Disclaimer: Don't own HP or M&MS
Mr. & Mrs. Evans
Chapter 16: The Beaumont Part II
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I wanted to originally title this chapter "Fuck" because there are a lot of F-bombs but I thought that might have been a tad inappropriate.
Also might I add that you're all going to want to hunt me down with pitchforks when this is through? With that in mind, please enjoy :]
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"Alright, Krum has just entered the ballroom," spoke Ron's voice into Harry's head.
Harry squeezed Ginny's hand, "Ready?"
Ginny had hoped that Draco would have shown up by now and the fact that he was still M.I.A was really starting to worry her. Even so, she straightened her back and took a deep breath, "Ready."
Together, they stepped forward to a man standing in front of two golden coloured doors, dressed in an uniform tuxedo and holding a clipboard.
"Good evening, sir. Names please?"
"Harry and Ginny Evans," Harry replied smoothly.
The man looked down at the clipboard scanning for the two names that were yet to be put on there.
"I'm sorry sir, it doesn't seem-"
"I'm sure we're on there," interrupted Ginny, "We should be the last names on there." Ginny finished flashing him a smile.
The man looked back down to the end of the list and blinked. He looked back up to Harry and Ginny who were wearing identical coy grins.
"My apologies, Mr. and Mrs. Evans. Have a pleasant night," he added, opening the two doors. Harry and Ginny stepped forward as the man whispered into another similarly dressed man's ear.
The man cleared his throat and stepped forward to the centre of the grand staircase that ascended down into the main ballroom that was crowded with people.
"Announcing Mr. and Mrs. Harry Evans."
Harry and Ginny didn't waste any time walking down the staircase and joining the crowd, passing up the photographer at the end who was supposed to be snapping pictures of the guests.
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Sienna froze, her lips barely touching the rim of her dry apple martini and her eyes staring widely into the hot blonde 18 year old wannabe actor she had been flirting with for the past ten minutes.
Had she just heard what she think she just heard?
"Betty?" the guy asked as she turned her head to look at the couple walking down the grand staircase, hand in hand.
"Oh fuck me," Sienna whispered, staring unbelievingly at the man with untidy black hair looking around the left side of the room.
Her eyes then passed over the woman- no slag- standing next to Harry.
"Fuck me…" she said again, this time more bolder as she glared with her mouth agape at the familiar red headed woman.
"Uh, okay. Do you want to go back to my place?"
"What?" she asked distractedly looking back to the blonde bloke in front of her.
"You just said-"
"Sorry, Bryan I have to go," she interrupted him quickly, glancing back again at the two people who she had defined as bastards for the past year.
"It's Brock…" he muttered to Sienna as she set her drink down at the bar and started walking away. Pulling a strand of her newly manufactured curly brunette hair behind her ear, she wove her way around couples and friends to get to the exit.
As soon as she was out of sight and safely behind the double doors, her eyes scanned the narrow hallway leading to the hotel's main lobby. Seeing that no one was around to watch her, she apparated up to the women's restroom, which she knew was right by the entrance to the ballroom.
A woman with puffy blonde hair and bright red lipstick squeaked as Sienna violently swung the bathroom stall open and walked out with a blatant eye roll to the unattractive lady.
Finally she was standing in the entrance hall where a few couples were still lined up, waiting to be announced. Sighing in relief, she found Jude and Hermione dressed in their ballroom best standing off to the side of the line and chatting lightly.
Sienna quickly approached the two and tapped Hermione urgently on the shoulder.
Hermione turned with a pleasant smile on her face, it dropping slightly as she seen a brunette Sienna behind her.
"Err, can I help you?" she asked awkwardly while Sienna gazed back at her with a concerned look.
"Hermione-"
"I'm sorry, do I know you?" Hermione asked a little harshly, giving Sienna a look telling her not to dare go any further with that. Jude looked over the two women and around to the other people in earshot, making sure none were listening too closely.
Sienna tensed at her friend's tone. She knew that she was operating under the name Betty Bloome, a gold digger from Pasadena and a frequent guest at this hotel while Hermione was herself- or at least the covert self that had been placed in Los Angeles a year ago; Hermione Granger, CEO of a financial group. And then Jude was just there as Hermione's random fiancé- nothing to worry too much about. But to the people of tonight's gathering, these two women have never met and do not know each other in the least.
Sienna also understood that the three of them standing together was a bit risky, so after making sure they were still going unnoticed by the other occupants of the foyer and shooting Jude a quick look, she grabbed Hermione's hand and pulled her off into a nearby corner hidden by a large, potted plastic plant.
Jude glanced back at them uncomfortably before facing forward as if nothing were wrong and began surveying the room nonchalantly.
"What the hell is the matter with you?" glared Hermione, wrenching her hand back from Sienna.
"Look, I'm sorry but I really think you need to go back up to the room," Sienna whispered to her in a rush, looking at her with pleading eyes. She knew this would be extremely difficult to get Hermione to cooperate without her revealing the truth to Hermione. But Sienna just didn't want to risk putting her friend into an angry emotional state while her ex and his lover were in the same room. That wouldn't be good for anyone.
"Are you out of your fucking mind?" Hermione whispered back angrily, "If you think someone needs to go up there then you go!"
"No, Hermione it needs to be you. Just trust me on this-"
"Sienna, this has been my project from the start! Now I've worked my ass of for this and I'm not about to give it up because you pettily think it just needs to be done," she replied, saying the last part sardonically.
"It's not petty, it's serious!" Sienna argued back, "Your identity could be compromised! I'll explain later, but for now you need to get the hell out of this ballroom!"
"Explain what?! And how is my identity at…" Hermione stopped staring past Sienna and through the double doors that had just opened to admit an older couple. She stared down into the crowd of people with an empty, emotionless look on her face.
'Oh fuck,' Sienna thought to herself as Hermione's brows furrowed into a hard look. 'Please don't let her be seeing them…'
…
"So should we go up and introduce ourselves?" Ginny asked Harry, with an impassive smile planted on her face.
Harry made a pessimistic sound in the back of his throat as he turned in to her, his eyes roaming the crowd over her head, "No, let's give him a bit to settle in. You just keep an eye on him."
"Alright, sweetheart," Ginny answered in her perfected silky voice, noticing that she was attracting the attention from a couple young men a few feet away.
Harry supplied an unmeaning smile for her as he continued to skim the crowd for anyone or anything suspicious. His face fell as he passed over a man stalking towards them.
"Shit, Ginny," he said to her, squeezing her hand and then nodding up to the bloke that was now standing in front of them looking a little frazzled.
Ginny gasped, "Draco!"
Harry immediately coughed loudly to cover up his name from others and then shot Ginny a glare.
Ginny looked at him apologetically before turning back to Draco, her eyes full of concern.
"Are you okay?"
"Fine," he answered gruffly, his face pinched into a sour look. He gave Harry a demeaning glance, "I've got this now Potter-"
Again, Harry cleared his throat loudly giving Draco a murderous look.
"Oh will you just piss off? I've cast an muffliato bubble around us, no one knows what the hell we're talking about!"
Ginny wrinkled her nose slightly at the pungent smell coming from Draco's mouth.
"Draco, have you been drinking?" she asked lowly, not wanting to even suggest it in the first place.
"Shut up, Ginny! What do you care if I've had a drink or two?"
"I'm just worried about you!" she responded back, getting a bit angry and frustrated herself.
"You're not my mother! In case you forgot she died ten years ago," he finished bitterly, staring Harry straight in the eye. Harry didn't waver under his hard look but had a newfound understanding about his behaviour.
"Look Malfoy, why don't you just go back home and take a kip," Harry tried to say consolingly.
"What Potter, would it damage your fragile little ego that much to have me take over the mission I was assigned in the first place?"
"No," Harry replied, dropping the careful tone in his voice, "It's not my fault you didn't show up when you were fucking supposed to! Now Ginny and I are already caught up in the middle of this. You can't just suddenly take my place when we've already been announced together."
Draco took a threatening step towards Harry but Ginny stepped in, placing a hand gently on his chest. He shot her an incredulous look to which in return she looked back a bit guiltily.
"Draco, he's right. Maybe you should just go home, and I'll come find you when we're done tonight."
His incredulous look turned into one the Ginny recognized as jealousy. Draco grabbed her wrist and threw it off his chest as if it were diseased.
"Don't bother," he said lowly, turning from the two and half stalking, half stumbling his way out of the crowded floor.
Ginny stared after him with a hurt look.
"You okay?" Harry whispered to her.
Ginny nodded and straightened her back as Harry pulled her slightly to the left, preparing to walk up to the bar and get them both a drink. He stopped though, as he noticed out of the corner of his eye Draco pausing and turning to look to his right. Harry could have sworn he then seen Malfoy nod before disappearing through the exit.
"Harry?" Ginny asked, observing his blank look, "Is something wrong?"
"No," Harry replied after a second, tearing his eyes away from the exit, "Let's get back on Krum."
…
"Hermione-"
"Krum, I found him," Hermione started morosely, her eyes not moving from the spot on the bottom level where Krum was standing with a martini glass in his hand, flanked on both sides with his two large cronies.
"Wha-" Sienna started capriciously, forgetting about the crisis at hand.
"Hermione," a voice she recognized as Colgan's floated through her head, "Krum is down on the main floor, in between the bar and high tables. We've got his two identified guards with him, along with Yaxley Armstrong from the L.A. Flyers. No suspicious activity to report as of yet."
Hermione thanked them in her head, her heart beating faster with the familiar rush of adrenaline she always got on missions.
"Sienna," Hermione started levelling her friend with a no-nonsense look, "we are too close to go changing plans now. Whatever you think is so serious that requires for me to get out- we're going to have to work around it because I'm going."
With one last look, Hermione left the secluded corner and headed for Jude who seemed rather bored with himself, looking about the room. Sienna briefly closed her eyes and looked away, slowly shaking her head.
"Don't say I didn't try to warn you…" she muttered before following after her.
…
"Ready to go?" Hermione asked, linking an arm through Jude's and kissing him innocently on the cheek.
He smiled, "Are you?"
"Of course," she returned, tugging his arm to lead them off to the man holding the list at the front.
"Good evening," greeted the door man, "Names please?"
"I am Jude Stewart and this is my fiancé, Hermione Granger," answered Jude politely.
"Of course," the man replied after catching their names high on the list, "Have a lovely evening."
"Thank you, we will."
The man opened the doors for them and a few seconds later a second man announced their names to the ballroom as they descended the grand staircase, arm in arm.
…
"Hey you two," said a smooth voice from behind Ginny and Harry.
"Hello Jack," Ginny responded to Sirius, who was dressed handsomely in an expensive muggle suit.
Sirius frowned, only hearing a faint buzzing. Ginny and Harry both gave him a baffled look at his expression, so he tapped his ear to make them aware of the dilemma.
"Oh," Harry voiced, realizing that the spell Draco had cast was still in tact over Ginny and himself. He gripped his wand, placed hidden in the holster on his left wrist and muttered, "Finite."
"Better?" Harry asked, expecting Sirius to nod.
However his godfather only quirked an eyebrow and shook his head. This time Harry frowned, his face contorting into a somewhat shocked look.
Before Harry could think any further on the matter, Sirius had glanced around and reached into his coat pocket, no doubt grabbing hold of his own wand and performing the same counter spell that Harry had failed at.
"That was weird…" Harry trailed off as Sirius stepped closer to kiss the back of Ginny's hand.
"Yeah, a little strange," he agreed while shaking Harry's hand as well, "So what was up with that guy, eh?" referring to Draco.
Harry glanced around, making sure they weren't drawing any attention and then looked in Krum's direction one more time before answering Sirius's nonchalant question honestly, "He came in thinking he could take over. Ginny and I both agreed that that wouldn't be the best idea so he got angry and left."
"Did he go up to his room?" asked Sirius, wondering if he had joined Fred, George, Ron, and Remus in the room were they had set up their base of operations.
"I'm not sure, we suggested that he just head back home for the night," Harry responded with a cool and uncaring tone.
Sirius frowned at Harry's attitude and turned to Ginny for answers.
"He had a bit too much to drink," she explained to him, "Due to today's significance."
"Still, he knew we would be busy tonight," Harry inserted tartly. Of course Harry understood Draco's anger today. His mother had been the only one that cared for him and she was so carelessly killed in the battle at the Ministry- but that factor couldn't pardon Draco's blatant rudeness.
The trio could make out the sound of the double doors opening once more to admit another invitee to the ball.
"His absence is excusable. The night's running smoothly anyway…"
Harry shook his head, not wanting Malfoy to get off the hook so easily. He started speaking just as another loud voice spoke over the crowd.
"I think at the next meeting we need to have a talk with him-"
"Announcing Mr. Jude Stewart, and the future Mrs. Hermione Stewart."
"Everyone has their bad days but what if something went…" Harry paused with his annoyed frown still on his face. After a moment of staring, his head jerking back almost defensively.
"Harry?" Ginny asked apprehensively at his blank look.
His face had twisted into a strange look, "Did you just- I swear I just…"
Harry didn't finish his sentence and instead stared up towards the staircase, trying to get a glimpse of the named persons over the group of tall business men blocking his view.
"Harry, what's up?" Sirius questioned this time.
"I swear I just heard Hermione," he said distractedly, still trying to find a free space to see.
"What are you on about Harry?" Sirius asked again, this time more resolutely.
"They just announced the name Hermione!" Harry answered back tersely.
Ginny and Sirius shared a nervous look before Ginny spoke gently, "Harry, I'm sure she's not the only woman named Hermione…"
Harry turned back to her with an almost vulnerable expression. Hearing Hermione's name or anything else that immediately slapped him in the face like that often did that to him.
"Yeah," he mumbled, glancing one more time back at the staircase that was still blocked from his sight, "Yeah, you're right. Sorry about that guys."
Sirius smiled and clapped him on the shoulder, "Perfectly okay!" he said trying to brighten the mood, "Now let's get back to worrying about money bags." Sirius finished cheekily, using his nickname that he used on all of their targets that paid off lots of money.
"Yeah," Harry replied again turning to the left where he had last seen Krum and his group next to the bar. The American had ambled away, but the other three were still there conversing casually- probably in Bulgarian. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but Harry knew he needed to get his head back into place. He couldn't afford to slip up while he was on the job, and that was that.
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"Okay, I'm going to go up and introduce myself. You just hang back for a bit. If I need you I'll send you a signal," Hermione said calmly, even though she was staring eagerly over in Krum's direction. From the time they had entered the ballroom to now the quidditch fellow had left, and Krum, along with the other two Bulgarians, were sill in the same spot, staring hungrily at some of the women.
Jude sent her a wary look, "You don't need help?"
Hermione looked at him stubbornly, "No. I can handle it."
"What did Sienna say to you? Why was she so worked up?" Jude asked interestedly. Sienna could be an air head when she wanted to be but that couldn't replace the fact that she was a good agent and that she did have a good sense of potentially dangerous situations.
"Nothing important," Hermione assured him confidently, leaning in to give him a kiss on the cheek for show. "Why don't you go wait at the bar. If I need anything I'll tuck my hair behind my ear, okay?"
Jude nodded, looking at her carefully.
"Be careful, Hermione," he said softly before leaning in and brushing his lips against hers.
It was a chaste kiss- but still their first. Jude had never taken it that far before so Hermione was a bit shocked at the feeling of another mans lips against hers.
"Err, okay then," she said a little uncomfortable, quickly looking away from his brilliant blue eyes and walking off towards Krum. Half of her wished he hadn't done that because she needed to be totally focused on her plan tonight- but then another part of her, part of her that hadn't had sex in over a year, was somewhat pleased he had.
"Oh what the fuck am I thinking?" she asked to herself quickly shaking that feeling off, "You don't like Jude, you just miss… no you're just randy."
She nodded to herself and took a calming breath before taking the final step to stand into Krum's circle.
"Hello. I'm sorry, I seen you earlier this morning while you were checking in and it looked like you weren't from around here. I figured I'd come by and introduce myself. Hermione Granger," she finished extending her hand to be shaken.
Krum and his friends instantly looked Hermione up and down, dressed in her tight black dress, cut mid thigh, and all grew audacious grins.
"Why hello, my name is Viktor Krum. I hope that isn't a Mrs. Granger, is it?" he asked wickedly smooth in his Eastern European accent, flashing her a flirtatious grin.
"No, it's still Miss, but for not much longer," she replied, showing him the ring Jude had gotten for her.
"Ah, that is a shame. But as it is, you are right. I and my two associates are from Bulgaria," he returned, not dropping his flirtatious expression and also failing to introduce his two body guards who didn't looked too pleased to be ignored like that.
"Bulgaria? I've heard it's beautiful there."
"Very much so," he nodded. "And you my dear? Is that accent British?"
Hermione grinned coyly, "Yes, I'm just out of London actually. I only moved to the States a year ago and so far it's been pleasant. Are you here on vacation?"
"Business," Krum answered, moving in front of the smaller of his guards to stand closer to her, "I'm thinking about buying into a promising company to help expand my empire."
"Well Mr. Krum you sound very intelligent. I'm sure your business move will turn into a lucrative one."
"I'm sure it will-"
"Ah Viktor Krum, is it?" asked a crisp voice across form them. A tall and thin man with an already tanned complexion to match his black hair and black eyes, entered their circle dressed in a shiny black suit. Hermione instantly recognized him as Silas Ezekiel, the new owner of the Beaumont.
He reached out to grab Viktor's un-offered hand and shook it for a solid two seconds before letting go.
"My father was great friends with yours. They knew each other for years. I'm sorry to hear about Stefan's passing," he said, not sounding sorry at all.
Viktor stiffened and Hermione internally frowned. 'Stefan Krum is dead?'
"Yes," Krum began impassively, though staring at the man strangely, "with my unfortunate accident a few years back, I did not get to remember him as much as I'd like to have."
"Well," Silas started, almost tightly, "He certainly was a great man."
Hermione reached out to squeeze Viktor's arm, "I'm sorry about your loss."
Viktor began to nod, obviously about to take advantage of her sympathy, "It has been quite hard on me and my family."
"I'm sure it has been difficult," Hermione responded, with another squeeze, really wanting to roll her eyes at his change in attitude.
"Hello," Silas greeted her with an eerie smile, "I must say, I feel rather humiliated not to know the name of such an intriguingly beautiful woman as yourself. Please forgive me…"
Hermione chuckled politely, instantly not liking Ezekiel. Viktor too, evidently didn't want the attention to be taken away from him by the way his eyes narrowed at him.
"I'm Hermione Granger."
"Oh Miss Granger, of course!" he started, seemingly showing true emotion for the first time, "I told my legal team to invite you for tonight after they got in touch with your firm about refinancing the Beaumont. So what do you say? Do you think you can take us on as your next client?"
"We are very busy at the moment with the current turn of the economic market. We wouldn't be able to say for sure for at least a few more weeks."
"Ah well, it would be a very wise decision on your part if you do decide to take us on," he finished, the tight tone back in his voice.
Hermione smiled forcefully, "I'm sure."
…
A few minutes later, Ginny and Harry where now at the bar, sipping idly at their muggle drinks. Sirius had left after they found Krum again to go chat up a leggy blonde on the dance floor.
"How is he?" asked Ginny, sitting so she was facing Harry who was standing so he could look over to where Krum was standing.
Harry looked up in a cavalier fashion, "He's still-"
He froze dead on, his words dying in his throat and his mouth falling open, causing him to look vulnerable once again.
Ginny gave him a probing look, before cautiously turning to see what, or more accurately who, had Harry going pale.
And then, Ginny seen her.
'Oh no,' she panicked in her head before sharply looking back to Harry.
"Harry, please don't go-"
But he wasn't listening, for he had already started walking towards Krum and his court, his eyes trained on the smiling face of his ex-wife.
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Yeah, I told you guys. I'm putting off their meeting for another chapter but I promise this time it really will be next chapter!
Please review!