Disclaimer: as always, all this Potter stuff is JK Rowling's. Ok now?
PLAYING DIRTYBye bye love, bye bye happiness
Hello loneliness, I think I'm gonna cry
Bye bye love, bye bye sweet caress
Hello emptiness, I feel like I could die
Bye bye love, Everly Brothers
***************
6:15 a.m.
There were so many things Ron loved about Hermione, but watching her asleep was at the top of the list. It was very early in the morning, and she was curled up on his chest, her head across his shoulder and one arm lazily sprawled on his waist, her soft skin massaging his with every soft breath she took. She was so peaceful in her deep sleep, and seemed so safe and sound within his arms…he wished he could hold her like this forever. With her wonderful and brilliant personality she made him forget all the bad things he had to deal with. Sometimes he looked at her and thought about all those ages of platonic friendship…God, he was daft and stupid? She had been a costant in his life, and soon he had found he couldn't bear if she wasn't with him forever and beyond. And now she was about to become his wife…his and nobody else's woman. This was how things were supposed to go, and he couldn't help but smile thinking about their first encounter: he had wished with all his heart not to be sorted in the same house of that little know-it-all, and now he couldn't imagine his home without her even for two minutes. Life can be so absurd sometimes.
She stirred and blinked twice, then raised her head and saw him. "Hi." She whispered with a sleepy smile.
He smiled too. "Morning, princess." She kissed his cheek and yawned, making little purring sounds which made him warm all over. "You look more beautiful than ever this morning, you know."
She smiled and kissed his lips. "Thanks."
He returned her kiss, putting an arm around her waist and letting his tongue make its way in her mouth. They stood there kissing for what seemed an eternity, eventually his mouth left hers and she smiled happily down to him, not sleepy anymore, with her fawn eyes happy and warm.
"What time is it?"
"Mm…half past six, I think."
Her eyes widened. "I have to get ready in less than ten minutes!" she jumped from the bed and began to look for proper clothes in the cupboard.
He smiled genuinely seeing her so busy. "Why all this hurry, luv?"
"I've got a press conference to talk about my last research." She said, managing to put on long skirt.
He got up, putting on his boxers. "I'd like to come and listen to you." He whispered, and then neared her, who was still buttoning her blouse. "You know, you're very, very sexy when you talk into a microphone…"
She grinned and kissed him. "Am I?"
"You don't know how much I felt aroused last time I came to a conference of yours." He grinned back. "I was holding back myself, but I wanted so much to pin you down on that desk and have my way with you."
She raised her eyebrows, still smiling. "My, I fell in love with a naughty animal."
He smirked and kissed her. "And this is one of the reasons you love me so much."
She laughed and finished dressing, then she went into the bathroom while he put on his jeans. She came out in a few minutes, with a very professional attitude. He grinned and bit down his lip, arching his eyebrows. "Oh, baby." He said with his Clark Gable voice, which she found simply irresistible.
She grinned back and picked up her bag. "Remember you promised to meet me in Diagon Alley at 13.00, we have to choose the keepsakes."
He nodded. "Don't worry, I'll be there."
"Let's hope." She said shrugging, and picking up her coat. "Look, I really care about this."
"Me too." He said, hugging her.
She kissed him on the lips and made her way to the door, then stopped. "Ron?"
"Yeah?"
"I love you."
He grinned. "Me too, baby."
She smiled and went out the door.
10:30 a.m.
"Look who's there." Said Lex with a grin when Ron came in his room. "I thought you were busy with your wedding plannings."
"Nothing till 13.00." he said, taking his seat behind his desk. At that moment Sean came in with his arms full of papers and folders. "What's all this?"
"You told me to find something about Raven's son, here it is." He said, putting the folders on the desk with a thud.
"Whoa, the guy is better than his father, it seems." Lex snorted.
Ron picked up some papers and started reading them aloud with a frown. "Jeremy Raven, male, 30, Dwight Raven's son, his second in command. He's ambitious, very clever and cruel. He took part in the most horrible attacks to the muggles, but he never showed up clearly, so he can't be officially charged because of the lack of prooves."
Sean nodded. "Well, nice to meet him. This bloody git seems more dangerous than his own father."
"Perhaps he's even ok with his father in Azkaban, so he can be considered as the number one in that damn organization of theirs." Lex tried.
Ron shook his head. "No, I don't think so. This guy is trying to make a point, which is his great ability. He wants his father and everone to recognize his great way of committing crimsons without being discovered. So what would be better than rescue daddy without even risking his clever arse?"
Sean frowned. "If this is true, ther's more danger now than before we caught Raven senior."
Ron nodded. "We have to find this fucking Jeremy before he tries anything."
"Can I ask you how, since this git is playing to the Invisible Man since he was born?" Lex asked. "We haven't a single cue to find him."
"I know, still we have to." Ron seemed very worried. "Let's begin this way: I'll go to talk to William, we'll ask to have a look in the Ministry official archive. Sean, you'll have to find any single name we have of Raven's organization, I want every name, even the name of the boy who takes them the coffee. Lex, call all our informers and try to see if any of them knows something. This must be done before 13.00, or I'm a dead man."
They smirked a bit and nodded. "Let's find the Bad Boy, boss."
13:30 p.m.
Hermione glanced at her watch and tapped her foot on the ground nervously. Ron couldn't be in a hurry even that afternoon, not with Raven in Azkaban and their appointment to look for the keepsakes, he simply couldn't. This time he knew she couldn't give him any excuse.He just couldn't miss this too: she was arranging their wedding all alone with Ginny's help, and she wasn't supposed to do all this without his help. After all, he was the groom: true, she had given him some more extra-time to catch that Raven, but now that it was all over if he missed another of their appointments, it could only mean he wasn't interested at all in their ceremony, and this was very sad. She dreamed about that day since she was a child, he couldn't be so lazy and busy with his job to forget she was looking forward it. This would mean he was an insensible git, and she really hoped he wasn't. At last, his best friend Ron was all but insensible. And sometimes she missed the caring best friend he once was: now, so busy with his work and all, she felt lonely…she would have loved sitting with him and talking about their wedding, their fears, their wonderful love…but he was never at home with her lately, not to mention he worked in the same office with a real bitch…
Hermione shook her head. No, Ron was on his way to come, he would never do that to her. He promised, and he had her total confidence. All she had to do was to wait a little more.
13:42 p.m.
Ron bursted in his room once again and Sean raised his head from the papers he was reading. "So?"
Sean shook his head. "Just a pair of names. There's a certain Kevin Lucas, who seems a sort of phantom help, so I told Lex to find more about him, and our old friend Daniel Pennyworth, but he doesn't seems so covered up to me."
Ron nodded. "Keep on finding about that Lucas boy."
Sean frowned a bit. "Ron, what are you doing here? I thought you had to meet Hermione."
Ron's eyes widened. "What?" frantically he looked at his watch and his eyes widened more. "Holy shit!!!" and without even another glance, he run out of the room, leaving Sean with an amused expression on his face.
13:55 p.m.
Hermione slammed shut the door of her flat and went straight to her bedroom; there she undressed and put on a pair of jeans and a jumper, her movements frantic and nervous. She felt a strong need to cry, but refused to let the tears come down her cheeks: she felt betrayed. Yes, betrayed. She had told him how much she needed his collaboration in all this wedding thing, yet he didn't care a bit, even now that everything was ok. This was so cruel of him…she wanted him, needed him, he was supposed to be there with her, but he wasn't, and it seemed he didn't want to be. And this was very painful for her.
Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder, and a wave of rage exploded in her heart. "Don't you dare, don't say you're sorry cause this time I won't accept it." She hissed bitterly.
"I won't."
Hermione turned around immediately: this wasn't Ron's voice, and the man who was standing right in front of her wasn't him. He was tall and with black hair and eyes, with a strange darkness in his eyes and a smirk on his face which she didn't like at all.
"Who are you?" she asked, her hand searching her wand. "How did you come in?"
He smirked. "Looking for this?" he sneered, holding up her wand in his hand. She felt panic, but tried not to show this. He saw her tense up and smirked even more. "Hermione Granger, aren't you?"
She bit her lip and took a step behind. "Who the hell are you?"
"Let's say I'm here expecially for you." He said teasingly, putting her wand in the pocket of his jacket. "My name's Jeremy, nice to meet you."
She was beginning to feel very scared. She was alone, and this man's behaviour seemed all but normal. She tried to make her voice as neutral as she could. "What do you want?"
He stepped closer. "My, I thought you were nicer, Hermione…I'm your guest, after all."
"I don't think I've ever invited you to my home, and I'd like to know what are you doing here and how do you know me." She managed to spat out with a brave voice.
He stepped closer and looked into her eyes. "What an interesting woman you are, Miss Granger…" he whispered huskily, and she immediately backed away from him. It was impossible for her to escape: he was pinning her against the wall, she could only try to kick him and then run as fast as she could, but he seemed reading her mind, cause he took out his wand and pointed it directly to her chest. "Let's put things in this way: I'm here to pick you, so if you play nice and do as I say, there won't be any damages."
She swallowed hard and tried to be careful to his movements. "I'm not going anywere." She said sharply.
He smirked. "Very interesting and brave person you are, my lady, but a bit too presumptuous. Altough I like presumptuous women, I like breaking them."
Ok, now she was definitely scared. Yet, she imposed herself not to show this. "Stay away from me." She hissed bravely.
He laughed cruelly, then looked at her and shouted "Stupefy!". Hermione's limp body fell down on the ground. He smirked again and put his wand in his jacket. Then he picked her unconscious body up and with a last grin he apparated away.
14:30 p.m.
Harry and the Chudley Cannons seeker reserve were going after the very fast snitch, while their chaser and captain Roger was giving them advices; this was normal routine for the training, altough Harry liked the most when they had training matches with other teams. In a matter of minutes he caught the snitch.
"Walts, this isn't a nice walk in your garden, you have to go faster if you want to catch that damn thing!" Roger shouted from his broom.
One of the Cannons' beaters, Micheal, reached for Harry with his broom. "Hey Harry, there's a friend of yours over there, he says he wants to talk to you right now."
Harry looked down and saw Ron. "Thanks, Mike." He dived down his broom and reached the ground within two seconds. "Hey, what are you doing here?" he asked.
Ron seemed very nervous. "Is Hermione here?"
Harry frowned. "No, of course she isn't. Why?"
Ron made a face. "I had to meet her at 13.00, but I…well, I went there just two minutes ago, and obviously she wasn't there anymore."
Harry crossed his arms. "Not to lecture you, mate, but this is what, the twentieth time she gives you an appointment and you miss it?"
"Please, spare me the lecture." Ron interrupted him sharply. "Ginny already told me this. Now I just want to find Hermione."
Harry shhok his head. "She didn't came to me. Have you tried with Ginny?"
Ron nodded, while passing his head through his hair. "Yeah, she told me to come here and try with you."
Harry could sense his concern and worry. "Look, I'm sure she's fuming right now, but eventually it'll be okay, it always is."
"I'd like to hear her saying this first." He said tense. "I'll try to go home and wait till she comes back. Perhaps it's better to give her some space to calm down a bit."
Harry nodded. "I agree. Hey, let me know when she comes back and you two stop arguing, ok?"
"Yeah." Ron seemed not so confident. "I just hope she'll want to talk with me."
15:40 p.m.
When Ron came back home he truly hoped Hermione would already be there, but she wasn't. He sighed and went in their bedroom: on the bed there were the skirt and the blouse she had worn in the morning, so she had been there. He went downstairs again and looked for her in the kitchen and in the bathroom, but she wasn't there. He let out an exasperated sigh.
"Looking for your woman, I assume."
Ron turned sharply, wand in hand: there was a man in his sitting room, a dark one to be honest. His face was totally new to him, but something told him he already knew that guy.
"My, Auror reflexes, what a good thing." The guy kept on talking in a mischievous voice.
"Who are you?" Ron hissed.
"I'm sure you know me, altough we haven't been properly introduced yet." The guy sneered. "But I'm sure you know very well my father, in fact you were so brilliant to put him in prison. You do have my congratulations. Bloody idiot my father is, isn't he?"
Ron tightened his grip on the wand. "Raven junior." He whispered with a very low voice.
He smirked. "I'd like more if you call me Jeremy."
"Whatever is your name, what the fuck are you doing here?"
"I'm…having a chat with my favourite auror. Cause you know, I like you more than all your stupid friends at the Ministry." Jeremy said, still smirking. "They're so bloody annoying, on the contrary you're sharp and quite clever. It's rather funny palying to the cat and mouse with you."
"I'm flattered." Ron was starting to feel nervous. This git's presence in his home was too dangerous. "But despite your greetings, I have to ask you again. What. The. Fuck. Are. You doing. Here."
Jeremy smiled and sat on the couch. "I think you should sit down a bit. This if you want your precious fiancee alive."
Ron felt his blood freeze in his veins. "What?"
The man looked at him with an amused look. "Yes, you didn't misunderstand me. I have your beautiful girlfriend. She's fine, don't worry."
"You filthy liar." Ron voice could break a block of marble.
Jeremy kept his composture. "If you don't believe me, then you should take a look at this."
He gave him a little circle mirror which Ron immediately recognized as the Mirror of the Wish. It could show up anything and anyone, if it was ordered to. With a shaky hand, he took it and said "Show me Hermione Granger." A second later appeared an image of an unconscious Hermione on a dark ground, in a room with stone walls. Ron felt his rage stronger and more furious than ever, and his eyes were burning when he looked at Raven. "If you lay just one of your dirty fingers on her, just one, I swear I'll ripp your bloody head from your body before you can even blink twice." He hissed between his clenched teeth.
Jeremy didn't seem that surprised. "I don't intend to harm her…if you collaborate." He said with a calm voice, then he looked directly into his furious blue eyes. "You do as I tell you, and she'll be all right. You disobey me, she'll be dead."
Ron swallowed hard, trying not to hex him right there and then. "What do you want from me?"
"Well, let's start with you dropping your wand, for once." Ron hesitated just a second, then let his wand fall down on the ground. "Good. Look, I'm a buisness man. You have my father, I have your woman. I think an exchange should be very appropriate, don't you think?"
Ron's fists were curled up in two tight balls. "I can't give you your damn father even if I wanted. He's in Azkaban right now, and there are eight dementors out of his cell. Do you think the Ministry would let me go there and then come back with a serial killer just for my charming smile?"
Jeremy shrugged. "I'm sure you'll find a way."
"There's no way." Ron's voice was strong and hateful.
"I don't think so. Cause this would mean there's no way your girl will come out alive from where she is."
Ron launched towards him. "You filthy son of a bitch!!"
"Touch me and she'll die!" Ron had to stop himself, and reclutantly let go of him. Jeremy stood up and straightened his clothes. "Now listen, your woman is a mudblood, she's nothing to me, I don't care a bit about her, dead or alive. So if you want her heart still beating, then you'll better calm down and listen very carefully to me."
Ron's heart was pounding in his chest. "If you hurt her…"
"I won't touch her if you do what I want."
Ron tightened his fists. "Fine. I'll try and find a way to get your fucking father out of prison. But I need three, four days at last."
Jeremy shrugged. "Four days, nothing less, nothing more. After all, it's in your girlfriend's interest if you hurry up." He sneered. "Remember, I have my informers as well, so don't try to tell a soul about this, or you know what will happen."
He slowly nodded. "How can I find you?"
"I'll find you in four days, when I hope you'll be ready."
"I'm warning you, the moment you hurt her I'll kill your father." Ron's tone was brave and threatingly.
Jeremy smirked. "See you soon, Weasley." And with that he apparated away.
Ron felt pain all over him, from his heart to his soul and mind. He couldn't think straight, he couldn't do anything but see in his eyes Hermione unconscious in that damn cell. A wave of pain, rage and fear rushed over his mind, and he punched the wall with all his strenght and despair.
22:15 p.m.
Harry and Ginny knocked twice at Ron and Hermione's door, but nobody seemed to have heard them. They tried again, but still nothing.
"Do you think they've already made up?" Ginny said with an uncertain look.
"I really hope so." Harry knocked another time. "Perhaps we're interrupting them, Gin, we should go away and—"
At that very moment a wand emerged from the door and a second later they saw Ron's face, contracted in an angry and furious expression.
"Whoa, take it easy, Ron!" Harry exclaimed, pushing Ginny aside. The redhead put down the wand and came back into the house. Ginny and Harry looked at each other with an astonished look, then came in after him.
Ron sat down on the couch, paler than ever, and put his head between his hands. Ginny looked at him worried, and sat down beside him, putting a comfortive hand on his shoulder. "Ron, what's up?"
Harry sensed his tension. "Is something wrong, mate?" he asked slowly, frowning. Ron seemed on the verge of talking, but remained quiet. "Where's Hermione?" he asked, more demandingly.
Ron took a deep breath. "She's been kidnapped. And it's all my fault."
Harry and Ginny looked at each other in disbelief. "What?" Ginny said, putting a hand on her chest.
"Raven's son kidnapped her." He quietly answered. "He wants his father back, and just then he'll give me back Hermione. And if I tell anyone, he'll hurt her."
"Oh my God…" Ginny whispered, with a hand on her mouth.
"Holy shit…" murmured Harry, shaking his head. "That filthy fucking bastard…"
"And the worst part of all this is that it's my fault." Ron was clearly holding back the tears.
"How can you say this?" Harry said.
"If I had been with her for our appointment, she wouldn't have been alone. Because she was completely and utterly right, I was so taken up by this bloody Raven thing that I momentarily fogot that she is and will always be my primary concern."
Ginny shook her head. "This isn't true, it isn't your fault. If this man decided to kidnap her, he would have waited until she was alone anyway." She said gently, patting his back.
"But I still feel horrible." Her brother whispered. "I just want her back with me. I just want to tell her how much I'm sorry, and how much I love her." And with that he put his hands over his eyes for a second. "God, how much I'd like to hold her right now."
"What are you going to do?" Harry asked slowly, his jaw clenched.
Ron shook his head. "There's no way I can make Raven out of prison, the Ministry would never let me do this." He said gravely. "And I can't tell anyone about her kidnapping, or I'll risk Hermione's life."
Ginny looked at him quite disheartened. "So what now?"
"I'll go after her. Dunno how, but I'm going to have her back."
Harry nodded. "We'll find her." Ron raised his gaze and met Harry's determined and brave green eyes. "Both of us. I'll help you."
"No, this is too dangerous, I don't want you—"
"You can't stop me." Harry interrupted him. "You and Hermione are my best friends in all over the world, you two stood up by me countless times when we were younger. Now I wanna help you, and you can't do anything but accept my help. Besides, you can't find her all alone."
Ginny nodded with a lump in her throat. "Harry's right, Ron. You do need a friend's help."
Ron took his sister's hand and squeezed it gently, while she smiled sadly to him. "Thanks a lot, guys. I don't know what to say."
"Then say nothing." Harry said with a brave little smile, fixing his glasses on his nose and winking at him. "Let's find our Hermione the soonest we can. There's a wedding in two weeks, and I'm supposed to stand up by my best friend, you know."
Ron gave a little grin. "I bet the sweet couple will give you two extra keepsakes."
Here it is, chapter 4. Thanks to my reviewers, although I feel a little sad: less than ten reviews! Owww… L
Anyway I think I'll go on with my story…I think…
Well, we met Jeremy Raven in this chap: I'm sure he's a lot like Johnny Depp, yup.
Till the next time…this if I don't feel too sad for the lack of reviews and stop updating the story…who knows!
Sunshine
