A Collision of Worlds

Chapter 2

I turned to Matt. "Will you leave?"

He looked at me dumbfounded. "What? Leave? Marisa, what the hell is going on here? What's a Muddle? Who's Granger?"

I heard Wagnar in my earpiece. "Longbottom, what the hell are you doing? What is going on?"

I answered calmly. "Sir, I am requesting that Bosh be removed from the room and to have the guards stationed outside the room."

Matt stared at me as if I was an idiot. "What the..."

"Reason?" Wagnar asked.

"To allow the questioning to be successful," I replied.

Wagnar swore as he contemplated this. "All right, you've got it. And, damn it, Longbottom. You'd better be 'successful'. Bosh, get out."

"But, but," Matt argued.

"Out," Wagnar said, "Bring the guards, too."

Matt threw me an evil look, motioned to the guards, and left.

"Continue, Longbottom."

"Actually, sir, I need you and all others listening to disable your earpieces."

"Damn it, Longbottom! I'm sure next you want us to stop the tape recording, too."

"No, sir."

"Your grounds for doing this are?"

"The need to make the witnesses, who happen to be the ONLY people who can help us solve this case, comfortable and at ease."

A long pause followed this.

"Fine, Longbottom. Disabling piece in 5, 4, 3, 2..."

Silence.

I stared over at Harry and Hermoine who had their backs turned to me. I cleared my throat and Hermione whipped around.

"How," she whispered, "do you know?"

"Hermione," I laughed, "I thought you were supposed to be smart. You haven't figured it out yet?"

She stared at me blank and angry.

"My name, Mr. And Mrs. Potter, if I may presume, is Marisa Longbottom."

Comprehension dawned on Hermione's face. "You're Neville's daughter."

"Right."

Harry looked at me, "You're Neville's daughter."

"Yes," I replied, "His oldest child."

"What are you doing here?" Harry gestured around at all the Muggle stuff, like the light bulb, the coffee machine, and the telephone.

"Squib," I replied.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

I leaned forward from my chair, "We don't have time. Who might be after your daughter?"

They both stared at me, then each other, than back at me.

Hermione took a deep breath. "Have you," she said, "ever heard of Lord Voldemort?"

"Shit," I said

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I knew who Voldemort was, I'd heard stories of his terror. I was not untouched by his terrible power. Voldemort's followers had tortured my very own grandparents.

So, I knew what we were dealing with. Then it came to me in a flash. "Haven't you talked to someone in the Ministry of Magic yet? Don't they know?"

Hermione laughed a bitter laugh. "As far as most people at the Ministry know, we're long dead from some skirmish with Voldemort on a dark street. That's what Dumbledore told us he told them at least."

"Albus Dumbledore? He's still alive?" I asked.

Harry smiled, "You bet."

"You said most people, though," I pointed out, "Does that mean there are some people there who can help us?"

"There are people there who know we are alive," Harry said, "but they're in the Order..."

"Order?"

"Order of the Phoenix."

"Oohh," I said, "My grandparents were in that."

They both sort of coughed, and I had figured if they knew my father, that they knew who my grandparents were, but they didn't acknowledge my statement. Harry continued.

"We can't contact anyone in the Order, because if we are being watched," Harry said.

"That would give the Order away," Hermione finished, "and that could be the end of the world as we know it."

"So, basically, we're are on our own."

"Yes."

"Why is Voldemort after you?"

"We are working against him," Harry said, "12 years ago, we uncovered a lot of information that led to the deaths of about half Voldemort's inner circle. Hermione and I were the main instigators and that night, we barely escaped with our lives. We went underground, so to speak, as Muggles and changed our last name."

"Why Kaye?"

"K," Harry said, "is for Kings. K is for Knights. K is for us."

"What," I said bewildered, " I don't get it."

Hermione opened her mouth to explain, but never got the chance.

Matt burst in. "We've found the Varsity Coach!"

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I marched out of the room, Matt along side me, understandably beaming. After all, it was after I'd kicked him out of questioning that the Varsity coach had been found under his direction. And my work, what had it produced?

"Where is he?" I asked

"Hospital," he answered, " Memory gone and has a case of hypothermia. We found him on the side of the road. He doesn't remember too much. We're supposed to go question him now, in the hospital. That is, of course, assuming I can stay this time."

I ignored his comment. "Are you driving?"

Wagnar rounded the corner has we head towards the door. "Hey, Deputy Wagnar," I called, "Make sure you listen to the recording while I'm gone."

I opened the door and stepped out into the chilly dark air. The sun had not yet risen, but the lights in the parking lot had already switched off.

"Matt," I called, "where are you?"

No answer. I walked in the direction his car was normally parked, but there was nothing there, no one at all. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a figure clothed in a black... cloak? My hearing picked up and I began sweating and walking faster.

Behind me, I heard a tap, tap, tap. I picked up my pace and the tapping got faster, until finally I began running and the footsteps behind me got faster than my own were going. I kept running, towards the street, where it was still lit, and all of a sudden,a hand gripped my shoulder and pulled me backward into the dark.