NOTES: Rated M for violence, blood/gore, and maybe some minor sexual parts. Language too! PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!
Blink
Story Description: Voldemort is dead, the Death Eaters disbanded. Harry struck the final blow, but it was his friends that helped him. Harry disappears, Hermione and Ron are stunned. Ron moves on, but Hermione can't shake the fact that there seems to be something wrong. They are both good aurors and soon they are assigned to a case that is connected to a secret group and someone who is determined to dominate the world, just like Voldemort. This new enemy is good, very good. So good in fact, that Harry left because of him. But the golden boy will return, when the world needs him the most...
STANDARD DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Harry Potter story, JK Rowling does. I am merely another author who wishes to write a story based on her stories. I own my made-up characters, places, descriptions, spells, items, and anything else you don't recognize from the original books. The characters in this story are fictional and are used fictitiously by the auther (moi).
Chasing a Shadow
Vacation
Ministry Safehouse, just outside of Colchester, England
Hermione opened her eyes wide, and saw flames just a foot away from her. Smoke filled the room and she coughed immediately. If she didn't get out, she would suffocate and die or she may get poison in her lungs. She willed herself to apparate to the front of the house, but then felt the heavy blanketlike feeling of an anti-apparition ward.
Her mind instantly snapped into action, consuming what little oxygen she had left, she sent a spell towards the closed door and tore it in half. She willed herself to get up and she ran through the broken door. Soot and sweat covered her from head to toe as she fell to the floor, breathing in much needed oxygen.
She rose after a minute or so and looked around. The figure she had stunned was no longer there and there was no sound save for the burning, creaking, and cracking of the house. Wait, cracking?
The house was falling apart! Just as she thought that, a wooden beam a foot away from her suddenly gave and fell to the floor with a loud crash and in a swirl of dust and debris.
Hermione prepared to jump out the window but then pulled the plug on that plan as she remembered she was on the third floor. Well, that was what magic was for, wasn't it? She broke the window with a wave of her wand and jumped through it, instantly transfiguring some bushes into a pile of huge pillows. She fell softly on the pillows and rolled out, just as the roof caved in on the third floor. The rest of the house followed soon after.
Only the broken and burning remains of the building could be seen where once stood an elegant three-level house. She was confused, where were Kingsley and Ron? The other aurors? Who were the ones that attacked the safehouse? Why? What should I do?
She failed to come up with an answer to all her questions save for the last one. She had to reach the Ministry and contact them about this immediately. Something was up, and she knew it. She decided to keep going south until she could apparate, after all, that was where they had come from and that was where the gate was.
She started walking as she contemplated what happened. The black-clad figures were pretty strong and were trained well, but who sent them and for what purpose?
Leaving the flaming ruins of the safehouse behind her, she exited the compound and began to walk, following the winding path of the only road she could see.
The road soon intersected another, larger, and more used road, and Hermione decided to go west. The blanket feeling of the anti-apparition wards were still on her, but she could feel it waning as she reached the outer edges of its range.
Trees lines the streets around her as she continued walking along the side of the road, heading west, towards the setting sun. The sun was already down on the horizon and it cast a bright orange-yellowish glow that made things seem kind of golden.
Ten minutes later, she sensed the anti-apparition ward disappear and she quickly disapparated.
There were several emergency apparition points that were designated to all aurors. They were to apparate there whenever they encountered problems or when they had something important to do or to deliver.
Hermione put the image of one of them in her mind and quickly apparated herself there. She heard the light crack of her apparition and she soon found herself facing four aurors with all four of their wands out and pointing at her.
She hadblood all over her left side, soot and dirt all over her clothes and skin, and her hair felt like a mess. She looked like a survivor of a nuclear explosion. They lowered their wands as they realized who she was.
"AurorHermione?" one of them asked, though she knew it was her.
"Hm?" she said, weakly, as a sudden feeling of nausea overcame her senses. Her mind reeled and her vision swirled and turned black as the blood loss, shock, and confusion of the recent events overtook her.
Military base, somewhere in Germany
"Everything is going according to plan, General," the young Major Hans Sprechen announced, smiling.
The general sat in his leather seat, and nodded in acknowledgement. "You are doing well, Hans. Soon, your hard work will be rewarded. Bring me more results!"
"Jawohl, General!" he saluted and left the office.
The general picked up his phone and contacted his superior, who he was told to call 'master'. He sighed, if it wasn't for the fact that what he was doing was for the good of the world and that there was a hefty reward involved, then he would not be doing as the master told him to do.
The phone rang once, twice, three times. Someone picked up. Silence.
"Master?"
A moment of silence followed before a reply came, "Who is this?"
"General Kruger, master."
"Well?"
"I have good news, all goes well with the intelligence gathering. Soon, we will begin Operation Lightningstrike."
"Good, very good, general. You are doing well. I shall contact you on the details of Operation Lightningstrike soon. Your counterparts across the world will have to collaborate since the Operation must be launched simultaneously to catch the enemies of the world off-guard," the voice said, very pleased.
"I understand, master," he said, and then hesitated, "Master - will you permit me a..question?" he continued.
"Since you are the first to contact me with good news, I shall permit you this one question."
General Kruger's nervousness lessened, he thought he might be reprimanded. It was a good thing he had good news then. "Well, I would just like to ask. How many of us are there? How many are going to fight these freaks of nature?" he asked.
The voice paused, as if contemplating what answer it was going to give him. "Enough, General. Enough. I shall contact you, do not try and initiate contact with me anymore, I will contact you from now on. Understood?"
"I understand," he spoke and the master put down the phone.
Ministry of Magic, London
The debriefing room was claustrophobically small. The walls were made of cement and were pretty thick. Two inches of armor encased the room, and it was enough to keep even good wizards and witches in until enough Ministry personnel could be dispatched to take care of them.
A single lamp hung from the ceiling, which was no more than seven feet high. There was a small steel table bolted to the cement floor and two steel chairs that were also bolted to the floor were placed across from each other.
Hermione sat in one of the seats, her back to the thick steel door that she knew had two aurors outside and a magical barrier that could stop some pretty powerful spells.
She sighed, she had woken up in a bed in one of the holding cells and was quickly ushered into the debriefing room. More like an interrogation room, she thought sarcastically. Her wounds had been healed and her blood replenished, but the Ministry had not fed her yet, and her stomach grumbled with complaint.
Her clothes were tattered, her jeans still had soot marks and dirt on them. They were torn and ripped in a lot of places and so was her collared shirt, which was ripped in a lot of places as well and was also covered in black soot and lots of dirt.
She felt icky and dirty, and she didn't like it. Her hair felt gross as well and she knew there was other stuff in her hair.She waited for what seemed like an eternity, her thoughts running wild. Maybe they thought she was a criminal now, maybe they thought it was her who had attacked the safehouse.
Maybe...maybe they thought she had gone crazy or something. She shook her head, when where they going to release her? She had been there for about...two..no, three hours? The empty walls, the clean steel tables and chairs, they were all getting very boringand weren't much of a good sight to the eyes.
The steel door suddenly made some clanking and clicking sounds as the locks were disengaged and the door swung open quietlyupon well-oiled hinges. She turned to see who it was and opened her eyes wide, Shaklebolt Kingsley was looking her square in the eye. He was closely followed by a man Hrmione didn't know.
The steel door was closed and locked as the man walked to the chair across from Hermione and sat down. Shaklebolt Kingsley walked over next to the table and leaned against the wall, his eyes never leaving Hermione.
The manlooked intently at her, as if waiting for her to speak, but as soon as she started to, she was cut off.
"Hermione Granger, Auror second-class, member of the Golden Trio, friend of Harry Potter, and the smartest witch to graduate from Hogwarts for years. This is your second year as an Auror and you have made amazing progress. You have officially completed thirty-three assigned cases and you have no pending cases as of yet.
Mother and Father are muggles, both dentists. Their names are Sarah Granger and John Daniel Granger.
You were bornonSeptember ninteen,nineteen-seventy-nine and started to attend Hogwarts in nineteen-ninety-one.
Your wand is Vinewood with a core of dragon heartstring, pretty good wand you have there.You have a ginger cat named Crookshanks, which you bought in nineteen-ninety-three. You founded S.P.E.W., the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare.
You are currently listed as one of the top aurors in the Ministry and you are supposedly a hardworking, smart, and friendly witch." the man finished. He put the file he was reading from on the table and closed it.
He looked at Hermione as if expecting her to say something, when Kingsley spoke. "Are you alright, Hermione?"
She looked at him, slightly confused, "Yes. What happened? I saw you fighting with those people - everything went to hell - spells were flying, I stunned someone by the way- I was knocked out and hurt in a burning room - you weren't anywhere to be found when I woke up..." she fired away, but Kingsley stopped her.
"I couldn't find you, honestly! I was more worried about getting Ron out. The attackers had left and taken their casualties with them and I couldn't find you, so I thought they might have taken you with them. I quickly took Ron to the hospital, he is currently in the I.C. unit," he replied.
"Will he be alright?"
"Of course he will. The doctors and healers say he is recovering well and he should be back on his feet this Sunday."
"Which leads me to ask. How did you get here?" the man asked, a pen in hand as a notepad suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
She looked at him and her eyes squinted in suspicion, "You're not a reporter are you?" she asked venemously.
The man laughed, "Oh, dear God! No! I am no reporter, auror Granger. I am the acting head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. I am here to debrief you on a highly secure case that just so happens to be yours, after we are through of course..." he informed her.
Hermione looked at him, puzzled, then at Kingsley. "What happened to Amelia Bones?" she asked.
"You mean, Minister Bones?" the man asked.
"WHAT!"
"Yes, you see Hermione. Cornelius Fudge was found dead at his home along with the guards that were protecting him. His home was burned to the ground, but we have recovered his body. His funeral is set for this Friday," Kingsley explained, "So, as the Deputy Minister, Amelia Bones is now the acting Minister of Magic."
"Oh." At that moment, Hermione's world seemed to go into a standstill. So much had happened in the course of a few hours. What time was it anyway?
"What is the time? How long-"
"You've been gone about two...two-and-a-halfhours. It's currently around eight o'clock in the evening," the man said. "Now, please answer my question auror Granger. How did youget here?"
"Well, I left the safehouse and travelled down the road - I walked - and then I turned right - west - when the road intersected with the first road. I then apparated to the emergency apparition point."
"And you saw no one on your way back? You made sure that there was no one else in the house? Do you recall anything about these attackers?" he questioned further.
"No, I didn't see anyone at all. Not a soul, actually. I was pretty sure there was no one else in the house, after all, it collapsed into a burning heap seconds after I left it," she answered immediately, but for the last question she paused and thought for a moment.
The man who was supposedly the acting head of the DMLE was writing things down on his pad. Hermione wondered what he was writing, but then again he might just be filing the debriefing report later and didn't want to do it now.
"Well, they were wearing black suits that were skin-tight. They had boots on and they had black ski masks that covered their faces. They actually looked like some special muggle tactics team or something. I do remember that they were pretty strong, both magically and physically."
"Did you try to identify any of them? Pull of their ski masks? I recall you said you stunned someone."
"No, sir. I - well, the guy I stunned - I couldn't identify him because before I could do that I was flung to the wall and then into the burning room, where I got cut up and then someone had the thought of using the Crutacious on me..." she explained, a little angry as she recalled the events of earlier that afternoon.
"Wait, you said someone cast the Crutacious on you?"
"Yes, that's what I said."
"I see. Well, how did you get out of the burning safehouse, that you said, collapsed seconds after you left?" he asked, still writing.
It felt like she was being interviewed by Rita Skeeter. For some reason, he didn't like the man. "I broke through a window and landed outside. I then ran a little so as to stay clear as the building collapsed," she answered.
"So you didn't try and check the house for any survivors or to see if there was anything missing or whatnot?"
"How could I? I would've died! Besides, I had just gotten there. How would I know if there was something missing? I just know that in the time between my waking up and jumping out the window, there were no bodies on the ground whatsoever," she told him, crossing her arms.
He nodded and then finally stopped writing. "Very well then, you are hereby sent to paid vacation, six days. I think that should help you rest up and ease your shock.Apparently, you were pretty shaken by this event, since it seems to have deterred you from what regular aurors would do. Don't worry, I understand," he said.
She looked at him with a bewildered look. What was this guy saying? He was so full of crap! If he wasn't the acting DMLE director then she would have already hit him,hard.
"Thisvacationwill help. I expect a full recovery of your mental and physical state by Monday. You will then proceed to investigate this attack, I expect results auror Granger. Good luck to you and have a nicevacation," he said as he tapped on the metal door.
The locks disengaged and he stepped out andspoke to the aurors on guard. The door stayed open as he left, apparently he told them of the situation.
"Whois that guy? Ohhh...I just want to strangle him! 'I expect a full recovery of your mental and physical state by Monday'my gosh!What a bag full of air.My mental and physical state is in no way in need of recovery...well, maybe my physical state but still! Argh!" she clenched her fists in anger.
Kingsley chuckled deeply, "Come on, we have to go. I expect they need to use this room soon. Besides, you're on vacation, aren't you?"
She mumbled a reply that he didn't catch and stalked out of the room. Kingsley shook his head and smiled as he followed suit. The steel door closed behind them and the locks clanked into place as they walked towards the elevators.
St. Stephen's Hospital, somewhere in magical London
St. Stephen's Hospital was somewhat of the Ministry's private hospital. Though the hospital was also open to the public, most of the patients recieved by the hospital were either Ministry personnel or ex-Ministry personnel or someone who the Ministry deems important enough to keep alive.
The hospital was large, but it was even larger inside thanks to magic. It looked as if it had about ten floors, but in reality, it had around twenty. There were more than enough doctors and nurses and the funding they recieved mostly came from the Ministry and private parties.
Hermione strode towards the entrance of the hospital as the doors parted for her, either magically or because they installed a motion detector, she didn't know. The hospital smelled like any other hospital in the world. It smelled clean. It smelled of antiseptics, soap, and a hint of death in the air.
She went to the front desk, where the nurse asked her who she was and what her business was. She told the nurse that she was visiting a friend, a co-worker in fact. She told her Ron's full name and she was immediately pointed to the elevators.
"Eighth floor, room eight-twenty-one," the nurse said.
"Thanks," Hermione said in reply as she walked over to the elevators and pressed the call button. She waited a few seconds before the elevator doors parted. Three doctors came out, talking deeply to each other. She went into the elevator, pressed eight, and then waited as the doors closed and the elevator moved.
A mere two seconds passed before the eighthfloor appeared before her after the doors had parted. She stepped out and shook her head, the time-saving miracles of magic had done their job again.
She followed the sign that informed where rooms were and she soon found herself in room 821. She opened the door and knocked slightly.
"Who's there?" a groggy voice asked.
"Ron! It's me, Hermione."
"Oh, hey 'Mione."
She decided to let that slide, he was hurt after all and it would be bad if she hurt him some more. "How are you? What did the doctors say? What happened? How did you get out?"
"Wow, slow down Hermione. First things first, what happened to you? According to Kingsley, he thought you kidnapped by the attackers or something."
"Well, let's just say I wasn't kidnapped and I got to the Ministry safely. Have you seen that new DMLE director?" she asked.
"Oh, the ass? Yep. I've seen him and I don't like him."
"Well, glad we agree on that one. So? Answer my questions already!" she urged him as she took a seat from the side and placed it next to the bed. She sat down and waited for him to tell her.
"Well, I was dueling with one of 'em ninja-looking dudes, and well let's just say he was bloody good. Waaaay too good for me. I managed to injure him a little, but he plain took me out. If it wasn't for Kingsley and that other auror rushing in to help I would've been a goner. Well, I almost was, according to the healer," he told her.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I had six broken ribsboth femurs broken, my right ankle dislocated, my entire wand hand crushed, my larynx was nearly crushed, and I had dozens of cuts, some of 'em were really deep. The damn guy broke my nose too! But that was the first thing that was fixed. As you can see, their replenishing my lost blood," he continued, pointing to a IV bag that was filled with blood and that was connected to his right hand.
"I'm sorry. I should've stuck with you. We are partners after all," she said, sniffing slightly.
"Don't worry about it. I survived. Besides, I thought I could handle it, otherwise I would've never left your side..." he said with a smile.
She shook her head and smiled as well. "So, you still haven't answered how you got here."
He shut his eyes for a bit, as if thinking, and then opened them again. "Well, I don't really remember much. I remember Kingsley picking me up - and the other auror! - yes, I remember, he was there, fighting off the rest of the attackers. They suddenly disappeared, but the other auror felk to the ground. I think he was dead. Anyway, Kingsley carried me off, then the next thing I knew I was here."
"He didn't even go back to check the others?"
"Not as far as I remember, and that isn't much mind you," he spoke.
The door opened and an old man with curly thick gray hair and a dark gray mustache came into the room. He was wearing white healer clothes and he regarded Hermione as a nuisance. She saw it in his eyes.
"I'm sorry miss, but Mr. Weasley should not be disturbed any longer. He needs his rest if he wants to continue to work as an auror," he dismissed her curtly.
He walked over to him and ran some check-up spells, he didn't even look at Hermione a second time.
"Well, go on 'Mione. See you soon," Ron said and closed his eyes.
She stood and glared at the healer, who still didn't look up, and left the room. By the time she got home, she was tired. It was a miracle that she had enough strength to take a shower and clean herself up before going into a deep slumber.
Hermione's Apartment, London
Next day..
Hermione opened her eyes as light poured through her windows and hit her dead on. She put her head under the covers and tried to go back to sleep, to no avail. She opened her eyes again and looked around.
Her bedroom wasn't really too fancy and wasn't too furnished. All she had was her queen-sized bed with a very comfortable mattress, a sidetable with a lamp, and two landscape paintings on the wall.
Adjacent to the bathroom, she had a fair-sized walk-in closet that containedeall of her clothes and shoes. She got up and walked to the bathroom and took another shower, a cold one this time, to wake herself up. She got dressed and went to the kitchen to fix up some breakfast.
She passed her sidetable and noted that the alarm clock read 11:33am. Upon exiting her bedroom, she was in a short hallway that opened up into the kitchen. The kitchen was, in turn, open and you could see into the living room from there. She walked over to the coffee table in the living room and turned on the tv.
She put it to BBC and went to work on getting some breakfast cooked. She caught glimpses of the news as she cooked and took comfort in the fact that nothing bad was really happening, well nothing war related or mysterious death related. There was still a food problem in Africa and in North Korea and there was smuggling of people in Asia to the West.
She ate some scrambled eggs and some muffins and made herself a hot cup of coffee. It was strange, not having to wake up early and go to the office to work. She saw the next headline and noted that it said, 'Hottest Clothing Trends'.She watched it intently, after all, it had been a while since she had gone shopping and it was about time she did.
She went out that day, to shop, for the first time in years. Well, the first time that she did it for fun and just for the heck of it. She usually shopped for the bare necessities that kept her alive and working.
She spent the entire afternoon shopping and bought herself a mocha frapuccino from the Starbucks around the corner and headed for home. She put her new belongings in the closet and watched some tv as she fixed herself a snack of chips and a sandwhich she had bought from the sandwhich shop next to Starbucks.
Her phone rang, startling her. She stood and answered it on the fifth ring.
"Hello? Hello! Hermione! Hermione, you there?" a familiar female voice greeted from the other line.
"Yes? Lavender? Is that you!" she askedm surprised.
"Yes! Glad you remembered. Listen, I heard you were on a little vacation and so I planned a little get togetherparty of the girls from our batch in Gryffindor. Hey, you can invite Gen or Ginif you want!"
"It's Ginny, and uh...what time is this party?" she replied.
"Thirty minutes, so get ready! Everyone will be there!" she said and she put the phone down.
Well, she had nothing planned for the night, and so shemight as well go. She smiled, her first vacation and things were quick to happen. How did Lavender know she was on vacation anyway? Oh well, she got dressed and ready to go in a record five minutes, and quickly disapparated, heading to the Burrow for an unexpected visit.
Author's Notes: Reivews please? Thanks JVTazz!