Chapter 9: The Plan in Action
"Invitation please?"
Hermione looked up at the tall, muscular security guard as he held his hand out expectantly. She gulped silently and handed over the invitation card she 'borrowed' from the Chinese lady in the car. She knew he would be suspicious of the her as she certainly did not look like a Lim Mei Mei. She had to make sure he did not see the name.
Hermione turned her head to the side slightly and put her hand over her mouth as if she was about to cough. But instead of coughing, she quietly muttered 'Confundus' and then turned back, putting on the most innocent face she could farce.
The stern Chinese man immediately frowned as he continued looking at the card. He then looked back up at her and then back at the card, his eyebrows tight-knit. Hermione smiled and slowly took the card back from him.
"Thank you," She flashed her pearly-white teeth, trying hard not to show a crack of her nervousness as the guard just continued to quietly look at her in confusion. She warily stepped around him, watching him closely and once he finally looked away, she quickened her pace until she was properly inside the mansion and away from the bewitched guard.
Inside all around her, people were drinking, laughing and chatting away merrily. But this was in no way a wild party. There was an air of sophistication, elegance and class. Hermione knew this was a top-notch party, and so she had to act the part. There were all types of people. Chinese, Americans, Indians, Europeans and even Africans. They all looked very cosmopolitan and Hermione could tell this had to be a VERY famous and high-class tycoon to be so popular on a global scale. This just made her ten times more anxious.
She scanned the Grand Hall, looking out for that familiar face she remembered from the news show. Finally, she spotted him near a pillar by the back of the Hall, chatting with some Japanese business-man. Hermione took in another deep breath as she began to make her way towards him. As she reached him, the two men noticed her presence and turned to see her. Both of them were in shock at the radiance and beauty she exhibited, and they both had lust clearly written on their faces.
"I'll catch up with you later, Mr Nasako." The Chinese Tycoon said to the Japanese man, though his eyes never left Hermione.
Mr Nasako seemed rather disappointed that he was just dismissed like that but nonetheless smiled back at the tycoon.
"Right, then, Donghai. Some other time." With that, he walked off.
Donghai (Hermione had taken note of his name) smiled charmingly at Hermione and walked a little closer to her, letting his eyes rake over her tantalizing body. Hermione took the chance to really see his appearance. He didn't seem too old, probably in his mid-twenties. He was rather well-built in a very smart, sheer black suit with a golden tie. He was actually rather dashing, which Hermione scolded herself for thinking since that was totally not the point of the plan. His entire demeanour made him appear like a down-right gentleman, but his lust-filled eyes contrasted that.
"I believe we haven't met before?" He asked with a raised eyebrow though the flirtatious smile never left his face.
"D-Don't you remember me, Donghai?" Hermione asked, trying to keep her voice as light as possible.
"I believe no, because if we have met before, I would have definitely remembered you." There was a hint of teasing in his voice which was heavily laced with desire.
"I am truly disappointed you would not remember me when we met so recently." Hermione teased back, giving him a small smile as she tried her best to act casually.
"Recently? Oh my, I must be growing old that I'm losing my memory so fast!" He laughed, shaking his head slightly.
Hermione laughed along, not really knowing what to say next. She was not very pleased with the way he was looking at her. In any other circumstance she would have told him off for his utter lack of respect and discretion, but that would not bode well given that she needed him to not throw her out of the party.
Stupid Malfoy with his stupid plan.
"But seriously, I would love you know your name. I'm sure it is just as beautiful as its owner." He smiled cheekily at her as he moved even closer.
Hermione smiled back shyly and pushed some hair behind her ear, looking down bashfully as he attempted to place his hand on her waist. Normally, she would knee a guy in the groin if they tried to pull that move within 5 seconds of meeting her, but she knew this was supposed to happen for the plan to work.
As he held her waist and moved even closer, smirking down at her and taking a deep breath through his nose of her lovely vanilla scent, Hermione noticed something shiny around his neck hanging down into his shirt. She raised her head just a fraction to look down the shirt of his suit and saw the top of something round and silver.
Bingo.
By now, Donghai had his arm wrapped around her waist and was moving his face along the curve of her neck, his lips teasing her skin. Wow, this man has really poor self-control...Hermione thought.
"Um, Donghai, why don't we go somewhere more private... to chat." Hermione whispered into his ear, quickly adding on the last part so that he would not get any funny ideas, as she placed her hand on his arm and looked up at him pointedly.
Donghai raised an eyebrow and smirked approvingly before tightening his arm around her waist and leading her up the stairs. All the while, Hermione had her eye on the silver chain around his neck. She just had to keep him distracted until she could steal the chain and just get the hell out of there.
She was so caught up in her plan that she did not realise she was already standing on front of Donghai's bedroom door.
"Let me tell you, not many women have been in here. I only let the crème de la crème in. And you definitely qualify for that category." Donghai's voice was husky as he stared at her chest which was heaving rather heavily as Hermione breathed nervously. She blushed and even felt rather violated as his eyes never left her cleavage, but she could not react now. She still needed to be on his good side.
Donghai pushed his door open to reveal the most lavish bedroom Hermione had ever seen. The floor and walls were pure, white marble which looked brandished and polished. The French windows were covered by heavy dark velvet curtains and by it there was a full mahogany wardrobe. Smack in the middle of the room was a huge circular bed with crisp white covers and red and golden pillows. This was even better than any hotel room she had ever seen.
Suddenly, she felt a hand curl around her own and jumped slightly at the contact.
"Whoa, you seem rather jumpy. Though, I cannot say I don't like it." Donghai grinned at Hermione and pulled her gently towards the bed.
Come on, Hermione, you're supposed to be in control here.
Hermione smiled at Donghai though on the inside she was bursting at the seams. She thought quickly, willing her usually-smart brain to come up with some idea before this revolting character tried anything with her. She deliberated stunning him or using the Confundus charm but he had his personal security guards outside the door, and it was too risky as long as they were there.
Suddenly, Hermione noticed something on the desktop which gave her an idea.
"So you never got back to me about our deal?" Hermione confidently spoke, letting go of his hand and putting both of hers one her hips, feigning irritation.
"What?" Donghai was completely caught off guard by her change in tone, and in fact seemed more scared than confused given her rather intimidating stance in front of him.
"Tell your guards to get lost and I'll tell you what." Hermione folded her arms and squared her shoulders, nudging her head in the direction of the 2 men who were looking at her rather displeased.
Donghai got off the bed and looked at her in bewilderment.
"And why should I do that? I don't even know you, or this deal you're talking about." Donghai started to sound angry, which made Hermione start to panic a bit internally.
"You not remembering me is not my problem. We had a deal, and unless you want your little friends to know about that, I suggest we have this discussion in full privacy."
Hermione had pointed to the rather questionable white substance that the tycoon had foolishly left exposed. He looked at what she was talking about and tensed up visibly.
Still, he turned back and shrugged, trying to come off unfazed.
"Your threats won't work. They know everything. And they stay."
Hermione quirked an eyebrow, "Are you sure they know everything? Because as I seem to recall, our deal was strictly between the 2 of us, you guaranteed me that. And if you can't stick to that, well then I'd be more than happy to terminate everything and send my people over to-"
"No, wait. Fine."
Hermione smiled as Donghai spoke in Chinese to the 2 guards, making them hesitantly but surely leave them both to their privacy.
In all honesty, Hermione had no idea where she was going with what she was saying. She just figured she would keep the act up as long as it took for him to finally succumb. It was apparent Donghai had a bit of a drug usage situation, and as far she knew, drugs were illegal in China. With him being a highly established tycoon with a reputation on the line, she knew it would be the perfect avenue for blackmail, all thanks to his stupid carelessness in leaving his disgusting habit lying around.
"Now, this deal, you need to refresh my memory because I really-"
Donghai stopped short as Hermione placed her hands on his shoulders, getting closer to him.
"We can talk about the deal later." Hermione whispered sultrily as she slowly started pushing him backwards. Donghai seemed to forget about the situation at hand as she looked down at her lips, his own curving into a small smirk.
"This is why you wanted the privacy? Sweetheart, you could have just-"
"Shhhh," Hermione placed her finger over his lips as she pushing him down onto the bed. Hovering over him, she bent down so that her mouth was next to his ear, making Donghai clutch her waist.
"Dormetro Altisus."
Hermione lifted her head and watched the tycoon who was getting rather excited just a few seconds earlier, fall into a deep slumber. Hermione had recalled the spell as the one Dumbledore used during the Triwizard Tournament on her for the Second Task. It was rather difficult but Hermione had practiced it a couple of times with Crookshanks whenever she got cranky.
Hermione sighed in relief that the spell worked and climbed off of Donghai. Carefully, she leaned over him and unclasped the chain behind his neck. She knew he was in too deep sleep to notice her movement but she was still cautious as ever, in case her spell was unstable or not strong enough to last significantly.
Finally, she got the chain off and clasped the coin in her hand. Hermione couldn't stop smiling as she glanced down at the First Coin.
She actually did it!
And she didn't even need Malfoy...
Well technically that was a lie since it was after all his idea, but still, she was the one who executed the plan and actually succeeded in getting the coin so in all honesty, it really was her achievement.
Hermione placed the coin carefully into her little sling-purse which she had 'borrowed' from Lim Mei Mei. She glanced back at the sleeping tycoon and shook her head.
"Pervert."
Hermione slowly opened the door and discreetly exited the bedroom, carefully closing the door behind her. She could see the 2 guards standing a distance away, looking down at the party below. The staircase she had come up from was past them, so Hermione wracked her brain as to how she was going to do this. She couldn't just stupify them, that would cause too much of a raucous. Using any kind of spell on them would be too obvious as they were in the vision of other people as well. So she decided to just do it the Muggle way.
The brightest witch of her age decided to tip-toe behind the 2 enormous guards.
Unfortunately, she had forgotten that she was wearing high heels which were not the softest shoes ever. One of the guards noticed her and turned around, nudging the other one as well. They both looked alarmed to say the least.
"Uhm, Donghai's just washing up." Hermione quickly lied, trying to appear as nonchalant as possible.
The guards looked at each other and then bolted to Donghai's room. Hermione was rather surprised that one of them didn't stay behind to prevent her from running off, though she couldn't complain.
Donghai sure did not have the smartest guards...
The moment they entered the bedroom, Hermione dashed down the stairs, cursing Lim Mei Mei for her long dress and high heels. Once she reached the bottom, she kicked off her heels and pushed through the crowds, running as fast as she could for the front door with the chain held tightly in her hand.
"Stop that girl!"
Hermione did not bother to turn and look behind her, she knew the security guards were coming after her. She tried to run even faster and some guests tried to stop her but she just shoved past them. Finally, she reached the front door and the security guard she had placed the confundus charm on earlier looked at her in shock and anger.
Clearly the spell wore off.
By the look on his face, she knew the message of her being wanted was being relayed to him through his earpiece.
He was about to grab her when she immediately whipped out her wand and threw a hex at his face, causing him to fall unconscious to the ground. Gasps elicited from all around her and even some cries of shock and terror. Hermione blasted the door open and ran out of the mansion towards the front gates where Draco was casually leaning against a tree, picking at his nails.
"Malfoy!"
Draco's head snapped up at his name and what he saw truly befuddled him. Hermione was running towards him, her dress and hair a mess and her feet bare. Behind her were 5 security guards, running fast to catch up to her and some guests gathering outside the house to watch the drama.
Merlin, can this girl do anything right?
"Run!" She yelled as she darted towards him and grabbed his hand, pulling him along.
"Granger! You can't do anything, can you? Do you have the Coin at least?" He shouted, now running as fast as possible with Hermione away from the security guards.
"Yes, now come on! Apparate us away from here!" Hermione yelled back.
Draco pulled her to a stop and gripped her hand, closing his eyes tightly as he tried to catch his breath. Before they knew it, they were standing in the room they stayed at earlier, except this time, it was absolutely destroyed and trashed.
The curtains were ripped and the windows were shattered. The bedsheets were sprawled on the floor and the bed had cuts and even some burn marks on it. Broken furniture bits and pieces lay across the floor and the television set was smashed in. Draco looked around the room and knew only one thing could cause such destruction and damage.
DeathEaters.
