A/N: Written as part of February's meet-cute marathon. Thanks to Lo for betaing. All prompts etc listed below.
Word Count: 1747
A Smoking Gun
Ron leant back against the counter, checking his watch again. He had told his Dad that they needed to go to the bank at exactly four; it was now four forty five and he was still waiting.
"This writing business. Pencils and whatnot. Overrated, if you ask me," said Aberforth. "I think I'm finally going to give up."
He was one of the more regular customers of WWW - Weasley's Wonderful Worlds - the independent bookstore just off a side street in London. Ron loved it, it was where he'd grown up, surrounded by the smell of fresh print on crisp pages.
Unfortunately as with so many things, business wasn't booming. It was a struggle for any independent shop, and a bookstore that specialised in novels about fantasy and sci-fi was particularly niche. They had an appointment at the bank for that very reason, to try to request a loan. All Ron needed was for his Dad to hurry up and kick Aberforth out of the store. The man had been trying to write a book for as long as Ron could remember. Ron couldn't blame him. Albus Dumbledore, Aberforth's brother, was a best selling novelist and Ron of all people understood sibling jealousy.
"Dad, we've got an appointment!"
That didn't mean Abe could make them late. It was like pulling teeth but finally, Ron managed to usher the two loudly talking men out of the store, twisting the sign to say that it was closed before he locked it up behind them.
"Books have to be heavy because the whole world's inside them."
Ron didn't even know what they were talking about, but that line made him smile to himself. It was one of his Dad's favourite phrases and one that he regularly told his children. Abe knew this and rolled his eyes, wishing them both a good day with a wave as he walked away.
"Do I even want to know what your discussion was about this time? Really, Dad, you indulge him too much. It isn't even like he buys any of the books, he just sits and writes."
"He's a friend Ron, and he's lonely. It never hurts to show compassion in this world, there really isn't too much of it," Arthur said quietly. "As to what we were talking about, he has this ridiculous idea about a species of goat that can fly and I was trying to tell him that it sounded stupid."
After that, Arthur hadn't needed much more cajoling to get to the bank which Ron was thankful for because it was embarrassing enough having to queue for something they were likely going to be rejected for, but if they'd been late as well he was sure he would have rather died on the spot.
The bank was as intimidating as ever. The bank manager, Mr Crouch recognised them on sight. Ron could tell because his face looked like he'd bitten into a lemon. It didn't seem to deter his Dad who walked right up and put out his hand to shake Mr Crouch's, a broad smile on his face.
"Barty, how are you? How's your son?"
"Well, thank you. He's working at the bank, actually."
Ron tried to keep his face neutral as Mr Crouch went on about his amazing son. To his Dad's credit, Arthur then responded by mentioning how Bill and Charlie were both working abroad and how Percy was working with their local MP.
Just as his Dad went to ask Barty about their appointment for the loan, after Ron gave him a prompting look, Crouch Junior called across the store saying he needed help.
"If you'll excuse me, gentlemen."
Ron rolled his eyes and sighed.
"You let him push you around, Dad. He should tell his son to just wait. Don't they have a duty of care or whatever to put customers first?"
"Barty and I have known each other for a long time," Arthur said but there was a look in his eye that made Ron think he wasn't as calm as he seemed.
The queue whittled down slowly.
"Finally!" Ron exclaimed as they reached the front of the line, a little too loudly as one of the teller's looked up, clearly unimpressed.
"Just let me do the talking, remember."
"Yes, yes, Dad."
"EVERYBODY DOWN! THIS IS A BANK ROBBERY!"
There was a moment of pure silence when all Ron could think was that it had to be some sort of hoax, or maybe they'd stumbled onto a movie set by mistake. Then a tall man fired a gun into the air, plaster dust falling down as the bullet hit the ceiling.
"I won't ask again!"
Ron yelped as someone grabbed him but before he could lash out, he felt what could only be the cool end of a gun pressed against the side of his head.
"Do what he says, or I'll kill him."
The voice was neutral, cold. Ron stared at his Dad desperately who followed yet more barked orders for everyone to lie face down on the floor with their hands behind their backs.
"Right ginger, you're coming with me. Nice and easy."
"Where are we going?" Ron asked, clearing his throat so his voice didn't crack.
"You're now our hostage and I might need a little bit of help for this next part. You look just right for the job."
Harry sat in the passenger seat of the van, trying to tune out the bickering behind him. Bella and her boyfriend were infuriating and liabilities, Orion had admitted as much to Harry himself. He said he only kept her around because she was his niece but Harry wasn't so sure. He had received intel that Bella might have been in contact with Tom Riddle which made Harry wonder if Orion really was the one calling the shots like he'd been led to believe.
This whole operation was a mess.
Harry had spent months integrating himself into the Death Eaters, a notorious crime gang in the UK. Being so deep undercover had pushed him to limits he hadn't known he had and yet every time he thought he was getting somewhere, there was another twist or turn in the investigation.
All Harry had set out to do was bring Orion Black down. Now he was on his way to being part of a bank heist, with a confirmed murderer in the form of a giggling girl in the backseat, who might have been in touch with the man that was on the top of the Most Wanted list of seven nations.
"What's the name of our inside guy again boss?"
"Barty Crouch Junior, I've told you before Rodolphus. He's pretty good although he's a bit too young for my taste," Bella grinned with all her teeth as Harry watched what little of her face he could see in the rearview mirror.
"That wasn't what you said when you were shagging that boy in Magaluf," Rodolphus sniffed. Harry had never understood their relationship. They acted like they wanted to be Bonnie and Clyde but felt more like Sweeney Todd.
"We can't change the past," Bella sang, "and besides, you made him regret ever laying a finger on me."
"Enough."
They both fell quite at Orion's command and Harry glanced across to him. This was the man who'd killed his wife and lost two sons, both in mysterious circumstances. He wasn't someone anyone wanted to mess with, and yet here Harry was, spying on him for weeks on end.
"You all remember the plan. Let's get on with it."
Getting into the bank was easy. Harry forced himself not to look people in the eyes as they walked in and then Bella put her hand on his shoulder and whispered in his ear.
"See that blonde girl behind the counter? I've decided I'm going to kill her first. It'll scare the rest of the hostages."
Harry's blood ran cold. He forced himself to smile and pushed her hair back behind her ear, ignoring her bared teeth.
"If you get to chose one, then so do I. You know the boss prefers it when I make the decisions."
She stiffened at that, her eyes narrowed.
"You make the choice, you kill the person."
It was a long outstanding argument between them, that Bella had never seen Harry take a life.
"Fine."
Harry forced himself to be calm and pointed at the most obvious choice. It was a tall man, with vibrant red hair.
"He'll do just nicely."
The plan worked perfectly. Everyone was scared, Bella had disabled the alarms and Orion clearly enjoyed being in a position of power as he fired the gun and yelled. Harry's mind was racing as he grabbed his hostage, holding him tight against him.
"Right ginger, you're coming with me. Nice and easy."
"Where are we going?"
In fairness to him, he didn't sound as scared as Harry was sure he probably felt. This life wasn't supposed to touch normal people. That was part of his job, he was supposed to be keeping people safe and now Harry had pulled his man into his world.
"You're now our hostage and I might need a little bit of help for this next part. You look just right for the job."
Harry caught Orion's eye, nodded and then yanked the man behind the desk and into an office, slamming the door closed.
"Sit down and tell me your name."
"Ron… Look, my Dad's outside and I know literally nothing about this bank, I actually failed Maths at school so I -"
"My name's Harry Potter, I'm with British Intelligence and I'm actually undercover investigating this gang," Harry said quickly. Ron paled, looking at him with wide blue eyes before he swallowed hard.
"Right. Okay then."
For a split second, Harry was surprised that he hadn't asked for proof. Something in his face must have given that away because Ron exhaled heavily.
"I don't know mate, something about you… I just know I can trust you, I guess."
Harry couldn't let himself indulge in the pleasant surprise that came with Ron's words.
"Look, they're all extremely dangerous outside and would happily kill. Would you help me to try and save the people in the bank?"
Ron nodded immediately.
"Yeah. I said I trusted you. I'll do anything, whatever you say. I'm with you."
Harry held out his hand and they shook.
"Alright then, Ron. If you're with me, then I'm with you, too."
A/N: Prompts and Challenges:
- Library Lovers: Inkheart - Cornelia Funke [(dialogue) "Books have to be heavy because the whole world's inside them.", (setting) Bookshop, (relationship) Father]
- Character Appreciation: (relationship) Father
- Showtime: A Sentimental Man - (relationship) Father/Child
- Days of the Month: World Bartender Day - Write about Aberforth Dumbledore
- Amber's Attic: Orion Black
- Lyric Alley: Misleadin' me
- Liza's Loves: Southside - Write about a gang
- Jenny's Jovial Quotations: "This writing business. Pencils and whatnot. Overrated, if you ask me." - Winnie the Pooh
- The Forty Day Challenge: Write about someone committing a sinful act.
- Play More Cards: Spider Solitaire - write about a spinning a web of lies
- Serpent Day: Burrowing cobra - (AU) Spy
- Gobstones: Yellow Stone - Family [Accuracy: "We can't change the past", Power: Barty Crouch Jnr., Technique: Orion Black]
- Meet Cute Day 19: A has been standing in line at the bank for what feels like a century. S/he has a long list of things to do today, and just needed to pop in real quick to the bank, but the teller is taking forever. Unfortunately for A, just as it's A's turn, there's a startled scream as someone yells, "Everybody down! This is a bank robbery!" A feels someone, B, wrap an arm around his/her waist and points a gun to his/her head. A has become B's hostage. Well, maybe A won't have time for laundry today after all.
- The 365 Prompts Challenge: 312. Title - A Smoking Gun
- The Insane House Challenge: 50. Character - Rodolphus Lestrange