Chapter 10 Updated

Just some changes in grammar and logistics. I took out a lot of commas because I'm like obsessed with them or something.

JK Rowling owns it all, not me.

Chapter 10 – Friday, October 21st-Saturday, October 22nd

...

"Wow," Wes whistled when Draco told him the events that had transpired earlier that day. The two were at a local muggle bar, hunkered down over their drinks so no one around them would pick up on any magical jargon. "Wow," Wes said again, and then laughed. "You yelled at her? After she smacked you in the face? You're mad, Blondie." Wes chuckled heartily, smiling at the man next to him.

Draco couldn't help but smile back, it was pretty funny now that he thought of it. "What was I supposed to do? I had just been elbowed in the face by the Alderman herself and I was overwhelmed by the magic." Wes clapped Draco on the shoulder, enjoying the joke. Draco's stomach felt warm and not just with the alcohol. Ever since Wes had been introduced into his life, Draco felt a certain sense of calm whenever they spent time together.

Growing up as an only child in a rich family, Draco had been used to attention; he lived for it. As it was, the wizarding community was already isolating enough, so being an only child in a manor in a remote part of the country Draco had learned only basic social skills. His parents never thought to teach him anything other than niceties and impulse control, and Draco had no other opportunity to learn besides copying the behavior he saw when his parents had other adults over for dinner parties or gatherings.

When it came time for Draco to go to Hogwarts, his physical maturity and intelligence were all on the same level as his peers, but his emotional maturity and social graces were sorely lacking. He found that he related more to the teachers, the adults who were closer to his parents' age. Draco was at a loss on how to make friends in a setting where he was surrounded by children, and not adults.

Thanks to the occasional presence of Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle during Draco's early years, he at least knew two children well. They were more than happy to fall into line behind Draco because that's what they were told to do by their parents who did the same thing when around Lucius and Narcissa. Draco was happy enough to have the company and their actions only confirmed his behavior further. The rest of the Slytherins naturally defaulted to following Draco's lead because of who his parents were and their wealth.

Even with his lack of social graces, Draco did possess a raw sort of charisma that attracted the rest of his peers. He was smart, funny and he had the appearance of power. But Draco had no idea that this was why he was popular; he only saw it as the success of his pretentious and bullying behavior. So he kept it up, and the rest of the Slytherins followed because they also didn't know any better

In addition to this, his parents had drilled into his mind, and continued to do so over each of the summer holidays, the importance of their family and blood status. It was ignorance raising ignorance, no one's fault but the perpetual nature of the cycle in which the Malfoy family existed. If raised in hate, a child will believe it, and there was no hope for Draco. These beliefs were challenged at school, but not in the Slytherin common room were Draco's status among his peers was strongest and where his comfort zone was.

This meant that Draco went throughout his Hogwarts years without ever having to work to make friends or knowing how to properly behave. This started to change in his last two years at school, and it had to change all together when he was living as a muggle in exile. But on some level of his subconscious mind, Draco remembered what it felt like to have friends, to have people always surrounding you and listening to you, valuing an opinion or laughing at a story. He remembered how lonely his childhood was and how much better the bustle of Hogwarts felt in comparison.

Draco detested the eight years in muggle London not only because of the lack of magic, but because of how alone he was: it reminded him of his pre-Hogwarts years. While he would never admit this to himself, he still couldn't avoid the feelings that came from his memories.

It was pure luck that Wes had extended friendship to Draco who had taken the relationship without hesitating. It was a real friendship, not just something based on the politics of parents, but even if Draco had known the difference he wouldn't have cared. All he knew was that it felt right to have a friend. He didn't question it; his brain wasn't hardwired to question a friendship. It was always something that he thought came naturally to him because he thought that's how the world worked. Draco was never taught that friendships were a type of relationship, something that needed to be cultivated, grown and valued. To him, they simply appeared, maintained, and he had never learned how to seek them out.

It was fortunate then, that Wes had been so open. On more than one occasion, Draco had missed out on potential friends just because they thought him aloof, uninterested. Those potential friends simply hadn't been they type of person to do a lot of the work. This was one of the main reasons why Draco had been so alone living in the muggle world.

Wes was open, overly friendly, and more than willing to hold up his end of a lopsidedly balanced friendship. The American didn't mind, nor did he think twice on it, for that wasn't how he was raised back in Oklahoma. However, the man was curious and his instincts were sharp, attributes that had led to a career with the American Ministry of Magic. However, if Wes' curiosity had one flaw it was that it was huge, and while he had a fair amount of patience (probably from his mother's side, he always thought) the itch for answers had been building up for some time, and was coming to a head fast. He decided to take a gamble and go for it. Wes was going to get Draco Malfoy drunk.

"What?" Draco asked, noticing that Wes was staring at him oddly.

Wes grinned. "Let's get a couple of shots, Blondie. We need to celebrate your survival after your harrowin' trials this afternoon."

Draco snorted a laugh. "Bring it, Smithy, I promise I can out-drink you any day."

"We'll see about that, first one to fall over loses."

"Deal."

To start, Wes ordered four shots of Jack Daniels and ignored Draco's sneer. "Deal with it, Kid, this is how it's done in 'Merica."

"And this is how it's done in Britain. Cheers, mate." They clinked glasses. As Wes threw the first shot back, he knew that he wouldn't be able to drink at Draco's pace if he still wanted to be able to form sentences. He would have to find some way to dispose of the alcohol if he wanted to get Draco to talk. There was no way that he could out-drink this younger, bigger man next to him. Wes needed to cheat.

"Fifth round's a go," Draco said, grinning. After a double of scotch and three whiskey shots, he was feeling good. Sure, maybe a little more woozy than he should be feeling, but Draco chalked it up to the thrill of competition and took the next shot.

The truth was, Wes had been moving his shots into Draco's glass, using the magic from their Number licensed goods as a loophole around the Timed Magical Suppressant Law curfew. The spell Wes was casting allowed the alcohol in Draco's shot glasses to double in content only, not in size. The magic was simple, and Wes made sure to recycle it back to the mirror and earpieces once the charm was finished. And with the magic being shifted around objects in such close proximity to each other, no one was the wiser.

"If you're feelin' so good, order more. I can keep this goin' all night." Wes felt a little guilty at this point, but it seemed to be working so well he didn't want to stop. If everything went according to his plan, he would finally get the answers from Draco his curiosity so demanded. Plus, a night out drinking with a friend was harmless; it wasn't as if he was manipulating him. Am I? Wes questioned himself. Maybe I should take a few just to make it fair. After all, in five drinks, he's really had eight…

Wes ordered two more double scotches for the both of them and drank his honestly, without using magic to move them over into Draco's glass. With that drink, Wes felt confident and happy; it was time to stop playing the game and start asking questions. "Before one of us actually does fall over, I default to you, Blondie, you win."

Draco raised his hands in triumph. "Yes!" he yelled, startling some of the patrons. "Oops," he giggled to Wes. The pair laughed, ignoring the stares of the muggles. "To be honest," Draco slurred. "I've never really liked the taste of fire whiskey, and this muggle drink seems to do the trick just fine."

Wes nodded, "I agree on that front, partner." He was silent for a moment. It was now or never. "I still can't believe you hit Alderman Granger." He eyed Draco, tense and ready for him to jump down his throat. Instead, to Wes' amazement, the man just ordered another drink. Wes waved the bartender away when he turned to him. Wes would be drinking no more tonight; he was amazed by how Draco was stomaching it all.

"Mm-hmm, I can't really believe it either," Draco said, brow furrowed. He thought back to what Sherlock had said earlier that day about how Hermione had changed. "Has she always been like that?" he suddenly asked out of the moment of quiet.

This was it. Wes waited until the bartender finished filling up Draco's glass before continuing. "How do you mean?"

"You know, like…intense." That was the only word Draco could come up with. "I can't really put my finger on it, but she's so different from who she was, or at least, who I thought she was. I don't know…" he trailed off into a long sip.

"I probably can't help you there, Blondie. Seein' as I've only been around for about eight months. I don't know who she was before." Wes thought, wading through his thoughts with more difficulty than he thought he should be having. He ignored it. "She's nice enough to me," the American said after a moment. "Great boss, hard sure but she's gotta be, it's the job ain't it?"

Draco nodded slowly, sipping. "Sure, it's the job." A few moments passed before Draco spoke again. "But I mean really, she's so different than before, it's like…I don't know…" Draco trailed off into his drink.

Draco set his scotch down abruptly. "And where is she getting all that magic from? I know the upper-levels of our dear Ministry are allotted more magic than us common folk, but seriously, where is it coming from? And for that matter—what?"

Wes' eyebrows were approaching his hairline. "Damn, Blondie. Now you have to tell me everythin' about you."

Draco finished his drink and rubbed his stomach. But it wasn't the alcohol that was giving him an ache. The problem of Hermione had been bugging him since he started working for her. It hadn't been a problem until earlier that day when she proved to him that she was not only ruthlessly driven, but that she had no care for other people when she was totally focused on the job.

It wasn't what she was like in school. Draco remembered her as a prissy and stuck up, but not a bitch. Draco snorted to himself into his drink. It's just like at school too, the amount of paper work that woman does and did, even back when…He set his scotch down abruptly. Paperwork. That was it. He needed to look at Hermione's paperwork on his trial filed away in the Ministry's library. He turned to Wes, a dangerous look in his eye. "Dude, we're going to break into MOM tonight."

...

Wes stumbled next to Draco again. "Whoa there, mate, you good?" Draco thrust his shoulder under Wes' to steady his friend.

The American just shrugged him off. "I'm fine, I'm fine. Don't worry 'bout me," Wes slurred. "Worry 'bout you. What are you thinkin' to do this goin' tonight?"

Draco ignored the man's poorly formed sentence and tried not to cringe. He hadn't meant to get him so drunk, but as soon as he had realized that Wes was doubling up his shots at the bar, he had turned the magic right back on him and caused the cowboy to take the doubles. Using magic again was surprisingly easy, and it thrilled Draco to no end that he remembered how to use it, even without a wand. The mirrors and the earpieces were hardly a substitute for a strong and steady bit of wood.

He had no idea why Wes would want to get him drunk but he assumed it was probably to get him to finally answer all those questions he had been dodging. Draco didn't have a plan when he had turned the magic back on his friend; he had just thought it would be a good joke to catch the man in his own game. But as soon as he realized that Hermione would have stored notes and documents on Draco in her section in the library. The Shacklebolt Administration was meticulous in their record keeping, never throwing away a single scrap of paper.

Draco was a bit concerned for Wes' welfare, but if it meant a simple hangover for Wes and answers for him, he'd take that risk. If his mind was set to get something he wanted, Draco never compensated an inch of his goal for a friend's welfare. When he was younger living in the muggle world dealing with London gangs, he had earned him the nickname "Robot" due to inability to empathize or sympathize. It hadn't bothered him because it didn't occur to him that it should.

The pair made it to the Ministry's muggle entrance within the hour and Draco glanced suspiciously around before dragging the incredibly drunk Wes into a dark alley around the left side of the building. It was still a little too out in the open for Draco's tastes, but it would have to do.

"Stay here," Draco said, hoping Wes was focused enough to listen to the command. Wes gave a sort of half-salute and a chuckle that satisfied Draco for the moment. He ran around to one of the hidden back doors and tapped in the symbols of Hermione's pass code on the invisible keypad. It was mandatory that all of her Number's commit her code to memory in case of an emergency and, according to Draco, this was definitely and emergency.

Once the door was open, he quickly sprinted back to Wes, practically threw the man over his shoulder and entered the building. Before the door closed with a snap, Draco pointed the mirror at the door like he would have a wand, and stole the magic from Wes' earpiece to erase the user history from the door. It was a complicated bit of magic, especially with the small amount of power housed in the earpiece after it had been used for a night of magical drink swapping. Draco was quite proud of himself for pulling it off. Of course, because the magic in the earpiece was so limited, this last spell had completely fried the piece of tech. Draco didn't pause to consider the consequences: if someone were to get in trouble for this night, it wasn't going to be him.

Draco looked down at Wes with a pang of remorse. Oh come on, he thought trying to combat the guilt that surprised him. It's just a mirror, no one will know. He shook off his misgivings and moved on. If he were to get to the library floor with Wes in tow, all without getting caught, he could afford no stops.

"Come on, you." Draco nudged Wes whose eyelids were drooping slightly. "Wake up, I need you, mate." The American groaned. "I know, but let's just get to the elevator and you can rest." Draco looked around: they were in one of the back passages in the building, made for emergencies and maintenance. There would be no surveillance here. Dodging as quickly and as quietly around corners as he could with Wes dragging behind him, Draco finally made it one of the service elevators.

Pressing the call button, Draco winced at how loud the squeaky gears were; he was positive that the whole building had heard it. While no janitors were hired on Night Shift, plenty of other Ministry workers were in the building at the moment, not to mention the handful of security guards and Numbers working their Night Shift that they had to fulfill once a month.

Wes groaned when the elevator arrived and Draco started to shove him into the box. "No…" the man whined. Draco rolled his eyes and tried again. "No!" Wes shouted this time.

"Fine!" Draco hissed, annoyed. He let Wes slump against the wall and watched him slide slowly down to the floor, snoozing lightly as the elevator doors closed. "I'll come back for you," Draco whispered, wiping sweat from his brow. He hoped that the decision to bring Wes hadn't been a mistake.

The ride up to the library floor was painfully slow and when the doors finally opened, Draco ran to the service exit that would bring him the to the main floor. Skidding to a stop behind a pillar to the left of the main double doors, Draco caught his breath and collected his thoughts. If he were to get in now, he'd need to wait until the next round of security passed. Draco checked his watch, wishing he knew the schedule of the rounds tonight. Finally after a long while, a bored looking Ministry MIS guard passed by the library, leaving Draco's hiding spot unnoticed. Draco rolled his eyes at the incompetence and made to step toward the library entrance when a hand grabbed his shoulder. Draco whirled around and punched.

"Fuck you, man!" a voice cried out: it was Wes.

"Shit!" Draco tried to keep his voice down and he reached out for the man before he fell over and made any more noise. "What the hell are you doing?"

"What am I doin'? What are you doin'?" His breath smelled like vomit. Draco suppressed a groan: Wes' head was clearer now that he had emptied his stomach. "I woke up outside of a service elevator with my earpiece and mirror missing and you were gone. What the fuck are we doing here?" Wes' voice rose to a higher pitch as his stress escalated. Draco tried not to laugh: he had sounded like a teenager. "It's not funny, fuckhead. I heard some security guards on my way up and they're scurryin' around lookin' for someone. I bet us!"

The last came out in the hybrid squeak-whisper that Wes was getting quite good at. Draco looked longingly at the doors to the library, but he knew when he was beat. It was a half-assed plan anyway. Draco hadn't even thought through what he would have done once he actually got into the room. He knew that the filing system was elaborate; it had to be to house the extensive amount of paperwork, and he hadn't come up with a way to get to his individual file, let alone how to transport the information out of the building.

He sighed and clasped Wes around the shoulders. The American's head was tipped back and he was pinching his nose, trying to stop the flow of blood trickling from it. "Here's your mirror, it fell out of your pocket in the alley and I picked it up for you."

When Wes didn't take the tech as he was too distracted, Draco shoved it into the man's pocket. "Come on, let's get you home. And don't tip your head back, it doesn't help." The two men managed to exit the building using a different route with as little noise as they could. Draco checked his watch when they were outside: 3 a.m. It 's going to be a long day tomorrow.

...

Wes looked terrible the next morning when he came upstairs to check-in with Carl for their Saturday shift. Draco had already been at the office for a while, arriving before both Wes and Carl, jittery on coffee and nerves. He hadn't been able to sleep when he had arrived home after dropping Wes off at his own place, despite the fact that it was 4:30 a.m. He had lain awake in his bed, thinking. When the answer had finally come to him around 6 in the morning, he had caught a quick twenty-minute nap before forcing himself to get up and shower. Even with his little sleep, Wes still looked worse than Draco.

"Hey," Draco said sheepishly, his only way of apologizing. "How are you feeling?"

Wes glared darkly up at the blonde and grabbed his arm, dragging him to a corner out of Carl's earshot. "Are you serious?" Wes hissed, furious and looking around to make sure no one was looking at them. "Friends are supposed to trust one another, not get the other drunk and break into buildings together. We could have been caught!"

"I may remind you," Draco quickly lowered his voice as an office-aid passed them. "I may remind you that you were the one who tried to get me drunk in the first place to wheedle secrets out of me. So I believe we're even."

Wes was quiet, just staring incredulously at Draco. "Really?"

"What?"

Wes sighed. "We are not even close to being even. I just wanted to hear you're story because I'm concerned; you used me for your own mischievous ends. And who even says 'wheedle' anyway?" he added, shaking his head.

"Who says 'mischievous ends'?" Draco countered.

Wes stared up at Draco again before turning and walking away down toward the garage. Draco started to follow. "What are you doing?" Wes cut Draco off before they got to the elevator.

"I'm coming down to the garage with you," Draco said, surprised. He had thought the way he was walking was obvious. "We do that every Saturday."

Wes snorted. "I'll talk to you later, Malfoy." The American stalked off, changing his route to the stairs, slamming the door vigorously after him.

Draco frowned. Was Wes mad at him? "Christ," Draco swore borrowing the muggle curse for the occasion. He would deal with that can of worms later, if he knew how. At the moment, however, Draco was only thinking of the scanner stored in Hermione's office and his plan to steal it.

"Get to work, Malfoy!" Carl barked, in a tone that usually would have caused the blonde to jump, instead he just smiled wider. "And wipe that stupid grin off your face.