What is Love?
CHAPTER XXIV
Reunited
I solve my problems and I see the light
We got a lovin' thing, we gotta feed it right
There ain't no danger, we can go too far
We start believing now that we can be what we are
Grease is the World
We take the pressure and we throw away
Conventionality belongs to yesterday
There is a chance that we can make it so far
We start believing now that we can be who we are
This is the life of the illusion
Wrapped up in trouble, laced with confusion
What are we doing here?
(.- Grease by Frankie Valli)
2004 - Grimmauld Place
The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix is located at #12, Grimmauld Place, London. He was taken five years back in time as the once old and scary house seemed to inflate from the ground. Ron smiled and was about to knock on the door when Harry opened it.
"Long time no see," he said with a grin.
"Yeah, long time no see." The two men turned to Ron's right, where Hermione was supposed to apparate and exchanged worried glances.
As if on cue, a soft CRACK! Was heard and the pretty brunette materialized in the exact spot, looking pasty and dizzy.
"You all right, Mione?" Harry asked, concern reflected in his eyes.
"Yes, I'm fine," she said and brushed past Harry, entering the house followed by the two doubtful young men.
"She doesn't look fine to me," Ron commented and Harry shook his head in return, biting his bottom lip, connecting the dots. Shrugging, Ron trailed behind Miss Granger and Harry hurried his pace to catch up with her.
"Some things have been rearranged around the house, but we'll have time to walk around when this is over," he told the two, leading the way. "Kitchen is still downstairs, but we usually gather here," he said as they stepped through an old gothic threshold, where Lupin and Tonks were peacefully watching TV, Remus' arm lovingly around Tonks' shoulder.
Harry coughed purposefully and made both aurors literally jump, reaching for their wands. "Guys! It's all right, it's me," Harry said before the shower of lights began.
"Great Merlin, Harry! You won't stop until you kill us all!" Tonks protested and turned to Lupin, who was blushing a shade of red.
Remus sat back down and it took him a moment to take in the other two people in the room. "Harry?" he asked for an explanation.
"Right, Remus Lupin, I'd like you to meet Hermione and Ron, they are friends of mine," he said with a grin.
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Lupin," Hermione continued the game.
"Yeah, nice to meet you, sir," Ron added, barely containing his amusement.
"Ha-ha, very funny," he just said.
"When did the world turn upside down?" Tonks asked, bemused.
The joke died in less than a second, when Harry started relating his superior everything Hermione had just told him, and much to her surprise, he pretty much got everything exactly as she had said it, except the informant part, which he deliberately left out.
"… I didn't want them to come but-"
"You should have known better," Tonks provided.
"Good heavens, we've been-"
"Going the wrong way all the time," Harry finished Lupin's sentence and sighed, falling back into the huge leather couch.
He stayed silent for a moment and then, as if propelled by a lightning bolt, Harry jumped up, initiating in auror-mode. "We need to contact Neville and get Chian."
A split second later, Remus joined in. "Except that she is in the Amazon forest, looking for a trace she'll never find," he said, his words heavy with realization.
"Fuck! We have to get to her before they kill her," Harry growled, taking a hand to his unruly black hair.
"We need Neville," Remus said and immediately took out his wand, performing the paging spell many aurors detested, for the vibration wouldn't stop until the page was answered, hence the reason why you very seldom gave someone your paging password.
"Hold on, we need to get Ginny and Luna here, where they'll be safe," Tonks interrupted both men's rambling and planning.
"So you go get them and we'll go to the Amazon forest."
"Sure thing, boss!" Tonks told Lupin and kissed him lightly on the lips, disapparating to Ginny's office in Lancaster.
"The International Passes I got you will make it easier and faster," Hermione offered and dug into her bag to get them. "Oh, bollocks! I left them at the Prophet. I'll be right back, ok Harry?" she looked up at the raven-haired young man in front of her and frowned. "Harry?"
He shook his head and looked up, drawn out of a momentary daze by her voice. "The bag…" he muttered and Hermione blushed, nodding. The two exchanged a split second gaze, idle from the rest of the people of the room and then Harry sighed, getting his head back to the task at hand. "Yes, go get the passes and we'll wait for Neville and head off," he turned to Ron, inviting him to the new adventure.
"I-I'll go with you; not sure if I want to be in a place that is home to so many spiders," he shuddered and Harry and Hermione couldn't help but laugh.
"All right then. Be safe," Hermione called and Harry nodded as she disappeared, alongside Ron.
Harry stared for a moment at the empty spot where Hermione had been a second ago and sighed.
"Shouldn't take them long to get back," Lupin stated, entering the room and glancing curiously at the staring Harry.
"I hope not," the young man responded idly.
"Pardon?"
Harry shook his head and noticed Lupin for the first time. "I- nothing."
"I hope it turns out well," he said and Harry nodded.
"Hope so…" he just echoed as his former professor continued paging Neville.
A couple minutes later, Neville came in, his hair dripping and still smelling of soap. He was wearing a pair of black jeans and a striped t-shirt, and his cloak was only halfway over his clothes as he apparated. "What's the matter?" he asked, worried.
"Sorry about that, mate, but we kind of need you," Harry started and the both proceeded to fill in the auror on the happenings. Neville's face grew darker as he received more and more information and he only nodded, taking it all in. "…so we need to go to the Amazon Forest to get Aurora before they kill her," Harry finished and let out a breath.
"Merlin, we're so behind in this," he said restlessly and the other two aurors nodded their agreement. "Well, what are we waiting for?"
"Hermione and the international apparition passes."
"It's the bloody jungle! Is there some sort of green police going to get us?" Neville asked exasperated.
"No, but―" Lupin started.
"Well, let's go then."
"He's right, Remus," Harry agreed with his former house mate.
"Fine, but let's make it quick, I don't want the department to get any more memos from Lariana's department."
Harry tensed a little at the mention of the name; he still felt horrible for the way she had left, weeks ago, but quickly recovered and nodded. "We will," he said and the three apparated away.
2004 - Lancaster
Tonks appeared just outside Ginny's office and nodded at the people she had seen a couple times before, when she had visited the younger woman. As she walked towards the PR manager's office, her eyes lingered for a moment on a somewhat familiar face that hurried his pace after they exchanged glances. She brushed it away and knocked on the door.
Footsteps approached and the door opened. "Didn't I say not to bother unless something was on fire?" the red headed girl said, rather annoyed, a thick folder with brochures, pictures and mission statements between her hands.
"Not exactly on fire, but we need to go," Tonks said curtly and Ginny looked up at the familiar voice, bewildered. "We have to go get Luna."
"Luna? Is she okay?" Ginny asked for her best friend with concern and then did a double-take, yet again. "Tonks? What are you doing here? And why do you look as if someone had just died?"
"No one's dead yet, but I need to take you both to Grimmauld Place."
Ginny frowned, knowing better not to question her anymore and nodded; she would get some answers later. She quickly wrapped up what she was doing and put some more files on her briefcase. "Jonah, I'm taking the rest home. Call me at my mobile if you need anything."
"Sure thing, Miss Weasley," her assistant responded a little surprised; Ginny was not one to take work home but he shrugged and resumed his own work. "Have a good-" he looked up but the pair was gone. "I hate it when she does that…" the muggle said to no one in particular and turned his attention back to the computer on his desk.
2004 - The Quibbler's main offices, London
When the two women apparated on the marble entrance of The Quibbler, Ginny slowed down her pace so the employee in the lobby was still out of hearing distance. "What is going on, Tonks?"
"Death Eaters." Was all she said and had to come to a sudden halt when Ginny fell behind.
"What are you talking about? There hasn't been any Death Eater activity for over four years. Harry and the aurors made sure of that."
"Ideas like theirs don't die so easily," Tonks stated as she urged the young woman forward, to the front desk. "We're here to see Miss Lovegood," she said and the man regarded her suspiciously.
"It's me, Nate," Ginny came from behind Tonks; her petite form had been shadowed by Tonks' broad shoulders.
"Oh, Miss Weasley, welcome. Go ahead, she just came in from a meeting, should be in her office," he said with a smile. Obviously Ginny was not an usual visitor to the paper.
"Thanks, Nate," she said with a sparkling smile and they moved forward to the silver elevators.
"I take it he is one of your many admirers," Tonks said, cracking a smile for the first time since she'd arrived at her office.
"I'm rather friendly," she joked back as they reached the fourth floor-the redaction floor.
They walked through the door to meet the sound of scratching quills and the rumor of at least thirty voices dictating articles to their Scrib-o-fast and Quick-quote quills.
The two women made their way down the writing hall, Ginny looking curiously at the people on the hall, anxiousness growing inside her, and Tonks with all of her senses screaming in alert.
"There's…"
"…something cooking here."
"Or already burning," Ginny whispered back at Tonks and pointed at the half-open door of the Editor-in-chief office.
The two hurried through the remaining half of the hall but didn't make it to the door, for a red flash brushed past Tonks' head, blasted the doorknob and made the door slam against the wall.
She turned around, her wand already drawn and shooting a spell in exchange in that direction. "Ginny! Behind me!" she ordered, but the petite redhead was already in fighting mode, trying to identify the attackers.
All hell broke loose a second later. Some of the younger reporters and interns started running and screaming in fright, while the most experienced summoned their cameras and quills and took refugee behind the nearest desk.
Showers of sparks flew towards the two women but neither Tonks nor Ginny could shoot back much, for the assailants mixed with the panicking crowd so all they could do was dodge and shoot as soon as they saw a presumed Death Eater.
"Luna! Where is she?" Tonks yelled at Ginny, seeing how the young woman didn't come out of her office.
"I don't know," the redhead responded and made her way to the office after noticing that absolutely no sound came out of her office. They started the sprint and Ginny, fast as she'd always been, gained a few meters on Tonks, but a flash of light halted her race and she crashed against the door, breaking the glass on it as the girl slid to the floor.
"Ginny!" Tonks turned, casting silent Protego's as she knelt next to her. What the hell are they doing to Luna? Tonks thought in panic, torn between helping Ginny, and going in to check on Luna. However, she didn't have time to dwell on it when three curses broke down her shield and one of them got through to her, breaking through her cloak and leaving a nasty cut on her right shoulder.
Tonks bit back the scream of pain and just threw back a vicious Reducto, taking down one of the six Death Eaters. Immediately, she turned her attention to Ginny before any more spells could hit her or Ginny and realized she had been hit with just a rather vicious Stupefy.
Quickly making up her mind, Tonks put down her shield charms in order to cast the necessary Rennervate to awaken Ginny and get inside the office. Of course, in her mind, she was much faster than in reality with a broken shoulder, so the time that took her to bring her plan to action was enough for three more spells to be shot at her, two of which hit the target and Tonks fell unconscious on top of the stirring Ginny.
"Tonks?" she asked and gasped, her mind drifting to consciousness when a sharp pain assaulted her cut arms.
Luckily for them, Ginny's seeker reflexes deflected the curse, sending one back almost immediately and taking another Death Eater down with hers. "Rennervate!" she whispered and Tonks opened her eyes ever so slightly.
"Luna," she managed and rolled from over Ginny.
She took the hint and stood; paying no mind to her bleeding body and pushing open the door only to be met by a screaming Luna in the Silencio-ed room. The former Gryffindor swiftly cast two spells and one of Luna's attackers was downed.
"Ginny," the sandy-haired girl breathed and her eyes widened. "Careful!" But it was too late, the other Death Eater was faster and he cast a full-body bind on Ginny, who fell face first.
"Mudblood lover," he issued scornfully to the blazing eyes of the girl and got out a small knife. He caressed Ginny's face with it and then cut a piece of her cheek with it. Ginny screamed and the Death Eater slapped her hard across the face to shut her up.
He looked at the recently cut piece of cheek and smiled. "This should be enough," Ginny heard him before he resumed the task at hand, paying no mind to his bleeding companion lying on the floor. "Crucio," he whispered in Luna's ear as if the curse was a lover's words and Luna's moans of pain were of pleasure. "Where are they?" he continued, listening with delight to the cries of pain.
"I… don't… know," Luna managed between ragged breaths.
"Well, that's too bad, isn't it? Avada-"
But Tonks burst into the room, leaning on the doorframe for support. "Leave her alone!" She tried to reach for both girls and side-apparate them to Grimmauld Place but a purple flash hit her square on the back. She stifled a cry and her eyes closed, her body going limp.
Ginny's chocolate brown eyes widened and she opened her mouth to cry out, but no sound came from it as the Death Eater threw a small object on top of her. Unable to fight it back, the world around Ginny started to swirl and she was left with the vanishing image of her friend lying on the floor, bleeding and unconscious. She closed her eyes and felt the hard floor hit her aching body as she landed on an unfamiliar chamber.
2004 - Amazon forest, Peru
They left the chill of London to meet the damp warmth of the other side of the world. Harry landed gracefully and had to raise his hand to shield his eyes from the amazonic noon.
"Sheesh! That was the fastest sunrise I've ever experienced," Neville commented as he narrowed his eyes to accustom them to the blinding sun.
"Seven hours more than us, what can we expect," Remus provided as he scanned the surroundings; the trees, the birds, the rumor of the water all around them. Had this been another situation, he would have been marveled at Mother Nature's power to create beauty, but right now his whole mind was set in finding his auror breathing at least.
"The coordinates she got are a little bit further East."
"I remember wanting to go with her because less than a kilometer from the directions she got is the only place in the world where remo caspi orchids grow and so far they have discovered eight muggle uses and fourteen more in alchemy and medical fields to them. The tribes that lived here used to worship the plant," Neville recited, his fascination for Herbology never abandoning him, even after the war and auror training.
The two men shared a smirk, having absolutely no clue as to what Neville was talking about.
"All right, this way," Neville said after a moment of daze and Harry and Lupin gaped at him. "What? I know where my plants are," he defended sheepishly and the other two shrugged, following the young auror.
About half an hour later and a few natural traps, they arrived to a clearing and the sole air made the three aurors' senses jump in alert. Remus looked around and motioned for Harry and Neville to stop.
"Something is not right…"
"It's too quiet here," Harry added, walking a couple steps to his right.
"And the remo caspi are dead," Neville provided, kneeling next to the small green plant and examining it. "They are very sensitive to magic," Neville whispered and looked at the place the last standing end of the plant pointed. "Over there," he indicated to where Harry was walking.
"Yes, I can feel the dark magic here too," the raven-haired man nodded.
"Harry, watch out!" Remus thrust himself to the young man and knocked him off his feet before a silver wave chopped his head off. On the floor, they saw drops of blood and a black piece of cloth that they recognized as auror robes' dragon-hide fabric.
"She was here," Harry breathed and stood to get out of the reach of the silver wave.
Neville gasped and ducked. He turned to his fellow aurors on the floor and sighed in relieve, but no sooner than he'd caught his breath, a second wave of silver materialized and aimed at them.
He stood and made a big circle in front of him with his wand. "Protego campi!" Neville screamed and a blue shield stopped the razor wave, almost knocking the young auror down.
"To the tree. Fast!" Remus ordered as a new wave materialized to cut them in half and Lupin managed to slow it down while they took swift refugee behind a huge trunk a few feet from where they stood.
"Great Merlin! What the bloody hell was that?" Remus exclaimed.
"Voldemort had that kind of ward for the cup," he informed, remembering the trio's quest for the horcruxes, so long ago. "Nearly killed Ron and Hermione," he added with a pang of guilt deep in his gut.
"Do you know how to stop it?"
"It can't be stopped," Harry sentenced and saw the other two men's grimaces. "But because it is such powerful magic, it has to… say, recharge. Comes in threes and then there is a moment of calm before it strikes again."
"And the moment of calm is about to end!" Neville informed as one other wave prepared to sweep the clearing.
"It goes directly to sources of magic… our wands," Harry finished his explanation, his gaze searching desperately for another hiding place as the razor wave of silver started their way.
They had to throw themselves to the right when the tree was cut in half. Harry gasped when seeing the enormous trunk starting to collapse in their direction and quickly cast a Wingardium Leviosa to make it fall far from the small group.
They sighed in relieve, but it was only a second alleviation because the second wave was a few feet away. "Over there!" Harry pointed and the other two followed him behind a rock that only half protected them. The shielding charm cast by the three did the rest before shattering under the powerful silver waves.
"All right, one more, then. See where it's forming," Neville said when the third wave was already preparing to strike.
"Throw your wands," Remus ordered. The two younger men regarded him with wide eyes as he threw his to the middle of the clearing. "Do it!" he roared and the two obliged, the wave only a second away from slicing them.
Neville and Harry mimicked the Head of Aurors and closed their eyes, expecting the worst. However, as if with a mind of its own, the silver wave gave a sharp turn and sliced the air above the middle of the clearing.
"A cave!" Harry pointed to a small opening in the rocks and the three apparated inside after silent accio wands. "Bloody hell, that was close," he muttered, letting out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.
"Too close," Neville echoed.
"Let's move, we know she is here," Remus said gravely and stood; hoping against hope that Aurora Chian was still alive.
Some time between them catching their breaths and getting up, a heavy mist had engulfed them and the three found it almost impossible to see beyond the reach of their arms.
"What now?" Harry asked with a groan and approached the wall in order to not trip, and keeping his senses as alert as possible.
Soon enough, the three were walking blindly down the path of the narrowing cave, Harry leading the way and Lupin keeping the rear. All of a sudden, a gasp was heard and Harry disappeared under the mist.
"Harry!" Neville screamed and thrust himself into the fog, reaching for anything and barely catching his former house mate's hand. "Harry, hang on. Remus, help, he is slipping!" But no answer came. "Remus?"
"Neville! Don't move an inch!" Remus called to his former pupil, having just climbed up a hole like the one Harry had fallen into.
"I can't! Harry will slip!" Neville responded to the air, for he saw nothing while lying on the floor, both his arms hanging to his friend for dear life.
"Don't let go, I'll climb up," Harry indicated and Neville nodded.
"But don't step on the ground, Harry. Every time your feet touch the stone, a new hole will open up," Lupin informed, having deciphered the pattern.
"Right," the two younger men responded. Neville raised his legs up, like a kid watching TV, and as Harry manager to climb up, he only used his knees and hands to steady himself.
A second later found Remus casting a hot-air charm to push the mist back and away so all the holes were revealed, along with a twisted path they had to follow. "Ready?" he asked his two charges and they nodded, jumping to their feet and speeding towards and through the path, reaching another chamber, this one with a very high dome ceiling.
"Everyone all right?" the head of aurors asked both young men and they nodded. "Ready for more?" he asked again, trying to lighten to mood.
"Not really, but anyway," Harry shrugged, letting out a breath of relieve for the third time in a lapse of two hours.
Remus started forward but stopped all of a sudden. "What the…" he started and pulled out his wand, which was paging him. "Who is this?"
"It's St. Mungos," from the wand came the sound of a woman's voice.
"St. Mungos? What happened?" Remus asked in alarm; St. Mungos didn't have his wand-page password, of course. They would have had to call the Ministry to get it.
"It's about one of your aurors. A Nymphandora Tonks?"
All the blood ran cold in the man's veins and his knees faltered a little but he managed to stay on his feet. "What happened?" he asked again.
"There was an attack on The Quibbler. Miss Tonks is in very bad shape," the woman's voice stated.
"I'll be there in a minute," Remus responded and cut the communication, turning to the other two. "Tonks was attacked, I have to go back," he simply said.
"What? Is she all right?" Harry asked, worried not only for Tonks but for Ginny and Luna too.
"I don't know. I have to go find out, but it didn't sound too good."
"What about the girls?" Neville voiced Harry's concern, not knowing of Remus and Tonks' relationship.
"I'll look into it too."
"We'll come with you," Harry took a step forward but was stopped by his boss.
"Remember why we came here, Harry. Find Aurora and bring her back."
"But-"
"It's an order," he said in a low voice and Harry nodded, knowing better not to contradict Remus at the moment. He turned to apparate away and stopped; sighing, he turned to face Harry. "Find her, all right? We can't afford to lose her too." And then he was gone.
After gathering his bearings and pushing back the unbearable urge to go see how Tonks was and go find Ginny and Luna, Harry faced Neville. "All right, let's do this, and fast."
Neville nodded his agreement, seeing the determination in the other man's eyes and admiring that he could manage to push aside the worry for his friends. "Left or right?" he asked, seeing how there were two roads ahead of them.
"Oh, great," Harry sighed and closed his eyes, trying to sense the place where the most magic was coming from. Even though both places were heavily warded by magic, the presence of a witch or wizard would definitely make the feeling more intense. But he felt nothing to help him make out the right road, so he turned to the old muggle way. Inny-minnie-miny-moe he recited in his head as his finger went from one place to the other, much to Neville's bewilderment.
"Uhm… Harry?"
"Tsk."
"What are you doing?"
"Tsk!"
"But…"
"I am trying to get us to the right place!" he responded, annoyed at his friend.
"By doing the 'inny-minnie-miny-moe'?" Neville asked, his hands held up, and finally got Harry's attention. Clearly, the other wizard wasn't expecting a folk raised in the magical world to know this muggle game. "I hung out with Hermione a lot while you fought," he stated and bit the inside of his lip at seeing Harry's expression. Sometimes the other wizard was SO easy to read; especially in anything regarding Hermione.
"Right," he said curtly and pointed to the left. "This way."
"Sure?"
Harry shrugged and Neville sighed, following his auror superior and partner.
Much to their surprise (and anxiousness), they met no other traps until reaching a closed stone door. Harry pointed with his face and Neville regarded him with disbelieve as Harry started towards it.
"Wait!" he tried to stop the raven haired wizard. "We don't have any idea of what's in there!"
"You're right, we don't"
"So?"
"If it's alive, we kill it. If it's not, we bury it."
Neville's jaw fell open and he shook his head. "I think one of those branches hit you too hard on the head."
"You want to find Chian or not?"
"Yes, but I don't want to die in the process!"
"Let's just go in there."
"Fine, but you are going in first."
"Fine, I will," Harry retorted and made a face to his friend, knowing that it really didn't matter who went in first, that the both would get it all the same, judging by how the traps had been set throughout the way.
He took a step forward and touched the surface of the door, looking for some sort of knob, or button, or something. "Damn!" he muttered. Let's try it the easy way… Alohamora, he thought and cast the spell silently.
The sight that greeted them was no one would EVER choose to see in their lives, and all the boy-who-lived; the one that had fought, suffered and won a whole war, the one that had seen way too much for his age; all he could do was gasp and stifle a cry of horror.
2004 - Daily Prophet Offices, London
"I can't believe you are still holding on to that Aragog/spider fear thing," Hermione exclaimed as she apparated them both to her office, not really feeling fit enough to climb the three stories to the redaction floor.
As soon as she set foot in her office, the light outside the door indicated that the star journalist of the paper was in, and she should not be disturbed.
"Did you just side-along apparate without my permission? You know that is illegal, don't you?"
"Not if I have known you for the past thirteen years."
"Still!"
"Still what?" she retorted and laughed. It was almost as if they were back at school and it felt fantastic but she couldn't help wondering 'for how long?'.
"Still! I- you know!"
"Right, I know," she laughed again and started moving some papers around, looking for the passes Draco had given her a couple days ago.
Ron set up to rummaging through her stuff as well, even if he didn't know what he was looking for. It had been quite a while since he'd last been in her office and felt horrible for the way they had drifted apart in the last couple of years. He sighed and found a Hermione staring at him intently. "What is it? Do I have something on my face?"
She smiled and shook her head. "No, I was just… I wondered away," she paused and then emitted a small victorious Ha! As she found the passes.
"Wondering what?" Ron asked, cocking his head to a side.
"If… never mind, I found them."
"If what?" The young man insisted, coming closer to her.
"If this is real."
"What do you mean?"
"You… and Harry, speaking again. Us… bickering for stupid things like we used to…"
Ron sighed. "I know what you mean," he paused and looked down for a moment. "But no, it's not real… yet" he added upon seeing Hermione's eyes well-up with tears. He took her in his arms, making soothing circles around her back, trying to figure out why she was acting like that.
The man went stiff when he remembered what she had told them earlier that day and he looked down at her, trying to utter words of happiness for their baby but unable to do so when she started speaking again.
"I can't help but wonder if war… or danger is the only thing that can bring us back together. And it's horrible to think that!" she aired her worries
Seeing the haunted look still in her big eyes, Ron wanted to kick away everything that worried her, but couldn't. "A lot has happened, that's all."
"Will it be all right?" she asked, with big, hopeful eyes and Ron could tell she was fighting back the tears with all her might.
He sighed and closed his eyes, nodding even if a part of him was lying.
"Will we be all right? Can we stay friends?" her inquiry continued, tears finally making their way past her eyes and her self-control.
Ron sucked in a breath. He hadn't really thought of them breaking up, but in the light of things, he knew there was no point to it anymore. He looked away, his hands still encircling her and rested his head on top of hers as tears formed in his own eyes as well.
Hermione felt the pressure on her back stop, but his hands were still there. She pulled away and looked up at him, biting her bottom lip. "Ron?"
The young man closed his eyes and willed the tears away, barely managing to. "Yes," he asked in almost a whisper, his long arms still around Hermione.
"Will we?"
He rubbed her back and nodded. "Yes, Mione, we will… eventually," he said, his eyes not on her now, but in a far spot through the window. He forced himself to look down at her and smile softly. "Thank you," he whispered and leaned forward to give her one last, chaste kiss.
Hermione relaxed in this last kiss and his embrace and smiled as he pulled away with a sad smile. "Thank you too, Ron… for everything," she said and hugged him, resting her head on his chest for a moment, listening to his best friend's heart beat.
A knock on the door interrupted their good-bye and Hermione frowned. She knew that the light went on whenever she apparated directly to her office and that everyone knew not to bother her when said light was on.
"Yes?" she asked, disentangling herself from Ron and unlocking the door with a silent Alohamora and a slight swish of her wand.
Hermione's assistant looked distressed and she frowned; last time she had seen that face in one of the members of the staff was when Harry was nearly killed, two months ago. "What is it?" she pressed.
"It's the Quibbler, there was an attack about an hour ago," he stated and Ron gasped.
"Tonks was supposed to pick Ginny and Luna up!"
"Do you know anything else?" Hermione urged her assistant.
"Three Death Eaters were caught; apparently there were eight of them."
"Did they take anyone?" Ron asked with an edge in his voice.
"The auror that caught them was Harry Potter's flat mate-"
"Tonks! Where is she?"
"Mangle said she was taken to St. Mungos."
"St. Mungos? How bad was it?"
"We still don't know, but the Quibbler's redaction floor is destroyed."
"I don't mean on the Quibbler! Tonks! What did you get from her?" Hermione demanded and Adam drew back a little; Hermione wasn't one to lose calm. "SO?" she urged again.
"We-" his eyes shifted to Ron and he continued at Hermione's glare. "We don't know yet."
"What do you mean?" Hermione and Ron both spoke at the same time.
"-what about Ginny?" Ron continued over Hermione's voice.
"Ginny?"
"My sister!"
"We didn't know she was with anyone, Mr. Weasley, I'm sorry. Though I believe Nate, the doorman of The Quibbler, saw a girl with Auror Tonks."
"Bloody hell!" Ron exclaimed and took a hand to his face, panic for his sister creeping into him.
All this information made Hermione grasp for breath a little. Memories of the war and the missing people found dead a week later flooded her. Her breath became heavier and she fought in vain to not let it be noticeable.
"Miss Granger, are you all right?" Adam asked, concerned, and made Ron switch his attention to his former girlfriend.
The ground started to feel unstable; her head nodded instinctively. That's why I didn't want part in something like this anymore; that's why I hesitated when Draco first appeared in my office. She couldn't handle the worry, the grief and the pain again…
"Hermione?" Ron echoed the assistant.
She shut her eyes tight for a moment, fighting the dizziness. "Yes, I'm fine," she stated valiantly. "Why don't we have a statement from Auror Tonks?" the young woman asked, struggling to keep her cool
"She-" Adam began, apparently choosing his words very carefully when seeing the expression on his boss' face. "She hasn't woken from the attack; doctors say she is in critical state and- Miss Granger!" he exclaimed as he saw the journalist's body sag and start to fall.
"Hermione!" Ron exclaimed and caught the young woman before her limp body hit the floor.