Narcissa and Hermione decided that the best plan of action to deal with their "pest" problem was to make the effort of giving Rita the benefit of the doubt, while still making sure that she couldn't get away with anything, either. They apparated in front of the newspaper office and walked in where they were met by the receptionist. The young witch looked up at the couple with a look of fear and shock on her face before she quickly put her happily indifferent mask back on. "Good morning ladies. How may I assist you today?"
"We would like to talk to Miss Skeeter about a particular article. I'm sure you know which one I'm referring to," Narcissa said with her natural air of cold and calculating indifference. The woman stumbled for a bit on what to do in the situation. "This isn't a negotiation, if we don't see her now then we'll have my lawyers tear this paper apart at the seams and no one will be safe from my wrath. So unless you want to lose your job, I suggest that you tell us where she is, and we'll be out of your way," Narcissa spoke again in a sickeningly-sweet voice while still maintaining the known threat that she posed.
"Of course, Madame. She's in her office on the top floor. Room three. You can't miss it," The girl squeaked out and pointed to the elevators. The couple walked into the elevator. Hermione waited until the doors closed before turning to Narcissa with a devious smirk.
"I don't know why, but I always seem to find myself turned on when you take on the persona of Ice Queen with other people. As hot as it is, I'm also reminded to not get on your bad side." She pulled the blonde tightly against her body and kissed along her neck.
"Well darling, it helps that you would have to do something exponentially terrible to feel my wrath, so let's keep it as a nice turn on for you. Easy darling, we need to stay focused right now," Narcissa said while running her fingers through Hermione's hair.
Hermione reluctantly pulled away from her before the doors opened and grumbled in frustration. "You're right. I'll be good until we get this mess sorted. Then there's no saving you from what I have planned," She smirked at the blonde mischievously.
"I expect nothing less, darling. Now, I have a plan of action for this pest, but you're going to have to follow my lead on this," Narcissa said.
"What did you have in mind, my love?" Hermione asked with a mischievous grin.
"First of all, you are going to stay in the hallway until I call for you. If you're in the room, it'll set her off right away and we need her to be unsuspecting if we can manage it," Narcissa explained and Hermione nodded in understanding.
"That makes sense. How will I know when you want me to walk in?" Hermione asked.
"I'm a master Legillimens. I can just communicate with you telepathically when I'm ready for you to join me," Narcissa said.
"Alright, do I get to know what you plan to do in there with her?" Hermione asked as she took up one of the blonde's hands and kissed her palm.
"I was going to pretend to agree with her article for a time to see what her reasons were for writing it. I'd try to slip her the potion without her knowledge that I'm doing it. Not to mention that I'm using the newly-improved version of polyjuice that I've developed, which has no taste and lasts longer as well," Narcissa smirked.
"Mmm…Gods you're sexy when—well, you're just sexy all the time, honestly. You can call me biased all you want to, and I'll take that title this time, but really, you just amaze me sometimes," Hermione rumbled as she pulled Narcissa close once more.
"I appreciate the compliment, but still it means a lot to me, regardless. I know that when you say it you're not just saying it to manipulate me. Now, I haven't decided how exactly I plan to do this, but I want you to know that I would never betray you no matter what. However, there might be some situations where feminine wiles do have to come into play when getting what you want, so no matter what happens in there, I will always be yours and no one else's, alright?" Narcissa looked Hermione in the eye with reassurance so that the alpha would know that she meant every word.
"I understand that there are some things that you need to do for this to work, and I trust you.. Do what you need to do to squash this bug because I'm so tired of this bitch. She needs to be put in her place," Hermione asserted with determination in her eyes.
"I'm glad we can agree on that. Now to get to work on what needs to be done. Hopefully the boys were able to get their end of this charade going so that she can't escape, and so that she can be brought down a peg or two," Narcissa said as she raised herself up on her toes and kissed Hermione sweetly, then dropped back down to her normal height and stepped away from her all together.
The doors opened to a magically-extended hallway of doors that were numbered, starting with one. They walked over to room three and knocked on the door. "Come in. It better be important. I'm busy," Came the annoyed response from the other side of the door.
Narcissa cast a glamor over her claim mark, giving Hermione a meaningful look when she heard a possessive growl. "For my farce to work, darling. Then you can bring it right back into view," The blonde relayed to Hermione telepathically. The brunette breathed deeply and nodded.
The omega opened the door and walked in, while Hermione stood against the wall, out of sight from Rita, but still ready to be called by Narcissa.
"Oh, I'm sure that you'll make time for this particular conversation, Miss Skeeter," Narcissa quipped with a cold indifference as she stepped fully into the reporter's office, closing the door behind her.
Rita had a split second of surprise, but it was quickly masked with a demure smile. "What seems to be the matter, Madam Black? Was there something in the paper that didn't agree with you? I must apologize for the inconvenience. I was only trying to keep my avid readers in the know of what is going on in our community. How dreadful it must be for you to be with an alpha that doesn't have the means to...satisfy you. A predominant omega such as yourself should have the very best mate worthy of you, who will take care of you and support you in all of your endeavors." She challenged saccharinely. She motioned for Narcissa to sit at the visitors chair in front of her desk as she sat down on her own.
Narcissa sat in the fairly comfortable chair and raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow at Rita's comment. "Oh, is that so? Is there someone specific you had in mind that would suit me as a partner better than Ms. Granger?" She asked with false curiosity.
"As a matter of fact, I do. However, I'm not sure that you want to hear about that since you're obviously so smitten with the famed Golden Girl. Honestly, what do you even see in her?" Rita asked in annoyance.
"At this moment in time, nothing that I couldn't find in a beta as it stands. It is as you say, she doesn't have the means to satisfy me—intellectually perhaps, but that can only go so far. No, you're right. I may be interested in someone more my speed. Though, I do wonder as to whom you had in mind as a replacement for her." Narcissa wondered aloud with a sigh of boredom as she inspected her nails.
"Well, if that is the case, I am curious as to the reason for your sudden change of heart towards the little brat. If I can be frank, I was hoping that I could try to court you myself. I've been attracted to you for some time now, but I haven't had the opportunity to act on my feelings thus far," She deadpanned with a face of neutrality that was given away by a slight blush to her cheeks.
Narcissa's mask never faltered but her mind was reeling at the declaration of interest. Now to see about tricking her with the polyjuice. "Rita, I'm flattered. I wasn't even aware that you were an alpha in the first place. Let alone that you took an interest in me. I am curious about some things and would like to get to know you—the real you—if you don't mind?" She asked with a shy, flirtatious smile.
"I keep my status on the hush hush. It makes the job easier when people don't suspect you're more than you are. What would you like to know about me? I'm an open book." Rita puffed up her chest slightly with a soft, happy rumble at Narcissa's comment.
"What is it about the Golden Girl that gets you so worked up? I can't imagine what she could have possibly done that would get you to lose your cool."
"Why would you want to know that?"
"I want to know your stance on the matter to see if we are of like mind, as well as to find out what type of person she really is. You see, she doesn't know that I'm here right now because I haven't broken the news to her yet of my dissatisfaction."
"I see, if I'm going to be honest…that child is a monster. Not only did she belittle my work, but she also kidnapped me for a year. She should have been put in a cell for what she did to me. Everyone raves about how smart she is, and they aren't wrong in that regard, but what most people don't know is that she's done some very unscrupulous things especially during the war. She's not the pristine, perfect bookworm that everyone portrays her as, which is why I make it a point to expose her for the degenerate that she is," She declared with a satisfied nod.
"I must say that that is enlightening. Do you mind if we continue talking over tea? I feel this conversation is going to become very interesting the more I get to know you," Narcissa asked politely.
Rita nodded vigorously and went about casting various spells to call a tea set that landed perfectly on her desk, filled the teapot with water, and warmed its contents with another spell. She walked around her desk to hand the teacup to Narcissa, brushing their fingers against one another seductively. Narcissa bit her lip flirtatiously at the contact which Rita smirked at, rumbling softly once more. As she walked back to her chair, Narcissa quickly poured the potion into her own cup.
As Rita was about to take a sip of her tea, Narcissa spoke up. "I do feel it necessary to ask this, but would you consider writing a redaction of your article?" She asked hopefully.
"I don't see why I should," Rita bit out.
"Would you do it for my sake? I do hate being put in such a terrible light. Even if the purpose was mainly to slight Ms. Granger."
"No, I am sorry. I can't do that. Not even for you. I am sorry that it put you in such a difficult situation, but I stand by what I said."
"I see. That is a shame, but there seems to be nothing for it, I suppose," She said in a soft, sad voice. She then tilted her teacup toward herself and stared at it while she cast a wandless, silent spell that would swap the contents between the cups without notice.
"I must say I do admire your dedication to the work, especially without faltering. It's admirable," Narcissa said as she watched Rita take a sip of her tea as she did the same.
Rita nodded in thanks as she continued to sip at her tea. "Thank you, Madam Black. Not everyone thinks that way about what I do, but it's important, which means that someone has to do it. Might as well be me." She smiled as she continued to sip her tea until it was empty. Rita got up from her seat once more to stand in front of Narcissa, taking notice that the claim mark was missing. She took the blonde's cup and placed it on her desk then took her hand in hers and kissed the back of it sweetly. "I must agree, though I would like to get to know you better, as you say. Would it be too forward of me to want to kiss you right now?" The reporter asked as she smirked devilishly at the sweet omega.
"Darling, you can come in now. The potion should start to work at any moment and she's becoming too forward," Narcissa quickly informed Hermione telepathically. Without a second to wonder if the brunette had heard the message, the door swung open, displaying a red-eyed Hermione with a dark grin.
"I hope that I'm not interrupting anything. How fortuitous it is to see you here as well, Narcissa. What are we talking about?" Hermione spoke as she walked further into the room while Narcissa got up from her chair in front of a surprised Rita who was stuttering in her confusion.
"Perfect timing, darling. Miss Skeeter and I were just discussing her most recent article," Narcissa said as she stepped into Hermione's awaiting arms, twisting around so that she could press her back against the strong alpha. She tilted her head back against her shoulder and kissed the alpha's neck lovingly on her own claim mark.
Hermione wrapped her arms around the perfect omega possessively, kissing the skin of her neck where her claim mark was, and ended the concealment charm on it to show that it was still there.
"I don't understand what's going on. Why are you here? She told me that she was done with you," Rita said, becoming more annoyed by each passing second.
"How strong are your suppressants, Rita? They must be quite potent if you can't even smell when someone is claimed, regardless of being able to see the bite mark. For a reporter, you are terrible at reading people when they are lying to your face. Not to mention, when they've slipped something into your drink as well," Narcissa said with a soft chuckle.
"You've poisoned me?! The Ministry will know it was you and you'll be locked up for sure," Rita gasped, gripping her throat in horror.
"Don't be so dramatic. If I wanted to poison you, Rita, you would never know. Besides, it's more fun to torture you than it is to give you the easy way out. No, you will receive your just dues, and no one will save you from them," Narcissa said with a dark sadistic look in her eyes.
"My love, shall we tell her what you've done or let her be surprised?" Hermione asked with an evil grin, flashing her long fangs.
"I think we should just let her find out for herself, but I would ask one thing of you, my alpha, if you don't mind?" Narcissa looked up at Hermione as the blonde cupped her cheek bringing her face closer to hers.
"Anything that is within my power to grant you is yours. You know that."
"Would you kindly transport Miss Skeeter to Diagon Alley?"
"Now wait a minute you can't—" Rita started to say but was cut off by Hermione.
"Oh, you'll see that I can, and will, with the utmost pleasure," Hermione said as she snapped her fingers, disapparating Rita directly out of her office and into the middle of the street that triggered the anti-apparition trap. She appeared just below the window of said office where the couple could watch their plan come to fruition.
Rita stood in front of the Daily Prophet building and began to walk back in when an alpha started to walk toward her, sniffing the air. "Omega. Must please omega." He began to walk toward her, reaching out to grab her.
"Don't touch me. I'm not an omega you simpleton!" She said in a shrill voice as she started to walk backwards away from him, then another came up behind her and grabbed her, sniffing her.
"Omega. Must please omega."
Before Rita had a chance to understand what was going on, she was surrounded on all sides by feral alphas grabbing for her. She started to scream and try to push them away, only to be overpowered by them. "Someone help me!" she yelled in a panicked, shrill voice. Desperately, she tried to fight them off and apparate away, but every time she tried to get away she was forced to stay. For a moment, she thought that she was going to be taken over by all of the feral alphas until the ones nearest to her got close enough to really catch the scent that she was exuding. Claimed. The surrounding alphas began to fall back only for the next wave of the others to come and take their turn, solely for the same result to happen to them. In a desperate attempt, she even tried to transform into her animagus form—but to no avail.
Narcissa stayed by the window to monitor the result of their own chaos, while Hermione got to work on finding what was causing this whole mess in the first place. "There has to be something. What could it be?" She scratched her head in thought as she continued to look around the office for something that didn't seem like it would fit Rita's aesthetic.
She continued searching until she came across a quill that was completely different from the rest of Rita's writing utensils. She picked it up and groaned softly. "Yep, Cissa. I found the cause of the madness, and it's not happy that I did."
Narcissa quickly walked over to the alpha and opened her bag so that the quill could be placed into it for temporary holding. Hermione sighed in relief when she no longer had to hold the painful quill. "That was almost worse than Umbridge's punishment quill. I do not miss that awful thing at all. Harry still has scars from that."
Narcissa cast a healing charm over Hermione's hand and kissed it gently. "Better?" She asked.
"Much better, thank you. So how is Rita holding up to the assault? Has she noticed what we did to her yet?"
"I don't believe so, but that works in our favor since we need to leave, yet we can't apparate home from here. So what do we do?"
"My best guess would be to head to the Ministry. If we can make it to my office, then we can just head to my place that way with ease. That's going to be an interesting walk that I'm not looking forward to at all," Hermione sighed as she rubbed the back of her neck anxiously
"I don't think we really have much of a choice at this point. The Ministry isn't that far. Hopefully, with Rita keeping them busy, we should get a good head start on getting out of here."
"Right. We should head out now then, while most of them are distracted. Let's go."
The couple quickly made their exit from the building as Hermione cast a glamor spell on them both to disguise them from the masses, as well as pulling up Narcissa's hood. As they quickly walked toward the Ministry of Magic building, they could still hear Rita screaming while the alphas continued to swarm her. Hermione glanced back with a smug look on her face as she watched the fake Narcissa that was Rita Skeeter try to deal with the mob. When the couple drew closer to the Ministry, a few alphas started to catch the scent of Narcissa once more and began to follow the scent, trying to pinpoint where it was coming from. The closer that the feral alphas got to Narcissa, the more it started to tip Hermione over the edge, so Narcissa drew closer to her to keep her calm.
They were so close to the Ministry now. They could see Harry and Ron standing by the doors waiting for the couple to come through. That was until one of the alphas got lucky and grabbed hold of Narcissa.