Pieces of a chess game [Sherlock x Harry Potter Crossover] [COMPLETE]

Chapter 28: The Final Problem, Part 3

Note: Only epilogue left.

The first thing you notice when you apparate is the sound. The noises of the place where you apparate reach you before your feet have touched the ground or your eyes have seen your surroundings, even if it is only for a few split seconds. When Harry and Hermione landed at Sherrinford, what greeted them was a blaring alarm. The two popped up just behind the desk, narrowly missing the shovelling chair. Without a word, the two set off. Hermione headed for the window while Harry checked on the two guards who laid motionless on the other side of the door. On the balcony there was a woman tied to a chair, her head hanging over her chest. There was a hole in the window the size of a bullet, and a pool of blood under the chair. From the looks of it, the bullet had gone through the woman's forehead.

'Hermione,' called Harry. She looked across the room and saw him standing in front of the TV. The feed showed Mycroft in one of the cells, flat on his back, still. At the bottom of the screen, red digital numbers preceded the date and time. Harry checked his wristwatch. 'It's a live feed. How do we know where he is?'

Hermione sat on the chair. On the computer, the security program was open, showing dozens of different rooms. Harry approached her until he was also looking at the monitor over her shoulder. He pointed at one of the images, of a room with a man sitting on the floor, slumped against a plexiglass wall, and Hermione brought it forward.

'That's a lot of blood,' said Harry.

There's no way he is alive, thought Hermione. Of everyone they had seen so far, none of them had survived Eurus Holmes' wrath. She tried not to think about Mycroft, Sherlock or John, and what might have happened to them. She zoomed into the side of the picture. 'This room leads somewhere, see that gap?'

'Yes, hold on, this one--' Harry tapped on the screen on top of the room he was referring to.'--has an entry and an exit. It looks like a maze.'

Hermione shook her head. 'A test. Like lab rats.'

'How are we going to know where to go?'

'We are going to have to improvise. Wherever Eurus was, has to have the highest security, so that's where we go.' Hermione rose to her feet, and a wave of nausea invaded her. She braced herself on the table, and the gun faltered in her grip. Harry quickly took her by the arm.

'Are you alright?' Hermione nodded. She tried to calm her urge to throw up because really, they did not have time for this.

'We need a card,' she said, with a raspy voice. 'Everything will be closed. And put your wand away, it's not going to be of much use out of this office.'

Harry shot her one last quizzical glance before pulling out the gun Sirius had given him and headed for the door. Harry had always had an excellent aim, and although judging by the way he held the gun it wasn't the first time he'd handled one, it was obvious that he was much more comfortable with a wand. Hermione just hoped they didn't have to use them. She followed Harry, who had bent down to rummage through the clothes of the two dead guards, and from between the folds, he retrieved a blue card. From there, they worked as a seamless unit: one stalked the corridor ahead, the other followed, both with the weapons ready and the sense alert. They walked fast to the first flight of stairs, and down to the next level into a long hallway. Harry stopped and raised his arm to stop Hermione from moving any further. A few meters away, a prisoner was crunched over a guard. Hermione looked at Harry, and he shrugged. They couldn't go back, and this was the only way. They were going to have to reduce him. Hermione walked into the corridor, with Harry trailing behind. The prisoner raised his head. From his bloody red mouth hung a gnawed thumb. She heard Harry gasp for air, and she felt the bile rise in her throat. The cannibal straightened up and charged at them, but Hermione was ready and fired twice without hesitation. One gunshot pierced the man's shoulder, the other shattered his nose, went through his skull and into the wall behind him. The man fell to the ground like he was made of concrete. Harry said nothing but made a noise of appreciation.