A few months flew by for the small group. Kenji went back to Japan since he was no longer needed, and was promised that both Hermione and Narcissa would come to visit him when things calmed down. Andy was able to recall a few snippets of information from when she was possessed. Small details that she gathered from the creature about what the next Harbingers of Chaos would be, which gave the couple a new lead to look into. Harry and Ron helped the women as best as they could from within the Ministry, which wasn't much, but was still better than nothing at all.
After a time, the women went back to their normal routine of weekly dates while still working on their respective cases at hand. Narcissa with her research into curing the coma induced omegas, and Hermione with trying to find as much information about what they might be able to do when the next Harbinger of Chaos struck.
Andromeda had informed them that the next one was going to be the Curse of Madness. It should be in the form of an innocuous item that would affect the alpha populace. What that meant for the Wizarding world of England, they weren't sure yet, but they did as much research on the subject as they could to prepare for it. The only things they found on the subject were obscure mentions of a Cursed Quill that when used could control alphas for either good or evil. They dove deeper into finding out more information on this matter, but there wasn't much to go off of, even with the help of the ring of knowledge.
The couple decided that for one special night, they would have a dinner date in Wizarding London instead of muggle London, changing things up a bit. As they were walking into their chosen high-end restaurant, they were seen by the last witch they would ever have the pleasure of dealing with: Rita Skeeter.
She spied how affectionate Hermione was around the dark witch. Hermione opened the door for her and having her arm wrapped around the blonde's waist. The reporter smirked with sinister glee at the prospect of finding something new to pin to the golden girl who trapped her in a jar for a year. She transformed into her animagus form and flew into the restaurant to discreetly plant herself in close proximity to the women.
The conversation itself was not all that interesting, just talk of how Narcissa was fairing in trying to find a cure for the coma patients. Hermione's portion of the conversation was equally boring for the gossip queen in how the young alpha had been deploying her staff on missions, since her sole focus was on something that was happening here in England. At one point, Narcissa had moved her hair to the side slightly to reveal a newly-made claim mark on her neck, only to cover it back up once more. Upon closer inspection, the reporter could see that Hermione herself had one on her neck, too.
She left the restaurant for a moment, transformed back into human form, summoned a photographer, then walked into the restaurant and had the cameraman snap a photo of the two love birds. She stepped up to the table with her quick quotes quill writing furiously behind her head. "Well bless my stars, what do we have here? Two of the most famous witches in Wizarding Britain who were from opposite sides of the war dining together. Whatever would lead to such a meeting? Whatever would you two be up to?"
"It's none of your business, Rita. Now, buzz off. I don't have the patience to deal with you," Hermione said with a frustrated sigh.
"As a renowned journalist, forgive me if I don't believe you. I would be interested to know along with my loyal readers, who would be chomping at the bit, to know what Wizarding Britain's token Golden Girl is doing dining with the Ice Queen of the opposition, herself. Now tell me what kind of rendezvous exactly is this? Could this be a collaboration for something nefarious, conspiring against the Ministry, perhaps? Or is this a romantic date?"
She watched for Hermione's reaction to her accusations, looking to see which one set her off, as her quill continued to scratch behind her furiously. When she didn't get the reaction she wanted and only received one of tired annoyance, she opened her mouth to say something else. At that moment, Narcissa stepped into the conversation.
"As Miss Granger said before, Miss Skeeter. What we are doing here is none of your concern, nor anyone elses' for that matter. I'm sure a skilled journalist such as yourself can find more entertaining subject matters to report on other than what Miss Granger and myself get up to on a Friday night. Now, if you would kindly leave my establishment before I have you forcefully thrown out and banned," Narcissa said with a sickeningly sweet voice and a soft smile to match. Ever the picture of her upbringing with etiquette and poise without revealing anything.
Rita smiled with an eerily similar look.
"Merlin, I do hope that I haven't hit a nerve with my assumptions of this little get together, but that is interesting indeed. I was not aware that you owned this establishment. When did you take ownership, my dear? During the war, was it? I imagine that you and your death eater husband took ownership of quite a few establishments when the opportunity presented itself."
Narcissa turned in her seat to face Rita. She crossed her legs at the knee and sat slightly back and a ways to the side before she leaned her head on her hand in a menacing manner as she stared down the journalist.
"Run along now, Miss Skeeter. I don't make a habit of repeating myself or idle threats," Narcissa said in an icy tone as she waved her hand in a dismissive motion at Rita.
Hermione growled softly in frustration of having to deal with this menace yet again. She wondered if she could do her job from her cottage in Norway. She couldn't imagine it would be terribly hard to have Narcissa transfer over to Scandinavia's hospital of magicks. She closed her eyes and took a centering breath before she spoke. "Rita, I really wish you would get over the grudge that you've been harboring. Does it bother you that badly that a teenager bested you and made a mockery of your writing? Honestly, you're supposed to be an adult. You should really start acting like one. Now, there is nothing more for us to discuss with you, so I suggest that you fly off before I conjure up some bug spray."
Rita's smile grew even sweeter than before as she spoke in that diabetes sugar-inducing coma way once more.
"Well Lady Malfoy, it does seem as though you've twisted another alpha around your finger. How do you do it, dear? Love potions or something a little more…carnal? I mean, you certainly do seem to have a knack for catching the supposedly most eligible alphas around. I certainly would like to know, as well as some of my readers. At least, those that still like you. Which I can't imagine there are very many left at this point, no matter what kind of changes you've made to your image."
Hermione stood up from her chair growling more menacingly, only to be stopped by Narcissa with a soft hand on her forearm. She smiled at Rita and looked at her as if she were a simple-minded fool.
"Rita, you mistake me for someone who cares what others think of me. I couldn't give a centaur's tail hair what others think, especially you. My business is my business and it will stay my business until I decide otherwise. And if that day should ever come, it will not be you that I seek to divulge such information to," she straightened her posture as she spoke and eyed the woman down once more with an icy stare.
"So you do admit that there is something to share, then. Why not just express it now? By all means, don't hold back your secrets on my account. Please, share with the rest of us how it is that you came to be such a newly marked omega, then, deary?"
Narcissa's hand moved away from Hermione's arm at the alpha's possessive, deep angry growl.
Hermione's eyes swirled red. With a malicious smirk, she walked slowly toward the journalist, twirling her wand between her fingers and stepped right into Rita's personal space.
"You know what, Rita? I've learned some very fascinating things over the years while being abroad. The most interesting thing was learning how to deal with pests...like you. I must admit that after our brief but special time together, I've continued my tradition of walking around with an empty jar in my pocket. So here is my last proposal for you: leave us alone, or leave in a jar. Your choice, sweety. "
She looked Rita dead in the eye as she spoke. Rita laughed in a little titter that reminded Hermione of the disgustingly sweet laugh Umbridge was fond of.
"Oh dear me. Whatever shall I do when faced with such a hostile threat? Though, I do wonder how it would look to all of Wizarding Britain when I print in the Prophet that their Golden Girl is threatening innocent witches for simply asking questions. I'm getting the impression that you both have something to hide, and I will find out about it one way or another, nor will I shrink in the face of idle threats, little girl."
Hermione turned to look at Narcissa as if to ask permission. She received a sigh and a bored nod from the omega.
She raised her hand, putting her middle finger and thumb together and snapped them, casting a silent incendio on the quick quotes quill, causing it to burst into flames. Then, she put her pointer and middle finger on top of her thumb in front of Rita's face and drew a horizontal line in the air. Suddenly, Rita started to change into her animagus form. Hermione picked up the beetle and placed it in a jar that she pulled from her inside jacket pocket.,
She looked at the bug in the jar. "Like Madame Black, I don't make idle threats, either. I simply state facts, Rita. I didn't receive the 'know-it-all' nickname for nothing. Now, we're going to enjoy our lunch, then you and I are taking a trip to the Ministry to turn you in for being an unregistered animagus and a royal pest."
Hermione waved her hand over the jar which caused small air holes to appear before secretly adding a muffliato spell in addition to a containment charm so that the beetle couldn't hear or escape her confinement while the couple talked.
Narcissa looked at the photographer and motioned for him to come over to her with a crook of her finger. "I would greatly appreciate it if you would delete the photos that you've taken here today, because it won't be Miss Granger's wrath that you'll incur, but mine," Narcissa said in an icy voice.
The man nodded vigorously and ran out of the restaurant. The witches went back to their previous conversation until the manager gingerly approached the table. "Madame Black, I do apologize for the unfortunate scene. We'll do better to handle the situation next time," He said in a small voice.
She waved him off. "Not much could be done about it, and the situation was handled without any damage to the customers or the restaurant. Let's just call it a day and be done with it. Hopefully there won't be a next time." The man bowed to her and walked back to the kitchen.
After they finished eating and conversing they walked out of the restaurant, they said their goodbyes and went back to work. Hermione took Skeeter with her to the Ministry, handed the jar to Ron, and told him what happened. She took out a few smaller vials and deposited her memories of the incident as evidence. She told him that she wanted a restraining order put on the witch so that she was unable to be within 150 meters of herself or Narcissa.
He nodded and proceeded to go about writing up the paperwork for the order and the necessary magicks that would be required to do what she had asked.
Before she left, Ron smirked at her. "So, finally got even with the git journalist then, eh? Pretty sure this isn't going to stop her from writing about you, even if she can't be around you. I hope you know that. I'll do my best to keep her in confinement, but it won't last long even if you add in the fact that she's an unregistered animagus. The sentence won't last more than a month at best for her detainment. I just want you and Narcissa to be safe is all I'm saying. Because even if she can't physically get to you, she can manipulate others to come after you both."
Hermione sighed and nodded her understanding. "Thanks for the advice, Ron. You're a good friend. We'll be sure to be on our guard when she's eventually released. Until then, I'm going to enjoy some peace and quiet from the news while it lasts," she smirked as she walked out of his office.