Birthday Fic Part 1
November 17th
Harry was stunned. He had just turned in the paperwork for his last case when Kingsley had asked him for a word. They had retreated into the head aurors office and hadn’t even sat down yet when Kingsley broke the news.
"We found you a new partner." Harry fell down into his seat and let out a shocked sigh.
"What? When did this happen?" Harry asked.
"Johnson came in to request a new partner two days ago. This is the seventh one Potter." Harry scoffed at the comment, it was actually the eighth. Harry was shocked though, he and Johnson had been working together for a little over 8 months now. He thought that this partnership would last. The other 7 had been over in less than two months.
"You do realize there is only one other person who is currently partner-less, yes?" Kingsly continued. Harry contemplated protesting this sudden change, surely as head auror Kingsly could deny Johnsons request, but thought better of it. Of course he knew there was only one other person, the other went through partners almost as fast as Harry did, but he suspected it was for a completely different reason.
"Johnson said you needed to speak with me?" Draco Malfoy was a thing of wonder. He was tall, with blonde hair that was stylishly fashioned just to his chin, and long lean muscles that seemed to be magnified by the auror robes, that on everyone else, looked modest. Unfortunately, his personality was not as beautiful as his looks.
"Malfoy, please have a seat. I need to discuss your new partnership with Potter before your next mission pops up." Malfoy gave a curt nod and sat down in the chair next to Harry's. That was another thing about Malfoy; he never questioned Kingsley's decisions. No, he just annoyed the mickey out of anyone he didn’t want around until they were forced to request a new partner before they lost their minds. "I am going to make this very clear right now. This is the last time I am going to deal with either of you. I don’t care if you are ready to kill each other. You will not get new partners. This. Is. It. Are we clear? Good. Malfoy I believe you are currently on a case, fill Potter in on the details. Potter your affects will be moved into Malfoys office by the end of the afternoon. Good day."
Harry realized then that he should have protested earlier. He didn’t think that Kingsley would make Malfoy his permanent partner, especially since the older man new their history. Harry chanced a glance at Malfoy and saw a grimace on his face. It seemed his counterpart was less than pleased as well.
December 19th
It had been a month. Harry was amazed that they had made it this long without killing each other; they had even managed to successfully complete two cases. They were currently working on a murder case that they had been assign two weeks previous. Two months ago a young girl had been taken from her home and a ransom had been placed on her safe return. The parents agreed to pay right away but when the Aurors previously on the case arrived at the scene to retrieve the girl, they found her mangled body hanging from a rope. She hadn’t been the last though, there were two more. The second was retuned safely and the third had been found dead.
Harry sighed and looked down at Malfoys case notes. The fourth child to be taken, a five year old boy named Ayden, was a little more difficult to figure out. The boy had been orphaned from birth and left with no significant sum of money. What was stranger was the kidnapper returned the child, but they soon found that any hope that the culprit had given up were in vain.
A curse had been placed on the child. Upon further research they discovered that the curse could only be removed by the caster. That was all the information St. Mungos staff could provide though. They didn’t know what the curse was. A week had passed since the child’s appearance.
"Good morning, Potter. You're here early," Draco said as he walked in to the office.
"You say that every morning, have you ever considered that you just show up late?" Harry smiled. Not only had they managed not to kill each other, they had become rather close friends; but as Draco rationalized, with the amount of time they had been spending together, even if it was for their cases, it was impossible not to become close. Harry fully agreed with this. He had learned more about Draco in the last month than he ever though possible.
Malfoy smirked and sat down at his desk. “Impossible Potter, as a Malfoy, I am nothing if not punctual about when I arrive for work.” He pulled a file out of his desk and started shifting through it. “The papers arrived from St. Mungos last night. I haven’t looked over them yet but from the note Pansy left me, they discovered something interesting.”
“I’m sure you’ll read it and fill me in, I have to finish the report on the last child and have it to Kingsley by noon.”
Later that day Harry walked into the office to find a stack of papers sitting on his desk, but Malfoy was nowhere in sight. He glanced to the top of the stack and saw a note written in Malfoys elegant scrawl.
Potter,
I ought to kill you! You said you would be gone for five minutes. It has been three bloody hours and twenty seven minutes! None the less, I have to go to St. Mungos and talk to Pansy about some things. Then I plan on taking the rest of the afternoon to search the Manor library to look for anything that might help. YOU NEED TO READ THESE PAPERS!!! I have taken the liberty of sorting out the less important ones for you. Once you finish that I expect you to floo to the Manor and help me with this research.
Malfoy
Harry set the note aside and let out a low chuckle, it didn’t surprise him that his partner had timed his trip. He moved his eyes to the first piece of parchment and started to read.
Name: Ayden Redgraive
Sex: Male
Age: 5
Parents: Aron Blake and Madison Redgraive
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Violet
Other Notes: The curse seems to be dormant at the moment, but from the patters it is showing in the little activity there is, it seems that it will take effect and kill the child in about two months. We are unsure as of yet the exact curse that has been placed on him but, further tests are being run to determine it.
After reading that Harry leapt off the chair, grabbed his cloak and race for the floo.
December 20th
“Potter. POTTER. WAKE YOUR LAZY ARSE UP AND LET ME THROUGH YOUR FLOO!” Malfoys voice echoed across Harry’s apartment at about seven in the morning. Harry rolled his eyes and got up from where he sat in the kitchen.
“If you want me to let you through you might want to be nicer about it,” Harry chuckled as he entered his living room. Draco's head appeared back in the floo to scowl at him. “Alright, alright, give me five minutes to dismantle the wards.”
“You might want to put some trousers on while your at it, not that I mind the sight of you galloping around naked, but I’m sure your Granger friend might find it a bit startling,” Draco winked and pulled his head back out of the fire place. It was only then that Harry noticed his current state of undress and, blushing, made his way to his room to put cloths on and bring down the wards.
Five minutes later Harry walked out of his room to find Hermione and Draco sitting on chairs in the living room, in deep discussion. Hermione looked up as he walked in and gave him a kind smile.
“Long night Harry or did you normally give Malfoy a show before work?” Harry's blush returned full force at Hermione’s comment as he sat down.
She, Ron, and Ginny were really the only three who knew the state of his personal affairs regarding relationships. After the war he and Ginny had tried to work out what was left of their romance but to no avail. Harry spent a year touring the world before he came back to join the auror academy. Along his journey he met Jason, a 20 year old wizard who was traveling, like Harry, around the world. They had spent a few nights together, clubbing and having fun, but decided that it couldn’t go any farther and parted ways. Since then Harry had only been on a few dates with men that he met in the muggle world, but nothing had worked out.
“So what was so important that you were in the office two hours before work?” Harry asked as he took a sip of tea from the cup Hermione had conjured him.
“Well, Malfoy came down to the archives a couple days ago asking for anything that we might have concerning your case. One of my assistants had looked for him and found nothing. Later, she and I were having a conversation and she off handedly mentioned what she had looked for. I realized that she had looked in the wrong place and decided to search myself. I went through some files and found these.” Harry took the file she handed to him and opened it. Inside laid three letters.
“Those are copies of the original letters sent to the families of the kidnapped children. The originals had been charmed to burn up as soon as those who were supposed to read it had read it. Someone was able to get the memory of the letters and view them by pensive. Because they were acquired by less than legal means they were not submitted to the auror department but sent strait to archives. We technically cannot use these letters to prove the case but, we could use them to help us,” Draco said with a smirk on his face. He knew as well as Harry did that if they were caught with the letters they would be suspended for a week.
And knowing Draco, he will be suspended for longer than that for illegally procuring memories. Harry though to himself as he read through the contents of each slip of paper.
“Well,” he stated after a short while, “at least whoever we are dealing with had the decency to use the name Nathaniel Blake each time. It definitely makes this a little easier for us.”
“I’m sorry Harry. I have to go, but if you need anything else, just ask me. I’m sure I will be able to find more information for you. I will look for mare records of Nathaniel Blake as soon as I get back to the ministry,” Hermione said as she stood to leave.
“Thanks Hermione.”
“Goodbye Granger.” Hermione turned to scowl at the smirking Draco and then left the apartment. “So, now what?” Draco continued after a few second of silence.
“We should go back to the office and look into this lead, which you so illegally came up with.” Draco gave him a smile that momentarily took his breath away.
“Admit it, if you were in my position, you would have done the same thing!”
“Position, what position? Oh are you referring to the ex-death eater with no morals position?” Harry threw back jokingly.
Draco's smile turned from innocent to predatory in a matter of seconds. “Actually I was referring to the ‘I am trying to impress Harry Potter so I can shag him senseless’ position. Which bring up a list of other positions I might like to try.”
Harry sat there stunned for a moment, not knowing what to say or do. Suddenly, as if pulled by a magnate, Harry found himself standing in front of Draco, their lips barely centimeters apart. He looked deeply into the grey eyes that were placed so close to his own and he knew that if he were to lean forward just a little bit-
“Harry!” Ron’s voice made the two aurors jump apart as if burned. Harry, again, blushed and turned towards the floo to talk to Ron.
“Hey Ron, what’s up?”
“Well I just came into your office to ask you a question but you weren’t here so I floo’d you to make sure you were awake. Sorry I didn’t mean to interrupt your discussion!”
“It’s about time Malfoy and I got to work anyway Ron. We will be there in a minute.” Ron’s head disappeared and Harry turned back to look at his partner. Draco was already collecting his robes and making his way to the fireplace.
“I need to grab some things from the Manor. I will be there in a bit,” Draco said as he passed Harry. He flashed the younger man one last smile and floo’d away.
I think I could get used to that smile.
December 23rd
"I have looked at Ayden’s file and found something interesting in his inheritance," Draco said as he placed a file on Harry's desk. "According to this, the Redgraive’s had a dagger in their possession. There is a legend about it. Apparently the dagger, known as The Dagger of Agrippa, has magical properties and when placed in the right hands, it is undefeatable. "
Harry looked at the paper in front of him. They had yet to find any reason as to why Blake had kidnapped the child, but if what Draco said was true, it might be the lead they had been looking for.
"Can we access the vault to examine the dagger?"
"I put the paperwork in this morning for an escort to the Redgraive holdings," Draco smiled as he replied.
"That's great. Thank you." Harry set down the quill he had been using to take notes on the case. “You know, you are more like a secretary than an auror.” The second the words were out of his mouth Harry was faced with Draco’s wand.
“Want to say that again Potter?”
“I like my tea with two scoops of sugar please. No milk.” Draco gave him a hard look and walked out of the office with a quick ‘I have to talk to Granger or Weasley or whatever her name is.’
December 29th
“All three letters were signed Nathaniel Blake but, after looking into it further there is no Nathaniel Blake registered in all of London. The only information we have is a) he is poor and seeking monetary gain or b) he is, in fact, rich and chooses to seek revenge for being wronged in the past while expanding his wealth. Other than that we have nothing.” Draco said as he sat down it the chair on the other side of Harry’s desk. The dark haired man looked at the other and noticed, for the first time, the bags underneath his eyes.
“You forgot the dagger,” Harry stated looking at the other.
“As of now, the dagger means nothing; we have no proof that whoever this Nathaniel Blake is, wants it. It just doesn’t make sense.”
“Lets’ go out on a limb here and say that the dagger is the ‘The Dagger of Agrippa’. Would there be reason then that Blake would want it?”
“Yes, admittedly there would be then. It was said that the dagger contained a spell that made it almost impossible for an enemy to defeat you. Once it pierced the enemy’s skin, it would outline the weakest points on that person’s body with a golden light, so the wielder would no exactly where to strike to kill. After Agrippa’s death his son came to own the dagger but, it was lost after he was wounded in battle. There has not been any record of the actual dagger since but there has been copies made, none of them with the power of the original. It seems highly unlikely that something of that power would find its’ way into a Gringotts vault, no?”
“Don’t be fooled, just because it seems unlikely does not mean it isn’t real. I have a feeling that it is the key to this entire case. Or at least, Ayden’s part.”
January 15
"Potter look at this." Malfoy gestured him over to the book he was reading. They were sitting in the library at Malfoy Manor, researching the spells that may have been placed on Ayden or anything else that might help them trace Nathaniel. They had little luck thus far except for finding a few more books that mentioned dormant curses. The information had been practically worthless and seemed to have the same symptoms as those that Ayden had been exhibiting.
Harry looked down at the text in Draco’s hand and gasped. 'Single Signature spell works for a ribs amount of time and can only be used once to determine who cast a spell or curse.' Harry smiled and hugged Draco tightly.
"Don’t sing my praise yet, we don’t know if it will work." Harry still giddy shook his head smiling.
"You did it!" Harry took Draco’s face in his hands and kissed him hard on the lips. Harry stopped abruptly but with one look into Draco’s eyes, he leaned back in and kissed him again.
The kiss got deeper and more passionate as Draco ran his tongue over Harry’s lips and the younger’s boys’ lips opened to allow him entrance into his mouth. They moved over to the couch, and laid down, Draco on top of Harry. Harry could blame it on the euphoria of finally having found something that would further their investigation and save the child, but he knew deep down that it wasn’t just that. These feelings had been lying dormant in his system for a while, waiting for the opportune moment to take control of his mind.
“That’s it!” Harry yelled, pushing Draco off of him.
“What’s it?” The blonde man asked getting up off the floor where Harry had so gently shoved him. He turned and saw Harry scurrying about the bookshelves, pulling out random books only to shove them back where they came from. “Potter, you need to calm down. What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about the curse, Draco. Didn’t you find it strange that every account that we have read of it the effects have been different? I remember reading a diary type entry somewhere, but at the time I passed it off as nothing. It said ‘I have had these insecurities before, but for some reason they are now magnified. The pain I feel is unbearable; I don’t have the will to fight it any longer.’ That’s the key. Insecurity, but more specific, the victims’ fear of death,” Harry announced as he came running back over to where Draco was standing, holding a leather bound book. Sure enough the words on the page were exactly what Harry had recited.
“How did this person die?” Draco asked.
“She is the one that was stabbed.”
“’So how does this prove anything?”
“It said earlier in the book, hold on,” he flipped back, about to the middle of the book and scanned the pages until he found what he was looking for. “’Lyra dropped a knife today, I was terrified, I can only imagine what it would be like to get stabbed. That would be the worst way to die.’ She was afraid of being stabbed to death, but in the end that is exactly what she did, she put a knife through her heart.”
“But what about Anderson, he died in a fire?”
“When he was young, about nine if I remember correctly, his house caught on fire and everyone but his sister escaped. She died in the fire and he could only stand outside and hear her screams. It would be reasonable to say that he would be terrified of dying in a fire.” Harry looked at the other man to see a look of triumph cross over his face.
“That’s right! I remember reading an article about the girl who drowned. Her husband said she hated water. She had refused to go in the lake when they went on vacation. That is why he suspected murder. That’s it! You figured it out!” Draco pulled Harry in for another deep kiss before letting him go and running (though not as frantically as Harry had) to go find a book that might hold the spell they were looking for.