Title: Ron's Day Off
Summary: Ron and Harry were supposed to watch the FA Cup over at Dean's, but when Harry is late things don't end up going as planned.
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Bad language
Featured Characters: Ron Weasley, Harry Potter, Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan, and Neville Longbottom.
Word Count: 2,424
Disclaimer: Ron Weasley and his friends are not mine. I wish that they were, but alas I'm just playing in someone else's sandbox.
Author's Notes: Written for hey_rupert as a pinch-hit for the 2009 weasley_fest on Livejournal. My eternal thanks go to thesteppyone and oncelikeshari for their assistance with helping me get the football references correct, and to queenb23more for the beta.

Ron's Day Off

Ron paced the length of the kitchen for what had to be the hundredth time in the last thirty minutes. Dean's favorite Muggle football team, West Ham was playing for some sort of cup today and he was supposed to go over to his place to watch the game. The problem was that Harry was late which, in effect, had made Ron late because he was waiting for him to get home so that they could head over together.

He glanced up and scowled at the clock for a moment before finally deciding that he had enough. He penned a quick note to Harry, informing his tosser of a best mate that he had gone ahead without him, and walked over to the fireplace.

~*~*~*~

When Ron stepped through the Floo into Dean's flat nearly fourty minutes late, he was immediately greeted by the sound of a roaring cheer. The cheer, of course, wasn't for him. The time of his arrival just so happened to coincide with a goal being scored by the Muggles on the telly, and Dean, Seamus and Neville, all of whom were already well on their way to getting drunk, were enthusiastically celebrating.

"Weasley, you made it!" Seamus called out as soon as the roar died down. He wandered over to Ron and companionably threw an arm around his shoulders before looking around. "Where's Potter?"

"The bloody git must have gotten tied up with something and lost track of time," Ron answered. "I got tired of waiting for him so I just came over."

"Good thinking, mate," Seamus said with a grin. "There's no sense in you missing out on all the fun. Now come on; let's get you a drink."

Seamus summoned a beer from the kitchen and handed it to Ron, who accepted it with a grin before Dean called out, "Come on guys, sit down already. The game's on!"

Smiling, Ron sat down on the couch in the empty space between Dean and Neville, took a sip of his beer, and attempted to follow the game. It was a lot more confusing to follow than Quidditch. There were a lot of silly rules about what you could and couldn't do which Ron, and judging by the look on his face, Neville didn't completely understand. Dean and Seamus, however, having grown up watching the game, seemed to have every one of those silly little rules memorized and spent a lot of time yelling at the little men running around in the box.

Just then, the opposing team scored a goal, and Dean quickly jumped to his feet in an explosion of rage, "You have got to be fucking kidding me! That was offside! Go get your eyes checked, Ref, there was easily a fucking mile of air on that play!"

As Dean continued to rant about the goal, Ron turned to Seamus and quietly asked, "Err-- Shay, what does air have to do with the goal?"

"It was a bad call. United's goal shouldn't have counted because they were offside," Seamus explained. "The rule is that if there is air between the offensive player and the last line of the defense, then the opposing player is offside and cannot score."

"Oh," Ron said even though he really didn't understand the explanation. After all, if there wasn't any air between the players of both teams wouldn't that mean they would have to be pressed up against each other with no space between them? It seemed as if it would be awfully hard for any of the players to move the ball that way. He turned back and exchanged a glance with Neville who, thankfully, appeared to be just as lost as he was.

Dean finally stopped his tirade with one last irritated grumble of, "Bloody refs," and sat back down.

The ref blew for half time and a minute later the adverts came on the screen. Ron took advantage of the break and asked Neville about the new plant he had been cultivating. Neville's eyes lit up and he began to explain about all the progress he had made with a new breed of fanged geraniums.

"Shit, Shay, grab the remote!" Dean randomly yelled, cutting Neville off mid-sentence.

"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph," Seamus murmured before turning up the volume.

A woman's voice could be heard saying something about a hostage situation going on in town and how local residents were urged to remain in their homes, and as Ron and Neville re-directed their attention toward the telly, they instantly froze at the sight. There, clearly visible on the streaming live footage was the image of a man holding a gun to the head of a bound and gagged hostage. The problem was that hostage, who the camera had zoomed in on his face was clearly and unmistakably Harry Potter.

Ron stared in shock for a moment until the silence that had fallen over the room was broken when Neville whispered, "Bloody hell."

Then without a word, he set the bottle of beer he was holding on the side table, got up off the couch, and headed to the fireplace. He threw in a handful of powder and Flooed directly into Kingsley's office.

"Kingsley, get the Muggle police on the phone while I get my team together," Ron instructed solemnly. "We have a situation."

~*~*~*~

The air was fraught with tension as Ron and his team arrived and swiftly took control of the scene. They were briefed by the Muggle officer who had previously been in charge and then relocated the bulk of the Muggle police force to the parameter and gave them strict orders not to move in without their say so.

The team was nervous and understandably so. Not only was the life of one of their colleagues on the line, but they were working in a completely foreign environment. While they all had been trained for the possibility of having to operate in the Muggle world as police officers, very few Aurors ever needed to put that training to the test, let alone in a situation where the whole event was likely to play out live on the telly.

"Okay, everyone," Ron said seriously, "Auror Potter has managed to get himself into an impossibly sticky situation, and it's our job to get him out of it safely. The Muggle officer informed me that there are two additional gunmen holed up in the building and that Auror Potter was wounded while helping a number of his fellow hostages to escape. While they suspect that Auror Potter is their only remaining hostage, they cannot be completely certain that no one else is inside."

"Sir, how are we going to get to Auror Potter safely and without using any obvious magic in front of the Muggles?" Auror Roberts asked with a grim expression.

"Since I, out of all of us, have the strongest ability to perform spells both non-verbally and without a wand, I'm going to go in unarmed and posing as a Muggle hostage negotiator. Once I'm close enough, I should be able to use Legilimens on Harry in order to find out if there are any more hostages in the building with the remaining gunmen. After that, the plan is to convince the gunman to take me in exchange for Auror Potter."

"But, sir!" the team began to protest.

Ron held up his hand to stop the argument. "I'll be fine. The priority is to get Harry safely away from the gunman. Auror Evans, I'm going to move you into a position in the front lines. The moment Auror Potter is released, they are sure to rush him straight to hospital, and I want you to go with him. Because the Muggle press is involved, we can't afford not to let him be at least initially treated in the Muggle fashion so be sure to stay with him and make sure he's alright."

"And what should we do?" asked Auror Thompson.

"Once I convince the gunman to take me," Ron continued, "they'll want to be extra cautious because they'll have exchanged their wounded hostage for a more valuable "police officer."

He'll be most likely to retreat with me back to the stronghold of the building, and in fact I'm counting on it. When I give myself up to him, if there are additional hostages still in the building, I will signal you by holding my hands up with my palms facing away from the gunman. If I am the only hostage I'll hold my palms facing toward the gunman."

"Now, as soon as I'm in the building and out of sight of the cameras, I plan to stun the gunman and I want you and Auror Roberts to Apparate into the building and help me stun his accomplices. Once the building is secure, we will modify the memories of the gunmen and any additional hostages so that they won't remember the use of any magic. Then I want the two of you to help wrap up the scene with the Muggle authorities while I head to Muggle hospital to check on Auror Potter."

Having finished outlining his plan, he looked around the room and asked, "Any questions?" When no one answered, Ron nodded and said, "Alright then, let's get out there."

~*~*~*~

Harry's eyes went wide as Ron approached and moaned weakly through the silvery tape that sealed his mouth.

"Don't come any closer," the gunman growled as he pressed his gun more forcefully into Harry's cheek.

"I won't, I promise," Ron said calmly as he assessed his best friend's condition.

Harry's hands were bound behind him and his arms were secured to his body with the same silver tape over his mouth. There was evidence of blood on his left side, and it appeared that the wound had been hastily treated by wrapping it in more of the tape which bound him.

"My name is Detective Weasley," Ron told the gunman as he flashed a Muggle badge and cast a silent spell to enter Harry's mind. "And I'm here to help you and your friends get out of this situation without anyone getting hurt."

Harry welcomed him in and pushed the details Ron needed to the front of his mind. He had been shot by the third gunman while discreetly using his magic to help his fellow hostages escape from the first two gunmen. He was the only hostage left, so they tied him up and wrapped tape around his wound to stop the bleeding. Ron gave Harry a barely distinguishable nod and withdrew from his friend's mind.

"This man is bleeding," Ron told the gunman.

"I'm not giving up a hostage," the man snapped.

"I am willing to take his place," said Ron. "Think about it. You will have more leverage with a policeman as a hostage and you know this man will not be of very much use to you if he dies from blood loss." He raised his hands with his palms facing the gunman to signal to his team that there were no additional hostages and told the gunman, "I'm unarmed and I will go with you if you are willing to let this man go right now."

Ron could tell that he could see the logic in the suggestion and, after a moment's thought, the man ordered, "Take off your jacket and leave it on the ground."

Ron did as he was told, calmly removing his jacket and letting it fall to the ground.

"Turn around slowly."

Ron did so, allowing the man to see that he had no weapons concealed anywhere on his person.

"Now walk toward me slowly."

Again, Ron followed the man's instructions until he was standing directly in front of where the man was holding Harry in front of him.

"Your friends had better not try anything funny," the gunman warned as he moved the gun from Harry's cheek to press firmly against Ron's forehead.

"They won't," Ron assured him.

Fully committed now, the man said, "Alright then," and released his hold on Harry's shoulder. "Take a step to the left and then turn your back to me."

Ron did so and allowed the man to grip his shoulder and place the gun against the side of his head. They backed up slowly and as soon as they had stepped far enough away, he saw Auror Evans lead a team of Muggle officers to collect Harry and bring him to safety. Ron breathed a sigh of relief and continued moving backwards as the gunman directed him toward the building.

The rest of the plan went just as smoothly as Ron had predicted. They crossed the threshold and the moment the door closed and they were out of sight, Ron rapidly stunned the man before he even knew what hit him. A second later, the rest of his team appeared, stunned the remaining two gunman, and secured the scene.

Ron stepped outside and signaled to the Muggle officers that the scene was secure and that they could come in. He gave them a brief statement explaining how he had directed his team mates to enter the building from the roof and then quickly taken the gunmen down before they knew what had happened. Then, leaving the situation in the capable hands of Aurors Roberts and Thompson, Ron hurried off to find Harry.

~*~*~*~

"Hi," Harry greeted him as he entered Harry's hospital room.

"You know," Ron quipped, "when I told Shay you were late because you must have been tied up with something, I never expected that would literally turn out to be the case, you jammy git."

Harry smiled weakly, "Sorry mate. Thanks for saving my arse."

"No problem. Now, how are you feeling?" Ron asked as he sat down in the chair beside the bed.

"I'd feel better if I could have been treated at St. Mungo's and had this fixed already," Harry complained.

"Sorry, Harry, but you're going to have to spend the night," Ron told him. "You know that Muggles don't heal as fast and considering your little incident played out all over the Muggle telly in the middle of a game that most of the area was watching, we have to make sure your treatment looks as normal as possible."

Harry groaned and closed his eyes, and Ron said, "Don't worry, mate. I'll stay with you and get you out of here first thing in the morning, I promise."

"Thanks, Ron," said Harry gratefully.

He sought out his friend's hand took it in his own and smiled. "Anytime, mate. Anytime."