A/N: I'm a senior in high school, so November is scholarship and college application month! I've already got a head start (I'm actually supposed to be working on them right now LOL), so I figured I'd deliver a chapter today! It's a bit longer than usual, but I'm sure none of you will mind that. I'll have another chapter up as soon as I manage to get away from all the college paperwork!

Also, I know nothing of the real British National Museum, therefore I made up the description. For all those who have been there and know what it really looks like, I send my deepest apologies.

Ludicity- Whew! I was a bit afraid that Ginny would seem a little over the top. I've never been to the British Museum myself, but I've also heard about everything they have.

Mouskadiddle- Oh, guys can admit to wanting children! I have very heterosexual male friends who will admit to it. Ron was just having a soft moment after feeling the first signs of movement from his niece or nephew, that's all! Even the strongest guy turns into mush sometimes.

ShadowDown- I don't know from personal experience, but I heard that it's very easy to be a bitch when you're pregnant. ;)

BuckNC- It's alright. I can't be shocked with you figuring it out. I guess great minds just think alike!

Satine-cm- I'm trying really hard to keep everything original, so I'm glad that you think it is! The curse kind of progressed as I wrote. I thought about having it affect all the brothers, but that would be a lot more complicated, and it would kind of follow the same path as several other fanfics. Still, I'm happy with you like the R/H!

Cursed Wedlock by MyKonstantine.

Chapter 10: Stealing A Ring of Hope

The low-lit streets of London were far from pleasant on winter nights.

Ron and Hermione had apparated a good distance away from The British Museum just to be safe. It wasn't that they couldn't easily break right into the museum, they just didn't want to be caught by any muggle security officers and cause unnecessary trouble.

From the looks of the area that they were walking through, the Christmas spirit was already dead. The few decorations that were scattered about were weather-beaten and falling apart. The usually white, puffy snow had been so abundant at the Burrow was melted down into hard piles, blackened by grime and petrol.

"I don't know how muggles live here. It's.. mangy." He commented, carefully studying his surroundings. It became quite evident that Ron hadn't had much exposure to anything outside of magical culture.

"Not all muggles don't live like this." Hermione mumbled back, looking straight ahead. "My parents certainly don't. It's just that things are harder without magic, and some people don't have the money or energy to fix everything up perfect."

All was silent, but Ron's mind was reeling. So this was 'poor' for a muggle? Ron couldn't always afford things, but his home was never like this. He'd always had magic and a loving support system to help him out. If anything went wrong, he had his family or his girlfriend or his best friend.

Ron realized that he was much luckier than he had ever imagined.

"There we are!" Hermione whispered excitedly, pointing at the building directly at the end of the long road. "Time to get your wand out."

Ron did as instructed. He was used to being the strategist, like in a game of chess, but he couldn't possibly plan out this escapade. What did he know about muggle security?

Hermione's plan was rather simple. "All we have to do is put a full body bind of any guards we see and then erase their memory later. That way, we don't hurt anyone and they won't even remember so there will be no trouble."

"How many do you think we'll have to do that to?"

"Somewhere between 2 and 100." Hermione sighed.

"Gee, 'Mione. Thanks for the estimate!"

She pointed her wand at him, but didn't mutter any spells. "Don't be such a prat! If it makes you feel any better you can count as we hit them."

A determined fire burned in Hermione's eyes as she spoke, and that was the only thing that kept Ron for laughing. She was always amusing when she was angry. That's why he tended to pick fights with her. That, and the fact that she was still a bossy know-it-all.

A great iron fence surrounded the building. Two guards stood in front of it, looking rather bored. They hadn't seemed to notice Ron and Hermione strolling down the wide yet shadowy road towards them.

Hermione took this opportunity to pull Ron around the corner of the fence. "Alright, on the count of three, we use the full body bind. I'll get the one on the left, you get the one on the right."

"What about the odd moving picture thing above them?"

Hermione knitted her brow before poking her head quickly around the corner. Indeed, a large black camera shone down on the entrance to the gate. She guessed that there were several around and throughout the museum.

"Oh! Those are video cameras!" Ron gave Hermione a befuddled expression as she spoke. "I'll explain later. Right now, I need to get rid of them."

Hermione poked her wand around the corner at the video camera and mumbled a spell as quickly as she could. Immediately, there was a loud snap and an explosion lit up the sky like a firework. The one shattered camera was followed by the sound of each and every other camera in the museum falling to pieces.

A satisfied smirk played on Hermione's lips as she turned back to Ron. He looked shock, just like his always did when he learned some new talent of hers.

"Brilliant woman!" Ron laughed, giving her a bone-crushing hug before continuing. "Let's make our move before they get suspicious."

"Right! On three! One.. two.. three!"

There was a simultaneous call of "Petrificus Totalus!" The two guards' limbs clamped to their sides and they fell straight backwards.

"Run!" Hermione squeaking, jetting towards the gate and yelling "Alohamora!"

The gate opened slowly, but soon enough for Ron and Hermione to enter. They hurried to the museum entrance faster than they thought possible. There was no time to waste. It was only a matter of minutes before every muggle in London caught onto what was happening.

Two more men crashed through the main doors and saved Ron and Hermione the trouble of unlocking it. The pair, staying on the respective sides they had planned out earlier, petrified the men quickly.

"Four!" Ron shouted as he ran through the doorway. "Now where do we go?"

"Follow the signs!" Hermione's face was already pink.

Ron groaned. "Are you kidding me?"

"Not at all!" Hermione's eyes scanned until she found a sign for the Egyptian exhibit. "This way! Let's go!"

Another officer lingered behind Hermione, after quickly petrifying him; Ron rushed down the corridor.

They took a left here, two rights there, and finally they lost track of their path. Around almost every corner they had to petrify a man or two just to get by.

"Fourteen!" Ron called out as they entered the Egyptian exhibit, almost as if the petrifaction of security guards was a fun new game that he and Hermione had created.

Then he looked around and stopped dead in his track.

"This place is huge!" All the artifacts mesmerized him. It was almost as good as Egypt itself.

"Quickly! Just look for crystals!" Hermione yelled, snapping him out of his momentary lapse in attention.

Ron wasn't sure where to look first. Hermione rushed over to one display of treasure, so he just went to the next closest. He strained his eyes, but no crystals stood out.

"There's nothing here!" He yelled.

"Nothing here either!" Hermione replied, but she was already heading to the next display.

Ron did the same, trying to block out her cries of "Petrificus Totalus" as another guard entered the room.

"Fifteen." He mumbled to himself as he looked over the next area. Gold encrusted with various precious jewels glittered before his eyes. No crystals.

"RON! RON OVER HERE!"

At first Ron smiled, thinking of the glory that would come if they actually found the Lucidare crystal. When he turned around, however, he found a much different sight.

Hermione was in the arms of a security guard that was aiming one of those muggle shooting weapons at her head.

He couldn't actually kill her, right? Killing was illegal in all worlds.

Still, Ron wasn't going to take his chances.

"Petrificus Totalus!" He bellowed. The guard sported a very shocked expression before rigidly falling onto the floor.

Hermione shook him off and jumped up. "I think I found something!"

Ron's lanky legs carried him to her side in a matter of seconds. In front of them landed a glass case were several crystals in a small pile.

Hermione tried to think of a sensible spell to remove the glass without shattering it, but she had no time to execute her plan. Before she could even move, Ron threw his fist straight down through the clear shield.

An alarm blared in their eyes from all sides. Hermione yelled something, but Ron couldn't make out the words.

With nothing else left to do, Ron just started reaching in a grasping each crystal. The blood pumped through his veins so fast he could almost hear it.

One by one the crystals began to glow red, signifying that Ron had touched them but there was no magical reaction. He was starting to lose faith in the jewels before him. Time was just running too thin.

Ron grasped idly until his hand clamped around one of the few remaining crystals. This time, the reaction was different.

The glow was a pure white iridescent that lit up even the darkest corners of the enormous room. However, it wasn't the only object that was glowing.

A blinding light shone from Hermione's petite left hand. Neither of them could actually pinpoint the exact source of the light, as it encompassed her entire hand.

The shine calmed down from both the crystal and Hermione's hand. Without a second to waste, Ron pocketed the Lucidare crystal. On Hermione's hand, there was and iridescent band around her index finger.

Hermione's eyes widened in shock. She was the guardian! She had the ring of light on her finer, just like her vision!

She couldn't tell Ron now. There simply wasn't enough time. Everyone in London would be alerted of this break in.

Hermione motioned to Ron to follow her through the maze of corridors. They had only enough time to yell "Oblivate!" as they ran along to erase the guards' memory of the incident. The full body bind would wear off in about an hour.

Their feet carried them at a rapid pace, slightly numb from running. Without thinking twice about the state of the museum or the motionless guards with no recollection, the pair sprinted through the gates of the British Museum and down the dreary road from which they came.

No sooner had they rounded the corner than sirens could be heard in the distance. The muggle authorities were coming to the scene of the crime.

Hermione yanked Ron into the dilapidated doorway of an old brick building.

"Stay here!" she whispered urgently in his ear. "Just for a minute. If someone sees us running down the street, the muggles will come after us."

"Why don't we just apparate?"

"In a crowded area of town while sirens are blaring?" She gave him a look that showed her disappointment in his lack of logic. "No, we'll have to wait a bit."

After such an adrenaline-filled adventure, the minutes ticked by in the little hole in the wall where they stood. Their boiling blood cooled slowly, and the calls and sirens faded away.

Ron peered along the street, but nothing could be seen besides a row of old flats. "I think it's safe."

He took her hand a stepped out on to the street, bring her with him.

"So, we found the crystal." Ron began idly. "I'm not surprised that you're the.. you know."

"Ron."

"But I didn't expect the symbol would be some kind of ring."

"Ron! We can't talk about this here. It's too dangerous. Not now."

He nodded and walked in silence all the way back to their point of apparation. Their thoughts were concentrated on the comforting warmth of The Burrow, and with those images they managed to apparate back safely.

The entire house was silent. In the kitchen, Ron's picture on the family clock moved from 'Mortal Peril' to 'Home.'

"It must be really early. I'd guess it's about 3 in the morning." Hermione cooed, trying to keep her voice down to a hush.

Hermione looked so wonderful with her disheveled hair and rosy cheeks that Ron couldn't even control what he did next.

Ron pulled Hermione into his arms and kissed her deeply without any hesitation. Ron didn't care that they were in The Burrow, or that anyone could walk in on them at any second.

A gasp escaped Hermione's rather occupied lips and Ron grabbed her roughly and hoisted her up on to the counter. She immediately began tugging at his shirt, feeling the warm flesh of his lower back.

All senses were lost as lust took over their bodies. The sighed and shook as the powers of pleasure washed over them.

Even as she put her clothes back on afterwards, Hermione couldn't take her eyes off Ron. She turned on her tiptoes and gave him a mischievous smirk. "Goodnight, Ron."

"Goodnight? That's it? We just broke into a gigantic museum in London, Hermione!" He gaped at her in complete shock, as if she'd just cursed him to oblivion. "What am I even supposed to do with this bloody crystal?"

"Sleep with it under your pillow?" Hermione jokingly suggested as she began ascending the staircase.

"Goodnight, Ron." She repeated.

"Goodnight, Hermione."

Ron stared at his witty witch in awe until her shadow disappeared at the top of the staircase. It would only be a matter of hours before the sun came up, but still he wasn't tired.

Zipping up his trousers, Ron ambled up the staircase to his room. He stopped for a moment in front of Hermione's door, contemplating barging in and ravishing her once again.

However, their was a strong chance that he would get hexed if he tried, so he continued to skulk along the corridor.

He took the Lucidare crystal out of his pocket and stared fondly at it for a moment. Even though he knew Hermione was joking when she told him to put it under his pillow, Ron did just that.

He'd already touched the crystal and activated its powers, so what difference would sleeping with it under his pillow make?

By the time Ron actually fell asleep, the first signs of the morning light were already appearing. He wouldn't get to sleep much before somebody woke him up for breakfast.

His subconscious swirled around him as a dream overtook his mind. He tossed and turned got no closer to the images that formed ever so slowly.

Finally, the short image played out before him like in a muggle cinema.

He could feel the warm air even though the ground was covered with snow. It was as if he were inside a weather shield. Harry stood beside him and Ginny stood opposite them in an olive green dress.

He was staring at a woman with a bouquet of white roses grasped firmly in perfectly manicured hands. On the left hand, there was no ring, but a glowing circle where the ring should be placed. Curly brown tresses feel over a white wedding dress.

It was Hermione. He was standing at the end of the isle waiting for Hermione! So, why wasn't he happy?

Perhaps it was because Hermione wasn't wearing a real ring. He would want to buy her a real ring if they were to get married.

Then he looked down at Harry's hand and realized why he felt so insecure. Harry wasn't wearing a wedding band on his hand. Hermione was just marrying Ron so that Harry and Ginny could be safe from the curse.

Ron bolted up in bed, completely startled by his dream. He pulled the Lucidare Crystal out from under his bed. He wanted to throw it across the room and shatter it into a million pieces, but he refrained. Goodness knows what it all meant.

Thinking just wasn't working. He needed answers. He needed Hermione.

Jumping out of bed, Ron ran down the hall. Before he even reached Hermione's room, he could hear Ginny and Hermione down stairs having a chat.

"Dumbledore really said we could have the wedding at Hogwarts! He said the weather shield be put up easily, and the students will all be in classes, so it won't be a problem! It'll be a winter wonderland!" Ginny cried in a joyous voice that carried up the stage.

"Does Ron know?" Hermione asked.

"Not yet." The redhead woman sighed in reply. "But Harry and I have to tell him soon."

Ginny left a long pause before continuing. "If we can't figure out the curse before.. you know.. Ron'll have to get married the day before Harry and I. Dumbledore said that could be at Hogwarts, too."

Ron slunk down the stairs. He could see the look of confusion on Hermione's face as she took a great gulp from her orange juice and said, "You really need to tell him."

"There's no need to tell him." Ron called out as he walked down the stairs. "He already knows."

Ginny's eyes widened. "I'm sorry, Ron! I didn't mean for you to find out like that!"

"I didn't find out from you, Gin." He snapped back with an eerie calmness. His hand plunged into his pocket and reappeared with the Lucidare crystal in his fist. "I found out from this."

At that same moment, a raven-haired man who had just sorely lost a game of chess strode in from the parlor. "Hey Ginny, have you talked to Ron about the wed- What is that?"

Harry stared at Ron's outstretched hand as if he held a pistol in it.

"Is that what I think it is? Why didn't you tell me you had it?"

"We didn't get it until last night." Hermione murmured, which only served to get her astounded looks from both Harry and Ginny.

"Where?" "The British National Museum."

"YOU BROKE INTO THE BRITISH NATIONAL MUSEUM?"

As Harry and Hermione went back and forth at each other, Ginny turned her questions over to Ron.

"What's the British National Museum?" she asked.

"Some muggle place."

Harry shot a glance at Ron. "Some highly protected muggle place!"

Ginny began to look quite excited. "So who's the guardian?"

"I am." Hermione said, her voice barely a whisper.

As Hermione showed Ginny the ring of light that had formed around her wedding finger, Ron decided that this was the best time to bring up why he came downstairs.

"That's why I'm down here, Hermione. You can solve this all. I slept with the crystal under my pillow.."

"I didn't literally mean for you to do that, Ron." Hermione groaned.

"I know, but I did! And I had this dream. It was an odd dream, but now I understand it. Hermione, it was us getting married at Hogwarts."

"My vision!" Hermione gasped, putting a hand over her mouth.

"WHAT?" Harry bellowed. "You've been having visions and you haven't told me?"

Hermione buried her head in her hands. "I haven't told anyone."

"So what did it all mean? You're the guardian! You should know!" Ron asked.

Hermione stayed in the same position for a few silent moments before raising her head. "I think it's what will happen if we don't find a way to break this family curse."

"And how do we go about breaking it?"

"I don't know. Not yet."

-

There you go! Hope you liked it! By all means, share your thoughts with me about the chapter! I love hearing whatever constructive criticism you have to give!