Even though he knew he was just a snidget away from getting arrested for something he didn't do, he couldn't help the next words that came out of his mouth.

"Oh I'll narrow it down for you, and it'll be a shocker..."

Don't do it git, you want to get in trouble!

His inner voice was screaming at him again.

"It wasn't a magical pub."

Zora turned her gaze back to him slowly, a blank look of utter not-shocked vexation on her face. She came in good faith. This could've gone smooth. And now? There was going to be paperwork. Had he just answered his questions and had a decent alibi it'd be a brief interview report and a magical law patrol robe on a quick foray to confirm, and that would have been it.

Now? It was the interview report, a recommendation to the boss and case lead that an obscene amount of wands out undercover under guidance of the bloody Muggle Liaison Office to canvass muggle bars. If it was even approved, it was going to take weeks. Then, they'd find nothing. And then there'd be a warrant, then an arrest, then more paperwork.

Her own shoulder demon took control and she swiftly approached him with her wand out.

"Why don't we clear this up right now, eh? Save me a headache. C'mon. Give me a reason."

Her wand was inches from his chest.

Oh, he hadn't had a decent hexing in a long time. The last time was when he'd tried to get into Greengrass manor to see his son and his ex-wife had unleashed her fury on him. 

"Go ahead, hex an unarmed wizard, I dare you."

He knew he was just making it worse, but he was beginning to feel a little like his old self... not the stuck-up git he was in school, but the slightly more grown-up version.  The one who didn't take crap from anybody.

He did have his wand on him, but she didn't need to know that. 

"You really think that I, Draco Lucius Malfoy, would set foot in a muggle pub.  Are you sure you aren't a trainee?"

The veteran Auror righted her self and backed away.

"Useless. You're bloody useless, Malfoy."

He was surprisingly not stupid enough to get himself arrested on the spot; and she wasn't stupid enough to do anything to get herself sacked.

"This isn't going to go well for you. Hope you enjoy the spotlight. I think a Malfoy getting to spend the night in a cell will be big news."

Then she added, "last chance, kid," sure he wouldn't take it.

Every neuron in his brain was telling him to shut up and let things simmer down.  But he didn't want to.  It felt good to be the subject of animosity again, if only for a little while.  He should just let it go, tell her where he was and let her go on her merry way. Today, it seemed, was not going to be that day though.

"You going to arrest me for being sarcastic?"

"No! Merlin's sake, Malfoy..."

Zora rolled her eyes. Didn't he know what a mess he was making for himself? Hell, what a sodding idiot. He couldn't win.  To be honest, he'd changed his story three times which was Zora's personal threshold for 'I Have No Alibi'. He could stuff his little games. She wasn't buying it.

"You might think you're in control of this situation, but mate, you fouled this up," she said, her voice almost weary. He'd blown his chance to mind his own business.

She opened the door and walked out.

His inner voice was shouting FINALLY!!! at the top of it's lungs when she turned and left.  Draco, however, was still a bit on edge and seething that they dared come into his home and insinuate that he'd went somewhere and stolen things.  He'd never do it on his own, he'd get someone else to do it.

His eyes watched her as she opened the door and walked out, his wand slipping from his holster under his shirt sleeve.  He shouldn't do it, but man, after that he really wanted to.

Nothing serious, just a simple stinging hex that he'd mastered in his second year at Hogwarts.  He wouldn't even aim, maybe it wouldn't hit her. 

He stood and watched her walking away, twirling his wand between his fingers... thinking about it.

Making up his mind, and before thinking about potential consequences, he shot off a stinging hex in her general direction, not even aiming to see if it hit her or not, and then slammed his door with a push of magic.  He liked that particular feature of his front door. 

He walked back into his house farther, intending to head back to his study, never realizing what an idiot he had just been for sending a hex at an Auror.

It hit her in the heel. It felt like a snake had jumped up and bit her, which wasn't far from the truth. Her knee buckled and she swore. A deadly scowl washed over her face as she haltingly regained her balance. Oh that little prick. That little, reckless, idiot, spoiled pureblooded ... ! The trained Auror had dared him and he'd done it.

Then fine.

She whipped out her wand and swiped it in the air.

"Reducto!" A flash of light nearly blew the massive door off its hinges. She'd pulled the punch, even in her wrath. She was soon in the doorway, just catching him in view as he started climbing the stairs.

"Petrificus Totalis!" Spell hit him square in the back. From the spellhit spread out a frosty blue color as his body froze in place and down the few steps he'd already gained.

"Thank you, Malfoy. Thank you so bloody much."

A split second before he heard his door crash open with a loud noise, he almost turned around, but he felt the spell hit him instead.

His first thought was that maybe he shouldn't of done that. It was an incredibly stupid move to try and hex an Auror, especially one that had been leaving.

His second thought was, 'Crap, now I'm falling down the stairs."

Of course it had only been three stairs, but now he was stuck at the bottom of the staircase, wondering what was going to happen now that he'd been a total idiot.

In full Auror battle mode, Zora dead-ass levitated the stone-still Malfoy, propped him up, and side-along Apparated him back to Level Two.

She hadn't planned to stay late tonight, but things change.

Fin - Continued in You Stepped In It