Disclaimer: Don't own HP or M&MS
Mr. & Mrs. Evans
Chapter 20: Crashing Down
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"What are you talking about, Hermione?"
"This- this…" her mind was reeling, wondering how the darker and slightly longer wand had come into her possession and just where exactly was her wand? Was this a joke, or something more serious?
"No way…" Hermione muttered to herself. It would make sense. She knew she had her own wand earlier yesterday afternoon and she hadn't used it since she thought that someone was moving towards Krum. Then she bumped into someone and dropped her wand… could it be?
'No, no, no. He wasn't even in the lobby when I was checking in.'
Hermione snapped her head up from the strange wand, "Hoffman, I need the WDD. Apparate to headquarters and bring it back immediately."
She nodded and then disappeared a second later. Sienna turned to Hermione with an irritated look, "Hermione, what's going on?"
"This isn't my wand," Hermione told her, holding it out in her palm for her to observe.
Sienna's mouth fell open as she studied the more masculine wand. She started to shake her head, "Who else's could it be?"
Hermione bit her lip and opened her mouth about to speak, when Hoffman cracked back into the room.
"I have it," she said setting the wand detector device that their team had built using Donavinci's instructions down on the table.
Hermione walked forward slowly, her eyes glued to the wand, wondering what the majestic box would divulge about it. She was eager to find out but strangely hesitant as well. Almost as if she knew she wasn't going to like what she found.
Tapping the top of the box with the wand, the lid flew open to reveal a long cylindrical spindle floating in the middle. Hermione placed the wand in the crevice of the spindle, shared a tentative look with Sienna, and then closed the lid.
Everyone hovered around the table, waiting in silence as the box gradually began to hum louder and louder to the point where it was vibrating.
Without notice, the noise stopped and the box became still. Sienna sent another cautious look to Hermione but she was still staring at the box like her life depended on it.
The lid cracked open to signal that it's task was complete. Hermione steadily lifted it open until the group could see the yellowish colour of parchment wound around the spindle.
Her heart was pounding in her chest as she grabbed the edge of the parchment and began to pull it towards her, reading over it piece by piece.
"Oh my god," she muttered, staring down at the picture of the wand's owner.
…
"Hello," greeted the female voice of the hostess at the resort's café, "Table for one?"
"For two actually. My wife will be joining me shortly," replied Harry with a smile. It felt right to be referring Hermione as his wife again.
The hostess nodded politely, "Of course," she said scribbling something down on the clipboard in front of her before looking up and past Harry, "How about you sir?"
Harry turned to glance at the person behind him and really wished he hadn't when his eyes came in contact with the bloke that had been escorting Hermione around last night. The bloke he had interpreted as Hermione's new husband.
"Will you be expecting company?"
"Err, no," Jude answered her awkwardly, tearing his eyes away from Harry's, "I'd just like a seat at the bar."
An apologetic look came over the girl's face, "I'm sorry sir, but the bar doesn't open until noon."
"Of course it doesn't," Jude mumbled despairingly, "Well thank you anyways."
"But, if you'd like I could give you a table in the restaurant and you could order drinks from there," she offered, "We already have some Europeans in there who like fine vodka with there pancakes."
Jude let out a laugh and scratched the back of his head, still avoiding Harry's look, "Um, okay."
"Great, you two can go ahead and take a seat while I go prepare your tables," she finished motioning towards the cushioned benches lining the walls, "I'll be back shortly."
"Thank you," Harry and Jude said at the same time. They looked at each other, aversion in both their eyes.
Jude was the first to look away, not wanting to make anything of the situation. Harry, on the other hand, couldn't help himself.
"Are you Jude Granger?" he asked trying to keep the bitterness from his tone.
Jude exhaled deeply, "No. I'm Jude Stewart."
Harry nodded to show his comprehension. In reality, that only opened up more questions for him. Why was Hermione now Hermione Granger if she wasn't married?
"I'm Harry-"
"Yeah, I know who you are," Jude put in, still not meeting his eyes.
Harry frowned at the other man's inflexibility. He must have been set on not wanting to pay Harry any attention.
"How do you know Hermione?" Harry persisted. He had a right to know who this man was and how he played a role in Hermione's life… and just how important that role was.
Jude sighed again, "We work together."
"Do you take your colleagues to balls often?" Harry inquired giving Jude a hard look.
Jude sent a sideways glance at Harry and shrugged, "We're friends. She was invited to the ball and, as a friend, I offered to go with her."
"Friends?"
"Yep."
"Then explain to me why she was wearing a ring? And why you said you were the bloke that took her off the market? That's a bit much for just friends, wouldn't you say?"
Jude swallowed. He had never been intimidated by another man before, but then again he had never been interrogated by the ex of a woman he was in love with.
"It was just a joke. We were doing it for fun."
"Yeah, I'm sure you grabbing her arse throughout the night was just for fun," Harry replied.
"Look man, you can believe what you want but Hermione and I are not together-"
"That doesn't mean you don't want to be. I know what a man in love with Hermione looks like…" Harry trailed off, starting to get heated.
"Yeah well," Jude responded looking down into his lap, "I'm not going to compete with someone she used to be married to. Just," he finally faced Harry and looked him in the eyes, "speaking as someone who never had a shot with her, you're lucky enough to have a second chance, so don't screw it up."
Harry stared back unwavering, "I'm not going to."
Jude stood up, "Alright then. I'm just gonna go." He began walking in the opposite direction back towards the elevators when he stopped and turned back to Harry, "Look, you're then one that makes her happy… and I'm not going to come between that. I hope it works out for you two."
Harry didn't know how to respond to his sincerity. Finally he nodded, "Thanks."
Jude didn't say anything else and just continued walking towards the lifts.
'I guess he's not such a bad bloke,' Harry thought to himself as he leaned back against the bench feeling much more tranquil, 'I can't really blame him for being in love with Hermione…'
The bench Harry was sitting on began vibrating slightly, making Harry sit up more alert. He looked around and up, seeing that the chandelier was trembling as well. It felt like a charge of some sort was pulsing through the building.
Harry had felt a charge like this before, but that was nearly ten years ago when Voldemort was exploding the Great Hall of Hogwarts…
Harry's eyes widened and his head jerked to the half crowded restaurant, particularly to where Viktor Krum was seated.
"GET DOWN!" was all Harry could shout before there was a ear-splitting boom. Moments went by in which all Harry could hear was the deafening ringing in his ears. It was another few seconds before Harry could start to register people's screams.
He looked up from his crouched position only to see smoke hazing his view. Immediately, his hand reached for his wand in his wrist holster and brandished it at his side, ready to perform a spell at any time.
Harry was just about to turn and run into the restaurant for Krum when the smoke began to dissipate a few feet in front of him, enough for him to see the form of a man squirming on the ground. It was obvious he was hurt by the way he was moving.
Harry ran forward and grabbed the man under the arms and pulled him out of the open lobby and behind the bench.
His stomach wrenched when he seen the bloody and ashen face of Jude.
…
Hermione, Sienna, and Jeremy entered the elevator and pressed the button for the main floor.
"Hermione-"
"I don't want to talk about it anymore," Hermione said quickly to her friend. She was in no state to have a conversation about anything having to do with him.
"We'll be right behind you boss," Jeremy said this time, squeezing Hermione's shoulder, "If he does anything remotely suspicious, we'll be there."
Hermione closed her eyes and nodded. She felt sick. Like she wanted vomit away everything she just discovered about the man she had been married to for six years. The man she had just slept with less than 12 hours ago. The man she wanted to share a life with again.
She felt the gun holstered in the back of her jeans dig into her flesh.
"Oh my god," she muttered, staring down at the picture of the wand's owner.
Sienna did a double take at the picture, "Holy shit, Hermione! That- that's-"
"Harry," Hermione said, her face instantly paling. Only this man wasn't her Harry, not the Harry Evans she knew. This Harry was wearing wire framed glasses and had a lightening bolt shaped scar over his right eye.
"Harry Potter?" Jeremy asked reading the name on the parchment, "He was the guy that defeated that dark wizard over in Britain right? How'd you get Harry Potter's wand?"
Sienna looked guardedly into Hermione's face, "Hermione…"
"You four," she pointed to Jeremy, Matthews, Colgan, and Hoffman, "I want you back at headquarters now to find me everything on Harry Potter. You've got three minutes."
The four agents apparated away instantaneously, leaving Hermione and Sienna alone.
"Herm-"
"I swear I never knew."
"I know you didn't, Hermione… what are you going to do?"
Sienna seen the answer in Hermione's helpless brown eyes and didn't say anything further on the matter.
The four agents were back in less then two and a half minutes, and immediately began relating everything they found while passing Hermione a folder.
"Harry James Potter, born July 31st, 1981 to Lily Evans Potter and James Potter," started off Matthews. Hermione shut her eyes, trying to fight her tears back. Her Harry was Harry James Evans born July 31st, 1981. She couldn't just write that off as a coincidence.
Sienna watched Hermione as she bowed her head and contorted her face. She looked back up to the agents, "Please go wait on the balcony, we'll call you when we're ready to take action."
"Hermione," Sienna said quietly after the others had left, "I need to know if you can do this."
Hermione cleared her head and opened her eyes, wanting to slap herself for being so weak, "I can handle it."
"Are you sure-"
"I said I can handle it!" she repeated, pulling the folder towards her and opening it. Inside there where various newspaper articles, pages scanned from books, and moving pictures.
Hermione's breath caught in her throat when she seen a picture of a young, skinny dark haired boy and a lanky redhead with freckles standing next to a lake, grinning innocently at her.
"Hey, wasn't that Harry's best man at your wedding?" Sienna asked, "Ron or something? You guy's got him an entire cake for himself…"
Hermione just nodded her head, setting the pictures down and beginning to sort through the articles. There was one in there about the night Harry's parents died, and then another about Harry having to do with the Sorcerer's Stone when he was a first year.
Hermione stopped when the title of a front page caught her eye.
'Sirius Black Escapes From Azkaban' read the page followed by a picture of a man that was covered in dirt and grime, with his cheeks sunken in and his hair a greasy mess. But underneath the filth, Hermione could detect the faint signs of the handsome face of the Sirius she knew and loved.
"Mass murderer and faithful servant to the Dark Lord, Sirius Black escapes from Azkaban after being held there for 12 years. Sirius Black was imprisoned for murdering the Potter's best friend, Peter Pettigrew. He was also known to betray the Potter's hideout to the Dark Lord, resulting in the murder of James and Lily Potter." Sienna finished morosely.
She glanced up to Hermione who was staring at the picture shaking her head, "This can't be. I know Sirius and he's not a murder. He's never been to prison. For Pete's sake, Harry looks at him like a father!"
"Mi-"
Hermione continued to shake her head, "No! I just- I can't believe this!"
Sienna made her friend face her, "Hermione, you have to admit, it's a bit odd. We're here to protect Krum because another group of wizards are out to kill him. And look," Sienna pointed down to one of the newspaper pages showing a picture of the four Triwizard Champions, "Harry obviously knows Krum. What if…"
"Harry's not a killer," Hermione said defiantly.
"The Harry you know doesn't exist," Sienna said more firmly.
Hermione just stared at her silently, a pleading look in her eyes. Finally, something clicked in her head that made her snap out of her trance. She straightened her back and lifted her chin, "What do you want me to do?"
The elevator began to quiver slightly, and the above lights flicked out a few times.
"What's going on?" Jeremy asked, grabbing onto the side railing.
"I have no idea," Sienna said, pulling out her wand, "Is it an earthquake?"
There was a thunderous noise and the elevator jolted, throwing Sienna, Hermione, and Jeremy to the ground. The lights died a second later, leaving the three in darkness.
"What the hell was that?" Sienna asked again.
"We need to get down to the ground floor now," Hermione said quickly, standing up from the floor.
"What's the rush?" questioned Jeremy.
"Krum is having breakfast in the restaurant right now. Is it just me or did that noise sound a little to much like an explosion?"
"Fuck," Jeremy said, jumping up as well.
"Apparate now!"
…
The three reappeared on the ground floor by the elevators. Their visions where clouded by a thick fog of smoke and ash, making it difficult to evaluate the room.
"I'm going for Krum!" Sienna said taking off in the direction where she knew the restaurant was.
Hermione turned to Jeremy who was shooting an extinguisher spell at the corner of the room which had caught fire, "Just keep a look out okay? I'm going to help."
"Shouldn't I stick with you?" Jeremy asked, knowing that Hermione only had Harry's wand and a muggle gun.
"I'll be fine!" Hermione turned around and noticed that the smoke had began to clear, letting her see into the lobby. She ran forward a bit, wanting to make sure that no muggles were hurt and that they were making their way for an exit.
She saw the form of two people; one sprawled on the ground and another hovering over him. The closer she got, the more clearly she could see that the man on the ground was shaking and covered in blood while the other was waving a stick at him.
She ran forward some more and then suddenly stopped, staring wide eyed at the two people.
It was Jude covered in blood, and it was Harry waving a wand at him.
Hermione began to tremble, realising that Harry was cursing Jude. Harry lifted his head and stopped what he was doing when he seen her.
"Hermione!"
…
"Stop moving!" Harry shouted at Jude again. He kept trying to lift his hand into his coat pocket but Harry would push his hand down every time.
"Subsisto Cruor!" Harry tried again, waving his wand over Jude's chest. Again, the wand did nothing except spit out a few sparks. "Dammit!" Harry yelled. Why wasn't his wand working? Jude would surely die soon if he couldn't do something to stop the bleeding.
"Subsisto Cruor, Subsito Cruor, Subsisto Cruor!"
Again, nothing happened so Harry looked up, hoping to find an easy way out to where he could apparate Jude to Sirius or someone who could help.
He was just turning to look for the lobby doors when he thought he seen someone. Jerking his head back, he paled when he seen Hermione standing in the middle of the lobby, staring down at Jude.
Harry was just about to call for her to get out of here when he seen a bloke running up behind her. He positive that the man had a wand in his hand.
"Hermione-" he screamed before the man shot a bolt of orange light shooting at him.
…
"FLATUS ABSENTIS!" shouted Jeremy next to Hermione, aiming at the man cursing Jude.
The raven haired wizard flew back and slammed into the opposite wall, leaving a human sized dent before he fell back down to the ground.
Hermione wanted to scream out for Harry, but stopped herself and instead followed Jeremy to Jude.
"I need to get him back to headquarters!" Jeremy said, looking desperately at Hermione. She wasn't watching Jeremy though, she was gazing down into Jude's wounded face. His eyes were barely open but staring into hers avidly. Her body was filled with guilt as he grabbed onto her hand and gave it a faint squeeze.
"Hermione!"
She turned back to Jeremy, "Get him out of here!"
Jeremy and Jude vanished an instant later, and Hermione stood looking around to get a grip on her surroundings.
More wizards had piled into the would-be lobby and were flinging spells in every direction. She could see a few of her own (Matthews, Colgan, Bear, Hoffman) out in the fight, doing their best to hold their own.
"AVADA KEDAVRA!" a voice shouted coming from the restaurant. On instinct, Hermione ducked and pulled out the muggle gun before moving as fast as she could towards the restaurant. Not only was Krum in there but Sienna was as well, and Hermione had a horrible feeling that that killing curse had just ended someone's life.
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