Creatures of the Wind - Dramione

1.

Malfoy's jaw twitched, but it was the only indication that he was annoyed at her cutting him off. "We sat down at the bar to order drinks. We drank a few rounds, and left the bartender increasingly high tips. We--"

"Would you say that you were intoxicated?"

His fists clenched this time, twice, and he gave her a hard look for several seconds. Hermione had stared down much worse. "As I would have explained, we took Sobering Potions before entering. The alcohol had no effect."

"All right." She nodded for him to continue, dipping her quill in the inkwell.

"We had learned from a source--"

"What source?" She waited, eying the drip of ink at the end of the quill.

"You're not cleared for that information," he said evenly.

She nodded again, waiting for him to continue, and looked up when he didn't. He was staring at her, his brow furrowed lightly, and just enough to make his gaze feel more hostile. He knew she had been testing him with that question, and by the looks of things, it angered him. It was part of her job – testing the honor of an Auror, and how much they followed the rules of their profession. She never looked at a case as if the Auror should get off or were innocent simply because of their profession.

"What did you learn from the source?"

She almost thought he wasn't going to answer her at first. "We knew there was a room downstairs that they operated the dealing out of, but we didn't know how to get down there, or the code for when we arrived. We pretended to be drunk and asked the bartender if he knew anyone who could get us a ticket." He paused for a moment, as if expecting her to interrupt. "They say Jova is like taking a trip to another galaxy, and so they call a vial of it a ticket."

"Yes."

"The bartender shut us down. Approximately ten minutes later, I went to the lavatory. The kitchen was off the hallway. I entered it and pretended to be confused over where the toilet was. House-elves were the only things inside--"

Hermione bristled. "So after entering and finding only magical creatures inside, you...?"

He looked entirely unapologetic. His eyes were attached to her hands which had taken to weighing and organizing her quills without her permission. "I saw a small door against the back wall that had been unaccounted for on our blueprint. I summoned the photo Longbottom keeps in the pocket of his robes."

Hermione looked up to find Malfoy's eyes on her, already knowing what photo he was talking about, and surprised that Malfoy knew it as well. Five kids on the edge of adulthood, who by all rights had stopped being children long ago. She had a copy of it framed in her lounge."I asked the house-elf for the code, which he gave. Longbottom arrived a moment later, and we entered the small room. It had nothing inside of it but dust, but there was a spot near the center of the room that appeared clean. We asked the house-elf who had supplied the code to Apparate us downstairs, which he did."

"Who asked the house-elf to Apparate you?"

"He brushed a palm down his thigh before plucking at something she couldn't see. "I don't see how that's relevant--"

Hermione's spine straightened. She was the one who decided what was relevant – he was the one who answered the questions. "It's completely relevant considering the charges the owners have placed against the two of you. Trespassing, forced use of Veritaserum, and use of Imperius. These--"

"Longbottom asked him. I wouldn't trust an elf not to Splinch me." There was a brief narrowing of his eyes that made her think he had purposely said it to rile her. He wasn't going to distract her from the facts.