AN – Sorry for the delay getting this out. My Word program subscription ended, really gumming up the works. I just found LibreOffice and I am back at it finally. I updated chapters 1-5 to try and flesh things out a bit better, feel free to reread or continue as you prefer. On a positive note, we have made it to 10k views! I am blown away by the continued reads and appreciate all of you reading this story. Comments and constructive criticisms welcome, enjoy!
Mike was sitting in the corner chair of the common room waiting for Hermione. It was a lot later than he'd expected, than anyone expected really. He was starting to worry about her. Once Harry and Ron had come down, they and the rest of the operators waited awkwardly for her. They stood around more or less silent. As time ticked on slowly it became clear that she wasn't coming down. The rest of Reaper left with Harry and Ron to go get breakfast, Mike staying behind to escort Hermione.
The soldiers woke before anyone else had and came down to the common room. They went over the happenings of the day before. It'd been a long night but they weren't new to emotional distress. After a trying day, they knew better than to work things over when they were overcome with emotion. Each of them worked toward sleep and when they woke in the morning, felt a little better.
The discussion wasn't long. None of them had seen the move by Harry coming, and while they weren't expecting a repeat, they'd decided not to give him much chance. At least not for a little while. They'd stick close, give him an idea what life might be like without built trust between them.
What could she have been thinking? It had been looping through his mind since last night. Even now, he had trouble coming to a conclusion. She was smart…smarter than anyone he'd known. More than one staff member had described her as the brightest witch of her age and he hadn't seen a thing to make him doubt it.
In fact, the only thing she hadn't picked up like it was natural was shooting firearms. He couldn't fault her for that, they weren't for everyone. That's not to say she hadn't gained any proficiency, with hard work she was getting there. Everything else seemed to come naturally to her, though.
Plus, she was a paragon in the truest sense of the word, and never was it more apparent than when she had something to say about rules. If there was a rule, she knew it and would insist it be followed no matter the damage to her popularity. It showed, too. She wasn't among the most popular in the school. She also didn't get into trouble though either.
It'd blindsided him when they came clean. If anyone else in the planet had come up to him and told him that Hermione had broken rules…no, not just broken rules. Broken his trust…put lives in danger. There was no chance he'd believe them and they'd receive a solid hit to the jaw, incentive to refrain from lying again. It came from her mouth though. She lied to him about where Harry was, she corrupted his radio and prevented him from reporting his suspected whereabouts. Over and over it cycled through his mind.
He sat back in the chair, resting his head against it and closing his eyes, trying to clear his mind. What in the hell was she thinking?
Hermione woke up much later than normal. It was almost nine in the morning. She only gave it passing thought however, her mind still running through the events of the previous night while she laid in bed.
She stewed the entire evening until it came time to for Harry to talk to the soldiers. She definitely wasn't proud of her part in how things played out. She'd sabotaged the radio and covered for Harry. He was one of her closest friends, one of the few early on who never made fun of her. It bought him a degree of loyalty.
He did have a predisposition toward danger and trouble however, and it put her in positions she never thought she'd have to take. Rules were rules for a reason. Clearly the school deferred to the judgment of parents on whether or not their child was responsible enough for a trip to Hogsmeade. That wasn't the issue here, though it was a convenient pretext. Harry's life was in danger and traveling to Hogsmeade was an unnecessary risk.
She was caught between her logical knowledge that he should absolutely not be in Hogsmeade for any reason, and the fact that he was. She could have turned him in, but what would that have done to her friendship? She valued it a lot, in fact her parents had teased her quite a bit over her summers about her finding close friends in the boys. She'd gone solo in most of her muggle life, with the only real exception being Sarah, a close friend in her early years that changed rapidly once learning became uncool.
So, she'd made the risky decision. She'd opted to cover for Harry. She convinced herself that the worst wouldn't happen. Then it fell apart. He'd been discovered missing rapidly, and everything happened so fast. She had made her decision to cover for Harry, and she stuck to it. Suddenly she found herself having to lie to Mike. Then sabotage the radio to keep the secret longer, to give Harry enough time to get back to the castle undiscovered.
It'd worked, but she had been naive to think it would be without consequence, and foolish to think the consequence would be theirs to bear. Listening to the Major as he brutally dealt with the operators was more than she was willing allow. It had not been difficult to convince the boys it was right to come clean to them, at least not Harry. She knew that for all the difficulty she'd had, Harry must have felt even worse. After all, it was his decision that lead to it all.
That wasn't what replayed through her mind the most however, wasn't what kept her up most of the night soaking her pillow in silent tears. It was the look on Mike's face as Harry came clean. She saw the disbelief in his face, the soldier wore his heart on his sleeve and everything he felt, she saw. She'd lied to him, betrayed his confidence and he didn't seem to believe it when they came clean.
She'd mentally prepared for whatever he might say, words about her disloyalty or things of that sort. That wasn't what he said, however. He gave her out after out, his obvious suspicions were staring him in the face. His trust in her was so complete however, that he needed direct confirmation for each of her betrayals in order to believe it. That was what cut her to ribbons.
She'd barely made it into the girl's dorm before hot tears spilled down her cheeks, the lump in her throat almost unbearable. The last thing she wanted was everyone watching her cry. She caught enough flack for being the smartest in her year, and people watching her cry, even friends, was ammunition to try and knock her down a peg. One of her lessons from Sarah, actually.
So she laid in bed a moment longer, late in the morning. Late for her, anyhow. Her body felt heavy and her eyes were sore. With a sigh she rolled and got up, walking to the mirror nearest her bed. Her haggard appearance would have brought further tears to her eyes, if she'd had any to give.
Her hair was knotted in tangles. Her eyes were still puffy and bloodshot, bags under them from a night of restless sleep. She set about correcting what she could. She'd never been big on her personal appearance and was far from trying to make herself beautiful. She just didn't want to look like she'd spent that night sobbing. When her work was done, she dressed in her robes and headed down.
She'd made it part of the way down the stairs when she saw Mike sitting there. He stood up and smiled at her, but it wasn't the same warm smile she'd grown used to. It was strained, more distant. Another nail in the coffin of their closeness, something she wasn't sure she'd get back.
"Hermione," he greeted her stiffly. There was a small edge of concern to his face. She knew at once she'd been unsuccessful. Her eyes were still a little achy and she knew right away that he'd seen through her attempts to cover up the night's activity. "Everyone's down eating already." As though she needed a reminder that she'd slept in.
"Right, let's go," she replied, steeling herself and passing him. He caught up to her quickly and fell into a pace on her right and slightly behind her. Close enough to definitely be there with her, but slow enough to make conversation awkward. I guess it's like that.
The next several days were not among Harry's favorite. He'd taken a little time to process the information he learned at the Three Broomsticks. Black betraying and killing his parents...how could he? It infuriated Harry...made him want to kill Black, inflict pain on him. It scared him, to the point he was actively trying to block it from his mind.
On top of this, Reaper team had been sticking to them, unbelievably close. The operators were never far, only now they felt more like guards and less like companions. It made it impossible for him to talk about it with Ron and Hermione. It only lasted like this for a few days, but it was a long few days and the contrast was stark.
Every time Harry got up to try and go somewhere one of the a pair of operators hopped up and went with, one in front and one behind. They made a show of clearing hallways before continuing on, checking rooms before he entered them. It was embarrassing and each time ground his nerves a little bit more. It didn't leave him angry, not really. But it gave him an appreciation for the freedom of movement he had before.
Ron and Hermione each had one of the operators assigned to them, following them everywhere as well. None of them liked it, although after seeing what Harry was going through, neither of them complained to Harry.
Additionally, Harry had noticed that Mike was always on his detail and only sometimes on Ron's. Not once did he escort Hermione, and the distance wasn't good on either of them. All of the operators were polite and even friendly, but Mike was less prone to humor than he normally was. When they were all in the room together, he inevitably, perhaps unconsciously, migrated toward her. He was never alone with her, however.
The changes in Hermione were even more apparent to him. When Mike was near she fidgeted with things and tried to look natural. A couple times, when he was particularly close he saw her rereading the same paragraph over and over, something he had never seen her do before.
He tried to talk to her about it once, during a moment they had alone in the library. He knew Mike and Hermione stayed behind that night and talked, and he knew that they'd been more distant since then. Her face went tight when he mentioned it and she turned back to her book as though she hadn't heard him. He decided to leave well enough alone.
The night before Christmas Eve, Brad stopped them before they headed to bed. The trio and all four operators stayed in the common room, Brad indicating that the trio should take seats. The operators followed suit and Brad was the only one who chose to stand.
"Thanks for joining us, guys," Brad said. "Look, we don't want to play bodyguard any more than you want us to. Is that accurate?" He looked at each of them in turn.
"Yeah, it's true." Harry was already conspicuous, it was a godsend that the school was practically empty. If he had to go to class like this every day his life would be hell.
"Good," Brad said. "We are ending it tonight, getting back to a more normal routine. If you trust us, and we can trust you, things can be a lot easier. If not...well, it's in your hands whether or not this needs to become a permanent thing. Everyone clear?" Here was the olive branch, offered by the operators. The trio readily accepted.
"About bloody time," Ron said. "Haven't had a decent game of chess in a while." He flashed a hesitant grin at Eric, who returned it.
"Great, let's get some sleep." Brad dismissed them, but Hermione spoke up.
"I was thinking, we haven't seen Hagrid in a while." She didn't glance at anyone, keeping her eyes on Brad. "I wanted to visit him tomorrow."
"That's a good idea," Jason said, "I could go for a little fresh air." Hagrid's hut, bring outside the castle, would mean a nice walk in the snow. It was something they hadn't done since the visit to Hogsmeade.
"Let's do it," Brad replied. They exchanged "good nights" and went to sleep, a bit more hopeful for tomorrow.
The next morning Hermione woke up a little bit early, thought she wasn't willing to head down yet. She knew the operators would be down in the common room, and awake or not she didn't feel up to dealing with them on her own.
That wasn't strictly true, she had to remind herself. She didn't feel up to dealing with him. Every time she looked into his eyes, she saw her own betrayal swimming around. He tried to hide it but was never really successful.
Even worse was when she noticed, as the days passed, that aside from that first morning he had avoided being her guard. She didn't know if it was a conscious choice of his or not, but it stung nonetheless. She'd found herself near him a number of times, when everyone was in the same room. They didn't really talk much though.
Late at night, when she was being honest with herself, she missed it. Missed laughing all the time, passionate conversations about whatever coursework was going on, in depth answering of whatever questions came to his mind about the wizarding world. Even in the couple years she'd spent finally having best friends in Harry and Ron, she'd never had someone to open up that much with. Someone who accepted her bookish nature in stride and even enjoyed it.
In the mornings however, she felt harder. She felt irritated that she was even in this position in the first place. What was she supposed to do? She was in an impossible position, betray a friend or betray a friend? Some choice. She felt the creeping thought of right and wrong but pushed it away. She was tired of moping and feeling irritated was something different.
She got up and got dressed. It wasn't a conscious effort on her part, not really, but she found she felt rather cute when she was finished. They were going to Hagrid's today and that meant going out in the snow. She'd put on the jeans she wore to Hogsmeade earlier that week, and had a light blue coat on to keep her warm. She put on a knit cap that covered her generally unruly hair and when she was finished she felt pretty good. Nothing was going to stop that if she could help it.
She went back to her bed, retrieving her wand and giving Crookshanks a little affection before heading downstairs. To her relief, she saw that everyone was up. No waiting around this morning. Eric and Ron were battling it out on Ron's Wizards Chess set. Mike was standing, looking intently out of a window, while Harry, Jason and Brad were chatting about something near the fireplace.
She met Mike's gaze for a brief moment as she headed down. Her heart lept a bit as the corner of his mouth twitched a little, like it was trying to form a smile. It never finished however and he turned back to the window for a moment more. That was fine, she was fine without him. She certainly didn't need his smile or praise to have a good day.
He turned towards her again as she reached the end of the stairs, but she ignored him and walked past. She stopped between Harry and Jason, joining that conversation. They talked a minute before everyone decided it was time to head down for breakfast. It was only then that she glanced at Mike, and he was following everyone out alone. Suit yourself.
Mike followed the group down to the Great Hall, a pang of jealousy in his heart as Jason and Hermione chatted the entire way. He forced the feeling away, not wanting any part of it. It had been a difficult time over the last several days, wrestling with his emotions.
He couldn't help the attraction every time he saw her. It just happened. He also couldn't push it out of his mind, the fact that she'd manipulated his trust. Not that she'd set out to, he didn't believe it for a second. But, it'd happened nonetheless, and he was dealing with the aftermath. He'd placed his trust in her, and she'd betrayed it. It sucked.
He'd walked her to breakfast the following morning and that had been difficult. He had a hard time keeping the professional detachment he was supposed to have on a bodyguard detail. It was hard to concentrate and after that he'd told Brad he needed to stay on either Harry's or Ron's detail. Brad, for his part, didn't make it any harder. No jabs, no making fun. Just kept Mike on one of the other details.
More than once, he'd found them all together, however. That was even more difficult in its own ways. No matter what he tried, he found himself migrating toward her. Never anything overt, just stayed on the same side of the room as her. Sat at the same table. It was a tough habit to break.
"I was thinking after breakfast is done?" Hermione asked. Mike hadn't been paying much attention, but hearing her voice snapped him out of it.
"Yeah, sound's good," Brad said. "I'm sure Hagrid will be glad to have some company."
"We haven't seen him in ages," Ron added through a mouthful of potatoes. Hermione rolled her eyes at his manners, something that made Mike smile inwardly. The conversation continued on until the food was nearly depleted and they'd all slowed down. Mike watched as it all disappeared before them, leaving clean plates and silverware. Magic sure was something else.
They got ready, putting on jackets and caps for the trip ahead, then made way to Hagrid's hut. It wasn't a long walk and it really was gorgeous outside. The snow was almost completely undisturbed. Finally they reached the hut and Brad clenched a fist, pounding on the door a few times. There was no answer, so they tried again.
"Wha'dya wan'?" came the gruff response through the door just before it opened. Hagrid's hulking form filled much of the doorway and he was disheveled. "O', it's you lot." Hagrid didn't invite them in, not really. He turned and went back inside, leaving the door open.
"Hagrid, are you okay?" Hermione asked. She wasn't the only one who noticed the appearance of the Gamekeeper. Hagrid's eyes were puffy, his nose red and chapped. He looked like he hadn't taken very good care of himself.
"I'm alrigh' 'ermione," Hagrid huffed as he sat himself down at the table. The trio took the additional seats at the table while the operators grabbed various spots around the hut to stand watch while still being part of the conversation.
"Hagrid, buddy," Brad chimed in. "What's going on?"
"They're tak'n Buckbeak ter trial," Hagrid said suddnely, the depressed note finally open and apparent, all attempts to hide it abandoned. "Sayin' 'e's a monster."
"You're shitting me," Mike said, astonished as the rest of them. They'd all told Dumbledore separately and the operators had filled a report stating that Draco had brought it on himself by deliberately provoking the Hippogriff. "Who called for a trial?"
"Lucius Malfoy," Hagrid spat out, the disgust apparent and out of place in his voice. Anger didn't really suit Hagrid, Mike decided. "Said tha' Buckbeak was a danger ta society. Hearin' is in April."
"That's bullshit," Mike said, shaking his head. The rest of them nodded in agreement.
"We will fight it," Hermione put a comforting hand on Hagrid's shoulder. Mike noticed it was hilariously small, but the sweet gesture helped and Hagrid looked a little more hopeful. "There have to be some helpful cases in the library we can reference."
"Definitely," Brad agreed immediately. "No way we are taking this without a fight."
"Thanks," Hagrid huffed, getting a little emotional by the instant and vigorous show of support.
They stayed for a while longer, talking and cheering up one of their favorite professors. The group left around lunch time, eating and outlining their tasks for the day. As soon as they finished eating they divided into groups set up by Hermione and they spent the rest of their Christmas Eve researching ways to help Buckbeak.