Runaway Fox

Chapter Seven: Snaring the Fox

Disclaimer: I don't own a bunch of the characters and original characters, the wonderful J.K. Rowling does.  I own this story.  And all the new concepts and characters.  Simon, Mari, and Marcus belong to me.

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            "You are the coolest," said a short boy with straight, jet black hair and sparkling brown eyes.  Ron looked at him as he walked of the Quidditch field.  Mari was on the team with him; she was a chaser while Ron was a keeper for the university team.  At the time, Ron didn't know that there were scouts coming to the games looking for players to play professionally.

            "Um…thanks," said Ron modestly.  He felt his ears go pink for a moment.

            "Ron, this is my younger brother, Marcus," said Mari proudly as she placed her hand on his shoulder.  He couldn't more than sixteen years old.  He was a head shorter than his sister, but he a bright smile on his face.

            "Hello, my name is Ron Weasley," said Ron with a smile as he held out his hand.  The boy looked at Ron as if he were surprised that he'd even shake hands with him.  "It's a pleasure to meet you, Marcus."

            "Marcus, shake Ron's hand.  He's a big fan of yours, Ron.  He doesn't come to the games to watch his older sister play," said Mari with a pout.

            "That's not true, Mari," snapped Marcus embarrassingly.  Ron knew that Mari was half Japanese and half American.  Her mother was American, but she had died when Mari was twelve. So, Ron could see that Mari had a half sister-half mother role with Marcus.  Marcus reminded Ron of himself when he was younger. 

            "Do you want to try some goals on the field?" asked Ron.

            "Really?" asked Marcus in amazement.

            Ron nodded and Mari loaned her broomstick to Marcus to hit a few goals with Ron acting as keeper of course.

            Ron woke up from his dream or rather memory from the past.  He thought about Mari and Marcus often.  Much more often than most people thought.  He also spent his evening thinking of Hermione and Harry.  He was remembering those four.  They were friends of his, but both sets of friendships laid in ruins.  Ron knew that he wrecked both sets of friendships. The friendship between Ron, Harry, and Hermione broke down because he was insecure and jealous of both of them.  The one between Ron, Mari, and Marcus broke down for the same reason, except it wasn't Ron's insecurity and jealousy that did it, and the results were far worst.  He felt as if it were still his fault because he ignored the signs that he used to project himself.  Ron couldn't afford to have Hermione and Harry renew their friendship together because he was afraid that the next disaster would be much worse. 

            He stood up in his room to do his meditations.  In Ellsinore, the magic students took classes in advance Transfiguration, Potions, Meditations, Charms, Spell Making and Breaking, Herbology and other classes such as those.  Ron had struggled through Potions because his foundation was shaky even though the professor was very nice to him.  If it wasn't for Simon, Ron wouldn't have passed the class.  Simon was a wiz at brewing potions, but he had trouble in Transfiguration where Ron had to help him.  Ron was very good at transfigurations.  The transfigurations were so advance it came down to transfiguring their own wands into various objects.  There wasn't any Divination which Ron was grateful for.  In fact, most American schools didn't have Divination.  Instead, there were useful meditation classes instead where they had to learn Tai Chi and Yoga.  It was so that they could focus their magic to do some magic spells without wands.  A wand was something used to focus magic like a conductor.  If a wizard has enough focus, then he could get away without using a wand for less complex spells.  All the graduating wizards and witches of Ellsinore were able to do some magic without wants.  Usually, if a spell required more than two words, a wand was needed. 

            He used the meditation to calm himself down from his dream.  Ron liked spending time with Hermione.  He always thought that they would have trouble without Harry around to have any decent conversation, but he was wrong.  They didn't need Harry in order to relate to each other.  In fact, neither of them brought Harry up that much.  Ron looked forward to spending his remaining time in London with just her.  He always thought of Hermione in a different way than any of his other friends, including Mari.  She was special and it took Ron four years into their friendship to realize that.  Ron knew at the time that he wasn't really good enough for Hermione and that someone like Viktor Krum deserved her over him.  Why would she pick Ron back then?  He was nothing then, but now he was someone.  Someone important to the world economy. 

            Ron remembered that Mari loved him.  And she did.  He didn't love her back as much as she loved him.  He didn't know why he couldn't and it cost her life.  Ron thought of Hermione and what could happen, what almost happened on the Ferris wheel.  He had to pull away from her before she got hurt.  He felt his ear cuff thoughtfully.  There was a Japanese symbol on it.  Mari's brother picked it out for him when he got his ear pierced.  It had the symbol Kitsune on it.  Fox.  Ron remembered how much Marcus wanted to be like him.  Marcus had more piercings on him than Ron did.  He remembered this with a smile on his face as he finished his meditations.

            "Ron, there's a call from San Francisco.  They say everything is fine," said Simon from the dining area of the hotel suit.  Ron got up and dressed for the day. 

            "That's good.  I think I'm going to meet Hermione," said Ron.

            "Oh, that's good.  I'll take care of everything," said Simon with a smile.

            "It's not what you think, you dumbass," said Ron smartly when he spotted that cheeky grin that Simon had on his face.

            "Yeah, whatever, Ron.  'I think I'm going to meet Hermione.' Man, you're not thinking of her in a friendship capacity and I know it.  Even if you're a state of denial," teased Simon as he smiled even more.

            "Shut up with your psycho babble," said Ron with his eyes narrowed at him.

            "Whatever.  Your lips say no when your eyes say 'Hell yes!'  See you later, Ron.  Give my regards to Ms. Granger," said Simon with a smile still on his face.  Ron shook his head as he left and shot another death glare at Simon which had no really effect.  It only succeed in making him laugh out loud.

~*~

            Hermione and Percy fought for about an hour last night.  Percy was going to his parents' house as soon as possible to tell them the news about finding Ron and about how Hermione kept it to herself.  He went even as far as accusing her of knowing where he was the entire time he was in London.  Needless to say, this had to be the biggest argument that Hermione had with Percy since that whole thing with the house elves. 

            She had to warn Ron as soon as possible and called the hotel that he was staying at to find, much to her annoyance, Simon answering the phone, "Hello?"

            "Hello, this is Hermione Granger."

            "Oh, if you're looking for Ron, he's already left to meet with you."

            "He has?  Can you stop him?"

            "What?  No, he already left about half an hour ago, Ms. Granger."

            "His brother saw us.  He's going to tell their parents."

            "Which one?"

            "Does it matter?"

            "I guess it doesn't.  Well, Ron can take care of it himself, Ms. Granger.  I suppose I could call his cell phone and warn him."

            "That would be fine.  I tried to stop his brother, Percy, but I couldn't."

            "Percy?  Uh-oh.  I'll call Ron right now," said Simon as he hung up the phone and dialed Ron's cell phone number.

            Hermione was a little surprised to hear that Ron had a cell phone, but she got over it quickly.  She wanted to laugh at the irony of the situation because for the last five years she spent time trying to get Ron to see his family, but now she was helping him avoid them.  Something told her that Ron wasn't ready to meet with them yet.  So, like Simon, Hermione felt like she had to protect Ron.

~*~

            "Really Percy, to call a family meeting this early in the morning," mumbled Fred in his stupor.  All the Weasleys were without their spouses except for Harry.  Percy made sure that Harry was present. 

            "What is so important you had to have all of us here?" asked Bill as he yawned. 

            "I saw Ron," answered Percy simply.  Everyone was awake at once.  Mrs. Weasley was close to frantic with excitement. 

            "Where?" asked Mr. Weasley.

            "He dropped off Hermione at her flat in London.  He walked with her and drove off in some really fancy car afterwards.  I talked to Hermione after that, Dad," answered Percy.

            "And?" asked Mrs. Weasley.

            "She said that she had just found out which hotel he was staying at in London.  It's the one downtown Muggle London.  Almost close to the center of London.  Apparently, they spent the day together.  Hermione said that he was fine.  He just didn't want to talk to anyone really.  He's going to be gone the day after next," said Percy.  "He said that he was busy.  Hermione didn't say anything about him dropping by for a visit.  I think if he had it his own way, he probably would have continued to even avoid Hermione.  What are you going to do?" he asked his parents.

            "Um…what should we do?" asked Arthur.

            "I don't think we should force him to do anything, Arthur.  He'll come home when he wants to.  He's used to things going his way now," said Molly.

            "Wait…that's what Hermione said also, but Mum, we haven't seen or heard from him in five years.  Can't you just make him come home for a visit?" asked Fred.

            "No, I can't make him do anything anymore.  He's a grown man, Fred.  You keep forgetting that because your older than him.  Besides, if we push him too hard, he'll be pull himself further away from us," said Molly. 

            Her other children looked at her because they knew that she was right about Ron.  She still blamed herself for not paying enough attention to Ron.  Ron had to leave to get any real attention drawn to himself.  There was no denying the fact that Arthur and Molly were very proud of their youngest son. 

~*~

            "Hello.  Simon?" asked Ron over his cell phone.

            "Ron, Hermione called back here and warned me that your brother, Percy, knows.  He saw you two last night.  Hermione couldn't stop him from telling your parents.  She said she tried, but all she can do is warn you," answered Simon quickly.

            Ron was speechless for a moment.  He felt himself go pale as he waited for the light to change at a stop.  His freckles were probably as pale as he was.  "You're serious?" he stammered.

            "Yes.  I'm serious.  Hermione said that she'll meet you at King's Cross instead something about where you used to take the Hogwarts Express to Hogwarts.  Platform 9 ¾," answered Simon.

            "Okay," said Ron as he hung up and turned the car to head for King's Cross.  He knew that Hermione would probably apparate over there.  Damn Percy!  It had to be him.  God, I'm not having any luck avoiding anyone here.  You'd think that after Malfoy things would get better.  Why don't they just leave me alone? Thought Ron as he made it to King's Cross and parked his car.  He walked into the busy station looking for Platform 9 ¾.  He saw it there wasn't the usual amount of people around because no one was trying to catch Hogwarts Express today.  Classes had already started there.  He looked around first and then went through the barrier.  "Ron," whispered Hermione from a corner.  He walked up to her.  It was deserted.  There wasn't another person there. 

            "Are you all right?" she asked with concern.

            "I'm fine.  Let's get out of here, Hermione," said Ron as he offered her his arm.  Hermione nodded and took his arm.

            "Percy was practically screaming at me last night right on my doorstep.  I never thought I'd see him that mad at me or anyone else for that matter," said Hermione. 

            Ron looked at Hermione who was smiling and he started laughing at the thought of Perfect Percy losing his cool like that.  Hermione couldn't help herself, but join in Ron's amusement.  They walked out of King's Cross together.  They decided to walk around a little more.  Perhaps go to Diagon Alley, but Ron refused he said something about not wanting to meet anyone there by accident. Although, Hermione could have sworn that he had a sly look on his face.  She didn't want to know what he did or to whom she decided.

            "I have to admit I've been having more fun than I expected.  There is one question I do have, Ron."

            "What?"

            "You've changed a lot, but have I?"

            "Yes, of course, Hermione.  We all have to change.  Everything's always changing that's how things are.   Just some things.  Don't worry about Hermione.  You're still as perfect as ever."

            "Me?  Perfect?  You're kidding."

            "Well, you've always looked perfect to me.  I mean most of the time I was wrong anyway."

            Hermione looked at him in surprise.  He admitted that he was wrong most of the time?  That made no sense to her.  "That's not true, Ron.  You really should give yourself more credit.  I thought by now after all the things you've accomplished, you'd have more confidence in yourself," she said.  

            The leaves were blowing gently in the wind for a moment.  She found him looking deep into her eyes with his soulful ones.  There was some pain in his eyes for a moment.  However, his eyes were intense as if he were holding her underneath a spell of some kind.  The wind blew off some of the leaves off the trees.  One of the them fell close to Hermione's face.  Ron leaned in close and caught it before it could land on her.  He was only inches from her face.  For a moment, she thought that he was going to place his hand on her cheek, but he only raised his hand to catch the leave.  He turned away from her and let the leaf go into the wind again.  Her eyes were open wide as if she were in shock.  Ron turned around again to look at her.  There was an uncertainty in both them, but even more so in his eyes.  There was a look of vulnerability also. 

            Hermione looked at him and reached out one of her hands to him.  He looked at her for a moment with the wind in his hair before he took her hand.  They walked together in silence again. 

~*~

            To the surprise of Percy and everyone else, there was no one in Hermione's apartment.  It seemed as if they had planned out of it.  "How?  Do you think Hermione warned him?  I thought she was on our side," said Fred.

            "Ron's car isn't here," said Percy as he looked around at all the others.

            "I think they might be off somewhere in Muggle London," said Harry knowingly.  He was the only there who had any idea of how to get around there, but even then he wasn't all that familiar with London. 

            "That's a thought.  Besides, that's where Ron's staying," said Ginny. 

            "Fine, let's go there," agreed Percy.  They had split up to look for Ron.  Bill, Charlie, Fred, and George were together while Percy, Harry, and Ginny were together.   They had to find either Hermione or Ron.  They all agreed that it would be easier to find Hermione.  However, if she was with Ron, then it would be much harder than they thought.

~*~

            Simon looked at the article of Ron in Witch Weekly.  He studied the picture specifically because he knew where the picture was taken.  It was taken in San Francisco near the Golden Gate bridge where his apartment used be nearby.  However, he realized that the picture was far too artistic to be a causal shot.  There was a tiny printed name on it "Miranda Hoshi."  Simon smiled a sad smile on his face.  Of course, Mari loved to take pictures whether or not it was with a Muggle camera or not.  She was quite artistic at everything, but was also very intelligent.  She was supposed to be class valedictorian, but Simon was, and he was never happy with it.  Simon also argued that Ron should have been valedictorian since was next in line, and at the time of Mari's death, Simon was third in the class.

            Simon sighed and decided that it was best not to tell Ron about where they got the picture.  He almost forgot about the galleries that Mari had pictures in.  Someone must have recognized Ron and got a copy of it.  Either way, Simon was going to have to deal with it himself without telling Ron about it.

~*~

            Hermione was struggling with her feelings at the moment.   She always had feelings towards Ron.  Sometimes they were mad, sometimes they were sad.  Most people thought that Hermione was mad at Ron's sudden departure from England five years ago for the Weasleys, but that wasn't true.  She was mad because he had left her.  She was even madder at herself for not being able to stay mad at him.  She wanted to hate him, but she couldn't' do it.

            "Ron?  Did something bad happen to you?" asked Hermione timidly, hoping that it didn't sound like she was prying.  He didn't answer her.  "Where did you get that earring?"

            Ron looked at her musingly as if he were trying to decided which of her questions to answer. "I got it in California just after the World Cup.  My friend convinced me to get it," replied Ron.

            "Simon?"

            "No, not Simon.  He told me that it would look good on me," said Ron.

            "Well, he wasn't lying it does look good on you," complimented Hermione as she got closer to him to look at the earring.  She knew that it had to have hurt a little more than ear lobes because the needle had to have gone through cartilage.  "What does this symbol mean?" she asked as she fingered the ear cuff just barely grazing his skin.  He pulled away from her and answered, "It means the Japanese kanji for 'kitsune.'  It means fox."

            "Hmm…that reminds me.  You use the fox all over your logos and stuff.  I supposed it's only appropriate," remarked Hermione with a slight smile, remembering the fox that she had seen a few nights ago.  Yes, foxes had red fur just like Ron had red hair.  There was no denying that Ron had the magical skills for becoming Animagi.  He wouldn't say for sure, but even Ellsinore didn't promote people to become Animagi. 

            "Yes, well it's what people thought of me in school.  'As sly as a fox,'" said Ron with a grin.  It was the same kind of grin Fred and George got when they were getting ready to commit some mischief.  "Yeah, right," said Hermione with a smile on her face.

            Ron did something he didn't expect himself to do at all.  He leaned forward and kissed her on her smiling lips.  Hermione stumbled back for a moment, but she warmed up to it.  He pulled away from her after a moment.  The kiss wasn't that long, but Hermione felt like it was an eternity.  And it still wasn't long enough for her.

AN: I like keeping my fox theme through out the naming of the chapters.  I decided to formally introduced Marcus here.  He's also very important to Ron's past.  Does it seem like the romance is going a little too fast or too slow?  I believe the romance here is building on what happened in the fourth book between them.  Keep reading and reviewing….^_^