The Aurors badge sat on his table for hours. Draco knew it was there when he finally dragged himself off the floor of his kitchen and went into the bathroom to soak his face.
He knew it was there when he changed out of his clothes and pulled on the oldest, warmest, softest sweatshirt and jeans that he possessed. He particularly knew it was there when he sat down and clutched it in his hand until the engraving on it made a dent in his palm.
Sooner or later, Harry would need it. Surely Rufus Scrimgeour would not accept Harry's resignation and Draco was sure that The-Boy-Who-Lived would again take up the cause and change his mind about staying in Little Whinging.
Draco tucked it in his pocket, found his wallet and let himself out of the house. The afternoon was brilliant and cold, the promise of snow tickling at his nose. He walked downtown and headed to the police precinct. He'd give the badge to Harry, pick up his car and go back home.
There was only one cruiser parked beside the office when he got there. Draco's car was still sitting where he'd left it in the lot. If he'd had his wits about him, he would have just picked it up after he'd left the church earlier that morning, but wits seemed in short supply these days.
The blond pushed open the door and the blinds on the back of the window swayed as it swung closed behind him. "I need to speak to..." his voice trailed off. The badge he'd pulled from his pocket slipped loosely out of his hand.
Harry and Pamela Rasmussen were standing against the wall facing Tommy Sawyer, Tommy Sawyer who held a gun in his hand. Draco's shocked gaze met Harry's.
"Get over there," Tommy gestured with his gun. "With them."
Draco couldn't have uttered a word to save his soul and cursed himself for leaving his wand at home, again. It was so stupid. There was one time when he wouldn't have been caught dead without it. Now, he realized that after seven years, he had become far too comfortable living the life of a muggle and barely even thought of it any longer. He slowly crossed the room, giving the deputy a wide berth, praying that Potter had his wand with him. Pamela was crying softly and she grabbed Draco's arm in a death grip when he came to stand beside her.
"Locked doors," Harry murmured.
"Shut up," Tommy ordered, but he reached behind him and flipped the lock on the front door.
"What do you think you're going to accomplish, Tommy? Let the other two go." Harry's voice was calm as he tried to slowly put his hand in his pocket to reach for his wand.
The other officer looked harried, but he still noticed the small movement. "Keep your hands where I can see them," he shot out, pointing his gun more firmly in Harry's direction. "I just need the product from the trailer. Tell me where it is, and I'll be out of here."
Harry put his hands up slightly in front of him. "Call it what it really is. It's a drug and it's what's going to work its way into the schools here. It's what's going to start killing kids and adults because of people like you."
"I'm not like that!" Tommy lifted his gun and dashed his hand over his forehead, but sweat still gleamed there. "We're not getting rid of it here."
"Just dumping it on some other unsuspecting, vulnerable town," Harry snorted derisively. "Who's producing this stuff? Who are you getting it from?"
"Shut up!" Tommy yelled. "I can't tell you that and it's a lot of money. You think a guy can get ahead on a policeman's salary?" His laugh was short and harsh and horribly, horribly sad. "There's no woman here who'd live on that."
Harry slowly took a step forward. Tommy didn't seem to notice, but Pamela tightened her grip on Draco's arm. Her shoulder was pressed against Draco's and he could feel her shaking. The blond held his breath. Twice now in less than two days, he'd seen guns waving around.
Only then, it had been Harry with Brody, both of whom Draco trusted not to lose their heads while he'd stood between them.
Tommy? Draco would never have believed it of the normally friendly, chatty deputy if he weren't witnessing it with his own eyes. Tommy had been a fixture since Draco had come to this town, always quiet around women, but still a decent guy. Everyone thought he was a decent guy, but there was no question, he wielded that gun as if he were fully prepared to use it.
Harry was speaking again. "So this is really about a girl? Who?" the ex-Auror asked, as if he didn't know. "If she doesn't know what a catch you are on a deputy's salary, why would you want her anyway? Theres plenty of other girls that would love to have you."
Tommy snorted. "Yeah, you'd say that. You can have anyone you want, women or men." His gaze cut to Draco for a moment.
The blond swallowed, pressing his lips together in irritation. From the corner of his vision, he saw Harry's hands fist and just as abruptly uncurl. "And I'm doing it on a deputy's salary," Harry said, figuring there was no sense in the muggle police officer knowing about his wizards bank account.
"Hell, Tommy, you're in very good shape and decent looking," the dark haired wizard complimented. "All you'd have to do is crook your finger and the girls would come running."
Tommy was evidently tired of the topic. He leveled the gun at Harry. "You have another salary coming in from somewhere. I've done some checking and I haven't figured out what you're doing to get the extra money, but you're not as poor as you let on. I would imagine you're not totally innocent of wrong doing if you're keeping this extra money secret, so what's the harm with me doing the same." The deputy glared at his fellow officer. "Now, where's the package? I know it was turned in here."
Harry slowly lifted his hands and shook his head. "If I knew, don't you think I'd tell you just so you'd put that gun away?" There was no way for Harry to tell the man that the confiscated drug potion was now in the wizarding world, switched for muggle methamphetamine. The chief and other officers had had their memory altered to accept this as nothing more than a normal drug bust. The only people the memory charm wouldn't affect would be those working within the group of dealers.
You're a regular laugh factory," Tommy hissed. He gestured with the gun. "Everybody go, into the chief's office."
Pamela kept her death grip on Draco's arm. Harry turned, giving them an almost imperceptible nod. Draco felt like his heart was going to explode out of his chest. He and Pamela turned and started walking toward the dispatcher's desk. They had to pass it before they could reach the Chief Clay's office beyond it. As they neared the desk, Pamela stumbled knocking into Draco and his hip hit the desk.
"What are you trying to pull?" Tommy's voice was loud. "Move it!"
"I'm sorry!" Pamela cried with soft, frightened snuffles.
"Get some backbone," Tommy snapped.
Draco turned his head and glared at the man. "I never realized you were a jerk," the blond retorted sharply. "And if you think this little stunt is going to impress Dee, you might as well forget it. She was never impressed with you in the first place."
Harry's eyes looked like murky pools of green water and he shook his head in warning at the Slytherin.
"Shut up," Tommy ordered.
Draco turned and he and Pamela passed the desk, Harry crowding closely behind them as they entered the office. Tommy stood in the doorway, blocking their exit. "Open every drawer," he stated flatly. "Every cabinet."
"Most of them are locked," Harry pointed out.
Tommy swore. "Open...every...one."
Harry shrugged. He nodded toward the filing cabinet in the far corner of the room. "Draco, you try there. The captain keeps his key to it in the top drawer of his desk. Pam, check the desk drawers."
"Glad you're being helpful," Tommy smirked snidely.
Draco fumbled open the top drawer. There was a metal key ring inside holding a few small keys. He pulled it out and turned toward the filing cabinet. Pamela was yanking at the other drawers of the desk.
Harry had flipped back the cupboard door on the wall that hid the locking safe. "Afraid I failed safecracking at the academy," he intoned sarcastically.
Tommy muttered an oath and strode over to Draco, snatching the keys out of his hand. He shoved them at Harry. "Try these."
Harry just looked at the keys. "Tommy, it's a combination lock. It doesn't take a key. Look for yourself."
The deputy shoved Pamela out of his way. The woman stumbled again, falling against the desk and Draco caught her, trying to steady the frightened dispatcher. Tommy gestured at Harry. "Move."
Harry shifted and Tommy moved closer to see around the cupboard door. "That's not a comb..."
Harry slammed the cupboard door in Tommy's face. Pamela cried out and Draco froze, although in the part of his brain that wasn't scared shitless, he felt admiration for Harry's Slytherinesque actions.
Tommy fell back, grunting. Then he swung around in a crouch and went after Harry. The two men crashed to the floor, knocking wildly into the two chairs in front of the desk.
Draco shoved at Pam. "Go. Call for help."
"But..."
"Go!" Draco clutched the letter opener he'd managed to palm when they'd first knocked into Pamela's desk, but the other two men were wrestling, arms locked in terrifying battle and the blond didn't know what to do. He should have used the opener on Tommy when he'd grabbed the keys.
"Get out," Harry commanded through gritted teeth. He sent his elbow into Tommy's jaw.
"I'm not leaving you!" Draco returned stubbornly.
"Now you say that." Harry's head snapped back as Tommy's fist caught him and Draco cried out as the two of them rolled again, this time with Tommy on top.
Draco grabbed the desk chair that was blocking his way to the door and smashed it over Tommy's back. The wood splintered and the deputy swore violently and turned on the blond, snatching his
ankle and yanking him off his feet.
Harry latched one of his arms around Tommy's neck, the other holding his wand which was pressed into the deputy's throat. "One...more...move," the ex-Auror ground out menacingly, breathing hard. "Just give me a reason."
Draco scrambled back, pulling his legs out of Tommy's reach, but the deputy was scrabbling at the arm cutting off his oxygen, his eyes showing the confusion he felt as he wondered what Harry was holding at his neck.
Draco snatched up the gun that the deputy had finally dropped, and pushed to his feet, holding it between both hands. "Enough!"
Harry didn't respond and his manner was completely deadly. Tommy's face was brilliant red.
"Harry, please. Stop," Draco called out to the angry wizard. He saw the look on the bespectacled man's face, it told of death and it frightened the blond more than he would ever admit to.
Slowly, infinitesimally, Harry began to relax his hold from around the man's neck and slid his wand back into his sleeve.
Tommy sagged, sucking in gulping breaths and Harry shoved him onto the floor, coming over to Draco to lift the gun carefully out of the blond's tight grip.
"It's okay. Everything's okay now," he spoke softly as he worked the gun loose from fear tightened fingers.
From outside in the lobby, they could hear commotion, but Tommy was finally too spent to fight anymore. The Captain appeared in the office doorway, tight-lipped. His blue eyes traveled over Draco. "You okay?"
The blond nodded, hugging his arms around himself. He decided that he really, really hated muggle guns.
The older officer's gaze slid to Harry. There was a cut near his eye and a trickle of blood was working its way down the Gryffindors chin. "Peaceful town you got here, Chief," the dark haired wizard said and handed over Tommy's weapon to the man.
Then he went over to Tommy and pulled the cuffs off the man's belt and clipped them around his wrists. "Get up, you miserable sod," Harry ground out, still very upset that the muggle man had dared to put his hands on Draco.
Dave Ruiz, the other muggle officer, had appeared, too. "If I weren't seeing this with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it when the Chief filled me in." He took Tommy's arm from Harry. "I'll put him in lockup," he offered as he led the disgraced deputy away.
Captain Clay eyed the chaotic office. "I'm finally losing my taste for this. When a man you thought you knew could go so off track..." The older man shook his head. "I'm glad you're going to be around to help with this mess. Maybe someday you can take over for me, the sooner the better, I say."
Draco's eyes widened in surprise.
The Chief eyed them both. "We can do the paper work on this mess tomorrow."
Harry nodded. "Fine with me." His voice was weary.
"One question though," the Captain queried, eyeing him. "What were you even doing here, today? Thought I gave you the day off."
"You did, but Tommy bugging us about changing shifts kept niggling at me. Dave told me he'd kept on him about it until he finally gave in and switched. I wanted to know why Tommy was so anxious to be on duty today."
The Chief frowned. "He was after the meth that you had me announce was here. Could have let me know which fish you were baiting, son."
"After the mess with Paine, I wasn't sure I trusted my own hunch and I didn't expect you to," Harry explained. "I definitely didn't expect visitors." He slanted Draco a look.
The old officer sighed. "Maybe we've all been a little short sighted. If I'd seen what Tommy was up to sooner..."
"Not every case is perfect," Harry affirmed, knowing that better than anyone. Although the Ministry had the potion, they were still no closer to catching Snape or even knowing for sure if the Potion Master was behind it at all.
"I'll bet Pam won't be back," Chief Clay moaned. "I'm going to need another dispatcher." He tilted his head back and smiled faintly. "That'll be your headache, Harry. Now go on. Let Draco mop you up."
Harry's gaze slanted toward Draco. "He's not in the mopping business, I'm afraid." The Gryffindor went out into the lobby area, his movements stiff.
Draco chewed the inside of his lip as he followed his fellow wizard. "Wait."
Harry stopped. He sent the blond a look that had his heart aching. He was barely aware of the Captain quietly disappearing back into his office where he closed the door.
"You don't have to, Draco. I'm capable of cleaning up my own wounds."
The Slytherin pressed his palms together and slowly walked toward him. "I'm afraid I do have to help." He knelt down and picked up Harry's badge that he'd dropped when he'd come in. He opened his palm and held it up to the Gryffindor. "Because I don't think I can heal my wounds if I let you walk away."
Draco looked up at his dark haired lover and frowned at the cuts on his face. "I thought it would hurt more if I let you back in here..." he touched his chest over his charging heartbeat "...and you left again, but...but seeing you with Tommy like that...I knew that I couldn't wait around for that day to happen...for that day when you walked away." The blond's eyes flooded with tears.
"Tommy could have shot you. Right then and there and I'd have lost you without ever having been with you. I don't want that to happen, Harry. I love you, and if I haven't already ruined..."
Harry caught the blond's face in his hands and covered his mouth with his.
Draco opened his mouth to him and Harry swallowed his soft cry. "I love you," the Slytherin said against him.
The Gryffindor circled his arms around the blond and pulled him closer. "Don't ever stop."
Draco shook his head and slid his arms around Harry's shoulder and held on. For life.