Chapter 10

Ron went out the back way of the Leaky Cauldron and into Diagon Alley, he walked the main street, the shops had begun to close, Ron looked around him as he continued down the street witches and wizards were hurrying past him as they tried to purchase all they needed before the shops shut for the night. After a while Ron turned down a small back street, the sun was now beginning to set, it was just shining over the top of the shop roofs, Ron turned another corner and there at the end was the restaurant, it was a small place tucked away from the busy crowds, Ron had thought it perfect for his first date with Hermione. He paused to check his reflection in the window of a closed café, just to check he looked alright, he quickly ran his finger through his hair and the suddenly…

THUD

Ron let out a howl of pain and fell to the ground, Ron turned over and pulled himself up leaning against the wall he turned to see whom his attacker was, and there in the setting sun stood a tall bright blonde haired boy with two shorter stockier lads, they were of course… Draco, Crabbe and Goyle.

" Well, well Weasel, no Potter to protect you now is there." Malfoy sneered.

" Shut up Malfoy!" Ron shouted reaching for his wand in his back pocket, but his pocket was empty.

" Looking for this?" Draco laughed as he dangled Ron's wand in front of him.

" Give it back Malfoy!" Ron said through clenched teeth.

" Ask nicely and I might give it to you." Draco said

" Please can I have my wand back?" Ron pleaded

" No! I don't want to give you it." Malfoy laughed and he dropped the wand on the floor and stamped it into pieces.

Ron stood opposite him gob smacked,. Draco made a signal to Crabbe and Goyle who moving quickly for people of their build grabbed Ron's arms and pushed him up against the wall, Malfoy the stepped right upto Ron's face.

" You'll pay Weaselby … you'll pay!" Draco spat in Ron's face.

And then Ron felt a fist meet his stomach and as he fell to the ground he felt a cold sensation run over and the laughter of Draco and his cronies, when his body met the ground his head hit down with a loud thud.

Half an Hour Earlier

Hermione sat with her parents at a table eating ice creams outside 'Oscar's Ices' in London.

Hermione finished her ice cream and looked at her watch and gasped.

" Oh, I'd better go, I'm meeting someone for dinner" She said to her parents as she drained her glass of Lemonade

" Anyone we know?" her father asked looking up form his newspaper.

" Well … Um … yeah it's … em … erm well it's Ron" Hermione replied

" Oh my little girl's got herself a date!" her mother cried making people from other tables look up. " Oh he's such a nice boy and his families nice as well…" Her mother went rambling on.

" Well must dash see you later." Hermione interrupted.

As Hermione walked away from the café she could hear her mother talking to her father.

She sneaked into the bathrooms of the Leaky Cauldron and looked at her appearance in the mirror, she had to admit she didn't look too bad. She pulled her make up bag from her bag and applied some mascara and lip-gloss. She went into one of the cubicles and changed her outfit to a knee-length flowery skirt with a pastel pink thin-strapped top and a pale green cardigan to stop her from getting too cold. With one last glance in the mirror Hermione headed to the restaurant where she was meeting Ron.

She turned the corner that Ron had turned just ten minutes earlier. And there in front of her lay Ron, he was laying on the ground his clean t-shirt and jeans were now covered in dirt from the ground, his face was covered in blood from his bleeding nose, he had a gash on his left cheek and there was a pool of blood from his head. Hermione let out a scream and quickly began to act.