Here's the next chapter and it is pretty much where the whole thing starts so I hope you all like it. Thank you to dracissa and IceBreakersKiss for reviewing!
Disclaimer- I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. They are all owned by J. K. Rowling but I do own those characters, which you do not recognize.
Hermione came to work the next day with a particularly bad headache. It felt as though someone was pounding on her head and every sound seemed louder than usual. It was not a hangover because Hermione never drank. If she did it was only a glass of butterbeer. Two glasses at the most and that was all.
Anyways, she was sitting at her office with her hands on her head staring at the mound of paperwork that her boss had given her today as well.
"Miss Granger," came Evy's voice. "Miss Granger, are you alright?"
"I'm fine..." mumbled Hermione massaging her temples.
Evy looked at her boss concernedly and said, "Are you sure there isn't anything I can get you?"
Hermione turned around and said, "No Evy, I'm fine, thank you though."
Evy nodded to her boss and left the office. Hermione groaned inwardly as she took the paper at the top of the stack and began reading it. She was so zoned out that she didn't even notice that someone had entered her office until he cleared his throat. "Ahem."
Hermione jerked her head up only to be met by a pair of silver grey eyes. "What?"
Malfoy leaned on the wall and said, "Boss wants us."
"For what?" she snapped, rubbing her temples again.
"Why don't you come and see for yourself."
"Stuff it, Malfoy. I've got a horrible headache and before you say anything, it is not a hangover. I would never be caught dead in a situation like that."
Draco rolled his eyes and looked at her with a bored look. "Are you going to come or not?"
Hermione dragged her hand down her face and grudgingly got up. She didn't even push in her chair as she left the office.
As she and Draco were walking, he asked, "Granger, I may not care for your health but if this headache is going to interfere with our work, then why don't you take something for it?"
"The healing wards are all the way on the other side of the building and there's no way to get there without walking," she growled, walking into the glass door that led to their boss's office. Draco let out a short laugh before opening the door and going inside. Hermione glared at his back as she got up and went inside as well.
"Ah, Mr. Malfoy, Ms. Granger. Come in!" The voice had come from a man about Draco's height with light brown hair and a jolly sort of face. He had a cane in one hand and seemed to walk with a bit of a limp. This was their boss, Daniel Ringler. He pulled out his wand which was abnormally thick and conjured up two chairs for them to sit on. Hermione, despite all the pain she was in, managed to sit gracefully. "Well, seems that we have a problem this morning, a serious problem."
"What is it, sir?" asked Draco, his voice devoid of all emotion.
"I've just received an anonymous tip that a wizard by the name of Igneus Norbery is going to attack a store in muggle London. The store itself is in a secluded area but there are bound to be people in it. With that comes the risk of the exposure of magic." He stood up and pointed his cane at the two of them. I need you both to get there before he does and stop him somehow."
"Where exactly in muggle London is it?" asked Hermione frowning slightly.
Mr. Ringler smiled at Hermione and said, "I'm sure you know the place very well, Ms. Granger. In fact, it's not far from your apartment."
"You live in muggle London?" sneered Draco looking at Hermione. He assumed that like Potter and Weasley, she lived in a wizarding community, not in muggle London.
Hermione merely nodded not even registering the fact that he was trying to show his disgust for her.
About ten minutes later, Hermione and Draco were walking quickly down a street in London that was littered with a few people here and there. It wasn't a very busy street at all. Just as Mr. Ringler said, it was a nice secluded area that would make Hermione and Draco's job much easier. The two of them stopped in front of a small magazine store.
"What is this place?" asked Draco glaring at the magazines he could see through the window.
"A magazine shop," Hermione replied, rubbing her head.
"Do they sell wizarding magazines here?"
Hermione glared at him and muttered, "Not so loud..." She entered the shop a few seconds later without Draco following behind her. Once inside she said, "Ok, one thing you need to know...they have camera's here and-
"Spare me the lecture, Granger."
Hermione rolled her eyes. She was not trying to give him a lecture, she was merely informing him. She rubbed her head and said, "It's a sort of muggle object that records anything that happens in a certain area so that you can see it later. It's mostly to prevent theft or robbery."
"It spies on people?" asked Draco looking at her with narrowed eyes.
Hermione snorted and said, "You could say so...anyways, if any magic is used, we have to get to the cameras and destroy them." She gestured to four different cameras. One was behind the cashier who looked to be a twenty year old girl, another one was right above the door, another one was in the back of the store, and the last one was on the ceiling in the middle of the store.
"Muggles are so paranoid."
"Well, they have a right to be," she replied. Hermione frowned once more then turned to Draco. "One last thing...if any magic is used, make sure every single door is locked, including the entrance so that you..."
"Can obliviate the muggles that are there," said Draco smoothly finishing off what Hermione was about to say. "I know, Granger. I'm not daft."
Hermione nodded nervously. "Good...let's be on the lookout, shall we?"
Draco nodded as he turned away from her. His eyes turned back to the front of the store a few seconds later as the door opened. He grabbed a magazine from a nearby shelf and poked Hermione with it.
Hermione glared at him and turned to see what he did that for and her eyes widened. There, at the entrance of the shop was Igneus Norbery. He looked exactly like an ordinary muggle to most people but Draco and Hermione were not fooled. "He's armed," remarked Hermione, noticing the outline of his wand in his jacket.
Draco nodded solemnly as his eyes carefully followed the man. "Let's wait till he actually does something."
"But what if..."
"Granger, just do as I say." Hermione glared at Draco and rubbed her head wondering when this day was going to end.
About twenty minutes passed and nothing happened. Igneus had browsed through the store for quite a while and had finally selected a few magazines to buy. He was paying the girl at the counter for the magazines when suddenly, there was a scream. Hermione and Draco ran to the front of the store to see what was going on. Igneus Norbery was standing behind the counter with one hand that had a knife around the girl's neck and the other hand with his wand pointing at her neck. He laughed and said, "Nobody move! I'll take what I came for and I'll be out of here. Open the register, girly, and give me all the money." Igneus kept the knife around the girl's neck and pulled out a plastic bag that was behind the counter.
Hermione began to move forward as the girl started whimpering but Draco caught her around her waist and pulled her back. She glared at him as he tightened her grip. This of course, caught Igneus's attention and a wide smile formed on his face as he looked at the two. With his wand still pointed at her neck, he said, "I wouldn't do anything if I were you...bloody Aurors, always sticking their noses were they don't belong."
"Let the girl go, Igneus," said Draco his eyes level with Igneus's.
Igneus laughed loudly as he replied, "And if I don't?" He pressed the knife a little closer to the girl's neck causing the people in the store to gasp. Draco looked sideways at Hermione who nodded and slowly released her.
Igneus missed this whole interaction between the two and kept grinning maniacally at Draco. He glanced down at the register where the girl was taking out the money and said, "Keep going, girly."
Hermione looked at Draco and whispered, "On your signal..."
Draco looked at Igneus, who was greedily watching all the money being transferred into his sack and his eyes narrowed. He looked back at Hermione through the corner of his eyes and muttered, "Go."
Hermione pulled out her wand and bellowed, "CONCUTIO!" The effect was immediate. All four cameras and the lights in the store shattered sending sparks to the ground. The whole store was now in chaos. Muttering a quick locking spell, green sparks flew out of her wand, sealing the store off from the outside.
Draco and Igneus though were a different story, they were circling each other in the middle of store with their wands pointed at each other. Igneus had dropped his knife for he had not seen that coming and figuring that it would be a useless attempt to keep the girl, he decided to go for Draco instead.
"I really wish that it didn't have to come to this," said Igneus with a small smile.
"You come with us and this will all be over," said Draco.
"What makes you think that I want it to be over?" asked Igneus with a smile. Without warning, he said some words in a foreign language and ten jets of red light shot out of his wand, each heading in a different direction. Draco managed to shield the one coming towards him and three of the ones that were going towards the people in the shop, who were huddled on the ground and screaming. Hermione on the other hand had two coming toward her. She managed to block those two and somehow managed to block three more. The tenth jet of light was nowhere to be seen.
Draco oblivious to this, continued shouting out spells to stop Igneus. Igneus had lightning speed and was using spells that Draco had never even heard of. The language that Igneus was speaking in seemed to be some sort of ancient language, which Draco could not identify.
Out of nowhere, he heard a scream and saw Hermione glow bright red and fall to the ground. His eyes widened in surprise as he looked at Igneus who grinned at Draco and said, "Your turn."