The Romanticism of Simplicity
Chapter Three
The game against Egypt had gone so well, that the coach had decided to cancel the last practice and send the team off to do their own thing. Harry, who was worn out anyway, thought he would surprise Ron and Gemma and head home early. He arrived at their building around 2 in the afternoon and checked Gemma's flat first, finding no one. Next, he went up to Ron's and knocked once before entering and having a look around.
"Anyone here?" he called out, spotting the two full coffee mugs on the table. "Ron? Gemma?"
Just then he heard the bedroom door open and soon after, Ron emerged looking rather flushed.
"Harry!" he whispered excitedly. "What are you doing here?"
"Callow let us go early...why are you whispering?"
"Gemma's asleep in the bedroom," he explained.
Harry wasn't sure how to respond to that statement. "What did I miss?" he grinned.
"Nothing much," Ron smiled, raking his fingers through his already messy hair.
"Uh huh."
"I'll tell you all about it mate I promise," Ron assured him. "But first I want to know how the game went."
They talked for around an hour and a half, Harry filling Ron in on the win and Ron, in return, spilling his guts about Gemma. It had only been a week and yet so much had changed.
They were in the process of discussing what day Hermione would be back when Gemma appeared at the end of the hallway. Her long, golden hair had come down around her shoulders in big, loose waves and she had slipped back into Ron's old shirt.
"Harry!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around his neck in salutation. "I thought you weren't coming home until tonight."
"Callow sent us home," he explained, squeezing her tight.
"When did you get here?"
"Oh about an hour ago I'd say. I've just been catching up with Ron."
Gemma caught Ron's gaze and felt her heart skip a beat. "I should probably go get cleaned up. I still have to get something for dinner."
Ron stood up and followed her to the door.
"Is there anything in particular that you want?" She called to Harry from the living room.
He shook his head. "No. Just anything."
"I'll see you when I get back then."
"See you."
When they reached her flat, Gemma turned to look up at him.
He stepped closer, taking her face in his hands. "How do you feel?"
She thought about it for a second. "Good. And you?"
"Good," he smiled. "I meant what I said Gemma," he stated. "I won't hurt you."
"I know," she said, folding her hands into his.
"I'll make you happy."
She kissed him sweetly. "I already am."
Before they knew it, another week had gone by and Hermione had returned with news of her own. Hers though, was not of a happy nature. The suspicions about the man she had been sent to watch had all turned out to be true. His name was Armen Sinthro and he had been working to establish a fleet of wizards who had once been avid followers of Voldemort. Luckily they were able to bring him down before things got too far out of hand, or at least they hoped that was so. There was really no way of knowing just what he had been able to accomplish outside of the week she and John Felton, another auror, had been watching him. No way to know how long he had been at it or who all he had gotten to.
"What's your next move?" Gemma asked. She too was an auror at the Ministry and quite frankly, the situation scared her.
"I'm not sure yet. John and I are meeting with Fudge in the morning to discuss our reports."
"This is not good," Ron exclaimed. "Not good at all."
"It could be nothing," Hermione assured him.
"But most likely it's something," Gemma contorted. "And we definately need to stay on the top of things."
"She's right," Harry added. "We shouldn't turn our backs just yet."
"I'll keep you all posted," Hermione said, taking a long sip of her coffee. "I have a feeling that before this is said and done, we're going to need eachother."
The days turned into weeks and the weeks turned into months without anything else suspicious popping up. Everyone but Harry, Hermione, Ron and Gemma had forgotten about the man that had been taken in, but without any reason to worry, they too were beginning to let it slip. Why bother yourself with could be's?
Life had, once again, settled back down and showed no sign of reving back up again any time soon. Ron and Gemma sank deeper into love with eachother the longer they were together, Harry was quickly becoming the best seeker England had ever had and Hermione was still being praised for her magnificent work bringing in Sinthro. It didn't seem like anything could bring them down, but like they say, when it rains it pours and those storm clouds weren't far off on the horizon.
The second sign of trouble came at two in the morning on a cold, blustery night in December. A soft tapping at Ron's bedroom window roused Gemma, who had slept over. She fumbled around for her wand on the nightstand.
"Lumos," she muttered once her fingers had wound around the smooth, familiar birchwood.
"Whasthematter," Ron asked groggily, watching her walk over to the icy window.
"An owl," she said, opening it and letting the massive bird inside.
"What's it want?"
"It's got a letter," Gemma reached out and took the small envelope from it's leg, patting it thankfully.
"A letter?" Ron was now sitting up in bed, struggling to see through the darkness. "Who for?"
The red lettering was jagged and crooked as though scribbled quickly. "Me," she answered turning it over to examine the seal. "It's from the ministry."
Gently, she broke the seal, opening it up and ufolding the thick, yellowish parchment inside.
Miss Herrin,
Please excuse the indecent hour. A situation has broken out in Romania and we are in need of your assistance. Come to The Pheonix Feather as soon as possible and have your wand at the ready. Felton, Talon and Malfoy will be awaiting your arrival.
Yours Sincerely,
Cornelius Fudge
The Minister of Magic
Ministry of Magic
"What does it say?" Ron asked, throwing off the covers.
"I've got to go to Romania," she sighed.
"What...now?"
"That's what it says." She stepped over to his side of the bed and bent to plant a kiss on his forehead. "I'll see you when I get back."
"Wait a second," he stopped her, taking her hand and pulling her into a hug. "Be careful all right?"
She smiled up at him. "I'll do my best."
He kissed her softly. "I love you."
"I love you too."
Before heading off, she stopped by her flat for some warmer clothes and her wool cape.
The scene at The Pheonix Feather, which was a small pub, was not at all what she expected. The place, now empty, had been almost entirely destroyed. Chairs and tables had been burned to a crisp, walls had been knocked down, windows shattered and so on. 'What on earth,' she thought, trying desperately to control her racing heart. She stood examining the room for a few more minutes before hearing the blasts from outside. Without a second thought, she raised her wand and ran towards the noise. She had barely gotten a toe outside the door though before she was knocked back in by a familiar face. They hit the hardwood floor with a thud, smacking Gemma's right shoulder against a jagged corner of the counter top along the way. She reached up instinctively to examine the fresh gash on her arm, taking deep breaths to keep herself from passing out. It was the sort of pain that was temporarily blinding.
"Malfoy!" she gasped, regaining her footing. "What the hell is going on!?"
"Took you long enough!" he spat. "I don't know who these bastards are suppose to be, but we've been trying to hold them back for over an hour."
Her head was spinning. "Where are the others?"
"Out there somehwere. We got split up when they started firing the unforgiveables at us."
Her stomach flipped violently. "Anyone been hit?"
"We've managed to stop a few of their men, but so far no one's been killed."
"Right then," she continued, swallowing down her fear. "How many are there?"
"Twelve or so, I'd say," Malfoy watched the color drain from her face. "You're the best there is Gemma. Keep you head on straight and there'll be no cause for worry."
She nodded despite herself and with one last look at the warm blood trickling down her sleeve, took a few steps toward the door. "Ready?" she asked.
"As I'll ever be," he grinned.
They lept out into the street, dodging the bursts of green light flying at their chests and focusing hard on the area ahead. Gemma, spotting two large, cloaked figures, held out her wand and shouted the first curse that came to mind.
"Petrificus Totalus!" The words were shaky, but powerful enough to do their job.
The two figures dropped their wands, becoming stiff as boards and falling face first to the ground.
"Come on, you can do better than that," Malfoy laughed, lunging forward.
Suddenly, the ominous figures seemed to be everywhere, firing from all directions.
"Expelliarmus!" Malfoy scrame, disarming one of them and blasting them into a corner.
Gemma kept an eye out for John and Keneda as they pushed farther down the street.
"Do you think they're all right?" she questioned, ducking around a corner.
"Don't think about that now. We've got to stay focused."
Just then, something charged at them from behind, knocking her clear to the ground and landing on top of her.
"Well, well," he remarked. "What have we hear?"
Gemma caught Malfoy out of the corner of her eye struggling to push another one of the dark figures off of himself. He had a fresh cut just under his hairline that was sickeningly deep.
"Who the hell are you?" she barked, fighting to breathe under his weight.
"You don't remember me?" His voice was deep and distant.
"Should I?"
"It was only one night, but I thought it was fairly memorable."
"What are you talking about?"
"Come on Gemma," he brought his face down close to hers. "Don't tell me you've forgotten your first time."
Her breath caught in her throat. It couldn't be. There was no way.
"Ty?"
A wicked grin erupted on his stubbly face. "I knew it was good."
For a moment she was frozen in place, ubelieving of the man in front of her, but she soon found her courage and began flailing her legs about determinedly, trying with all her might to wriggle loose.
"Don't you want to stay and catch up?" he inquired, keeping her pinned tight to the snow covered ground. "It's been a long time."
She turned her attention back to Malfoy, who was still trying his damndest to keep his opponent at bay.
Ty moved closer. "You look good this way, all angry and flustered."
She cringed as he slid his tongue up her neck to her mouth.
"I think I'll keep you around," he said, grabbing her face. "I could use a good fuck."
He started to pull her up, but as he was getting to his knees he was sideswiped by a blast of red light and knocked out cold.
Gemma looked over, stunned. "Kenneda!" she cried.
The tiny girl came forward, brushing some loose strands of snow-soaked hair out of her eyes and handing Gemma her wand.
"Don't you just hate pushy men?" she smirked.
She waited for a reply, but Gemma was speechless, peering over at the comatose man to her left.
"What the matter?" Kenneda inquired, touching her her arm and realizing she was trembling. "Gemma?"
"Where's John?" Gemma finally asked, looking away and noticing that Malfoy had somehow managed to stun his own attacker.
"Dunno," she shrugged. "Can't be far
"Let's finish these gits off," Malfoy huffed, motioning for the two girls to follow him.
With pure skill and some quick thinking, by the time they had found John, they pummel their way through an army of men. There were a few that got away (including Ty), but for the most part, they were all in custody.
John had been knocked unconcious and didn't come to until well after they had returned home.
"Tell me everything," Fudge had said, when they came stumbling into his office, bruised and bloody, and they had told him. Everything from what they were wearing to what curses they cast. He wouldn't have let them leave if they had done any less.
"You should probably get cleaned up," he suggested when they had finsihed and were on their way out. "I want to keep this quiet until we know for sure who these people are."
They nodded.
"Don't let on that something happened," he continued. "That means no skipping out on work today. I want you all at your desks in thirty minutes."
"Is he fucking kidding me?" Malfoy ranted. "We just spent six hours in the middle of nowhere dodging the unforgiveables and he wants us to sit through eight more hours of work!"
"Don't let it get to you," Kenneda sighed. "It's Friday. We'll have all weekend to rest."
"It isn't right Kenneda!"
"I know, but there's nothing we can do about it," she glanced back over at Gemma. "Am I right or am I right?"
Gemma didn't reply. Her mind was somewhere else.
"Gemma? GEMMA!"
"What?" she perked up, realizing she had been spoken to.
"Are you all right?"
"Fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Uh huh."
"You don't look all fine," Malfoy retorted.
"I'm just a little shaken up. I'll be all right," she promised, giving them as much of a smile as she could without splitting her lip even more than it already was.
After straightening up as much as possible (they still looked pretty pathetic), they said their goodbyes and headed to their seperate offices on the sixth level which was already abuzz with rumors of the happenings from earlier that morning. Gemma ignored their stares and whispers as she trudged into her and Hermione's office where she and Ron were waiting.
"Oh my God!" Hermione gasped, causing Ron to turn around and discover what she was gawking at. "What happened!?"
"It's a long story," she said exasperatedly, taking Ron's outstretched hand and letting him pull her into his arms.
"I was so worried," he whispered, kissing the top of her head.
It felt so good to be held that way. "Sorry."
"Is everyone else all right?"
"John's got a pretty big bump on his head, but other than that, we're all fine."
"You guys are the talk of the town," Hermione said.
"I noticed. Fudge wants us to keep it all under wraps though."
"You should go home and rest," Ron told her, holding her at arms length to get the full extent of the damage.
She shook her head. "Can't. Wouldn't be 'discreet'."
"That's crazy."
"I know, but I'll live. A few scratches never hurt anybody."
He touched the deep cut across her right eyebrow and she winced.
"What'd you do that for!?"
"Come on," he breathed.
"Where are we going?"
"To get you fixed up."
"We'll be back in a minute," Gemma told Hermione as they left.
They found an empty bathroom and he propped her up on one of the sinks. Next, he conjured up a soft towel, wet the end and began dabbing at the cut.
"You know Mr. Weasley," she smiled. "You just might make a fair nurse one day."
He blushed a little. "Laugh all you want, but somebody's got to take care of you."
Gemma studied him as he worked to rememdy her bumps and felt her heart melt within her chest.
"Ron," she took the towel and sat it down in the sink beside herself. "I love you."
He held her gaze as he slipped his arms around her waist. "You're even beautiful when you're all banged up."
She took his face in her hands and wrapped her legs aound his middle. "I mean it Ron."
"So do I."
He gently pressed his lips against hers.
Chapter Three
The game against Egypt had gone so well, that the coach had decided to cancel the last practice and send the team off to do their own thing. Harry, who was worn out anyway, thought he would surprise Ron and Gemma and head home early. He arrived at their building around 2 in the afternoon and checked Gemma's flat first, finding no one. Next, he went up to Ron's and knocked once before entering and having a look around.
"Anyone here?" he called out, spotting the two full coffee mugs on the table. "Ron? Gemma?"
Just then he heard the bedroom door open and soon after, Ron emerged looking rather flushed.
"Harry!" he whispered excitedly. "What are you doing here?"
"Callow let us go early...why are you whispering?"
"Gemma's asleep in the bedroom," he explained.
Harry wasn't sure how to respond to that statement. "What did I miss?" he grinned.
"Nothing much," Ron smiled, raking his fingers through his already messy hair.
"Uh huh."
"I'll tell you all about it mate I promise," Ron assured him. "But first I want to know how the game went."
They talked for around an hour and a half, Harry filling Ron in on the win and Ron, in return, spilling his guts about Gemma. It had only been a week and yet so much had changed.
They were in the process of discussing what day Hermione would be back when Gemma appeared at the end of the hallway. Her long, golden hair had come down around her shoulders in big, loose waves and she had slipped back into Ron's old shirt.
"Harry!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around his neck in salutation. "I thought you weren't coming home until tonight."
"Callow sent us home," he explained, squeezing her tight.
"When did you get here?"
"Oh about an hour ago I'd say. I've just been catching up with Ron."
Gemma caught Ron's gaze and felt her heart skip a beat. "I should probably go get cleaned up. I still have to get something for dinner."
Ron stood up and followed her to the door.
"Is there anything in particular that you want?" She called to Harry from the living room.
He shook his head. "No. Just anything."
"I'll see you when I get back then."
"See you."
When they reached her flat, Gemma turned to look up at him.
He stepped closer, taking her face in his hands. "How do you feel?"
She thought about it for a second. "Good. And you?"
"Good," he smiled. "I meant what I said Gemma," he stated. "I won't hurt you."
"I know," she said, folding her hands into his.
"I'll make you happy."
She kissed him sweetly. "I already am."
Before they knew it, another week had gone by and Hermione had returned with news of her own. Hers though, was not of a happy nature. The suspicions about the man she had been sent to watch had all turned out to be true. His name was Armen Sinthro and he had been working to establish a fleet of wizards who had once been avid followers of Voldemort. Luckily they were able to bring him down before things got too far out of hand, or at least they hoped that was so. There was really no way of knowing just what he had been able to accomplish outside of the week she and John Felton, another auror, had been watching him. No way to know how long he had been at it or who all he had gotten to.
"What's your next move?" Gemma asked. She too was an auror at the Ministry and quite frankly, the situation scared her.
"I'm not sure yet. John and I are meeting with Fudge in the morning to discuss our reports."
"This is not good," Ron exclaimed. "Not good at all."
"It could be nothing," Hermione assured him.
"But most likely it's something," Gemma contorted. "And we definately need to stay on the top of things."
"She's right," Harry added. "We shouldn't turn our backs just yet."
"I'll keep you all posted," Hermione said, taking a long sip of her coffee. "I have a feeling that before this is said and done, we're going to need eachother."
The days turned into weeks and the weeks turned into months without anything else suspicious popping up. Everyone but Harry, Hermione, Ron and Gemma had forgotten about the man that had been taken in, but without any reason to worry, they too were beginning to let it slip. Why bother yourself with could be's?
Life had, once again, settled back down and showed no sign of reving back up again any time soon. Ron and Gemma sank deeper into love with eachother the longer they were together, Harry was quickly becoming the best seeker England had ever had and Hermione was still being praised for her magnificent work bringing in Sinthro. It didn't seem like anything could bring them down, but like they say, when it rains it pours and those storm clouds weren't far off on the horizon.
The second sign of trouble came at two in the morning on a cold, blustery night in December. A soft tapping at Ron's bedroom window roused Gemma, who had slept over. She fumbled around for her wand on the nightstand.
"Lumos," she muttered once her fingers had wound around the smooth, familiar birchwood.
"Whasthematter," Ron asked groggily, watching her walk over to the icy window.
"An owl," she said, opening it and letting the massive bird inside.
"What's it want?"
"It's got a letter," Gemma reached out and took the small envelope from it's leg, patting it thankfully.
"A letter?" Ron was now sitting up in bed, struggling to see through the darkness. "Who for?"
The red lettering was jagged and crooked as though scribbled quickly. "Me," she answered turning it over to examine the seal. "It's from the ministry."
Gently, she broke the seal, opening it up and ufolding the thick, yellowish parchment inside.
Miss Herrin,
Please excuse the indecent hour. A situation has broken out in Romania and we are in need of your assistance. Come to The Pheonix Feather as soon as possible and have your wand at the ready. Felton, Talon and Malfoy will be awaiting your arrival.
Yours Sincerely,
Cornelius Fudge
The Minister of Magic
Ministry of Magic
"What does it say?" Ron asked, throwing off the covers.
"I've got to go to Romania," she sighed.
"What...now?"
"That's what it says." She stepped over to his side of the bed and bent to plant a kiss on his forehead. "I'll see you when I get back."
"Wait a second," he stopped her, taking her hand and pulling her into a hug. "Be careful all right?"
She smiled up at him. "I'll do my best."
He kissed her softly. "I love you."
"I love you too."
Before heading off, she stopped by her flat for some warmer clothes and her wool cape.
The scene at The Pheonix Feather, which was a small pub, was not at all what she expected. The place, now empty, had been almost entirely destroyed. Chairs and tables had been burned to a crisp, walls had been knocked down, windows shattered and so on. 'What on earth,' she thought, trying desperately to control her racing heart. She stood examining the room for a few more minutes before hearing the blasts from outside. Without a second thought, she raised her wand and ran towards the noise. She had barely gotten a toe outside the door though before she was knocked back in by a familiar face. They hit the hardwood floor with a thud, smacking Gemma's right shoulder against a jagged corner of the counter top along the way. She reached up instinctively to examine the fresh gash on her arm, taking deep breaths to keep herself from passing out. It was the sort of pain that was temporarily blinding.
"Malfoy!" she gasped, regaining her footing. "What the hell is going on!?"
"Took you long enough!" he spat. "I don't know who these bastards are suppose to be, but we've been trying to hold them back for over an hour."
Her head was spinning. "Where are the others?"
"Out there somehwere. We got split up when they started firing the unforgiveables at us."
Her stomach flipped violently. "Anyone been hit?"
"We've managed to stop a few of their men, but so far no one's been killed."
"Right then," she continued, swallowing down her fear. "How many are there?"
"Twelve or so, I'd say," Malfoy watched the color drain from her face. "You're the best there is Gemma. Keep you head on straight and there'll be no cause for worry."
She nodded despite herself and with one last look at the warm blood trickling down her sleeve, took a few steps toward the door. "Ready?" she asked.
"As I'll ever be," he grinned.
They lept out into the street, dodging the bursts of green light flying at their chests and focusing hard on the area ahead. Gemma, spotting two large, cloaked figures, held out her wand and shouted the first curse that came to mind.
"Petrificus Totalus!" The words were shaky, but powerful enough to do their job.
The two figures dropped their wands, becoming stiff as boards and falling face first to the ground.
"Come on, you can do better than that," Malfoy laughed, lunging forward.
Suddenly, the ominous figures seemed to be everywhere, firing from all directions.
"Expelliarmus!" Malfoy scrame, disarming one of them and blasting them into a corner.
Gemma kept an eye out for John and Keneda as they pushed farther down the street.
"Do you think they're all right?" she questioned, ducking around a corner.
"Don't think about that now. We've got to stay focused."
Just then, something charged at them from behind, knocking her clear to the ground and landing on top of her.
"Well, well," he remarked. "What have we hear?"
Gemma caught Malfoy out of the corner of her eye struggling to push another one of the dark figures off of himself. He had a fresh cut just under his hairline that was sickeningly deep.
"Who the hell are you?" she barked, fighting to breathe under his weight.
"You don't remember me?" His voice was deep and distant.
"Should I?"
"It was only one night, but I thought it was fairly memorable."
"What are you talking about?"
"Come on Gemma," he brought his face down close to hers. "Don't tell me you've forgotten your first time."
Her breath caught in her throat. It couldn't be. There was no way.
"Ty?"
A wicked grin erupted on his stubbly face. "I knew it was good."
For a moment she was frozen in place, ubelieving of the man in front of her, but she soon found her courage and began flailing her legs about determinedly, trying with all her might to wriggle loose.
"Don't you want to stay and catch up?" he inquired, keeping her pinned tight to the snow covered ground. "It's been a long time."
She turned her attention back to Malfoy, who was still trying his damndest to keep his opponent at bay.
Ty moved closer. "You look good this way, all angry and flustered."
She cringed as he slid his tongue up her neck to her mouth.
"I think I'll keep you around," he said, grabbing her face. "I could use a good fuck."
He started to pull her up, but as he was getting to his knees he was sideswiped by a blast of red light and knocked out cold.
Gemma looked over, stunned. "Kenneda!" she cried.
The tiny girl came forward, brushing some loose strands of snow-soaked hair out of her eyes and handing Gemma her wand.
"Don't you just hate pushy men?" she smirked.
She waited for a reply, but Gemma was speechless, peering over at the comatose man to her left.
"What the matter?" Kenneda inquired, touching her her arm and realizing she was trembling. "Gemma?"
"Where's John?" Gemma finally asked, looking away and noticing that Malfoy had somehow managed to stun his own attacker.
"Dunno," she shrugged. "Can't be far
"Let's finish these gits off," Malfoy huffed, motioning for the two girls to follow him.
With pure skill and some quick thinking, by the time they had found John, they pummel their way through an army of men. There were a few that got away (including Ty), but for the most part, they were all in custody.
John had been knocked unconcious and didn't come to until well after they had returned home.
"Tell me everything," Fudge had said, when they came stumbling into his office, bruised and bloody, and they had told him. Everything from what they were wearing to what curses they cast. He wouldn't have let them leave if they had done any less.
"You should probably get cleaned up," he suggested when they had finsihed and were on their way out. "I want to keep this quiet until we know for sure who these people are."
They nodded.
"Don't let on that something happened," he continued. "That means no skipping out on work today. I want you all at your desks in thirty minutes."
"Is he fucking kidding me?" Malfoy ranted. "We just spent six hours in the middle of nowhere dodging the unforgiveables and he wants us to sit through eight more hours of work!"
"Don't let it get to you," Kenneda sighed. "It's Friday. We'll have all weekend to rest."
"It isn't right Kenneda!"
"I know, but there's nothing we can do about it," she glanced back over at Gemma. "Am I right or am I right?"
Gemma didn't reply. Her mind was somewhere else.
"Gemma? GEMMA!"
"What?" she perked up, realizing she had been spoken to.
"Are you all right?"
"Fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Uh huh."
"You don't look all fine," Malfoy retorted.
"I'm just a little shaken up. I'll be all right," she promised, giving them as much of a smile as she could without splitting her lip even more than it already was.
After straightening up as much as possible (they still looked pretty pathetic), they said their goodbyes and headed to their seperate offices on the sixth level which was already abuzz with rumors of the happenings from earlier that morning. Gemma ignored their stares and whispers as she trudged into her and Hermione's office where she and Ron were waiting.
"Oh my God!" Hermione gasped, causing Ron to turn around and discover what she was gawking at. "What happened!?"
"It's a long story," she said exasperatedly, taking Ron's outstretched hand and letting him pull her into his arms.
"I was so worried," he whispered, kissing the top of her head.
It felt so good to be held that way. "Sorry."
"Is everyone else all right?"
"John's got a pretty big bump on his head, but other than that, we're all fine."
"You guys are the talk of the town," Hermione said.
"I noticed. Fudge wants us to keep it all under wraps though."
"You should go home and rest," Ron told her, holding her at arms length to get the full extent of the damage.
She shook her head. "Can't. Wouldn't be 'discreet'."
"That's crazy."
"I know, but I'll live. A few scratches never hurt anybody."
He touched the deep cut across her right eyebrow and she winced.
"What'd you do that for!?"
"Come on," he breathed.
"Where are we going?"
"To get you fixed up."
"We'll be back in a minute," Gemma told Hermione as they left.
They found an empty bathroom and he propped her up on one of the sinks. Next, he conjured up a soft towel, wet the end and began dabbing at the cut.
"You know Mr. Weasley," she smiled. "You just might make a fair nurse one day."
He blushed a little. "Laugh all you want, but somebody's got to take care of you."
Gemma studied him as he worked to rememdy her bumps and felt her heart melt within her chest.
"Ron," she took the towel and sat it down in the sink beside herself. "I love you."
He held her gaze as he slipped his arms around her waist. "You're even beautiful when you're all banged up."
She took his face in her hands and wrapped her legs aound his middle. "I mean it Ron."
"So do I."
He gently pressed his lips against hers.