn’t compete with. He’d never seen it used, and he knew the level of skill and power it required was immense. It was a flame whip, and as he slashed it across the room, Draco dropped to the ground, “Alright, you win!”

Harry grinned and ended the spell, restoring normalcy to the room. The others clapped, and Harry chuckled as he leaned against Draco’s desk, “Did we give you a good show then?”

“Put it this way, I can see why you put him in charge,” Neville said as Harry wiped the sweat off his brow.

“Yeah, I told you he was good,” Harry said in amusement, “But now that your tests, and entertainment, are over, I ought to get back to work.”

“Boring, plain old Auror work. I don’t envy you,” Eddie said with a grin as Harry walked towards the door.

He chuckled, then paused, “Oh, I almost forgot,” Harry said as he pulled a file from his robes, “I’ve got your first case.”

Draco’s eyes lit up, and Harry dropped it on his desk, “His name is Henry Callaghan. He’s illegally buying magical creatures and shipping them out to Europe. We haven’t been able to close in on his location, but we suspect it's somewhere like Romania or Bulgaria.”

“Romania or Bulgaria?” Daphne asked with a frown, “Is he buying dragons?”

“Surprisingly not,” Harry answered, “The cargo is too small. From the size and weight, it’s more likely they are Erumpent young.”

“So he’s illegally exporting them from Africa to Europe?” Eddie said, “It’s obvious what they’re doing then, isn’t it?”

“Sadly,” Harry said with a sigh, “We think they are using them to fight with. It’s a cruel and highly illegal sport. The Erumpent aren’t allowed to grow to adulthood, and hundreds of them die. The species is nearly extinct.”

“Surely this is a job for somebody in the DRCMC?” Theo asked.

Harry shook his head, “It’s too dangerous. It’s a job for people trained to fight. The people in DRCMC would get killed trying. Callaghan is dangerous, and there are other charges against his name. We can’t bring him in on an assumption, but if you can bring us some solid evidence, he’ll go down for a long time.”

Draco nodded and glanced around the others, “Well, it looks like we’re going on a trip to Europe.”

Daphne smirked, “I can’t wait.”

- TBC -

Chapter Text

The newly formed team were less than thrilled when Draco told them, “We can’t just rush off to Europe. We’ve got to do some background work first, find out what we’re getting ourselves into.”

This had elicited a room full of groans and complaints, which Draco ignored.

And that was how they had ended up scattered around the basement at their desks.

Daphne and Neville were doing background checks on Callaghan and any known or possible associates to try and find out their last known location.

Theo (with the help of Eddie) was trying to dig as deep as he could into Callaghan's life.

“Aha!”

“What?” Draco asked, spinning to look at Theo.

Theo smirked at him, “Callaghan has an ex-wife. She was permitted to annul the marriage after he was tried for adultery and found guilty three years ago.”

“I don’t think she’ll be able to help us much if they haven’t seen each other for three years,” Neville pointed out.

“Just because they’re divorced doesn’t mean they haven’t seen each other,” Eddie said.

Daphne nodded thoughtfully, “It’s at least worth checking out. Do you have an address?”

“Her last known address is in London. As long as she hasn’t moved, we’re in luck,” Eddie said, looking down at the file.

Theo got to his feet and grinned, “Looks like I’m going fishing,” he said as he strutted out of the basement.

Neville frowned and glanced around the others, “Fishing?”

Daphne rolled her eyes, “You’re so naïve, Longbottom. Don’t you know what fishing is?”

“Well, I’m assuming it’s not the kind where you catch fish and roast them on a campfire,” Neville remarked.

Draco chuckled, and Eddie said, “Fishing is what Theo calls it when he goes out trying to seduce rich widows or divorcees. Usually, he does it to get money out of them or something he can sell for a lot of cash. This time he’s doing it for information.”

“And if Callaghan's wife is attractive, he’s probably also hoping to sleep with her,” Draco remarked.

Eddie chuckled and showed the others the picture on the file of a busty blonde, “Oh yeah, he’s definitely going to try and sleep with her.”

Draco rolled his eyes and said, “Eddie, Longbottom. I’ve got a job for you.”

They were immediately in front of his desk.

Draco smirked slightly at how eager they were to get out of here, “I’ve managed to trace the port used to transfer the Erumpent young to Europe. They ship them from South Africa to a port in Southern Italy. You still know some Italian Eddie, don’t you?”

Eddie smirked, “Oh, Rosa taught me enough to get by.”

“Well, off you go then. Report back when you know something.”

Eddie and Neville nodded, leaving the basement as quickly as they could. Once they were gone, Daphne leaned against his desk and murmured, “Didn’t you tell him Rosa was using him for the money?”

“No,” Draco said with a slight smile, “If he didn’t figure it out when she left the moment the job was over, then I didn’t want to break his heart by telling him.”

Daphne chuckled, “He lacks that Slytherin trait of perception. You’d think Ravenclaws would be good at that.”

“It’s almost refreshing,” Draco said, hiding his smile, “Finding a criminal with that innocent streak. I feel for the guy, though. There’s been Rosa, Maria, and those two French twins that he dated.”

“Well, that was Theo’s influence,” Daphne said, flipping through another file as she spoke to him.

“He’s given Eddie a lot of confidence though, so it’s not all bad,” Draco said as he got to his feet.

“Where are you going?” Daphne asked, narrowing her eyes at the man.

“To talk to Granger.”

“Hermione Granger?”

Draco gave her an amused look, “How many other people do you know with that surname?”

Daphne made a face, “Oh, don’t be smarmy; it doesn’t suit you. Why are you talking to her?”

“Because she’s the Assistant Head of the DRCMC, and I want to find out if she can tell me anything more about Erumpent fighting,” Draco said as he strutted towards the door.

“Well, I’ll come with you then,” Daphne said quickly.

“No, you’ll have to stay here. Someone needs to keep going with the backup checks,” Draco said, smirking as he exited the office with Daphne glowering at his back.

Draco chuckled to himself and jogged up the dull, concrete staircase. He didn’t get any funny looks as he walked along the almost deserted corridor. This was the back corridor leading to storerooms and basements, giving the team, which weren’t supposed to exist, some privacy. However, they didn’t have an elevator. To get to Hermione Granger's office, Draco had to jog down the stairs to her level, two floors below.

Knock. Knock.

“Come in!” She called politely.

Draco walked in, shutting the door behind him with a snap and turning to face the woman he had antagonised during their school years.

Hermione smiled slightly at him and leaned back in her chair, “So it’s true what the rumour mill says in the justice department. Draco Malfoy is reformed.”

Draco fought a smile and sat down across from her, “Granger, you’re quoting me. How cute.”

Hermione chuckled, “I’m not sure how I feel about you in a three-piece suit. It’s a little too sixth-year Draco Malfoy for me.”

Draco smirked, “Preferred me in leather, did you?”

Hermione shot him an amused look, “Funny. Did you come all the way up here to flirt with me, or is there actually something important going on?”

“Something important is most definitely going on,” Draco said, “But firstly, how did you not know I had joined the justice team? Aren’t you and Potter practically joined at the hip? I thought he told you everything.”

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him, “Harry hired you?”

“Hm,” Draco agreed, “Well, blackmailed me into taking the job over prison technically, but in essence, yes.”

“So you’re an Auror?” Hermione asked in disbelief, “You?”

“Not exactly. It’s a grey area,” Draco said with a shrug.

Hermione surveyed him, “Well, I am less than thrilled that I had to hear it from you rather than Harry. But all the same, what brings you to my office?”

Draco looked up, “I’m working on a case about illegal Erumpent fighting.”

Hermione sighed and shook her head, “It’s a disgusting thing. They call it a sport. What do you need to know?”

“Well, where would they be likely to do it? Do you know anything that could help us track down the place or the people involved?” Draco asked.

“It will be a team. One man will make sure everything runs, and he will also pocket most of the money. But you’ll have the importer who is bringing the Erumpent from Africa. Then you will have the exporter. As you probably know, when the Erumpent collide, one horn explodes, killing the Erumpent. The loser is then the winner because it’s the last one alive. The horn is taken from it and sold on the black market here in Britain by people like you,” Hermione said, a dark look in her eyes.

“Don’t make this personal,” Draco said with a raised eyebrow, “For your information, I never sold Erumpent horns or anything from a living creature. I sold goods stolen from live humans and dead ones….”

“Yes, because that is so much more ethical,” Hermione said sarcastically, “You know, if it weren’t totally unethical, I would definitely blackmail you with that.”

Draco raised an eyebrow at her, “Because you’re a shining beacon of ethics, right?”

She glared at him.

“You slept with me, Granger,” Draco said, leaning forward, “Practically seduced me actually-”

“Oh, shut up, Malfoy.”

Draco grinned. He did enjoy getting a rise out of her, almost as much as he enjoyed bickering with Harry. Almost.

Getting back to the critical point, Draco asked, “So what you are saying is that there is an importer and an exporter?”

“Yes, and don’t bother looking for a connection; you won’t find one. They deliberately pick people to ensure they don’t have anything in common. As for your location, you’ll be looking at Bulgaria or Romania. It will be a rural area; an old barn or a farm is where they’ll conduct the fights.”

Draco nodded and got to his feet, “Alright, thanks a lot for your help, Granger.”

Hermione nodded as Draco walked towards the door. When he reached it, he turned around and smiled back at her, “Don’t worry, we’ll catch these guys. I hate creature cruelty as much as you do.”

He could see that she very much doubted that, but she nodded.

Draco slipped out, shutting the door behind him and escaping into the back corridor and the empty concrete stairwell that nobody else used.

Knock. Knock.

“That you, Draco?” Daphne called out, looking up as the metal door was pushed open.

“Sorry, it’s me,” Harry said as he walked into the room and looked around, “Just you, is it?”

“Draco left me doing background checks,” Daphne said with an eye-roll as Harry sat down nearby her desk.

“Where are the others?”

“Why? Are you checking up on us?” Daphne asked.

“Is it that obvious?” Harry chuckled.

Daphne smiled slightly. After many hours of undercover work with the guy, she actually quite liked him, “Yes. I hate to break it to you, but for an Auror, you’re not very subtle.”

“Subtlety has never been my strong point,” Harry admitted, “Do you like doughnuts?” He asked, dropping a box on the table and grabbing one with pink icing and sprinkles.

Daphne took a chocolate one, “If you’re bribing me with food, you know it will work,” She joked.

Harry laughed, “I’m not checking up on you. I just wanted to see how things were coming along, and by the looks of it, things are either great because everyone’s working or terrible because they’re all at the pub.”

“Everyone’s working, apart from Theo…he went fishing,” Daphne said.

“Fishing?” Harry asked with a raised eyebrow, “For information or women?”

“Uh, both, I think. The victim has an ex-wife and knowing Theo if he can get both, he will,” Daphne said as she bit into the chocolate doughnut.

Harry didn’t seem fazed by this, “Well, as long as he gets the information, that’s the main thing.”

“Eddie and Longbottom are in Italy. They’re trying to identify and track the guy importing the Erumpent from Africa to Europe. We tracked it down to an Italian port, so they could be a while,” Daphne said casually.

“And Malfoy?”

“Oh, he’s with Granger,” Daphne said with a wave of her hand, “He’s trying to find out more about Erumpent fighting, so we have an idea of what we’re looking for.”

Harry frowned slightly, “Hmm.”

“He’s just in her office; it’s not like they’re having lunch together,” Daphne said in amusement, “Are you jealous?”

“No, of course not,” Harry said as he pushed himself to his feet and shoved the last of his doughnut into his mouth, “Hermione and I are like brother and sister. I just don’t want Malfoy screwing her over. Keep an eye on him. If he makes a move on her, tell me.”

“I’m not your spy, Potter,” Daphne called as Harry left the basement. He knew she would tell him anyway. Despite the teasing, they had become good friends in the last few years. It was hard not to with the number of cases they had worked on together.

Harry got as far as the stairs before he was met with an obstacle in the form of Draco Malfoy.

“Ah, Malfoy,” Harry said, stopping in the doorway so Draco couldn’t get past him to go down the stairs.

“What do you want, Potter?” Draco asked, narrowing his eyes at the man.

“What are your intentions with Hermione? I know you were in her office,” Harry said, watching Draco suspiciously.

Draco frowned, “Uh, I have no intentions. I was just trying to get some information about the case.”

Harry raised an eyebrow at the blonde, “Just don’t screw her over. She’s been through enough shit without you messing with her.”

“I’m not going to screw her over, Potter. That’s Weasley’s job,” Draco said casually.

“How do I know you’re telling the truth?” Harry asked with narrowed eyes.

“You don’t. You’re just going to have to trust me when I say she’s not my type,” Draco said simply, “So can you quit being overprotective now and let me get back to work?”

Harry observed him for a moment but seemed satisfied as he stepped away from the doorway, “Alright, good luck with the case. Notify me if you find anything else.”

“Will do,” Draco said as Harry walked off down the hallway. He rolled his eyes and stalked down the concrete stairs, managing to slam open the door, which was quite some feat given that it was metal and heavy.

Daphne raised an eyebrow at him, “Granger still frustrating then?”

“Granger's fine. Her moral compass is unattainably high, but Potter’s the frustrating one,” Draco said in annoyance as he sat down heavily at his desk.

Daphne smirked, “Potter’s lovely. Look, he brought us doughnuts.”

“Give me one of them,” Draco said, snatching one of the pink iced doughnuts which Daphne knew were his favourite.

Daphne’s smirk got bigger, “Aw, you and Potter even have the same favourite doughnut,” She joked.

“Shut up,” Draco said as he bit into the doughnut, “He had the nerve to question me because I was briefly in his best friend’s office,” he scoffed.

Daphne sniggered as she pushed the file away and turned to him, “He’s probably just looking out for her, his hearts in the right place.”

“What would you know about Potter's heart?” Draco said with a raised eyebrow.

“Not much. He keeps it pretty guarded. Like I said, he wouldn’t even sleep with me when we were undercover. I reckon he’s one of those old fashioned types, doesn’t like sleeping around,” Daphne said.

Draco frowned slightly, “Hm, anyway, break over, let’s get on with some work.”

The following morning when Harry walked into the basement, it was empty apart from one person. That person was asleep on one of the two sofas. Harry smiled slightly as he kicked the sofa and jolted Draco awake.

“What?” He asked sharply as he sat up and blinked a few times.

“Good morning, sunshine,” Harry joked, leaning against the doorway, “Don’t you have a flat or something?”

“No,” Draco said with a glare, “Because you arrested me and seized my assets.”

“Ah, right,” Harry remembered, “Sorry about that. As soon as we’ve removed anything illegal, you can have it all back.”

Draco yawned and said sarcastically, “That’s very useful. Thanks a lot, Potter.”

“Where are your team? It’s 9.30 am,” Harry said. The basement was much emptier than it should have been.

“They’ll probably be a little late. They were all investigating leads when we called it a day yesterday,” Draco said.

He performed a few glamour charms to fix his hair and added, “Next time you decide to wake me up, bring me coffee.”

Harry chuckled in amusement as Eddie, Neville and Daphne all walked into the room together, Neville carrying disposable coffee cups.

“Longbottom, you have the right idea,” Draco said, taking the offered coffee and glaring at Harry again.

Neville only chuckled and said, “I figured you’d be here, Harry, so I brought you one too.”

Harry smiled as he took the coffee and said, “So, any idea where Nott is?”

“Merlin knows,” Draco said, waking up a little.

“I’m here,” Theo drawled, walking into the basement and shutting the door behind him.

“Where have you been?” Draco asked irritably, “I’ve not seen you since 11 am yesterday.”

“I was getting information from the widow; it was an overnight job,” Theo said, taking the coffee Neville offered him and drinking deeply from it.

Daphne snorted, “You don’t have to sleep with every woman you try and get information out of,” she remarked.

“Don’t bicker you two,” Draco said, “It’s too early for that. Did you get any information, Theo?”

“Oh, you know, only a few addresses in Bulgaria where she knows he’s held fights in the past,” Theo smirked.

“Good,” Draco said, “Eddie, Longbottom, what about you? Did you do anything useful on your day trip to Italy?”

“Bloody hell Malfoy, you’re worse than Harry in the morning,” Neville remarked.

Harry rolled his eyes at his friend, and Draco repeated, “Did you find anything?”

“Just answer him. He’ll be pissy till his second coffee of the day,” Daphne muttered.

“We found the guy, Simba Natini; we saw him take what looked like a shipment of Erumpent,” Eddie said, “He was at the port, and it was definitely him. He took the shipment and loaded it into a van, a Muggle van. That’s how they’re getting through customs; they aren’t going through wizarding ones.”

“And you didn’t talk to him, did you?” Draco asked.

“We didn’t talk to him; we watched him all day and put tracking charms on him. They’re deep and subtle, so he shouldn’t pick up on it unless he tries to go through wizarding customs, which I don’t think he’ll do. As Eddie said, that’s how they’re getting away with this,” Neville said simply, “I checked this morning; the charms are still active, and he’s in Belgrade, in Serbia.”

“So he’s definitely en route for Bulgaria,” Draco said, brightening up a little, “What were the locations you got from the ex-wife, Theo?”

“There were three, all in rural Bulgaria close to the border with Romania,” Theo said, “They are isolated in the countryside, but the closest place names I could get were Butan, Brest and Kubrat.”

“Well, we’re closer than we were 24 hours ago,” Draco said hopefully, “Longbottom, at the rate Natini is travelling, when will he arrive?”

“Well, that depends on which location Callaghan is using, between 5 and 8 hours, I reckon,” Neville said, and Eddie nodded his agreement.

“I reckon your next step is to go to Bulgaria and get there before Natini does,” Harry piped up from the sofa.

Draco nodded, “I agree, Potter, but before we go anywhere, we need a plan.”

“And you have one, I can tell; you have that look in your eye you get when you think you have a good idea,” Theo said matter of factly.

Draco shot the man a glare, “I do have a plan, but whether or not it will actually work is another story. Obviously, this is a sensitive job which means if anyone goes in, they do so undercover. Daphne, you’re the obvious choice, but you will have to go in under glamour since you’re well known in certain circles.”

Daphne nodded, “Alright, I’m fine with that.”

“Someone else will be going in with you, posing as your boyfriend or husband-”

“I nominate that it’s not me,” Theo said quickly.

Draco gave him an irritated look, “I didn’t say it would be you, did I?”

“Well, no, but I’m just saying,” Theo said, eyeing Daphne warily, “I can’t marry her. She’d kill me within the week.”

Daphne raised an eyebrow at Theo and smirked, “Of course I wouldn’t, Theo,” she said sweetly.

Neville grinned. He knew exactly where this was going.

“No?” Theo asked, narrowing his eyes at her.

“No, you wouldn’t last a day, let alone the week,” Daphne said, smirking and flicking a curse in his direction.

Theo ducked and muttered a vulgar swear word.

Draco shook his head, “Focus! Theo, you’re not Daphne’s fake boyfriend – Longbottom, you are. You will be there to bet on the animals and watch the fight, and Daphne, you will be as alluring as possible - that’s going to be the key to getting this guy.”

“He’s a sleazebag, so it should work,” Harry said, trying to keep his input to a minimum.

Neville nodded, “I’m also pretty well known in certain circles, so I had better go under glamour as well.”

“Sounds like you have a half-arsed plan, so I’m sure you’ll all be fine,” Harry said, patting Neville on the shoulder, “Good luck. If you get him, bring him directly to me,” he said.

“Great words of encouragement!” Neville called sarcastically as Harry left the basement.

Draco ignored him and turned to Theo and Eddie.

“While they are undercover, you two will be hard at work putting tracking charms on everyone, so if there’s a scuffle, we know where they’ve gone afterwards. We aren’t letting these guys slip through our hands. Got it?”

“Got it,” Eddie and Theo said in unison.

“I’m going to keep an eye on things from the sidelines. If anything goes wrong, I’ll come in and sort it out,” Draco said, “We might have to re-evaluate once we get there, but for the moment, that’s your guideline. We’ll apparate to Butan and take it from there.”

There were nods all around, and Draco pushed himself to his feet, “Let’s get a move on then.”

Once they were all in Butan, the game was on. They sat down in a café to discuss their next move.

“Natini has just crossed the border of Serbia and Bulgaria. He’ll be in Butan in two and a half hours.”

“If Butan is the right place,” Daphne pointed out, “Have you managed to use his route to work out his destination?”

Eddie shook his head, “We can only tell that he’s using Muggle roads. We’ll know soon enough if he’s coming here, depending on whether he diverts his route to go further west or not.”

“Good,” Draco said thoughtfully, “You two need to get ready, just in case.”

They finished their coffee and left the café, ducking into an abandoned building to transform Daphne and Neville. By the time they were done, Daphne had dark brown hair and brown eyes and had changed into something a lot skimpier. Neville had also undergone a clothing change into a lot of leather which he felt incredibly uncomfortable in.

“Leather robes?” He had exclaimed, “Do I really have to wear those?”

However, he had been wrestled into them. His hair was jet black, and his eyes dark blue. They looked unrecognisable.

“Stick some glasses on you, and you’d look like Potter,” Daphne said with a chuckle.

Draco cocked his head at Neville, “Yeah, if you had green eyes instead of blue, you would look like him,” He agreed.

“Uh, guys,” Eddie said with a frown, “He just diverted his route.”

“Towards here?” Draco asked sharply.

Eddie nodded, “It doesn’t look like he’ll come through the centre though. He seems to be heading for a rural area north of here.”

“Good,” Draco said, “Let’s get a move on and scope out the area. Granger said old barns and farm buildings are perfect for his fights, so look for that sort of thing. Eddie, Theo, you’re with me. Daphne, Longbottom, stay together.”

They nodded as Eddie gave them co-ordinates. They spun, and with a collective crack, they had vanished.

Daphne and Neville were sitting atop a tree, scanning the countryside for any building Callaghan could be using.

“So,” Daphne said, her tone searching, “How come I never did any undercover work with you when you were an Auror?”

Neville glanced over at her, “It wasn’t that I didn’t like doing it, but Harry always preferred the undercover jobs, so I left it to him. Then I got fired and ended up in deep cover for six months.”

“Hm,” Daphne mused, “I wondered why he did so many undercover jobs with me. At first, I thought he had a thing for me, but he wouldn’t sleep with me. So obviously, that wasn’t why he was doing the undercover work. Why does he do it?”

“Honestly, Harry doesn’t like who he is,” Neville said with a frown, “I don’t think he’s ever felt like he fits in his skin or into the role he chose for himself in life. He fought Voldemort because he was told it was what he was born to do, and he became an Auror because it was the only thing he felt he was good at. He doesn’t think he’s a good person, and he’s convinced a lot of people have died because of him. So any chance he gets to be someone else, he takes it.”

Daphne was silent as she took this in.

“Greengrass,” Neville said sharply, his tone changing, “Could that be it?”

Daphne followed his line of sight to an old outhouse in the distance. It had only caught his attention because a truck had just pulled up outside it.

“Looks promising,” Daphne nodded. She tapped her ear three times, then said, “Draco?”

“Yeah?” His voice said into her ear, “You got something?”

“Longbottom spotted it, and it looks promising,” She said, telling him the co-ordinates and jumping down from the tree. She and Neville bumped into Draco, Eddie and Theo halfway across the field to the outhouse.

“That’s it. We just saw Callaghan go in,” Eddie said under his breath.

“So what now?” Theo asked.

“We infiltrate it,” Neville said simply.

“Yes, but how? You can’t just walk in there. He’ll wonder how you knew where it was,” Eddie pointed out.

“I did background checks all day yesterday. I know who all of Callaghan’s old acquaintances are. When did he start using this place, Theo?”

“According to his ex-wife, he’s been using it for five years,” Theo replied.

“Well, I know a handful of people who Callaghan worked with. I’ll say one of them told us about the place,” Daphne said simply.

Draco nodded, “Be careful. Remember, you are officially Arcturus and Athena when you walk into that place. Don’t mention your real names or any of us. Give me the emergency signal if you need to be pulled out.”

“Don’t worry, Draco, I’ve done a fair bit of this in my time,” Daphne said with a slight smile.

Draco nodded, “I know, but this guy is a nasty piece of work. We’ve set up a workstation in a nearby tree, close enough to watch who's coming and going, and close enough to get you two out.”

“Got it,” Daphne said, turning to Neville, “Ready, Arcturus?”

Neville smirked, “Ready, Athena,” he said, slipping his arm into hers as they walked out of the long grass towards the outhouse.

“Come on,” Draco muttered, “Let’s get out of sight and start monitoring who comes and goes from that house. I want as many people tracked and identified as possible.”

Theo nodded, and as they began the walk back to their temporary work station, Eddie said, “Natini has stopped in Lorn. He’s just under an hour’s drive away from where we are now.”

“I still can’t believe he’s using Muggle transport,” Theo said distastefully.

“He’s doing it because he’s smart, and he knows the wizarding authorities don’t monitor it,” Eddie said honestly.

Draco smirked and said, “I knew Potter had a point when he told me I needed a half-blood or a muggle-born on my team.”

Eddie smiled slightly, surprised to hear his blood status as a compliment. It was usually used as a slur against him in the criminal world. It had been the cause of many a fight he had been involved in when he started doing jobs with Theo.

When they reached the outhouse, Neville slipped his hand into Daphne’s, and they fell into character. They walked in without any confrontation, and although this appeared to be an outhouse on the outside, it was so much bigger on the inside. There was a sunken pit in the centre of the large room, and it had two gates that housed small Erumpents behind them. There was seating around the pit and a bar on one side of the large room.

The place was already bustling with people dressed like Neville and Daphne. They blended in seamlessly with their surroundings.

A tall, attractive man walked over to them, “Well, who we got here then? Don’t think I’ve seen you two around here before.”

Daphne grinned, “I reckon you’ve seen me before, Mr Callaghan, Athena Swann. We met a few years back at that big dragon tournament in Romania.”

“Ah,” Callaghan said, his charm already turned up high, “Now you mention it…rings a bell. You weren’t one of the marvellous three girls they sent up when my dragon won?”

“That would be me,” Daphne said smoothly.

“And who’s this bloke you’ve got with you?” Callaghan asked, surveying Neville.

“Arcturus Cartwright,” Daphne said offhandedly.

“Cartwright? Don’t recognise the name.”

“He’s Irish,” Daphne said with a shrug.

“Is he your boyfriend?” Callaghan asked, his eyes flicking from Neville to Daphne.

“I can speak for meself,” Neville said in a broad and perfect Irish accent, “And aye, I’m her boyfriend.”

Callaghan smirked, “You’ve got balls, Cartwright. Nice to meet you.”

Neville shook the man’s hand, “And you, I’ve heard a lot about you in Ireland. They say this is the place to make a fast profit.”

“Oh definitely, but if you bet wrong, it’s the place to lose a fortune,” Callaghan said with a laugh.

“I never bet wrong,” Neville said smoothly.

Callaghan smiled, “I like you even more. Enjoy the fight, boyo, as your Irish comrades would say.”

He winked at Daphne, “If you get bored of the Irishman….”

Callaghan gave Daphne a charming smile, left the sentence hanging and walked away.

“Nice accent,” Daphne whispered to Neville.

Neville shot her a grin, “Does it make you want me?”

“Don’t get your hopes up,” Daphne smirked, her eyes sparkling with amusement, “Get me a drink. Let’s scope this place out.”

Neville grinned, “Sure, but I’m going to kill you for this. I’m going to have to keep this Irish accent up all night now.”

He shook his head and walked towards the bar, leaving Daphne chuckling in his wake.

“What do you reckon they’re doing in there?” Eddie asked.

“Talking to people, blending in,” Draco replied offhandedly, “It’s getting pretty busy in there now. I think the fight must start at around 3 pm…I don’t expect many more people will be turning up.”

“Apart from Natini, he’s about 5 minutes away,” Theo said.

“And if he’s bringing the Erumpent, the fight won’t start without him,” Eddie added.

“He might be bringing more, but there will probably still be some anyway. There don’t seem to be any wards. Daphne and Longbottom walked in there easily enough. They probably do have silencing charms up though, so we won’t hear anything out here.”

“So, what’s the plan?” Neville asked.

He sat down at a table off to one side of the pit. Daphne sat down on his knee, Neville snaked an arm around her waist, and she put her lips against his neck as she murmured, “We’ll have to let the fight happen. Then I’ll seduce Callaghan and get him to confess to impress me.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Neville murmured, trying not to move his lips too much.

“Until then, act natural,” Daphne whispered.

“How do we do that?” Neville whispered back, chancing a glance at her.

“Like this,” Daphne said, that mischievous look in her eyes once more as she captured his lips in a kiss.

“That’s Natini,” Eddie whispered as a truck pulled up, and a bald African man jumped out of the driver’s seat.

They waited and watched as he pulled open the back of the truck and hauled out four crates, he opened one, and they got a look inside. Each crate contained one Erumpent.

“Four of them,” Draco whispered as a man came out and helped Natini take the crates inside. They put tracking charms on him and did an identification charm. Adding him to the portfolio of people the Auror office could prosecute. Eddie noted things down, and Theo took photographs on a wizarding camera.

When all the crates were inside, Natini locked up the truck and entered the barn.

“It’s starting,” Draco whispered.

“It’s starting,” Daphne said, pulling Neville to his feet, “You put a bet down, didn’t you?”

“Yep, on the one you told me to,” Neville said as they walked to the front of the crowd.

“You’ve got to look eager and excited,” Daphne whispered.

Neville nodded, and with a shout, the fight began - the two young Erumpent were released from behind bars.

It was brutal and fast. Trying to pretend he was enjoying it was hell for Neville, and it wasn’t exactly easy for Daphne either. Still, they managed to get through the first fight.

When Neville’s Erumpent lost, Daphne whispered for him to make a big deal of it. He swore and shouted, “You stupid bitch! Telling me to vote on the wrong bloody animal! What do you think you’re playing at?”

Daphne slapped him, “It’s not my fault you’re useless!” She snapped, stalking away from him to the other side of the pit.

Neville glared at her as she went, and the subsequent fight began as two new Erumpent were released into the arena.

Daphne cheered along with the others, and as the third fight began, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up as someone approached her from behind.

“Ditched the Irishman?” Callaghan’s smooth voice asked.

Daphne smiled slightly. This is too easy, she thought. Then she turned around to face the man, “He just lost a fortune and blamed it on me.”

Callaghan tutted, “Not much of a man at all.”

“He was never powerful enough for me,” Daphne whispered in Callaghan’s ear, “Far more of a follower than a leader if you catch my drift.”

“Ah, a phoney?” Callaghan asked, snaking an arm around Daphne, “After my Erumpent wins, I’ll show you a powerful man.”

“What if your Erumpent doesn’t win?” Daphne challenged him.

“It always does,” Callaghan smirked.

Daphne turned her attention to the fight just in time to see Callaghan’s Erumpent win. Callaghan chuckled and said, ‘I told you,’ as he gently led her away. She let him do so, letting him take her behind the bar and up a set of stairs to some sort of makeshift bedroom.

“So you reckon you’re a powerful man, huh?” Daphne asked as he pressed her against the wall.

“Powerful?” Callaghan chuckled, “I don’t think that word is strong enough to describe what I am.”

“And what exactly is that?” Daphne asked, a mischievous glint in her eyes as Callaghan pressed his lips against her neck and lifted her with ease. She wrapped her legs around his waist and let him pull her top off, wondering how far this would have to go before she could get information from him. In any other case, this would be enjoyable, but this man was a scumbag, even if he was a good looking one, and she was on duty.

“I am a criminal overlord,” Callaghan smirked, “I can do whatever I want, and whoever I want. I own everything illegal this side of Europe.”

“And the rest too, I bet,” Daphne said in between his bristly kisses, “A man like you could rule the world.”

“Not the world yet, sweetheart,” Callaghan mumbled, “Just Europe.”

Daphne grinned, “Now, this is the kind of powerful man that turns me on.”

Callaghan smirked, “Well, you feel free to come by any of my fights any time you need a thrill. I’ll always be happy to help.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Daphne said with a grin as she let the man kiss her again. While she had him sufficiently distracted, she pulled her wand out of its holster under her skirt and, without uttering a word, she bound his hands and legs. They snapped together as the bonds curled around them, and Daphne gracefully untangled herself from him as he fell back onto the bed.

“Mr Callaghan, you have just admitted to several illegal actions, including owning an establishment used for illegal Erumpent handling. I am going to have to hand you over to the British Ministry of Magic.”

“You fucking-”

With a flick of her wand, Daphne used a silencing charm and conjured a red piece of cloth. She yanked open the dirty window and waved it a few times, hoping by now that the others would be on the lookout for the signal.

Daphne smirked at Callaghan as he glared at her. Neville soared through the window a few seconds later, landing silently just as Daphne put her top back on. He raised an eyebrow at her, and she rolled her eyes in response.

They attached Callaghan to a board and put a feather-light charm on him. For good measure, they stunned him and tied the board to both of their brooms. They got him out of the window and landed close by the tree the others were using as a base. The moment they saw Daphne and Neville coming, they dropped down and, with Callaghan in tow, apparated back to the DMLE.

“Keep an eye on him. I’ll get Potter,” Draco said, taking the stairs at a jog and crossing the threshold of his dull, old, out of use corridor, to the vibrant, busy corridor of the actual DMLE. He kept his head down as he walked along the corridor and slipped into the office shared by Harry, Ron and their two junior Aurors.

“Got him,” Draco said as Harry looked up and caught his eye.

“Really?” Harry asked, getting to his feet hopefully.

“Yep, he’s downstairs in the basement,” Draco said.

Harry grinned, “Excellent. Ron, keep an eye on things here. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Without waiting for Ron to say anything, he followed Draco into the back corridor, down the concrete steps and into the basement. His grin widened when he saw Callaghan in a state of semi-undress.

“Nice work Greengrass,” Harry said, shooting a look at the woman who was back to her usual self but still wearing the undercover clothes. He caught a glimpse of Neville in his leather gear and sniggered.

“Nice look Nev.”

“Fuck off, Harry,” Neville said half-heartedly.

Harry grinned, “I assume you did all the work, Greengrass?”

“The arresting him part anyway, yes,” Daphne said with a slight smile, “It wasn’t exactly hard, mind you. Here’s his confession,” She handed him a vial with a memory, “Do whatever tests you need to do. It’s the real deal.”

“Great,” Harry said happily.

“And we thought you might want this,” Eddie said, handing Harry a camera and a file, “The names of everyone we clocked going in and out of that barn, including pictures. Hopefully, that should be enough to bring them down.”

Harry looked genuinely impressed, “Good work, all of you. I’m going to take Callaghan up and start an interrogation. Merlin knows how long that will take…or the paperwork on this. I’ll be back with pizza. You need to celebrate closing your first successful case after all.”

Harry was true to his promise. They could smell the pizza before he walked into the basement, dropping the two large boxes on Draco’s desk.

“Potter, you are a lifesaver,” Daphne said, opening the boxes and grabbing a slice.

“Cheers, Potter,” Eddie said, also grabbing a slice.

“Yeah, thanks Potter,” Theo said reluctantly.

Neville just shot Harry a grin as he walked towards the door, “You did a good job. You deserve it.”

“Are you leaving?” Draco asked in surprise.

“This is your team,” Harry said simply, “I’m not a part of it.”

“You can stay though. You did buy the pizza and all,” Draco said.

Harry wasn’t sure what to make of that, “Are you sure?”

“Yeah, you are kind of our boss,” Neville said in amusement.

Harry chuckled and moved away from the door, grabbing a slice of pizza and sitting down on Neville’s desk, “Alright then.”

“That didn’t take much persuasion,” Daphne said in amusement.

“You made a convincing argument, and I’m starving. Ron ate my lunch. Bloody git doesn’t understand why we all label our food,” Harry grumbled.

“That’s probably because he can’t read,” Draco said with a smirk, biting into the slice of pizza he had just grabbed from the box.

Harry rolled his eyes but didn’t defend his supposed best friend. The others got the impression he was pretty fed up with Ron.

“You know, I think we did pretty well for a first case,” Theo said thoughtfully.

“Yeah, better than I expected,” Harry said in amusement.

Draco narrowed his eyes at the former Gryffindor, “Potter, you have always been horrendous at lying or keeping secrets. What did you do?”

Harry grinned, “Well, Malfoy, the thing is…you know how you guys spent a day finding all the information, tracking everyone down?”

“Yes…” Draco said suspiciously.

“We knew it all,” Harry said simply.

“What?” Daphne snapped, “I spent a whole day doing background checks that you had already done?”

“What’s the deal with that, Scarhead?” Theo asked testily.

“It was a test, you stupid git,” Eddie said with a roll of his eyes, “Wasn’t it?”

Harry nodded, smiling slightly, “We had the guy, but we couldn’t arrest him. We weren’t allowed to go near his establishments or send in anyone undercover. It was all down to legal restrictions because he was operating in Romania, so it wasn’t in our jurisdiction. I figured I’d give it to you as a test to see how you worked. Given how quickly you solved it, I can say you’ve definitely passed the test.”

“I suppose we ought to take that as a compliment, coming from the great Harry Potter,” Draco said sarcastically.

Harry laughed, “You, of all people, know that I’m definitely not great, Malfoy. You’re one of the few people who stopped admiring me for long enough to see how messed up I was when we were at school.”

“That implies I admired you in the first place,” Draco remarked distastefully.

“Well, you did offer me friendship before you started to hate my guts,” Harry pointed out thoughtfully, “And I do wonder how things might have been different if I’d become friends with you that day instead of Ron.”

“Oh, he wondered too,” Theo said sarcastically, “About twice a week for all of first year, the whole dorm had to hear about it.”

Harry grinned as Draco threw a quill at Theo, who ducked and sniggered.

“You never could stop talking about me at school,” Harry said in amusement.

“Even if it was just to insult you,” Neville said with a chuckle.

“Exactly,” Draco said dryly, but he was hiding a smile.

Harry laughed, and Theo asked, “So is it true about you and Daphne?”

“Is what true?” Daphne asked with narrowed eyes.

“That you’re the only guy ever to turn her down?” Eddie remarked.

Daphne snorted, “He’s not the only guy to turn me down.”

“But I did turn her down,” Harry admitted.

“Why?” Theo asked, “Besides the obvious – you know that she was kind of a criminal, and you’re an Auror.”

“I’m not a criminal,” Daphne said offhandedly.

“No, you aren’t,” Harry agreed, “But you are on my payroll, and I have a rule about not mixing my work life and my personal life.”

“So you have been a Hit Witch all along,” Theo realised.

Daphne smirked, “Why do you think I’ve gotten away with everything I have, Theodore?”

Neville chuckled, “Because you’ve been on Harry’s payroll for quite some time now.”

Daphne nodded and leant back, “Cats out the bag, I guess.”

Harry shrugged, “They would have found out soon enough, but it goes without saying that you need to keep it quiet. Hit Witches and Wizards live off the grid for a reason.”

“For their own protection,” Neville agreed.

“And ours,” Harry said, “The Ministry, that is.”

“So, Potter, you’ve never slept with someone you work with?” Theo cut in.

Harry shook his head, “Never. I like to keep my work relationships strictly professional.”

“Damn your bloody moral integrity,” Daphne teased with a smirk as she remembered the time they were discussing…

It had been a long week. Harry was a trainee Auror and was assigned to a ‘victim’ who was hiding in a safe house. He was the Auror left to babysit her because that was what trainee Aurors did, the jobs nobody else wanted.

Daphne Greengrass was tall, blonde and highly attractive, and she had been flirting with him all week, but he had just ignored her. She was here because her boyfriend Blaise Zabini had been killed, and she was now scared for her own life.

On this particular evening, he was fed up and tired, but when he opened the door to his bedroom, Daphne was lying in his bed.

“Uh, what are you doing here?” Harry asked with a frown.

“Isn’t this my room?” Daphne asked innocently.

“No, your room is next door,” Harry said shortly.

“Oh,” Daphne said with a shrug, “They look the same.”

“Well, they aren’t. This is my room, so get out,” Harry said.

“Oh, I don’t know, I’m here now. We should just make the most of it,” Daphne said with a grin as she threw back the covers. She was only in her underwear, and Harry shook his head in disbelief, “Your boyfriend literally just died!”

“Valid point,” Daphne said solemnly, “So I need some consoling.”

“No,” Harry said in disbelief, “I’m an Auror. I have to stay professional.”

“You’re a trainee Auror,” Daphne pointed out with a sly smile, “So that means you don’t have to be as professional.”

“No, it means I have to be more professional because they can sack me easier,” Harry said.

“They wouldn’t sack you,” Daphne scoffed, “You’re the great Harry Potter, the chosen one, the boy wonder, the saviour of us all.”

“Alright, you can stop taking the piss now,” Harry said with a slight smile.

Daphne got to her feet, “Oh, come on, Potter, it will be fun.”

“Seriously, Greengrass, I am not having sex with you,” Harry said finally.

Daphne sighed, “Am I really that repulsive?” She asked.

“What?” Harry asked with a frown, “No, of course not. I just know what you’re doing here. I know what this is.”

“Do you?”

Harry nodded, “You use sex as a safety mechanism, to stop people hurting you or stop yourself from hurting other people. I’m not sure which, but you do it because you’re afraid to form lasting relationships.”

Daphne shot him a glare, “You really think I’m doing that now, just after my boyfriend has died? And he’s not the first one. Everybody leaves me!”

“Daphne, I’m sorry,” Harry began, “I didn’t realise how much you had been through.”

Daphne brought her legs up underneath her, “He died because of who he was, Potter. Not because he had done anything wrong, but because of his surname and how is that fair?”

Harry could tell that her tone had changed, so he sat down on the edge of her bed, “Blaise?”

Daphne nodded, a minuscule motion that he barely noticed, “Killed because of his family name and his family’s connections.”

She scoffed, “The war is over. This world was supposed to be safer, and Blaise was going to work towards that. He was going to be a lawyer.”

Harry sighed and agreed with her, “It wasn’t right, what happened to him, but I will keep you safe.”

Daphne rubbed her eyes hastily, “I was there when he died, and I couldn’t do anything to protect him. I just had to stand there and watch the man I love dying.”

Harry frowned and looked at her for a long moment, “What if I could change that? What if I could teach you how to defend yourself and help other people?”

Daphne looked up at him, her blue eyes shining a little more brightly, “What do you mean?”

“Have you ever thought about becoming a Hit Witch?”

“So that was how we first met,” Harry finished.

Daphne nodded thoughtfully, “And how he found me a job.”

“I didn’t know,” Neville said, frowning over at Daphne, “About Blaise, I’m sorry.”

Daphne’s expression hardened, and Draco stepped in, “We all have things in our pasts that we don’t like to talk about, don’t we? Whether that is someone we lost or something we wish we hadn’t done. It doesn’t do to dwell on it, either way.”

Harry raised an eyebrow, “Wise words. Should I start referring to you as Albus?”

“Try it, and I’ll show you some homemade curses to make your toes curl,” Draco said, smirking at Harry.

Harry chuckled and said, “Well, I’ve got paperwork to do tonight, so I’d best be off. I’ll be back around midnight Nev, so lock the door.”

“Will do,” Neville called after Harry as he left the basement.

Neville turned to the others who were looking at him suspiciously, “What?”

“Do you live together?” Daphne asked in surprise.

“Uh, yeah, we’re roommates,” Neville said with a frown, “We have been for years. What’s the big deal?”

“Well, that’s surprising,” Theo said sarcastically, “The golden boy and his sidekick are living together.”

“Fuck off, Theo,” Neville said dryly.

“I always thought he’d end up living with Weasley,” Draco admitted, “But does that mean Potter lives in that hovel we found you in?”

“Not exactly,” Neville said sheepishly, “That was a ruse to get you to hire me. I was fired for killing a Death Eater, but Harry wanted me on this team to keep an eye on it. He knew you wouldn’t accept his offer unless I’d fallen from grace, so he told me to play it up a little.”

“Bastard!” Draco remarked.

“Clever bastard,” Daphne said, sounding impressed, “You had me convinced that you were an alcoholic.”

Neville frowned and looked down, “Well, that part was real until a few weeks ago when Harry convinced me to get some help.”

“Hey, no shame in it, man,” Eddie said, putting a hand on Neville’s shoulder, “I’m pretty sure we’ve all been in dark places every now and again. It’s how you get back up again that matters.”

“Well said, Eddie,” Daphne said, smiling at the other man.

“But I have to admit, Draco, from the way he arrested you and turned you down to the way he convinced you to hire Longbottom - Potter played you good.”

“He played all of you,” Neville said, “But this team? It’s quite good, you’ve got to admit.”

“It is kind of rewarding,” Theo admitted.

Eddie nodded, “As far as my work experience goes, this is practically fun.”

Theo asked, “So how come Potter doesn’t live with the Weasel?”

Neville snorted, “He and Ron would kill each other. It was bad enough when we all shared a dorm. Harry and I don’t fight. But him and Ron fight pretty much constantly.”

“Isn’t it awkward?” Draco asked, “When you bring girls home?”

“Sometimes,” Neville admitted, “But only when it’s a girl that we both know….”

“Oh, come on, spill the beans. Who did he bring home that you knew?” Daphne asked eagerly.

“Well, actually, I brought home one of his exes….” Neville admitted sheepishly, “He was supposed to be at work till late, but he got home early…we destroyed half the house in the duel that followed.”

“Which ex?” Draco asked in amusement.

“She-Weasel?” Theo asked.

“Nah, Ginny’s like a sister to me,” Neville said, “And I don’t think I should name and shame.”

“I think you should,” Eddie said eagerly.

“Yeah, come on, mate, tell us,” Theo added, leaning forward and grinning.

“Alright, it was Cho Chang,” Neville confessed sheepishly.

“Harry dated her in fifth year, and it was a complete train wreck because Cedric tied them together, and he had died. I went on a few dates with her a couple of years ago. It didn’t last very long, but she was Harry’s first girlfriend, so he wasn’t happy.”

Eddie whistled, “Cho Chang. It’s always the quiet ones.”

They all chuckled and ate pizza, and Theo pulled out a stash of butterbeer. It felt good, they were getting closer already, and they worked well together. They were starting to feel like a team. However, the stranger thing was that they were already beginning to enjoy this job.

The following morning, Theo headed out of the dark basement to ask for help with the paperwork. Being the cowardly office-based member of the team, he had been stuck with it while the others ran around rounding up bail-skippers.

He didn’t mind doing it, nor did he mind being left behind in the office. But he didn’t have the first clue about how to fill out a ‘record of abuse against a magical creature’ form. So he went to see the very person who would – the AHD of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.

When he got into the corridor where her office was, Theo saw her – leaning against her office door, a cup of coffee in hand and ranting about her boyfriend.

“I mean, I knew before we even got together that he’s not the sharpest tool in the box,” Hermione said, gesturing with her free hand.

“But he’s ignorant as well, Lucy. It’s like he doesn’t care about what I need or what I want. But when he wants to go to a stupid Chudley Cannons game, I need to drop everything.”

The girl she was talking to – Lucy, Theo knew was the Head of the Spirit Division within the DRCMC.

“There’s being a little clueless, and then there’s being an idiot,” Lucy said wisely, “And I think deep down you know which one Ron is.”

“Oh, completely,” Theo said as he stepped into view.

Hermione jumped, “Nott! What are you doing here?”

Theo grinned, “Oh, I’m here for a work thing, but by all means, don’t stop on my behalf. I’m quite happy to join in with this character assassination of Ron Weasley.”

Hermione frowned, “What do you mean you’re here for a ‘work’ thing?”

“I work in the DMLE now,” Theo said with a smile, “For Harry’s new team.”

Hermione’s eyes widened in realisation, “It’s a whole team? I thought Draco Malfoy was just his latest pet project.”

Theo grinned, “I’m sure he likes to think so, but no – it’s a whole team, and I’ve been stuck with paperwork which is great, apart from the fact I have no clue how to file all the reports your department has asked for.”

Hermione chuckled and stepped back into her office, “Come in for a coffee. I’ll show you the quickest way to do them.”

“You’re a step above most Aurors,” Lucy said with an amused smile, “They usually shelf them until they end up with an urgent ‘COMPLETE NOW’ stamp on them and an angry Hermione chasing them down to fill them in.”

“Ron burns them,” Hermione said, giving Theo a long-suffering look, “He thinks it’s funny.”

Theo snorted and stepped into the office with Hermione, who shut the door lightly behind him.

“You know that Ron Weasley is an idiot, and you can do better, right?” Theo asked calmly as he took a seat opposite her desk.

Hermione sat down in her comfy chair and raised an eyebrow at him, “Is that so?”

“Completely,” Theo said thoughtfully, “Everyone knows it. We’ve known it since fourth year. Even Draco was bitching about the way he treated you at the Yule Ball.”

“Draco Malfoy was?” Hermione asked, giving Theo a sceptical look.

“Draco Malfoy was,” Theo said with a nod, “He called Ronald Weasley an ignorant, bigoted blood-traitor if I remember correctly.”

“Well,” Hermione said evenly, “I do not need you, or Draco Malfoy, to defend my honour.”

“Oh, I know you don’t,” Theo said with a slight smile, “But it doesn’t mean you deserve anything less.”

Hermione gave him an odd look, then she held her hand out, “Show me the reports.”

Theo put the file in his hands on her desk, and she flipped it open, scanning the three documents inside.

“These two are fine,” Hermione said. She picked up Theo’s case report and record of magical creatures removed from the scene.

“But this one is a nightmare to fill in,” Hermione said, pointing to the form Theo had been having trouble with, “So I’ll help you with it.”

They sat in the office for ten minutes, with Hermione advising him on each field of the form. Then, she took the folder from him and smiled when it was done.

“Thank you for filling it in so quickly and hand-delivering it up here,” Hermione said, “You could have asked anyone in the Auror department for help then mailed it up.”

“I know,” Theo said with a genuine smile, “But then I wouldn’t have got to see you.”

Hermione blushed slightly but said nothing as Theo got to his feet.

“Hey, out of interest,” Theo said, hovering between her desk and the door, “What did Weasley do to make you so angry?”

Hermione smiled a little sadly, “He called me frumpy.”

Theo’s eyebrows shot up, “Frumpy? I’m sorry, is the man blind?”

Hermione laughed weakly and cast a glance down at herself. She wasn’t frumpy at work, not in the slightest. She wore smart, figure-hugging suits, and she looked as professional as she did attractive.

“No, he didn’t mean my work attire,” Hermione confessed.

“But I wear tight, uncomfortable clothes all day, so I want to relax in old quidditch jumpers in the evenings, and I’m sorry, but I don’t think I should be judged for that.”

“No, you shouldn’t,” Theo said simply, making Hermione look at him in surprise.

“You should never let a guy shame you into anything,” Theo said, “Not what you wear or how you act. Not that I think a woman like you ever would. But for the record, I’d like to see you in one of my old Quidditch jumpers; I think green would suit you.”

Hermione’s cheeks flushed, and Theo grinned mischievously, “See you around, Granger.”

- TBC -

Chapter Text

Over the next few weeks, the team worked better than ever together. They did smaller jobs, mostly catching people who hadn’t shown up to their Wizengamot trials and bringing them in so they could be persecuted. It was fun, coming up with inventive schemes to catch the criminals, but it wasn’t much of a challenge given that these criminals were as thick as two planks of wood.

However, around a month after the team had been created, a new case arose…a far more personal one.

Harry walked into their office shortly after midday, a solemn look on his face and a file in his hands. The others fell silent, and Draco asked hopefully, “Do you have a case for us?”

Harry shook his head and frowned, “Malfoy, I think we should talk in private.”

Draco frowned, “I would rather not keep any secrets from anyone here, Potter. After all, they have all read my file.”

“If you’re sure,” Harry sighed, sitting down on Draco’s desk, “You know that when we arrested you and seized your assets, we also had to go through your father's things, right?”

“Yes, thank you for finally giving me my property back,” Draco said dryly.

Harry didn’t make a smarmy comment, which was the first alarm bell for Draco, “We were going through one of the safehouses you inherited from him, and we found a warded room full of old family files. Most of them are out of date, insignificant, really.”

“But?” Draco said, looking at Harry perceptively.

“But one of the files is a marriage contract,” Harry said quietly, “Binding you to another by magic.”

Draco’s frown deepened, “Who?”

“The eldest eligible female Greengrass,” Harry said.

“Astoria,” Daphne murmured from where she was sitting at the desk next to Draco’s, “Since I’ve been disowned and all.”

Theo’s eyes widened, “Shit man, that’s not good.”

Eddie shook his head, “Bloody hell, sorry, mate.”

Harry was surprised by their reactions, “Is she a horrible person?”

Draco frowned and shook his head, “No, she’s not a bad person at all.”

Daphne scoffed, “To you, maybe. She’s manipulative, and she was happy when I got disowned.”

“You two have never gotten on, though, to be fair,” Eddie cut in.

Daphne nodded, “That’s because I think she’s a sneaky little bitch.”

“She can be,” Draco admitted, “And she is manipulative, but she’s not bad. She hasn’t hurt anyone, but….”

“You don’t want to marry her,” Harry cut in.

“I never wanted to get married because of a contract,” Draco said quietly, “My parents did, and….it destroyed my mother. But still, I should have seen this coming. I was surprised that there hadn’t been one as of yet.”

“Surely there’s a way to break it?” Eddie asked, seeing that Draco’s face had paled significantly.

“It’s a typical magical marriage contract,” Harry admitted, “I’ve already been over it, and it’s iron-clad. If neither of you sees it through before your 30^th birthday, you lose your magic. There are ways out, but they are extreme – one of you has to disown yourself, or die, or get put in Azkaban for a serious offence.”

“A serious offence constituting a rape, a murder or manslaughter,” Neville added.

The room was silent momentarily, and then Daphne said, “Well, we could always set the house on fire. It wouldn’t be hard to make it look accidental.”

Harry turned to Daphne in surprise, “She’s your sister, and your first thought is how to kill her rather than how to incriminate her?”

“She’s a fucking bitch, and if she did kick the bucket, my mother might reconsider disowning me,” Daphne said matter of factly.

“Merlin Daphne, you’re a cold bitch,” Theo said bitterly, “Look, our best shot at getting Draco out of this is incriminating Astoria, as Potter said.”

“No, that is not what I said,” Harry said sharply, “Look, I believe in free love as much as the next guy, but I will not stand by and watch you put a woman in Azkaban for something she hasn’t done. If she has committed a serious crime, and I can help you prove it, then that’s another story.”

Draco sighed and got to his feet, “No, this is stupid. I’ll marry her, but for now, I need some air.”

He slipped past Harry up the stairs, and Harry followed him, catching him in the back corridor, “Draco, stop and listen to me for a moment.”

Draco turned around, glaring slightly at the former Gryffindor, “Potter, quit trying to save everyone. You should have learned by now; it’s a tough world. Sometimes we have to do things we don’t want to do.”

“Yes, but marrying someone you don’t even like, let alone love?” Harry asked sharply, “What kind of life is that? Maybe you think I don’t understand these pureblood matters, but hear me out. I nearly married Ginny, and that would have been the same loveless marriage you’re considering, one to save face, to do what the public wanted me to do. But I didn’t, and in retrospect, I’m glad I didn’t. Think about this before you decide, either way, that’s all I’m asking.”

Draco fixed Harry with a steely gaze, “I’m not you, Potter; I don’t have a choice.”

“Yes, you do,” Harry said, “And your team are willing to help you in any way they can.”

Draco didn’t say anything, his gaze still firmly on Harry, who started to feel very uncomfortable. He shuffled awkwardly from his right foot to his left foot, waiting for Draco to say something.

“You’re willing to put someone in jail to avoid me having to marry her?” Draco asked with a raised eyebrow, “I’m the guy who treated you like shit for years. You can’t have just forgotten about all of that.”

“I have actually,” Harry said, “I try my best to forget about everything that happened in the war, and regardless of what the history books and the papers say, the war started in 1981 for me.”

Draco wasn’t used to hearing such bitterness in Harry’s voice, and it unnerved him a little. Harry could tell, and that made Draco all the more uncomfortable.

“You really don’t care?”

“All I care about is the fact one of my colleagues may be forced to marry someone he doesn’t want to marry, and I want to find a way out of that situation for him,” Harry said honestly.

Draco smiled slightly, “Alright, have it your way. I’ll see if they can unearth anything.”

Harry returned his smile, “I’ll get my best people on it my side of the wall too,” he said, patting Draco on the shoulder as he walked past him and through the door into the main department.

Draco watched him go and stood in the cold corridor for a moment collecting his thoughts. With a deep breath, he retreated down the stairwell. He could hear the team talking under their breath, but they all fell silent and stared at him the moment he walked in.

Draco rolled his eyes, “Don’t try and pretend you weren’t digging into Astoria Greengrass. I’ve had a change of heart.”

“Don’t suppose that has anything to do with Harry Potter?” Daphne asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

Draco gave her a long-suffering look, “No. Now listen, Daphne, I need you to try and reconnect with Astoria. Theo, Eddie, Longbottom, get digging into her past, look for anything suspicious. Eddie, I want you to stay here and follow the paper trail. Theo, I want you and Longbottom to talk to acquaintances and friends. Hang around Knockturn Alley for long enough, and something useful might pop up.”

Eddie nodded, “I’ll go badger Dobbs for the files,” he said with a smirk as he left the office.

Theo nodded and got up, looking at Neville to join him, “I know a few places in Knockturn. Meet you there?”

Neville nodded, and while Theo was heading out, he grabbed his cloak and got to his feet, too, “I’ve got a haunt in Knockturn Alley. If anything showed up, it would be there.”

“Wait, Draco,” Daphne said with a frown, “Do you really think it’s a good idea to send a recovering alcoholic to work in a bar all day?”

Neville shot her a glare, “Greengrass, a word.”

Daphne raised an eyebrow at him, “Excuse me?”

“Listen to the man. He’s the second in command," Draco said sternly, “You better go and have that word with him.”

Daphne followed Neville out of the room and into the corridor above, “What’s this about Longbottom?”

“Greengrass, I’m quite capable of controlling myself. My reliance on alcohol does not affect my judgement or, more importantly, my ability to do my job,” Neville said coolly.

“I just don’t think it’s a good idea to be in a pub all day with all that temptation-”

“I don’t need you to look after me,” Neville snapped, “And I’m not as bad as you think. I did slip slightly after that murder, but I played on it to get Draco to let me join the team. Drop it, and let me get on with my job.”

Daphne’s frown deepened, “You slipped after that murder? So you were an alcoholic before that?”

Neville sighed and glanced around the empty corridor. He gave her the smallest of nods, “Since the war.”

Daphne’s eyes widened, “What…what happened?”

There was a darkness in Neville’s eyes that she didn’t usually see, “You’re not the only person who lost someone,” he said simply.

Realisation shone in Daphne’s eyes, so she was silent as she watched him walk away.

She turned on her heel when he was gone and stalked back down the stairs into the bunker. She sat down heavily at her desk and looked at Draco warily.

“So Draco, what do you expect me to do? Waltz back into her life and act like we’re best friends? Because that is not happening.”

“Look, I know you hate your family, Daphne,” Draco said quietly, “But I do too. I don’t want to marry into it. All you have to do is temporarily slip back into their lives until this is over, and then you can go back to living your life.”

Daphne lowered her voice so that only Draco could hear her, “She ordered that hit on Blaise, Draco. When I became a Hit Witch and found out, I vowed to never speak to her again.”

Draco swallowed, and Daphne lowered her voice even more, “She killed him because she was jealous, and if she couldn’t have him, then neither could I. Surely that alone is enough to incriminate her and break the marriage contract.”

“Does Potter know about that?” Draco asked quietly.

“No,” Daphne admitted, “Because the evidence was circumstantial, I knew she wouldn’t go down for it.”

“How circumstantial?” Draco asked curiously.

“The assassin's memory was tainted with alcohol and some other potion they couldn’t quite identify,” Daphne replied, “And the confession was given under duress.”

“By you,” Draco realised.

Daphne just nodded.

“Still,” Draco said, “If you could get her to confess….that would change things.”

“I can’t do that,” Daphne said, swallowing and looking at Draco, “I can’t walk back into her life.”

“Daphne,” Draco said quietly, “We have been friends for a long time, and I have never asked you to do something for me before, never.”

Daphne’s eyes, which were usually steely and cold, softened slightly.

“I’m asking you now,” Draco said, his voice low, “Please.”

With a sigh, Daphne relented, “Fine. But how do you expect me to get a confession out of her? She’s smart.”

Draco gave her a slight smile, “So are you. Say you want to make things right with her, but she needs to tell you the truth about Blaise first. It’s worth a shot, isn’t it?”

With a somewhat world-weary sigh, Daphne nodded.

Astoria Greengrass looked similar to her older sister – the main difference being their hair colour. While Daphne was a platinum blonde, Astoria was a classy brunette. The two women did have the same icy, emotionless blue eyes and heart-shaped face. Today, Astoria’s hair was pulled back loosely into a bun, and she seemed to be concentrating on whatever she was reading as she sipped at her firewhiskey.

Bracing herself, Daphne walked into the swanky bar in Diagon Alley, ordered a firewhiskey and sat down opposite Astoria.

Realising she had company, Astoria looked up and raised an eyebrow.

“My elusive older sister,” She said, smirking at Daphne, “Has the money run out? Have you come begging for my help?”

Daphne scoffed, “I would never beg you, or anyone else, for anything.”

“Hm,” Astoria mused, “You would sooner die in the gutter, no doubt.”

Daphne bit her tongue and steadied herself before she could lose her temper, “I came here because I want to try and fix our relationship, Astoria.”

Astoria laughed, “And this is you trying to convince me that you don’t want money?”

Daphne sighed, “I mean it.”

Astoria put her quill down and gave Daphne a stern look, “We have not spoken for five years, Daphne. Why would you suddenly want to make amends?”

“Because I’ve turned over a new leaf,” Daphne said, which wasn’t strictly a lie, “I have a new job. I’m…righting my wrongs and making peace with the past.”

Astoria gave Daphne a long look, then sighed, “I see.”

“I want us to be sisters again, Astoria,” Daphne said, lying through her teeth, “But we need to iron out our past first.”

Astoria narrowed her eyes at her sister.

“I need you to admit it,” Daphne said, her eyes meeting her sister’s, “I love you, and I will get past almost anything, but I know you set that assassin on Blaise, and yet, you won’t admit that.”

Astoria leant back in her chair, “I read the autopsy report, Daphne. As unfortunate as it was, Blaise died of natural causes.”

Daphne’s eyes darkened, “You paid someone to push him off a roof.”

Astoria smiled slightly, “Gravity is natural.”

Daphne growled under her breath and subtly pulled her wand on Astoria so it wouldn't be noticeable when she presented this memory to Harry.

Still, Astoria felt the pressure of Daphne’s wand against her thigh under the table in the quiet little bar.

“You will tell me what happened to Blaise Zabini,” Daphne said firmly, “Or I will never speak to you again.”

Astoria swallowed, not because of the verbal threat but the physical one.

Daphne leant forward, pressing her wand into Astoria a little harder, “And I will leak the news to the prophet that you had an affair with and conspired to murder your sister’s boyfriend. True or not, the press will lap it up, and your reputation, along with your business, will be ruined.”

That threat did scare Astoria.

She glanced around and then lowered her voice, “Fine, I did have a say in his death, but not in the way you think. I was having an affair with him, that much is true.”

Daphne tried to hide the hurt that flickered through her eyes, but Astoria saw it anyway.

“But I didn’t hire somebody to kill him,” Astoria said, and when Daphne looked in her eyes, she saw genuine regret glimmering there.

“Then who did?” Daphne asked coldly.

Astoria glanced around again and leaned forward, “His own mother. She knew the affair would come to light and cause a scandal – her son cheating on the Greengrass heiresses? It would have ruined the family name. She ordered the hit to keep it out of the public eye, knowing you and I would blame each other, and the truth would never be publicised.”

Daphne swallowed, “Which explains why she moved back to Italy not long after the funeral.”

Astoria nodded.

“Why didn’t you tell me this before?” Daphne asked, frowning at her sister.

“Because the damage was done. You thought I was a killer, and you hated me for sleeping with Blaise,” Astoria said, looking at Daphne cautiously, “Rightfully so, but I did love him.”

Daphne cleared her throat, “I’m less sure that he loved either of us now.”

Astoria smiled sadly, “Me too.”

Daphne fell silent, unsure what to say now. She had come here out of obligation to Draco, not to make amends, but somehow, it felt like they had.

Still, none of this would help Draco, which made Daphne sigh.

“You didn’t really come here to make amends, did you?”

“No,” Daphne admitted, “I’m not exactly sure what I came here for, but I didn’t expect to find closure.”

Astoria nodded, “I’m sorry.”

“So am I,” Daphne confessed.

“Dobbs?”

Emma looked up in amusement when Eddie strolled into the team office. Harry had his own private office through a separate door because he was the Assistant Head Auror. But she, Ritchie and Ron all shared this small section. However, Ron and Ritchie were out on a job, and Harry was holed up in his office, which meant it was just the two of them.

“What can I do for you, Eddie?” She asked professionally.

Eddie grinned, “Well, I need you to get me a file, as a matter of fact.”

“Astoria Greengrass’s file by any chance?” Emma asked as she held up a file.

Eddie laughed as he took it from her, “Harry already told you, didn’t he?”

“He mentioned the case,” Emma admitted, “So is it true then? You’re going to set her up so Malfoy doesn’t have to marry her?”

“No, that’s not true,” Eddie said, “We’re just trying to find something we can use to arrest her so that Draco doesn’t have to marry her.”

“You want to protect him,” Emma said observantly.

Eddie shrugged, “Theo’s my best friend, and as much as they argue, he and Draco are like brothers. So yeah, I don’t want anything to happen to him.”

Emma chuckled, and Eddie frowned, “What?”

“Nothing,” Emma said almost fondly, “It’s quite a Hufflepuff trait, how loyal you are, and before you insult Hufflepuff, I was one.”

Eddie smiled, “I’d never insult Hufflepuffs. I think they’re cute.”

“Cute?”  Emma scoffed, “Clearly, you haven’t seen me when I’m angry.”

Harry was anticipating spending lunch on his own as he sat at his desk with a sandwich and a cup of coffee. Emma and Ritchie were pursuing a lead, and Ron was off on his lunch with George.

And then, Hermione walked in with a brown bag and sat down opposite him, “Hey Harry,” She chirped.

“Hey,” Harry said with a smile, “What do you want, Hermione?”

“Can I not just want to have lunch with my best friend?” Hermione asked innocently.

“You can,” Harry said in amusement, “But I know you, and you wouldn’t tear yourself away from that huge elf welfare case unless you wanted something.”

Hermione rolled her eyes, “Oh, come on, Harry, I’ve barely spoken to you all month with work being busy. But what is going on with Draco Malfoy?”

“That’s level 7 security,” Harry said, “And what level clearance do you have again?”

“5,” Hermione muttered.

“But since you’re my best friend,” Harry said, leaning forward slightly and lowering his voice, “He’s leading a secret team helping us bring in people we can’t because of rules and regulations.”

“So he really has joined you?” Hermione asked in disbelief.

Harry nodded, scanning Hermione’s face for a sign of how she felt about that, “If you’re angry, I get it, but he is doing a great job and-”

“I’m not angry,” Hermione said honestly, “I’m amused that you seem to be defending him. Do you work with him?”

“I’m the one who’s in charge of him,” Harry admitted.

Hermione narrowed her eyes, “Really? And how did you come by that?”

“I got told to do it by the AHD,” Harry said as if this were obvious.

Hermione smirked, “Did you?”

“Yes, why are you smirking?” Harry asked cautiously.

“The AHD being Susan Bones, right? The Assistant Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement,” Hermione said simply.

“Yes,” Harry said slowly.

“That’s really interesting,” Hermione said, “Because Susan and I have been friends since Hogwarts, and we had lunch together the other day. She was telling me about a new project and how she couldn’t believe how eager you had been to work with Draco Malfoy.”

Harry surveyed his best friend for a moment and then sighed, “Fine, I asked to be assigned to him.”

“Yes, I know this. What I don’t know is why,” Hermione pointed out.

“Because he intrigues me, and I feel sorry for him. After what happened to his parents, I felt like I owed him something… like it was my fault,” Harry said honestly, “So when Susan said I could give him a better life via this job, I agreed.”

“Eagerly,” Hermione added.

“Yeah, I think she’s exaggerating on that part,” Harry said a little irritably.

“Even so, have you two finally shaken hands after all of these years?” Hermione asked, a grin playing on her lips.

Harry gave her an amused look, “Yes, we have.”

“And was it everything you always dreamed it would be?” Hermione asked sarcastically.

“You are such a bitch,” Harry said, shaking his head and trying to hide the fond smile on his lips, “Also, need I remind you – only one of the people in this room has slept with him.”

“So far,” Hermione said, smirking at Harry.

Harry gave her a long-suffering look, “Shut up. Anyway, you need to spill the beans too.”

“Do I?” Hermione asked curiously.

“Tomorrow will mark one month since you and Ron broke up, this time,” Harry said, surveying her curiously, “He’s drunk floo-called me six times telling me that you’re the one and he can’t live without you. He’s seriously worried that this is it this time.”

“To be honest, Harry, I’m done with this on/off, will we/won’t we bullshit,” Hermione shrugged, “If he hasn’t matured by now, he never will. It is over, and I won’t go back on that this time. I deserve better, and I owe it to myself to realise that, not to settle for him just because it’s easy or comfortable.”

“Took you long enough, Hermione,” Harry said, giving her a proud smile.

Hermione smiled back, “To be honest, it’s also why I’ve been burying myself in work and avoiding visiting you here.”

Harry shook his head, “I’ve spent a week and a half of the last month overseas with work, don’t sweat it. I’ve hardly been the best friend I could be either.”

“I know,” Hermione said, mock-glaring at him, “You didn’t even tell me about your new pet project. I had to find out from Draco himself.”

“Did you just call Draco Malfoy my pet project?” Harry asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

Hermione smirked at him and leaned back, “If I’m wrong, correct me.”

Harry bit his tongue.

“Go on,” Hermione teased wickedly.

“Good Godric, I hate you,” Harry muttered, and Hermione laughed loudly, the sound echoing around the little office.

Daphne took a deep breath.

She was standing before the gates of a grand home. Even now, she thought it was too big for a family of four (two these days) to live in. It was pointless; the size of the house, its vastness meant nothing with so many cold, empty rooms that were never used. The house dated back to the 16^th century; it was shaped like a horseshoe. It was white, with pale green accents on the window ledges and the front door. By all intents and purposes, it was beautiful. Its gardens stretched far ahead and covered the ground between the gate and the front door. They had circular mazes, ponds, and something that still made Daphne roll her eyes. Peacocks.

Daphne knew the second she placed her hand on the gates to be allowed access that her mother would grant it. She had disowned her, and the last time they had spoken had been a few months ago now. But she would be tempted to believe that her daughter was turning over a new leaf, that she wanted to do things her way and return to her way of life.

Her mother's curiosity over why she was there would win out over her stubbornness at her not choosing the life she wanted for Daphne.

Daphne couldn’t contain her smirk as the gates swung open. So maybe she wasn’t the favourite daughter, but she certainly knew her mother better than Astoria did. That was why she was here – because Astoria had told her that if she really wanted to fix things with her family, she knew where she had to start.

And Daphne did, but that didn’t make coming here any easier. She felt that familiar feeling of dread in her stomach as she walked the long distance from the gate to the door through the gardens. It was a cold, windy day today, and the gardens, which usually seemed quite serene and peaceful, were far less inviting than Daphne remembered. After what seemed like a very long walk, she finally reached the pale green door and raised her hand to knock. The door opened as her knuckles hit it for the first knock, and standing before her was one of the family’s three house-elves.

“Mistress Greengrass.”

“Oh, you don’t have to call me that Twinkle. I’m sure you know I've been disowned,” Daphne said as she walked into the house, “Where is my mother?”

“In the drawing-room, miss,” Twinkle said quietly.

“Fantastic,” Daphne said, stalking up the stairs, her heels clicking with each step. Now she was here, she couldn’t afford to hesitate, so she opened the door and walked in when she reached the drawing-room.

She was expecting her, and without looking up from the newspaper she was perusing, she dryly remarked, “I still hear you before I see you, Daphne.”

The comment was a reference to her heels, which her mother had always said were too high.

“Yes, another thing you seem to hate about me, Mother,” Daphne said coolly.

“Why are you here, Daphne?” Her mother, Lareina, asked, “To beg me to give you money? Because I can assure you that will not happen.”

“No, Mother, I don’t care about your money, as hard as you may find that to believe. I do have other means of making it after all,” Daphne said as she began to pace the room.

“By selling your body to men?” Lareina asked irritably.

“I never chose my profession, Mother,” Daphne said, fixing her mother with a cold stare.

“No, I suppose you didn’t to begin with,” Lareina said coldly, “But if the rumours are true, then you did choose to kill people for a living.”

“For the Ministry that you admire and hold in such high regard,” Daphne retorted, “But I suppose you just pretend the people who do all those dirty jobs so that people like you can become undersecretary to the Minister don’t exist.”

Lareina sternly said, “If you have nothing constructive to say, please leave.”

Daphne didn’t. Instead, she said, “I have a new job. I don’t suppose you heard about that through the backchannels?”

“Is this job legitimate?” Lareina asked sceptically.

“Uh-huh,” Daphne replied, “I signed a contract and everything.”

Lareina raised an eyebrow, “You did?”

“I didn’t particularly have a choice, but yes,” Daphne said, not giving too much away about her new job, “So if you were hoping I was here to beg for my inheritance back, you will be sorely disappointed.”

“You didn’t have a choice,” Lareina repeated, “So you were blackmailed into taking a job, yet it is legitimate? I highly doubt that, Daphne.”

Daphne rolled her eyes, “I joined a team in the DMLE. We aren’t quite Aurors, but we do similar work to them. Draco had evidence pertaining to father’s death that incriminated me, hence why I had no choice but to agree.”

Lareina’s facial features hardened, “How did he come by that evidence?”

“I don’t know,” Daphne admitted, “But he doesn’t know why Father had to die, I assure you. That secret will stay between you, Astoria and me.”

Lareina’s calm expression flickered, “You know how I feel, Daphne, about how he treated you.”

“Dreadful,” Daphne said dryly, “Yes, you had no idea. You’ve told me this, Mother.”

“Yet, you still do not believe me,” Lareina said, her eyes scanning her daughters.

Daphne gave her mother a false smile, “I don’t believe that someone can marry a monster and not be aware of it. But I came here to make amends, on Astoria’s advice.”

“You and Astoria are speaking again?” Lareina asked in surprise.

“Hm,” Daphne nodded, “It appears so. But making amends with the sister who tried to steal my boyfriend is one thing.”

She fixed her mother with a hard look, “Making amends with the mother who let my father ruin my childhood? That’s another thing entirely.”

The guilt in Lareina’s eyes was real, but it also wasn’t enough.

“I came here to ask if you knew how to break the marriage contract between Astoria and Draco, but my gut tells me that was pointless anyway,” Daphne said offhandedly.

Lareina sighed, “If I had the power to do something about it, I would. But only your father could break it, and as you know, he died six years ago.”

“Well, thank you for confirming my suspicions,” Daphne said as she got to her feet, “And I suspect this will be the last time we see each other, Mother.”

“Daphne-” Lareina tried to say.

In the doorway, Daphne spun on her heel, “What more could you possibly have to say to me?”

“I know he hurt you,” Lareina said, her eyes shining with tears, “Physically and mentally, the way he treated you left you with scars. But you survived because you are strong and capable. I just want you to know that I’m proud of you.”

“I don’t want your pride or your acceptance. I’m only strong and capable because I’ve survived more than I’d have liked to,” Daphne retorted as she yanked the door open, “Goodbye, Mother.”

She didn’t look at her mother as she left the room and shut the door, walking from the house as fast as she could. She didn’t stop until she had apparated away from the gates to her little flat in the Hackney area of London. It was all she could afford with the meagre earnings she made. Her pay from the new department was better, but it would take some savings for her to afford a deposit on a new flat.

When she shut the door to her apartment, she finally let herself collapse against it and after nearly punching a hole in the floor in anger, she cried with frustration and bitterness.

“You got anything?”

“Nothing solid. Do you have lunch?”

Draco dropped a cardboard box on Neville’s desk and sat down heavily, “I hope Daphne is having more luck.”

It was lunchtime, and a day had passed since the others had been given their tasks. Only Draco and Neville were left biting their nails and biding their time in the concrete hole that was their office.

“Between them, they’ll find something. Where the hell did Eddie go?” Neville asked as he dug into the lunch Draco had brought him.

“He dropped in Astoria’s file then disappeared, said Dobbs had a lead for him to follow,” Draco said with a shrug.

“Well, I hope it comes to something,” Neville said, “Because we’ve got nothing.”

“Thanks for that, Longbottom,” Draco said dryly.

“Hey, I’m sure Daphne’s gonna get a confession out of Astoria,” Neville said optimistically, “So don’t give up just yet.”

Draco scoffed and muttered under his breath, “I hate optimists.”

Neville smirked and was thinking up a sarcastic remark when the sound of heels on concrete stopped him. He and Draco both looked towards the door as it swung open, and a sour-faced Daphne stormed in, slamming the metal door shut with so much force that it creaked.

Draco didn’t even bother to say anything or ask her anything. He just sighed. If Daphne was in a bad mood, it meant she hadn’t been able to get anything useful out of her excursion back home.

“So I guess it didn’t go well?” Neville asked tentatively.

“Fuck off, Longbottom,” Daphne spat, throwing herself onto one of the sofas.

“That bad?” Neville asked with a raised eyebrow.

“My sister didn’t order the hit on Blaise, so that’s a dead-end. My mother confirmed my suspicion that only my father could undo the marriage contract, and he’s been dead for six years,” Daphne replied irritably, “So all in all, it wasn’t successful.”

Draco swallowed and nodded, “Well, thank you for trying.”

Daphne looked up and caught his eye, “I’m sorry, Draco.”

Draco shook his head, “You tried your best.”

Theo chose that moment to walk in and look around at the solemn faces, “That bad?”

Draco sighed, “Astoria may not be a good person, but she’s not a criminal either. It’s time to give up.”

Eddie was on Theo’s heels, and he bit his lip, “Yeah, my lead went nowhere, sorry.”

Neville crossed his arms and looked at Draco, “The other thing you haven’t considered is disowning yourself.”

“I can’t,” Draco said. He sat down heavily behind his desk, “The head of the family can’t disown themselves. It’s an old pureblood rule.”

“Which you would know if you were a cultured pureblood,” Daphne said, giving Neville a teasing look.

“Right, sorry,” Neville said sheepishly. He, like everyone else, felt pretty sorry for Draco.

Draco tapped his fingers against the desk, “You all tried, and I appreciate that. But sometimes, we just have to work with the lot we’re dealt in life.”

“And at least she’s not a terrible person,” Daphne said, shrugging in Draco’s direction, “Just kind of a bad sister.”

“But attractive,” Eddie said, “So that’s something, right?”

“Yeah,” Theo said, in a bid to cheer Draco up, “You could have ended up saddled with Millicent Bulstrode.”

“Or Ginny Weasley,” Eddie joked.

Daphne chuckled, “I think everyone else in this room would have gotten to her before you, to be fair.”

She looked pointedly at Eddie, and Draco had half-smiled and looked at Theo. The two friends turned to each other in amusement.

“You slept with her too?” Theo asked in amusement.

Eddie snorted, “Guess we have more in common than we thought.”

Daphne sniggered, “Well, let’s be honest, there aren’t many people Ginny Weasley hasn’t slept with.”

Neville frowned, “I don’t think you’re one to insult her for that, Daphne.”

“Oh, come on, Longbottom, I’m honest about my sexual escapades. When someone sleeps with me, they know exactly what they’re getting into,” Daphne said honestly, “She, on the other hand, acted all innocent with the whole ‘I love the chosen one thing’ she had going on.”

Neville glared at her, “That’s not fair, she did care about Harry, and you don’t know anything about the circumstances of that break-up.”

Daphne shrugged, “I’m just saying that she’s not the innocent little thing everyone thought she was at Hogwarts. And as for her love and devotion to Potter, look how that turned out. She split up with him because she thought he was having an affair with me when the truth was that despite me trying, he refused to sleep with me.”

Neville rolled his eyes, “Daphne, you really don’t know anything about this. That wasn’t why they broke up. If anything, it was Harry’s fault, so keep your nose out of other people’s business.”

“It’s not your business, Daphne,” Draco said as he headed for the door, “So Longbottom is right; stay out of it.”

“Where are you going?” Theo called after him.

“To tell Potter it’s time to give up,” Draco answered, looking miserable as he added, “I’m going to marry Astoria.”

When Draco got to the bullpen upstairs, Junior Auror Coote was the only person occupying it.

“Is Potter in his office?” Draco asked.

“Nope, he’s out on the balcony,” Ritchie said.

Draco frowned, “We’re underground.”

“Yeah, it’s not a real balcony, but he goes out there a lot,” Ritchie said in amusement, “It’s just out that door.”

Still bemused, Draco walked through the door Ritchie had pointed to and found himself rather suddenly outside. Although he knew it was a fake outdoors, it felt very real.

Draco could feel the wind on his face and the warm sun shining down on him. The area was a small balcony with a railing around it and a couple of rickety chairs.

He had no idea that this outdoor area existed, but it created the most surreal and beautiful illusion that the ministry was above ground, but the floors were reversed – level 1 was the top floor, and level 10 was the bottom floor. They (on level 2) were very high up, with a steep drop down to the deepest levels of the ministry. Draco wondered how his bunker seemed to be in the basement, but he supposed it was a sub-floor. That would explain why the ceiling was so low; it was obviously a storage room between levels 2 and 3.

Harry was leaning on the railing with a cigarette in his hand. Without looking at Draco, he said, “Hermione is fantastic with fake weather environments, not that she approves of what I use this balcony for, mind you.”

“I didn’t know that you smoked,” Draco said as he walked forward to lean against the railing.

Harry shrugged, “I beat a couple of bad habits that I picked up after the war. This wasn’t one of them.”

Draco turned his nose up, “What are you smoking anyway?”

“Cigarettes, Muggle things,” Harry said offhandedly, “I know you posh pure-bloods all smoke cigars, but I can’t stand the smell.”

“Well, cigars are far more civilised than those things,” Draco said, “From the smell, I can’t imagine that they taste particularly nice either.”

“They don’t, but they help keep the demons at bay,” Harry said with a sigh.

“I’m giving up,” Draco admitted.

Harry glanced over at him, “You didn’t find anything?”

Draco shook his head, “She’s clean.”

Harry smiled slightly, “I suppose it’s a good thing I came up with a Plan B for you, then.”

Draco looked up sharply, “What?”

Harry pulled a file from his robes and handed it to Draco.

The blonde man opened it and looked down with a frown, “This is the contract I signed when I joined the department.”

“Hm,” Harry said with a nod, “I spent the morning pouring through it, and there’s a pretty important clause there.”

Draco raised an eyebrow, “Is there?”

Harry nodded, “It’s not just any contract – it’s specifically designed for indentured workers.”

Draco’s eyes widened with realisation, “Indentured workers…people who are forced to work until they have served their sentence.”

Harry blew out a ring of smoke and nodded, “You may not be in Azkaban, but you are incarcerated, and you will be until after you turn 30 – making that contract? Null and void.”

Draco sighed in relief and gripped the railing a little too tightly, “Potter….”

Harry smiled slightly, “You can thank me later,” he said, knowing that it would make things awkward if Draco tried to get those words out.

Draco looked over at him, and Harry stubbed out his cigarette, “Take that contract to a lawyer, and they will officially cancel your marriage contract, with no consequences. Then you will be free to marry whoever you want.”

Draco looked out at the fake view and laughed, without any real humour, “Not that it matters. I doubt that I’ll ever marry.”

“Well, you’re free to make that choice,” Harry pointed out.

Draco nodded thoughtfully, “Except, I’m not free yet.”

“But you will be,” Harry said as he walked towards the door into the department, “Because Susan Bones, who writes up these contracts? She doesn’t make mistakes; it’s iron-clad, Malfoy. Any lawyer will see that within five minutes.”

Draco watched him silently, and Harry smiled, “It’s over,” he promised.

Harry had been right. When Draco walked into the basement later that day, he did it as a free man.

Daphne was the first to look up, “You were gone ages.”

“Yeah, is everything alright?” Theo asked.

They had been concerned about him after he’d been dealt the blow that he was stuck with Astoria.

Draco smiled and sat down behind his desk, “Everything is great. As it turns out, I can’t marry Astoria.”

“What?”

“Why?”

“How?”

Draco chuckled and looked around at his teammates, “Because I may not be in prison, but legally, I am an indentured servant.”

Neville’s eyes widened, “The contract you signed to avoid time in Azkaban.”

Draco nodded, “I took it to a lawyer, and he agreed. The contract between Astoria and myself has been cancelled, with no nasty side effects.”

“Is that it then?” Daphne asked.

“That’s it,” Draco said with a sigh of relief.

“Thank Merlin for that,” Daphne muttered, “And to think I forgave Astoria for this?”

Draco smiled slightly, “You also found closure.”

“Hm,” Daphne said, shrugging, “Doesn’t quite feel worth it.”

Neville slung his bag over his shoulder, “How can you be so awful to her?”

“Because I’m an awful person Longbottom,” Daphne said bluntly.

“I don’t believe that,” Neville said quietly.

“It’s the truth,” Theo snorted.

Daphne shot him an exasperated look and said to Neville, “As much of an idiot as Nott is, he’s right. It is the truth, and since we’re colleagues now, you will have to teach your moral compass to deal with it.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night,” Neville said, glancing at his watch, “Can I leave now, Draco?”

“Don’t pretend you’ve got somewhere to be, Longbottom,” Draco joked.

“Actually, I have a date tonight,” Neville said.

Daphne laughed, “Funny. What are you really doing?”

“I am really going on a date,” Neville said dryly, “Because there is some romance in the world despite your lack of faith.”

Daphne scoffed, and Theo piped up, “Ooh, is it a Slytherin you’re going on a date with? Is this like a Romeo and Juliet thing?”

Daphne rolled her eyes, “Romeo and Juliet isn’t a love story. It’s a three-day relationship between a 13-year-old and a 17-year-old that gets at least six people killed.”

Neville gave her an amused look, “You ought to start a club with Hermione. I’ve never met anyone else quite as cynical as her until now.”

Daphne glared at him and retorted by being bitchy, “Who are you dating then, Longbottom? A desperate little Hufflepuff like Abbott?”

“No,” Neville said, glaring right back at her, “Because whether you realise it or not, I am famous, and some women find that attractive.”

“Anyone could chop off a snake's head,” Draco said offhandedly.

“It was a giant snake, and I seem to remember you cowering in a corner with your parents at the time,” Neville said as he walked towards the door.

“Oh fuck off on your date Longbottom,” Draco said, almost fondly.

“Who are you going on this date with anyway?” Eddie asked curiously.

There was a hint of a smirk on his face when Neville replied, “Her name is Sophie. You guys might know her.”

He had explicitly looked at the Slytherin contingent of the room.

Daphne narrowed her eyes at him, “Sophie Roper?”

“Yep,” Neville said as he pulled his scarf on and tied it.

“Really?” Theo cut in.

“Yes, why are you all so surprised?” Neville asked in amusement, “Slytherins and Gryffindors do date, you know. We aren’t at Hogwarts anymore.”

“No, it’s easy enough to believe a Slytherin would sleep with you if Daphne did,” Draco joked.

“Fuck you, Draco,” Daphne muttered.

Draco ignored the insult and glanced over at Neville, “We’re surprised because she works for Gringotts.”

“So?” Neville asked in amusement.

“So it’s really difficult for a human to get a job at Gringotts,” Eddie said, “The last one in recent times was Bill Weasley. Sophie is really smart.”

Neville snorted, “So you think she’s too smart for me? Well, fuck the lot of you. I’ll see you at work on Monday morning.”

He left, and his long robes swished behind him as he did. Daphne snorted in amusement, “That was rather sassy.”

“Yeah, if he weren’t off to meet a woman, I’d be wondering about him,” Theo joked.

“You never know, that could be his cover, and he’s off to meet a man,” Eddie said in amusement as he pulled his coat on, “I’m off too. As a matter of fact, I’ve also got a date tonight.”

“With who this time?” Theo asked in amusement.

“Can’t say,” Eddie winked, “Have a good weekend.”

Without another hint, he left.

“It’s that junior Auror he's been semi-stalking for the past month,” Daphne retorted as he left.

“He didn’t make it half obvious,” Theo chuckled.

“Let him have his fun. He’s still heartbroken after Rosa,” Draco said in amusement, “Are either of you two off on dates tonight?”

“Nope,” Theo said, “I have an appointment with Mr Daniels.”

Draco snorted, knowing fine well that meant Theo planned on staying in and getting drunk.

Daphne rolled her eyes, “Thanks to you, my sister wants to take me out for dinner, to apologise for sleeping with my dead ex-boyfriend.”

“Well, at least you know she wasn’t the one who killed him now,” Draco pointed out.

Daphne gave him a long-suffering look, and Draco smiled.

“You’re not any use here. You might as well get off and enjoy your Friday night.”

Daphne frowned, “Are you sure? I’ll stay and have a drink with you if you like?”

Draco shook his head, “I’m fine, don’t worry about me. This last case had just as much of a knock on you as it did on me.”

“Oh, I’ll bounce back, I always do,” Daphne said brightly, “But if you’re sure you’re alright, then I’ll head over to Astoria’s.”

“See you on Monday, mate,” Theo said, waving and heading out.

Draco waved him off and then said goodbye to Daphne. The bunker suddenly felt empty and cold, but he sighed and leaned back against the sofa, enjoying the quiet.

When Harry walked into the basement, only Draco remained. He was sitting on the sofa, with a glass of firewhiskey in his hand, staring blankly at the wall, clearly deep in thought.

He looked up when he heard Harry’s footsteps on the stairs, “Potter, is it possible for you to leave me alone for 5 minutes?” He drawled.

Harry smiled and said, “I am technically your boss, and if you were a real Auror, you’d still be in your three month probation period.”

“But I’m not a real Auror, and why do you have a bottle of firewhiskey in your hand?” Draco asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Because I thought you might want a drink,” Harry said, sitting next to Draco on the sofa and opening the firewhiskey. Draco conjured up another glass, and Harry poured out two.

“So, how does it feel to be a free man, Malfoy?” Harry asked.

“I’m not free, Potter,” Draco said irritably, “The contract was broken because I’m an indentured servant. Come to think of it, I’d rather have married Astoria.”

“Well, you’re not marrying me, just working for me,” Harry joked, “You’re as free as you’re going to get for the next ten years.”

“I suppose I should take some solace in that,” Draco mused.

“Yes, you should. Now for Merlin’s sake, try drinking some of that. It was bloody expensive,” Harry said as he sipped his firewhiskey.

Draco hid an amused smile as he took a sip, “Finally, someone who appreciates the good stuff. I can’t take any more of Daphne’s cheap stuff that she claims tastes the same.”

Harry laughed, “Oh, Neville’s the same, always buying the cheap rubbish and claiming there isn’t any difference. Of course there’s a difference.”

“I know. I mean, feel how much smoother it is,” Draco said.

Harry snorted, “Is that a euphemism?”

Draco shook his head in disgust, “Potter, I am slightly offended and quite disgusted by that comment. One moment I think you’re getting some taste, and the next, you go all the way back down to your half-blood roots again.”

“One minute I think you might actually be a decent guy, and the next you’re back to being a pureblood arse again, so we’re even,” Harry said in amusement, “And I brought you firewhiskey and a present, so maybe you should be nicer to me.”

Draco frowned, “A present?”

“Yep,” Harry said, conjuring a box out of nowhere and handing it to Draco.

He looked at it cautiously, and Harry rolled his eyes, “You can open it; it’s not a bomb.”

“What’s a bomb?”

“Never mind,” Harry laughed.

Draco opened the box and pulled a set of dark brown leather robes from it. His eyes widened, “Are these….”

“Real Auror robes, yep,” Harry said, “Without the Ministry’s ‘M’ for obvious reasons. You passed the test. You are officially unofficially one of us.”

Draco couldn’t even glare at him for being cryptic, and Harry continued, “But they are Aurors robes all the same - spell resistant, hard-wearing. They'll numb a stunning charm and absorb some dark magic, reducing your risk of injury. And your team might get the same if they prove themselves.”

“I can’t believe I’ve actually got Aurors robes,” Draco said as he held them, “My father will be turning in his grave.”

“But your mother would be proud,” Harry said with a smile.

Draco’s eyes flashed, “Why would you say that?”

“She saved my life in the war. When Voldemort thought he had killed me, he asked your mother to check if I was alive. She asked if you were alive, and I told her yes, so she lied to Voldemort,” Harry explained, “She told him that I was dead. She only ever wanted you to be happy and safe, Draco.”

“Thank you, Harry,” Draco said genuinely.

Harry smiled and then backtracked, “Are we actually on first name terms?”

“What?”

“You just called me Harry.”

“I think you must have had too much to drink, Potter,” Draco said defensively.

“Right,” Harry said in amusement, “Whatever you say, Malfoy. Have a good weekend. I expect to see you back in here in uniform on Monday morning.”

“Yes, boss,” Draco joked, and Harry grinned as he left the basement.

- TBC -

Chapter Text

It was shaping up to be an average morning in the bunker when something in the Daily Prophet caught Daphne’s eye. She sniggered, grabbing the attention of everyone else in the room.

“What now?” Theo asked with a raised eyebrow.

“There’s an article about Potter in the gossip section here,” Daphne said in amusement, “Apparently, he went on a failed date with Hannah Abbott last night. The Prophet says he’s a hermit, spending more time in his office or working than having fun.”

“Sounds like Draco,” Theo remarked.

“I know, all of us go out and have fun, and Draco sits here all on his own,” Daphne teased.

“Except he’s not on his own,” Eddie stirred, “He’s here with Potter.”

Draco rolled his eyes, “I was down here with him one night when he brought me my robes.”

“The robes you’ve been parading about in ever since,” Theo added.

“You’re just jealous,” Draco remarked.

“He reminds me of Joseph and his technicolour dreamcoat coat,” Eddie muttered to Neville, who snorted his amusement.

Draco didn’t understand the reference, so he ignored it.

Daphne continued, “So apparently, Potter has had many relationships and gone on several dates, all short-lived and complete failures. Hard to believe for a guy as famous as him.”

“Being famous gets you the girls,” Neville admitted, “But it makes it hard to keep them when people only want your fame or your money,” He looked pointedly at Daphne, who didn’t seem to notice.

Draco shook his head, “Come on, I’m sure we all have far more interesting things to do than discuss Potter’s love life. There’s a list of 20 people who have skipped bail on all of your desks, and we need to track them down, so let’s crack on.”

When lunchtime came, Draco was alone once again. Eddie was on his lunch with Emma, who he was now sort of dating. Daphne and Neville were tracking a couple of bail skippers down, and Theo had disappeared on an errand Ron had set him.

When the door swung open and Hermione Granger walked through, Draco was, therefore, somewhat surprised.

All the same, he smirked at her and asked, “Ah, Granger. What brings you into our domain?”

“None of your business Malfoy,” Hermione said from where she leant against the door.

“Well, since you’re in my team’s office, it is my business,” Draco grinned.

“If you must know, I’m here to meet Theo,” Hermione said.

Draco raised an eyebrow, “For a case?”

“No,” Hermione said evasively, “For lunch.”

Draco smiled in amusement, “And I’m going to hazard a guess that it’s not a working lunch, so it’s a date? Well, Granger, I thought you would never have the sense to dump the Weasel.”

Hermione gave him an exasperated look, “Ron and I broke up, for good this time.”

“Hm,” Draco mused, “Well, like I told you when you slept with me years ago, that relationship was never going to work.”

Hermione’s exasperated look became more irritated, “Would you quit holding that over me? We were both drunk-”

“You were drunk. I was mildly intoxicated,” Draco corrected.

Hermione cocked her head at him, “Okay, let me rephrase that. I was drunk, and you took advantage of me.”

Draco shook his head, hiding a fond smile, “Okay, fair. I walked into that one.”

“Right into it,” Hermione smirked, “I wanted to piss Ron off, and we wanted to see if the tension between us in school had been sexual or not. It turned out it wasn’t, and now it’s over.”

Draco raised an eyebrow at her, “Is it?”

“It is,” Hermione said, narrowing her eyes at him, “We just didn’t like each other, Malfoy. There were no long lost, lingering feelings. Maybe you’re getting me confused with another Gryffindor.”

Draco scoffed, “I have no idea what you’re talking about. And since when do you and Theo know each other, by the way? I wouldn’t have thought you made it your business to associate with the criminal underworld?”

“The criminal underworld?” Hermione laughed, “Theodore Nott is many things, but he does not operate in the criminal underworld, and we both know it. He steals paintings and expensive jewels then sells them to people who have more money than they know what to do with because they accidentally found themselves famous.”

“Sweet Salazar, you’ve bought stolen paintings from him,” Draco said, tutting and shaking his head, “My, how the mighty have fallen.”

“God, you are such an arse,” Hermione said with a roll of her eyes, “Where is Theo, by the way?”

“He’s off doing an errand for your ex, oddly enough,” Draco said, leaning back in his chair to study her.

Hermione tried to resist the urge to hit him or hex him as she said, “When did he leave?”

“He’ll be back if you hang on a couple of minutes,” Draco said, “Although I really can’t think why you’re going on a date with him. I suppose you think you know him – you’ll have seen the charming exterior he shows women to get them into bed. But after that, there’s no relationship, Granger. He’ll be gone the minute you’re in his ledger.”

“He has a ledger?” Hermione asked in disbelief.

“He has a few, actually. I think he’s on his third at the moment; the first two are full,” Draco said offhandedly as Daphne’s copy of the Prophet and its article about Harry caught his eye, “But before you go off on your date, which will be lovely I’m sure. I do need to ask you a question.”

“I don’t have to answer it,” Hermione said, thoroughly pissed off.

Draco shrugged, “Why is it that all of Potter's relationships have failed?”

Hermione smirked when she saw the paper, “That really isn’t any of your business, Malfoy.”

“But it’s intriguing, Granger. He’s famous; therefore, his relationships shouldn’t fail,” Draco pointed out.

“In theory,” Hermione admitted.

“So why have they?” Draco asked.

Before Hermione could say anything, and Draco doubted that she would have given him a straight answer anyway, Theo stepped into the basement.

He grinned when he saw his date, “Oh hey Hermione, I’ll just grab my cloak.”

Hermione smiled at him as he did so, and she shot a knowing look at Draco.

They were about to leave when she turned around and said, “And Malfoy, I think you already know the answer to your question.”

If Draco had wanted to dwell on the Potter article or Hermione’s cryptic words, he couldn’t have.

After everyone had returned from lunch, Daphne and Neville kindly with doughnuts and coffee, their next case came in. Courtesy of the failed romantic himself.

“Afternoon all,” Harry said as he swept into the basement. He walked past Draco and rested on the edge of his desk, and Draco could smell the cigarette smoke on him.

“Is that a case?” Draco asked, eying the brown file in Harry’s hands.

Harry chuckled, “Calm down, Malfoy. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were bored dealing with petty crime.”

Draco shot the Gryffindor a glare, and Harry said, “Yes, I have a case for you all. It’s a complicated one, so I hope you’re all listening,” He added for the benefit of the rest of the team scattered around at their desks.

“The person we’re looking for is Cadmus Selwyn,” Harry said, “That is a name I assume you all recognise. He was a Death Eater in the Second War, but before then and since then, the Selwyn family has been famously neutral, rather like the Greengrass family.”

Daphne nodded, “Neutral apart from when Selwyn was running around after Voldemort, something my father didn’t do.”

Draco sighed, “Neutral compared to the likes of my father is what you mean, Potter.”

Harry looked a little guilty, but he nodded, “Exactly. Now Selwyn is both rich and influential, and he also happens to have political immunity, which means unless we have solid evidence, we can’t touch the guy. We have been able to track his movements through our informants, and from what we’ve seen, we suspect him of trafficking squibs. We’ve seen an increase in the number of squibs missing from Muggle orphanages. We’ve also noticed large amounts of money disappearing from Pureblood bank accounts to overseas accounts.”

“You reckon he’s taking squibs off Purebloods for a profit and selling them as slaves then?” Theo asked.

Neville frowned but said nothing, and Harry nodded, “It looks that way. Obviously another issue is that it’s legal in Europe to enslave squibs like we do house-elves. But it’s illegal here. Legally it’s a grey issue because the squibs are being taken illegally from here, but once they get to Europe and are sold, it's legal.”

Draco nodded, “So you want us to catch Selwyn and make sure we have hard evidence when we do?”

“That’s exactly what I want you to do, but I also think he has henchmen, and I want you to catch them too. There’s no way he's doing this on his own,” Harry said.

“No, he must have someone informing on the pureblood families who have produced squibs here for a start,” Eddie said.

“And someone scouting out the Muggle orphanages for signs of squib children too,” Theo added.

“Then there’s the seller who sells them on as slaves in Europe,” Daphne said.

Neville shook his head, “I can’t believe how calmly you’re talking about this! How would you feel if you had a sibling who was enslaved?!”

“I did, Longbottom,” Daphne said coolly, “When I was six, he was sold and taken away to Europe as a toddler. You become desensitised to things when you see them happen in everyday life.”

“Look, this is a horrible situation,” Harry cut in to avoid an argument, “And I agree that it shouldn’t happen. Squibs are human. Muggles are human, and we’re all the same. But that isn’t how these people think. Squibs and house elves are no different to them, both useless with only one purpose - serving others. We can’t do much for the squibs that have been targeted, and I can’t change that, however much I want to. All we can do is arrest the people responsible and work to make sure this stops happening.”

“Fine,” Neville said hotly.

Harry shot his fellow Gryffindor a warning glance, “Neville-”

“I said fine, Harry,” Neville said shortly, “It’s fine, alright? Now do you mind buggering off so we can get on with the case?”

Harry shook his head irritably and looked at Draco, “Good luck, you know where to find me if you need anything.

Draco nodded, and Harry turned on his heel and left.

“What was that about?” Eddie asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I thought you and the big boss were best buddies,” Theo agreed.

Neville glared at them both, “Shut up, Nott. Malfoy, just give me something to do here, alright?”

“Alright,” Draco said, glancing at Daphne in confusion. She seemed just as perplexed at Neville’s change in attitude, and all she did was shrug.

“We know that Selwyn is taking squibs from orphanages, so we’ll need someone to go and talk to the staff of the orphanages where abductions have been reported,” Draco said. “We also know that he’s taking squib children away from wizarding families, and they are paying him for his service. Now that job will require glamour and in-depth knowledge of the pure-blood aristocratic society to be pulled off. So, Longbottom, you and Eddie are on the case of Muggle orphanages.’

Neville nodded stiffly, and Eddie got to his feet, “Have you got a list of the orphanages that reported abductions?”

Draco flicked through the file that Harry had given him and handed a bundle of parchment to Eddie.

He whistled, “Bloody hell, there’s about 60 orphanages here.”

“Well, we better get started then,” Neville said, shrugging on his coat, “I’ll meet you in the hallway, Eddie.”

Eddie nodded and grabbed his coat, waiting until Neville’s shoes stopped clicking up the concrete stairs to ask, “Anyone know what the hell is going on with him?”

“No idea,” Theo shrugged, “Just don’t piss him off. He’s an ex-Auror.”

“Yeah, Theo, I’m not you. I don’t go out of my way to piss people off,” Eddie joked with a smirk as he left the basement after Neville.

Draco pushed himself to his feet, “So that leaves the three of us. At least one of us needs to go under glamour into that world somehow. And the other two are off to Europe to find out where these squibs are being sold, and more to the point what they’re doing with them while they wait to sell them.”

Daphne frowned, “Potter said the squib's welfare wasn’t our concern. He said finding Selwyn and his partners was.”

“By finding where they keep the squibs, we’ll at least find the person taking them there, and probably another guarding them,” Draco pointed out, “And what Potter doesn’t know won’t hurt him. We aren’t Aurors, and we don’t have to follow his rules or do what he says. I generally only do it out of politeness. That doesn’t come into play when innocent lives are at stake.”

“Draco, this is not you. You don’t care about innocents, you go in, and you get the job done. What is going on?” Daphne asked in disbelief.

Draco sighed and looked up at her. Today, his grey eyes were particularly dark and stormy, “I spent the entire war on the side-lines. I wasn’t even sure what side I was on. I never helped anyone. I just stood by and watched a lot of people get hurt. I won’t do that again, Daphne.”

“Okay,” Daphne said with a small smile, “I’ll go under glamour here, you know I’m the best at undercover work, and because of what happened to my brother, I know a fair bit about squib trafficking.”

Draco nodded. He was aware of Theo, although he had been silent throughout his exchange with Daphne, “Good, I was hoping you would say that. Right then, Theo, that means we’re going to Europe.”

“So, what exactly is the plan?”

“I don’t have one,” Draco admitted as he and Theo walked into a large palace in Hungary.

“So we’re just going to walk in and hope for the best?” Theo asked in amusement.

“That is exactly what we’re going to do,” Draco said, glancing around at the people dressed in fancy robes and ballgowns. He and Theo fitted right in with their elaborate dress robes.

“We aren’t on the guest list,” Theo pointed out.

Draco smirked, “I can get us on the guestlist easily.”

Theo scoffed as they approached the security wizard, “Ten galleons says you can’t.”

His smirk widened, “Deal,” Draco said, then he shook Theo’s hand.

“Can I have your names, please, sirs?” The security wizard asked politely.

“Draco Malfoy and Theodore Nott,” Draco said with a smile.

The wizard scanned his list and shook his head, “Sorry, you’re not on my list.”

“Well, we wouldn’t be. After all, our presence here is not meant to be made public. I’m sure you must have heard of Harry Potter; apart from defeating Lord Voldemort, he is also a fantastic British Auror, and we are here on his orders today,” Draco said calmly. “We’re surveying the premises before the British Minister for Magic’s arrival; it’s standard practice. Still, we don’t like many people to know about it for security reasons.”

The security wizard faltered when he heard the name ‘Harry Potter’, and he nodded, looking highly embarrassed, “Of course, of course. I’m very sorry. Please go ahead. Our best wishes to the Minister for Magic.”

Draco smiled, “Thank you very much,” he said, and he and Theo walked right into the palace ballroom.

“How did you know that the Minister wasn’t here already?” Theo asked in disbelief.

“I didn’t. We got lucky,” Draco said in amusement, “But if Potter is good for nothing else, at least we know his name can get us into elite events.”

Theo sniggered and glanced around the room. It was grand and majestic, yet lacking something that many functions in Britain had. There were no house-elves, just lines and lines of children holding drinks trays and wearing simple black dresses or black dress robes.

“This is insane,” Theo muttered as one girl walked over to them and curtseyed as she held out the drinks tray.

“No, thank you,” Draco said, trying to contain his disgust as he did a quick headcount. There had to be about 30 enslaved squibs here for a party of around 100 people. This was a state event, and it was common practice. The squibs couldn’t speak because they were all under silencing charms, so they could only guess how many of them had been taken from Britain.

“So what now?” Theo asked.

“Now we listen,” Draco said quietly, “For any mention of anything about these squibs. I don’t suppose you can figure out if any of them are British?”

Theo frowned, “Well…no, I’d need a DNA or blood sample. I can’t exactly do that discreetly.”

“You cannot do anything discreetly!” A foreign, female voice hissed behind them.

Draco didn’t jump, but Theo did. They both turned around and saw the woman who had spoken to them. She had long dark hair and was wearing a long, form-fitting navy blue dress.

“I don’t appreciate eavesdropping,” Draco said coolly.

The woman glared at them, “Come with me, right now,” She hissed, glancing around and walking swiftly through the crowd.

Draco and Theo had no choice but to follow her out of the ballroom and into a side passage. When they were alone, she threw up silencing charms and glared at them, “What are you British doing here ruining our operation?” She asked in broken English.

“What operation?” Theo asked.

“The squibs,” The woman said irritably, “We are trying to find who is bringing them here. They are not all Hungarian. What are you doing here?”

Draco replied dryly, “Trying to find the person taking squibs from Britain to Hungary. I’m Draco Malfoy, and this is Theodore Nott. We work with the DMLE.”

The woman narrowed her eyes and scanned them with her wand, “Yes, you seem to be who you say you are. My name is Natalia Kavalinsky. I work with the missing people department of the Hungarian Ministry.”

“Well then, I think maybe we ought to work together,” Draco said, “We both want to find the missing squibs and take them home.”

“And arrest those responsible,” Natalia added.

Theo nodded, “We could help each other out on this case,” He said, and Draco nearly rolled his eyes. We could use each other. Wow, what a pick-up line, Theo.

Natalia gave Theo a suspicious look, “I suppose we could share information. What do you know?”

“Not much yet,” Theo replied, “Just that someone named Selwyn and his accomplices are taking squibs from Britain and selling them here.”

“If he is taking them from Britain, he must have helpers taking them from other countries,” Natalia said.

Draco raised an eyebrow, “Wait, you’re saying this is a smuggling ring?”

“Of course,” Natalia said as if this were obvious, “You British always think you are at the centre of everything.”

Theo hid his amusement at her comment and said, “We just hadn’t realised how widespread the problem was. What do you know on your end?”

“I know that a man who calls himself Markas takes squibs from Hungary and sells them. I suspect he has apprentices in every country. Hungary is good market at moment for squib slaves, but this is changing,” Natalia said.

“What do you mean?”

“Our first Muggle-born Minister for Magic has been elected. We are bringing in legislation to make this illegal. The man in charge knows this. He must be deep within our Ministry to know.”

“How do you know that he knows?” Draco asked.

“He has changed what he is doing. He isn’t seeming to take squibs from Hungary anymore. Instead, he moves them over our borders to Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia.”

Draco nodded, “I have to report this back to my team in Britain, but-”

“I’ll stay here,” Theo offered, “And help Natalia. That way, you and I can contact each other if we need to share information.”

Draco hid his smirk as he nodded, “Good idea Theo,” He said, the amusement in his voice evident, “I’ll tell the others that this is a smuggling ring, not an isolated problem in Britain. Harry will want to know too, and then I suspect our next step will be to work together to find out where Selwyn and his helpers are taking these squibs so we can arrest them and bring the squibs home. While you’re here, you might as well cross the borders and look for evidence of places tampered with magic to hide something.”

Theo nodded, “Of course, I’ll report everything back to you,” He said seriously. Draco knew he was staying here because he wanted to help regardless of his other interests. This case touched him as much as it touched any pure blood. It was something they grew up around, but not necessarily something they were okay with.

“So, do you want the good or bad news?” Draco asked when he walked out onto Harry’s balcony.

He could feel Harry rolling his eyes even though he couldn’t see his face. Draco leant forward against the railing and glanced sideways at the Gryffindor.

Harry turned to look at him, “Go on then, give me the bad news.”

“It’s not an isolated incident,” Draco said, “It’s a smuggling ring.”

“A smuggling ring? You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Harry said in disbelief.

“I wish I was,” Draco said, looking out at the fake blue sky.

“Merlin, my day was bad enough without this. You should see the shit the Prophet write about me.”

“I did,” Draco remarked, “Who would have thought the great Harry Potter couldn’t hold down a girlfriend?”

Harry smirked at the sarcasm and said, “None of them can handle what they tend to call my suicidal tendencies. Apparently, duelling your best friend for fun once a week is abnormal, and running around nearly getting killed while trying to take down bad guys is unhealthy.”

“I would have agreed with them a few months ago,” Draco admitted, “But the adrenaline buzz makes it worthwhile.”

Harry grinned slightly manically, “Exactly.”

“But that is creepy,” Draco said with a chuckle.

Harry laughed and blew out a ring of smoke, “So, you said there was good news?”

“We found someone from the Hungarian Ministry, she works with the missing people department, and she’s working the same case from a different angle. The Hungarian Ministry is reforming now that it has a Muggle-born Minister for Magic, and one of the first pieces of legislation due to be passed is to make squib slaving illegal in Hungary. Apparently, the person behind all of this, whether that’s Selwyn or some guy she called Markas, is deep within the Hungarian Ministry because this information is supposed to be Top Secret. Still, he knows, and he has been moving the squibs across the Hungarian borders to sell them in other European countries.”

“So you’re working with her?” Harry asked, “Because if she’s looking at the Hungarian angle, she could be a great asset.”

“We’re working with her,” Draco said, “I left Theo in Hungary with her.”

Harry snorted, “I assume that means she’s attractive then.”

Draco smirked, “By traditional standards? Yes, she’s tall, her hair is dark, she has quite the alluring accent.”

“I bet he practically begged for the job,” Harry said in amusement.

“Oh, something like that,” Draco agreed with a chuckle, “So how do we proceed now we know it’s a ring?”

Harry sighed and put out his cigarette, “Well, we are still looking at Selwyn. Some grandmaster is likely controlling this whole thing, and Selwyn is just one link in the chain. But he’s the one taking squibs from our country. He’s the one we need to arrest.”

“And the rest?” Draco asked.

“Not our division,” Harry said, “It’s an international situation, which means the ICW’s justice department will have to deal with it.”

“You and I both know that the ICW are useless,” Draco scoffed, “All they ever do is give out sanctions.”

Harry sighed, “I know, but all we can do is arrest Selwyn and any other people helping him take the squibs from Britain. Just like all your Hungarian official can do is arrest the people responsible for kidnapping Hungarian squibs.”

“So we just let everyone else get away with it?” Draco asked in disbelief.

Harry frowned, “I thought you, of all people, would be okay with that.”

“I’m not okay with letting people who are corrupting children get off scot-free so they can keep doing it,” Draco said irritably, “If someone had stepped in and taken my father away when I was six, I wouldn’t have had to suffer ten years of abuse from him.”

Harry looked over at him in shock. He knew that Draco’s father had been abusive, but he hadn’t expected Draco to talk about it so openly.

“Yeah, Potter, he was abusive,” Draco said shortly.

“I’m sorry,” Harry sighed, “My Muggle relatives, they didn’t understand me so….”

He trailed off, but Draco knew what he was trying to say.

“So there’s no way that you’re okay with this either,” Draco said, glancing sidelong at him, “If you really are, then you aren’t the Harry Potter I went to school with.”

“I can’t just run off and do whatever I want anymore, Malfoy!” Harry snapped, “My job is on the line now. I’m not a stupid kid with a death wish! There are rules at play here and regulations, and I have to follow them. Do you know how many rules I broke trying to get them to create your team?”

Draco frowned, “You created the team?”

“Of course I did,” Harry said irritably, “Who do you think suggested the idea to the AHD? I’m sick of people getting away with things because of our rules. I hate that I can’t arrest someone when I know they did it. The whole point of your team is to arrest people like that, but I cannot help you do this or I will lose my job.”

“Then we’ll do it without your help,” Draco said.

“You realise you could face Azkaban if you try and arrest the person responsible for this because it’s out of the jurisdiction of this country?” Harry asked.

Draco nodded and paused with his hand on the door handle, “I’d rather go to Azkaban for arresting the person responsible for abducting and mistreating squib children than for war crimes,” He said simply.

Harry shook his head, then gave him a half-smile, “I had hoped that my gut feeling was right about you when I decided I wanted you in charge of that team. And it was.”

“Was that a compliment, Potter?” Draco asked, almost warily.

Harry just laughed, “You’re doing a good job, Draco, keep doing it. I think I’d actually miss you a little if you got sent to Azkaban. I vouched for you once, but I won’t be able to do it again.”

“Is this your way of saying be careful?” Draco asked in amusement.

Harry nodded wordlessly, and Draco smiled, “I will be, and I’ll find this guy and Selwyn.”

“Good luck,” Harry said, and Draco understood that it was the end of the conversation. He nodded and pulled the door open, leaving Harry alone on the balcony.

When Draco trudged down to the basement, it was fairly late. He knew they would have to call it a night soon, but he had hoped for a team briefing first. When he got there, he was glad to see that everyone else apart from Theo was there, sitting around their desks.

They all looked up and fell silent when Draco walked in.

“Right, we’re having a team briefing, and once we’ve worked out our action plan for tomorrow, you can all go home. Longbottom, Eddie, what did you find?”

“There’s a pattern,” Neville said, “They never take more than one child every few months from an orphanage, and they stage it so it looks like a runaway, but a missing person is still reported.”

“Nobody ever remembers the child leaving. Someone just goes into their room in the morning, and they aren’t there,” Eddie added, “We contemplated memory charms, but it’s more likely they come in cloaked and leave quietly with the child.”

“All in all, it was a pretty useless exercise. There aren’t any patterns regarding ages or gender; boys and girls of all ages went missing,” Neville added.

“But around 30 children have disappeared since this started six months ago,” Eddie said, “We have names for most of them and pictures of many of them.”

“Not that it will do much good since retrieving the squibs isn’t our priority,” Neville said bitterly.

“It is,” Draco said, “Regardless of what Potter says. If we can find those squibs and get them back here, we will.”

Neville nodded, “Good,” he said stiffly.

Draco sighed, “But the bad news on my end is that this is a smuggling ring. Selwyn is just the British link. Squibs are being taken from all over the place. There’s probably a different person for every country, and the whole operation was being run out of Hungary. Someone high up in the Hungarian Ministry is running it. But with new legislation making squib slaving illegal in Hungary, they are moving operations over the borders. Theo is over there with a Hungarian Ministry official trying to find more information.”

“That ties in with what I found out today,” Daphne cut in, “Pureblooded women get pregnant, give birth and then have the child tested. Apparently, a spell detects if the child is a squib, so they don’t have to wait and be embarrassed when they do not develop any magical ability. If the child is a squib, they contact Selwyn through a mysterious middle-man who seems to be called Gregg from what I’ve heard, but that’s probably a false identity. The middleman takes the money and the child, ending up in Europe. Selwyn runs things, but it doesn’t look like he gets his hands dirty.”

“That’s not surprising,” Neville said, “That’s why it’s so hard to find evidence or arrest him.”

“Well, for the moment, it’s more than we had before,” Draco said, “I still think our best chance of finding Selwyn is finding the places where the squibs are kept before they are sold to pure-blood families in Europe. Even if we just have to wait it out until we see him, and that way, we can also help the squibs. Potter has nothing to do with this, if he was found to be helping us, he would lose his job, so this is on us alone. We have no help from through the wall on this one.”

“We don’t need it,” Neville said, “When do we leave for Europe?”

“I’ll call you all in via floo when I’ve heard from Theo,” Draco replied.

Neville nodded, “Alright, goodnight then,” He said as he left the basement.

Daphne frowned and said, “I’m going to go make sure he’s okay. I’ll see you two tomorrow morning,” She said as she hurried out after Neville.

Eddie sighed, “I think he must have had some personal experience with this. He barely said a word to me when we were scouting those orphanages today.”

“This has touched most purebloods,” Draco said, “It’s a sensitive subject, Eddie.”

Eddie looked sheepish, “Sorry.”

Draco shook his head, “Don’t be. Just go home and get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a long day.”

Eddie nodded and flung his coat on, “Goodnight, Draco,” He said, leaving the Slytherin alone in the cold basement,

“Hey, Longbottom!”

Neville turned around midway down the corridor at Daphne’s voice behind him.

“Where are you heading?”

“I was planning on going home,” Neville said honestly, “Why?”

Daphne shrugged, “I was going to grab a coffee on the way home. I could do with it…after today.”

Neville fixed her with a long look, but she didn’t look uncomfortable or break his gaze. She smirked, “This trick might scare normal people off, but it won’t work with me.”

Neville actually chuckled, “Alright then, if there’s a free coffee in it,” He said.

Daphne smiled and said, “Come on then,” as she walked past him towards the apparition point.

For once, Draco didn’t seek Harry out on his little balcony. He stayed where he was, alone in the basement, lying on the sofa, flicking through files and thinking about the case. When somebody walked into the basement, he thought it was maybe Daphne or Theo coming to report.

But when he saw Harry, he was surprised, to say the least.

“Aren’t you having nothing to do with this?” Draco asked, and he surprised himself by how bitter he sounded.

“Officially yes,” Harry said sheepishly as he shuffled from foot to foot, “But I need to know, how is the case going?”

“Well, I’ve got no idea where Theo is, and Longbottom is an emotional wreck,” Draco said irritably, “So my team isn’t the most reliable right now.”

“Cut Neville some slack. You’ve read his file,” Harry said, sitting down on the second sofa, opposite the one Draco was lying on.

“I’ve read all of my team members' files,” Draco said, “And so have you. 4 out of 5 of us have been touched by this case, Potter.”

Harry sighed, “I know, but it’s different with Neville. It wasn’t so….”

“Calculated?”

Harry glanced up and caught Draco’s eye, “Daphne’s parents paid someone to take her brother away. Theo had a younger sister who was dumped at an orphanage and-”

“And my older brother mysteriously died in an accident when he was a few months old,” Draco said coolly, “And we all know a two-month-old child can’t fall down the stairs when they can’t even walk yet. I knew that he had done it before I even found my Father's journal.”

“I’m not trying to say that you didn’t suffer, Draco,” Harry said honestly, “What happened to your brother is disgusting; it really is. All I’m trying to say is that with Neville, it was different. His family didn’t have anything to do with it.”

“What you are, in fact, trying to say, subtly I’ll give you that, is that his brother was more of a victim than the rest,” Draco said darkly.

“Well, he was kidnapped,” Harry pointed out, “I mean, the Death Eaters kidnapped a three-year-old child because he was a squib, and to this day, Neville still has no idea what happened to him. He doesn’t know if he lived and is in some country in Europe right now or if the Death Eaters killed him, which I hate to admit is the most likely option.”

“So that’s worse than Theo knowing his sister is living with a muggle family right now? That’s worse than the fact he only gets to see her once a year because her family are scared of him?” Draco asked irritably, “That’s worse than Daphne knowing her brother died in servitude in Barcelona? It’s worse than growing up playing Quidditch with your Father on the ground where he buried your brother?”

Harry opened his mouth to speak but then thought better and shut it.

Draco scoffed, “Speechless? That’s not like you, Potter. You normally can’t keep your mouth shut.”

“I don’t understand you at all, Malfoy,” Harry retorted, “Sometimes you can be this really nice, thoughtful guy and then other times you really are an arsehole.”

“We all have bad days, and in case you hadn’t noticed, this case kind of pisses me off,” Draco said darkly, shutting his eyes and hoping Harry would leave.

“It pisses me off too,” Harry said, and Draco heard him push himself to his feet, “And it pisses me off that I’m not supposed to have anything to do with it.”

Draco opened his eyes and caught Harry’s green eyes; they had darkened, “We’ll have at least one arrest by tomorrow,” He promised.

Harry nodded, “Unofficially, if you can help the squibs, do it.”

“I was planning to, regardless of whether I had your permission or not,” Draco admitted.

“Well, you never did follow the rules,” Harry said in amusement, “Neither of us did. I’m surprised we weren’t friends sooner.”

“Who said that we’re friends, Potter?” Draco asked, his amusement tarnished with surprise.

Harry smiled, “I did. We’re friends, Malfoy,” He said simply, walking out of the basement.

Draco was awoken at a ridiculous hour by the sound of the floo roaring to life next to his favourite place to sleep, the sofa in the basement. He was alert immediately because he knew the only person who would floo the office at this time in the morning was Theo.

“Oi Draco, get your lazy arse up,” Theo’s voice said from the fireplace.

Draco rolled his eyes as he knelt in front of it, “What bloody time do you call this?”

“Well, it’s 7 am here in Budapest,” Theo said, “So I’m assuming it's earlier back home.”

“It’s 6 am,” Draco yawned, “You better be flooing this early because you have news.”

“I am,” Theo said, “Although I’m not sure if it’s good or bad. Natalia and I were up all night looking for possible locations to hide the squibs, and we narrowed it down to two. Her team is taking one in Romania, and I told her we’d look into the other in Ukraine.”

“Good,” Draco said, “That’s good news. We’re going to find them.”

Something in Theo’s face faltered, and Draco frowned, “There’s more, isn’t there?”

Theo nodded and glanced around, “Can I come through?”

Draco knew then that whatever Theo wanted to say was serious if he didn’t feel he could say it over the floo network. He nodded and stepped back, allowing Theo to walk through the fire and materialise in front of him.

“What’s going on, Theo?” Draco asked.

“Do you remember Nicomedes?” Theo asked carefully.

Draco’s frown deepened, “Of course I do. How can I forget your little brother?”

Theo gave his friend a pointed look, and Draco faltered, “You can’t be serious.”

“I wish I wasn’t,” Theo said darkly, “But I got suspicious. That’s why I asked to stay with Natalia in Hungary. He ran off after the war, and I told him he wouldn’t get prosecuted; he was in his 5^th year when he joined them and only in his 6^th year when the war ended, but he didn’t believe me. The last I heard from him was last year. He sent me a postcard from Budapest.”

“That doesn’t mean he’s caught up in this,” Draco said, “It could just be a coincidence.”

Theo shook his head, “The thought did cross my mind, but I had to know, so I used Natalia’s resources at the Hungarian ministry and found him living in Budapest. I went to see him, and I told him what I was doing there…he admitted it, Draco, that he was involved.”

“He’s just a kid, Theo,” Draco said quietly, “He was just a kid when he joined the Death Eaters.”

“A kid with pureblood ideas, I’m not surprised he got involved. But Draco, he was roped into it by Selwyn. He’s seen him, worked with him, has ties with him,” Theo said animatedly, “He agreed to help us.”

Draco was a little sheepish, “Theo,” He said in a warning tone, “This can’t be you just trying to save your little brother. If he’s involved, we have to arrest him.”

“Not if he helps us,” Theo pushed.

“He was a Slytherin. He could have been manipulating you or luring us into a trap,” Draco pointed out, “Did he tell you about the location in Ukraine?”

Theo was beginning to get angry, “Yes, but Natalia checked it, and it all checks out. He wouldn’t lie to me, Draco; he will help us.”

Draco sighed and turned away from Theo, “You want me to risk all of our lives on the word of your little brother, who joined the Death Eaters at 15 and has been part of a squib smuggling ring ever since?”

He couldn’t see Theo’s face, but when he spoke, he could hear the desperation in his voice, “He’s not 15 anymore, he’s 23, and he has a lot of regrets. Selwyn roped him into the job with the blackmail he had on him from the war. He says he wants out, and I believe him.”

“He’s your brother, Theo; of course you believe him,” Draco said as he turned around, “But that doesn’t mean your belief is well placed.”

“Even if it is a trap, and I really don’t think it is, it’s still our best chance to catch Selwyn,” Theo said.

Draco sighed deeply because as much as he knew the risks, he also knew that Theo was entirely right. He nodded, “I’ll call the team in. You better get back to Hungary. We’ll meet you at the ministry.”

Theo nodded, “I promise, Draco. Your faith isn’t placed in the wrong person,” he said as he stepped into the fire and disappeared.

“That remains to be seen,” Draco mumbled to himself as he performed a few glamour charms and transfigured his robes. He yawned as he floo-ed Eddie and instructed the Ravenclaw to get to the basement as soon as possible.

Then he tried to contact Daphne, but he couldn’t get an answer at either of her addresses, and she wasn’t answering her communications device either. Harry had given each team member a bracelet that enabled people to talk by pressing a button on the catch. The only issue was that the other person had to press the button on their bracelet to accept the call, or the bracelets were useless.

After 10 minutes, Draco gave up and floo-ed Neville; he never got an answer on his floo either, so he irritably attempted to contact him with his communications bracelet. After a few seconds, Neville’s voice rang through into the empty basement.

“Why the bloody hell are you calling me so early?”

“Because there has just been a huge development in the case, and we need to be in Hungary as soon as possible,” Draco replied.

“Right, I’ll be in as soon as possible,” Neville said.

“Good,” Draco said shortly, “And can you try and get a hold of Daphne, please? I’ve tried her floo and her communication bracelet, and she isn’t answering. If she’s not here soon, we’ll be going to Hungary without her.”

“Sure, I’ll try and let her know.”

“Thanks, Longbottom,” Draco said, pressing the button on his bracelet to end the conversation.

In his flat, Neville pressed the button on his bracelet, ending the conversation with Draco. He looked down at the somewhat irritated woman lying underneath him and said.

“We’re going to Hungary. Draco wants us in the office as soon as possible.”

“Yeah, I heard,” Daphne said, rolling out from underneath him and grabbing her clothes from the floor, “We’ll have to go in separately, and don’t make this awkward at work.”

Neville raised his hands, “I promise I won’t mention it.”

“You better not,” Daphne said, “This was nothing more than two colleagues letting off steam.”

“Whatever you say,” Neville said in amusement as he flung on his clothes, “But don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone that even Daphne Greengrass catches feelings sometimes.”

Daphne smirked as she pulled on her boots, “You’d ruin my reputation,” She said smoothly as she slipped past him, threw some floo powder into the fire and disappeared.

Draco gave them a quick brief when everybody was gathered in the basement.

They were about to depart when the metal door slammed open, and Hermione Granger stormed in, her bushy hair bouncing behind her.

Draco rolled his eyes, “Granger, it’s far too early in the morning for me to have the patience to deal with you. What do you want?”

“Harry might think he can keep things from me, but he’s a terrible liar,” Hermione said hotly, “I know what you’re doing, and I know you’re leaving those squibs to die!”

“Granger-”

“No, Malfoy!” Hermione exclaimed loudly, “This is against human rights! I don’t care what the wizarding statutes say. By Muggle law, it’s illegal, and if these people aren’t considered wizarding, then they’re Muggles, and Muggle law applies to them!”

“Granger!” Draco snapped, “We are about to leave on a mission to arrest those responsible and recover as many squibs as possible.”

Colour flushed and rose in Hermione’s cheeks, “You are?”

Draco couldn’t help but smirk slightly at how entirely embarrassed she looked, “We are.”

“But Harry said-”

“Technically, we don’t exist, and Salazar knows we aren’t Aurors. When have I ever followed Potter’s orders in the past?” Draco said, cutting her off before she could finish.

“I suppose…but I’m coming with you,” Hermione said, finding her dignity again.

“Uh, no, you aren’t,” Draco said shortly.

“Yes, I am,” Hermione said, crossing her arms, “I want to help those squibs, and they might need psychological help-”

“How does working in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures qualify you to give them psychological help?” Theo’s amused voice asked from the fireplace.

“Don’t belittle me right now, Theo! You didn’t even call me back,” Hermione said irritably.

“I did warn you,” Draco muttered under his breath.

Hermione turned her glare on the blonde man, “Shut up, Malfoy, you know I have blackmail on you.”

Daphne snorted in amusement, “You and me both, Granger.”

Neville chuckled at the glare Draco sent Hermione’s way, and then he turned to his friend, “Look, Hermione, if we do this, it’s not so bad; we’re already under the radar. But you have a promising career, don’t mess that up.”

“No, Neville,” Hermione said firmly, “I have to do the right thing.”

“You’re Potter’s sidekick Granger,” Draco said irritably, “Not mine, and you are not coming on this mission. I’m already risking the lives of my four team members. I will not risk your life too.”

“Do you not think I’ve risked my life enough to know when I can and can’t risk my own life? I don’t need other people to make that decision for me,” Hermione said in frustration.

“Yes, you do, because you are just like Potter,” Draco said, just as irritably, “You can’t see past the right and heroic thing to do. People like you need someone like me to tell you when to stop. This is dangerous; you have no idea how dangerous, and I won’t have you risking your life when you don’t need to. We’ll bring those squibs back, I promise, and you can be here in this basement to help them when we do, but I will not take you to Hungary.”

“Wow,” Hermione said after a moment of silence, “Harry really has rubbed off on you.”

Draco frowned slightly, “What do you mean?”

Hermione replied, “He’s turned you into a good Auror.”

Draco rolled his eyes, “We are leaving for a very important mission Granger, and you had better sit your arse down on that sofa and keep it there until we get back.”

Hermione raised an eyebrow at Theo’s chuckling face in the fireplace, “Is he always this demanding?”

“Pretty much,” Theo replied.

“And you should probably do what he says,” Eddie said in amusement, “He’s got a bad temper.”

Hermione scoffed, “I think my temper is worse. I was the one who punched him in the face,” She said as she sat down on the sofa.

Neville smirked, “I still wish I’d seen that.”

Once more, Draco sighed, “Right, that’s enough! Get your head in the game, please! I want you all at the apparition point now,” He said, opening the door and motioning for them all to leave.

They left one by one, and just before he followed his team out, Draco turned to Hermione, “I mean it, Granger, if anything happened to you, Potter would never forgive me.”

Hermione nodded, “I’ll stay here,” She promised, “Good luck.”

Draco gave her a stiff nod and left the basement after his team.

The team arrived in Hungary and were briefed by Theo and Natalia. Then they were dispatched to the two separate compounds. Draco had decided it was best to keep the news about Theo’s younger brother to himself. He didn’t want to worry the team if this was an ambush they were walking into. Draco knew it was the correct one as they approached the Ukrainian compound, and Theo did too. This meant that they were on high alert, and the others could tell that there was something different about this mission.

“When we go in there, try to stun and only resort to lethal spells if you feel you have no choice,” Draco whispered, “There are kids there, and we don’t want them to get caught in the crossfire. We don’t know what to expect; there could only be a couple of guards or a lot of them, so just keep your wits about you.”

This was met with a series of nods as they performed the camouflaging spells required and started to tear a hole in the protective spells around the area. The moment they broke through, they entered the compound's grounds and crept up to the door in the early morning sunlight.

There were no guards outside; they obviously felt secure enough with their security charms to think they didn’t need any. Draco gave the motion that meant go ahead, so they barged in through the front doors into the unknown.

There wasn’t any resistance in the first room; it was just an empty entrance hall. Draco frowned and secured it. They were alone in this room; his charms confirmed that.

“Theo get on the roof and get me a plan of this place,” Draco said under his breath, “Eddie, I want a life signs charm. Tell me how many people are in this building.”

Theo nodded and darted out the doors, jumping up the walls onto the roof like a monkey. Eddie made his way to a corner of the room to perform the complex charms required to find out how many people were in this large compound.

Draco sighed and glanced over at Neville and Daphne, “Secure both doors,” He ordered.

They nodded and separated, securing the two doors leading into the rest of the compound. Silence fell over them all. They all listened for any sound, but none came, and they could only conclude that the compound was more heavily protected than they had first assumed. They grew so weary of the silence that they all jumped when Eddie sighed.

“Have you got it?” Draco asked anxiously.

Eddie nodded grimly.

“And? How many people are there?”

“I can’t get an exact number, but I can tell you it’s about 100,” Eddie said darkly.

Draco let out a deep sigh as Theo silently dropped down into the doorway with a map in his hands. From a first glance, Draco could tell that this compound was huge.

“Can you two work together and get me eyes on where these people are in this compound?” Draco asked, aware that time was of the essence here.

Theo nodded, “I can transfer the life signs onto the map.”

“Then do it, as fast as you can,” Draco said; his hand gripped his wand tightly. He had a bad feeling about this mission.

They got their heads together, and 10 minutes later, Theo handed the map to Draco. It was fully functional, with the life signs displayed as flashing black dots. Draco scanned it, “There are three rooms, each packed with about 30 people,” He said.

“So the remaining 20?” Daphne asked.

“The ones who we need to arrest,” Neville said.

“Okay, the plan of action,” Draco said, “We can only assume that this centre room here with about 20 life signs is where the majority of the criminals are. So we storm it and detain as many people as possible, then go for the squibs.”

Neville nodded, “Do you want me to take point on this one?”

Draco shook his head, “No, I will. Bring up the rear, Longbottom.”

Neville obliged, and Draco led the way through the maze of corridors with the map in his hand. When they reached the room and broke through the security charms, they had seconds to enter before they lost the element of surprise. As soon as the doors opened, all hell broke less. It was 20 against five, after all. In the chaos, stunners bounced off the walls and hit several people.

Half of the criminals fell within a few minutes, and amongst the chaos, only Theo noticed his brother, Nico, turning against his own people and knocking three of them unconscious.

A cry of pain distracted Neville from his duel with one of the better fighters. He saw Daphne fall to the ground, clutching her leg, which was bleeding heavily. She caught his eye, but he turned away from her because he couldn’t help her. If he did, he would only prove that the regulations were right; romantic feelings and attachments made you break protocol and do stupid things. He would go to her, but only after he had helped to secure the room. Putting his head back in the game, as only a trained Auror could, Neville stunned the criminal and scanned the room. Draco was in a duel with the final criminal left standing, and Theo was talking in whispers to another of them.

“Theo! What the hell?” Neville barked.

“Nico’s his brother,” Daphne hissed, the pain in her leg making her look as white as a sheet.

“He helped,” Theo explained, “He stunned about 5 of them.”

Neville glanced to Draco, who turned away from the duel for only a second to nod. Neville just sighed and stunned the final criminal, taking the pressure off of Draco.

“Everybody else, secure this lot,” Draco said a little breathlessly, “Longbottom, see Daphne.”

Neville was already kneeling next to her when Draco spoke. She shot him a slight glare, but he ignored it and performed a numbing charm on her leg, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

“You could have come and helped me sooner,” Daphne said irritably.

“I was being professional like you said and not letting my feelings get involved with the mission,” Neville pointed out calmly.

“Well, next time, don’t do it when I’m half-conscious on the ground,” Daphne joked.

Neville smiled at her and said, “Don’t think I wasn’t worried about you. I just needed to secure the room first.”

Daphne only rolled her eyes and muttered about ‘those heroic types.’

“Daphne, you’re injured anyway, so I need you to stay here and make sure none of this lot starts to wake up,” Draco said, “The rest of you are with me. Let’s find these three rooms where the squibs are being held and make sure they’re okay.”

“What about me, Draco?” Nico asked with trepidation.

Draco glanced at the younger man, “What about you, Nico?”

“Can I help?” Nico asked.

“He helped us like I told you he would,” Theo said, trying to defend and look after his younger brother.

“That doesn’t mean I trust him,” Draco said, “But if you keep an eye on him, Theo, he can go with you to relieve one of the three rooms.”

Theo nodded and glanced hopefully at Nico. Draco ignored this look, “Longbottom, I want you to secure another of the rooms, and Eddie and I will secure the last.”

The others nodded, and they split up. Draco and Eddie were silent as they approached the room with its steel door.

“Don’t,” Eddie said loudly when Draco reached for the handle.

Draco jumped, “Bloody hell Eddie, what is it?”

“It’s booby-trapped,” Eddie said carefully as he performed a diagnostic charm that showed all of the traps on the door.

Draco’s eyes widened at the extent of invisible beams, ready to set off deadly spells if someone touched them.

“I could feel the magic, but don’t worry, I can break through them. Warn the other two before they get to the doors,” Eddie said quickly.

Draco nodded, tapping his ear three times to activate the communication channel, “Whatever you are doing, wherever you are, stop. There are traps on the doors, and they’ll set off a nasty chain of events if you touch them. Perform a diagnostic charm on any door before you open it.”

“Will do,” Neville’s voice said, “Theo, have you reached the detaining room yet?”

There was no answer, and Eddie glanced anxiously at Draco as he tapped his ear, “Theo, are you there?”

“Theo?” Draco asked as panic began to set in.

“Theo?” Neville echoed, “Can you hear us?”

There was a crackling and then, “Yeah, I’m fine. Just a bit groggy, I walked into one of the beams before Nico had the chance to warn me.”

“Are you okay?” Eddie asked, ignoring Draco’s knowing look. He didn’t trust Nico; he never had.

“Yeah, it was just a stunner; we’re good. We’re about to go in,” Theo said.

“Copy that,” Neville’s voice said, “I’ve just broken through the traps.”

“So have I,” Eddie said, glancing at the ominous door.

Draco nodded, “Stay on the communication channel. I want to know the situation in all of the rooms. You’re clear to enter, both of you.”

There was silence on the channel, and the silence from Daphne wasn’t exactly comforting either, considering the fact she had lost a lot of blood earlier. Draco stepped forward and unbolted the door, pushing it open. It creaked loudly, and the moment they stepped into the room, a stench invaded their nostrils. It was the smell of urine and other bodily fluids, the smell of a room crammed with far too many people. Draco felt sick as he looked around; there were about 30 children in this room. They were all small and far too thin, aged between 2 and 5, and they all looked terrified as they stared at him with wide eyes.

Draco tried his best at a comforting smile after muttering to Eddie to clean the place up with some cleaning charms.

“I’m here to help you,” Draco said slowly, “To take you back home, to Britain.”

The children who understood looked hopeful, and Draco muttered again, “We will have to call in help. Five of us, one of us injured, can’t take all of these children home on our own.”

“You don’t need to call in for help,” A voice said over the communication channel.

“Potter, what are you doing here?” Draco asked in disbelief.

Harry’s voice answered, “Hermione told me what you had done and where you had gone. I knew you’d need help getting them back, so I brought back up. It’s only five more people, but I thought it might be useful.”

Draco and Eddie shared an exasperated look as Draco was forced to thank Harry.

He realised the other communications had gone silent, “Longbottom, Theo, what’s your situation?” Draco asked.

There was the sound of retching on one end, although they didn’t know whose it was at first.

“There are babies in here, Draco,” Neville’s voice said; it was hoarse and croaky, making it clear that he was the one who had been retching, “This room is just lined with makeshift cots, full of babies…” he trailed off, unable to finish.

“Hang in there, Nev,” Harry’s voice said over the channel, “Ron will be there with Dobbs in a minute. Draco, do you need anyone dispatched to you?”

“That depends on how bad things are with Theo,” Draco said, “Theo, can we have an update, please?”

“Kind of in the middle of a duel here,” Theo hissed; the crackling was the magic interrupting the communication charm.

“Who are you duelling?” Eddie asked quickly.

“Nico,” Draco muttered under his breath.

“No, Selwyn,” Theo shouted, “He wasn’t one of the ones in that main room; he’s here.”

“I’m on my way,” Harry shouted, “Just hang in there, Theo.”

“Working on it,” Theo said.

Draco glanced at Eddie as the communication charm spluttered out due to the magical interference.

“I’ve got this,” Eddie said, “You should go help Theo.”

Draco nodded, rushing off immediately. He knew Theo and Nico had gone to the second room, just a few corridors away from where he had left Eddie, so he got there first, before Harry and his team had time to arrive. When he did get there, he saw the duel, and he saw how much Theo was struggling. He knew Harry would call him stupid and foolish, but he pushed Theo out of the way and threw himself into the duel instead.

Selwyn just laughed as Theo dropped to his knees next to his unconscious brother on the floor.

“Lucius Malfoy’s son, working for the justice department,” Selwyn laughed. He had shoulder-length greying black hair and dark grey, almost black eyes. He had a wicked look about him that Draco knew well because it reminded him of a look he had often seen on his father's face.

Draco stared resolutely at Selwyn, “Well, being the son of Lucius Malfoy makes me a pretty good dueller, Selwyn,” He said as he threw a hand-made curse at him.

Unfortunately, Selwyn ducked, and the curse missed him. Draco could hold his own in a duel against Selwyn once he had time to dart around him and learn his style, but there were children in this room, huddled back against the walls, and any misplaced spell could quickly rebound on them.

“Theo, get shield charms over these children!” Draco shouted above the noise of the duel.

Theo tore himself away from Nico and nodded, beginning to throw up shield charms to protect the kids. The ones in this room were older, aged from 5 to about 7.

“Need a hand there, Malfoy?” Harry asked as he skidded into the room and threw a shield charm over himself.

“I am quite competent in a duel, Potter,” Draco said irritably.

“Oh, I know, but normally you have time to learn the style,” Harry whispered as they ducked and dodged Selwyn’s spells, “And this time, we just have to get him unconscious as fast as possible. You distract him with your inventive homemade spells, and I’ll stun him.”

Draco nodded, and they threw themselves into the duel, Draco’s homemade spells worked the trick. Selwyn avoided most of them, but he did end up with the top of his ear off, his hair falling out in clumps and blood coming from his ears, eyes and mouth by the time Harry stunned him.

They were both breathing heavily and sweating profusely, it hadn’t been a long duel, but it had been intense and very draining on their magic. They caught each other’s eye, and Harry said, “Good work, Malfoy.”

Draco could only nod in response. He glanced around the room for Theo, who was kneeling by Nico again.

“Is he alive?”

Theo nodded, “Just knocked out,” He replied, although it was clear he had been worried from his bloodshot eyes. Nico did have a particularly nasty cut to the head.

Harry pulled an old handkerchief out of his pocket and charmed it into a portkey. He placed it on Nico’s chest and said, “Let go of his arm; we need you here. That will transport him to St. Mungo’s.”

Theo let go, and Nico disappeared.

“Daphne’s injured too,” Draco said, “She’s in the main room where we detained the criminals.”

“Alright, the priority of this mission was to arrest these criminals, so we have to take them back to Britain before the squibs,” Harry said, “I will leave Dobbs, Coote, Hermione, Theo and Eddie here to get them fixed up and ready for transportation. But Draco, I will need you and Neville to help Ron and I get the criminals into holding cells back at the British ministry.”

“They aren’t all British,” Theo said shakily.

“Well, the ones who aren’t will be sent to their own ministry. But we need to act fast before they wake up,” Harry said firmly.

Draco nodded, and they left for the main room, leaving Theo to secure the children after telling him Hermione would be joining him soon to help. Daphne was still conscious when they reached the main room, but she was very pale as she leaned against one of the walls.

“The big one tried to escape, but I stunned him,” She said shakily, “Nice to see you saving the day again, Potter.”

“Save your energy, Daphne,” Harry said gently. He grabbed a quill from the desk and murmured in Latin, as he had with Nico, “This will take you to St. Mungos. Explain the situation with Theo’s brother when the Aurors show up. Tell them he helped us and that Harry Potter has granted him a full pardon.”

Daphne nodded as the quill was placed on her chest, and she disappeared from view.

Harry pushed himself to his feet and glanced at Draco, who was frowning at the bodies on the floor, “19.”

“20 including him,” Draco said, with a nod to Selwyn, who was unconscious, bound and floating behind them.’

“20 people in this room…20 countries suspected to be involved in the smuggling ring,” Harry said with a frown. He tapped his ear, “Guys. This is an international situation. We need the ICW.”

“We have them,” A new voice said.

Draco tapped his ear, “Natalia?”

“Is that you, Malfoy?”

“It’s me. Did you find anything in Romania?” Draco asked.

“No,” Natalia replied, “It was a ruse.”

“I think this is the only base then,” Draco said over the channel, “There are 20 men in this room, and your Ministry suspects 20 countries to be involved.”

“How many children?”

“Around 90,” Harry said.

“Who is this?”

“Harry Potter, I’m leading this mission now,” Harry said, “I am Draco Malfoy’s superior. Do you have a representative of the ICW?”

“Yes, where are you?”

“In the main room, in the centre of the building. We have all of the criminals stunned and unconscious.”

“We will be with you shortly,” Natalia said, her communication channel fizzling out.

“What happens now?” Draco asked Harry quietly.

“Now the ICW take this lot into interrogation and dispatch them to their own Ministries to be dealt with. But we’re taking Selwyn straight back with us,” Harry muttered, “Take him away now, Malfoy. I’m not missing this chance to arrest him.”

“Alright,” Draco agreed, “But I’ll be back to help the squibs.”

Harry shook his head, “No, I’ll deal with that matter myself. Somebody has to interrogate Selwyn.”

Draco frowned, “But I’m not a real Auror. I don’t have the authority to do that.”

Harry reached into his pocket and handed Draco a badge, his own Auror badge, “On my authority, you do. I need you back in Britain, Malfoy. Trust us to finish this.”

Draco watched him for a moment and then nodded, “Okay,” he said simply. He then held onto Selwyn’s body and apparated away from the room moments before Natalia walked in with a short, stuffy looking wizard.

“Potter, I’m well aware of who you are,” The wizard said briskly before he could introduce himself, “I am Hubert Maxwell, of the International Confederation of Wizards. I have to take all of these men into ICW custody, including your man.”

“I’m afraid you can’t do that,” Harry said, “He’s already been transported back to Britain.”

Maxwell narrowed his eyes at Harry, “You removed him, knowing that an ICW official was on their way?”

“No, I had him taken back to Britain before that communication message to Draco came in. Forgive me for being eager to get him back for prosecution,” Harry said dryly, “But by all means, take the rest and send them back to their own countries.”

“We will,” Maxwell said, giving Harry a dirty look as if he hadn't believed a word he had just said.

“And the children?” Natalia asked.

“Not all British or Hungarian,” Neville answered as he walked into the room, “It will be easy enough to identify our own with the children who can speak. But what do we do about the babies?”

“DNA charms,” Harry said with a sigh, “Which means it will be a long night. Can you grab Theo and start that now? I’ll send Ron back to Britain to deal with this, and I’ll get the others to round up the British children.”

“This is an ICW matter, Potter. We will be taking the children into our custody and-”

“No,” Harry said firmly, “We will be taking our own children back today. Go on, Neville, see that it’s done.”

Neville nodded and smiled proudly at Harry before he left the room.

Maxwell’s face was reddening, “Now see here, Potter, you are breaking the rules and regulations, you are putting your job on the line-”

“Apologies if I sound rude, Mr Maxwell,” Harry said, “But my colleagues and I, along with our Hungarian friends, just busted an international squib smuggling ring illegal in at least half of the countries where this has been happening. I highly doubt that I will be losing my job anytime soon.”

Maxwell puffed his chest up, but before he could speak, Natalia did, “I agree. And I will be taking the Hungarian children back with me.”

She tapped her ear and spoke in Hungarian before leaving the room.

“Good luck with this lot, Mr Maxwell,” Harry said politely as he left the room.

“I’m not going to tell you anything, Draco.”

Draco cocked his head. He and Selwyn had been sitting silently in an interrogation room for at least 20 minutes now. Suffice to say, Ron hadn’t been happy when he got back from Ukraine to find out he was dealing with the press and the ICW while Draco was interrogating Selwyn.

“I think you will on the threat of Azkaban,” Draco said.

Selwyn scoffed, “No. Although I find it ironic that you are sitting on that side of the interrogation table.”

“Yes, well, people change Selwyn,” Draco said smoothly.

Selwyn hummed, “You weren’t such an arrogant little shit when your father was torturing you in front of all of us. Were you?”

Draco paled slightly but pretended the comment had not phased him, “Humiliation and torture, yes, a daily occurrence in our household. If you are trying to upset or anger me, Selwyn, I assure you, it will not work.”

“Ah, everybody has that one little thing that makes them tick,” Selwyn said with a wicked grin, “Are you certain it doesn’t still hurt? It certainly seemed to at the time…I remember you screaming and begging-” he laughed, “- yes, begging him to stop.”

“My torture at my father's hands does not concern you,” Draco said coolly, “You are the one who tortures innocent children. Do you only sell them as house slaves? Or do you torture them too?”

Selwyn’s ugly smile remained on his face, “I sell no one.”

“So you just happened to be in that smuggling base by accident?” Draco asked, leaning back in his chair.

“I was asked to meet there by a friend. I had no idea what I was walking into,” Selwyn lied.

“Hmm,” Draco hummed thoughtfully, “I wonder if that’s what the 19 other smugglers will say to the ICW when they question them.”

There was a flicker of worry on Selwyn’s face, but he did not confess or change his opinion. He remained silent.

“Believe it or not, I am trying to help you,” Draco said, “But if you won’t help yourself, there’s nothing I can do. The evidence is enough to convict you, and without a statement, you’ll only get longer in Azkaban.”

Draco got to his feet and shrugged, “But I’ll let Potter know that you’re happy to go to Azkaban,” he walked to the door and grabbed the handle, “He’ll be delighted to have finally found a new cellmate for Greyback. We always seem to lose them around the full moon. I suppose you know that he likes to play with his food before he eats it, though.”

Selwyn’s face paled, and Draco left the room. The second the door had snapped shut, the shouting began.

“No! No! Malfoy, come back! I’ll confess, I swear it!”

Draco smirked and walked back into the room, “What was that?”

Selwyn had lost all colour from his face, “I think we were a little hasty back there.”

“Do you?” Draco asked calmly. He tried not to look too smug as he slid the parchment across the table.

Selwyn looked at the parchment, which was a confession form.

“I think it’s time you start writing then,” Draco said simply.

Knowing he had lost, Selwyn nodded, “I’ll write it all down. But I swear, I wasn’t the one behind this. I was just working for a guy called Markas. I think he’s Hungarian. He paid me well for it, that’s all.”

“You still kidnapped children,” Draco said coolly, “You will go to Azkaban.”

“How long for?”

“10 years, if you’re lucky,” Draco replied honestly.

“And if I’m not lucky?” Selwyn asked weakly.

“Life,” Draco drawled, nudging the confession parchment towards him, “Write it all down.”

Selwyn nodded and began to scribble away. Draco had to admit that as he sat there and waited, he felt a sense of achievement for the first time. For the first time, he was good at something, and Potter had known that, which was why he had hired him. For the first time ever, someone had faith in him.

“There.”

Draco took the parchment from Selwyn and escorted him to a holding cell. On his way back to the basement, he dropped into the main team’s office, where Ron conversed in whispers with an ICW official.

“Ah, is this the interrogator?” The man asked.

Ron nodded, “Anything?”

Draco dropped the parchment on Ron’s desk, “His confession.”

“He confessed to everything?”

“Yes,” Draco replied simply, “And he mentioned the instigator of the entire ring. Someone called Markas, who he thinks is from Hungary.”

“That is very useful information, Mr Malfoy. Thank you,” The ICW man said.

Ron nodded reluctantly, “Harry’s not back yet. He said he’d debrief you in the basement when he gets back.”

“Thank you,” Draco said stiffly, and he left the office before he could get embroiled in the political shit that normal Aurors had to deal with. It was empty when he reached the basement, so he sat down heavily on the sofa and pulled Harry’s badge out of his pocket.

It was a simple crest shaped badge. In the centre were two wands overlapping. At the top was the symbol of the new Ministry, a phoenix with its wings spread wide, the wings curved down around the word “AUROR”. The name “HARRY POTTER” was etched onto the metal underneath the wands. Underneath his name was “I”, which Draco didn’t understand. He ran his fingers over it absentmindedly and then hastily shoved it back into his pocket when he heard footsteps on the stairs.

Seconds later, Neville and Eddie walked in.

“How did it go?” Draco asked cautiously.

“Almost all the British children have been returned,” Neville said, dropping down next to Draco on the sofa. “Hermione is back there with Theo; they are doing DNA testing on all the babies with some Ministry officials from other countries. All of the older children have been returned. They’re at St. Mungo’s getting checked over.”

“And Potter?”

“He’s upstairs with Selwyn,” Eddie yawned, “He’s reviewing your interrogation.”

“Did you get a confession?” Neville asked.

Draco nodded, “A full confession, yeah,” He said, ignoring the look of surprise that flickered over Neville’s face at this news, “I left it with Weasley upstairs.”

“Well, Harry’s got to be happy enough with that,” Neville said.

Draco nodded again, “You two should go home. This case is practically closed now, and you both look exhausted.”

“You sure? You look knackered yourself,” Eddie said with a frown.

“I’m fine, honestly. You two should get home. I’ve got to wait for Potter. There’s no need in this being a late night for everyone.”

“Alright,” Neville said, pushing himself to his feet, “But I will visit Daphne at St. Mungo’s first.”

Eddie yawned, “Night, Draco.”

“Night,” Draco said, waving them both out of the door.

Once they were gone, he leant back at the sofa and drifted off into a light sleep. He was rather rudely awakened later by somebody kicking his sofa. He knew instantly there was only one person it could be.

“Sometimes a nice gentle shake of the shoulder would be nice, Potter,” Draco mumbled as he opened his eyes.

Harry smiled and pushed Draco’s feet off the sofa to sit down next to him, “Well, I have just finished off upstairs.”

“And?”

“And, bloody hell, I wish you were an Auror,” Harry said honestly, “You’d be a great partner. I love what you did with Selwyn. I was trying so hard not to laugh when I watched it back.”

Despite himself, Draco grinned, “It was okay?”

“It was great. It’s all tied up, we have a verbal and written confession, and we have enough evidence to take it to trial. He’ll be in Azkaban by next week, unfortunately not in Greyback’s cell,” Harry said in amusement.

Draco chuckled, “And the squibs?”

“Natalia and her team took the Hungarian ones to hospital, and we brought the British ones home. Hermione and Theo are only just back from Ukraine. They were knackered, so Theo offered to take Hermione home-”

Draco scoffed, “Of course he did,” he said, as he glanced at the clock and realised that it had just gone 2 am.

Harry frowned, “Hermione and Theo?”

“Yep,” Draco said in amusement, “I know. I thought she had more taste than that too. I thought she liked her men to be good guys, not bad boys.”

“Yeah, well, she slept with you,” Harry said, without really realising he had said it.

Draco raised an eyebrow at him, “Are you calling me a bad boy, Potter?”

Harry choked on thin air and scoffed, “What? No, I…”

Draco bit back a smirk, and Harry quickly changed the subject, “Anyway, I should go home, so… can I have my badge back?”

“Oh, right, sure,” Draco said as he reached into his robes and handed Harry his badge back.

Harry smiled as he took it and got to his feet, “You did a great job today Draco. I felt like I was working with a real Auror.”

“Thanks, Harry,” Draco replied as the shorter man left him alone in the basement once more.

“Hey! How’s the invalid doing?”

Daphne smiled weakly from her hospital bed in her private room at St. Mungo’s, “I’m alright. I could get used to this job. It’s pretty cool having a private room. How did the case go?”

Neville sat down by her bed, “All wrapped up. Draco got Selwyn’s confession. He’ll go down for this. We got most of the British squibs home, but Hermione and Theo are DNA testing the babies.”

Daphne sighed, “It was a horrible case.”

“I know,” Neville said quietly, “It touched all of us.”

“I’m sorry about your brother,” Daphne said.

Neville shrugged, “It’s fine. I’m sure if he’s still alive, I’ll find him someday.”

“At least you have that chance,” Daphne said. She cleared her throat, “I found Alex, I suppose, but an unmarked grave was all that was there to see when I got to Barcelona.”

“If the Death Eaters killed Noah, then I’ll never find so much as a grave,” Neville said darkly.

“Do you think they did?”

Neville shrugged, “Honestly, I don’t know. If he’s alive, I’ll find him, like I said. That’s all I do know.”

Daphne frowned slightly, “Neville-”

“Anyway, I brought you doughnuts,” Neville said with a false smile as he dropped the box onto her bedside table.

“I can’t eat them,” Daphne said with a chuckle, “I’m dosed up on pain potions.”

“Ah, sorry,” Neville said.

Daphne shook her head, “Look, Neville, about this morning-”

“I know,” Neville said, “It doesn’t mean anything. I know, trust me. Today, when you were hurt, it brought that back home. We can’t be involved when we work so closely together.”

Daphne nodded, “It’s too dangerous, not just for us but for the rest of the team.”

Neville bowed his head in a nod, “When do you reckon they’ll let you out of here?” He asked as he got to his feet.

“Well, it’s just a flesh wound, with some muscle damage,” Daphne replied, “So they’re keeping me in overnight for observation. But I’ll be back at work on Monday.”

Neville smiled at her from the door, “Good, well, I’ll see you then, Daphne. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Neville,” Daphne said, but he had already left when the words left her mouth.

On Monday morning, after the colossal smuggling case had been closed, the entire team found themselves back together in the basement. Draco had finally gotten all of his assets back at the weekend, so he was no longer sleeping on the sofa. When he walked in, the rest of the team were already sitting around on the couches, and they all had an air of general annoyance about them.

“What’s got you lot so worked up this morning?” Draco asked, grabbing the coffee that Neville had left on his desk.

“The Prophet,” Daphne said irritably, “And yes, I’m fine, by the way, since Neville was the only one who bothered to visit me in St. Mungo’s!”

“It was just a flesh wound. We knew you’d be alright,” Theo said offhandedly, “And honestly, Draco, haven’t you seen the paper this morning?’”

“I got my penthouse back this weekend. Surprisingly enough, on my first night back in my four-poster bed, I slept in,” Draco remarked dryly, “What’s the problem?”

“This,” Eddie said irritably as he thrust the paper into Draco’s hands.

“Are you actually serious?” Draco asked in disbelief when he saw the headline.

“HEROIC AUROR HARRY POTTER BUSTS INTERNATIONAL SQUIB SMUGGLING RING!”

“We aren’t mentioned in the article before you look,” Neville said, “Probably because we aren’t meant to exist.”

“That doesn’t mean Potter should get all of our credit!” Daphne fumed.

“We worked our arses off on that case!” Theo agreed, “Hermione and me were up all night with those babies!”

“And then you went back to her flat,” Draco said in amusement.

“And didn’t come home till Sunday morning,” Eddie grinned.

“Ooh, a two-nighter?” Daphne teased, “It must be serious.”

“That’s practically commitment for you,” Neville agreed.

Theo scoffed, “She’s good company, alright? That’s all there is to it.”

“Of course it is,” Draco said in amusement, “And look, forget about the Prophet. We don’t need the world to know that it was our work. We know that it was. That’s enough, isn’t it?”

“No,” Eddie and Theo echoed.

Daphne nodded, “I’ve got to agree, not being recognised for doing something sucks, especially when it was actually a good thing. If my mother knew about this, she’d reinstate me!”

“Well, tell her then and see if she believes you,” Draco said shortly, “But don’t sit around and whine about it. Because of this, Selwyn is going to go to Azkaban for a very long time. Who cares what the Prophet say about who caused that?”

“I couldn’t agree with you more,” Harry said as he walked into the room with a grin.

“Wipe that smug grin off of your face, Potter,” Daphne remarked, “You only got the recognition because we aren’t supposed to exist.”

“Yes, that is true,” Harry said, “But the people who matter know that this was all you. The Assistant Head of the DMLE knows that, and it’s on her behalf that I bring you all presents.”

They all looked confused as Harry waved his wand, and boxes appeared on all of their desks. Every desk apart from Draco’s. The blonde man smiled as his team opened the boxes because he knew what was in them.

“Auror robes?” Daphne asked in surprise.

“You aren’t Aurors, not even trainee Aurors, but you’re as good as, so you have a right to wear them,” Harry said, “You don’t just get given Auror robes, you have to earn them, and you all did more than enough to do that.”

Eddie grinned, “This is amazing, thanks, Potter!”

“Yeah,” Daphne smiled, “Thank you, Potter.”

Theo gave Harry a reluctant nod, “Thanks.”

Neville’s grin was the widest, “I can’t wait to get these back on.”

“I thought you might feel like that,” Harry laughed, “Can I talk to you and Draco outside, Neville?”

Neville nodded, putting the robes to one side and getting to his feet. Draco walked over silently, and the trio left the basement and stood in the concrete hallway separating it from the main department.

“Right Neville, you first,” Harry said, reaching into his robes, “I think you deserve to get this back.”

He pulled out a badge, and Draco noticed that it looked exactly the same as Harry’s apart from the name and the number.

“Obviously, you were a Class I Auror,” Harry said, “But because of your suspension and everything else, you have to start back at Class III. But you’re an Auror again, mate.”

Neville grinned as he proudly slipped the badge into his pocket. He grabbed Harry and pulled him into a bear hug, “Thanks, mate.”

“Don’t sweat it; you deserve it,” Harry chuckled, “Would you mind giving me a minute alone with Malfoy?”

“Sure,” Neville said, still beaming as he walked away into the basement.

Harry smiled at Draco, “Right then, Malfoy. This is for you.”

From his pocket, he pulled a badge which he held out for Draco. The blonde man stared at it in shock and didn’t reach out to take it. Harry reached out and put the badge in the palm of Draco’s hand. But Draco still only stared at it silently. It looked exactly like Harry’s, only with the name “DRACO MALFOY” emblazoned on the metal, and like Neville’s, it had the number “III”.

“You do want it, don’t you?” Harry asked curiously.

“I’m an Auror?” Draco asked, his voice breaking.

“Yeah,” Harry said, “Normally, you have to do training and tests, but I have a lot of influence. In fact-”

“Thank you, Harry,” Draco said, cutting Harry off and hugging him tightly.

Harry froze momentarily, but then he hugged Draco back. When the Slytherin pulled back from the hug, his face looked wet and Harry, not wanting to draw attention to it, said, “So Auror classifications go from III to I. III is the equivalent of a trainee Auror, which means technically, you can get fired at any point until you are promoted. Class II is a Junior Auror, and Coote and Dobbs are Class II. And Class I is a Senior Auror, which is what Ron and I are and what Neville used to be.”

“Your badge has a star next to the ‘I’,” Draco remembered.

Harry frowned, “Uh yes, it does. I didn’t think you’d have looked at it that closely.”

“Photographic memory,” Draco lied.

“Oh,” Harry said, “Well, the star is for exemplary service,” He looked embarrassed to admit that.

“What did you do to get it?” Draco asked curiously.

“I saved the Minister for Magic,” Harry replied, “I jumped in front of a curse for him…and I ended up in St. Mungo’s for six months, so they gave me the star on my badge.”

“That’s either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid,” Draco said dryly as he wiped his eyes hastily.

Harry laughed weakly, “A bit of both, I think. It normally is with me.”

Draco smiled, “Thank you for this.”

“You deserve it,” Harry said. He cleared his throat, “Just keep leading that team the way you do. The good thing about being an Auror, officially or not, is that it’s very easy to climb the ranks quickly. You just need to be devoted to your job and keep acing cases like this one. The thing is Malfoy, a lot of Aurors are lonely because of the strains of the job, and the people we work with…they become like family to us.”

“Yes,” Draco agreed as he thought about his own team, “They do.”

Harry nodded, and they stood in the corridor silently, “But anyway, take this,” Harry said, thrusting a brown folder into Draco’s hands, “It’s your list of bail skippers for the week.”

“Wow, thanks Potter,” Draco drawled, “Way to ruin the moment.”

“Were we having a moment, Malfoy?” Harry grinned as he walked away, disappearing through a door to the other side of the wall.

- TBC -

Chapter Text

“I am going insane. When are we going to catch a case?”

“Whenever Potter gives us one,” Draco remarked as Daphne let her head fall onto the table with a loud thump.

“I’m so bored,” Theo whined.

“It’s been a month since our last case, Draco,” Eddie agreed, “We’re all sick of dealing with petty crimes.”

“Yes, well, we can’t make cases appear,” Draco said with a raised eyebrow, “Unless you want to go out and murder someone to create a case?”

Daphne opened her mouth, and Neville gave her a pointed look, “Don’t say anything.”

Daphne glared at the former Gryffindor, “Can’t you go talk to your best buddy and see if he has anything interesting he can give us?”

“I could,” Neville replied, “But I won’t because he would have come down here with it already if he had something for us.”

“Ugh!” Daphne groaned, “Draco, please talk to Potter.”

“Longbottom is right. If he had a case for us, he’d have given it to us,” Draco drawled.

“You’re totally on his side because he gave you that stupid badge,” Theo muttered.

“I swear, you polish the damn thing,” Daphne teased.

“I’ve seen him just sitting at his desk staring at it,” Neville grinned.

Draco rolled his eyes and got to his feet, “Fine! I’ll talk to Potter if it convinces you lot to shut your mouths. Honestly, you are like a bunch of crime obsessed children!” He said as he stalked to the door and stormed out.

Truthfully he was missing it too. Dealing with petty crime was boring, and he wanted a real case, but he was supposed to be the calm, controlled one. That was his role as their leader.

When he reached Harry’s team's bullpen, there seemed to be an awful lot going on. Everyone was running about, so Draco leant in the doorway and wondered how long it would take for somebody to notice him. 

“Malfoy!” Ritchie Coote realised eventually.

“Wondered how long it would be until you noticed me,” Draco drawled, “What’s going on here?”

“We just got a case in,” Emma Dobbs said.

“Anything interesting?”

“Just a murder,” Harry said as he walked out of his office, “Looks like a wife killing her unfaithful husband, run of the mill stuff. What brings you here, Malfoy?”

“My team are driving me insane. They have cabin fever,” Draco admitted in amusement, “They’re going mad without a case. Daphne is hitting her head off her desk, and I’m positive I caught Longbottom and Theo playing Quidditch in the basement yesterday.”

Harry laughed, “It gets like that sometimes. It’s either mad around here or dead quiet.”

“Pun intended?” Draco asked.

Harry grinned, “Entirely.”

“I don’t suppose you have anything you can hand over to us?” Draco asked, “I don’t know how much longer I can put up with it.”

“I’ve got one, but it’s tricky. We’ve barely any evidence. We’re thinking of shelving it as a cold case,” Harry admitted, “I’ll grab the file though. I doubt it’s solvable, but at the very least, it will give you something interesting to do.”

Draco followed Harry into his very messy office. He smirked but said nothing as Harry raked through his filing cabinet and eventually pulled out a thin brown file, “Here it is.”

“Thanks, even if you are just helping me to entertain them,” Draco said in amusement.

Harry’s eyes sparkled with amusement, “Running a team like this is like having a kid. They need constant attention, or they complain.”

“Tell me about it. My cousin is easier than that lot,” Draco said as they left his office.

Harry’s team were now waiting for him in the team bullpen.

“Your cousin?” Harry asked curiously.

“Teddy,” Draco confirmed, “I reconciled with my Aunt Dromeda not long after the war. You’re his Godfather, aren’t you?”

Harry nodded, “I’m surprised that you’re in his life, if I’m honest. I haven’t seen you around Androemda’s house.”

“Well, I was a criminal, and you were the Auror who was constantly on my case. I didn’t exactly want to bump into you over birthday cake with a blue-haired child, so I timed my visits when you weren’t there,” Draco said matter of factly.

“And Andromeda was your accomplice?”

Draco winked at Harry as they reached the point where they parted ways, “We’re Blacks, Potter. Family trumps everything else.”

Harry chuckled and leaned against the wall while Draco hovered in the doorway to the stairwell down to the basement, “I suppose I can forgive her for that.”

“Now that we’re not enemies, though, I suppose I’ll see you at his birthday party next week,” Draco said.

“I suppose so,” Harry mused, “Anyway, I better go, Malfoy. Have fun with that case.”

“Is that a file in your hand?” Daphne asked eagerly.

“Yes, but Potter only gave it to me to humour you lot,” Draco said in amusement, “Apparently, there’s hardly any evidence, and it was going to be shelved as a cold case, but he’s letting us have a go at it first.”

“Well, what’s the case then?” Eddie asked curiously.

“It’s a missing person’s case,” Draco said, putting his feet up on his desk as he flipped through the file, “Scratch that…missing people.”

“How many?” Neville asked.

“Three.”

“Any connection?” Theo asked.

“I’d say so,” Draco frowned, “Two women and a man. All aged between 24 and 25.”

“Our age,” Daphne said slowly.

“Do we know them?” Eddie frowned.

“Some of us must do,” Draco said, “They’re all British. We went to school with them.”

“Who are they?” Neville asked.

“The first person to go missing was Sally-Anne Perks, aged 24,” Draco said.

“Gryffindor,” Eddie frowned, “She’s really quiet. She had good grades…I think she was friends with the gossipy Gryffindor girls, Brown and Patil.”

“You knew her?” Draco asked in surprise.

“Not really. I just have a good memory for names and faces,” Eddie admitted.

“She’s a pureblood,” Draco said as he glanced at the file.

“Are they all purebloods?” Theo asked.

“I’m not sure,” Draco replied, “The second person to go missing was Su Li, also a pureblood.”

“Ravenclaw…quiet, academic,” Eddie said.

Draco frowned, “And the third person was also a pureblood, Wayne Hopkins.”

“Hufflepuff… also very quiet,” Eddie said.

“So there’s one connection. They were all quiet, unassuming individuals…people who wouldn’t necessarily be noticed too much if they disappeared,” Draco said.

“They are also all children of people who are, or were, in the ‘Neutral’ political party,” Daphne pointed out.

“Potter realised that too. He’s noted it in the file,” Draco said, “But that doesn’t exactly help us. Why would somebody be picking off the neutrals? They didn’t fight in the war, and they didn’t help Voldemort either.”

“But there were lots of conspiracy theories about them,” Daphne pointed out, “A lot of people thought they were secretly providing the Death Eaters with money and support.”

“Were they?” Eddie asked.

Draco shook his head, “No, they have always remained neutral. But if you are right, Daphne, that suggests that this isn’t an ex-Death Eater.”

“I think it’s far more likely it’s someone who has a grudge against the Death Eaters,” Daphne said.

Draco glanced at the file thoughtfully, “Potter and his team only looked at this from the angle that it was an ex-Death Eater…maybe we can find out more if we look at it from a different angle.”

“But who would want to kill the children of neutrals if they thought the neutrals had helped the Death Eaters?” Theo asked.

“Someone who lost someone they loved to Death Eaters,” Neville realised, “All of these people are our age…if this person thought the neutrals played a part in their child or their sibling's death, then maybe they are punishing the neutrals by taking their children.”

“That…” Draco trailed off, “That actually makes perfect sense, Longbottom.”

Neville smirked, “I was an Auror for years.”

Draco nodded. He was clearly deep in thought, “Alright. You probably have the best record with Professor McGonagall. Go to Hogwarts and ask for the records of all students who were in our year. We need to know their parents’ names, siblings' names, and last known addresses.”

“She’ll want a warrant from a judge,” Neville warned, “There’s no way she’ll just hand them over.”

“Is our reasoning sound enough for a warrant?” Draco asked his second in command.

“That depends on the judge,” Neville admitted, “So it’s a good thing, really, that I’m still on good terms with my ex Padma.”

Eddie grinned, “The Great Honorable Padma Boot?”

“That’s the one,” Neville said with a smug grin, “I’ll see if I can get her to agree to a warrant for the records.”

“Until we get one, there’s a limit to what we can do,” Draco admitted, “But we’ll start a manual list while you’re at it, Longbottom.”

Neville nodded, “I’ll be as quick as I can,” He promised as he slipped out of the basement.

Draco was too busy spreading out a large sheet of parchment to respond, “Right then, you three! Heads together, who in our year died or was injured in the war?”

By the time Neville returned, with a smug grin on his face, the list was relatively small and incomplete.

“I got the warrant,” Neville said, he waved his wand, and two cardboard boxes appeared on the floor, “I took it to Hogwarts. Here is a copy of every student’s record, with all the information we need.”

Draco sighed in relief, “Great. Everybody grab a handful of files and work your way through them,” He ordered.

“Did you have any luck here?” Neville asked as he grabbed some files and sat down at his desk behind Draco’s.

“Not really. We figured out that seven people in our year are now dead,” Draco said, “But Blaise was murdered after the war, so he doesn’t count. Crabbe was killed during the war. But his father was a Death Eater, so he would have no grudge against the neutrals.”

“Same with Millicent Bulstrode. Her parents were Death Eater sympathizers, so that rules them out too,” Daphne said.

“Which leaves us with Lavender Brown, Zacharias Smith, Leanne Fox and Morag MacDougal…a Gryffindor, two Hufflepuff’s and a Ravenclaw. Ironically this wasn’t a Slytherin.”

“You never know,” Neville said, “Just because they weren’t Slytherins doesn’t mean their parents or siblings weren’t. Look at me; my Dad was a Ravenclaw, my Mum was a Hufflepuff, and I became a Gryffindor.”

“I’m the Slytherin daughter of a Slytherin and a Ravenclaw,” Daphne said.

“Slytherin son of two Slytherin parents,” Draco admitted.

“We know,” Theo and Eddie said simultaneously.

“I had one Slytherin and one Ravenclaw too,” Theo added in amusement, “How about you, Eds?”

“Well, my Mum was a Muggle, but my Dad was a Ravenclaw,” Eddie said, “I guess I’m boring.”

Draco hummed thoughtfully, “Right then team. You are looking for people who were injured in the war. Longbottom?”

“Yeah?”

“I think you and I should look through these four files,” Draco said as he handed Lavender Brown and Zacharias Smith’s files to Neville and kept Leanne Fox’s and Morag MacDougal’s to look through himself.

“I think we’re going to need coffee for this,” Daphne said as she looked at the mountain of files.

By 6 pm, they hadn’t discovered anything else. They knew that whoever was causing the trouble had to be a relative of Brown, Smith, Fox or MacDougal. They were getting ready to call it quits for the day when Harry strolled in.

Draco frowned, “What have you done to your face?”

Harry mirrored his frown and raised his hand to his cheek, where there was blood, “Oh, I didn’t even realise it was bleeding. The murderer in that case we caught today put up a fight.”

“Come here, and I’ll sort it,” Neville said, motioning to the spot beside him on the sofa.

Harry sat down heavily and asked, “So, how is my tricky case treating you?”

“Not great,” Draco said honestly, “All we managed to work out was that, like you, we think there is a connection to the Neutrals. But we don’t think that makes it a Death Eater. We think it’s the opposite.”

Harry raised an eyebrow and then winced as Neville used a cleaning charm on the cut on his cheek.

“You’re an Auror. Deal with it,” Neville said in amusement.

Harry glared at his friend and looked back at Draco, “What do you mean, Malfoy?”

“Well, we think this was someone with a grudge against the Death Eaters,” Draco explained, “Daphne pointed it out, and it makes sense. There are a lot of conspiracy theories that the Neutrals helped the Death Eaters. Obviously that isn’t true, but what if somebody was convinced that it was?”

“They would want revenge,” Harry realised, “So you think this is someone hurting kids for revenge?”

“For revenge because they lost their child or their sibling,” Daphne said with a nod, “We think it’s the parent or sibling of someone in our year who died because all of the missing people were in our year.”

“That’s a reasonable assumption,” Harry said thoughtfully, “Who have you narrowed it down to?”

“A relative of Lavender Brown, Zacharias Smith, Leanne Fox or Morag MacDougal. They were all purebloods, so their parents could do this,” Theo said.

“Are you sure it's a parent?” Harry asked, “Because Lavender had an older sister - ”

“Who married a Death Eater,” Draco pointed out, “Meaning that whatever he says, Lavender Brown’s father must have had some ties to the Death Eaters.”

“Fair point,” Harry agreed, “But what about Leanne’s older brother?”

“We did consider that,” Neville admitted, “Leanne’s younger sister, Alys, died in the Battle of Hogwarts, so her parents and her older brother are both options.”

Harry nodded thoughtfully, Draco watched him, and it was as if he could see the cogs whirring in Harry’s head.

“What are you thinking?”

Harry looked up at Draco, “I don’t think it’s Kevin Brown or a Fox. Brown lost Lavender, but he still has her older sister, Laurel. And yes, the Fox’s lost their two daughters, but they still have their son and heir in Benjamin.”

“Just like the MacDougal’s still have their son and heir in Hamish,” Draco realised.

Harry nodded, “Which implicates Smith, doesn’t it?”

“Wait,” Eddie cut in, “What are you talking about?”

Draco looked away from Harry to explain, “Whoever did this lost everything; that’s why it can’t be someone who still has a living child.”

Eddie frowned, “But didn’t Zacharias Smith have a brother?”

“Yeah,” Theo nodded, “He was a little shit, and he was in Slytherin. If I'm honest, I had more time for him than I ever had for Zacharias.”

Harry shook his head, “From what I know of Zacharias’s dad, Ezekiel, he’s a dick. I think the younger brother got disowned.”

Draco nodded, “That is ringing a bell, actually.”

Harry leant back against Neville’s desk, “I’m sure he was. I remember it happening, he was disowned for being gay, and from what I’ve heard about Ezekiel, that’s not a forgivable sin in his eyes.”

“The man sounds charming,” Draco remarked dryly.

“He’s a real pillar of society,” Harry returned in the same tone, “Check something for me. Are the three missing people all only children?”

Draco glanced at the file and flicked through the information on the three missing people. After a minute or so, he looked up and said, “Yes. Two of them were born as only children, and one of them, Su Li, lost a brother when she was young.”

“Then this is definitely the parent of someone who only has one living child,” Harry said firmly, “And in Ezekiel Smith’s eyes, he does only have one child.”

“I know you’re doing the ‘brainstorm’ thing with Draco, but can you stay still until I finish?” Neville asked Harry irritably.

When Neville dabbed some alcohol on his wound, Harry hissed in pain, “Can I have some of that to drink?”

“Unless you want to drink pure alcohol and kill yourself, no,” Neville grinned, “She really got you, Harry. This is pretty deep. You’re lucky it’s just a flesh wound.”

“Yeah, well, she picked up a kitchen knife and threw it at me,” Harry said offhandedly, “It barely even hurt. I thought it was just a nick. But anyway, Malfoy, do go on.”

Draco smiled in amusement, “All we know about Ezekiel Smith is that he was in Slytherin like the youngest son he pretends doesn’t exist, and he owns a gambling arcade in Knockturn.”

“Sounds dodgy. What happened to his wife?”

Draco glanced down, “Lucinda, formerly Talkalot, she was in Ravenclaw. She died in 1995, looks like it was related to mental illness.”

Harry nodded, “Fits, doesn’t it, Neville?”

Neville nodded, “Yes, it does. And I think it’s our most likely option.”

“Do you have an address for Ezekiel Smith?” Harry asked as Neville closed up the cut on his face.

“We do, but we can’t just barge in there all guns blazing. Can we?” Eddie asked in disbelief.

“No, we can’t,” Harry chuckled.

“What on Merlin’s green Earth is a gun?” Draco asked with a raised eyebrow.

Harry snorted, “A Muggle weapon that kills people. Anyway, Eddie is right, we, or rather you can’t just run in there…and I don’t think we have enough for an arrest warrant either…you’ll have to think of something else.”

“And I assume that means you won’t help us,” Draco said in amusement.

“I’m just your boss,” Harry grinned, “You need to work this out alone. Come find me if you need my help or if you get enough evidence for a warrant, Malfoy.”

“Will do. See you later, Potter,” Draco said as the dark-haired man left the office. He got to his feet, “Right then. Nobody goes home until we have a plan.”

Daphne rolled her eyes, “Well, we can’t all barge in there. It would look suspicious. But what if a couple of us showed up on his door wanting to talk about something else?”

“Play him to get in the house, you mean?” Eddie asked.

Daphne nodded, “I’m sure we could think of something to say to him so that he would let us in.”

“He’s a gambler….” Theo mused, “What if we told him we worked for the WWN and we were doing a radio broadcast about gambling?”

“That’s a brilliant idea, Theo,” Draco agreed, “He would want to talk about his business, and he would let us right in the door…we would have to go under glamour, and we would have to forge fake identities, but yes…it would work.”

“I can sort out the WWN identity cards,” Theo said, “They’re easy to replicate. They don’t even have a magical trace like Auror badges and most ID cards.”

“You could make them tonight?” Draco asked thoughtfully.

Theo nodded, “Yeah, it won’t take more than two hours.”

“Alright,” Draco said, “We have to decide who goes in then.”

“We could be dealing with a hostage situation,” Neville said, “We could also be dealing with a criminal mastermind. I think we really have to say that I should be one of the people who goes in. I was trained for this.”

“I don’t think anybody will argue with that, Longbottom,” Draco said honestly, “You are the most qualified. The only question is who will go with you.”

“I hate to say it again and sound like a coward, but I’m much more used to monitoring things outside,” Theo spoke up.

“You’re right; you forge things, monitor things, break down wards,” Draco nodded, “That’s your job, and that’s what you’re good at. Which means it’s down to one of us three,” He said to Daphne and Eddie.

“Well, somebody who has a vague understanding of his motives should go,” Eddie said, “And as a half-blood, I know next to nothing about political parties, let alone the Neutrals.”

“I did think that,” Daphne said, “And my father was a Neutral.”

“I want to say that I’ll do it,” Draco admitted, “But I’m not sure how much use I would be. I know a lot about the Neutrals, but my parents were Death Eaters. I’m exactly the kind of person he hates. If he sees through my disguise, I’d be dead instantly.”

“The stakes are too high for you,” Daphne admitted, “You’re right. Neville and I should do it.”

Draco looked between them for a moment and then nodded, “Alright. We’ll finalise things tomorrow morning. I expect to see you all here at 7 am sharp.”

They all got to their feet to leave, and when they had put their jackets on, Draco said, “Longbottom, Daphne, stick around for a few minutes, please.”

They froze, and Eddie and Theo left, their footsteps echoing down the concrete stairs and around the basement. When there was silence, Draco pushed himself onto his desk and said, “Is there going to be a problem tomorrow?”

“Why would there be a problem?” Daphne asked calmly.

“With you two going undercover together,” Draco said, “Is that going to cause a problem?”

“Why would it cause a problem, Malfoy?” Neville asked smoothly.

“Do you two think I’m as oblivious as Potter? I know you slept together last month while we were dealing with the squib case,” Draco said. He crossed his arms, “And I don’t want personal feelings to get in the way of the job.”

“There are no personal feelings,” Neville said firmly, “It was a one-time thing.”

“We were both upset about the case, that’s it,” Daphne agreed.

Draco surveyed them both and finally said, “Fine, you can go to your own flats. I’ll see you in the morning.”

They said goodnight and left, and Draco sighed heavily as he hung his Auror robes up on the hook by the door and threw his jacket on. He decided to leave from the upstairs apparition point, in the odd chance that Harry was still in the office. When he reached the main team office, it was empty, and the lights were out. But the door to the terrace was slightly ajar, and when Draco slipped out, he wasn’t surprised to see Harry leaning against the railing, cigarette in hand, wearing a red leather jacket.

“Did you work something out then?” Harry asked conversationally.

“We’re going in undercover tomorrow,” Draco sighed, “Can I have one of those?”

“I thought you hated the smell,” Harry chuckled as he gave Draco a cigarette.

“I do,” Draco mumbled as he lit it with a click of his fingers and took a drag. He sighed.

“What’s got you so stressed out?”

“Inter-team relationships,” Draco muttered, “Two of my team members slept with each other. And now they’re going into a dangerous situation under glamour…and I don’t know if I can trust them not to let their feelings get in the way.”

Harry sighed, “It happens when you work so closely with people…you see them nearly die right in front of you, and you form connections. In Auror training, we have this thing called the simulation room. It simulates awkward situations and your worst nightmares...it’s to test you, to see how you deal with a situation. You were in one of my first ones, actually.”

Draco raised an eyebrow, “I was?”

Harry nodded, “The brief was to bring in the enemy alive, interrogate them and get a confession. There was a no-kill order on the target, and you were the target. They were testing me to see if I could get over the fact you were my arch-enemy at school and arrest you. Or if I would lose my temper and kill you.”

“Did you kill me?” Draco asked curiously.

“No,” Harry replied honestly, “I arrested you, and you cried like a baby and pleaded for mercy. It was far more rewarding than killing you would have been.”

Draco snorted, “Yet that didn’t happen in real life.”

“No,” Harry agreed with a grin, “In real life, you joined me.”

“That’s even worse,” Draco muttered.

“But even more satisfying for me,” Harry laughed.

Draco shook his head in amusement, “But back to the point, do you think they’ll be okay tomorrow?”

“They’ll be fine,” Harry said, “Personal feelings do get in the way. You can’t help that. Nobody is entirely shut off. Sometimes they can actually help, though. Yes, they make you do stupid things, but sometimes a stupid thing can be the right thing.”

Draco rolled his eyes, “Alright, if you’re going to spout philosophical bullshit all night, then I’m going home,” he said, shooting Harry a smile as he left him alone on the terrace.

The entire team gathered in the basement at 7 am the following morning, just as Draco had asked. He was pacing as he gave them their instructions for the day.

“Alright, Longbottom and Daphne, you two are going in under glamour with the pretence of working for the WWN,” Draco said as he handed them their fake IDs, “Theo made these for you last night. There’s no way he’ll doubt them.”

“What will the rest of us be doing?” Theo asked.

“You will be on the roof,” Draco said, “I want the usual from you and Eddie - a map of the building with tracking spells on Longbottom and Daphne. Life signs too, Eddie. If there are hostages, I want to find them.”

Eddie and Theo nodded.

“I will be on the roof with you,” Draco added. He glanced at Daphne and Neville, “But I will be there as your backup. So if you need me, open the communication channel, and I’ll come in.”

Daphne nodded, “Understood. When are we going in?”

“Now,” Draco said, “Before he leaves for work at 8.30 am, that’s why I asked you all here so early. We will leave from the apparition point - Theo, Eddie and I will be invisible, and you two will be under glamour before you leave. You’ll look the same as you did for the last undercover stint you did together like Theo put on the ID cards.”

Daphne and Neville wasted no time in sorting out their glamour charms. It only took a few minutes, and when it was done, they headed for the apparition point together.

“Once we get there, you two head straight to the door and remain in character. We’ll work our way to the roof while under disillusionment charms. Are we ready?” Draco asked.

There were nods all around, so they left. When they reached their destination, they put their plan into place. It was an isolated building on the outskirts of the city of Durham. It was a reasonably sizeable manor, and like any wizarding residence, it had an enchanted gate. Draco, Eddie and Theo remained disillusioned as Daphne put her hand on the gate and waited for entry.

A voice spoke, from beyond the gates, “What business do you have here?”

“Hi there, Mr Smith,” Daphne said, “I’m Athena Blacklaw, and this is Arcturus Cartwright. We’re from the WWN, we are working on a radio broadcast about gambling, and we’d love to chat with you about it. Possibly even record a segment to play on air?” She held up her ID card, and Neville did too.

There was a pause, “Of course, it would be my pleasure. Come in.”

The gates opened, and they all breathed a sigh of relief. Draco, Eddie and Theo slipped in behind Daphne and Neville, and when they headed straight for the door, the others branched off to find a way to climb onto the roof towards a convenient monitoring point.

Daphne and Neville met a tall man inside the house. He had greying blonde hair and a smug smile. He offered them tea, and they took seats in the drawing-room. The conversation began with gambling questions, simple things about his business and his customers. It seemed to be going well until Daphne brought up his son.

“And you lost your son in the war, Mr Smith. Did that affect the business? It is called Smith & Sons, isn’t it?”

Ezekiel Smith’s face paled, and his eyes narrowed. Neville began to reach for his wand, but they had failed to realise that Smith had accomplices. He raised his hand and clicked his fingers, and Neville and Daphne were both hit in the back with stunning charms.

“Do you have eyes in there yet?” Draco asked impatiently.

“Getting there, the wards are complicated,” Theo mumbled.

“Nearly got the external wards,” Eddie said, his eyes were shut tight with concentration.

“I can tell,” Theo said quietly.

“Got them,” Eddie said, his eyes snapping open.

Theo sighed with relief, “That makes my job easier, thanks, Eds.”

“He’s definitely hiding something,” Eddie breathed, “Those were ridiculously complex wards.”

“He’s not kidding. They’re practically Gringotts level,” Theo muttered as his map came to life with rooms and corridors.

“Remember, this is still a pureblood manor,” Draco said quietly, “Strong wards are to be expected on the more ancient houses like this one, and I have a feeling it was a safe house for the Order of the Phoenix during at least one war.”

“Still,” Eddie muttered, “There was something off about those wards.”

“Got the map,” Theo said as he pushed it towards Draco.

Draco glanced down, “Great. Eddie, any chance of getting some life signs?”

Eddie nodded and closed his eyes once more. He gripped his wand tightly, and he had paled slightly. Breaking through the wards had drained his magic significantly, but he persevered as he lay on the roof, mumbling in Latin.

It took another ten minutes, but the life signs gradually appeared on the map. Draco surveyed it as they did. He frowned, “Is that a dungeon?”

Theo followed Draco’s finger and nodded, “Uh, it’s a secret basement beneath the drawing-room. A lot of families have them-”

“I know,” Draco said darkly, “But look, Theo. There is only one life sign in that house that isn’t in that basement.”

“So either Smith’s turned it into a secret gambling room, or they’ve caught Neville and Daphne,” Eddie whispered.

Theo surveyed the map, “More life signs are appearing. Holy shit, Draco, there are about ten more people in that house.”

“Guards,” Draco muttered, “Look, there are two guarding each entrance to the drawing-room…they are guarding the way to the basement….”

“Which means Neville and Daphne have to fight their way out,” Theo said.

“Or we have to fight our way in,” Draco said darkly.

“Well, what do we do now?” Eddie whispered, “You can’t go in there. They’ll be on the lookout now.”

“I can’t just leave them there either,” Draco said.

“Call Potter,” Theo said quietly, “On your communications bracelet.”

“Potter is busy with his own case,” Draco muttered, “We can’t pull him away.”

“He said if there were emergencies to call him,” Eddie whispered, “And Daphne and Neville have been kidnapped. I’d say this was an emergency.”

Draco frowned as he tried to think of an alternative or anything else that they could do. But he drew a blank and groaned as he pushed his communications bracelet six times for Potter. He had to wait for a couple of minutes for an answer.

“Malfoy, I’m having lunch with Hermione. Is this urgent?”

“You tell me,” Draco remarked dryly, “Longbottom and Daphne were caught. They are in the basement.”

“How many others are in there?” Harry asked quickly.

“Two others in the basement, probably hostages,” Draco whispered, “And about ten guards in the house.”

“Shit, Draco, look,” Theo hissed as he looked down to the house's grounds.

“What? What’s going on? Dra - Malfoy, are you okay?”

Draco whispered, “About ten other guys are surrounding the house. We’re on the roof, so they probably won’t find us, but that also means we’re stuck here, and we can’t go in after Neville and Daphne.”

“Just stick it out, and stay quiet, Malfoy,” Harry said, panic slipping into his voice very slightly, “I’ll be there with back-up as soon as possible.”

His communications bracelet went silent, and Draco shuffled anxiously on the roof, desperately hoping that the people below didn’t think to look up here for accomplices.

“Enervate!”

When Neville and Daphne awoke, they were sitting in a dark cellar, lit by candles in lanterns. They weren’t chained to the wall or the ground, but their hands and feet were bound with magical ties. Their glamour charms had been removed, and they looked like their usual selves. Su Li and Wayne Hopkins were sitting across from them in the cellar, looking pale and thin but uninjured.

“You two are alive,” Neville said quietly.

Su Li nodded, “He killed Sally-Anne,” She whispered.

“Why?” Daphne whispered.

“He thinks it’s all some sick game,” Wayne said shakily.

Daphne frowned and was going to ask them to elaborate when a trap door above them opened, and Ezekiel Smith jumped down.

“It is always nice when new contestants walk right through my front door. I was starting to get bored with the two I have, but you two? You seem feisty.”

“Contestants?” Neville asked in disbelief, “This isn’t a game, Smith. I am an Auror, and I doubt even you would be stupid enough to kill me. You understand that the penalty for murdering an Auror is life in Azkaban?”

But the threat didn’t phase him. It only made Ezekiel smile, “You think I fear Azkaban?”

Neville looked at him in disbelief, “You should, yeah. Considering the high-security sector, where you would go, is full of Death Eaters.”

Ezekiel laughed, “If I go to Azkaban, it will be because I am destined to be there.”

Daphne and Neville shared a concerned look. They were both thinking the same thing, that this guy seemed more than a little unhinged.

“Besides, I will not kill you. Fate will decide,” Ezekiel said.

“Fate will decide?” Daphne asked with a raised eyebrow, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“That’s his game, don’t play it,” Su whispered.

“Shut up!” Ezekiel roared, “Or you’ll end up like your friend, in the lake outside!”

“You do realise that’s a confession, don’t you Smith?” Neville asked.

“You would need to survive to pass that on to anyone, Mr Longbottom,” Ezekiel said simply. He turned back to Su, who was whimpering in the corner. Ezekiel grinned wickedly at her, “I think…yes…I think I should teach you a lesson. I think it’s your turn to play the game.”

“No,” Su said, “No, I don’t want to!”

Ezekiel pulled a galleon from his pocket, “Do you pick the dragon's head or its tail, Miss Li?”

“What are you doing?” Neville asked angrily.

“This is the game, Mr Longbottom,” Ezekiel said simply, “The stakes are high, but that makes it fun.”

“You call this fun? These two are scared for their lives! And you’ve already killed one innocent person!” Daphne exclaimed.

“Innocent? You make me laugh!” Ezekiel barked out a laugh.

Ezekiel snapped back to complete calmness, “Anyway, I didn’t kill them. Lady luck did. Pick, Miss Li!”

“I don’t want to pick,” Su whimpered.

“Ah, but you have to, Miss Li,” Ezekiel said condescendingly, “Or else I’ll kill you anyway. If you do pick, you at least have a chance at living. If you choose correctly, you will live, and I will let you walk away from here, and if you choose wrongly, I will kill you, right here.”

“Don’t pick. He’s bluffing,” Daphne said quickly.

“No, he’s not,” Su Li sobbed, “He did it to Sally-Anne. He killed her. We saw him kill her.”

“You are perfectly right, Miss Li,” Ezekiel said casually, “So will it be the dragon's head or tail?”

“It’s head,” Su whispered.

Ezekiel’s wicked grin returned as he tossed the galleon into the air and let it fall onto his hand. He lifted his hand, and Su screamed when she saw that it had landed on the dragon’s tail.

“Pity,” Ezekiel sighed, “You are such a pretty young lady after all. There was so much potential there. Never mind… diffindo,” he said almost lazily.

Daphne physically jumped back as Ezekiel’s severing charm cut Su’s head clean off her shoulders. The blood sprayed everywhere and covered all of them.

Neville retched, and Daphne tried to lunge at Ezekiel, but Neville kicked her to avoid her getting herself into more trouble than she needed to.

Su Li’s limp body fell to the floor, and with a wave of Ezekiel’s wand, it vanished.

“I wonder if all these corpses will pollute my lake,” Ezekiel pondered. He used his sleeve to wipe the blood from his face, and the motion was so calm that it could almost be described as absentminded, “I do love my fish….”

“Why did you do that?” Neville asked, his voice cold and devoid of emotion.

“To punish her,” Ezekiel replied smoothly.

“Who are you really punishing? Her? Or her mother for being involved with the Neutrals?” Daphne asked hotly.

Ezekiel smiled, not so much of a teeth-baring grin but more like an eerie, creepy smile, “Ah, very clever, Miss Greengrass. Of course, you saw the connection. Your father was a Neutral after all, was he not?”

“Yes, he was,” Daphne said, “So will you kill me next?”

“No,” Ezekiel said honestly, “I find that much too boring…the game does not stay the same every time I play it. The methods change, but the rules stay the same. Fate always decides, and the game is not over until I am the last person in this room.”

“Does that mean you’re going to kill us all?” Wayne asked quietly.

“No, it means that whether we leave because we win or leave because we die, the game isn’t over until we are all gone,” Neville replied.

“Precisely, Mr Longbottom,” Ezekiel said with a nod, “The question is…who will play next? The son of a Neutral? The daughter of a Neutral? Or the son of two fallen, insane war heroes?”

“Don’t talk about my parents that way,” Neville hissed, fighting against his restraints.

Ezekiel laughed, “You have spirit. I’ll let you live a little longer…Miss Greengrass, it’s your turn. The dragon's head or its tail?”

“What are the stakes?” Daphne asked with narrowed eyes.

“If you call correctly, you leave,” Ezekiel said, “If you call incorrectly, you murder your Auror friend here.”

Daphne swallowed, “And if I refuse?”

“I kill you both,” Ezekiel replied matter of factly.

“Do it, Daphne,” Neville muttered.

“And risk having to kill you?” Daphne asked in disbelief.

“Do it,” Neville said hotly, “There’s no point in both of us dying here. Call it.”

Daphne frowned but turned to Ezekiel, “Tail.”

“That’s the spirit!” Ezekiel grinned. He flipped the galleon into the air, and it soared down, landing on his hand softly. He held his hand out, and Daphne breathed a small sigh of relief when she saw that it had landed on tails.

“You’re a lucky lady Miss Greengrass,” Ezekiel said as he pulled open the trapdoor, “You are free to go.”

Daphne got to her feet but hesitated.

“Daphne, go!” Neville said irritably.

“Neville,” Daphne whispered, “How am I supposed to go and leave you here? How am I supposed to live with myself?”

“You’re the ice queen,” Neville retorted, “The girl who sleeps with guys and doesn’t care about their feelings, remember?”

Daphne’s eyes lingered on his.

“Go, for Godric’s sake Daphne!” Neville snapped, “Or are your personal feelings getting in the way?”

“Yes, they are!” Daphne exclaimed, “Because I can’t leave you to die here, Neville!”

“Ah, how romantic,” Ezekiel grinned, “Maybe I’ll change my mind and make you stay.”

“Go, Daphne!” Neville roared.

Daphne didn’t hesitate anymore. She jumped out of the trapdoor, and Ezekiel snapped it shut behind her. She ran from the building, and her hopes of finding Draco and the others were shot when she found herself cornered by about five guards who grabbed her and frog marched her to the gates.

“Is that Daphne?”

“Yes,” Draco whispered, “Where are they taking her?”

“They’re letting her go,” Theo said in disbelief.

Eddie frowned. The gates closed, and Daphne disappeared.

“Why would they do that?”

“I don’t know, but I heard screaming, and Longbottom is still down there,” Draco said darkly, “I’m going in through the attic.”

“Potter said to sit tight,” Theo hissed.

“Potter said that half an hour ago. Where is he now?” Draco bit back in an angry whisper.

“You can’t go in there alone, Draco,” Eddie whispered, “It’s a suicide mission.”

“Only if I get caught,” Draco said, “Keep an eye on things from here. And if Potter does show up, fill him in.”

“Draco!” Theo hissed, “Draco!”

But Draco didn’t stop his crawl across the roof. He ignored Theo and dropped into the house via the attic. He was careful, and he saw nobody as he walked through the house, still under a disillusionment charm. The drawing-room door was protected by two guards, who had clearly come from outside. Draco managed to stun one with a whispered stunning charm, but the other was too fast for him and grabbed him before he could stun him. His disillusionment charm was removed, and he was thrown roughly into the basement beneath the drawing-room floor.

“Draco!” Neville shouted in surprise, “What the hell are you doing here?”

“I was trying to save you,” Draco said, “I heard screaming.”

“That was Su Li. He killed her,” Neville said, motioning to the man watching them.

Ezekiel smiled, and Draco frowned, “Where’s Daphne?”

“She won the game, so she left. The game is fair.”

“What on earth is he talking about? He sounds like a mad man,” Draco hissed under his breath.

“It’s this game. It doesn’t end until everyone in the room is gone or dead,” Neville muttered, “You shouldn’t have come after us, you bloody idiot!”

“Yeah, well, that’s the last time I try and do something heroic,” Draco muttered back.

“Draco Malfoy,” Ezekiel said with an odd smile, “Death Eater. Son of the dead Death Eater, Lucius Malfoy.”

“Well done, you know who I am,” Draco said sarcastically.

“You are the perfect candidate for my game,” Ezekiel grinned.

“Why are you playing this game, Smith?” Neville asked irritably, “What could you possibly gain from it? What is the point?”

“The point is suffering!” Ezekiel roared, “My son suffered at the hands of the Death Eaters! The Death Eaters who received their funding from the Neutrals!”

“The Neutrals had nothing to do with your son’s death,” Neville told the man, “The Death Eaters alone were responsible. The Neutrals never supported them. That is a conspiracy theory, Smith, and it’s a lie!”

“It’s not a lie!” Ezekiel roared.

“Where’s your proof?” Draco asked coolly.

“How else would criminals have been able to take over our country-”

“Because the Death Eaters were planted in the highest orders of society,” Draco cut him off, “Voldemort had spies in every part of the Ministry, in Hogwarts, in St. Mungos. This has nothing to do with the Neutrals, and it certainly has nothing to do with their children.”

Ezekiel shook his head angrily, “They took him from me! My son was taken from me. My only son!”

“But, he wasn’t your only son, was he?” Draco asked calmly,

Ezekiel looked at Draco furiously, “I have only ever had one son, my heir, Zacharias.”

“And the spare, Benedict,” Draco added, “Who you disowned for what you perceive to be a sin.”

The way Draco had worded that made Neville frown slightly. But this wasn’t the time or place to question him about that.

“I have only ever had one son!” Ezekiel snapped loudly, “And now, I take the only sons and daughters of those who paid those men to take him!”

Again, his face contorted into that horrible grin, “I believe you are both only sons.”

“Yes, and both of us don’t have parents who are alive or would miss us,” Neville said bitterly, “So there’s no one for you to hurt. Nobody cares if we die, our parents are dead. What do you have to gain from killing us?”

“The answer to that is easy,” Ezekiel said, “You know too much about my game. You know far too much. You must play the game like the others. And it is your turn, Mr Longbottom.”

“What is the game?” Draco asked in disbelief.

“You will see, Mr Malfoy,” Ezekiel said smoothly as he thumbed the galleon, “Will it be heads or tails, Mr Longbottom?”

“What are the stakes?”

“If you have chosen correctly, I will unbind your friend’s arms,” Ezekiel said, “If you choose incorrectly, I will cut them off.”

“What?” Draco barked, “What kind of sick game is this?”

“The twisted game of a madman,” Neville answered in a whisper.

“You can’t pick one!” Draco hissed.

“If I don’t, he’ll kill us both,” Neville said calmly, “Those are the game's rules.”

“You sound as mad as him!” Draco exclaimed.

“Pick, Longbottom!”

“Tails.”

“Longbottom, if I lose my arms, I will kill you with my fucking teeth,” Draco hissed as the coin was tossed into the air and landed on Ezekiel’s hand. He grinned as he looked down at it and showed Draco the coin. The dragon's head was showing.

“Left arm or right arm first? I wonder…” Ezekiel asked as he raised his wand and began to say a cutting charm. He brought it down, and Draco shouted in pain as the curse cut into his arm.

Before the curse could be completed, however, the trapdoor burst open, and Neville kicked Draco out of the way of the curse so it could not penetrate any deeper. He found himself lying on his side on the cold, concrete floor. His arm was bleeding heavily, and the wound was deep. He was trying not to show how much pain he was in, but that wasn’t easy.

Some hope came briefly because the person who had stormed into the cellar was Harry Potter. He was currently duelling Ezekiel, and he looked furious.

But the room was small, and the curses were bouncing off of the walls like wildfire, and all it took was for Harry to duck just a little bit too soon. The curse just caught Harry, scoring his face with a long thin line, and then he began to bleed. He recoiled, and Ezekiel grabbed him and pointed his wand at his throat.

“Perfect timing, Mr Potter!” Ezekiel grinned, “It was Mr Malfoy’s turn to play the game.”

“What game?” Harry asked coolly.

“Just go with it,” Neville muttered as one of Ezekiel's henchmen jumped down and forced Draco back up into a sitting position; the blood from his arm had covered his face and stained his clothes.

“Heads or tail, Mr Malfoy?” Ezekiel asked. The bitterness that had been creeping into his voice was now fully-fledged.

“What are the stakes?” Draco asked breathily.

“If you call correctly, I will let you all live. You will leave here as free men. However, if you pick wrongly, I will murder your friend,” Ezekiel said calmly.

“He’s Harry Potter! He’s a bloody national treasure,” Neville said in disbelief, “You can’t kill him! You would get a dementor's kiss for that!”

“It is not I who would be killing him, but fate,” Ezekiel said, sounding like the madman he was, “Fate decides whether he should live or die, So pick, Malfoy!”

“I hate to tell you, but fate already decided whether I should live or die. The two killing curses I survived were a bit of a giveaway,” Harry muttered.

“In that case, you should have nothing to fear, Mr Potter,” Ezekiel said calmly, “So long as you trust your friend, here.”

“Malfoy,” Harry said quietly, “What the hell is going on?”

“If we don’t pick, he kills all of us,” Draco replied.

“That’s how his game works,” Neville said weakly.

“I have to pick,” Draco said quietly, his eyes boring into Harry’s.

The dark-haired man gave him a tiny nod, and Draco looked down.

“Pick, Malfoy!” Ezekiel roared.

“Heads,” Draco said quickly.

With the hand that wasn’t holding a wand to Harry’s throat, Ezekiel threw his galleon in the air, and when it came back down, it landed perfectly on his hand.

He held it out, and they all breathed a sigh of relief when the head of the dragon showed.

Ezekiel removed his wand from Harry’s throat and said.

“The game is fair. You may all go.”

Harry caught Draco’s eye, and seconds later, a shout of “STUPEFY!” resounded around the room.

Ezekiel stumbled and fell to the ground face-first as the curse hit him squarely. Harry took out his henchman and the three more that had come running. Then he unbound Draco and Neville.

While Neville went to help Wayne, Harry dropped to his knees next to Draco.

“Are you alright, Draco?” Harry asked, pulling his emergency healing kit from his bag and pouring dittany on Draco’s wound.

Draco groaned in pain and gripped Harry’s arm, “I’ve been better,” he said through gritted teeth.

“Sorry, but it will get infected otherwise,” Harry said as he ripped away the rest of the arm of Draco’s shirt and took a breath as he ran his wand over the skin to close it up. His hand didn’t shake at all, and the scar that was left was perfectly straight.

“Thank you, Potter,” Draco said as Harry helped him to his feet.

“Come on,” Harry said, “Let’s get out of here. We’ll debrief in the basement.”

As promised, they debriefed around an hour later.

Harry walked into the basement with his own team, and he shut the door behind him. He asked what had happened, and they told him everything, they told him Ezekiel’s motives, and they gave him memories and testimonies.

By the time it was over, they were exhausted, and as Harry and his team disappeared upstairs to deal with the aftermath of the case, Draco told his team to take some early leave to recover from the day’s events.

When they all left, he sat down on the sofa and poured himself a glass of firewhiskey. He took a drink, his hands still slightly shaky from the day's events. It had reminded him of the war. He had remembered Hermione Granger being tortured in his drawing-room. He remembered her screams, blood, and the scar carved into her arm. He had remembered his father, his father and the cruciatus curse. He had remembered the pain, the breaking of his bones only to be healed again afterwards. He remembered the laughter of the Death Eaters, his mother's screams, the silent tears on his father's face as he tried desperately to fight the imperius curse.

Draco downed the remainder of his glass and put it down on the table too heavily. The glass vibrated and shattered as his magic flared.

He found himself craving one of those bloody Muggle cigarettes of Harry’s. So he got to his feet, removed his Auror robes, put on his jacket and walked through the department into Harry’s team’s office. The lights were dimmed, and Ron was sitting at his desk, but the two Junior Aurors had gone.

“He’s on the balcony,” Ron sighed like he was resigned to the fact that nothing he said or did would end Harry and Draco’s budding friendship.

Draco simply nodded at the redhead and walked briskly across the office. When he walked out onto the terrace, he sat down on one of the rickety chairs. It was dark in this fake environment, but there was a warm breeze, and the stars were shining in the sky.

Harry turned around from his perch against the railing and held out a cigarette.

Draco lit it with his wand, and Harry sat down across from him on the second rickety chair. He waved his hand, and two glasses and a bottle of firewhiskey appeared on the table between them.

Harry shot Draco a sidelong look, “From the stash in my desk. It seems like it’s a night for it.”

Draco nodded his agreement and took a sip of the warm liquid. It burnt his throat, and he sighed appreciatively as he took a drag of the cigarette. He was becoming too fond of these awful tasting muggle things.

“You could have killed me today,” Harry said, his eyes fixed on Draco’s.

Draco smirked, “Come on now, Potter. We both know that you weren’t going to get killed by some madman. Your wand was in your hand the whole time. You could have gotten free at any point.”

Harry actually smiled. He didn’t smirk or grin; he smiled, “I knew that, but I didn’t know that you did too.”

“You underestimate me,” Draco said smoothly.

“Apparently so,” Harry said, his voice just as smooth.

“I called correctly anyway.”

“There wasn’t any skill in it,” Harry said, “It was just luck.”

“It’s ironic that I got it right then. I’m not a lucky person,” Draco said darkly as he looked up at the stars.

“Look at what’s happened in your life recently, Malfoy. You’ve gone from being a sleazy criminal on the black market to a man leading a team of highly successful, if unofficial, Aurors. You’ve also been made an Auror yourself, which isn’t easy, trust me. I had to go through three years of training, and I’m Harry bloody Potter. I was fresh out of the war in my glory days then too. You’ve done pretty well for yourself, really,” Harry said matter of factly.

“I know. But just because my future looks brighter…well, it doesn’t mean I can forget my past. I flashbacked to the war today in that basement,” Draco said honestly, “I remembered Granger being tortured and me…just standing there…doing nothing.”

“You did nothing for Hermione; that much is true,” Harry said, as his own eyes went to the stars, “But you certainly did something for me.”

Draco frowned and turned his head to look at the green-eyed man, “What are you talking about?”

“You knew it was me in Malfoy Manor,” Harry said, “You looked right at me, and you recognised me. I saw it in your eyes, but you didn’t tell them it was me. You helped me.”

“How do you know that I recognised you?” Draco asked curiously.

“You’d known me since we were 11, Draco,” Harry said, “We were up close and personal on a lot of occasions. We liked to get in each other’s faces when we were threatening each other,” he shot the blonde a grin, “You’d have recognised me in a shot if you wanted to, swollen face or not.”

Draco was silent for a moment.

“You’re right. I did recognise you.”

“I know you did.”

“I didn’t say anything because, for once, I wanted to try and do the right thing,” Draco said quietly, “Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it and all that.”

Harry snorted.

“What?” Draco asked defensively.

“Nothing,” Harry chuckled. He shook his head and threw his cigarette over the railing, “Would you have cared today, Malfoy, if you had called wrong and I hadn’t had my wand?”

Draco frowned, “Of course I would have cared. You’re my friend.”

“Am I?” Harry asked thoughtfully, “I was never quite sure what we were. Friends, acquaintances, people who tolerated each other for the sake of work…I do enjoy our little chats out here, though.”

“So do I,” Draco admitted, “We are friends, Harry. As much as I hate to admit it.”

Harry smiled slightly, “If your 11-year-old self could hear you say that….”

Draco looked at him, “He would be outraged, I’m sure. Now, do you think we could just quietly look at the stars?”

Harry snorted, “Didn’t think you were the stargazing type, Malfoy.”

Draco shrugged, “I find it relaxing. Are they always this bright out here?”

“Yeah,” Harry replied, “Because of the artificial weather charm. I never see anything, though. None of that constellation rubbish. They’re just stars to me.”

Draco scoffed, “You just aren’t looking closely enough. Look, there’s me.”

“You?”

“Draco, the constellation,” Draco said, “See?”

Harry shook his head, and Draco rolled his eyes, “Give me your hand.”

“What?” Harry asked, his head snapping up.

“Your hand, Potter,” Draco drawled.

Harry held his hand out, and Draco pointed it to the sky. He traced the lines of the stars that made up the constellation and failed to notice the faint blush on Harry’s cheeks.

“Guess what it is yet?”

“It’s a dragon,” Harry realised, as he looked up, “That’s its head.”

Draco smiled, “Exactly. That’s what my name means.”

“That’s pretty neat,” Harry said, “Which one is Sirius? Can you see that one?”

“Sirius isn’t a constellation; it’s a star. They call it the Dog Star,” Draco said, his hand still in Harry’s, “It’s in the Canis Major constellation, and it’s one of the brightest stars in the night sky.”

“I see it,” Harry said quietly as Draco let go of his hand and leaned back, taking his cigarette out of his mouth and sighing.

“This is relaxing,” Harry said as he leaned back in his chair.

“It’s more relaxing if it’s silent,” Draco said with a pointed look at Harry.

The dark-haired man smiled slightly and shut his eyes, enjoying the silence and the surprisingly pleasant company of Draco Malfoy.

“So, what’s this I hear about you and Theodore Nott?”

Hermione rolled her eyes at her best friend, “Did you take me out for lunch because you miss me or because you want to grill me on my love life?”

Harry fixed her with an amused look, “I took you out for lunch because I had to run off to deal with an emergency during our last lunch. But I also want to grill you on your love life.”

“Nothing ever comes free with you,” Hermione said; she shook her head.

Harry smirked at her across their table in a little café in Muggle London, “I have missed you, but we also need to talk about this Nott thing.”

“We don’t need to talk about anything, Harry,” Hermione said irritably.

“Look, I’m his boss. I’ve read his file - ”

“Don’t you trust me to pick who I date on my own?” Hermione asked in disbelief.

Harry faltered, “Well, it’s just…you haven’t picked wisely recently, have you? You and Ron were a train crash, and Theo, I mean, don’t get me wrong, he's a nice guy, he’s just-”

“If you say he’s just not for me, I swear to Godric, I will hit you,” Hermione said in a dangerous undertone, “I know about his past, I know that he has a lot of regrets, but I actually like him, Harry - ”

“It’s just the women, Hermione,” Harry whispered, “I know how many people he’s slept with, and you can still get those sorts of diseases in the wizarding world, you know? You should go to St. Mungo’s and - ”

“I cannot believe we are having this conversation,” Hermione hissed, “I know the protective spells. Jesus Harry, if you can learn them and remember, then I think it’s safe to say that I can.”

“Alright,” Harry whispered, “Alright, I’ll leave it be. I’m burying it for now. But I’ll warn him if this gets properly serious.”

Hermione shook her head as their food arrived, “You’re such a hypocrite, questioning me about my bad relationship choices. Theo may have a slightly murky past, but he wasn’t a Death Eater.”

“I have no idea what you are talking about,” Harry said honestly as he bit into his pasta, “So you’ll have to elaborate on that one.”

“You and Draco Malfoy,” Hermione said, her eyes sparkling mischievously, “Sharing cigarettes and stargazing last night.”

Harry’s hand froze midway to his mouth, and Hermione grinned.

“How did you know about that?” Harry asked, putting the fork back in the bowl, “And hang on one minute, we were not stargazing!”

“I came by the office to say goodnight to you,” Hermione admitted, “I peeked through the door and saw you two, talking about stars and holding each other’s hands. Harry, you took astronomy for two years. Are you seriously telling me you couldn’t find the Dog Star?”

Harry’s cheeks flushed, “I don’t know what you are insinuating, Hermione, but-”

“But you just wanted to hold his hand for a bit longer?” Hermione grinned, “It’s your turn to be interrogated, Harry.”

Harry glared at her, “We were just talking. We’re friends. Whatever you think, you’re wrong.”

“I think you really wanted to hire him, and now you’re becoming very close with him,” Hermione said with narrowed eyes, “And I find that very suspicious.”

“Yes, well, I find you dating Theodore Nott vaguely disturbing,” Harry retorted, “So shall we just agree to live and let live and carry on with our lunch?”

Hermione surveyed her best friend for a moment and then nodded, “In the interest of our friendship, I find that option to be the most suitable.”

“Thank Merlin for that."

- TBC -

Chapter Text

“Good morning all!”

Everyone in the basement turned to Harry’s cheerful voice as his footsteps echoed down the concrete steps, and he walked into the room. He leaned against the wall and surveyed the team, “You all look positively miserable.”

“Draco’s in a bad mood because his date went dreadfully at the weekend,” Daphne grinned.

Draco glared at the blonde girl, “It did not go dreadfully-”

“You accidentally insulted her intelligence, and she punched you in the face,” Theo pointed out in amusement.

Harry snorted, “Who did you go on a date with, Hermione?”

Draco shook his head and looked at Theo, “No, I don’t think Theo would forgive me for that.”

“Damn right I wouldn’t,” Theo said. He crossed his arms and leaned back, “I don’t do the whole serious relationship thing, and I’ve only had Hermione as my girlfriend for like two weeks, but if anything happened to her, I would kill everyone involved and then myself.”

Harry raised an eyebrow, “That’s…uh….”

“Disturbing,” Draco finished dryly.

Harry bit back a grin and said, “I was going to go with wildly romantic, but disturbingly romantic works surprisingly well.”

Draco shot Harry an amused look and said, “Besides, I could not go on a date with Granger. I never want to be hit that hard again. She has a damn good right hook.”

“Tell me about it,” Harry said in amusement, “So who punched you then? And more to the point, how did you even get to the point of going on a date if you’re so incompatible?”

“It was a blind date,” Neville said in amusement, “Eddie set it up.”

“I didn’t know she would go mental and hit him,” Eddie said, raising his hands defensively.

“Come on then, who was it with?” Harry asked.

Draco rolled his eyes, “Spinnet.”

“Alicia?” Harry asked in disbelief.

“It was awkward. It didn’t even last 10 minutes,” Draco said offhandedly, “Salazar only knows why Eddie thought it was a good idea.”

“His logic was sound enough,” Theo said, sticking up for his friend, “You don’t like normal relationships. You’re only happy if there’s lots of screaming, shouting and duelling.”

Harry snorted, “Yeah, well, I know that feeling. Ginny and I only ever felt anything towards each other when we were fighting.”

Draco made a face, “Yes, well, why you thought that relationship would ever work out is beyond me. But what you said isn’t true, Theo – I have had normal relationships.”

“With who?” Daphne asked in amusement, “You and I were always ripping shreds out of each other during our brief and disastrous high school relationship, and you and Tracey were constantly screaming at each other. And, you and Pansy. You fought about Harry more than you talked.”

“You fought about me?” Harry asked in amusement.

“Pansy wanted to snog him; he wanted to whine or rant about you,” Theo grinned.

Harry snorted, and Draco rolled his eyes, “Anyway, it was nice enough with Mandy.”

“Yeah, Mandy was too nice for you,” Theo snorted.

“That’s why you cheated on her, with Daphne, if I remember correctly,” Eddie added.

Harry whistled, “Now then, that’s not a very nice thing to do to a lady, Malfoy.”

“Oh, come on, Potter, we all know that’s the real reason you broke up with She-Weasel. If you didn’t sleep with Daphne, then you slept with someone else,” Draco said simply.

“It’s really not the reason I broke up with Ginny. It was far more complicated and hurtful than cheating,” Harry said, a dark shadow passing across his face, “But I didn’t come down here to talk to you lot about my personal life. I got enough of that from Hermione when I took her out for lunch yesterday. Speaking of which, Nott, if you cheat on her or screw her over, you’ll have me to deal with, and you’ve seen how good I am in a duel.”

Theo’s face paled slightly, and he nodded, “Right.”

Draco looked down to hide his amused smirk and then glanced back up, “So what brings you to our domain, Potter?”

“I’ve lost my team,” Harry admitted, “Ron’s working on some dragon welfare dispute with Hermione, which I’m sure is great fun for those two. And Dobbs and Coote are on a training course, so I need two volunteers to come along on a mission with me.”

“What sort of skills are you needing?” Draco asked.

“Well, now that you mention it, I say volunteers…I really mean, I need Daphne to help me with an undercover job and another person,” Harry admitted with a sheepish grin at the blonde girl, “It will be just like old times.”

Daphne laughed, “Yeah, I’m in. What’s the job?”

“Ah, nothing difficult. Just an arrest. We’ve been trailing a guy for a little while who we suspect to be involved with that smuggling ring we busted. He’s spending the next two days with his girlfriend in a hotel, so I need a fake girlfriend to infiltrate the hotel and keep an eye on him.”

“And that’s where I come in,” Daphne said knowingly, “Right then, what will it be this time? I was a blonde the last time we did an undercover couple stint. What do you want now, a redhead?”

“Whatever you want,” Harry laughed, “Just wear expensive clothes and talk like your posh family does. It’s a high-end hotel.”

“Got you,” Daphne said with ease.

“So, what do you need someone else for?” Draco asked curiously.

“Oh, I need someone to make the arrest,” Harry said, “So it will have to be you or Nev, as you two are the only real Aurors on the team.”

“You’ve never really had an undercover job Draco,” Daphne said thoughtfully, “Why not take a nice easy one to start with?”

“It’s a good idea,” Neville agreed, “I’ll hold the fort here. We’ll bring in the rest of this week’s bail skippers.”

Draco nodded, “Okay then. What do you want me to do?”

“Go in as a single guest, a businessman,” Harry said, “You can sit around in the restaurant or café, or by the pool, with some files making it look like you’re working. It’s the perfect chance to scope him out or catch him alone while Daphne and I stick close by and get the dirt on him.”

“Sounds easy enough,” Draco said.

Daphne nodded, “Oh yeah, this is nothing. Do you remember that time we ended up in that dragon smuggling job for two months?”

“God, I was sick of blonde hair after that,” Harry said with a shake of his head, “I think I’ll go light brown for this one.”

“Do we have fake identities?” Daphne asked.

Harry nodded, “I just need to attach the pictures once we’re all glamoured up. For the next two days, I’m Roger Simpson, and you are my lovely fiancée Larissa James.”

He handed her a sparkling diamond ring, and Daphne grinned, “Ah, if only somebody gave me one of these for real,” she said as she slipped it on, “I mean, I’ve only been engaged to you four times, and married to you…once?”

“Twice,” Harry said in amusement, “You were my gypsy bride that time in the smuggling ring too.”

“Oh yeah,” Daphne said with a glint in her eye, “This will be fun. I’ve missed the undercover stuff.”

“Just like old times,” Harry grinned, “I’ll meet you both at the upstairs apparition point in 20 minutes. Pack an overnight bag.”

They nodded, and Harry left the basement. As usual, the gossip and the chatter began as his footsteps stopped echoing around the basement.

“Salazar Daphne, he wants to fuck you,” Theo said in amusement.

Daphne laughed, “I doubt it. He hasn’t done yet in all of our undercover work. There’s been a lot of kissing and a little bit of hanky panky,” she winked, “But no sex.”

“Nobody is that much of a gentleman,” Eddie said in disbelief.

“Obviously, he likes you,” Draco said quietly, “He really wanted you on that undercover job.”

Neville had been remarkably quiet, “It’s not really any of your business anyway,” he said with an amused look, “So you two better head off and get your overnight bags ready.”

The rest of the day progressed with ease. Draco and Daphne met Harry at the apparition point. They glamoured up and finalised their fake IDs, and then they apparated to the hotel. Harry and Daphne checked in first, and Draco followed half an hour later. They had set up their communication channel so they could talk at any point.

After they had arrived and settled in, Harry and Daphne found themselves sitting in lounge chairs next to the indoor pool because that was where the guy they were tailing, Stuart Fawley, was, and wherever he went, they followed. They were under glamour but retained their bodies, so Daphne couldn’t help herself when she saw Harry come out of the changing rooms.

“Nice body,” She whispered, “Either you’ve been working out since last time, or it’s glamour.”

Harry grinned at her, “All mine. It’s handy having a gym at the office.”

“We have a gym?” Daphne asked in a whisper.

“I do, you don’t,” Harry teased, “Come on, let’s go for a swim. We’ll be able to talk easier that way.”

Daphne nodded her agreement, so they slipped into the pool together, “Could you have worn anything skimpier?”

Daphne laughed. She was wearing a white bikini; clearly she was trying to show as much skin as humanly possible without being arrested for indecency, “Why? Is it making you uncomfortable?”

Harry raised an eyebrow at her, “Is that what you think?” He asked in a quiet tone of voice.

Daphne opened her mouth to say that she only thought so because that was all she had to go on, but at that point, Stuart began to swim towards them. And as usual, Daphne’s way of acting natural, and in a place like this, it was accurate, was to giggle and kiss him.

Harry kissed her back, and Stuart swam straight past them with no issue. Draco was sitting in the café next to the pool and curiously watched the exchange. He knew who they were, even under glamour, but he supposed that was because he knew what they usually looked like.

For this occasion, Harry’s jet black hair was now light brown, and he had brown eyes and a few changes to his face shape. Daphne’s blonde hair had been exchanged for dark brown, almost black hair, and her eyes were still a striking blue. Draco had short dark brown hair, brown eyes, and a boring suit and tie, but he was supposed to look like a businessman, so he blended in.

He tapped his ear and muttered, “If you two are quite done making out, Fawley is on his way to the changing rooms.”

Harry and Daphne broke apart, and Daphne smirked at Harry as she tapped her ear and whispered, “Jealous, Draco?”

There was a scoff, “You wish Daphne.”

Harry chuckled, “Keep an eye on him from your end.”

“Will do.”

“When did you two date, by the way?” Harry asked curiously as he cut the communications channel off.

“Oh, years ago,” Daphne replied. They watched Stuart enter the changing rooms, “At school.”

“Ah,” Harry said thoughtfully, “The Pansy days?”

“We call them the Potter days,” Daphne laughed, “He was obsessed with you. I swear, I dated the guy for nearly a year and at least once a day, I would have to listen to him talk about you. Normally it was a rant, with extreme underlying jealousy.”

Harry shook his head in disbelief, “I don’t get it. I really don’t know why he hated me or why he was jealous of me.”

“He wanted to be your friend,” Daphne said, “And you rejected him; that’s why he hated you. And you were famous, and everyone thought you were pretty cool and hot, so - ”

“People thought I was hot in school?” Harry asked in amusement, “In my awkward, pre-Auror, leather jacket, cigarette and alcohol phase?”

Daphne grinned, “Yeah, people thought you were hot. You might have been awkward, but there was no denying you were attractive.”

Harry chuckled and whispered, “I can’t tell you how hilarious I find that. I thought I was the most awkward person ever at school.”

“Nobody noticed me in school,” Daphne said, looking up at him, “And look at me now.”

“You were always attractive,” Harry mused, “Ron thought so anyway, and Dean. They talked about you in the Gryffindor dorm.”

“And what did you think?” Daphne asked.

“Oh, I didn’t really think about that sort of stuff in school,” Harry said, his eyes going to the glass wall into the café, “I had other things on my mind, I guess.”

Daphne nodded and glanced at the glass wall too. Harry had closed himself off when she got too close to the truth like he always did.

They spent the remainder of the day tailing Stuart without making it obvious they were following him. Daphne ‘accidentally’ bumped into his girlfriend and they got talking, so the four of them ended up having dinner together, with Draco sitting a little way away. All communications charms were left on so that Draco knew what was happening at the table.

“So, how long have you two been together?” Stuart’s girlfriend, Emelia Avery, asked them.

Daphne smiled broadly, “Oh, it’s coming up on four years now, isn’t it, Roger?”

Harry returned her smile, “4 years in May, yes.”

“So, did you go to school together?” Stuart asked. He was in his mid-40s, and Harry would guess that his girlfriend was in her late 20s.

“No, we didn’t,” Harry said, “Did you?”

Stuart laughed and grinned smugly, “Yeah, about 20 years apart.”

And that confirmed that suspicion for Harry. He laughed and said, “Larissa was home-schooled, so we didn’t meet until our early 20’s.”

“Wow, home-schooling,” Emelia said, “What was that like?”

“Oh, it was okay,” Daphne said, “Not as weird as some people think. My parents didn’t want me to go to boarding school, so I didn’t go to Hogwarts.”

“Were you at Hogwarts, Roger?” Stuart asked.

Harry nodded, “Yeah, I was in Hufflepuff.”

“Ah, the badger house,” Stuart laughed, “I was in Slytherin, and Emelia was in Ravenclaw.”

Harry could have gotten into an argument and defended Hufflepuff, but he stayed in character and remained silent. Their dinner went as planned, and they got Stuart talking. They were invited round to Stuart’s hotel suite for drinks, which put them in a perfect position. So after dinner, as Harry and Daphne walked hand in hand behind Stuart and Emelia, Draco slipped behind them while invisible.

It was easy to make the arrest when they were alone, and Draco disappeared back to the Ministry with Stuart. Harry and Daphne agreed that they might as well spend the night in the hotel since it was paid for by Ministry expenses, so they had shared a bottle of wine in their hotel room and were lying on the bed laughing about their school days.

Out of the blue, Daphne kissed Harry, and he pulled back sharply, “What are you doing?”

“I’m kissing you,” Daphne said impatiently. She swung herself around so that she was straddling Harry and kissed him again.

Again, Harry pushed her away, “Daphne, why do you always do this?”

“Why do you always stop it?” Daphne asked irritably, “Salazar, Harry! How many times have we kissed or shared a bed? Not to mention that time in Venezuela when I - ”

“Yeah, we don’t need to go into that!” Harry said quickly, his cheeks colouring.

“So, what is the problem?” Daphne asked, verging on angry now, “I know you find me attractive, and you admit that we’re friends. You nearly slept with me back in Budapest, but you didn’t, so why won’t you sleep with me?”

“I find you attractive, Daphne. You’re gorgeous,” Harry admitted, “You really are. I’m just… I just don’t see you that way.”

Daphne raised an eyebrow at him, “You don’t see me in a sexual way? Because I could kind of feel that you did in Venezuela and Budapest.”

Harry groaned and threw his head against the pillow, “Yes, I could have sex with you. I could, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I want to. I didn’t in Budapest because I was drunk, and I knew I would only be doing it because…well, because the press were outside, and they would find out, and it would have been published.”

Daphne frowned, “Harry, what are you talking about?”

“I didn’t want to sleep with you just to save face Daphne,” Harry said firmly, “Because that would have been all it was. That time in Venezuela was different. It was before I started to realise all….all of this.”

The realisation had slowly been dawning on Daphne’s face as Harry spoke. Finally, she fixed him with a look of disbelief and said, “You’re gay.”

Harry could only nod glumly.

Daphne was silent for a while, and then she said, “That makes so much sense…I mean, do you even enjoy kissing me or is it just for the job?”

“I enjoy kissing you. You’re a great kisser,” Harry admitted, “I just don’t particularly like having sex with women. I can do it, and I have in the past. It’s just not very satisfying for me.”

Daphne shook her head in disbelief, “How have I never noticed this before?”

“I don’t know,” Harry admitted sheepishly, “I thought you had always known and kept quiet for my sake. I didn’t realise until recently that you hadn’t worked it out.”

“Does anyone else know?” Daphne asked, sitting back down on the bed next to him.

“A couple of people,” Harry admitted.

“Granger?”

“Yeah, she worked it out before I did,” Harry said in amusement, “I told her I was having trouble connecting with girls. At first I thought it was the war, that it had numbed me, you know?”

Daphne nodded, and Harry continued, “But everything else started to get better, and that didn’t. So she decided to experiment by sending me out on a blind date with a guy which she didn’t tell me about. I was going to kill her, but then I realised she was right.”

“Smart girl that Hermione Granger,” Daphne smiled.

Harry chuckled, “Yes, she is.”

“Does Weasley know?” Daphne asked.

Harry nodded, “Yeah, he’s less okay with it, but he knows. Ginny does too. When I broke up with her two years into our relationship, I thought she deserved the truth.”

“How did she take that?” Daphne asked with a raised eyebrow.

“With a nasty hex,” Harry said. He winced, “In a sensitive place.”

“That’s cruel,” Daphne said, “Even I haven’t done that.”

Harry laughed loudly, and Daphne chuckled too, “I don’t feel quite so bitter now that I know the truth. You should have told me sooner. Does anyone else know?”

“Just Neville,” Harry admitted, “I mean, I live with the guy, so how could he not know?”

“Isn’t that awkward when you bring guys back?” Daphne asked curiously, “And I’m not judging, by the way, I’ve dipped my toes in all waters,” she grinned.

Harry laughed and shot her a grin, “I know. I thought you’d be okay with it. I just didn’t really trust you until this whole team thing cropped up. And no, it’s not awkward because I generally don’t do it, and Neville is normally pretty good about not bringing girls back. What is awkward is when he brings back a member of his team.”

Daphne blanched, “You know about that? Neville said you were out.”

“I’d had a back shift at work,” Harry said in amusement, “And I was attempting to get some sleep. Not that I could sleep through that, mind you. It was bloody loud.”

Daphne’s flustered look disappeared with her laughter, “Well, that’s awkward. Wait, are you going to report that? Because team members aren’t supposed to sleep together and-”

Harry shook his head, “No, but I will say the same thing to you that I did to Theo about Hermione. Don’t mess around with Neville. He deserves better than that, and he really likes you.”

“Does he?” Daphne asked, some trepidation entering her voice, “Because men tend to find me intimidating.”

Harry nodded thoughtfully, “I mean, you sort of give off the impression that you want to murder every man you look at….”

“To be fair, I do want to murder most men I look at,” Daphne joked.

“Which is intimidating to most sane people,” Harry pointed out, “But Neville isn’t sane, so no, I don’t think you intimidate him. I think you want to intimidate him to scare him off because you’re scared of this thing between you becoming real.”

Daphne sighed, “I’m not scared, I just…I think he deserves better than me.”

Harry smiled sadly, “You think Neville Longbottom, the broken war hero who fell from grace after he beheaded the snake, deserves better than you? What happened in your youth is behind you, Daphne. You’re an adult now, you’re a Hit Witch on your way to being an authentic Auror, and even though you don’t want people to know this, you’re a nice person.”

Daphne smiled slightly, “That’s easy for you to say because you know everything about me. But Neville doesn’t. You know that I have a lot of skeletons in the closet, Harry and… he doesn’t want that.”

“Shouldn’t he be able to make that decision for himself?” Harry asked, raising an eyebrow at her, “I’m not saying tell him everything in one go, but I am asking you to give him a chance.”

“You, my boss, are encouraging inter-team relationships?” Daphne asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Yes,” Harry said, smiling in amusement, “It is against the rules to be with a co-worker, but it still happens. Unless someone gets hurt or killed because of personal attachments, they don’t matter. If that does happen, we have to consider it in our report.”

“So, in other words, don’t let it interfere with our jobs,” Daphne said thoughtfully.

Harry nodded, “Exactly, and I think you’re both professional enough to do that.”

“Well, if you’re professional enough to work with me for years without letting on that you’re gay, I’m sure Neville and I can keep things professional,” Daphne said in amusement.

“Yeah, on that note, don’t tell anyone,” Harry added, “Not that I think you would, it’s just that…well, I’m an Auror, I’ve got a reputation to protect.”

“I know,” Daphne said simply, “Don’t worry, Harry, my lips are sealed.”

“How was your ride along with Potter last night?” Theo asked Daphne when she walked in the following morning.

“Yeah, did you have fun?” Eddie wiggled his eyebrows.

“We did have fun. Thank you for asking Eddie,” Daphne replied matter of factly. She sat down at her desk and shot Draco a grin, “Nice work yesterday, right?”

Draco hummed in agreement.

“He’s been quiet and grumpy all morning, just ignore him,” Neville said in amusement, “We’ve got a ton of bail skippers to catch by the end of the week.”

“And we better get it done. I can’t work over the weekend. It’s my cousin's 7^th birthday party on Saturday. So get a move on, all of you!” Draco snapped.

“This is going to be a fun morning,” Daphne muttered as she pulled the huge file of paperwork towards her with a heavy sigh.

“Right, you lot! Listen up!”

The bunker went silent at Harry Potter's command. It was Friday, and apart from the little bit of fun Daphne and Draco had gotten at the start of the week, it had been uneventful. As he often did, Harry was standing in the doorway with a box of doughnuts balancing on a brown file.

“I brought you lunch,” Harry said, walking further into the office and dumping the box on Draco’s desk. He opened it, and they both grabbed pink iced doughnuts at the same time.

Daphne snorted in amusement and grabbed a chocolate doughnut, “What’s the case, boss?”

“Nothing exciting, unfortunately,” Harry said, dropping the file onto Draco’s lap.

“Hey!” Draco objected through a mouthful of doughnut.

Harry smirked and took a bite of his own, “It’s just a bail skipper, but he’s done it three times, and I can’t be bothered with him anymore, so you’ll have to track him down and bring him in. Shouldn’t take you too long at all.”

“And what are you doing?” Draco asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Going shopping for Teddy’s birthday present,” Harry answered honestly as he reached the door. He grinned at them, “Have fun!” He called as he left.

“I still hate him,” Draco muttered as he finished off his doughnut and opened the file, “Faydar Sloolip. Is he serious?”

“That’s the guy’s name?” Theo asked as he stood behind Draco and looked at the file.

“Looks like it,” Daphne snorted, “Have you read the rest of it? Muggle-born…34 years of age…holy mother of Merlin, look at his crimes!”

Draco shook his head in disbelief, “Skipped his bail hearing for two counts of indecent exposure in Diagon Alley.”

Eddie sniggered, and Draco continued, “The second hearing he skipped was for attempted bestiality with a Thestral.”

Neville choked on his doughnut, “What?”

“Hang on, it gets better,” Theo grinned, “The last one he skipped was for an attempt to cause a riot in the mental health ward of St. Mungo’s.”

“Potter is a fucking arse. He’s only handed this one over to us because the guy is a bloody head case,” Draco said irritably, “Does he think we’re his skivvies or something?”

“Skivvies?”

“Servants,” Neville said in amusement, “And I hate to tell you this, Draco, but we basically are. We’re Class III Aurors, and this lot aren’t Aurors at all. We get the petty crime, stupid cases, and the general shit that nobody else wants to deal with. You’ll have to put up with it or try harder to get promoted.”

“I’m quite happy down here, thanks, Longbottom,” Draco said dryly as he got to his feet, “Come on then, we better find this bloody lunatic. The file says his last known location was Muggle Cardiff, so he shouldn’t be too hard to find.”

“A madman in Cardiff?” Daphne snorted, “You sure about that?”

“This is a wild goose chase,” Theo whined, “We checked every bloody bar in sight.”

“Well, maybe the file is wrong,” Draco yawned, “There’s another thing written down. It looks like it says, zoo, but Potter's handwriting is appalling so….”

He handed the file to Neville, who squinted at the writing, “It says zoo. I’m guessing that means Cardiff zoo?”

“I would assume so,” Draco frowned, “This is one weird criminal.”

“Well, he likes Thestrals so…” Daphne said, letting that hang in the air as the others looked disgusted. They traipsed through the April showers to Cardiff zoo, and after another wild goose chase, they eventually found something.

“There are anti-Muggle charms on that room,” Neville said. He stopped in his tracks and looked at a door.

“How d’you know that?” Eddie asked quickly.

“I can feel the magic,” Neville said, “Trust me, they are there.”

Theo narrowed his eyes at Neville but ran a diagnostics charm, “He’s right, they are,” he told Draco grudgingly.

“Come on then,” Draco said, and he led the way into the room, which turned out to be a small cupboard. It was empty, apart from a large sign on the wall, written in Harry’s very messy and very familiar handwriting.

“APRIL FOOLS!”

“Oh, that fucking arse!” Draco exclaimed.

Neville grinned broadly, “I knew. I’m sorry, but I knew from the start. It’s a thing we do to the new recruits every April fools. I wasn’t gonna ruin it.”

“You are just as much of a prick as he is then,” Daphne said irritably.

“I can’t believe we fell for that,” Theo said in disbelief, “I mean, the name Faydar Sloolip is even an anagram of April Fool’s Day.”

“Shit,” Eddie breathed, “How did we not figure that one out?”

“It had Potter all over it,” Draco muttered as they left the small room, “Bloody bestiality with Thestrals. He thinks he’s hilarious, doesn’t he?”

“It was pretty funny,” Neville grinned.

“Oh, come on, lighten up, Draco,” Daphne laughed, “It was just a bit of fun.”

“Bit of fun,” Draco shook his head, “I’ll meet you all back at the basement,” He said, slinking into an alley and disappearing from view.

“What is his problem?” Neville whispered to Theo as they walked down the stairs into the basement.

“He doesn’t like being made a fool out of or embarrassed,” Theo answered, “His father did that to him.”

“It was only a laugh,” Neville frowned, “Can’t he take a joke?”

Theo shrugged, “Sometimes, it depends on the joke,” he said simply as they entered the basement, and their conversation stopped.

“Right, back to work, all of you!” Draco barked as he sat down heavily at his desk.

Neville’s frown deepened as he walked over to the blonde man’s desk, “Draco, Harry was just having a laugh. He didn’t mean anything by it-”

“I said, back to work, Longbottom!” Draco snapped.

Neville sighed but sat down at his desk anyway. Behind him, Eddie and Theo were teasing Daphne in whispers.

“Potter clearly went to all of that effort to woo you, Daphne.”

“All of that just to impress you. Are you sure you didn’t sleep with him?”

“I think he definitely wants to sleep with you.”

“Would you both shut up?”

“Enough!” Draco snapped, “We have work to do, I have a headache, and I do not need to listen to you three gossiping! I will not repeat it; get back to work!”

The office fell into silence, and Draco sighed, either with relief or irritation, as he turned around and tried to busy himself with his work.

Knock. Knock.

“If that’s one of you lot with a case, you can hold onto it until I’ve finished my lunch!”

“It’s Neville.”

“Ah, alright then, Nev. Come in.”

Neville walked into Harry’s office in amusement and shut the door behind him, “Tough day?”

“Awkward case,” Harry shrugged, “It’s at the trial phase. I hate trials, and I hate lawyers, I-”

“You hate politics, yes I know,” Neville chuckled, “I came here to warn you.”

“Warn me?” Harry asked with a raised eyebrow, “Warn me about what?”

“Malfoy,” Neville said, “He’s really pissed off about the April Fools prank. He’s got us on desk duty in complete silence. He went mental at Daphne when she left to get coffee earlier.”

Harry frowned, “He’s angry about that?”

Neville nodded.

“But it was just a joke. Didn’t he find it funny?” Harry asked, sounding incredibly confused.

Neville shook his head, “According to Theo, Draco hates to be humiliated. His father used to humiliate him, so it’s sort of a sore spot.”

“Shit,” Harry muttered, “Ah…shit…I didn’t think of it like that…shit.”

“It’s not your fault Harry,” Neville assured him, “You weren’t to know. I suppose I just came here to remind you that you don’t know Draco that well yet. You’ve only been working with him for a few months. You don’t know everything about him.”

Harry narrowed his eyes at his friend, “And you do? What are you saying, Neville? That you know him better than me?”

“No,” Neville frowned, “But you sound jealous, Harry.”

“Jealous?” Harry echoed in disbelief.

The door snapped open, and Hermione joined them, “Why are you jealous?” She asked calmly as she sat down next to Neville.

“I’m not jealous about your friendship with Draco Malfoy,” Harry said firmly.

Hermione snorted, “Explain, Neville.”

Neville laughed, “Harry played a prank on the team, an Aprils Fools joke. Draco feels embarrassed and humiliated, so he’s shouting at everyone. The others think you did it because you fancy Daphne, Harry, and they keep teasing her about it.”

“Maybe that’s why Draco’s in a bad mood,” Hermione said as she bit into a raw carrot, “Maybe he likes you, Harry. Maybe he’s jealous.”

Harry scoffed, “Draco Malfoy is the straightest guy around. You two are delusional, and besides, he’s just my friend. And I’m not jealous,” he added as the door opened with a snap.

“Who’s jealous?” Draco’s voice asked, and they looked up in surprise. Draco was leaning against the doorway, looking bemused.

“Harry,” Hermione compromised, “Because he-”

“He found out Ron went on a date with one of his exes,” Neville jumped in before Hermione could come up with a ridiculous lie.

“Well, he’s the one with your sloppy seconds Potter,” Draco drawled, “Here are those bail skipper files. That’s them back-dated like you asked.”

“Right, thanks, Malfoy,” Harry said, “And sorry about the prank earlier - ”

“It’s fine,” Draco returned quickly, “Although your idea of humour is appalling. Bestiality with Thestrals, really?”

“What?” Hermione barked.

“Potter’s idea of a laugh,” Draco said with a raised eyebrow, “See you around, Potter.”

“Yeah, see you around, Malfoy,” Harry agreed as the blonde shut the door with a snap and walked away.

“Bestiality with Thestrals?” Hermione asked in disbelief.

“It was what I said the fake criminal had done, that along with indecent exposure and an attempt to cause a riot in the mental health ward of St. Mungo’s,” Harry told his best friend sheepishly.

“Harry, have you no morals?” Hermione asked.

“Like you can talk,” Harry said with a pointed look, “You are dating Theodore Nott.”

“And you want to sleep with Draco Malfoy,” Hermione countered.

“He’s my friend. I do not want to sleep with him!” Harry exclaimed.

“Really?” Hermione asked, “Because you just flirted with him, right here, in front of us.”

“No, I didn’t!” Harry exclaimed in exasperation, “We were just talking.”

Hermione shook her head, “All that sexual tension from Hogwarts is still there. Isn’t it Neville?”

“Definitely, Hermione,” Neville replied calmly.

“I have the worst friends in the world,” Harry groaned as he let his head drop onto his desk with a thump, “I just wanted to have my lunch in peace!”

When Harry walked into the basement just after 6 pm, everyone was still working away at their desks.

“Oh, come on, Malfoy, don’t you think you’re working them hard for a Friday night?”

Draco looked up, “What do you want, Potter?”

“I brought pizza, butterbeer, and firewhiskey,” Harry said as he waved his wand and conjured the food and drink from wherever it had been stored.

Without even waiting for permission from Draco, the others all got up and went to the sofas, where they grabbed a drink and a slice of pizza.

Harry walked over to the solitary blonde.

“Look, I’m sorry if the prank offended you, Draco - ”

“I’m not offended, Potter,” Draco cut him off, “It was irritating because it was a waste of our time and resources, but I’m not offended.”

“Good, I thought maybe that was why you had been torturing this lot all day,” Harry said.

Draco shook his head, “Our work has spilt over into Saturday for the last few weeks, and I don’t want to miss Teddy’s birthday tomorrow.”

“Of course,” Harry said with a nod, “Well, it’s just paperwork. It can wait until Monday, come on, eat and have a drink.”

“You’re such a Hufflepuff sometimes,” Draco muttered, “Eat and be merry and all that. And seriously, bestiality with a Thestral, where the fuck did that come from?”

“I don’t know,” Harry admitted sheepishly as they joined the rest of the group, “It was the first thing I could think of. Anyway, it was attempted bestiality with a Thestral, remember?”

“And I still think it’s pretty sick,” Hermione said as she emerged at the foot of the stairs and sat down heavily next to Theo on the armchair that had appeared in the basement a couple of weeks ago. They were gradually acquiring more and more furniture.

“Where is all of this furniture coming from?” She asked as an after-thought as Theo handed her a beer.

“Uh, charity shops,” Theo said.

Hermione raised an eyebrow at him, “Theo.”

Eddie sniggered.

“I…acquired it, Hermione.”

“How did you acquire it, Theo?” Hermione asked firmly.

“Well,” Theo said, he cleared his throat, “When people die, they don’t need their furniture anymore, do they?”

“You stole this from a dead person?” Hermione shrieked.

Draco grinned, “And you still claim to hold the moral high ground here?”

“You took advantage of me,” Hermione argued.

Draco smirked, “You seduced me, Granger. I think you took advantage of me.”

“Shut up, Malfoy!” Hermione exclaimed, her cheeks flushing.

“Do you still drink firewhiskey, Hermione?” Harry asked with a grin.

Hermione fixed him with a cold glare, “No, I don’t.”

“Just stick to the butterbeer till we get back to the flat,” Theo muttered.

“No way,” Eddie snorted, “I’m bringing a girl home tonight. It’s my turn. You two have been at it every bloody night for weeks!”

“Ugh, too much information about Hermione’s sex life!” Harry exclaimed.

Draco shook his head in amusement and grabbed a slice of pizza, “Can we talk about murder or something less disgusting than Theo and Granger’s sex life?”

“You bloody Auror lot,” Hermione said in disbelief, “You’re so morbid.”

“Comes with the territory, love,” Theo drawled.

“Okay, first of all, don’t call me love,” Hermione said in amusement, “And second, are you channelling Malfoy or something?”

Draco grinned and asked, “I’ve got a better question. Are you two a thing? Because I have never seen Theodore Nott hold down a girl for this long.”

“I don’t know,” Hermione said with a pointed look at Theo, “Are we a thing?”

“You’re definitely a thing,” Theo muttered, and he got smacked around the head for it.

“Yes, they’re a thing,” Daphne laughed, and the others joined in with her laughter.

As the night wore on, their number was gradually whittled down. Theo and Hermione left together. Then Eddie went out ‘fishing’. Neville and Daphne had been the last to leave, 5 minutes apart like they thought they were being subtle. This left Harry and Draco alone in the basement with half a bottle of firewhiskey left. It didn’t take long for them to finish it, and since neither of them had slept much in the last few days, the alcohol went straight to their heads.

“So, why didn’t you just sleep with Daphne and be done with it?” Draco asked curiously as he squinted at Harry, “I mean, she’s off sleeping with your best friend now. You’ve missed your chance.”

“Daphne?” Harry asked in surprise, “Why would I want to sleep with Daphne? She’s a woman.”

“What?”

Harry realised what he had just said, “What?”

“What did you just say?” Draco asked in disbelief.

“Uh, nothing,” Harry frowned.

“Potter, are you gay?” Draco asked loudly.

“Shit,” Harry muttered, more to himself than Draco, “I forgot you didn’t know that…I mean, what, no. No, of course not!”

“Holy Salazar, you are drunk,” Draco said with a loud laugh.

“Oh, and you’re sober, Malfoy?” Harry retorted.

“I’m more sober than you,” Draco snorted, “But seriously, that was a well-kept secret.”

“Was it?” Harry asked curiously.

“Yeah, I’d never have guessed it,” Draco said, “I mean, you don’t look like a typical gay guy.”

Harry raised an eyebrow at him, “That’s probably because gay people just look like people?”

“Yeah, I know,” Draco said offhandedly, “But some gay people look gay, you know? You just look like a normal guy, with your leather jackets and cigarettes….”

“Again with the gay people are normal people thing,” Harry said. He sounded a little exasperated but more amused at how Draco was handling the situation.

Draco hummed thoughtfully, “I want a cigarette.”

“Me too,” Harry laughed, “Come on.”

“Why don’t you just smoke in here?” Draco asked curiously as they sauntered upstairs together after Draco had hung up his Auror robes.

“Because the smoke charms would pick it up, and the sprinklers would go off,” Harry said in amusement, “And I don’t think Susan would be chuffed.”

“No, I don’t imagine she would be,” Draco agreed as they snuck onto the balcony and shut the door behind them.

The fresh air sobered them up a little as they sank into the wooden chairs and lit up cigarettes.

“I’m going to start charging you for these. You go through so many of mine,” Harry said in amusement.

“Buy me them in your Muggle money, and I’ll give you normal money for them,” Draco said as he blew out a ring of smoke, “They’re far more addictive than cigars.”

“Yeah, that’s why they’re so bad for you,” Harry sighed.

“Everything is bad for you when you’re us,” Draco muttered, “But back to the subject. Are you solely gay, or are you more, shall we say, in the pureblood way?”

Harry frowned, “What do you mean?”

Draco looked at him in amusement, “Well, we don’t really have the same preconceived ideas of gender when it comes to relationships in more traditional circles. It’s more about whether your magic matches up with someone else’s, whether you are compatible, you know?”

Harry’s frown deepened, “How do you mean?”

Draco leant forward, “You know nothing, do you?”

“Apparently not,” Harry said, snorting in amusement, “Go figure.”

Draco chuckled, “Muggles would call it bisexual. I guess we could call it magic-sexual.”

Harry chuckled, “That kind of makes sense, I suppose. But I’ve never had a connection with someone like that, the whole magic thing, I mean.”

“No, I haven’t either,” Draco admitted, “There have been people I’ve liked, and they’ve been nice, but something has always been missing.”

Harry hummed thoughtfully, “So does that mean you’re “magic-sexual”, Malfoy?” he asked, making quotation marks with his fingers.

Draco smiled slightly, “After several failed relationships, if I ever was lucky enough to feel that connection, I doubt gender would put me off. Had I been raised the way my father wanted, I would have married a pureblood heiress – someone like Daphne – to secure an heir, and the rest of my time would have been my own.”

Harry made a face, “So cheating is okay in pureblood circles, I guess?”

Draco sighed, “Not exactly. Most pureblood relationships are open, though. They have to be because the marriages are arranged. It isn’t fair to say you have to marry and solely sleep with one person forever.”

Harry was silent.

“But it’s not what I want,” Draco admitted, “I have cheated once. I felt awful about it, and I still regret it. I certainly wouldn’t do it again.”

“No, I wouldn’t either,” Harry said quietly.

Draco looked over at him in surprise.

“I did cheat on Ginny,” Harry confessed, “With Daphne. We didn’t have sex, but I realised that it wasn’t just Ginny that was the problem; it was me. I broke up with Ginny, and I told her the truth, but I still feel awful about how it ended.”

Draco nodded, his eyes on the dark sky above, “We’ve both fucked up, then.”

Harry nodded and shut his eyes, throwing his cigarette over the railing, “Well, I’m glad we had this chat Malfoy. I’ve learned more about sexuality in the wizarding world in the last five minutes than in the past five years.”

“Well, your reference points are Granger, Weasley and Neville, so I’m hardly surprised,” Draco said, shooting Harry a smile.

Harry scoffed, “Yes, they aren’t the best when it comes to pureblood traditions. But they are good friends.”

Draco smiled slightly, “I didn’t say they weren’t.”

He threw his own cigarette over the railing and got to his feet, “I’m heading home, Potter. See you tomorrow.”

Harry frowned, “Oh yeah, at Teddy’s party,” He remembered.

Draco nodded and smiled slightly at Harry as he walked towards the door, “Night.”

“Night, Malfoy,” Harry said with an absentminded wave.

When Draco was gone, Harry turned back towards the night sky, and he frowned. Draco had said it was the pureblood way, then when Harry had asked him if he was “magic-sexual”, he had practically said that he was.

Hang on a minute…did Malfoy just admit that he’s bisexual?

“Bloody hell!”

“What are you swearing about?”

Harry jumped when a tall redhead walked out onto the balcony. She was dressed professionally in a black skirt, a white blouse, and killer high heels. 

“What are you doing here?”

“You are not the only one with a bad habit,” Susan Bones admitted as she pulled a pack of cigarettes from her pocket and lit one up.

Harry chuckled and leaned against the railing, lighting up another cigarette. Susan joined him, and he glanced sideways at her.

“Suse. Can I ask you a question?”

“Shoot.”

“As my friend, if I asked you to give me your honest assessment of my sexuality,” Harry said slowly, “What would you say?”

Susan raised an amused eyebrow at him, “Harry, you’re gay. Completely, utterly in denial for a couple of years with Ginny, gay. Please tell me you haven’t just worked that out?”

“No, not really,” Harry said in amusement, “I mean, I’ve known for a while, but it took me a while to admit it to myself.”

“That’s normal,” Susan shrugged.

Harry looked over the railing, “Malfoy said that it’s about the person and their magic, not their gender.”

“He’s right, but it isn’t always that simple,” Susan said perceptively, “When your magic aligns with someone else’s, it’s not always romantic or sexual. But sometimes it can be all of those things, powerful, romantic, sexual, and a thousand other things between.”

Harry frowned.

“And it’s easy to confuse all those conflicting feelings,” Susan continued, “For dislike, like with your parents. Or to bulldoze over someone’s flaws because of how powerful your feelings are – like Dumbledore did with Grindelwald.”

Harry swallowed, “Yeah…I get it.”

Susan gave him a knowing look, “Still, Malfoy might be a traditional pureblood. You know, open to all avenues, the sort of person that believes love shouldn’t be constricted to gender, but you weren’t raised like that, Harry. You were raised in the Muggle world, and if you’re just gay and explicitly not into women, that’s okay.”

Harry nodded thoughtfully, “It’s not like people haven’t tried, and I like them all – Daphne and Hannah, you know? But as friends, there’s no physical attraction there. It was… different with Ginny.”

“Of course it was,” Susan said bluntly, “You were forcing yourself to be with Ginny because it was what you thought you wanted.”

“It was never what I wanted,” Harry admitted, “It was what everyone else wanted for me.”

“I know that,” Susan admitted.

“So I’m just gay, I guess,” Harry mused, blowing out a ring of smoke.

Susan laughed and cocked her head at him, “Who cares if you are ‘just’ gay? You can be whoever you want to be, and after what you did for the wizarding world, you can love whoever the hell you want to love.”

Harry smiled slightly, “Thanks, Susan. I kind of needed to hear that tonight.”

Susan smiled back and looked sidelong at him, “Still, a few choice words from Draco Malfoy, and you have a crisis of conscience?”

Harry smiled slightly, “Yeah…he tends to have that effect on me.”

“Hm,” Susan mused, smiling knowingly at Harry, “You push for him to get the job. You give me a spiel about the better life he deserves. And now it seems like that better life involves stargazing and deep chats?”

Harry rolled his eyes, “You’ve been spending too much time with Hermione.”

Susan blew out a ring of smoke, “I don’t need Hermione Granger to tell me that your feelings for Draco Malfoy are complicated. I went through Hogwarts with you both, remember?”

Harry didn’t say anything at first. Susan was his friend, but she was also his boss, and while they were close, he still wasn’t about to spill his guts out to her.

“It’s okay to have feelings for him,” Susan said softly, putting out her cigarette and throwing it over the railing.

Harry looked over at her in surprise.

Susan cocked her head at Harry and finished, “And it’s not a crime to be drawn to something that you don’t understand.”

Without waiting for Harry to reply, she bade him goodnight and disappeared from the balcony. Harry took a final puff of his cigarette and sighed on the exhale of smoke.

He wasn’t deluded, but everyone else in his life was. He didn’t have feelings for Draco Malfoy. But it did seem strange that everyone around him thought he did.

With a roll of his eyes, he shoved his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket and headed on home for the night.

- TBC -

Chapter Text

When Harry walked up the garden path towards Andromeda’s house, there was a loud crack behind him, and Draco fell into step with him.

“Morning, Potter.”

Harry turned around and smiled at Draco, “Don’t you think we ought to go with ‘Harry’ and Draco’ today, for appearances as much as anything else?”

“Oh, Teddy knows I don’t like you,” Draco joked, “I’ve been trying to persuade him towards a life of crime for years.”

Harry knew Draco well enough now that he could tell when he was joking, so he shot him an amused look, “And I’ve spent years being the cool Uncle who works for the ministry, so I think he’s more likely to follow in my footsteps.”

“Well, those are our footsteps now,” Draco mused.

Harry raised an eyebrow at him, and Draco’s cheeks flushed when he realised how that sounded.

“Not that there’s an us,” Draco said hastily, “I mean, I’m me, and you’re you, so you know….”

Harry chuckled at his vaguery, “Never happening, I know. The fact we’re friends is hard enough for my brain to process.”

“Mine too,” Draco admitted as the door swung open and a small blue-haired boy ran at them.

“Uncle Draco!”

Draco laughed as the blur of blue jumped at him. He hugged the little boy with ease, “Hey Ted!” he chirped as he ruffled his hair, which temporarily turned blonde.

Harry scoffed, but he smiled, “Who am I, Teddy, just some stranger?”

Teddy frowned at Harry, who swung a broom shaped present over his shoulder, “I guess I’ll just take this back to the shop then...” He said as he began to walk away.

Draco chuckled as Teddy ran at Harry and attached himself to his leg, “No, please don’t, Uncle Harry!”

Harry grinned and hugged his Godson, “Hey Teddy. How are you?”

“I’m good, Uncle Harry,” Teddy grinned, “I didn’t know you and Uncle Draco were friends! He told me it was a secret when he came to visit. He said you would beat him up and put him in Azkaban if you knew he visited me!”

Harry gave Draco a long-suffering look, “Did he?”

Draco grinned sheepishly, then shrugged.

Teddy nodded excitedly, “He did say that, didn’t you, Uncle Draco?”

“I did say that,” Draco admitted, “But that was before your Godfather and I were friends.”

“How are you friends?” Teddy asked eagerly, “Did you meet at the playpark and decide to be friends because you both liked the swings?”

Harry and Draco both chuckled, and Harry said, “No, buddy, adult friendship is a little more complicated than that.”

“Unfortunately,” Draco said with a smile, “But your Godfather and I work together now; that’s how we became friends.”

“Oh!” Teddy shouted, “Are you a Ministry guard too now, Uncle Draco?”

Draco looked at Harry in amusement. The dark-haired man gave him a pointed look, so Draco replied, “Uh yes, I am.”

“I thought you said you were a very important antique collector,” Teddy said, cocking his head at the two men.

“Well, he used to be,” Harry said calmly, “But then he realised that selling antiques wasn’t what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. They can be dangerous, you know, when they’re cursed, for example. And the sort of people who buy antiques like that are bad people, but your Uncle Draco is a good person, so he decided to become a Ministry guard instead.”

Teddy looked at Harry for a long moment, then shrugged, “Selling antiques sounds cooler.”

“It was,” Draco said, ignoring Harry's glare.

“Go on through to the garden where your friends are, Teddy,” Harry said, “We’ll be there in a minute.”

“Okay, see you!” Teddy said as he motored through the house.

“You told him you collected antiques?” Harry asked him in disbelief, “You ran a Black Market!”

“How do you explain that to a 6-year-old?” Draco retorted, “And you can’t talk! You told him you were a Ministry guard!”

“Andromeda wouldn’t let me tell him I was an Auror,” Harry admitted, “She said it might make him unreasonably reckless, like me or his mother.”

Draco laughed, “Andromeda wouldn’t let me tell him I was a criminal. She said it would lead him down the wrong path in life.”

They shared an amused smile as they walked toward the garden.

“He’s gonna be in Hufflepuff, isn’t he?” Harry asked Draco.

“Undoubtedly,” Draco replied.

And they both laughed as they stepped outside. There were only a few other children here; Victoire was Bill and Fleur’s eldest daughter and Teddy’s best friend. There were a few other children that Teddy knew through Andromeda’s friends. It was just a little tea party in the garden, where it wasn’t raining for once.

“Good morning,” Andromeda smiled, “I never thought I would see you two walk through my front door together.”

Draco chuckled, “Well, he’s my boss now.”

Andromeda’s smile widened, “I heard,” She said, glancing at Harry.

“Of course he told you,” Draco remarked, but there wasn’t even any malice in it anymore.

“Your Mother would have been so proud, Draco. She only ever wanted you to become a good man,” Andromeda said, and Draco’s eyes softened slightly when his aunt looked at him.

Harry smiled slightly, “Well, he’s certainly that, Andi. Where’d the little guy go?”

Andromeda frowned, “I thought he ran to the door to meet you?”

“He did, but we told him we would meet him in the garden,” Draco said slowly.

“He didn’t come back out here,” Andromeda said, her frown deepening.

Panic began to set in, and Harry ran back into the house shouting, “Teddy! Teddy! Teddy!”

There was silence, and a diagnostics charm showed that he, Draco and Andromeda were the only people in the house. They were all panicked as they ran around the garden searching for the little boy, but they found no sign of him. Harry and Draco decided to search the house properly, and that was when they found it…

The window in the drawing-room was open, and the breeze was blowing the curtains around wildly. A note was pinned to the wall, and it had almost blown away when Harry and Draco got to it. Their hearts sank at the words written on that note.

“I have your Godson, Harry Potter. If you want to see him alive again, you will do exactly as I say. I will floo you on an encrypted channel in 20 minutes. No Aurors, just you and his Grandmother.”

Harry glanced at his watch, “It’s been about 15 minutes since he was taken,” He said as his eyes flicked nervously towards the fireplace.

“We have to call in the others, the team - ” Draco began.

“It says no, Aurors Malfoy!” Harry snapped, “Do you know what that means? It means if there are Aurors, they kill him!”

“Kill him?” Andromeda asked weakly.

“He’ll be fine, Aunt Dromeda,” Draco said gently. He glared at Harry and crossed the room, explaining in whispers to Andromeda.

She clutched her chest and sat down heavily on an armchair by the fire. Draco stood behind her as the fireplace roared to life. There was no face, only a voice, and it was clear that a muffling charm had been used on it because it was deep and crackly to disguise the person's voice.

“Who is with you, Potter?”

“Just me, Teddy’s Grandmother and his cousin Draco Malfoy. We were the ones who found the note,” Harry replied. He was trying to remain calm, but it was proving difficult.

“Will you give me what I want in exchange for your Godson?”

“What do you want?” Harry asked roughly.

“You, Harry. The deal is as simple as that. I want you to pay for what you did to my family. If you meet me at the rendezvous point that I have arranged, I will give this child to his Grandmother, and I will take you in return.”

“I want proof that you have Teddy first,” Harry said firmly.

The crackly voice laughed, and Teddy’s terrified face appeared in the fire seconds later.

“Proof enough?”

Harry’s face paled, “When? And where is the rendezvous point?”

“Harry,” Draco hissed, “He’ll kill you!”

“And if I don’t exchange myself, he’ll kill Teddy,” Harry said harshly, “Enough people have died for me, Draco.”

The crackly voice laughed again, “Excellent choice. Richmond Park at 3 pm. If I see any Aurors, I kill your Godson. If I see any Muggle law enforcement, I kill your Godson. Do you understand?”

“I understand,” Harry said weakly.

The fire crackled out, and Draco turned to Harry angrily, “You can’t just walk into this on your own, Potter! We have two teams willing to help us. We have to let them!”

“We can’t!” Harry shouted, “You heard what they said! They will kill him if they see Aurors, Malfoy. I’ve been an Auror for far longer than you have, and I have seen people like this kill children because the parents have been stupid enough to think they could outsmart them!”

“But we are not the average parents of a kidnapped child,” Draco said as he walked toward Harry, “We’re Aurors; we can outsmart this guy. Our teams are brilliant; they can get in here without anyone knowing.”

“We may be smarter than the average parents of a kidnapped child, but we are not Teddy’s parents, Malfoy,” Harry said coolly, “He doesn’t have parents. They died because of me. They died fighting for me! So maybe it’s fitting that I die for their son!”

Draco shook his head and looked at Harry, “You can’t do this yourself. It’s a suicide mission!”

“And since when did you care whether I lived or died, Malfoy?” Harry asked coldly.

Draco grabbed Harry’s shoulders and hissed, “You are being a heroic idiot, Potter! You said it yourself, when we were at school, we got in each other’s faces a lot. Do you want to know why we did that? It was because we both knew that it was the best way to get through to each other, intimidate each other, and annoy each other. It’s also the best way to convince you that you are an idiot. We need our team. We need our friends.”

With Draco’s face inches away from Harry’s, the dark-haired man couldn’t help but meet Draco’s eyes where a fire was burning. He gave a minuscule nod and said, “Okay.”

Draco sighed in relief and let go of Harry’s shoulders.

“If you are quite finished with your moment of self-pity, can we get my Grandson back?” Andromeda asked dryly.

Harry nodded and tapped his communications bracelet in a specific pattern. 9 taps, a pause, 1 tap, a pause, and 1 more tap. It was the emergency communication, and it connected his bracelet to that of the Assistant Head of the DMLE, the Head Auror, which was currently him, his entire team, and Draco’s entire team.

“My Godson has been kidnapped,” Harry said, “I want to keep this on the down-low because if the kidnapper finds out that Aurors are involved, he will kill him. Susan, do not pass this information on to the Head of the Department and do not order any appeals. Just be aware of the situation. As for my team and Malfoy’s team, we need as many of you here at Andromeda’s home as possible. Daphne knows where it is. Meet in the Ministry and apparate here. There is a secret room in the basement outside the house's wards. You will be able to apparate into it. When you get here, approach the drawing-room with caution, the kidnappers cannot know you are here.”

He pressed the bracelet to end the communication.

“There isn’t a secret room in my basement,” Andromeda said; she narrowed her eyes at Harry.

“Yes, there is,” Harry sighed, “I installed it when you said you wanted custody of Teddy. I was paranoid, and I’m glad I was because otherwise, even if the team had wanted to help, they wouldn’t have been able to get in here.”

“You installed a secret room in my house and did not tell me about it?” Andromeda asked quietly.

“For your Grandsons safety!” Harry snapped.

“Harry, we will be discussing this once this is all over,” Andromeda said darkly.

“Yes, Andi,” Harry said offhandedly.

“That’s Andromeda to you.”

Draco sighed, “Stop it. Fighting isn’t going to help us get Teddy back any sooner, is it?”

“Draco Malfoy, the voice of reason,” Harry said bitterly, “I never thought I’d see that happen.”

“Stop it,” Draco snapped as he began to pace the room, “We need a plan, Potter. Now, Theo is my diagnostics guy. He can break wards, so surely he can break the encryption on that floo call….”

“The kidnapper would have to call again for him to be able to do that,” Harry said dryly, “And he won’t.”

“Then we can put people in disguise when you meet the guy. They can hand Teddy over to Andromeda and then stun him and save you.”

“It isn’t that easy, Malfoy,” Harry said as they heard footsteps on the staircase, “The second Teddy has been handed over, he’ll put a proximity charm on me.”

“So that we can’t get you back unless he lifts it,” Draco muttered.

“If you kill him, you’ll never lift it,” Harry said, “If you don’t kill him, you’ll never convince him to lift it.”

“We will if we torture him,” Draco pointed out.

“We’re Aurors; we don’t torture people,” Harry said weakly.

“You’re an Auror, we’re a team who do whatever it takes to get the right thing done, and I will torture him if it means saving you,” Draco said, a storm brewing in his grey eyes.

Harry smiled slightly, “As comforting as that is, we can’t do that. But I appreciate the thought.”

Draco opened his mouth to say that he would do it, regardless of whether Harry said he could or couldn’t, but at that point, the door opened, and their two teams piled into the large drawing-room. They were a motley crew; Ron, Emma, Ritchie, Neville, Daphne, Theo and Eddie.

“What’s happened?” Neville asked, taking the lead among the two groups.

“Teddy was kidnapped,” Draco said as he placed his hand on Harry’s shoulder, “Potter is blaming himself and trying to go on a suicide mission to save him.”

“Sounds like you,” Neville said darkly, “What do you want to kill yourself for this time? Your life is actually looking pretty decent.”

“I don’t want to kill myself, Neville,” Harry said as he glared at his friend, “The kidnappers want me. They said they will hand Teddy over to Andromeda in return for me.”

“So you think you’re just going to walk in there and die?” Ron asked in disbelief, “You really are bloody delusional, mate.”

“There’s no way we’ll let you die, Harry,” Daphne agreed, “We’ll find a way to get Teddy back without you dying.”

Theo nodded, “Did the kidnappers contact you via floo?”

Harry nodded, quite overwhelmed by the support of his friends and still aware of Draco’s warm hand resting on his shoulder.

“Perfect,” Theo said, “Right, Eds, you’re in the chimney.”

Eddie rolled his eyes, “I’m always in the chimney.”

“I’m better at the encryption spells,” Theo said in amusement, “Get on the roof and get in the chimney, then talk to me over the comms.”

“Will do,” Eddie said as he stepped out of the window and began to scale the building.

“What are you doing?” Harry asked in confusion.

“He’s being a badass,” Emma said dreamily.

Ritchie snapped his fingers, “Emma!”

Emma’s cheeks coloured slightly, “Oh, they’re trying to trace the call. If Eddie can access the magical hub in the chimney, he can tap into the last call, and hopefully, Theo can break the encryption.”

“Will that actually work?” Harry asked in surprise.

“If anyone can make it work, Theo and Eddie can,” Draco said proudly, “You let me pick my own team, Potter, and I told you that I would pick wisely.”

“I trust you, Malfoy,” Harry said honestly, “I just hope this will work.”

“I’m in Theo.’”

“Right. When was it last cleaned out?”

“Seems to be scheduled to be cleaned out on the hour.”

Harry’s eyes snapped to the clock. It was 1.52 pm.

“Alright, get a move on then, Eddie. We’ve only got about 8 minutes until it’s cleaned again, and then we lose the call.”

“I know. I’ve extracted it from the hub and put it on the backup server. Can you access it through the fireplace?”

“Give me a minute.”

Theo was now lying on his stomach in front of the crackling fire. He mumbled, and the fire roared green, “I’ve got it, Eddie. You can get out of there now.”

“Will do.”

“Alright,” Theo mumbled, “Uh, Coote. You’re the diagnostics guy, aren’t you?”

Ritchie nodded, “What do you need a hand with?” He asked as he lay down next to Theo.

“I need someone to hold the floo open while I try and break through the encryption on the call. You know what it’s like; unconnected, it normally cuts off after 5 minutes,” Theo said.

Ritchie pulled out his wand and muttered for a few minutes, “I’ve got it. I can hold it for half an hour, max, then we lose the call.”

“That should be enough time,” Theo said quietly as he began to move his wand in circular motions and whisper incantations in Latin.

Harry shrugged Draco’s hand from his shoulder and got to his feet. Pacing the room made the time pass slightly faster, but he could still hear every second tick by on the clock as Theo’s whispering and mutterings got quicker and more panicked.

The silence of the room was broken when Harry’s communication bracelet crackled. He pressed the button to accept the call and was not surprised to hear Susan’s voice.

“Harry, it’s me. I need updates. I’m acting head this week with the big boss on holiday. What is going on?”

“Teddy has been kidnapping. Theo is trying to trace the call by breaking through the encryption,” Harry said calmly, far more calmly than he felt, “If he can find out where the kidnappers are, we are contemplating a sneak attack.”

“What is the alternative?”

“The kidnappers want me, Susan,” Harry said simply.

“So you intend to hand yourself over?” She asked calmly.

“I can’t see any alternative. I will not let my Godson die for me,” Harry said.

“What are the chances of Theo breaking the encryption and finding the kidnappers?”

Draco glanced at the long-haired man. Theo nodded, “Very likely, I’ve nearly got it.”

“Did you hear that?”

“I heard,” Susan’s voice said, “Alright. Plan A is that Theo finds where the call came from. You are authorised to take a team of 4 and no more per the Auror guidelines for hostage situations. You enter under disillusionment charms, and you find the child by all means necessary. You are authorised to use lethal curses, do you understand?”

Harry frowned, “No, I don’t understand. Are we talking Code Red?”

“Code Red,” Susan confirmed, “We have intel that this may be an escaped Death Eater, Harry. This is a Code Red situation.”

“Understood,” Harry said simply.

“Now, Plan B. If Theo does not manage to find an address, we have to prioritise. I have to tell you, Harry, as your boss, that you, as Acting Head Auror are more valuable than a 7-year-old child. The department's line is that you should not sacrifice yourself for Teddy.”

“But as my friend?” Harry asked.

“As your friend, I know how much you love that little boy. And I know you wouldn’t be able to live with yourself if anything happened to him. I’m not going to sugarcoat this for you, Harry and I’m not going to try and change your mind. Do what you have to do.”

Harry nodded to himself, “Thank you, Susan.”

“Be careful, Harry,” Susan said with a note of finality.

“I will. Potter, out.”

He ended the call and realised that everybody in the room was staring at him. He sighed and gravitated towards Draco and Neville.

When he reached them, Harry asked, “Am I, or am I not, going to die today?”

“You’re not going to die because I’ve just un-encrypted the call,” Theo muttered.

“Hurry up and replay it,” Ritchie said, “I can only hold this open for another 3 minutes.”

Theo nodded and did so. The first message played again, but the voice was no longer charmed. When it was over, Harry and Neville caught each other’s eye.

“Harry, was that….”

“Yes,” Harry said quickly, “That was Dennis Creevey.”

Ron frowned, “Colin’s brother?”

Harry nodded, “Neville and I’s first case….” He trailed off.

Neville sighed and cut in, “Our first case was to arrest him…he lost it after Colin died. He was hurting people, and we put him in the confinement ward at St. Mungo’s.”

“He got out two weeks ago,” Harry said quietly.

“Why would he take Teddy?” Daphne asked.

“Because he holds me responsible for his brother’s death,” Harry said, “Now he wants to punish me.”

“Look, this might seem bad, but we must have gotten an address. Right?” Eddie asked.

Theo shook his head, “No, it was pinged through about 6 open floos…there’s no way to trace it.”

Draco groaned in frustration, “But we know it’s Dennis Creevey. Can’t we get an address?”

“His last known address was from before he went into St. Mungo’s 4 years ago,” Neville said, “There’s no way of knowing where he is now.”

“I’ll get the files about his case from the DMLE,” Emma said, and she disappeared from the room.

“Can somebody update Susan, please?” Harry asked, his voice breaking.

Neville nodded, “I’ll do it,” He said, patting Harry on the shoulder as he walked to the room's far end.

Harry let out a shaky breath and took his eyes away from Draco’s pale face to focus on the clock. It was now 2.20 pm.

40 minutes until he had to walk to his death again.

“So, what do you want us to do, Susan?”

“What can you do, Neville?”

“We have no address, no idea where Creevey could be…all we know is that he will be at Richmond Park at 3pm,” Neville whispered.

“Can you extract Teddy without injury?”

“I don’t think so. It’s likely that as soon as Teddy and Harry are exchanged, a proximity charm will be placed on Harry so that if any of us get near him….”

“Boom.”

“Exactly,” Neville sighed, “He’s going to walk into this, Susan, knowing it’s a suicide mission, and you’re telling me that we just have to let him?”

“I’m not telling you; I’m ordering you,” Susan said firmly, “If he lives and that boy dies, Harry will not have a life. He’ll drink more, smoke more, and he might even go further in his attempts to slowly kill himself. He’ll have no life if that boy dies, so I am ordering you to let him walk into that park. However, I am also ordering you to insert a tracker into Harry. And I don’t mean a tracking charm; I mean a tracker, hold him down because he will scream, but it has to be done. We’re working on the assumption that Creevey will want to hurt him before he kills him. That gives you time to find him and get him out.”

“And what if he just wants to kill him?”

“Then you say your goodbyes soon because he will have to leave,” Susan said darkly.

“No wonder they said you’d make a good Head of Department,” Neville muttered bitterly, “You’re a ruthless bitch.”

“I’m doing what needs to be done, Neville, I don’t expect that will make me popular, but somebody has to make the difficult choices. Communicate with me before Harry leaves and tell me your plan. Remember my orders. If any of you disobey them, you will be fired.”

“Understood,” Neville said as he ended the communication and walked into the centre of the room where the team were gathered.

“Hold him down, Draco,” Neville said, jerking his head in Harry’s direction.

“Why?” Draco asked.

“Because Susan just gave Neville the order to insert a tracker into me,” Harry replied knowingly, “If you don’t hold me down, I’ll writhe, and it will only hurt more.”

Draco frowned.

“Do it, Draco,” Harry said impatiently, “Ron’s not got a steady enough hand. I had scars last time.”

Draco sighed and nodded as Harry lay on his stomach on the rug. As Neville turned to Emma, Draco pressed his hands onto either side of Harry’s back.

“Emma, we need you.”

Emma was nodding and searching through her bag. She had pulled out a small metal object, and she knelt on the ground next to Harry.

“Why not just put a tracking charm on him?” Daphne asked.

“Because tracking charms can be removed,” Eddie said.

Emma nodded, “And this can’t be removed, at least not easily,” She said as she steadied her wand hand and made an incision in Harry’s back. Harry hissed in pain, and Draco pressed harder to keep him steady.

“Can’t you numb it?” Daphne asked.

Ron shook his head, “If she numbs it, she might paralyse him.”

“The tracker has to be inserted really close to his spine,” Theo explained, “If there was a numbing charm, Emma wouldn’t be able to tell if she had hit the wrong nerve.”

“This isn’t even the painful part,” Harry groaned, and Draco sighed as Emma widened the wound.

He kept it together well, he shouted out in agony, but he didn’t scream as Draco was aware he would when in pain like this.

“Hold him tighter, Draco,” Emma said quietly, and Draco could barely hear her over Harry’s groans of pain.

He did, and he understood why she had asked him to because as she inserted the tiny metal object, he really did scream with the pain, and Draco shut his eyes tightly as once more he was taken back to the war and another drawing-room filled with screams. When he snapped his eyes open, Harry was breathing heavily and sweating profusely.

“It’s nearly over,” Emma said soothingly as she sealed the wound with her wand.

Harry did not move, and Draco asked, “Harry? Do you need a hand up?”

Harry nodded, “I really hate that,” He said through gritted teeth. He let Draco help him onto the sofa, and their eyes flashed to the clock. It was 2.40pm.

“We have to get you ready to go,” Neville said quickly as he pulled a pain potion from Emma’s bag and thrust it into Harry’s hands.

“I’m fine,” Harry muttered as he downed the potion and did a couple of glamour charms on himself to remove the signs of the trauma. His breathing had returned to normal, and he got to his feet with no help.

“What’s the plan?” Harry asked as he surveyed the room.

“Susan told me that she thought the best course of action was to let things progress as Creevey wants,” Neville said calmly, “You go in, we get Teddy, and you get kidnapped.”

“And then we come to save you,” Draco said quickly, “She better have said that because if you’re telling me that we just put that tracker in him to find his dead body, I really will hit you, Longbottom.”

Neville nodded, “Yes, our brief is to try and save you. But worst-case scenario…the tracker is so that we can find your body and give you a proper funeral.”

“But we will find you, not your body,” Draco said firmly.

Harry smiled slightly, “I admire your optimism Draco,” he said honestly.

Draco’s eyes flared slightly with something that Harry didn’t recognise.

“Alright,” Harry said, he cleared his throat, “Susan authorised a team of 4 to come in and save me. By Auror guidelines, I can only assume she means a force of 4 can break into the building. That excludes those monitoring the situation from above, for example.”

Theo and Eddie nodded knowingly, “You want us both on the roof?”

“Yes,” Harry said calmly, “During the change-over, somebody has to stay here, and then somebody has to come back here with Teddy and protect the place while the others come after me. The team coming for me will be led by Neville, and the other three members will be Ron, Emma and Ritchie.”

Draco opened his mouth to object.

“No, Draco,” Harry said firmly, “This is a hostage situation. I need trained Aurors. I will not let you risk your life because you don’t know the regulations. Theo and Eddie will keep an eye on things from above.”

“So what are we meant to do?” Draco asked in disbelief, “Daphne and I? Just sit around here uselessly while your life is in danger?”

“No, I need you to be with Teddy,” Harry said firmly, “I need people I trust to protect him, and he will be upset. He needs you, Draco.”

Draco glared at Harry, “If you die - ”

“You won’t be able to live with yourself?” Harry asked sarcastically.

“I won’t!” Draco exclaimed angrily, “You can joke all you want, Potter, but you’ve become one of my closest friends, and I’ve lost too many of them already.”

Harry sighed and caught his grey eyes, “I’m sorry, but this is how it has to be, for Teddy’s sake.”

Draco accepted this with a very stiff nod, but he made it clear that he wasn’t happy about it.

Harry pressed his bracelet, aware he was still staring at Draco. He only looked away when Susan’s voice buzzed into the room.

“What’s happening?”

“We have a plan,” Harry said, his eyes flicking to the clock.

2.50 pm.

“Shoot.”

“We go ahead as planned. We let Creevey take me, and the others come to find me.”

“Have they put a tracker in you?”

“Yes, it was very painful, thank you very much.”

“You’re an Auror; deal with it,” Susan said, amusement slipping into her voice.

Harry couldn’t manage a smile, “I have authorised Neville, Ron, Emma and Ritchie to come in after me with Eddie and Theo running diagnostics from a distance. They are under strict orders not to enter any building Creevey might transport me to.”

“And the others?”

“I’ve put Draco and Daphne on protection duty,” Harry informed her, “They are to bring Teddy back here and keep him safe.”

“That job only takes one, Harry,” Susan said calmly, “Draco is an Auror. Why not switch him out for one of your Class II’s?”

“Because Draco is only a Class III Auror, and he hasn’t been trained in hostage situations,” Harry said, “I don’t trust that he won’t put himself in danger.”

“You’re trying to protect him?”

“Teddy’s going to need a Father figure if this goes south,” Harry said, his eyes boring into Draco’s, “So Draco stays here, Susan.”

“I disagree, but it is ultimately your call, Harry,” Susan said.

“If Creevey kills me immediately and does not torture me,” Harry said, incredibly calm considering he was talking about his own death, “Can you ask Hermione to retrieve the box and hand out the letters inside it? She knows the hiding place and the passcode.”

“Of course I can,” Susan said. There was a pause on the line, “But let’s hope I don’t have to. Good luck, Harry.”

“Thanks,” Harry said darkly, “Potter out.”

“Come on,” Neville said, the second the call had ended, “Everyone glamour up apart from the people who are staying here.”

“That means you, Draco,” Harry said quietly as the others began to glamour up to look like casual bystanders close to the rendezvous point.

“Why are you so against me coming to any part of this?” Draco hissed, once more up close and personal as he got in Harry’s face.

“You heard what I said to Susan, I meant it,” Harry replied.

“That’s bullshit, Potter,” Draco bit back, “What’s the real reason?”

“That is the real reason,” Harry said calmly, “Stay here.”

“Right, we’re ready!” Neville called.

Harry nodded, “Get to the basement, I’ll be there in a moment. Daphne, take Andromeda to the rendezvous point and bring her and Teddy back here.”

They all nodded, and Daphne hooked her arm into Andromeda’s. They all left with no further objections.

“Draco,” Harry said calmly, “I don’t know what’s going on with you today because normally you’re very objective, but - ”

“I don’t want to see you die,” Draco muttered, “I’m not used to being friends with heroic idiots like you.”

Harry smiled weakly and held out his hand, “Well…I suppose if this goes south, this is goodbye.”

Draco shook his head, “Don’t be an idiot,” He said as he grabbed Harry’s hand and pulled him into a firm hug.

Harry hugged him back, maybe a little tighter than he should have, and he held on, probably for a little longer than he should have. When he pulled back, he was surprised to see strong emotions swimming in Draco’s eyes.

“Good luck Harry,” He said, his voice solid on the surface but breaking underneath.

Harry nodded and clapped Draco on the shoulder as he left the blonde standing alone in the drawing-room.

They apparated away one by one after Harry had left. He was dressed normally, and he had left his wand in the drawing-room of Andromeda’s house.

He was standing by a statue in a secluded area of the park, and he was aware of the others nearby. They were reading newspapers, standing chatting, or jogging, and they all looked like casual bystanders.

Dennis walked towards Harry, he was thin and gaunt, and he had a certain madness in his eyes. He was holding Teddy’s hand, and the poor boy looked terrified. His usual appearance, blue hair and dark brown eyes had changed, as it often did according to his emotional state. His hair was now a dark red, and his eyes a grey-ish blue. Harry swallowed his anger and glanced behind him to Andromeda, who was sitting on a park bench. When Dennis reached Harry, he grabbed his arm, and Harry whispered to Teddy.

“Run to Grandma.”