Malicious Intent - Part 3 (H/D)
Title: Malicious Intent - Part 3
Author: sesheta_66
Pairing: Harry/Draco
Word Count: 1.4K
Rating: Eventual NC-17
Warning: none
Summary: Harry’s world is upended when he’s asked to investigate a break-in and threats levied at Draco Malfoy. He’s never told anyone about their short-lived but intense relationship, and now, five years after it ended, doesn’t seem the time. He’s a professional, so he will investigate, find and arrest the culprit, and get on with his life. What else can he do?
Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.
To start at the beginning, click here.
Or to read at AO3, click here.
[Malicious Intent - Part 3]
Malicious Intent - Part 3
Harry looked at the collection of memories in the Pensieve, hoping he’d be able to cobble together some footage good enough to trick the surveillance devices. His skills weren’t great, but should be sufficient for the purpose: short-term and occasional.
"Right," Harry said. "Are we agreed then? We’ll leave the well disguised devices in place and I’ll remove the obvious ones."
Malfoy still looked hesitant. "The ones they wanted you to find."
Harry nodded. "Then do your best to act naturally."
"How exactly am I supposed to do that?" Malfoy said, wrapping his arms around his stomach. Harry knew that look and it was everything he could do to stay back. He would remain impassive. He would not try to console Draco - Malfoy - to ease his mind. And he would most certainly not take him in his arms and tell him everything would be okay.
"Look, it’s invasive, but you’ve been through worse. You can do this." He resisted reaching out with a calming hand and willed his voice to remain emotionless. "And it won’t be for long. I just want to put a trace on the devices to see if I can determine where they’re transmitting to."
"And you’re sure you can do that?"
Harry shrugged. Truth be told, this wasn’t his area of expertise. "I should be able to narrow it down to a general area, a neighbourhood at least. Any more invasive traces - ones that could pinpoint with more accuracy - would be detectable."
"And that would give them warning, so they could shut everything down, and we'd lose our chance to trace the source."
Harry watched as Draco’s eyes darted around the room, as his teeth nibbled nervously at his lower lip, as his arms reflexively kept squeezing his waist. His instincts screamed to comfort this visibly shaken victim of a crime, but his self-preservation warned him to maintain professional distance from the man who ... well. Maybe he should have told Robards.
"It won’t be for long, and I’ll put up extra wards and warning spells. Once I’ve narrowed down where the signal is transmitting to, we can remove the rest and you’ll have your privacy back."
Draco - Malfoy, damn it - finally let his arms fall to his sides. He balled his hands into fists as he took several deep, calming breaths. "Fine. How long do you figure?"
"A few days, a week at most, I think."
"You think?"
"Look, Malfoy, I’m doing the best I can here."
"Whatever." His arms wrapped around his body again. In a soft voice he asked, "Why does it have to be you?"
Anger flooded Harry. Did he imagine that Harry was happy about the situation? Did he think Harry wanted to be assigned to this case? Did he think that Harry rejoiced in this whole thing? That it was some way to get back at Malfoy? "Look, I’m not any happier about this than you obviously are. Let’s just get through it and I’ll be out of your life for good, okay?"
"That’s not -"
"I didn’t ask for this assignment, alright?"
Again he squeezed his arms around himself. Harry wished he’d stop doing that. "Then why take it?"
Harry sighed. He was asking himself the same question. "Would you rather Ron be handling this? Or is there some other Auror you’d like to personally request?"
"Never mind."
"No, really." Now Harry was pissed. "Does it offend your sensibilities that they’d assign me instead of someone with vastly more experience? Someone who, no doubt, could do a far better job?"
Malfoy looked shocked at Harry’s words, but before Harry could react, he recovered himself and said, "No. Just the opposite."
"What?"
"I’m surprised they’d be willing to part with you. Particularly for someone like me."
Oh. Well. Harry hadn’t expected that. Bloody hell. Might as well tell him the truth. "I don’t think they are particularly confident that anyone else - at least not anyone that isn’t already bogged down with cases - could remain objective, in light of ..."
"My past." When Harry nodded, he added, "And they thought you could?"
Harry shrugged. "Apparently so." Malfoy wrapped his arms around himself again. "They don’t know about ... us. I never told anyone."
Malfoy’s eyes widened. "No one?"
"Well, I didn’t really fancy telling anyone that you’d made a fool -" Harry stopped and took a calming breath. It wouldn’t do either of them any good to rehash the past. "You know what, never mind. I didn’t tell anyone and didn’t think this would be the best time to bring it up."
Malfoy frowned and suddenly looked deep in thought. Eventually he looked up. "Even if it meant you wouldn’t have to work the case?"
Harry ran his hand through his hair and only just avoided tugging on it. "It wouldn’t be right. You deserve your case to be treated as fairly as anyone else’s. And if that means I handle the case, so be it." Malfoy clenched his jaw but said nothing in response. "Let me go back to the Ministry to retrieve your ring, then we can go back to your place and find the devices."
Malfoy considered him for a while. "Who knows that you’re on this case?"
Harry wasn’t comfortable talking about this, but he figured Malfoy ought to know. "Just me, Gawain Robards and Kingsley Shacklebolt."
"The Minister, Head Auror and you?"
"That’s right."
"Not Weasley?"
Harry felt himself getting irritated again. "Not that it’s any of your business, but no. And I’m not going to tell him. Nor will Robards or Kingsley."
"But you took me there, to the Ministry, earlier."
Harry nodded. "Yeah, but that room is used for interrogations and when someone is in there, no one else can Apparate inside." Even still, he knew he’d taken a risk. "I had to do something in order to get the ring off you without signalling to whoever is spying on you. And I’d banked on no one being in the observation room just outside. But, if it’s all the same to you, I’d rather not take you back there."
"Okay."
Harry’d expected an argument. And now that he was about to go, he realised that he was leaving Draco in his home, alone. The home he shared with Ginny. This was such a bad idea. "I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere."
"Fine."
Harry Apparated to the Ministry and, thankfully, the room remained vacant. He was able to retrieve the ring and return in short order. To find Malfoy holding a picture of Harry and Ginny taken outside at the Burrow.
He hastily put down the picture. "So, you and the Weaselette?"
Harry scowled. What the hell business was it of his anyway? "Yes, she lives here with me."
"So, not married then?"
Harry ran his hand through his hair, if only to avoid grabbing Malfoy by the collar, shaking him and screaming in his face. "No, I’m not. And neither are you. And I’m not doing this with you." He took out his wand and Malfoy flinched. "Relax, I’m not going to hex you. I put a blocking spell on the ring before I left the Ministry and I’m going to remove it now. That means whoever is doing this to you will hear every word we say from now on. Got it?"
He no longer looked frazzled. In fact, he seemed to have regained some of his signature arrogance in the few minutes Harry’d been gone. "Got it."
"And when we’re at your flat, remember to act naturally. Don’t let on that you know anything. Act like you’re hearing everything for the first time. We don’t want them to figure out what we’re doing."
Defiantly, he crossed his arms over his chest and smirked. "Not a problem. I happen to be a brilliant actor when I want to be."
"Of course you are." Harry stared him straight in the eye and grimaced. "How could I ever forget?"
With a wave of his wand, he removed the spell on the ring, effectively ending their conversation, and grabbed Malfoy by the arm before Apparating them back to his flat.
Continued in Part 4
Author: sesheta_66
Pairing: Harry/Draco
Word Count: 1.4K
Rating: Eventual NC-17
Warning: none
Summary: Harry’s world is upended when he’s asked to investigate a break-in and threats levied at Draco Malfoy. He’s never told anyone about their short-lived but intense relationship, and now, five years after it ended, doesn’t seem the time. He’s a professional, so he will investigate, find and arrest the culprit, and get on with his life. What else can he do?
Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.
To start at the beginning, click here.
Or to read at AO3, click here.
[Malicious Intent - Part 3]
Malicious Intent - Part 3
Harry looked at the collection of memories in the Pensieve, hoping he’d be able to cobble together some footage good enough to trick the surveillance devices. His skills weren’t great, but should be sufficient for the purpose: short-term and occasional.
"Right," Harry said. "Are we agreed then? We’ll leave the well disguised devices in place and I’ll remove the obvious ones."
Malfoy still looked hesitant. "The ones they wanted you to find."
Harry nodded. "Then do your best to act naturally."
"How exactly am I supposed to do that?" Malfoy said, wrapping his arms around his stomach. Harry knew that look and it was everything he could do to stay back. He would remain impassive. He would not try to console Draco - Malfoy - to ease his mind. And he would most certainly not take him in his arms and tell him everything would be okay.
"Look, it’s invasive, but you’ve been through worse. You can do this." He resisted reaching out with a calming hand and willed his voice to remain emotionless. "And it won’t be for long. I just want to put a trace on the devices to see if I can determine where they’re transmitting to."
"And you’re sure you can do that?"
Harry shrugged. Truth be told, this wasn’t his area of expertise. "I should be able to narrow it down to a general area, a neighbourhood at least. Any more invasive traces - ones that could pinpoint with more accuracy - would be detectable."
"And that would give them warning, so they could shut everything down, and we'd lose our chance to trace the source."
Harry watched as Draco’s eyes darted around the room, as his teeth nibbled nervously at his lower lip, as his arms reflexively kept squeezing his waist. His instincts screamed to comfort this visibly shaken victim of a crime, but his self-preservation warned him to maintain professional distance from the man who ... well. Maybe he should have told Robards.
"It won’t be for long, and I’ll put up extra wards and warning spells. Once I’ve narrowed down where the signal is transmitting to, we can remove the rest and you’ll have your privacy back."
Draco - Malfoy, damn it - finally let his arms fall to his sides. He balled his hands into fists as he took several deep, calming breaths. "Fine. How long do you figure?"
"A few days, a week at most, I think."
"You think?"
"Look, Malfoy, I’m doing the best I can here."
"Whatever." His arms wrapped around his body again. In a soft voice he asked, "Why does it have to be you?"
Anger flooded Harry. Did he imagine that Harry was happy about the situation? Did he think Harry wanted to be assigned to this case? Did he think that Harry rejoiced in this whole thing? That it was some way to get back at Malfoy? "Look, I’m not any happier about this than you obviously are. Let’s just get through it and I’ll be out of your life for good, okay?"
"That’s not -"
"I didn’t ask for this assignment, alright?"
Again he squeezed his arms around himself. Harry wished he’d stop doing that. "Then why take it?"
Harry sighed. He was asking himself the same question. "Would you rather Ron be handling this? Or is there some other Auror you’d like to personally request?"
"Never mind."
"No, really." Now Harry was pissed. "Does it offend your sensibilities that they’d assign me instead of someone with vastly more experience? Someone who, no doubt, could do a far better job?"
Malfoy looked shocked at Harry’s words, but before Harry could react, he recovered himself and said, "No. Just the opposite."
"What?"
"I’m surprised they’d be willing to part with you. Particularly for someone like me."
Oh. Well. Harry hadn’t expected that. Bloody hell. Might as well tell him the truth. "I don’t think they are particularly confident that anyone else - at least not anyone that isn’t already bogged down with cases - could remain objective, in light of ..."
"My past." When Harry nodded, he added, "And they thought you could?"
Harry shrugged. "Apparently so." Malfoy wrapped his arms around himself again. "They don’t know about ... us. I never told anyone."
Malfoy’s eyes widened. "No one?"
"Well, I didn’t really fancy telling anyone that you’d made a fool -" Harry stopped and took a calming breath. It wouldn’t do either of them any good to rehash the past. "You know what, never mind. I didn’t tell anyone and didn’t think this would be the best time to bring it up."
Malfoy frowned and suddenly looked deep in thought. Eventually he looked up. "Even if it meant you wouldn’t have to work the case?"
Harry ran his hand through his hair and only just avoided tugging on it. "It wouldn’t be right. You deserve your case to be treated as fairly as anyone else’s. And if that means I handle the case, so be it." Malfoy clenched his jaw but said nothing in response. "Let me go back to the Ministry to retrieve your ring, then we can go back to your place and find the devices."
Malfoy considered him for a while. "Who knows that you’re on this case?"
Harry wasn’t comfortable talking about this, but he figured Malfoy ought to know. "Just me, Gawain Robards and Kingsley Shacklebolt."
"The Minister, Head Auror and you?"
"That’s right."
"Not Weasley?"
Harry felt himself getting irritated again. "Not that it’s any of your business, but no. And I’m not going to tell him. Nor will Robards or Kingsley."
"But you took me there, to the Ministry, earlier."
Harry nodded. "Yeah, but that room is used for interrogations and when someone is in there, no one else can Apparate inside." Even still, he knew he’d taken a risk. "I had to do something in order to get the ring off you without signalling to whoever is spying on you. And I’d banked on no one being in the observation room just outside. But, if it’s all the same to you, I’d rather not take you back there."
"Okay."
Harry’d expected an argument. And now that he was about to go, he realised that he was leaving Draco in his home, alone. The home he shared with Ginny. This was such a bad idea. "I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere."
"Fine."
Harry Apparated to the Ministry and, thankfully, the room remained vacant. He was able to retrieve the ring and return in short order. To find Malfoy holding a picture of Harry and Ginny taken outside at the Burrow.
He hastily put down the picture. "So, you and the Weaselette?"
Harry scowled. What the hell business was it of his anyway? "Yes, she lives here with me."
"So, not married then?"
Harry ran his hand through his hair, if only to avoid grabbing Malfoy by the collar, shaking him and screaming in his face. "No, I’m not. And neither are you. And I’m not doing this with you." He took out his wand and Malfoy flinched. "Relax, I’m not going to hex you. I put a blocking spell on the ring before I left the Ministry and I’m going to remove it now. That means whoever is doing this to you will hear every word we say from now on. Got it?"
He no longer looked frazzled. In fact, he seemed to have regained some of his signature arrogance in the few minutes Harry’d been gone. "Got it."
"And when we’re at your flat, remember to act naturally. Don’t let on that you know anything. Act like you’re hearing everything for the first time. We don’t want them to figure out what we’re doing."
Defiantly, he crossed his arms over his chest and smirked. "Not a problem. I happen to be a brilliant actor when I want to be."
"Of course you are." Harry stared him straight in the eye and grimaced. "How could I ever forget?"
With a wave of his wand, he removed the spell on the ring, effectively ending their conversation, and grabbed Malfoy by the arm before Apparating them back to his flat.
Continued in Part 4