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!
Secret Wizards
Chapter Five: Starting The Surveillance
When Hermione emerged from the bathroom half an hour later, Harry turned, while finishing to button his white shirt, and was rendered speechless.
She was wearing a black dress that emphasized her curves, clinging to her body in the right places, and leaving bare most of her back, and a good amount of her cleavage, which was underlined by the crystal pendant she was wearing around her neck.
Her hair was styled in curly waves cascading around her shoulders, and the hint of make up that she wore exalted her natural beauty.
The attire was completed by high heels, and the Trust-me bracelet around her right wrist, which had magically adjusted to match the style of what she was wearing.
Harry had placed his own under his Armani shirt, as it was a bit uncommon for men to wear bracelets, and it had magically thinned so that it wouldn't be noticed. His attire was completed by a pair of Dolce & Gabbana black jeans, and a matching sweater. Nothing too formal, but elegant enough to not clash with Hermione's choice of clothes.
"My, you're smashing" he whispered, and she blushed, knowing what he said wasn't part of their cover.
"Thanks, you look quite handsome yourself" she said. "Will you help me to close the zipper?" she asked then, and he obliged.
He sucked in a breath as he smelled her perfume, and closed his eyes for a moment, revelling in it. Then, he grabbed the zipper and finished to pull it up, grazing her skin with his hand as he did so. That sent a shiver down her spine.
"Calm down, baby" she chastised herself. "It's just Harry, right?" she thought, not completely convinced, though.
They then downed their Polyjuice potion, transforming once more in John and Alexandra Glenson.
"Shall we go, then?" he said.
"Of course, luv" she said softly, as he had already opened the door so she had resumed playing her part. It didn't came difficult at all, knowing it was Harry she was really talking with. He placed his right arm around her waist and started walking them toward the lifts.
"You know, I might get used to walking like this with you" he whispered into her ear. "The real you, I mean" he then added, in a voice that Hermione thought was slightly husky.
"I wouldn't mind" she cheekily whispered back.
They met with Ethan and Michaela just outside the restaurant.
"Oh, here you are, our favourite couple of newlyweds" Ethan said, taking Alexandra's hand and kissing it, making her blush the tiniest bit. "You two must really be in love, it just radiates from you" he said then with a wink.
Michaela flashed John her best smile, and the four of them walked to a table in a secluded area of the room.
As they enjoyed their meal, Harry/John decided to try and steer the conversation on a more useful topic.
"So, we are here for our honeymoon, but I didn't catch why are you here, Ethan" he said while cutting a bit of lobster, and offering it to Hermione, a cute gesture that most married couples do. She took a bite and smiled at him, thanking him.
"Oh, just some business in town. But I like treating myself and my girl well even if it's only for business" the other man evasively replied, squeezing Michaela's hand. She distractedly nodded, finding John much more interesting.
"I'd tell you more, but I fear the ladies will be bored to death" their target joked then. "However, I'm going to take a day off and go fishing in the ocean in a couple days time, so if you want to join me, we could always finish this conversation then" he suggested. The man had taken a liking for John, probably due to the Trust-me bracelets they were wearing doing their job.
Hermione/Alexandra, however, clearly had a less pleasant opinion of their target.
"Ugh, he's a fucking pervert" she said once they were in the safety of their soundproof suite, thanks to some Silencing Charms, while kicking away the high heels shoes she was wearing. "Did nothing else than leer at me all dinner" she complained.
Harry felt her uneasiness and protectively wrapped his arms around her. "If it makes you feel better, Michaela kept ogling at me too" he joked, and felt her relax in his embrace.
She smiled at him. "It would be hard not to" she said softly, leaning in to kiss him, but chickening out at the last moment, as she reasoned they hadn't to keep their cover up in there, and kissed him just on the corner of his mouth, berating herself for almost slipping.
"Who knows what he would have thought if I kissed him on the mouth without reason" she reasoned, and tried to evade the awkward situation going to change for bed.
Harry stood there, rooted on the bed, wondering if she really was almost going to kiss him or if he had just imagined it. "Wistful thinking, Potter" he scolded himself while slipping into his pyjama bottoms. He didn't bother with a shirt, as it was quite hot there in Australia, and moved toward the couch.
"Don't you dare" a voice stopped him.
He turned to see Hermione, leaning on the bathroom doorframe and scowling at him. "We both need rest, Harry, and you know it" she said, contemporarily thinking of Snape in a swimsuit to stop herself from ogling at his naked chest.
"Oh, we will get plenty of rest tomorrow. We are posing as newlyweds, we aren't expected to be able to keep our hands off each other, so I think we should just stay in here, letting the others think we are shagging," he blushed saying this, probably imagining how would it be to shag Hermione, "and take the chance to plan our actions" he finished then, trying to will himself to calm down.
Hermione blushed deep red at what he was suggesting most newlyweds did, but realized he was right.
"Still, it doesn't seem fair to me that you sleep on the couch. We are both responsible adults, Harry, so don't be silly and sleep in the bed"
He sighed. There was no way he could win an argument with her, he thought, and did as he was told. Both moved to the farthest end of the bed from the other, keeping lots of space between them, and trying to not feel the awkwardness.
Soon enough, sleep engulfed them both.
When Harry woke up the next morning, he felt something heavy leaning on his chest. He forced his eyes open, and was met with the sight of Hermione's head resting there, his right arm wrapped around her.
"Bloody Hell, how in the world did we end spooning?" was the first thing that crossed his mind. Then, he tried to move from the potentially embarrassing situation without waking her up, but soon found out there was no way to accomplish the feat. "She probably usually slept like this with Ron, and did the same with me out of habit" he thought, but then realized it was more than an year since she and Ron had divorced, surely she would have lost the habit by then. He, however, was still married with Ginny, as rocky as their relationship was, so maybe it was him who had reached out for her while sleeping.
Sighing, he resigned to wait for her to wake up, absent-mindedly running an hand through her honey-coloured curls.
He felt all his blood rush south as she emitted a low purr of satisfaction at his ministrations.
"Down, Potter" he thought, willing himself not to get aroused, but he already knew it was going to be a lost battle. Especially because Hermione was slightly squirming on top of him, and pressing herself more into his body.
Finally, he heard a louder intake of breath, first sign that she was waking up.
Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Hermione wondered why her pillow was so hard, and moved to find herself looking into the green eyes of Harry Potter.
"Good morning" he grinned at her, and she just had to smile.
"Good morning to you, Harry" she said, then finally the situation they were in registered in her still sleepy brain, and she jumped away from him, blushing madly.
He chuckled.
"It's not funny, Harry" she said, scowling, but in the end she chuckled too.
"How in the world did we end spooning?" she voiced the question he had asked himself earlier.
"Don't really know," he said, "but I've to admit it felt good" he cheekily added then, earning himself a playful swat on the arm.
"Order our breakfast while I shower, Potter. We have some planning to do" she said with a wink, and quickly entered the bathroom, not fast enough to stop Harry from noticing what a cute bum she had, though.
He groaned. It was going to be a very long mission.
As he heard the shower being turned on, he phoned the reception to bring them a classic English breakfast, with scrambled eggs, toast, jam, both tea and coffee and of course bacon and muffins.
Few minutes later, there was a knock on the door, and Harry thanked the waiter, then placed the tray on the bed, and placed a charm on it to keep everything warm.
It was just few minutes before Hermione emerged from the bathroom, wrapped in a fluffy white towel, drying her hair with another one, and that simple gesture, done without any sexual innuendo from her part, almost drove Harry insane.
He felt himself getting a nasty stiffy, and quickly readjusted the sheets on the bed to cover his lap. "S-so, about today…" he said, clearing his throat. She gave him a strange look, which led her to notice, again, how muscular his torso was.
"Yeah, today" she said, covering her own embarrassment. "You said we should stay here, to keep pretences that we are a newlywed couple and that we are, uhm…" she blushed furiously.
Harry smirked at her discomfort. "Hermione Granger, brightest witch of her generation, can't say shagging?" he teased her, and she smacked him on the head with her pillow.
"Yeah, doing that" she continued her reasoning, while Harry noticed with a smile that she still didn't say the word. "But, if we stay holed up here, Ethan might do something and we won't know it" she explained, nicking a bit of his chocolate muffin.
He looked at her outraged. "It was mine!"
"Not anymore" she stuck her tongue at him, then returned to the matter at hand. "Anyhow, I was thinking one of us should follow him"
Harry stood there, deep in thought, for a minute or so. "I'll do it" he said then. "I'll use some glamour charms, so I'll look different from John, and it won't raise suspicions. The cloak won't do, there's too much people walking the streets and the chance of bumping into someone is too high"
"I guess you're right" she agreed. Finishing their breakfast quickly, they then set to work.
As Harry was ready to go, now with flaming red hair that would have made a Weasley proud, grey eyes, his scar covered and different face features, he looked at her, sitting on the bed reading her file on Ethan Frikplask.
"Won't you be bored, all day here alone?" he said, and she shook her head with a smile. "You go, I'll be fine" she reassured him.
Harry nodded, then walked up to her, pecking her on the lips, before taking a look in the corridor to make sure it was empty, and slipping out of the room.
Hermione stood there touching her lips in a daze for some minutes, wondering what had happened there, before shaking herself from her reverie, and going to dress for her own bit of action, that she had carefully avoided cluing Harry about, knowing he would worry about her.
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