Following the two down the slope was something Hermione did hurriedly, not wanting to be left behind by them, yet she was still far away, going a bit faster than usual to catch up. Somewhere along the middle, the duo deviated from the main route, which was extremely dangerous. She debated whether to follow them, but ultimately, she decided to break the rules of the resort. She caught up just in time so she could see the boy hit something under the snow and crash in a way that looked painful and dangerous, making Hermione forget her suspicion at that moment and hurry over, hearing his friend''s cries.


    "Conrad!"


    So his name was Conrad... but that was irrelevant now. The boy wasn''t moving, and the crash looked horrible even from afar.


    "Let me help, first we-" Hermione said, arriving, wanting to help check on Conrad''s body. She was about to help him roll over just when everything before her vision went blank as she slumped forward, unconscious, Quincy standing behind her with a wand in hand.


    ...


    ....


    .....


    "Ugh, I hit myself harder than I wanted." I moaned, sitting up in the snow, feeling the world spin around me.


    "It did look bad... idiot."


    "Hehehe, sorry. All good?" I asked, looking at the young girl, who was probably the same age as us, lying before me in the snow.


    "Yeah. At least, she is kind. She wanted to help."


    "The Order says they are helping the people." I shrugged, climbing up, patting myself clean, and snapping my fingers.


    "Master!" Squeaky appeared with a pop, looking at both of us before settling on the girl''s body. "Should Squeaky bring her away?"


    "Yes. Make sure she is alright. Take her wand and keep it away from her until we arrive!"


    "Yes, Master!" With another pop, she was gone, bringing the unconscious body away, and we headed back, hurrying down the slop, not stopping until we were back in our wooden cabin.


    "What will we do with her?" Quincy asked me while walking towards our home.


    "For now, only question her, make her tell us who she is, what she is doing here, etc. After we are done, we can mind-wipe her and be on our way. We were discovered, and we used magic; it is no longer safe for us here."


    "Um, I agree. When we are back, I will begin brewing a veritaserum."


    "Can you do that?"


    "Heh!" She smiled at me confidently, "We have the ingredients, and I learned the recipe from Salazar''s books. I can make a vial very quickly! Its difficulty lies not in its making but in getting the ingredients harvested at the right time. She doesn''t look much older than us, so I don''t think I need a perfect brew, just something that loosens her tongue!"


    "I don''t know what I would do without you!" I chuckled, kissing her face as we neared our cabin.


    Luckily, the spell still held out just fine, and she was lying on our couch, unmoving. Quincy didn''t wait, getting everything out and brewing faster than I had seen her do before. It was mesmerizing to watch, and only the slight movement of our hostage kept me from zoning out.


    "What... where...?"


    "Please move carefully." I said, making her eyes come into focus while she sat up, holding her head.


    "Where am I...? Who are you and... Ah!" When she finally realized what I was holding, sitting opposite of her, she had gone stiff at once. "You are the fugitives!"


    "Fugitives...? Yes. I guess we are."


    "What are you going to do...?" She gulped, looking over her shoulder, noticing Quincy brewing the potion on the kitchen counter.


    "Nothing if you cooperate. We simply want to know who you are and what you are doing here. That''s all. When we are done, you will be let go. Easy, isn''t it?"


    "And why should I believe that?"


    "Because we will wipe your memory of our meeting. That''s why."


    "..."


    "Look, miss...?"


    "..." She hesitated; I could see it in her eyes that she was thinking through her options, measuring me, Squeaky, who stood not far from us, remaining silent and then glancing towards Quincy again. The fact that she wasn''t angry that Squeaky was holding her wand told me she wasn''t a pureblood. To us... well... to them, it would be blasphemous what I let my house elf do. I was even thinking of letting her free, but I would need to discuss it with Quincy...If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    "I would not think of fighting. We have more experience than you." I said, discarding my distracting thoughts.


    "What makes you say that? Hmph..." She quipped back, making me smile, but I didn''t explain it.


    "Look, don''t make it hard, please. We are not unreasonable nor evil."


    "You are wanted by multiple countries! That says otherwise."


    "Yes, and one of those countries is England." Quincy snorted before I could answer, her voice cold and annoyed. "Tells a lot if HE wants us dead, isn''t it?"


    "..." To that, she didn''t have an answer. After a few moments of continuous silence, she finally opened her mouth once again, "Hermione Granger."


    "Well met. My name is Conrad Anguine, and she is my wife, Quincy Anguine."


    "Wife?" She flinched, going red in the face.


    "So don''t get weird thoughts." Quincy added combatively, making her even more blushed and a bit furious. What''s with girls nowadays?


    "Like I would! Hmph!"


    "Miss Granger, I''d like to know what you are doing here; why have you been following us? Did Flamel or Dumbledore send you? Are you alone or with others?"


    "Nobody sent me. I heard you speaking English and utter the word muggle. I wanted to see who you were, and that''s it! English wizards here could only mean refuges, spies, or Death Eaters."


    "And what if we were Death Eaters?" I asked with a soft laugh, turning her face red once again just after she finally calmed down. "I see. We were too lax... It is our fault. I will ask again, though. Are you alone?"


    "Yes."


    "You are lying." I nodded, watching her eyes throughout our conversation, and the moment I said it, she visibly flinched. Yeah... she was lying. "Tell me everything you know about us, Miss Granger."


    "..."


    "Don''t feel like talking anymore?"


    "..."


    "I see. Then we will wait."


    "For what?" She asked, but it was now my turn to remain silent.


    We just sat there, looking at each other while I kept pointing the tip of my wand at her at all times. The only sound filling the room was Quincy and her spoon clunking against the cauldron''s walls, stirring the potion.


    "Done!" Quincy exclaimed as the sun slowly began dipping below the horizon, painting the room orange. Her voice made our hostage jump a little, watching her bringing over a vial, still releasing white, steamy smoke from its opening.


    "What''s that?"


    "Veritaserum." She answered her, raising an eyebrow when she noticed that Hermione showed knowledge of what it was. "You appear as if you know about it."


    "Completing one under these circumstances... This quickly... it must be a very weak brew. Stronger minds can resist it, you know, and powerful mages will be immune to it!"


    "Are you a powerful mage, Miss Granger?" Quincy asked with a soft smile, feeling she was being challenged.


    "I am!" She answered, trying to show she was more powerful than we initially thought her to be.


    "Good. Let me see it then!"


    Quincy wasn''t having it and made her freeze with a wave of her wand, pouring the potion down her throat and making her drink it forcefully.


    "Y-you!" She coughed the moment the spell was canceled, wiping her mouth, heaving, wanting to stick her fingers into her throat to vomit it back out, but it was already useless.


    "It wasn''t that hot; I made sure it was fine." My wife groaned, rolling her eyes, watching Hermione breathe heavily and act as if she was poisoned. "What is your name?"


    "Hermione Granger." She answered, surprisingly cooperative this time, making herself surprised.


    "Hurry." Quincy whispered; the effects would be short; she was right. It was not a good brew."


    In the end, we repeated our questions once again, now learning she wasn''t alone and that it was truly only a coincidence that we met. It was simply a result of our loud mouths and us speaking so openly, feeling we were safe here, amongst muggles. We screwed up. Big time.


    "We will need to learn from this." I said, making my wife nod as we watched Hermione.


    "Yes."


    "What now..." The girl asked, her eyes traveling to my wand. I could see the fear in her eyes, and I knew she was thinking I was about to kill her.


    "I told you, Miss Granger. We are not evil people. You will go back to your friends without any injuries. Please... I hope we won''t meet ever again."


    "Why...?" She asked subconsciously, making me smile at her with a pained look.


    "I don''t want to kill innocents. Don''t trust the Order; they are not as good as they paint themselves to be."


    She was opening her mouth to ask again, but I had already cast the spell, invading her memory to modify it...


    ...


    ....


    ......


    "Where were you?!" Shouted Brigitte when Hermione returned to their log cabin. "The sun had already gone down an hour ago!"


    "I know. I was waiting for you two all morning; you never got back!" She frustratedly answered, "So I went ahead and enjoyed myself without you two, hmph!"


    "I told you." Elodie giggled from the living room. "Sorry, Hermione! We got lost, and we totally lost track of time... We won''t do it tomorrow!"


    "Better be!" She snorted, removing her coat and rubbing the snow from her hair. "Or I will once again spend all my day on the advanced courses, leaving you to figure it out by yourselves on the beginner ones!"


    "Hey, hey... okay! It was our fault! Sorry!" Brigitte murmured, looking ashamed of it, following Hermione into the living room. "But we are not to be blamed for it! Not fully!"


    "Huh? Why? Was it the local pretty boys who invited you to some hot chocolate or something?"


    "Ahahaha!" Elodie couldn''t help but laugh hearing her say that. In school, there were a few boys who courted Hermione, but she shot down most of them. She was simply not interested in them at all. On the other hand, Brigitte had already been through three relationships. Just this year.


    "Errr... noooo? Look, we received an owl!"


    "Huh?" Hermione exclaimed, going stiff, and she couldn''t understand why her stomach contracted so hard after hearing the news.


    "Exactly! It was from Fleur Delacour!"


    "Miss Delacour?! Really?!"


    "Yep!" Brigitte grinned, showing her the letter, turning towards Elodie, "I told you she would be stunned!"


    She wasn''t wrong. As Hermione read the letter, she was stunned to hear that Fleur was coming over and told them to wait for her. She just learned they would be here and has a mission for the trio. Something that they can help her with. She should be stoked for the opportunity... but... why does her stomach feel like a pin right now? Why is her heart racing in her chest? Why is she so afraid?