Disclaimer: Don't own HP or M&MS
Mr. & Mrs. Evans
Chapter 29: Fishy
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Harry sat on a clear stretch of tile, leaning against the wall and gazing off into the kitchen. A crooked grin etched onto his face as he continued to stare at Hermione, dressed only his ripped dress shirt from the night before. She was ambling around the kitchen, expertly avoiding the broken glass and debris littered on the ground and countertop as she fumbled with something over the stove.
Harry was just starting to bend his head to get a better angle of her bum, when an apple suddenly came soaring out of nowhere. He caught it just in time before it smacked into his head, and then, with a devilish grin, took a bite out of it. Hermione rolled her eyes at his haughty expression, but couldn't help grin to herself as she went back to fiddling with the two slices of toast before her.
Harry was still staring in deep interest when she started for him a few minutes later, the two pieces of toast now balanced over two warm cups of tea. She didn't break a sweat as she maneuvered around the shattered sharp objects, and handed Harry his mug before bending to sit down next to him.
Harry looked skeptically at the food before him. Gingerly, he lifted the toast from the cup and took a whiff. Hermione watched on, an incredulous look set upon her face as Harry moved on to the tea and also sniffed.
She kept quiet, silently glaring as Harry took a hesitant bite out of the jellied toast.
After a few seconds, he slowly nodded, "This is actually decent."
Hermione raised an eyebrow, "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing," Harry defended himself hastily, "Just… well, don't take this the wrong way, but I've never liked your cooking."
To his surprise, Hermione smirked, "You'd like it even less if I actually cooked it."
"What?" Harry asked aghast.
With a grin, Hermione shook her head, "I've never made a meal for you a day in my life. Abbey's Kitchen on North Street is to blame."
"Jeez, you must've really not been able to stand me if you couldn't even cook for me," he teased lightheartedly.
Hermione nudged him playfully, "It's got nothing to do with love; I'm simply just a horrible cook. I'm horrible at homemaking in general, now that I think about it," she finished, thoughtfully biting her lip.
"But you're good at everything," Harry argued in disbelief.
Hermione couldn't help but smile, "I know, but I've accepted failure on this."
As he shook his head, probably still in disbelief, Hermione shot him a curious look out of the corner of her eye. Now that she had revealed something, she didn't feel impolite for asking him something.
"Did your scar just fade away, or do you conceal it?"
Harry finished swallowing his bite of toast before he let his hand brush over the corner of his forehead where he knew his scar should've been showing, "It's charmed. I wish it would fade away, but I'll have it for the rest of my life." He didn't sound disappointed or glum. He'd gotten used to the fact that it would never go away on its own. He'd always have the reminder of what Voldemort had done to him throughout his childhood. He thought he'd found his fix when he met Hermione, but now there really wasn't no point in hiding it.
"How come you never told me?" Hermione asked, gently reaching up to grab his hand and lace her fingers through his.
"Told you what?"
"That you were a wizard. What made you keep it a secret?"
Harry shrugged, "I thought I was protecting you. I thought if you became Hermione Potter, my enemies would try to hurt you."
As she took this in, she let her head fall against his shoulder. Knowing what she now knew, it all made more sense.
"So what's your excuse?" Harry asked a few moments later.
Hermione also shrugged, "Father wouldn't let me. And I guess I was scared. I didn't want you to hate me for my abilities."
Harry couldn't help but frown as he heard her first excuse. He imagined that this 'Father' bloke was her leader. He didn't like the idea that just because of his position over her, he had a right to dictate her life.
"This all could've been spared if we had just been honest from the start," Harry said quietly after a few moments of silence. How different would things have been if he knew that she was magical from the beginning? Would he have been more guarded, or would he have possibly fallen even more in love with her?
"But things worked out, didn't it?" Hermione answered with a shrug, "I mean, I never thought I'd come back here," she finished softly, now staring out of the kitchen's bay window that had miraculously come out of last night unharmed.
Harry glanced down to her with a smile. He kissed her forehead, silently agreeing with her former question, "I never thought you'd come back here either."
Hermione returned his grin before going to stare back out of the rain splattered window. She couldn't help but look on fondly, "You know everyone complains about the rain here, but I rather like it. I missed it in L.A. It never rained there."
"One of the many reasons why you should just move back home," Harry told her, before taking a drink out of the now lukewarm tea.
Hermione bit her lip, trying to hide her smile, "Here, with you?"
"Somewhere with me," Harry shrugged easily.
Hermione tried her hardest to keep the excitement out of her tone. "Are you saying you want to start over?"
He nodded, "Start our marriage over, at least."
"Like… get remarried?"
Unbeknownst to Hermione, Harry smirked. He had wondered when the right time would be to tell her this, "We never got divorced."
Hermione frowned, sitting up so that she could look at him properly, "Did you hit your head a little too hard last night? Have you forgotten how we've spent the last year?"
"No, I definitely haven't forgotten."
"Then what are you talking about?"
Harry turned to look at her, "I never signed the papers. Legally, we're still hitched."
"Th-that can't be true," Hermione stammered, trying to remember correctly that day over a year ago, "I mean, the lawyer told me that it was final!"
"It's called a confundus charm sweetheart," Harry replied with a grin.
Her mouth fell open in shock, "Oh- you!"
"What?" he asked innocently, smiling at her angry expression.
"You can't do anything you're told, can you?" Hermione asked him in a huff.
He grinned again, "Nope. Would you love me as much if I did?"
Hermione rolled her eyes moodily, turning to look away from him. "Probably not…" she muttered a few seconds later.
"Well there you go," he responded winningly, pulling her back into him.
Despite her irritation, she couldn't help her curiosity, "Why didn't you sign them?"
"Because I thought you were being an idiot," Harry answered automatically in blunt honesty. Upon her flabbergasted look, he defended himself, "What? You were! Divorcing me like that was completely irrational."
She glared at him for a few moments before sighing, "Well, I had a good reason at the time."
"I know you did, but still. You should've let me explain then."
"What would you have said?"
Harry turned to look at her with nothing but genuine honesty spilling through his gaze, "Everything I was going to tell you the morning at the Beaumont. I was going to tell you that I was a wizard and that the girl you saw me kissing was a fellow coworker. We were on a mission, playing a married couple. Our goal was to knock over a glass of water so that the wizard would walk into the bathroom where another one of our guys was waiting for him. She didn't knock over the water when she was supposed to, so I did the only thing I thought wouldn't be out of the ordinary, but would still spill it over. You have no idea how much I've regretted that decision since."
Hermione didn't blink as she stared back at him, "That's it? She's just a coworker?"
"Yes, I promise. She has her own boyfriend. And she's Ron's little sister," Harry added, hoping that would seal the deal for her. He didn't think mentioning that he had once dated Ron's little sister was vital at this point.
"And what did her boyfriend think of you two kissing?"
Harry shrugged, "Dunno. He and Ginny weren't together when it happened. You have no idea how much I wished that he was the one to be there instead of me."
Hermione nodded, letting his words wash over her. Now she knew what she had wanted to know since the day she had witnessed their daunting mission. It was never a matter of Harry wanting to be with someone else. He had told her that before, and now, she fully believed him. Ever since last night, she didn't have any reason not to.
"So he works for the Order, too?" Hermione inquired.
Harry nodded, glad to see that she was accepting his explanation. "Yeah. None of us ever used to get along with Malfoy, but after the war he made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with the dark side. Sirius took pity on him and inducted him in. They're distantly related, so I guess he felt obligated… what?"
Hermione snapped out of the sharp look she was giving Harry. She glanced away for a moment, a frown still present on her lips, "Nothing. You said his name was Malfoy?" shed asked suddenly, thinking back to the man who had called himself Father's grandson.
She and Sienna had gone back to the entrance room after he'd left and found his full name written on the report of his wand scan. 'Draco Malfoy, 10 inch hawthorn wood, unicorn hair core'… could it be the same Malfoy?
"Yeah," Harry nodded, "Draco Malfoy-"
"His name's Draco Malfoy?" Hermione cut him off shrilly.
Harry nodded confusedly, "Yes… what's wrong?"
Hermione gave him a pointed look, "Draco Malfoy works for the Order of the Phoenix? Are you sure about that?"
"Yes, I'm positive," Harry answered, a bit peeved at her curtness, "Do you know him or something?"
"He's my boss's grandson, Harry."
The confused look on his face flattened, and then turned hard, "You work for a Malfoy?" He tried his best to keep from sounding accusatory.
"I don't know his last name. All I know is that a tall blonde bloke, by the name of Draco Malfoy, was automated into my headquarters the day of the Beaumont attacks, by my boss. He came to pick up Krum for Father, and claimed that he was his grandson."
Harry narrowed his eyes, "He went to get Krum?"
"Yes, to take him back to the Bulgarian ministry. Sienna and I didn't trust him, so I told him I'd do it myself."
"So Father is the name your boss goes by?" Harry asked, trying to absorb as much of this as possible.
Hermione's eyes flickered, and for a moment she wondered if she should be revealing all of this to Harry. Harry though, obviously recognized the look in her eyes.
"Hermione, I'm not going to use any of this against you. I'm just trying to figure out what the hell is going on with him. Malfoy always told us that he had no remaining relatives- besides distant cousins like Sirius, or the ones that were in Azkaban."
It took a second, but Hermione eventually shook her head, "I don't know Father's real name. I've only met him face-to-face for the first time a year ago. He just sends us instructions on what to do, and leaves the heavy work to us."
"And before a few days ago, you had never seen Malfoy before in your life?" Harry asked her again.
"Never," Hermione told him, "But he said that he was an agent from the Paris headquarters."
Harry turned away from her and let his head fall back against the wall, "This explains so much…"
"Like what?" Hermione asked him, she being the confused one this time.
"He's been disappearing a lot on Ginny- going AWOL on missions, including the first night at the Beaumont. He was supposed to be there with Ginny, not me!" Harry exclaimed, frustrated that none of this was making sense. It had to be the same Malfoy- Hermione had described him well enough, and what were the odds that another Draco Malfoy would be running around with the same job description as this one? No, it had to be the same bloke. But if that was true, then where the hell had this grandfather of his come from?
"The question is," Hermione said, bringing Harry out of his thoughts, "is he selling someone out, or playing both sides for his own benefit?"
Harry quickly shook his head, "Look, I've known Malfoy since first year at Hogwarts. Trust me, that bloke doesn't do his own thinking. Claiming his stance against the death eaters was the ballsiest thing he's ever done. He has to be answering to someone."
"I know of no other wizarding agencies besides mine and your own. And I don't think any ministry would be in on this…" Hermione muttered, weighing in the options left.
Harry understood where she was taking this and immediately voiced his opinion, "That means he has to be answering to someone on your side."
"Why is my agency automatically to blame?" Hermione argued, "For all we know, it could be someone you know!"
"Think about it Hermione," Harry said resolutely, "He's disappearing on the Order's missions, but suddenly showing up to do your leader's bidding? It has to be someone on your side."
Hermione bit her lip. He did have a point. "But who? I completely trust every single one of my agents. None of them would ever stray from the agency…"
"Maybe it wasn't one of your agents…" Harry said, distracted in thought before snapping back into focus. He looked at her unwaveringly, "What were you even doing at the Beaumont anyway?"
"We were there to safeguard Krum. What were you guys doing there?"
"The same. I thought when you disapparated with Krum, that you were going to kill him," Harry told her, having no problem doing so now. A few days ago, he had no trouble believing that she and her agents were the people that they were supposed to protect Krum from. But now that he knew better… what were they both doing there?
"That's why you thought we were the murderers," Hermione muttered to herself, also starting to understand. Then she shot Harry a puzzled look, "But we were hired by the Bulgarian ministry. Why would they hire two agencies to protect one person?"
"Sirius got the tip off from people in Krum's circle. Supposedly they didn't want to give Viktor extra security, but wanted people there just in case."
Hermione nodded, "Okay, so it really was a coincidence that we were both there."
"Hermione," Harry said, giving her a piercing look, "do you really think this could be just a coincidence?"
"No, but what other explanation is there?" Hermione wasn't comfortable settling on hypothetical what-if's either, but they couldn't very well make something of nothing, could they?
Harry stared off, a pensive look overcoming his features, "Well, maybe… maybe it was a mistake that we were both there. Not a coincidence."
Hermione too looked off, pondering over the possibility. Suddenly, a thought hit her, and she raised her eyebrow. What if it wasn't a mistake that Krum's people wanted extra men to be there? "Or… maybe it was a coincidence."
"Come on, Hermione-"
"No listen! Do you know who was trying to kill Krum?"
"His step-brother," Harry answered with a shrug. "We figured then, that whoever the bloke was had hired you guys to take him out."
"But we weren't," Hermione said, excitement dripping through her obvious statement, "Silas Ezekiel was his step-brother. He died in the restaurant that morning."
"Died?" Harry repeated, "How?"
"AK'd."
"Who killed him?"
"No one from my team," Hermione insisted surely, "I think it's safe to say though, that whoever did say the curse probably knew of Ezekiel's relationship to Krum."
At that, Harry frowned, "What, you think one of Krum's friends did it?"
Hermione shook her head, "I don't know, but that's not the point. What if Malfoy was working with Ezekiel? To kill Krum?"
Harry looked skeptical. For whatever reason, he couldn't seem to grasp what Hermione was trying to imply. "But why would Malfoy want to kill Krum? He didn't even know him!"
"I don't know…" Hermione mumbled, after a couple minutes of trying to come up with an answer for him. "It's just, I don't know how else he could fit into everything. I doubt he'd be conspiring with anyone on my side. But if you're the ones he's betraying, then…"
Harry knew that she was trying her best to come up with an answer for this. But still, theorizing wasn't going to get them anywhere. Gently, he squeezed her hand, causing her to turn and look at him. "Hermione, this is a serious issue. He knows very important information about our organization. Information that could ruin us, if given to the wrong people."
Hermione nodded, understanding that that threat held true for them both, "What should we do?"
"Find him," Harry answered stiffly after a brief pause, "Get the answers straight from him."
"Do you think he'd be with Father?" Hermione asked, already thinking of the difficulties there'd be to get him there.
A hopeful glint suddenly appeared in Harry's eyes.
"Or with Ginny."
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