I just want to say thanks again to my beta Chelsea, this story would never be online if she didn't help me. And thanks to all of you, who took the time to review, please keep at it…
Chapter Three
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The next morning as Hermione was putting on her makeup, she heard the familiar swooshing sound of the floo in her fireplace.
"Malfoy, is that you?" she called out. When she didn't get a reply she walked out into the suite. "Harry?" she yelped, surprised. He smiled at her and leaned against the wall.
"I'm on the case as well," he told her. When she just tilted her head and looked confused he continued, "Well, I asked to be put on the case."
"Why?" He broke eye-contact and looked at the floor.
"I-I just… well you know with all the…"
Hermione slowly walked towards him. "Why Harry?"
Harry looked up and met her eyes. He felt like a kid being interrogated by his mum after the biscuits suddenly had disappeared. Not that he would know about being interrogated by his mum. "I didn't like you here with Malfoy." Hermione took one more step.
"Why?" Harry didn't answer, they just locked eyes. There was the sound of the floo network again and Draco stood in the fireplace.
"Whoa, Potter, what do we have to do to get rid of you?" he asked obviously not pleased to see him.
---
Harry and Draco had soon taken their places at the window and they were watching Hermione at the pool. The hotel room was rather chilly, but down by the pool it was sizzling hot. Hermione was still wrapped in her towel as she made her way to the bar outside. She ordered a drink and, as she did, Connor Cowell came outside. This was, of course, no coincidence; he came outside for lunch at the same time everyday.
Hermione waited until he had sat and then she took her drink over to her sun bed. She made sure she was in his eyesight and dropped her towel. Both Harry and Draco pulled back slightly from the window. Hermione was wearing a white bikini and the only thing holding it together between her breasts was a tiny shell. Spending time in the States had given her a lovely tan and Auror training had made her very fit. Harry and Draco gave each other a quick, surprised glance before returning to the window. Hermione sat down on her sun bed and sipped her drink.
"Look, he's watching her!" Draco said and Harry had to force himself to not look at his stunning best friend by the pool.
Cowell was looking at Hermione with hungry eyes and was licking his lips. Harry looked back over at Hermione but she was totally ignoring Cowell's looks. Hermione got up and walked over to the end of the pool and gracefully dove in.
"He is such a loser," Draco stated and gestured at Connor who had gotten up from his seat. Hermione swam to the edge of the pool and walked up the underwater stairs.
Harry couldn't concentrate; all he could look at was her body. The water dripping of her, and the water making her white bikini slightly transparent. He could almost see her nipples and he felt like walking down there and wrapping a towel around her.
"Look at that! Guess Weasley was the fool for letting that piece of…"
"Finish that sentence and I'll hex you!" Harry said without turning away from the window.
Hermione laid back down on her sun bed. She glanced up towards her hotel window, but it was impossible to see into it. She saw Connor Cowell approaching out of the corner of her eye and she pretended to be enjoying the enchanted sun. Suddenly it became darker.
"Excuse me, you're blocking the sun," she said arrogantly to him.
He smiled charmingly at her. "It doesn't matter, it isn't the real sun anyway."
"Still," she answered and reached for her drink.
"Bit early for cocktails isn't it, Ms. Granger?"
"Not when you're trying to relax," she answered.
He sat down on one of the chairs at a nearby table. He waved at a waiter and he came hurrying over immediately. "The usual."
The waiter looked confused. "I-I'm sorry sir, this is my first day."
"Well then you stupid little twit, you should ask the others what my usual is; you don't ask the
customer!" Connor's voice had risen slightly and Hermione frowned inside.
"Aren't you even going to ask how I know your name?" Connor asked Hermione as he lit a cigarette and glared at the young waiter who had hurried back with a whiskey.
"No, I would think most people know my name by now. Some know me as Harry Potter's friend, others know me as Ronald Wealey's girlfriend, but all of them know my name"
Connor drank from his glass and continued: "And do you know who I am?"
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"I can't hear what they're saying!" Harry scolded.
"She forgot to attach the bug," Draco said.
Harry looked at Connor leaning with one elbow against the table while lazily taking a draft from his cigarette. He didn't like at all the way he was staring at Hermione. He looked like he wanted to eat her.
"Of course I know who you are, Mr. Cowell."
"Please, call me Connor!"
"All right, but then you call me Hermione." She smiled sweetly at him and Harry could see all the way from the room that she had Connor hooked. Suddenly Hermione got up and slowly walked by Connor. She gave him her hand and Harry tried to read her lips. She didn't bother with the towel and Cowell turned and looked after her as she left. It didn't take long before she was back in the room.
"So what happened?" Harry asked sourly.
"I was a hit!" she giggled, excited that her work as an Auror had finally started.
"Yeah, what a big hit you are, Granger - you didn't even remember your bug. When did they teach you that in training? Day one?" Draco spat at her.
"Oh, I must have forgotten…" Hermione mumbled, looking embarrassed.
"Yeah, smart move!"
"Back off, Malfoy!" Harry said and tossed a towel at Hermione. Hermione walked into the bathroom and soon returned in a robe.
.
"Well, we are at least going out tonight, and I won't forget my bug then," she said as she returned.
---
Hermione dressed in a very tight black dress with black heels and she met Connor in the hotel's restaurant for dinner. Everyone around Connor treated him like royalty, but he was just as rude to them as he had been to the waiter. But every time he turned back to Hermione he had a sparkling smile on his face and his words were dripping with flattery.
"So, it's true what I've read, then?"
"And what have you read?" Hermione asked and ate the olive from her martini.
"That you left that Quidditch player in the States and you're now a single woman."
"Very true, indeed," she said, giving him a flirtatious smile. A waitress arrived and she looked almost scared to speak.
"Are you ready to order, Mr. Cowell?"
"Yes, we'll both have the lobster," he answered without looking at the young girl or asking Hermione what she would like to eat, "the duck for entrée and the chocolate mouse for dessert." The waitress bowed and backed away.
"I love chocolate," Hermione admitted.
"I'd love to lick it off your body," he said without looking the least bit embarrassed by what he had said.
"Connor!" Hermione scolded and pretended to be affronted.
"So being friends with Harry Potter must be exciting right? I have often invited him to my balls, but he has never attended."
"No, Harry isn't much for parties like that."
"Will you tell him to come sometime?"
Hermione felt uncomfortable talking about Harry. She didn't want her real life to be too involved in all of this. Naturally she knew that going undercover would lead to questions about her friends and family, but it still bothered her.
"Sure, I'll tell him."
"So are you, my dear Ms. Granger, like myself, one that enjoys the comforts of living in a hotel?"
"No, not at all. I can't wait until I find a flat and can live by myself," Hermione lied.
"Oh, what a shame, we wont be neighbors anymore," Connor pouted
"I'm sure you could still come and visit," she teased.
---
Harry was sitting by himself in the hotel room. Draco had gone home for the night and Harry was just waiting for Hermione. She had remembered her bug this time and he could hear everything they were talking about. Connor really was disgusting, and Harry couldn't believe a single woman had ever gotten into bed with him. Then again, some people will do anything for money and fame. He heard them approaching the door of the hotel room and hid under his invisibility cloak.
"Should I come in and check for bedbugs?" Connor said and Hermione leaned against her door.
"I fought in a war, I'm sure I can fight a few bedbugs."
"How about I heat the bed up then?" he continued and leaned forward. He kissed the side of her neck gently and let his tongue trail up to her ear. The feeling gave her chills and she wanted to push him away.
"Well, Connor," she said and placed a hand on his chest and gently pushed him back. "If you've really done your homework about me, as you say you have, you should know that I'm not the kind of girl who jumps in the sack with a bloke on the first date."
He pulled back and looked honestly disappointed. "Right."
He gave her a light kiss on the cheek and bowed and turned around. Hermione quickly opened the door and slipped inside. Harry immediately pulled his cloak off.
"Check for bedbugs?" he asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, I know, what a creep!" Hermione said and wiped her neck. Harry sat down on the armchair.
"Honestly," he muttered and Hermione smiled at him. She tossed him the swan filled with leftovers.
"Brought this for you," she said.
---
This routine continued for two weeks. Hermione would go out with Connor twice every week, the rest of the night he had business or had dates with other ladies. They would eat at the hotel restaurant and he would try to get invited to her room, but she would always say no. Their kissing escalated but she never let him inside.
"We're not finding anything out about him!" Harry complained at the next meeting in the Auror office. It was only Harry, Hermione, Draco and their boss Gawain Robbards attending.
"She needs to go to his room," Draco said while chewing on a muffin.
"No!" Harry objected. Their boss looked between the three of them.
"Draco is right; we need to find out what he is up to. He just disappears during the day and no one knows where he is or what he's doing. Something is definitely up!" Gawain said.
"Okay, next time I'll go with him to his room," Hermione agreed. Harry was silent for the rest of the meeting, but as soon her Hermione went back to her office, Harry stormed in after her.
"So you're going to do it then? Go with him?" Hermione stood up and walked around her desk. She sat down on the edge of it.
"Harry, this is my job."
"To be a whore?" Hermione looked offended. "I'm sorry," Harry quickly added, "I don't mean that you are a whore. I just mean that you shouldn't have to sleep with someone for your job."
"Harry honestly, I won't sleep with him. Did you think I would? Despite what you might think, I don't
sleep with people casually." They stared at each other for a moment and stood in silence.
"I know that," Harry felt ashamed. "I should go."
---
Draco returned to his large condo and went straight to his library. He poured himself a large glass of vodka and swept it down. He thought about Hermione and Harry and their silly little mind games. Connor fondling Hermione entered his mind and he felt nauseas. He thought about the previous night, Connor had pressed her up against the door and almost eaten her. He had draped her leg around his hip and pressed her hard against the door. Draco had seen them through the peep-hole. How anyone would want to touch her was beyond him. Some people found her pretty, but he really wasn't into that kind of girl. And she might seem smart, but in truth she was just a know-it-all. His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden loud sound. He got up from his leather sofa and walked carefully over the carpet. His floo was connected to Hermione's room and Harry's flat, but why would any of them be sneaking around his condo?
"Sally?" he called out, "Is that you?"
A hooded figure emerged and just as he reached for his wand someone jumped him from behind. The stunning spell hit him hard and he fell to the ground. Draco could not make out much of what was happening but he knew he was being transported; how, he couldn't tell. He was lying down but was suddenly pulled to his feet and forced to walk forward. He still couldn't see anything, having a bag over his head. He was pushed down on a stony floor and, with his hands he tried to feel the ground. Was he inside? It felt cold and he could hear wind and water. He stood on his knees, waiting to be beaten, executed or tortured. Who had taken him? Why? He didn't have to wonder for long because someone pulled the bag from his head. At first he couldn't see, he had been in the dark for at least thirty minutes. The first thing he saw was a group of hooded people standing in a circle.
"Who are you? What the hell is going on? I'll kill all of you!" he screamed.
"Tut, tut, tut, you do have you father's temper!" A very familiar voice said from behind him. Chills ran up his back. He slowly turned his head and there stood someone he hadn't seen in five years.
"How?" his voice was dry and he could hardly get the words out. Bellatrix LeStrange walked by him and sat down in a thrown-like chair.
"My master taught me a few tricks as well, my dear nephew." Draco looked perplexed. "Who ever said one needs his whole soul when you so easily can split it into two parts?" she laughed insanely. Realization dawned over Draco. Voldemort had thought Bellatrix how to make a Horcrux.
"But I saw you, you died!"
"I won't tell you all my secrets just now, Draco. I need information."
"Dream on Bellatrix, you might know that I swapped sides. I'm no longer on the mental side."
Bellatrix smiled at him and gave a slight nod to the guard next to Draco who punched him in the side. "Now, I know you are an Auror, you traitor, and I need to know why Hermione Granger is hanging around Connor Cowell. Can you report everything to me?"
"What are you talking about? I will never help you!" Draco received another kick in the gut and was now lying doubled up on the floor.
"I had a feeling you would be like this, Draco. But I am prepared." She gave a small sign with her hand and waved one long nailed finger to another hooded guard. He left and shortly returned, dragging something.
"Mum!" Draco screamed.
"What a lovely reunion," Bellatrx laughed.
"You fucking bitch, let her go or…"
"Or what? Will you scream a bit more? Do as you're told, Draco, or Sissy will leave her son an orphan. Believe
me, this time everything will be done right!" she screamed the last words. "Now, did Harry Potter
mention the mudblood's interest in Connor Cowell?" Bellatrix asked calmly.
Draco looked at his kneeling mother, the guard was holding her by the hair and she looked scared. He could see that she had been crying.
"Yes," Draco said and closed his eyes.
"Tell me!" she demanded.
"He told me they are dating; I don't think Potter likes it. He thinks there is something off with Cowell."
"What?" she screamed, "Is that it? Why is the mudblood seeing him the first place?"
Draco shrugged.
"From now on I will need you to report to me, Draco, whenever I call you."
"I will not -"
"Or Sissy gets a knife through the heart; don't displease me, Draco. I have less patience these days than before. I will send for you when I need you, naturally you won't be able to find me." She snapped her fingers and the hood was back on his head. The last thing he heard was his mother's screams before everything went dark.
The next time he woke up he was lying on the floor of his library, his drink still there and the fire still burning.
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