Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters you may recognize from the wonderful world of Harry Potter, they all belong to the revered JK Rowling; I just like to play with them a little.
Chapter title, "A Hard Days Night", shamelessly borrowed from the Beatles, for no other reason than it's fitting.
ACCIDENTAL LOVE
A HARD DAYS NIGHT
Draco slumped against the wall of the elevator and waited for the right floor to be announced. He allowed his eyes to slip closed for just a few moments, relishing the way they stopped burning when he refused to let any light past his lids.
"Level two - Department of Magical Law Enforcement, including the Improper Use of Magic Office; Auror Headquarters; and Wizengamot Administration Services."
"Malfoy!" Harry gave the blond a sharp shove in the shoulder. "This is us."
If he could have walked with his eyes closed, Draco wouldn't have hesitated. It physically hurt to open them, but he had no choice. He glanced through blurry orbs at the sign announcing the department: Elite Auror Unit. A small surge of pride filled him, as it did whenever they returned to the unit after a successful arrest.
Draco didn't need to be told how lucky he was to be here today. Things could have turned out vastly different after the war, but somehow he had gained the confidence of one wizard - his current partner - and the rest had simply fallen into place.
Instead of having a permanent address somewhere in the North Sea, he was a member of a special Elite Auror unit dedicated to tracking down the most heinous magical criminals. They dealt primarily with the villains the ordinary Aurors had either failed to apprehend or those who were deemed to be too dark for them to attempt to capture. In short, they were the very best of the best.
Draco dropped into his chair and regarded his paperwork-strewn desk with contempt. Apart from being exhausted, he was filthy. It had been two days since he'd been able to shower, or perhaps it was three, he'd lost track of the time while they were waiting for their latest quarry to expose himself. When he picked up his quill he acknowledged, to himself, that there was definitely a downside to removing these criminals from the streets: the paperwork, and that was just the start of the rubbish they had to go through to ensure these reprobates stayed where they couldn't hurt anyone else. They had to make certain everything was in order immediately, or they risked losing their prisoner on a technicality. It had happened in the past, and the department was still divided on whose temper was more frightening - Harry Potter's or Draco Malfoy's - when that happened.
Draco dipped his quill in the inkpot and sighed heavily at the pile of paperwork he had to complete before leaving for the day or night or whatever it was at the moment. At this rate he was going to have to place a Floo call home and have one of the house elves deliver some food for him. Not that it would be an unusual request these days, because they seemed to be doing as many overtime hours as ordinary hours most weeks and that didn't take into account the field work that took them away for days or weeks at a time.
Just as his quill made contact with the parchment, his partner propped himself on the corner of Draco's desk. He glanced up, irritated at the invasion to his personal space. "Potter?"
"Ron's on his way home, and he offered to have his mum send some food in for us. Are you hungry?" Harry asked wearily.
"No, thank you." Draco appreciated the gesture to include him, but he felt like something decent to eat. It had been days since he had eaten anything he really enjoyed, so he was definitely going to treat his taste buds tonight - just as soon as he got through the preliminary paperwork.
"If you're sure. Mrs. Weasley is the best cook I know."
"I'm sure."
"Fine," Harry muttered as he slid from the desk. "Ron, tell your mum it's just for me."
"Okay," the redhead answered. "I'll see you in the morning then?"
"Maybe." Harry sighed. "If we can get through all the paperwork tonight I plan on sleeping tomorrow."
Ron Weasley nodded and grinned at his best friend. "I'll see you later then."
"Okay." Harry waved half-heartedly and turned back to his desk, thinking how lucky his best friend was to not to have to deal with all this rubbish. Sometimes he regretted accepting the position in the Elite Unit. He couldn't deny that it was more exciting than being a regular Auror, but the paperwork the smaller unit had to deal with, without support from anyone else, made the job extraordinarily tedious at times. Still, it wasn't like he had to do paperwork all day long like Ron, who had been an active Auror until he was injured badly in the line of duty a year ago.
Draco looked up, irritated, from his work as Potter dropped himself noisily into his chair. He growled under his breath and continued working. They were both tired, and if he were to comment on his partner's lack of grace it would develop into an argument without a doubt, and he simply did not have the strength to deal with that at the moment.
For the next hour the only sound that filled the office space was the scratching of two quills, furiously trying to get through the necessary formalities. It was comforting to Draco, in an odd sort of way. He'd never really tried to examine the feeling too closely for fear of what he might have to admit to himself, but he had his suspicions. The final paperwork meant one less felon on the streets of Britain, and while it was a pain in the rear end, it was a worthwhile endeavor.
A loud crash just outside the office door brought both men to their feet with their wands drawn, ready for action.
"It's just me, Harry!"
Potter visibly relaxed and sheathed his wand immediately. "My dinner has arrived," he said happily.
Draco shook his head disgustedly and resumed his position at his desk, not paying attention to the person entering the office with the basket full of delicious smelling food. He took a couple of deep breaths to calm his system, which was now flooded with adrenaline, and picked up his quill.
"Are you sure you don't want some, Malfoy?" Harry asked. "There's enough to feed the entire squad here plus some."
The blond wizard glanced up again, annoyed at the interruption, but with no energy to convey the emotion with just a look. "I said-" He stopped short. The person who had delivered Potter's meal was still in the office, looking expectantly at him, Draco.
"I'm not kidding," Harry said. "Mrs. Weasley has packed way too much for me."
Draco cleared his throat lightly. His eyes were on the very beautiful woman standing beside Potter's desk. "I-err-of course, if you require help. It would be a shame to waste the food."
Harry grinned at the woman and rolled his eyes comically, and she giggled melodically in turn.
"I'll leave you to it then," the woman said. "Just remember to send Mum's basket back tomorrow or she'll have your guts for potions ingredients."
"I will, and thanks," Harry responded sincerely.
"No problem, I was on my way to work anyway." The woman gave one final wave before disappearing through the doorway.
Draco waited until the woman had left the office before wandering over to his partner's desk and the basket of food. "Who was that?" he asked nonchalantly.
"Ginny," Harry answered, pulling food out of the basket and placing on top of the papers on his desk. "How about we take a break while we eat and then get stuck back into it?"
Draco glanced back at his share of the paperwork and immediately regretted the action. Another half an hour wasn't going to make that much difference to the time they would get out of here - the hour would still be utterly indecent either way. "All right."
When the men had piled their plates high with hot food they sat at their respective desks and ate in silence for the most part. Both were enjoying the food and the opportunity to switch off for a little while. When Draco got up and helped himself to a third slice of treacle tart, he perched himself on the corner of Potter's desk instead of returning to his own space.
"This Ginny... How do you know her?"
"She's Ron's sister."
Draco frowned deeply. "I didn't know Weasley had a sister."
"You remember her from Hogwarts," Harry insisted. "How could you forget the witch who made you sneeze bats for- How long was it you were doing that?"
"Her? That's her?"
Harry nodded. "Yep."
"Good Merlin, the years have been kind," Draco muttered under his breath. "What is it that Miss Weasley spends her time doing these days?"
"She's a Healer at St. Mungo's."
"Beauty and intelligence."
"Yes, and don't think you're getting close to that beauty."
"Am I stepping on your territory, Potter?"
"No, Ginny is like a sister to me and-"
"Then there's no problem," Draco said confidently. "Does she have a boyfriend, husband, significant other?"
"Not that I'm aware of," Harry admitted. "But-"
"Don't worry about the 'buts', Potter, they always work themselves out."
"She's not your type, Malfoy."
"Who says?" Draco questioned with faux curiosity.
"I've seen your type: beautiful, shallow and stupid," Harry reminded him. "Ginny is beautiful, but she's intelligent and she has feelings."
"Perhaps I'm tired of the women I've been dating? Maybe I'm looking for something different?"
"A redhead?" Harry offered. It was no secret that Malfoy preferred blondes, tall, leggy ones at that.
"Intelligent conversation," Draco countered.
"You actually talk to the women you see?"
"No, they're only good for one thing," Draco acknowledged with a wry grin.
Harry leaned back in his chair and regarded his partner seriously. He knew how difficult it was to maintain a relationship while active in the field, not every woman would understand that work can take them away for months at a time and that in that time they were actually working almost twenty-four hours a day to wrap the case up, not out socializing or bedding other women. There were times when he thought Malfoy had the right idea: not getting involved, and simply calling upon various women to satisfy his needs. However, the thought of Ginny being one of those women on his revolving selection platter sent chills down his spine. It wasn't so much the idea of her agreeing to a casual relationship with the blond, it was more the notion of what would happen when her real brothers found out - he'd grown quite attached to his partner and didn't want to have to clean his black dress robes to attend the funeral. "You're not thinking of adding her to you call list, are you?"
"Potter, I'm twenty-eight. I'm getting bored with those women. They offer me nothing more than sexual relief. Don't you ever wish there was someone waiting at home for you when you return from a mission?"
"Of course I do, but you know how that worked out," Harry responded sourly. At the end of the war Harry had had his pick of women. He was the hero and everyone wanted to be close to him. However, as time went on he lost girlfriend after girlfriend, because he would always put the mission first. Each time another relationship failed it hurt him deeply, and he was now to the point where he'd sworn off relationships in favor of saving himself the anguish. "I suggest getting a puppy."
Draco raised an eyebrow at him. "I remember well, but that doesn't mean it would be like that for me or anyone else, and for the record, puppies are messy."
"So are women," Harry insisted. "The fact is no woman is going to stand for you being away from them for months at a time with no contact at all. Their imaginations begin to go wild, and suddenly you're sleeping with everything in a skirt."
"That's where your girlfriends got you confused with me." Draco smirked confidently.
Harry shook his head. "Believe me, it doesn't work, no matter how understanding they claim to be in the beginning."
"We'll see," Draco answered vaguely.
"Look, just do me a favor and pick someone I don't know."
Draco chuckled lightly and lifted himself off the desk. "Less damaging to your reputation that way?"
"That way I don't have to pick up the pieces on both sides of the relationship when it fails."
"You forgot just one thing... I don't fail at anything."
Harry laughed heartily. "Tell me, how is that clingy one? What was her name?"
"I haven't heard from her in days," Draco snapped bitingly.
"You haven't been home in days," Harry pointed out amusedly.
Draco growled something not very polite under his breath and lowered himself into his chair again. His eyes flicked up to meet his partner's as he picked up his quill, and he was most disgusted to find the man still laughing at him. He wished he'd kept the problem he was having with one of the women he'd hooked up with a few months ago to himself, but when you spent days on end with one person, personal details were bound to start slipping out. The woman in question was undeniably beautiful and certifiably insane. It wasn't unusual for Draco to receive several owls a day asking where he was and what time he'd be home or for the woman to turn up on his doorstep when he was entertaining someone else. Of course, Potter had taunted him relentlessly about having a stalker, and although Draco dismissed the idea, he was hard pressed to find a different explanation. It seemed this woman had laid claim to him and was hell bent on becoming Mrs. Draco Malfoy - a thought that privately terrified him. He wasn't ready for all that rubbish, and while he'd grown bored with his lifestyle, all he was really looking for was some intelligent conversation away from the office; someone permanent in his life that he could rely upon, like a best friend with benefits.
The sky was just starting to turn pearly pink as the two Elite Aurors left the office for their respective homes. As beautiful as the sunrise was, Draco wished dearly he'd been able to miss it this morning, as sleep was the far more attractive option. When he Apparated into the foyer of Malfoy Manor Draco uncharacteristically stumbled. If there was any doubt in his mind about his state of exhaustion that confirmed it unconditionally. Now all he had to decide was whether he should shower first or simply fall onto his bed fully clothed and bother with all of that when he awoke.
By the time he reached his chambers, his legs were burning from over exertion. He made his decision immediately: sleep first, cleanliness later.
"I thought you'd never get home, darling."
Draco's eyes popped wide open. The stalker was standing in his private chambers, wearing his bathrobe and quite obviously not much else. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm waiting for you, of course."
He reminded himself to have a word with the house elves about letting certain people into the house when he wasn't here. "Look, I haven't slept for a couple of days, and I'm really not in the mood for company, so I'd appreciate it if you showed yourself out."
"Oh, you poor baby." She slinked forward and tried to stroke his face, but Draco jerked away from her touch. "Let me help you to relax."
"Just leave," Draco hissed.
"Darling, I know you're tired, but there's no reason to be uncivil."
"Minty!" Draco bellowed, looking around his for the arrival of his servant. He thought he just saw a large ear out of the corner of his eye and was turning to give the house elf an order when the world went black.
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AUTHOR'S NOTES
Written for dgficexchange. Thanks to Rainpuddle13 for her fantastic beta skills.
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