A/N: Thank you for your reviews, favorites and follows after last chaper! Huge thanks to lanamarymack for alpha/beta reading this chapter!
Please let me know what you thought of chapter six and be on the lookout for chapter seven soon!
Hermione had waited a reasonable amount of time after Fenrir dropped her off to emerge from the apartment building, so she could flag to Sirius that they needed to meet. Well, that wasn't completely truthful — she sat in her window and stared out of it for over an hour, paranoid that he might come back and see her and try to figure out what she was up to.
When she was sure that he wasn't coming back, she ran outside to make the flag and then proceeded directly to the pub, trying her best not to look over her shoulder. She knew that sort of behavior was certainly suspicious. Grabbing a seat at the bar, she gave Gary a weak smile and ordered a pint and settled in to wait for Sirius.
She was nearly finished with a second pint when Sirius finally strolled in, taking the seat next to her. "Took you long enough," she said, with a slight slur to her voice. God, she wished that she'd eaten more than just pastry today.
Sirius ruffled her hair and ordered them each another pint. "Come on, kitten, finish that one," he instructed. "I need to know that you can keep your head when you are in trouble."
Hermione sat up a little straighter and finished the last swallow in her drink. It wasn't that she was drunk, just miserable. "I can keep my head," she insisted, even though she didn't feel sure at all that she could.
"So, what's the situation, then?" Sirius asked, getting down to business. He must have taken one look at her and known that she needed to get something off of her mind.
"I don't know if I can do this, Sirius," she said, her fingers toying with a knot in the bar top, picking away at the edges. "I don't think I'm cut out for this."
"Come on, don't be like that," he scolded her, not wanting her mind to get too far ahead of herself. "I know that Remus — well, he thinks that you're doing a great job. Surprised him, actually, how easily you've slotted right in. Said Greyback likes what he sees, too."
Hermione rounded to look at him, not at all sure what he was trying to do. "Are you trying to make me feel better?" she demanded. "By suggestion that Greyback likes the way I look?"
Sirius didn't even have the decency to blush. "I'm certain that's part of it, Kitten. He's got eyes, doesn't he?" he counted.
She crossed her arms and put them on the bar. "I didn't need Remus to report that back. I'd figured that out on my own," she said, snarkily. "He's made it known to me directly."
"Remus also said that Greyback is impressed with how you've come in and taken charge. The way that you are handling his little issue," Sirius added, almost like it was a consolation prize.
Hermione shook her head. "With all due respect, Sirius, it's not a little issue, okay?" she snapped back. "This is going to take months and I'm already feeling completely out of my depth. It's barely been a week and I already feel like I'm half a breath away from being discovered. And then what's going to happen to me, hm?"
"Hermione, you're not going to be—"
"I'll tell you that Fenrir won't give two fucks about how much he likes the way I look if he finds out that I'm an undercover officer," she whispered fiercely. She knew that Sirius said they could trust Gary, but she felt as if this entire neighborhood had ears sometimes. "I'll just be dead in a river somewhere."
"I'm not going to let anything happen to you," he promised, pressing a hand to her forearm and giving it a tender squeeze. "Remus isn't going to let anything happen to you. He'd absolutely break cover to protect you."
Hermione didn't know why, but all the reassurances didn't seem to make her feel better. Maybe it was because a part of her still resented that she'd been strong armed into this position in the first place.
"Now, do you want to tell me what happened?" he asked, knowing that there was a reason that she'd called this meeting in the first place.
"Fenrir called me today. We went to go get a dryer, finally," Hermione explained, though she wasn't really sure how to put what she was feeling into words. "I almost got the feeling like he was starting to see through me."
"What made you think that?" Sirius wondered.
"I just said something stupid — we went to this grimy shop, but the inside was really nice. It just kind of made my hair stand up, you know?" she said, wishing she was able to better articulate how it felt to be in there. "Anyway, I said something about the appliances being worth more than my flat."
Sirius chuckled, taking another drink of his beer. "Nothing wrong with that, I don't think," he said.
"Well, Fenrir seemed to think it was. He grabbed — well he manhandled me, quite frankly, out in the open like I was... anyway," she ran her hand down her face, knowing that Sirius didn't need a blow by blow, just the particulars. "He wondered how that could be when I am such a successful accountant."
"And, knowing you, I am sure that you convinced him otherwise," he said, giving her shoulder a little nudge.
"Yes, I was able to think on my feet," Hermione conceded, even though from her point of view, it didn't exactly feel secure. She could still feel Fenrir's piercing blue eyes roving her face, almost like he could read her mind, all the secrets she was hiding from him tumbling out. "But, I don't know, Sirius. I just got the feeling that he suspected something. It was the first time it felt... well, it felt really dangerous."
"I'm not seeing anything to worry your pretty head over," Sirius consoled her. "But, do you know what I am hearing?"
"What?" she asked, eager to know what insight he might be able to give her. He was basically the king of this sort of work. Sirius had been undercover more than anyone in the department and he had received several awards for some of his work. Not only that, but he had trained numerous highly competent undercover officers since leaving the field. If she had wanted to be an undercover, there was no one else she would have gone to training except for Sirius Black.
He gave her a proud smile. "It sounds like you have good instincts," he said, sagely, before pressing his hands to his stomach. "You got a feeling in your gut and you listened to it. That's something that can't be taught and all I can do is to encourage you to follow your instincts. That will take you further than anything I could have taught you in a classroom."
She frowned, disappointed that it wasn't more groundbreaking than that. She wasn't sure that she did have good instincts, more like fear that serious bodily harm might befall her if she pissed Fenrir Greyback off. "He just throws me completely off kilter," Hermione said, feeling her shoulders drop. "I've never met anyone like him and I don't really know how to behave around him."
"How so?" Sirius wondered, signaling to Gary for another pint.
Hermione nibbled at her lower lip, wondering how best to say this without sounding shallow or conceited. "Well, I get a feeling that he does like the way that I look," she whispered, even though she thought it sounded pretentious. "Sometimes I get the feeling that he might... try something with me. He flirts all the time, but I'm not sure if it's just because he thinks he can get a reaction from me or if he'd try something more."
"Ah," Sirius said, as if it made all the sense in the world. "Listen, Hermione... I wouldn't necessarily look at this as a bad thing."
"What?" she asked, pressing a hand to her forehead, wondering if she had entered some kind of terrible fever dream.
"If it's just flirting, whatever, it's just flirting. I flirt. I like to flirt. Maybe he just likes to flirt," he continued, chuckling a little bit. "Even if you won't admit it, I think you might like to flirt a little bit, too."
"I do not," Hermione insisted, completely disagreeing with his characterization.
"You do," he countered with a smirk. "But, if he does want more..." he trailed off, looking over her pensively. "Look, Hermione, I am not going to ask you to sleep with the guy or anything, but I don't really see anything wrong with getting him to chase you. Maybe you string him along, leave him panting after you—"
"Sirius, I can't do that!" Hermione cut him off, thinking about what he was asking of her. "I can't get a guy to...to fall in love with me with a snap of my fingers. I don't have those sorts of powers."
Hermione was not the kind of girl that could leave a trail of wanting men behind her. Of course, she knew that guys did like her, but it wasn't like she had the... the charisma or the beauty or the skills of seduction to just pick and choose!
"Don't sell yourself short, Hermione," he said, giving her arm another squeeze. "Both you and Remus have said that Fenrir seems to like you. I don't think it would take that much to push him over the edge. A little look over the shoulder here and there, a glancing touch. You'd be surprised."
"That is never going to work," she insisted.
"Don't count it out just yet. I think that it's a viable option that deserves exploring," he answered, unconvinced by her arguments to the contrary. "And if it doesn't work, well then, who cares? It's not like you have to be friends with him for years to come."
That was true, she supposed. It's not like she would have to live with the shame and embarrassment forever if she tried something and was wrong. "What's the benefit of it anyway?" she wondered, failing to see how getting Fenrir Greyback to lust after her (she wasn't going to say love her, because that was just an impossibility too large) was going to help them anyway.
"He might be more open with you then," Sirius explained. "He would tell a lover something that he wouldn't necessarily tell an associate. He might let something slip up during pillow talk."
"I thought you weren't going to ask me to sleep with him," Hermione snapped.
"You know what I mean," Sirius said, rolling his eyes at her. "Unless you are completely sheltered. Maybe you were the wrong person for this job."
"Sirius!" she said, annoyed that he was teasing her when he knew that she was already feeling so vulnerable about her position.
"I just mean...if he leans into more than just flirtation, maybe think about not turning away," he said, resolutely. "You certainly don't have to, but you wouldn't be the first undercover to use the tactic either. It's a viable option."
Hermione felt her cheeks go pink. "I'll consider it," she squeaked out, unable to believe the words were coming out of her mouth. It wasn't necessarily that she thought that the tactic was bad. And she wasn't worried about leading someone like Fenrir on either. She wasn't precious about using his potential feelings against him — he was a criminal after all and it felt like the ends would justify the means.
What she was worried about — and this was something that she would never tell Sirius — was the reaction she herself would have. About the feelings that were already bubbling up inside of her. Even though she wanted to think of him as nothing more than a pig, Hermione found herself liking him. She enjoyed being around him. He was exciting and thrilling and he left her wanting... more. Of what, she couldn't entirely say. She wasn't sure that she would ever be able to put a name to it, just that it made her insides turn to a gooey mess.
Wanting to get the topic off of doing anything with Fenrir, Hermione cleared her throat. "Anyway, we bought a dryer," she said, before taking a big glug of her beer. "So soon my work is going to be picking up. Should be delivered to the warehouse any time now."
"Progress," Sirius said with a grin. "I know we are asking a lot of you, Hermione, but you've just got to look at the finish line. It's a ways off, but it's there in the distance, I promise."
For some reason, she did not quite share his optimism. "Anyway, that's not the reason I called you," she said, feeling a bit sheepish. In the grand scheme of things, that didn't seem like too much to report. And certainly not something to alert him to. "You know how I said this appliance place was really crummy on the outside, but had really nice appliances?"
"Yeah."
"Well, when we were leaving, he casually lets it slip that it's not a real store at all. It's more or less a place to fence things," she described, not sure if this information was going to help anything, but she hoped that it would. "It sells whatever his friend has recently stolen."
"Not exactly a novel concept, Hermione," he said. "Greyback has got his fingers in a lot of pies. I didn't know about that one, but I suppose it's not too surprising."
"No, it's not his store, it's his friend's," Hermione repeated. "A friend who goes by the name Antonin."
That got Sirius's attention. He sat up a little straighter. "That is brilliant, Hermione," he said, doing a little fist pump. "See, I knew that getting you in there would unearth all kinds of information. It's barely been a week and he's already talking to you about the next level up."
Hermione fought a smile. She'd always loved to hear that she was doing a good job, especially when she felt as out of depth as she currently did. "I questioned him a little, to see if I could get anymore," she said with a sigh. "But, I didn't want to come off as too curious either, so I didn't press him too hard."
"Perfect," he said with a proud smile. "We'll have you begging to stay in the undercover department before you even know it."
"Ugh, I highly doubt that Sirius," she said, rolling her eyes at him. She longed for the gentle tap of her keyboard, lulling her through hazy afternoons. "Anyway, I will see what else he lets slip up about Antonin and make note of it. And, of course, I will let you know."
Sirius seemed pleased and he finished his pint, before throwing enough pounds on the bar to cover both of their tabs. "Excellent work," he repeated, wanting to be sure to reward her adequately. "Is there anything else?"
Hermione bit her lower lip, before reaching into her jacket where she had tucked the band of money that Fenrir had given her into the waistband of her jeans. She flashed it to him, letting him see it. "Yeah," she said simply, before returning it to her jacket. She didn't really want to go around flashing that kind of money, even if this pub was relatively empty. "Not really sure what to do with this."
"Well, the objective was not to steal the money from him," Sirius answered with a barking laugh. "How did you get it?"
"He gave it to me," she answered, flustered at the suggestion that she would steal money from anyone, even if it was illegally gained in the first place. "He said it was payment for my work — my salary. That I could expect a similar amount about once a month."
"Hm, I see," he answered, running a hand along his jaw. "So what's the problem?"
"Well, I don't know what to do with it! Do I keep it all and hand it in at the end? What if it gets stolen? Or should I give it to you so it can be seized by the Bureau?" she asked, a million different scenarios running through her mind. This was really not something that had ever crossed her mind as a possibility.
"Yeah, hang onto it until the end of the investigation. Just put it somewhere safe in your flat," he said, as though she wasn't carrying a substantial amount of money in the back of her jeans! "It will be folded into whatever else we recover when we eventually shut him down. It doesn't matter too much if he gave some to you or had it in his stash or in a bank account."
"Okay," she said cautiously. That didn't seem very official or safe to her, but she supposed that he was the expert and she would trust what he said. She stood up from her chair, slightly drunk, ready to return to the safety of her flat, curl up in her bed and sleep for twelve hours. It had been a surprisingly exhausting day.
As she was about to leave, Sirius shot out a hand and grabbed her arm, pulling her in closer so that no one else could overhear. "Hermione, make sure that you set aside some of that money for you, though. Just a bit...maybe a thousand every month," he ordered. "There is never going to be a completely thorough accounting of the money and it gets misplaced all the time. No one will notice."
That sounded decidedly wrong to her and she bit her lower lip. "What?" she asked, astounded. "I can't do that."
"Everyone does it," he insisted, though he was still whispering. "Me, Remus. Everyone. Just consider it a bonus for having to go undercover in the first place."
She was sure that it was not the morally right thing to do, but Sirius was so insistent. If this was really the way things were done, she supposed that she could set a bit aside for a rainy day. She did have her eye on a stand mixer now that she'd been baking so much and a 'bonus' would certainly help. But, there was still something in her that made her stomach churn with nerves. Everything about this job was eroding what she thought she knew about herself.
"I better get home," she said, wanting to end the conversation as quickly as possible. "It's been a long day."
Sirius understood and wished her a good afternoon, before leaving the pub himself. Hermione sighed to herself when she was finally alone. She resolved to visit the bookstore the next day to pick up a cookbook. This was going to be a long assignment and baking was already growing stale.
