"Hermione, come on, we need to get home." The Grangers came from watching a West-End production and were walking back to their car that was parked quite far away. The used an alleyway as a short cut to get quickly back to their vehicle. The alleyway was dark and dimmed; there were lots of cracks on the floor and over filled bins.
"Well...well...look what we have here guys," said a dark voice making the Granger's to go stiff as a board. "We have the higher class." Before they knew it, they were surrounded by men that looked like killers, drug users and alcoholics.
"We were just trying to get home so if you will excuse us." Mr Granger grabbed his wife and daughter's hands and started walking quickly out of the alley but the men barricaded them from leaving.
"Why don't you just stay awhile," said the ringleader who was a burly man with lots of scars on his arms and face, jet black hair and cold grey eyes. "I must say you have some pretty girls with you." He licked his lips making Hermione and Mrs Granger quiver and shiver in fear.
"You know you're not very nice to women," said a cheerful voice making everyone in the alleyway look around to see the source of the voice; the ring leader pulled out a pocket knife and shouted,
"SHOW yourself you coward!" The voice chuckled and replied,
"As you wish." Then a hooded figure jumped down in front of the Grangers. The figure had a dark red leather hood that was a zip up sleeveless shirt and his eyes were covered with black sunglasses; he was wearing black jeans that looked tight and his shirt was a short sleeve skin-tight that had an emblem of RA letters interlocking. He was holding a metal bow and metal quivers on his back full of arrows. "Let them pass or else," he said calmly making the thugs laugh at him.
"Who are you supposed to be?" The ringleader scoffed at him.
"Call me the Red Archer." Hermione wrinkled her nose, feeling like she had heard the voice somewhere before. "Let them go or face the consequences," he said without any fear as the thugs came closer to him.
"Oh yeah a thing like you, a hero?!" Then one of the men who looked quite drunk as he wobbled towards Red Archer poked him on the chest and said, "Please." He scoffed making Red Archer smirk as a blast of black smoke spread making everyone cough. Mr Granger hugged his family close as they heard punches and grunts being made in the black smoke; once the black smoke disappeared, the Grangers noticed that all the thugs were knocked out and were tied up while their hero didn't get a single scratch.
"Are you okay?" The hero asked as he walked over to the Granger family then Mr Granger picked up a metal pole and was ready to whack him with it, causing the red hero to freeze on his spot. He put his hands up in mock defence then playfully stated, "Well aren't you a friendly family." He laughed a little causing Hermione to instantly remember Ron. He lowered his arms and spoke with friendliness and kindness in his voice. "I promise I won't hurt you." Mr Granger dropped the pole on the floor as Red Archer started to walk away.
"Thank you…how can we repay you?" Mrs Granger asked making their hero stop to look at them with a large grin on his face and replied,
"You already have." He saluted with two fingers at them and shouted, "See you around...bye Hermione!" With that, he was gone in a flash while Hermione's parents looked weirdly at their daughter who shrugged and spoke.
"I have never seen him, honest...let's just get out of here." The Grangers all agreed and went home.
The next day, Hermione woke up and rubbed her tired eyes as she heard tapping on her bedroom window. She walked over to her window and saw it was the Weasley family owl, Errol, with a letter tied to one of its feet. Hermione opened the window for the bird to enter her room. "You got a letter for me?" She asked the owl who hooted making Hermione smile then untied the letter on his leg and opened it to read.
Hermione,
How's your summer been? Mine's been okay. Anyway my mum wants you to invite you and your family for like a Weasley picnic next Thursday, where... well...basically go to like the beach near our house and have a picnic or swim or surf or fish or knowing you, read. It will just be my family and some of my mum's friends… reply quickly so mum knows how much food she needs to cook but knowing me it will be gone before we get there (I'm joking). Unfortunately Harry can't go because his uncle won't let him be with, and I quote "Freaks." So what do you say? My dad will pick up you with his Ford Anglia if you can come.
Ron
Hermione smiled as she told Errol "stay here." The owl hooted as he perched on the window waiting and rushed downstairs as fast as she could to her parents who were making breakfast. "MUM, DAD! Can we go to the Weasley picnic please?" Hermione said excitedly to her parents who were shocked at how excited their daughter was about this event. They looked at each other as Hermione handed then Ron's letter making them smile.
"What do you think Jenny?" Mr Granger playfully asked his wife who smiled and caught onto her husband's game to tease their daughter.
"Well...I don't know Jack, do you think we should go?" Hermione frowned then groaned in annoyance as her foot tapped impatiently making her parents laugh; they both nodded making Hermione squeal in happiness and hug her parents and said a thousand thank you's when Jenny playfully asked as Hermione was about to speed up upstairs to write a reply. "You really want to go just to see Ron in his swim suit don't you?" Hermione froze in her tracks as she blushed red making the Grangers laugh further at their daughter.
"MUM!" Hermione shouted then she ran up the stairs to reply to Ron's letter.
It was finally Thursday and Hermione and her parents were waiting for Arthur to pick them up. At ten in the morning there was a knock on door so the Grangers grabbed their bags and walked towards the door; Jack opened the door and saw Ron's father with a wide grin on his face and waved happily at them.
"Hey, are you ready?" He asked and the Grangers nodded. "Fred and George help them with the bags." The twins got out of the car and grabbed all their bags and put it in the boot of the car. "We'll go straight to the beach near our house." The Grangers nodded. "Everyone's already there, preparing." They then all got in the car and Arthur started driving to their location.
"We also have some food that we packed… is that okay?" Mrs Granger asked Arthur who smiled and nodded and then replied,
"Yeah, knowing my boys the food that Molly packed won't be enough." He joked making Fred and George roll their eyes while everyone else laughed. The twins were still frowning. "What's up with you two?" Arthur asked his sons when Fred spoke.
"Ron will get all the girls again." Arthur made a face and asked confused,
"Again?" Fred and George nodded when it was George's turn to speak.
"Yeah…last time we went all the girls went to Ron because they thought he was sweet playing with Nicky and Ally." George muttered angrily making Arthur sigh and shake his head and explained,
"Ron can't help being who he is and if you want to get the girls, play with Nicky and Ally then- don't blame Ron." The twins rolled their eyes again as Arthur looked at the back of the car and spoke to the Grangers. "Hold on tight!" He then pressed a button causing the car to hover and fly high in the sky.
After an hour of driving, they finally got to their location. Arthur parked his car as everyone got out and then headed over to the Weasleys. The Grangers awed at the sight of the beautiful beach-the white soft sand beneath their feet and the crystal clear ocean was just amazing to see. "Finally you're here!" Molly walked over to the Grangers and hugged them tightly. "Welcome- sit, sit down." She offered to the Grangers who smiled and sat down on the picnic blanket (while Percy was reading a book under the large umbrella).
"Molly, dear where are the kids?" Arthur asked before kissing her on the cheek before sitting down on the picnic blanket as did Fred and George.
"The kids are just walking around, wasting some time." Molly looked to where they could hear laughter making her smile. "There they are." All the heads turned to see Ginny and Ron running after two little girls no older than five who were running towards their picnic blanket. Hermione watched Ron laugh happily as he ran after one of the girls and picked her up and threw her in the air; he then caught her making her giggle as they walked over to them. Ron placed down the little girl who went to get a drink.
"Hermione!" Ron said happily and hugged her tightly. "It's good to see you, when did you guys get here?" He asked them as he searched his families' picnic for a bottle of water as Hermione secretly was checking Ron out. She noticed that he was wearing dark blue swim shorts and nothing else; she could also tell that Ron had grown a couple of inches since she last saw him, along with some muscle gain...wait…what was she thinking? This was her best friend! Realizing that she was distracted by Ron's appearance, she quickly remembered Ron's question.
"We just got here." She quickly explained making Ron nod. He then felt someone tug on his hand and looked down to see Ally who had green eyes and blond hair.
"What is it Ally?" Ron asked her as he knelt down so he was eye level with the little girl.
"When's mummy and daddy coming back?" She asked. "Me and Nicky misses them." She pouted making Ron smile.
"Ally, they will be back soon." Ally nodded then asked, "Want to go surfing?" The other little girl ran over when she heard the word surfing.
"Uncle me too, please!" Nicky begged Ron who looked into her blue eyes and her long curly brown hair making Ron smile and nodded. He saw Fred and George glare at him and looked from the corner of his eyes and saw the girls were smiling at him. Ron whispered into the little girl's ears making them nod then run over to Fred and George. "Uncle Fred, Uncle George can you teach us to surf please?" The twins made a strange face at each other then looked at Ron who nodded and nudged his head over to the girls. Understanding their little brother's plan, they nodded and grabbed two surf boards and taught Ally and Nicky while Ron sat down on the picnic blanket to get a ham sandwich. "Hungry aren't you Ronald" Jack joked at Ron who smiled and replied,
"Always hungry sir." He took a bite of the sandwich as he looked at Fred and George teaching Ally and Nicky to surf.
"Why did you let Fred and George go surfing and not you, dear?" Molly asked then added, "I thought you loved surfing." Ron playfully shrugged then nudged his head over to the girls who were watching with awe. Seeing this, Molly understood and shook her head. "I should have known." Ron smiled as he finished his sandwich. When he was finished eating, he picked up one of the surfboards.
"I'll be right back." Ron saluted using two fingers at his family and friends before running towards the ocean. They watched the youngest Weasley lying on his chest as he swam towards the large forming wave, intrigued as to how well Ron surfed without trouble. After ten minutes, everyone started playing in the water or playing ball with each other; Ron got out of the water as he pushed his wet red hair backwards so he could see and saw Hermione under the umbrella reading a book. "Hermione?" Ron called out as he took a seat in front of her. She looked up and smiled at him.
"Hello Ron. Why aren't you back in the water, surfing?" She asked as she looked back at her book and turned the page making Ron frown and snatched the book off her making her angry. "HEY! GIVE IT BACK RONALD!" She ordered and reached out for the book but Ron kept it out of her reach. "This isn't funny Ron! Give it!"
"Why aren't you in the water, its boiling here, don't you want to cool down?" Ron asked as Hermione kept reaching for the book. Hermione didn't say anything as she looked fearfully at the ocean then at her feet. Ron looked at the ocean then back at Hermione and guessed why she didn't want to go.
"Hermione are you afraid of the water?" Ron asked Hermione who shook her head and frowned at him.
"NO! I'm not afraid of water." She shrieked but Ron knew that Hermione was lying to him. He sighed as he ran his fingers through his wet hair then whispered to her sweetly,
"Hermione you know you can tell me anything." Hermione looked into his blue eyes and saw kindness and truth which made her sigh.
"I can't swim and I'm afraid of water." She whispered making Ron smile and listened to her. "When I was little, I drowned and I thought I was going to die… I've never swam since." Ron nodded as Hermione looked back at her feet. "Go on make fun of me, let's get this over with." The red haired boy shook his head and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Hermione I will never make fun of your fear; after all, you never made fun of my fear of spiders. You know what? I'll help you deal with your fear- how about now?" Ron asked Hermione who looked at the beach filled with people trying to cool off then shook her head making Ron sigh and nod. "Well, how about this, when you're ready to learn to swim, I'll teach you okay? I promise I won't tell anyone about this." Hermione nodded and mouthed thank you as Ron gave Hermione back her book as Nicky called out very loudly.
"MUMMY, DADDY" The two little girls ran out of the water to run over to their parents. Ron stood up and walked over to them.
"Hey Morgan, Erica" Ron smiled at the two couples. Morgan had blue eyes and blond hair while his wife Erica had brown curly hair and green eyes. "Glad you finally came." Ron shook hands with Morgan and then his wife hugged Ron. All of them walked back to the blanket where they were introduced to Hermione. "Morgan, Erica this is Hermione Granger. Hermione, this is Morgan and Erica Collins, the parents of these two little devils." Ron teased as he ruffled the girl's hair making them groan and moan in annoyance as everyone got out of the water at Molly's insistence.
"Come on everyone let's eat." As they were eating, they all shared delicious food and stories with each other. Whilst they ate, Morgan asked everyone,
"Did you hear about the new superhero? Red Archer wasn't it?" The Grangers stopped eating immediately when they heard the name and instantly remembered the night he saved them.
"You know him?" Jack asked making Morgan look strangely at Hermione's father and nodded. He then slyly looked over at Ron who stared at him before taking a bite; no one else noticed but Hermione did and started to get suspicious but didn't say anything.
"Yes, Red Archer" Mr and Mrs Granger nodded. "He just started and is getting stronger each day! The Ministry of Magic is in the middle if they like them or not, but all he wants to do is protect people." The Grangers nodded in understanding while they all ate.
After the day was finished, the Collins went home while the Grangers were invited by Weasleys to stay overnight so they didn't have to travel at night as Arthur promised that he would take them home the next morning.
Hermione woke up and rubbed her tired eyes. She looked around the room and saw Ginny sleeping peacefully. She checked the clock and saw it was six in the morning. She quietly walked down the stairs trying not to make any sound when she heard happy humming coming from the kitchen and smiled when she saw Mrs Weasley cooking breakfast. "Morning Hermione, dear," Molly said cheerily as Hermione watched from the doorway. "How did you sleep last night?" She asked as she cracked the eggs and started frying them.
"Good, thank you again for letting us stay." Hermione thanked Molly, who smiled as she flipped the eggs over then replied,
"The more the merrier, dear. Oh Hermione, could you wake up Ronald? He slept on the couch again." Hermione pulled a strange face then looked over to the couch to see him crashed on the sofa sleeping but looking tired. "He's been doing that a while now." Hermione nodded as she started to walk towards the sofa and saw Ron with his eyes closed and his mouth slightly open. He also was snoring a little, making Hermione smile as she lightly shook him awake. After a few tries, Ron's eyelids fluttered open and started to adjust to the sunlight and smiled at Hermione.
"Morning." Ron yawned as he stretched his arms out then sniffed the air and smelt the delicious smell of breakfast. "What's smells so good?" Ron got up and went to the kitchen and smiled when he saw his mother with two plates in her hands- one filled with eggs, bacon and sausages while the other one was filled with lots of pieces of toasts. "Let me help you with that mum." Ron grabbed the two plates from his mother's hands and placed them on the table.
The next week, the Weasleys were at Diagon Alley to get what they needed for school in the few days to come; they met up with Harry in The Leaky Cauldron and went to Diagon Alley together. When they needed to go to Gringotts to get some money, they saw the Grangers there as well. "Hello" They all waved. "Are you going to Gringotts as well?" Arthur asked them as they nodded and showed him the Muggle money they would be exchanging.
"Mum, Dad let's go!" Fred and George moaned while everyone else laughed.
"Want to come with us?" Ron asked the Grangers who nodded as they only had been changing money in Gringotts and not going into the vaults.
"Ron?!" Molly said weakly being a little ashamed of not having lots in their vaults unlike Harry, but her youngest son held her hand tightly and smiled at her. They went to Harry's vault first and saw there were lots of gold inside making the other Weasleys besides Ron feel a little envious of him; but when it came to their vault, they saw it was filled with gold and not Sickles or Knuts but just a pile of Galleons. "What on earth? There wasn't much money here the last time we checked!" Molly asked the goblin who handed her a piece of black coin that had the letters RA interlocking in the middle.
"Somebody wanted to give you this." Molly took the coin and inspected it closely as Fred and George looked at the coin and gasped in shock.
"Mum it's from the Red Archer!" Fred said excitedly to his mother as he looked at the black coin while Molly took all the money they needed. "Mum we don't need to buy hand me downs anymore!" All the Weasleys smiled at this revelation as did the Grangers and Harry. But the question was, 'who was this masked stranger?'
Hey I tried to draw what the Red Archer might look like to help people visualize, its not very good I did it on paint but I hope you like it. its one my homepage I think