Chapter Twenty Nine

Harry's Secret

Ron found himself staring at the ceiling. He blinked at the early morning sunlight and instantly remembered what he had done the night before.

It worked! He thought happily. All he had to do was exhaust himself and he'd fall unconscious. Now if he can only convince Harry to do that to himself so he, Ron can finally have some alone time.

He tumbled out of bed and looked around. Well he was still in his bed at the Manor. He had half expected to wake in someone else's. But maybe he wasn't alone in it. He checked the sheets.

Nope, no one there.

He checked the floor.

Nope, no tell-tale signs of female habitation either.

Shower, he thought. But he was disappointed to find it empty.

"Ron, what are you doing?"

"Harry! I thought you were still asleep."

"I was up since about an hour ago."

"Oh." Drat! He's still awake!

"What were you doing anyway? And what the hell did you leave me alone like that for!"

"Stop pretending to be daft, Harry, I think that's pretty obvious. Now give me details, mate. What happened?"

"Nothing."

"What do you mean nothing? Harry, I do think I'm entitled to know what happens to my body. Now spill."

"Nothing happened. I took her home, we talked."

"About what?"

"Look, I told her the truth about our situation. I just didn't think it's right that she doesn't know."

"Was she mad?"

"She was a bit confused at first but I explained everything and she's okay with it, so we're still good friends. Nothing else."

"Nothing else?"

"Yes, what else is there? I did ask to be her date to that Ministry Ball. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, I guess. Normally I'd ask Hermione, but she won't be back until June. At least Maddy can keep us company. So nothing happened? You didn't even kiss her?"

Ron felt Harry hesitate. "Well, she did, just a friendly one on the cheek."

Oh yes, he was definitely hiding something. He was always a bad liar.

"Alright, Harry if you say so."

Ron didn't want to push it. But he'll find out, eventually. It wouldn't be that hard. Still, yesterday was a breakthrough. He had finally found a way to get some privacy from Harry. But now was not the time to think about that. They had work to do.

There appeared to be quite a commotion at Headquarters when they arrived. Ron nudged the first person he saw. It was Blake.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Two of the children have been found," he said. "I don't know anything else, but I think they're at St. Mungo's."

"You think we should check it out, Harry?"

"We're not supposed to, but that hasn't stopped us before. It's still early before we have to report anyway."

They found a group of Aurors were at the reception area of the hospital, among them J.D. and Alicia.

"What happened?" Harry asked their friends.

"We found two of the missing children a few hours ago," replied Alicia. She looked enormously relieved. "The muggle police found them wandering at two separate places: one at a muggle flea market another at a bus station. J.D. and I found them when we did our rounds. We took them here for a thorough check-up."

"The kids seemed okay," said J.D. "Apart from not remembering anything since they disappeared. They didn't even know they were missing for days. No cuts, no wounds anywhere."

Harry and Ron gave a sigh of relief. "So there's absolutely nothing?"

"We're still waiting for additional tests. The healers are trying to probe if they could get through a memory or if they've been hurt magically. But so far there's no evidence of physical harm. It looks like whoever kidnapped them just decided to keep them for two days, erase their memories and let them off at a public area. What are you doing here anyway?"

"Er… wanted to check on Kelley. But can I wait for the results on the children?"

Alicia and J.D. looked at each other. "Sure, I guess," replied J.D softly. "I know Chief took you out of this case, but just pretend you're part of our team."

Alicia and J.D. led them to a room where two eleven-year-old boys were sitting up restlessly on their beds, eyeing everything magical in the room with bewilderment.

"So you can get my temperature with just that stick?" asked the more energetic one, a blond boy with wild curls, to the healer close by.

"Yes, now lay back down young man we haven't finished with you yet," replied the stern witch healer who appeared to be a little younger than Madame Pomfrey.

"That is so cool!" replied the other boy who had dark brown hair. "You mean we can do that too when we get to that school? Do magic with sticks? Or give other people boils when we want to? And then make them okay again?"

"Yes, yes, no and yes. Don't you two ever run out of questions?" The healer noticed the Aurors enter.

"How are they?" asked Alicia.

"Aside from the fact that they are driving me crazy with their questions, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong." She lowered her voice. "I can't find any signs of trauma. They weren't tortured, physically or with Cruciatus, that's for sure. But I can't get pass through the memory charm placed on them either. I still want to keep them for observation for another day or two, but they're perfectly fine. Have their parents been informed?"

"Yes," replied J.D. "They're on their way as soon as they're briefed. So there's nothing wrong?"

The healer shook her head. "None that I can find. They're completely healthy."

Ron eyed the boys carefully. He recognized that same curiosity in himself and Harry when they first met on the train. It must be even more fascinating for them since they grew up in the muggle world their whole lives.

"Oy, watch this I can already do it!" said one of the boys, the blonde one to his dark haired companion on the other bed.

Ron looked at him. The blond curly boy appeared to be pointing to a glass of water on his bedside table.

"Do what?" asked the other one.

"Magic. Just like they do." The boy was looking intently at the glass. His expression seemed to concentrate on the glass for a minute before shifting to surprise.

"Is something supposed to happen?" asked the other boy.

"That's strange," said the blonde boy. "I can't do it anymore."

"Do what?"

"Make the water in the glass bubble without touching it."

The healer turned to them sternly. "Lie back down and get some rest both of you. Your parents will be here to see you soon."

"But I can't make the water bubble."

"Well of course you can't," replied the healer. "You can't do magic without a wand, and not without the proper training. Don't be in a hurry. You'll learn to do magic properly when you get to Hogwarts."

"But I've always been able to do it before," complained the boy.

"Well it's just a stroke of random magic. All magical children have that. Now keep still and be quiet."

Ron and Harry decided there was nothing else to keep them there and bid Alicia and J.D. goodbye. They stopped by to check on Kelley and found Tonks outside his ward. Her hair appeared limp and brown today. She appeared to be deep in thought and too gloomy to make her hair exciting.

"You alright?" Harry asked. They sat down next to her.

Tonks shook her head. "I'm not sure. They let me see Edward today. There's nothing much different about him. They still don't know why he won't wake up. I've been trying so hard to recall what happened. But I could only remember using the two Unforgivables and a levitating spell when I attacked him."

"When will you be back?" Ron asked.

"I don't know. It depends on Chief. She's sending me back to Academy to re-train in Imperious Curse breaking. If I showed full confidence in doing that, she can lift my suspension."

Harry patted her shoulder then told her the good news about the two children. That seemed to comfort her somehow.

"We'll find those children," Ron reassured her. "And we're talking to Hermione. She's trying to do some research on the house elves and on strange curses on the side while finishing her studies. And the ARD's on the case. I'm sure we'll figure this out in no time."

"Thanks," Tonks said. "But you don't have to cheer me up. I'll be okay on my own. Now get back to headquarters or you're going to be late."

"Aye, aye, Captain Tonks!" replied Harry to Ron's confusion. Tonks sniggered.

"What did you call her?" asked Ron.

"It's a muggle thing. I thought it might cheer her up."

They found a group of junior Aurors sitting together at one area of Headquarters with Atalanta.

"You're late, Weasley, where were you?" asked the Chief.

"Er… just checked on Kelley," replied Harry.

Atalanta eyed them suspiciously but didn't say anything. She updated them about the missing children then proceeded to address the group with orders on securing the area where the Ministry Ball was to be held at the end of the month.

Ron caught sight of Maddy just as they were dismissed. If Harry wasn't going to talk, maybe he could find out something from her.

"Maddy?" he asked.

"'ello, Ron," she said cheerfully then motioned for them aside. "And 'arry. Are you both zhere?"

"Yes," Ron replied. "So Harry told you?"

"Yes."

"This is Ron talking and I want to thank you for a great game last night. Sorry I couldn't stay up all night, but I think Harry took care of that."

"Oh, yes. 'arry did. We 'ad a good talk."

Ron could feel Harry getting tense. Oh yes, this was getting interesting. "So you got to know each other better—"

"Harry, what the hell did you bite our tongue for!"

"Sorry Maddy," said Harry. "This is Harry, by the way. Ron's being a prat right now about… you know what."

"What 'you know what?'"

Maddy gave them a bewildered look. "Zis eez really weird. But I think I understand, 'arry. Do not worry." She held a finger to her face and made a movement to point to them then to back to herself. Then she pretended to pull an invisible zipper over her lips.

"What was that?" asked Ron. He felt Harry immediately relax and Ron understood there was some secret going on between them.

Maddy bid them goodbye and went back to her office to work.

"Alright, Harry fine, if you want to keep your romance with her private, I'll let you, for now."

"I'm not having a romance with her. We're just friends."

"Alright Potter, have it your way. But I will find out. Remember that."