Written as a gift for Meilan Firaga for the 2019 X-Ship Crossover Relationship Exchange

Just a Normal Night (Chapter 1 of 4)

The familiar ding of a text notification in the early morning hours was all it took to wake up the couple of light sleepers in the nearby bed. Apparently, dealing with the "easily awakened" curse was the natural state of being for law enforcement officers. After all, they were always on call and basically needed to be ready for action at any time. Apparently the curse did not discriminate between Muggle Inspectors or Magical Aurors, either - especially since one of each lay wrapped up together in the aforementioned bed. At the mobile's distinctive chime, however, they both dutifully stirred and proceeded to blink the sleep out of their eyes while they assessed their immediate situation. They did this automatically…even though they had worked on a case very late into the previous night and had collapsed into bed with exhaustion only a couple of hours earlier.

"If that is Sherlock, tell him to bugger off." Greg's groggy voice sounded in the darkened room while Hermione reluctantly pulled out of his arms and disengaged their entwined limbs as she pulled the offending mobile…and her wand…from their designated places on her nightstand. "If you didn't love the bloody irritating bloke so much, I would have him arrested on grounds of disturbing the peace…my peace!" he continued to grouse tiredly.

Hermione quickly cast a Lumos to light up the room before she turned to her husband. "Oh, hush! You care about him just as much as I do. Plus, you know that he has been having a hard time ever since John moved back up North to keep Rosie safe and to try and make amends with his sister." Hermione gently reprimanded him, but softened the blow with a quick kiss as she also affectionately brushed her fingers through his short silver locks.

She then immediately focused her attention back on her mobile as she entered her password on the screen. "At any rate, Sherlock normally does not bother us in the middle of the night…not anymore…not unless it is really important," she murmured distractedly as she swiped left to the appropriate screen to pull up the relevant message.

"Not since you hexed him with those flying birds the last time he did it just to tell you to pick him up some milk at the grocers." Greg chuckled quietly at the memory as he finally gave up any further attempt at sleep and also sat up in bed. "That was the greatest day of my life, by the way." When Hermione looked up from the screen with a raised eyebrow, however, he amended his previous statement. "Besides our wedding day, of course," he quickly added.

"Good save," she responded with a fond smile at the man next to her before the relaxed look completely disappeared off of her face when she finally accessed and read the text.

Come at once. Hurt. Bring your potion bag. -SH

Sharp fear for her dear friend stabbed her in the heart and Hermione quickly scrambled out of the bed. "I've got to go. Sherlock is in trouble!" she exclaimed urgently.

"What else is new?" Greg stated with a kind of tired resignation even though he also swung his legs off of the bed without hesitation. "I'm coming with you," he added firmly.

At his wife's look, he threw up his hands in surrender. "I know that you can take care of yourself…and Sherlock, too. It's just that…" he paused as he looked around their comfortable bedroom for inspiration for a reasonable excuse to accompany Hermione. He soon realized that he could not think of a convincing lie, so he just told her the truth. "I would just feel better knowing that I am there to have your back if you need me."

Hermione smiled at his obvious sincerity and kissed him again, quickly but gratefully. "That's just one of the many reasons why I love you!" she announced.

The feeling of urgency was still present, though, so Hermione hastily cast an Accio to summon the emergency clothing bag that they had packed and set aside for such unexpected occasions. The couple dressed quickly and Hermione grabbed the requested potions bag as she watched Greg holster his Glock. She knew that he preferred to rely on her usually non-lethal magical skills first…and physical force second. She also knew without a doubt that he would never use the weapon (for which he had received a special dispensation from the British Government himself to carry) except in an emergency. However, it was still nice to have the extra protection when going into an unknown and…quite probable…dangerous situation. Plus, it had saved his life before…and others, as well. Therefore, she did not comment on his choice to arm himself and instead wasted no time in wrapping him in an embrace in order to safely apparate them both to Baker Street as quickly as possible. Sherlock obviously needed their help out of whatever kind of messy situation he had gotten himself into this time.

…

Hermione made a point to materialize the two of them into the upstairs bedroom at the Baker Street flat because she knew that the it had been left unused and empty ever since John had moved out for good – except for the period of time after her divorce when she had stayed there herself. Consequently, it was still her usual apparation point whenever she visited Sherlock at his home. After all, she could not take the chance that Mrs. Hudson, who still knew nothing about magic, would see them arrive in such an unconventional manner.

Hermione knew that she would hate it if she had to Obliviate Sherlock's kindly landlady. The motherly woman had always been so nice to her – especially when she moved in after she and Ron had finally ended things for good. The woman was wonderful with Greg, as well…even when Sherlock, lovable sociopath that he was, could not be bothered to use common politeness towards the man - such as actually remembering his name from one visit to the next. After a while, however, Hermione really suspected that it was all just a little game that Sherlock played to amuse himself when he was bored...and to get under Greg's skin.

At any rate, Hermione and her new set of boys played fast and loose with the Statute of Secrecy enough as it was. In fact, Hermione had a suspicion that only Mycroft's unofficial, but still intimidating, interference along with her own hero status and high connections in the Wizarding World had kept the men's memories intact for so long. Of course, her new marriage offered some protection as well, but they all knew it was for the best not to push their luck and so decided…albeit reluctantly…to continue to leave Mrs. Hudson in the dark about their sometimes less-than-Muggle activities. Thankfully, the landlady was used to all sorts of unusual shenanigans happening around her wayward tenant and she normally just chose to ignore them. After all, she had always known very well that, when it came to Sherlock, sometimes the old saying that "ignorance is bliss" was the best advice to follow. Over time, she had also found that it was quite true for Hermione…and even that very nice Lestrade boy...too!

Nevertheless, on this occasion Hermione did not know what awaited them in Sherlock's flat. Therefore, she cast a silencing spell to conceal the sounds of their approach down the short flight of stairs to it. Meanwhile, as they carefully made their way there, she could not help but to wonder why she still found herself in these crazy kinds of situations quite frequently...even though she was now an adult and the Wizarding War was far behind her. It was not really a mystery, though. In fact, the answer was quite obvious. She knew it had all started when her life had become so irretrievably entangled with those of the two very different muggle detectives in the first place.