I do not own anything Harry potter.
The large room was filled with sixty men and women dressed in black military gear, all of them sitting straight in their chairs, their attention focused directly to the front of the room. Being in their combined presence was awe inspiring, since they were the ministry's "Black Ops", the best soldiers the wizarding world had to offer. Rumor had it that they were trained in every aspect of magical warfare, even in muggle fighting techniques and weapons, and for the hundredth time Hermione Granger wondered why she had been asked to join this meeting.
As Head of Research for the Ministry she was accustomed to her department supplying the black ops with their information but there had never been a reason for her to be an actual part of their operations before. She had to admit that she was filled with a sense of trepidation, especially since the black ops were a highly classified and guarded secret, and although her researchers knew of them, no-one really knew what they looked like without the ski masks. Well no-one until now.
She looked down at the note Harry's owl had delivered to her an hour ago, reading it over to make sure she was at the correct meeting. To the right of her a door opened and in walked the Minister of Magic and the Head of the Black Ops unit. Immediately the soldiers bounded to their feet ,their right hands raised in a salute.
"At ease", came the clipped command, and Hermione felt her pulse quicken at the sight of Draco Malfoy. She had last seen him two weeks ago at a charity event, he had even spoken to her and Ron and Harry for a bit, as was his usual way whenever they met. He had been sophisticated and self assured, just her idea of the perfect man. But those was the only times she ever saw him, because his social world and hers were far apart.
Of course she already knew that he was the leader of the Black Ops. After all , although Harry was the minister of magic, he was still her best friend, and he had told her about Draco's job, in the event that she ever needed his help.
She had been greatly surprised and disbelieving when Harry had told her about Draco, particularly so, since Draco was one of the richest men in the wizarding world, and because of that , news about him was in the paper nearly everyday. But as Harry had gone on to explain, this made Draco the perfect man for the job. He was influential enough to get into even the most secret of organizations, and whenever he needed to go on a mission, he could always say he had to conduct some urgent business. His past with the death eaters gave him a sinister streak, and that made evil people trust him.
Yet Hermione knew that Draco was not evil, and that was proven time and time again by the number of deviants and corrupt organizations his Black Ops had brought to justice. Hermione had to admit that her admiration and later respect for Draco had begun when he had spurned the death eaters while they were at Hogwarts, and became a spy of the Order. The only hitch was that ,since then Draco's identity had to be kept a secret, even more so now , and she was grateful that no-one had betrayed him, since his life would surely be in more jeopardy.
As the soldiers took their seats , Harry signaled for her to come to the front. She made her way carefully, aware that every eye in the room was on her, especially a pair of enigmatic silver grey ones. She suddenly wished she had decided to wear something other than her plain brown suit today, because she knew she looked like a nerd especially with her hair normally frizzy hair untidily pulled back in a bun., so unlike the women he dated. When she was standing next to Harry, Draco began to speak.
"In the last week, we were able to successfully infiltrate the Aventud cult in the Muggle world. The cult is being lead by the wizard Archevalm."
"Archevalm" Hermione muttered, a little too loudly.
"Yes Ms. Granger, the very same, and I'm sure that you can tell my operatives the facts of his case" he said looking at her steadily. Finally, she knew why she was here, to give a research report, instantly all her anxiety vanished.
"Well, Archevalm was a mighty wizard in the pre-Voldermort era. Many say that Voldermort based his hatred of muggles on Archevalm's writings. The Ministry of course did not approve of Archevalm wanting to rid the world of muggles, so they arrested him and placed him in the muggle world, where they thought he would learn to accept them. They also stripped him of his Magic, so he should be living the life equivalent to a squib." She looked at him expectantly.
"Is that all?" he asked tauntingly, one platinum eyebrow raised.
"No" she replied testily "in reality , although he was put in the muggle world, he had a contingency plan. The house that he begged to be placed in was one that he had magically constructed, with spells using his blood .The Ministry wasn't as good in doing research as they are now" she said with a good amount of superiority, "and as such they did not know this. From the moment he stepped into the house his powers were returned, but only while he is in the house can he use his magic, and only he can use magic in the house. Also he had wards placed to bar any creature or person born from the wizard world to enter into his house, without his permission. Lastly, the wards against the use of magic can be broken as they are contained magically in a book. However first the code of the book must be broken and a pureblood must place his hand on the book and recite the incantation." She finished with a smile.
"Thank you Miss Granger" he told her formally, a smirk playing around his lip.
"Now the reason you're here" he addressed the soldiers. "As I told you before, Archevalm has recruited a cult of muggles. They believe that he can give them magical powers, and they are willing to do anything for him." Hermione gasped, this was very dangerous
"He, however intends on using them by invoking spirits into their bodies, and making them into zombies who will attack and kill muggles, this will happen at midnight. We have a plan to stop him, but we only have seven hours to get prepared"
Hermione was so taken up looking at Draco taking control of the situation that she didn't notice Harry was trying to get her attention until he grabbed hold of her hand and pulled her through the door.
"Herms, I need to give you a huge responsibility" he said looking at her uneasily, as soon as they were in the corridor.
"Whatever it is Harry, you know I'll gladly do it" she told him reassuringly.
Taking a deep breath he said "I need you to go on this mission with Malfoy"
"What?!, Why?!" she was very confused and she definitely wasn't expecting this.
"You weren't born in the wizard world Herms, so you will be able to enter past the wards" he explained rationally, "and you're the smartest witch ever, the only person who can probably break that code in a short space of time" Hermione listened to him, her apprehension turning into understanding, before Harry could say anymore she interrupted him.
"I'll do it Harry, don't worry I'll do it" she assured him, full of Gryffindor courage.
Three hours later Hermione was in her office, trying to memorize everything that she could on the possible ways to break the code. Harry and most of the soldiers had already left for the muggle world, to take up their positions outside the house in preparation of the attack
"Are you ready?" Draco asked from the doorway, looking resplendent in all black robes.
"I honestly don't know", she told him, looking down at her trembling hands.
"Granger, you're going to do fine, I am sure of that" he told her calmly, which unbelievably enough made her feel much better.
"We have to leave now", he told her, watching as she got up from her chair and began walking to him. , "but I want you to go over the plan first."
"Okay, first I have to pretend to be a cult follower, I'm not to speak to anyone at all, you will show up an hour after I arrive and you will at some time give me the security card for the vault" she stopped her recitation.
"Are you sure you can steal the card" she asked him worriedly.
"Yes Granger , now finish the plan" he ordered her.
"Then I am to go to the vault, break the code and wait for you, right?." She asked him.
"Right, and Granger ….. be careful." He told her seriously.
She took a deep breath preparing herself mentally before saying "I always am"
She made to move past him however he extended his arm effectively blocking her.
She looked at him in bemused silence, when he began to unbutton her jacket. He had never shown any kind of interest in her, and his actions were so un-Draco Malfoyish that she wondered if she was in one of her more vivid fantasies.
"What are you doing?" she finally found her voice to ask him, after he had already taken it off her and thrown it on her desk.
"Cute as this outfit is for a researcher, it's a bit much for a cult" he told her sardonically, while pulling her shirt out of her skirt, and unbuttoning the two top buttons of it. Clutching the lapels of her shirt together, she felt his strong large hands rest on her slim hips. Arousing as his hands on her body was, she was much to panicked to make much of it.
"I don't have to go in my undergarments, do I?" she asked genuinely horrified.
His smirk was pure male, and she could tell by the look in his eyes that he was imagining how she would look like that. She suddenly felt hot all over and was breathless when she felt his hands grip her hips tightly bring her body into close contact with his.
"No Granger, you look fine just like this" he told her ,his lips a scant breath away from hers. She closed her eyes, already anticipating the feel of his mouth , when she felt him remove his hands and step into the corridor. She looked up at him and saw he was once again the efficient soldier, no trace of the sensual Malfoy to be found. He was such an enigma, she thought as she walked down the corridor next to him, was it any surprise then that she was in love with him.
Hermione stood in a corner of the room nearly an hour and a half later, pretending to drink wine out of the bottle she held in her hands. It was empty but it served its purpose in making her look somewhat like them. Everywhere in the house rather mansion, music was blaring loudly from speakers and there were people drinking and doing drugs. Most of them were naked or close to naked, involved in all manner of sexual acts. She had been accosted by both men and women, thankfully though she had manage to extricate herself before they could so much as breathe on her. She wanted badly to throw up, she felt defiled just being in the same room with these people.
Draco, please come now, please, she silently prayed, and nearly broke down into tears when she saw Archevalm lead him up to the makeshift stage. He looked like an angel next to the tall, fat, greasy looking Archevalm, and all at once she felt safe again. She saw his eyes skim the room, looking for her, but she knew it was almost impossible to see her with the nearly hundred people crowding the hall.
With an abruptness the music was turned of, and unerringly Draco's eyes met hers across the room. She actually saw the tension leave his lean body as he turned to look at Archevalm, his signature smirk in place.
"Ladies and Gentlemen" Archevalm addressed the gathering like a king, instantly even the most drugged up cult followers were on their feet, their attention centered on their leader. "I see you have been enjoying yourselves, and so you should be, as the time grows near for your ascension into the realm of magic." He told them, almost hypnotically, and Hermione was sure that he had used some amount of magic. Yet he couldn't have used much because they had to genuinely agree to his will before he could call the spirits upon them.
Archevalm took his wand and pointed it directly at Draco, Hermione knew her heart stopped beating. Draco on the other hand appeared unfazed, if anything he appeared more relaxed. She saw Archevalm smile and knew then he had only been testing Draco.
"Let me, my loyal followers, introduce you to my esteemed guest, Draco Malfoy. He has promised me that after we are through with the muggle world, he will help me to rid the wizard world of those who would defy us."
The crowd began to clap loudly , Hermione was pretty sure that they had no idea of what a muggle was. In that instant felt sorry for them. For whatever reason they had joined this cult they would die in less than three hours, unless she and Draco were successful. She thought of all the muggle families that might innocently die after tonight, and for the first time since she accepted this mission she was angry and she knew she was going to do everything in her power to destroy Archevalm.
"Draco, as a token of my good will I offer you any of my beautiful followers, for your pleasure, the choice is yours" Archevalm laughed sadistically, indicating with a sweep of his hand the bevy of females Draco could choose from.
She waited with bated breath as Draco pointed directly at her and commanded "Come to me." In that moment he was completely a pureblood prince, arrogant yet sexy at the same time. Instinctively she began walking to him, her eyes focused solely on him , only barely aware of the other women begging him to take them instead. She stopped when she was about a foot away from him, but immediately his hand was on her wrist, tugging her until she was flush against him.
"Are you sure you don't want to chose again?" Archevalm asked slyly "Maybe someone with some more …. well everything." He finished with a skin crawling laugh. Hermione's hands clenched into fists at her sides. She was about two seconds away from attacking Archevalm and beating him into oblivion. Fortunately for them though, Draco curled his arm tightly around her , and then he was tilting her head up to look into her face. His amused chuckle, did not sit well with Hermione at that point in time.
" I prefer this one" he said huskily "she looks innocent" he trialed a long finger from her temple to her lips. Her eyes closed instinctively, relishing the feeling of his skin on her lips. "I like to see them lose that innocence, knowing that I'm the cause". She knew she should be appalled at his words, but then he was finally kissing her and her brain refused to think anymore.
His lips were perfectly sculpted, and when she felt his tongue gently against her lips, she was only too happy to open her mouth, needing to feel the heat and eroticism of him. She kissed him with every emotion she had, stunned to feel him responding with equal passion. She had no idea how long the kiss went on, all she knew was that she couldn't get enough of him. When they finally broke apart, Hermione in all honestly felt fantastically boneless, she could only sag weakly against Draco, who surprisingly was breathing harshly. She looked around her, finally noticing the crowd cheering them on wildly, and urging them to do more.
"Hmmmm, quite a passionate little thing, maybe I'll have her when you're done Draco" Archevalm sneered coming to stand before them, licking his bulbous lips in anticipation. Hermione felt the anger emanating from Draco, but she covertly clasped his hand tightly, reminding him that he needed to remain calm
"Perhaps" Draco replied with a smirk "but right now I want a room fitting for an esteemed guest, where I won't be disturbed until the time the ascension to begins." He requested in a voice that brooked no argument.
"As you wish" Archevalm acceded, although he continued to leer at Hermione. Finally he called to one of his guards. "Rafael, escort Mr. Malfoy to my room, but ensure that this wanton creature" he pointed to Hermione "is waiting for me when he is through." With that he turned away and walked into the throng of followers.
Hermione, uncaring of the guard walking in front of them, clasped Draco's hand tightly all the way to Archevalm's room, while he wrapped his arm around her shoulder comfortingly, neither of them saying a word until they had locked the door behind them. Immediately she turned into his embrace, feeling her tension evaporate as his arms closed around her. Then suddenly he was kissing her, hungrily, greedily, almost as if he couldn't help himself. All at once he stopped, resting his head on her shoulder.
"I'm so sorry you had to go through this", he whispered hoarsely, "but its going to be okay now, I'm getting you out of here" . It took a moment for Hermione to keep up with his changing moods, but once she understood that he meant to abort the mission, she knew she had to put her foot down. "No" she whispered fiercely, "we have to finish this, and we don't have much time" she glanced at her watch.
"No, you're getting out of here, I'll finish it" he stated while practically dragging her to the window. "Draco please listen to me" she pleaded when he ignored her "please, we're almost finished, all we have to do is find the vault and break the code, then we'll both be safe, and all those people down stairs too, please let me help" she grabbed his hand.
"I'll never forgive myself if anything happens to you" he looked down at their clasped hands. "Nothing will happen to me, because you'll protect me" she assured him before reaching up to place a chaste kiss on his lips. "you know Malfoy I'm not sure that I should tell you this, but I love the way you kiss" she whispered to him teasingly, trying to ease the worry she knew he was feeling. His response was a heart stopping grin, then he was serious once again as he asked her "Are you ready?". She looked up at him, then at their clasped hands and smiled remembering when he had asked her that earlier today. "Honestly…. I know I am" she replied softly "so what's the plan?"
"First we need to get to the vault, it's directly on the opposite end of the corridor"
"Actually first Draco, I think we need to take care of the giant guard outside" she pointed absently to the door.
"Lie down on the bed, and close your eyes" he told her
"What!, now is not the time for a nap" she argued.
"Do it" he commanded, all soldier like again.
She laid down, and closed her eyes, hearing him open the door and speaking to the guard.
"See if you can revive her "he ordered the guard as she heard both their foot steps in the room . She tried not to tense up when she heard footsteps nearing the bed, but then she heard a little scuffle and Draco was telling her , actually ordering her to get up.
Hermione saw the guard lying prostrate at the foot of the bed, she didn't even have time to ask if the man was dead because Draco was already practically pushing her out through the door and down the corridor. He slung the guard's gone across his shoulders before he opened a door that lead straight into a massive library . Hermione was of course impressed especially she noticed the beautiful huge painting of a war scene,that took up half of the wall, it was very vivid. Draco had other plans however, as he ripped down the painting to expose the door of the vault. She turned and locked the library door and then she could only stand and watch as he took out the security card from his pocket and swiped it to open the vault which was nearly twice the size of two regular sized bedrooms.
"Things went a little differently from the way I planned it" he told her as she walked past him into the vault, walking straight toward nearly the end of the vault, where the book sat on a podium.
"Can you break it?" he asked, although not in the least bit worriedly.
"Of course" she told him "I am the head of research you know"
"Good, he replied glancing at his silver watch, "because were running out of time"
While Draco stood at the front of the vault, gun in hand, Hermione worked feverishly to break the code, never giving into the frustration even when she failed for the seventh time. "It's not a magical code" she said thinking aloud, "It must have some sort of special meaning to him"
"Did he repeat any words while you spoke with him, or anything like that" she asked Draco.
"Ascension" he replied, glancing at her. She counted the letters of her fingers. "No that's nine I need something with seven letters"
"Hmmm or maybe, its in another language", she thought, going over the synonyms for ascension in her head. In a flash she had figured it out, Aventud, also the name of the cult, meant ascension in the ancient language of Syniterah. Immediately she entered it into the book,fascinated to see the pages of the book unfurling to reveal the imprint of a hand. Her relief was immense.
She turned to tell Draco that she was finished, but he was shouting at her to get down. She looked on confused as the library door burst open and in walked Archevalm and his guards. Some survival instinct had her ducking behind the podium that held the book, while Draco began shooting at them. However his bullets were useless as Archevalm conjured a shield to block them.
"Draco, put your hand on the book" she wanted to shout but if he moved from where he was, she knew he would either be pumped full of bullets or attacked with a spell. Knowing she didn't have a moment to waste she grabbed the book and tried to scamper towards Draco. Because Draco was still firing at them, Archevalm kept the shield up, although they had begun to advance toward the vault, and she was nearly to Draco when she heard the worst sound of her life, his gun clocking an empty clip. Making a final mad dash she went straight to him, he turned just in time to pull he down safely next to him, even as she heard a bullet whiz past her ear.
Everything happened in a blur after that, as soon as Draco put his hand into the book, the room was nearly immediately filled with Black Ops soldiers, and in almost no time at all, they had the guards under control. Archevalm tried running into the vault, but was immensely stunned to feel the tip on Draco's wand to his throat. "Avada" he began but Hermione grabbed his hand.
"No, please no" she pleaded. He looked at her for an infinite minute before he muttered"Expillarmus" which actually caused Archevalm to fly against the wall, knocking him unconscious.
"Sir" they both turned to the soldier, who was wearing the signature ski mask "we have everything under control, but the press are already outside" he told Draco, waiting for his nod, before saluting and walking out.
"I have to leave. Will you come with me?" he asked her just a tad uncertainly running a hand through his beautiful hair.
"Yes" she answered immediately and was happy to see his smirk.
They were just about to apparate when Harry rushed into the room then hugging her tightly.
"Thank God you're alright, Ron and Ginny would have killed me" he fairly gushed, then he even hugged Draco "Thanks for keeping her safe, but you need to leave, the reporters are already swarming downstairs.
"Harry, I'm lea…"she tried to tell him, but he interrupted her.
"Herms we need you, some of the followers have collapsed and we need to figure out the spell." He told her already nearly dragging her to door. She tried to break free and go back to Draco but before she had even turned, she heard the pop of his apparating. She shook here head dejectedly before following Harry.
Three hours later, at exactly three in the morning, Hermione sat on her bed, drying her hair after her shower and thinking about Draco. She shook her head, she wasn't going to give up this tiny chance she had with him, absolutely not. Impulsively she got dressed and apparated to Malfoy Manor.
She landed right in front of the massive doors, and without hesitation she began to knock on the door. She knocked about fifteen times until finally the door was pulled open, and a very disheveled Draco Malfoy appeared.
"What…Herm!" she didn't even let him finish his thought, as she tiptoed up to him and kissed him soundly on the lips. She heard him groan as she continued to kiss him, then he was picking her up, kicking the door soundly behind him and carrying her to his bedroom.
"You know that I'm going to make love to you, right" he asked after depositing her on the bed and shrugging of his robe. She smiled as she ran her hands across the sinewy muscles of his shoulders.
"Are you sure you're ready" she asked him tauntingly, loving the way his eyes burned liquid mercury at her reply.
Hermione woke up to find herself staring into beautiful grey eyes. She smiled a full, contented smile and snuggled under the sheets, causing Draco to chuckle.
"Any regrets?" he asked huskily, kissing her shoulder. She knew he was talking about him being her first.
"I think I should be asking you that, after all I was the one breaking down the front door early this morning" she smiled when he leaned over her , trapping her between his powerful arms.
"You didn't answer my question" he regarded her intently.
"No Draco Malfoy I do not have any regrets, in fact it couldn't have been any better"
"You know that this means were in a relationship?" he asked her ,again seriously.
She looked up at him, afraid that she had somehow trapped him.
"Let me rephrase that" he told her as he saw the uncertainty in her brown eyes "this means that I don't have to keep going to all of those charity events, just so that I can see you and talk to you okay?" he kissed her deeply. She looked up at him stunned
"Okay" he insisted.
She wanted to shout her love for him there and then, but a part of her knew that he probably wasn't at that stage yet, she'd give him some time, all of her life if he asked it.
"Okay', she finally agreed, "but I have to warn you that I'm not going to take kindly to you changing your mind and choosing someone with a little more ….. well everything." She threatened only half jokingly.
"There honestly isn't any chance of that, because you still look innocent" he smirked as he repeated some of his words from the day before. "because I can look into your eyes and know that you're mine" He said huskily, before leaning in to kiss her smiling lips.
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