Prologue:

The tang of blood was something that he could never quite stomach. A slow, dizzying ascent into consciousness let him know that he was currently being bombarded with said taste. Before he was aware of his actions he half wretched, half coughed up the substance.

"Ooo look here Tom, I think he's coming around!" A voice slyly commented to his right. He could feel blood dripping out of his mouth but when he made a move to remove it he realized his arms wouldn't cooperate. Confused, he tried to move the rest of his body and realized that he was paralyzed from the shoulders down. Panic consumed him as he made every effort to move his arms and found that they would not respond.

"Uh-oh look at that poor little face all screwed up, must be figurin' out he ain't at home," A different voice said to his left. This one was laced with a thick Cockney accent. For a moment, he wasn't sure if he'd even heard him correctly at all. With a great effort he managed to open his eyes. His eyelids felt heavy and he blinked several times to get them to function somewhat properly. By perhaps the tenth or twelfth blink, he found that only one eye was really blinking, the left eye moving painfully in the right motions without the same results. He looked desperately around him trying to find a source to the voices he'd heard but a turn in both directions yielded nothing but darkness. A dull white light flickered on above his head a few times before staying lit. He winced immediately and tried to move his head away from the light but found that it was useless.

"Well here we are…again," a third voice drawled. This voice had a deep, rolling quality and a strong American accent.

"W…what…who," he started several times but each time cut off due to either pain or coughing. The voice chuckled softly.

"How many Americans do you know?"

"Jack…" he replied almost hysterically.

"I'm glad you remember me Ron, I was beginning to think you'd forgotten who I was." Jack walked closer into Ron's line of vision. Ron visibly gulped at Jack's outline in the faint light.

"Do you remember what I look like?" he continued.

"J-Jack of of –c-course I reme-rember what y-you look li-like," Ron stuttered.

"Are you sure Ronny? Here let me refresh your memory." Ron closed his eyes, bracing for a hit.

"Don't shut your eyes at me boy!" Jack hissed. Ron opened his eyes to see Jack's smirking face seemingly floating in front of him. He could smell Jack's cologne, leathery and spicy, which spoke of wealth and mystery. Mystery spoke of secrecy and that was Jack's essence. He could feel his pulse rise as Jack looked him directly in the eyes, cold black eyes so dark they looked blue. A navy line raced around each iris daring Ron to look away. Jack leaned in closer then stood again, his face now partially covered by the shadows.

"Remember me now Ronny?" he asked quietly. Ron nodded weakly.

"I thought you might. How could you forget dear old Jack? I sure didn't forget you."

"Jack I-I was actually c-coming to see you in a f-few days," Ron replied hastily. Jack bowed his head the smile never leaving.

"Do you know why you're here?" Ron attempted to answer but felt more blood go down his throat and began to gag. Four heavy handed slaps were administered to his back. He tried to jump forward as he felt the pain there sharpen and burn but he was paralyzed. He gasped and groaned softly as another rivet of blood dribbled out of the side of his mouth and down his chin. Jack's dark hand reached for Ron's bloodied chin and almost tenderly stroked at the blood with his thumb.

"My dear boy," he began, "you have made me a bit unhappy this month." Ron could feel the grip on his chin tightening. "First, you were late with your regular payment. You begged me 'Jack, Jack please just give me a little more time!' and what did I do? I gave you three days! Do you know how long that is in my line of work?" He ground out his grip threatening the rip the skin off of Ron's chin. Ron tried desperately not to cry out in order to save the vestiges of his pride. Jack jerked his hand away taking the tip of Ron's chin with him. Ron gasped loudly and before he had time to really react, Jacks hand was gripping him by the jaw.

"So you brought me what I wanted at the very end of the third day. I told you not to let it become a habit and you assured me that it wouldn't. The next week you owed me a few items. You only gave me half of them when I came to collect. And you begged 'Jack, Jack please just give me a little more time!' So I said why not it's been a good day and gave you two days. At the end of the second day you brought me what I wanted. I told you never to be late again and you promised that you wouldn't. Yet here we are again, you very late and me not very happy." He finished his tirade quietly. His grip on Ron's jaw tightened as he leaned into his face.

"You will bring me what I want and you will not be late again." He ground out dangerously before he cracked Ron's jaw on the left side. Ron screamed out and nearly choked on his own blood. Jack sighed as Ron's blood crept onto his hand. Gently he pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the blood from his hand, then placed the handkerchief in Ron's lap.

"Now, let's talk business." Ron's head swam as he let the pain overwhelm his senses. A sharp slap yanked him back to reality.

"We weren't finished Ronny. Now, you owe me 50,000 Galleons, 6 Angels Hairs, and four kilos of Dust. They were due today at noon. You are already ten hours late. What do you have to show for it?" Jack crossed his arms and sat in a chair across from Ron. Ron had only been this legitimately scared a few times in his life. One of them had been in the Forbidden Forest in second year with the spiders. The other had been when he'd gone with Harry and Hermione into the Final Battle. The rest were after school, the things that had shaped him into the man he was now. Swallowing the cough that was about to escape he looked pointedly at Jack and found that he couldn't look at him without shaking.

"I have," he paused. What did he have? He had something but was it enough to get him out of this alive, and better yet alive and not permanently damaged? This thought brought his jaw into sharp focus and he clenched his eyes shut to avoid screaming again. He swallowed and began again.

"I have 40,000 Galleons with me and one kilo of Dust." He murmured. He hadn't realized it was so difficult to talk with only half of your jaw in good working order.

"Where's the money?" Jack asked unperturbed.

"Pocket," Ron ground out. Tears began to form at the corners of his eyes and he focused heavily on not letting them fall. A different hand came into Ron's line of vision and jerked him up. Small brown eyes looked menacingly down at him and a muscular, square jaw seemed to be working up a deep grudge in the grinding of its teeth.

"Which pocket?" The man growled. Ron recognized this man as the possessor of the earlier Cockney accent that had assaulted his ears.

"L-left front," Ron whispered. The man reached down and snatched the small box from Ron's front left pocket. He then forcefully slammed Ron's body back into the chair. The box was dutifully dropped into Jack's waiting hand.

"Thank you Tom. Now is this kilo in here too?"

"Y-yea," Ron whispered.

"You look confused, boy. What's wrong with you?" Jack smiled knowingly as he took in Ron's raised eyebrows. "Ah, you want to know why you can't move but are not stiff and you are not bound." Jack laughed at Ron's surprised face, or at least, he assumed it was surprise. Ron's face was rather swollen and dark from bruising. "That will be my secret."

Jack then opened the box and saw the collection of tiny gold coins sitting in neat stacks. On the side he saw a tiny bag of Dust. Jack shut the box and placed it in his inner jacket pocket. They sat in silence for a few minutes. The gentle dripping of an old pipe echoed through the room they were in. Ron desperately tried to figure out where he was being held. He repressed a shutter when he heard shuffling above and around him as he assumed that rats were running rampant. He was brought from his musings as he heard a deep sigh.

"Oh Ronny my boy, I hate to do this to you, but I feel that I must. You have disrespected me more times then most people have and gotten away with it without anything but a few light reminders and some words." Here Ron snorted in his head. He remembered the light reminders: a small attack in an alley way, his car being thrashed with a bat, a broken nose, and a broken leg. Yes these reminders were very light.

"Now here we are again. You don't have what I want and I had to retrieve you, but most importantly you admitted to me that you were going to come and find me in a few days; a few days after your deadline, like it was nothing. I can't have this." He got up from the chair and stood in front of Ron. His gaze traveled onto Ron's frightened face.

"Sorry it had to be this way Ronny. I like you, you got spunk! You turned all sorts of fun when we visited you at work…and your house. Oh well, que sera? Tom, Frank, let him know how much he's worth to me right now." Jack walked away into the shadows and Frank and Tom replaced him.

"Don't forget to scream Ron." Tom growled. Ron felt the left side of his jaw snap completely as Tom punched him. Jack sauntered away from the noise and answered his buzzing cell. His constant smirk grew wider as he hung up. Quickly, he walked back to the violence.

"Easy Frank, I think I found a use for dear old Ron." Frank, a rather wiry looking young man, stopped his fist mid swing and straightened up. Tom let go of Ron's collar. They watched as he slumped to the floor heavily. Ron laid on the floor gasping for air and sputtering blood wondering how he managed to get himself in these messes. He found that he still could not move his limbs and grew extremely frustrated.

"Frank…" Jack started. Frank quickly flipped Ron onto his back. Ron saw stars for a moment as his head smacked the cement below him.

"…thank you. Ron I'm still not finished being angry with you but I think I found a way for you and your family to live." Ron's eyes widened as far as he could make them since they were both beginning to swell shut.

"Family?" he gurgled through the side of his mouth.

"What, did you think that we would just let them live in peace without daddy? Don't you think they would start looking and digging? Wouldn't the Ministry get involved? Don't you think sister Ginny and brother Charlie would get personally involved? Friends Hermione Granger and Harry fucking POTTER!" Ron blanched. He hadn't been prepared for the onslaught of information that Jack had just presented.

"…my…"

"Yes boy, I know everything about you. I know more than you can possibly imagine and you would be lucky if I killed you tonight; however, you have finally run out of luck. You owe me Ronny. I'm down 10,000 Galleons, 3 kilos of Dust and I do not see one Angel's Hair in my hand. When can I get those?"

"Jack…"

"I know. 'Jack, Jack please just give me a little more time!' The answer is no. There is no more time. I have things to do and cannot waste my time waiting on you to get it together!" Jack kicked Ron in the ribs. He took a calming breath and continued his speech. "I have a new assignment for you. A few friends have phoned in a favor. I like my friends Ronny, you know that. The question is, do you like yours?" Ron's blood ran cold. The question was obviously loaded but he couldn't or didn't want to understand the double meaning. He watched Jack's fox-like face get closer to his own.

"Ron, do you want to live?" Ron nodded slightly.

"Do you want mommy and daddy to live?" Again he nodded as much as his neck would allow.

"How about the wife and babies?" Ron closed his eyes and grounded out a yes.

"But you still like your friends? You can't have it all Ron. I will let you go from my service and even let everyone in your family live without so much as a harsh word from me against them if you manage to do this one thing for me. Will you do it?"

Ron didn't know how to answer. His family was his life and he knew without them he would die too, but his friends were family too. He couldn't live without them either and he knew that a decision one way or another was going to have equally painful consequences.

"Ron, I have places to be," Jack taunted. Ron closed his eyes willing the tears to stay. He would let his wife live. He would make sure his children would be wont for nothing.

"Yes." Jack smiled broadly.

"You will find me in three months. In that time I want Hermione Granger erased from this planet…"Ron knew that Jack was still talking but he couldn't hear it over the sound of blood rushing in his ears. The tears that had threatened to fall earlier were now leaking endlessly out of his eyes. The salt stung the numerous cuts on his face even though he was lying down.

"Got it Ronny boy?" Ron turned his gaze back to Jack's torso. Jack leaned down so Ron could see into his hypnotic eyes.

"No one will trace this to me. She will be gone in three months. This will be done Ron or you, or most importantly your children, will regret it everyday of your miserable life." He reached down and patted Ron's face with his hand.

"Now, Frank and Tom here will help you get home safely. See you in three months." He turned and left the other three men.

"Why don't you boys help Ronny loosen up, he's had a hard day today." Jack called out as he disappeared into the darkness. Ron looked straight up at the ceiling.

"Oh Hermione," he agonized, "I'm so sorry."

"Quit your blubbering, idiot." Frank snapped. "Let's go Tom."

"Right. Good night Ronny!" Ron watched the massive fist crash into his head and he gratefully embraced the darkness.

Oh gosh, first attempt at HP fanfic. This could get ugly folks, but I will try to stick with it! This is also a response to a plot bunny challenge thing on . I'll try to find the author and make a link but this was a while ago. Thanks for reading!