"Harry Potter and the Casino Royale"

By Loki Palmer

Author's Note: Harry Potter and all related characters are the property of J.K. Rowling. Casino Royale is the property of Ian Fleming and Columbia Pictures. It's amazing to think how the story is almost done!

P.S., I noticed the negative reactions I got about the first draft of this chapter and the following, so I'm posting revised versions of each. I sincerely hope you like these better!

Chapter 8

Harry made good on his promise to resign from the Ministry, using a computer to send an "electronic owl" to M. The Ministry, in the years since Voldemort's demise, had found ways to accommodate Muggle technology. This move allowed the formation of the Ministry's Q-branch. The ancient wards of Hogwarts, however, would still fry any electronic equipment, but this was accepted as a fact of life. The message read thus:

"M, I hereby tender my resignation to the Ministry, to be effective immediately. I've appreciated all my service and your gratitude, but it is time for me to move on. Sincerely, Harry James Potter."

Upon reading Harry's message, M broke into tears. She always had a soft spot for the young lad, in spite of all the trouble he made. She wasn't the only one. Q admitted, "I'll miss you, Harry, and all the fun times we had."

Throughout the Ministry, people raised a toast to the greatest 00 agent they had ever seen. "Good luck, Harry Potter, wherever you'll be and whatever you'll do."

~[James Bond riff]~

Harry and Hermione managed to get their hands on a boat, and they started sailing around the world – at least the Mediterranean. They would stop in places like Athens, Istanbul, even visiting the cities of Jerusalem and Cairo. As a couple, they could not be happier. Hermione was worried, though, because there happened to be a strange man following them …

~[James Bond riff]~

In Venice, the two were staying at a hotel. One morning, Hermione suggested to Harry that she would go get some more money, and he could go get supplies. She kissed him and left for Gringotts.

Harry's cell phone rang, and he answered it. "Good morning, M. Harry Potter here."

"Good morning to you as well, Potter. A goblin came to us at Gringotts, and we're worried about the money that you won in the poker tournament. When are you going to deposit it?"

Oh, right … the money. "Oh, it seems I've forgotten to deposit it all this time. I'll get it transferred today as soon as I can."

"See that you do, Potter. Good luck."

Harry then called up Burgengold. "Meistergoblin Burgengold, it seems I'm having difficulty accessing the funds in my account."

"Mein Herr Potter, they vere in the account you gave us … in fact, the funds are being vithdrawn as ve speak."

"Where would that be?"

"Gringott's Venice branch, of course, in St. Mark's Square."

"Danke schön, Meistergoblin Burgengold." (Thank you very much, Master Goblin Burgengold). As Harry hung up, he noticed Hermione's phone. He looked at it to see, "Meet you in 30 minutes." He then thought, "Oh, this is bad, this is very, very, bad …"

~[James Bond riff]~

Not knowing the layout of Venice exactly, Harry decided to run on foot instead of risking Apparation and a possible Splinching. He ran out as fast as he could towards St. Mark's Square, where he saw Hermione coming out. Instead of directly confronting her, he decided to tail her as best as he could – maybe he could retrieve the money. What was she thinking?

She gave the suitcase of money over to a man with one dark lens in his glasses – Gettler. Gettler must have sensed Harry coming, because he grabbed Hermione and said, "Potter, stop, or I'll kill her!"

Harry was hiding behind a column, and he peeked out. Gettler was holding Hermione in the classic hostage pose – right in front, with a gun held to her head. It would be very hard to get a good shot, even with a wand. An Expelliarmus on a gun – there was a 50/50 chance that the gun could fire in such a situation, and Harry was not willing to take the risk. He growled to himself, "Nobody hurts her and gets away with it!" He also saw a few people with AK-47s up on ledges above, and struck out with a few Blasting curses, sending the guards to their deaths.

Gettler was amazed – how could Potter take out these guards in a matter of mere seconds? He then backed away with Hermione into a building and locked her in a steel cage in the middle of the building. "Come and get me, Potter!"

The duel between Harry and Gettler lasted for a couple minutes, but the building started to crumble as a result. Harry made it to Hermione's cage and said, "Hermione, I'm here to get you out of here, darling."

"Harry," she said, tears in her eyes, "I'm sorry … I've always loved you, always will."

"Hermione, what are you doing? HERMIONE, NO! HERMIONE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Harry could not help but yank on the bars, desperate to get her out of there.

She kissed his fingers. "I love you." She then pulled the pin connecting the cage to its frame, and it fell into the water. Harry dived in and rescued her out of the cage. As they both reappeared at the surface, he gave her CPR, and she started to cough water out of her lungs. Harry couldn't help but kiss her in great relief as she opened her eyes.

"Harry … what happened?"

"Hermione, don't you dare scare me like that again … I thought for a moment I'd lose you. What was the big idea?"

"Harry, they wanted the money from me. I didn't know what else to do."

"Forget the blasted money for a moment, Hermione. We at least have each other, that's the good news. The bad news is, I got a call from M asking about the money and when we're going to deposit it …"

"… And I just walked away with it. I'm sorry, Harry."

"We all do dumb things sometimes, Hermione. The question now remains, where is the money?"

Unbeknownst to either of them, someone had grabbed the money and ran off with it …

~[James Bond riff]~

"Hermione, we're just relieved you're still alive," said M over a cell phone.

"It's all thanks to Harry, M. I was afraid I would have died without him."

"Believe me, Potter would not let you die if he had anything to say about it. By the way, Potter, what do you have to say about Weasley?"

"I don't know what to think. Keep grilling him. We want some answers."

"Quite so. We're going to want the two of you back here in London as soon as possible. Do you have any leads on the money?"

"Just one," said Harry over his cell phone. "Antonin Dolohov."