Disclaimer: Not mine, otherwise Harmony would have sailed.
A/N: My reply to the "Vigilante" challenge by Leochick, you can find it here: http://talk.portkey.org/index.php?showtopic=26730 . Hope you will enjoy the story, and please if you read review and let me know what you think of it, ok?
Thanks to my beta Gingercat!
The Vigilante
Chapter Four: Administering Justice
It had been a month since Hermione had started her training, a month during which more trials had turned out to be jokes, as the guilty were let walk away free. Finally, she felt confident enough in her flying, one-on-one combat and duelling abilities to start handing out her own justice.
It would be tiring, she couldn't leave her work altogether, so she would need to do it at night, but it needed to be done.
While she was training, Hermione had also taken time to develop a costume for her to wear during her "vigilante rounds", so that she wouldn't be recognized. A tight black suit covered all of her body, including her hair. Her face was covered by an equally black mask, and she had applied a couple charms to change her voice when she talked through it too.
You can never know who you might encounter in these situations, and anything that might get her recognized needed to be gone.
Her attire was completed by a couple of leather fitting gloves. Flexing her arms, Hermione seemed satisfied enough with her job in developing a disguise, so she finally left, the shrunken Firebolt she had bought hid in an easily accessible pocket.
With a last sigh, and hoping she wouldn't make a fool out of herself, she started looking around the last known residence of Dolohov, one of the many who had escaped the life sentence to Azkaban thanks to the corruption still lingering in the Ministry even after the second war.
Her wand was just a flick of her right wrist away, hidden in a concealed holster, and Hermione felt confident she could "convince" Dolohov to turn himself in, if only she could find him.
Suddenly someone shouted behind her.
"Who are you?" she turned, and realized her target was exactly in front of her. He was already pointing his wand at her heart, but with a quick roll she moved out of his sight, just to Apparate behind the man.
Twisting his arm, she made him drop his wand, and kicked it away. Then she elbowed him in the stomach, and he fell to the ground in pain.
"Antonin Dolohov, you will turn yourself in for your crimes, and spend your deserved time in Azkaban" Hermione hissed menacingly, her voice sounding like one of an imposing military man.
"I won't do such a thing" the man sneered, and she kicked him hard in the face, before firing a series of hexes at him, leaving him bruised and panting on the ground when she was finished.
"Changed your mind yet? I can turn my wand on you a bit more if you are not convinced I mean business" she teased him and the man widened his eyes in fear.
"Who the hell are you?"
"Think of me as a vigilante" she said, then tapped her wand against her left hand. "So, will you turn yourself in or not?" she growled, aiming it again at his head.
"I will! I will! But for Merlin, don't kill me!" he whimpered, and Hermione snorted. "I won't, if you keep your promise. If you don't, know that I'll find you again, and it won't be pleasant" she menaced, before quickly vanishing in the darkness of the night, leaving a bewildered and very scared Antonin Dolohov wondering what the hell had happened.
The man didn't sleep a minute that night, and was in the Ministry first thing in the morning.
Harry was mildly amused at the man's tale, and that after all the atrocities he had committed in his life, a "vigilante" could rough him up so much and scare the hell out of him so that he would turn himself in. After all, he had corrupted the Minister to keep him out of prison not more than three months earlier…
--
At lunch, he shared the news with Hermione, albeit still feeling a bit wary around her since he kept having dirty dreams at night involving himself and the stunning witch currently sharing a Caesar's salad with him.
She seemed amused, and smiled brightly when he told her how scared Dolohov had seemed.
"Funny, isn't it?" Harry said, seeing her expression, and grinning himself, as he took a sip of his Butterbeer.
"Definitely" Hermione replied. Harry noticed she seemed to not have slept too well, as her eyes looked a bit tired. "You ok, Mione? You seem tired…" he voiced his concerns, and Hermione just shrugged, keeping her façade but internally swearing at his uncanny ability to read her perfectly. Going to punish criminals at night was not the best way to look rested and fresh when going to work the next day.
"Didn't sleep too well last night" she admitted, knowing if she didn't Harry would only press the matter more.
He nodded, still a bit worried but glad it wasn't anything important. "So, what do you think of this vigilante? I don't know who he is, but he sure did a thorough job last night. Not that I condone his methods, I mean, the ministry should deal with criminals, not a civilian, but hey, if the Ministry is so corrupted…" he said.
"Well, it is not legal to go beating known murderers, of course, and it is dangerous too" Hermione said, frowning like she was upset at the vigilante's antics, to cover her true "identity".
The rest of the day passed smoothly, and once she got home, Hermione gulped down some dinner, then changed to go and do her new and self-appointed job.
It soon became a routine for her, and many criminals turned themselves in after being roughed up by her. She was satisfied about how it was going, and knowing the Minister was growing more and more anxious at her actions made her feel even more happy with herself.
The paper had started talking about her too, with an article on the front page after the tenth criminal who had claimed to have been convinced to turn himself in by a vigilante.
The Vigilante: Blessing or Nuisance?
By Rita Skeeter
Today we will talk about the lately risen Vigilante. This mysterious figure keeps harassing criminals at night, forcing them to turn themselves in, and many see it as a blessing that makes the Wizarding World more secure, eradicating the last remains of You-Know-Who's Death Eaters, and other minor dark wizards too.
Many think the Ministry has been slacking off in that aspect, and this Vigilante is just what our society needed to rid itself of the trash. We have interviewed one of the most famous Aurors, Harry Potter, who seems to agree that with his unconventional methods, this vigilante is being more effective than the Ministry regular forces in assuring important arrests.
Potter also mentioned the fact that the vigilante makes their work easier convincing the criminals to turn themselves in because this avoids new trials, and the arrested can be immediately brought to Azkaban. He mentioned how trials have become unreliable lately.
When we asked him about that, considering one of his best friends, Hermione Granger, is often in charge of those, Potter shrugged and said, "when there are stronger forces working against you, there's little you can do". He seems to imply that bribes were handed to keep those suspects out of Azkaban in regular trials, although he never said it openly.
However, there are also many who think this Vigilance is a menace to our society.
"He can't go around intimidating honest citizens and forcing them to voluntarily be sent to Azkaban without any kind of proo[Author ID1: at Fri Apr 18 07:57:00 2008 ]f. Mr. Dolohov, for example, was a most respectable member of our society, and now he will have to spend years in Azkaban for nothing" Miss Dolores Umbridge told us. If I have to be honest, I tend to agree with Potter's position, and would like nothing more than to interview this vigilante to know his reasons"
Hermione rolled her eyes at the article. "Figures that Umbridge would defend Dolohov and his kind" she snorted, while Harry chuckled. She took his hand in her own, and gave him a soft smile.
"Thanks for defending me" she said, and he gulped, mesmerized by those chocolate eyes.
"It was nothing. I just said what I thought" he replied with a sheepish smile which warmed her heart. In fact, she wanted nothing more than to snog him senseless, but the fact they were in the Ministry cafeteria prevented her from doing that. Merlin forbid what Skeeter might write if they were caught kissing in such a public place!
When they were finally finished with lunch, Harry escorted her back to her office, and just before she closed the door after her, he spoke, somewhat awkwardly.
"Would you like to have dinner together tonight?" he asked, fidgeting with his Auror robes while looking hopefully at her.
-->