Disclaimer : Not mine, definitely not mine. Thanks to JK Rowling for such wonderful characters.
Chapter 17. The Rules of Ritchie's House
They popped up in the backyard of a 3-storey mansion that Harry figured was right smack in the centre of affluent London. He also deduced correctly that Hermione had found a way to break the anti-apparition charms the Ministry imposed on her apartment so that she could use her closet to go wherever she wanted. It was 7pm and only the sound of crickets broke the silence.
"He lives here?" Harry wondered how Ritchie was able to afford the place on an Inspector's salary.
Hermione gave him a caustic look, seemingly reading his mind. "He got it from his parents!"
"You don't have to defend him."
"Look, Harry. He's really a nice and decent guy," she said to him as they walked side by side on a path to the back of the house.
"I'm a nice and decent guy," he replied, "Is he nicer and more decent than I am?"
"It's not a competition."
"What is it, then?"
Hermione didn't answer.
Harry backed off. As much as he wanted her to make a decision sooner, he could understand why she couldn't. As she said, time did not stand still when he left. She had a life that did not include him for two years. It would be unreasonable to expect her to drop her current life just because he came back. Sadly enough, he could imagine himself being in Ritchie's shoes.
And as Ginny said, they had to do the 'talk'. Harry had to know where he stood. Was Hermione trying to be fair to Ritchie, or did she really care that much about Ritchie she would want to be with Ritchie rather than him?
She led him to the backdoor service entrance, paused, stowed her wand away and used a key from her jeans pocket to unlock the door.
'Strange,' Harry thought.
Harry was about to follow her in when she stopped abruptly, turned and almost caused Harry to crash into her.
"Wait! Before we go inside I want to set some house rules."
"I promise I won't pee on the carpet," Harry said sarcastically.
"First of all, never mention magic, particularly anything about me doing magic, especially not my escaping using magic. Don't interrupt," she said, as Harry was about to say something.
"Second, keep your hands off your wand," she eyed the wand sticking out of his pocket. "Better yet, give me that," she snatched the wand from Harry, "I'll give it back to you on your way out."
"And third, whatever he says or does, don't lose your temper. Do we understand each other?"
"Fine!" Harry was a bit perturbed about all the fuss. It wasn't that he was not prepared to meet Ritchie. Ron's memories gave him a preview of what to expect.
He followed Hermione in and up the winding staircase that led to a service kitchen the size of Hermione's entire apartment. They went through a set of swinging doors that took them to a clean kitchen, then through to a dining room that could easily seat thirty people. The rooms were dimly lit with lamps at strategic locations, but Harry could see that this Ritchie must either spend a lot of time keeping it clean and in order, or could afford to hire a small village to maintain the place.
At the far end of the living room, light streamed from the gap between a set of wooden sliding doors that was slightly ajar. Harry judged correctly that this was a study, and there was a man pacing and passing the gap every so often.
"Wait here," Hermione said to Harry as she opened the sliding door just enough to pass through and shut them behind her. As she did, the doors came apart about a quarter of an inch, not enough for him to see but plenty for him to hear.
A thud fell on the floor beside the door, likely Hermione's backpack.
"Jane! Thank goodness you're safe." Harry could tell their figures merged and blocked off the light from the gap. He felt something hot develop from within him rising up to his head. Compared to how he felt in Ron's memories, reality seemed to magnify his jealousy a hundred fold.
"Are you okay? Were you hurt?"
"I'm okay now," Hermione replied, "Really, Ritchie, there's no need to worry."
"I tried to see you but they wouldn't let me. And I couldn't tell them anything because of that contract you and Ron made me sign. They wouldn't even allow me to see Ron. Wait, I've been babbling since you arrived when I should be doing this first."
Harry's imagination went into overdrive. Without him wanting to, he guessed what they were doing and he was right. He moved as far away from the gap as quickly as he could.
"I missed you…and I missed this…"
Harry was irritated by the sound of his voice that now seemed to follow him. He tried not to listen, by singing to himself in his head, Hogwarts, Hogwarts...how did that song go again?
"And this…and definitely this…"
La, la, la, la-la!!! His face was really hot, head about to explode.
"Ritchie…no wait…not now, we have a…"
Two almost simultaneous explosions coming from the opposite lamps on the far end of the living room drowned Hermione's sentence. The room briefly became pitch black before the sliding doors opened and flooded Harry with the light from the study.
Hermione was glaring at him for already breaking house rule number three.
She finished her sentence, "…guest."
Harry said quickly, "Must have been a power surge," he smiled and extended a hand to the blonde man beside Hermione, "Hi. I'm Harry."
"Harry Potter. I finally meet the legend himself. Richard Tilly but please call me Ritchie."
His tone was acerbic, with some underlying hostility. Harry sensed that they were not going to be good friends. They shook hands, firmly, as if each was trying to measure up to some standard, like who would flinch first or look away. He seemed nicer in Ron's memory. Maybe he found out the answer to his question two weeks ago.
"I've heard so much about you."
"Not all bad, I hope," Harry looked over to Hermione, who was trying her best to keep her eyes from rolling up.
"Oh, Jane never talks about you. She tells me to read you up in a book whenever I ask. Ron has only good things to say. How you defeated Voldemort, stuff of legends."
Can he not stop calling her Jane!?
"I could not have done it without Hermione and Ron. Hermione figured everything out," Harry replied, putting a bit more emphasis on 'Hermione' than necessary.
He met her stare and immediately heard her in his head.
Don't be juvenile!
Your boyfriend started it!
"I know, she's very special," he took Hermione's hand and kissed the back of it, looking at her as he did. Harry squirmed, recognizing the man was marking his territory. "And modest. If Ron had not told me the details, the books do her an injustice."
Hermione said sheepishly, "He actually wrote the publishers."
"As Harry said, you had a big part in making him the legend that he is. You need to set the record straight, for our grand kids, even if you're no longer a witch. How long has it been since you picked up your wand?"
Then Harry realized the reason for the rules and the use of a key to get in the house. Ritchie obviously did not want her doing magic and so she had to do it behind his back! What a prick! Hermione would always be a witch! And they're talking about grandchildren?! A strong draft blew into the room and the lights began to flicker.
Hermione said to Ritchie hurriedly, with what Harry thought was a reprimanding tone, "Maybe you should check out this power problem we've been having."
"Yeah, strange. I'll be right back."
When Ritchie was out of sight, Hermione shut the doors to the study, performed the Muffliato spell and turned to Harry to meet his glaring stare.
She walked closer to him and said under her breath, "I thought we had an understanding that you would keep your temper in check?"
Harry just let his infuriation run amuck, "You didn't tell me he was such a jerk!"
"Okay, spit it out before you make something else explode and have the entire accidental magic reversal team come."
"I can't believe Ron was okay with this!" Harry was convinced that the memories showed but a part of what Ritchie was like.
"Leave Ron out of this," Hermione tried to say as calmly as possible.
"What are you doing with this prick?"
"Quick to judge, are we? You haven't even known him two minutes."
"I don't need two minutes to recognize a prick when I see one! He is so lucky I don't have my wand!"
"Admit it, Harry. He's only a prick because we're involved and his name is not Ron!"
"I thought we were going to leave Ron out of this?" Harry couldn't believe she was implying his judgment of Ritchie's character was clouded by his jealousy.
"Maybe I should read that note again, you know, the one you left me two years ago. I should check if there was a postscript telling me that if Ron and I broke up, I should wait for you and not see anyone else."
"That's not the point," Harry tried to say but got drowned by Hermione's continuing tirade.
"But I guess I can't do that because I burned that letter the same time I tossed all my Harry Potter memorabilia!"
Now, that was just mean and uncalled for. Did she really?
Harry pointed something out, "Well, you missed throwing out the vase I gave you when you moved into your apartment!"
"I took care of that tonight, didn't I?" she said with a smug look on her face, making Harry even more furious.
"Did you bring me here to meet him so I'll leave?"
Hermione gave out an amused laugh, "No, of course not! You asked to come, remember? But frankly, right about now, I'm not fussed if it does make you."
"Don't hold your breath, I never thought I'd see the day when you would let anyone stop you from doing magic!"
"I never thought you'd ever come back. That's not the first time we both thought wrong. He's not to blame!"
"Stop defending him!"
"I'm not defending him. I'm trying my best to keep you from making a fool out of yourself!"
Harry was off to rant and was really not listening anymore, "Just like you're trying not to make a fool out of him by doing magic behind his back? I guess that was the reason for house rule number two, the one you've been repeatedly violating without his knowledge!"
"The rules were for you, but I should have known not to make rules because we both know that would only ensure you would break them!"
"So was that the deal? You don't practice witchcraft and he won't tie you up and burn you at the stake? I can't think of any reason why you would give up magic for someone who talks about it like it's a bad habit! You love magic! If he can't see that then you shouldn't be with him!"
You should be with me!
Harry hit a raw nerve, Hermione made an effort to control herself.
"Stop. Don't even go there because you'll just embarrass yourself!"
Drained from arguing, they glowered at each other.
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The Cardinal was upset. Draco Malfoy had been trouble. For one thing, Malfoy's skill in Occlumency made it impossible for the Cardinal to use his thoughts against him. It necessitated the use of the Cardinal's own emotion to perform the anger curse and as always, it was not a very pleasant experience. Worse, Malfoy had tried to break the curse and succeeded. A set back for sure. A humiliation. Granger would be laughing so hard at this show of utter incompetence. Not only was there now a need to find another specimen for that particular curse, there was also a loose end; a damaged but a still very much alive Malfoy. The Cardinal would be disgraced and potentially exposed.
The Cardinal looked at the magically bound blonde man who was now a problem. His right hand was limp and was barely hanging on to his wand. True, the Cardinal could take his wand away and kill him like a Muggle, but that would be cheating. The Muggle murders were already a complete set. Like Dorner, Lowes and Franks, Malfoy was allowed to defend himself with a wand, as any wizard should. A decision had to be made. Be a barbarian and use the killing curse or do something else. The Cardinal refused to think of the possibility of being identified with the common murderer that Voldemort was. It was decided. Malfoy had earned the right to live.