Chapter 3

AN: Thanks again for the wonderful reviews.

I'll try and update every week or so. Third chapter already!

I do not own anything from the hand of J.K. Rowling.

Ron's POV

Ron arrived at investigation room number three. He sighed, opened the file he got from Jollins and looked at the photos of Hermione.

Out of all the protection programs he had to do the past couple of years, maybe this wasn't going to be as boring as he'd expected. Miss Granger was pretty, as Jollins stated earlier, but he still needed to know what she was like for company.

There's only one way to find out, he thought and he opened the door. Hermione startled as he entered and sat up straight. Ron went to sit in the chair on the other side of the table, as he would do if this was an interrogation. But this isn't an interrogation, he reminded himself. Be kind, understanding.

"Hermione Granger?" Ron asked. He knew that it was her, but he wanted to know how she reacted. Jollins said she was still in shock so he needed to be cautious. He didn't want her to break down, or in the worst case got aggressive. He smiled, as if such a fragile petite woman could overpower him.

He didn't get an immediate response. It gave him the opportunity to really look at her. She looked nothing like the pictures he got. Sure, the frizzy bundle of hair was still present, as were her chocolate brown eyes. But they didn't look quite alive as they did on the photo, rather dull to be honest. She also looked very pale, which made him worry about her health. Was she feeling well? Her file didn't mention any health issues, except for the light shock and the memory loss. But on the other hand, they didn't know – nor did she – what she's been through. Did the healers perform a full body scan on her? He made a mental note to check on that.

But then she seemed to snap out of her pondering and answered his question, while asking who he was. He felt relieved she seemed to gotten out of her shock state.

"I'm Auror Weasley. Ron Weasley. I want to ask you a few questions, if I may?"

Always let them decide. He didn't want to use his interrogation techniques on her, but he wanted to know a few things before he took her to her home. So instead he used what he'd learned in those psychology classes at Auror Academy. He didn't thought it was valuable at the time, but he had to admit it came in handy with this case.

He saw her eyes widen and looked at her expectantly. Would she trust him enough to answer his questions? Was she still in a bit of a shock?

He felt relieved when she agreed on the questions part, but she had caught the term 'auror'. It was only then that he remembered she was a muggle. How could he be such a nitwit? One of the most important remarks of this case, and he completely forgot about it!

He quickly thought about his training and other cases, looking for something to distract her, rubbing his head. But then he thought about the next few days and weeks. She already knew there was something odd about them and he would have to explain everything during his stay in her home. He might as well be honest with her.

"Aurors are wizards who are trained to investigate crimes related to Dark Magic." Ron answered and awaited her reaction. Hermione laughed.

"Good one," she said. "Alright, I understand. It's classified. I promise I won't ask it again."

He smiled. Of course she wouldn't believe him. But that didn't matter, at least not yet.

Alright… it was time he asked the questions he wanted to ask her. He knew she didn't remember anything, but he wanted to keep her talking, maybe even gain her trust. It would make his stay at her house a lot easier if she trusted him.

And her eyes bothered him. He wanted to bring back the life in them. While she laughed at his explanation just now, her laugh didn't reach her eyes.

Would you just listen to yourself, you big prat, Ron thought. What has gotten into you? Focus on the case Ron!

"I want to ask you something about the crime you witnessed. Could you describe what you saw?" He conjured parchment and quill so he could write it down, you never knew she suddenly remembered something. That would make everything a lot simpler and would speed up the whole case, and most importantly, it would shorten his stay with her immensely.

But he didn't get the response he'd expected. At least he got what he wanted, her eyes were no longer lifeless, but shot a fierce look towards him.

"Is this supposed to be funny?" Hermione exploded. "I don't see why you can't take my situation seriously. I never asked to be brought here! Your people found me, took me here, you let me wait for more than an hour without even something to drink or an explanation and then you think it would be appropriate to just… mock me?"

Where the bloody hell did that came from? She kept staring at him with this repulsive look on her face. She really thought this was all a joke to him?

But then he realized the mistake he made. She wasn't used to wizard materials like parchment and quills. They used pen and paper in the muggle world… dead useful in his opinion, but it didn't seem to catch on in the wizarding world.

He casually waved his hand to vanish the parchment and quill and was quite thankful he wore his wand holder on his right arm. He could guess her reaction if he would pull out his wand. He apologized to her and asked her about the Virelli mansion.

She just stared at the table between them.

Merlin's bollocks, she caught that, did she… Ron would need to be careful around her. He needed to distract her and quickly, he didn't want to explain everything right now.

He thought about her memory loss. What if she never regained her memory? He needed to know how large the gap was.

"Hermione, what can you remember? Do you remember how you got there?" he asked. Hermione stared at him. It made him a bit uncomfortable, which was strange. Ron had confronted the most dangerous wizards and witches in the last four years and was never overwhelmed or uncomfortable around them. But this muggle woman made him feel uneasy. What was it about her?

Hermione's face fell and that brought Ron back from his thoughts. She looked… sad? He noticed, while he didn't think it would be possible, that she got even paler since he entered the room. Maybe he should send a patronus to the healer, just in case? No… no magic. Right. She complained about not having a glass of water, maybe he should get her that?

Suddenly she started whispering. "I… I don't remember anything…" At that moment, she seemed so vulnerable. She admitted remembering her name, and she asked Ron what happened to her.

He honestly couldn't answer her question. How frustrating it must be, not remembering what happened to you, but clearly feeling something's wrong.

She started moving and Ron half expected a new outburst, when she grabbed her shirt and unconsciously opened the top button, giving Ron a look at her cleavage.

Ron had to really concentrate on the case and explained to her what Jollins had said during the briefing, fixing his look on the table between them and the file on top of it.

When he was done, he sat back in his seat, still without meeting her eyes. He felt he should say something to comfort her, make her more at ease.

"We're…" No, not we, he thought. I'm the one who's going to be with her. "I am going to try and bring your memory back." If it's possible, he thought, but he sure was going to try his best. "I'm afraid you're the only lead we have in this crime scene."

That seemed to trigger something. Hermione seemed like someone who would help whenever she could. He guessed right, because she started talking again.

"I do remember things. I remember that I love books, that I'm allergic to horses. I remember my name and that I really love chicken pies. I like to know things… But I can't remember where I live, where I work… I can't remember where I was, who my family is. I really don't know…"

Ron noticed she started breathing faster. Was the questioning wearing her out or was something the matter with her?

Should he let her take a break? Maybe some fresh air would do her good. She said she was here for more than an hour, without daylight. The room was enchanted so it wouldn't need candles or fire to light it up. But it wasn't the same, he usually got a headache when he spend too much time in these rooms.

Hermione hooked her fingers and leaned forward, still breathing fast.

This isn't normal, Ron worried. "Hermione, are you all right?"

Was this a panic attack? He had never seen one happen, but he learned about them in training. And if she was panicking, did it mean she remembered something?

He didn't get the chance to overthink it, because she suddenly got up. At least… she tried. He saw her collapse and without further thought he jumped up, rushed towards her and caught her limp body in his arms, cupping her head before it hit the ground.

Hermione's POV

Hermione heard something in the distance. She didn't want to open her eyes, they were far too heavy for her liking. Her head hurts, and her mouth was dry.

But when she heard the clatter of glasses, she slowly opened her eyes. It took her a while to adjust to the bright sunlight that lightened the room she was in.

She found herself in a large king size bed with red and golden sheets, in a room she didn't recognize, with a large window, heavy curtains and beige walls. The closet and dresser were made in ash wood which made a nice contrast with the walls. There were a couple of paintings and when she wanted to look at those, she heard something pop at her left. She yanked her head towards the noise, which she immediately regretted as the dizziness took a hold of her, and vaguely noticed something or someone putting things down on the night table. When the dizziness faded, she could have a clear look at the new person. It was a creature not over three feet tall, had a grey skin tone, lots of wrinkles, large eyes and large pointy ears like an elf… It had brought a pitcher with water, an empty glass and a glass with a thick substance in it.

"Kreature will inform master Weasley that miss Granger has woken up." The creature spoke with a soft and at the same time scratchy voice.

Hermione was petrified but when it all got through to her, she started screaming. Loudly. She jumped out of the bed and ran towards the door.

A second pop was heard along with a voice she did recognize. "Hermione! Wait!"

But Hermione didn't wait, she opened the door and quickly ran into the hallway and down the stairs, where she heard that pop again and suddenly bumped into Ron. That event made her scream again. It wasn't possible, he was just upstairs with her before she ran, but he wasn't there when she woke up, she was sure of it.

Ron held her by the shoulders with a rather firm grip. "Hermione, calm down! I know it's confusing and I will explain it but please, don't scream. I'm not going to hurt you!"

She looked in his eyes. The same blue eyes where she'd lost herself in at the Ministry. She realized it were the darkest blue eyes she ever saw. And they were perfect.

At the moment, they were staring at her, taking her in. She inhaled deeply a couple of times before she relaxed. Her head was still hurting a lot and she used her fingers to massage her temples.

"Hermione, listen to me. We're going back upstairs, and put you back in bed so you can rest. We will talk later, all right?" Ron said as he was guiding her towards the stairs.

Hermione stopped and straightened her back.

"No," she said. "I deserve an explanation. What was that… that… creature in my room? Wait… we're not at my house, are we?"

Ron sighed and dropped his arms. "No, we're not. We are at my place. And please Hermione, follow me upstairs. I'm sure your head still hurts like hell." He raised an eyebrow at her and Hermione instantly rolled her eyes, which brought back the dizziness. She tottered and Ron quickly grabbed her around her waist, steadying her.

"What was that?" he grinned. "Let's go, shall we?"

And before Hermione could protest, he put his right arm under her knees and literally swept her off her feet and carried her upstairs.

"Please, put me down!" she pleaded. She was feeling dizzy and a little nauseous and she was afraid she might throw up all over him. But Ron didn't listen and carried her back to the room she woke up in.

"I'll give you a glass of water and something for your head. It makes you sleepy so you'll want to crawl back in there, if I were you." Ron said, while pointing at the king size bed.

"I'm not taking anything that I don't know. For all I know you're trying to drug me or worse." She huffed, but she did went back to bed.

"I can assure you that I'm not planning on poisoning you or anything else. As you may remember, I'm trying to help you get your memory back. You do remember that, don't you?" he asked. She nodded. "So I don't see any advantage in poisoning you."

"All right. But I need to ask you some questions first."

Ron smirked. "Of course you do." He sat down at the end of the bed. She took the pitcher and poured herself a glass of water, which she drank completely.

"Where exactly are we and how did we get here? No wait… first of all, what was that thing that brought me this?" she asked, while raising her glass.

"That was Kreature, the house-elf from my best friend and brother-in-law Harry. I asked him to bring you that as soon as you were awake."

"House-elf?" Hermione asked confused.

"Hermione… I wanted to delay this conversation until you were completely yourself again. But I can imagine how confusing this all must be. Let me make an agreement with you. You will take the pain potion and try to sleep. You'll feel much better when you wake up, and then we'll talk. I'll explain how you got here, and why there are things happening that you don't understand. All right? If it makes you feel any better, you can lock the door. You can call for me when you're awake."

Hermione wanted to trust him, she really did. But the responsible side of her warned her. For all she knew Ron was her abductor, or had other plans with her.

No, she decided. Ron wasn't like that. Back in the Ministry he was concerned about her and right now he was concerned as well. It wasn't acted, she could tell… again by his eyes. How much could he say through them?

"Agreed," she finally said. "But I'm not taking the… potion. I will try and sleep off the headache, lock the door and I will call you when I'm awake."

"I can live with that," Ron answered and headed towards the door. "I hope you sleep well."

"Thanks," she muttered, while she walked at the door, closed it behind him and locked it. She ran towards the large window, and wanted to open it and get some fresh air. But to her own surprise there wasn't a handle, the window could not be opened. She could see the street outside, cars passing, people walking by… She knocked on the window, waving her hands, trying to catch their attention. But it didn't matter, they couldn't hear or see her. Everyone kept strolling past the window without giving her one look.

With the worst headache she ever experienced, she crawled back into the bed and tried to go back to sleep. At least he was treating her well.

She could see what would happen in the morning. She knew there was something big he wasn't telling her and she would not rest until he told her everything. Hermione was too curious to let it go. She hated it to be kept in the dark.

AN: Hope you enjoyed this one!

Before you all send messages complaining about the Fidelius Charm. I know about the charm. It will be explained later on how Ron got Hermione into Grimmauld Place. The next chapters will be about Ron and Hermione getting to know each other, Ron telling Hermione all about the wizarding world and the growing band between them. I'll try not to make it too long until the next event takes place!