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PostPosted: Tue Jun 08, 2021 3:55 pm 

This body is a vessel for my mayhem and as long as I can perform bafoonery it doesn’t matter if this stomach is flat or not

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What most people didn’t understand about dark magic, and it seemed that Potter was having a hard time wrapping his head around it as well, was that it was tricky and finicky. There was never any saying just how it was put together or how it was going to react to anything, so it was terribly difficult for Draco to be able to tell exactly why it had been Potter who had triggered the ward, especially without the ward still up.
“That is what I am trying to figure out,” Draco admitted, figuring that Potter would rather enjoy his honesty, rather than him trying to talk his way around it. One thing that he figured he and Potter would always have going for them, was that neither of them had the need to beat around the bush or drag this out unnecessarily. Draco was certain that Potter wanted out of the manor just as much as Draco wanted him out too.
“I think the ward might have been brittle, so it broke when you triggered it, however, that still leaves me with needing to figure out why you triggered it,” he added, sipping his tea.

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PostPosted: Tue Jun 08, 2021 4:08 pm 

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Harry nodded at that, satisfied with both the answer and the honesty. Harry neither needed nor expected Malfoy to have it all figured out within a day of work, but it helped ease some of the mental strain of knowing he didn’t have to keep up with Malfoy; if he didn’t know, Harry could without bad conscience park that train of thought for now.
“Alright,” he said, easily. There was no follow up question to it, Harry willingly accepting that at face value.
Instead, Harry gave in to instincts. It had become clear that Malfoy had relaxed into his seat, making it easy for Harry to fill that space, leaning forward over the table.
“Which file do you have left to read?” he asked, eyes on the parchment as he picked up the top one of the stack. He turned it to read it, seeing that it was, in fact, the exert from Harry’s medical journal.
By sheer muscle memory, Harry’s eyes skipped across the page, still subconsciously trying to read it through Malfoy’s eyes.


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PostPosted: Wed Jun 09, 2021 2:11 pm 

This body is a vessel for my mayhem and as long as I can perform bafoonery it doesn’t matter if this stomach is flat or not

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While it wasn’t exactly a friendly interaction, Draco would label it as almost collegial. They clearly had a common goal and were prepared to help each other to reach said goal. It wasn’t exactly perfect for living together like this, but it was a whole lot better than what Draco could have ever hoped for and he counted that as a blessing.
“The complete rundown of Towthorpe,” Draco stated, seeing no point in keeping anything about his work hidden for Potter.
He had managed to get a lot of reading done in a very short amount of time, so he was feeling very pleased with himself. The faster he got the reading done, the faster he would be able to work on more tests and potentially be able to get Potter out of his home once more, such that he would be able to be alone.
“I want to know exactly what wards were disabled and if anyone happened to notice more wards that they left up,” he stated, soft rolling the cup between his hands, the small amount of tea left in the cup left sloshing around as he did.

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PostPosted: Wed Jun 09, 2021 2:59 pm 

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Harry made a little sound at that, almost sounding excited on Malfoy’s behalf.
"That’s a good read," he said off-handed, but his sentiment was genuine. He returned the journal page back to the folder, turned right way around. Despite the abrupt pause to that precise operation, Harry though it to be an interesting case.
Harry had spent his entire career working on finding and removing war-time magic; the job had changed over the course of the past decade, and especially the houses becoming harder to find as the witness statements harder to get to. Wartime magic was by now only being discovered through either Muggle alerts or environmental changes. Harry had really come to enjoy the increased challenge of locating it.
He relaxed back into his chair, eyes finally meeting Malfoy’s. He crossed his arms over his chest.
"It’s an old decrepit house in the heathland; the Ministry was only made aware of it the third time a Muggle huntsman reported that some teenagers were lighting fireworks within it," he said, not shy to spoil what would either way be stated from the very first document of that folder.
Harry paused another moment, before eventually adding an honest admission. "The magic there’s unstable, and I don’t doubt that applies to the wards as well. Testimony from the residents point to it once being covered by quite the glamour, seeing as not everybody could even attest to its existence, despite currently being perfectly visible from the main road."


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PostPosted: Wed Jun 09, 2021 4:03 pm 

This body is a vessel for my mayhem and as long as I can perform bafoonery it doesn’t matter if this stomach is flat or not

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Something changed in Potter as he talked about the old house, making Draco realise that maybe he wasn’t just a glorified figurehead for the ministry, and instead that maybe Potter actually had some merits. It would make sense, seeing as he had been an auror since they finished school, yet Draco had always pegged Potter as someone who had just picked that, because it would be something that kept him sufficiently in the spotlight.
The idea that Potter might actually be qualified for the job was a new one to Draco, even if it probably shouldn’t be, yet it was still difficult for him to wrap his head around.
“Makes sense with what I said I about you triggering a ward and breaking it,” Draco stated, not meaning the words in such an accusatory fashion as they came out. Even if nothing was certain in this case, Draco felt fairly sure that it had been Potter who had triggered a ward and that that ward was what was making trouble. He just had to figure out why it was Potter who triggered it and not anyone else.
“Noticed anything of note while you were there?” Draco asked, figuring that he could just as well pick Potter’s brain while they sat for breakfast.

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PostPosted: Wed Jun 09, 2021 5:04 pm 

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Harry suddenly sympathized with some of the broad questions he had asked Malfoy; the question just simply didn’t have a straight-forward answer. It made his expression close off, his brows first furrowing and then quirk a moment later, not even knowing where to begin. Most Death Eater houses had a similar palette of expected wards and curses, but Harry had yet to come across two that were identical. Harry didn’t even know if Malfoy had ever been at one, making it hard to judge the extent of his question.
"Of note?" Harry repeated, needing to clarify what exactly Malfoy was looking to figure out. Malfoy was asking about something that happened a month and two hospitalization ago, and Harry believed the best source of trustworthy information to be the folder he had presented yesterday.
Regardless, Harry’s eyes remained unfocused on Malfoy, trying to retrace his steps.
After another moment, he uncrossed his arms, fingers pushing beneath his glasses to rub at his eyes in a thoughtless attempt to gather his thoughts. Not knowing what Malfoy was looking for, Harry just started talking, hoping to find it by chance.
"The house must’ve been hidden by a glamour. It’s a turn of the century farmhouse, and most houses in its immediate vicinity were built in the late 90’s. That meant it took a while to connect its magic with the war, seeing as –" Harry dropped his hands from his eyes, blinking Malfoy back into focus. "- it didn’t immediately fit the bill for Death Eaters, hiding in plain sight in the middle of a developing Muggle neighbourhood."
Instead, Harry’s right hand slipped to his jaw, absentmindedly scratching at his stubble.
"The Department of Mysteries was able to match the signatures to some persons of interest, however, so I inherited the case. We spent the first while trying to figure out the purpose of the house, to that way figure out what magic we should expect upon entering."
Harry paused. There really wasn’t much to tell, the bulk of their work going into the preparation before entering; Harry had only been in the house for a few minutes before something was triggered and they were all evacuated. Looking at Malfoy, he tried to remember why they had concluded it safe to enter.
"I think we misjudged it," Harry eventually said, thought it was more of a fact than an inkling. Clearly, they had, having encountered adverse and unexpected wards. "But that’s under the assumption that there’s more to the house than what we were able to judge it on, and there’s really nothing that points to that being the case."
They had deemed it safe to entre because it should have been. Nothing about the house was out of the ordinary except for its placement and timing; everything had come up clear. Though Harry didn’t want to say it, the assumed purpose of the house had been to kill Muggles from close vicinity.
Harry had talked himself into a corner, having come to the exact same conclusions as he had when talking it over with his team.
The silence between them became prolonged, aimless, and Harry was about to admit defeat. His eyes flickered between non-distinct points in Malfoy’s features, but Harry wasn’t really paying attention, too caught up in the challenge of rethinking the case.
"The floor had a draft," Harry startled, his voice brighter. His gaze refocused on Malfoy’s eyes, the memory of the cool wind against his face when the curse had knocked him over suddenly vivid in his consciousness. Harry had given it no thought, the memory only reappearing in the attempt to justify the house having a greater expanse than what was noted.
"A root cellar?" he offered, his brows quirking in the question. It was a shot in the dark, entirely ungrounded in anything stated in the rapport. Root cellars in heathland would hardly be foodstable, and they hadn't questioned it when no basement had come up during the initial mapping of the house.
He searched Malfoy’s face for any indicator that that was something of value. "Would a subterranean ward last longer than the glamour on the house?"


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PostPosted: Thu Jun 10, 2021 4:40 am 

This body is a vessel for my mayhem and as long as I can perform bafoonery it doesn’t matter if this stomach is flat or not

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For a long moment, Draco was convinced that Potter. He hadn’t expected to get much out of his question to begin with, having just wanted to get what he could out of the only eye witness he had available, and likely the only one he ever would have available.
Thus, it was quite a surprise to him when Potter sudden did come to a new conclusion. Draco hadn’t read the report yet, but he knew that it wouldn’t mention anything about a cellar; not by the way that Potter was looking at the thought.
Once again, it reminded Draco that Potter might actually hold some kind of merit at his job, something that was shaking what little he thought he knew for sure. It also made him realise that he had severely discredited Potter, and just how much had changed since they had left Hogwarts for the very last time.
“Well, depending on the ward, it is very likely that it would be able to last longer than an ordinary glamour,” Draco stated, having fairly intimate knowledge of what kind of wards and glamours Death Eaters would be using. What he wouldn’t give to be able to take a first hand look at these older ones, probably stemming back from the first wizarding war, but he also knew better than to push his luck.
“Also, keeping in mind what they would be using a cellar like that for, I think that they require more serious spell work,” he added, knowing that an ordinary glamour would be able to be put up by just about anyone, but wearing a cellar would take some serious work.

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PostPosted: Thu Jun 10, 2021 5:20 am 

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"There is no cellar," Harry interrupted, but what could have been a dismissal was instead bright and attentive. His mind was going a million miles an hour, a new interpretation to the data as he mentally flickered through the weeks of work put into stabilizing the surrounding area.
"I don’t have it with me, but we scanned the house and the property, and the model showed no undergrown structures besides the trench for an old outhouse some way back on the plot of land."
Harry could see it ahead of him, a translucent model of the house suspended in a sphere, the spell searching an equal distance below the grown as above it. There was nothing below it.
"It wouldn’t just be warded, but perfectly concealed - still," he added, making a point to say that the house was well over a decade old, and that any magic of that calibre usually demanded regular upkeep. Not even Hogwarts was warded that entirely, his father’s map a testimony to the possibility of mapping hidden structures. It made Harry blink, once again overcome with the regret of not having asked how they had come about that magic.
"The house’s been scanned since the spike, but I don’t know if the terrain scan was repeated," Harry resumed, pushing that loss aside. The order of proceedings still felt like a justified decision. Nobody had expected a cellar to appear. "I’ll look into that."


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PostPosted: Thu Jun 10, 2021 10:35 am 

This body is a vessel for my mayhem and as long as I can perform bafoonery it doesn’t matter if this stomach is flat or not

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The willingness with which Potter took on more work blew Draco away, figuring that it was probably just because he wanted to get out as well. It was the only scenario that made any level of sense to Draco, so it was the scenario he elected to believe in, at least for now.
“That would be helpful,” Draco stated, secretly really enjoying that Potter was treating him like a professional, something that he apparently was, whether he realised it or not.
Even if he had originally balked at the idea of a contract, Draco had to admit that it did give him some peace of mind for situations like this. He knew that he was employed by the ministry, not just doing a Potter a favour out of the goodness of his own heart. It made him feel less off about their dynamic, feeling much more secure in what Potter was expecting of him, because no way it was anyone else but Potter who had requested that contract be made.
“Oh, and before I forget, more documents came to you this morning,” Draco added, placing the cup back on the table in such a delicate manner that it hardly made a sound. “I’ve put them on your desk.”

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PostPosted: Thu Jun 10, 2021 11:32 am 

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The conversation came to a natural end just how Harry preferred to work - on an actionable point. However incremental the progress would be, it held the promise of exposing a structurally important part of the magic of the house. Harry felt adequately satisfied with that, and equally so with Malfoy’s running inputs on the matter, finding that it perfectly matched the rhythm Harry had come to expect from his team.
The mention of documents, plural, however, was quick to exhaust Harry. Even if the Ministry had terminated the diagnostics of his fireplace, that was the only document he himself had requested. The notion that his everyday bureaucracy had followed him all the way to the Manor was slightly exasperating, especially before breakfast.
In a stark contrast, Malfoy’s addition quickly managed to pique his interest.
"Oh, yeah?" Harry chuckled, eyes glancing up at Malfoy as he reached for his plate. As soon as his fingers made contact with the china, the steam resumed, eggs still fresh off the pan.
"And where’ve you put the desk?" he asked as he cut through the yolk. There was no indignation in the question, seeming to be genuinely humoured by Malfoy’s phrasing; the way his eyes shifted across the journals scattered across the dinette made it apparent that he was looking for his mail, half expecting this to be the desk Malfoy was referring to.


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PostPosted: Thu Jun 10, 2021 12:55 pm 

This body is a vessel for my mayhem and as long as I can perform bafoonery it doesn’t matter if this stomach is flat or not

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It was only when Potter inquired to the location of his desk that Draco realised that, of course Potter wouldn’t know where his desk was, because Draco had only set it up that morning. He had just been awake for so many hours that he had completely forgotten that he hadn’t showed it to Potter yet.
Luckily for him, the oversight didn’t seem to bother Potter too much, the other man seeming mostly chuffed by the mention of a mystery desk. Draco would probably be able to just play it off as a sleek way of saying that he had put up a desk for him then.
“It’s in my study,” he stated, as he debating as to whether or not to refill his cup with tea again. He could always bring the tea with him back to the study, but he had also had a lot and ultimately decided against it. Instead, he flipped his cup over, leaving it bottom up, from where it disappeared only moments later.
“I figured that that made more sense, rather than to put you in some room at the opposite end of the manor,” he added, almost as if he had to justify the decision of putting Potter in his study with him, as if he didn’t own the manor and could do what the hell he wanted with it.
“I shall be needing you for studies occasionally anyway.”

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PostPosted: Thu Jun 10, 2021 1:19 pm 

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Though it, in any other context, made perfect sense for Harry to be set up in the study, Harry hadn’t expected the offer from Malfoy; his eyes darted back up at Malfoy, surprise visible in his eyes despite his best effort to conceal it.
Harry hadn’t shared an office in years, and even longer since he had had his desk in the office bullpen. The familiarity of sharing a space had escaped him, the memory suddenly hitting him all at once. While it was hardly for a day or two more, Harry found the prospect of watching Malfoy work strangely intimate.
"Of course," Harry was quick to agree, not even daring to consider an alternative reasoning.
"Thanks," he added, wanting to downplay the familiarity of the gesture. In theory, his gratitude was the same as it would have, had Malfoy hidden him away at a far corner; in private, he found an unexpected sense of validation in the invitation.
Harry once again ducked his gaze, piercing a bite with his fork, before glancing back up at Malfoy with a small smile. "Don’t worry, I’ll stay out of your way."


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PostPosted: Thu Jun 10, 2021 2:06 pm 

This body is a vessel for my mayhem and as long as I can perform bafoonery it doesn’t matter if this stomach is flat or not

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Draco really didn’t know how to read the surprise in Potter’s eyes. He knew that they weren’t exactly the best of friends in the entire world, but based on what little interaction they had already had, Draco fully believed that they could make it work. They were both just going to work after all, so it wasn’t like they were going to be constantly small talking anyway.
It was going to be fine and Draco was feeling hesitantly optimistic about the entire thing.
“And I your’s,” Draco said, before he got up from the chair, wanting to get to work with the new hypothesis he and Potter had just come up with. After all, it was important that they actually got some work done while Potter was here, otherwise it was all going to be for naught.
“I shall leave you to it,” he said, notting towards Potter’s breakfast, praying that he wouldn’t ask into Draco’s eating habits. He knew that they were bad, but he really wasn’t in the mood to defend himself for something like that.
“I will see you later,” he added, before finally leaving the question, left with a feeling of being awkward, but hoping that he had done the right thing.

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PostPosted: Thu Jun 10, 2021 3:17 pm 

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Harry had intentionally lingered in the kitchen; it really hadn’t taken him that long to finish his plate, but despite the tentative friendliness Malfoy was exhibiting, Harry had felt weird about trailing in his footsteps within moments of Malfoy excusing himself. Coote, having cleared the dishes and seeing that Harry made no notion to leave, had gracefully offered him today’s Prophet. Harry had spent some time absentmindedly leafing through it, having a hard time focusing on any of the news stories, his mind far off at Towthorpe.
He did, however, read the article noting that he had been discharged from the hospital that same morning. McCullough, the press secretary, noted that there was nothing that pointed to it being an intentional attack, making a strongly worded point to cuss out the media for blowing it out of proportion. Harry was, supposedly, perfectly fine.
It had made Harry’s stomach knot up, a sour taste in his mouth when he eventually did make his way to the study. He expected the report to be among the files that had arrived early morning, but he wasn’t particularly reassured by the prospect of it coming back clear.
Upon reaching the study, Harry knocked on instinct. Immediately feeling silly for having done so when Malfoy so purposefully had invited him in, he opened the door without waiting for a response; he found it, as every time before, unlocked.
Equally familiar was the sight of Malfoy working at his desk. With the promise to stay out of his way still fresh on Harry’s mind, he shut the door quietly behind him, casting a glance around the room to sort himself out.


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PostPosted: Thu Jun 10, 2021 4:02 pm 

This body is a vessel for my mayhem and as long as I can perform bafoonery it doesn’t matter if this stomach is flat or not

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While the soft knock was wholly unnecessary, Draco still appreciated it as a warning that Potter would be entering the study. Draco hadn’t shared a work space, nor a living space for that matter, with anyone since his mother had moved to London.
It was going to be a strange situation for Draco, but he reckoned that it was a strange situation for Potter as well, so they were just going to have to make do.
Draco’s wand was stuck in his hair again, tying it in a messy bun from which several loose hairs escaped and framed his face. He was mostly looking through his notes again, having finished the final report hat he needed to read and was trying to see if anything was making more sense to him now.
It only took a glance at Potter to realise that he had no idea which desk Draco had intended to be his, and it wasn’t exactly something that he could fault him for. His study was very clearly his place and a place that he had been used to having to himself, so in the interest of being a good host, Draco wordlessly pointed towards the window, where he had managed to clear a desk and find an uncursed chair for Potter to sit in.

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PostPosted: Thu Jun 10, 2021 4:47 pm 

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When Malfoy unprompted offered his help, Harry couldn’t help but feel like he had been a disturbance despite his best efforts not to. It caught him off guard, feeling too visible and out of place; awkwardly, Harry nodded in understanding, hesitant to break the silence of the room.
As Harry approached the table Malfoy had pointed out to him, Harry saw the bundle of letters awaiting him, some tied together with string he recognized from Grimmauld. He struggled to understand at what ungodly hour they had been mailed to him for them to be at the Manor before 8.
Without taking a seat, Harry undid the tie, flipping through the 12 letters of the bundle until he came across what had to be the diagnostics from his Floo. He broke the seal, the file expanding when he opened the folder within.
The paper was rather concise, stating that no issues had been detected despite rigorous testing. The Auror in charge of assuring the security of the wards had, among other ways, tested the connection using the copy of Harry’s magical signature they had on file. On that basis, the conclusion was the fireplace hadn’t been tampered with, neither generally nor to react specifically to Harry and his magic.
While Harry knew that the work was solid and according to protocol, the paper left him feeling unresolved without any real reason as to why. He flipped through the sheets, seeing that the next few detailed the results of the tests along with the movements to and from that fireplace. Harry stalled, looking over his own steps ink on paper; he thought them to be a lifetime away.
"They sent over the diagnostics from the Floo," Harry stated, finally breaking the heavy silence of the room.
He turned, eyes still on the paper, as he approached Malfoy’s desk. It was only when Harry offered Malfoy the folder that his eyes found the blond. "Whatever it was they haven’t been able to recreate it, and there’s nothing out of the ordinary on record."
Harry didn’t linger in Malfoy’s proximity, still mentally processing the results of the test. He had already turned back towards his own desk, making his voice sound off handed.
He sat down at the desk chair with a huff, finding that Malfoy was perfectly in his sight. Harry was quick to turn his attention on the remaining letters. "It was in The Prophet, too."


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PostPosted: Fri Jun 11, 2021 3:11 pm 

This body is a vessel for my mayhem and as long as I can perform bafoonery it doesn’t matter if this stomach is flat or not

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Even if they had hardly spent any time together yet, Draco could already tell that it was going to be difficult for him to have someone around him while he was working. It wasn’t even that Potter was super disruptive, his only interruption having been something that was helpful for Draco’s work, but there was something inherently disruptive about someone else being in his work space.
Maybe it was just the many years that Draco had been alone that made it hard for him to handle other people. After all, socialisation was like a muscle and it wasn’t one that Draco had used for years, so maybe it was just a question of getting used to the idea.
“Thank you,” he stated as he accepted the folder, feeling extremely awkward in the situation, but trying to make it more of a collegial relation. Even if he had never had an actual coworker in his life, it still made it easier for Draco to think of Potter as his colleague and not give much thought to their living arrangement.
Once Potter mentioned having been in The Prophet, something that wasn’t a first, nor was it likely to be a last, Draco had to believe that it was somewhat relevant for his studies. He couldn’t really tell how it would be relevant though, so maybe Potter was just trying to make smalltalk.
“What’d The Prophet have to say?” He asked, deciding to give Potter the benefit of the doubt.

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PostPosted: Fri Jun 11, 2021 7:02 pm 

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Harry’s eyes darted back up at Malfoy, surprised at the follow up question. There really wasn’t much to the story, Malfoy certainly being among the best informed regarding the issue.
"Nothing," Harry said, plainly but not unfriendly; he had only wanted to make conversation, contextualizing that what was said in the folder had been taken as definitive truth across institutions.
His attention had already drifted back onto the letters, flipping through them more attentively this time. "That it wasn’t an attack, but a faulty ward."
Harry figured it wasn’t wrong, though he doubted Malfoy would be entirely satisfied with how easily and quickly it had been considered resolved. In the end, Harry picked a letter to open at random, his gaze returning to Malfoy as he ripped through the envelope. In a moment of shared sympathy, he smiled.
"You can read the report for yourself," Harry said, once again to the parchment in front of him; one of many weekly documents, this summarizing the movement and work carried out by his team. Absent for most of the week, Harry would actually have to pay the few dozen pages real attention before signing off on it.
He dropped his jaw into his hand, holding his head up as he started reading, his voice drifting as he concluded his point. "The work's solid enough."


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PostPosted: Sat Jun 12, 2021 10:20 am 

This body is a vessel for my mayhem and as long as I can perform bafoonery it doesn’t matter if this stomach is flat or not

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As suspected, Potter had simply wanted to make smalltalk, probably used to having an office with several people to talk to. It wasn’t like Draco couldn’t sympathise, not that it was an issue that he was terribly familiar with, but he also wasn’t in a position to do anything about it.
Instead, Draco simply turned his attention towards the report in front of him, wanting to see what the ministry thought about the entire ordeal. Undoubtably, Draco was going to disagree with the conclusion the ministry came to, but it was still extremely exciting to get a proper insight into the workings of the ministry, curious to see what a report like that would look like.
Silence fell over the study once more, only broken by the flicker of a page turning every now and again.
Just as suspected, Draco was extremely unhappy with the conclusion that came from the report, even if the work indeed was solid and he could see why they would come to a conclusion like that. It wasn’t like Draco was trying to make himself better than the several experts that the ministry had at their service, but he also knew that he was highly specialised within his work and thus could see different things in the report.
He kept scribbling in his notebook as he read, wanting to be able to tie his conclusions together somehow, once he managed to get the big picture.

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PostPosted: Sat Jun 12, 2021 11:59 am 

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Harry found that, despite sharing a workspace, he had had one of his more productive days. Granted, Malfoy made for a quiet officemate, and Harry found that the bulk deliveries of mail along with the lack of in person visits had really streamlined his workday, easing through forms quicker than usually.
When he had quietly asked Malfoy when he planned to break for lunch, it had only taken a few minutes before Coote had delivered them each a plate with a sandwich. So, Harry had worked through lunch as well, picking at his food as he read up a different case.
Harry’s attention had drifted, finding himself caught up with his work around ministry lunch hour; he had in turn had an early lunch, Coote having been quick and eager to serve it. In that lull, Harry had found that the angle of his desk allowed him to discreetly look at Malfoy work. The other man worked exceptionally focus, seeming deep in active problem-solving whenever Harry had glanced up at him. Harry didn’t flatter himself enough to think that he wasn’t disturbing Malfoy, in his own way, and Harry had a hard time judging whether Malfoy’s observed work was compromised and distracted, or if he was overworking himself for Harry’s sake.
The sudden appearance of another stack of letters startled Harry, enough to make him jump in his seat. Disoriented by the way his attention had drifted onto the other man, Harry was quick to grab another redirected bundle of envelopes. Most prominently was a royal blue envelope from the Wizengamot, undoubtedly holding the final draft for the charged held against a wizard with ties to a previous operation of Harry’s.
Shifting in his seat, Harry retrieved his wand from his pocket, tapping the warded seal to open it. With a sputter, the envelope flew from his hand, doing three aimless barrel rolls in the air before falling heavy to the table with a thud.
Harry just blinked at it, entirely perplexed.
"Sodding hell," he muttered, confused more than anything else, having to stand to reach across the full width of the desk to grab the envelope. Once within reach, Harry tapped the seal again; this time, the envelope seethed, flying across the room and out of his reach, dropping out of the air onto a pile of books.
Harry’s mouth fell open, speachless, still standing but at a loss as how to proceed.


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