Breaking All the Rules

Chapter one

Discovery

~*~~*~~*~

Where did I go wrong?

"What the hell did you do to my gun?" Blaise fumed as he saw the state of what used to be his most prized possession.

Draco poured out the remainder of the bottle he had opened about an hour ago. Really, Gin was something you had to drink all at once he had no idea what other people complained about. "I'll buy you another one, Zambini." He watched it slosh its way to the rim of the glass and stopped to pour the remainder of it down his throat.

"Don't think you can buy me off! This was my favourite gun Malfoy. It was charmed!" he whined. "Do you have any idea how expensive it is to charm a muggle object like this? I can't even fix it because it'll probably explode or something." The snort from Draco's direction gave him the feeling that he wouldn't really mind that right now. "You ruined it because of some red-haired whore who averted your gaze for three seconds." He sighed in frustration. "We were trained for this. How could you have been distracted by her?" Blaise stared at his friend with an unbelievable look on his face. Clearly, Draco wasn't taking this well, as that was the third bottle he had seen him drain since Monday. It showed no signs of stopping either. Sure he never missed but this was ridiculous. He marched up to him and grabbed the bottle from his mouth causing a series of spluttering coughs coming from him.

"I'm talking to you!" He threw the bottle in the sink and the glass to shatter as it hit the steel.

When he eventually stopped coughing, Draco sighed like he was giving up. "You weren't there. It just took me by surprise that's all. The littlest Weasley married to one of my marks. Someone as powerful as that, it's almost laughable isn't it?" He chuckled a little in amusement.

"Yes, I guess so." Zambini took one last look at his prized possession before getting rid of it with a quick spell. He dropped himself down heavily in one of Malfoy's large, white leather sofas. "So what are you going to do?" he asked him with a curious smile.

"I don't know," Draco shrugged. "I'm supposed to report it right?" Blaise nodded. "But how can I? I've never done this before I don't even know how to go about it anymore." He banged his fists on the table. "Damn her!" Zambini jumped.

"Well cast your mind back to training. What did they say to do if this ever happened?" he questioned. He knew that Draco wouldn't have the answer to this. He was always absent when the classes were called in. Blaise always knew to find him at the camp on the other side of the island.

For female assassins.

Blaise rolled his eyes when Draco took so long to answer.

Draco noted this and gave him a sardonic smile. "It said that this is impossible if you ever survive training so you won't need to take this class." He got up and made his way to the kitchen again.

"No it didn't, you just missed it because you were probably off with one of those assassinating whores."

He stopped rummaging in the cupboards and smiled a little remembering. "Well someone had to see if they were paying attention."

"Someone needed to make sure you paid attention, which was what I was there for. I see I failed miserably."

"Hmm." He gave up with the cupboards and opened the fridge. "Oh a kingdom for a beer," he said as he practically stepped inside of it.

"Well, seeing as you look particularly hopeless to carry on, I guess I shall have to help you. It'll be like old times, just the two of us. I have a few more marks to get through but I'm sure I can help you on the side."

Draco almost hit his head on the way out of the fridge. He eventually emerged with a chilled bottle in his hand. "I don't need your help, Blaise, I just need some way to get to him again."

"Well let me see the picture you got from them." He stuck his hand out gesturing for the photo.

"I didn't get a picture from them I had to get it myself. The client didn't put out a picture of their mark. It just said Mr. G Thomas." He gave an uncaring look. The name obviously didn't mean anything to him.

"Who posted it?"

"One of Leveret's secretaries."

"Those incapable people? Honestly." He tutted raising his eyes to the ceiling.

"They're not all incapable," he said smiling wickedly again. He leaned on a counter as he drank.

"I meant in the office, Malfoy. You know, sometimes I feel you've slept with every woman on the planet."

"Who said I slept with them?" He smiled wickedly again. "Get real Blaise, in that office, who has time?"

Blaise rolled his eyes. "You will just never learn will you?" Malfoy shrugged. "Okay then let me see the picture you found."

"It's on the table," he gestured with his chin. Blaise stretched out his hand and called for it. Swiftly, it came rushing toward him and landed perfectly in his palm. He looked at it.

"Well." He tilted it thinking that it was upside down. It wasn't, that was actually his face. "I can certainly not see what she sees in him." He scrunched up his face and placed the picture further away. Maybe he looked good from a distance.

Draco snorted. "There are millions of reasons and they're all in the Bank of England."

Blaise nodded in agreement and gave a resolute shrug. "Well, why didn't you just follow them?"

"To where? They've gone to someplace in the Caribbean. I don't know where they are."

"Well, schrye for them."

"On what, Zambini?" He gestured his arms around him. "I have no maps of the world here and I am not investing in one just because a mark got out of my grasp. I'll just wait until he comes back that's all."

"Oh no you don't. I am not listening to you prattle off about this for Merlin knows how long just because of some wild red hair."

Red hair. For some strange reason he kept seeing it flailing around wildly. It wouldn't remove itself from his eyelids. Her hands stroking the chauffeur's arm and talking happily and that offensive hat blocking the view of that radiant red that shone in the temporary sunlight. When it blew off, and her hair was set free, everything slowed down. From his brief point of fascination to the point of realisation he had seen the world in slow motion. He almost felt the need to reach forward and touch it, just run his fingers through it and-.

"Hello! Wizarding world to Draco Malfoy. Have you heard a word I just said? What were you thinking about?" Blaise waved his hand wildly in front of Draco's face waiting for him to acknowledge his presence again.

"Red," he said in a far away voice quietly. It was barely audible.

"What?" Blaise asked thoroughly confused.

"Huh?" Draco looked up with that look still in his eye. Then it was gone and he shook any remnants of it out of his system. "Nothing, I was just drifting off. You know, too much to drink." He stood up and made his way to his bedroom. Blaise followed him.

Blaise eyed him curiously. He didn't believe a word he said. And he knew he distinctly heard the word 'red.' Suddenly it clicked in place. Merlin no, not another one.

***

Over the next three weeks Draco and Blaise had spent a sunny business - part pleasure - vacation in the Caribbean. On the third week they had reached an island near Venezuela, Trinidad. Apparently Mr. G (as they later found out, stood for Girard) Thomas was quite the ladies man. He seemed to spend many nights away from his home and in the arms of many women.

Many, except for his wife's.

Blaise had owled Leveret's office to get any information on Girard Thomas and they had sent back a wad of information on him. He was the leader of an elite group that ruled the dark streets of the wizarding world. Though not as bad as a Deatheater would be, they certainly had a disregard for the law and covered up well.

"Well, if not a Deatheater there had to be something else right? I can certainly see why someone would want him assassinated." Blaise scanned the paper before realising that Draco wasn't even listening. He mentally kicked himself when he realised that perhaps the balcony of the rented house overlooking the beach of half naked women was not such a good idea. Even worse so when he saw what, or rather who, he was watching. Blaise followed his eyes out onto Mayaro Beach, upon the boat that floated peacefully and to the young woman inside that was reading under a large yellow parasol.

He clicked his tongue and went back to the paper thinking. For the past three weeks his friend had seemed to be enraptured by this woman. Strange, as their history was not one that would encourage that type of behaviour. As he re-read the page, he discovered something that might enlighten his friend and perhaps avert his gaze for all of five minutes.

"It says here that they both met a year ago in some alley-way behind a book shop in Muggle London. Apparently it was love at first sight and they've been married ever since."

Draco snapped his focus back to Blaise. "Love at first sight? She must need glasses." Blaise snorted at his comment.

"Yes, he is a little facially challenged but when it's love you can't help yourself can you?"

"You bloody well can! I've done it all my life. My love life is fine." He inadvertently drifted back towards the boat. She had just stripped down to her bathing suit and jumped into the water.

"Hmm," Blaise said raising one eyebrow. "I would hardly call your daily one night stands a love life. That is more like a lust life to me." He went back to the paper. When there was no response he looked back up at Draco. He was still peering at her. He rolled the papers up into a good rendition of a bat and held it tight in one hand, his wand hand. "Are you listening?" With a fast swoop the papers found their way to the back of Draco's head. He sat back in his beach chair. Draco jumped in surprise and instinctively grabbed the back of his head.

"What was that for?"

"You weren't paying attention." Blaise's eyes went out to the sea again. "Well, not to me anyway," he smiled. "Remember, we're here to kill her husband. Don't go getting attached to her."

"I'm not getting attached to her," Draco said defensively.

"Sure, so these past few weeks what? You've been admiring her fiery personality, even though you haven't gotten within fifty yards of her since we got here." Draco heaved a sigh and sat back finally.

"Alright fine, I don't know what's wrong with me." He took off his sunglasses and squinted under the sun after throwing them down on the table in front of him. "Since that day in front of the BoE I haven't been able to get that image of her out of my head. Do you think I'm coming down with something?"

"Yeah I think you have a rare case of 'obsessionus ridikulus.' Are you saying you're attracted to her?"

"I don't know," he said unsure. He noted the look on Blaise's face. "I don't know alright. Merlin! Something is wrong with this picture. I mean its Weasley right? Why am I feeling this way?"

"Feeling?" Blaise said surprised. He leaned forward and looked at Draco's face. "Look at me, Draco. Look at me."

He stopped and cautiously looked Blaise in the eye. After a while of staring he withdrew. "Oh Merlin, Malfoy, not now."

"What?" Draco raised his defense banner once again.

"Don't give me that, Draco Malfoy. I'm an empath you can't fool me." He looked to the sky. "I cannot believe you. Why didn't you tell me? And here's me thinking you've just gotten yourself into something stupid that I could snap you out of." He shook his head. "You dated her?" he said in an unbelieving tone.

"I did not -" he almost yelled but the scrutinizing look from Blaise made him reword his argument, "- date her for more than three months..." he finished slowly.

"Three months? That's the longest relationship you've ever had!" he belted out in a peal of laughter. When he finally recovered, he noticed Draco wasn't laughing and returned to the serious state of the conversation. "You liked her didn't you?"

"We just talked mostly. She was a good listener."

"For three months?" He didn't sound like he believed him.

"Nothing happened, if that's what you're getting at." He sighed and stood up. "Okay, enough of this. I have a job to do." He turned and went inside.

Blaise waited a little before following. He looked back out to the beach as Mrs. Thomas climbed her way back onto the yacht. She didn't look half bad.

Oh this will be difficult. He sat thinking this over. Malfoy's feelings for her had never gone away and they were affecting him in all the wrong ways. He had never missed before because he never had a reason to. There had been plenty of marks he knew - or those connected to acquaintances he knew - which he had to kill. It was never such a big deal. Hell, he had to kill some of the most wanted deatheaters in the country and most of them were the parents of his friends from school. He never batted an eyelash then. This time it was different, Blaise knew there had to be some good reason why they weren't attending Mr. Thomas' funeral right now.

After a while of consideration he came up with one conclusion.

Draco had to confront her, to get past it. Just talk to her if need be. It was the only way he knew of to get him to let out these pent up feelings he had been harboring within him for Merlin knows how many years. It was affecting his work and he needed to get over her now.

After all, how do you kill the husband of the woman you were in love with?