Disclaimer: Don't own HP or M&MS
Mr. & Mrs. Evans
Chapter 31: Family's Stick Together
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UPDATE: Well go on with it, finally update after a year and it seems my story's so popular that it went on and corrupted portkey for a few days. Imagine that ;)
[AN] I know, I know, it's been ages. My sincerest apologies to everyone that's stuck in there with me. I hope it pleases you to know we're not that far away from the conclusion. I hope you enjoy!
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"I'm glad Serena proposed to stay here for the night. It's better to get our head on straight here before heading back to Europe," Hermione said coming in with an extra pillow. She dropped it on the bed before moving back to help Harry spread the refreshed duvet over the mattress. She had left her room a mess before leaving to take Krum back to his ministry and had insisted on cleaning things up before her and Harry laid down for the night.
"Yeah," Harry nodded pensively as she took one side. They spread it over the length of the bed and then Harry moved to start tucking in the corners. Hermione stood back and watched him work, wondering why he was taking the time to do it by hand when he could've just used magic.
"You're being awfully quiet," she noted after a few moments.
Harry glanced up to her and shrugged, "Just thinking."
"About what?"
"What's going to happen."
This time it was Hermione who became quiet while Harry stared at her thoughtfully.
"If he doesn't already know, it's only a matter of time before your boss figures out the details."
"I know that."
"That doesn't give us much time to get our heads on straight. We need to figure something out now."
Hermione sighed and turned away from the bed. Harry walked up from behind her and wrapped his arms around her.
"Are you okay?"
She shrugged, "I'm tired. I just wanted to put this off for the morning."
Even though he was hungry for a plan of action, the last thing he wanted was to upset her. Swallowing back his incessant lure for action, he kissed her neck sweetly, "I put some extra protections up just in case."
A smile appeared at the corner of her mouth, "Thanks."
Harry's arms unwound from Hermione's waist and started for her sides. As he was reaching to grab her hand to pull her to face him, he felt an object positioned on her finger. "Hey," Harry exclaimed, spinning her around much less smoothly than he'd plan, "You put your rings back on!"
Startled, Hermione glanced down to her left hand, "Oh, yeah, I just found them again and… I don't know. I put them back on. I've missed them."
"I'll go home first thing tomorrow to get mine," Harry told her without hesitation. He felt like his stomach was doing back flips- the thought that she'd put them back on without coercion from him meant loads.
Hermione smiled, looking up at him almost like she was in a daze, "I can't believe you never signed."
"I can't believe you actually thought I would."
She smirked, "Me either."
"Seems silly, huh?" he mumbled, leaning in to capture the corner of her lips with his.
Hermione's lips turned upward as her eyes fell shut, "Is 'silly' really the word you used to describe the past year?"
"Yes," he mumbled again, now muffled by her shoulder as he brushed kisses all down her neck.
"Such a boy…" she whispered, her voice getting lighter and lighter with every kiss Harry pressed to her.
Harry groaned as her hands skimmed over his chest. "Your boy needs attention," he said huskily into her ear.
Hermione couldn't help the light smile on her face as she moved her lips closer to his. Harry sealed the gap and pressed her to him tightly as his mouth played over hers gently.
Since her hands were already down in the vicinity, she pulled the ends of his shirt out of his pants before reaching back up to entwine her fingers with her hair.
Harry broke away and let out another throaty groan, "God I love it when you pull on my hair like that."
Hermione grinned as she tightened her hold, "And more truths are revealed."
"No point keeping secrets now, right?" Harry muttered, leaning back in.
She let him kiss her once before nodding, "Right."
Harry was suddenly overcome with his passion for her. His eyes glazed over as he stared at her and he could no longer fight to suppress his utter desire for her. In one quick move he reached down, grabbed her by her waist and threw her onto the newly made bed.
Hermione let out a surprised giggle as she landed and Harry started to climb on top of her.
"What'd we make this bed for anyway?" Harry asked impishly as he ripped the sheets from underneath
Hermione.
Hermione laughed, "Obviously we weren't thinking."
Once they were both backed into the head board, Hermione opened her legs so that Harry could settle in on top of her. They shared an eager, wet kiss before Harry pulled back to grab the hem of her blouse, "I can't wait until this is all over so sex can become our main concern."
"That sounds fantastic," Hermione breathed as Harry removed her of her blouse and reached back for her bra. His mouth casually found her sensitive spot as he worked, making Hermione let out a soft moan. Her toes curled tighter and tighter as he kissed her more and more fervently.
The rest of the night moved in a blur as they rid themselves of their remaining clothes and Harry again took Hermione as his.
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At about 2 a.m., Harry sat up abruptly. He looked around the dark room quickly, looking for any sign that something was out of the ordinary.
Hermione woke and looked at him groggily, "You okay?"
"Do you have a gun here?"
Hermione frowned, "A gun?"
"Accio wand!" Harry quickly caught his wand before resuming his scan of the room.
Hermione sat up, "Harry what's going on?"
"Nothing… I just had a strange feeling…"
"Nobody from my agency should be able to enter if you put up your own protections," Hermione gently tried to calm him, "That would confuse the office's decoding too much."
"I know, I just-"
And then he saw it. Harry's eyes focused over the small pulsating red X bouncing over Hermione's upper left breast. His eyes went wide as he saw a trail of shimmering dust slip under the door of Hermione's room and trace up to the red X. What happened next was a blur.
Hermione's mouth was opening, getting ready to ask Harry what he was staring at. Before she had the chance, Harry tackled her and rolled them off the bed as a blast of fiery red erupted from the shimmering trail. Instead of hitting Hermione, the curse slammed into the opposite wall, blasting a hole into the drywall.
Harry shouted a protego at the door, shielding another fire storm from entering the room. He knew that the unique curse would not stop until it had reached its target. So as quickly as he could, keeping Hermione clutched to him, he picked them up from the floor and ran over to the window. After a quick reducto, the window shattered. Harry turned back, ready to grab Hermione and climb out onto the roof. Hermione though had broken free from Harry and had crawled over to her nightstand. She was rifling through the contents of an open drawer when another blast came from the shimmering trail.
Hermione let out a cry as the flame-shot grazed her forearm. Panicked, Harry ran over and hoisted her up by the waist.
"No, let me get a gun!"
"There's no time!" he shouted back. Without hesitating, he ran them over to the window and lifted Hermione so she could climb out. He followed her immediately after and trailed behind her as she started to wind around a corner of the house. Harry followed, figuring she was leading them to a point where they could jump down. However, when Hermione stopped in front of another window leading back into a room off the second floor, he knew that wasn't the case.
"Hermione-"
"We can't leave without her!"
Harry glared but lifted his wand to the glass window. The glass disappeared in its frame and Hermione jumped in. He followed immediately behind her.
"Sienna!" Hermione ran over to where the blonde was covering next to the doorway. Her door had already been blown off its hinges.
"Have you called for backup?" Sienna asked, firing a curse down the hallway before leaning back inside. It seemed like she was duelling with someone.
"You know we can't," Hermione told her, pulling open her friend's dresser and pulling out her personal gun she kept confined there. She sent a look at Harry before cocking it.
"There's at least 6 or 7 highly trained hit-wizards down there," Sienna argued, also sending a look at Harry. Her expression was much more scathing.
"He must know by now Hermione," Harry said, positioning himself on the opposite side of the doorway. He was throwing as many curses down the hall as possible but it all seemed useless- he couldn't see what the hell was going on further off in the house. For all he knew they could be getting ambushed more and more by the second. They needed to leave.
"Who must know what?" Sienna asked, turning to Hermione for answers.
Hermione levelled a look at Harry before sighing, "Father. Malfoy must've tipped him off by now."
"That's impossible-"
"Accept it Sienna! Your boss isn't who you think he is."
"Spare me Evans," Sienna yelled, turning to glare unforgivably at him. "The wizards down there aren't French- they're English! I heard them yelling about right after the first blast!"
Hermione snapped her attention to Harry as he stared back at Sienna, "English? You're sure?"
The three of them covered their ears as something substantial exploded in Hermione's room. "Fucking positive," Sienna sneered through gritted teeth.
Hermione caught Harry's eyes for only a brief moment before he turned towards the open doorway, "SIRIUS!"
There was a resounding silence before a purple streak broke through the gapping doorway. The three of them covered as close to the wall as possible as the opposite end of the room burst into flames.
Sienna quickly doused the fire with water while Hermione turned to Harry, "You're going to have to try harder than that!"
Harry took a deep breath and filled his mind with thoughts of Hermione and the night before last. He concentrated on her expression of surrender and love as he let the magic surge within him. He lifted his wand and without saying a word, a wispy, silvery mass protruded from his wand. Without further instruction, his stag propelled itself forward into the warring hallway.
"SIRIUS IT'S ME!" Harry yelled a split second later. His heart thumped harder as he heard voices downstairs.
All three of them were relieved to hear Sirius's smooth voice call back a moment later, "How old were you when you produced your first corporeal patronus?"
"Thirteen," Harry called back with ease. Both Sienna and Hermione jerked their heads back to him in shock.
"Why did you produce it?"
"To save you from the dementors that were out to capture you the night Pettigrew escaped."
"It's him," the three of them heard the older man say.
"Well no doubt it's him, but who knows what kind of charms that bird has him under," someone- probably Fred or George- replied.
Harry felt exasperated but responded nonetheless, "I'm throwing out my wand! Once you have it, I'll come down and you can finite me so you can see for yourself."
"We're going to need the ladies' wands as well Harry," Remus replied.
Harry turned to Sienna but she shook her head vehemently, "You can go get fucked. Who knows what they'll do to me as soon as I'm unprotected."
"You're with us now, the Order won't touch you," Harry argued.
"Bollucks-"
"Sienna trust him," Hermione ordered sternly, sliding her gun over to Harry.
The blonde glared as Harry held out his hand for her only form of defence. Despite how much abhorrence was behind her eyes, she tossed the thin piece of wood at her friend's ex.
Harry gave her a curt nod before taking the three weapons and tossing them down the hall. He never heard the clatter, and assumed that Sirius or Remus had already accio'd them over. Harry then stood up straight and stepped outside.
As soon as both of his feet touched down in the hallway, a purple bolt shot into him. He felt a tingling sensation run from head to toe and even though he'd never seen his older mentors use this spell before, he knew it was to check if he wasn't cursed or acting under anyone else's impulses.
"I'm coming out," he called again. He raised his hands to shoulder level as he slowly continued out into the hall, or what was left of it at least. After a few steps, he began his descent down stairs.
The lamps had been turned on, shedding light across the downstairs part of the house. The living room and kitchen area were mostly untouched. Sirius, Remus, Lupin, Ron, Fred, and George were all positioned throughout the larger room, all of them with their wands drawn.
Harry gave them all a suggestive look, emphasizing his still raised hands, "You happy now?"
"Are we happy now?" Sirius repeated scathingly. He lowered his wand and squared his shoulders. Harry could tell he was about to get a telling, "Boy, have you ever heard of a bloody owl? Next time you want to go gallivanting off with your ex who, I might add, gave her best shot at murdering you the day prior, you might want to send a bloody owl!"
"I think we're all owed an explanation Harry," Remus spoke more serenely for the group.
"Of course, I owe you all an explanation. But first would you mind if I called Hermione and Sienna down here so we can all get the facts straight together?"
Remus nodded without checking with the others. Sirius sat back, still in the midst of his hissy fit while the three Weasley brothers shared looks with each other. Harry turned around and called for the girls to come down.
As soon as they were visible, Fred and George sent twin purple charms at them, the same that Harry had been hit with. The spell hit the two underdressed women and came up with the same effect, showing the Order that the three of them were all clean and acting under their own impulses. Harry turned back to them with a grateful look, but frowned when he saw Ron, George, and Fred with their wands still trained on Sienna and his wife.
"Mate," Harry tried, giving his best friend an imploring look.
"She did try to kill you- and the blonde seems a bit viscous. We'll lower our wands once we get your explanation…"
Harry sighed and looked back to Hermione and Sienna for their consent. Hermione nodded while Sienna stuck her tongue out at the men. Fred and George grinned impishly.
"Sorry about this Sirius," Hermione said coming up next to Harry, "You're right, Harry should've sent an owl.
"Oh, throw me under the bus," he said giving her a betrayed look. Hermione smiled as Sirius chuckled.
"Should've figured…" he muttered under his breath.
"Alright you two. We're listening. What's with the sudden change of heart?"
"I was lied to Sirius," Hermione started, giving the man a solemn look, "I was lied to from the start. My boss- we call him Father-" Harry noticed Sienna give Hermione a sharp look as she started revealing details. He knew that it must've been hard for the woman to suddenly have a change of loyalty; Harry just hoped she would trust in Hermione and not do anything stupid.
"He's never revealed to me his real name, but I do have more insight into his actual identity."
Sirius frowned, "Who is he?"
"He's Narcissa Malfoy's mother. Draco Malfoy's biological, maternal grandfather."
An uproar came from where the Weasley's were standing. Remus turned to them and quieted them before turning back to Hermione, "Tell us more."
"He knew that Harry was there the day Narcissa was killed. All along he's blamed Harry for his daughter's death. When he found out I was getting married… I dunno, I guess he looked into him. It's all been a set up ever since I joined the agency."
"I have no idea why he waited so long to do this, but basically what we understood was that Father was trying to set us up against each other so that I could take out Harry. I assume it'd be his ultimate form of revenge, having me who's been like a daughter to him destroy the man who he blamed for his real daughter's death. That, and Draco told us that he planned on easily destroying the Order after Harry's death. He wanted to take out the competition."
Sirius looked back and forth between the two, "How long have you known this?"
"We found out today," Harry answered. "Hunted Malfoy down and made him tell us the truth."
A grim look swiped over Sirius's handsome face, "So Draco's been betraying the Order."
"Yes-"
"No, not necessarily." Harry gave Hermione a sharp look to which Hermione glared back, "He wasn't acting on the desire to betray the Order. We put him under veritaserum to make him explain honestly. He only did two missions for my agency under Father's direct orders. He was sent to kill Ezekiel and to pick up Krum. That's it."
"Oh, that greasy haired bloke is who we're talking about?" Sienna chimed in from the side. The twins shared another grin.
"What'd you do with him Harry?" Remus asked next, a hint of worry in his voice.
Harry shrugged, "Left him with Ginny. Figured she'd know best what to do with him."
The Weasley brothers all smirked, knowing that their little sister wouldn't left the Malfoy git off so easily.
"So now what?" Sirius asked, bringing the conversation back to a more serious point, "Where do we go from here? I assume you two have made up, meaning you're not returning to your agency?"
Hermione nodded, "Sienna and I both have more or less resigned."
"Does he know?"
"We're hoping not yet, but we know it's only a matter of time."
Sirius nodded again before turning to look at Remus. The two old Gryffindors seemed to have a silent conversation with each other. It wasn't until several moments later that he turned back around to Harry.
"It's settled then; you three will come back to headquarters so we can figure out how to destroy this nutcase before he attempts to destroy us."
Hermione shook her head, "It's not as easy as that Sirius. Father wants Harry, meaning he'll want me once he finds out we're back together. Honestly, we should stay far away from each other-"
"Hermione, you're back with my godson meaning you're back a part of this family. Family's stick together. We're not letting you plan any of this out without our support. Now, your agency knows about this place I assume, and they know about your home back in London. They have no clue where the Order's headquarters are. It's the safest place for you now."
Hermione sighed, touched by the man's words. She looked around to the other members of the order, wondering if they were really willing to risk their lives just for her. With a hint of satisfaction, she noticed that the Weasley brothers had lowered their wands. They all looked equally under the impression that she should come back with them. She began to shake her head. It was all too up in the air. She shouldn't be involving them- she shouldn't even be involving Harry! She knew Father was after him and because of that she knew deep down what she had to do.
It was up to her; she had to be the one to kill Father.
She was just about to open her mouth and tell them all that she appreciated it dearly, but she had to go on alone, when she felt Harry's fingers lace through hers. She looked up to him.
"They're right Hermione. Our headquarters is the safest place I know. We need to be in a place that we can strategize with a clear head. Grimmauld Place is the best place for that."
"Plus, our people could be coming at any moment." Hermione turned, acknowledging Sienna who spoke, "Who knows when the next time my beautiful Hollywood home's suddenly going to get blown apart," she said, giving all the men a cynical look. "I don't really fancy the idea of being here when it happens again."
Hermione sighed. She knew she was outnumbered and the last thing she wanted was to go off on her own without her husband or her best friend. With a losing expression, she looked up at Sirius.
"There aren't any apparition wards in the garage."
…
Hermione rolled her neck later that morning, wincing as her bones cracked together. Her and Harry were rooming together in one of the larger rooms in the expansive Grimmauld Place. Hermione had found the home fascinating at first and even more so once Harry shared with her some of his history there.
When the group had first returned to the antique headquarters, they immediately sat down at the kitchen table to discuss what their next plan of action would be. After a bit of debating, Hermione and surprisingly enough Sienna had decided that the best idea was to send Hermione into Father's office so that she could finish the old man off. Harry had tried the entire early morning to get the conversation around that point, but he'd failed to stop the agreements once it was brought up. Hermione figured he was still mad at her, seeing as he hadn't been back to their room and she'd been getting ready for bed for the past ten minutes.
She knew it must've been hard for him to get over the idea of Hermione willingly walking into an extremely dangerous situation with her extremely deadly boss. However, they'd been through it- they had no other easy, immediate options. Of course, after the agreement to her proposal, Harry had made sure that every tool, checkpoint, and backup would be put into place to give Hermione as much support as possible.
Just as Hermione was starting to run through the plan once more in her mind, she heard the bedroom door open and close behind her. She turned and saw Harry walking towards her, his hands behind his back.
"What've you got there?" Hermione asked, nodding her head in his direction as she twisted her hair up into a sloppy bun.
"Something I think you'll need for later…"
Hermione gasped as Harry pulled her thin, vinewood wand from behind his back. He held it out to her.
"You kept it…" Hermione muttered, reaching forward and delicately taking her wand from his open palm.
"Never had time to get rid of it," Harry muttered, a cheeky twinkle playing in his eyes.
Hermione smiled, "Thank you, Harry. Thank you so much."
"Just promise to never try and kill me with that again, will you?"
"I can't make that promise- we have a lifetime of marriage ahead of us. There are bound to be times where I'm going to want to try and kill you."
Harry grinned and grabbed her suddenly, squeezing her sides as his mouth short-cutted to her luscious neck. Hermione let out a delighted 'eep' and was just about to wrap her arms around him, wanting more, when he pulled away.
"We should probably get to bed so we can wake up in time to run plans with everyone before it's time to go."
Hermione frowned. That was it? No hungry kiss? No seduction? No… no plea to let him come with her?
She didn't want anyone to get the wrong idea- she didn't want Harry to try and force his way into her mission. But she at least expected him to try. The fact that he wasn't on his hands and knees begging to come with her was a bit surprising to say the least.
"Er, okay…" she whispered, following him over to the old bed.
He had already climbed in and was waiting for her at the centre. Hermione twirled her wand in her hands a couple times before pointing it at a window in the opposite corner of the room that was beginning to let in the early rays of the morning sun.
With a sharp swish, the window curtains closed immediately over the glass windowpane. Hermione smiled contently to herself.
"Still got it," she muttered, before setting her wand down on the nightstand and climbing in to settle down next to Harry.
Despite the severity of the situation the couple would face the following evening, it wasn't hard to fall asleep once Hermione was laying down next to Harry. She remembered the feel of him pressing a few kisses at the corner of her mouth before she readily slipped off into darkness.
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The mood was tense that evening on the underground in Paris. To anyone watching, they would've found it odd the way a classy looking, red haired business woman was staring directly into the eyes of a tall, brown haired teenage boy. Harry and Hermione couldn't help themselves though. Deep down, they both knew the situation they were about to enter. Neither of them wanted to dwell on it, but they both knew tonight could be the last night they would ever have eye contact like that.
A black man, standing nearby with a trumpet harnessed around his neck cleared his throat loudly as the train cart started to brake. The other order members were there too, just like the planned had called for.
Hermione's heart started to beat louder and louder as the carriage slowed. The platform was in sight now… any second she'd have to leave him.
A second later, the carriage stopped completely. The doors opened as the conductor announced the French platform.
Hermione hesitated for a second, giving herself one last moment to say an internal goodbye to her husband. Harry stared back through eyes that weren't his as the business woman bent down, picked up her briefcase, and walked out of the carriage, onto the platform. She didn't turn back, and Harry understood why.
He sucked in a deep breath as more people left the carriage.
"She's gonna be pissed at you," the black man muttered to him lowly in English.
The brown haired teenager nodded, "I know."
He stepped out of the carriage and started walking towards the exit of the Paris subway, following closely behind
the business woman.
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Please everyone, if you have any questions or are confused giving the huge time gap, let me know in a review!