After the school event, Draco dropped the money they'd collected in the night depository at the bank and headed home. He couldn't relax, especially not after Harry's presence all that day. Not after what the Gryffindor had said.

Harry hadn't suggested seeing Draco that evening, hadn't done anything, but collect Eli and head out after he'd hauled bag after bag of trash to the containers behind the school building.

Draco made a few phone calls to eat up the time when he returned home. Unfortunately, his friends were too busy to talk for long and when he found himself dialing Harry's number, he quickly hung up the phone. Chasing after the Gryffindor was something he would not do. Not again. No amount of explaining the past could change his feelings on that score. He still had his pride, after all.

As he was preparing to use his wand to decorate his own place for the holidays, Draco's gaze kept falling on the recent purchases he'd made at the store he had taken Megan to. He'd gone back to the shop and had picked up every single item that the girl had seemed to like. They were already wrapped in festive Christmas packages. Only Megan would be gone before Christmas.

For all Draco knew, Harry could well be gone by then too, no matter how many free breakfasts he'd won. Knowing that the Gryffindor was at the root of his restlessness didn't stop the blond from doing at least one concrete, productive thing. He gathered up Megan's gifts and loaded them in the front seat of his car. The late hour didn't prevent him from driving out to where the girl and her protector were staying. He knew Brody and Megan would be there. He just didn't know for how many more days that would be the case.

The graded road out to the old farmhouse was passable. It had been snow plowed, but time and use had worn deep ruts that he wasn't entirely successful in avoiding. So he bumped along the miles, using a bit of magic when he found himself stuck, and was particularly grateful when the single light burning on the front porch came into sight.

Though it was nearing ten o'clock when he arrived, Draco hadn't even doused his headlights before several more lights around the house flashed on, startling him for a moment. Security lights, he realized. Probably motion-automated or magiced to appear so. He parked his car and gathered up the items he'd brought for Megan and headed toward the porch.

From inside his police cruiser that was well hidden in the darkness and shadows of the trees, Harry watched the front door of the farmhouse open even before Draco could knock. Brody Paine looked out and cast a quick look around before practically pulling the blond inside. The door closed.

"What the hell is Malfoy doing here?" Beside Harry, Ron's voice belied the tension suddenly emanating from him.

Harry knew how the red head felt. "Good question." They'd had this place under surveillance for more than a week, ever since an unusual money floo had been traced to Paine, the timing of which coincided too neatly with a major drug ring bust that had been made by the muggle authorities that week. Then, another package of the mysterious drug had been discovered just that morning on a trailer belonging to the owner of the house that Brody and his daughter were renting.

They'd been no unusual activity around the property though, until that afternoon, when a stranger had arrived in a Hummer bearing a false registration. The unknown man had left after less than an hour, and the tail Harry had assigned to the vehicle reported that it was left in the parking lot of the airport. Unfortunately, the driver of the Hummer had been lost inside the airport. Harry had the distinct impression that the man had probably apparated away.

"I prefer good answers," Ron countered. Harry knew his friend wasn't entirely convinced of Brody's involvement. "What was ferret boy carrying?" the red head questioned.

"Looked like Christmas presents to me," Harry murmured, knowing perfectly well that Ron had seen the same gift wrapped boxes. "Maybe they're for that girl, Megan. Malfoy seems attached to the kid, but I know one thing..." he pushed open the door of the vehicle, "...I'm going to find out." The dark haired Auror checked his muggle weapon, a gun, which he shoved into its holster and his wand, which he placed into a hidden pocket on the sleeve of his coat for easy access.

"Just be careful," Ron reminded. "This may be your show, but I wouldn't want anyone slipping through because of legal technicalities, magical or muggle."

Harry didn't either. "I'm just a friendly beat cop checking the neighbourhood," he assured smoothly, as he left the cruiser and started toward the house.

Harry heard Ron swear under his breath and the red-head who eschewed guns slowly reached for the rifle hanging in the rack behind his head, just in case the muggle authorities showed up. It really wouldn't do to have muggles witnessing magic and he really didn't want the hassle, let alone all the paperwork involved, of erasing memories.

The dark haired Gryffindor didn't particularly like guns, either, but it was imperative that they kept up appearances and all Aurors that frequently came to the muggle world had been trained in their use. He left Ron behind in the car as back-up and headed for the house. Beneath his boots, the gravel, half muddy, half covered with frozen crisp snow, sounded loud in the still night. He passed Draco's car, looking in the windows, seeing nothing but a box sitting on the back seat, containing leftovers he recognized from the school sale.

The security lights positioned with military precision around the house were still on. Feeling itchy with exposure, Harry rapidly covered the distance to the house, heading up the steps. The door held little resistance to a well aimed boot, and he almost could hear Ron cursing from the vehicle two hundred yards away.

His eyes took in the two figures that turned toward him when the doorjamb splintered. He was hitting the floor, his gun drawn before Draco's face could become more than a blur as Brody roughly shoved the blond behind him and trained his wand at Harry's head. Paine was as wide open as Harry was, neither had any cover in the sparsely furnished room.

Draco's startled yell echoed inside his head as the blond fell to the floor, but Harry didn't take his eyes off Brody. "Put it down," the Gryffindor warned grimly.

"Harry!" Draco shouted as he scrambled to his feet. "You don't know what you're doing!"

"Stay out of the way..."

"Stay back..."

Both Harry and Brody spoke at the same time.

Draco ignored the two of them. "I won't stay back!" Harry wasn't sure if Brody looked more pained than he felt when the blond stubbornly stepped right between them.

"I thought you told me he was no threat," Brody stated. His voice was cold.

Draco flapped his arms. "He's not." The Slytherin glared at Harry. "What are you doing?"

"My job," Harry snapped. "Now get out of here. Ron's outside. You can explain yourself later."

Draco's brows rose, nearly disappearing beneath the hair that had tumbled across his forehead. "Explain myself?"

Harry's weapon didn't waver. He had sweat crawling down his spine and there'd come a time after this was over when he'd probably puke his guts out at the panic he was feeling, seeing Draco blocking Paine.

"I don't have to explain myself to you, Harry Potter!"

"Oh, fun," Brody drawled, looking suddenly amused. "A lover's spat."

"Be quiet." Draco whirled on the agent. "And put that away." The blond sounded just like Harry's first grade teacher. Only Mrs. Krait had seemed older than the hills and had scared the bejabbers out of him.

"Him first," Brody responded, gesturing with his wand.

Draco propped his hands on his hips. "Honestly, Brody, is this how you always do business?"

"It is when some fool crashes through my door in the middle of the fucking night."

"What business?" The question gritted from between Harry's clenched teeth.

A sudden blur of motion launched itself into the room, aiming straight for Draco.

Harry's aim shifted.

"Don't even try," Brody said icily, all semblance of amusement gone. He looked as if he'd just as soon kill Harry as breathe.

Megan was clutching Draco's legs, mute and clearly terrified. Harry could see her shaking right through the red flannel nightgown she wore.

Draco bent over the girl, hugging her and smoothing back the tumbled hair. "It's all right," he soothed. "Nobody's getting hurt." But when the blond angled a look at Harry, his storm colored eyes were furious and dark. "There's a perfectly reasonable explanation." The Slytherin spoke slowly, his gaze taking in the other two men as if he were speaking to the village idiots.

Brody's expression was stony, and huffing a little, Draco looked toward Harry. "Isn't there?"

Megan hadn't budged her head from Draco's stomach.

"You tell me. Give me a perfectly reasonable explanation why your phone records show you've been in contact with Paine's cell phone since before he even came to Little Whinging."

Draco's lips parted in a surprised gasp. "You've been checking my phone records?"

"I've been trying to check his," Harry corrected tightly. Only they'd been extremely difficult to obtain. "What a delightful surprise that, in that process, I kept coming across your number." Harry had tried his best to keep his shock at this information to himself when he had first looked over the records. A voice inside of him from long ago kept niggling at him, telling him there was no way you could trust a Slytherin, especially a Slytherin who had a Death Eater as a father and murderer for a godfather.

Draco's lips twisted into an angry sneer. "I know Brody professionally, all right? That's all."

"What profession?"

"Not the oldest one," Draco snapped. "So stop looking at me as if I just announced I'm a rent boy."

Brody snickered and the blond shot him a deadly look.

"He's part of an investigation," Harry told the blond finally.

"He is standing right here," Brody inserted blandly.

Draco ignored him. "Investigation of what?"

"Drug trafficking."

At that, Brody suddenly lowered his wand and raised his other hand. "Whoa. I think we got a problem here."

"Damn straight." Harry didn't trust that casual grip that Brody had on his wand. "Put it on the floor and step away."

Draco looked completely bewildered as Brody slowly complied. He set the wand near Draco and Megan's feet and backed away.

"That's far enough. Draco, push it over here."

The Slytherin made a face, but nudged the toe of his brown boot against the length of wood. He didn't let go of Megan.

Harry snatched up Brody's wand. He heard the scrape of a shoe and swung his arm around, taking aim at the doorway, but the sight of Ron had him lowering his weapon.

"Weasley." Draco almost sounded relieved, but then his tone of voice changed. "Are you the voice of sanity here?"

Whether he regularly carried a weapon or not, Ron handled the rifle with ease. "Just a friendly beat cop?" He questioned his long time Gryffindor friend, ignoring the Slytherin. His voice was dry, giving no real clue to what he really thought. Harry could guess though.

Draco sniffed. "Not likely."

"Maybe you'd prefer boyfriend or lover," Harry drawled.

The blond flushed wondering what the hell Potter was thinking to say something like that out of the blue, especially in front of Weasley who would have had a complete meltdown if he suspected the truth. He leaned over Megan, whispering to the girl and after a moment, the child unclenched her iron tight grip and slipped over to Brody.

The man tucked her behind him, and though the motion was protective, it hardly seemed paternal to Harry.

Ron gave his friend a very odd look and then sighed, deciding that Harry was just taking the piss with Malfoy. "I don't need this crap," he muttered.

"Draco, get the girl dressed, seems we need to take a trip to the station house and get some questions answered," Harry ordered. He knew, if needed, he could take Brody into the special room in the police station that would allow them to enter the Ministry of Magic where they could do a more thorough job of interrogation.

"With all due respect, Officer," Brody said. "You're barking up the wrong tree if you think I'm moving dope."

"Draco," Harry prompted sharply.

Looking shaken, the blond ushered the girl out of the room.

"Now." Harry looked back at Brody. "Face on the floor. Something tells me you know the position."

Brody snorted and started to laugh, but it died when Harry leveled his gun at him. Swearing under his breath, the agent dropped to the floor, arms and legs spread.

Harry knelt over him, taking a little too much joy as he held the man down with his knee to his spine. He frisked the guy, found nothing but a small cell phone in his pocket, and snapped cuffs around his wrists. Although the metal manacles looked like normal muggle handcuffs, they were in fact charmed. They were completely unpickable and would not allow any type of wandless magic to be utilized. The Auror grabbed Brody's arm and hauled him to his feet.

Draco, entering the room again with Megan, now dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt, gasped at the sight. "This is all wrong," he stated.

"Then we'll get it straightened out," Harry responded. "Can I trust you to drive yourself and the girl to the station?"

Draco's shoulders snapped back and he looked insulted. "Of course." His gaze sent frosty daggers at Harry as he picked up his coat from the couch and pulled it on. His vice was gentle when he told Megan to get her coat as well. As soon as the girl pulled it on, Draco took her hand and they went out the front door.

"Right," Ron grumped, not at all happy to have to deal with this in the muggle world and deal with Malfoy at the same time. "Let's move it."

--------------------

Megan was sitting on a molded chair across the room from Draco. Exhaustion showed in the dark circles beneath her eyes, but she wouldn't let herself fall asleep, even though they'd been sitting in the police office for over an hour.

Harry, Brody and Ron had disappeared down the hallway shortly after they'd arrived. Ron had merely told Draco to stay put when the blond had made an attempt to follow so as to speak to Harry.

So he had. He'd stayed, and he'd fretted, and he'd fumed and then fretted some more and watched the clock on the wall slowly tick past midnight. Across the room from them the dispatcher was doing a decent job of not looking too curious as she answered an occasional call and paged through a magazine.

Draco was on the verge of going down that hallway beyond the dispatcher and finding the Gryffindor's himself when the blinds over the front door swayed opened and the Chief of Police,

Captain Steven Clay entered.

He took one look at the blond and frowned, but there was no surprise in his expression. "Well," he started, stopping in front of the Slytherin. "Seems like there's more going on than I knew about."

Draco stood. "Chief, do you know what's happening? What's Harry doing?"

The Captain gave Megan a sidelong look. She'd folded her arms around herself and was not looking at anyone. She'd even stopped responding to Draco's efforts at conversation.

"Pamela, can you keep an eye on the girl?"

The female dispatcher nodded at her boss. She sent a smile in Megan's direction. It wasn't returned and Draco's stomach tightened. He badly wanted to get the girl out of there.

Steven took Draco's arm. "Come with me."

The blond thought, at first, that the Captain was taking him back to the office where Harry had disappeared. Instead, he ushered the Slytherin into his office and closed the door.

He gave the blond a long look and seemed to sigh. "Sit down, Draco."

"I don't want to sit. I want to know what is going on." Draco wanted to see Harry. Not that he knew what he'd say to the Auror when he did.

Clay shoved his fingers through his hair. "A damned mess, far as I can tell." He pulled out one of the two chairs at the scarred Formica topped table and sat down. "Harry's investigation evidently crossed wires with Brody's assignment to protect the Devereaux kid."

Draco stiffened. "How did you know Megan's real name?"

The older man's lips twisted in a slight smile. "You're not the only one Coleman Black has tapped for The Agency. He seems to treat this town like it's his personal garden for growing agents."

The blond reached for the other chair, sitting weakly down on it wondering how much Black had told this muggle officer about the wizarding community, or even if he had.

Chief Clay, in fact, had no idea about wizards or magic. All he had been told was that The Agency protected children who's famous or wealthy family members had been targeted, either because of political reasons or monetary. He had even hinted at assassinations by the mafia, making their activities seem like something along the lines of witness protection.

"If I'd known what Harry had done, I'd have stopped it, though," the Chief sighed, breaking Draco out of his thoughts. "How long have you been involved?"

"Almost seven years." Draco's voice was faint.

"Someone, say, an aging white haired guy, just one day strikes up a conversation with you and says 'Oh by the way, want to be a spy?"

"I'm not a spy," Draco replied scathingly. The idea was ludicrous. "I just...set up a safe house here in the area now and then. That's all. And it's perfectly legal."

Chief Clay grinned wryly. "Your part is," he agreed. "And I'm glad to know that's the extent of your involvement, because The Agency can tiptoe along some murky lines in the whole legal regard."

Draco's stomach clenched as he thought of something else. "You said there were more in the town that were involved."

"That lawyer fellow, Jefferson and that computer geek, Daniel. They're both out of it now. Me?" He looked up at the ceiling and took a long breath. "Let's just say that I'm not always as smart as they are. Losing Daniel was a blow to The Agency. You know the computer biz, always a way to keep your fingers in pies that most people don't even know exist."

Draco shook his head, finding the entire situation unfathomable. "But..."

The door to the office creaked open and Harry appeared. He looked weary as he eyed his muggle boss. "Great. He's just protecting some kid. No drugs."

Chief Clay clapped Harry on the back as he stood and left the office to give Draco a chance to speak with his officer.

Alone with Harry, Draco closed his hands over the back of the metal chair. "You really thought that I could be involved with drugs?"

Harry reached behind himself and pushed the door closed. "What I believed was that you might not know what you were involved with," he countered grimly. "Which is why I would have appreciated it if you'd have stopped with the evasions and just told me the bloody truth about your relationship with Paine."

"There is no relationship," Draco ground out.

A muscle ticked in Harry's jaw. "Association then."

"How was I to tell you anything! All he was doing was protecting that little girl, from Aurors I might add," the blond accused. Draco lowered his voice in case there was anyone about that would overhear. "For Merlin's sake, Potter how could you think even for a minute that I'd be involved in something stupid like drugs. And what the hell are you investigating muggle drugs for anyways?"

Harry ignored the last question. "The Order thought you might be involved in something."

"Something? What something could it be with..." A light seemed to click on over the blond's head. "You're going after Snape. It's not drugs, it some kind of potion you're after and you thought that I'd be able to lead you straight to him. You're working undercover again." The Slytherin's voice sounded muddy and dull.

Harry nodded once.

The blond swallowed, trying to clear the knot in his throat. "Déjà vu, indeed. Only this time, you didn't clue me in to that particular truth." Before, it had been his situation with Ginny and Eli that he'd kept to himself.

"You haven't exactly been an open book either," Harry shot back. He took a breath to calm himself so he wouldn't end up in a fight with the Slytherin. "How'd you get involved with The Agency, anyway?"

Draco's palms hurt from pressing so hard against the chair back. He slowly straightened his fingers and let go. "What does it matter?"

Harry exhaled roughly. "Because, damn it, everything about you matters."

"And you sound so happy about that."

The Gryffindor suddenly raised the chair in front of him a foot and slammed it back down on the linoleum floor causing Draco to wince.

Harry let go of the chair, shoving it against the table. "What should I be happy about, Draco? The fact that you don't trust me enough to tell me the truth when I ask for it? Or that my one damn lead turns out to be a dead end the size of a mountain?"

"I've never heard anything about drugs or potions being transported through Little Whinging. I mean, we have the occasional person busted for marijuana, but..."

"Some very strange drug is making it's way though here, one with magical elements."

"And you think I'm involved? I haven't seen or heard from Snape in years. Do you have any proof that it's even him?"

"There's no outright proof, but the Ministry had its suspicions and you were the last person to see him," Harry said slowly.

Draco's hands trembled as he pushed back his hair. "Which means that you actually looked for a link between him and me?"

Harry's gaze didn't flinch. "It's my job, Draco."

The Slytherin's eyes burned. He pressed his lips together. "And was what happened between us part of the job, too?"

"No."

Draco felt like crying. "Where's Brody?"

Harry scowled, his lips tightening as well. "Making arrangements for Megan."

The blond suddenly headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" Harry questioned irritably.

"Presumably I'm not under arrest?" Draco barely waited for the Gryffindor's annoyed shake of negation. "Then I'm going to tell Brody that I want Megan to go home with me."

Harry blocked the door. "Your concern is admirable, Draco, but you're not even the girl's teacher. You shouldn't be involved." Apparently Brody had not mentioned Draco's magical instruction to the Auror.

Draco's voice was thick. "Move away from the door or I swear, Potter, the next thing they'll be doing is putting me in a cell for assaulting their fake officer."