A/N: This updated version has new content and is much, much longer compared to the old version. Hope you enjoy it.
DISCLAIMER: Am I J.K. Rowling? No, I'm not. Therefore, this is not my work. Also, I will not be using this disclaimer every chapter as it gets quite annoying. This will be my last one. For every single chapter from now on to the end of this story, the characters are all properties of J.K. Rowling, not mine. However, the original content is mine.
CHAPTER FOUR
The Ultimate Betrayal
Ron continued to think over Draco's plan as well as his own possible plan. He knew that Harry Potter and Hermione Granger were the top two targets in Draco's plan. For some reason, he felt that either of these two people would be the best people to go to and inform of Draco's plans as well as go into hiding. However, the longer he thought about it, he knew that Harry Potter would be the worst choice as he would gladly put Ron under arrest right away and not believe him, thinking that it would be some kind of elaborate scheme by the Death Eaters to get close to Harry Potter. Therefore, Ron went back to his original thought, Hermione Granger. She was probably his best choice and if needed to, he could overpower her and try to convince her of Draco's plans. The more he thought of Hermione Granger, the more he was becoming sure of this being the right person to go to. Still, he knew it would be difficult at the start and so he needed to come up with a plan to get to her.
This would be something he would need to do soon as possible before Draco's plans were carried out which would be very soon. Ron knew that he would have to do a stake out to watch his target, Hermione, for her daily schedule in order to figure out the best possible time to get into contact with her and he had to do it quick since Draco already had two undercover Death Eaters, Damir and Trevor, working in her department. At this thought, Ron decided to start staking her out tomorrow as all the Death Eaters already knew of all the Golden Trios locations. Harry Potter could not be taken out at his own home because his home was under the fidelius charm. Hermione, however, lived in an apartment in the Muggle world since it was close to the entrance of the Ministry of Magic. This would be very helpful for Ron as it would be easy to be undercover in the Muggle world while tracking her movements.
Before Ron could continue his thoughts, he was shook out of it due to a loud clatter downstairs. Ron did not get out of bed, but instead laid his head back on his pillow while rolling his eyes. It was only Draco Malfoy being drunk. While Draco was the leader of a large group of Death Eaters, he, himself, barely got involved in missions which in a way were a good thing because he was drunk at least 4-7 days a week. Every day, normally in the evenings, he would retire to his wine cellar to drown himself in liquor. The wine cellar not only contained a large collection of wine bottles, but also an extensive collection of firewhiskey that Ron would love to have. However, Ron wisely stayed away from Draco's firewhiskey collection because he had placed several hexes around the bottles that would prevent anyone except him to touch them without harm. Ignoring the clattering sounds obviously being made by a drunken Draco Malfoy, Ron rolled over to his side in his bed and ended his thoughts as he drifted into an uneasy sleep.
Surrounded by tall trees in a dense forest, Ron and Draco were covered up in heavy coats as they wait at a location in a mountain in Germany. It was winter and the grounds were covered in several inches of snow as Ron and Draco stood in the middle of a group of Death Eaters. On the ground in front of Draco and Ron were three men who had their hands bound behind their backs as they kneel deep in the snow. These three men were German members of the Death Eaters and Draco had come to discover that these men had betrayed them by turning themselves into the German Ministry in return for their collaboration on the locations of the Death Eaters as well as Draco Malfoy since they had been wanted by the German Ministry for a few years.
"I am not going to ask you again. Tell me the names of those in the Ministry that you turned yourself in to. What did you tell them?!" Draco shouted down at them while Ron stood next to him, looking down at them with an angry look on his face. Ron was furious, not because they had given themselves up to the Ministry, but because of the possibility of getting caught by the Ministry terrified him to no end. "Tell me!" Draco shouted once again.
None of the three men said anything except they stared defiantly back at Draco. However, one was dumb enough to open his mouth, responding, "Fuck you!" Draco's eyes widened in anger and he then lifted one of his foot before bringing the heel of his boot down hard at the man's face, causing a sickening sound to echo as the man's nose broke. The man crumpled sideways to the ground in pain, but it was short-lived as one of the Death Eaters behind him grabbed his hair and pulled him up, forcing him to his knees once again. The man's face was covered in snow as well as blood which gushed from his nose.
Draco breathed heavily as he stared down at the three men who remained quiet and defiant. It was evident on Draco's face that he was increasingly becoming angry and impatient. "MacNair," Draco finally spoke. One of the Death Eaters in the circle, Walden MacNair, was one of the oldest Death Eaters and had been one of the previous Dark Lord's. Once he heard his name, MacNair stepped forward next to Draco.
"Yes?" MacNair growled as he smirked down at the three men. Draco usually called on MacNair first for his torturous interrogation skills, thus the reason why MacNair was now smiling as if he was getting a Christmas gift.
"Bring Amsel over here," Draco ordered. Amsel was one of the German Death Eaters and was the one in the middle between the other two now former Death Eaters. MacNair stepped forward to Amsel who looked up at MacNair, the defiant look now deflating as fear began to arouse his expressions.
MacNair stopped in front of Amsel and looked down, giving him a sickening grin as he reached out to grab the back of Amsel's hair. He then gripped his hand in Amsel's hair before pulling hard, forcing him to tumble forward halfway to the ground as MacNair dragged him to in front of Draco by the hair.
"What next boss?" MacNair slowly spoke as he forced Amsel straight back up to his knees before letting go of his hair.
Draco looked down at Amsel with a blank, yet angry look before turning to MacNair, "Take his fingers. Leave both the thumb and pinky." MacNair smiled widely at this as he turned to Amsel whose eyes widened in fear.
"Wait, wait! No!" Amsel began to plead, but was silenced quickly by a hard punch across the face from MacNair. Amsel groaned in pain as MacNair walked to behind Amsel's back before flicking his wand to undo the bindings on his hands. He then grabbed Amsel's right hand, hoisting it upwards. MacNair pointed his wand at Amsel's fingers.
Ron quickly turned his head away as to avoid seeing what was to come even though he knew he could still hear it.
"Incidere!" (Latin translation: cut) MacNair growled. Amsel then screamed in agony moments later but his screams were drowned out as MacNair flicked his wand twice more, yelling 'incidere' at Amsel.
Amsel continued to howl in pain, but it was clear that MacNair was done, so Ron turned around to see Amsel grabbing his right wrist in pain as blood poured out of the now empty spots where his middle three fingers used to be. It looked odd to him, Amsel only having his thumb and pinky fingers intact causing Ron to grimace at the thought, wondering how he would be able to use his right hand.
Draco smirked down at Amsel as he leaned downwards, bringing his face to front of Amsel before speaking up once again, "Now…don't force me to repeat the fucking question. Who did you tell!" Draco spat, emphasizing each word.
Amsel stared back in Draco's eyes whilst shaking in both fear and pain, but nonetheless, he remained defiant. The smirk was wiped off Draco's face as he brought on an angry face once again before reaching into his pocket. He then pulled out his wand and brought it to Amsel's face, pointing straight at him causing Amsel to look down at the tip of the wan while his eyes widened.
However, before Draco could do anything, suddenly there were multiple, loud cracks surrounding them at the same time. Ron looked away from Draco to see their new guests which turned out to be the Germany Aurors causing Ron to curse, "Fuck!" Ron immediately gripped his wand to ready himself for battle as he walked over to Draco and pulled him away from Amsel. Suddenly, it was chaos as yells could be heard all around from both the Death Eaters and the Aurors as both groups began throwing curses and hexes at each other. Ron did not feel like getting involved as he struggled to pull Draco away from the mayhem.
A loud voice suddenly boomed throughout the area, "Ausgedehnt! Suchen Sie nach Malfoy!" (German translation: Spread out! Look for Malfoy!") Ron turned his head to see one of the German Aurors yelling out at all the other Aurors as he fought off the curses being thrown at him by the Death Eaters.
Nonetheless, he did not care as to what the Auror said as his main focus was getting himself and Draco the hell out of this area. Both Ron and Draco ran through the snow-frosted trees, leaving behind the battling Death Eaters and Aurors. Once they found themselves in a clearing some distance away from the others, Ron immediately curled his fingers over Draco's arm as he pointed his wand, ready to apparate the two of them when a spell suddenly whizzed over their heads. Ron turned around in time to see another spell heading his way and tried to block it in time, but was unable to do so as the spell cut through his shoulder, close to his neck. He howled in pain immediately after as blood gushed out of the wound in an alarming rate. Draco pointed his wand at the Auror that hit Ron and threw a dark curse his way before kneeling to the ground next to Ron.
"Ron! You alright mate?! You'll be fine. Can you walk?" Draco hurriedly questioned him. Ron groaned in pain and tried to roll his shoulder to see if he could still use it.
"Yeah, I'll live. Fucking bastard." Ron spat out as Draco helped Ron to his foot.
"Alright, let's get the fuck out of here." Draco lifted his wand to apparate himself out, but suddenly a blinding green light struck Draco in the back, causing him to tumble forward to the ground. Ron's eyes widened as he took in Draco's motionless body, rage quickly roaring to life in him.
Ron turned around fast to see one of the Aurors pointing his wand at him and shouting something in German at Ron. He was not able to understand what the Auror was saying nor did he care as he pointed his wand at him. The Auror immediately threw a spell at Ron, but Ron was able to deflect it right away and he threw several spells at the Auror, left and right, causing the Auror to tumble to the ground in his effort to avoid the spells.
With Draco's immobile, likely dead, body still fresh in his mind, all the rage in Ron had rendered his thought process useless as Ron used all the rage in his body to yell out, "AVADA KEDAVRA!" The moment he yelled out the curse, the rage inside him evaporated before being replaced with an unnerving feeling of happiness, almost as if uplifting, as a bright green light shot out of his wand. The blinding green light hurled at the Auror who was now trying to get his self off the ground from the snow, but the Auror was unable to get himself out of the way in time as the spell hit the target on his head. The Auror immediately crumpled to the ground, face first in the snow.
Ron breathed heavily from the effort, the uplifting feel now dissolving into that of the rage he felt before using the curse. The rage was now coursing through his veins as he slowly realized that he had just used the killing curse for the very first time in his life. The wand in his hand shook as his hand trembled hard as he looked at the dead body of the Auror in the distance before he slowly recognized his surroundings. He immediately discovered that he was fortunate to the found that there was no one else around to have witnessed his use of the Unforgivable Curse. He then turned around to look at Draco's lying body on the ground.
The first thought that came to Ron was that Draco was dead and that it would have a huge, disastrous effect on the Death Eaters, but his thought was immediately eradicated as he heard a groaning sound come from Draco's body. Ron immediately moved to kneel next to Draco to roll him to his back on the ground. Draco was now waking up, still groaning loudly, as he tried to open his eyes.
"Draco?! You alright?!" Ron pressed on Draco's shoulder which Draco immediately swiped.
"Stop yelling…" Draco groaned. Ron rolled his eyes and pulled on Draco's arm, forcing him to stand up.
"Hey, get up. We need to get out of here fast." Ron finally got Draco to his feet before pointing his wand in the air, finally apparating out of the area before they were seen.
With a loud gasp, Ron woke up from his nightmare, breathing heavily as he tried to take in his surroundings. He immediately recognized his bedroom and forced himself to calm down while staring upwards at the ceiling as he thought back to his nightmare. It was the very first and last time he had ever used the killing curse and he could still remember the feeling that flowed through his body when he casted the spell. He shuddered suddenly at this memory and immediately despised himself for having casted that curse that night, though it was due to his belief that Draco had been hit by the very same curse. Draco had not been hit with a killing curse, but had been hit by a different, lesser-known stunner that he had never heard of which apparently had similar colors to the killing curse had. It had terrified him greatly for these few moments of not knowing whether Draco was alive or not. It was during that moment of Draco's death that the possible inevitability of him being dead or going to prison for the rest of his life rose to the front of his mind as he moved to exact his revenge on the Auror for killing his only best friend.
He shook the thought out of his mind, not wanting to think on his first killing curse any longer as he turned onto his side to grab the muggle watch on the lamp desk. On it, it read 5:30. It was still a little too early for Ron, but Ron could tell he was not going to be able to go back to sleep easily.
He decided to get up now which was way earlier than his normal waking time, but today was a big day for him. Ever since the meeting last night, he had come up with a final decision that he would take the chance to try and become an informant by getting to Hermione Granger first before Draco and the Death Eaters did which meant abandoning Draco Malfoy. This thought caused his chest to constrict momentarily, but it lessened as he believed that it was the right move and that it may just be the only way to survive the possible upcoming war between Draco and the Wizarding World. Therefore, he would start trying to track Hermione's schedule, starting today until he felt it was the right timing to present his self to her.
With his mind made up, he got up from bed and went into the loo to get ready for the day. He then went downstairs to eat breakfast quickly before swishing his wand at his face to put himself in his disguise. Afterwards, he apparated to London to an alley that supposedly led to the street that Hermione Granger's flat was believed to be at. At least according to information he received, this was the most recent known living location of Hermione Granger that the Death Eaters were able to acquire whilst undercover in her department. He walked out onto the Muggle Street and turned right in the direction of where Hermione's flat was at.
After walking two blocks, he found himself in front of the flat which was almost five miles away from the Ministry of Magic. Being this close to the Ministry of Magic unnerved Ron greatly, but he was in his disguise and therefore, he felt he was safe enough. He snorted at the thought of Hermione living so close to the Ministry of Magic rather than in a wizarding area, thinking that Hermione practically lived at work just like she practically lived in the library during their Hogwarts years.
From his knowledge gained from the undercover Death Eaters, Ron knew that Hermione lived on the very top floor, but that she was not the only Wizard and/or witch living in the building. Apparently, floors 1 – 9 were occupied by Muggles while floors 10 – 12 were occupied by wizards and witches. Ron looked up to the top and noticed that the top two floors, 11 and 12, had private balconies which greatly pleased Ron.
He then looked around for an alley next to the building before heading into one right to the side of Hermione's flat. Inside the alley, he cast the disillusionment charm on himself, making himself temporary invisible, before returning to front of the flat. He then lifted his wand to cast one of his favorite spells that he had learned from Severus Snape, his favorite Hogwarts professor, who had told him that the previous Dark Lord had invented the spell. With a swish and the incantation of the spell, he floated in the air and with another swish of the wand he flew towards the top of the building. It was a very handy spell as it allowed the caster the ability to fly without the use of a broom. He flew to the very top and settled himself on the balcony of the 12th floor. It appeared that there were two rooms on the top floor which caused Ron to be a bit nervous as he did not want to be on the wrong balcony and miss the opportunity to ensure that this was truly Hermione Granger's flat.
He looked through the glass doors leading to the balcony and could see the living room as well as the kitchen, but noticed that it was currently empty. Ron sighed in frustration, but realized that he may have arrived just a bit too early, so he decided he would wait until the occupants of the flat showed up. He only hoped that he was on the right side and that this flat was Hermione Granger's or he will have to move to the other side and wait once again. For now though, Ron took a step back from the glass doors and sat on the ground with the disillusionment charms still on him. He did not have anything planned today, so there was no rush as Ron leaned his head back against the railings of the balcony.
After forty long and dull minutes later, Ron could hear a clicking sound from inside the room causing him to sit up straight and hold his breath in anticipation of the newcomer. Suddenly, a door could be heard closing and a person walking through the hallway to the kitchen caused Ron to stop holding his breath as he took a deep breath. There, in front of him, was Hermione Granger who was now walking into the kitchen and lifted her wand to levitate a teapot to the sink where water was running from the faucet. After filling it up, she swished her wand at the teapot where, moments later, steam was now visible from the top of the teapot. She then turned around to pull out packets of some kind of herb from her counters before infusing the hot water in the teapot with the herbs. She then set down the teapot and turned to grab a plastic bag from the counter which contained sliced bread. Hermione took out two pieces of bread before waving her wand over it, causing the bread to brown slightly on both sides. After doing so, she put the toasted breads on a small plate and slathered some jelly on it that she grabbed from the muggle refrigerator. After doing so, she poured the tea into a white cup and grabbed the small plate with the bread before carrying them to the dining room table next to the kitchen which was visible from where Ron sat.
Ron noticed that she was very methodical in her movements as if she did the exact same thing every single morning and he reckoned she did. He also noticed that she had not yet got ready for the day as bed hair was quite evident as her usually bushy hair was completely wild.
'Hmm…she's not bad looking. Kind of cute.' Ron thought to himself before shaking his head for thinking those things. Yes, her rumpled hair made her a bit sexy in a way as if she had been recently shagged thoroughly, but she hadn't. At least Ron didn't think she did, but she appeared as if she had to him. But still, she was a muggle, a mudblood that is, and was not someone he should be thinking in that way.
Hoot…Hoot!
Suddenly, the sound of an owl shook Ron out of his thoughts as he felt the railings shake. He immediately looked up to see a brown owl which had two things attached to its legs, a letter and what looked like a newspaper, as it stood on top of the railings and Ron suddenly panicked. The owl did not stay there as the owl pushed itself off the railing onto the ground and bounced on its foot over to the glass door before pecking against the glass door, making loud tapping noises.
Ron turned his head up to where Hermione sat and saw that she was now standing and walking over to the glass doors. Ron inwardly panicked, but forced himself not to move a single inch because while he was invisible, it was still possible for others to see him. When moving under the disillusionment charms, there usually was a shimmering outline of the caster or the person who was invisible, thus the reason Ron froze in his spot.
Hermione arrived at the glass door and opened it, letting the owl bounce on its foot inside the flat. Ron held his breath, not wanting her to hear him breathing heavily. She squatted as to get close to the owl before untying the two attachments off its legs. She then stood up and turned around to walk over to the kitchen. Ron finally let out his breath, trying to breathe lightly but as much as he could before she returned. Hermione appeared to be grabbing some wizarding money and reaching into a bag of owl treats off the counter before she turned around once again, returning to where the owl waited. Ron held his breath once again as Hermione put the money in the pouch that was attached to the other foot of the owl. She then held out her hand that contained the owl treats to the owl. The owl leaned forward and ate some of the owl treats while Hermione lightly patted the owl on its head. Afterwards, the owl hooted before flapping its wing and rose into the air, flying outside the apartment and back to where it came from. Hermione then closed the glass doors once again and Ron once again breathed in relief.
Hermione walked back over to the dining table with the letter and the newspaper in her hand before sitting down. She unrolled the newspaper, revealing to Ron that it was the Daily Prophet, and looked over it. Ron wondered what the headline on the cover of the Daily Prophet for today was as he and Draco still got theirs every day, but it was not delivered to them. No, they had someone who would get it and give it to them when they were done with it. These days, the Daily Prophet was much, much better than compared to during his Hogwarts years and that due to the firings of many reporters who did not write the whole truth. It was partially due to the new Minister who nearly shut down the Daily Prophet until they agreed to fire certain people. Rita Skeeter had been one of those people and the last he heard, she had moved to another country as no one in Europe would hire her because she was not trustworthy.
After flipping through a few pages of the Daily Prophet, Hermione laid the newspaper back down on top of the table and picked up the letter. She unrolled the letter and read the contents of the letter as she drank her tea. Ron watched her nod lightly in response to the contents of the letter before her mouth opened and moved as if she was talking out loud to herself, but Ron was unable to tell what she had said, thus making him curious as to the contents of the letter. She suddenly stood up from her seat and walked into the hallway out of sight, presumably to her bedroom.
Ron felt relieved that she had not been able to notice him while he was on the balcony and moved in his seat to get more comfortable against the railings as he was unsure how long he would be here for. Tracking a person to learn their daily schedule tend to be very dull and Ron did not like doing it. Whenever Draco needed someone tracked, they usually had two of their lower-ranked Death Eaters do the job because the job consisted of sitting or walking while watching the target from morning to night every day as long as was needed. This time, Ron would be doing the job himself because it was personal to Ron and it was imperative that no one discovered Ron's actions before he decided to set his plan in action. Betrayal. That word was weighing very heavily in the back of his mind, like an anchor that had gotten stuck and wouldn't let go.
He sighed at this thought and closed his eyes momentarily before reopening them once he heard footsteps in the flat. Ron looked up to see Hermione returning to the dining table with a piece of parchment in one hand and writing materials in the other. She laid out the parchment on the table and dipped the feather in a bottle of black ink before scribbling her response on the parchment. After doing so, she waited for the ink to dry and rolled up the parchment before finishing up the half-eaten toast on her plate and the rest of the tea. She then stood up and used her wand to levitate the teacup and the plate to the sink under the faucet before, with a swish of her wand, the faucet turned on. She used magic to clean the cup and plate for a few seconds then turned off the water before she turned around to walk to her room.
Ron stood up, feeling that Hermione was now getting ready for work and knew that he would not need to be here much longer until later. He waited another twenty minutes before she finally reappeared from her room to the dining table. She had on a grey button up shirt with a black pencil skirt which, Ron noticed, showed off the curves of her hips. She then grabbed the rolled up parchment on the dining table before pocketing it and lifted her wand. Hermione then swished the wand in the air as she apparated to somewhere which Ron believed would be to her job at the Ministry of Magic.
Ron waited a few moments as he weighed two different options in his head. He was tempted to break into her flat, but he had absolutely no clue as to whether her flat was warded with spells against intruders. It was with this thought that forced Ron to abandon any plans of breaking into her flat now until he could find out whether it was warded or not. He sighed, trying to think of what he should do now as it was likely Hermione Granger would not be returning until late afternoon after work.
It was with this thought that Ron knew he would need to either return to his house with Draco or to do something else to kill about eight hours before Hermione Granger would return home. There was no way he could track her to work, so it was not necessary as he was well aware of her whereabouts. With a decision already made in mind, he lifted his wand and apparated away from Hermione's apartment to outside of the Leaky Cauldron.
He was still in disguise and thought he would kill some time by walking through Diagon Alley which is what he did as he walked through the Leaky Cauldron, ignoring Tom, to the back where Diagon Alley entrance was.
Inside Diagon Alley, he was pleased to see that it was quite bare, but knew it was because it was still very early in the morning as it was now near 8:30. Many shops had only recently been opened whereas some others were not open yet. Ron was not sure what he could do to kill some time as he could either shop or go to some pub or restaurant and spend time there. Still, he did not bring much money with him for the day which he was now regretting. He felt that he would indeed have to return to his house sometime today, though he did not want to for the fear of walking into Draco while the thought of committing an act of betrayal on him was quite fresh in his mind.
Before Ron could think any further, he noticed the Quidditch shop in the distance was now open and decided he would spend some time in the store. He made his way over to the shop before entering the small building. Inside, there were no customers except him and there was an aging man, likely the shop owner, behind the register looking at some paperwork on the counter. Once Ron entered, the shop owner looked up to see the new arrival.
"Good day, sir!' the man greeted Ron.
Ron looked up and smiled, "Yes, it is."
"Is there anything I can help you with? Are you looking for something specific?" the shop owner asked.
Ron shook his head immediately, "No, I'm just looking around while my friend does his shopping out there." Ron lied to the shop owner, giving him a decent excuse for his being inside the store.
The man nodded understandably and was about to speak up again before Ron beat him to it. "But…do you have any magazines or the recent Quidditch scores I can look through?"
The shop owner smiled, "Yes, I do, but not the new ones yet. I normally get the newest editions every Wednesday. However, I still have some of last week's near the back next to the gloves. Need help finding them?"
Ron shook his head, "No, I can find them, but thank you."
The man nodded before returning to the paperwork on his counter while Ron turned around away from the man and walked over to the section where the Quidditch gloves were. Seconds later, he found himself grabbing a thin weekly Quidditch magazine from a rack next to the gloves. He decided not to read the news section yet, but went to the back where the scores were usually on the last few pages.
"Damn." Ron cursed lowly under his breath as he noticed the Chudley Cannons were currently on a seven game losing streak this season so far with their record being 1-7 for the season. The Chudley Cannons had improved a lot in the last few years, but they were still light-years away from being as good as the Puddlemere United team. The Cannons only had two more games left this season before the playoff season began and they were unlikely to make it, extending the streak of a playoff-less season. He shook his head before returning to the first page of the magazine and began reading the articles, including a possible retirement from Puddlemere United article on Viktor Krum. He took his time, not speeding through the articles as he had hours to kill. It was also quite pleasing to him to do this as he did not have to constantly look over his shoulder whilst under his disguise.
Ron finally put down the Quidditch magazine back on the rack and lifted his arm to look at the watch which revealed it was 9:21. He groaned lightly and shook his head before turning to exit the shop, but not before thanking the owner on the way out.
Outside on the street, there were noticeably more people out here than before, but as the new year at Hogwarts was not starting for a little bit while, Diagon Alley would not be fully crowded just yet. He decided to stay in Diagon Alley for a while longer as he turned and continued upwards on the street in a leisurely pace.
It was several minutes later when Ron finally came to a stop. In front of him, once again in the last two days, was Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. For some reason, Ron was clenching, squeezing and unclenching his hands repeatedly at the view of the store as a serious debate began in his mind. He longed to enter the store for a glimpse of his brother, even for a second, but was afraid. He was afraid that his brother, George, would recognize him even under the disguise. Even though he had brown hair, brown eyes and had all the freckles on his face disappear under spells.
George Weasley was one of his biggest regrets, aside from being a Death Eater. After the death of his other brother, Fred, Ron was already in hiding with Draco and was unable to go to the funeral. He was distressed for several weeks, much to the annoyance of Draco, and had drowned himself in alcohol, both muggle and wizard kinds, nightly. Draco was the only one able to pull Ron out of his misery by forcing him to join Draco into various muggle towns and enjoy the nightlife they had, even if little. Ron had never truly gotten over Fred's death and continued to think about Fred constantly these days, at least a few times a week.
Ron then shook his head slightly, realizing that he had been standing in the middle of the street and staring at the building for a few minutes. It was likely he was receiving odd looks from other peoples, but it helped make his decision final. He began walking in the direction of the store, forcing himself to go inside the store, even if for a few minutes.
It was with great mental push and a deep breath that he resolved to enter the store when he arrived at the door and opened the door to enter the school. He noticed, thankfully, that he was not the only customer inside. Inside the store was still much the same as before he went onto the run with some noticeable changes in space. He surmised that had been the result of Death Eaters ransacking and destroying parts of the store during the previous war. Ron looked around, taking in the several customers who were looking at various products in various aisles, but not a single one of them was George.
Ron continued further into the store, noticing the space behind the register was empty and knew that George was either somewhere in the store or in the back. Unless…he was not here today and someone else was helping out. Ron grimaced slightly at the thought as he truly desired to see his brother, even for one second.
The sound of laughter shook Ron out of his thoughts, causing him to turn his head to the right. Suddenly, he stilled as his heart began pounding relentlessly while fighting to keep his outward appearance as calm as possible. In front of him down one aisle stood his brother, George, who was conversing with two older women who seemed to be buying something for their children and was asking George about the products.
Ron did not move at all as he took in George's appearance. George appeared to be quite normal, especially considering that his brother Fred was dead. However, that had occurred a few years ago and that would have been enough time for George to reach the point where he could resume normalcy in his life.
Ron clearly had been standing in the same spot for several minutes staring at George which now had been noticed as George turned his head to look at Ron. "I'll be right with you soon sir. Sorry for the wait." George smiled at Ron causing his chest to constrict before turning his attention back to the two women in front of him.
Ron was clearly breathing heavily, though he fought to look normal as possible, but it was becoming too much. Ron decided he could not stay any longer so he turned around, walking out of the aisle before going into the next aisle. He was now pretending to look at stuff as he walked down the aisle until he walked past George.
George apparently was trying to assure the woman that whatever product they were looking at was safe enough for their children. "I know these things look dangerous, but I assure you these products have been tested hundreds of times before I put them on the shelf. The effects are not permanent and will go away in a specific time depending on how much is used. If you use half of this, the effects will last twenty-four hours, a full day. Using it all, however, will be up to forty-eight hours or so, but the effect will always wear off. If something goes wrong, I'm not saying it will because it is doubtful, but if something does actually go wrong, please contact me right away. I have an instant cream that will get rid of the effects right away. So, any interest?"
Ron slowly moved in the aisle near the George and the two women were standing in the next aisle. He did not want to leave right away as he wanted to hear George's voice as long as possible as he was unsure when he would hear it again, if ever. The last time Ron had been this close to George was during a Hogsmeade break before the final confrontation between Harry Potter and the Dark Lord.
His heart continued to pound away as he relieved in the voice of George Weasley. However, the moment he heard him finish explaining to the women and waited on their response, Ron decided not to linger any longer as he moved out of the aisle and exited the shop before George could see him.
Ron walked down the street away from the shop as he worked to get his breathing under control, calming down his body as he walked. It was suddenly a bit too much just to see and be that close to George, but unable to make himself known to George. As much as he regretted being unable to talk with George, he knew it was for the best for now because he was afraid of what his reaction would be if George knew he was Ron under all that disguise.
Ron sighed sadly before straightening himself up. He then looked at his watch only to find that it was not yet 10:00 causing him to roll his eyes slightly. He decided that he would return to his house to get some much needed sleep, so a nap would not be a bad way to kill some time. Ron lifted his wand and apparated himself out of Diagon Alley to inside of his room of his house. He then set his wand down on the lamp desk and sat on his bed, deep in thought of George.
Meanwhile, Ron also sincerely hoped that Draco did not hear him apparated into his bedroom, but it was likely he did. However, he was not in the mood to talk to anyone, so he grabbed his wand off the lamp desk and casted both locking and silencing spells on the door as to ensure no one would disturb him. Well, no one human that is. He knew elves could bypass practically almost any spells by wizards/witches. Nonetheless, he set his wand back down and lay back onto his bed. As he closed his eyes, the only images that would haunt his nap were the faces of George Weasley and Fred Weasley.
In his bed, Ron slowly opened his eyes with a long yawn and stretched his limbs. He groaned as he forced himself to sit up in his bed. After stretching his limbs furthermore, he turned to look at his watch which now read 3:10 in the afternoon.
Ron was relieved to find he had slept in long enough to cut down the wait. While he knew he had no idea when Hermione Granger would be returning to her home, he knew that the end of work day at the Ministry of Magic was normally 5:00. Therefore, he felt he had plenty of time to get over to her apartment before she did, at least he hoped.
He finally stood up from his bed, still in the same clothes, and grabbed his wand before removing the spells off his door. Ron decided to go down the stairs to get a cup of water to down before going out. However, he found the kitchen to be already occupied by Draco.
Draco was eating a nearly finished piece of chicken, but stopped as he heard Ron's footsteps and looked up to see Ron entering the kitchen. "Hey mate, long sleep?"
Ron stopped in his footsteps and almost immediately felt guilty, but forced him not to as to not arouse any bit of suspicions. "No, long nap. I was out this morning to pick up something for Lestrange then got back here. I was still tired, so went back to sleep."
"Ah, well, what are you up to for the rest of the day?" Draco continued to eat the last pieces of the chicken and downed it all in the next few minutes while Ron moved to grab a cup of glass before using a spell to pour water in the cup. He then downed half of the cup before setting it down at the counter.
"Not much, probably gonna go out and get something to eat. I feel like stretching my legs a bit more." Ron fingered the cup on the counter as he watched Draco rise from his seat, leaving the plate on the table for the house elves to get later.
Draco looked up at him with a raised eyebrow, "You sure that's safe?"
"Mate, you know I'll be fine. Been doing it for the last two years, not a single problem." Ron rolled his eyes and downed the rest of the water in the cup before setting it in the sink.
Draco nodded, "I know, but one can never worry too much, especially with us being on the Ministry's most wanted list."
"Yeah, well, I'm only going to a muggle pub for fish and chips. I'll be back in no time, besides you won't notice I'm gone. You'll be down in the basement drowning yourself in fucking firewhiskey, so what are you worried so much for?" Ron retorted.
Draco sneered, "Fuck you Ron. I don't tell you what to do and you don't get to tell me what to do. Have fun out there. Do what the fuck you want, see if I care." With that, Draco turned around and walked up the stairs to his bedroom.
Ron sighed and shook his head before grabbing his wand out of his pocket. He then walked to the back door where he exited the house. It was a beautiful, warm day outside as the sun shone brightly as Ron looked at the surrounding trees around the house. He closed his eyes momentarily before re-opening them and lifting his wand to apparated himself to an alley near Hermione Granger's flat.
In the alley, he pocketed his wand and exited the alley to look for a pub. After several minutes of walking, he found a local pub which he soon entered and immediately discovered that it was a sports pub as the walls were covered in football memorabilia, especially for the Arsenal team. The pub was not crowded, but there were a fair number of people occupying seats and stools at the bar in the pub.
Ron moved forward to sit on one of the stools as the bartender moved to where Ron sat. "Anything you want to drink?"
"Yeah, I'll have a beer and fish and chips." Ron nodded to one of the beers on tap.
The bartender nodded and moved to get what Ron wanted. Ron sat in the pub and looked at the small television set that was on the wall which was displaying a sports game that looked to be cricket.
It was nearly an hour and a half later that Ron finally left the pub with a full stomach and slightly buzzed after drinking a few pints of beer. He walked down the street for several blocks before coming in front of the alley next to Hermione Granger's flat. It was nearly 5:00 and Ron had a feeling she should be home around 5:30 and really hoped so since Hermione could possibly stay longer and work over time. It was just typical of Hermione Granger to overwork in her job just like at Hogwarts.
In the alley, Ron used his wand to disillusion himself and used Snape's spell to levitate himself to the balcony of her flat. After landing in front of the glass doors, Ron decided he would have to stay outside once again, but he knew he needed to find a way to get inside the flat. However, as he was unable to do so for the time being, he leaned against the railing and waited for Hermione to show up.
It was nearly half an hour later when she finally apparated right into the flat, startling Ron out of his thoughts. Hermione Granger took off her robes and set it on top of the chair of the dining table before turning around to walk into her bedroom. Ron sincerely hoped that she would be staying in for the night and if she was, he would not need to stay any longer.
However, it was at that moment an idea popped into his head. He took out his wand and looked at the glass door for his reflection to ensure that he was still disillusioned properly. After confirming he was still good for a while longer, he raised his hand and used his fingernail on his finger to tap on the door in the same way the owl had done this morning. He tapped three times, making sure it sounded like it was from the owl before stepping to the side. Hermione left her room and Ron noticed she had a look of confusion as she found nothing outside the door. She then turned around to the front door of the flat and looked through the peephole only to find no one there. Hermione still had that look of confusion on her face, but was now a bit more determined than before as she grabbed her wand out of her pocket and walked over to the glass doors where Ron stood outside of it. She slowly approached the glass door and looked through it, but seeing the balcony empty, she frowned. Hermione appeared to be fighting a battle in her head, but moments later, she finally opened the door to look at the blind spots of the balcony. Ron took his chance as he quietly, but quickly slithered inside the flat behind Hermione.
'Success!' Ron thought to himself as Hermione sighed and closed the glass door behind her before returning to her bedroom with her wand still clenched in her hand. She closed the door behind her as Ron smirked in triumph, applauding himself for the idea and the quick moving.
However, Ron did not know how much longer he would be able to spy in her flat nor did he have any idea of escaping the flat. He would have to test apparating out of the flat if it came down to that, but if there were anti-apparition wards on the flat then he was fucked.
He walked over to the kitchen lightly as possible without making sound and looked for any schedules or paperwork that he could read through for any possible necessary information. After finding none, he returned to the living room and did the same, but found none once again. He sighed lightly in frustration. Ron then turned his head sideways and immediately straightened up as he looked at what appeared to be an office. He was unaware she had an office in this flat, but it was obvious as he was unable to see it from the balcony. Ron was about to move in the direction of the office when he heard the door to Hermione's bedroom open, causing him to turn around quickly and freeze in his place.
Ron's eyes immediately bulged as Hermione entered the dining table from her bedroom and walked over to the closet. She was now wearing a knee-length dress that slightly revealed some cleavage, but it was a modest dress at most. However, she had done her hair up and had put on some lipstick. 'Damn, nice. She definitely looks cute, not bad looking at all.' Ron thought to himself. Of course he knew that while Hermione looked quite plain without all the makeup while wearing the usual baggy clothes for work and school. He was also aware of that one night that she had changed the minds of many men's opinions, including his, the night of the Yule Ball during his fourth year at Hogwarts when she had attended the dance with Viktor Krum. Hermione was not someone who had the looks of a Veela, but that did not mean she was an easy catch. He had thought she was quite out-of-league for many men because of her brains which clearly would intimidate many men.
Before Ron could think any further, another thought popped up, questioning him as to why she looked like this. It was clear now that she would not be staying in tonight, but would be going out. His eyes widened in slight panic as he was not sure if he would be able to apparate out of this flat nor did he have any idea where she would be going to. Ron slowly inched himself closer to Hermione who was now pulling a light jacket from her closet and putting it on herself. She then reached down and lifted the hem of her dress, causing Ron to stop moving and stare at the bare, smooth thighs. She pulled it up until she revealed a garter-like belt around her thigh which was now clearly a wand holder as her wand was strapped to the side of it. Hermione pulled out her wand and lifted it in the air and spoke out loud, "Leaky Cauldron." A loud crack echoed throughout the flat as she apparated out of her flat, leaving behind Ron.
Ron breathed in relief that he had not been caught by Hermione Granger, but quickly lifted his wand to test the flat as to whether he could apparate out of the flat or not. With a swish, he successfully apparated himself to the alley outside the Leaky Cauldron.
In the alley, he noticed that Hermione was not there and believed she had apparated directly into the Leaky Cauldron. At this thought, Ron immediately removed the disillusionment charms and noticed that his disguise was still in effect before moving to the entrance of the Leaky Cauldron quickly.
Ron ignored everyone as he entered the pub and did not see Hermione anywhere so he quickly went to the back to the entrance of Diagon Alley only to see it still open, but slowly starting to close in. Ron immediately leaped over the now re-forming bricks at the ground to enter Diagon Alley and looked up quickly to see the back of Hermione Granger walking in the distance causing him to sigh in relief having found her.
Ron moved briskly to catch up with her but kept his distance as he did not want to make himself known. He followed her past the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes which he purposefully ignored until she stopped in front of a small, local restaurant. There was a man standing next to the entrance and Ron felt he seemed familiar to him as Hermione walked up to the man and hugged him which he did in return.
He rolled his eyes, 'Of course, it's the same guy from Hog's Head yesterday,' Ron thought to himself. He moved closer to get a good look at who her boyfriend was. They both stopped hugging and moved to enter the restaurant which finally gave Ron a better look than he had yesterday. 'Viktor Krum!' Ron yelled in his mind. It was Viktor Krum, the current Puddlemere United seeker who would be retiring soon. 'Ah, I should have noticed that.' Ron shook his head, hitting himself inwardly for not recognizing him. After the war against the Dark Lord had been won and the Wizarding World in Europe was repairing themselves, Viktor Krum had decided to transfer from the Bulgaria quidditch team to the Puddlemere United team. He had never been quite clear in his reasons for doing so except that he wanted to be closer to Europe. Now, Ron felt that Hermione Granger was one of the reasons, if not the very exact reason, Viktor had transferred to Europe.
Ron was now standing outside while both Hermione and Viktor was inside the restaurant. He wondered what he should do as he could either go inside and sit somewhere far from them or he could wait outside. However, the thought of him waiting outside annoyed him as he would find it extremely dull, so with that thought, he entered the restaurant. Inside, he could see a waitress leading both Hermione and Viktor to a set of stairs leading to the second floor which he assumed were private rooms, similar to the ones at the Leaky Cauldron. He felt that would make sense because the two of them were celebrities in the Wizarding World and would attract too much attention.
The host interrupted his thought, "Hi, how are you! Will it be just you?"
Ron looked away from the stairs to see the young, short woman looking up him. "Yeah, just me, but I'm not looking for a table. Mind if I sit at the bar."
The woman nodded, "Of course, sir, feel free to do so."
Ron nodded and walked past her, thanking her as he did, as he headed over to the bar where he sat on one of the stools. He ordered a shot of firewhiskey as he waited for the couple to finish their dinner.
It was nearly an hour later when both of them finally resurfaced as they walked down the stairs. Ron watched them walk through the restaurant before exiting the restaurant. He immediately paid the bartender and followed them out of the restaurant as well to see the two of them walking down the street back in the direction of the Leaky Cauldron.
They finally arrived at the entrance of Diagon Alley and Viktor waved his wand to make the brick wall separate so the two of them could go into Leaky Cauldron and Ron followed immediately after until they reached outside of the Leaky Cauldron.
Once outside, Ron noticed the two of them walking to the inside of the alley next to the Leaky Cauldron. He immediately casted the disillusionment charms on himself before going inside the alley, but stopped suddenly. In front of him, Viktor was standing in front of Hermione and his mouth was next to her hear, saying something that Ron could not hear. Hermione smiled shyly in response to whatever Viktor had said and he pulled his head back slightly before leaning downwards to kiss Hermione on the lips. Ron rolled his eyes at the view, but watched nonetheless as Hermione reached up, though hesitantly Ron noticed, with her hands to wrap them around Viktor's neck. He also watched Viktor's hand move from her waist downwards to her arse before squeezing slightly, but that did not last long as Hermione quickly moved both hands to grab them and pulled them back to her waist.
Ron fought the snort that threatened to burst out of him as he watched Viktor being rejected in feeling Hermione up. He also was surprised as to the why since both Hermione and Viktor had known each other since the Yule Ball. He believed that they both did have a relationship during that year, but not afterwards as it was clear Hermione had other things on her mind, especially regarding the Dark Lord and Harry Potter. Therefore, he believed that it was not until after the battle that both Hermione and Viktor got together.
Before he could think on it further, he noticed that Viktor had opened his mouth slightly and his protruding tongue slid against her closed lips, asking for entrance. However, Hermione did not grant it as she kept her lips closed tightly causing Viktor to frown slightly and move his tongue back into his mouth as he disconnected from Hermione's lips. The two of them were breathing heavily as Ron watched on while wanting to laugh at the view of Viktor being rejected by Hermione, technically that is.
"I had a good time tonight," Viktor said out loud, smiling down at Hermione as he did. Hermione returned the smile, but something in her eyes made Ron think she may disagreed or was bored which caused him to become confused a bit and wonder if she was not interested in Viktor any longer.
"Me too." Hermione's response was short and Ron now had a gut feeling that she was not as romantically interested in Viktor as he was for her.
"Will you be able to get home alright?" Viktor asked.
Hermione nodded, "Yes, I will be fine. Thank you. Good night." Hermione lifted the hem of her dress, causing both Viktor and Ron's eyes to move to her thigh which was not quite visible in the dark alley. She then readied herself to apparate as she lifted her wand.
"Wait." Viktor stopped her movements and leaned forward to peck her on her cheek. "Good night, Hermione." Ron's eyebrows rose at this as he now noticed that Viktor was now able to pronounce her name properly, something he apparently was unable to do during their fourth year.
Hermione smiled then backed away from Viktor before swishing her wand, apparating herself out of the alley, clearly back to her flat. Viktor groaned as she left and leaned forward, putting his head on the wall of the alley.
Ron did not stay as he backed away and apparated himself to the alley outside of Hermione's flat and immediately levitated himself to her balcony. On the ground, he watched Hermione taking her jacket off and putting it inside the closet before reaching around her back and pulling down the zipper on the back of her dress. Ron's eyebrows rose as he wondered if she would be undressing in the living room, but she, unfortunately, did not as she pulled the zipper all the way down to the end before turning to walk to her bedroom. Ron now could see her milky-white back as she entered her bedroom. The night was clearly over as Ron sighed and took a step back before lifting his wand and apparated himself back to his bedroom where he fell asleep half an hour later.
Ron would quickly come to realize that the next four days, Tuesday to Friday, was practically the exact same routine for Hermione Granger. He would wake up early every morning before 8:00 and ate breakfast before apparating to Hermione's flat. In doing so, he would go on to learn the times Hermione would wake up in the mornings to eat breakfast before leaving for work and also when she would normally return home from work. This was the kind of knowledge that would be highly beneficial to Ron's plans, that is if he could think of a complete one.
Ron was quite stumped as to what the best way to approach her and convince her would be, but he could not think of anything. This surprised Ron greatly because he prided himself on being a strategist and thinking ahead of others in order to beat others at every turn, hence his master skills at chess. All he knew that the most important thing about the so-called plan would be to convince Hermione which had to come first because if he could not convince her, the plan would be for nothing.
At the same time, while he was absent from the house at all hours of the day during the week, he had surprisingly not aroused any suspicions from Draco or his fellow Death Eaters. He could understand the Death Eaters part because Death Eaters usually did not come around the house unless there was a meeting or they needed a place to stay or hide. Fortunately, no Death Eaters had shown up at the house save for one who had a private meeting with Draco that had gotten Ron increasingly curious as Draco usually did not hide things from him. Usually Ron would be alongside with Draco when it came to meetings or talks with other Death Eaters. Therefore, the Death Eater having a private talk with Draco had aroused suspicions in Ron, but he was unable to think any further on it because his mind was filled with how he would convince Hermione and that he would be doing the ultimate betrayal on Draco.
Nonetheless, it was the best that he did not cause anyone to get suspicious about him because what he was now doing was very, very dangerous and life-threatening to him. Still, Draco's routine throughout the week had not changed a single bit at all, aside from his secret meeting with that one Death Eater. Other than that, he continued to drink every night and sleep late every day, even though there was a new plan of his at work. Either way, Draco's continuous routine gave Ron an advantage to get away from the house, disappearing for hours at times, without making him suspicious. At least Ron hoped it did.
On the very fifth day, a Friday, Ron was now waking up after a long nap after watching Hermione leave for work that morning. It was early in the afternoon and he had several hours before needing to apparate to her flat. He had a feeling today would be a different routine because it was a Friday and there was the possibility that Hermione would be going out tonight. For this, Ron was genuinely interested as to how she spent her Friday nights.
After using the loo, he went downstairs to the kitchen for a bit of late lunch where he would sit at the table and instructed the kitchen house elf to make him a good sized sandwich. Several minutes later, he was now eating into the beef sandwich with pure enjoyment, moaning lightly every once in a while at the juicy flavors the beef offered.
"Ron?" A voice broke into Ron's thoughts, causing him to set down the sandwich back on the plate. He then turned to see Draco walking into the kitchen before sitting on a chair at the table across from Ron.
"Yeah, what's up mate?" Ron asked before taking a drink of his tea.
"I need your help on Monday afternoon. You available?"
Ron scrunched his eyebrows, "Yeah, I'm free. What do you need help with?"
Draco's face was unreadable, but at the end of Ron's answer, he put on a look of light glee before leaning forward on his arms on the table. "I am going to put the first part of our plan into process."
At this response, Ron's whole body straightened up as he freed his thoughts of virtually anything and focused on Draco. He inwardly wondered if they would now be starting with abductions and he was proven correct moments later.
Draco continued in an almost excited voice, "Two of our men undercover at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures will be following the mudblood back to her flat. Since we know where she lives and they know when she normally leaves work, it would be too easy to pull this off. What I want is for you, Lestrange and Dirk to break into her flat before she returns from work. The other two will apparate into her flat right before she leaves, so the five of her would be enough to restrain the mudblood right away before she can do anything! Once you have done this, bring her back here and we will put our plan into full action. Oh this will be fun!" Draco finished with a smile on his face which the first time Ron had seen on his face in a very long time. Draco had been too serious and too sullen for the last few years which were the result of witnessing his father's death and wanting revenge on the Golden Trio. "So…you in?"
Ron leaned backwards against the chair, appearing in deep thought as if considering the plan. In actuality, he was inwardly panicking. This was much, much sooner than he had expected. This would interfere with his chances of getting to Hermione Granger before the Death Eaters would. However, this was not the time to think of such things while Draco was sitting across the table staring back at him with an expectant look on his face.
Ron sighed and nodded, "Yeah, mate, I can do that. It sounds good. It might actually work, but it just sounds too easy. Are you sure her place is not warded?"
Draco shook his head, "Nope, Trevor, our undercover in the Security department at the Ministry of Magic, confirms that there are no records or proof that she has the place warded. I don't know, it may be warded with some things that she may have kept from the Ministry of Magic, but we will find out on Monday. Actually, you know what, now that you have made me think of the possibility of wards, how about you wait until both Lestrange and Dirk try getting into the flat first. If they can, then you should be able to. If not, I wouldn't risk it and we'll come up with something else if we have to."
Ron nodded, "Yes that would be the ideal thing to do. Okay, I can do that. Let's have Dirk go in first instead. I'd rather Lestrange not get injured in any way if there are indeed wards. Dirk is replaceable."
Draco smirked at this, "He indeed is." He laughed at this and Ron couldn't help but smirk in return. "Alright, that sounds good mate. Thanks for this."
Ron shook his head slightly, "Oh don't worry about that. You know I'd do anything for you."
Draco smiled and stood up from his seat before walking around to where Ron stood and put a hand on his shoulder, "I know you would just as I would for you. You are my best mate and the only person I can trust in this fucked up world." Ron's chest constricted at Draco's statement as Draco squeezed Ron's shoulder before leaving the kitchen.
Ron looked after Draco's retreating back, 'I know and I am about to betray that trust.' He sighed to himself, closing his eyes as he leaned his head against the back of the chair. Ron did not keep his eyes closed long as he knew that he needed to do something quick. He immediately pushed his seat back and stood up from the table before going up to his bedroom.
In his bedroom, he began pacing back and forth around the room. 'I can't delay this plan any longer. I have to do it now, today if I have to.' Ron knew that he had to do it soon because he now knew that Draco was planning to abduct Hermione Granger on Monday and start his revenge on her as well as the Golden Trio. This was much, much sooner than he had expected, but he could not think on that any longer. It was imperative that he confront and convince her before Monday. There was no time to come up with a plan. It had to be done now, as soon as possible. Therefore, the best thing would be to apparate into her flat if he could and confront her today.
At the same time, Ron believed that it was possible she may have a date tonight, but now he did not care any longer. That would not be for another few hours and he had plenty of time to prepare and get to her flat before she left work. However, what if she was indeed going out tonight, but not on a date but to meet friends like Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom? That would be something that could become dangerous for Ron. At this thought, he groaned and sat down on his bed, now thinking deeply on the best way to approach this and come up with a solution. What was he supposed to do? Wait until Monday morning before she left for work? He could not do anything this weekend because he had not yet tracked Hermione's routine on weekends, therefore he had no idea what she did on the weekends. It would be too big of a risk to attempt anything this weekend, thus forcing him to return his thoughts to today. Today was his only chance. He had to do it today, no matter what. This thought caused him to groan out loud, not liking it every second he thought about it.
Ron sighed and with an increased determination, he stood up from the bed and walked over to his closet before pulling out a large suitcase. There were less than two hours before Hermione would be returning from work. Therefore, Ron used his wand to levitate most of his clothes, at least a few weeks' worth, into the suitcase. He then decided between certain items and sentimental items to add to the suitcase. After doing so, he quietly went down the stairs to a locked chest in a private closet in the office of the house to take out two bottles of polyjuice and some Peruvian dust made by Fred and George for emergency use before returning to his bedroom and putting them in the suitcase as well, but he kept some of the Peruvian dust in his pocket just in case.
He looked down at the full suitcase and closed his eyes, sighing as he did. 'I can only hope this goes right. If it goes wrong, I'm fucked either way. Damn it, this had better work.' Ron thought to himself, sincerely hoping that all would go well. At the same time, he wished he had learned the undetectable extension charm spell that would let him use a small bag or whatever and put in as much as he wanted in that bag. However, as he never did, he was stuck with using his suitcase. Therefore, Ron used his wand to shrink the suitcase to a small size that he could easily fit in his robes pocket.
After putting the suitcase in his robes, he put on his robes and stood in the middle of his bedroom. 'Should I leave a note? That would be too obvious. Maybe I shouldn't leave anything at all. Oh fuck, can I really do this?' Ron was starting to panic again, not exactly sure what he should really do now. However, he straightened up and lifted his wand before he could think any further and apparated himself to the alley next to Hermione's flat.
In the alley, he used the disillusionment charm on himself before levitating himself to the balcony of Hermione's flat. He then waited on the balcony for almost an hour until Hermione, herself, finally apparated into the flat. He watched her take off her robes before setting it on top of a dining table chair before walking into her room.
'This is it. I have to do it now.' Ron thought to himself as he lifted his wand and apparated directly into her flat. 'It worked!' Before Ron could think any further, Hermione returned from her bedroom after hearing the crack with her wand in her hand.
"Who's there?!" Hermione frantically looked around for the intruder, but did not see anyone as Ron was still disillusioned. However, Ron moved forward and Hermione suddenly turned her head in his direction.
'Shite! She saw the shimmering outline. Damn it!' Ron quickly pulled out the Peruvian dust out of his pocket and threw it onto the ground which was clearly seen by Hermione judging by her widening eyes. Suddenly, the room went black full of dust and Ron took out his wand.
"Expelliarmus!" Ron shouted and he felt her wand land into her open hand and then he heard her begin screaming. "QUIET!" Ron yelled over her screaming, but she did not stop so he used the anti-peruvian dust product that Fred and George had created not long ago which cleared up the black dust immediately.
In front of him, Hermione looked afraid and was now backing away to her room, but she stopped in her steps as she finally noticed Ron standing in the middle of her living room with his wand pointed at her.
"What are you doing here?!" Hermione yelled.
Ron immediately swished his wand, "Silencio!" Hermione now could not make a sound as her mouth moved in anger. She suddenly turned around to run to her room, but Ron swished his wand again, "Locomotor Mortis!" which caused Hermione's legs to lock together. As soon as they did, Hermione immediately fell forward to the ground with a thud causing Ron to wince slightly.
Hermione turned over and tried to crawl to her bedroom, but Ron immediately walked over to where Hermione was on the ground. He looked down at Hermione causing her to stop crawling and look back up at Ron with pure fear in her eyes.
Ron did not look away, but whispered, "Hello Hermione."
A/N: Well damn, that was a long chapter! This chapter is like three times longer than the original chapter or more! This was probably one of the most important chapters to revise and expand on because there are important stuff happening in this one and in the original chapter I made it so short and quick that it felt kind of emotion-less or empty. Does this mean every new revised chapter will be this long?! Hell no! Lol, I kid, but all new chapters will obviously be longer than the originals. Also, I look forward to your reviews, especially seeing that email alert that a new reader had added this story to their alerts and/or favorites. Reviews have always and will continue to be one of my favorite parts of writing. I love criticism and welcome it greatly because all it does is make me become a better writer. However, I don't beg for reviews and this will be the only time I ask or hope for reviews. It is all up to you. Well, I might ask after I post chapter 24 after finishing revising all 23 chapters ;). Until next time…
