-ANGELS OBLIQUELY
CHAPTER 6
"I have told you already, there's nothing else I can add to that!" Hermione looked tired and frustrated.
"Humor me, tell me again," I said still not believing a word she was saying.
After we arrived at the Three Broomsticks, I ordered firewhiskey for both of us. She was shaky and incoherent and it was a while before I could start questioning her. As I was expecting, she was reluctant to tell me the truth and try as I might, it was too late for me to retreat. My own curiosity got me hooked to this case. And for a while I thought it was only the curiosity that kept me going. There was more though.
There was something in those huge brown eyes, like a plea for help. If I looked hard enough into them, I could still see the honest and noble Gryffindor she once was. That was all that was left of her, even if just for a glimpse, it was there and I knew that I could... I had to get that woman back.
"I had just arrived home and Ellyot called me. I was upset, because Duane was home and the phone almost woke him up. We had a little argument and he told me he had the formula. I agreed to meet him at the club, on the roof. We usually met there when we needed some privacy." She rubbed her eyes and continued, " I had spent the whole night talking to you and I needed to shower and change before I could do anything, so it took me longer to get there. When I finally did, all I saw was a man in a black cloak turning and disapparating, and Ellyot dead on the floor. The rest you know."
She gave me an exhausted look and I decided to accept that explanation for the time being.
"Do you think your husband or Fudge might be involved in Ellyot's death?"
"That's the only explanation, he finally gets the formula and then he's dead," she said.
I stood up and paid for the drinks. "Let's go, I think you need some sleep. Why don't you use my chambers, it's safe there and it will give me time to think."
She looked a little put off by my suggestion, but accepted. We walked back to Hogwarts and once she was in my chambers I asked her, "Did the cloak the man was wearing, look like the garments the death eaters wear?"
"I don't know.. I've never seen a death eater," she said with a slight shake in her voice.
I went to my closet and came back with the dreaded uniform in my hands. The look of recognition passed through her face and I knew the person she was talking about was indeed a death eater.
I took her hand and led her to my bed, she looked embarrassed, and for a moment I thought the old Hermione was back. "There are night shirts in those drawers, if you need anything else just... whistle."
She looked confused. "What?"
I smiled. "You know how to whistle, don't you? Just put your lips together and blow..."
It took her a few seconds to realize I was joking, but then again, she never heard a joke from me before. I left her standing there, closing the door behind me. I had a lot to think, so I went to my office to figure out the insanity of the last twenty four hours.
............................................................................ .....
"Why does it have to be him? Why not Dumbledore?"
"Because he's the one who goes to the meetings and he knows who's involved in it."
"Ok, but you're doing the talking. It was your idea anyway!"
"Oh, grow up Ron!"
It was beyond me how those two dunderheads ever turned out to be Aurors. Has it ever occurred to them that anything said in the dungeon, could be easily heard, due to its acoustic? One would think that after seven years in my classes, they would at least know I have incredibly accurate hearing.
With great displeasure I opened my office's door at the moment Potter was raising his hand to knock. The stunned look on their faces brought back good memories and I found myself smirking.
I raised one eyebrow and waited to see when they would get their speech back. Potter finally gathered the courage.
"Hello Sir, I... that is... we were wondering if we could talk to you."
"Come in," I said.
Weasley just mumbled something unintelligible and unceremoniously sat with Potter on the chairs in front of my desk. Their very presence made snide comments start flowing wildly through my mind.
"Please, do take a seat," I said, glad that I had just made them more confused and uncomfortable, If that was possible.
"Sir, we've come to ask for your help," said Potter.
"I see and what is it, or better yet, who is it you think you think I might have seen in... the meetings?"
They exchanged looks and shifted in their seats. Potter decided to be straight forward, which I thought to be a wise choice.
"Duane Billings, Sir."
Why wasn't I surprised? This name was creating an indentation in my brain already, the simple mention of it made me irritable.
Potter went on to tell me how they both had been assigned to follow the man and their story was a lot like the one Hermione had told him but they had confirmed his hunch that Fudge was involved in it. At that point they were not sure if they should inform the Ministry about it.
What made me more intrigued though was what they had to say about Hermione. This time Weasley started to speak, "After she started working in the project, we would always see her around. She was happy and excited about working on that potion. Nothing, and I mean, nothing would take her away from that research."
He paused a bit as if to find the right words. "Then she met this Duane bloke and she changed. The fact that she gave up her job wasn't the only thing out of character..."
Potter cut in, "We had this Friday night out, we would go out for drinks and talk, and we always kept contact no matter what . After this guy came along, she stopped going. We tried to contact her but she never was available. It was like we never existed in her life!"
"How long after she met this man, has she started to behave differently?" I asked.
"On the same week she met him. A few weeks later she was getting married and didn't even invite us. We only knew she wasn't working there anymore because we heard from someone else," said Weasley.
I wondered if I should tell them she was sleeping in the next room, but I thought better not to. I didn't know her reasons to avoid her best friends and I wanted to find that out before them. Their story put a different perspective to my view of this whole thing. I wasn't the only one she was lying to and there was definitely something very wrong with her. A million theories were building up and it was all energy consuming.
Suddenly I realized my thoughts weren't making any sense because, like Hermione, I hadn't had any sleep.
After assuring both Potter and Weasley that I would contact them as soon as I had anything on Duane or Hermione, I saw them out and went back to my chambers.
I opened the door to my bedroom to see if she was sleeping and the vision expecting me took my breath away.
Her brown curls were spread against the pillows, her clothes were thrown on the floor in a pile and she lay naked, sleeping peacefully in my bed.
............................................................................ .........................................................................
A/N: I know many of you think Hermione is OOC and that's intentional as you have seen this chapter. That's all part of the plot. Also, this is a WIKTT's challenge, created by fieldofasphodel. There are a few rules to follow in this challenge, one of them being Hermione telling a story full of flaws and as Snape starts to get involved and finds the flaws, it's too late to let go. That's the basic noir style. Knowing Hermione's personality, it was difficult to fit her into this, with her acting exactly as she did when she was a student. I'm not telling anything else because it will spoil the ending. So for all of you who like Hermione's character, bear with me!
I've inserted a quote from an old noir movie in there, let's see how many of you guess which one is it and from where.
I wanna thank : Scary Person and Happynutcase for the reviews
SnapesFavoriteMistress, I'm glad you like the story as for Hermione's character see above.
CHAPTER 6
"I have told you already, there's nothing else I can add to that!" Hermione looked tired and frustrated.
"Humor me, tell me again," I said still not believing a word she was saying.
After we arrived at the Three Broomsticks, I ordered firewhiskey for both of us. She was shaky and incoherent and it was a while before I could start questioning her. As I was expecting, she was reluctant to tell me the truth and try as I might, it was too late for me to retreat. My own curiosity got me hooked to this case. And for a while I thought it was only the curiosity that kept me going. There was more though.
There was something in those huge brown eyes, like a plea for help. If I looked hard enough into them, I could still see the honest and noble Gryffindor she once was. That was all that was left of her, even if just for a glimpse, it was there and I knew that I could... I had to get that woman back.
"I had just arrived home and Ellyot called me. I was upset, because Duane was home and the phone almost woke him up. We had a little argument and he told me he had the formula. I agreed to meet him at the club, on the roof. We usually met there when we needed some privacy." She rubbed her eyes and continued, " I had spent the whole night talking to you and I needed to shower and change before I could do anything, so it took me longer to get there. When I finally did, all I saw was a man in a black cloak turning and disapparating, and Ellyot dead on the floor. The rest you know."
She gave me an exhausted look and I decided to accept that explanation for the time being.
"Do you think your husband or Fudge might be involved in Ellyot's death?"
"That's the only explanation, he finally gets the formula and then he's dead," she said.
I stood up and paid for the drinks. "Let's go, I think you need some sleep. Why don't you use my chambers, it's safe there and it will give me time to think."
She looked a little put off by my suggestion, but accepted. We walked back to Hogwarts and once she was in my chambers I asked her, "Did the cloak the man was wearing, look like the garments the death eaters wear?"
"I don't know.. I've never seen a death eater," she said with a slight shake in her voice.
I went to my closet and came back with the dreaded uniform in my hands. The look of recognition passed through her face and I knew the person she was talking about was indeed a death eater.
I took her hand and led her to my bed, she looked embarrassed, and for a moment I thought the old Hermione was back. "There are night shirts in those drawers, if you need anything else just... whistle."
She looked confused. "What?"
I smiled. "You know how to whistle, don't you? Just put your lips together and blow..."
It took her a few seconds to realize I was joking, but then again, she never heard a joke from me before. I left her standing there, closing the door behind me. I had a lot to think, so I went to my office to figure out the insanity of the last twenty four hours.
............................................................................ .....
"Why does it have to be him? Why not Dumbledore?"
"Because he's the one who goes to the meetings and he knows who's involved in it."
"Ok, but you're doing the talking. It was your idea anyway!"
"Oh, grow up Ron!"
It was beyond me how those two dunderheads ever turned out to be Aurors. Has it ever occurred to them that anything said in the dungeon, could be easily heard, due to its acoustic? One would think that after seven years in my classes, they would at least know I have incredibly accurate hearing.
With great displeasure I opened my office's door at the moment Potter was raising his hand to knock. The stunned look on their faces brought back good memories and I found myself smirking.
I raised one eyebrow and waited to see when they would get their speech back. Potter finally gathered the courage.
"Hello Sir, I... that is... we were wondering if we could talk to you."
"Come in," I said.
Weasley just mumbled something unintelligible and unceremoniously sat with Potter on the chairs in front of my desk. Their very presence made snide comments start flowing wildly through my mind.
"Please, do take a seat," I said, glad that I had just made them more confused and uncomfortable, If that was possible.
"Sir, we've come to ask for your help," said Potter.
"I see and what is it, or better yet, who is it you think you think I might have seen in... the meetings?"
They exchanged looks and shifted in their seats. Potter decided to be straight forward, which I thought to be a wise choice.
"Duane Billings, Sir."
Why wasn't I surprised? This name was creating an indentation in my brain already, the simple mention of it made me irritable.
Potter went on to tell me how they both had been assigned to follow the man and their story was a lot like the one Hermione had told him but they had confirmed his hunch that Fudge was involved in it. At that point they were not sure if they should inform the Ministry about it.
What made me more intrigued though was what they had to say about Hermione. This time Weasley started to speak, "After she started working in the project, we would always see her around. She was happy and excited about working on that potion. Nothing, and I mean, nothing would take her away from that research."
He paused a bit as if to find the right words. "Then she met this Duane bloke and she changed. The fact that she gave up her job wasn't the only thing out of character..."
Potter cut in, "We had this Friday night out, we would go out for drinks and talk, and we always kept contact no matter what . After this guy came along, she stopped going. We tried to contact her but she never was available. It was like we never existed in her life!"
"How long after she met this man, has she started to behave differently?" I asked.
"On the same week she met him. A few weeks later she was getting married and didn't even invite us. We only knew she wasn't working there anymore because we heard from someone else," said Weasley.
I wondered if I should tell them she was sleeping in the next room, but I thought better not to. I didn't know her reasons to avoid her best friends and I wanted to find that out before them. Their story put a different perspective to my view of this whole thing. I wasn't the only one she was lying to and there was definitely something very wrong with her. A million theories were building up and it was all energy consuming.
Suddenly I realized my thoughts weren't making any sense because, like Hermione, I hadn't had any sleep.
After assuring both Potter and Weasley that I would contact them as soon as I had anything on Duane or Hermione, I saw them out and went back to my chambers.
I opened the door to my bedroom to see if she was sleeping and the vision expecting me took my breath away.
Her brown curls were spread against the pillows, her clothes were thrown on the floor in a pile and she lay naked, sleeping peacefully in my bed.
............................................................................ .........................................................................
A/N: I know many of you think Hermione is OOC and that's intentional as you have seen this chapter. That's all part of the plot. Also, this is a WIKTT's challenge, created by fieldofasphodel. There are a few rules to follow in this challenge, one of them being Hermione telling a story full of flaws and as Snape starts to get involved and finds the flaws, it's too late to let go. That's the basic noir style. Knowing Hermione's personality, it was difficult to fit her into this, with her acting exactly as she did when she was a student. I'm not telling anything else because it will spoil the ending. So for all of you who like Hermione's character, bear with me!
I've inserted a quote from an old noir movie in there, let's see how many of you guess which one is it and from where.
I wanna thank : Scary Person and Happynutcase for the reviews
SnapesFavoriteMistress, I'm glad you like the story as for Hermione's character see above.