A/N: Hello! I'm back! Still more to do at work than I'm comfortable with, but that's life. This story idea was in my head for quite some time, because I'm a huge fan of Back to the Future. I'm aware that it isn't very original but that doesn't stop me from giving this trope my personal note. It's going to be light-hearted and not very serious and my plan is to update a chapter per week. Hope you like it!
As always, this story wouldn't be possible without the patient help and proofreading of my friend MrBenzedrine, THANK YOU!
Disclaimer: The characters and places from the Harry Potter world you might recognise are not my own, but belong to J.K. Rowling and associates. I'm not making money out of this writing or story.
"Oi! Take care, Malfoy!" One of his colleagues, whose name he couldn't remember, had to jump out of the way in order to avoid a hefty collision. Draco simply ignored him; it wasn't his fault that the other man had his eyes on his coffee mug and not on his environment.
Needless to say, Draco Malfoy wasn't in the best of moods when he walked towards the Head Auror's office. The reason of his more than usual brooding appearance had nothing to do with the fact that he was ordered there, but with what happened the day before.
He and Astoria had finally decided to end things. Their parents had set them up about a year ago, but it simply didn't work out for the both of them. It wasn't that he didn't like Astoria - quite the opposite, actually; they were close friends, confidants even. Holding her close was pleasant, and the sex qualified as nice, but that was it. Luckily, she felt the same way, and so they parted ways in friendship -and not in marriage, as their parents so desperately wanted them to. The reason for Draco's grumpiness lay in the conversation at the dinner table at Malfoy Manor when he informed his parents that he was a free wizard again.
Lucius nearly choked at his entrecote, and his mother almost spilled some of the expensive red wine upon his declaration. Then the ranting started: 'You have to settle down, Astoria is the perfect match, you have a responsibility to continue the line…', blahblahblah for about an hour in which Draco concentrated on his food and decidedly ignored the harsh words. It wasn't as if he didn't have feelings! He simply was too well educated to show them to anybody like a bleeding Gryffindor.
And he was a wizard, for Merlin's sake! He could make little pureblood heirs in the next sixty years or so. And, judging by the admirable glances his father caught when parading around in public (even from witches just out of Hogwarts -ugh!), there wouldn't be a problem to find a decent enough partner in the next decades. For now, he wanted to concentrate on his career, on his friends, on casual physicality with pretty witches without thinking about putting a ring on any of their fingers.
Draco forced his thoughts on his work again, wondering why he was ordered to Head Auror Potter's office today. Maybe a new, particularly nasty case for him? Usually, Draco was the one in the department who got assigned with those 'special' cases that required a bit of insider knowledge, meaning: lots of Dark Magic, many old 'family friends', the skill to handle hexes and curses the Auror Training listed as too dark -and Draco had learned hands-on at the same time as flirting with women.
Those special cases were the reason why he mostly worked and the fact that he wasn't the easiest wizard to work with. Well, it wasn't his fault that most colleagues felt intimidated or unnerved by his striking personality, was it? He was a Malfoy, after all! Furthermore, his boss avoided partnering him up with female Aurors, because, apparently, they became too easily distracted by him -or so riled up they were an inch short from hexing him into next week.
Without bothering to knock, Draco entered Harry Potter's office. He and Potter had developed something like an amiable companionship over the years, not exactly a friendship (because Potter had passed this opportunity up when he didn't grab Draco's hand back before their Sorting). Draco knew what Potter's brats names were (well, at least he knew he had two and one on the way), how he drank his firewhiskey, and that he and his wife had a tendency to forget locking spells on his office doors (that was something he'd rather have obliviated from his memory). On the other side, Harry knew how Draco drank his tea, what his favourite insult for his male colleagues was ('flapdoodle' for a wizard, he didn't swear at witches because he was raised with manners), and whom he had lost his virginity to (a busty blond cousin of Daphne and Astoria Greengrass on a boring pureblood gathering when he was fifteen), courtesy to a Veritaserum-accident some years ago.
Potter sat at his desk, papers scattered all over it in a seemingly unorganised manner. The glasses askew, the hair absolutely ruffled- he was the same as always.
The other wizard looked at Draco seriously. "Please close the door, Auror Malfoy."
Uh-oh. Closed doors and a 'please'. Things were looking very bad for him.
Normally, the Head Auror was a huge fan of the muggle policy of 'open doors', which -to Draco's opinion- probably stemmed from the frustration of not being able to close them magically. Closed doors meant confidential. 'Please' meant Draco would hate it. 'Auror Malfoy' meant deep hippogriff shit.
Draco automatically checked his parent's schedule in his mind; Monday: yoga for Mother. Tuesday: Father was going hunting (for a artificial bait, not for muggles!). Wednesday: tea with the Parkinsons for both of his parents. Thursday: shopping trip to Diagon Alley for his mother with his father trailing behind her looking for something better to do. Friday… -to sum it up, there wasn't an item 'pledging allegiance to the next evil Lord'. So, something personal was out of question -what was it Potter wanted to shove at him?
Draco sat down in one of the chairs facing the desk and looked at his superior questioningly.
"I wanted you to come here because I've got a new case for you." Straight to the core of things, not even time for 'How are you, Malfoy? Nice weather today, isn't it? What about a round of Department Quidditch on Saturday?'
"I figured as much," the blond drawled sarcastically. Potter sighed heavily, either because of Draco's usual overconfident behaviour or because of the assignment.
"An important employee of the Research Department is working on a secret project. A project of such delicacy that I've come to the conclusion that the employee is in need of protection while working at it, whether she likes it or not."
Draco didn't like where this was going. At all. He knew exactly who worked in the Research Department, even having screwed the witch's assistant a few times before he was with Astoria.
"I'm going to regret this eventually, but seeing as you are the only one available and have shown exceptional talent in this kind of work…"
Harry's words were interrupted by Draco's almost whining (because Malfoys didn't whine - they growled and sneered), "You can't be serious!"
The Head Auror pointed at his scowling face. "Do I look like I'm joking, eh? I'm as uncomfortable with the situation as you are, and I'm well aware I should prepare the forms for not-so-accidental hexing between Ministry workers when it comes to you two, but I won't risk her safety. And even if this admittance leaves an unpleasant taste in my mouth, you're actually quite good at what you do here." With what he thought was a final, powerful gesture, Harry pushed the ministry approved manila folder into the blond's hand - and the effect was ruined by some of the pages tumbling from it onto the floor. One landed on the floor with the script facing up, presenting Draco the smiling picture of the menace of witch that called herself the researcher of whatever project: Hermione Granger.
Damn it, Draco really should have stayed in bed today.
A/N: I'd like to recommend a little one-shot MrBenzedrine and I wrote as an answer to a prompt for Valentine's Day and you can find under her penname: Bloody Valentine (Dramione, of course). I've been sick when we wrote it and it was the only thing that kept me from going crazy out of boredom!