A/N: The characters and places you recognize belong to JK Rowling. Nothing is mine.
Thank you so much for the reviews. I was sitting at Starbucks, trying to keep a straight face and not laugh aloud while reading them. I am not surprised to see the confusion in some of the reviews. This chapter explains Ron's sudden emergence. As I said before, there is going to be a bit of drama in the next couple of chapters. I apologize for making you wait longer than usual to post, but I erased the chapter unknowingly, and after calling myself all kinds of names, I had to regroup and re-write it. Also, I haven't been able to go online for a few days. I hate it when than happens!
Here's chapter six. Enjoy.
The DA Reunited
"Ron, you git, I could have killed you!" Harry said exasperated, but Hermione could hear the trace of fear in his voice. That had been a narrow escape.
She got down on her knees and checked on Ron, who kept holding on to the back of his head while wincing. She removed his hand impatiently and found a small cut there. After healing it and satisfied that he was okay, she got up. Harry helped Ron up.
"What are you doing here, Ron? And why are you hiding?" Hermione asked.
"I needed to see you guys, but I didn't want to be seen," he explained while looking around nervously. He put the hood of his cloak over his head, covering his bright hair.
"What's going on, Ron?" Harry asked beginning to think he would not like the answer.
"I can't really talk about it here," Ron said anxiously.
"Then let's go back to the cottage so you can explain," Hermione said.
He agreed and they went to find the car. On the way to the cottage, Ron sat on the back seat, crunched down as much as he could in the small space and never once took the cover off his head. Harry and Hermione exchange worried looks.
As Harry parked in front of the cottage, he notice one of the curtains move back into place and his foreboding increased. Hermione had also noticed and the look on her face matched his. Something bad was definitely going on if their friends felt like they had to barge in on their weekend getaway knowing what he had planned.
"Who's in there, Ron?" Harry asked, not sure he wanted to know the answer.
"You'll see soon enough. Let's get inside, please," Ron said hurriedly.
They got out of the car and walked over to the front door. Sensing Harry's uneasiness, Hermione laced her fingers through his and gave his hand a small reassuring squeeze. Harry gave her a grateful smile and unlocked the door. When they walked in, they both gasped at the amount of people sitting or standing around their living room. It felt like they were back on fifth year and the DA was just getting started. Ron gave them a little push and closed the door behind him. Hermione heard him casting some serious locking charms on the door. Staring back at them were Ginny, Neville, Luna, Seamus, Dean, Lavender and Parvati. Fred was sitting on the couch, but they could not see him clearly since he was leaning against the armrest, and his face was buried in his arms.
"What's going on?" Harry asked as he moved closer to the group.
"Is this place safe to talk?" Ron asked.
"It will be soon," Hermione said as she took out her wand and started casting silencing spells at the windows and doors. Ginny followed suit and started doing the same.
Hermione was in their room when she heard Ginny come in behind her. "We're so sorry to do this, Hermione. If we had another way out, we wouldn't have interrupted your weekend away with Harry. I know how much it meant to him and we feel terrible."
"Don't worry about it, okay? We already figured something monumental must have happened in order for you guys to be here like this."
"You're right, of course."
When Hermione saw her eyes fill with tears, she was immediately at her side and gave her a comforting hug. "Oh, Ginny, don't cry."
"I'm sorry," Ginny said as she pulled back and dried her tears. "Let's go back out so we can tell you guys what's happened. We need to move on this before it's too late."
Hermione nodded and they walked back out. When they reached the living room, she saw Harry kneeling in front of Fred, a worried expression on his face. When he heard them, he motioned her over and she quickly went. Her eyes widened when she saw his face.
"Oh, Fred! What happened to you?" she asked while her fingers touched his face tenderly. His face was covered in cuts and bruises and there was considerable swelling.
"I'm not really sure, Herms. One minute we were closing the shop, and the next thing I know I woke up like this." He took a deep, slow breath and she knew by the look on his face just how much pain he was in.
Hermione wasted no time issuing orders.
"Harry, go out to the car and get me everything we bought today. Ginny, heat up some water and get me some clean cloths. Neville, when Harry gets back, get started on the potions."
They all moved at once and did as she ordered without a single question or protest. She waved he wand and a hospital bed materialized out of nowhere.
"Ron and Dean help me get Fred on the bed, and carefully, since we don't know how bad his injuries are just yet."
As they helped Fred up, Hermione noticed that he seemed to be favoring his left side. She summoned her healer's bag and started working on him as soon as he was on the bed. An hour later Fred was cleaned, bandaged, and sleeping peacefully. Ron and Dean levitated him to the loft. When they came back down, Hermione had finished cleaning up the room with the help of Seamus and Lavender. When she turned to look at the group there was a grave expression on her face.
"I want answers and I want them now. That was not the work of wizards; he was beaten by muggles. I don't know how they were able to get that close to him without Fred being able to defend himself properly and that worries me."
"We're not sure, Hermione. A few hours ago, we got an owl from Fred, and all it said was to come to the store as soon as possible. When Luna and I got there, we found him unconscious and their store had been ransacked," Ron explained.
"Where's George?" Harry finally asked. He had been curious about that since they had walked in and he was not there. The twins were never far from each other.
A sob escaped Ginny's mouth and Neville was immediately at her side, putting a comforting arm across her shoulders.
"We don't know, Harry. He wasn't in the shop when we got there and Fred has no idea where he can be," Ron explained.
"Do you think he was kidnapped?" Hermione asked fearing what the answer would be.
"We think so," Ginny said tearfully. "That's why we called everyone together. We decided to meet here since we don't know if the shop or the flats are being watched."
"Does anyone have any idea why this happened?" Harry asked Ron.
"A couple of weeks ago, Fred and George told me they were having some problems with this man that wanted their help. They refused to go into business with him and I think this might be related to that. I'm just not sure since the guy was a muggle."
"Did they tell you what kind of business?" Hermione asked becoming uneasy.
"Well, you know they have a line of products that look like candy but are in fact jokes, right? He wanted the twins to do something similar for them. But instead of jokes, they wanted to disguise pills and some other stuff."
"What kinds of pills, Ron?" Hermione asked anxiously, but she was afraid she already knew the answer.
"They called them drugs."
"Oh, Merlin," Hermione said shaking her head and letting out the breath she had been holding when her suspicions were confirmed.
Harry and Dean also looked worried, which in turn, worried the rest of the group.
"Is it that bad?" Ron asked when he saw their faces.
"It's terrible, Ron. Drugs are awful, and they're also illegal in the muggle world. If they wanted to make them look like candy and the twins refused, you can bet they have George and they're going to try to make him do as they want," Dean told them.
"He's right, and if he refuses to help, he could be in grave danger. These people don't play around," Harry added.
Hermione was pacing, wriggling her hands as she did so. "It's an excellent plan, when you think about it. If they are able to make the drugs look like regular candy, they won't have any trouble smuggling them from one country to another, and no one would even be suspicious. They would be able to sell them anywhere. The ramifications of this would be too numerous to count."
"And they would get filthy rich," Dean continued. "It's the perfect plan, only Fred and George refused to help."
"What in Merlin's name are drugs?" Lavender wanted to know.
Hermione explained quickly and that only seemed to worry the group even more.
"It's settled then!" Ron said. "We're going to find out who did this and then we're going to go and rescue George before it's too late and they hurt him worse than Fred. Where do we start?"
"We have to divide into groups and search for information. Since Dean, Harry, and I have a muggle upbringing, we will look in London. The rest will divide between their two stores to search for information. Maybe they left something behind that can help us find them faster. But we need to start right now," Hermione said and everyone nodded.
That is, everyone but Harry.
"We sounds like too many people," Harry said looking pointedly at her.
"What do you mean?" she asked him.
"Dean and I will go. You are not going into drug-infested areas of London. It's too dangerous. I won't be able to do my job and worry about you at the same time." His tone left no room for argument.
He should have known better.
"Did you just tell me what to do?" she asked cocking her head to the side and raising an eyebrow.
"Yes. You can stay here and we will communicate back and forth. You can be the brains of the operation and be out of danger at all times. You can even get your laptop, go online, and hack into police files. Maybe you can find something that can help us there," he said while looking at her, satisfaction with his plan shining in his eyes.
"I will do no such thing! I am going and you're not going to tell me otherwise," she finished hotly.
"No, you're not. Be reasonable, Hermione, I'm not letting you go and that's final."
He turned to look at his friends and noticed they were all looking at them with a mixture of surprise and fascination on their faces. They had been watching their argument with their heads moving back and forth, as if watching a heated tennis match.
Hermione, however, was so mad that red sparks were flying off the tip of her wand. When their friends saw this, they all stepped back as if looking for cover. Harry noticed their actions and turned around. He gulped slowly when he saw the wand and then her face.
"I want to speak to you alone. NOW!"
She walked in the direction of their room without waiting for his answer.
As he was about to follow her, Ron's words stopped him.
"Are you daft?" he asked surprised. "How could you humiliate her like that, Harry? Now she's going to have to kill you and we'll be a man short before we even get started."
"Real cute, Ron," Harry said, but his gaze moved nervously down the hall.
"He's right, you know. Hermione is independent and strong. You should know that by now," Ginny said. "She's going to have your insensitive arse and she has every right to do so!"
"She's always been by your side, and has saved your arse more times than I can remember. You were completely out of line," Luna added.
Harry felt like shit. Knowing his friends were right, he went down the hallway, feeling worst than he had when he had faced the Wizengamot in his fifth year. He would even take facing a dragon over facing the wrath of Hermione.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
She was pacing when he walked into their room. Before he could move any closer to her or open his mouth to apologize, she pointed an accusing finger at him.
"Don't you ever speak to me like that again, Harry James Potter. You have no right to tell me what I can and cannot do. Our friend is in danger and I am not about to waste my time arguing with you about this. I am going to London, and we're going to bring George back safe and sound."
"Yes, Hermione," he said when she took a breath. "But, I -"
"But nothing, Harry. We are going to go out back there, and we are going to plan how to do this tonight. I don't want any arguments from you, and we're going to pretend this never happened. But hear this, you git, If you try anything to stop me from going, I will have your arse. Do you understand me?" she asked furiously, her eyes flashing with fire.
"Yes, Hermione."
"Good." Without saying another word, she stormed out of the room and he followed meekly.
As bad as he felt about the whole situation, he couldn't help thinking that he was so turned on by her it wasn't even funny. He rather liked it when Hermione lost her cool.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When they walked into the living room, Hermione went over to the dining room table and expanded it. She waved her wand again and parchment, writing materials, and some sort of equipment appeared.
"Now that Mr. Potter and I have come to an understanding, let's plan what we're going to do quickly in order to leave."
They all looked at her with admiration on their faces, and some even sniggered at Harry. He chose to ignore that and sat down. Ron walked over to the table and picked up a small object as everyone started sitting around.
"What's this, Hermione?" he asked curiously, as he turned the object around.
"It's a two-way radio. Instead of communicating by owls, we are going to communicate using those. They are charmed to work anywhere and our conversations will be private at all times."
"Have I told you lately how brilliant I think you are?" he said smiling.
"Thank you, Ron." She handed a radio to Ginny, another to Lavender, and one to Harry. "We're going to divide into teams. Neville, Ginny, and Seamus will go to the shop that was ram shacked. Ron, Luna, and Parvati will go to the other store and their flat. Harry, Dean and I will go to London. Lavender can stay here with Fred in case he needs something. Is that fair?" she asked looking around the table. They all nodded their agreement.
Harry and Dean showed the rest of the group how to use the radios. After formulating a plan of action, the first two groups left and Lavender went up to the loft.
"I'm going to go change into jeans and then we can leave," Hermione told Harry and Dean and walked in the direction of their room.
Dean looked at Harry and nodded towards the room. Harry understood his message and went after her. When he walked into the room, she had taken off her clothes and he took a moment to admire her.
Remembering the situation they were in, he quickly stripped off his clothes and went to the closet to find his own pair of jeans.
She dressed quickly and sat on the bed to put on her sneakers. He took that chance to speak.
"I'm sorry about what I said before, love. I know I was out of place and I shouldn't have acted like that."
"I know why you did it, Harry, and I understand more than you know. But we have been fighting side by side for years now and it's never been an issue."
"It's a bit different now, Hermione. We're a couple now."
"We made love and we love each other, and as much as you want to protect me, you can't. You have to trust that I can take care of myself, okay?" she said as she got up and strapped her wand holster to her thigh. She tapped it once and it became invisible. When she put her wand in, it disappeared from view as well.
Harry copied her moved and they were ready. She walked up to him and hugged him tightly. She dropped a quick, conciliatory kiss on his lips and stepped back.
"Let's go before it's too late, okay? We will finish this conversation when this is over."
"You're right, of course."
He took her hand and they walked out to the living room. Without another word, the three of them apparated to a secluded street in Central London.
-->