Reckless
Chapter Two
Harry was startled awake on his only day off by an excited squealing noise similar to that of a banshee. He buried his head underneath the pillow and willed said banshee to go away. It did no such thing; instead, it burst into his bedroom with another squeal and demanded that he wake up. It was only when the banshee bounced on his bed that he realized it was Hermione. He groaned.
"What is it, woman?!" He demanded from underneath his pillow.
"We got accepted, Harry! We got accepted!" She informed him, bouncing lightly on his bed. Her utterance roused Harry from any pretense of slumber. He threw the pillow off of his face and sat up suddenly. The action jarred Hermione from the small single bed and sent her tumbling to the floor.
"We got accepted?" He repeated in a stunned tone. Hermione nodded; her wide smile was still firmly in place despite being knocked onto the hard wood floor. "The both of us?" He asked. Once more Hermione nodded. A wide smile stretched onto Harry's face. He was soon out of the bed and lifting Hermione to her feet. He swung her in a circle with an excited whoop before setting her onto the ground.
"I DON'T CARE IF YOU GOT ACCEPTED INTO HEAVEN! SHUT THE HELL UP!" An aggravated neighbor shouted through the wall. Harry and Hermione looked at one another and attempted to smother their laughter. Harry could contain it anymore when Hermione whispered:
"Well, how rude…" Harry's laughter set Hermione off. Once they calmed down (much to their neighbor's relief), Hermione informed Harry, "we have an interview with Aaron Hotchner today."
"Did you call work?" Harry asked. Hermione tilted her head.
"It's my day off too you know?" A small disgusted look crossed both of their faces when they recalled why their team leader had allowed it to be set up that way. During the beginning years at the Auror department, the entire team thought that Harry and Hermione was a couple. Therefore, the team leader allowed them the same days off for…martial relations. A small shudder passed the two friends. "Well," Hermione muttered, "It's at nine. So I suppose we should be getting ready."
"I call bathroom rights first!" He informed her as he ran toward the door. Hermione didn't even bother chasing him. When they first began living together, they had fought over the bathroom like they were actual siblings. Then, it had been refreshing. Those small moments of amusement overshadowed the pain. In those small moments, they regained the pieces of their childhood they had lost. Now, Hermione didn't need it anymore, but Harry did. So, she often made a show of shoving him into the hallway wall and locking the bathroom door behind her so that he couldn't get in and shove her out. Now, Hermione simply shook her head and walked into the kitchen to start the coffee pot and eat a bowl of cereal.
Harry couldn't help but pace now as he waited for Hermione to come out of Aaron Hotchner's office. Each time he peaked in through the blinds he saw a blonde lady and a man who had to be Aaron. He was beginning to doubt the sound idea this had started out as. Paying a plane ticket was easy; impressing the big dogs at the BAU was going to be difficult. But they did look impressed with Hermione. 'I mean,' he thought, 'we got this far right?' He only hoped that they would be as impressed with him as they were with her. With a small sigh, he looked away from in between the blinds.
Harry leaned against the railing that over looked the desks that the agents sat behind when there was no work to do. Today, it was empty of people. The agents were at home. This was there day off.
He perked up slightly as the door to the office finally opened. Aaron Hotchner held the door open for Hermione as she left. The stern looking man glanced at him and motioned him inside. Harry followed him inside and sat down at the chair he motioned toward. Out of habit alone, Harry paid close attention to his surroundings.
"Why do you think you are qualified to work here?" Strauss asked suddenly. Harry understood this was the signal that started the interview. Harry hid his uncertainty well as he answered each and every question the duo threw his way. After many rounds of questions, Aaron Hotchner finally gave a half-smile.
"Meet here at eight tomorrow morning. Then you will meet the rest of the team," Harry nodded. He extended his hand to both the team leader and Strauss. Both shook his hand. "I will tell you the same thing I told Miss. Granger, I hope you do well."
"Thank you, sir." Harry told him. Hotchner nodded. Harry walked out of the office, nearly right into Hermione. The bushy haired woman blushed slightly at being caught eavesdropping. Harry clicked his tongue at her lightly, but they waited until they were out of the building to laugh.
"What did he say to you?" She asked.
"Be at the office at eight to meet the rest of the team…." Harry paused. "I have the feeling that that's when the real test begins." Hermione nodded.
"We'll do fine."
"If only I had your confidence…"
"I would like to introduce all of you to our newest members, Hermione Granger and Harry Potter," Hotch introduced to the small crowd. He had noticed that Spencer Reid, their residential and only academic genius until now, was missing. "Now one of our members is missing-"
"The coffee shop must be backed up again," the large black man drawled teasingly. Hermione glanced over at Harry with a small tilt of her head. She couldn't help but say:
"Which one?" A small amused snort came from the group of agents. Hermione's cheeks flushed slightly in embarrassment. Just then, the missing agent came barreling through the office door. He was fiddling with a brown leather satchel and balancing a steaming Styrofoam cup of coffee in his other hand. Needless to say, he was not paying attention.
"Sorry, I'm late. The coffee shop-" the agents surrounding Hermione and Harry began to chuckle. A small smirk curved Hermione's lips when Harry joined them.
"We know," teased the dark headed beauty standing next to the attractive black man. Hermione looked over at the team leader as he cleared his throat softly.
"I believe we are forgetting to introduce ourselves," said the easy oldest member of the team. "I am David Rossi." Hermione fought down the slight star struck feeling that came over her and shook his hand. Hermione had read many of his books while waiting on Harry to get out of the shower. The large black man stepped forward.
"Derek Morgan," he introduced himself. Hermione smiled and shook his hand. She watched for a moment as he greeted Harry. Her attention, however, was divided. She couldn't help but study the man that had walked in late. He looked so familiar, but she couldn't place where she had seen him before. The black headed beauty stole her attention away from him with her introduction.
"I'm Emily Prentiss," she greeted. The introductions trickled slowly for she was eagerly waiting on the brown headed man to step forward so that she could place him. Hermione knew that they would have to introduce themselves seeing as he came in late. Finally, he walked forward slightly, but did not shake their hands. That behavior was familiar as well.
"I'm Spencer Reid," Hermione's eyes widened and her breath left her. She quickly composed herself as Harry introduced himself.
Hermione's eyes widened as she tripped over an outstretched leg. Because of the amount of books in her arms, she didn't see him extending his leg. She tumbled forward and expected to meet the floor, but an arm caught her mid-fall. She righted herself slowly to keep from dropped her books. She heard an amused snort come from the boy that had tripped her. She looked over at him with a slight glare.
"Need some help?" The young boy that caught her asked shyly. Hermione couldn't help it, her eyes softened. This boy, whomever he was, reminded her so much of Harry when approached by anyone at all. Maybe it was a universal thing.
"Thank you," she muttered as he helped her set the books onto the table. The young boy smiled and adjusted his glasses higher up onto his nose. Hermione noticed then that they were slightly crooked as if he had been punched recently. A small frown touched Hermione's lips. She had been in Los Vegas for three months and was already being bullied by some of the residential pathetics. So, she could sympathize with this young boy.
"Awe, how cute. Young nerds in love," the teenager that had tripped her drawled from his kicked back position. The young boy seemed especially bothered by this. Hermione found her protective side rising from its cage. The bushy haired child glanced down at one of the blocks the librarian had set on the floor for the younger children and discreetly kicked it. The sturdy red block went sliding across the hardwood floor and into the bully's chair. Hermione was smart enough not to watch his decent to the floor and motioned for the young boy to turn around. He did as she asked with a slightly quirked eyebrow. The thud rang through the library. Hermione smirked as the librarian's angry squawks reached her.
"If I've told you once I've told you a thousand times, Herbert! Don't put your chair back on two legs! You could get hurt that way!"
"I swear it wasn't me, it was those kids they knocked a block into it!" Hermione knew by experience that he was pointed toward her and the young boy. The librarian shook her head.
"They are just children, Herbert!" A smirk pulled onto Hermione's lips as she read over the first sentence. She could feel the young boy's eyes on her. Herbert attempted to convince the librarian, but she would have none of it. Instead, she grabbed the young man by the ear and escorted him out of the library. As he pulled away, she heard the librarian say: "I will look after your younger sister."
"You didn't have to that, you know," the young boy told her, pushing his glasses up again. "You could have gotten into a lot of trouble." Hermione simply smiled at him and read his hidden message.
"You're welcome," she told him, "I'm Hermione Jane Granger, and you are?"
"Spencer Reid," he said shyly. Hermione's smile widened.
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Spencer."
"I'm Hermione Jane Granger," she introduced fully as she once had so many years ago. She watched in amusement and enjoyment as Spencer's eyes widened and his mouth fell open slightly. Hermione smiled as his team members and Harry looked between them in confusion. Spencer opened and closed his mouth a few times before finally being able to articulate words.
"Hermione!" He exclaimed before sweeping her into arms. Hermione let out a laugh of surprise as he spun her around. The team's confusion only grew, but Harry finally understood. A small smile came onto his lips as he watched the boy, now man, from the pictures set her down. "How," a small laugh of joy escaped Spencer's lips, "how have you been?"
"Good, good," Hermione lied. What the two hadn't noticed, the team and Harry had. Spencer's hands had yet to leave Hermione's waist and Hermione's hands had yet to leave his biceps.
"Um," Derek Morgan started, "what's going on?" The spell over Hermione and Spencer seemed to be broken by Derek's question. They backed away from one another slowly as if to retain some dignity, but their smiles still remained. The happiness coming from his sister brought a smile onto Harry's face. It was about time she met him again. While he knew next to nothing about the man that she had been clinging onto not seconds before, Harry knew that Spencer Reid meant a lot to Hermione. Why else would she carry around a picture of him in some of the most dangerous times they had ever encountered?
"You two know one another?" Hotch asked, vaguely pointing between the two agents. Harry caught Agent Rossi's questioning eye and the blonde technical analyst's-Penelope, he recalled- "Christmas-Just-Came-Early" smile. He wondered if the man had been alone for as long as Hermione had been. He hoped for, not for his sake, but for Hermione's alone that they hadn't changed too much. Merlin knew that Hermione needed more than just Harry in her life.
"We knew one another when we were children," Hermione and Spencer answered at the same time. Finally, Aaron Hotchner showed the humor Harry and Hermione knew that he was capable of. An amused smile drifted onto his face. He shook his head slightly and sighed.
"Why does that not surprise me?"
"It surprises us…" Derek Morgan muttered to Emily Prentiss. The beautiful agent nodded; her brown eyes were still fixed on the bushy headed brunette at Spencer's side. She didn't know what to think of the two new agents. But like these beautiful people around her had given her a chance, she would give them one. Besides anyone that could make Spencer smile that much already had brownie points in her books. The agent had the feeling that it was the same for each person in this room. Lord knows the man needs someone in his life.
"Well, now that the introductions are out of the way," Hotch started, "down to work." The agents, Hermione and Harry included, took seats at the round table. Harry smiled as Spencer Reid "discretely" tugged Hermione's hand to indicate she sit by him. It was like Hogwarts all over again. He only hoped this time it would have a different ending.
Hermione gnawed on her bottom lip as she boarded the plane. They were allowed Harry and her to go on a case with them so early. It was a test. Hermione knew it, but she also knew that it was a test neither she nor Harry would fail. They had seen and done things some of these agents couldn't phantom. Even with that being said, she could hear Derek and Emily discussing them, assessing them. She couldn't wait to prove their "she-looks-so-innocent" views wrong. She caught Spencer's eye as he sat down in front of her and couldn't help but return his amusing smirk.
"They don't know you at all, do they?" Spencer whispered to her. A small, unladylike snort escaped her lips as she nodded.
Harry boarded the plane before Aaron Hotchner, but after Hermione and Spencer. He glanced toward his sister and debating sitting next to her, but Spencer Reid was there. If they were going to use this chance to reconnect, he didn't want to be in the middle. So, he bit the bullet and sat next to Emily Prentiss.
"Why aren't you sitting with Hermione?" Emily Prentiss asked. He smiled sheepishly at the woman.
"Hermione and Doctor Reid need time to reconnect," he told them, glancing toward his sister and the agent, "I'm not about to get in the way of that. She can be downright scary when she wants to be." They chuckled. "But I can move if you like," he returned.
"No, it's fine. I just noticed that the two of you seemed rather close…." Emily trailed. Harry smiled. She was digging for information.
"We're practically brother and sister in every right but blood," he told the prying Emily. "If you have any other curiosities, feel free to ask. I have nothing to hide." He stated as he crossed his legs in front of him and put his crossed arms behind his head. Emily and Derek glanced at one another for a moment before beginning to question him about his life.
"Why did you just disappear like that?" Spencer asked Hermione quietly. Hermione frowned softly. "I waited for you." Hermione's heart clenched painfully.
"My parents had to leave…I had no family in Los Vegas so I couldn't…I'm sorry…" Hermione whispered. "I'm so sorry." Spencer smiled softly. His hand fell over Hermione's gently. She instantly looked up at him. "I kept up with you, you know, Mr. 187." Spencer smiled, but his cheeks held a small blush.
"Where are you at now?" He asked. Hermione smiled.
"Ever so competitive," she teased. He snorted and shook his head. "Just one point over you." His mouth fell open before a smile spread over his face.
"Over achiever," he teased with a brilliant smile. Hermione leaned forward and quirked an eyebrow.
"Slacker," she teased.
"Hey!" Spencer exclaimed, playfully affronted. Laughter brought the two away from one another. They looked toward the source and found Harry, Derek, Hotchner, Rossi, and Emily staring at them. They smiled sheepishly at one another. As the others got lost in their conversations once again, Spencer leaned across the table and whispered: "When we finish this case, will you meet me for dinner?" A small blush stained his cheeks as he whispered the next part, "So we can pick up where we left off that is…if you want too."
"I would love too," she whispered back.