Please don't kill me for who I paired them all up with!
Ron was leading the pack, laughing so hard he was doubled over. He was the only one without a hostage. His brothers let the women down from their backs and started to untie them, all laughing.
Hermione stalked over to Ron, a winter wind whipping her hair and robes around her.
"What the hell is this?"
Ron couldn't respond; he was still in stitches.
The women scuttled away from the Weasleys once they'd been released, going to huddle with Ginny, who was staring at her brothers in shock.
"'Lo! Got you a book," said Ron between guffaws. He held up a handsome leather-bound. Hermione slapped it out of his hands.
"What is this?" she shouted again. Ginny's shocked expression had quickly turned to rage.
"Did you lot kidnap these girls?" she yelled at her brothers. "What the hell were you thinking?"
When none of the men responded, Hermione hit Ron across the face.
"Ronald Weasley!" Ron straightened up, hand rubbing his stinging cheek, all trace of laughter gone.
"It was a joke—"
"This is not a joke," said Hermione in a deadly whisper. The rest of the Weasleys became silent at once.
"Take them back this instant."
"We aren't going to do that," said Ron, a grin sneaking back onto his face.
"Why not?" said Hermione, eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Took us a long time to get them," he said. He and his brothers chortled. Ginny sent a curse at Fred that missed him by inches.
"I'll take them back myself, then," said Hermione, turning around.
"You can't do that," said Bill. She stopped.
"Why not?"
"Dad put an enchantment on the property. Only Weasley men can apparate in and out of the Burrow."
"So you just want to wait until their families come and find them and probably kill you all?"
"Oh, it'll take them a long time to do that; Dad made it Unplottable as well," said Charlie.
Hermione knew there had to be a way around this, but she was too angry to sort her thoughts.
"Ginny, take these poor girls inside," she said, not taking her glaring eyes off of Bill. She waited until the door was shut to shove Ron aside and face his brothers.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?"
When no one responded, she raised her wand.
"It was Fred and George's idea!" confessed Percy, putting his hands up in surrender. "They found one of your books--"
"The 'Sobbing Women'—"
"About the Romans—"
"Who carried off women from a neighboring village—"
"We were getting desperate—"
"Why didn't you ask me for help?" said Hermione, shaking with rage.
"We wanted to do it ourselves!"
"We're men, we can handle it."
Hermione glanced at Ron, who she noticed was slightly glassy-eyed.
"You're all drunk, aren't you?"
They all shifted uneasily.
"That's it!" Hermione shrieked. With a great sweep of her wand, she conjured a flock of canaries and with a cry of "oppugno!" she sent the lot of them on the Weasleys, who scattered, hands over their heads. Hermione swept back into the house and slammed the door behind her.
That night, it began to snow.
The women were all sitting around the table and Ginny had placed a mug of coffee in front of each of them. They huddled over their mugs, crying silently. Hermione joined them, apologizing endlessly. Eventually they were calm enough to introduce themselves.
There was Fleur Delacour, a gorgeous Frenchwoman with long blonde hair; Penelope Clearwater, whom had curly hair and a rather pointy nose; and Alicia Spinnet, a tall, well-built girl. There was Tonks, with a shock of violently violet spiky hair, who refused to give her first name; and Angelina Johnson, a tall black woman with long dreadlocks.
Angelina and Alicia seemed to know each other and sat close together, swapping glances every once and a while. Fleur sat looking offended and haughty and did not speak. Penelope and Tonks were calm enough, though, to carry a conversation with Ginny and Hermione. At half past eight, there was a knock on the door. The women fell silent at once. Ginny made to go answer it, but Hermione waved her away with her hand and pulled open the door herself.
Ron stood on the threshold, snow caught in his flaming hair and soaking through his jacket shoulders. Anger boiling up, Hermione stepped outside and shut the door behind her.
"Yes, Ronald?"
"You know, I didn't actually kidnap anyone."
"You assisted and that's all there is to it."
"But I didn't actually do anything, so I should be able to come in—"
"You obviously didn't do anything! You didn't even try to stop them!"
"It wasn't even my idea!"
Ron knew the fight was lost, but he kept on anyway.
"It's freezing out here!"
"You should have thought of that earlier."
"You let me in. I'm still your employer."
"Oh, are you? I'd thought I'd become more than an amah."
"I thought so too, but now I'm thinking otherwise."
The two stood glaring at each other.
"Let me in," Ron said, advancing.
Hermione pulled out her wand. "Don't you dare. This house is for females only until these women are taken back to their homes."
Ron stared at her wand, then raised his eyes to her face. Without saying a word, he spun on his heel and headed to the garage. He looked back when he reached he the door and shouted, "Fine!" He threw the door open, making the brothers camping in there howl and yelp with rage at the cold, rummaged around and came back out, dragging a tent with him.
"I'm going!" he shouted. The Weasleys had all huddled in the door of the garage. "Don't let her give them back," he spat at his siblings and with a last cold glance at Hermione, disapparated, tent and all.
"He's such a child," said Hermione when she had hurried back inside. She said as much, but she was shaken. Ginny was subdued the rest of the evening and though neither admitted it, they were both worried about Ron and his rash behavior.
Alicia and Angela holed up in Fred and George's room, Fleur and Tonks took Bill and Charlie's room, and Penelope got Percy's room to herself.
Ginny managed to drift off around one o'clock in the morning but Hermione could not sleep. She finally went to her window and lit a candle.
The Weasleys could not sleep either. Not only was the garage cold, but it smelled. The men were all huddled in a pile, despite being uncomfortable so close together.
None regretted their decision to lift their women. None of them had felt so strongly for someone before in their lives. As Bill reasoned, they had to forgive them eventually, and when they did, they'd all live happily ever after. The one thing no one had counted on was Ron and Hermione's little squabble that had caused Ron to run off to who-knows-where.
"If something happens to him—" Bill started.
"It would be all your fault," finished Fred.
"You are the oldest," said Percy.
"S'okay, brother," said Charlie consolingly. "We're all better off without him for now, he could have complicated the situation."
So they all fell into an uneasy sleep.
Thanks for reading, please review ^_^
