A girl sat behind a large black wooden desk, the computer screen lighting her face up. She watched with a calm serene as information uploaded onto a thumb-drive, keeping one eye on the percentage and one on the closed door. Her clad gloved fingers working over the keys as she added more files to the thumb-drive. As it was nearing '100%' she silently detached herself from the chair, arranging everything in the way she had found it. The files were complete and she took the thumb-drive out of its slot on the side of the laptop and stuffed it into her bra. Closing the laptop and leaving it in the exact position she had found it, she shoved the gloves down the front of her dress as she quickly walked over to her previously occupied seat before the door opened.
A tall slender man of 52 emerged with two glasses of scotch and a sly grin. He was balding on top and his teeth were an unnatural white that showed he was quite the neat freak. Hermione stood on her high pumps with a wide smile as she accepted the drink from his offering hand.
"Lisa, I am so glad you decided to take me up on my offer." The imposing man sat down directly next to her, his side touching hers in a suggestive way. She took a slight sip from her cup, savoring it as she watched him through her lashes.
"Well, you did say you had the most amazing scotch and wine collection. I simply could not say 'no' to such a wonderful collection. This is the '52 you mentioned, right? It almost has a taste of a go between of '52 and '53. Most likely from it being made very late in the season?"
"You have quite the extensive knowledge of your liquor, for a museum tour guide." He moved in closer, setting his cup down on the antique coffee tabled before them. Hermione mimicked his movements and they were so close she could feel puffs of air along her jaw as he waited for her reply.
"Well, it is my job to know about every artistic thing around the world. Liquor is no exception, it holds its own beauty that leaves many admirers." She met his gaze that held him against his will, as she lightly gained access to his mind. His thoughts were as organized as his home and life was. Digging deeper until she found what she was looking for and then some.
John Taddio was a very well know engineer who had a taste for beauty and expensive things. No one in his field made nearly as close of a pay as this man did, but then again most people were not heading illegal operations like this man was. He was good at getting rid of those who needed to be disposed of, but equally as good of making and selling nuclear bombs to enemies all over the world.
She pushed further into his mind as she was looking for something specific, her assignment was to locate his facilities and to find out who was helping this devil accomplish everything, if it was magical or muggle. As she dug deeper in, she was startled to see John's form bent over a blonde girl who seemed to be performing oral on him. She could see the tears sliding down the girls face as John held her head tightly, slamming her head back and forth on his cock. The girl was making chocking sounds as she tried to fight the binds she was held under. Then the memory sped up and this time it found John cleaning a peculiar looking knife as he looked down to the same blonde girl's head, her body cut into pieces and laid in clean and even rows next to it.
Quickly lurched herself out of the memory, suddenly unable to breath. Clawing at her neck, she realized that John had a strong hold on her as she tried to play the helpless girl. People never realized that when someone was in the process of killing someone else, they tended to reveal all their plans thought the torture. She smiled, she had built up a great tolerance to pain.
"Well, well, seems to me that I have a little witch within my trap. Didn't your mummy ever tell you that it's rude to go prying through other people's thoughts?" John looked over his shoulder towards his desk, noticing that a little piece of paper was moved a slight fraction. "Ah, and I see you've been going through my things as well. Tsk, tsk."
"I-I ha-haven't!" The girl gasped. 'That's impossible he's a muggle. That means we're dealing with a Witch or Wizard, but how does he know?' Lisa tried to stay in character; trying to play dumb in the hopes she might get another look at his mind.
"Lisa, Lisa, Lisa. See that little piece of paper? Well it's been moved a fraction and I can tell. People call it OCD, others, well they call it a personality trait for serial killers. Me? I like to view it as someone who has great control over my life." Her eyes began to bug and she couldn't fight her instincts anymore, centering her mind her hand lunged up knocking his un-expecting grip off of her and then grabbed him with a firm grasp of her own. Quickly straddling him, she sat on top of his chest pinning his arms at his sides under her legs. Unsheathing her wand from her hidden thigh holster, She jabbed it at his neck muttering binding spells on his body before getting up.
"Oh, I love it when they fight back." This made the girl sick as the memory of the girl he killed played through her mind. Breaking into his mind again to look for the information she needed, but scenes of the psychopath raping girl after girl was all she was met with. The farther she pushed the more gruesome the scenes were until she broke away from his mind and decided to question him.
"Whom do you work for?" She questioned.
"Unbind me and I'll show you." A manic laugh erupted from his throat.
"Tell me and then ill unbind you, maybe even give you a reward." Lisa's lips smiled seductively as she trailed her wand lightly down the side of his face. He shivered with anticipation wanting nothing, but to fuck the girl until she was dead.
She knew she was playing with fire, but also concluded that the man was sexually driven by this, 'play with their wants and needs and you shall receive what you seek.' She smiled to herself as the motto played across her lips silently.
"Lisa, I need some reassurance." He grunted through the grasp of her hand around his neck.
She pulled closer making a move to kiss him. He stuck out is tongue in a wanting manner, but Hermione quickly cut it off with a knife she seemed to pull out of nowhere. The man screamed and kicked violently as the pain erupted through him.
"My name is not Lisa, dearest John. Now play nice or I will not fix your tongue. Do you promise?" The girl was staring down at her nails before looking to see his answer. He was nodding his head vigorously as he tried to say 'yes'. With a flick of her wand, his tongue flew back into his mouth, stitching itself back to the severed piece. He trembled with fear, as she grew closer to him.
"I'll ask you again. Whom do you work for?"
"Leon!" He shouted trying to shrink away with fear. At the mention of the name the man before her began to crumble, shaking and thrusting violently with shrieks of pain. She was taken aback as she moved closer, trying to determine if it was a ruse and was quiet shocked that it was not. His skin began to slide off his body followed by muscle and tissue. She watched in pure horror, unable to look away, as everything melted away his bones, disintegrated into ash and that was when the girl heard the loud pounding behind the door. Grabbing her clutch she went to disapparate, but found that there were anit-apparation wards placed from allowing her too. She yelled a curse at the window, causing glass to shatter everywhere, as she mounted the ledge and looked below. The lake meet her gaze and she groaned that she would be getting wet in a few moments, with a second glance back to the door, it burst open magically as she pushed off diving for the water.
She dare not resurface until she had swum a good distance away and luckily from her extensive training, she managed about 800km. She looked around for any witnesses and quickly disapparated from the icy water.
"Rough night?" Augusta smirked as the woman appeared out of thin air, sopping wet and her gown hugging her like a glove. She gave a devilish grin as she fished out the thumb drive and felt a tingling sensation over her body.
"Thanks" Her body dried from the water and her dress once again looking brand new as she handed over the small thumb drive to her boss.
"Of Course, it would be a shame to ruin such a great dress, don't you think so, Hermione?" Trying to fluff out her now dried mane, Hermione smirked at her employer. "Ready for debriefing?"
"Yes, and we have a big problem, sir." Her face growing with seriousness, Augusta's grey orbs grew with alarm as he took the thumb drive and stood up from behind his desk. With a nod, he moved to the door that led out to his right bringing them into a large room full of people rushing around with files, data and many others clicking away at their desks and workshops.
"Follow me." He handed off the thumb drive to a tech guy who passed right by him and broke out in a fast walk towards one of the debriefing room with Hermione in tow. It was going to be a long night until she apparated home in the wee hours of mid-morning.
Severus stretched his stiff limbs from the settee in his living room, the cracking in the joints from the over use of his body. He allowed the book to slide down his trousers, falling with a light 'thud' to the ground before swooping low to retrieve it. Blinking several times he set the book down on his lap before taking in his surroundings. His living room was bright from the glaring sun streaming in from the front windows. The room was very modern with leather couches and glassware, but was by no means lavishing. The floor was black marble, climbing up a wall that was set as a dark imposing fireplace. Crystal candlestick holders were centerpieces for the large glass coffee table and the three end tables on either side of the couches. The walls were a silverfish grey color, which contrasted nicely with the glass and black room and though it screamed breakable, it held no warmth or ware of being used often.
Retrieving the book that was so out of place in the room, he left its cold interior to find solitude in his library. Though similar in its cold interior as the living room, there was an attempt to give it warmth via the warm earthy browns it was decorated in. There was dark wood built in bookshelves that were jam packed with thousands of books. To the left was a large stone fireplace, that always held a well-lit fire even when he was not in the room and on the right was a large oak wood desk. It over flowed with parchment and quills and piles of books that was littered with notes and research. He set the book on his desk, leaving that room too, to trail upstairs to the loo and run a hot bath.
Life had not changed much for him since the end of the war. He had only stayed on at Hogwarts for another three years before informing the Headmaster of his pursuit of starting his own business. It was a successful apothecary business that catered to both muggle and wizarding world and did private business with top paying members of both societies. He never asked questions and the money still flowed; so maybe life for him really did change. What didn't change was his attitude; his bastard of a personality was still wholly intact. He did quite literally miss spying. He missed the thrill of it all and would have gladly taken it back up again had it not been for a truce between all his enemies. They were his biggest costumers now and he knew that it was bad for business to ruin a good thing.
He stepped out of the bath, grasping his wand to cast a quick drying spell as he made his way to the sink, readying a toothbrush with its paste. He stared at his reflection as he brushed his teeth, taking note of his features. He had let his hair grow out considerably, almost as long as Lucius, and had it cut in the same fashion. His skin was still pale, but not the deathly hue it once held from the stress of being the Dark Lords right hand man. His muscles rippled when he flexed his forearm with the back and forth motion of brushing his teeth and he had light sprinkles of dark curls on his semi-buffed chest. His towering form still held the lean look of a young man though he was nearly forty. He loved being a wizard only for the fact that their aging process was slowed down. He would not see or feel the effects of getting old till he turned a hundred. The life span of their kind was 250 for a healthy magical being and sometimes more, forty to them was basically twenty years of age.
He spat out the cleaning paste in the sink and rinsed his mouth out before wiping and taking leave of the grey marble room for his bedroom a door over. His wardrobe still consisted of only black for the exception of his white cotton undershirts. Though they resembled his teaching attire mostly, he no longer buttoned his shirt to the neck, but instead left it open down to the collarbone. He smoothed down his front after he was all dressed and walked down the marble staircase to the front door to retrieve the muggle post and the Daily Prophet. Folding both under his arm, he apparated to his place of business in a large office that connected to the main part of his apothecary. Sitting behind his large desk, where even more parchment and quills sat overflowing, he sat back taking up the muggle post in his hand to read first. His eyes narrowed and his brows knitted together at the headlines printed in black bold print, seeming to scream its importance at him.
'John Taddio, Missing?'
Severus knew that name, the bloke was one of his highest paying muggle investors that came to him on a weekly bases for de-aging potions and to treat the mans ever growing list of STD's. It wasn't that Severus was upset to see the man go, he knew that Mr. Taddio was a disgusting man, but like Albus always said, 'You can't pick and choose the high paying players of the game, but don't let the means of money gained by others, interfere with your success' Severus grunted when he mumbled how right the man was. His eyes continued to scan the article.
'Mr. Taddio was said to be retiring for the night in his London apartment with a date, when his guard's had reported to hearing a loud crashing sound and yelling. Upon entering the room, Mr. Taddio was nowhere to be found and the window over looking the lake looked as if it had bombed opened from the inside out. Though the woman that was said to be with him last night has not been identified nor locate, the police ask that anyone with information is to report it to them as soon as possible.
On another note, Mr. Taddio was on a pending investigation for the murder of 12 missing girls…"
Severus finished the article, in thought about what he had just read. There were something's he never wanted to know about his patron and sponsors and this startling news was quiet intriguing. It sounded like a witch or wizard had gotten a hold of Mr. Taddio and though the man's business with him would dearly be missed, it was good riddance for the man himself to never hurt another girl again.
A/n: Reviews? Anyone? What are your thoughts.