Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. If I did, Harry and Hermione would be married right now.
A/N: My take on the challenge "Secrecy" by reptilia, you can find the requirements here: http://talk.portkey.org/index.php?showtopic=26369 . Hope you'll like it, and if you read, please review to let me know how I'm doing, ok? Thanks!
I've made some changes to chap 9 so you might want to go and reread it, especially the ending if you don't want to go through the whole chapter, as the ending is what has been changed the most. I hope this chapter will make it up to all of you who were upset by last chapter. I'm posting this earlier than usual hoping you'll like it. There's not a complete explanation of the events of last chap but there's a big hint, I'm sure you can guess from there, and there is quite a bit of action. A tiny bit of gore too, and of Vindictive! Hermione. I'm reposting this chap because I realized Hermione wouldn't kill out of revenge. I kept her using Sectumsempra but with less deadly results.
Secret Wizards
Chapter Ten: Screwed Up And A Rescue
Next morning, Harry woke up feeling cold. He was on the couch, and he wasn't used to sleep alone anymore. Plus, his back was terribly sore for the uncomfortable position he slept in. He wondered if Hermione had come back at all the previous night, and he went to check the bedroom. It was empty.
Snuggling with Hermione in the morning had quickly become an habit, and he missed it. Seeing the empty bed made him realize exactly how much she had come to mean to him during this mission, and he wanted to bang his head on the wall as he thought back to the events of the previous afternoon and evening. Some Secret Wizard he had proved to be, drinking something that tasted strange. Once again his inability to think before acting got him in trouble.
Harry was also starting to worry for Hermione. The last time he had seen her was when she had left the previous night. He spotted a note on her bedside table.
Harry,
I couldn't sleep so I went to do
some investigation in Frikplask's suite.
I'm sorry but right now I can stand seeing you,
So I left alone
Hermione
He frowned. She must have come back when he was already asleep, and carefully avoided confronting him that morning. He just hoped he hadn't messed up their friendship, that would kill him.
Smacking his forehead with his right hand, and cursing himself for the umpteenth time for being such a stupid git both toward his partner and his wife, he sighed, then went to take a long, hot shower, relaxing under the spray of water. If Hermione didn't want to see him, there was no use for him to search her. She would make sure she avoided him till she wanted to confront him, that he already knew all too well.
Finally, he dressed with a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, and went to the living room with their bag of tricks.
There, he proceeded to send the memory of the meeting they had witnessed to their boss through their Immediate Post Pit, after removing the silvery string from his brain and placing it in a vial.
Then, he stood up, wanting to get the papers Hermione had copied to study them more, since he had had little chance to do that, when something glinting in the sunlight caught his eye.
He crouched on the floor and found two empty vials, hidden under the couch. It was just luck that sunlight had crept under it and made that glint or he might have never discovered them. Picking them up, he noticed there were some remnants of potion in them.
He raised his wand.
"Potionem Indico"
As the yellow beam hit the vials, Harry's eyes widened, the names of the two potions spelled in front of him in the air.
"Bloody Hell" he muttered before rushing to the bedroom.
--
Hermione cautiously stepped into the suite, under Harry's cloak.
Wand in hand, she proceeded to the living room. She didn't know what she was searching there, but she knew she had to do something, otherwise she would go mad replaying the image of Harry in bed with that wench in her mind. It was burned into her brain and she needed some kind of distraction to get rid of it.
Stepping around the couch, she kneeled to inspect under it.
"Expelliarmus!" a voice shouted behind her, and her wand flew away from her hand.
"Accio Invisibility Cloak" was uttered next and she was revealed. She turned to see the sneering face of Ethan Frikplask looking at her, the remnants of a Disillusionment Charm still wearing off. He must have removed it once he got her wand.
"Nice of you to join us, Miss Granger" he taunted her, and Hermione had no time to duck before a stunner from behind her back hit her, and the world went black.
--
"Chief Secret Wizard Hanlemore, here is Secret Wizard Potter, it's an emergency" Harry shouted into the mirror.
"What is it, Potter?"
"Our cover was blown, and SW Granger is now in the suspect's suite, unaware of the fact. There's an high possibility she has been taken by now" Harry nervously said.
"Care to tell me how your cover got blown, Potter?" Hanlemore glared. "Never mind, I'm sending word to the Australian Aurors, try to find Granger and then cast a tracking charm on yourself so they will know where to go"
Harry nodded, and closed the communication, rushing out of the suite after Disillusioning himself. Hermione had taken his cloak over him. Hastily making his way to the suspect's suite, he noticed it was open. He warily entered, and checked the rooms, but found no one there. Looking out of the window he noticed Frikplask and Michaela entering his car, Hermione being dragged with them. He quickly restored his Firebolt to its normal size and swung on it, taking off out of the window, smashing it in the process, after Disillusioning his broom too, so that he wouldn't be spotted by Muggles.
He didn't care of the tiny cuts he got himself with the process, and cast a Silencing Charm over his broom and himself, flying in hot pursuit of the car, who was driving at mad speed through the streets of Sydney.
He followed it to the very outskirts of the town, where it stopped in front of a storehouse.
"Must be their hideout" he reasoned and approached it quickly, all the time berating himself for putting Hermione in this situation. If anything happened to her…
No, he had no time to think about it. He pushed the thought out of his mind and landed nearby. He cautiously made his way to the building, his now shrunk broom in his pocket and wand at the ready.
He didn't notice any guards on the side of the storehouse, so he crouched there, using their improved version of the Extendable Ears to listen what was being said inside, and the Everywhere Eye to see through the wall.
--
"Feisty, isn't she?" Frikplask laughed, and his minions did too, at the sight of Hermione, tied to a chair, struggling to get free.
She glared at him, even in that situation she wouldn't lose her pride.
"I fear we will have to leave you to the care of Michaela for some time, dear" he said, caressing her cheek with his hand. Harry wanted to strangle the man for toughing Hermione. "Me and my faithful friends have some matters to discuss, but I'm sure you can guess what it is about, don't you? By the way, interesting use of Muggle technology with those enchanted micro cameras, I'm sure you're the one who came up with it" he said, winking at her. Hermione fought the urge to shiver, than man gave her the creeps the way he looked at her. "I'll make sure you have enough company after our meeting though, of that you can be sure" Frikplask then laughed coldly, and Hermione knew what he was hinting.
Harry quietly moved to the other side of the storehouse, to check how many enemies he was against, while he cast the tracking charm to let the Aurors know where he was.
He spotted ten, plus seven other patrolling upstairs.
"Seventeen bad guys, and I'm alone" he snorted. "Don't think I can do it" he sighed. Waiting for the Aurors to arrive, he decided to act only if Hermione's life came in immediate danger. He slithered to the side of the building where Michaela was watching her and he felt a surge of hatred for the woman. Not even Bellatrix had ever elicited such raw emotion from him like the woman who was now taunting Hermione.
"He was so eager to spill me all your secrets, told me he couldn't wait to have you killed so me and him could shackle up" the blonde said. "He told me what kind of annoying, bushy haired, ugly bookworm and know-it-all you are, and that he wondered why he ever bothered being friends and partners with you" she continued, and Harry could see hurt on Hermione's face.
It was ironic how a cold blooded murdered like Ethan Frikplask couldn't bother her, not too much at least, and a stupid wench could instead get under her skin so easily.
Harry felt his blood boil in his veins at the sight of tears pooling into Hermione's eyes. The cold laugh leaving Michaela's lips when she spotted it made him so full of rage he knew he would have no problem casting the Killing Curse on the slut.
He willed himself to calm down. He would explain everything to Hermione once she was free, hoping she would forgive him although he knew he wouldn't forgive himself in her place, but right now he needed to focus.
He pondered over his options. With their bag of tricks in his pocket, he could trap the thugs inside with some Portable Anti-Apparition, Anti-Floo and Anti-Portkey Wards. He could then seal the door, and they wouldn't be able to leave till the Aurors arrived, but this wouldn't stop them from killing Hermione, and once they were sealed in, he was sealed out. It wouldn't do.
He could seal the door only after he had entered but then he would be sealed into a storehouse with seventeen dark wizards and Hermione didn't have a wand to help him fight them, so he ruled out that option too.
Rummaging into the bag, he found some Peruvian Instant Blackness powder. He could seal them in, use the powder to stop them from spotting him while he saved Hermione, but he would be moving in the darkness too. Then, he found a vial of a fluorescent liquid, and grinned. That would do. It was an antidote to the powder, developed by the twins, who were more or less the Secret Wizards Q Branch, for anyone who knew Bond movies. If he drank it, it would allow him to see in the dark just like Muggle nocturnal vision goggles.
And for the escape, there was his broom, he remembered. The place had to have a window somewhere, and they could smash through it. Hermione didn't like flying, but for once she might even be glad to do it, he chuckled.
His plan of action decided, he started throwing the Anti-Apparition, Anti-Portkey and Anti-Floo Ward spheres on the building. Then, he found the door, and saw one single enemy guarding it. A well placed stunner let him in, and then he cast a strengthened version of Colloportus on the door. He quickly gulped down the potion, and his vision blurred for a moment. Light was hurting his eyes now, so he closed them and let the Instant Blackness Powder loose. When he was sure it had started working, he opened his eyes and he could see quite well. He could hear panicked enemies running blindly running around, and he smirked, while he made his way toward Hermione, throwing more powder on his way. Michaela was shrieking like a banshee, and he silenced her with a well placed blow to her head with his elbow. Then he freed Hermione, whispered into her ear to stay calm and pulled her on his broom after restoring its size. He gave her a vial of the same potion he had gulped, and once she could see, she grabbed his wand and cast Sectumsempra on Michaela, slashing the bitch repeatedly, a great amount of blood pouring out. Harry was sure once the cuts were healed, the scars would ruin Michaela's good looks forever.
He however could easily understand Hermione's need to get revenge on the woman, and he wasn't much surprised to see her choice of spell, as deadly as it could be. He himself had wanted to kill the bitch, after all.
Then, he zoomed upstairs toward the only window in the building, blew it open with a Reducto, and flew outside, just to see Aurors starting to pop nearby, as the wards he had used prevented them to Apparate inside the building.
He landed near the one he thought was the commander.
"Secret Wizard Potter" he said, still holding Hermione close.
"Auror Commander Richards" the other man said, shaking Harry's free hand.
"The bad guys are locked inside the building by wards preventing them to flee, and the door is sealed. Inside there's pitch black darkness because of a special powder I used, if not for a small portion of the upper floor where I smashed the window, so you might want to drink this before entering" Harry explained, giving the commander five more vials of the potion he had used to see in the dark. The twins had named it the Midnight Sight Potion.
As he let the Aurors start their operation, Harry placed Hermione under a nearby tree.
"Will you be ok for a little while?" he softly asked her and she nodded, shock engulfing her now that she was safe. Adrenaline had sustained her till that moment, but now she slumped against the tree trunk.
He kissed her on the cheek then rushed back into the building to help.
Half an hour later sixteen of the bad guys had been arrested, and a bloody, pale and unconscious Michaela too. Her wounds had been healed but the scars would remain on her skin. Only Frikplask hadn't been captured yet, and he had killed three Aurors that had duelled him, as he had moved in the spot of light provided by the broken window.
"Leave him to me" Harry snarled.
"Potter, what a pleasure" Ethan sneered. "I'll kill you just like I killed them" he said, pointing his wand at Harry.
"Avada Kedavra!"
The green light flew fast toward Harry, who merely conjured a rock in its path, then fired a volley of curses toward his enemy. He spread it in a wide range, and while his opponent was able to avoid the more deadly ones, them being Reducto and Sectumsempra, there was no way he could avoid them all.
Unluckily, only Tarantallegra hit the man, who quickly recovered ending its effects.
"Childish, Potter" he taunted, then cast some dark curses. Harry avoided the Cruciatus, and the Killing Curse again, but couldn't help being hit by a black light, which caused an huge gash to open on his right shoulder. Blood freely spilling on the ground, Harry felt quickly dizzy, but fought to keep his focus on the duel.
His enemy was sneering and Harry knew what he would cast next. The green light that erupted was no surprise, and Harry collected every ounce of strength he still had in his body then Accioed the man to himself.
This move caught Frikplask by surprise and he flew straight onto Harry, intercepting the Killing Curse he himself had cast, falling dead on the ground.
Harry then felt blackness envelope him.
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