Chapter 8
Meanwhile Mia was at the airport, looking nothing like the assassin she was or the pain Jane that was Hermione Granger. In fact, according to her passport the blonde-haired, blue-eyed 20-year-old was Mckayla Knight and if asked she was heading to Moscow Russia to visit a friend.
Mia was practiced at getting her weapons passed border security. She was so skilled at it that they didn't even glance at her twice as she swiftly went through airport security, none suspecting that she had an arsenal of weapons on her person.
She didn't have long to wait before her flight was called having booked the soonest one she could. She headed to the gate and boarded the plane settling in for the long flight.
As soon as the flight touched down in Moscow, Mia or Mckayla blended in with the crowd before vanishing after exiting the airport heading to an apartment which had been a long-standing safe house of hers.
She entered the dusty apartment, doing a quick sweep for cameras and bugs. Only after confirming it was safe did Mia remove the wig and make-up revealing the black-haired, pale-skinned beauty that she was.
She knew where her informant would be and when they would be there it was only a matter of waiting and being there to meet them. As the sky darkened Mia left the apartment in her mission suit and disappeared into one of the many alleys of Moscow.
At an intersection between two alleys at 10 pm a figure walked in. This figure was a male and tall at least 6ft but the rest of his features were hidden in shadows as there were no lights in the alleys, the only light was a faint glow from the street.
"Я вижу, что ваши шаблоны не изменились" a female voice came out of a shadowed corner of the intersection. (I see your patterns haven't changed)
The male stopped, turned to look at the corner and said amused, "Зачем менять то, что работает?" (Why change what works?)
"Привет Petyr" Mia replied stepping out from a corner behind the man now known as Petyr, who jumped at her appearance from behind him. (Hello)
He turned to her, looking surprised to see her and spoke with familiarity, "Mia Kurskova, Я не думал, что увижу твое лицо снова." (I didn't think I'd see your face again)
Petyr was an old acquaintance from her time in the Red Room but he was unaffiliated with them. He knew everything about everything in the criminal underground of Russia, he was the man everyone went to for information.
"Чего ты хочешь?" Petyr asked despite knowing that she would be here for information. (What do you want?)
Mia smirked, used to Petyr's games, "Информация о девушке, взятой Красной комнатой по имени Mary Thomas." (Information on a girl taken by the Red Room named)
Petyr looked visibly shocked for only a second that she wanted information about a place that she swore she would never return to, before he wiped his face clear and gave her a look that spoke of deep contemplation. "Я могу получить это, но сначала вам нужно что-то сделать для меня" he replied. (I can get that but first you need to do something for me)
"что-нибудь" (anything)
"давайте поговорим о бизнесе тогда" Petyr said before the pair disappeared from the alley to finalise the agreement someone more secure. (Let's talk business then)
Back at Hogwarts, however a panic had begun with Harry and Ron especially concerned with the missing Gryffindor Princess. Dumbledore had the order assembled at Hogwarts, meeting within the Room of Requirement attempting to discover where Hermione had disappeared to.
"It has to have been You-know-who" Ron yelled, beginning to get angry that the order was so unsure of who he believed had to have been the obvious culprit.
Harry actually sat quietly, observing the chaos of Ron yelling while the other members of the order discussed ideas between each other. "I don't think so Ron" Harry's soft voice quieted the room as everyone turned to give him their attention, even Snape turned to look at him without disdain for once.
"Harry, what do you mean? Who else could it be?" Ron responded while giving Harry an incredulous look.
"He would have gloated about it. There has been nothing from him to say that he has her" Harry responded logically before continuing, "And remember, last night, she asked us to look after Dean. I think she left voluntarily." There was a long pause as everyone considered this, no one had even thought that she might have left of her own volition.
"Is it possible that Mr Thomas knows something?" asked the gentle voice of Remus Lupin.
Minerva McGonagall left the room after saying that she was going to retrieve Dean Thomas so that she could find out what occurred to her missing lion cub. She quickly returned with Dean in tow who looked confused by the mixed group that was in the room of requirement.
Dean asked the group in confusion, "What is going on?"
Dumbledore calmly said, " Apologies Mr Thomas, did Miss Granger say anything to you about leaving or going somewhere?"
"No," Dean answered.
"Are you certain Mr Thomas? She didn't allude to leaving at all?" McGonagall asked, determined to uncover any hints about Hermione's whereabouts.
"All she said was that I would get my sister back but nothing about leaving," Dean answered.
"Thank you, Mr Thomas" Dumbledore said before Dean left the room.
"Well, that was useless," Ron moaned, not noticing anything of significance in Dean's response.
"On the contrary Mr Weasley," came Snape's drawling voice, "it appears Miss Granger knows something about the location of Mary Thomas and has left to retrieve her."
"Why would Hermione know where Dean's sister is?" Harry inquired as while he understood the logic, he didn't know how Hermione would know something the aurors didn't about Mary's kidnapping.
Members of the order shared confused looks as none knew how to answer the question, for none knew the answer. The meeting ended with them all contemplating on how Hermione knew information that no-one else did but remained bittersweet as they determined nothing could be done to find her. She had to make her own way back to the safety of the castle. Many feared that she would be captured by Death Eaters due to a lack of experience fighting, as they didn't know that if she was alone against a Death Eater she would be the only one to walk away alive.
The Next Day in Moscow, Mia entered a small cafe. She did nothing to disguise her beauty or hide the hourglass shape she had, in fact she emphasised it in skinny jeans, black boots and a form fitting black long-sleeve V-neck top. She went to the counter and ordered a caramel latte discretely using the mirror above the counter to watch the door.
She received her drink took another unseen glance towards the mirror and turned...
Right into a tall, handsome man in a suit spilling her drink right his front. "О Боже, мне так жаль" Mia said with a pretty blush across her cheeks. (Oh God, I'm so sorry)
The man looked at this beautiful girl who spilt her drink on him and replied, "Это не проблема на самом деле позвольте мне купить вам еще один." (It's no trouble in fact let me buy you another)
"Вам не нужно," Mia said smiling. (You don't have to)
"Я настаиваю" came the man's answer. (I insist)
To anyone watching the pair, they had a real-life meet-cute moment, hitting it off right away. With the gentleman buying the lady another drink and the pair sitting together talking and flirting, neither seeming to be in any hurry to leave the other.
The pair had exchanged names, Aleksandr and 'Anastasia'. Mia flirted like she had never stopped, using her body language to seduce while not being obvious. She smiled, blushed, laughed, leaned in, tucked her hair behind her ear all with the intent of drawing him in. It worked; they spent 2 hours sat there talking and he invited her back to his place.
The pair entered his opulent mansion, and in the living room they sat and opened a bottle of expensive wine. After another hour sat there Mia or Anastasia as Aleksandr knew her, asked to go to the bathroom. Being a gentleman, he decided to escort her himself to the bathroom. She entered the bathroom and applied some lipstick in the mirror. It was a blood red colour that gave her an increasingly sensual, sexy appearance.
She exited the bathroom, giving him a heavy-lidded look, before moving closer and leaning up against him and whispered in his ear, "Как насчет того, чтобы мы отнесли это в спальню?" (How about we take this to the bedroom?)
Aleksandr nodded, taking her hand and headed to his bedroom. They entered the magnificent room closing the door behind them. Aleksandr immediately, pushed her against the door and kissed her. He pulled away, starting to head to the bed however he became dizzy and collapsed onto the bed struggling to breath. His breath was coming out in pants, as his lips began to turn blue, he gave her a pleading look as she looked on impassively. To him it looked like her face softened at his look as she moved closer. She bent over and kissed him on the lips again. What he didn't realise was that this wasn't an act of sympathy or an attempt to save him - it removed the blue tinge from his lips covering up that his death was an act of poison. There would be no suspicion in his death other than that he was a young healthy man.
Mia left the mansion unseen, not even bothering to remove the poison lipstick from her lips. Following her name, the poison was Nightshade, and she could wear it because she had an immunity to it after her repeated use of it and the experimentation she was subjected to as a child. In fact, she could vividly recall the time she chose it at 3 years old.
The 3-year-old Mia Kurskova was forced into a room with one of her trainers Madame B. The room was filled with vials and plants, there were also a couple of cages filled with venomous animals mostly snakes. Mia was told to look around and see if anything called out to her. As soon as Mia began looking around, she felt drawn to a vial containing a deep purple liquid while also being drawn to a dark purple with black specs flower. She grasped both in her tiny hands and presented them to Madame B. They were looked over with a critical eye, "Nightshade, красивый, но смертельный" (beautiful but deadly) Madame B spoke before continuing, "как вы будете." (as you will be)
At 10 o'clock that night she returned to the alley to meet with Petyr, "Сделано." (It's done)
Mia had completed her side of the deal; it was time for Petyr to fulfil his. He turned to look at her seeing the strength of the colour of her lips even through the darkness that was swallowing the alley.
"Saint Petersburg," he told her, "объект на восточной стороне." (a facility on the eastern side) He paused and gave her a look before asking, "Почему Вы это делаете?" (Why are you doing this?)
"Я дал обещание," she almost whispered, "Спасибо, Petyr" before she disappeared into the darkness. (I made a promise. Thank you)
By noon the next day Mia had arrived and got herself situated in an apartment on the east side of St Petersburg. She could vaguely recall spending some time in this facility of the Red Room as a child, not long a month at most when she was 6 years old. She had been removed suddenly from a facility in Stalingrad that she had been in for over a year. The change was meant to unsettle her, throw her off balance to make her more pliant and submissive to their harsh training as she was starting to question and fight back against them. It didn't quite work as they had hoped, her rebellion just became quieter and more subtle - completely hidden from her instructors so it was never noticed until she escaped.
Unfortunately, her limited time in the facility meant she didn't have in-depth knowledge about its layout which put her at a disadvantage in her goal to rescue Mary Thomas. It also put her on a time delay when it came to returning. She would have to spend a few days scouting the place. Ideally, she would have liked longer but she realistically knew she couldn't be gone from Hogwarts too long as while she knew they would worry if she was gone longer well... worry would be an understatement.
So, she had 2 days that she could spend observing the place, the schedules including the guard regime before she had to break in and retrieve Mary, escape the country and get back to Hogwarts all the while avoiding agents of the Red Room and the Death Eaters when back in England. While caring for a 3-year-old child, she almost forgot that.
After 2 days spent observing the facility, Mia knew everything that she could possibly know about the facility. She knew that the guards switched every 4 hours that the evening guards were incompetent as they were easily distracted, would fall asleep after a few hours and that the guard at the south side entrance was the deepest sleeper making it the best entrance to use. In regard to the layout of the facility from what she had overheard the new arrivals were kept in the west wing in the lower level therefore preventing them from seeing any sunlight obliterating their hopes of escape while disorientating them as they can't determine the passage of time.
Today was her third day in St Petersburg and tonight she would rescue Mary Thomas from the Red Room.
That night seemed to come quicker than usual. She wore her mission suit with her hair left down so that it could hide her face. She watched from a safe distance, keeping her eye on the useless guard. Like clockwork he fell asleep, and she snuck her way into the south entrance. It was incredibly easy, but she knew that it would be only temporary. She moved through the corridors swiftly, then stopped. She leapt up supporting herself with her legs in a middle split, held up between the walls of the corridor. Reaching her hands up she removed the grate of the ventilation shaft pushing it quietly into the shaft before hoisting herself in. She replaced the grate before crawling through the shaft towards the west wing.
She reached the west wing undetected, removing the grate and dropping out of the ventilation shaft. Stealthily she headed down the corridor, getting deeper into the facility. There was one guard. She was unseen as she approached from behind. Quick as a flash... Snap! He went down with a broken neck, and she retrieved a set of keys from his belt. She started to peek into the rooms through the doors, there were a few in which she could see little girls all below the age of around 5. She moved on, as much as she wanted to save them - she couldn't, it would draw too much attention. She couldn't save them all and she knew that by ignoring them she was dooming them to hell - to death, to torture, to evil and violence. Yet she compartmentalised, pushing it into a box which she locked in the back of her mind to deal with later.
Finally, she came to a door near the end of the corridor in which she could see the tiny curled-up figure of Mary Thomas. She unlocked the door and entered the room, partially closing the door behind her. That way anyone coming down the corridor wouldn't notice it was open but also allowing Mary to see it wasn't closed, she wasn't trapped. She cautiously approached the bed and gently touched Mary on the shoulder.
The tiny little girl bolted up at the lightest touch and crowded into the corner as far away as she could get in a short space of time. She was shaking and crying silent tears trailing down her cheeks. Mia's face softened in sympathy.
"Shh, little one," Mia's soft voice assured using English as she knew it would make Mary listen as the trainers would have been unlikely to use much English with her so as to intimidate her. Part of Mia wanted to assure Mary that she was safe and that she would be okay, but Mia was aware that she couldn't, it would take a while before this sweet, innocent 3-year-old would be 'okay' if she ever would be. "I'm going to get you out of here," Mia promised, "Back to your brother."
As soon as Mia had said brother Mary looked up. "Dean" came her quiet voice, scared that she was going to be hurt for mentioning him.
"Yes, Dean" Mia said reaching out her hand. Mary looked at the outstretched hand before tentatively placing her little hand into the upturned palm. Mia used this to pull Mary in and pick her up. The child didn't fight, showing the trust that young children have hadn't yet been fully vanquished. Carrying the child in her arms Mia left the room which had been Mary's cell. The trained assassin headed to the west exit multiple times ducking into various alcoves shielding the child in her arms to avoid passing guards. When she reached the exit, she prayed that she was going to be lucky and that the guard would be asleep.
After everything had gone so well, she should have realised that the west guard would be awake and alert. "Mary, sweetie I want you to wait here and close your eyes. Okay? I will be back in a minute," Mia said while placing Mary hidden in a corner hoping that she could preserve some of her innocence. Mia didn't want Mary to see her kill the guard.
Mary looked up at the raven-haired woman with big, trusting eyes before holding her pinkie out, "Pinkie promise?" came her tiny voice. A sign of childish innocence.
Mia interlocked her pinkie with the tiny one of the child, "Promise." Mia then backed out of the alcove as Mary closed her eyes. She approached cautiously waiting for the opportune moment. She struck fast breaking his neck like the previous guard as it was a quiet and clean method of taking someone out. She easily hid him in the bushes due to the enhanced strength she had been given through the serum. She returned to Mia, picking her back up into her arms. Together the pair left the facility with only the two dead guards and the missing child to prove that something had occurred.
The next day, 6 days since Mia had left Hogwarts, Mary and Mia were on a plane to Berlin.
The previous night they had stopped in the apartment Mia was using in St Petersburg, while there Mia had removed the tracker that was placed in Mary's arm as soon as she had arrived in Russia. Mia had carefully cut the tracker out, soothing the little girl as she cried, before placing a plaster over the small cut and giving it a kiss better at Mary's insistence that it worked. Mia had remained awake the whole night keeping watch over the snow-covered street through the window, observing the door and guarding Mary. The next day the pair left the apartment already in disguises, Mia carrying Mary in her arms and having fake passports ready. Mia had booby-trapped the apartment for when the Red Room came looking.
They boarded the flight to Belin with little delay. Using a set of fake passports Mia was a 24-year-old, blue-eyed blonde as she replaced the wig she originally used on the flight to Russia. She had the wig styled in a bun and was wearing professional clothing as she was a social worker escorting the child accompanying her to her aunt and uncle back in England after the tragic death of her parents shortly after their move to Russia. Mia's name was Emily Knight while Mary was going by Mary Wood as to make it easier for the child to respond to the name, as she wasn't practised enough to respond to different names.
During the flight Mia remained awake and vigilant keeping watch over the child that had fallen asleep against her side. At one point Mary begun to squirm, having a nightmare and Mia managed to soothe her but it attracted the attention of the woman in the aisle across from her.
"Ist sie in Ordnung?" asked the German woman. (Is she ok?)
"Ja. Nur ein Albtraum." Mia replied in perfect German. (Yes. Just a nightmare) The woman gave a gentle nod with a sympathetic smile on her face before returning her attention to her book while Mia returned hers back to Mary.
When they touched down in Berlin Mary was still fast asleep, so Mia picked her up and carried her to the gate that they needed to be at to get their connecting flight to Edinburgh. Luckily there wasn't a long wait, and they were quickly on the flight heading to Edinburgh.
They arrived in Edinburgh near the end of the 6th day. Mia managed to get the 2 a hotel room for the night as despite being enhanced she was still human and needed to sleep. She had only had short naps in the past six days totalling less than 5 hours between them all. Staying in a hotel for the night would give her a safe place to stay for the night to recuperate, it would also be safer and easier to travel during the day.
The next day the 2 travelled by trains and walked until they ended up just outside of Hogsmeade.
Mia was walking carrying Mary in her arms heading towards the village. However, things were going too well something was going to happen. Unfortunately, that something was an obviously low-level Death Eater. The problem was that Mia had reapplied her Hermione glammer explaining to Mary that she could still call her Mia and that it was a disguise. This meant he recognised her as Hermione Granger Harry Potter's muggleborn best friend.
"Well, if it isn't the mudblood" snarled the rough voice of the Death Eater "and you have a child with you, probably proof that you're nothing but a whore."
Mia gave him a dark glare. Now a sane, intelligent person would stop and back away but this man, if he could be called a man, was neither sane nor intelligent. He was the opposite and actually stepped toward Mia and Mary. Mia struck quick as a viper, while carrying Mary in her arms, kicking the man in the head with enough force to knock him down and leave him dazed.
Mia placed Mary down and stalked back toward the dazed man collapsed on the floor. She picked up his head by his hair forcing him to look into her eyes. "Turn around Mary" Mia spoke without inflection waiting a second as Mary turned around shielding her eyes from the sight that would soon occur despite her not knowing exactly what was about occur.
"Please," begged the Death Eater looking into the eyes of the woman he thought would be an easy target. She struck, slicing the throat of the man avoiding with easy agility the blood spray from the carotid artery. Before moving away and picking up Mary and continuing walking towards Hogwarts paying no attention as the man died.
Back at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry it was the evening feast, some were beginning to lose hope that Hermione Granger the Gryffindor Princess would ever be back, she had been gone a week. Most had no idea what had happened to her which had caused a variety of rumours to spread. Some thought she had been captured by Voldemort, some that she had left on a secret mission, some of the more outlandish rumours were that she had been killed by Harry or Ron in a fit of jealousy that she had chosen the other. All that was known was that she disappeared, and no one had heard anything from her or about her for a week.
Harry and Ron were both upset and moping about their missing best friend. Dean was distraught that the one person who provided the most comfort to him at the news of the death of his parents and the kidnapping of his sister was also now missing. Ginny was trying to comfort Harry and Ron as while she was upset as well, she didn't know Hermione as well as the boys. Various members of the order were scattered around the Hall as certain members had been brought in for extra security with the rising tensions.
Meanwhile outside of the doors Mia was standing with Mary on her hip. Mia gave Mary a small smile and said to her softly, "Dean's in there."
Mary smiled even brighter than she had the entire time that Mia had known her, "Dean?" came her bright, questioning voice. Mia nodded before whispering into her ear a plan to surprise some people.
In the Hall the mood was sombre especially at the Gryffindor table. The door to the Hall opened not enough to see through the door but enough to notice. The entire Hall went silent and turned to look at the door. Some of the professors at the top table were standing to try and see what was going on at the door.
"Dean!" yelled a cheerful voice as a small blur ran through the door heading towards the Gryffindor table.
"Mary" Dean Thomas replied shocked as he stood up and the blur ran into him, wrapping her little arms around him in an incredibly tight hug. Dean stood frozen for a second before he stooped picking up his little sister in the tightest hug possible crying tears of joy, while laughing in sheer relief. Members all around the Great Hall were looking at the heartfelt reunion, none were looking at the door as Hermione Granger wearing skinny jeans and a black V-neck long sleeve top entered the Hall.
Hermione smiled softly before calling out, "told you I'd get your sister back Dean." Her voice carried through the Hall, and everyone whipped around to see her standing there smirking softly at Dean.