Disclaimer: Don't own HP or M&MS
Mr. & Mrs. Evans
Chapter 30: Facing Facts
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Harry set his shoulders into a stiff posture, before glancing back to the hall behind him. As it should've been, it appeared to be completely empty. He turned back to the look at the door in front of him. He was confident that the invisible person behind him got his message to get ready.
Harry let his fingers draw over his wand, concealed in the inside pocket of his blazer, one more time before curling his hand into a fist, and knocking heavily on the door.
He heard footsteps beyond.
"Harry!" Ginny exclaimed as soon as she caught sight of him, "What are you doing here? Sirius has been looking for you-"
"Yeah, I was just with him. Is Malfoy here?" He didn't have time for pleasantries. Hopefully, Ginny wouldn't think anything was out of the ordinary.
However, the redhead frowned, "Uh, yeah. Why?"
"I need to see him. It's important."
"Did something happen?" Ginny asked worriedly as Harry, without invite, walked past her and into the flat. He needed to distract Ginny long enough so that Hermione could slip in under the cloak.
Harry turned once he was a good distance away from the door. He shrugged innocuously, "I just need to ask him a few questions."
"Alright…" Ginny muttered as she turned and closed the door. Harry knew that she was unsure about what to make of his sudden house call. That was what he and Hermione wanted.
He heard a rustling from another room. Reflexively, he turned to find Malfoy coming out of Ginny's bedroom. The blonde's shirt was unbuttoned, revealed a white square of gauze taped to his chest. Harry frowned to himself briefly. Was Malfoy injured?
Though, as a disgruntled scowl came over the other bloke's face, Harry reminded himself that he didn't have time to worry over him. In fact, he needed to be doing quite the opposite.
His hand inconspicuously reached inside his blazer as Draco shot Ginny a look.
"Potter, what-"
"Expelliarmus!"
"Harry!" Ginny screamed in outrage, staring across the room where Draco had been thrown back into her wall, and his wand shot out of his back pocket. As it scattered onto the ground on the opposite side of the room, Ginny looked back to Harry. A panicked expression flashed across her face.
Harry didn't pay her any attention. He pointed his wand at Malfoy again, and shouted, "Incarcerous!"
As ropes shot from the end of Harry's wand, he failed to notice Ginny shakily grabbing for her own.
Out of nowhere, a voice shouted, "Petrificus totalus!"
Malfoy's eyes went wide as he watched his girlfriend slam to the floor, frozen.
"Potter what the fuck-" He froze mid-sentence as Harry went to retrieve Ginny's wand. His blood went cold under the tight ropes as the air seemed to ripple in front of him. An invisible barrier seemed to fall to the ground, leaving an impossible intruder standing in its wake.
"You!" he screamed, glaring at Hermione, who, like Harry, had a wand gripped tightly in her hand.
She glared right back. Hermione refused to be intimidated by the captured adversary. She was at somewhat of a disadvantage with Quentin's wand, but it was still better than nothing. A gun was holstered on her ankle just in case things got out of hand, and she always had her wandless to use if necessary.
A grin appeared on Harry's lips, "Oh good, so you're not going to pretend you don't know my wife."
"What the hell is this?" Draco spat, now glaring frantically back and forth between the two.
Hermione narrowed her eyes, annoyed by Malfoy's tone, "You're about to tell us."
"Wait," Harry interrupted, putting up and hand in front of Hermione. He turned and bent down next to Ginny who was laying face first on the ground, petrified in a very awkward position. He pushed her over so that he could look her in the eyes.
"Ginny, I'm going to unfreeze you, but if you try to release Malfoy, I'll stun you. Alright?"
He knew Ginny wouldn't be able to reply, so instead, he sent her a warning look before tapping her gently with his wand. The counter spell took effect instantly, causing Ginny's body to immediately slacken.
The girl stood and dusted off her jeans impatiently. It was obvious to Harry that she was trying very hard to keep her temper under wraps for now.
"Give me back my wand," she demanded, holding out her hand for it.
Harry tucked it up his sleeve, "We will after he tells us everything we need to know."
"What are you talking about?!" Ginny snapped, glaring heatedly at him. She turned her angry eyes to Hermione and pointed, "More importantly, what the hell is she doing here? Have you forgotten that she almost killed us the other day?"
"Hermione's not the enemy here. He is," Harry said, mimicking her and pointing at the trapped Malfoy.
Draco scoffed, "Ginny, he's insane. Get me out of here."
Ginny frowned. She didn't seemed convinced as she shared a long look with Malfoy, before turning back to Harry hesitantly, "What are you talking about?"
He raised an eyebrow, also turning to Malfoy, "Do you want to tell her how you two know each other, or should we?"
"I don't know what you're talking about Potter!"
"You know her?" Ginny asked, somewhat shocked.
He tried to deny it, "Ginny, don't believe a word they say. They're liars!"
"We have veritaserum, and it's not like we're saving it for a rainy day," Hermione said impatiently, giving Malfoy a disdainful look.
Malfoy remained quiet as he locked eyes with Hermione. For the first time, he actually looked worried.
Harry noticed this, but fixed him with a firm look nevertheless, "What is your relationship with Hermione's boss?"
"Don't do this," he whispered, staring back at Harry. It was obvious that he was avoiding Ginny's eyes at all cost. Was that an admission of guilt right there?
"Just tell us what we need to know, then."
The tension in the air was palpable as the other occupants of the room stared down at him relentlessly. After a minute, Draco closed his eyes and breathed deeply though his nose, "He's my mum's biological father. I only met him a year and a half ago."
"Are you working for him?" Harry asked as Hermione shot him an 'I-told-you-so' look.
"He- he's training me to replace him."
Harry raised an eyebrow, knowing that his answers weren't truly reliable since he was so unwilling to answer them. He was just about to say so, when Ginny cut him off.
"Yes or no, Draco," she said quite fiercely.
Draco glanced to her and sighed, "Yes, but for personal assignments only. I'm not an actual agent, if that's what you're asking," he finished, turning rigidly back to Harry.
"But you play both sides?" Hermione asked this time.
"You don't understand. He's my grandfather. He's all I have left. I can't say no to him."
Ginny snorted, "Is this why you've been disappearing lately?"
Draco only turned to look at her, his gaze slightly different than when he was staring at Harry and Hermione. Harry never knew Malfoy to look this way. After a moment, he realized why his look was so peculiar. He was ashamed; ashamed to be admitting his categorical betrayal in front of Ginny.
Hermione seemed to realize his eyes soften too. For her though, his flash of weakness was close to proof of guilt.
She nudged Harry, though her eyes were still focused on Malfoy, "Give him the potion."
At that, Draco's face fell, "No, wait-"
His plea came too late, as by then Harry had already waved his wand at Draco's face to pry his mouth open. Giving him the truth potion was inevitable; neither he nor Hermione had time to waste on his hesitation to give them honest answers.
Silently, Harry handed Hermione the small vile. Watching the redhead out of the corner of her eye, she approached Malfoy and uncorked the bottle. She poured the clear liquid into his open mouth.
The spell holding his mouth apart faded as soon as the liquid was all the way down his throat. He spent a few seconds coughing, before he went deadly quiet. With blank eyes, Malfoy turned to look up at Hermione.
"Did Father know that the Order of the Phoenix was going to be at the Beaumont?"
Draco didn't even blink, "Yes."
Hermione frowned, "But he still sent us in?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"I don't know," Draco confessed with a shudder- obviously an effect of the potion. Harry and Hermione shared a sceptical look as the blonde finished, "He doesn't tell me everything."
Harry spoke next, "Were you at the Beaumont under Father's orders, or under ours?"
"His."
Harry heard a scoff from the background, but ignored it. He figured Ginny would have a difficult time of hearing that all of Malfoy's excuses were lies.
"What did he ask you to do?"
Draco shrugged dolefully, "Watch Ezekiel. He had a feeling that Ezekiel would stray from the plan."
"Stray from the plan? What plan?" Hermione asked sharply. The fact that Father had made plans with this bloke without letting her or Sienna in on it irked her more than she liked to admit.
"I don't know!" Draco exclaimed, sounding like it was painful to admit so, "I was only there to make sure he didn't kill Krum the moment he saw him. Grandfather didn't tell me specifics."
Harry squeezed Hermione's hand warningly as a indignant look came over her face. "What other missions has he sent you on?" he asked calmly.
"That, and to pick up Krum."
"Why did he send you to pick up Krum?" Hermione questioned next. That was something she'd been quite confused over even before she found out about Malfoy's two-timing.
Malfoy seemed to sigh, "Because he knew that Potter would be coming to fetch him."
"I don't get it," Harry said, shaking his head grimly, "So Father really was looking out for Krum's best interest?"
Malfoy was silent for a minute. Harry was just about to repeat his question before he shook his head and spoke with a bated breath, "He wanted it to look like Krum was dead so that you would go looking for her, since she was the one to apparate off with him." At 'her', he jerked his head over to Hermione.
"I was looking for her in the first place… why would he care about that?"
Draco let out an low groan, "I don't know…"
"Do you have any ideas as to why he would care to have us in the same place?" Hermione asked, more quietly than Harry would've anticipated. He glanced over to her and found a dark frown set over her face.
Confused, he turned back to Malfoy for the answer.
"Because… because he wants Potter dead. And he wants you to do it."
Hermione had to close her eyes for a brief moment to let the betrayal wash over her. So Harry had been right… the untrustworthy person was on her side. Her boss- the man she'd been told to trust for so many years…
"Why would he want to hurt Harry?" she heard the redhead ask.
"Revenge, probably," Draco told her, shrugging as he answered. He then turned to Harry. Hermione didn't miss the glare in his eyes, "You stood around saving everyone else while the ministry was crumbling. Everyone besides my mother."
"I didn't even know she was there! Malfoy, I've told you that I was sorry about that. I never wanted her to die!" Harry said exasperatedly- like he'd told the bloke a hundred times before.
"He doesn't care," Malfoy muttered staunchly, "Plus, you're the competition. He said if you're gone, the Order would disintegrate."
Ginny looked at him fixedly, "Did your grandfather tell you to come after me, too?"
A reluctant look flashed across his face, "No."
"He wanted me to see Harry at the Beaumont," Hermione muttered, interrupting the other couple's intimate look as she started to piece together the information Malfoy had unwillingly given them. "He wanted me to think he was the enemy, and fight against him."
Malfoy nodded grudgingly, "He hasn't told me exactly, but that's what I've guessed."
Sharply, Hermione looked to Malfoy again, "What else has he instructed you to do with relations to Harry?"
Both Harry and Hermione could tell the veritaserum was still in affect as Malfoy's hands curled into fists and he gave an involuntary twitch, "Just… to see how he handled your divorce. To see if he had become weaker…"
Hermione let out a shaky breath, "Did he make his intentions clear form the start?"
"No. He didn't tell me anything to begin with. Just that he wanted me to take over for him someday."
Hermione's eyebrows shot up at his answer, but Harry was focused on something else, "Then how do you know he wanted Hermione to kill me?"
"He told me that you were her weakness, and that she wasn't allowed to have weaknesses. He said it was either have her get rid of you, or get rid of the both of you."
A tense silence engulfed the group. Upon his answer, Hermione, Harry, and Ginny all experienced different emotions. Hermione couldn't believed she'd never realized this before; she couldn't believe she'd been so foolish to believe that Father would let her have a husband, or that she'd never picked up on how eager he was to get her to L.A. Harry was a bit disturbed at the fact that a bloke he'd never met before was pining away to kill him. Though, he wasn't as shocked as he should've been. After all, this wasn't the first time someone had been out to get him.
Ginny was the most obvious with her feelings. Betrayal was etched on every part of her face as she glared down mercilessly at her confined boyfriend.
"You knew," she whispered at him, "You knew about his plans to kill Harry, yet you let it happen?"
Malfoy was all too quick to defend himself to her, "I didn't know he wanted Potter dead! After I came back to tell him I didn't have Krum, that's when he started to explain bits and pieces about the Order falling if he was killed. I haven't gone back since. I swear Ginny; I wouldn't want the Order targeted."
"Is he planning more?" Harry asked, still calm.
Draco shook his head, "He doesn't tell me everything. He doesn't tell anyone everything."
Hermione was the next to speak, her voice at a different tone than one relevant to their current conversation. A hint of accusation was present in her eyes as she stared down at Malfoy, "Were you at the Beaumont the morning of the attack?"
"Yes."
She sucked in another shaky breath, "Did you kill Jude Stewart?"
"No."
Harry squeezed Hermione's hand again, this time in comfort as her eyes flitted away vacantly. He turned to back to Draco, "What were you there for then?"
"Ezekiel wasn't supposed to attack like that," he divulged, "He disobeyed Grandfather's orders."
Harry rolled his eyes a bit impatiently, "Get to the point Malfoy."
Malfoy sighed, "He told me that Ezekiel was a direct threat. He told me to eliminate him."
A gasp escaped Ginny's lips, and again Hermione turned to him sharply, "You killed him?" she asked in shock.
Draco nodded, "Yes."
"It was you I shot in the restaurant…"
This time, it was he who glowered at Hermione. "Yeah," he bit out with a sneer.
Harry's eyes glanced down to the square bandage still taped to his chest. He let out a proud laugh, "Nice…"
Both Hermione and Ginny shot him annoyed looks, though Hermione's was a bit more gentle. She turned back to Malfoy again, all business, "Has Father told you about any plans to hurt Harry, or to hurt anyone else who knew about our marriage?"
He shook his head, "No. Like I said, I haven't been back."
"What, you said you were quitting?"
"No, I just haven't been back."
"Well that's not going to stop him," Hermione told him shrewdly, "You should know that if he wants to contact you, then he's going to contact you."
It was a strange thing, to observe Draco Malfoy looking meek. However, that's exactly what he appeared to be as he shrugged, looking away from Hermione, "I figured he'd just take the hint since I have a different relationship with him and everything."
Harry shook his head, "Sorry Malfoy, but it sounds like your grandfather didn't have any intentions of keeping tight-knit with you."
His eyes turned up to his brusquely, "I've realized that now."
"You swear you no longer have any allegiance with Father or his agency?" Hermione asked him directly, though she sounded a bit exasperated herself.
Immediately, Draco nodded, "I swear."
Harry and Hermione shared a quiet look, before Harry turned back to him and nodded, "Fine. Finite incantatum."
The ropes dissolved and vanished around Malfoy. With a relieved breath, he tried to push himself up on the ground, but stumbled, probably still a little out of sorts due to the potion. Despite Ginny's scowling demeanour, she came forward to help him.
Hermione noticed the look he gave her, full of apology. She knew she didn't owe either of them anything, but she figured it would only be appropriate to forewarn them.
She cleared her throat to grab their attention, "Then you also realize he'll come after you sooner or later. It won't be good if he finds you with her."
To her annoyance, Draco only glared, "I can protect Ginny just fine."
"I can protect myself," Ginny countered immediately, again scowling at her boyfriend.
Hermione shrugged, "Look, that may be, but I'd still recommend you two getting the hell away from here for the time being.
Ginny turned, and looked back at her a bit hesitantly. She nodded in agreement, before giving them a quizzical look, "Will you guys be doing the same?"
Harry turned to Hermione, but she answered without his consult, "No."
"What are you going to do?" Ginny asked.
"I can't run," Hermione said simply, "The problem is on my side, so I'll have to fix it. I know Father. He'll never stop as long as Harry's alive."
Harry shot her a quick look, "We'll fix it."
"Yeah," Hermione nodded, though her lip was bit.
After analyzing their interaction, Ginny sighed, "Well, if he's as dangerous as you say he is-"
"Ginny, don't bloody volunteer yourself," Malfoy cut her off angrily.
"I'm just saying," the redhead continued, "The Order can help you. Harry knows."
Hermione shrugged apathetically, "I don't want to involve anyone we don't have to, but thanks. I think I have a few reliable agents of my own left."
"Speaking of the Order," Harry spoke up, levelling a look at Ginny, "Grimmauld Place is probably the best place for you two to go."
"We'll find somewhere else," Malfoy said quickly, shaking his head.
Though Ginny stared at him with an appraising look, her tone was gentle, "You'll have to tell them sooner or later, Draco."
"She's right," Harry agreed, "The sooner you come clean, the better."
"Do you know where you're going next? In case we have to contact you?" Ginny asked.
Harry and Hermione turned to each other, both wondering what the answer to her question would be. The truth was, they didn't know where they'd be going, but both understood that it wouldn't be wise to leave any tracks. Harry turned back to Ginny, "We'll be in touch with you."
"Alright," Ginny sighed reluctantly. "But you should make it a point to see Sirius. He's worried."
Harry nodded as slipped her wand from his wrist and handed it to her, "Take care, Gin."
As she took it, she nodded, "You too. Both of you," she added, giving Hermione a timorous look.
Hermione nodded amicably. Now that she knew the truth, she didn't feel any hatred for the redhead anymore. But still, it would still be a while before she could consider being friendly with the girl.
Harry and Hermione spared one last look at the woefully silent Malfoy, before turning and heading towards the door. Harry stopped to pick up the cloak. He threw it over the both of them before opening the door.
It didn't take them long to get to the bottom of Ginny's building. Silence engulfed them on their trip down, but once they were outside Harry couldn't keep quiet any longer.
He shot Hermione a careful look out of the corner of his eye, "So where are we going? I'm not sure if we'll be able to go back to the house. I'm sure your people have realized that you're missing by now."
Hermione nodded distractedly, as they moved out of the way of an advancing mother and child. "Yeah," she muttered, "the house is out."
"Love, we need to go somewhere to figure things out."
"I know that, Harry."
Harry sighed. She'd yet to look him in the eyes, and he was starting to wonder if he was missing something. He pulled her in a bit closer, "Are you okay?"
Hermione was quiet. Harry was about to repeat himself, but then she shook her head, "No, Harry, I'm not okay. Everything I've worked for, everything I believed in… it's all on the foundation of a lie."
Harry pursed his lips. He'd couldn't really relate to being betrayed so infinitely, but he knew it took a lot to get her so upset. "At least his plan didn't work," he tried to comfort.
"It almost did…"
Not knowing what else to say, Harry leaned in and kissed her cheek. If that didn't calm her down, then he at least wanted to make it clear that she could talk to him. He'd never tried to make that clear to her in the past…
But it worked. Hermione bit her lip before she went on, "He said that the only reason he was sending me to Los Angeles was to get the training necessary so that I could take over the company for him. But really, it was just an excuse to get me away from you. He used me."
Harry looked both ways before pulling her across the street with him. "He needs to be stopped, Hermione," he said, as gently but as fiercely as possible.
His anger was just starting to settle in on the matter. He could still remember Malfoy's words clearly: 'he said it was either have her get rid of you, or get rid of the both of you'. He believed Hermione when she said that Father wouldn't stop until he was dead. But what the old Malfoy didn't know was that Harry wasn't going down without a fight. The old bastard had some nerve to not only threaten the life of him, but Hermione's as well. Harry was sure that this Father character didn't know what he was getting himself into. Again, another villain who underestimated the power of love.
"I know," Hermione muttered back.
"Nothing's going to pull us apart now."
She nodded solidly, "Absolutely nothing."
"Why don't we go to Sirius now-" Harry was in the middle of offering before Hermione shook her head vigorously. She'd just thought of something, and she was adamant about seeing it through.
"We'll find him tonight," she said quickly, "There's someone I need to see first."
Harry sighed, automatically guessing what her tone of excitement was about. "You're reliable agent?" he presumed.
Hermione met his eyes and gave him a little smile, hoping that would make it easier for him. When Harry only replied with an overly dramatic wary expression, Hermione smirked, and tugged him off in the direction of a close by alleyway.
…
Sienna let out a tired yawn as she made it to the top of the stairs. The blonde hadn't gotten any sleep the night previously, seeing as her friend had never returned from turning in Krum to the Bulgarian ministry. After the whole fiasco went down, Sienna and their remaining agents went over to their designated temporary headquarters to wait for Hermione to get back.
Though, Sienna's nerves were getting the best of her since they hadn't made contact with her yet. It wasn't like her friend to just disappear like that… but she supposed she knew why. She guessed that watching the bloke she'd been married to for six years die could've been traumatic for Hermione. Maybe.
As she walked tiredly into the kitchen, she threw her purse onto the countertop. She was intent on letting sleep be the only thing on her mind, but she couldn't help but stop in her tracks as she spotted something on the kitchen table. It was a half drunk cup of tea. Hermione's favourite cup…
Hermione waited patiently on the couch, as the shocked expression on her best mate's face turned into a confused one. After a moment, during which Sienna was still staring at the china, Hermione cleared her throat.
Sienna wildly spun to look into the sitting room. Her eyes went wide when she saw her, "Hermione?"
"It's me," Hermione nodded. She watched as Sienna's hand moved around her back.
"Your animagus form?" Sienna demanded, her confused look now suspicious.
"A fox," Hermione answered easily, "Though, I haven't transformed in over a year. When we were getting Donavinci's wand detector."
Sienna nodded, trying to portray like that was the end of her questioning. However, Hermione hadn't forgotten her friend's previous movements. She remained quite still as Sienna suddenly pulled her wand out, "Expelliarmus!"
Hermione fell back into the couch slightly as the spell shot into her. Though, no wand flew from her possession.
"Satisfied?" she asked after taking a deep, steadying breath.
Sienna shrugged and started walking towards Hermione on the couch, "Just making sure," she acquiesced. "I don't know what to expect when you show up after being missing for nearly twenty-four hours..."
"Sorry," Hermione apologized genuinely, "but it couldn't have been avoided."
"So… you're okay?" Sienna asked, giving her a once over and looking for any signs of emotional instability.
However, Hermione simply smiled, "Yep."
Sienna seemed to believe her as she nodded, "Good. Hermione, he had it coming. If Jeremy didn't do it, then he would've came after, and probably killed you. It's just best if you get over that asshole-"
"This asshole?"
Sienna's mouth fell open as Harry pulled off the invisibility cloak and stepped out from the shadowed corner of the room. He smiled cheekily at Sienna, who was glaring in shock at him. She bristled as he came forward to perch himself on the edge of the couch.
"What the hell is this?" Sienna asked in outrage, staring back and forth between Hermione who was giving her a sheepish look, and Harry who was gloatingly waving at her. "Hermione what the- hi Harry- what the hell is he doing here?"
Harry, pleased with the acknowledgement, stopped waving in an air of triumph. He moved from the arm of the couch and scooted close next to Hermione. Knowing it would piss her off, he put his arm around Hermione as she started to explain.
"He's here with me," Hermione told her, trying to let her down as gently as possible.
Sienna raised an eyebrow, "And what does that mean exactly?"
Harry grinned charmingly, "We've worked things out. You're stuck with me."
"We're working things out," Hermione corrected him, shooting him a tolerable look before turning back to her friend, "but the point is, Harry and I are together."
"Together?" Sienna repeated.
"Yes."
"Are you- now, please excuse my language- but are you out of your fucking mind?"
Hermione sighed, "No, Sienna."
"Then he's done something to you!" Sienna shouted, totally convinced of Harry's guilt of something, "Evans, what have you done to her?"
Harry grinned again, "It's Potter. Harry and Hermione Potter."
Sienna's eyes blazed and a wild look came over her face, "Oh funny. Very, very funny. Hilarious." She looked feral as she turned to Hermione, "I'm going to start getting sick if someone doesn't start explaining to me how this mess came to be. Why aren't you dead? And why did you go to find him?" she finished, pointing a shaky finger at each of them respectively.
"He found me," Hermione explained, "And it's not like I just instantly forgave him. I put up a fair fight."
"Oh more than fair," Harry added, winking at her.
Sienna watched her friend smile discretely. She couldn't help but shake her head, thinking that this was all crazy. "But Hermione, he's the enemy."
At that, Hermione went solemn. She shook her head, "He's not my enemy."
"He's Father's enemy! That's reason enough!"
"Not for me. Not anymore…"
Sienna scoffed, "So that's it? After all he's done to you, you're going to pick him over your duty?"
"I'm always going to love him Sienna," Hermione admitted softly. The last thing she wanted was for her best mate to hate her for something she had no control over. "Nothing anyone says is going to change that. And, as far as my 'duty' goes… I'm really starting to question it."
"How can you say that?" Sienna shouted accusingly.
"Easy. Because Father's been using me for the past year. Probably even longer than that," Hermione told her levelly, not looking away from her eyes.
Sienna glanced over to Harry before turning to Hermione. She couldn't help her curiosity, "How?"
Hermione shared a meaningful look with Harry before taking a deep breath, and turning back to Sienna. She started quietly, but got more confident as she explained to her best friend just why she couldn't trust in the agency she worked for anymore. She told her everything that Malfoy had told her and more; revealing what wasn't private about her and Harry's conversation at their house earlier.
It took her about ten minutes to say everything, but once she was finished, the three of them sat in complete silence.
Sienna, who had fallen back into a loveseat mid conversation, started to shake her head slowly.
"But… if Father hates Harry, why doesn't he just get rid of him himself? Why is he going through all this trouble to make you do it?"
Harry answered in a tone of disgust, "Your boss sees her love for me as a weakness. By killing me, the only person she had left to be loyal to was him."
Sienna raised an eyebrow, "And you got all of this information out of your little grease-head friend?"
"Malfoy's not my friend," Harry corrected her tersely, "He just works for the Order."
"I can't understand that either," she protested again, "Father had to know that Malfoy worked for your agency. There's no way he would've continued to talk with him if he was an outside agent."
Hermione sighed, "Yes, he would've, because he was manipulating all of us. He wasn't doing this just as a job- this was some master plot of his. He wanted revenge. And he wanted to use me to get that revenge for him."
"Maybe he was planning on telling you-"
"Telling me what?" she cut her off, starting to get edgy, "That he had intended for me to kill Harry? That this whole mess with Krum at the Beaumont was just a way for me to see him again?"
"He was in talks with Ezekiel to try and frame me, Sienna," Harry elucidated more patiently, "He probably even had it planned out so that Hermione would see me as I was trying to heal Stewart."
Sienna shook her head again, and Hermione could tell that they still hadn't totally convinced her. She sighed to herself; she'd been counting on her best friend believing her. It wasn't like she'd ever done anything to not deserve her trust…
"Si, you've been my best mate since we were eleven," Hermione said, with a pleading tone to her voice, "I wouldn't make this up."
"Have you joined the Order too?" Sienna asked, as if she hadn't heard her.
Hermione shook her head, "No. But I'm not committed to this agency anymore. I hope you understand why I can't be."
"It's hard to," she shrugged, "I mean, one day you love him, the next you hate him, and then suddenly you're back in love with him-"
"We've always loved each other," Harry told her firmly.
Sienna narrowed her eyes at him, "She can speak for her bloody self Harry."
However, Hermione nodded, "He's right, Si."
She rolled her eyes, "Fine."
"I know it's been a roller coaster, but I've made my decision," she said softly, in one last effort to get Sienna to believe her.
Sienna wasn't moved. Her eyes were hard as the stared into her friend's; she had a pleading glint of her own, "Hermione, if you go with him, you're dead. Father will make sure of that."
Hermione bit her lip as she looked down to her knees. Harry was slightly worried as he watched his wife remain quiet, not sticking up for herself or refuting Sienna's claims.
A moment or two passed, and Harry was just about to call her name when she stood up. She pulled him up with her.
"He's going to have to try his hardest. See you around Sienna. Hopefully."
Without another word or look, Hermione, hand-in-hand with Harry, started walking out towards the stairs. Sienna didn't try and stop them as they made their way down to the darkened garage.
Harry was unsure if Hermione was alright to talk, but he wasn't sure where she wanted to go back to. When they arrived in L.A., they decided they would go to Grimmauld Place after talking to Sienna. Though, Harry wasn't sure if Hermione would be up to seeing Sirius tonight.
"Back to…?"
Hermione nodded, "Yeah."
Harry lifted her hand up to kiss it, "It was a long shot Hermione."
Hermione nodded again, attempting to give him a shaky smile. By then they'd reached the garage where it was safe to apparate. "Let's go," she told him with a reluctant breath.
Harry nodded, and moved to pull her in to him so that he could apparate them to Grimmauld Place. He was just starting to count down when something metal clattered to the ground, and footsteps suddenly started pounding down the stairs.
Harry and Hermione both looked up, startled, but relaxed in happiness when a head of blonde hair flashed before them.
"WAIT! I'm coming with you!"
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Well, I apologize for the wait, but keep in mind that it's very hard to write when there's so few reviews motivating you to do so. I'm not going to keep begging for them, but without that urge to come back and post, the story might get neglected while I'm working on other things.