Hey- I'm back, with another chapter. I hope you like this one- Personally,
I think it's better than the last chapter. Not as much happens, but I
think it's better written, and more in character. Please, after you read
this, review, and tell me what you think. I heart you all!
~ Sugar High
Disclaimer: Nothing is mine. Savvy?
Chapter 7
Ron apparated home to an empty flat that night. As he put the groceries away in the kitchen he called to Hermione.
"Honey- you here? Where are you?" She didn't respond. Slowly, he put the rest of the groceries away and began to search the flat for a sign of his girlfriend.
"'Mione? Where is she?" Ron, being. . . well, Ron. . . was rather confused. He wandered around, trying to remember if he was supposed to meet her somewhere, or if she had mentioned that she was going anywhere. When he couldn't come up with anything, he shrugged.
'Oh well.' She had probably just left to go to the store. Maybe she'd forgotten to tell him something she needed. He was just being paranoid- all that damn auror training.
However, three hours later, around nine PM, he began to get worried again. Wand out, he searched the entire flat for any sign of a note, or a clue to where she might be. Then he searched again. And again.
Ron picked up the phone. Blasted muggle contraption- he was still getting used to it. Hesitantly, he called Hermione's parents.
"Mrs. Granger?"
"Ron! Is that you, dear? How are you?"
"I'm fine. Have you heard from Hermione?"
"Not since this afternoon. She called to tell me you two wouldn't be able to make it to supper this evening, but that was hours ago."
"She didn't mention that she was going anywhere? Did she need to talk to someone, or buy something?"
"No- In fact, she told me she wouldn't be leaving the flat. Is there something wrong? Where is she?"
"No, um- no, Mrs. Granger. Everything is fine. I'm sure 'Mione went out with a friend, and forgot to leave a note. It's nothing big. Thanks anyway."
As Ron hung up the phone he wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. "Bloody hell!" He was beginning to panic. Slowing down his breathing, he tried to calm himself enough to apparate.
Ten seconds later he arrived at the Burrow. "Mum! Mum? Why the hell is everyone disappearing today? Fred, George, Mum! Dad? Hello?" Ron was frantically running through the Burrow.
"Calm down!" The voice came from behind, and it stopped Ron dead in his tracks.
"Mum!"
" *What* is wrong?"
"Have you seen Hermione? Have you heard from her?"
"Sit!" She commanded. "You're going to give yourself a heart attack. No, I haven't heard from her today. Why?"
"I don't know where she is. I went to the store this afternoon and when I got back she was gone. She still hasn't come home!"
"So you do care about her then?" Molly Weasley was beside herself with excitement.
"Of course I do- she's my best friend and we've been dating for six months." Ron put his head in his hands. "I just don't know where she could be."
"Dear, I'm sure she's fine. This is Hermione Granger. The darling girl probably decided that she needed a book at the library. She was always such a smart child."
He sighed. This wasn't going anywhere. "Where are Fred and George?"
"At the shop- where else? Your father is with them. And Ginny is with Harry." Ginny had been out of school for about two weeks now.
"Bloody hell- I completely forgot she's not at Hogwarts anymore. Are they at Harry's? Or did they go out?"
"I'm not sure. You know, those two were much faster than you and Hermione."
Rolling his eyes, he apparated back to his flat. Still no sign of his girlfriend.
Ron knew that in truth he was probably being paranoid- that his auror training was getting the best of him, but something about this didn't feel right. He searched the flat for a fourth time.
None of her stuff was gone- not even a jacket. Her purse was on the table, but her wallet was missing. There was no sign of a note. Hermione wouldn't have left without telling him unless there had been an emergency.
Ron felt it, inside. Something was wrong. It was time to call in the reinforcements.
~~~
Harry Potter was sitting on the couch in the living room of his flat, receiving a massage from his recently- graduated girlfriend when he let out a gasp and jumped backwards.
His girlfriend's brother's head had just appeared in his fireplace.
"Ron?" Harry and Ginny both breathed the name at the same time. Harry was more than a little confused, and was definitely embarrassed.
"Good, you two are there."
"Um, Ron? This isn't exactly the best time."
"Harry, I know Ginny's there. I don't care. I need you two over here, *now*!" His head disappeared.
Harry turned to Ginny. "What was that about?"
"I have no idea, but we'd better go." Harry slowly stood up and raised his wand to apparate. What was going on? Of course he would go, Ron apparently needed him, but why did Ron need him? He two hadn't talked much since they'd left Hogwarts.
Ginny rubbed his back. "Come on, honey. Let's go see what it is."
~~~
Ron was pacing. He knew that wasn't a good sign. He was a bit curious as to what Harry would say when he told him his problem. Harry wouldn't know why Ron was so paranoid, and he had no real reason to worry about Hermione.
In fact, neither of the two had really talked to Harry all that much since graduation. Ever since his battle with Voldemort- his final battle- Harry had been a bit different. He had always been a moody person, but this was extreme, even for him.
The only person he would open up to was Ginny. Ron and Hermione had tried, of course. They just hadn't gotten very far. And Harry's career took up almost all of his time, so they rarely were able to see him. The two had decided to bide their time, waiting until Ginny was out of school. They knew she would be good for him, and that he would 'heal' faster with her around.
Ron heard two resounding pops and turned around. Harry and Ginny were standing there, faces flushed, watching him curiously.
"Oh, good. Have either of you seen Hermione?"
"What?"
"Hermione! Have you seen her?" They both shook their heads no. "We need to find her."
"What?" Ron sighed. This was not going as planned. He explained his story to a dumbstruck Harry and Ginny. Well, not *his* story. That would get him fired. Hermione's story- the one where she decided to go missing.
"And you're worried?" Ginny asked, incredulously. "She's probably at the store."
"For four hours?"
"The library then."
"Closes at eight."
"Dinner with her parents."
"Checked that."
"She's with a friend then."
"No! She'd have left a note. Don't you get it? She's missing!"
"Ron, calm down. Hermione probably forgot to leave a note. Or it was urgent, and she couldn't. And why would she leave a note- maybe she went on a date. A last minute thing. Just because you live together doesn't mean she has to tell you everything."
"For future reference, Harry, yes it does. And she is most definitely not on a date. Hermione's not the type to forget to leave a note, and she would leave one even if it were urgent. Unless something happened to her, which brings us back to our problem in the first place!"
Harry was getting aggravated. Ron had no right to yell at him like this- why was he flipping so badly? "Ron- need I remind you that I care about Hermione too- I'm her other best friend, and she has been known to forget things once in a while."
"Why the hell are you fighting me on this? I'm telling you, I know her, and she wouldn't forget. Even if she had, she'd have owled me by now!"
Harry's eyes flashed angrily. "Since when do you know her better than me? You seem to think you know her better than anyone- herself even!"
Ron's voice softened. "Since we were twelve, Harry. Since the day I turned fourteen and fell in love with her. Since Hermione and I started going out six months ago."
Harry and Ginny were dumbstruck. "When- you two are- you. . ." Ginny tried to speak, but failed miserably.
"In love? Yes. Living together? Yes. Dating? Yes. And she's missing, and I'm afraid that something has happened to her, and I wanted your help."
He turned to face the window as a large owl flew in. "I'll bet that's from Hermione now." Ginny said, hopefully. Ron grabbed the parchment the owl was carrying, opening it quickly.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
Ron~
I hope this reaches you safely. Where are you? You seem to have been doing a lot of moving today- no one could get in touch with you. There was a mission in Dublin tonight. You didn't respond to your key, so we sent you an owl. We figured you had left your key at home. The owl couldn't find you, which worries me. A lot. The mission in Dublin was minor- your presence was not necessary. However, I am worried about you. Are you safe? Are you ok? I hope this message arrived to you safely.
Lots of Luck,
Tonks
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
Ron read the note and groaned. His day was only getting worse. He had missed a mission while off searching for Hermione. Ignoring the strange looks he was getting from Harry and Ginny he sat down to write Tonks a reply.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
Tonks~
I'm fine. Everything is ok. Well, no it's not. The reason I didn't see the key is that it has been sitting on the table all day. Your owl couldn't find me because I've been apparating all over the place today, looking for Hermione. She's gone! Missing! I think something happened to her, but I don't know what. I'll owl you later.
~ Ron
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
As he sent his letter off with the owl he looked up at Harry and his sister. "Are you ready? Let's go- we have to look for her."
"What was that?" Ginny phrased the question bluntly.
"A letter. Not from Hermione. It doesn't help us any."
Harry sighed resignedly. "Look, mate. I'll help you. But I'd like it put on the record that I think you're crazy. Just so that when she turns up I don't get laughed at too."
"I'll help too- but I think you're starkers." Ginny added, brightly. "What would you like us to do?"
"I'm not sure. I guess you can look around. See if anyone as seen her, or heard from her."
"I think we can manage that. Let's go." Harry and Ginny apparated from the flat.
"Gits." Ron muttered under his breath. He started pacing the apartment again. What was he supposed to do now? He glanced at the phone. Maybe he should call her parents again. However, he was afraid of frightening them as well. Ok, so the phone was a bad idea. What about- wait!
Ron stopped moving. The phone. When he'd left that afternoon it had been broken. Now it suddenly worked? 'Someone must have been by to fix it.' He thought. 'Maybe they know something.'
He rummaged through the papers on the counter until he found the number for the phone company.
"Hello, you have reached Wizbell, how may I help you?"
"Hello, this is Ronald Weasley. One of your men was out here today fixing my phone, and I was wondering if you could give me his name and the time he was here."
"Certainly, Mr. Weasley."
As soon as he hung up the phone, Ron sent another owl to Tonks, asking her to look up the name Avery Doyle. While waiting for her to owl him back he tried to figure out what could have happened to Hermione. Luckily, her reply came quickly. Doyle had a record. A serious one. The man was a Death Eater. Ron gasped. This was beginning to make sense.
Another owl went out to Tonks, asking her what time she had set the keys off. When he received her reply, he panicked. According to the Wizbell operator, Doyle had been working on the phone when the key had gone off. And he was a Death Eater! If he'd seen the key. . . Ron shuddered. It didn't even bear thinking about.
He continued to work the scenario out in his head. If Doyle had seen the key, he would have figured out that Ron was a U.A. But why had he taken Hermione? Leverage- maybe. Revenge- possible. But Ron didn't even know who the man was, so the two were highly unlikely.
Unless. . . Ron got another idea. The new boss. The second dark lord, coming into power. What if he had Hermione? He gasped. If that was the case, then Hermione was in serious trouble.
~~*~~**~~*~~
Done. *Wipes sweat from forehead* I wrote that a few times, to try and make up for the last chapter. Not a lot happened in this one, but in case you couldn't tell, the story is coming to a climax. Again. Lol. So I promise, the next few chapters will be filled with action/ adventure/ Ron kicking butt/ Ron figuring out what's going on. And Ron is going to find out who the mandatory bad guy is, of course. So, review, and tell me who you think it is. Thank you so much for the reviews I have received already- I really appreciate them. Thanks!
One of you asked me why I put in the part about Ron's salary. A reviewer read my fic and wanted to know if Ron was being compensated for his style of living, or if he would still be poor, so I thought I'd add that in.
Thanks to: Ron Weasley, Strayc@t, EvilFireWitch, sum1, Sopwith, NiNaPoP, marn, Ross Van Akin, Ron-Is-Mine (although I do NOT agree with your name, he's so mine), TReader, DazzilinAngel555, AnonymousPHancock, Sweet Stephy, bluehoax (I'm glad you're getting into the story, I do that all the time too!), Topaz Waters, StRaWbErRiEs AnD BlUeBeRrIeS, midnights shadow of insaneness, Clichet, and ferpectly, for reviewing this chapter. I really appreciate it!
~ Sugar High
~ Sugar High
Disclaimer: Nothing is mine. Savvy?
Chapter 7
Ron apparated home to an empty flat that night. As he put the groceries away in the kitchen he called to Hermione.
"Honey- you here? Where are you?" She didn't respond. Slowly, he put the rest of the groceries away and began to search the flat for a sign of his girlfriend.
"'Mione? Where is she?" Ron, being. . . well, Ron. . . was rather confused. He wandered around, trying to remember if he was supposed to meet her somewhere, or if she had mentioned that she was going anywhere. When he couldn't come up with anything, he shrugged.
'Oh well.' She had probably just left to go to the store. Maybe she'd forgotten to tell him something she needed. He was just being paranoid- all that damn auror training.
However, three hours later, around nine PM, he began to get worried again. Wand out, he searched the entire flat for any sign of a note, or a clue to where she might be. Then he searched again. And again.
Ron picked up the phone. Blasted muggle contraption- he was still getting used to it. Hesitantly, he called Hermione's parents.
"Mrs. Granger?"
"Ron! Is that you, dear? How are you?"
"I'm fine. Have you heard from Hermione?"
"Not since this afternoon. She called to tell me you two wouldn't be able to make it to supper this evening, but that was hours ago."
"She didn't mention that she was going anywhere? Did she need to talk to someone, or buy something?"
"No- In fact, she told me she wouldn't be leaving the flat. Is there something wrong? Where is she?"
"No, um- no, Mrs. Granger. Everything is fine. I'm sure 'Mione went out with a friend, and forgot to leave a note. It's nothing big. Thanks anyway."
As Ron hung up the phone he wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. "Bloody hell!" He was beginning to panic. Slowing down his breathing, he tried to calm himself enough to apparate.
Ten seconds later he arrived at the Burrow. "Mum! Mum? Why the hell is everyone disappearing today? Fred, George, Mum! Dad? Hello?" Ron was frantically running through the Burrow.
"Calm down!" The voice came from behind, and it stopped Ron dead in his tracks.
"Mum!"
" *What* is wrong?"
"Have you seen Hermione? Have you heard from her?"
"Sit!" She commanded. "You're going to give yourself a heart attack. No, I haven't heard from her today. Why?"
"I don't know where she is. I went to the store this afternoon and when I got back she was gone. She still hasn't come home!"
"So you do care about her then?" Molly Weasley was beside herself with excitement.
"Of course I do- she's my best friend and we've been dating for six months." Ron put his head in his hands. "I just don't know where she could be."
"Dear, I'm sure she's fine. This is Hermione Granger. The darling girl probably decided that she needed a book at the library. She was always such a smart child."
He sighed. This wasn't going anywhere. "Where are Fred and George?"
"At the shop- where else? Your father is with them. And Ginny is with Harry." Ginny had been out of school for about two weeks now.
"Bloody hell- I completely forgot she's not at Hogwarts anymore. Are they at Harry's? Or did they go out?"
"I'm not sure. You know, those two were much faster than you and Hermione."
Rolling his eyes, he apparated back to his flat. Still no sign of his girlfriend.
Ron knew that in truth he was probably being paranoid- that his auror training was getting the best of him, but something about this didn't feel right. He searched the flat for a fourth time.
None of her stuff was gone- not even a jacket. Her purse was on the table, but her wallet was missing. There was no sign of a note. Hermione wouldn't have left without telling him unless there had been an emergency.
Ron felt it, inside. Something was wrong. It was time to call in the reinforcements.
~~~
Harry Potter was sitting on the couch in the living room of his flat, receiving a massage from his recently- graduated girlfriend when he let out a gasp and jumped backwards.
His girlfriend's brother's head had just appeared in his fireplace.
"Ron?" Harry and Ginny both breathed the name at the same time. Harry was more than a little confused, and was definitely embarrassed.
"Good, you two are there."
"Um, Ron? This isn't exactly the best time."
"Harry, I know Ginny's there. I don't care. I need you two over here, *now*!" His head disappeared.
Harry turned to Ginny. "What was that about?"
"I have no idea, but we'd better go." Harry slowly stood up and raised his wand to apparate. What was going on? Of course he would go, Ron apparently needed him, but why did Ron need him? He two hadn't talked much since they'd left Hogwarts.
Ginny rubbed his back. "Come on, honey. Let's go see what it is."
~~~
Ron was pacing. He knew that wasn't a good sign. He was a bit curious as to what Harry would say when he told him his problem. Harry wouldn't know why Ron was so paranoid, and he had no real reason to worry about Hermione.
In fact, neither of the two had really talked to Harry all that much since graduation. Ever since his battle with Voldemort- his final battle- Harry had been a bit different. He had always been a moody person, but this was extreme, even for him.
The only person he would open up to was Ginny. Ron and Hermione had tried, of course. They just hadn't gotten very far. And Harry's career took up almost all of his time, so they rarely were able to see him. The two had decided to bide their time, waiting until Ginny was out of school. They knew she would be good for him, and that he would 'heal' faster with her around.
Ron heard two resounding pops and turned around. Harry and Ginny were standing there, faces flushed, watching him curiously.
"Oh, good. Have either of you seen Hermione?"
"What?"
"Hermione! Have you seen her?" They both shook their heads no. "We need to find her."
"What?" Ron sighed. This was not going as planned. He explained his story to a dumbstruck Harry and Ginny. Well, not *his* story. That would get him fired. Hermione's story- the one where she decided to go missing.
"And you're worried?" Ginny asked, incredulously. "She's probably at the store."
"For four hours?"
"The library then."
"Closes at eight."
"Dinner with her parents."
"Checked that."
"She's with a friend then."
"No! She'd have left a note. Don't you get it? She's missing!"
"Ron, calm down. Hermione probably forgot to leave a note. Or it was urgent, and she couldn't. And why would she leave a note- maybe she went on a date. A last minute thing. Just because you live together doesn't mean she has to tell you everything."
"For future reference, Harry, yes it does. And she is most definitely not on a date. Hermione's not the type to forget to leave a note, and she would leave one even if it were urgent. Unless something happened to her, which brings us back to our problem in the first place!"
Harry was getting aggravated. Ron had no right to yell at him like this- why was he flipping so badly? "Ron- need I remind you that I care about Hermione too- I'm her other best friend, and she has been known to forget things once in a while."
"Why the hell are you fighting me on this? I'm telling you, I know her, and she wouldn't forget. Even if she had, she'd have owled me by now!"
Harry's eyes flashed angrily. "Since when do you know her better than me? You seem to think you know her better than anyone- herself even!"
Ron's voice softened. "Since we were twelve, Harry. Since the day I turned fourteen and fell in love with her. Since Hermione and I started going out six months ago."
Harry and Ginny were dumbstruck. "When- you two are- you. . ." Ginny tried to speak, but failed miserably.
"In love? Yes. Living together? Yes. Dating? Yes. And she's missing, and I'm afraid that something has happened to her, and I wanted your help."
He turned to face the window as a large owl flew in. "I'll bet that's from Hermione now." Ginny said, hopefully. Ron grabbed the parchment the owl was carrying, opening it quickly.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
Ron~
I hope this reaches you safely. Where are you? You seem to have been doing a lot of moving today- no one could get in touch with you. There was a mission in Dublin tonight. You didn't respond to your key, so we sent you an owl. We figured you had left your key at home. The owl couldn't find you, which worries me. A lot. The mission in Dublin was minor- your presence was not necessary. However, I am worried about you. Are you safe? Are you ok? I hope this message arrived to you safely.
Lots of Luck,
Tonks
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
Ron read the note and groaned. His day was only getting worse. He had missed a mission while off searching for Hermione. Ignoring the strange looks he was getting from Harry and Ginny he sat down to write Tonks a reply.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
Tonks~
I'm fine. Everything is ok. Well, no it's not. The reason I didn't see the key is that it has been sitting on the table all day. Your owl couldn't find me because I've been apparating all over the place today, looking for Hermione. She's gone! Missing! I think something happened to her, but I don't know what. I'll owl you later.
~ Ron
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
As he sent his letter off with the owl he looked up at Harry and his sister. "Are you ready? Let's go- we have to look for her."
"What was that?" Ginny phrased the question bluntly.
"A letter. Not from Hermione. It doesn't help us any."
Harry sighed resignedly. "Look, mate. I'll help you. But I'd like it put on the record that I think you're crazy. Just so that when she turns up I don't get laughed at too."
"I'll help too- but I think you're starkers." Ginny added, brightly. "What would you like us to do?"
"I'm not sure. I guess you can look around. See if anyone as seen her, or heard from her."
"I think we can manage that. Let's go." Harry and Ginny apparated from the flat.
"Gits." Ron muttered under his breath. He started pacing the apartment again. What was he supposed to do now? He glanced at the phone. Maybe he should call her parents again. However, he was afraid of frightening them as well. Ok, so the phone was a bad idea. What about- wait!
Ron stopped moving. The phone. When he'd left that afternoon it had been broken. Now it suddenly worked? 'Someone must have been by to fix it.' He thought. 'Maybe they know something.'
He rummaged through the papers on the counter until he found the number for the phone company.
"Hello, you have reached Wizbell, how may I help you?"
"Hello, this is Ronald Weasley. One of your men was out here today fixing my phone, and I was wondering if you could give me his name and the time he was here."
"Certainly, Mr. Weasley."
As soon as he hung up the phone, Ron sent another owl to Tonks, asking her to look up the name Avery Doyle. While waiting for her to owl him back he tried to figure out what could have happened to Hermione. Luckily, her reply came quickly. Doyle had a record. A serious one. The man was a Death Eater. Ron gasped. This was beginning to make sense.
Another owl went out to Tonks, asking her what time she had set the keys off. When he received her reply, he panicked. According to the Wizbell operator, Doyle had been working on the phone when the key had gone off. And he was a Death Eater! If he'd seen the key. . . Ron shuddered. It didn't even bear thinking about.
He continued to work the scenario out in his head. If Doyle had seen the key, he would have figured out that Ron was a U.A. But why had he taken Hermione? Leverage- maybe. Revenge- possible. But Ron didn't even know who the man was, so the two were highly unlikely.
Unless. . . Ron got another idea. The new boss. The second dark lord, coming into power. What if he had Hermione? He gasped. If that was the case, then Hermione was in serious trouble.
~~*~~**~~*~~
Done. *Wipes sweat from forehead* I wrote that a few times, to try and make up for the last chapter. Not a lot happened in this one, but in case you couldn't tell, the story is coming to a climax. Again. Lol. So I promise, the next few chapters will be filled with action/ adventure/ Ron kicking butt/ Ron figuring out what's going on. And Ron is going to find out who the mandatory bad guy is, of course. So, review, and tell me who you think it is. Thank you so much for the reviews I have received already- I really appreciate them. Thanks!
One of you asked me why I put in the part about Ron's salary. A reviewer read my fic and wanted to know if Ron was being compensated for his style of living, or if he would still be poor, so I thought I'd add that in.
Thanks to: Ron Weasley, Strayc@t, EvilFireWitch, sum1, Sopwith, NiNaPoP, marn, Ross Van Akin, Ron-Is-Mine (although I do NOT agree with your name, he's so mine), TReader, DazzilinAngel555, AnonymousPHancock, Sweet Stephy, bluehoax (I'm glad you're getting into the story, I do that all the time too!), Topaz Waters, StRaWbErRiEs AnD BlUeBeRrIeS, midnights shadow of insaneness, Clichet, and ferpectly, for reviewing this chapter. I really appreciate it!
~ Sugar High