Draco clicked the off button on his television remote, tossing the black bar of technology to the side. He let out a long, deep sigh and tilted his head up to the ceiling. He'd been letting his hair grow out, not bothered to take the time to cut it. As a result, the pale blond fringe fell into his eyes and the rest tickled the back of his neck.
"You don't have to turn it off. It's nothing I haven't seen or know." The voice belonged to Hermione Granger who stood with her hands clutching a duffel bag in front of her. She wore a dark magenta petticoat and a knitted black hat over her unruly brown hair. "And you don't have to let me stay, I'm sure it's nothing."
Draco shook his head, "I hear and see enough at work, I don't need this at home, too. And Blaise asked me to keep you safe. You guys are mates and he's away. I owe him for so many reasons. It's about time I start making it up to him."
Hermione nodded. She could see where he was coming from. Muggleborns were being killed left and right. Her best friend got scared for her safety and he wasn't there to offer her a place so he had his friend do it. Hermione regretted telling Blaise hat someone had impersonated her and sold her flat, on the same day as a muggleborn killing.
"You can stay in the guest room or Blaise's. He crashes here a lot. It'll be more furnished and probably has some decent books, so," Draco muttered, trailing off.
"Right, thanks," Hermione said awkwardly. She shuffled her feet around, unsure what to do or say now.
Draco seemed the same. He had his hands in his pockets and stood stiffly in the same spot, looking at the paper copy of the Neither moved or said anything for a good chunk of time.
"I don't mean for this to sound sexist or anything, but there's plenty of food in the kitchen if you want to make anything. I normally just order something from that muggle place down the street. It's easier with our schedules," Draco said, referring to how they worked the same job.
Hermione smiled slightly. "Thanks," she said, "I normally do the same. There is - - this nice pizza place a quarter of a mile away. I guess when you work twenty-four seven hour schedules, it's hard to find time for those simple tasks like making food."
"You wouldn't trade it though," Draco said, following her example of attempting small talk, "Offers adventure, being a field auror. Sometimes being able to save lives makes it rewarding to deal with all the sadness and depression that comes with what leads to the answers."
"You wouldn't leave either," Hermione decided.
"Not even if it meant I had to die the most painful death imaginable," Draco confirmed.
Hermione's left hand let go of her bag and scratch her neck, unconsciously lingering on the small scar that was left there from Bellatrix's knife. Draco, however, noticed, and looked away.
"I'm going to try and get some sleep before we get called to the scene," he said.
"Hm? Oh, yeah. That's probably smart," Hermione agreed.
Draco opened his mouth, deciding if he should say something more. In the end he closed his jaw, nodded once, and walked down the hall. The door to his bedroom closed behind him with a soft click. Hermione let out a breathe she didn't know she'd been holding. Her shoulders dropped into a more relaxed stance.
"What have you done, Blaise," she mumbled.
Hermione followed where Draco had gone down the hall. Instead of entering his room, though, she went through a door that had scrawled on it green ink. Blaise was a typical Slytherin. She went into his room and took a deep breath, dropping her bag. The first thing she noticed was the door leading to a bathroom. Hermione marveled at it. It wasn't that a bathroom was so astonishing but more of she hadn't been able to shower in quite awhile.
Hermione picked up her bag again and entered the bathroom. She took out her magic pager given to her by the ministry and turned the volume all the way up. Then she set it down on the bathroom counter and started the shower. Once the water got to a satisfactory temperature, Hermione stripped off the clothes she was wearing and got in.
The warm water ran down her body, relaxing her stiff muscles. She was being honest when talking to Malfoy about her job. She loved what she did. It sucked at times when she had to turn down invitations given to her by friends or cancel plans at the last minute, but the job was rewarding. Hermione was in the position as Private Field Auror. It meant that she, was assigned to the most gruesome and dangerous cases. Harry ran the head of the Auror Department and helped her out whenever she needed. He was one of the few people to understand that Hermione was a big girl who could take care of herself and didn't hesitate when giving her her cases. The only time Harry had ever been reluctant was on the very case Hermione was currently working on - the muggleborn serial killer.
Hermione remembered the day Harry gave her the assignment. He'd called her into his office, a place dangerous to everyone. It was always cluttered with papers from floor to, sometimes, ceiling. Harry had smiled sadly when Hermione entered and his face turned serious the second she sat down.
"I'm not going to sugarcoat it," he'd said, "i'm tempted to give this to Malfoy and tell him to consult only me and keep you out of it."
Hermione had waited for him to continue, trusting he had a reason for what he had just said and for whatever would follow.
"There has been a series of murders in the muggle world. One thing they all have in common, that the muggles haven't figured out, it that they're muggleborns. The muggle prime minister is struggling to keep the police forces from making the connection. If they look far enough into the victims lives, they'll see that they all went to a boarding school Scotland. It won't take long after that for them to realize our secret and out us. If that happens, we'll have a full blown war - worse than what we had against Voldemort.
"You, being muggleborn, are already a target. If I put you on this case, no matter how hard we try to keep it secret, the press will find out and everyone else will after that. And it will only be a matter of time before our killer tries to come for you. I'm not hesitating this because of your blood. I don't want to give you this because you're my sister and if you died because of something I told you do; to go up against a threat that may be worse than Voldemort, by yourself, I . . . I don't think I'd be able, or any of our friends would be able, to get over that.
"So, I'm giving you the option," Harry said, reaching beneath his desk and pulling out a file. He set it on his desk so the label was upright to Hermione. "You can take it or leave it."
Draco had trouble sleeping that night. Seeing the body of a former classmate was really getting to him. Not that he would admit it aloud, but inside his head Draco had to be honest. He rolled over on his side and stared at the walls. He could hear Hermione snoring through the thin wall dividing his and Blaise's room.
Draco let out a quiet laugh. Never in a million years would he have thought that he'd be living with Hermione Granger. If you'd asked him three years ago, when Harry had partnered him up with her, if he'd be willing to to one day live with Hermione, Draco would have laughed his head off and called her impolite names. Draco smiled remembering the day Harry had given them their first mutual assignment.
He'd told Draco to go into Hermione's office, claiming she had some files for Draco. Draco had complained about it, but agreed when Harry threatened his job. He walked in to find Harry sitting in Hermione's chair. Hermione was no where in sight.
"Where's Granger?" He'd asked, annoyed by her tardiness.
Harry smiled joyfully. A moment later, the door opened and Hermione came in, kicking it closed behind her. She held a stack of papers. Her hair was tied into a messy bun and she wore black slacks and a wrinkled blue blouse.
"You look a mess," Draco commented.
Hermione looked up, only just noticing he was there. Her nose crinkled in in disgust, like she was smelling something bad. She said, "What are you doing here?"
"I asked him to come. I asked you both here," Harry interrupted, "I have something to tell you regarding your positions."
"Harry James Potter if you are going to fire me I suggest you walk out of here now," Hermione had said, her eyes narrowing.
"No, not that. You're both too good at your jobs to fire either of you. But I goofed up," Harry said sheepishly, "I accidentally hired three new case analysts. Now I have five. I was meaning to look for Field Aurors, ones to deal with the most dangerous cases we have. So I'm promoting you both. Starting today you will work together as partners on various cases. They will all be terrifying, disgusting, and will challenge your morals. You will work twenty-four hours seven days a week. These cases don't allow for any rest. Find it when you can."
Harry set a folder on the desk. He stood up and brushed imaginary dirt from his pants before looking at the two with a smile.
"Try to keep the noise down, and I don't mean your arguing," Harry said with a dramatic wink. He then swaggered out of the room.
Draco stared after him in horror by his words.
"You read that file. I'm going to have a with dear Harry," Hermione growled, pulling out her wand and following Harry out.
It was in that moment, listening to Harry's panicked screams echo down the hall as he ran, that Draco decided to never get on Hermione's bad side.
The memory was still crystal clear in Draco's mind, despite it being from so long ago. It seemed to calm him in some way and within moments he was asleep, mentally listening to Harry's screams while Hermione chased him, shooting spells in countless directions.
"Morning."
Draco looked from the kitchen aisle to see Hermione yawning. It was clear that he too had just woken up.
"Morning," he replied in a deep voice.
Hermione looked up at him a little confused. When she saw he was leaning against his hand and his eyes were halfed closed, she brushed it off and stared at him. Draco's hair was bothering her the longer she looked at him.
"You need to cut your hair," she decided.
"I do?" Draco asked, amused, raising an eyebrow
"Yes," Hermione said, "It's too long, how do you see?"
Draco watched amused as she walked over to him and flipped the fringe out of his eyes. Hermione mumbled to herself before walking around behind him. Draco felt a tugging on his hair, but didn't fight her. It didn't take Hermione long to do whatever it was she was doing. She was back in front of him within seconds.
"There, much better," she said with a smile.
Draco reached up to feel the back of his head. His palm landed on a man bun and his smile dropped.
"Real funny, Granger," he sighed.
"I thought it was," Hermione agreed, "Has the come in yet?"
"Uh, maybe," Draco said, "It'll be on the table."
Hermione left the kitchen. Draco turned back and took a bite of his breakfast, a couple of pieces of toast with jam spread over them. A smile crept onto his face and he shook his head slightly. Even though he had worked with Hermione for three years, he had never discussed much other than work with her. Draco had to admit, she seemed to have a nice personality.
Hermione came back into the room, sliding across the tile floor on her socks to stand next to him. She was muttering strings of curse words under her breath. From the simple display of entry, Draco decided that he loved her personality. Anyone who used their socks to slide across hard floors got his approval.
"Malfoy," she said, cursing again, "read this. It's - "
She trailed off, cursing. Draco took the from her hands and read the headline.
Draco looked up and met Hermione's panicked eyes. She tore the paper from Draco's hands and began reading.
"Yesterday, three hours after the muggle news went live from the scene of the latest murder, a muggle by the name of Richard Chad went to a muggle newspaper and claimed he had witnessed the murder. Since published Chad's claim, seven other muggles have come forward and they continue to. These muggles have accounted to seeing a slim figure dressed in black use a long "chopstick" to kill the victims. They have claimed that the murderer waved the "chopstick" around and the victim's seemed to be in pain. The safety of the Wizarding World is at sake. We must turn now to the two wizards who hold the only chance at saving us from exposure: Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy."
Hermione threw the paper down on the counter.
"This is great. They might as well say it's our fault he hasn't been caught yet," Hermione said, "And where are those reports from Kimberly? She said that she'd send them over!"
Draco stood up and grabbed Hermione's shoulders. He said, "Granger, breathe. Here's what we'll do. We need to get this press situation under control. Head to the ministry and organize a press conference. I'll stop by Kimberly's place and get those reports. She probably just was tired and forgot - we all are. Okay?"
"Yeah, yeah. Sorry," Hermione said.
"Awesome, I'll see you at the ministry in twenty minutes."
Draco grabbed his wand from the counter, thankful he had gotten dressed before eating breakfast. He winked to Hermione and turned on his heel, apparating away. Draco felt a little guilty, seeing Hermione's face return to panic when she thought he was completely gone.
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