Chapter Fourteen: Alias and Alibi

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

"Hermione! What the hell, don't go there!" Harry said running after her as she walked through the door at the end of the hall. It closed with a loud metallic bang and he heard the clanking of the locks. "Hermione!" he yelled reaching the door two seconds later and banging upon it with his fist. He knew she couldn't hear him. "Hermione what are you doing?" Harry sighed tiredly placing the palm of his hand on the cool door in resignation.

She had walked into work this morning not a minute ago and had immediately headed for the file room without even a word to anybody else. Like a ghost she walked swiftly and with purpose to her destination. Nobody had even looked up from their desks, their path, office doors had remained closed.

Harry had been terribly confused last night, the restaurant, Briar's death, Malfoy's disappearance. He had been worried when he noticed that Hermione had disappeared, but he had received word that she had made it home later in the evening. Everything was slowly unraveling and he didn't know what to do.

Things were happening too fast to be processed. Harry couldn't piece the puzzle together when new pieces were being thrown at him relentlessly. Kingsley had not come in to work this morning, he had gone off to investigate Bianca thinking that she might have something to do with the whole thing. Harry felt as though Kingsley was grasping for straws. But Harry had no idea where to grasp himself. Hermione had mentioned a name earlier, but he couldn't recall it now. But he was willing to bet his whole fortune that she was in there right now looking up whoever that person was.

"Zach…Brighton…" Hermione muttered as she leafed through the folders placed in the giant wall to wall filing cabinets. Her knees had started to give; she had been crouching along the bottom shelves for half an hour going through the B's.

Part of her knew she wouldn't find a file on this man. Either Brighton was an alias and didn't exist in this room. Or his true name was Brighton and was under another alias she didn't know. Hermione slammed the cabinet shut, the metal panged loudly and echoed all about her.

She whimpered and collapsed onto her rear. Everything felt hopeless; she didn't know where she could find this man. She didn't even know what he looked like. The bartender had disappeared, and he had been her real last hope.

"Expecto Patronum" Hermione sighed pointing her wand to the air in front of her. Her otter spilled out imperceptibly from the tip of her wand, "Find Haleigh, tell her to meet me in front of the mansion in half an hour" Hermione said. Her otter nodded and disappeared in a streak of light. Hermione sighed and looked at the cool tile floor, tears blurring her eyes. She sniffled loudly and pulled herself to her feet. Crying would bring no one back.

"What?" Haleigh questioned chewing noisily on her gum. She was leaning against the right pillar in front on the mansion doors. Her legs casually bent as her arms folded over her bosom.

"Haleigh, what do you know?" Hermione asked evenly, trying to keep her face as straight as her voice.

"Hu, 'bout what?" Haleigh asked with raised brows. Then she popped her gum obnoxiously and widened her eyes in impatience.

"Haleigh, I asked you to find information on Zach Brighton, I couldn't find his folder today…do you have it?" Hermione asked lightly.

She shrugged.

"Haleigh, if you withhold Ministry documents from me I will be forced to take you in for questioning under the assumption of suspicious behavior" Hermione said pulling out her wand and pointing it at Haleigh.

The girl looked positively shocked, her green eyes grew wide and her mouth fell open. "Are you serious?" Haleigh asked incredulously.

"Dead serious" Hermione said with a dry smile.

"I lost it" Haleigh said with a small frown her eyes began to flutter from side to side.

"Explain" Hermione urged keeping her wand fixed on Haleigh's chest, her eyes narrowed.

"I had it, I went home, put it down…and it disappeared" she shrugged.

"'It disappeared' is not the same as 'I lost it'" Hermione said gritting her teeth. Haleigh stiffened awkwardly and she began to shift her weight in nervousness.

"Seriously Hermione, I don't know where the fuck it is, I had it, then it disappeared. I thought I lost it, but I can't find it anywhere at my place…I've even attempted to accio it" she said earnestly.

"Don't be stupid" Hermione said coldly, "Ministry items like that can't be called with an accio. They have a concealment charm upon them for idiots who assume they can steal them so simply"

"I wasn't trying to steal it!" Haleigh said angrily, "I already had it!"

"Yes, but you acted in the way a burglar would have, the charm reacted in its natural way. So…Haleigh, why didn't you know that already? I mean, you went to written school for auror training…shouldn't they have taught you that? And even if you fucked up, why didn't you ask Draco or I for help in locating it? You were at dinner with him just last night" Hermione's eyebrows flew up in a silent thought "That's beside the point now, you must have some notes that you took from the file"

Haleigh shook her head, "It's all gone"

"Then lets find it" Hermione said.

Haleigh's apartment was turned upside down. Paper's were stacked all over the place in accordance to subject. They had been unable to find the file. "I don't understand" Hermione groaned as she turned on the spot and desperately looked around Haleigh's living room, willing the folder to smack her in the face.

"I told you it disappeared" Haleigh said coldly coming in from her kitchen. Her manor had turned icy in the past hour. Hermione felt the same. She no longer felt as though Haleigh was with her. This girl was so scattered it was painful; she was a hinder of the worst kind, and terribly indifferent about the whole situation.

"It can't have disappeared. Those things don't happen. You must have left it somewhere else…or…somebody took it" Hermione said slowly. She hadn't even considered the information having been stolen. Mostly because Hermione hadn't thought that anyone would know about the information they were looking for. The only person besides Draco and Haleigh who knew about Zach Brighton was Harry. And Harry had probably forgotten already. "Bloody hell" Hermione grumbled as she knocked over a large stack of folders and watched it flutter and scatter on Haleigh's beige carpet.

"Who would have taken it?" Haleigh asked.

"I…oh" Hermione said softly.

"What?" Haleigh asked scathingly. Her annoyance was growing by the second.

"You stay here, don't you dare leave the house. I'm sending my patronus to get somebody to watch you" Hermione said quickly as she walked out of the door and down the hall where she disapparated with a loud snap.

"What did I do?" Haleigh yelled angrily at the place where Hermione had previously been standing.

"Come on Draco, where the hell did you leave it?" Hermione muttered to herself as she leafed through his desk quickly. "Please, please, you must have taken it. If it wasn't you then I'm screwed" she kept whispering as she turned over his drawers spilling the contents on the floor. Pens and papers clattered onto his hardwood floors.

"Ah!" she gasped loudly as she saw the folder had slipped out from another larger one. Hermione grabbed it and quickly opened it, her heart racing painfully fast. Only to find it completely empty and her lead totally obliterated.

She sat down on the ground in disappointment and fury. "I can't believe this" she whispered dropping the empty folder. "Draco what were you doing? What were you doing without telling me that got you into this giant mess?" Hermione sighed and leant back against the side of his bed. A small piece of paper had floated out of the mess and was sliding across the floor towards her.

Draco couldn't see anything. But he wasn't surprised. After all, kidnappers hardly allowed their kidnapped to see who they were. What worried Draco was the total eerie silence that seemed to be pressing in on him. There was not a sound, not that of footsteps, nor that of an old fan, not even a radio in the distance. He could not tell where he was, the room was neither hot nor cold, no draft hit him from any direction, no red behind his eyelids to indicate light. He was so anxious that he was sure his whole body must have been shaking.

He should have said something to Hermione earlier. To anyone really…but he had been too late. He had planned to tell her everything after his dinner with Haleigh, he had to deal with Haleigh first. And when he had seen Hermione there, he had planned for everything to go so well…but such things were not to be planned. Had it only been last night that he had seen Hermione? It felt like such a long time ago. Perhaps it had been a while ago, after all, Draco had lost all sense of time.

What had he gotten himself into now? He was royally screwed…for the moment he was alive, and seemingly well. His kidnappers remained so; he hoped they would not turn into attackers soon. His whole body felt as though it were crumbling. He had no idea where Hermione was, not the slightest inkling if she was safe… There was so much at stake, and Hermione had no idea just what was teetering on the edge. He wished there was some way to reach her, but he knew none.

Hermione reached forward and grabbed the fleeting piece of parchment. She straightened it out on her knee and laughed tearfully.

Not alibi, juiced.

29468 Brookmoor Lane, Ipswich

What the hell was it? Was it just a stupid note he wrote to himself three years prior or was this recent? Did this mean something? It seemed too good to be true. But the address was in Ipswich, exactly where they had been searching for Brighton. The only way to find out was to check the address…but Hermione was finding it difficult to muster up the courage and effort to do such a thing.

Fear was finally settling in. Draco was gone, just like Ron, just like her parents. And with every passing second this became more real to her. She had never felt quite so acutely alone before in her life. A stupid little glimmer of hope told her Draco must have still been alive. But Hermione didn't know if she could believe it. So much time on a stupid case and no answers. No answers at all, it felt as though she were a hamster, running in her wheel, over and over again. And there was somebody looking into her cage and laughing at her idiocy. She was being played, played for a total fool. Whoever these people were, they were far smarter than dim henchmen. They had managed to erase almost all of their clues leaving on a silly name and an empty folder. They had even erased Draco because he must have found something out. He must have…there would have been no other reason to attack him. After all, Draco was a pureblood, if these were deatheaters there wasn't a chance they would risk harming him.

Hermione scrambled off the floor, the piece of paper clutched in her hand. She ran to the door and down the stairs.

"Harry!" Hermione yelled running into the office like a raving lunatic.

Harry looked up from Genesee Norton's stall to see Hermione running towards him. Her face flushed her hair awry, but a look of determination on her face. "Hermione?" he looked down to the end of the hall at the large metal file room door, when had she gotten out? "What's wrong?" he asked as she came to a halt before him.

"I have an address" she said waving a tiny piece of paper in his face.

Harry frowned and raised his brows, "I'm sure you do. I do as well" he said before turning back to Genesee.

"No you bloody idiot!" Hermione screamed. "An address! Draco wrote it down! I think he found Zach Brighton's address!" Hermione said breathlessly as she leant against the cubicle wall.

Harry frowned, "let me see it" he said.

Hermione handed it over.

"I'll take this to Kingsley" Harry said stuffing the paper into his pocket and walking away. Hermione stared at him in disbelief. Was that it? Harry had barely even looked at her. Something wasn't right even in the ministry. Hermione pulled out the real note out of her own pocket. She was going to check it out on her own.

"Why am I being watched by you?" Haleigh muttered as she stared down Sveen. She had been trapped in her apartment with the solid stone auror since Hermione had left nearly four hours ago. Haleigh was peeved. Beyond peeved, she was livid, she would have cursed the damn man had she had her wand on her. Unfortunately her wand had been taken by Hermione and left who knew where. She could feel her eye twitching unpleasantly.

"Hermione's reckons you have a hand in this whole people dying business" he said simply as he seated himself down onto the couch beside her, "You're here with me dear, at least until Hermione gives me the a-okay to let you go"

"What grounds do you have for holding me? Is there no one else I can contact?" she asked angrily.

"Every possible reason. You are under suspicion of Draco Malfoy's disappearance and the theft of ministry documents. So you got only me for now. Unless you want to be questioned mercilessly about Malfoy's disappearance at this very second" Dennis said with a straight face.

Haleigh didn't reply. There was not a chance she wanted to get sucked into any unnecessary questioning. "I have to use the bathroom" she said standing.

"I'll come with you" Dennis said following her to the door.

"You can stay out there" Haleigh said as she stepped into her bathroom.

She had no wand, no large vents, and no windows in the bathroom; there was no way for her to escape, if she should have desired to do so. "Alright" Dennis said as Haleigh shut the door.

"Not alibi…juiced?" Hermione muttered as she walked down a pleasant lane in Ipswich. Draco's notes made no sense. Alright, who's alibi? For what? Had Draco meant alias? If that was the case then Hermione could have assumed that Zach Brighton was real. But Draco clearly wrote "not alibi". Hermione just couldn't grasp what he meant. Who had an alibi in the first place? This meant that Draco just knew more that Hermione had even thought. She was left even further away from the truth now. For all the good it did her he might as well have written something in completely gibberish.

And juiced? What the hell was that about? Juiced for what? Was that slang for something, drugs, potions, poisoning? Maybe he meant they were weaponless, Hermione recalled someone using a term like that in a muggle movie. Or maybe that was juiced for drugs…she couldn't recall, and she didn't really care. All of this was causing her brain to spin unpleasantly. All Hermione knew was that if she didn't find answers soon she would become a suicide risk. She was already considering stepping off a fifty story building. But the only thing that kept her going was the fact that she knew most. And she was the only real help available to Draco.

Harry had seemed to oddly withdrawn. He had just taken the copied address from her and walked away. There had been something very cold in his demeanor. It had almost felt as though he was teasing her for some reason. Hermione couldn't see why, but she was frustrated herself with the whole thing. Every lead she had though meant something had fallen into the crapper.

The address was beginning to confuse her as well. She was walking down a perfectly respectable community street. Little kids were running about, an ice-cream cart was going by…this was nothing like the dingy alley she had been in before where the bar had resided. A shiver ran through her body as she recalled the empty home of the bar owner. What could have run him out so quickly? Or who…whatever the case it must have been very threatening to him. How many people were involved, how many people knew more than her. The bar owner must have known, for he had fled. So what was this operation, this was starting to seem like something much more than personal? It no longer felt like she was the one in danger. Nor Harry…no there had barely been anyone acting against her.

It was all so well orchestrated, so well crafted that not even all of the ministry's best could do anything to figure out the situation…

Hermione stopped and checked the house number. This was it. It was a tall Edwardian home with red brick, white stucco and black wooden framing. A garden was well kept out front and a wrought iron gate outlined the property. It looked like a family home to her; it resembled her own house in a few areas. Hermione stopped right at the gate and gazed up at the home. She looked back behind her at the small children running about. Perhaps she had gotten it wrong? Perhaps this was just a random address Draco had written. What if she had been so blinded and desperate that she had made herself believe it meant something?

It had been almost nineteen hours since Draco had disappeared. Only five since she had left Haleigh. Four since she had found out that vital piece of information, three and four quarters since Harry had snubbed her. Two since she decided to actually go see the address for herself. Half an hour since she had been able to act on that decision. Three minutes since she had come to stand before the beautiful house. Thirty seconds since Hermione realized just how dangerous this could be.

And thirteen years she had been living in turmoil. Who was surprised?

She pulled out the paper and looked at it once more. The ink wasn't faded, the paper not creased or torn greatly. It was recently written…

Well, she would never know just standing at the railing. Hermione placed her hand on the gate door and pushed gently, it creaked with the pressure.

Draco woke to the sound of whimpering. He couldn't recall when he had fallen asleep, nor for how long he had been sleeping. Had another day passed, or perhaps thirty. His whole body still felt groggy and nothing seemed to be focusing. His eyes were killing him, his ears straining to hear, his whole body numb.

He opened his mouth to say something, but then bit his lip unsurely. Was it his mind playing tricks on him? If not, was it safe to say anything? He heard the soft crying again, it sounded like a woman. It couldn't hurt to make himself known "Hello?" he whispered softly.

"Draco?" they hiccupped in reply.

"Haleigh?" he asked in confusion. His brain was reeling. How had Haleigh gotten in here? It made no sense at all. It was impossible according to the way he had pieced together the puzzle. Maybe this was a trap?

"Draco! Is that you?" she cried in relief.

"Yeah it's me…how did you get here?" he asked quickly, deciding if it was a trap it was best to play along as the oblivious idiot.

"I don't know…I don't remember much about it…I just blacked out while in the washroom and here I am now" she said with a small sigh. Draco could hear the fatigue in her voice. He felt uneasy. "I'm not even sure how long I've been here. It's hard to tell when you can't bloody see anything" she said in frustration.

"Are you tied up?" he asked.

"Yeah" she said in resign.

"Haleigh? What did you find out about Zach Brighton?" Draco asked slowly. He needed to know now; he couldn't bear to keep himself in suspense for much longer. It was important that he knew the extent of her knowledge now.

"Nothing, I didn't even manage to take a real good look at it before I ended up here" she said bitterly.

"What?" Draco said loudly.

A/N: I would like to apologize for my shit updating lately. It's been exam time and I've been really stressed and I just haven't been able to find the time or effort to write and read. So I hope you can all find it in your hearts to forgive me. And now school is over! Woot! Until September, and even though I'll be working full time I'll be better about updating since I won't have homework. So yeah, this was the 'throwing it all out there' chapter. See if you can draw some clues together on your own. The story finally kicks in. Lol, 14 chapters in we finally see some real plot. Alright, thank you all! I hope you enjoyed reading and continue to do so.