Second Chance (2025 Christmas Story) - Chapter 14

Title: Second Chance – Chapter Fourteen
Author: sesheta_66 || AO3: sesheta_66
Prompts used: slythindor100’s early bird prompt N—Christmas Lights on Snow-covered Trees (picture under the cut) and dracoharry100’s prompt 15: Santa Hat
Pairing: Harry/Draco
Word Count: 2.5K (this part)
Rating: R (eventually; this part PG)
Warning: none
Summary: This is the second Christmas for Draco without Astoria and Harry's first since Ginny remarried. Will best friends Scorpius and Albus be just what they need to rekindle something they'd thought fleeting and lost forever?
Disclaimer: All Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Author's Notes: Written for the slythindor100 Early Bird 25 Days of Draco and Harry and the dracoharry100 Christmas Challenge.

On LJ: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14

OR on AO3





Second Chance – Chapter 14

Draco arrived shortly after nine in the morning to pick up his security access card and the briefing folder, hoping to collect everything from Potter's assistant and leave without having to come face-to-face with him again. He hadn't slept well the night before, his mind drifting back to the past again, and wasn't sure he could manage to keep his discomfort from showing.

Fucking Pansy. Why had she dumped that load of utter rubbish on him? He kept running through everything she'd said. Yes, he'd watched Potter in school. Of course he had. He needed to be sure the twat wasn't up to something. Had to watch his own back too. And Potter was probably doing the same. Slytherins and Gryffindors had to be wary of one another. But the way she talked about them, it was like only the two of them did that. Well, their situation was different. They were competitors on the Quidditch pitch too. Both seekers. Perfectly normal.

She couldn't be right, could she? She didn't know about what had happened between Potter and him after the war – no one knew. Unless Potter had said something. But it would have been to his merry band of Gryffindors, not to Pansy of all people. And if he'd done that, Weasley would have been apoplectic and definitely done something to Draco. No, this was all speculation on her part. Rather on the nose, though, if you considered what had happened between them. But Draco didn't buy her analysis. What had happened between them had nothing whatsoever to do with deeply buried feelings. It had just been a post-war, low-stakes, high-energy whatever. Nothing more.

His reaction yesterday? Purely physical. Something he could handle. Or could have handled if Pansy hadn't planted that seed of doubt or whatever it was. Now? He was a fucking mess. Had hardly slept. Needed to wrap his head around a new case that multiple people had looked at but hadn't resolved. He had a good mind to screw up her order as payback for this.

Okay. Breathe, Draco. Back to the task at hand. He walked in and was relieved to see Potter's door closed as he approached Gabriella's desk. She looked up and greeted him with a warm smile and a festive Santa hat on her head. "Nice to see you, Mr Malfoy."

He grinned at the hat. "And you, Gabriella. Good morning."

"Just a minute." She picked up her phone and dialled someone. "Yes, Mr Malfoy is here. Sure. Come on over." She handed him a folder. "Here you go. Auror Drummond is on his way here. Mr Potter wanted to introduce you before you leave." Draco's stomach flipped. So much for escaping without seeing him. "Go on in."

He forced a smile and proceeded to the door, but before he could knock the door swung open and Potter was there. "Oh. Draco. I didn't realise you were here."

He held up the file. "Got the material from Gabriella. She says you want to introduce me to the investigator on the case?"

Potter looked over his shoulder at Gabriella and she said, "He's on his way."

Potter smiled and motioned him inside. As Draco walked past him, he caught a familiar citrus scent. Amazing how something as simple as the smell of shampoo can trigger a memory and transport you back in time. Interesting that Potter hadn't changed that since … well. He resisted the urge to draw in a deep breath as he passed and took a seat in the visitor's chair. To avoid staring into those green eyes, with Pansy's voice echoing in his head, he opened the file and sifted through the contents while Potter talked with his assistant.

When he returned, Potter reached across Draco and pointed to the access card, his hand brushing Draco's. "That will get you into the building and the secure lab." He leaned over and flipped the first few pages. This time Draco didn't resist; he closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. "Those are forms to submit your hours, and this –" Draco blinked his eyes open, returning to the present just as Potter pointed to the top of another page "– is your temporary access code to the computer system. You've worked with computers, yeah?"

"I'm not a fossil, Potter." His voice came out raspy and he cleared his throat. Potter looked irritated. Draco hoped he didn't catch him with his eyes closed. "Of course I've worked with computers."

"Sorry." Potter stepped back with his hands up in surrender. Draco was at once relieved and disappointed. "No offence intended."

Draco could breathe freely again, no citrus. His focus returned and he waved away the apology. "None taken."

Potter's attention turned to his door. "And here's Drummond."

A tall man, reasonably fit, mid-thirties by the looks of him, entered the office. "Good morning, sir." He turned his attention to Draco. "You must be Mr Malfoy."

They shook hands. Firm grip, as befitting an Auror. "In the flesh."

"Drummond has been working on the case from the start, and has interviewed all the witnesses, coordinated with the lab and St Mungo's, and is the go-to person for details."

"Good to meet you." He held up the folder. "I presume you are the one to thank for this?"

He nodded. "Most of it, yes, but Amelia – she works in the Auror office – gathered the Mungo's and lab stuff. Just let me know if you have any questions or need clarification on anything."

"I shall. I plan to read this over today. Would there be a convenient time for us to discuss details once I'm done?"

"I'm out in the field this afternoon, but I'll be back at the end of the day, between four and five o'clock."

Draco looked through the file. "I should be able to get through the material by then. I'll swing by here after I'm done, talk to the folks in the lab, then make my way to your office. Where would that be?"

"Just across the hall, on the other side of the floor." He glanced up at Potter, looked mildly uncomfortable, then looked back at Draco. "Or I could just come down to the lab when I'm all finished. Would that work?"

"That sounds excellent, thanks." He suspected there was more to that offer than convenience for Draco. He hoped it wasn't a reflection on his perceived trustworthiness, or lack thereof.

Drummond smiled. "Anything else you need from me?" he asked Potter.

"No, that's it. Thanks." And he left.

Draco raised a brow at Potter. "Any reason you didn't want me to go to Drummond's office?"

"Caught that, did you?" Potter leaned forward. "I'll give you one guess."

Potter stared at him with those green eyes. All concern about lack of trust vanished as Draco realised the problem. "Weasley?"

Potter nodded. "Drummond's desk is right outside Ron's office." He leaned back in his chair, looking every bit as delicious as Pansy had suggested. He would not be sharing that observation with her. "Unless you'd like to pop in, say hey, catch up on old times?"

"Fuck off."

Potter laughed. "I thought not. Anyway, I know you're a busy man, so I won't keep you, unless there's anything else you need."

There's a lot I need. "No, I think that's everything. I'll be in touch if anything pops up." He nearly groaned at his own words.

"Sounds good."

Draco got out of there before he could tell Potter precisely what he might need from him.

Fucking Pansy.

Having handed over much of his ongoing projects to Nigel, Draco was able to dedicate most of the afternoon to reviewing the file. The lab had done some top-notch work breaking down the potion, but some elements remained undetected. Not unusual. That's often what makes developing antidotes so difficult.

He made notes to ask the lab techs and Drummond, but what he really needed to do was look at the potion himself. Checking the time, he realised that the day had all but slipped away; he hoped he had enough time at the lab, and wouldn't be keeping people late on a Friday. He always tried to respect other people's personal time.

By the time he returned to the Ministry, it was nearly four thirty. He went straight to the lab, let himself in, and was relieved to see several of the techs still working.

"Mr Malfoy. Nice to see you."

After wrangling the answers he could out of those present, he asked to look at the potion. They set him up at a workstation where he began to work. So immersed in his work, he didn't hear Drummond enter. "Am I interrupting?"

Well, yes, he was, but that wasn't his fault. "No, no. Come on over."

"Did you have any questions for me?"

"I do, but I don't think they'll take long."

By the time they'd finished, he noticed that all but one of the lab techs had left, and Susan – he thought that was her name – was watching patiently. "Am I keeping you?" Draco asked. She shuffled in place and he checked the time. Five thirty. On a Friday night! "Of course I am. I'm sorry. Let me just put this away."

She came over. "Actually, I have to do that. Chain of evidence and all that."

Draco nearly forgot that he was dealing with evidence in a criminal case. "Of course. Again, I'm sorry to keep you late on a Friday."

"It's okay." She smiled sheepishly and returned the potion to the vault.

Draco got up and put on his coat. He really wanted to continue working on this. "Is anyone here on the weekends?"

Susan shook her head. "Afraid not. Only when there's a push for a case and overtime is approved in advance."

"Fair enough. I'll get out of your hair now. Thank you again, Susan, and have a good weekend."

"You're welcome and you too."

He left with Drummond and they finished up their discussion on the way to the lift. "I think that's all I have for you right now. Thanks for staying late on my account. Seems I'm keeping everyone past their quitting time."

He chuckled. "We always work late in the Auror department. It's no problem at all."

When Drummond got off the lift, Draco had an idea and got off too. He looked mildly panicked until he saw that Draco was going to the opposite side of the floor. "Have a good weekend, Drummond."

"You too, Mr Malfoy."

Draco hoped that 'we always work late' applied to Potter too. As he approached the office, he found out that it did. Everyone else had packed up, but the lights were on and the door to his office was open. Draco tapped on the door and Potter jumped.

"On edge, Potter?"

"Draco. I wasn't expecting anyone. Just caught me off guard." He looked at the clock. "You're here late. Something I can do for you?"

Draco walked in and sat down. "As a matter of fact, there is."

"Name it."

"Well, the lab is a Monday to Friday operation, and I was hoping to jump right in. I looked at the potion just now, and it's magnificent."

Potter scowled. "It's poison."

"Yes, yes, I know that. Nevertheless, it is a magnificent concoction. There's no way a random drug manufacturer created it. There's nothing accidental about it, from my brief look just now."

"Go on."

"It looks like it was created with intention, with great attention to detail."

"You got all this from looking at it once?"

Draco nodded. "I read the file, so I know what they were able to discern from their analyses to date. Both Mungo's and your lab were able to establish most of the individual components, but have been left baffled by the balance, so I knew it was intricate. But what the report didn't say is how much finesse went into its preparation. That's what I saw just now."

"Okay, but I don't know what you expect from me. I can't help figure out–"

"No, of course not. What I need from you is permission to remove a sample from the lab. Take it home to study it more. Run my own analysis."

"At your lab? I can't do that unless we run a security check on everyone working there."

"No, no. I have a lab at home."

"At your home? In addition to your main lab?"

"Yes. In fact, I have a highly secure facility in my basement. It has retina and fingerprint access, so only I can enter. With Astoria unwell for some time and Scorpius needing supervision, I did a lot of work from home. I've also used it before when working on more volatile potions, and I had it reinforced to be sure not to put them at risk."

"I don't know."

Draco sighed in exasperation. "You want this case solved, right?"

"You know I do. That's why we hired you."

"Then let me do my job. I can work on it this weekend, see if I can make any headway. Otherwise, we'll lose two days waiting until I can get into your lab again. That's two more days this bottom feeder is out there, preying on kids, manufacturing poison, and ruining people's lives." Potter considered what Draco was saying, but he still looked unconvinced. "Look, come with me now. Check out the facility for yourself. Do an inspection or whatever the hell you need to do. Bring a team of inspectors if you want." Draco almost had him. "You're the head of the department, right? Surely you can approve this."

"I've got to say, Draco, I didn't expect you to be so … enthusiastic."

"What can I say? Potions are my life. Pretty much my whole life. And I love a good challenge. It's like a puzzle, a riddle. Something to be taken apart and put back together again. There's something hidden in there, and I mean to find it. And I don't want to wait until Monday to start."

Potter laughed. "Okay, okay. You've convinced me. Let me see if anyone is still around now to do the inspection."

Draco waited while Potter made a few phone calls. He was itching to dive into this. He'd been so impressed by the calibre of the potion that he just knew there wouldn't be more than a handful of people in Britain capable of pulling it off. And he was determined to figure out who it was.

"You're in luck. We have one inspector still at his desk. He'll meet us at the main entrance. Let's go down to the evidence lock-up and sign out a vial for you, presuming your lab will pass."

"Excellent. Let's go!"

Draco hadn't been this excited about a new project in a long time. So excited, in fact, that as he stared out at the Christmas lights on the snow-covered trees outside, waiting for the inspector to join them, he only just now realised that he'd invited Potter to his house.