Hi guys, I decided to try out this idea I had. Please tell me how you like it. It is AU, there is no magic. It is also probably OOC. I quite want a cover picture for it, so if any of you would like to suggest something please don't hesitate to tell me. I own nothing apart from the plot, please review, and on with the story!
For the past ten years, the only thing Hermione Granger knew as inevitable was routine.
It was the same every day; get up, eat, train physically, eat, train mentally, eat, go to bed. With a few exceptions of award giving ceremonies and their one day of rest a month.
For ten years Hermione, along with all her friends, took for granted that the only other people who they came into contact with were their instructors. Nobody else.
It was imperative that unnecessary contact with other members of the organisation was kept to an absolute minimum, for everybody's safety.
At the age of eight, Hermione had run away from home and been taken in to what she had thought was just a regular orphanage, but turned out to be a training centre for the organisation.
To some people, it might have been seen a kidnap, but Hermione along with everybody else had a choice. Stay and complete training and move on to work in the organisation, or leave with no memories and a completely new identity. Not many people chose the latter.
The reason for this was that people who were initiated into the training camp, Hogwarts, found it rather cool that they would be going on to work for the top crime-fighting agency in the world.
Hermione was, in effect, a spy who was part of the Order of the Phoenix. The group was founded to target the world's top crime organisations and take them out. This meant that said crime organisations were constantly trying to take them out, so secrecy was imperative for survival.
Hogwarts itself was a fortress, right in the wastelands of Scotland. With all the mountains and the lake and, of course, the highly fortified castle; it was an ideal place to train new recruits for ten years until they were ready to move on.
They only took orphans or children who wouldn't be missed of the street so as to be more discreet. They had several feeder orphanages placed in the major cities of the world that gave them only the brightest, fittest and best of the children.
Hermione had been chosen for her truly outstanding academic prowess, the instructors always said she had an excellent future in strategy ahead of her.
In the afternoons she focused on honing her mind's ability to the absolute maximum, as that was her strongest field.
The students were split into two, those who would go on to become the 'thinkers' and those who would go on to become the 'doers' as Harry had once so eloquently put it.
The mornings were dedicated to physical training, and those going on to be 'doers' were given their own personal trainer whereas the 'thinkers' trained in a group, and vice versa for the afternoons.
Hermione's personal instructor, Minerva McGonagall, said she was quite possible the brightest student of her age, and focused on developing Hermione's brain to the best it could possibly be.
It was down to a rigorous routine that Hermione had learned to be as dedicated and focused as she was, so she could not, for the life of her, understand why McGonagall was leading her to the meeting room when she was supposed to be in the library working on increasing her mental capacity.
Hermione was dying to ask what was going on, but another thing they were taught was to just accept things and get on with them.
Harry's teacher, Alastor Moody, often told Harry 'when in doubt, shut your trap.' Although rather rudely put, he did have a point, so Hermione locked her lips together and focused on the sound of her footsteps echoing against the ancient stone walls.
When they finally arrived to the door to the meeting room, Hermione stood back. She had never been inside the meeting room before, so she let McGonagall do it.
The door itself was an intricately designed statue of a big bird that Hermione guessed was a phoenix. There was a keypad to the side of it and McGonagall entered the six-digit code before stepping back to let the door swing open.
To Hermione's surprise, instead of there being a room through the door, there was instead a spiral staircase leading up. McGonagall began going up, and motioned for Hermione to do the same. When they reached the top, there was a simple oak door standing before them.
McGonagall rapped crisply three times on the door, before it opened and a sullen looking man emerged.
"Lovely day isn't it?" he asked gruffly.
"It certainly is. I might go and visit the sweet shop." McGonagall replied.
"Will you buy me some sweets?"
"Of course. I assume you would like sherbet lemons?"
The man nodded and opened the door for them to walk through. Hermione now understood that that odd little conversation was obviously a password of sorts. Whoever was in the room must be extremely important, she thought.
Walking into the room Hermione instantly catalogued the other occupants, just as she was trained to do. Harry and Ron, who she knew of course, were there with their instructors Alastor Moody and Bill Weasley.
The remaining three occupants of the room she was not familiar with, however. Two were obviously bodyguards, and they were standing slightly behind the third figure.
He was seated at the large desk in the centre of the room, and despite his kind face he emanated a powerful aura that commanded respect. He was old, with a long white beard and twinkling eyes behind half-moon spectacles.
"Good afternoon, my friends." He said, his voice, while gentle, oozed with authority. "My name is Godric Gryffindor. Of course that is not my real name, but one of my many fake ones."
He chuckled lightly, and Hermione could see Ron gazing incredulously at him out of the corner of her eye. She was not surprised; sharing so much information was crazy. If 'Godric' had noticed Ron, which he probably had, he didn't show it but instead carried on speaking.
"All you three need know about me is that I am one of the highest ranking members of the Order of the Phoenix there is. I am here today to give you a mission."
This time, both Ron and Harry gaped at each other, excitement written all over their faces. Hermione nearly failed to suppress her eyes rolling at them.
"Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger and Harry Potter. Together you three make quite the team, you know." He said thoughtfully. "Tell me, have any of you ever heard of the Slytherins?"
All three nodded, nobody in the order had not heard of the Slytherins. As the largest organised crime group in the world, they were the biggest threat. Led by the elusive Lord Voldermort, they specialised in everything from assassination to major drug dealing.
Godric looked at Hermione, "Miss Granger, I hear you are the brains of the group, please inform me what you know about hexes."
Hermione nodded and told him with ease, this was her field. "Hexes were developed by the Slytherins as offensive weapons that helped them with their… schemes. They are, in essence, different sorts of highly advanced drugs, usually in the form of a liquid. Some examples are the Sectumsempra Hex, which induces heavy external bleeding, and the Jelly-Legs Hex, which renders a victim unable to walk for a minimum of twelve hours."
Godric nodded, looking impressed. "Exactly right, Miss Granger," he said, smiling at her, "now tell me, have you ever heard of the Death-Eaters?"
Hermione shook her head, disappointed that she didn't know. Seeing her disappointment, Godric chuckled. "No need to look so disheartened, Miss Granger, the Death-Eaters are very new and it's classified information, anyway."
Hermione smiled, relieved, but she saw Harry frown from beside her, "Forgive me, sir, but if it's classified information, why are you telling us?"
Godric leant forward on the desk and looked each one of them in the eye. "It's information for the mission, of course! The Death-Eaters are three incredibly advanced, incredibly dangerous, hexes. There is the Imperio that will make the victim do whatever they are told until it is out of their system, the Crucio will inflict short bursts of agony, and the Avada Kedavra will, well, let's just say it is fatal."
Hermione, Ron and Harry looked at each other, and she could see the alarm on their faces.
"But surely," stuttered Ron, "drugs such as those are powerful enough for Slytherin to take over, well, everything!"
Godric nodded gravely. "Yes, Ronald, quite right. Luckily for us they are still being tested and we still have time to send in someone to destroy the Death-Eaters. Normally I wouldn't dare risk an operation such as this on an enemy like Slytherin, but desperate times call for desperate measures."
"Is that why you want us," asked Harry quietly, "to destroy the Death-Eaters?"
"Yes," said Godric, "that is exactly what I want you to do. You might want to take a seat; this briefing could take a little while."
As they sat down on the three leather armchairs in front of the desk, Godric pulled out a file and opened it for them to see. Inside there was a picture of a tall, intimating man with long white-blond hair and a cane.
"This is Lucius Malfoy," said Godric, "he is in charge of the development of the Death-Eaters, which is taking place in the laboratories underneath his mansion. He is a typical business tycoon; powerful, wealthy and as cold as stone. He would be impossible to mess with. However, luckily for us, he has a son."
Here Godric pulled out another file and opened it for them to see a picture of an even taller boy, about their age, with messy blond hair and sharp features. Hermione sucked in a breath at seeing him. Being at a training school she was surrounded by handsome and muscly boys, but there was something about his elven features and lean build that was undeniably gorgeous.
She blushed at her own thoughts and shook her head, trying to ignore the looks of the boy and focus on the task at hand.
"Draco Malfoy, whilst still haughty, arrogant and cold, is our ticket in. Lucius Malfoy has decided that his son needs to learn French, German and Russian by a tutor his own age, and has said that the tutor will live in the manor until his son is fluent. That is where you come in, Hermione. I trust you speak all three languages?"
Hermione grinned. "Nous pouvons tous parler français, monsieur. Einige die sehr erfahren sind weiβ Deutsch. Odnako ya tol'ko beglo goverit' po-russki."
"Very good, Miss Granger!" appraised Godric.
"What did she say?" whispered Ron to Harry. Godric overheard and grinned.
"She said; we all speak French, sir. Some who are very skilled speak German. However only I speak fluent Russian."
"Oh." Muttered Ron causing Hermione to grin slyly. "Vy vse yeshche moy drug, dazhe yesli vy ne govorite Rossii."
"You are still my friend, even if you don't speak Russian." offered Godric from the sidelines.
Ron scowled at Hermione whilst muttering something about 'know-it-all' in French under his breath.
"Je t'adore aussi, Ron." She said sarcastically, still grinning at him.
"Yeah, yeah," he growled, "just get on with the briefing. I think we've established that Hermione can speak multiple languages."
Godric chuckled and continued. "Hermione, we shall apply you to this job with a gleaming record from a prestigious school and a new name."
Hermione frowned; she didn't much fancy the idea of going into a lion's den, but she didn't have much of a choice.
"Can I keep my first name please?" she asked.
Godric looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding, "Yes, I don't see why not. It will certainly make things less confusing for you, but I warn you it is risky."
Hermione nodded, she didn't mind taking a small risk considering she would be taking much larger ones anyway.
"We shall change you surname to Rivers, I think. Yes, Hermione Rivers sounds quite nice to me." Godric said, happily staring into the distance.
"Yes, yes, it's lovely name," Harry interrupted, "but I think we are focusing on the wrong things. Doesn't it seem a bit suspicious that Lucius Malfoy has randomly requested a complete stranger to come into his and have close access with his son? For all we know, this could be a honey trap for spies. Apart from anything else, Hermione will come into close contact with some of the most brutal men on earth; do you really want to risk her safety?"
Godric sighed, and readjusted his glasses. "Whilst I understand your troubles, Mr Potter, they are unnecessary. We have received information from an inside source that whilst Lucius might use the opportunity to flush out some spies, he does actually want a tutor for his son. And Hermione has been trained in various martial arts; she can take care of herself."
Harry nodded warily, not sure whether to be reassured.
"Now," announced Godric with a renewed vigour, "on with the main plan. We shall plant Hermione in Malfoy manor as Draco's tutor, and there she shall learn about the layout of the mansion and try to discover the codes and such. Miss Granger, I will leave it to your judgement what methods should be used in order to obtain this information, however I do feel that using Draco himself could prove useful. I trust you know how to manipulate a teenage boy."
Hermione blushed slightly, she had been trained at how to obtain information through seduction, but she was not the ideal person to use her body to her advantage. To her knowledge, the Order used leggy blonds like Lavender Brown to do that kind of thing.
Godric carried on, oddly merry, "Mr Weasley, during all of Hermione's time you shall be her main point of contact. I hear you are rather good at computers, you shall be the one receiving and sending messages to Miss Granger and when the time comes you will sneak Harry and his team into the Manor. Harry, you will be responsible for the actual break-in and destruction of the lab. Do you all understand?"
They all nodded eagerly, looking at each other in excitement.
"If I may sir," asked Ron, "why us? Surely there are much more experienced agents then us, whilst we haven't even graduated yet."
Godric chuckled, "Now that is a good question. Lucius Malfoy will be looking for burly men to be spies, people who look like James Bond. You must understand he is an arrogant, sexist aristocrat; he is far too conceited to believe that a young girl could have a hidden agenda.
"Therefore, we ideally wanted a girl who was young and innocent-looking, somebody that doesn't particularly stand out in the crowd. A bookish wall-flower who nobody would spare a second glance. No offense, Miss Granger…" He paused looking at her.
She smiled bitterly, "None taken, sir." She knew she was no extraordinary beauty, and she hadn't spared a second though to her looks before the day she discovered her crush on Ron Weasley. After that, she constantly felt inadequate whenever he flirted with the likes of Lavender Brown.
"Anyway," Godric continued, "only a select few of our agents fit that bill, and we desired a complete team of three who would know and look out for each other. I know you three are particularly close friends, and that means you will look out for each other's safety more so than others. That made you our golden choice, sort of a 'golden trio' of sorts." He chuckled at his own words.
Hermione exchanged a wary look with Ron and Harry, the latter of which spoke up. "Yes, we do look out for each other's safety. That is why I want you to swear you will do everything in your power to make sure Hermione will get out of this alive."
Godric smiled at his serious expression, "Of course. I swear on my name that I will do all I can to ensure all three of you make it out alive."
Ron snorted, "We don't even know your real name!"
Godric stuck his hand out for Ron to shake. "Pleased to meet you, Ronald. My name is Albus Dumbledore."
The following day had all three of them on special courses. Harry was learning how to manoeuvre a team of five through a Manor with top security. Ronald was learning how to take down the defences of said Manor. Hermione was busy building her new identity with McGonagall.
Her personal trainer was currently lecturing her on the importance of one's handbag; her stern face contorted in concentration. Creating false identities was her other job.
"A girl's handbag is her whole identity, and therefore what we put in your bag, which Lucius will invariably have searched, will become you. We want to create the image of a shy, single bookworm who's main priority is her studies."
"Sounds pretty much like my current identity," muttered Hermione under her breath, earning a scowl from her tutor.
"I'm thinking we want a book, a notebook filled with notes, several pens, spare flashcards, hair brush and ties, some very light make-up, an iPhone and a purse. The last two we'll need to fill with appropriate things as well."
McGonagall walked over to a file-ex cabinet and yanked open a draw filled with specially made purses and wallets that were artificially worn. She pulled out a light blue one that had a section for notes, a section for coins and a section for cards. It was slightly frayed at the edges and the design was simple.
"Here we are," said McGonagall, "this one is perfect. I'd say a maximum of thirty pounds in notes and a small amount of loose change. I think gift cards for Waterstones and WHsmiths along with a library card. We'll include other cards including a bank card, a Tesco's clubcard and a fake driver's license."
Hermione nodded, "I think there should also be some receipts for books, mints and some other random bits. In my handbag I think there should also be a bookmark and a half-finished packet of polos."
"Excellent ideas. As for your phone, I think a white iPhone 4S with a floral case. No password, standard lock screen background and a photo of you with a friend for your home screen. This friend will be your 'best friend' and I think she should be called Lucy. Your other friends should include Toby and Samara. These three will be the only ones you have informal text conversations with.
"Photos will be a trip to London with your three friends and random selfies with them and your parents. You will have a crush on a boy called Danny and he will be amongst your contacts. Your texts with him will be slightly awkward, but sweet. Your other texts will be with your 'mother', your 'father' and some 'teachers'.
"Apps should include 'Flow' and 'Candy Crush', but keep it minimal. Music should be calm and relaxing, I'm thinking Coldplay, The Script and a random obscure band you will have a weird obsession with. That should be it, I'll get the team to work on forging fake phone and text conversations, obviously we'll need to script those and have you and another person read them out. We might need to do a photo-shoot as well…"
McGonagall swiftly began to scribble down the 'to-do' list on the whiteboard.
"I'll get some people on your clothes and other possessions, I'm thinking floral."
She picked up the phone and started barking orders at the people on the other end. Hermione sighed and looked over the long list on the whiteboard; she would have a lot to do before going to the interview in five days.
The lunch bell rang throughout the castle, and McGonagall waved her hand to dismiss Hermione.
Making her way to the dining hall, she bumped into Ginny Weasley, her best girl-friend.
"Hermione! Tell me all about the mission! You are so lucky, you know." Ginny gasped, grabbing on to her arm.
"How do you even know, it's supposed to be classified information." Hermione chuckled. "Sorry Ginny, I can't tell you. However, I don't doubt one of those brothers of yours has already told you!"
The Weasley brood were one of the very few who weren't orphans. Molly and Arthur Weasley, their parents, were top agents and had insisted all seven of their children be trained properly. Hermione knew that Ginny wished to be a field agent, which Hermione was becoming in a matter of days.
Ironically, she had never envisioned herself as a field agent. She had always thought that she would become someone behind the scenes. She wasn't sure how she felt about the sudden turn around.
Ginny pouted at Hermione's refusal to tell her the details of the mission, but soon forgot it in her excitement to tell Hermione her news.
"Hermione, guess what? I've qualified to take the exam to maybe get on Harry's team!" she gushed, swinging of Hermione's arm.
"Ginny, that's great!" Hermione said. "But I actually want to ask you a favour. How would you like to become my honorary 'best friend' for my new identity?"
Ginny grinned widely, and nodded her head manically.
"I think McGonagall wants you to be called Lucy," continued Hermione, "but we could probably persuade her to keep you Ginny."
"Awesome," said Ginny, bouncing in excitement, "I heard we get to do photo shoots and stuff for fake photos. I'm a natural at photos!" she paused to flick her hair jokingly, making Hermione laugh.
"Obviously. It also means I'll be able to talk to you when I'm actually there. It will make me feel better to have a close friend to communicate with, instead of a fake one." She said, smiling at Ginny.
Ginny grinned back and they entered the dining room together.
After collecting some food they made their way over to sit at a table with Ron, Harry, Lavender, Seamus and Luna. Ron was busy gawking at Lavender, who was busy flicking her hair and laughing at something Seamus said, her one long leg crossed over the other. Hermione felt a stab of jealousy, but she stomped it down. They were taught to have maximum control over their emotions.
"Hermione! How are yer, lass?" Seamus asked in his thick Irish lilt. Hermione smiled and sat down at the bench.
"I'm fine thanks, Sea. And yourself?"
"Aye, all's well." He replied, in between mouthfuls of bread. "Harry's been telling us of yer top secret mission. I have ta say, yer a load o' lucky bastards!"
Hermione giggled at his expression, which conveyed equal amounts of outrage and humour.
"We are, aren't we?" announced Ron arrogantly, still eyeing Lavender, obviously hoping to impress her.
"And guess who's been asked to act as Hermione's honorary best friend? Me of course!" Ginny grinned, smugly staring around the table. Harry looked horrified and slammed his fork down.
"But Ginny! What about Quidditch?" he asked her incredulously.
"What is 'Quidditch', Harry?" Lavender asked; a confused expression on her face. Harry sighed dramatically.
"Quidditch; it's what I'm calling my response team. Ginny qualified to be in it." He said glumly, slumping down in his chair. Hermione knew he would be disappointed about her not becoming part of his team; he always had had a small crush on her.
"My duty to Hermione is more important! And on a stronger note; it's more fun as well! I might even get to visit you as your 'best friend', and help you with the mission. That would be awesome!" she sighed, lost in her daydreams of becoming the Order's top spy.
Hermione chuckled. "I also need three other 'friends'. Seamus, would you act as Toby?"
"Aye, lass, t'would be an honour!" he grinned at her.
"Good. Lavender, would you mind being Samara?" she asked the ditzy blond.
Lavender turned and grinned at her. "Yes, I would like that." She said in her smooth voice.
Hermione nodded. That just left her supposed 'crush', Danny. She turned to Ron.
"Um, Ron, would you please be Danny?" she asked nervously.
"Sure," he said nonchalantly, "but I thought McGonagall would have only wanted one guy friend. Why two?"
"Um, well, you see," Hermione started, "Danny isn't my friend, so much as my… crush. It will be completely fake, of course!" she added hurriedly.
Ron nodded again, completely at cool. "Sure, whatever. I'll pose for a few photos."
Hermione sighed; this clearly wasn't a big deal to him. It only went to show he thought of her as no more than a sister. Lavender, however…
She shook her head; this kind of thinking was no use to her. She instead began silently reciting Latin verbs to keep her mind occupied.
Soon supper was finished and Ginny dragged Hermione to their dorm. The dorms held five people; and you could choose who you would bunk with. Hermione was currently bunking with Ginny, Lavender and Luna. The fifth bed they had converted into a sofa.
Plonking herself down on the sofa-bed, Ginny looked at Hermione seriously. "Now we must discuss the most important thing of all. What clothes and make-up you are going to bring."
Hermione chuckled and sat down next to Ginny. It amazed her; a girl could grow up in a military environment and still be obsessed with fashion and their looks. Personally Hermione had never seen the appeal, but she knew for a fact she was the odd one out. Ginny would not leave her alone until they had a full wardrobe planned.
"Well, McGonagall seems to like the idea of dresses and skirts. Apparently they should be flattering but innocent." Hermione admitted reluctantly.
"Right," said Ginny, her mind already at work, "I think we should go with skater skirts that reach to just above the knee, with pastel colours. I know it's autumn and those are quite spring looks, but I think we want to make sure you don't look like you know too much about fashion. We could also include…"
Ginny started babbling at about a hundred miles an hour, Hermione heard mentions of white blouses, blue pumps and cute pyjamas (which, quite frankly, worried her) but the majority went over her head. At some point Lavender and Luna walked in, and Lavender immediately began donating her opinions. Soon they had moved on from clothes to make-up.
"…very natural, no heavy liquid eyeliner or anything. Gentle blue, greens and pinks for eye shadow and lip gloss as opposed to lipstick. What do you think, Hermione?"
"Hmm? Sorry, what?" Hermione said, yanked out of her daydreams. Ginny looked at her exasperatedly and shook her head.
"Honestly, you are completely hopeless! We were discussing your skin tone and we asked your opinion on the matter."
Hermione shrugged lightly. "You know how little I care about this kind of thing, I trust you guys to get it right. Just make sure you tell McGonagall."
Ginny sighed but nodded and got up to find McGonagall, motioning for Lavender to do the same. Hermione collapsed back onto her bed with a sigh.
"Don't worry Hermione," Luna said quietly, "I know they must be scaring you a little with their excitement of this mission. I don't think they quite understand how dangerous it is actually going to be. You can relax though; you're too clever to let anything happen."
Hermione smiled, bemused. Luna seemed to have this magical ability of reading people. It was equally useful and annoying. At the moment though, it was quite reassuring.
Luna was quite right; Hermione was scared out of her skin. Just thinking about the pressure that would be put on her made her squirm. Luna's comforting words made her feel marginally better, but not completely so.
Hermione blew out a sigh; what had she gotten herself into?
The next three days passed in a whir of activity.
In just three short days they had made Hermione an entire wardrobe, plus accessories, as well as preparing her phone, purse, handbag and other possessions.
The photo-shoot had been interesting. She was made to pose in various outfits in front of a green screen, along with Ginny, Lavender and Seamus. She had only done a select few with Ron, however.
She was quite impressed with the finished results. They had pasted various different angles of London, and made it so they looked completely natural in the busy city.
She was also happy with her range of possessions.
The normal things included plentiful books, stationary, exercise books for Draco, one or two for her from her supposed 'school'.
The school was Beauxbatons, and whilst it was an actual school (a very good one, at that) it new about the Order and helped them with missions such as this. Hermione had a glowing report from her supposed head teacher, Madame Maxime.
She also now owned an enormous poster of Coldplay and an iPod full of their music. She actually quite liked their music, but not as much as her new identity did.
Amongst her possessions there was a cute jewellery box with both normal and not-normal jewellery. The not-normal jewellery had mini cameras and recording devices on them. She was required to wear one at all time around Lucius, and so she settled on almost permanently wearing an elegant wristwatch rigged with recording tech.
She was going to the interview tomorrow, and everybody was absolutely sure she couldn't not get the job. However, Hermione did not share this sentient, and requested that her last day be normal.
This meant getting up at seven and being at breakfast by seven thirty.
When she walked into the dining hall for her meal, dressed in appropriate exercise gear, she quickly spotted her friends sitting at one of the far tables.
Grabbing some toast she made her way over to their table. They were all wearing similar things to her, or, vaguely similar.
Whilst Hermione sported some dark tracksuits and a lycra top with her frizzy hair plaited, Lavender was dressed in a just a sports bra and lycra shorts, showing off her well-formed stomach, legs and arms. Being on the rigorous training routine they were on, they all had good bodies, but Hermione didn't feel comfortable revealing her body like that around so many other people.
Her own good body had caused some problems; people had asked what her excuse would be if Draco or Lucius noticed her unusually strong form. McGonagall had decided that it would be best to say she could do karate and had a running machine which she studied on. This would also help avoid any awkward situations if either of them saw her doing any martial arts in self-defence or something.
After breakfast they went to the gym as usual to do an hour on the various machines. Hermione chose to do some vigorous cycling, and from there she switched between watching the music channel on the TV and Ron and Seamus fighting elegantly on the mats.
After that, they made their way to the large field around the back of the castle for their martial arts practice. From there they split up into those with personal trainers and those who trained in small groups.
They were just practicing simple surprise attack methods and Hermione was pared with Luna, and for an hour they sparred together.
Because they were both rather small, both girls relied heavily on their speed which meant they aimed to take out their partner's legs. They were taught which body types required which methods, and Hermione knew how to easily take out a man twice her weight. However, Luna had a natural elegance and seemed to dance around Hermione's various attacks. This just made Hermione all the more determined.
The hour after that was devoted to fighting strategy, and the one after that was for weaponry.
Hermione could use most weapons, but she favoured using two forked daggers in hand to hand combat. She was best at using a hand pistol, but she could use most guns.
From twelve to one thirty was lunch, and people usually liked to shower, then eat, then prepare for the next bout of lessons.
The first hour was reading body language and how to manipulate people. Hermione wasn't too good at manipulation, but she could do it.
The second hour was mental and emotional training. Hermione was very good at this, as she had a very powerful mind.
After that was clue searching for half an hour, then subject studies for two hours.
Subject studies were the normal school subject only in the context of spying. This was personal studying, and you could make use of the library; the media room or the teachers.
Lessons ended at six and supper was at seven. People sometimes dressed up nicely for dinner, but mostly people just wore comfortable, casual clothes.
After supper was free time. Under fifteen year olds had to be in bed by nine and lights out at ten. Over fifteens could get into bed whenever they wanted, as long as lights were out by midnight. Usually people were asleep by eleven or earlier though, as the days were long and hard.
Hermione's favourite activity in summer was to go out onto the fields and find somewhere to read quietly, or talk to her friends. As the days got darker though, she liked to hang out in the library or the dorms.
The boys sometimes liked going out into the woods when it was dark, but so far Hermione had only joined them twice. Tonight though, she knew they were planning a jaunt around the woods and she fully intended to join them.
"I'm going to go into the woods with Harry, Ron and Sea tonight. Any of you want to come?" she asked Ginny, Lavender and Luna as they got ready for supper.
For Ginny and Lavender, going into the woods with the boys was commonplace, so they had no trouble nodding their heads readily. After they had gotten over their initial shock, of course. Luna also agreed to come, considering it was Hermione's last night there for some while.
They all traipsed down to supper, where they could smell spaghetti bolognaise. Grabbing her food, Hermione once again joined the boys along with the girls.
"So," announced Ginny, "Hermione the scaredy-cat has finally agreed to come with us into the woods tonight!"
They all looked rather in shock, and Ron pretended to have a heart-attack. They all laughed at this, and at Hermione's face.
"Shut up you gits!" she complained. "I could die on this mission! I want to have some good memories to take with me to the grave!"
"Never thought I'd see the day!" Harry chuckled, earning himself a scowl from Hermione.
Soon after supper they snuck out of the castle and ran cross the fields into the woods.
The beams of light shining from their torches rebounded off of the trees, making them look bigger and more intimidating than they actually were. They were surrounded by the sounds of the night, without being able to see anything.
"I know there aren't wolves in Britain; but I swear I just heard one!" Hermione gasped, clinging tighter to Ginny's arm. "What do we do know?"
"Well," said Harry, "we could play ghost hide and seek?"
Hermione paled at his suggestion. Ghost hide and seek involved the 'hiders' stalking the 'seeker' and trying to scare them out of their skin. She did not particularly fancy that.
"No, definitely not!" she announced. "Why don't we just sit in a circle and tell ghost stories?"
"Come on, 'Mione," complained Seamus, "find yer courage, lass! We'll freeze our arses off out here jes' sitting around."
"Yeah, come on! This is what we always do. If it helps, I'll count first and we won't make you count, okay?" said Ron comfortingly, slinging an arm around her. In the dark she blushed, very aware of her physical contact with Ron.
"Alright then. But I want us all to have a torch in case there is an emergency." She said.
Harry nodded. "Yes, but only the seeker can use it during the game. Cheer up, 'Mione, think of it as training."
"Okay," said Hermione, "start counting, Ron."
As Ron counted to fifty against a tree, Hermione melded into the night along with everybody else. When he had finished counting, he started walking around; flashing the torch everywhere he heard a sound.
Silencing her footsteps, Hermione followed him through the trees. She focused on using all of her senses to aid her, acutely aware of every rustle. She knew exactly where the others were, but was pretty sure they didn't know where she was.
One by one Ron caught the others before they had a chance to leap out and scare him. Soon enough she was the only one left.
"Right, that's everyone except for Hermione. Have any of you se- ARRRGGGGHHHHHH!" Ron yelled as Hermione leapt on his back, effectively scaring him.
All the others broke down laughing at Ron, and Hermione chuckled slightly at them.
"I knew yer had it in yer, lass!" Seamus announced, wiping away tears of mirth.
"That was priceless Hermione!" Ginny gushed between chortles at her brother.
For another two hours they played ghost hide and seek before heading into the castle and up to bed.
The morning came all too quickly for Hermione, as she was tired out by the previous night's events. Soon her day's schedule flooded her brain, and she groaned into her pillow.
She had a helicopter taking her to a private airfield, before a taxi would take her to Malfoy manor which was in Wiltshire. The taxi driver would be a fellow agent.
She glanced at her clock, it read quarter to seven. She had precisely three and a half hours before she had to be on the helicopter.
She stumbled through breakfast and afterwards made her way to the library to go over the final details with McGonagall.
"Remember, try to remain yourself as much as possible to minimise the risk of exposure due to a slip-up. Use your own favourite book, film et cetera to avoid problems."
Hermione nodded and mentally went over everything she had to remember. It was a very long list. Before long it was time to go.
There to bid her goodbye before she left were Ginny, Harry, Ron, Lavender, Luna, Seamus, various trainers and Dumbledore himself.
After hugging her friends goodbye, she walked up to Dumbledore. His eyes twinkled merrily behind his spectacles and smiled kindly down at her.
"You will be absolutely fine, Miss Granger. Don't worry about a single thing." He reassured her, giving her a friendly pat on the shoulder. She nodded and said goodbye to him.
She gave herself a mental pep talk as she climbed into the helicopter with all her luggage, and turned to wave her friends goodbye before the helicopter door closed and it took off.
The journey didn't take that long at all in the helicopter, and before she knew it Hermione was in the taxi driving towards Wiltshire. She had left her luggage in the helicopter; when, if, she got the job she would have it sent to her.
All too soon the car drew up outside the imposing gates of Malfoy manor, and Hermione couldn't help but gulp. The place was absolutely huge.
Nervously, she walked towards the gates and watched in fear as the car drove away. She turned and was just about to push open the gates when they opened in front of her.
She walked slowly down the wide path and looked up at the huge doors at the entrance; and more importantly, the man with long blond hair and icy blue eyes standing in front of them. Lucius Malfoy.
There you have it guys, I hope you enjoyed it. I will hopefully update soon and I'll see you then!
GoldieXx