Man torturing man is a fiend beyond description. You turn a corner in the dark and there he is. You congeal into a bundle of inanimate fear. You become the very soul of anesthesia. But there is no escaping him. It is your turn now... -Henry Miller
The nurse looked up from the reception desk and gasped.
"Minister! Oh, um… is there anything I can do for you?"
"Where is Mr. Ronald Weasley's room?" Beckett asked. The nurse went through the Auror charts and shook her head.
"I'm sorry, Minister, but he's in a private room. I'm not permitted to give you his room number," she said apologetically.
Beckett leaned to his side and whispered something to the man beside him. That man went around the desk and leaned into the woman's ear, whispering menacingly to her. Her eyes grew wide and she grabbed a quill and a piece of paper. She scribbled down the room number and the floor quickly and handed the paper to the Minister.
"Thank you," Beckett said before going over to the elevator. "Tell your husband I'll be seeing him soon."
When they had entered the room, Beckett approached the bed, where Ron was still lying.
"Trenton… Two others have failed before you because of their ignorance. They have been dealt with. If you come back without the item, I will deal with you myself," Beckett growled. One man, who seemed out of place with the other officials, nodded and left the room.
"Sir, what are we doing here? Weasley can't say anything," Gregory Vincent, the Minister's advisor, said.
Beckett took out his wand and turned to Vincent.
"He knows what happened that night, Vincent. Those Death Eaters are all idiots. In all their glory, they failed to realize that even though that curse causes a long and painful death, it also transfers memories. Bloody idiot who shot the curse was a main player in this plan," Beckett growled.
"Was?"
Beckett didn't answer, but turned back to Ron. Another official frowned though.
"If this curse was being tested, how do we know Weasley's actually going to die?"
Beckett closed his eyes.
"We're here for a reason, now go tell the Aurors at the door to start going through the Mudblood's office. If Trenton fails me, I want her office searched before we leave."
He looked down at Ron and raised his wand.
"Avada Ker-"
Beckett was hit in the face, slammed into the wall, and the six other men in the room ducked when the window exploded.
"Sir are you okay?" Vincent asked, getting to his feet and scrambling over to Beckett as he struggled to his feet.
"What the hell happened?!"
"Oh my God…"
They all looked at the bed and then at the window.
"Get out there and find him! If he gets to the Ministry, I'll have you all killed! FIND HIM!" Beckett bellowed, running to the window and looking out. It had started raining and now the flashes of lightening and the torrents of water were making it hard for Beckett to see anything. Beckett turned around and grabbed an official and pulled the man to him.
"Alert Malfoy and have her to put Death Eaters out there," Beckett hissed. "He needs to be found quickly!"
"But if the curse worked, shouldn't he be blind?" the man asked. Beckett shook the man.
"Do you honestly think that's going to prevent him from getting to the Ministry?! He's an Auror not Lockhart! GO!"
The moment he left, another person entered, moving over to the Minister quietly.
"You lost him, Beckett," came the quiet voice of a dangerous woman.
"You screwed up the curse, Narcissa, so don't start with me."
She turned to him.
"What do you propose to do, Beckett? Weasley knows everything. He knows how we work and he knows where we'll go to find him. If the Aurors find him before we do, then it will be your head as well," she growled.
"Not if Trenton finds the item first. Then we can have both of them arrested for housing Death Eater paraphernalia. By law, you're supposed to turn in anything found on a raid. Don't worry, Narcissa. Weasley will be in Azkaban, where we can kill him properly, and we'll have a Mudblood to start the process."
Narcissa nodded and turned to leave, but stopped when she was shoulder to shoulder with him.
"If Weasley isn't found by tomorrow, you can forget about the Process. You should be more worried about your job by then," she said before leaving.
Beckett stood at the window for a moment longer before letting out an angered cry before leaving as well.
Hermione jumped when the lightning cracked outside her window and blew it open, allowing the rain in. Leaving the kitchen she began to close the windows in her small living room. As she sat down, the remainder of her memory flooded to her.
Ron smiled as well, trying to keep his eyes on her face while his hands placed themselves on her waist, pulling her closer.
"I don't have to stare to see what's underneath, Hermione," he whispered into her lips before kissing her fully. She gasped as their kisses grew more intense, their bodies so close she could hardly breathe. She could feel his hands shaking with desire to travel underneath the towel and she herself was fighting the urge to let him do it. She felt one hand move down to her leg, grabbing the back of her leg and pulling it up to his hip, forcing them both into a position they longed to explore. As Ron's lips traveled down her neck, she leaned into his ear, her breathing becoming shallow with every slight movement of Ron's cool hands. Just the soft sounds that she was making were making Ron want to do things to her that he had never been able to do before.
"Ron… maybe we should… maybe we should…"
She reached down and grabbed Ron's hand as it began to move up her leg. She then pulled away from Ron's lips and rested her head against his neck as she tried to think straight.
"Maybe we should what?" Ron asked in a voice that made Hermione shiver. She took another moment to breathe before looking up at him.
"I heard that sex is better the first time on the wedding night," she told him, pushing his hand away again as it tried to creep its way up under the towel.
Ron knew what she was trying to say and sighed, kissing her lips gently before pulling away all together, distancing himself from her. She pulled the towel more tightly around herself and looked down at the ground.
"Thank you, Ron," she whispered.
Ron rolled his eyes and began to leave the bedroom.
"You better walk down the isle in that towel," he muttered before closing the door behind him. Hermione smiled and looked over at the door. She felt her heart skip a beat at thinking of what might have happened if she hadn't stopped him and looked over at her bed.
"It better be good on the wedding night," she muttered to herself before getting dressed.
Hermione looked up when she heard a knock at the door. Getting up, she walked over to the door and looked through the peep hole. The man on the other side knocked again and Hermione frowned as the man stepped back and looked down the steps before knocking on the door again.
"Hermione Granger! St. Mungos sent me to give you news on a Mr. Ronald Weasley," the man called, knocking again.
Hermione immediately opened the door.
"What hap-"
The last thing she saw was the glint of steel then the end of something large come towards her head. Then the pain as she hit the floor.
"Are you sure…"
"We have it now…"
"How much time…"
"How did he…"
"You should get back…"
"We'll worry about it…"
As snippets of conversations started to grow louder, Hermione groaned inwardly and moved slightly only to cry out when shooting pain shot up her spine. The only thing was that she didn't hear any sound…
"She's awake."
Hermione tried to open her eyes, but she couldn't. Something was keeping them from opening up. She tired to speak but again no sound came.
"I wouldn't try to speak. It will only make things worse for yourself," Hermione heard a woman say. The voice sounded familiar yet she couldn't pinpoint it through the ringing in her ears. "I wouldn't move either, unless of course you like being shocked."
Lying perfectly still, Hermione began to panic.
What was going on?
"You can't keep her here," the woman's voice said again.
"Don't worry, Narcissa. I'll deal with her and the missing blood traitor with one report tomorrow at the press conference. We'll say she's being kept at Azkaban until further notice."
The other person who spoke sounded oddly familiar as well, though she still couldn't place a name to it.
"What about Potter and those other Aurors? They have access to Azkaban. They'll know."
"They do not-"
Hermione heard a door open and footsteps move across the floor then stop abruptly.
"Madam, your son is here to see you. He is waiting in the second parlor."
"Thank you."
There was a silence as the footsteps receded and the door closed once again.
"Does he know?"
There wasn't an answer.
"Deal with the Mudblood."
There was a clicking of heels then the opening and slamming of a door.
Malfoy stood up when he saw his mother glide into the parlor, her silver robes flowing gracefully behind her.
"Mother."
She nodded curtly.
"Draco, make this quick. I'm rather busy at the moment."
"I wanted to see you," the young man said.
"Darling, we can see each other tomorrow. Make an appointment with Ferly and we'll have lunch. Tonight isn't good though," she said as she started to leave when Draco's cold voice stopped her.
"You're not doing anything illegal, are you mum?"
For a moment Narcissa wanted to curse her son, but she controlled her self and turned to face him. She walked over to him and reached up, touching his face gently with her long pale fingers.
"My dear son… If you ever suggest something like that of me one more time… you'll be the first to know," she whispered before leaving the room. Draco waited until the sound of her heels died away before leaving the room himself and started off towards the kitchens. He shoved the doors opened and all activity ended as the house elves looked up at him with wide frightened eyes. He looked around intently for a moment.
"Ferly!"
The large overweight elf snapped its fingers and appeared in front of Draco.
"Yes, Young master Malfoy," it said bowing.
"Make an appointment for me to meet my mother for lunch tomorrow," Draco ordered before looking around again. "Get back to work!"
Immediately the kitchen Draco was standing in was alive with the annoying sounds of house elves. Draco could also hear the adjoining kitchens also starting up again. Sighing, he left the kitchens and walked down the dark halls of Malfoy Manor, the glares of his forefathers bearing down on him as he moved in and out of the shadows, his own shadow flickering with the little torches that were on the wall.
"Coren," he muttered and there was a soft pop beside him as he continued to walk.
"Yes, master," squeaked the little house elf.
"Who's in the dungeons?"
"The Minister, sir."
Draco frowned as he turned the corner and headed up a narrow flight of spiral stairs.
"The Minister? Who's with him?"
"A woman sir, but Coren could not achieve the name of the woman, sir. It was never mentioned. Young master's mother was also in the dungeons until she was called away."
"What the hell is Beckett doing here?"
The house elf squeaked at Draco's use of words and Draco sighed.
"What else did you hear?"
"Ronald Weasley has escaped from St. Mungos Hospital. The Minister of Magic is to give a press release sir, tomorrow, sir and your mother does not want the… the…"
At this point, the little thing's knees were shaking as it struggled to say the word. Draco stopped in the middle of the small hall and looked down at the house elf.
"What is it? What doesn't she want?"
"Master has ordered me not to use the word," Coren squeaked, shaking under Draco's harsh glare.
His eyes widened in realization and he looked back towards the way he came.
"The Mudblood," he muttered. Coren covered her ears and cringed. Draco sighed and kneeled down.
"You did well, Coren," he whispered.
The little thing looked up at her master and hiccupped. He smiled and patted her on the head.
"You may rest in my room for the night and then I want you to go back down tomorrow and see if the woman is still there. If she's not there then find me and tell me. If she is there, I want you to get her to tell you as much as she knows so you can tell me when I come back tomorrow, okay?"
Coren nodded. Draco stood back up and looked around.
"You can go," he said and there was another soft pop. He stood there for a moment then let out a growl.
"Damn it, Granger."
A/N: I hope this answered a few prayers.
Gertie: Oh, it's going somewhere. Don't worry, it's definitely going somewhere.
Rumpleteaze: I bet you're jumping up and down now that Ron's awake.
charma10: Never! Ron's my favorite character! I have to put him through hell.
Padfoot7Prongs: Well, I gave him a slight break... He's awake!
smore4u1: Well, I hope no one walked in and was like "Ooooookaaaaaayy. What the hell?" Don't worry! Be happy!
nextbestthing: Well, I hope you're not lost anymore. And if you are, I'm sorry.
lil: Okay, so you don't like Ginny. But this is a H/G fic for a reason. You can't totally hate her.
Last Update till Christmas Day probably, so:
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!
Chapter Tease:
"...Draco, and tell me why you wanted to talk," she whispered heatedly. Draco smiled at his mother.
"The Mudblood. What do you plan to do to her?"
Narcissa returned the smile.