Disclaimer: Not mine. You know how it would have ended if it was, right?
A/N: My response to the "Kissing Santa" Challenge by leochick, which can be found here: http://talk.portkey.org/index.php?showtopic=26200. Hope you'll enjoy it, and please leave me a comment if you read, so that I know what you think of it.
Kissing The Wrong Santa
Chapter Thirteen: Field Mission
"He proposed, and I said no" she explained, then, before Harry's brain could completely comprehend the sentence she had uttered, she flung herself at him and kissed him hard on the mouth.
For a moment Harry responded to the kiss, but then he broke the contact, pushing her away.
"No, Hermione" he whispered.
He had to fight his first instinct, to snog her senseless, but he somehow managed it.
She looked at him, scared. It couldn't be too late. It just couldn't…
Both of them remained silent for a while, then Hermione finally spoke.
"Harry…" she started. "I know I've been a fool…" but he interrupted her.
"Hermione, you made it really clear to me that you didn't want to hurt Ron or take the risk. And you know what? I understand you now. I care about Sarah and I'd hate to see her hurting. So, no thanks, I'm not taking the risk"
"But…you said you were willing to…" Hermione pleaded him, feeling tears starting to burn at her eyes.
Harry had to master all his will power not to hug her and console her. But in the end, he hoarsely spoke.
"You can't have it both ways, Hermione. You told me you didn't want to risk, now it's my turn to not want to do it. You can't expect me to wait for you to wake up and suddenly drop my girlfriend just because you decided you wanted a shot at us being together" he said, gently pushing her out of his flat. She didn't really oppose herself, knowing it was no use anyhow. "Goodnight" he said then, closing the door.
Hermione slid to the floor, leaning on the wall, and let the tears fall. She had pushed him away and in the end she lost him…
After some time, she managed to find the strength to Apparate to her flat, and then she let the sobs have the best of her, crying through the whole night.
In his own flat, Harry was on his bed, wide awake, rehearsing the events of the night in his head. Had he done the right thing?
He didn't get a minute of sleep, tormented by this question.
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It took lots of strength on Hermione's part to go to work the next day. But she managed to, and as usual she found Sarah already there. She had mixed feelings about the girl. There was hate, because she had stolen Harry from her, ("But is this really true?" she asked herself later, alone in her office. "Didn't I lose him myself?"), but there was also liking, as she was really a lovely girl and she could easily see why a man could fall for her. Plus, she was an hard worker just like Hermione herself, and that made them similar.
"Good morning" Hermione called out, more cheerfully than she felt.
"Oh, hi Hermione" Sarah greeted back. "You don't look well" she frowned.
"It would be a miracle if I did" Hermione thought, then smiled sadly. "Me and Ron broke up yesterday night" she said. "He proposed but I wasn't ready to take that step"
Sarah tried to console her and that was how Harry found them. He couldn't stop himself from feeling a rush of affection for the younger girl.
As the days passed, the three of them became busier and busier so there was little time for Harry and Sarah to fool with each other, which made Hermione's adjusting to the situation easier. She was slowly healing, and she knew she would never truly be over Harry, but that she had to let go for his happiness. After all he had been through, he deserved it.
On his part, Harry was as thoughtful as he could be around Hermione, not wanting to hurt her more than he already did, and that helped her recover.
They were currently planning their first field activity as an Auror team. Harry and Hermione had already been on field missions together but that was Sarah's first time. The girl was growing a bit nervous as the day of the operation was nearing itself.
They had managed to track a dangerous French Death Eater wannabe, Jean Jordovski. The surname denoted his Russian heritage. However, his family had never had anything to do with the Dark Arts before. His father had met Jean's mother in Marseille on a business trip for the Russian Ministry of Magic, and had transferred there to get married with her. She was the daughter of a wealthy French Wizarding family, purebloods for generations but never really opposed to the Muggle-borns and Half-bloods.
Jean, however, had been brought on the dark path of the Death Eaters by the casual encounter with Dolohov, and now was trying to organize his own group of dark wizards to try and continue what Voldemort hadn't been able to finish.
He had already been accounted responsible for many Muggle-born killings in Paris and other French cities, and some in Switzerland too. As his power was trying to extend over the central Europe, he was a menace that needed to be eliminated as soon as possible.
Harry, Hermione and Sarah were to cooperate with another team of Aurors. The six of them had been chosen for this stealth operation, that justified the little number of people involved.
When the day finally arrived, Harry reunited the six of them in a room, bringing an old boot with him.
"This is going to be our Portkey to the suburbs of Strasbourg, where we have located Jordovski's whereabouts. We expect some other dark wizards to be there with him, so be careful and never let your guard down. You all know what positions you have to take and look out for anything that moves. First stun, then ask questions"
When everyone nodded, he placed the boot on the table and said, "On the count of three touch the boot. One…two…three!"
Everyone got hold of the object and was transported to France, in a wood. They cautiously moved toward the construction they could spot in the distance.
They were all tense as they approached it, and Harry signalled for them to take their positions on the sides of the door, then he took a long breath and crashed through it, wand ready, followed by his companions.
Spells flew and a fight harsher than the Aurors expected took place. Harry found himself face to face with Jordovski, and their duel was a real sight. Both of them used their full magical ability, neither being able to get the upper hand on the other, while around them curses were thrown at will. Hermione managed to stun her opponent and tie him in resistant ropes, Sarah was doing her best against an older witch who wasn't exactly playing fair, but the girl was tough, and even if she got some scrapes on her left arm, in the end she found an hole in her enemy's defense, effectively freezing her with a full body bind.
"You should give up" Harry smirked, seeing that all of Jordovski's cronies were taken.
"Never, Potter" the other sneered back, only to be knocked unconscious by a chair Hermione sent flying toward him and which collided exactly with his head.
Harry grinned at her, then turned toward the others who were cheering their victory. Hermione relaxed too. No one noticed someone else slip out of a room next to Hermione. She was covered by the wall so the dark wizard couldn't hit her as he didn't even know she was there, but that was an advantage for the man too, as she couldn't see him easily.
When she noticed him it was too late, as he had already fired his curse. The next moment he was on the ground, stunned, but the ominous black light of the curse he had thrown couldn't be stopped before it hit Sarah directly in her chest.
With a faint "Oh" she fell to the ground, feeling darkness envelope her.
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