Chapter nine

"Sorry for questioning your authority sir, but why are we disapparating in a broom cupboard?"

"Mr Weasley, if what you say is true, there is likely more people in this group out there. Some may even work in the Ministry, in this very department. We do not want them following us." Silently raising his wand, MacDonald grabbed Ron with his free hand and disapparated.

The moment Ron had been dreading was soon at hand. Gingerly stepping up the front steps to her house, Ron whispered 'Aloramora'. The door slowly creaked open. He breathed heavilly, his hands clammed up, and he felt ready to be sick. Ron flicked on the lightswitch and...

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. The room was completly normal. It even had that warmness that Hermione tended to bring to a room.

MacDonalds's eyes narrowed into thin slits. In a dangerously quiet tone, he whispered,

"Explain yourself Mr Weasley. Answer wisely, or you may have just lost your job."

Horror stricken, Ron rushed to the next room. It was the same there too.

WHAT. HAPPENED.

Leaning shakilly against the kitchen wall, he looked desparately for a clue, a peice of evidence, something out of place. His eyes fell on an old wooden table. A silver camera sat innocently in the centre. Not expecting much, he picked it up and sighed. He remembred the day Hermione had showed him how to use one.

One week before Ron left for Auror training, Harry, Ginny, Hermione and Ron had been sitting in the park near Ron's new house. It was sunset. A duck and her babies waddled up to the grassy bank to rest. The grass was soft and new, the air was perfectly warm. Ginny was leaning against Harry in her usual relaxed fashon, and Harry wrapped his arm around her loosley. Normally, Ron would have been rather titchy about that, but it was too perfect for him to be bothered. Suddenly and randomly, he said

"Wouldn't it be neat to capture this moment forever?"

Suddenly reminded of something her parents gave her, Hermione snatched her beaded bag from beside her. Rummaging around for a near five minutes, she triumphantly held up a little silver device.

"Aghhh! What the bloody hell is that thing?" he had jumped nearly three feet back, and wasn't stopping.

Harry and Hermione snickered.

"Honastly Ronald, do you REALLY think I'd carry a dangerous weapon around in my bag? It's a camera silly."

"Seriously? That little thing is a camera?"

"Yes. It's fairly new. You can see the pictures you've taken on this little screen in the back. Actually, this one takes video too, so the pictures will move." Hermione smiled. THE smile. The-

''

smile.

"See?" Hermione was totally oblivious to the strained look on her friend's face. "Push this button here, and it'll turn on. Flick this switch and it will flip to video mode. Now our little sunset will be captured forever." His heart fluttered when she said 'our sunset', like, like they were together.

"Here. Do you want to use it?" Gingerly, the camera was passed from Hermione's hand to Ron's hand. He panned the camera over the trees, the pond, the sunset, to reach the most beautiful thing in the whole park:

Hermione.

"How's this?" he asked cautiously.

"Perfect."

Praying he would find something useful, Ron turned it on. Tiny rectangle-pictues popped up on the screen. Squinting and scrolling, he searched, rather slowly for the one picture that could save his friend.

"WEASLEY! Are you quite finished yet?"

"One second please sir." Come on, come on...

A flash of forest green caught his eye. It looked like it could be a swatch of robe. Hermione never wore that shade. Apparently, it was not flattering. Pushing the the view button, he realized that it was a video. He took a huge leap.

"Mr MacDonald? I may have just found something." Bracing himself for another major failure, he pushed play.

But this time, he wasn't dissapointed.

This time, it was all there.

Everything.