~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Chapter Nineteen

Good Morning London

Hermione woke up the next morning, trying to figure out why the sun was coming in her window like that. Once her brain woke up, the answer was obvious. It wasn't her window.

Hermione sat up and took stock of her surroundings. She was in Ron's bed in Ron's apartment with just a touch of stiffness that told her how much she drank last night. She was still wearing her clothes from the night before, and found this vaguely disappointing. Oh well.

Hermione yawned and went in search of Ron and something hot to drink. She found one at least. There was a kettle full of water on the stove and she found the mugs after some rummaging. There was a note from Ron Spellotaped to the kettle. It seemed to say something about work and being back soon, but it was hard to tell. Ron's handwriting was a challenge when he was awake.

After half a mug of tea, there was a knock at the door. Thinking it was Ron, and not thinking why he would knock at his own door, she opened it.

"Hey R- uh…" Harry had totally forgotten what day it was.

"Uh… Hi Harry."

"'lo Hermione. Is Ron home?" The absurdity of the situation finally struck home, and Hermione couldn't stop giggling at Harry's shocked face.

"Hey," Harry protested, becoming very embarrassed. Then he saw the humour of the situation. They were both just getting their breath back when Ron Apperated in the living room waving a slip of parchment.

" 'Mione, we got a lead… oh… Hi Harry." Ron's ears turned very red. He noticed Hermione's suppressed laughter and made a valiant effort to collect himself.

"The muggles tracked down some of that stolen money. It was used to buy some property in Italy, Sicily to be precise. It came from an organization affiliated with Malfoy."

"What? The Death Eaters?" Hermione

Harry shook his head. "Malfoy, Draco that is, was never part of the Death Eaters. He seemed to think it a waste of time. After his dad got thrown into Azkaban, he started his own little organized crime syndicate, but all they seemed interested in was money.

"I spent three years track that slimy git down, and what does he do?" Ron threw up his hands annoyed. "Flees London, straight into the hands of the Americans. Shoulda known it was him when those banks started getting robbed."

"What are you smiling at Hermione?"

"Nothing. How did you catch him last time?"

Harry answered. "He's fairly predictable. Last time he was robbing the home safes of wealthy muggles, taking jewels and such. He always did it on a Tuesday night and always in the same neighbourhood. A couple of more weeks and we would have caught him."

"Someone tipped him off that we were staking out houses and he decided to take a trip to America. We sent a message to the Americans on the off chance that they'd see him." Ron snorted at their beginner's luck.

A thought occurred to Hermione. "Just what was England's rookie Seeker doing on a Ministry stakeout?" Both Harry and Ron assumed the too-innocent look they used when they were caught sneaking around the corridors at night.

"I just happened to be in the neighbourhood at the time. Honest." Harry grinned. "Some habits die hard."

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Questions, comments, critisicms, complaints? Review, my friend, review.

.•´¨`•»¦«•Kerowyn•»¦«•´¨`•.