Chapter Twenty-One: An Interview With Hermione

"You have fifteen minutes." Gabriel Johnson stopped outside the locked door of Interrogation Room B, turned and faced Harry. He held out his hand, palm up. "I'm afraid I'll need to confiscate your wand, Captain Potter."

Harry glared at the Auror. "Excuse me?"

"You know the rules, Captain Potter."

Harry stiffened his shoulders. "I'm an Auror."

"Not on this case."

"Surely an excep…"

"Not even for you." Johnson's hand held steady, waiting for Harry's wand. "Your wand."

"This is ludicrous." Harry reached for his wand and slapped it into Johnson's palm. "Do you really think I would be stupid enough to attempt breaking her out with all these Aurors around?"

"No Sir, of course not." Johnson tapped his own wand on the door and the lock clicked. "But rules are rules. Fifteen minutes." He pushed the door open and waited for Harry to step through before pulling it closed and locking it behind him.

"Harry," Hermione flung herself at him, wrapping her arms fiercely around his neck. "Thank God you're here. I've been going absolutely mad."

For a moment Harry hesitated, his sense of loyalty split between his two best friends. Unsure if he should be comforting her, throttling her or interrogating her, he stood there unmoving. He felt her arms tighten around him and his resolve melted. "Are you okay?" He asked, wrapping his arms around her and hugging her tight.

"Yeah." She nodded, her face still pressed against his shoulder. "Yeah I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" He took her arms and held her away from him. "Are you absolutely positive you're alright? You're not being mistreated."

"Of course not. Well, I suppose that depends on what you mean by mistreated. Physically I'm fine. Mentally…that's an entirely different story."

"How do you mean?"

"I'm bored, Harry. I have hours of solitude and nothing to do. They won't even stop by my office and pick up some work for me." She ran her fingers anxiously through her hair. "I'm going mad in here. I'm not good at doing nothing."

"Yeah well, you are being held for kidnapping."

"Yes, and they should have released me long ago when they couldn't produce the proper evidence to charge me."

"They haven't charged you?"Hermione shook her head. "But they must have," Harry argued. "They have to have had charged you with something in order to continue holding you."

Hermione shook her head. "They can't charge me because they don't have any proof I did it. They only have an obscure sense of motive. Until they have something more concrete…" She let the sentence unfinished letting Harry come to his own conclusion.

Harry's mouth dropped open. "But that's against the law. They can't keep holding you if they haven't charged you with anything."

"That's what I said." Hermione plunked herself in a seat at the old abused table provided and motioned for him to join her. "Which is when Jillian Oldham threw out the words flight risk. Now she's not only holding me illegally but undoubtedly telling anyone who will listen that I intend to flee the country."

"Well, to be fair, you have done it before."

Hermione's face darkened several shades of red. "Thanks Harry. Now they're never going to let me out."

"Well," he persisted, "you did run away five…"

"No." She cut him off. "I didn't. I got a job offer. I had no reason to stay, so I took it. That's not running away, that's being practical." Closing her eyes, she turned her face away from him. "I never should have left Spain."

"You hated Spain."

"No I didn't."

"You were miserable."

"I was lonely," She corrected. "But no one in Spain would have accused me of kidnapping a child."

"So, you didn't do it then?"

Her eyes flashed to him, blazing with anger. "Harry!"

"I had to ask. They wouldn't suspect you without a certain amount of evidence."

"Please," Hermione snorted, leaning back in her seat and crossing her arms over her chest. "As if I'm still here because of Blake."

Harry frowned. "What do you mean?"

Hermione sighed with irritation. "Have you ever had the displeasure of talking to Jillian Oldham?"

"She's the Beta Captain, of course I've talked to her."

"Good." She nodded, seemingly satisfied. "Then you know what I'm talking about."

Harry leaned forward, arms resting on the table "What are you talking about?"

Hermione's eyes narrowed. "Jillian Oldham and the fact that she hates us."

"What?" Harry sat back. "Jillian doesn't hate us."

"Oh please." Hermione snorted. "Of course she does."

"Why would she hate us? We haven't done anything to her."

"Are you blind?" She asked with disbelief. "Of course she does."

"Hermione, be reasonable."

The brunette glared at her friend. "Don't look at me like that."

"Like what?"

"Like that." She waved her hand towards his face. "Like I'm crazy or making things up. I'm not. She hates us because she thinks Ron was promoted unfairly to Captain over her because he's a member of the 'Golden Trio'. She wants revenge and because she can't touch you and she doesn't have enough to go after Ron, she's coming after me. That's why I'm still in here."

"You're being ridiculous."

"I'm not." Hermione slapped her hand down on the table. "She all but admitted it to me."

"Jillian Oldham is a professional. She would never…"

"How do you explain it then?" Hermione pushed away from the table and started pacing. "Explain why it took her so long to allow you in to see me. Or why she won't even entertain the idea that someone else might be guilty. And let me ask you this, has she let you, Ron, Parker or any of the other members of the Alpha Squad review the facts of this case?"

Harry's brow furrowed into a scowl. "I'm sure she has her reasons."

"Harry, open your eyes." Hermione threw up her hands. "You, Ron, Parker. You're suppose to be the best of the best. The most intelligent. The ones to go to when you need to get things done. If she really cared about this case; if she really wanted to find Blake, don't you think she would have at least asked you to look at the information? To get a new perspective? To see if there was something she missed? Something you might have thought of? No. She hasn't. Not everyone is as good as you would believe them to be, Harry. Oldham hates us. That's why she's doing this."

"Hermione, you're grasping."

"No, I'm not." She insisted. "Oldham is punishing me because she thinks that I think that I can get away with whatever I want. That we all do. She's punishing me and at the same time is trying to punish you, and Ron. Do you know, she told me she actually thinks there is something going on between us?"

"What?" Harry looked appalled. "between you and me?"

"No." Hermione rolled her eyes, slightly affronted. "Ron and me."

Harry tilted his head slightly to the side. "Isn't there?"

Hermione's jaw stiffened. "After the way he treated me? Are you joking? Or are you honestly being serious?"

"Hermione," Harry started, but not knowing what to say he stopped and stared at her.

She turned away from Harry perceptive gaze and started pacing again. "I thought things would be different now. Five years should have been enough time for him to get over it. I thought we could…" she shook her head. "But it doesn't really matter what I thought, does it? I tried discussing this with him, ut I don't think he understood."

"When did you try discussing this with him?"

"It doesn't matter." She planted her hands firmly on her hips. "Clearly trying to help him was a mistake." She turned away and bit at her thumbnail. "One apparently only I am paying for."

Harry's eyes went cold then flamed with fury at the woman standing across the room from him. Before his eyes she transformed from the friend, the sister, he loved into someone he no longer recognized. "Who the hell are you and what happened to the Hermione Granger I know?"

"Oh, be serious, Harry."

"I am. What is the matter with you?" Harry got to his feet and leaned forward, bracing his hands on the table. "Ron's daughter is missing. He's lost legal custody. The Ministry won't let him do anything to help. His life is falling apart and you're the only one that's suffering?"

"Well at least he can do something about it." She whirled around. "He's out there. He's free. He can track Blake down and bring her home. But instead he's wasting his time coming here and trying to talk to me. He's supposed to be the best Auror in the Minstry. Why isn't he doing something? The longer he waits the harder it's going to be for anyone to find her."

"I'm surprised you even care." Harry said coldly.

"A little girl is missing. Of course I care."

"About her but not her father?" Harry observed.

"Ron's a big boy." She said snidely. "He can take care of himself."

Harry shook his head as he turned to the door. "I'll make sure to let him know you care."

"Yes, and while you're at it make sure he knows that's he'll need to seek alternative Legal Council." Harry looked back at her over his shoulder. For obvious reasons I can no longer handle his case."

"Is there any other message you're too cowardly to pass on yourself?"

Hermione flinched at his words. "Yes," she turned to face him, squaring her shoulders and shaking her hair back out of her face. "Tell him I said to go home."

"Go home?"

She nodded. "It's pointless for him to come here again. If he really wants to find Blake he should rally the family together. I've never known a family who could accomplish more when they put their mind to it. Fred and George alone could accomplish more than these imbeciles posing as Aurors." There was a knock at the door. "That'll be them." She turned back to Harry. "I'm sorry I've disappointed you, Harry."

He shook his head as the overwhelming anger he had felt moments ago began to dissipate. He crossed the few steps separating them and wrapped his arms around her. She stood frigid for a moment but relaxed when Harry continued to hold her. "I don't understand." He murmured. "I thought things were going so well between you two.

Hermione pulled away so that she could look up at her friend. "I'm counting on you, Harry." She said softly. "To get me out of here and to set things straight. Please, think about what I've said."

The door opened behind them. "Ms Granger. Captain Potter. Your times up."

"Just a moment Auror Johnson." Hermione held up a hand. "Everything will be fine, Harry." She tried to assure him. "I promise. Just remember what I said. Everything."

"Ms Granger." Johnson said her name impatiently.

"Thank you for coming, Harry." She flung her arms around his neck in one last fierce hug. She pulled away. "Perhaps when you come back, that is if you come back,"

"Of course I'll come back." There was an indignant edge to Harry's voice.

Hermione smiled. "Perhaps you could tell me how the rest of the family is doing. Please make sure they're all alright. Don't let them wallow and make sure they continue to live their life, no matter what happens."

"Ms Granger, really."

Harry ignored the Auror. "You sound like you're saying goodbye." His eyes narrowed.

Her lips twitched slightly. "It feels like it."

Harry grabbed her in one last bone crushing hug. "I'll come back to see you when I know more."

"That's enough you two. Your fifteen minutes are up."

Gabriel Johnson moved into the room and took Hermione by the arm, gently prying her out of Harry's grasp. "I'm counting on you, Harry." She said a she reached the door. "I need you to set this right." She disappeared into the hallway and Harry's lips twitched slightly when he heard Hermione angrily reprimand Johnson for not only being rude but for grabbing her when he promised not to. That was the Hermione he knew. Even in prison she was reprimanding her jailers for bad behavior.

When her voice faded away the smile disappeared from Harry's lips. Ron would be expecting answers and reassurance from Harry, but Harry had no idea what he was going to tell him. The look on his face when he left Ron in the waiting room was gut wrenching. He didn't know how much more of this Ron could handle. No one should ever have to be put through this kind of hell.

Harry shook his head to clear it. He was going to have to be very careful what he said when he rejoined Ron. It was clear the relationship between him and Hermione was strained, if not falling apart all together. Perhaps that explained why Hermione had stayed with him and Ginny during the trial and not Ron. But it was also clear that whatever Hermione was thinking, Ron wasn't aware of the strain, or if he was he was doing an admirable job at ignoring it. Which put Harry in a very delicate situation.

He needed to tell Ron the truth. It would be worse for him in the long run if he thought that Hermione would be running into his open arms when she was released, but on the other hand a blow like this could completely annihilate him.

Harry was just opening the door to the room where Ron was waiting for him when Gabriel Johnson came jogging down the hall, calling his name. "I forgot to return you your wand, Captain Potter," he explained holding out the length of wood.

"Johnson, isn't it?" He asked, accepting his wand back.

"Yes sir?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"That depends."

Harry turned his wand in his hand and watched as the light slid across the smooth surface. "Do you think she did it?"

"Captain Potter," Johnson shifted uncomfortably. "I can't divulge information, even with someone like you."

"I'm not asking for case details. I'm asking for your personal opinion. I want to know if you think she did it."

"You know her better than I do, Sir."

"Exactly. I want a more objective opinion."

"I think," Johnson said after several minutes of quiet thought, "that it would be an awful lot for someone like her to risk."

"Meaning?"

"I would expect someone like Hermione Granger not to get caught."

"So you think she did it."

"No." he said uncertainly. "I'm saying I don't think she would risk it if she wasn't positive she could get away with it."

"I'm confused."

"So am I, Sir."

Harry shook his head. "Thank you for your…candidness."

Johnson nodded before he turned and strode briskly away. Harry watched his retreating back for a moment before shaking his head and opening the door to the waiting room.

Ron hadn't moved from the moment he sunk into the chair. He sat hunched over his body, head cradled in his hands, gazing blindly at the floor. He had a fragile, almost shattered look to him.

Harry struggled to swallow past the hard lump in his throat. "Ron?" He asked tentatively.

The redhead looked up, a silent plea in his devastated eyes. Harry couldn't bare it. He looked away.

Ron drew a shaky breath. "It's over. Isn't it?"

Harry's head lowered with a shake. "I don't know."

Ron rose awkwardly to his feet. "Well, what did she say?"

"I really don't think this is the time…"

"Harry," he took a step forward. "What did Hermione say?"

"Ron, why don't you just…"

"What did she say?" Ron demanded, gripping Harry's arm, the lost look he had worn moments ago replaced with a look of both frustration and anger. "Just tell me."

"She said," Harry chanced a glance at his friend and felt a quick stab of nausea to his stomach. "She said to go home, mate."

Harry watched helplessly as his best friends shoulders sagged, the familiar gleam of his eyes retreating further inside of him. "Hermione doesn't want to see me?" Harry didn't bother answering. Ron wasn't 

really in search of one. "I don't understand." Ron's eyes, when he looked, up were bewildered. "I know I said some things I shouldn't have said, but… she really said to go home?"

Unable to form the words Harry nodded. "I'm sorry." He somehow managed to croak, though he wasn't sure Ron could understand him, he looked so lost in his misery.

"I have to go."

"Ron," Harry put a hand out to stop him. "Why don't you come stay with us tonight?"

Ron shook his head.

"Look, I don't think it's a good idea for you to stay in that house alone, and neither does Ginny. She's worried about you. We both are. And you know Ginny's not going to let me have a moments peace until you agree to stay with us, so do me a favor, yeah?"

Ron shook his head adamantly. "I have to go."

"Ron," Harry made to stop him again but the look his friend threw him had him instantly backing off.

"Just leave me alone Harry." He said threw gritted teeth. "Just leave me the hell alone."

"Well?"

Carbonell glared at his wife while undoing the clasp of his traveling cloak. "Well what? Do you see the child anywhere? Does it look like I have her?"

Melantha glared back at her husband. "Don't be short with me. This isn't my fault."

"If you had let me go directly to Gringotts like I wanted…"

"You know that would have made them suspicious of us." She growled.

"And as I told you it wouldn't have mattered. We won custody. There was nothing they could have done to stop us and we would have been long gone before they could have. Now we're stuck here waiting like a pair of fools for the Ministry to come and arrest us because we have to wait for the return of a child we didn't even want in the first place."

"Well, what do you suggest we do? We don't have any options left. Without the child…"

"We leave. Now. Before they officially press charges."

"We still have time. If they had anything substantial on us they would have…"

Carbonell took his wife's face between his hands, affectively silencing her. "Melantha," He said softly, "They could take us at any moment. It's better to leave now, cut our losses and be safe."

"Without that child's inheritance we can't afford to…"

"Damn it Melantha," he dropped his hands from her face, turned and marched a few steps away. "We don't have that option anymore."

"What do you mean? Carbonell," she insisted when he didn't answer. "What do you mean?"

Shaking his head on a sigh he turned to face her once again. "I stopped by the Ministry today to see what I could learn. I spoke with Paxman. The Betas aren't any closer to finding her then they were on Friday."

"Hasn't Weasley cracked yet?"

"They don't think it was him."

"Of course it was him." Melantha laughed. "Who else would kidnap that child?"

"There lead suspect is Granger."

Melantha's mouth dropped. "That stuck-up, straight laced, bitch?"

Carbonell nodded.

"She wouldn't dare."

He shrugged. "They have her in custody."

Melantha stared at him a moment before her face lit up with perverse joy. "This is better than I could have imagined." She rubbed her hands together eagerly as she turned to pace. "I wish we could stay long enough to see the outcome of this. I would love to see that Mudblood bitch get knocked down a peg or two."

"So does that mean you agree? It's time to go?"

Melantha snorted. "If what you say is true and Granger was the one to take her, we'll never find her. With Weasley we had a chance. He's to incompetent to keep her hidden for long. But Granger, unfortunately, is smart and therefore a very different story."

"So," Carbonell reached for her hand and thread his fingers through hers. "When can you be ready to leave?"

Melantha slowly turned, never releasing her husband's hand, and took a quick inventory of what little remained of her family's heirlooms. "I'll be damned," she said through gritted teeth, "If I'll let the Ministry confiscate any of this. Give me three days."

"What for?" He arched a brow.

"I told you, I won't let those Mudblood loving fools in the Ministry confiscate my family's legacy. I need time to ensure they can't find any of it so that when we come back,"

"Melantha," he cut her off. "We won't be coming back."

"Yes," she pulled her hand from his. "We will. And when we do I want to make sure I have some of my family's treasures to come back to."

Carbonell sighed. "Fine." He didn't have the heart to argue with her. She would realize the truth of their situation soon enough. "As quick as you can then. I would rather it were two days, but if you need three." He pressed a kiss to his wife's cheek before he turned away. "I'll see what I can do about finding us enough funds."

"Carbonell," she called him back. "Do you think perhaps you should make one more visit to Ceemist?"

He stood, staring blankly past her for a minute as he went through what was left of their options. "No," He said, coming to a conclusion. "There's no need to alert him things are about to change. I don't trust him not to come clean as soon as he thinks the threat is over."

Melantha laughed snidely. "The man's a fool if he thinks we still have the power needed to carry through with our little threat on his wife." She huffed quietly. "If I had seen this little turn in events I never would have had you threaten him in the first place."

The corner of Carbonell's lip lifted into a smile. "You could still let me follow it through."

Melantha tapped his face with mock sympathy. "No, but I'll let you torture the next one, Sweetheart. I promise."

He caught her hand before she had a chance to pull it away and drew it around his neck, drawing her body against his in the process. He grinned down at her greedily as he leaned in to kiss her. "I love it when you talk dirty."

"Do you think we've heard enough?" Gwen whispered as quietly as she could. "Felix?" She hissed when he didn't answer.

"Huh?"

She glanced over at her partner and rolled her eyes with disgust. "Felix," she slid a hand over his eyes and pulled him away from the open window. "You are such a pervert."

"What?" He grinned at her as he removed her hand from his face. "It was just getting good."

Gwen shook her head as she turned away. "Come on." She nodded her head to the side, indicating that he should follow. Together they crept amongst the overgrown shrubs and flowers, keeping to the shadows as much as possible. Both were keenly aware that if they got caught trespassing on the Javed's private property it could be their job or even their lives. Both knew what the Javed's were capable of and neither wanted to find themselves at the end of their wand without the rest of their team to back them up.

"Do you think we'll get in trouble?" Felix asked when they passed the property line.

"Not if it helps Ron get his kid back. Besides, it's not like we did anything really illegal. It's their own fault they haven't a fence and were stupid enough to talk in front of an open window."

"Right," Felix turned to face Gwen. "Who do we go to with this? Parker or Ron?"

"Parker said to report directly to him."

"Gwen," He stopped her just before she apperated away. "This is going to be over soon, isn't it?"

Gwen couldn't help but grin at her young partner. "It feels like it." And with a gentle twist on her heel she was gone.

She'd never really noticed how small and plain her hands were before. They weren't dainty or gentle. Just small and plain. She tilted her head to the side as she angled her hand a little to the right. For the most part they were smooth, due to the daily moisturizing she normally gave them. But there were hard calluses on the tips of her thumb and forefinger and across her middle knuckle from where she gripped her quill. She picked at the harden skin of her knuckle for a moment with her nail but quickly grew bored.

She turned her hands over several times memorizing the location of every freckle and crease, wishing for perhaps the first time in her life that she had been a better student in Divination. At least then she would have something to do.

She turned her hand over, palm up, and stared at the deep grooves. She wondered, if she could read them, if her hands would tell her how much longer she would have to wait before she went completely insane.

Curling her fingers in on her palm, Hermione shoved the fist into the mattress until it rested just under her thigh. What was she thinking, she groaned with disgust. She was clearly already insane for even contemplating the use of Divination as a mean to pass her time.

Giving up on her hand, Hermione glanced around her holding cell. She tilted her head in the other direction as she took in the room with a discerning eye. She needed something, anything, to help her pass the time. She sighed unhappily as she thought longingly of the stack of case files she had left behind in her office when the Betas came to get her. She knew when she asked Harry to bring them to her that he wouldn't be able to. Not that it would have mattered anyways. She was neither naive nor delusional enough to believe her job would be waiting for her when she was finally release. That was to say if she was ever released. The way things were looking right now that would be a long time in coming.

Her heart clenched painfully at the thought. In the course of one short afternoon, everything she had been working for over the past five years, was for not. Her career, her reputation, gone. They both disappeared as quickly as little Blake had.

Reacting to the usual bout of frustration and anxious energy, Hermione rose to her feet and began pacing the familiar path in the floor. It was the same path she had trod since they had put her in here. Much more of this and there would be a permanent path in the floor.

A door opened down the hall. Hermione stopped and waited. After a minute an Auror from the Gamma squad walked past her cell, waving at her and smiling friendly, before moving on to a cell father down where he was holding someone for questioning on an attempted robbery.

Sighing with disappointment Hermione began pacing again. Four days had passed since Harry had first come to visit her. Four days since he promised to get her out of here. And in the four days nothing had happened except Ron making himself into a nuisances. Hermione huffed, planting her hands firmly on her hips. She reached the end of the room and turned briskly around. Hating that he tormented himself like that day after day, she wished he would just get the message and go away.

Hermione paced the length of the small room a few more times before she returned to the bed and sat, hoping that she had worked off enough of her restless energy to sit still for a while. After only a few minutes of silence she began tapping her toe in an unsteady rhythm. With a growl of frustration she threw herself backwards across the bed, flinging her arms behind her head.

If only someone could tell her what was going on she might be able to relax enough to get some actual sleep. There was no mirror in her room, so she couldn't be certain, but she thought her skin had to be sallow and her eyes baggy and red from lack of sleep. Without something else to focus her mind on she found herself forever thinking about the horrible things going on in her life. The case, her relationship with Ron. And adding to her mental torment, Harry hadn't been back to see her since that disastrous first meeting. Neither he nor Parker had stopped by to fill her in on the status of their cases, which meant she hadn't seen nor heard from Parker since the end of the trial. Though the two men hadn't made it a point to come and see her she had to believe that they were still trying to help. She kept telling herself that they were just busy, they had a lot going on right now, she could hardly expect them to come and amuse her when there was so many more important things to do.

But what if they weren't busy? Hermione's eyes sprung open. Harry had been really angry with her. What if…what if she had turned him completely against her? What if he and Parker had both taken Ron's side and decided to leave her here to rot? Hermione moaned, flinging an arm over her eyes. It wasn't fair. All she was really guilty of was trying to help.

Lost in her own misery she almost missed the familiar tap of a wand against her cell door. Ignoring the intrusion, she kept her arm slung over her eyes.

"You have a visitor, Ms Granger."

Hermione sat up at the sound of the unfamiliar, heavy accent. Her eyes narrowed. "Who are you? Where's Johnson?"

The heavy lidded man glared at her. "You have a visitor." He repeated.

Sighing, Hermione returned to her back, folding her hands behind her head. "You may tell Ron that I still will not see him."

"He said his name was Parker Gale."

"Parker?" Hermione bolted into a sitting position. "Parker's here?"

The man stared numbly at her. "That's what he said. Do you want me to send him away?" He asked when Hermione didn't move.

"No." She bound to her feet and across the room. "I'm coming." She was at the door in seconds, waiting for the Auror to let her out.

The man held open the door and together they stepped into the hall. They strode side by side down the hall passing through several doors before Hermione decided to break the silence. "You're new to the squad?" He didn't answer. "I don't recognize you, is all." Her face flushed bright with heat when he turned and stared at her, one brow arched with intrigue. "It use to be a part of my job description to be familiar with all the Aurors." She explained and the man grunted. "Do you have a name?" He ignored her until they reached the door to Questioning Room C. "Fifteen minutes." He opened the door and ushered her inside.

The door slammed closed and locked instantly behind her. "Very friendly." She muttered as she quickly scanned the room. Her brows furrowed. She stepped further into the room, she scanned it again for her missing friend.

"I don't understand." Hermione stiffened, an automatic response she was unable to stifle. "Why would you agree to see Parker…but not me?"

Hermione turned, her face cold and expressionless. Her arms slowly crossed over her chest, her hip jutted slightly to the side. "I should think that would be quite obvious."

"Hermione," Ron took an automatic step towards her but stopped when she put up a hand.

"I thought I made it clear I didn't want to see you."

Ron swallowed. "Yeah," He nodded, "I understood that. But what I don't understand is why?"

"Please, Ron, even you can't be that stupid." Her face contorted into a sneer. "I'm sure if you try really hard you can think of at least one reason."

Ron tensed at the thinly veiled insult. "Is that so?" Hermione nodded curtly. "I didn't realize you had such a low opinion of me."

Hermione smirked. "That's unsurprising. You never seem to have any clue of what's going on."

"Yeah," A muscle throbbed in Ron's chin. "You must be right, because right now I am completely lost. What the hell did I do? Why are you so mad at me?" Hermione's scowl deepened. "Is this about what I said after the trial?"

"Hardly. I'm use to you spouting off your mouth with no regards to the consequences. It's just the way you are. Something as trivial as blaming me for the Javed's gaining custody is not going to upset me."

"Then I don't know what's got you in a snit."

"One," Hermione jabbed him in the chest, "I don't get into snits. And two," she jabbed him again, "you don't know because you never see what's right in front of your face."

Ron snatched her hand when she went to poke him again and pushed it down to her side. "Don't."

Huffing with annoyance Hermione pulled her hand free before marching to the other side of the room. "What are you doing here, Ron?"

"Honestly, I don't know anymore. I thought I was coming here to check on you, make sure you were doing alright. Clearly I'm wasting my time."

"At last, we finally agree on something." She said spitefuly under her breath. "Have you even begun to look for that child, or are you procrastinating because you think I deserve to be punished?"

"I'm not procrastinating and I never said you deserved to be punished."

"But you thought it."

"You're putting words in my mouth."

"And you don't deny it either." She turned to face him. "How typical. Things don't go your way so you retaliate. Was it really necessary to accuse me of kidnapping Blake? Ruining my personal life wasn't bad enough you had to go after my career as well? Thank you so very much."

"I'm not after your career." He yelled, his frustration coming out in the darkening of his blue eyes and the tension stiffening his shoulders. "I came here because I was worried about you. That's it."

"You shouldn't have bothered. I can take care of myself. Besides, I'm sure you have more important things to do then come here and gloat."

"I didn't come here to gloat." Ron took a step back, shaking his head with bewilderment. "How could you even say that? This isn't right. This isn't you?"

Hermione shrugged dismissively. "Maybe not. But then, how well do you even know me?"

"I know everything about you?"

"Really?" Hermione tilted her head to the side. "Who was my best friend in Spain? Why did I decide to come home? Here's an easy one. What is my job title?" She waited for him to answer, bottom lip caught 

between her teeth. "See. You can't answer. Since my return to England what have we talked about besides Blake's case? Nothing. We're not friends. All you ever wanted from me was my counsel. And since we're on the matter, I should tell you that I can no longer represent you. Even if I were free to do so it wouldn't be a good idea. Don't look at me that way." Hermione turned away. "I'm sure Winifred Edgecombe will be more then glad to resume work on this case. Now that we've that settled," she motioned towards the door, "Don't let me waste anymore of your time."

"So that's it?" Ron stared at her incredulously. "After all we've been through…"

"Please Ron, don't make this into anymore then what it is."

"I'm sorry if I offend you Hermione, but there's not enough ice in my veins to respond to this situation with the same indifference as you."

Hermione clamped her teeth tight as she lifted her chin defiantly. "Well done, Weasley. You've finally learned how to insult a person without resorting to crude terms. I guess there's hope for you after all."

Ron glowered at her. "What do you care? I'm just that insensitive, idiot you happen to know."

"You're right about one thing." Hermione agreed, taking a step towards him. "You are an idiot. You've wasted nearly a week trying to get in here to see me, when, I might add, I made it perfectly clear I didn't want to see you. What have you been doing with yourself? Why haven't you been out there looking for her? You quite obviously love her more than anything else in the world. Why haven't you demanded the Betas tell you what they know?"

Ron ground to a stop. "Don't you think I've tried? They won't let me anywhere near this case."

"So what? You're Captain of the Alphas. Make them tell you. Go above their heads if you have too. Do something besides sitting around and sulking. You're not doing you or Blake any good by feeling sorry for yourself."

"What do you know?" Ron rounded on her.

"I know your pattern. I've seen it all before." She turned and started pacing, taking up where Ron left off. "When something goes wrong you act like the entire world is against you. You close yourself off from the people who care most about you and then feel sorry for yourself because you think no one cares. Well I have news for you," she turned and marched on him. "There are twenty people I can name off the top of my head who would do anything for you. Who have gone above and beyond for you. And how to you repay them? You push them away. You forget about them. You take them for granted. When was the last time you sat down and talked to a member of your family about something besides Blake?"

"I…"

"Do you even care about anyone else besides yourself?"

"Of course I do?"

"Then tell me, is Fleur's morning sickness under control? Is Bryony sleeping through the night yet? Is Fred still working his way through all the females in Britain?" She waited a moment, tapping her toe expectantly. "Your silence is damming. These are important things in your family's life and you don't know. What makes you think you deserve to be a father when you can't appreciate the family you already have?"

Ron opened his mouth to retort but found he had nothing to say. Like hell he didn't deserve to be a father. No one could love that little girl more than him.

Mustering all his will to keep from snapping back at her he stepped back, putting more distance between them, clasping his hands firmly behind his back. "Why did you agree to take my case?"

"What?" Evident surprise flashed across her face.

"Did you do it to sabotage me?"

"Sabotage?"

"It all makes sense. You were the one who told me someone should take Blake away before I had a chance to ruin her. From where I'm standing you were in the perfect position to make sure that happened."

"Wow Ron. You've got me figured out. I did all of this just to make sure Blake was far away from you. So, now that you've got what you came for why don't you leave?"

"Fine." Ron marched towards the door. "That's just fine. I should have known better then to trust you again. To think I actually thought myself in love with you." He lifted his hand to pound angrily at the door.

Hermione wrapped her arms around her middle. "Don't say that." She shook her head.

"Say what?"

She turned her head away. "If you think you can come in here after all that's happened, after everything we've talked about, everything I've been through, and say that to me, you are seriously mistaken."

"I could give a shite what you think anymore." He shook his head, turning away with disgust. "I just can't believe he was right." He muttered under his breath.

"You can't believe who was right?"

Ron glared at her, mouth pressed tight like he would refuse to answer. "Fred." He said when no one immediately came to let him out. "He warned me this was going to happen. I didn't want to believe him, but…"

"Fred has always had an uncanny ability to know more then he should and not realize it. I suppose it comes from his resourcefulness."

"Well, bully for Fred."

Hermione shook her head. "Don't take this out on him."

"Don't tell me what to do." A wand tapped on the other side of the door and the latch shifted. Ron turned to give her one more disdainful glare before he left, back rammed straight and shoulders squared. "Enjoy your stay."