A/N: OMG it has been so long for this story and I apologize but I have been horribly busy and I barely had time to breathe until this last week that I had it off from work and decided to write as much as possible so expect one more update in one of my other pending Fleurmione.
ThatGayNerd: I am glad you liked it and yeah, more HP characters will be featured. As Hogwarts is irrelevant here, it would only be mentioned. Thanks for reading :D.
Avatar1989: Thank you very much :D
UnknownReader3: Thank you!
xxDark Angel Babyxx: Sorry for the delay!
Thestral212: Jajaja si, Fleur es menor que Hermione en esta historia para darle un toque differente. A ver que te parece este capitulo 50458947 meses despues XD.
Guest: Thank you.
Mitzicrow: Here's another chap and sorry for the delay.
PIPhoenix: Thanks!
Anolan19: Thank you so much that makes me happy.
Jaely: I hope you like this new chap, too.
Arial Wolf: Hahaha thanks!
Ash: Yes, there will be even more but with delays as I don't have much time to write right now.
hdecarranza: Gracias, me alegra que te haya gustado, aqui va el siguiente capitulo.
Enjoy!
2.- Impasto
"She looks happy," Harry commented behind his drink while observing his sister that was talking animatedly with one of the regional managers of their company.
"Of course, she is" Charlotte added from behind and the young man turned to greet his mother that just arrived at Granger's Corp. anniversary party "you guys have accomplished so much in so little time that you deserve to celebrate it."
"It was not easy to convince her to do so, mum" Harry replied after kissing his mother on the cheek and tilted his head confused "where's mama?"
"The usual, a last-minute mission, you know her" Charlotte shrugged "she promised to be here before the big announcement, however."
"And I am a woman of my word" a soft yet stern voice stated from behind the pair that turned and smiled at the newest arrival that kissed her wife and son "I didn't miss it, did I?"
"No love, you are right on time" Charlotte wrapped an arm around her wife's waist and turned to look at their daughter that was approaching the podium in the center of the room.
"See you after the announcement, mum, mama" Harry kissed his mothers and rushed to be by his sister's side.
"Good evening, as you know, today is the lucky number seven anniversary of our company and the head of research and development that is also the president has some news for us" a redhead announced "before further ado, I present you, Hermione Granger, our sexy boss" eager claps and loud cheers followed when the blushing Ravenclaw stood in front of the microphone.
"Thank you, Ginny for such warm welcome, as you can see, my assistant's replacement has a peculiar sense of humor," several laughs were heard before Hermione used her wand and the microphone turned into an attachable model that now was clasped to her faded t-shirt and the inventor looked at her audience for a few seconds before starting her annual speech where she normally introduced a new groundbreaking gadget that would be soon available to the public.
"One of the things that we manage the most is information" Hermione paced while several images floated above her "all our memories, birthdays, important dates, work tasks, errands that include shopping lists among other things that occupy our thoughts and can distract us if they become overwhelming. I know it has happened to me at times and there's a limit of parchments I can carry and remember to read."
A magical picture of a slumbering Hermione on a chair while her kettle lit the kitchen curtains of the one in her office, and the fire that followed. Several laughs were heard when the next picture of a yawning Hermione being scolded by the magical fire department was shown.
"That's why we don't have curtains in our kitchens now" Harry added and the audience laughed once more.
"Anyhow, information" Hermione rolled her eyes at her brother before turning to look at the audience "that got me thinking, what if we developed a way to keep everything organized and then it came to me" with the flick of her wand, a blue bubble appeared floating next to the president "a portable gadget to store information."
Hermione tapped on the surface of the floating sphere and it expanded into different purple folders "with some personalization and the highest level of magical security I developed along with my department, this intuitive device will be able to store all your tasks and errands, classify them and remind you of any new relevant information that you need in any moment."
The president tapped on a folder named birthdays and a blinking picture popped up with several windows linked to it by thin magical threads "as you can see, my mum's birthday is in three months and I have all her likes and several suggested gifts she would like according to her own preferences." Hermione tapped on the suggestion on the right and the one on the far left.
"I know that she loves rare things in general so I made sure to grow one of the rarest flowers of the world" a picture of a middlemist camellia popped up and everyone gasped at the beauty of the flowering plant of incalculable value due to its rarity and also for being one of the main ingredients of potions that are supposed to be impossible to brew such as the one for eternal beauty, time-traveling or the revive of dead ones.
"And one rare artifact as well" every person in the audience opened their mouths in marvel when they saw a picture of what it looked like a reproduction of an antique ark, one of the rarest and mysterious objects ever created "that will be delivered to my mum by yours truly on her birthday and thanks to this little bubble I was able to locate those things and more" a round of loud claps reverberated and Harry smiled widely.
"You might be wondering how this was possible" Hermione opened her hand and the blue sphere floated above it "this little guy is the prototype of something I call the bubble that works as a way to shorten distances as it let us contact people from all over the world even if we don't know them personally and exchange information, knowledge or even help us locate rare objects. It will also store, organize and remind you of important things such as birthdays-" the bubble suddenly turned into a small screen and everyone laughed "or hairdresser appointments" Hermione blushed and used her wand to make the bubble disappear.
"Dear employees, the future is here and it will make our lives better as soon as we get our Ministry's clearance and approval" Hermione announced and the audience cheered "our estimations are that we will be able to start promoting and selling the bubble by next Christmas which is just four months away." A round of loud claps were heard followed by excited cheers.
"We also have some more products in development that will be send to the test department soon that includes our newest line of bludger resistant clothes for quidditch players that reduces the chances of broken bones in more than a 75% thanks to our patented charmed fabric, sorry test crew you will have to deal with bludgers again" Hermione looked to her right and half a dozen men sighed and some even shivered at the thought of testing how resistant the new clothes were. The rest of the employees burst into laughter and some even approached the test crew and patted them on their backs.
"Well, I think it's time to celebrate" around a dozen waiters entered the room and distributed champagne glasses among the guests with their wands. The moment Harry made sure that every single employee and guest had a glass of the bubbly liquid in their hands, he nodded to his sister that raised her champagne flute and smiled widely.
"Raise your glasses and join me in a toast hoping that Granger Corp. lasts, at least, one hundred years more"
"To Granger Corp." employees yelled and cheered at their employer.
"That was very impressive, dear" Charlotte engulfed her daughter in a tight hug the moment she approached her family.
"Mum, stop it, I can't breathe" Hermione protested while gasping for air. Her mom was incredibly strong, and even more when excited about something related to her children.
"It feels like it was just yesterday when you started your company, and now you employee more than two hundred wizards and witches," Jeanne added while placing a hand on her wife's right arm that let go of their complaining daughter.
"These years have been of hard work, but we made it through" Harry commented while signaling a waiter to bring them more drinks "Hermione is hard to please when it comes to the products we release and very demanding with everyone that it's a miracle we are well and alive" the dark-haired chuckled at his sister's glare "see?" Jeanne and Charlotte laughed amused.
"I am not that bad" Hermione protested once more before taking the glass offered by a waiter and taking a long sip of the burgundy liquid "oh, this wine is pretty good"
"Of course, it is since I made sure to bring a few bottles from your personal collection" a voice stated from behind the inventor who turned around with a smile.
"And I thank you for that" Hermione turned to look at her family "mum, mama this is Ginevra Weasley, my new assistant who is replacing Emmeline that is on maternity leave"
"We have talked through parchments before" the redhead smiled and shook the women's hands "you can call me Ginny"
"And you can call me Jeanne, such a nice lady you are" Jeanne shook the redhead's hand with a smile "is my daughter giving you trouble?"
"Not much right now since I set some ground rules when it comes to contact me at ungodly hours" Ginny chuckled when her boss had the decency of blushing.
"She didn't" Charlotte shook her head and tried hard to hide a smile when she saw her wife's horrified face "I am Charlotte, by the way."
"Oh, she did" the redhead grinned "after the third Patronus at three in the morning asking for documents that were on her desk days ago or a new pot of tea, I talked to her about boundaries"
"I like this girl" Charlotte added with a smile and Hermione sighed. At this, the redhead saw one of the oldest employees making signs at her and she nodded before turning around to face her boss and her family once more.
"I would like to stay and chat more but there are some things I need to attend to" Ginny whispered something by Hermione's ear that nodded and hummed in approval "it was nice meeting you, Mrs. Jeanne and Mrs. Charlotte"
"She's nicer than I thought" Jeanne commented before taking a sip of her wine.
"She's a great assistant, mama" Harry promptly added with a hint of red on his ears.
"And the one you like, huh," Charlotte remarked while wrapping an arm around her son's shoulders that choked on his drink.
"Wha-"
"Come on, dear" Jeanne teased "we are veela"
"We can sense these things" Charlotte added.
"Even I sensed it" Hermione joined her mothers' teasing and chuckled when Harry glared at her.
"You and your veela things" Harry sighed in defeat "Do I even have a chance with her?" the young wizard asked his mothers that exchanged glances before turning to look at him.
"You know that we can't intervene, dear" Charlotte stated softly.
"Just follow your heart, sweetie" Jeanne smiled at her son.
"But Harry, don't do it this week because I need Ginny's undivided attention to managing all the engagements I have with-" Hermione winced when Jeanne elbowed and scowled at her "I mean, follow your heart, or whatever." Sensing that her wife would direct the love conversation to Hermione and start an argument, Charlotte released her son and turned to look at her daughter.
"Now, tell me about this bubble of yours, pumpkin," the curse-breaker asked her daughter that started talking excitedly about one of the most promising projects the inventor was still working on.
Months flew by really quickly and the development of the bubble was almost finished which made Hermione satisfied but not completely happy as some of the side projects were delayed and the inventor was quite impatient. She knew that her competitors were scheming on releasing similar products to her own around the same dates she would and the inventor, as competitive as she was, wanted to beat them to the punch.
"You are telling me that the sports goods branch has not finished the trials of our newest projects and will be delayed for another week?" a scowling Hermione voiced with annoyance.
"Actually, make that two weeks instead" Ginny added while checking her information on a recently received message "we are also having an issue with the phoenix feathers provider for our new line of healing ointments so there's a delay of almost a month in production"
"Bloody hell" Hermione rubbed her temples in annoyance before looking up with mismatched eyes. Ginny was not surprised to see her boss's blue and amber orbs as she had been under so much stress lately as the most important sales season was quickly approaching and Granger Corp. was struggling to release all what Hermione wanted to be out for that time "please tell me you have some good news"
"Well, I brought some tea so let me pour you some while you fix your eyes" Ginny started serving some of the steamy liquid to her boss while she quickly charmed her eyes once more "I still wonder why you hide your blue eye; you look great that way" Hermione just hummed after taking a sip of kava tea. It worked wonders as it took her not more than a minute to feel more relaxed.
"It's a long story for another day" the brunette dodged the topic and focused on her steamy mug.
"Oh yeah, I do have good news"
"Bloody finally" Hermione sighed before taking a bite of some filled pastries Ginny brought with her "please, tell me that the artificial unicorn hair we are developing for surgeries is actually working"
"Not only is working, but they are using it on real operations in crups and is working just fine with little to no aftereffects" Ginny smiled when her boss looked relieved "according to the head of the medical branch, the hold of the hair increases if it's infused with a strengthening spell by the surgeon operating that should undone it when the removal of the stitches is performed."
"Brilliant" Hermione took a longer sip of her tea and her posture relaxed a bit more.
"And also, the ancient artifacts you ordered through the bubble will be delivered to your flat today" Ginny touched her own floating device that was tinted in vivid orange, just like her magic's signature. She was one of the few privileged to try the bubble before release along with Harry and their mothers.
"About bloody time" Hermione sighed relieved "mum's birthday is in two weeks and I wouldn't hear the end of it if she didn't get her gifts after so much hype" the inventor chuckled.
"And whose fault is that?" Ginny laughed louder at her boss's scowl "I am not the one announcing in the company's party what a great birthday gift she would get"
"Shut up" Hermione threw a quill towards her assistant that gracefully dodged and accioed it before placing it back on the inventor's desk, but away from her reach, of course.
"Well, they will be at your doorstep when you get home tonight" Ginny added before crossing several things from her magical agenda that flew inside the bubble once more "and don't think on sneaking out the office early to check them out because your agenda is full and we can't cancel any of the meetings and engagements you have today."
"Since when you became my mum?" Hermione sighed exasperatedly before crossing her arms on her chest "I am the bloody president and I can do whatever I want"
"I am not your mum but your assistant and babysitter, apparently" Ginny chuckled when the inventor rolled her eyes "and you know better than anyone that when Harry is not here, you have to deal with part of his workload"
"When is he coming back anyway? Wasn't he supposed to be here yesterday?" Hermione asked before biting another cookie.
"Harry left three days ago and he won't be back for another week and a half, you know that" Ginny shrugged "he assured me he will be here before your mum's birthday"
"I think-"
"Stop trying to distract me and get ready for your meeting in conference room C that starts in fifteen minutes, boss" Ginny teased and the inventor sighed; she knew better than trying to flee another meeting.
"Fine, let me finish my tea and you can walk me there" Hermione replied in defeat.
"More than an assistant, I am a babysitter"
"Did you say something, Ginevra?" the inventor asked in a serious tone.
"That I will be waiting outside for you" the redhead promptly added before closing the door behind her and leaving her boss alone for a well-deserved break.
After three consecutive meetings and a sandwich for lunch, Hermione was in a sour mood and Ginny knew it. The first meeting ended in heated arguments when the raw materials providers demanded more money from Granger Corp. right after a raise received not even two months ago.
Fortunately, Harry had left the new contract drafted anticipating the demands of the providers, and after a brief negotiation, it was signed but ruined the inventor's hunger that entered the second meeting of the day with a scowl.
Once there, her frown deepened when the staff bosses communicated the reasons for some of the delays in development and production. A few of the explanations were reasonable and related to the providers Hermione just dealt with, but others were clearly avoidable and the inventor was really close to fire part of her team and take over the projects but the quick intervention of the second in charge of the development team, and former alumni of Hogwarts, Nymphadora Tonks calmed the inventor as the former promised positive results in the next two weeks.
Luckily, the third meeting went on rather smoothly compared with the previous two but that didn't improve the inventor's mood much that was now having some tea while looking out of her office's window.
Ginny's bubble suddenly morphed into a small screen with a reminder that the mail was about to be delivered. Not even a minute later, a young wizard entered pushing a mail cart and delivered a few envelopes and some parchments to the busy assistant. One burgundy parchment, in particular, caught the attention of the redhead and her eyes widened when she read the sender.
"Bloody hell" Ginny stood and rushed into the inventor's office with the colored parchment in her right hand and the other mail secured with her left "Hermione, you won't believe this"
"Please tell me that I won't receive more bad news" the inventor turned to look at her assistant with a tilt of her head.
"Actually, it's the opposite" Ginny handed her the burgundy parchment and Hermione's charmed eye turned back to its azure tint.
"Don't tell me"
"Yes, it is" the redhead nodded with a wide smile "you have been formally invited to your first Royal Lion Circuit"
"For Merlin, this is brilliant!" Hermione promptly broke the wax seal and skimmed through the content of the parchment "you know what this means, right?"
"That you have been finally accepted in the big boys club?" the assistant shrugged.
"Not only that, but I will be around the big names of the continent's industry which means more deals and a bigger market for our products outside the United Kingdom" Hermione placed the parchment on her desk and turned to look at her assistant "please let Harry know about this since he is going to be my plus one for the events"
"Doesn't it say here that you need to be with your second-in-command and a plus one?" Ginny asked while reading the parchment.
"Yeah, but who should I take? I basically only know my employees and my family" Hermione raised her hands in exasperation.
"Charm your eye" the assistant reminded her boss before opening the door of the office.
"Thanks" with a quick flick of her hand, the inventor reinforced the charm and her azure orb turned amber once more.
"I think I can help you with the companion thing"
"Yes, you can be my plus one" Hermione added with a smile "I trust you and you can handle your liquor better than Harry and I together"
"Well, I was going to suggest a friend but that's fine with me" Ginny commented before handing the rest of the mail "by the way the last meeting of the day was canceled and it will be rescheduled for next week, I also asked Jacques to make you some white sauce pizza and have some sodas cold for you at home"
"Did you ask him-"
"Yes, he confirmed that the delivered was left in your home lab and he will leave you alone the moment he serves you food so you can tinker with the artifacts away from curious looks" the redhead added.
"Thank you, Ginevra, you are a lifesaver" Hermione smiled at her assistant while checking the envelopes the redhead just handed her "if you are done with your work, you can leave early"
"Thanks, boss, if you need me, just bubble me" Ginny chuckled when her boss glared at her.
"Lame" Hermione snorted and unrolled the last two parchments before going home. She was really looking forward to checking the ancient artifacts she was going to give her mum for her upcoming birthday.
"Good evening Jacques, I am smelling something tasty" Hermione commented while entering her home.
"Oh, you are early, mademoiselle" the chef commented with a smile before withdrawing the pizza from the stone oven "do you want to eat here or in your office?"
"Here's fine, thank you Jacques" taking a bite to the slice she just took, the inventor moaned in approval "wow, this is beyond delicious"
"I am glad you enjoy my humble food" Jacques added with a wide smile. It took him months to be able to be accepted and praised by the picky inventor.
"Oh, come on, I love your cooking" Hermione shook her head and her wide smile never left her lips.
"And I am glad about that" Jacques added before pouring some soda for the young inventor "I guess a commoner's drink is better with this dish"
"I am a commoner, Jacques and yes, I approve cola soda with pizza" Hermione couldn't help but laugh at her chef's horrified expression "you can take the rest of the evening off unless you haven't made any dessert because of that's the case, you can't leave until you leave me some"
"Oh, do not fret mademoiselle as there's freshly made tiramisu in the fridge" Jacques reassured the inventor while finishing with the dishes "Now if you excuse me, I will take my leave" Jacques stated while placing the dried dishes back to their places "have a pleasant evening, mademoiselle."
"Same to you, Jacques" Hermione waved before getting back to her dinner "and thanks for everything"
"My pleasure, mademoiselle" Jacques replied before leaving the kitchen and head home.
One cup of tea and a relaxing bath later, Hermione changed into comfortable clothes and headed to her private lab. Several filled shelves kept the place organized. Sets of labelled drawers made it easy for the inventor to find the tools that weren't attached to the wall. In the middle of the room, a long wooden workbench was placed with three medium-size boxes on top.
"Let's see what I got for mum's birthday" Hermione talked to herself while tying her hair in a messy bun to avoid her curls getting in the way. With a flick of her wand, the inventor got rid of the boxes and tossed them in a nearby bin.
"So, this is the wesekh coming from Egypt" Hermione added while examining the broad-collar necklace. It was semi-circular with six rows of cylindrical beads of gold separated by single strands of small circular silver beads.
Below, a row of large elongated pear-shaped red and blue beads bordered by a single strand of small circular gold beads. The ends terminate in large semi-circular plaques in red each pierced four times. It all connected to a beautiful bluish winged scarab with inscriptions in gold.
"Such a beautiful piece" Hermione ran some diagnose spells and didn't detect any major curse so it was safe to touch it. The inventor ran her fingertips down the scarab that gleamed in a shade of bright blue "mum will love this one" with a flick of her wand, the wesekh was placed in a small wooden box with dark velvet cushions before she turned her attention to the next object.
"Let's check the kabuto coming from Japan" Hermione ran the same spells to check if any dangerous curse embedded in the ancient samurai helmet could harm her mother "mum will be happy to finally complete her samurai armor set." The inventor placed the helmet inside an oak box with beautiful charmed cravings of a Geisha smoking a thin pipe.
"Alright time to check this little mysterious Ankou, or the one that travels across Britanny in a cart and collects the souls of peasants" the female grim-reaper skeleton figure caught the attention of the inventor the moment she saw it for the first time when she was trying to link the bubble to places outside the country.
There was something about the figure that allured Hermione to the point that she stayed observing how the scythe and the rune inscriptions at the base of the figure gleamed under the fluorescent light of her lab.
She observed the figure for several minutes before casting all the curse detecting spells that she could think of. All of them came back negative, so the inventor put her wand on the workbench and reached to grab the small statue.
"Bloody hell" A sharp pain shot up Hermione's hand and arm when she cut herself with the scythe that the figure carried that now was tinted in crimson. She turned around and walked to the closest bathroom to clean her finger up as it didn't seem to stop bleeding. Unbeknown to her, the blood she left on the scythe traveled down the figure to the runes at the bottom and they lit in a scarlet shade.
All of a sudden, the temperature started dropping dramatically and Hermione shivered. She could feel that something was not right. Within her, the veela she refused to accept stirred in her deep slumber and the inventor frowned when she saw that the cut in her finger reopened and started bleeding again.
Suddenly, a mysterious mist engulfed Hermione that tried to fight it with all the wandless spells she had mastered to no avail as it seemed that the mist absorbed all. Soon, her senses started to wane. Each step she took felt like hot knives stabbed her limbs and the shivering intensified. She then tried to accio her wand but it didn't move a millimeter as if some kind of power blocked her magic.
Then, the mist thickened and surrounded her turning crimson the moment it grazed her skin and Hermione let out a scream in pain when the mysterious haze started scorching her arms and ears while freezing her hands and legs. When the intense heat reached her eyes, the inventor covered her eyes with her frozen hands and landed on her knees in agony. The pain was so intense that Hermione thought that this was her end as it was getting hard to breathe.
Out of nowhere, a female voice started singing in a strange language that the young Ravenclaw was not able to recognize, but it made the hairs on the back of her neck stood up, and the partially burned and frozen inventor Hermione Granger passed out and darkness engulfed her. As she slowly dove into unconsciousness, the brunette was able to listen to the female voice chant something in clear English.
When the Ankou comes, she will not get away empty.
A/N: so, this is how it happened, now, let's see how Hermione deals with the chiaroscuro her life turned into. Review?