Ace of Hearts
Chapter 10
Harry released a large sigh; falling heavily onto the couch behind him he allowed himself to sink into the soft
cushions. It had been almost a week and a half since he had been home, and he was absolutely exhausted.
"Ugh," he groaned as he leant down to untie his boots, kicking them off he stretched out on the sofa.
Letting out another soft groan, he adjusted himself to a position more comfortable for his aching muscles. Once he was comfortable he stared at the ceiling and unwillingly thought back over the past week and a half.
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After he received the urgent floo from Aurora, Harry quickly dressed and did his best to put the incident with Hermione out of his mind. This task was made even more difficult when he looked in on her in the kitchen and saw her staring blankly at a tea puddle on the floor. Guilt rushed through him, and he wanted nothing more than to go and hold her, but he was an Auror and had been summoned to work. Though he didn't know the details, he did know that it was urgent, so against the strong pulling of his heart, he did what he vowed to do when he took is job, and put it first. Giving one last sorrowful look to the beautiful woman in the kitchen, and gripping his wand painfully in his hand he proceeded to the living room and Apparated to the Ministry.
Upon arriving, he rushed past security and headed one floor down, making and immediate left through a doorway that would be considered almost invisible if you weren't looking for it. After passing through a long darkened corridor, he took the third door to the right, walking into a small waiting room and cast a questioning glance to the witch at the front desk.
"They're waiting," she said with a flirtatious smile.
Harry gave her a brief nod and preceded though the door to her right; walking past several desks he entered the office in the back of the room to be briefed by the head of the Auror department. When he walked in he noticed that the others were already there, receiving a small smile from Aurora, and ignoring the guilt that surged through him, he took his place at the end of the line and waited to be briefed on the situation. Alastor "Mad Eye" Moody paced back and forth in front of Harry, Aurora, Devon and Marcello, the top four members of the Auror's department, his magical eye zooming wildly around the room.
"We have intercepted a letter meant for one, Lucius Malfoy in Azkaban," he said in a loud booming voice. "It is believed that Bellatrix Lestrange is the one who as sent the document to him, its content was a single poem we believe to contain hidden meanings."
He then scanned the small piece of parchment with his wand, copying the image. Pointing the wand at a blank wall opposite them he projected the words for all to read.
Red as Blood, Black as Heart
Come to where we'll get our start
Upon
release from mortal chains
Fly across, most vast of plains
Once you reach
the chosen space
Our rise will then fall into place
"We are not sure of the complete meaning, but we are sure that the first line 'Red as Blood, Black as Heart,' apply to Gidieon Blackheart, the head vampire of the Sociopathic Satanists." he said, removing the image from the wall and coming to a halt dead center in front of them. "We are unsure if Lucius ever received the letter, Halothorne and Masterdon are… questioning him now. They are also keeping a close eye on the Dementors, since the letter had to make its way into Azkaban somehow." His magical eye stopped spinning, and focused on Harry. "Potter, you and Centauri will take Bloomberg and Aguirre with you," he motioned with his head to the other two Aurors in the office "you will return to Transylvania and find a way into that tribe, and you will not return without information. Do I make myself clear?" Moody comanded in a strong clear tone, his normal eye focused on Harry, but the magical one scanning the other three people.
"Yes sir!" they said in unison.
"What's our motto?!" Mad Eye said stepping back to have a clear view of them all.
"CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"
"Gather what you need, you leave now." With that said, he then turned and limped back to his desk.
Harry, Aurora, Devon and Marcello all quietly left the office, careful not to pass any covert glances or motions since Moody was probably still watching them with his magical eye. Once they were outside of the office and had closed the door, the four walked silently to Harry's office a few doors down, entering a moment later.
"Leave now..." Devon muttered rolling his eyes. "I mean come on, how about tomorrow morning, I'm exhausted." He plopped down on the chair sighing dramatically.
"It's our job Devon," Aurora said, pulling several silver steaks out of her interior cape pocket, one by one and placing them on Harry's desk. Turning one of them carefully in her hand she examined it thoroughly before scratching, what appeared to be dried blood off of the tip.
"But, I mean come on," Devon replied giving Aurora and annoyed expression. "I understand if there was an attack or something but a few hours for rest doesn't make a difference. Especially if he wants us to leave the country, if we have to apparate all the way there we need proper rest so that we don't to get ourselves splinched."
"If you can't handle it, then maybe you should stay here," Aurora retorted with a smirk.
"Ok," Harry interrupted, before Devon could respond. "We got called here because it's our job, we showed up because it's our duty and we are going to complete it because it's our responsibility." He scanned the room with turbulent green eyes. "We are leaving tonight as ordered and we're not wasting anymore time bickering between ourselves like a bunch of first years... do I make myself clear?"
He pinned Devon with fierce gaze and after receiving a nod, turned to Aurora. She stood just a bit taller before giving him a slight bow of the head, realizing that this was not her boyfriend talking but her leader.
"As for transportation, Devon," he looked back at the blond haired man "you're correct, I don't believe any of us are in a condition to do intercontinental apparation. This is exactly why we are going to use a port key." Devon nodded, "Aurora, contact your brothers tribe and let them know we are coming, also find the best location for us to arrive at. Be sure to get exact directions so that we don't have any mix-ups." She gave a small bow of the head in consent before gathering her steaks and sweeping out of the office, her all jet black hair fluttering slightly from the movement. "Marcello," he said turning to the tall dark haired man, who was leaning quietly against the file cabinet, his arms crossed over his broad chest. "You gather the proper weapons, we may need them if we have to take someone from Gideon's tribe and make them talk." Marcello gave a curt nod and walked wordlessly from the office. Finally turning to the blond who was had earlier been lounging in the chair behind Harry's desk, but was now looking at him seriously and expectantly. "Devon," Harry went to a small file cabinet and pulled out an empty crushed garlic container and a garlic bread bag. "You take these items, down to the magical transportation department and tell them we need two port keys, one to get us to Transylvania and one to get us back." He handed the items over, but when Devon tried to take them, he held fast, looking him directly in the eyes. "Do not get these mixed up, make sure that they clearly mark which is which. Get the exact location from Aurora before you go." With that he released the items to Devon's care, watching as he headed out of the office to complete the task given to him.
Harry walked around his desk, falling heavily into his chair. Suddenly feeling weary, he closed his eyes, rubbing them and trying to gather his thoughts. Taking a deep breath he attempted to focus his mind on a plan, but every time he closed his them he saw chocolate brown eyes, smooth pale skin, full red lips and firm, pert breasts.
"Damn it," he said to himself, giving his head a slight shake and taking a few deep breaths. "I have to focus, my team is depending on me and where we're headed it could mean life or death."
Using every ounce of will power within him, Harry forced thoughts of Hermione out of his mind, while simultaneously pulling out a piece of parchment. He began to work on his battle plan, his mind coming up with several scenarios, and alternates for each incase something went wrong.
Thirty minutes later they were ready to go, dressed all in black with their hoods pulled up on their robes, completely concealing their faces; they made a powerful and intimidating sight. Each placing a finger on the crumpled garlic bread package, they watched the clock as it counted down the seconds. Once the big hand reached the twelve, Harry felt a distinct pulling at his navel and a second later, they were gone.
Almost instantly they arrived in the hall of a small castle, looking around at the dim setting, they paused for a moment allowing their eyes to adjust and gaining their bearings.
"Hello sister," a tall silver haired man said, his hair flowed freely behind him as he approached, his long graceful strides making it seem as though he were floating instead of walking towards them.
Aurora smiled and went forward meeting him half way and engulfing him in a hug. Pulling back she placed a small kiss upon his cheek.
"Hello brother," she said before turning around to face them once more. "I would like you to meet my fellow Aurors'. This is Devon" she pointed to the blond, who then gave small wave. "This is Marcello," she said, redirecting the attention to the tall Spaniard next to the blond, who gave a slight head nod in acknowledgement. "And I believe that you already know Harry," at this statement Harry stepped forward, giving a strong handshake and a small smile.
"It's good to see you again Helios, and thanks once more for your assistance."
"Oh, it is nothing," the silver haired man responded smiling slightly, his long fangs glinting in the dim firelight. "Anything for my baby sister," he and Aurora shared a smile.
"Even though I am willing to do what I can to help, you do realize that this is just your arrival location, it is not safe for my tribe for you to remain here." he said, his silver eyes piercing Harry's green ones, and reminding him strongly of Aurora.
"Of course," Harry said, unblinkingly. "I am aware, and we have brought the necessary provisions." He held up a medium sized bag that had been enchanted to hold their supplies.
The older man nodded, then motioning for them to follow, led them out of the hall and into a small private room to give them an update of the information that he had collected. Once they were brought up to date, they remained in the room eating some of what they had brought in their provisions for a small breakfast, and then retired to their temporary rooms to sleep the day through. At dusk they gathered their belongings and along with Helios as their guide, they left the small village and journeyed into the Transylvanian Alps towards the Sociopaths lair. As they set out into the rocky terrain, Harry looked at the darkening sky, feeling the world come to life around him and also feeling a small bit of dread.
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Nine days, eight hours, thirty-seven minutes, two fights and one intense questioning later, he was finally home and attempting to get the rest that he had been deprived, of on a soft surface which, coincidentally, he had also been deprived of. Adjusting himself one last time, Harry's eyelids began to droop and he dozed off.
An undetermined amount of time later he was awoken by someone tentatively touching his face, heat and small electric tingles surged through his body and he immediately knew who it was. Opening his eyes her face slowly came into focus, she was leaning over him with a worried expression, causing her brows to draw together. He could instantly tell when she noticed that he was awake, because the worried expression dissipated to be replaced with relief.
"Hey," he said his voice rough with sleep.
"Hey," she said quietly, tracing his face with her eyes.
They just stared for a while, looking at one another.
"So," she said, once again looking worried "it's been almost two weeks, where have you been?" She pushed some of his hair out of his face, peering closely at him "You look like crap," she finished in a matter-of-fact tone.
Harry smiled "Gee thanks Hermione; I can always count on you to stroke my ego."
She smiled before standing up from the couch, looking around a bit she seemed unsure of what to do next. He was confused about her nervousness until her face began to turn a dull red, it was at that point he knew that she was thinking about what had happened last time they were alone together.
"So," he said after a moment of silence, propping himself up on his elbow and stifling a groan as his aching muscles protested. "Where's Ron?"
At this she began to look even more nervous, fidgeting with the bracelet on her wrist.
"He's training," she said, giving him a small smile. "Hey, you seem like you're tired, hungry," she then sniffed the air "and in need of a shower." She smiled, motioning towards the bathroom "Why don't you go take a warm one and I conjure us up something to eat."
Harry gave a lazy smile, but before he could answer his stomach did for him, letting out a loud grumble. Scratching the back of his head and looking slightly embarrassed, he nodded in consent and slowly got up from the couch. Heading into his room he grabbed some clothes and walked into the restroom shutting the door behind him.
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Hermione watched him enter the bathroom, when the door closed securely behind him she released the breath that she had been holding. Just as she had begun to relax, the sound of the shower starting up could be heard through the door and her body once again tensed as her mind pictured him getting in. His large, muscular body covered in water, the droplets glistening down his broad chest like they had at the lake. His abs...
She shook her head almost violently, forcing the thoughts away.
'You told yourself you weren't going to do this,' she thought to herself, walking around the couch and going into the kitchen. 'What happened that night was a mistake,' her mind said as she began to prepare the food.
She removed a small chicken from the fridge, using her wand she brought the seasonings over to herself and had them start seasoning the chicken. Taking the potatoes from the pantry, and then saying a small spell she had them began to prepare themselves.
'Ok Hermione,' she said to herself, while looking around to make sure everything was going fine. 'You can do this, you have to tell Harry that what happened that night was a mistake, that we were both a little drunk... wait, no, we weren't drunk, Ron was. Ok, but that doesn't have anything to do with it...ok, well, we were just a little confused, caught up in the moment, overwhelmed with the intense desi-'
Her thoughts were interrupted as one of the seasoning bottles tapped her on the shoulder to let her know they were done. Giving it a nod she used her wand to place the chicken in a pan, and then she slid it into the magical cook-top oven that Mrs. Weasley had gotten for her last Christmas. Turning, she did the proper spell so that the potatoes would began grilling themselves, and a pot on the stove was filled with the ingredients and began to simmer so that the chicken would have the proper glaze when completed.
"Alright," she said to herself, while taking a couple of plates out of the cabinet "now where was I. I'll just say... Harry, what happened between us is perfectly natural; after all we are both young adults in the primes of our lives. Our sexual drives are at the optimum capacity to..." she shook her head. "No, too textbook... ok," she tapped her face with her wand, thinking. "Alright, how about... Harry, I am dreadfully attracted to you and as much as I loved snogging you, and would love even more the opportunity to shag..." she cringed. "Very lady like Hermione," she mumbled to herself. "Ok, I know... Harry I just wanted to say..."
"What?" a voice said from behind her.
Hermione snapped around, un-purposefully jerking her wand and causing several paper napkins to fly into the air. Harry chucked in amusement as one landed softly on his head, obscuring one of his eyes. Taking the napkin off of his head, he looked at it ruefully, before returning his attention back to her, his emerald green eyes dancing in merriment.
"Redecorating?" he quipped, bending down to pick up the few napkins that had landed on the floor.
"No, celebrating your return, sorry I didn't have the time to shred it into proper confetti." She replied with a cheeky smile.
Harry laughed, tossing the paper into the bin; he then walked over to the pot simmering on the stove.
"Umm, smells good," he said taking a deep sniff "what is it?"
"It's a glaze for the chicken," she said walking up next to him, as if on cue the magical oven let out a soft ding to signify that the meat was ready.
Hermione used her wand to remove the chicken and place it gently on the counter and then floated a bowl over to herself for the potatoes, which were about done roasting.
"You should go have a seat; I'll be there in a moment with dinner."
He stepped away from the pot, putting his hands in his pockets and looking around the kitchen.
"Maybe I can help," he said, walking towards the cabinet with the dishes in it.
Hermione cast an amused glance at him. "No thanks, you look exhausted, go and have a seat I'll be right in."
He gave her a glance, and then moved towards the plates she had lain out earlier, reaching to grab them off the counter.
"Harry," she reprimanded in her sternest tone.
He looked over is shoulder at her, rolling his eyes, then giving one last longing glance at the plates he sighed. Putting one hand back in his pocket and then burying the other in his unruly locks, he walked slowly out of the kitchen.
Hermione chuckled at his stubborn behavior before getting the food ready to eat.
Ten minutes later she placed the chicken, the last item, on the table giving Harry a thumb up to let him know that they were ready to go.
"Tuck in," she said with a big smile.
He gave her a one in return before spooning a large amount of roasted potatoes onto his plate. Hermione cut into the meat, leaning over she placed a couple of juicy slices on Harry's plate. Looking down at him with a smile, she had opened her mouth to ask if he wanted some glaze when she noticed his heated gaze. His eyes flicked from her eyes to her breasts and back again. Hermione immediately straightened, pushing some hair behind her ear in a nervous gesture.
"So, what was your emergency at work that had you out for so long," she said in a shaky voice, silently cursing herself for betraying her feelings.
Harry looked down at his plate for a second, before returning his gaze to her, all traces of desire that had been evident in his eyes earlier gone from view, once again hiding behind a facade of friendly cheer.
"Well," he said, while reaching over and getting a couple of spoonfuls of glaze. "I had to return to Transylvania again."
"Why?"
He smirked, "Let's see, where do I begin…"
"At the beginning," she said reasonably, Harry looked at her smiling, and then proceeded to tell her about his week, while eating the delicious dinner she had prepared.
"...so there we were, in the middle of a darkened terrain when we came across Senthos and Malific, two of Gideon's clan members. They were roaming around looking for a victim to snack on and not being the types to pass up an opportunity, we struck," he chuckled. "You know those bastards are pretty strong." He rubbed his neck.
"Well, what happened?" she asked, cutting into a roasted potato.
"Well, it came down to a lot of hand to hand combat, I mean, sure, we could have stunned them," he gave a sardonic smile "but what's the fun in that?"
Hermione shook her head in amusement as Harry ate some chicken, patiently waiting for him to continue.
"So," he said wiping glaze from the corner of his mouth, "Devon and I went for Malific while Aurora and Marcello went for Senthos. I gave Helios my invisibility cloak to hide under, we couldn't risk having him spotted or his tribe would have been targeted if they got away. So anyway, I had Malific in a pretty serious head lock when Senthos came up behind me after managing, somehow, to get away from Aurora and Marcello. He grabbed me by my neck and was trying to bit into me, when I heard a loud scream in my ear." He smirked. "Aurora had dusted him with one of her steaks," Harry chuckled and Hermione's surprised expression. "She's a pretty tough witch," he said grinning "especially when you cross her, by attacking her friends or family."
"Well, I'm sure you being her boyfriend, caused an extra amount of gusto to be included in that attack." She said with a small smile.
Harry blushed, putting his fork down on his now empty plate.
"That was delicious Hermione, when did you learn to cook so well?"
"Smooth," she said with a smirk, causing his blush to deepen.
Deciding to let him of the hook, she didn't press the issue, instead standing to gather the dishes and answering his question.
"I've known how to cook for a while, but after living alone and away from your parents, you find that you miss a home cooked meal so -don't even think about it," she slapped Harry's hand as he attempted to help her clear the table. "You go have a seat; I'll bring in the tea and some dessert." Realizing that she was doing things, in what Ron would call "the hard way," Hermione used her wand to levitate the dishes in front of her and into the kitchen.
After getting them to begin cleaning themselves, she rinsed her hands, drying them brusquely on a towel. While the kettle for the tea and was warming, Hermione grabbed a knife and cut two large slices of lemon cake. She had just deposited the cakes on the coffee table in the living room, when the kettle whistled; she rushed back into the kitchen and returned a moment later carrying two steaming cups of tea.
Out of habit Hermione took the seat right next to Harry; when she realized just where she had sat, she blushed a little but remained where she was; not wanting to look suspicious by moving.
"So, what did you guys find out about the Satanists' plan?" She asked taking a bite of her cake.
Harry swallowed his big bite of cake and gave her an apologetic look. "Sorry Hermione, I can't tell you… I'd love to I just cant, we're still working the lead and-"
"Don't worry about it," she said smiling "I know how your job works and I wouldn't want you to get in any trouble." She patted his hand soothingly.
Harry caught her hand on his with his thumb, looking her in the eyes.
"Thanks, I knew you would understand."
Hermione took a shuddering breath to try to compensate for her loss of oxygen at his simple touch.
"I…I should put these away," she said, grabbing the plates of barley eaten cake off of the table and rushing into the kitchen.
Once she was alone, she took a towel and ran a bit of cold water on it, then she patted her face and neck to get her body temperature down.
'You can do this,' she thought to herself 'come on Hermione; you're a grown woman, an adult. You're not some third year hitting puberty; you can control your hormones.'
Taking this to heart she squared her shoulders and returned to the living room, Harry was still sitting on the couch and seemed to be doing his best to work a knot out of his back. She watched him struggle to reach a particular spot right below his shoulder blades, and his subsequent wince in pain from straining the other side of his back and bit her lip.
'I should help him,' she thought 'no, no I should stay away.' As this thought crossed her mind Harry had picked up his wand and was attempting to use the tip, to massage the spot that he couldn't reach.
Feeling bad for her friend, and knowing that he would never reach the spot and any attempt at magic without a proper magical masseuse license would end up with him being even more hurt than he is now. Hermione gave a resigned sigh, and stepped forward to help out.
'I can do this, I'm an adult and I can control my hormones… this WILL NOT lead to anything' she thought as she approached the couch.
A.N. Well that's it for Ch 10… will it lead to anything, stay tuned and find out. Oh and the poem at the beginning was just a little ditty I wrote, I don't think it turned out too bad, right? Please Review!!! I only get about 10 or so for each chappy and I know more people are reading than that, right?
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