Chapter 1: Guns & Roses
"Drop the gun, and back away slowly!"
Hermione Granger cocked an eyebrow at her slumbering redheaded partner (a/n: not that kind…yet). The woman had fallen asleep almost an hour ago in the middle of researching their latest case. The only reason Hermione had resisted waking her was that the case was small, the perpetrator an amateur. They would probably run into a limited amount of resistance, but nothing they could not handle. After all, they were G&W, Granger&Weasley. Greatest detectives of their day (under, of course, the greatest captain of their day). Plus, the kid was an amateur. He had left tracks all over the crime scene; a bus ticket, an initialed suitcase, the envelope containing his death eater's pledge. It had almost been given to the Ministry, but Alexa had know how bored the two got if they lacked action for too long. She had snuck the case out from under the Ministry's nose, making it look much more complex than it truly was.
"I said drop it…"
Hermione chuckled softly. Ginny lay atop a pile of parchment, drooling slightly, red hair splayed across her face. She was sporting a wrinkled white button up with fire truck red boxers proudly bearing the Chuddly Cannons logo. And she was ordering an imaginary person to drop their gun. To Hermione, the image was two things. One, painstakingly hilarious. Two, undeniably gorgeous.
She sighed slightly at the last thought, pushing it away as she went back to work. Ever since last December, when Ginny had saved her from a magically induced fire, things had been different. That night had made her realize just how much she owed the younger woman. Hell, she could name at least 5 times before that night that Ginny had saved her. But that was beside the point. The point was that ever since that fire, Ginny had haunted her. Not in a bad way. No, Ginny had never haunted her in a bad way. Only in a confusing way. She was the cause of nearly all of Hermione's inner turmoil. Even in battle, Hermione had become troubled. She had begun to notice that Ginny was the protector. She would always step into the fray first, allowing Hermione time to think up the plan. It troubled the brunette slightly, but not enough to get her off track. Not when Ginny could get hurt.
With that thought, Hermione closed her laptop. She stood, arched her back, then popped her neck. The case would be easy enough. All they had to do was track down the kid and drag him in. It could wait until morning. She moved over behind Ginny, brushing a ruby strand out of her face, pausing slightly to revel in the feel of her cheek. She then shook the redhead, urging her gently to wake. Her efforts were futile. The only way to wake the girl was the morning bell. So Hermione took out her wand, making short work of levitating the girl into her bunk. She covered the redhead, before placing a soft kiss on her forehead. The way she figured, Ginny would never know anyways.
"'Night kid."
The brunette was pleasantly surprised to hear a mumbled "Drop the gun."
About 20 miles away from this exchange lay Harry James Potter & Draco Malfoy. The two were basking in the glow of their previous activities. Their small apartment was covered in candles and roses, Harry's gift to Draco at the defeat of Arthur Vandan, an annoyingly imbecilic death eater. It was well into the night, but neither man was tired. They had a whole 3 hours before they had to get up to go to work. Both intended to use it to its max.
This plan, however, was cut short by the phone.
Harry broke from Draco reluctantly, cursing under his breath. Draco smirked at him as he straightened his messy blonde locks. He knew how much Harry hated interruptions. Whoever was on the phone was about to get chewed a new one.
"Who are you and what do you want?"
Draco laughed at this. He moved behind the jet haired man, whispering sarcastically in his ear,
"Blimey, Harry, try not to sound so nice. We really want people to stop calling us."
Harry grinned slightly, trying to pay attention to the phone.
"Harry! Sorry mate, did I wake you?"
Harry's smile widened.
"Ron, what the hell are you calling me at 3 A bloody M for? Have you gone mad?"
Draco kissed Harry's shoulder before muttering something about how it wasn't far for Ron to go. Harry swatted his boyfriend playfully.
"Of course I have Harry. Is there any other reason for me to call you?"
Harry began to chuckle.
"Oh Ron, ouch."
Draco raised an eyebrow at Harry, curious. Harry shook his head, indicating he'd tell the blonde later.
"But seriously Ron, what's the what?"
Harry stiffened slightly as he heard Ron sigh.
"Oh… I see. What happened Ron?"
Unable to take the curiosity any longer, Draco hit the speaker button just as Ron began to explain the troubles that the Ministry had unearthed.
Twenty minutes later, the two men were fully clothed, armed, and on their way to the Gruemoor warehouse.