Draco never imagined he’d be on this side of the law. In fact, he found it ironic considering his background. He was an Auror, one of the youngest at the Ministry of Magic. Not that this was unusual anymore; the war had decimated the Ministry’s ranks. Many of the aging wizards who had trained him had themselves been killed, so that the Aurors’ department now wore a much younger face. Despite the hazardous nature of his employment, Draco enjoyed it. Being an Auror was a job that suited his unique experience, and, young or not, he was good at it. Life had been much quieter since Voldemort had been vanquished, but there were still pockets of nastiness about. Many Death Eaters saw Voldemort’s defeat as an opportunity to grab a little power of their own. The new alliances they made among themselves were often precarious, resulting in regular ambushes and double-dealing, and causing as much damage to bystanders as to each other. Also roaming about were various dark creatures, giants and dementors and such, who were once allied with Voldemort. Though their loyalties to his minions had largely dissolved, they occasionally kept company with former Death Eaters, the better to sate the appetite for violence of which Voldemort had given such a tantalizing taste. The random chaos kept the Ministry’s Aurors from having too much time on their hands. All would be quiet for a time, when a bubble of destruction would burst forth, as from a slowly simmering cauldron. Because the Death Eaters’ alliances were so fluid, the targets of attack and retaliation were completely unpredictable. Their opposition’s lack of organization made it practically impossible to plan any sort of counter, leaving Draco and the other Aurors constantly playing catch-up. Many editorials in The Daily Prophet voiced the opinion that all these troublemakers ought to just be rounded up and put in a room to fight it out among themselves; a few added that the remainder ought then to be fed to acromantulas, or just put in a room with acromantulas in the first place. While The Daily Prophet’s sentiments were appealing in theory, Draco felt that the current state of in-fighting made it, in practice, like herding kneazles. At least it kept him busy. Draco found himself unique among his fellow Aurors. Most were Gryffindor types, willing to risk life and limb to save the proverbial innocents in danger. However talented, these were often the ones that got blasted from behind because it hardly ever occurred to them that others might be less honorable than they. The survivors of such foolish notions rarely made the mistake twice; many of their colleagues would not have that opportunity. Draco was far too wary to make such an error; he had been disappointed too many times already. Trust was not something that Draco was well-known for. He was inarguably charming and polite to those around him, even if he was a bit full of himself, though none the less likable for it. One could have a delightful conversation with him for hours on end, but upon recalling it find nothing of Draco, not really. Not his favorite color, not his Quidditch team. He was an illusion, though few noticed, being more concerned with maintaining their own illusions. The illusion of Draco Malfoy was the product of years of subtle accretion. He was well into his second decade before he figured out that his father’s spoutings about pure blood were so much rubbish. Longbottom couldn’t stand a cauldron the right way up, yet Granger should have been born with a wand in her hand. Clearly, there was no advantage to pure blood. Years later, he is chagrinned to realize that he was spoiled rather than privileged; how was he to know? Voldemort’s second attempt to take over made many wizards suspicious that pure-blooded wizards might be sympathetic to his cause. During these times, Draco sometimes wished for the clean slate of a Muggle-born so that everyone would stop suspecting him of being a junior Death Eater. With Lucius’ incarceration, Draco found himself taking care of his own affairs rather sooner than he had expected. Feeling himself freed of the constraints of his father’s expectations, he made his way, making sure to disassociate himself from his Lucius’ proclivities. His fellow Slytherins proved themselves to be sycophantic toadies, hoping for protection or power or both. If that was how it was to be, Draco decided that they could make themselves useful or get out of his way. He had Crabbe and Goyle to guard his privacy. As they had often been compared (accurately) to trolls, in both size and intelligence, Draco took advantage of their impassibility whenever he wanted to be left alone. Pansy Parkinson was available if ever he wanted an arm ornament, or a quick snog between classes, or even a bit more. The rest were just there for his personal entertainment. He could bully them if he felt like it, or entertain them if he was in the mood; either way the toadies lapped it up. He cultivated an aura of power and mystery, helped by the huge number of curses he was liable to demonstrate on whichever hapless student might offend him. His studies had long since extended to the Restricted Section, thanks to the indulgence of Professor Snape. Once, one of the toadies had compared him to Mudblood Granger. Draco transfigured him into a book stand; no one commented on his studies afterward. Studying was not an idle pursuit, after all, since Malfoy Manor was a deathtrap to the unwary. Since he had taken it over, it had taken every ounce of his skill and newfound knowledge to tame the vicious artifacts left there by his father. He finally triumphed over a last particularly malevolent tea strainer before returning for his final year of school. His intense study, undertaken primarily for self-preservation, incidentally earned him Outstanding grades in all his N.E.W.T.s, which surprised Draco as much as anyone else. After graduation, he applied to the Ministry of Magic to be an Auror, figuring that the worst they could say was ‘no’. They said ‘yes’. A/N: I know it seems a bit slow now, but it's a prologue! I'm just setting the scene! Hermione makes her entrance in the next chapter.