Disclaimer—I do not own Harry Potter, the television show Sherlock or any of the characters therein from either realm. Nor do I make any moneys from the posting of this fanfiction.

So here it is. I had gotten so many requests for a sequel (one of them from my own beta) that I was spurred into writing this multi-chapter fanfiction. Thank you to everyone that took the time to review "Hermione Walked into a Pub". Sorry I never got back to many of you. I was seriously worried that I would let the cat out of the bag about this story. I hope you like it.

Please read and review.

Chapter One

If there were any time Hermione had ever wished anyone to be struck mute, this would be that moment. Ron had been carrying on for five hours about a quidditch game that only lasted ten minutes. How that was even possible, she didn't know, but there you go! And if that wasn't bad enough if Harry and Ginny became anymore familiar with each other's tonsils, they would need a room upstairs.

Hermione needing at least one breath of fresh air that didn't involve listening about that stupid game yet again, got up.

"Well, I'm off," she told them. "I have an early start come the morning." She smiled at all of them, but somehow she knew it wasn't reaching her eyes. "Take care all…"

"Hermione, we still need to speak…" Ron started only to have her lift her hand to stop him.

"Say hello to Lavender for me, would you?" she told him, making him go red in the face even as Harry and Ginny turned hard eyes onto him. "Seeing as you're practically living in her flat that should prove painfully simple." She looked over to Harry. "Nice try, but it's over." She kissed his head, turning to leave when Ginny got up and joined her.

"You're really not upset?" she asked, as they began walking.

"Why should I be?" she inquired. "Gin, it didn't work out. It's a shame that it didn't, but I'm not going to make like Anna Karenina over Ronald bloody Weasley!"

Ginny frowned and asked, "Who is Anna Karenina?"

Rolling her eyes, she muttered, "No one of import." They arrived at the apparition point. "Take care of yourself, Ginny. I'll get word to you as soon as I am able to."

"Where are you going this time?"

Hermione smiled and said, "You'd never believe me."

"Really? Is it somewhere tropical?"

"Ginny, I can't tell you. So why you bother to inquire, I'll never know." She kissed her cheek. "Be well. I'll be back before you know it."

"The last time you said that, you were gone for two years," she snapped.

"Yes, but you received the best post cards ever. You said so yourself!" This only gained Hermione an eye roll, even as she was disappariting away.

…

Hermione's job had taken her around the world, protecting one person or another since she left her job in the Department of Mysteries. And low and behold where was she being sent to now, but London proper. Normally she lived but a stone's throw away in the countryside nearest to East Anglia and she usually shied away from the city. But as of two days ago, she had no choice but to move to London.

Severus had called her into his office in the ultra-exclusive Diogenes Club. She slipped into the room and was shocked to see that Mycroft Holmes was in the office sitting not in one of the guest chairs, but behind the desk. Looking over to Severus, he rolled his eyes and nodded towards one of the chairs sitting in front of the man occupying her employer's usual seat.

She sat down, crossing her legs and waited for the man to speak. A small nearly unnoticeable smile touched his lips, but never made it up to his eyes.

"I require your assistance in guarding my brother once again," he told her.

She said nothing for a moment, before drawling, "Shall I play invisible buffer once more?"

"No, this time you shall be living in the same residence as he," the man told her.

She nodded, but said, "We've met. In a pub two weeks back." Looking over to Severus, she explained, "It was a chance meeting. I was coming in from that utter crap-fest in Yorkshire. I went to a pub to get a meal and a drink. I never imagined I would see him there." Severus nodded in understanding. Looking to Mycroft, she went on, "I do believe I intrigued him and he does know my name."

Mycroft nodded to this. "Very good. The closer to the truth, the better. No one can lie to my brother and get away with it. The less you have to do so the better." Leaning back, he murmured, "But what to give you to do for a living? It's not as if we can have you being independently wealthy, not with you living in a basement flat."

She thought it over and said, "We can say I'm working for you in a capacity which I am unable to speak to him about." Hermione grinned. "It would be the truth."

"A truth he would no doubt dig into," he pointed out to her to which she nodded at the logic of his statement. "Have you ever given thought in attending university to attain your Ph.D.?"

"I have two of them, so yes, I must have at one point or another thought as much," she answered dryly. "But I could always use another if it must come to that."

He shook his head no. "Have you written anything? Have you thought to become published?"

She flicked a look over to Severus, who looked ready to laugh at the other man's question. "Seeing as my employer thinks I have what he refers to as diarrhea of the keyboard in regards to my written reports, I would have to say yes."

And so she was going to be a promising writer, choosing to live in the basement flat to save on expenses. Hermione's things that she wished to take with her over to London were boxed and shipped the next day. The day after she would be dealing with the man himself. As much as she was looking forward to it, she was dreading it just as much.

To give her and her flat more of a writer's feel Hermione went shopping. She ended up getting a laptop and cellular phone that had to be magically protected against her own magic, as well as being so electronically secure as to make one think it held government secrets. Which after she thought about it, it would be doing just that, wouldn't it? His brother was the British Government after all.

On the day she moved in, she went to collect the key from Mrs. Hudson, a sweet woman who owned the bakery next door. She ended up buying some rolls to go with dinner that night and a chocolate custard tart for afters. She drifted downstairs into her flat and went about making the place her own.

TBC…

…

There's the first chapter. I'll be posting two today, which won't be happening all the time. I thought it would be good to have you guys have more of a handle of what was happening with the story. Onward, fair reader! The next chapter awaits!