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TRUST IN ME
by Tyde

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Chapter Three

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Hermes, Percy's owl, fluttered in through the open window and landed on the bed. Ron reached for the letter tied to the clawed foot but the owl pecked at his fingers in warning.

"What are you playing at?" he said in annoyance to the bird after once again trying unsuccessfully to grab the parchment envelope. Hermione had yet to stir beside him and he noticed that Hermes had landed on her blanket covered leg.

"Is it for Mione then?" he asked the owl which gave him a withering look. If it had been a teenage girl it would have said 'Well duh'.

"We haven't got any secrets. Percy's probably just sending on the latest Ministry news on carpet embargos or something. Hand it over"

He put his hand out but the owl flapped it's wings and moved it's perch to the top of her wardrobe. Ron hadn't really paid attention to the envelope, but if he had he would have noticed the dark blue spots at the corners. That meant Strictly Private and Confidential. If it was opened by anyone other than the addressee they would immediately contract a case of Kneazle Pox which was the wizard version of Chicken Pox but far more unpleasant.

Growing fidgety with impatience he nudged Hermione awake.

"Hey, love. Wake up! You've got a letter"

Her voice was muffled from being face down in the pillow "I never thought I'd say this but can't I have a lie in?"

She had good reason to be tired. She'd mastered the dance of the seven veils in class and Ron had insisted that she show it to him...a dozen or so times. Of course it didn't end there and she doubted whether they'd had even four hours sleep, let alone a full eight.

"Hermes brought it. It's from Percy obviously. Ruddy bird won't let me take it off him. Waiting for you"

"No doubt it's marked P + C. Did you think of that, Mister Postman?" Her tone was starting to get considerably grumpy.

"We don't have any secrets, love. Come on, be a good girl and get Hermes over here"

Her head rose, her cheeks covered in pillow creases, and she squinted at him in the early morning sunlight.

"A good girl? A GOOD GIRL?! What am I a school student?"

He immediately realised he'd screwed it up.

" Er...um, no" he tried to keep his mouth shut, truly he did but it didn't want to cooperate today "Unless you want to be, baby" his suggestively wiggling eyebrows just dug his grave even further. "Um, no...I mean good woman. Er, no, that's not it either"

Ron was drowning in his own personal sea of 'putting one's foot in one's mouth'. Her eyes narrowed at him. This was going to take an awful big bunch of flowers and a giant box of Honeydukes chocolate. Possibly even a life time's supply.

Hermione gestured for Hermes to come back to the bed and she removed the parchment from it's envelope. Her face remained blank giving no indication of the contents of the letter. She pursed her lips and looked at her bumbling fiancé.

"I'm busy today, Ron. Go home. I'll owl you tomorrow"

"Hermione, love, I'm really sorry. You know my foot and my mouth - best of friends sometimes," he laughed weakly.

"I'll talk to you later Ron. I truly am busy" she kissed him quickly on the cheek but her lips felt like ice. As she walked out of the door towards the shower she threw a comment over her shoulder. "Now hurry along like a good little boy".

~*~

A whispered conversation overheard one night in Hogsmeade:

You better use a different owl, alternate ones at the Ministry. I think he's starting to get suspicious.

You've been careful haven't you? He's got no reason to suspect anything.

I think he knows. What if he finds out? It'll spoil everything.

There, there, you're just working yourself up about nothing. He'll understand.

How can you be so sure?

Because he's my brother, I know him. Here, take my hand, don't be so nervous. We'll be there soon. It's a little place just up the road from here.

How come you aren't nervous?

Because I've done it dozens of times before.

~*~

Pig swooped in through the door a split second before Harry slammed it shut against the wind.

"Geez Pig, cutting it a bit fine! Got a letter from Ron?" He took a few cherries out of the fruit bowl and put them down in front of him. "Munch on those while I find out what it is that Ron wants" Unfurling the parchment he sat down at the kitchen table to read.

Harry

Hope everything is fine with you. I was wondering if I could borrow your invisibility cloak some time next week.

Talk to you soon

Cheers
Ron

My invisibility cloak? Harry thought to himself. Wonder what he's up to. He grabbed a quill to scribble his reply.

I'd rather find out why you needed it in the first place. Maybe we could meet for a drink or something.

I await your reply

Harry

He'd just tied the note back to Pig's leg when a whooshing sound could be heard and a chunk of dust exploded from the fireplace, followed by a crumpled looking Ron.

"Sorry Harry. Couldn't wait for your reply. Wasn't really doing anything at home, thought I'd come round. Hope you don't mind" He had his eager face on. The one that told Harry he was desperate to say something but it would take a few pints to get it out of him.

"Not at all, Ron. I was just sending Pig back with the reply. You can borrow it, I'd rather like to know why you need to borrow it though"

"Um..." he shifted on his feet and looked at the ground.

"Come on Ron, out with it. How long have we been friends, eh? You can tell me anything"

"I need to use it to follow Hermione" his eyes betrayed something, was it fear?

"Is this a sex thing?"

"What?"

"Are you going to use it to follow her around and then jump her in the middle of the street or something?"

"Honestly Harry, you get weirder every year, you know that? No it's not a sex thing. Well it might be. Um...I think she's having an affair"

"An affair? Hermione? No, Ron. She's not like that. She'd never do that to you"

"She's getting all these secret owls all the time. She's almost forgotten all about the wedding plans. Whenever I Apparate in for a talk or something she's not there. She comes home exhausted from Merlin knows where. I'm beginning to think she doesn't care about me anymore. Harry, what am I going to do?"

"Maybe she's just doing all the wedding preparations on the sly and not bothering you with it all. You remember what it was like last month when you were at each other's throats. I hate to be sexiest Ron but leave it to the women. They know how to handle these things, us men, we've got no idea. It's in our genetic makeup. We're meant to sit there and smile while they handle the 'what coloured napkins' and 'which flowers' questions."

"Harry, it's Percy"

"What's Percy?"

"The bloke she's having an affair with. It all started a month or so ago when I was over her place and she got a letter delivered by Hermes. It wouldn't have been from anyone but Percy. His flatmate has got his own owl and besides, he's never even met 'Mione. Unless he has...in some seedy bar in London"

"What would Hermione be doing in a seedy bar in London? Think about what you're saying Ron. You've known her since she was eleven. Does she seem the type to break the rules, moral rules anyway? She loves you Ron, you love her. You're getting married for Merlin's sake! Why, if she was having an affair, would she do it now? A few weeks before the wedding? Poor timing in my opinion"

"Poor timing? Listen to yourself Harry. People don't time their affairs, they just have them. They don't care. I can't believe Percy would do this to me. I knew she always admired him because he was so intelligent and they had so much in common, but I'm her little Ronniebear. I'm her Mr Sexy Slacks"

"Good Lord, Ron. Way too much information!"

"A little sympathy here, Harry"

"I'm sorry Ron, but I honestly don't think she's cheating on you. And with Percy? Come on. If he knew his way around a woman's bra I'm the bloody Minister for Magic"

"An intellectual affair then. They get together for candle light readings of the latest books from Verne McDicksey and Beverley Biglotte"

"Ron you're an absolute nutter, you know that. You're worried she's having an affair with what is basically a book that wears pants and glasses. I think I better take you out, get some fresh air into those lungs of yours. Come on, we'll go visit Hagrid or something. No doubt he's got some new pet that is likely to cause us grievous bodily harm. It'll be fun"

~*~

Author's note: Thanks to my roommate Allikatz for the author names. She thinks I'm a little crazy with all this fanfic stuff but rises to the occasion with ideas when I need her.

Rupert Fan – I'll try. Hehe. Of course I'll keep writing. I love to finish my stories.

Josiahgirl – Thanks for the review. I think I'll have to bow to pressure and start reading Lord of the Rings. That's the same way I got into HP stuff actually, all my friends were reading it and I'm loathe to follow the crowd but I did and I'm happy I did. My brother-in-law has the books so I might just have to borrow from him. The designs for the groomsmen is what I always imagine the blokes will wear at my wedding. Very 19th century British isn't it?