Disclaimer: Don't own HP or M&MS
Mr. & Mrs. Evans
Chapter 12: One Year Later Part I
[AN] Long time no see, huh? Good thing I can explain- on New Year's I got in a bad accident in Leeds, rendering me all hopped up on meds and unable to move my fingers to type anything out, much less clear my head around writing. Fortunately, earlier today I was able to get in a decent writing session. Unfortunately, I don't think it's too good because again, I'm having trouble focusing.
More bad news; I don't know when I'll be able to get in another chapter for this or start the sequel to LFL. I'm sorry, but it'll most likely be a while.
Alas, it's not all that depressing- my doctor is so bloody hot. She's making my stay a little less painful :]
I think I'm forgetting something-- oh, fuck it I can't remember.
Please enjoy…
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1 Year Later
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Hermione grunted as she landed on the dusty floor, having just dove out from behind a pillar to take refuge behind a moth eaten couch.
'Sienna, where are the bloody wards?' Hermione asked as she wiped the sweat from her forehead. A few voices started shouting again, making Hermione duck lower to avoid the multitude of spells being shot at her.
'I'm working on it,' came back Sienna's calm voice. Currently, she was placing small boxes at certain points around the apartment building. Each one she would have to do a complicated set of spells before it would start to hum and glow purple. The purpose of these boxes was to suck the magic from everyone and everything inside the perimeter.
'Hurry, I think Maggie's been hit,' she told her, glancing over to a corner of the room where two red booted legs were sticking out of a rubble of wood that used to be a dinning table. Hermione sighed, sending out a silent prayer that the girl would be okay.
There was a sudden shout and jet of green came bolting past Hermione's left ear. The impact of the curse caused for a significant whole in the wall that made bits of rubble come flying out.
"Come on out slut!" shouted a greasy voice from across the room. Hermione really hated when she had to pose as a prostitute on missions. The verbal abuse could sometimes be too much- but then again it made her angrier and that was good.
Hermione huffed and took a nearby piece of wood and threw it in one direction to distract the men before jumping up and pointing her wand furiously at them.
"Stupefy!" One of the heavily tattooed men flew back into a window, making it shatter.
Hermione then pointed her wand up at the ceiling above the men, "Confringo!"
There was a deafening crack that started splitting down the ceiling, and soon down the walls. The men started jumping and running out of the way before chunks of the roof started crashing down in the apartment.
While the other men were looking for pieces of furniture and anything else to hide behind, Hermione jumped over the kitchen counter for safety.
"Incarcerous! Expelliarmus!" she shouted, flinging her wand arm in the direction where the men were scattering.
'Sienna?' her mind asked frantically. There was still about seven of the crooks in the other room and Hermione was growing exhausted.
'Almost done, 'Mi.'
'I need back up-' she got out before flinching away from the stove that just burst into flames. She extinguished the flame and then heard a door shatter from out in the main room.
"Stupefy! Protego! Inflingo sicco!" a familiar voice screamed. There was a tussle of noise before a body flung itself over the kitchen counter, landing next to Hermione.
"Hey Hermione."
"Hi, Jeremy," she greeted back to the tall brunette bloke.
"Quite the quarrel going on in here," he motioned his around the ruined apartment.
Hermione nodded, "Yeah, you could say that."
"Wh-"
'Alright Hermione, the wards are up! No more magic!'
"Wards are up," Hermione recited immediately to Jeremy who nodded and stowed his wand back in his trouser pocket.
"Ready?" he asked as Hermione did the same with her wand.
"Yep."
Together the two stood up casually from their hiding spot, searching the room for the other men. These said men looked like they had an early Christmas as the two agents stood up defencelessly. One by one, they started shouting off the killing curse at Hermione and Jeremy.
As nothing happened, they looked down to their wands with fearful looks. Hermione and Jeremy shared a look before pulling out two chrome guns from their back and started firing them at the seven powerless criminals.
When the loud shots of the guns ceased, Hermione and Jeremy looked over the fallen men with relieved grins coming over their faces.
A few moments later Jeremy looked Hermione up and down and with a wink said, "You know, fishnets really do work for you."
"I'm your boss, stop sexually harassing me," she said firmly, putting the guns down and walking over to Maggie.
Jeremy followed her and helped lift the mangled pieces of wood and furniture off her. When she was cleared, Hermione could see a trail of blood leaking down her forehead and her arm bent in an odd position.
"Her arm's probably broken," Jeremy said from over her shoulder.
"Can you take care of her while I tie them up?" she asked nodding over to the men littering the ground.
"Sure," Jeremy nodded, stepping forward to tend to Maggie.
Hermione started over to the eight men who had been a huge pain in her arse for the past three months.
She bent down and started plucking the silver darts sticking out from the men's bodies. These darts ensured their captives would stay unconscious long enough for Hermione and her crew to get them back to headquarters, contact the local ministry (who had been unsuccessful in locating these blokes for the past year), and then get transported to Alcatraz- the underground sister prison of Azkaban, off the coast of California.
Years ago, the top level of Alcatraz was a prison for the high ranking muggle criminals. They would be sent there and then most likely go insane from the taunts of the wizard prisoners who lived beneath them. Eventually, the muggle side was converted into a tourist spot- but to this day, the underground still remained in use.
"Oh, I can see you guys have been having a nice little party in here," commented Sienna as she strode into the room followed by a buff black guy they referred to as Bear.
Hermione looked up to her, "Very funny. Did you deactivate the wards?"
"Jude is doing it," Sienna replied and then looked over to Jeremy holding a knocked out Maggie, "What happened to her?"
"Son of a bitch exploded a table on her," Hermione responded bitterly before shaking her head despondently, "There was only supposed to be two more here. We weren't expecting so many…"
Earlier that night, she and Maggie were stationed near an alley on Melrose Avenue. There was a tattoo parlour there that their targets frequented, so they decided to make their move. The two head buffoons of the little gang, who had for the past year and a half been stealing magical artefacts and then selling them to muggle drug lords and criminals under the impression that they were a sort of ultimate weapon, approached them and within seconds of conversing, invited them back to their apartment for "drinks".
"Hey," Bear said in his deep southern accented voice, "it's okay bossy. Everything turned out fine," he finished patting her softly on the head.
Hermione couldn't help but grin at Bear. Even though he was a large intimidating person, he had the heart of a teddy bear- hence his name.
"Thanks Bear," Hermione thanked genuinely.
Footsteps could be heard skipping up the stairs and a few seconds later a handsome man with styled dirty blonde hair and silver-blue eyes came in.
"Wards have been disarmed and a van's waiting downstairs to taken them back to headquarters," he said, walking closer to stand next to Hermione.
Hermione smiled at him, "Thanks Jude."
"No problem," he said grinning back, "So what's next boss?"
Hermione bit her lip and looked around the thrashed room, "Well, we need to clean up in here, take those blokes down to the van, stabilize Maggie…" Hermione listed, "Oh and track down the weapons. They should be stored nearby so someone needs to scout the boundaries of the property or see if we can find anything inside that'll lead us to a new location."
"Hey 'Mi," Sienna voiced by where the blokes where laying. Hermione, Jude, and Bear looked over to see her looking straight up to where she had blasted the roof in the scuffle.
"What is it?"
"I think I found their hiding spot," she announced, motioning for the group to come over.
Sure enough it seemed like Hermione's spell shot through a wooden crate that was holding the said weapons they had been searching for. As far as Hermione could tell, there looked like there was some common dark crafts that could be purchased at any shady store. Borgin and Bourkes came to mind.
"Alright, let's get those down carefully," she ordered, taking out her wand.
"They're probably deactivated," Jude commented as everyone, except Jeremy who was still taking care of Maggie, took out their wands and helped Hermione summon the box down.
Once it was settled on the ground, Hermione used her wand to search through the contents of the box. She recognized some bright silver gloves that were used to send electric like pulses through it's victims, some necklaces that were probably bewitched, and various other weapons, ranging in severity, that these lowlifes had been gaining a profit over.
Hermione looked back up to the ruined ceiling, "This can't be all of them. Jude, why don't you start taking down portions of the rest of the ceiling to see if there's any left. Bear, you can get started on getting those blokes down to the van. And Jeremy, take Maggie down and get her situated."
The group nodded and started on their various tasks.
Sienna turned to help Jude while Hermione started cleaning up the ransacked apartment.
Nearly a half hour later, the had left the restored flat and arrived back at headquarters with four more crates worth of weapons shrunken down to fit into a controlled case.
A small team of rookies gathered in the front lobby to help with the haul.
"Alright, listen up everyone," Hermione started, addressing the group, "Perry, I need Maggie taken to the infirmary immediately. Jeremy go with him and see if the nurse needs assistance." Jeremy and a tall blonde bloke nodded and left with a semi-conscious Maggie.
"Matthews, Colgan, Kolmar- help Bear and Jude take the suspects to the containment room. Put it on lockdown until Sienna or I tell you otherwise. And Lopez, I need you to contact the ministry and tell them to get their asses here immediately with our pension."
"Yes, ma'am," Lopez said before taking off into the hall that led to the centre of operations.
Hermione let out a worn-out breath while Sienna smirked, "It's scary how easy it is for you to reign over people."
"I know," Hermione replied with a small smirk of her own.
"Like you could start a cult worshiping vegetables, and people would obey your every command…" Sienna trailed on with a slight shake of her head.
Hermione snorted, "You got the case right?"
"Yeah, I'll drop it off in the evidence room."
"Okay, I'll meet you back in our office," Hermione said as Sienna turned to go down one hall and Hermione turned for the elevator. Even though their building had enough room for both Sienna and Hermione to have their own spacious offices, they still chose to partner up since they had been doing so since they were eleven. Even though Hermione still complained a lot about Sienna's short attention span, not sharing the same workplace would seem odd.
Plus, their office was like a mega-office, with all the accessories one could ever dream of. It took up an entire floor and was furnished with a miniature library, plush furniture, mahogany desks, top of the line muggle and magical technology, and Sienna's Jacuzzi deluxe hot tub with ten turbo jets.
Hermione hadn't caught her yet, but she was convinced that Sienna had snuck one or two handsome looking interns in there when she wasn't around.
After a few moments of waiting in the elevator, the doors opened on the top floor and Hermione walked out, heading straight for her side of the room.
She was at her desk rubbing her temples for only a few minutes when there was a soft ding of the elevator, signalling that someone other than Sienna was wanting permission to enter the office.
Hermione looked up and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before calling out.
"Come in!"
Automatically, the doors opened and Jude stepped out wearing a gentle smile.
Hermione released a breath and slouched back into her chair, "Oh, hey Jude."
"Tough day, eh?" he asked with an easy going grin.
"You have no idea…"
"Funny," he said as he walked behind Hermione's desk and sat on the edge close to her, "I never took you for the fishnet stocking and red lipstick sort of girl," he finished pointing down to her decorated legs that emerged from the skimpy skirt she was wearing.
"I was undercover!" she told him defiantly. However, she pulled out her wand and quickly cleaned her face from the offending make up and banished the stockings. She swished her wand over her outfit and changed it into a white button up blouse and charcoal pencil skirt.
She turned back to Jude, "Happy?"
"That's much better," he told her with an amused face.
She scoffed and swatted his leg when a ringing sound went off on her desk. Hermione reached for the phone and picked it up, "Yeah?"
"Ms. Granger," a young female voice said over the line, "inspector Cage and Gatsby are here from the ministry. Ms. Monroe has already escorted them to the briefing room across from the containment area where the suspects are."
"Okay, I'll be right down," Hermione finished hanging up the phone and looking back to Jude.
"Wanna tag along?"
Jude raised his eyebrows, "You're asking me to come with you?"
"Yes," Hermione said getting up from her seat, "So?"
"I'd be honoured," he finished standing up and holding his arm out, "May I?"
He winked at her as Hermione rolled her eyes with a smile on her face and looped her arm through his.
Jude led them to the elevator in silence, all the while keeping a fond eye on his boss.
Hermione could tell he was still glancing at her but ignored him all the same. It wasn't out of the ordinary for Hermione to attract the attention of many blokes ever since they had moved to California, but Jude was the only one of her employees that dared do it this often. Jeremy would sometimes play with her but the look in Jude's eyes was different. Not totally foreign since she had seen that type of look before directed at her- but the last time she encouraged that look and it didn't turn out to well for her or him. Plus, Jude worked for her. She was his boss- accepting and returning his feelings wouldn't be ethical.
Not to mention the kind of field day Sienna would have if they became more than friends.
Neither talked as they the elevator shot down to the second floor, but Jude retained his soft grip on Hermione.
A minute later, Jude held the door open for her as they entered the briefing room.
"Inspector Cage, Inspector Gatsby," she greeted, shaking both their hands, "Thank you for coming on such short notice. This is Jude Osborne, one of our most diligent agents."
Jude also shook the gentleman's hands and Sienna wiggled her eyebrows teasingly at Hermione as he pulled out a seat for her.
"So," Cage started stoically, "I understand there's some good news?"
Hermione and Sienna proceeded to tell them about their successful mission and evidence they took into custody at the criminals apartment earlier that night while Jude and the inspectors listened in fascination.
"This is brilliant!" Gatsby grinned at the women, "On behalf of the Ministry of Magic, I'd like to say we are sincerely grateful for your services to the community."
Cage also mumbled his appreciation, though, obviously annoyed that two women could successfully track down this gang faster then he could.
Hermione and Sienna nodded curtly, "So if you'll show us the cheque, we'll be happy to hand over the weapons and get a team to help you transfer the delinquents to Alcatraz."
Gatsby nodded and took out an envelope from inside his pockets, "Here you are. Two million dollars, paid in full."
Hermione took the muggle cheque and ran her wand over it to make sure it was legitimate. It took a while to get used to the fact that American wizards operated with muggle money but hey- money is money.
"Wonderful. Jude, why don't you get a few interns together to facilitate the inspectors," Hermione told him after handing the cheque to Sienna.
"Of course, gentlemen," he nodded to them as he exited the room.
"Well inspectors, it was a pleasure as always," Hermione standing from her chair and reaching to again shake their hands.
"Ladies, our highest compliments to you and the agency."
Hermione and Sienna shared a grin as the men walked out of the room.
Sienna fanned herself with the cheque, "Damn, Cage is kind of hot."
"Really?" Hermione asked looking after them, "I thought he had a pole shoved up his ass. Did you notice the look on his face? His muscles didn't move once!"
Sienna shrugged, "Maybe he get's Botox."
Hermione's eyebrows rose, "Yeah, Sienna I don't think you should go for blokes that get whale blubber injected into their face…"
Sienna scoffed, "Botox is not whale blubber, Hermione!"
"That's what they tell you, but if you research where they get it from- it comes down to whale blubber," Hermione replied in a innocent I-hate-to-be-the-one-to-break-it-to-you voice.
Sienna sighed, "Bloody hell, you're probably right."
Hermione grinned and led the way out of the briefing room and past a row of cubicles, headed towards the elevator, "I'm always right. I don't even know why you bother to argue," she said smugly.
Sienna was about to open her mouth to respond when a young bloke coming out of the elevator addressed them. The women immediately recognized him as Connor, one of the receptionist in the lobby. Hermione and Sienna had signed him into the agency a few months ago and so far he had been trying to get their attention over every little matter.
It was obvious he wanted to be promoted to a higher position.
"Hi Connor," Hermione greeted with a tired breath.
"Hello Miss," he replied smiling nervously at both of them, "Um, there was a call to the lobby asking for you two. He said he was from the French ministry," he said a bit unsurely, hoping that either Sienna or Hermione would know what that meant, "Anyway, he said he's been trying to get a hold of you so I transferred the call to your office."
Hermione and Sienna shared a look before nodding, "Thank you Connor."
Quickly, the friends headed for the elevator and only spoke until they were inside its closed confines.
"Father?" Sienna asked.
"I don't know, who else would be calling from the French ministry…" Hermione said biting her lip.
The elevator zipped up to their floor in no time and immediately Hermione went for her phone and pressed the speaker button.
"Granger and Monroe speaking," Hermione spoke, as they both huddled around her desk.
"Hello girls," responded the wise infamous voice of their superior, "You're doing well I hope?"
"Yes sir," Sienna said, "I'm sorry we couldn't get to your calls, we were in a meeting-"
"No need to apologize," he quickly affirmed, "Though, I'm calling regarding something very crucial. About ten minutes ago I was contacted by a very important Bulgarian official concerning a mission in Los Angeles. Now, I need you to listen carefully…"
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Next chapter we'll see what Harry's been up to. I'm going to try and work on pieces at least for a little bit every day.