A/N: First of all I want to thank everyone who is still reading my fanfic and reviewing and being so patient with me. I've been meaning to update this fic for a while but haven't had a chance to yet. And I hope you enjoy this chapter and let me know what you think. And I am really going to try and update within a month next time and honestly getting reviews really does motivate me to write more and actually update. So on with the chapter.
Chapter 31
Hermione and Allie arrived at the supper club a few moments later.
"So Allie, do you really want to work in fashion?" Hermione asked curiously.
"Actually I don't really know but it's always been something that has interested me. Their clothes reveal their personality. Even the littlest thing can shed light on what they are like. People always try to fit in or be cool by wearing certain clothes but parts of themselves always show up in the way that they wear their clothes," Allie answered.
"That's true. So do you want to design clothes one day?" Hermione asked.
"Maybe I will one day. I haven't decided yet but it is a possibility," Allie answered with a shrug.
"Have you tried designing anything?" Hermione asked her.
"I've made some doodles but nothing that is really good," Allie replied.
"I'm sure they are great. Maybe you could show me them sometime," Hermione asked.
"You do?" Allie asked.
"Absolutely," Hermione answered enthusiastically.
"Well then maybe if I can find them," Allie answered.
"So where should we go?" Hermione asked looking around.
"Well I think we can go on backstage. Carlineux said that she would leave my name with the guards so that we would be allowed to go on backstage," Allie explained.
"Do you have any idea how she arranged this?" Hermione inquired.
"Actually, I do know a little something," Allie replied.
"So is it something you can tell me?" Hermione asked.
"It's not a big secret exactly but Carlineux and her group have been doing some work for the fashion show," Allie explained.
"What kind of work are they doing?" Hermione asked.
"I don't know the particulars but I believe they are helping with the organizing and putting the show together," Allie replied.
"Oh they would know everybody who is coming to the show," Hermione commented.
"Yep, in fact Carlineux knows a lot of different people so she thought she could help improve the number of guests and people interested into coming to the show," Allie added.
"So did she ask you to do anything?" Hermione asked slowly.
"No, she just told me to enjoy the show," Allie answered.
Hermione and Allie walked towards the back entrance where there stood a card.
"Allie Renshaw?" Allie said to the guard.
The bodyguard went through the list of names and opened the door for them to go in.
Allie walked through the door with a big smile and Hermione followed with a small smile of her own.
"So, where should we go?" Hermione asked taking in busy sight in front of her.
"Everybody is busy doing something," Allie commented looking at everybody.
"Is there any place to go where we aren't bugging anyone?" Hermione asked.
"I'm thinking of finding Carlineux," Allie answered.
"It doesn't look easy to find anybody in here," Hermione replied.
"Well she said that she wouldn't be hard to find," Allie added.
Hermione just nodded looking at all of the assistants walking around carrying water and clipboards and talking into their headsets. There were racks of clothes and a lot of people grabbing them. Make-up artists and hair stylists were extremely busy working on every single model and talking to the designers to determine what look they are trying to achieve.
Hermione felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around.
"Hermione, Carlineux wanted to talk to me about something so I'm going to find her. I'll meet up with you later okay?" Allie asked.
"Sure, I'll just keep looking around," Hermione replied.
Allie gave a little wave and headed off.
Hermione decided to keep an eye out and keep out for any suspicious activity since Carlineux was involved.
Hermione walked around taking a look at all the lovely and interesting outfits on display and the rush of activity around her and noticed what looks like a group of very nervous looking people.
"What are we going to do?" A young looking man asked.
"I don't know but we must stay calm so that we don't attract any attention," a neat looking female said.
"Maybe I should try calling the agency again?" He said.
"What do you think?" The female replied.
"Is everything okay?" an older man asked them.
Both of them nodded and said, "Everything is going according to schedule sir," the younger male replied.
"Good. We want to make sure that everything goes well tonight," the older man added.
"Yes sir," They both said with a big smile.
The older man nodded and walked away quickly.
Hermione turned to walk away and felt someone bump into her and she ended up on the floor.
"I'm so sorry," a male voice said.
"It's okay," Hermione said brushing the dirt off of her clothes.
"I'm really sorry," He said and then just looked at her.
"What's wrong?" Hermione asked.
"Nothing's wrong. You're just perfect," He said.
"Excuse me?" Hermione asked surprised.
"I'm sorry. I mean have you thought about becoming a model?" He asked.
"No, that thought has never crossed my mind," Hermione replied surprised.
"Well you should definitely give it a try. In fact you would be doing us a favor. One of our models is out sick and we need to find a replacement and we've been having trouble tracking one down that would make it on time," He explained.
"And you are?" Hermione asked.
"I'm sorry. I'm Ethan Roscuen, I am an assistant to Joseph Bordeau," Ethan explained.
"You mean the Joseph?" Hermione asked with a tinge of excitement in her voice.
"Yes the famous up and coming designer," Ethan replied in a smile.
"And you would want me to fill in for the model?" Hermione asked surprised.
"Yes, if you could that would be great. You're just the right build and size," Ethan replied looking at her.
"Well, I guess it couldn't hurt," Hermione answered slightly nervous.
"Great, then we need to get you into the outfit quickly," Ethan said quickly leading her to the next hallway where there were racks and racks of clothing and quickly went through the clothes and grabbed one and handed it to her.
"Where is the changing room?" Hermione asked looking around nervously.
"Oh right, you can use the bathroom which is down the hall to your left," Ethan replied.
Hermione wandered over quickly and quickly put the soft garment on and was about the check the mirror when she was met by a young lady waiting outside.
"You're Hermione right?" she asked quickly.
Hermione nodded and was quickly led to another corridor line with hair products.
"You look amazing. The dress fits you very well," Ethan told her looking her over.
"Thank you, I haven't had a chance to see what I look like yet," Hermione replied.
"You will but first we have to get you to hair and makeup first," he told her and led her over to an empty chair.
"You know what to do right?" Ethan asked the hair stylist with long brown hair.
The hair stylist nodded and quickly grabbed a brush and ran it through Hermione's hair.
"Your hair has a very nice texture to it, it won't take long to get her ready," he replied to Ethan.
"That's great, she's only got 10 minutes before she needs to be on stage and she still needs to go into makeup. Do you think you can finish in time?" Ethan asked.
"That won't be a problem," the hair stylist replied and quickly got to work grabbing a bottle of mousse right beside him. He gathered her hair back and piled it on the top of her head and applied mousse to her hair evenly. A few minutes later he left and a woman appeared before her with a big bag of cosmetics in her hand.
"I'm here to do your makeup," she said quickly and twirled her to face her while she quickly got to work cleaning her face of the makeup she currently applied. Under the assistant's directions, she applied the correct liner, shadow and colors to her face. In a few minutes the woman was done.
"Okay, she's all ready," she told Ethan.
"Thank you, you rock," Ethan told her and turned towards Hermione and said, "Do you want to take a quick look?"
Hermione turned around and took a quick look in the mirror and gasped as she took a look at her reflection. Her hair was curled and pulled back very loosely in a bun with soft curls lying to each side of her face. The make up with applied a lot heavier than she would apply herself but it highlighted her eyes really well and the colors highlighted her cheekbones really well. She looked like an actual model that she's seen on the television.
"You look really amazing." Ethan told her again.
"Thanks, I'm really nervous though, I really hope I don't do anything embarrassing," Hermione told him nervously.
"You'll do fine. All you need to do is to smile and go down the runway like you see the previous model does. Can you do that?" Ethan asked her.
Hermione nodded.
"Then there isn't anything to worry about," Ethan told her and led her to her place in line.
Hermione took a deep breath and watched around her nervously.
*~*~*~*~*~
Harry arrived at the supper club and dialed a familiar number and said, "So what's going on at the supper club?"
"We're not exactly sure but we have been noticing a lot of activity around this area recently," Agent Red answered.
"Does it have something to do with her?" Harry asked.
"Well, there have been many signs that lead us to believe that it has been her doing," Agent Red answered.
"Okay, then I will keep a close eye around here for any mysterious activity," Harry told him.
Harry then began looking around to see if he could find Hermione anywhere so that he could warn her but he didn't see her anywhere as he walked around and followed the rest of the crowd into the auditorium where the show as he noticed that the show was going to start in a few minutes.
Harry looked around for any signs of Allie or Carlineux but he couldn't spot them anywhere which made him incredibly nervous because he didn't know where or how they would strike. But most of all he was worried because Hermione was there and he didn't know where she was.
Harry was about to get up again but the lights suddenly dimmed so he was forced to sit back down.
"Welcome to tonight's fashion show featuring the designs of both renowned and up and coming designers," the host replied. After a moment's pause he said, "Let's start the show."
Harry was not really watching the show as he was looking around the audience to see if he could spot Hermione but he couldn't see her anywhere so he turned his eyes back on the show so that he could be ready if anything unusual was happening.
The next model that came down the runway started off slowly as if she was nervous but seemed to gain a bit more confidence as she continued down the runway. Harry couldn't take his eyes off of her, she was wearing a very beautiful gown that was lined with a lot of shiny beads and other tile like pieces and fit her body extremely well. He looked up to take a closer look at her face and as he looked into her eyes, he realized who it was.
"Hermione?" He said softly out loud in a surprised tone.
He noticed the surprised expression in her eyes and mouthed, "I'll explain later. You look incredible."
She smiled widely back at him and gave him a look that he recognized as a promise to ask him about it later.
He relaxed for a few minutes and sat back down in chair and enjoyed the last few moments of the show. As soon as the show was over, he headed over back stage to find Hermione. He spotted her quickly and headed over towards her.
"Hermione, you did well for you first time modeling," Harry told her giving her a hug.
"Thanks, I was so worried I was going to trip and ruin the whole show or something," Hermione replied with a laugh.
"You were nervous? I couldn't tell. How did you actually end up in the show?" Harry asked.
"Well, one of the models dropped out last minute and they needed someone to fill in and I just happened to be here. The real question is what you are doing here," Hermione replied.
"Well I think you found your true calling," Harry teased her.
"Don't go on changing the subject, why are you here?" Hermione asked.
"You did really well," Ethan told her giving her a quick hug.
"Thank you," Hermione told him with a smile.
"I think you should consider taking up modeling," Ethan added.
"It was fun but I don't think that it's something I want to do but I'll give it some thought," Hermione told him.
"I'll talk to you later then," Ethan told her as he hurriedly headed off to talk to another person.
"See, I'm not the only one who things you should consider modeling," Harry whispered in her ear.
"I told you to stop trying to change the subject," Hermione replied rolling her eyes.
"Actually I came because sources told me that something might happen here at the supper club," Harry explained.
"What do you think might happen?" Hermione asked concern showing in her face.
"I don't know exactly what it is but there have been signs of some activity here" Harry replied.
"Well you may be right because Allie told me that Carlineux has been helping out organizing this event," Hermione replied.
"Really?" Harry asked.
"That's what Allie told me," Hermione replied.
"Are they here?" Harry inquired.
"Yes, I think she's here since Allie went to go find her," Hermione answered.
"Do you have any idea where they are?" Harry asked.
"No idea. Are you thinking that something big might happen here?" Hermione asked in a whisper.
"Well, it is likely because usually Carlineux doesn't usually show her face during their events," Harry explained.
"Are you going to clear the place somehow?" Hermione asked looking around at all the people.
"Nope, not unless we have to but hopefully we won't have to. We want to be as discreet as possible," Harry replied.
"Are you going to go take a look around?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah, I need to find out more about why they are here," Harry replied leaning in to give her a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Where do you think you're going?" Hermione asked touching his arm.
"I'm going to look around," Harry replied.
"Not without me," Hermione added.
"You want to come? I would have thought that you might now have the time now that you're a model," Harry replied with a grin.
"Of course I want to come, someone needs to watch your back. I'll be really quick," Hermione told him rolling her eyes and quickly grabbed her bag but before she turned back to him and said, "Don't you dare leave without me."
"And what if I do?" Harry said in a teasing tone.
"Well, remember what happened when you touched that potion that I don't you not to?" Hermione asked.
"Yes," Harry replied with a slight shudder as he remembered ending up in the infirmary for days.
"Let's just say it'll be worse than that," Hermione replied with sweet smile.
Harry shuddered just thinking about that situation and decided to be good and just wait.
A few minutes later, Hermione tapped him on the shoulder and said, "Are you ready to go?"
"Yes, so where do you think we should start?" Harry asked.
"I'm thinking we should start backstage," Hermione added.
"That's where I think we should start too," Harry replied with a smile.
"Great minds think alike," Hermione added.
They quickly started continuing down the hallway to see if they could spot anything that seemed to be suspicious. But they came up empty handed.
"It seems like they hid themselves very well," Hermione commented.
"I wouldn't expect anything less of them," Harry replied.
"Hermione?" a familiar voice called out.
"Yes?" Hermione asked turning around and seeing Ethan.
"Do you have a moment? There are some people who would like to speak with you," Ethan responded.
"What people?" Hermione asked curiously.
"Well, there are a lot of people but in particular Joseph and some execs from elite model agency," Ethan told her with his voice filled with enthusiasm.
"Oh my god, Joseph wants to see me? Why?" Hermione managed to blurt out.
"I think it's because they were impressed by how well you did during the show," Ethan replied.
"I just need to…" Hermione started to say as she looked around and saw that Harry was nowhere to be seen.
"You need to?" Ethan asked.
"Nothing, let's just go," Hermione told him with a smile.
He led her past all the busy people and toward a locked door which he opened with a key pass.
"What's with the locked door?" Hermione asked.
"It's just for added security. He is just a bit paranoid," Ethan explained.
Ethan opened the door and Hermione took one step inside and shook her head and moved back.
"Just get inside," Ethan hissed.
"Why?" Hermione asked.
Ethan disappeared and Allie appeared in front of her.
"Allie?" Hermione said surprised.
"Just trust me and go on inside," Allie hissed.
Hermione took a deep breath and walked inside hearing the sound of the door lock behind her.
"Can you explain to me what's going on?" Hermione said slowly.
"Look, there isn't much time but I wanted to show you something…." Allie started to say.
"Good work Allie," Carlineux said as she walked inside.
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