Disclaimer: *sniff* As much as I'd love to claim Harry and the gang as my own, I must acknowledge the fact that they belong to their creator, the lovely and talented J.K. Rowling. Any spells, artifacts, and other people/things you don't recognize are mine. Man, now I feel greedy…but it had to be said! Honest!
Note: This takes place in 2003, five years after Harry, Ron, and Hermione graduated from Hogwarts. Oh, and since this is chapter three, I highly recommend reading chapter one and chapter two.
Apology: Gah! I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to get this chapter out, but all of the sudden the Literary Magazine was due, the Bowling championships were going on, I got a part in the spring musical Kiss Me Kate, I had/have a couple of really huge projects to work on, DI meetings to attend, AHHHHH! Seriously, my schedule is so full I can't keep anything straight anymore! In any case, I'm sorry it's taken a couple of months to get this out, and I hope it was worth the wait.
Medicor per Ignis
by Krystyn Poe
Part Three – Murder, Mayhem, and Graduation Parties
Ron's eyes darted around the alley, panicked. There were five hooded people shooting spells at him, two in front of him and three behind. He barely dodged the first spell before remembering that Hermione was with him. His heart jumped into his throat as he saw her arms and legs snap together as she fell to the ground, a shocked look on her face. He dodged another spell as he quickly slid one arm under her knees and the other around her shoulders and ducked behind a dumpster, summoning a couple of garbage bags to cover the other two open sides. It was temporary at best, but it gave him enough time to mutter, "Finite incantatem," undoing the Full Body-bind curse. Hermione instantly pulled out her wand, gracing him with him a look of gratitude.
"They'll break it in a second, on my signal we break and run in opposite directions. Apparate away as soon as you get outside the wards. You go right, I'll go left, got it?" He whispered hurriedly.
Looking as though she still couldn't believe what was happening, but was determined to get out of it, she nodded. "But be careful!" She whispered.
As he looked down at her one last time, his stomach plunged with the thought of losing her before telling her how just a simple smile of hers could make his day…but as a spell jabbed through the bags just over his shoulder he decided this wasn't exactly the right time to be thinking like that. Instead he merely squeezed her hand and said, "Three…two…one…GO!"
They both jumped up and ran through the alley. Ron knew Hermione was closer to the exit than he was, but couldn't help looking over his shoulder at her anyway. She was countering spells like a master, running the whole time. Granting himself a small smile of relief, he dropped into a roll to dodge another spell and yelled, "Ignicius caelum!" after getting to his feet, causing a powerful ring of fire to erupt from the tip of his wand and surround at least two of his would-be assailants, leaving one on his end.
Hearing two sets of footsteps run his way, he knew Hermione was safe, causing some of his apprehension to bleed away. He shot, "Petrificus totalus!" right back at the third assailant, but missed. Mentally cursing his bad aim, he shot a jelly-legs jinx at one of the two running at him, causing the assailant's aim to be off. The cloaked figured fell to the ground, tripping up the other, leaving Ron only one to deal with.
The remaining attacker shot a fire spell right back at Ron, who barely dodged it, and received a nasty burn on his wand arm. Wincing, he shot, "Wingardium Levosia!" and levitated the surprised person into the air.
Just as he reached the sunlight, the two attackers who he had slipped up originally caught up to him, one leaping into a flying tackle that shoved Ron to the ground painfully, sending his wand skidding away. He kicked the person off and made a grab at his wand. As soon as his fingertips touched the precious wooden object he realized that something felt different and he tried to Apparate again. The world suddenly winked out and he felt himself reappear somewhere with a little "Pop!"
He lifted himself to his knees slowly, finally attempting to catch his breath. Looking down at his robes, he found them quite cut up and dirty thanks to the 'little scuffle' he had just been in. His hands and other various body parts didn't seem to fair much better than his robes and as the adrenaline began to wear off the pain in his right arm came back full force. He winced again, not daring to look at it, and found himself blinking back a sticky fluid. He gently put his hand to his forehead and pulled it away to find his fingers stained red. Obviously those guys had meant business.
"Ah, I was wondering when you'd get here, Ron – Great Wizards, what happened to you?!" His part-time assistant, Jana Weasley, (his sister-in-law through George) rushed to his side and helped him stand. He wobbled a bit once up on his feet, but Jana helped him sit down in a chair and he groaned slightly because moving really hurt.
"By Merlin, your arm…I'm getting the medic right away; don't move a muscle!"
The next few moments were a bit hazy for Ron. He remembered telling the Ministry medic not to move him to any sort of hospital and telling Jana not to worry so much or to owl anyone about his condition. There was no need to worry anybody about something that was already over and done with. As the medic finished healing his arm and applied some stronger pain-killing charms, the world began to snap into focus. He shook his head and looked around a bit to reorient himself before finally beginning to tune in on what Jana was saying.
"…and so I told her you were all right, but you couldn't speak to her right now…"
"Wait, told who what?" Ron asked, interrupting her worried ramblings.
She looked relieved to see him at least somewhat alert again. "Hermione. She called your office on the WizardComm to see if you were all right."
Now it was his turn to look relieved. The fact that Hermione was well enough to call him made him feel much more at ease about the whole situation. It would definitely be a bargaining chip in his favor at the Defense Council meeting…
His head shot up and he almost panicked again. "Jana, what time is it?" He asked quickly.
"About nine-thirty. Oh Ron, you aren't seriously thinking about presenting your proposal this morning, are you? After this?"
"I have to, this just makes it all the more urgent. Did I happen to bring any papers with me? I don't recall…" He started to look around for them when he saw Jana shake her head.
"No, you didn't. I'll summon them for you, though." She went over to a window, opened it, and then summoned his now slightly tarnished proposals from the streets of Muggle London. Anyone who saw the flying papers would think it was merely the wind picking up and wouldn't give it a second thought.
By nine-fifty everything was in order. Ron had changed robes (he had spare ones in his office) and had gone over everything at least ten times. If he wasn't ready now, he'd never be. All he had to do was wait.
* * *
"Ms. Granger, I need to ask you the biggest favor of my life!"
Hermione looked up from her work at the anxious girl in front of her. "What is it?"
"I just got an owl from the Ministry of Magic saying that I could go over and interview one of their employees, but only this afternoon. I was scheduled to do an interview with the family of some old woman who's dying of a terminal disease; something called Leptor's Syndrome, I believe. Do you think you could cover for me?"
Hermione sighed. "Perhaps. Who are you interviewing?"
The girl grinned. "That's the best part – I get to interview Percy Weasley himself! It's the opportunity of a lifetime! Oh, please, could you cover for me? You're the only one who could…"
Hermione stared at her. "Percy Weasley?" She sighed. What was this girl thinking? The opportunity of a lifetime? "Miss Glossop, are you sure you can't get an interview with anyone…higher up in the system?"
"Why would I want to? I'm sure Mr. Weasley will have loads of information to tell us about all the different levels and branches."
Oh, sure. And I'll bet half of it will have to do with cauldron bottoms being too thin and all that nonsense, Hermione thought.
"Please, Ms. Granger? Just this once?"
Silently cursing herself for doing so, she agreed, much to the delight of Miss Glossop. "When's the appointment?"
"Three o'clock. Thank you ever so much for doing this! You won't regret it!" Miss Glossop said excitedly as she dashed out of Hermione's office.
I sure hope not, she thought.
* * *
Ron stood in front of a large, semi-circular, raised desk that made him feel rather small as he watched the people occupying seats around it exchange murmured comments. He has just finished the first part of his proposal and was currently waiting for questions to be asked of him, because he knew there would be some, especially from Mr. Azeri. He was definitely the most skeptical member of the Defense Council and would take his entire presentation with a large grain of salt. He was not the type to believe in prophecies and such, whereas most of the other members might be persuaded. His best bet, actually, was to depend on support from Miss Bakua, who had actually been originally trained at a psychologist. She would defend his claim that even if the prophecy wasn't true, someone clearly believed it was. He glanced around at them nervously, and found Azeri looking at him disdainfully. If he didn't dislike Ron before, he certainly did now.
Ron was the most likely candidate to replace Mr. Azeri on the Council when he retired, which would be in five years or less, because of his close work with the council. While he was officially just a liaison and a gofer, he was frequently called upon as a consultant as well. Ron's instinctive knowledge of tactics was very use to the council in many ways and had gained him a few supporters…but after he pointed out a gaping hole in one of Mr. Azeri's proposals the elder man could not be counted among them.
"Alright, Mr. Weasley, even if we assume that this prophecy is true," Mr. Azeri began in a scoffing tone, "how can we be sure that your interpretation is correct? Do you have any proof of this?"
Ron cleared his throat. "Well, sir, the first clue, in verse one, refers to the Syphon Blade by name, not attempting to conceal its identity in the least. Because the Syphon Blade has been known by no other name and has never been translated into other languages, we must assume that the prophecy is referring to the stolen artifact. As for the interpretation of verses six and seven, there are many facts that help corroborate this interpretation. For one, 'companion of lightning' clearly refers to Harry Potter because of the lightning-bolt shaped scar on his forehead. It also refers to three compatriots; that would translate to Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and myself. We've been the closest of friends for nearly thirteen years now. The attack on Hermione Granger and myself that took place this morning can also help confirm my interpretation. Seeing as the prophecy specifically said that the 'companion of lighting' would not be alone, the perpetrators may have been seeking to break the prophecy by taking away two of the three, leaving Harry alone and more vulnerable to whatever they may be planning to stop him from interfering with their plans. It is also probably not a coincidence that the attack occurred right before I decided to bring this information to your attention. Whoever is behind all this knows their tactics well."
A murmur of assent ran through the chamber as Mr. Azeri looked a bit taken aback by Ron's answer.
"It's a sound analysis; you have to admit at least that," Miss Bakua said, directing her statement at a sour-looking Mr. Azeri. "And you must take into account the mindset of these people – whether or not this prophecy is true, they clearly believe it is and we must use that to our advantage."
Another murmur went through the room. Most of the other members of the Council had a couple of questions or comments to make about Ron's rather unusual proposal, but before it the session was over, Ron found he finding more approving looks than skeptical ones. When it was time to vote on whether or not to act, Ron was asked to leave the room and spent the next hour pacing nervously outside the door. While he knew he had a great deal of support, there were still several wild cards in the deck and Mr. Azeri would be working hard to swing them to his side. When the aid asked Ron to come back into the chamber, he felt as if a huge amount of lead had been pumped into his stomach and his knees had been unhinged. It took quite a bit of effort on Ron's part to keep his knees from knocking together and his appearance composed, leaving only clammy palms to show his apprehension.
Mr. Baijan, the head of the Defense Council, stepped up to a podium at the head of the raised, semi-circular platform and looked down at Ron emotionlessly.
"It is the decision of this council that we use all available resources to discover the identity of the organization behind the acts in Mr. Weasley's report. Due to the possible severity of the situation a plan of action will for formed and carried out immediately." Mr. Baijan, having said his formal piece, gave a minute smile to Ron. "Any suggestions as to how we should deal with this, Mr. Weasley?"
Ron felt like a tremendous weight had been lifted off his shoulders, but tried to keep his face at least somewhat stoic…still, a small smile of relief could not be helped. "Yes, I have a plan which I would like the Council to consider…"
* * *
Preceded by a small 'pop' sound, Hermione Apparated into the office and smiled at the woman at the desk. She looked up from her paperwork and grinned back at Hermione.
"Hello Hermione, what brings you by today?" She asked.
"Well, I was wondering if Ron was available? I wanted to see how he was doing after this morning…"
"He's in a meeting with the Council at the moment, but they should be breaking for lunch any moment if you don't mind waiting," she gestured to one of the seats lining the wall to her right.
"I think I just might take you up on that, Jana," Hermione paused to settle herself comfortably in one of the chairs. "But seriously, is he all right? They didn't hit him bad, did they?"
Jana bit her lip a little. "Well, he didn't look too good when he got here, almost passed out in fact, but the medic fixed him right up. I told him he should take the rest of the day off, but he insisted on going to this meeting of his, said it was very important. I never asked, how are you doing? You look much better than he did, even after he was cleaned up."
Hermione nodded. "I'm doing quite well, I managed to get out of it without much more than a few cuts and bruises. They almost seemed to let me go, though, which, now that I think about it, is rather odd…" she trailed off as Ron came walking around the corner, looking thoroughly exhausted. When he saw Hermione he seemed to brighten a bit, though.
"Well you're a sight for sore eyes; how'd you managed to get the time to pop in here?" He said, giving her a friendly hug.
Hermione smiled at him. "Well I couldn't very well concentrate on my work while sitting around worrying about you the whole time. Jana here said you got here looking pretty beat up. As a matter of fact, you look exhausted. You are taking the rest of the day off, right?"
"Are you?"
"Errr…no, not exactly…"
"Then I'm not going to either. The Council is on an extended lunch break at the moment, we're going to resume deliberations in the afternoon. They're pushing everything down on the docket to make room for my proposals."
Hermione's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "They took it seriously?"
Ron nodded. "Yup. There are still a few things that need to be worked out, though."
"Worked out…?"
He shrugged it off. "Don't worry about it. You'll find out soon enough. Now, I'm sure you're just as tired as I am, why don't we take our lunch break at that nice little café downtown? My treat."
Hermione opened her mouth to protest, but then thought the better of it and gave a small smile. "Sure, why not," she said, taking his arm as he lead her out of the office.
Jana shook her head at the two of them as they left. "I just wish they'd come to their senses," she said before getting back to work.
* * *
Hermione smoothed out her robes slightly before knocking on the door of a small, thatched-roof cottage sitting by the sea. It was a quaint little thing, not exactly what one would expect to see in this day and age; it held a certain feel of timelessness, as if she could have been back in the seventeen hundreds instead of in the twenty-first century. However, since it had no neighboring buildings encroaching upon its space, it didn't seem out of place in the least.
As she raised her hand to the door to knock, it opened before her, exposing a rather young looking woman, not more than twenty-five years of age with straw colored hair and indistinguishably colored eyes. At first she seemed surprised to see Hermione, but quickly covered it up. She seemed very cool and collected as she motioned for Hermione to enter the cottage, which was just as cozy on the inside as it seemed on the outside.
"You must be the reporter form the Daily Prophet who I spoke to a few days ago. You wanted to interview my mother about Leptor's Syndrome?"
Hermione nodded. "Yes, it's quite a rare disease and our readers should know more about it so that they know what to do if it ever effects them."
The woman nodded slowly, giving Hermione a once-over, which made her uncomfortable. The woman's gaze was very unsettling and, for some reason, she found herself wanting to get this interview over with as soon as possible.
The woman gestured for Hermione to sit on an overstuffed chair across a coffee table from her. "Would you like a cup of tea?"
Hermione shook her head. "No, I'm fine, thanks, Miss…"
The woman raised her eyebrow slightly. "Nachesca Balleuw, but I thought you already knew that."
"I'm covering for Miss Glossop; she was originally going to come and interview you and your mother."
"I'm afraid you won't be able to interview my mother, Miss Granger. She's sleeping at the moment, trying to regain her strength. Leptor's Syndrome puts a great strain on the system. At first it's not so bad, you start getting asthmatic-like symptoms when you're ill or exercising, but then numbness creeps into your system, affecting different limbs at different times. It feels like ice is running through your veins as your body temperature drops almost imperceptibly per year. Soon your thoughts become muddled and it's harder to think and function, as your limbs give out at random intervals and your mind clouds over because of the excruciating pain that comes after the numbness leaves. My mother is a very strong woman to have survived it this long and I have faith that a cure will come in time to save her. God would not let a woman such as she die without giving us the chance to save her life."
Hermione nodded, letting her quill record everything Nachesca said. "Has your faith in God helped you deal with your mother's illness?"
Nachesca nodded vehemently. "Most definitely. She would never have come so far without Him, and I never would have either. Our faith in God is what keeps us going each day, and what keeps her alive until He shows us the cure. I have complete faith in the fact that there is a way to cure her and I will not rest until I find it."
The interview went on a bit longer, but was interrupted when a man entered the room. "Nachesca, she's waking up," he said, ignoring Hermione's presence completely.
Nachesca nodded, "I'll be with you in a moment, Gerard. I'm afraid we're going to have to end our interview here, Miss Granger. I need to attend to her."
"Of course," Hermione stood and put away her quill and parchment. "Thank you for agreeing to the interview."
"Oh, it was no trouble. Now, if you'll excuse me…" Nachesca followed Gerard into the other room.
As Hermione left the curious little house and prepared to Apparate, she couldn't help the feeling that she was missing something important, but just shrugged it off as an after effect of the attack this morning. After turning in her report she was taking the rest of the day off for a nice, long bubble bath. That sounded really nice right about then and Hermione smiled in contentment at the thought as she popped back to her office.
* * *
Two weeks later…
"…and then I told the Muggle that I was a magician and you know what he wanted to do? Hire me for his kid's birthday party! Unfortunately," George shared a knowing smile with Fred, "my associate was going to be out of town just then and I just wouldn't've be able to make it. Funniest damn thing I ever did, that's for sure."
Jason Redding, a college friend of Harry's, and Seamus Finnigan were chuckling at the story as Jana smacked George on the arm lightly. George looked at his wife surprised. "What? I didn't get caught, so everything was fine!"
"Yeah, but turning the limo into a gigantic bunny would've caused quite a lot of noise down there! You should know better than to play with Muggles like that," George rolled his eyes and she walked away huffily.
"Looks like someone won't be getting any tonight," Fred elbowed his brother, who gave him a sour look before getting up from his chair to mingle some more…and look for his wife.
Today had been Harry's graduation from Weyrlock's Wizarding College, a long anticipated event for both him and many of his friends. He was graduating after the winter term, something that was uncommon, but not unheard of. After the ceremony everyone had gone out to eat downtown, and then most ending up back at the trio's apartment, which had been temporarily enlarged for the party. Now, however, it was beginning to piddle out…no surprise since it was near midnight.
George almost bumped into Ron who was sitting alone on a chair, looking rather pensive.
"Why the long face? Today's supposed to be a celebration, not a funeral," he said, sitting down next to the younger Weasley.
Ron just shook his head and sighed. "I've got to tell Harry something that's going to put a rather large damper on the festivities…no, please don't ask, because I can't tell you. It's not horrible, but it's definitely not something I like thinking about."
George frowned. "It has to do with the Ministry, doesn't it?"
Ron nodded. "Yeah…look, I'd rather not discuss it right now. Where's Ginny? I haven't seen her mingling lately."
"Oh, she's over there talking to Harry. It's amazing what ditching the hero-worshipping thing did to their friendship." George watched as Harry started laughing at one of Ginny's horrific work stories. She always seemed to put a funny spin on her stories, keeping them fresh and interesting for each time she told them.
Ron just nodded absently, then got up from his chair and walked over to Harry. He watched Harry excuse himself and follow Ron outside the loft, leaving Ginny to walk over to George smiling.
"'lo George, what are you doing over here all by yourself?"
"Ah, nothing. Just got ditched by our younger brother for Ministry business."
Ginny frowned. "Is that what he went to tell Harry about? That's strange timing, even for Ron. He seemed so uptight about it too; I almost got a Percy flashback from it!"
George grinned at this. If there was one member of the family that was constantly harped on, it was Percy.
Suddenly Crookshanks darted out from Hermione's room, down the hall, and into the living area. Sniffing around all of the people, he soon turned away and wandered lazily towards Ginny, who picked him up and started scratching him behind the ears, much to his delight.
"Well, whatever it is, Ron had beet not ruin Harry's night, isn't that right Crookshanks?" The cat seemed to purr in response, causing George to smile again. Ginny looked at George and cocked her head in the direction of the rest of the people still milling about. "Come on, let's go join the party."
* * *
"So, what is it Ron? Finally asking for advice on how to ask a girl out?" Harry joked as he accompanied Ron onto the rooftop of their building.
Ron, his back facing his friend, shook his head. "You're the last person I'd go to for dating advice; Percy's had more luck than you in that area.
"Oh, come on, I'm not quite that bad."
"Eh, well, pretty close. But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about." Ron turned around to look Harry in the eyes and he saw Harry become a bit more serious. "A couple of weeks ago I gave a presentation at the Ministry, about the whole prophecy ordeal."
Harry groaned. "That again? I thought the Ministry was dealing with it."
"Well, they are, but in this case they're going to need some help. Some of our operatives are already in Australia trying to follow some leads on these thieves, but it's hard. They didn't leave any obvious clues. This is where my proposal comes in. Since you're somewhat of an expert in prophecies and artifacts, more so than any of the Ministry officials, we'd like you to come along and see what you can dig up. They're following the regular channels and might come up with something with some historical significance that would lead us to the thieves, or help us figure out the rest of that prophecy. I have to go out and join them tomorrow, and I'd like you to come with me, but it's up to you." Ron finished, feeling a burden lifting off his shoulders as he finally told Harry the news.
Harry blew out a breath and ran his fingers through his unruly hair. "That's some offer. Well, I always wondered what Australia was like, I'll come along, see what I can do…but I'm not promising anything."
"It'll be great to have you along just the same. We'll leave tomorrow morning, okay?"
"Ron, it is tomorrow morning."
Ron started back into the building and they walked along to halls back to their loft. "Okay, so we'll leave later this morning. They'll be expecting us by nine, that's for sure."
Harry shook his head as he opened the door. "Whatever happened to time for sleep – hey, Crookshanks, where do you think you're going?"
Hermione appeared in the doorway a split-second later. "Crookshanks, come back!" She started to dash down the hall after him, but by the time she reached the end, she couldn't see him anywhere. "Crookshanks? Crookie, where are you?"
"Blasted cat, I don't know why she hangs onto him," Ron muttered, crossing his arms as Hermione walked back, discouraged.
"We've got to go look for him, who knows what's out there? What if he gets hurt or…or…killed by some animal out there?" Hermione lamented woefully.
"Hermione, it's past midnight, and we're all tired. Lets just sleep on it and look for him in the morning before we leave," Ron said.
"Leave? Where are you two going?"
"We'll explain in a bit, but Ron's right, I'm sure we'll find him in the morning. He'll be fine, he always is," Harry commented, trying to cheer her up.
"You're probably right…" But she didn't sound convinced, throwing a longing look over her shoulder as Harry put a hand on her back, leading her back into the room. "I just have this feeling that I won't see him again."
"Don't be such a worrywart. We'll find him in the morning. In the mean time we've got a party to clean up," Ron said, looking around at the mess.
"I suppose…" Hermione started to usher the few remaining guests out, but it was clear that her mind wasn't on her work.
* * *
"Dammit! Gerard, you told me you would take care of them. Now not only was he able to speak to the council, they're going off to chase us in Australia!"
"But we've already pulled out of Australia and we didn't leave anything behind, so there shouldn't be a problem."
Nachesca whirled around to stare at him, eyes flashing with a deep felt anger. "The Ministry is now looking for us, which means we're going to have to move more carefully than before. I don't like having them on our trail; it makes me nervous. Besides, what if we did leave something behind without realizing it? We may be cautious, but no one is perfect. Hopefully God is smiling on us and will hide anything we left behind from them."
She turned towards the stone cauldron again, watching the people mill around, cleaning up after their party. She put her hands on the rim of stone and bowed her head, letting out a stressful sigh. There was so much that still needed to be done and now they had even less time to complete it in.
"I want you to send them another warning, one that will get their attention, but not involve us trying to capture them again. We've learned our lesson from that. In the meantime I will prepare for the Chinese expedition. You will meet me there once you've completed your mission. Are we clear?"
"Crystal."
* * *
Hermione yawned as she rolled over in bed, blinking her eyes open sleepily. She pulled a clock off the table next to her bed and brought it with her range of sight. Nine-twenty.
Hermione jolted out of bed. Nine-twenty? She was over an hour late for work! She rummaged around in her closet for a robe to throw on, grabbed her wand and papers and was halfway out the door before she remembered that it was Saturday and she had taken the weekend off. Groaning at her own stupidity, she toasted a bagel and started to munch on it grumpily when Ron and Harry stumbled out of their rooms, bleary eyed and clearly not happy that they'd stayed up late the night before.
"What are you two doing up? I thought you'd be asleep until at least one."
Ron shook his head and went into the kitchen to scrounge up some food. "No, we're leaving on a Ministry trip today, remember?"
"Oh, right, prophecies, stolen artifacts, Australia. I remember." She paused. "Weren't you supposed to be there by nine?"
Harry looked at her. "Isn't it eight?"
Hermione shook her head. "Sorry, it's nearly nine forty-five.
Ron's head jolted up as he heard this announcement, but then he relaxed. "Eh, they'll wait. We're tired and won't be of any use until we wake up. Hermione? Where'd you put that juice stuff?"
"It's by the pumpkin juice and the bisque…Um, Harry? Don't you want to get a bowl out before pouring the cereal?"
Harry looked confused for a moment before Hermione's comment dawned on him, making him feel rather sheepish. "Oh, right, I suppose that would be a good idea…"
"Herm, I still can't find it. But I did find some Chinese from a few weeks ago…" Ron said holding up a container of General Gau's Chicken with one hand and his nose with the other.
"Ugh, throw it in the trash and cast an odor-reducing charm on it. No, Harry, that's chicken broth!" Hermione yelled as Harry started to pour chicken broth on his cereal. He stopped and just looked at it for a moment before commenting, "Merlin, I must be tired."
"Are you sure we have that juice? I still don't see it anywhere," Ron complained.
Rolling her eyes, Hermione finished her bagel and walked into the kitchen. "Honestly, men can be such babies. You juice is right here," she pulled it out and set it down right in front of Ron, "and I suggest you try eating dry cereal until you can wake up enough to tell the difference between chicken broth and milk," she said, looking at Harry. Both men looked at her sheepishly before getting out of the kitchen and sitting down to eat.
* * *
"So that's what you're going to be doing there. May I ask why I wasn't invited? This involves me just as much as it does the two of you," Hermione demanded after hearing the details of the little trip to Australia Harry and Ron were taking.
"Erm, yes, it does, but you don't…have any…specific skills that would be of use to the Ministry at the moment, unlike Harry, who has an expertise in the area we're investigating," Ron fumbled.
"In other words, the Ministry wanted Harry but they didn't want me."
"Well…yeah, that's about the size of it."
"Don't feel bad, Herm," Harry put in as they walked out to the street so he and Ron could Apparate. "At least you won't have to put up with our incompetence for a few days."
Hermione was about to respond, when suddenly her face went stark white. The side of their building had been covered in blood, forming the words:
T H I S k I S k J U S T k T H E k B E G I N N I N G
Still fresh, the crimson words dripped onto the street below, settling in a large puddle around a small, furry creature. Crookshanks. His throat had been slit and his face and body mutilated almost beyond recognition. Only a fraction of his tag remained so that he could be positively identified.
Hermione felt weak in the knees and shakily turned to face her companions.
"I'm going with you."
Author's Note: Once again, I'm so sorry this chapter took so long to get out, and I hope I didn't bore you with all the explanations that went on. Trust me, they were necessary. Hopefully things will pick up better in chapter four, I've got some fun stuff planned for that chapter *evil grin*. Anyways, I need to thank my wonderful beta-reader, George Weasley's Girlfriend, for helping me out immensely with this chapter. And, uh, yeah, thanks for reading, hope it's worth a review!