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Disappearance
III. Desperation

Harry was right. War did break out now that they thought Harry Potter, the savoir of the magical community, was gone. It was a bit strange that how Harry seemed to have everything in control. He used to rely on her for everything – to keep grounded, to plan, and to strategize. Not that Harry wasn't perfectly capable, but he now shone with leadership skills. The way he handled the others was a bit of surreal, but she couldn't help but be proud of him.

This Harry was unstoppable. He had grown into the role that fate and destiny had elected him for.

Somehow Hermione had always known that the peaceful life that should've been what Harry welcomed was not meant for him. It was hard to go back to a regular life after being forced at a young age to fight and to lead. That's possibly why most of their generation seemed to go into Ministry positions. Even Ron seemed to do a huge turnaround, she eyed the redhead standing next Harry with the group of Aurors, peering at a world map.

She was paying attention. She really was until her eyes drifted to Harry's mouth. She wondered where that mouth had been beside upon hers. The heated flare shot through her. It seemed the first breath of life after so long. Fury seemed to push to the forefront. How could Harry use her emotions to his advantage to get what he wanted? She had heard that Harry's father James was a charmer. It seemed that Harry was finally inheriting his father's charming attributes, slipping away from his quiet awkwardness.

When he spoke, his voice carried firm and resolute. People listened and didn't question. They did what he asked. He had seemed to learn the concept of persuasion and executed it brilliantly. Begrudgingly admitting that he seemed to use that power of persuasion when it came to her. Hermione bloody Granger wasn't weak nor was she easily swayed. Where was her backbone? Where was that girl years ago that stood by her best friends and played a part of defeating Voldemort?

She would stay, because it was the right thing to do. No matter how she changed throughout the years, she wasn't the kind to cower in the shadows while others fought. Nobody would be fighting her battles. She straightened her back. It was time to give show her true colors again. Merlin, she was a bloody war hero! While this was going through her mind, her eyes snapped to the gaze burning into her and she met those pair of emeralds. She let that fire within her burn. She was not a puppet and she certainly wasn't his puppet.

There was only one problem with her newfound confidence – that wizard right there staring back at her. Instead of flinching or averting his eyes, Harry just smirked. Why did it always feel now that he was a step ahead of her?

"Hermione?"

She sat there still in deep thought.

"Hermione?"

Her eyes focused on emeralds one right before her before she completely snapped out of her daze. She flushed in embarrassment, looking up from her seat at the meeting. Harry was across the table with hands pressed against the edge. Everyone had already filed out of the room in search of the obviously cooking food due to the delicious and familiar aroma of Molly's cooking. The only one who still lingered was surprisingly Ron at the doorway.

"Hermione, would you mind coming to my office?" Harry asked, gathering up the reports in front of him and putting the documents in their right manila folder. "I'd like to further discuss some details with you."

"Can that wait until after supper?"

Or never? She was tempted to throw that in.

"No, it's actually important," he told her. "We've already contacted Carpe Diem. They're coming within a day or two with Walkins."

Startled that Harry had evidently a close alliance with Carpe Diem, Hermione could only stare at him. Hendrick Walkins was Carpe Diem's head of operations, so to speak. Harry really could've just tracked her down without any issue. Harry cleared his throat, waiting for her to answer. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out and she glanced over at their other best friend. Ron was looking back and forth between them before smirking, giving Hermione a wink when his eyes settled on hers.

"I'll save you both a plate then."

The bloody wanker left then. Hermione returned her gaze to Harry, who had finished arranging the files. He gave her a lopsided smile.

"Hermione, I'm not going to bite," he promised. "My office is a little down the hall."

She could nod her head in agreement and she followed Harry to his office. She was surprised that his office was actually tidy and organized, but she knew not to say anything about these seemingly newfound skills. She watched Harry quickly put away the documents in a black safe and watched as he muttered a locking spell. It glowed brightly before returning its original state. When he finally gave her his full attention, he gestured to the seats in front of his desk.

"So you already know Hendrick?" she asked as she took a seat.

He sat down in the other chair next to hers. "Walkins? Yes, I've come across him during my assignments. He's even helped me out more times than I liked to admit." He chuckled, shaking his head. "He's my first contact when I go anywhere out of England."

"You really could've tracked me down."

He nodded. "I-I had to know where you were and what you were doing."

She frowned at that confession.

"But you never…" she trailed off uncertain that she wanted that thought voiced.

If he had the resources then why had he waited all these years? Why had he waited until the war? Then a cold feeling washed over her, because he wasn't. She was a formidable instrument into ensure success in the war. He had no intention of finding her.

"I wanted to."

His voice drew her out of that cold and dark place her mind had dipped into. She couldn't put it out of her mind that this was just some ploy. He had already used her feelings for him to get her to come back and to indirectly stay. He knew the cause was something that she'd support and she would do anything and everything to make certain they found success in the war. If it wasn't for the war, she would've left again, but now that it was clear that Hendrick and Harry were working together, it would be ridiculous to even attempt to disappear.

She almost jumped when he covered her hand with his. She immediately shifted to his and she took a deep breath. What did Harry up his sleeve?

"You're so stubborn, Hermione."

Once again, she was rendered speechless. She didn't know how counter or react to that statement. She was indeed stubborn, but this didn't seem an appropriate time to talk about personality traits.

"I figured at least I knew where you were and what you were doing," he explained, releasing her hand. He rose to feet, pacing a little bit back and forth in front of her. "I know you, Hermione. Nobody can force you to do anything. Even if I made contact, it didn't ensure that you wouldn't run. I wanted to wait until you were ready to come back, but I had to be best friends with the most stubborn witch of all time."

She opened her mouth to protest, but she knew she would've ran. She would've disappeared again. It wasn't until five years ago that Hendrick had mysteriously requested her to do an assignment. After that, he persuaded her to join Carpe Diem. She frowned, thinking of Harry and Hendrick's obvious alliance.

"You," she gasped. "You planned it."

"I may have pitched the idea to Hendrick to use you for an assignment, but you alone impressed him. It was just convenient for me that he happened to form a bond with you and wanted you to be a part of Carpe Diem."

"Bloody hell, Harry."

He just smirked, leaning against the edge of his desk. She caught his quick scan over her body, but she didn't have any time to process what that meant when his emerald eyes once again locked on hers. If Voldemort ever got introduced to this Harry, she wondered how well the wizard would've fared. Harry had only been a boy when he had to go up against Voldemort. She had noticed the differences in how he carried himself. He was older and much more in tune with himself and his body. She wondered if his mindset changed as well… if that's why he was now with Ginny.

Time to switch the bloody tables on him, she thought to herself. She and Hendrick had a onetime fling during the last five years. There was no true feelings that was tied to it. It was just something casual and fun – an outlet of sorts. She wondered if Hendrick reported back on that to Harry, not that Harry would care. He was obviously still stuck on Ginny. If Harry was going to play upon her emotions, all was fair in love and… bloody war. It was just bloody war now, she decided bitterly.

"You've changed Harry." She got up, venturing closer to him until there was barely a gap between them. "Confidence looks good on you." She leaned over, brushing a kiss against the corner of his mouth as her fingertips trailed down his chest. "I'm certain Ginny likes it."

He raised an eyebrow at that. "Interesting tactic."

Hermione frowned at that response. When she opened her mouth to question him, his fingers brushed against her hips. Her eyes widened at the gentle caress before his hands grasped her hips to bring her flush against his body.

"H-Harry," she gasped in surprise.

His eyes drifted to her mouth. "I never thought you'd ever use this form of questioning to get answers, Hermione." She swallowed hard when he switched their positions so now that she was now against the edge of the desk… well, more her sitting on the edge of the desk with Harry wedged between her legs. Bloody hell, what did they teach people in Auror training? "Sweetheart, were you trying to seduce me?"

His mouth was barely inches from hers. His fingers were tracing patterns down her sides, distracting her from… bloody everything.

"Harry, stop. This is stupid."

He just shrugged, backing off from her.

"Just playing off of you," he said. "Word of advice, I wouldn't mention other women while using that tactic."

"I'll have you know that I'm perfectly fine playing those cards," she huffed. She caught him roll his eyes at that. "Hey, I haven't had any complaining targets, might I add?" She almost missed the sudden tension in Harry's body, but she figured it was nothing as she charged on. "Besides, as I see it, I wasn't using this tactic when I had somebody waiting on me."

She was about to jump off the desk when Harry turned towards her.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

It was her time to roll her eyes. "Harry, it's okay. If I was in your position right now and with the war, I would've used everything in my arsenal to get what I wanted." She shrugged, trying to act dismissive over his tactics. It bloody well hurt, but she wasn't going to let him in on that. She hopped off the desk. "I'm glad that you finally realized that you were only hurting yourself in the end and went back to Ginny."

Harry's eyes narrowed at that. "You think Ginny and I are together?"

"Well, it's obvious. I mean she kissed you when she found out you were actually still alive and you kissed her outside-"

"I didn't kiss her outside," he cut in. "I was comforting her."

"Oh, sure, if that's what you want to call it-"

"Ron told me she took it pretty hard when the news of my mock death took place and realized that she never got over me. Outside…" he sighed, shaking his head. "I don't really know what possessed me to run after her after we… she looked so bloody hurt and I felt like I needed to clear the air with her. I didn't want her to think I was leading her on or toying with her feelings."

"Oh but you can toy with mine? Isn't that bloody considerate of you-"

He grabbed her, yanking her forward. "I'm not toying with you."

She swallowed hard when his eyes once again lingered on her mouth.

"What do you call this?"

His eyes snapped to hers. "Desperation."

Before she could question him further, voices in the hallway caused them to break apart. Ron came barreling inside with George. They were talking to Harry and Harry was talking back to them. She bit her lip, wondering what he meant by 'desperation'. She watched his eyes flick to hers and she saw the apology of the untimely nature of the Weasleys. She smirked, realizing that this was the second time today that one or more Weasleys interrupted a private moment. She just shrugged and was swept out of Harry's office by George, talking her ear off about something or another with the other two trailing.