Disclaimer: the characters belong to J.K.Rowling.
Chapter V - The Briefing
"Ready?" was the first thing Oliver said when he apparated in Hermione's room.
"Good morning to you too"
"Ready?" he sounded really annoyed this time.
"What side of the bed did you wake up?" Hermione muttered to herself.
A sunny smile kept curling her lips and she couldn't help it. For no apparent reason, she was happy.
Oliver grabbed her hand and dissaparated. She opened her eyes to see both of them in the four mirrors that cover the walls of the room they apparated in.
"What now?" she asked after several seconds.
"Now we wait"
Automatically, he stroked her hand with his thumb. The sensation electrocuted Hermione. She squeezed his hand instinctively. That brought Oliver back to reality and he let go of her hand, with regret.
The floor started sinking with them, making Hermione to grasp his arm. At his cold look, she pulled herself together. Oliver's look did not reflect his feelings. His actually had mixed feelings about her touch. Whatever they were, the sensations were strong enough to break his concentration.
The mirror room was a sort of anti-contamination chamber. The visitors were cleaned of all the spells surrounding them as well as a powerful field of energy, which mellowed their spirits so that no one was tempted to do anything against the interests of the Institute. Since Oliver found out about this he tried to trick the device. It never worked, but this time his attempt was sabotaged by Hermione's presence.
The Morgana people had one major concern. In the Muggle society, the analogue behaviour was an established company policy - "protection against industrial espionage". The Morgana affiliates were impelled to be loyal to the company, no matter what was their personal agenda.
Oliver stepped off the ceiling of the room below, which was now at the same level with the floor. She followed his example. When she looked back, there was no sign the ceiling had left its place.
The room beneath the chamber of mirrors was cut in stone and was continued by a maze of corridors. What Hermione didn't know and what most wizards have always ignored was the fact that the Morgana Institute of Magical Research was carved in the hard rock of the Scandinavian Mountains. The Institute kept the Muggles away not as much by strong repellent charms, but through a subtle manipulation. Their best defence was the conviction induced to some environmental groups and later to the political circles that the zone was a breading area for certain endangered species.
The sombre atmosphere was not meant to be terrifying, but it was designed to inspire respect. After the lavish Egyptian settings, Hermione found the Institute's Spartan look quite comforting.
Oliver invited her into an office on the right. The room was warmer than the corridor and had a homey appearance. It even had fake windows, she noticed. Squares on the wall were charmed to look like windows. The accomplishment was impressive. The fact that they showed different panoramas was a dead give away! On one side was a view of the Notre Dame Cathedral, on the opposite wall was a view of the Hyde Park.
"Miss Granger. I'm glad to finally meet you. I am Miles McNaulty"
"How do you do, Sir"
"Mr. Wood's report on you was quite impressive. You're doing very well in Cairo I can see"
"Studying, Sir. It's something I'm quite used to"
"Well then, if there were no cultural adaptation shock, we can get to business. I wanted Mr. Wood to assist to our little chat because he will be your supervisor and he has to be up to date with everything that's going on. This means that you have to tell him everything"
"Fair enough"
"Your main objective is to work with an Egyptian team of researchers. They are looking - we have reason to believe they're right - for an ancient book of spells. Legend goes that Osiris let an extensive training manual for his followers. The magic in it was considered too powerful for the human race and the ancient Med-jai have buried it. Two thousand years later, they had lost all traces of the hiding place. Another four thousand years later, in 1950 AD they mounted a search party. No conclusive results. Many of them died, mysteriously, and the search was stopped until two years ago. Now they seem to be closing in a potential area. We don't have complete confidence in their good faith. Just to be on the safe side, we demanded to have our own people working with them. They were very neighbourly about it. Sadly, none of the wizards we sent was able to resist the atmosphere. So we decided to try a young witch. Not a pure blood. Their culture has certain aspects incomprehensible to a pure blood. They even have Muggle assistants"
"It figures. I'm everything you're looking for. But why did you send me to the University and not on the digging site?"
"It's not as simple as that. Their protective spells still work and the site allows actual work only two days each month. You had to have another occupation. Besides, if you'll come and work for us, you must have a proper training"
"And I learn about the way they think, right?"
"Exactly. I'm sorry I don't have more time for you right now. We'll talk next month. Until then, Mr. Wood will escort you to our library. And this is a file with what you need to know about the situation"
McNaulty handed her a thin file, spelled to open to her touch. This impressed Hermione who browsed through it on her way to the library.
"How long do you want to stay here?"
"Two - three hours at least"
"I'll come and get you at twelve. I still have some things to tell you"
Hermione smiled.
"I'll be waiting"
The three hours of reading passed quickly for Hermione. As usually, the more she read, the more questions she had.
*This is definitely something to ask Madeleine about*
Unfortunately, her friend was still incommunicado. Her owls came daily, but no renewal of the offer to visit.
"Satisfied?" Oliver inquired.
"Not nearly. I have hundreds of questions"
"Let's start over lunch, ok?"
Hermione's stomach growled in agreement. Out of the library they ran into Professor Snape.
"Hello, Professor Snape" Oliver greeted him.
"Mr. Wood" Snape acknowledged his presence. "Miss Granger, still studying…" his tone was not as sarcastic as she was used to.
"Yes. It's quite a surprise to see you here"
"I'm moonlighting" he grinned, amiably.
"Have you… err?"
"No. I didn't destroy it though."
"I really think you should have a look" she wanted to say more, but the problem had a personal nature and Oliver was standing next to them.
"What was that all about?" Oliver asked as soon as they were alone again.
"I needed his opinion about some stuff I discovered" she lied awkwardly.
She couldn't very well tell him about an affair between Snape and a student, or about the way she found out about it. Luckily, she had no idea just how much this old story would have an impact on her assignment and on Morgana's interests. Not knowing this, the security system was not triggered, so she got away with the little lie.
"Where are we going?" she asked while they dissaparated from the mirrors room.
They apparated discreetly in a secluded alley of a Parisian park. They walked hand in hand to a nearby restaurant. Hermione compared his hold with Ron's. It felt different, but delicious. She tried to ignore the fact that they walked like a pair of lovers and just enjoy the situation.
Having lunch with Oliver Wood proved to be one of the most exhausting things she ever had to do. Oliver acted, or tried to act like a perfect gentleman, but Hermione sensed he was annoyed. Quite a difference from the pleasant chats with Bill. When they talked about work, things went pretty well. As soon as the subject of conversation turned a little personal she felt him pulling away. She decided he hated her and tried not to think too much about it. Unfortunately, the legendary Oliver Wood charisma had an effect on her. She fought as hard as she could, but all she managed was to deny to herself that she felt something for him and not to stop feeling it.
On the other side of the table, Oliver was tortured pretty much in the same way. He had to concentrate to think of the job, to give her all the information she needed, all the pointers to make her task easier and all that popped into his head were remarks like
*Her eyes are amazing. So bright, so smart, so open* or
*I like her hair that way. It's just like her, full of temperament*
*I wonder what perfume she's wearing*
*Should I visit her more often*
All these thoughts were suppressed by his rational mind and all that came out were dry, bitter remarks about the work. He had to attack the Weasley issue.
"Have you seen Bill Weasley lately?"
At first, Hermione thought this was a personal question. She was both bothered by his intrusion, but a little flattered as well.
"Yes. We had dinner almost every evening"
His next remark shattered this illusion.
"You should be careful with him. He lived in Egypt for the past ten years. He was probably recruited by the Med-jai. It's not such a good idea to spend a lot of time with him"
"You think he had an ulterior motive for having dinner with me?"
This assumption hurt her. And Hermione Granger, the sweet girl everyone knew and loved lost her temper.
"Just because for you it's a professional obligation to spend time with me does not mean everyone else has the same problem! You don't even know for sure if he does work for the Egyptians and you tell me to stay away from the only person that I can talk to? Maybe he just enjoys my company! Didn't you think of that? Bill Weasley is one of the nicest men I have ever met and I shan't stand for your unfounded suspicions!"
Hermione was probably hurt because she was now convinced that he was only talking to her because that was his job. He couldn't conceive that a man would choose to spend time with her. In her mind, she reacted like that because Bill Weasley was indeed a nice guy and he would never stoop so low as to take advantage of their friendship. After all, Denial is not only a river in Egypt!
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Thanks for the reviews!
Lauren, if you liked "The Mummy" I think you'd like my other Harry Potter fic, "Madeleine". It's a Snape fic and it's completed.
"Denial is not only a river in Egypt" is one of my favourite puns. Just had to use it!