Chapter Four- The Next Day

…

Hermione and Ron woke late the next morning, both shooting up in bed, afraid that they'd overslept. As they looked around their room, the events of the day before came back; both fell back, wondering what they should do next.

"Hey, 'Mione?" Ron asked after a while.

"Mmm?" she replied not opening her eyes.

"I was wondering about that thing…Sanguine To-"

She cut him off, "Sanguine Tutelam."

"Yeah, that. Anyway, why didn't it ever do anything for us? We got into loads of trouble at school and Mum and Dad never popped up at the front gates."

Hermione sat up, rubbing her eyes, "Well, I suppose it would have to do with the wards at the school. The Founders wouldn't have wanted parents from all over Britain coming to the school without their knowledge. I think that our Heads of House acted as surrogate parents while we were at Hogwarts- the responsibility of the Sanguine must haveshifted to them. Besides, Ron, you're the only one whose parents would have been affected by Sanguine. My parents are muggles, so it's very one-sided; only a person with magic can be summoned as a protector."

"Then why weren't my parents summoned to us when we were at the Ministry fifth year?" Ron asked.

"I'm not sure. My best guess would be that some of it had to do with your father having been bitten by Naiagi," Ron shuddered at the name of the foul creature, but Hermione went on, "His magic recognized that he wouldn't be able to protect you, which voided the Sanguine. Your mother was also taking care of your father at the time, so her magic recognized that as an obligation, reinforced by the magical vow that she made when she married…I think that she would have been called though, if the Order hadn't come so quickly. It put us in less danger and may have ultimately weakened the call of the Sanguine."

Ron shook his head. Hermione sighed, "I'm only guessing, of course. There are loads of special circumstances that affect whether or not someone gets called by the Sanguine; that's why it's so rare. Like I said before, you have to be healthy and sometimes other magical vows you've taken affect the outcome…it's also pretty clear that the protector has to be of age, as well."

"Well…" Ron asked, uncertain, "How rare is it, exactly?"

Hermione rubbed at her temples, "The last confirmed case was in the 1500's. But there could be more. It's not something people go trumpeting about."

Ron looked confused, "Why? You'd just have been protecting your family."

Hermione shook her head, "It's not that simple, Ron."

Ron's eyebrows rose slowly, as he began to catch on, "Another condition of the Sanguine?"

Hermione nodded, "The other person has to be truly in need of your help; they must be without other options. No one likes to advertise that they were the only thing between a loved one and death- you never know what's lurking in the wings."

Ron shook his head in disbelief, "Wow," he said, "So this is for real, then."

Hermione's smile was watery, "Quite," she replied.

…

Eventually, Ron and Hermione managed to make their way to Granny's diner for a late breakfast. In the excitement of the previous day, they had put the idea of hunger aside, but now it had returned with a vengeance. When the waitress came to take their orders, Ron very nearly told her to bring him all the bacon and eggs they had. However, at a look from Hermione, he settled on an omelet and a full stack of pancakes served with a large orange juice and tea. Hermione rolled her eyes (although, today, her own hunger could rival Ron's own on any normal day of the week) and simply ordered pancakes with a side of sausage and a coffee.

The two waited for their food in silence, not knowing what to do with themselves. The things that weighed on their minds certainly weren't appropriate to talk about in this restaurant full of muggles. As luck would have it, (good luck or bad luck…now that was a matter of opinion) Mr. Gold soon broke their silence by coming over to their table.

"Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger," he said with that thin smile that made Hermione so uneasy, "How are you enjoying our quiet little town?"

Ron smiled; a charming, disarming smile that he used quite a bit when he was helping George with the shop, "We think it's wonderful, Mr. Gold. Absolutely charming."

Mr. Gold seemed indifferent as he replied, "Well, that's excellent. And where will you be heading off to after this? Boston, I presume?"

Hermione nodded, "I suppose so," she said, "There's not really much closer, is there?"

Mr. Gold nodded in benign agreement, but she thought she caught a Machiavellian glint in his eye as he asked, "So, when do you plan to leave our fair town?"

Hermione tried her best to remain nonchalant in her response, "Oh, soon enough, I expect. I think that we might soak up a bit of the local flavor, though, before we leave," she said before deciding to chance a bit of light impertinence, "Why, Mr. Gold? Eager to be rid of us?"

Oh, how she wanted to see him squirm.

She saw their waitress…Ruby, she thought her name was…coming out of the kitchen, her tray burdened with a near mind-boggling amount of food.

Hermione looked Gold in the eye, the image of prim propriety; "If you would like to join Ron and I for breakfast, Mr. Gold, you are perfectly welcome, but otherwise…" she trailed off delicately allowing him to fill in the blanks.

Gold inclined his head and made his way to the counter for a cup of coffee, his intention for coming here in the first place. Privately, very privately, he was impressed; few people in the town would dare to put him in his place, and none had ever done so with quite so much delicacy as the woman who now sat eating breakfast with her husband.

He would, indeed, be keeping tabs on Miss Granger.

…

Three rapid knocks sounded at the door of the rather crowded Charming family apartment. A series of locks were undone and a door was thrown open to reveal the face of one Emma Swann.

"Miss Swann," said Mr. Gold, looking her directly in the eye, "Not at the sheriff's station today, I see."

To her credit, Emma did not drop her gaze, "David's on today," she replied, leaning against the doorframe, her voice even, "What can I help you with?"

Gold sighed, "May I?" he asked, making a sweeping gesture towards her apartment.

Emma rolled her eyes, "Fine," she said, leading him into the cramped flat. He took a seat, carefully setting aside his cane.

"We have to talk about that couple," he said bluntly.

Emma gave him a hard look, "I thought the matter was resolved."

"I spoke to them earlier," he replied gruffly, "They have no intention of leaving, at least not soon."

Emma's eyebrows twisted in worry, although her voice remained firm, "Well, what do you suggest we do?"

Mr. Gold shrugged modestly, "I have a contingency plan that brings harm to neither of us. If they are truly lost hikers, then we let them stay unhindered, with the added peace of knowing who they are."

Emma still looked worried, "I'm going to need more specifics than that, Gold."

He huffed, "I merely am suggesting that we go through their things."

Emma's brow relaxed slightly, "When?"

Gold shrugged, "While they sleep, of course."

"What?!" Emma shrieked, "Are you insane!? That's-"

"You forget, we have magic, Miss Swann," he scoffed, producing a small glimmering bottle of dust, "A sprinkling of this will produce the deepest of sleeps for as long as the user requires."

Emma looked at him for a long while, weighing her options, "Fine," she said at last, "We'll do it tonight."

…

After their large meal, Ron and Hermione took a brief walk before they returned to their room to begin a long day of brewing and research. With the window open wide, Hermione immediately set to work brewing a caldronful of a basic paternity potion and Ron began leafing through their collection of books to see if he could find anything more on Sanguine Tutelam. It was slow-going for them both; Ron was more focused than he had ever been the need to find out what, exactly, was binding his wife here and Hermione hovered over her potion compulsively- the last thing they needed was a potions accident in a muggle town.

Eventually, after a quick dinner of sandwiches, the pair decided to make an early night of it and go to bed. There would be a lot to discuss in the morning, not the least of which would be how to get samples of blood from Mr. Gold and Lacey. They changed for bed, Hermione leaving the paternity potion to cool to the dark aubergine described in the text and Ron raising the additional wards that they had decided on using while they slept. Finally the pair went the bed.

…

Ron and Hermione woke to a loud crack, like splitting oak. Instinctively, both wizards grabbed their wands, casting lumos spells so they could see what had set off their wards. To their mutual surprise, they found five bodies handing helpless and stiff in the air by their ankles.

"Bloody hell," Ron cursed under his breath.

…

A/N- I've been updating this story at a really stellar pace (surprising to anyone who has ever dealt with my normally sporadic updating) and I am really quite curious to know; is this something that's primarily going out to people who enjoy Potter or OUAT? Are there things that you'd like to see? Stuff you'd like resolved? I'm new to the crossover game, so any little bit helps!