Title: Code of the Griffin
Author: Knife Hand
Feedback: Constructive feedback appreciated, flames unappreciated
Spoilers: Nothing Specific, general for first few books.
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I do not own Hermione, or Luna, or Ginny, or Cho, or... I would buy them all but I am broke.
Summary: From a war ravaged future, someone is sent back in time to change the course of the war.
A/N: This is a bit of a shorter chapter, but where it ends was a good breaking point.
Hermione was slightly annoyed at the paperwork on her desk, but was trying to get it finished in the next… two and a half minutes. Things had been going well. All her homework was done, naturally, and all the myriad of reports, budgets and projections for both House Gryffindor and Hogwarts were either completed, delegated or able to be left for the morning. She had enjoyed a long, hot shower and then gotten dressed with an hour to spare, only to find Cedric and Luna waiting in her study when she had emerged. Three members of First Platoon, including the spotter of the assigned Sniper team had come down with a mild case of Wizarding Flu. It was not serious but they needed her to authorise changes in patrol rosters and to allow Madam Pomfrey limited access to The Trunk to check out the rest of First Platoon. She had reviewed and signed off those changed, leaving her with forty minutes to spare. Then Professor Snape had shown up to discuss the short list of applicants for the new basic Potions Professor position, or more specifically the inconsistencies he had found in four of the applicants documents. They decided that three of them were deliberate and the fourth could be a genuine mistake, which Professor Snape would follow up on. That had left her ten minutes, and she started to relax until an Order member brought her some letters from the Owlery. Most were things that could wait, but one was from Her Majesty the Queen herself which required an immediate response. With a final flourish of her fountain pen, Hermione sealed the return letter and gave it to the Order member to return to the Owlery. She glanced at the clock. One minute.
"What?" she half snapped when there was a knock at the door.
"You ok?" Harry asked as he slowly entered the room, dressed in a well cut black suit. "Do we need to reschedule?"
"Oh Harry. No, I am ready." Hermione said as she stood and idly straitened the fall of her black evening dress. "I've just had some last minute emergency paperwork to do."
Harry smiled and offered his arm as Hermione picked up her small purse, which matched the dress, from the table and took his arm.
"Ah yes, the evils of paperwork. More mind-numbing than Binns. Able to raise annoyance levels in a single sheet." Harry quipped.
Hermione lightly whacked Harry with her handbag as she grinned at him. Harry held out his hand and Hermione took it, revelling in the feeling for a second before she felt a sharp tug behind her navel and soon was standing in Harry's London apartment. With a small shrug, Harry held up a small loop of string in the hand he had offered her.
"Portkey." He said, with a cheeky grin. "I figured you would not want to get ash on your dress before the date."
Hermione gave Harry a slight smile at his consideration as he offered his arm. She put her own arm through his as he lead her down to the street, where there was a Limousine waiting for them. Harry escorted Hermione to the back of the Limo and the driver took off without a word once they were inside.
"So, what's the plan?" Hermione asked.
Harry just gave her an enigmatic smile. It was not long before the Limo came to a stop and Harry helped Hermione out of the Limo and then stepped aside to show her the very nice and expensive, but small and intimate restaurant. Hermione's eyes widened when she saw the name of the restaurant. Harry opened the door for her and escorted Hermione inside where they were met by the Maitre d'.
"Ahh, Mister Potter. This must be the lovely Miss Granger." The Maitre d' said. "Follow me, I have our best table reserved for you."
He showed them to their table, a small and intimate two person table that was next to a fish tank filled with colourful tropical fish. Their waiter came and dropped off the menus, and Harry ordered some Herb Bread for starters.
"So, dinner in a fancy restaurant?" Hermione asked simply.
"Yes. I thought you could do with something fancy." Harry replied. "And after this we are going to the theatre."
"Oh really?" Hermione asked, quietly exited. "What will we be seeing?"
Going to the theatre had been one of the most pleasant memories of her youth, the first time around. Her parents had instilled a love of the theatre, and it had been one of the few innocent joys in her life. When she had been Empress of the Eastern Reach, she had established an academy for the training of Stage Actors and had funded regular productions of both classic and new plays. In the new worlds where there were no established networks for television, the theatre arts had become the most popular form of entertainment.
"A Midsummer Night's Dream." Harry replied with a smirk.
"That's my favourite play." Hermione pointed out. "Have you been talking to my parents?"
"I don't know what you are talking about." Harry said with a fake innocent smile.
At that point the waiter approached and asked them if they were ready to order, and delivered their Herb Bread.
"I will have the seafood Linguine." Hermione ordered. "And a Lemonade."
"I'll have the rack of lamb with jacket potatoes, and a Coke." Harry added.
By unspoken agreement they did not speak about anything to do with the Order. Harry talked about how he was adjusting to both being free of the Dursley's and to having a Sister in Kate. Hermione told some stories about some of the things she had seen after she had left Earth. They both enjoyed an excellent meal, including desert with Hermione having a Coffee with hers. Then they had both enjoyed the play, something that Hermione had never been able to convince her Harry to do in the previous timeline.
After the play, the Limo had taken them back to Harry's apartment, where Harry had, boldly for him, had given Hermione a kiss goodnight, on the lips, before giving her the Portkey that would take her back to her rooms at Hogwarts. After she disappeared, Harry did not go back to Hogwarts, instead he went into his bedroom, got ready for bed with thoughts of Hermione's lips on his own and how much he had enjoyed the night.
Jane Granger rubbed her eyes wearily as she got out of her car at home. She had been working really hard, doing a lot of data analysis and sifting through thousands of potential reports to see if any of them could relate to Flamel's organisation, so hard in fact that she was even working on Saturdays, like today. She had an entire team of thirty working on the problem, but she was the lead as she had more information than any other Intelligence Officer at MI6 on exactly what was going on, thanks to Hermione.
Jane opened the door to the house and was hit with the smell of her favourite meal wafting from the kitchen. As she closed the door, Peter emerged from the kitchen, dressed in a pair of jeans, a t-shirt and an apron.
"Welcome home, love." Peter said.
The dining room table was setup for an intimate and romantic meal, complete with the good dishes, the silver cutlery and candles.
"Why don't you go upstairs and get changed. Dinner will be ready in about twenty minutes." Peter said, earning him a kiss on the cheek before Jane headed upstairs.
Four hours later Jane relaxed in bed and stretched, feeling the sheets slide across her naked skin. Both Jane and Peter had needed the romantic night, both of them having been so busy and stressed for the last few months. For the one evening, they had not been Intelligence Officer 009 Jane Granger and Major Peter Granger; they had just been a married couple in love.
Cedric and Cho were walking around the lake. It was Sunday and George Weasley was the Duty Officer, so Cedric had some free time, but he had given Orders that the Grand Marshall was not to be disturbed after her date last night. Things had been progressing well between Cedric and Cho since the Yule Ball, and they had found that they had more in common than just both being Quidditch Seekers.
As they walked they saw others who were taking the sunny day off to get out of the Castle. A small group of Beauxbaton Girls were exercising as a group in what was similar to a dance routine in the wide grassed area between the Castle and Hagrid's Hut. Naturally there was a crowd of Hogwarts boys watching them, with a few scattered girls as well. Down in a small clearing at the edge of the Forrest, near the lake, a number of stumps had been pounded into the ground so they reached about three feet off the ground, and the Durmstrang Students were practicing sparring with their staffs there. Naturally since Victor Krum was there, Susan Bones was there as well. Cedric smiled slightly as he saw Susan and Victor working as a team against five other Durmstrang boys, and it looked like Susan and Victor were winning.
Cedric and Cho had not gone to the Yule Ball as a couple, not really. They were friends, and Quidditch rivals, and he had been her Transfiguration Tutor since the start of the previous year. Since the Yule Ball they had become much closer.
"Cho. Would you do me the honour of being my Girlfriend?" Cedric asked as they continued to stroll around the lake.
"Oh, Cedric. Yes, I will." Cho replied, giving her long time friend and new boyfriend a kiss.
Cedric let out the breath he did not realise he had been holding. Asking her to be his girlfriend was one thing; her living with being the girlfriend of an Order Officer was another. This was soon apparent when a Private from his First Platoon came up with a report from madam Pomfrey about the three Order Members with Wizarding Flu.
TBC….