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Pride & Prejudice & Leprechauns	By : Refictionista Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 4178 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: Nothing from the wizarding world of Harry Potter is mine, and I make no profit off of my writing. The fact that this story is on this site obviously implies that I am a fan writing fanfiction.

Chapter List
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Hermione arrived the next day at the office as cool as a cucumber. She ignored the whispering stares and avoided the curious gazes of her fellow co-workers. She knew that Witch Weekly had sensationalized the gossip surrounding Ron, Lavender, and herself. She saw more than one copy being stashed away in a drawer or hidden behind a back as she walked by to her cubicle.

Perhaps she should have stayed at home.

She looked for Auror Malfoy, knowing that Harry would have assigned the case to him yesterday.

She didn’t see him.

“No matter,” she whispered to herself. Hermione grabbed a purple sheet from the stack of interdepartmental memos, tersely scribed a quick note, folded it into a paper airplane, and sent it off.

The little airplane flew back within minutes. She opened it up.

MISS GRANGER

Kindly look in the conference room before sending me another memo asking where I am.

AUROR MALFOY

Just as the note implied, Hermione found Draco in the Auror Office’s conference room, papers and parchments scattered in tidy piles on the large table, wizarding photos and maps tacked to the walls, and what appeared to be a timeline with dates scribbled on the board. Hermione was in awe of how much work had been accomplished in one day.

“Is this my research?” she asked, holding up a particular stack of parchments.

“Yes,” Draco replied, not even looking up but somehow giving her the courtesy of a bow. “I appreciate the background details you would follow up on from the crime scene statements, like the information on that new clerk at Borgin and Burkes that the witnesses mentioned in passing, for example. You have done a better than adequate job, Miss Granger.”

“I’ll endeavor to take that as a compliment.”

“Trust me, Miss Granger,” he drawled, finally looking at her, “coming from me, that meant I’ve practically just given you the Order of Merlin, First Class.”

Hermione couldn’t help it, she smiled.

“However, I must profess I find the rest of the work and even the direction of the rest of the casework to be completely senseless. The results of the legwork done so far is a large piece of skulduggery, and I’m itching to know how any competent review could have failed to understand this. I take it that this was not your work.”

“No, it wasn’t. And. Well... It was my understanding that progress report and case review was due later this week,” said Hermione flatly. “I was prepared on my end, but…” She stopped, unsure how to proceed.

“I see... Can we talk about the hippogriff in the chamber?” asked Draco.

“I have no idea what you are referring to, Mr. Malfoy.”

Draco smirked. “Don’t play coy with me, Miss Granger. How are you doing now that you have rid yourself of that tiresome Weasley oaf?”

“Do not speak of him that way.”

“As you wish,” Draco said as he stiffly nodded at her, although his expression suggested his opinion was somewhat less trenchantly set.

Hermione didn’t think he would refrain from bringing the subject up again, but was grateful he held his tongue for now. In truth, she was torn between defending Ron against his past tormentor and despising him for her humiliation.

Pushing aside such thoughts, she decided resolutely to funnel her attention to the case at hand and find a solution to the curse upon her dear friend.

So far, Draco had completed quite a bit of legwork. Hermione admired his ability to categorize the details of the case into manageable clusters of knowledge. He gave her a brief overview of his findings.

Convinced that this mysterious new clerk reportedly now at Borgin and Burkes was the key to solving the mystery, Draco asked Hermione to accompany him to the shop in Knockturn Alley.

“That section of Diagon Alley is no place for a lady,” she protested.

“I’ll be escorting you, Miss Granger, you’ll have nothing to fear.”

“That isn’t the point.”

“It is if you want to stay on my team as part of this investigation.” He opened the door to the office with flourish and gave her a little bow.

“Infuriating man,” she muttered.

They left the Ministry of Magic by Floo to the Leaky Cauldron and from there travelled by foot. At last they appeared in front of a large, dilapidated building in filthy alleyway. Hermione had walked the last few blocks holding up her skirts and was annoyed that she had been exposing her ankles in a place like this. Mrs. Weasley would be appalled.

She turned her attention to the shop, remembering everything Harry had told her about the place.

“I haven’t been here in years,” Draco said, as if sensing her thoughts; however, Hermione assumed the statement was in no need of a response.

He held the door open for her. “After you, my lady.”

She sniffed at his chivalrous behavior, sure that he was up to something, and entered the shop.

A greasy man with rounded shoulders came out from behind a curtain that led to a back room.

“Ah, young Master Malfoy, what a ple—”

“I am now an Auror with the Ministry of Magic,” said Draco to Mr. Borgin. “This is Miss Granger. We are here on official business.”

The smile on the old man’s face disappeared.

“I see,” he said with narrowed eyes. “What service can I be to the Ministry today?”

“We’ve been looking into the illegal trade in cursed four leaf clovers. My contacts tell me that you have a new clerk. Is he here?”

“Yes, but I assure you Mr.—Auror Malfoy that my establishment has nothing to do with illegal dealings. We may deal in dark artifacts, but I run a proper business. I don’t get involved with shady business, not anymore. You will find that not a single item in this shop is on the Ministry’s restricted list. If my clerk has anything to do with this, I will release him from my employ at once and without a reference.”

“I only want to speak with him, Mr. Borgin.”

“Of course,” the old man said in an oily voice. “Let me go and fetch him.” He disappeared behind the curtain.

“I don’t like him,” said Hermione in a soft voice, inching away from a severed hand in a display case.

“No one does,” Draco whispered back.

An odd looking man with elephant-like ears and a massive nose stepped out from behind the curtain. He wore heeled boots in the French style in an apparent attempt to compensate for his short stature. He eyed Hermione and Draco suspiciously before walking out from behind the counter.

“ ‘Eard ye was lookin’ for me, Sir.”

“Your name?” asked Draco.

“Blarney Stone, watcha’ want wit’ me?”

“Mr. Stone—”

“Stop,” said Hermione. Draco gave her an annoyed look. “Did you say your name was Blarney Stone?”

“Aye.”

Hermione turned to Draco. “Be glad that you had a Muggle-born as a partner,” she said. The blonde wizard gave her a confused look. Hermione turned to the clerk. “The Blarney Stone is a stone that, according to Muggle legend, you kiss to be granted with the gift of gab.” She pulled out her wand. “Flattery,” she said in the disapproving tone of a magizoologist who had identified a new species of Grindylow. Keeping her eyes on the clerk, she tilted her head to Draco. “Trust nothing that he says.”

Draco pulled his wand out as well. “Who are you really?”

The little man scratched his chin with one hand and pointed a finger with the other. “Calm yerself now, calm yerselves!”

“Finite Incantatem,” said Draco, waving his wand with a complicated little movement.

The little man’s head began to grow, and his boring brown robes began to shimmer. His face sprouted a bushy red beard, and a green buckled Derby hat appeared on top of his head that was held up by pointed ears. He was now wearing a coat and britches over white stockings.

“Damn,” the now mischievous looking little man said.

“He’s a leprechaun,” said Draco.

The leprechaun smiled and reached into his coat pocket, pulling out a four leaf clover. He held it out towards Draco, who seemed transfixed by it. The leprechaun began walking backwards, heading outside. Draco followed mutely after him.

“That’s right,” the leprechaun said, setting the clover down on the ground, “pick it up now. Ye know ye want to.”

Hermione could see that Draco was shaking to control himself, she turned to stop the leprechaun from whatever it was that he was doing, but Draco held out an arm in front of her.

“Resist his Imperio!” shouted Draco. “Don’t look directly at the clover!” The wizard was now clutching his skull in both hands, using all his Occlumency training to defend his mind against the leprechaun’s attempts at penetration.

Hermione knew that Draco could only resist for so long and so she readied a spell. She pointed her wand at the roof above the nearby building. “Reducto!” A blue light shot straight up, and shingles exploded as they were hit. The debris tumbled down towards the three of them below.

She ran forward and pushed Draco underneath an archway.

“Merlin, Granger,” snarled Draco as he regained his footing, “try not to kill us while trying to catch him, if you would be so kind.”

“You’re welcome,” she snapped back at him, brushing shingle dust off of her face.

The leprechaun screeched and hissed as he struggled to get out from under the rubble. Scrambling backwards, he retreated as Draco and Hermione advanced together with their wands drawn.

“There is no way out,” said Draco coldly. “You are under arrest. Give yourself up and come back with us peaceably, or we’ll be forced to Stupefy you.”

The leprechaun sneered at them but took off his hat and made a supplicating gesture. Draco and Hermione kept their wands raised, despite the fact that he appeared to be cooperating.

As it turns out, he wasn’t.

Suddenly, the leprechaun reached into his hat and withdrew a handful of shiny gold coins, throwing them into the air towards the two of them.

“PROTEGO!” cried Hermione. An invisible shield appeared around herself and Draco, but the coins flew straight through it. Several of the coins struck the both of them, despite trying to jump out of the way at the last second.

“Can’t stop these!” sang the leprechaun, “these be my lucky gold coins.” He began dancing a strange little jig. Draco raised an eyebrow and looked at Hermione, clearly not understanding the little man’s behavior.

“You gave us extra luck in catching you?” asked Hermione incredulously. She looked down where she had felt the gold coin strike her on the arm and noticed an odd little glow wrapping itself around her wrist.

“Noooo,” the leprechaun taunted as he hopped from one foot to the other.

Draco was about to Stupefy the annoying creature when Hermione stepped between them. He blinked, wondering why there was a strange green mist surrounding her. He raised his wand, trying to step around the witch, and noted the glowing aura around himself as well. The leprechaun forgotten, Draco inspected his hands.

Hermione stepped up even closer to him; they were practically nose to nose.

“Miss Granger,” he said, “what are y—”
Then, quite unexpectedly, and in a most forward manner, she was kissing him.
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Pride & Prejudice & Leprechauns