A/N: Thanks for all the reviews. Keep `em coming please. This chapter is a bit darker, let me know if you think I should change the rating to PG-13.
Beginning the summer after sixth year Ron took a long hard look at his life, impending war had a funny way of making you do that. He wasn't too thrilled with what he saw, the jealousy he had always felt towards Harry just melted away. Ron figured that having a prophecy declaring you either killed or would be killed wasn't something to be jealous about. The Trio had spent the summer at Order Headquarters, finally being allowed to join the Order and training alongside the other members. Ron spent a lot of time with Moody and found out that a career as an Auror was rather appealing.
Five years later Ron and Harry were what the Ministry called `Special Aurors', the entire Trio had received full-fledged Auror training in the months leading up to the final battle. Kingsley had said he would have hired Hermione in a heartbeat but everyone knew her calling was elsewhere. Now, Ron and Harry were only called in on especially difficult or dangerous cases. They had both dabbled in other areas, both spending some time playing professional Quidditch, Harry for a year, Ron for about eighteen months before the travel and lifestyle got to be too much for them. Ron had a fair head for business as well and spent most of his free time helping the twins manage their chain of successful joke shops. Harry followed some philanthropic pursuits, mostly anonymously, dropped into Hogwarts every now and then to speak in a Defense class, and spent as much time as he could with his friends. Life was generally quiet, which was just how they liked it. The latest turn of events felt all too reminiscent of a life they thought they had left behind.
The walk to Donnegan's hotel wasn't long. Harry hadn't shown any surprise when he felt Hermione slip her hand into his as they had left the room. He knew she was still scared, but the new closeness they were showing each other was enough to make his head spin. He loved Hermione, that was certain, but what kind of love was a very different story.
Hermione was trying not to focus on Harry as they made their way to the hotel. She knew she was incredibly lucky to have two of the Ministry's best Aurors as her best friends and she knew that if anyone had a chance of finding out what had happened to her it was them. She had been pushing aside her real feelings for Harry for a very long time and she wasn't sure if she could keep up the façade.
The entrance to the hotel was familiar to her and as they walked into the lobby she remembered that she knew Donnegan's room number. Ron immediately looked for that muscle to start ticking in Harry's jaw and wasn't disappointed when he found it.
They made their way up to the third floor in silence until they reached the correct door. Hermione let go of Harry's hand so that she could knock and he was surprised at how strange his hand felt without hers.
"Max. Max. It's Hermione Granger. I need to speak with you. Max." she turned back to the boys and shrugged. "He may have already left. The conference was supposed to end today."
Harry reached out a hand and determined that there were no wards in place. He nodded to Ron who opened the door with a silent spell. Hermione found herself being moved behind the large frames of her two best friends. She pulled her wand out, determined to not feel like a completely helpless female.
Ron pushed the door open with his foot calling out as he did "Donnegan! We're friends of Hermione's, we just want to talk to you ."
The main door opened into a small sitting room that had several other doors off of it. Old training kicked in and the three functioned as a well tuned machine. Harry took point and waved Hermione towards the main area of the sitting room. Where there weren't any other doors she noted ruefully. Ron took the first door on the left, discovering it was a small closet and shutting it quickly after giving it a cursory search. Harry opened the next door, this one the bathroom, the personal items spread on the counter indicated Max had indeed not checked out. He exchanged a look with Ron and together they opened the last door, the one leading to the bedroom.
If the scene in Hermione's bathroom was a standard, the view that greeted them was a horror of unimaginable proportions. They both couldn't help their reactions, and the strangled curses drew Hermione to the doorway. Nothing could have prepared her for what she saw and the scream she let out pushed the boys into action. Harry grabbed her up and practically carried her to the sofa in the sitting room. Ron crouched on the floor in front of her, Harry perched on the arm to her right.
"Hermione, I'm sorry, but we have to know. Is that Max Donnegan?" Harry asked
She just nodded, staring straight ahead at a pattern on the carpet.
In all their years of battling Death Eaters, the two thought they had seen the worst, but what had happened to Max Donnegan was beyond that. On the large wall opposite the door a dark and disgusting sight met them. Max Donnegan had been pinned in a spread eagle fashion on a large floor to ceiling pentagram that had been drawn on the wall in what appeared to be Max's blood. Most of the flesh on his torso had been sliced off of him and the strips were in piles at his feet. His eyes were open, and an expression of absolute terror and pain was forever frozen on his face.
Ron and Harry left Hermione sitting and re-entered the room, this time taking a moment to truly take in the grisly sight. Harry turned his head away and saw for the first time the wall opposite Donnegan's body. He cast a quick Lumos and held his wand so that he could see the wall better and almost dropped it when he realized what had been written, again in Donnegan's blood. The words were ominous. `One Down….' And `How Many To Go?'.
Ron felt a tremor run under his feet and distractedly thought there must be some sort of Muggle transportation that ran close by until he felt the familiar crack of magical energy in the room. He turned towards Harry and read the message on the wall just as Hermione came running in the room. She took one glance at Ron, and one at Harry before embracing him from behind.
Hermione had felt the violent shaking and knew it was from Harry losing control of his powers. He hadn't had that problem in a very long time and she knew something big must have triggered him. All she could do was try to bring him down from it like she had so many times before. She laid her head on his back and felt how tight the muscles were, but gradually he relaxed and she breathed a sigh of relief. His arms fell down to his sides and she moved to step back when he turned around and scooped her up in a huge hug returning to his full height, which left her feet dangling. From this vantage point, she could read the writing that had affected Harry so strongly and she began to shake now. The warning was evident, whoever had killed Max was most likely the same that had hurt her. She had somehow escaped with her life. One of Harry's hands came up to cup the back of her head and she leaned back so that she could look at him. Her lips were trembling and her eyes shown with unshed tears.
"Shhh…I'm not going to let anyone hurt you `Mione. You are safe. Thank Merlin, you're safe." The last part was said for himself, the realization that Hermione had been a target of whatever madman had done this to Donnegan was a terrible thing. He rested his forehead against hers and shut his eyes for a moment, thankful once again that Hermione had trained as an Auror, otherwise he was certain she would have ended up like Max.
She broke him from his thoughts as she reached up to brush his messy hair out of the way so that she could press a kiss to his scar, just like she always did whenever he lost his magical control. "I haven't had to do that for a long time." She said lightly, hoping to draw him back to her.
"That's the third time today that's happened `Mione." He admitted softly and looked away not wanting to see the disappointment on her face. But instead he heard her soft reply of "Oh Harry" and felt her arms wrap tightly around his neck. Still holding onto Hermione he took quick purposeful strides out of the room and placed her back on the couch.
Ron had slipped out of the room after Hermione had come in, knowing from experience that she was the one with the best chance at calming Harry. Now that they had found Donnegan's body everything had changed. Local authorities would need to be notified and Ron and Harry would have to receive special permission to continue to work on the case. He found the nearest Floo and called on the Auror office at the Ministry, grateful when Tonks answered. "Wotcher Ron!" she cried, surprised to see him coming in over the Floo.
"Hey Tonks, any chance Kingsley or Moody are around?" He asked
"Kingsley's here, why didn't you just pop in if you needed to talk to him?" Tonks said, asking the obvious.
"Uh, I'm not exactly close enough to do that right now. Look Tonks, I just really need to talk to Kingsley. I'm sure he'll fill you in but it's important."
"Sure Ron. Hang a sec and I'll find him for you." Tonks understood that this was no friendly chat, this was business.
By the time Hermione and Harry came back into the sitting room Ron was done speaking with Kingsley and had the information they needed.
"You guys ok?" he asked
Hermione nodded for both of them.
Harry was glad, he didn't quite trust his voice yet.
"So, I uh, I flooed Kingsley." Ron started, and winced at the sharp look he received from Harry. "You know we had to, it's a murder, that means the local Aurors have the jurisdiction here." He knew Harry was going to balk at the idea of bringing other people in on this, which is why he had contacted their people while Harry was occupied.
"Kingsley is making the contact for us and is going to make sure that we can still work on the case, but we're going to have to step back for a bit and let them do their thing." Ron explained, hoping he could get Harry to understand before the other Aurors arrived.
"Fine. As long as we can still work the case, but Hermione is off limits. Kingsley had better make sure they know that." Harry proclaimed.
Now it was Hermione's turn to react. "Harry James Potter! You know I have to talk to them, I'm a pretty big clue to all of this, I'm most likely the last person to have seen Max alive! I appreciate what you're doing but you can't protect me all the time!" she shouted, exasperated that he was trying to keep her tucked away.
"Yeah, you're right Hermione, I apparently can't protect you all of the time, or I wouldn't have had to find you half beaten to death lying in your own blood! You don't need to remind me! Every time I shut my eyes that's all I can see!" Harry had risen from the sofa along with his voice, now towering over Hermione who just stared at him with a shocked look on her face before he turned and disappeared.
Her eyes shimmering she looked at Ron, knowing that his surprised expression matched her own. "Oh Ron, what have I done."
-->