I do not own or receive and benefit from the Harry Potter properties.

Out of the West

Chapter 36- The end of summer

It was a delicate diplomatic problem. If things were to be kept simple, a basic there and back again was all that was really needed. But if Leo pulled up in front of the Weasley place to pick up Ron there would be more than mere awkwardness. If Harry went up to the door he confessed that he would be in fear of kidnapping and being ravaged. Well… he didn't use that exact word, there being ladies present, but the concept came over very clearly. And if Liz visited the Weasley's, after giving Ron and Bill (if present) a warning to clear out, her visit would have a great resemblance to clearing out a house in a war zone. First the grenade, then large quantities of automatic weapons fire in lieu of ringing the doorbell.

By default if fell to Hermione to do the actual pickup, with Leo (Otto) in a parked auto, staying around the bend and out of sight. Of course, Harry considered he had to at least be in the auto to give her moral support, if only at an unseen distance. And if Harry was going to be gone for a good part of the morning Liz simply had to keep him company. At that point Leo wondered if he should check the attic and basement to see if there was anyone else who wanted to come along. Finally deciding they should give any other hitchhikers the slip Leo got his entire expanded list of official passengers into the car. Then off they went to Devon, and the town of Ottery St. Catchpole, home of the extensive Weasley clan.

Having been there before Leo knew just the right place to take the car off the road; out of sight of the house, but near enough to get to at a run if there was a need of a quick getaway. Hermione went off to fetch Ron, while the others got out of the car to stretch their legs. Harry and Liz went around to the other side of the car from Leo, and then sort of disappeared. He was careful not to pace around and disturb them, and rather than become a 'Sei'-ing Tom began to scan the various clumps of bushes to his front. At about twenty five yards, slightly to his left there was a… presence. As he walked toward it he caught a glimpse of something bright through a gap in the leaves. He made sure to step on a dry fallen twig or two; it was just common courtesy.

He was glad to see that his target was alert. Luna Lovegood had been able to pull a notebook and begin pretending to have been writing something. Only a boor would have commented that her eyes were a little red and watery. She looked up in a fairly good imitation of being startled.

"Oh, hello Mr. … Hahn? It's so nice to see you. I've just been out doing a Nature Walk. I wonder, have you seen something the size, maybe, of a large cat that looks something like this?"

At that she flipped to a page in her book which had a pencil sketch, very well done, of a creature that Leo estimated had less chance of actually existing than a Jackalope. It had a horn, and feet with hooves, and ears that would be been outsized on a giraffe. He shook his head.

She continued, "I just wondered, they're very rare and I thought you might have seen it from your auto, and that was why you stopped here in the middle of nowhere. Was that Harry in your car?"

"I'm sorry Miss Lovegood, but if I had I would certainly tell you. Yes, that was Harry, we're here to pick up Mr. Weasley, Ron that is, for a few days. Come with me, you can say hello."

Somewhat reluctantly she got to her feet and followed her back to the car. At a safe distance he gave a 'ping' with Teek to let the invisible couple that someone was coming. In a second or two Liz and Harry popped up on the other side of the car, thankfully with everything fully buttoned.

"Miss Lovegood, meet my sister, Annette. We're all staying at the same place for the next few weeks; Ron will just be visiting through next Tuesday."

On seeing Liz, Luna's face became a little stiff and her general expression a little brittle.

"Pleased to meet you, I'm Loony Lovegood. Don't look shocked Harry, we're not at school. There's no reason we can't be informal, and painfully honest."

"Annette, that's Luna Lovegood. She's smart and creative and you may remember I said that she was a better journalist than most of the adults I read in the regular press. She's also honest."

"I remember you from the wedding, Luna. Really you didn't seem too much more loony than a lot of those attending. Including some who are currently trusted with the supervision of young and impressionable children, the poor, poor, dears! I like your hair." With that Liz walked over to her, snagged an arm, and half dragged, half led her a dozen yards off where they could talk while pretending to admire a flowering shrub.

"Luna's usually not like this Otto. Even if people are picking on her, she just rises above it. Can't figure out where this stuff today comes from," Harry said defensively.

"You probably see her when she has time to put on a mask of serene obliviousness. We caught her when she was too deep into something to just pretend to sail over all the unpleasant things she runs into."

"Maybe you should have just left her… wherever you found her?"

"No, I really like her too much to leave her alone during her long dark midnight of the soul."

"Otto, it's not quite eleven in the morning."

"Harry, you don't read much poetry, do you?" Otto said with a bemused expression.

Looking down the road they saw Ron and Hermione slowly walking toward them, jabbering away at each other. Ron was carrying an absurdly large pack in one hand, swinging it about as he spoke as if it had no weight at all. Which, all things considered, was probably true.

Leo checked further up the road, where Liz had put her arm around Luna's shoulders. He shook his head, a little sadly. "Too bad we can't just invite her along. She's got some bug up her butt, and she's really into a third level bout of self-loathing. Last time I saw her she on an upswing, and was doing a good imitation of a crack twelve person News team."

Harry had set off at a jog to join his friends, and as he got there they all seemed to jump into a three way hug, then broke apart with a little adolescent embarrassment. So much public emotion was totally uncool. Now that there was the three of them, the walk toward the auto was even slower. Leo heard movement behind him; he suppressed his initial impulse and turned around slowly to see his sister and Luna walking back to the car. Luna had on her usual unfocused expression, a vague slight smile on her face. Her eyes were completely dry and normal.

When the trio got near enough Leo went over and had Harry grab Ron's pack ("Hey, be careful with that, my Mum packed some pies in there!") and then shepherded Hermione into the back seat with Harry, dragging a very reluctant Liz into the front. That left Ron and Luna by themselves to say their goodbyes. After a few moments Leo got into the car and started the engine. At the sound of the engine starting Ron jumped a little, gave a nod and a wave to Luna, and came over and got into the car.

It took several minutes before even Harry's questions about the World Cup could get Ron past monosyllabic answers. Eventually, when his mood lifted he was able to give pretty much a play by play of the game (to Hermione's distress) and fill them in on the details of the strange and ominous "prank" that followed. He included his part in the stampede, and the general reaction to seeing the Dark Mark in the sky. Liz had turned on the radio, and sulked at being forced to be in the wrong seat, i.e. the one not next to Harry. As usual Leo checked the mirrors, and tried to push his abilities with Sie. He finally had to admit that there was no way he was going to be able to check for mines buried in the road if the car was moving. He had edged out his absolute range by a few feet though; an encouraging thought.

By the time they had gotten back to the house everyone's mood had recovered, and after a careful unpacking and storage of the pies (three of them) in the pantry, a make-your-own-sandwiches luncheon was followed by the younger set getting changed and racing down to the water. Leo cleaned things up and did his alternate afternoons stuff.

When they got back three hours later Ron was amazed to see his host had tied mattresses around several trees, and was pounding away at them with odd looking punches and kicks. He looked to Harry with a quizzical expression.

"Otto's a bit of as fanatic. He thinks mattresses and blankets just soften you, so he's stripped them off of all the beds, and to show his displeasure with them is beating the stuffing out of the lot."

Hermione continued, "Afraid so Ron. He's got a down on cooked foods too, thinks that they ruin all the vitamins or something. Good thing we've had a chance to adjust before you got here. You'll get used to the extra crispiness of raw beans and things quickly, so don't worry about starving."

"Bro will probably wait until after dinner to give you your shovel, to dig your personal latrine, so enjoy the down time. The ten mile run after sundown gets you tired enough that you don't need mattresses anyway, so don't worry about the ground being hard, you won't notice it."

Ron felt he needed a very "Ron" thing to say, "What about the room you showed me?"

Harry threw him a line, "Oh, just a place to hang your clothes."

Annette jumped in, "My brother isn't crazy. If it rains hard enough you can sleep in the room, on the floor."

"Only if there's lightning. I think that's the sign of a reasonable person." Hermione concluded.

The group ambled over to Leo, who slowly got into a balanced stance with his arms at his sides. When they got there Ron asked, "What did those mattresses ever do to you?"

"Can't trust them; they sneak up on you and attack you at night when you're too tired to resist."

At that they saw one of the trees lose its mattress wrapping, which moved toward them in a slow and ominous manner, until finally doing an un-legged sprint it leaped at Ron. He pushed his arms up in front of his face. Then Leo frowned, "Why didn't you dodge? Left, right, roll under, something. Don't stay still and let things happen to you, if something tries to attack, make it try to catch up to you. At least you could give it a punch, go down game."

Leo shook his head and turned. Each of the mattresses floated after him as he led them to the shed where they were stored. Maybe wizards should have different reflexes, he thought. It just didn't seem right to let something get at you without making its life at least a little more complicated. Oh well, from the sounds coming from the group as they went into the house no one had taken his little tantrum too seriously. Let's see; the chicken was already in the oven, Ron had brought dessert, now which video should they see tonight? Yes! Tonight was the time for Big Trouble in Little China. Jack Burton will ride again!

Ron, if questioned, would have admitted that the food that night was all right, even though it wasn't up to Hogwarts, much less his mother's, standards. That Otto limited the dessert to only one of the pies for the five of them showed a mean and stingy nature though. Afterwards, sipping cocoa (the night had turned a little chilly) they watched an exotic thriller about China, or the part of America that was in China, or the other way around. Anyway, it had a dashing hero (though he seemed to need a lot of help) and monsters and real Oriental Magic! Afterwards, when they were talking about the film (though it had been seen on a big plate of glass) the others insisted that the real hero had been the sidekick, despite Jack's killing the villain! It just went to show that sometime people could be too clever by half, even Hermione.

"Jack Burton's been Leo's role model for years." Annette said.

Even before a quizzical expression could hit any faces Otto cut in with: "Leo's a black sheep type relative. Hanging out at low class bars and gambling casinos. He's even done some leg-breaking work. We don't talk about him much, do we sister?" She nodded her head silently. The English teens still looked puzzled, until finally Harry asked, "Leg-breaking?"

"Working for rough types, does a little violence, like breaking legs to discourage certain types of behavior, like not paying off debts and that sort of thing."

Hermione looked appalled, while Harry had a 'smelled something bad' look on his face. Ron, coming from an environment where a broken leg, while certainly painful, was only an afternoon's visit to St. Mungos away from being cured, thought it a moderate punishment for welching on a bet. But he had more cause than most to think such physical punishment was sometimes a good thing.

"Fred and George, they made some smart bets at the Cup. Ludo Bagman paid them off, with Leprechaun Gold! It was gone in an hour, of course. And what can a couple of poor students do to collect the real stuff from Mr. Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports? Even the goblins haven't got him to pay up all he owes them, I hear. Do you think I could hire your relative? If he breaks something more than a leg or two I wouldn't complain!"

"Oh Otto, do you think our cousin would be willing to work on commission for Ron?"

"Leo has done some work on commission before; remember that Christmas gift he got you last year? But he sometimes drops out of sight, and we can't locate him, right Annette?"

Hermione thought something was going on, but had no idea what. Harry thought it was just them joking around; they were always saying things like that. Ron thought it was the politest family argument he'd ever seen. Not a single curse or even threat was being uttered. As to what they were going on about… well they were family, and his training back at the Burrow had educated him that in some families you really didn't need to have anything specific to argue about, you just did it.

Otto settled down into a chair, and opened a opened up a book labeled Der Krieg Peloponnesian von Thucydides with a contented sigh. Harry suggested that this was a good time for Hermione to give Ron the book she had gotten him as a present. Ron moaned a little as she ran up the stairs to her room to get it. "Book, Harry?" Ron complained.

"Trust me, you'll like it." Harry said, and then with a slight jerk of his head to Annette they both sauntered out toward the door to the outside, leaving Ron to his literary fate. The sound of the door closing just beat out Hermione's arriving back in the living room with a wrapped book in her hand. She looked disappointedly around for Harry, and her "friend" Annette. Resignedly, Ron tore off the wrapping paper, and then read the title that had been revealed. "'Lasker's Manual of Chess'? Has possibilities, I'll admit. Thanks 'Mione!" He wasn't even annoyed it was written by a Muggle, after all the operational rules of Wizard's Chess were the same as the Muggle variety.

Hermione tried to get him to go out with her to join the other two, so they wouldn't feel lonely outside in the dark. By themselves. In the dark. Ron was flipping through pages, stopping at particularly impressive diagrams, his breath coming as short, rapid, panting. She looked at his wide eyes, rigid shoulders. "I must look like that when I find something really impressive in the Library at Hogwarts," she said to herself. She looked over to Otto; he was smiling, evidently enjoying his book, but without the intense focus Ron was showing. Perhaps she could get him to go with her to inter… accompany Harry and Annette on their little walk?

He wasn't helpful at all. "Probably too far along by now, anyway. We'd have trouble catching up." Well, wasn't that exactly why they should start moving right now? Before things got too… Perhaps she should just go upstairs and call it a night? Yes, that was the only thing left to do now, and hope for the best. No! Hope for sleep!

Leo looked at Hermione going up the stairs. She didn't know, or at least wouldn't admit to herself, what she was trying to do, or why. Some if it was just to protect her friend from being vamped. Having Liz try to protect him had given Leo an amused perspective on that. Partially, Hermione was defending rare time with her friend. And partially she was trying out the first few steps of her mating dance. Some of her troubles were that she was very inexperienced at it, some were that Liz was just naturally a better flirt (and was also seriously into Harry), and some of Hermione's problem was that she was evidently splitting her routine with more than one step in Ron's direction. Not that he seemed to realize it. An hour later Leo went to bed himself. Ron had gone to the beginning of the book, the first page of the introduction and was going over it line by line. He gave a nod when Leo said good night; probably he'd be reading until dawn. Liz and Harry would come in soon as it had started to drizzle. Leo didn't want them to think he had waited up for them because he didn't trust them. So, on to bed.

Ron quite enjoyed his holiday within his summer holiday. Even the slight chores he was given were a lot more fun with a friend or two helping, and no interference from the Twins or Ginny's carping. Their field trips, or "raids" as the others called their trips, into the malls, and giant stores the girls couldn't get enough of, showed him a reason for his father's fascination for Muggle things had a real point. He'd never really spent time in Muggle London, out in the streets so to speak. Even he could enjoy the shops, and especially the restaurants. There were other diversions, of course.

When they went for a ride in the Underground someone behind them pinched Hermione's bum, making her squawk and jump. Otto then sort of slipped her off to his side. When the pincher made to follow his target he slipped and his face fell directly into Otto's elbow. Ron had to admire how nicely it was done; the coat didn't even get any of the fellow's blood on it. When he had started to make a fuss Otto had just turned and given a little smile. The man's friends looked, and hustled him off. For fun Ron asked why they were frightened off by a smile. Hermione chimed in first: "When you smile you show your teeth."

Annette had joined in with: "And showing teeth has meanings. And my brother has big teeth."

Harry and he had looked at each other, until Ron asked: "What do Otto's dental problems have to do with anything?" They were able to keep the girls going for five minutes with that routine alone, all the way to their destination, the British Museum.

Ron knew he wasn't much of scholar, but the Museum floored him; so much, so many, and so deep in time. There were a number of exhibits that he almost had to be pulled away from, for some reason they held him as if they were questions he almost had the answer to, if he could just stay a little longer and look into them a little further. On the way back home he asked the others: why doesn't the Wizarding World have something like this, or at least take school groups to see it? Against his inclination he ended up in a long and completely serious discussion on that.

Every night the kitchen and cleanup chores were rotated, and then viewing videos like Star Wars, A Bridge Too Far,and Some Like It Hot, Otto being the one with the card at the video store did the selection. Then snacks, jokes, and the idle chatter that goes so well on a summer's eve.

When he was finally dropped off back home he went with reluctance toward the house. Not that he had anything against home, and after all he'd probably be seeing the others in a few days when they'd be picking up their school things anyway. It was that there were some problems there, and he still didn't have a clue about how to deal with them. He could ask Luna, of course, but he wasn't sure that he could follow her advice.

Hermione had moved up to the front seat after they'd dropped of Ron. The others were back at the house. She had finally come to accept that she had a choice between being a pest, and having a good time with her friends, even Annette. In the sunny days and laughter it had just been so much easier to give up her rigid side (except for Harry's and hers time for study each day, of course) and live each moment for itself. She expected it was that for the first time in her life that she could remember, she had not been running her race. Always having to know more and be the best, always having to try to be as brave and daring as Ron and Harry. Instead she had just been Hermione. Not brainy Hermione. Not Hermione, at least she'll back us up as we go to certain doom. She hadn't had to force herself to be or do anything, and everyone had like her, everyone had wanted her to be with them. That alone had made it for her the best summer ever.

Her parents greeted Hermione Jean Granger with open arms. They met Mr. Hahn, and though he was quite a bit younger than they had expected him to be, he impressed them as a sensible and mature person that had certainly looked out well for their daughter. They weren't really sure whether or not he was actually a wizard; his only eccentricity was that he was so very normal and undramatic. A nice change to many of the people Hermione seemed to meet so frequently in the Wizarding World.

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