-ANGELS OBLIQUELY
CHAPTER 2
I couldn't stop staring at those big brown eyes and every movement she made; ever so feminine. If it wasn't for the fact she had mentioned the Dark side, I would probably not be paying attention to a word she was saying. I had to work hard to focus on her story, but it didn't take long for her to have my full attention.
Her lips trembled as she started to talk and I couldn't figure out her true intentions. Having always proud myself of being able to read people, this was certainly disconcerting. The feeling that she was leaving something out, was lingering in the air.
"My husband, he's an american wizard, from a pure blood family. We met while I was working for the department of Potion research in the Ministry. He was financing the whole project and well... one thing led to another..." She paused looking a little bit embarrassed. At the time I couldn't understand why, but I nodded so she could continue.
"He's always been very influential in the Ministry and after we got married he chose to take up residence in London. We used to travel a lot and pretty soon, I wasn't working anymore. The research was passed to one of my colleagues and well.. he convinced me to quit my career." She gazed at me as if asking for forgiveness, searching for my understanding. I supposed she needed the reassurance that she had done the right thing, that giving up her career for a marriage was acceptable.
I wondered what made her want my acceptance, did she consider me so important in her life, that my opinion on her choice was that valuable?
"I take it he still works for the Ministry?" I asked.
"He is constantly there, I wouldn't say he works, but he finances a lot of projects and he's always having meetings with Fudge. Have you met him?"
"Not personally, but I've seen pictures in the paper. The whole wizarding world knows Duane Billings."
She seemed to flinch at his name. "Well, then you would know if he was participating in the Death Eaters' meetings?"
"Yes I would and I've never seen him there. But that doesn't mean he's not involved." When I said that she seemed to agree and continued.
"After I quit my job, things started to get weird. He would disappear in the middle of the night and show up early in the morning like nothing had happened. I, of course, pretended not to know."
I interrupted her, "And why is that?"
"If I wanted to find out what he was up to, I don't think confronting him would make things any easier," she said frowning.
"Fair enough, but up until now it only looks to me as a simple case of adultery."
I knew the effect my statement would cause her, but I couldn't resist. The old grudge between us was still there; even after all this time.
Her eyes shot daggers at me when she spoke, "I am perfectly capable of knowing the difference between adultery and attempting murder!"
I wasn't prepared for that, I had expected everything, but this put a whole new perspective to her story.
"What exactly do you mean?"
"Well, think about it, first he starts financing the project, then he marries me and removes me from the research. Then he tries to poison me," she wiped the tears that had started to pour over her cheeks, "He brought me a cup of tea one morning and left for one of his so called 'business meeting'. I accidently knocked over the cup to the floor and Crookshanks started licking it and..."
She couldn't finish the sentence, she broke down in tears. It didn't take a genius to know what had happened. The world was ridden of that ugly cat. But the fact that she was in danger remained and I was beginning to see the seriousness of her story.
"After that, I almost got ran over by a muggle car in London, and I'm sure it had his hand in it," she said.
I decided to ask the obvious next question, "What was the research about?"
"We were creating a highly volatile substance, the uses were endless. When he got me out of the project, we had already completed the potion, but the Ministry refused to disclose any information about their plans for it."
I had a feeling she knew a lot more then she led me to believe, but I didn't push her. All the information she had given me was enough to start an investigation.
If Duane Billings and Fudge were indeed involved with the Dark Lord, and the new potion was to be used in his plans, we were in a lot of trouble. I couldn't understand why nothing had been mentioned in any of the meetings I had been.
I was lost in my own thoughts when I realized she was observing me, waiting eagerly for my answer.
"How can we keep contact? We need a place that won't raise any suspicions about our involvement in this."
She reached inside her purse and gave me an empty match box from a muggle night club.
"Meet me here, no one will bother us and I doubt anybody we know would go to this place," she said in a calmer voice, "What do you say next Friday after 9 PM?"
"I'll be there."
She smiled and stood up. I walked her out of the room and she was gone as smoothly as she arrived. Her soft perfume still permeated the room, mixed with the faint hint of cigarette smoke.
That was an unexpected turn of events, I could never in my wild dreams, imagine Hermione would be involved in something like this... how could she be so naive and let herself be convinced to leave an important job like that? It wasn't like her, it wasn't like her at all...
This was the first flaw in her story and I knew I had to be cautious to not trust anyone, not even her.
............................................................................ .........................................................................
A/N : To Happynutcase, thanks for reading. I don't like smoking either LOL, but this is a Noir fic, when I took the challenge, the rules were that we had to develop the Noir atmosphere. And since most of these stories were done in the 40's and 50's. Or at least from what I remember the movies I watched were done at that time, it was cool to smoke then and most women smoke in those movies.
To Scary Person, Thanks for reading and thanks for the input, I am trying hard to keep everyone in character, but the story is unusual and some things have to change. The romance will take a little longer to start.
CHAPTER 2
I couldn't stop staring at those big brown eyes and every movement she made; ever so feminine. If it wasn't for the fact she had mentioned the Dark side, I would probably not be paying attention to a word she was saying. I had to work hard to focus on her story, but it didn't take long for her to have my full attention.
Her lips trembled as she started to talk and I couldn't figure out her true intentions. Having always proud myself of being able to read people, this was certainly disconcerting. The feeling that she was leaving something out, was lingering in the air.
"My husband, he's an american wizard, from a pure blood family. We met while I was working for the department of Potion research in the Ministry. He was financing the whole project and well... one thing led to another..." She paused looking a little bit embarrassed. At the time I couldn't understand why, but I nodded so she could continue.
"He's always been very influential in the Ministry and after we got married he chose to take up residence in London. We used to travel a lot and pretty soon, I wasn't working anymore. The research was passed to one of my colleagues and well.. he convinced me to quit my career." She gazed at me as if asking for forgiveness, searching for my understanding. I supposed she needed the reassurance that she had done the right thing, that giving up her career for a marriage was acceptable.
I wondered what made her want my acceptance, did she consider me so important in her life, that my opinion on her choice was that valuable?
"I take it he still works for the Ministry?" I asked.
"He is constantly there, I wouldn't say he works, but he finances a lot of projects and he's always having meetings with Fudge. Have you met him?"
"Not personally, but I've seen pictures in the paper. The whole wizarding world knows Duane Billings."
She seemed to flinch at his name. "Well, then you would know if he was participating in the Death Eaters' meetings?"
"Yes I would and I've never seen him there. But that doesn't mean he's not involved." When I said that she seemed to agree and continued.
"After I quit my job, things started to get weird. He would disappear in the middle of the night and show up early in the morning like nothing had happened. I, of course, pretended not to know."
I interrupted her, "And why is that?"
"If I wanted to find out what he was up to, I don't think confronting him would make things any easier," she said frowning.
"Fair enough, but up until now it only looks to me as a simple case of adultery."
I knew the effect my statement would cause her, but I couldn't resist. The old grudge between us was still there; even after all this time.
Her eyes shot daggers at me when she spoke, "I am perfectly capable of knowing the difference between adultery and attempting murder!"
I wasn't prepared for that, I had expected everything, but this put a whole new perspective to her story.
"What exactly do you mean?"
"Well, think about it, first he starts financing the project, then he marries me and removes me from the research. Then he tries to poison me," she wiped the tears that had started to pour over her cheeks, "He brought me a cup of tea one morning and left for one of his so called 'business meeting'. I accidently knocked over the cup to the floor and Crookshanks started licking it and..."
She couldn't finish the sentence, she broke down in tears. It didn't take a genius to know what had happened. The world was ridden of that ugly cat. But the fact that she was in danger remained and I was beginning to see the seriousness of her story.
"After that, I almost got ran over by a muggle car in London, and I'm sure it had his hand in it," she said.
I decided to ask the obvious next question, "What was the research about?"
"We were creating a highly volatile substance, the uses were endless. When he got me out of the project, we had already completed the potion, but the Ministry refused to disclose any information about their plans for it."
I had a feeling she knew a lot more then she led me to believe, but I didn't push her. All the information she had given me was enough to start an investigation.
If Duane Billings and Fudge were indeed involved with the Dark Lord, and the new potion was to be used in his plans, we were in a lot of trouble. I couldn't understand why nothing had been mentioned in any of the meetings I had been.
I was lost in my own thoughts when I realized she was observing me, waiting eagerly for my answer.
"How can we keep contact? We need a place that won't raise any suspicions about our involvement in this."
She reached inside her purse and gave me an empty match box from a muggle night club.
"Meet me here, no one will bother us and I doubt anybody we know would go to this place," she said in a calmer voice, "What do you say next Friday after 9 PM?"
"I'll be there."
She smiled and stood up. I walked her out of the room and she was gone as smoothly as she arrived. Her soft perfume still permeated the room, mixed with the faint hint of cigarette smoke.
That was an unexpected turn of events, I could never in my wild dreams, imagine Hermione would be involved in something like this... how could she be so naive and let herself be convinced to leave an important job like that? It wasn't like her, it wasn't like her at all...
This was the first flaw in her story and I knew I had to be cautious to not trust anyone, not even her.
............................................................................ .........................................................................
A/N : To Happynutcase, thanks for reading. I don't like smoking either LOL, but this is a Noir fic, when I took the challenge, the rules were that we had to develop the Noir atmosphere. And since most of these stories were done in the 40's and 50's. Or at least from what I remember the movies I watched were done at that time, it was cool to smoke then and most women smoke in those movies.
To Scary Person, Thanks for reading and thanks for the input, I am trying hard to keep everyone in character, but the story is unusual and some things have to change. The romance will take a little longer to start.