Draco's never had the best luck, as his boyfriend had kindly pointed out a few hours prior. 

But this? This was exceptionally bad luck. Even for Draco's standards.

He wasn't even really sure how it had gotten out- he just knew he was woken up by the door to his dormitory being pounded on, Pansy shrieking about it being too early and it had eventually been Blaise that had gotten the door. 

"Err, Draco? I think it's for you."

Draco'd squinted into the blinding light of early morning, being met with notoriously untamed frizzy hair and a redhead. Harry was still asleep. 

"I'm certain he told you he'd been gone tonight," Draco mumbled, eyes bleary as he nudged Harry in the side to wake him up. He startled with a snort, mumbling incoherently into Draco's hip.

"This isn't about Harry- I..." Hermione chewed her bottom lip, glancing at Ron nervously as if she didn't want to say it. "Draco... The Aurors are here. They're looking for you."

So yeah. Notoriously bad luck. 

Draco had taken his spare time to get dressed. Daphne had been consoled at the sight of Harry Potter in their dorms, as well as being informed by a panicked Ron, Hermione and Harry, who all chattered while Draco calmly and gracefully floated about the room, getting himself ready. 

"Why are you not freaking out?" Harry hissed, grabbing Draco's arm. "How long until I get to see you? What will they- Oh, Merlin, I-"

"Panicking will do you nothing. Aurors enjoy seeing weakness- it gives them something to exploit. Show nothing, lose nothing." Draco calmly removed his arm from Harry's grasp, smoothing down the wrinkled fabric. "I don't know how long or what they'll do, but you remember earlier this morning, don't you?"

Harry, looking a bit like he were about to cry, nodded. "Well, you know I'll do the same- and feel the same. So stand straight. Mania is a symptom of dark magic."

Clearing his throat, Harry nodded, sniffling slightly. "Okay. I l-"

A crackling noise overtook the dorms, and a rough Auror's voice came over the magical loudspeaker. "Alright Malfoy, we know you're in there, just come out into the Slytherin Common Room with your hands up! Bring your wand!" Muffled and off to the side, his inexperience came to light. "Huh? Wh- Oh, Okay. Would Harry Potter please accompany him? You're not under arrest, we just want you in for some questioning."

Draco checked himself in the reflection, straightened out Harry's shirt a bit and did his best to smile for Harry, pressing a kiss to his forehead. 

"I'll go out first, okay Harry? Good luck, I... You know."

Harry gave him a watery smile. "Yeah. I love you too. Have fun being arrested."

Draco couldn't help but laugh. "Second time's the charm."

x

The Aurors oh-so-politely informed him that 'you're being detained, anything you say can and will be used against you', et cetera et cetera. 

"Draco," a voice called, and he turned to look at the voice- Ron, Hermione, Pansy and Blaise stood off to the side with the rest of the students, who were watching him get detained. He noted the voice to be Ron's.

"Yes?"

"Get back soon as you can, understand?" He huffed, his voice slightly playful. "We're gonna miss you, you annoying sod."

Draco snorted, managing to give a mock salute to Ron and a quick smile to Harry before the whoosh of apparition took him away. 

He found himself, once more, in the interrogation room. "I get the point is to make me uncomfortable, but you guys couldn't have added something for decoration? This place is so droll."

The Auror interrogating him just levelled him with a stare. "Do you know why you were detained?"

"I have my presumptions."

"Which are?"

"The public found out about me and Harry's relationship and I got mass reported for suspected black magic because there's no possible way the Savior would ever date me. Did I get it?"

The Auror's eye twitched. "Suspected black magic, coercion, blackmailing, or extortion of natural Alpha hormones with the intention of manipulation."

"Fun. None of it is true, but I have a feeling you suspected I would say that."

"How did you and Harry start to get along? You were notorious for fighting the last seven years- what changed?"

"The war changed us, sir. Not that you would know- Auror Bridgans, was it?" Draco shot him a innocently patronizing stare. "You fled to Russia during the war, didn't you? Left it up to a bunch of kids to deal with it- kids like Harry? And of course, you had family or some other to protect, just like everyone else? Well, I suppose Harry didn't have a family because you Aurors were miserable at your jobs back then, too."

"Back to the question, Malfoy." The Aurors jaw was ticking. 

Draco hummed, leaning back in his chair. "I told you. War never changes, but war changes people. You, of course, should know that Harry Potter testified for me at my trials- unless you failed to go over my file before the interrogation, which I believe is breaking protocol? We all make mistakes though, James Bridgans- I can called you James, yes?"

"No-"

"Perfect, thanks James. As you know- or would have known, had you not fled the country- My wand was the one that killed Voldemort, Harry testified at my trials, and here we are. Eighth year of school, we have classes together, we grew close and eventually got together. There is no black magic or blackmailing or manipulation here. Completely unwarranted arrest. Our petty childhood rivalry was just that- petty."

James Bridgans' teeth were grinding together so hard Draco could almost hear it. It was beautiful. All he wanted was this Auror to quit with the interrogation. "Right. And you've never used black magic before?"

"Not on Harry, no."

"But you have used it?"

"Objection, your honor," Draco drawled, rolling his eyes. "I've already been convicted of that. No repeat trials, remember? I have not used black magic since what I've been convicted of- so before the war ended."

James stared at him for a few moments before turning and marching out the door. Draco sighed. Now was the 'being left alone until you were begging to give up information so you could get the fuck out'. Draco, however, simply leaned back in his chair with a sigh. 

There was no clock, so Draco did his best to keep track of time in his head. 

Ten minutes. 

Twenty. 

Thirty. 

An hour. 

Two hours. 

Three. 

Four.

Four hours and thirty minutes later, James came back holding a glass of water and a sandwich. 

"Protocol says I feed you," he said, dropping the plate and glass of water on the table in front of Draco. 

Draco tentatively stared at it. He hadn't eaten dinner or breakfast, and lunch was looking moderately appealing. 

He decided to not eat. Just drink. It had been hours since he'd had anything, and his throat had dried out. 

Draco regretted it after his second swallow. The flush of a potion through his system was beyond noticeable, and he looked up at the Auror in disbelief. 

"You put veritaserum in my drink. You drugged me."

"You weren't talking. I got the a-ok."

"From who, a moron? That's not legal! Now, even if I were guilty, you can't use anything I say in this session against me and the case would be thrown out unless you find other evidence."

James scoffed. "Yeah, well, I work with the Aurors and the judge. I think they'll make an exception."

"Your corruption is the reason I want to be a lawyer," Draco snarled, glaring at the man. 

"Your wand was run through the department," James spoke again, ignoring Draco's glare. "They found an Imperious curse. Want to explain that?"

"Running my wand after detainment takes at least twelve hours. You didn't run my wand and you didn't find any curse."

James' jaw twitched again. "Harry is saying otherwise. That you did curse him. We got permission to run your wand immediately because of that."

"You folk are awful at lying. No, he didn't, not unless someone else used Imperious' to get him to say it, and even if he did and you did run my wand- which, you didn't- you wouldn't find anything nefarious on there."

"So you have a back-up wand, then?"

"Nope. Just the one."

An different Auror came through the door, looking furious. "Auror Bridgans, Head Auror wants to see you."

James scoffed. "Fine. You taking over his interrogation then? Can't stand this fucking twerp."

Draco copied his scoff. "Twerp? Really?"

"James. Go."

James scoffed and waved the new Auror off, who sat down in front of Draco with a sigh. 

"You were right. Nothing you can during this interrogation can be used against you since it was unlawful means. He's getting re-adjusted to UK Laws. Over in Russia, they're a bit... Different."

Draco crossed his arms. The Auror this time was a wide-built woman with strong arms and broad shoulders. He wouldn't try to beat her in a fist fight, that's for sure. "I wouldn't want him as an Auror."

"Honestly I can say that this was probably his last day employed. Drugging someone in for questioning without their knowledge, especially without the veritaserum waiver signed by you, was a massive fuck up on his side. But don't think that his fuck ups get you off the hook." 

She fished a vial from her pocket, dropping it onto the table. "There's the antidote. We still can't use anything from this session or anything at all until the veritaserum runs its natural course- up to sixteen hours- even with the antidote or like you said, the case will be thrown out."

"I'm glad you acknowledge that," Draco finally spoke, leaning back, arms still over his chest. "But what does that mean for me?" He asked, taking the vial, rolling the small thing between his fingers. "Am I stuck here until the interrogation will be eligible?"

"You got three options, at this point," she said, spreading her hands across the table as if laying out a sheet of paper. "You can one, go home- or school, whatever- and have the Aurors come get you again like they did today. We technically don't have you arrested, just in for interrogation, so we legally can't keep you here. But that means more work for you in the long run, and Aurors could play the 'running from interrogation' card if they so much as have an inkling of trouble finding you."

Draco wrinkled his nose. 

"Two, you can stay here until the veritaserum runs its course- we'd take you to an infirmary type room until then. Of course, under lock and key, and still everything monitored, but again, not arrested, so you're allowed visitors. Or three, we can take you to St. Mungo's and get the veritaserum manually removed to continue interrogation as soon as possible so you can hopefully get home."

Draco leaned back, pouring over the options in his head. "I presume all medical records will be transferred the second I get into St. Mungo's?"

She nodded, tapping her fingers on the table. 

"And I'll be monitored?"

"Correct."

"What method do they use? Blood replacement or magical removal?"

She sucked in air between her teeth. "Depends on how much you ingested, which, of course, we don't know right now. If it's just a bit, I'm gonna say just a few blood replacements. If it's a lot, they might to a combination of both."

"And the cost of treatment?"

"Since it's our fault, wired to the Ministry."

"Before I give you my answer, can I ask about Harry? I realize you're not legally obligated to tell me, but if you could tell me, I'd like to know."

The corner of her mouth quirked up slightly. "He took it by storm, as usual. Did all of the tests with a bite of condescension. I'll say, if you're innocent, you got a good one. He's back at the school, now."

Draco frowned, looking down at the food in front of him and pushing the plate away. "If he's been tested and is clear, then why am I still here? Doesn't that mean you guys have no reason to interrogate me and I could technically walk out of here?"

"Technically, yes. But like I said, they'd come get you tomorrow. This requires two way verification- your oath, either under veritaserum when legally administered or in front of a judge, and his clean records. Records can be manipulated, erased, bought out and replaced, but it's hard to get two matching stories between the victim and the abuser."

"And if I left, they'd have to redo all his testing and questioning," Draco realized, shaking his head. "Because we'd be able to get together and talk, right?"

She nodded, looking slightly surprised that he knew that. "That's right."

"Then I'll... I'll go to St. Mungo's. Don't let him visit. After the veritaserum is out of my system, I'll sign the waiver for legally applied veritaserum and we can do the interrogation again. If our stories and everything line up, does that mean I'm good?"

She bobbed her head back and forth a few times, thinking. "If everything goes according to plan or something new doesn't come to light, then yes, you'll be all set. This will get wiped from the record and you can get back to your life."

Draco sighed. "This is a real pain. How long do I have to wait to get to St. Mungo's?"

"Probably an hour or so, kid."

"Alright. Will someone be able to tell Harry what's going on?"

"Unfortunately, no. Again, potential conspiring communication."

Draco cursed. "Alright. Fine."

She gave him a slightly pitying look. "I'll be back."

"Alright."

Draco dropped his head back against the wall with a sigh once she'd left. Goddamn Ministry.

2.2k words, woo-hoo.