Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all associated characters belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
Hey guys! I would've updated sooner but I have been so busy with work and soccer that I haven't been home much lately. However, I finished work last Friday so now things have calmed down a bit until school starts. Anyway, yesterday I got my driver's liscense so now I don't have to have a parent in the car with me which is very exciting! Thanks to my reviewers-you guys are awesome as always! Anywho, here's the next chapter! The chapter title is credited to the ever charming and hillarious Captain Jack Sparrow from POTC and should also satisfy all of you who are constantly asking for more Ron and Hermione romance! The only thing is, will Ron understand the subtle hints that Hermione gives him?
Chapter 9: The Opportune Moment
It was already 11 o'clock the next morning and the Aurors were still finalizing everything so that the Weasleys and Hermione could go into hiding. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had not moved from their position at the kitchen table since the arrival of Kingsley and two Aurors who specialized in concealment charms. Ron had awoken and gone downstairs for breakfast to find the group already hard at work on plans. They stopped briefly and he was introduced to Jasmine Wickers and Rob McGrath before the five adults went back to work, completely ignoring his presence as they spoke in hushed voices. After eating as quickly as possible, Ron had retreated to his room under the pretence of packing. However, instead of packing, he lay on his bed staring up at the ceiling lost in his own thoughts.
Wouldn't Voldemort have known that Harry wasn't here? Ron thought. And why would he only send three Death Eaters if he was after Harry? Maybe it's not just Harry he wants after all and maybe that's why he store Ministry records about all of us. But why would he want us? Is it just because we're friends with Harry and Dumbledore or is there something else? Something we don't know yet? Dumbledore said he wanted us to go into hiding so did he suspect something like this would happen or was he just taking precautions?
A knock at the door startled Ron, causing him to leap off his bed in a desperate attempt to make it look as if he'd been packing.
"Come in," he said, as he hurriedly grabbed a few books and began throwing them in his trunk, which lay open and empty on the floor.
The door opened and Hermione appeared, looking as tired as Ron felt. There were dark circles under her eyes as if she hadn't had enough sleep the previous night. Her bushy brown hair was pulled into a ponytail in a desperate attempt to tame it but her clothes were as crisp and clean as always, making her look less dishevalled.
"Hey," she said, "Still packing?"
Ron nodded as he reached for a few more books, "Unfortunately yes," he said. "Any new news from downstairs?"
Hermione nodded as she stepped inside closing the door behind her. "A little, yes," she said, as she glanced sideways, almost as if she expected someone to jump out at any minute.
Ron raised an eyebrow, "I know that tone," he said. "What's wrong?"
"Well, first we were going to go to Grimmuld Place but now we can't because they suspect that Voldemort knows the general area of it now," Hermione said.
"But he can't find it unless Dumbledore tells him," Ron said.
"Yes, but he could ambush us the minute we stepped outside it," Hermione pointed out. "And I don't know about you but I don't want to be stuck inside for the rest of summer holidays."
"Yeah, I definitely had enough of that last summer," Ron said.
"Then they were going to have us stay in a muggle suburb near where Harry's aunt and uncle live," Hermione continued, "but Dumbledore said that wasn't safe enough and it would endanger too many others."
"So where are we going?" Ron asked, but he had a feeling he wouldn't like the answer much.
"Canada," Hermione replied. "Remember Shawn from last night?"
"Yeah, the blonde guy Charlie kept giving the death stare to, right?"
Hermione laughed, "Yeah, him," she said. "Well he found a place outside of Toronto for us to stay at for the time being. At one point they wanted us to go to Québec but since only Bill can speak any French your mother put a stop to that."
"I thought you spoke French," Ron said.
"I'm not fluent and I basically taught myself so I'm not very good," Hermione said. "Besides, I've always wanted to go to Toronto."
"Won't Canada be really cold though?" Ron asked.
Hermione stared at him, "Toronto's in Southwestern Ontario," she said, "It should be warmer then it is here."
"Oh, well how was I supposed to know that?" Ron said. "All I know is that they have a lot of lumberjacks, mounties, they live in igloos and they eat poutine."
Hermione laughed, "I really hope you're just joking Ron because all you did was list a bunch of stereo-types about Canadians," she said.
"I'm highly offended that you would even think I was that stupid!" Ron said feigning hurt. "Just because I don't read as many books as you doesn't mean I don't know a thing or two about Canada."
"OK, OK, I'm sorry," Hermione said.
"Why are we basically fleeing the country though?" Ron asked. "We have to come back for school in September anyway."
Hermione shrugged, "I don't know," she said. "Kingsley said it would only be for a week or two so my guess is they need more time to set a place up for us."
"But there's bound to be Death Eaters in Canada too," Ron pointed out.
"True," Hermione said thoughtfully. "I don't think there would be too many though."
"Well no, but my point is is that they're still there to pose a threat," Ron said. "And if Voldemort is really after us he'll still be able to find us."
"I'm not entirely sure it's us Voldemort wants," Hermione said, her brow furrowed in concentration.
"You think he's just after Harry?"
"I'm not sure," Hermione said. "It doesn't really make sense does it? I mean, it's only logical that we would've taken Harry to St. Mungo's so why would Voldemort even bother attacking us?"
"Maybe he just wants to mess with us," Ron suggested.
"But now he's lost the element of surprise since he made the first move," Hermione said. "Obviously we'll go into hiding so that he can't come back."
"But maybe that's exactly what he wants us to do," Ron said. "Think about it, Voldemort will automatically assume that we're moving right? So what if we just stayed here? He'd never think to look here again because he's already come here once."
Hermione stared at Ron for a minute then smiled, "You're either insane or brilliant," she said. "It's crazy enough that it just might work, come on!"
She grabbed his arm and dragged him downstairs to the kitchen at a rather alarming speed, catching Ron off guard.
"Um, excuse me," Hermione said as they entered the kitchen.
"Yes?" said Kingsley.
"Well, Ron just had this really great idea that I thought might be helpful," Hermione said quickly. "Tell them Ron."
Ron swallowed hard and felt his ears start to go red in embaressment. "Well ... I ... er ... um ..." he stammered as he looked desperately at Hermione, who gave him an encouraging smile.
"I think we should just stay here," he said in a rush.
"Are you out of your mind?" asked Rob, as he stood up, nearly knocking his chair over in his haste.
"Well think about it," Ron said, growing a bit more confident. "Voldemort will be expecting us to go into hiding somewhere else so he'd never think to come back here."
"And there's all sorts of spells we could use to protect ourselves," Hermione added.
"And if we made it look like we had gone somewhere else then we'd be even safer," Ron finished.
"It could work you know," Jasmine said thoughtfully, as she toyed with one of her long dangling purple earrings. "What do you think Kingsley?"
Kingsley thought a moment before responding.
"We'd need some very strong spellcasters," he said finally, "but I'm sure Dumbledore would help. What do you think Molly, Arthur?"
"I don't know..." Mrs. Weasley said nervously, and Ron recalled that his mother's older brother and his wife had both died at Voldemort's hands.
"Well I think it's a great idea and I'm all for it," Mr. Weasley said, as he stood up. "Well done Ron!"
"Then I'll talk it over with Shewfelt," Kingsley said, "I should have all the details arranged for tomorrow."
Ron couldn't help smiling, they were going to use his idea to fool Voldemort, not someone else's!
"Ron, Hermione," Mr. Weasley said, "Why don't you tell the others we're staying here so that they stop packing?"
"Right dad," Ron said, before he and Hermione turned to go find the rest of the Weasley family.
"It is a really good idea you know," Hermione said, as they went outside in search of Bill who was supposedly working on the car in the shed.
"Thanks," Ron said, as he tried not to blush.
"I'm kind of glad we're not going anywhere," Hermione said, "I really like it here, it's such a change from living in the city."
"I bet," Ron said. They were now walking through the garden in which Mrs. Weasley had enchanted many of her flowers so that they towered over the path, completely obscuring them from the others' view.
"But I still think that, with the way things are, some things shouldn't be left unsaid, you know?" Hermione said.
Ron stopped and looked at Hermione, "I know exactly what you mean," he said quietly.
They next thing he knew, he was kissing the girl of his dreams in the shadow of a cluster of eight-foot tall roses.
Awww, so cute! I know, a bunch of you will hate me for ending it here but technically it's not a cliffie and I'll probably update soon, maybe even Friday but we'll have to see how it goes. This chapter was a bit rushed because I kept changing my mind up until the last minute but now it's done and I'm going to post it without fully editing it because, well, I'm the author and I can if I want to! Anywho, hope you enjoyed, there's a tiny bit of foreshadowing in it so see if you can find it and remember to review because reviews are good! Thanks!
-Megan