A/N: What is that great big ball of fire in the sky? Oh, I remember, it's the sun! Sorry for the long delay, been working crazy lately, and it feels like I haven't seen the sun in quite a while. Here's the next bit. Enjoy and don't forget to review (and by review, I really mean to feed my ego and tell me how funny I am).
Something Wicked This Way Comes
I was standing in the hallway leading to the door when I felt it. There was a tingle along my spine, and the little hairs rose on the back of my neck. After over a decade of fighting evil, I knew I could trust my senses when they screamed danger, and right now they were screaming like Mandrakes, but without the 'cry being fatal to humans' thing. My heart rate sped up as the adrenaline started pumping through my blood. My hand itched to grab my wand, but I didn't want to seem too obvious just yet; better to maintain the element of surprise. Cautiously, I approached the window and looked outside.
There he was. My eyes narrowed as I watched my quarry approach. I knew that anything or anyone I could ever face would seem like a piece of cake after facing down Voldemort, but I couldn't let myself get overconfident. All it took was a false step, a bit of bad luck, and then it'd be over for me. After a week of anticipation, of waiting and planning, the moment was almost here. I tensed as he got closer, and I willed my body to relax. I couldn't let him know that I was on to him. Slowly I turned the knob and opened the door.
He looked at me. "Harry Potter? It's an honor to meet you," he practically gushed. "My name is Evan Carlson. Is Hermione here?"
I eyed him carefully, wondering if he was on something or not. Before I could reply, I heard footsteps behind me.
"Ah! Evan! Good to see you!" Ron said, nudging me aside so Evan could enter the flat. "This is Hermione. Hermione, this is the guy I've been talking about."
As Hermione and Carlson traded greetings, I looked him over. He was tall and had hair. Oh yeah. I could kick his ass, with or without magic. As they started to move into the living room, I spoke up.
"Why don't you go ahead and make yourself at home Evan?" I asked in a very polite tone. "I need to talk to Ron and Hermione for a second."
Evan looked a little surprised, but he knew better than to test me…he knew I could take him without breaking a sweat, the little punk. He nodded and walked into the living room, leaving the three of us with a little privacy.
"Harry Potter, that was very rude of you!" Hermione accused as soon as Evan was out of earshot.
"He's evil," I said simply.
"Evil?" the two of them repeated.
I nodded wisely.
"But…but…he's an accountant!" Ron said incredulously.
I nodded wisely - again. "Accountants can be evil too," I said in a weighty, 'trust-me-I've-seen-it-before' kind of way. Although it took a few seconds to process, I could tell that Ron believed me. He trusted my decade-long experience fighting the Dark Arts and my Auror training. He knew that I would recognize evil when I saw it.
I could sense, though, that Hermione may have some doubts about my assessment of Carlson. My biggest clue was when she looked at me and said, "You're being stupid," before walking away.
Ron gave me a somewhat perplexed look, thrown off by Hermione insulting one of us and it not being him. "So, what do we do now? Call for backup?"
I shook my head. "No proof yet. Just act natural."
Ron nodded and walked into the main room with me close on his heels. Hermione was sitting on the couch next to Carlson, talking. Or so it seemed. I didn't immediately sense any Dark Magic floating around, so I relaxed slightly. "So," Ron said upon entering, "anyone want anything to drink? I have butterbeer, pumpkin juice, or…nettle wine. Evan?"
"Sure," Carlson replied. "Some of the wine sounds great."
"AH HA!" Ron cried triumphantly, pointing an accusatory finger at Carlson. When we all stared at him blankly, he flushed a little. "Er, right then. Wine it is. Anyone else?"
After I indicated that I would like a butterbeer and Hermione shook her head, Ron left to get the drinks and to reclaim whatever remained of his dignity. I sat down across from Carlson. "Ron tells us you work with Fred and George?"
"Yes, that's true."
"Never a dull moment around those two, eh?" I tried to catch his eyes, but he kept looking between Hermione and me.
Carlson nodded, a wry smile on his face. "Yeah. I can't tell you how many times I've been used as a guinea pig, often times without any foreknowledge."
Hermione frowned slightly while I nodded in exasperation. I imagine that they both thought my irritation was due to Fred and George's antics, but really it was because the damned fool had the shiftiest eyes since Peter Pettigrew - I couldn't maintain eye contact long enough to do a little passive legilimency on the smarmy bastard.
Carlson continued to drone on and on about his incredibly boring life. I managed to hold eye contact a few times and caught a few glimpses of him at work, studying, or listening to the Wireless. Man, what a dud! He better be evil; otherwise, he's the dullest wizard I ever met. Finally Ron returned, drinks in hand. After handing out the beverages, he sat next to me and looked at Carlson. "Well then," Ron said. "How about that Lord Voldemort?"
And for the second time in as many weeks, Ron Weasley caused me to nearly choke on my drink. Hermione looked alarmed, and Carlson made an odd squeaking sound. Once again, we all looked at Ron blankly, which was a mistake, since he took it as an invitation to continue. "So, anyways, that Lord Voldemort. He was one crazy guy, huh? What do you think? Was he crazy, or did he have some valid points?"
It took a massive amount of willpower to stop myself from slapping my forehead and shaking my head. Ron is many things, but subtle is not one of them. Hermione still looked to be in shock, as if wondering whether or not what happened had really happened, or if it was all in her imagination. Carlson looked a little ill and still trying to recover from hearing 'Voldemort' twice in quick succession. I swear, if Ron could shine a light in Carlson's face, he would have. "Well?" Ron asked.
"Erm, yeah?"
"What do you think?"
"Um…he was crazy?"
"Sure, sure," Ron said quickly. "But what about some of his views and methods and -"
"Ronald Weasley!" Hermione exploded, finally accepting that this wasn't some sort of odd dream sequence.
Ron cringed.
"I'm sorry Evan, I honestly don't know what got into him," Hermione said, shooting me a piercing glare. Waitasecond! Why was she glaring at me? I didn't do anything!
"Hey!" I protested. "What did I do?"
"You encouraged him. You should know better."
I opened my mouth to argue, but she did have a point: I should have known better. Instead, I shrugged.
"Anyways," Hermione said, giving us both one last glare, "we should be going now, right Evan?"
"Er, yeah," Carlson said, looking a bit flummoxed. "We have reservations at seven. Well, it's been great talking to you," he said awkwardly as he escorted Hermione to the door. After he and Hermione had passed us, I slapped Ron across the top of his big empty shell of a head.
"Hey!" Ron whispered.
"Dummy!"
"I was just trying to help!"
"Well stop 'trying' and do something useful!"
"Shut it!"
"You!"
"You!"
"Shh!" Hermione hissed at us, then turned back to Carlson. "They can both be so childish sometimes. I swear…" We both shut up, but exchanged a few arm-punches until we reached the foyer.
Then Carlson turned around.
He had a strange, manic glint in his eyes, and I felt an icy ball of fear lodge itself in my chest. "You are a fool, Potter!" he cried out, darkness spreading like a stain behind him and engulfing us in its malevolent shadows. "The Dark can never be defeated. Never! The Dark Lord shall be avenged with the blood of those you hold dear!" His cackling laugh filled me with dread, but I was rooted to the spot, I couldn't move. So I could only watch helplessly as Carlson turned and grabbed Hermione painfully by the arm and dragged her out of the door and into the darkness that he had created, vanishing into the blackness.
Okay, not really.
I suppose if you want to be all technical about it, what Carlson said was, "Well, it was nice to see you again Ron, and it was nice to meet you Harry. I promise I'll have her back by curfew. Ha. Ha. Ha." But you have to be able to read between the lines.
We watched until Hermione and Carlson zipped away in Carlson's car, and then Ron turned to me. "So, what do we do now? Call for backup?" he asked again.
I shook my head. "Still no proof. But don't worry, I know exactly what to do…"
***********
A/N: Yup, you guessed it. Harry has another plan to deal with the 'evil' Evan Carlson. Will he be able to save Hermione, or will his success rate (or lack thereof) continue? Stay tuned!