Chapter Sixteen
"So do you feel any different?" Harry asked, turning to face his running partner.
"Nah, not really," Ron replied, glancing down at the object around his neck. "I'm starting to think it doesn't work." Two days had past and he still hadn't felt any affects from the charm.
"Maybe it takes a while," Harry suggested.
Ron didn't answer. He kept on running, not saying anything until he started hearing Harry's heavy breathing beside him.
"Tired already?"
"We ran twelve miles," Harry shot back. He was definitely not out of shape, but he was beginning to feel the strain of running an extra couple miles.
Ron looked surprised. "Really? I hadn't even noticed. I'm barely sweating."
"Good for you," Harry said sarcastically and stopped running.
"What'd you stop for?"
"Because I'm heading back. We have to be at the Ministry in an hour."
He didn't know what Harry was so worried about. "We still have plenty of time."
"Maybe that charm is finally working for you, but since I don't have one I'm going back."
"Fine, I'll see you in a bit," said Ron.
He left Harry there and started running again. Harry must have been right about the charm. There was no other explanation for why he was able to run this far and barely break a sweat. After awhile he decided to make things a bit more interesting and increased his speed a little. Every few minutes he would increase it a little more. He still didn't feel tired at all – he felt great. If he had been able to do this way back when his Auror training had first started he could have been ahead of everyone in the program.
He lost track of the time, so much so that when he returned to the house Harry was already gone. Mackenzie would kill him if he was late on only his second day back, but because he wasn't reporting to normal training like everyone else, he might be able to slip into the Auror Department without being noticed.
He was still required to bring all his training gear so he quickly packed it up and changed into his Auror's robes before leaving for the Ministry. Normally, he would just apparate, but he thought he might try his luck and see how fast he could get there in a flat run. He was going to be late anyways – it was just a question of how late.
Ron only ended up being about a half hour late. If only he had been a bit faster, Mackenzie never would have known. She took him in her office, putting up a silencing charm so no one could hear her berate him for thinking he could make up his own hours. But it wasn't as if there was any worse punishment she could offer up then what he was already doing, except now she was going to make him sit the test a day early – and that was bad. He had been bored out of his mind reading yesterday, and now he would have to study twice as hard just to get through all the material she had given him.
Ron had been so irritated about the whole thing, he hadn't realized what was going on until he was halfway through the stack of parchments on his desk. When he did, he paused to check the clock on the wall and then looked down at the remaining papers in front of him. Only ten minutes had gone by and he had already memorized and learned half the material Mackenzie had given him. That was at least twenty pages! Not even Hermione could read that fast.
He decided to try a test. He picked up what he had left to go through and scanned through it as fast as he could. He couldn't remember it as clearly as he could the previous pile, but he had a working understanding about what he had just read. If he had this ability while in Hogwarts, he could have been doing his homework on the Quidditch pitch instead of staying up until midnight or later, scrambling to get it done. If he was having this much progress, he wondered how Hermione was fairing.
It was close to lunchtime and he was starving, so he thought he would go up and pay her a visit. He wasn't sure how she would react to him just showing up at her office, but that wasn't going to stop him. They had been on rocky terms at best since he had been cleared of any wrong doing by the Magical Law Enforcement officials, and he hadn't wanted to make things worse so he had stayed away. He was also angry. After being apart for months, he thought they were both finally ready to put everything behind them, but they weren't – at least Hermione wasn't. He got the distinct feeling from her that getting back together wasn't what she wanted.
He entered the department and proceeded to walk down to where he knew her office to be, since the witch at reception wasn't around. Sure enough, she was sitting at her desk, looking thoroughly stressed out. He didn't say anything, but it wasn't long before she noticed someone standing in her doorway.
"Ron, what are you doing here?" She wished it hadn't come out sounding so harsh.
He looked unaffected by her words. "I thought I'd see how you're doing," he said, indicating to the chain around her neck.
She visibly scowled. "It's just a big waste of time. It doesn't even work."
"Really? Mine works just fine," he said, smirking. She eyed him dubiously, so he picked up a book from her desk. "Watch," he told her.
At first, he looked like he was just flipping casually through the pages, but then they quickly become a blur to her because they were moving so fast. About three quarters through, he stopped and tossed the book back on her desk. "Christ, that was boring. I think that's worse than our History of Magic text ever was.
Her eyes widened. "You read all that?"
"Most of it. Didn't understand half of it though. What the hell is cellular decay of magical properties?"
She continued to stare at him in awe. "Ron, that's amazing."
"Yeah, well, it's the charm," he said with a shrug, blushing a little.
She stared down determinedly at her books, and picked up the one she had been looking through before. She began flipping through in much the same way Ron had, but after a minute of this gave up. "It's not working," she said frustrated.
"Maybe yours is just taking a little longer," he said to her. "I didn't start noticing anything until this morning."
That didn't make her feel any better. Maybe the charm was only meant to work with someone of pure wizarding blood lineage.
"Maybe it takes some extreme physical exercise to bring it out," Ron suggested. "Nothing happened with mine until I went running this morning."
She gave it some thought. It was possible. The charm was supposed to run off the adrenaline produced by the body, so the effects would become much more noticeable during physical activity. It was also just as likely the charm wasn't compatible with her.
"Let's go down to the gym and test yours out."
She thought he was joking, but he looked completely serious. "Ron, the gym is for Aurors only. Besides, I have a lot of work to do here."
"Look, the Aurors don't have training today. And all that work you have sitting there isn't going to go away any faster. It's lunchtime anyways. I promise I'll have you back up here in an hour."
"We have that check-up at St. Mungo's remember?"
"Right. We'll finish in the gym and we'll go right over. Your boss won't even know you're gone," he finished with a grin.
She couldn't turn down his offer even if she wanted to. The combination of the chance to see the potential of her own charm as well as the roguish grin he was flashing her were two things she couldn't resist.
Fifteen minutes later Hermione was sweaty and out of breath, and was seriously regretting letting Ron talk her into this to begin with. They had practiced wand dueling and dozens of other wizarding combat techniques, and she had done fairly well on all of them. But she didn't have nearly six months of Auror training behind her. She knew all the extensive training he and Harry had gone through, but it was entirely different to witness it first hand. She wasn't used to seeing Ron this confident. She knew he was slowing down his pace just so she could keep up with him.
"You're holding back," she panted, after she blocked his last attack. Ron looked fine. He was barely sweating.
"Of course I am," he admitted. "Bloody hell, Hermione, you're not some Death Eater I'm trying to hunt down." He could see how discouraged she was getting, but he wasn't going to let her quit. "Let's try that again."
She knew she shouldn't be letting herself get angry, that it was only going to make her more frustrated, but she couldn't help it. Ron may have been holding back to keep from hurting her, but she was throwing practically every curse she knew at him and he blocked them all almost effortlessly.
He was trying to mix in close combat fighting with their wand dueling – something he had most likely learned in training. He never actually hit her, but it showed how easily he could have taken her out if he wanted to.
This time when she threw a curse at him, she didn't wait for him to block it before throwing another one. She moved to the side and ducked to avoid one of his hits. She didn't pause to figure out why he was staring at her so strangely. She moved through the opening in his defense and hit him hard in the chest.
She was sure she hadn't hit him that hard, but Ron was knocked off his feet and landed sprawled on his back.
"Ron, are you okay?" She asked, worriedly, coming to his side.
"Shit," he swore, struggling to sit up. "Where did you learn that move?"
"What move?" She said, confused. "I just hit you that was it."
He shook his head. "You were like this blur of motion. One second you were in one spot, the next you were right in front of me, knocking me onto my back."
She took that moment to sit on the floor beside him and reflect on what had just happened. She had been doing everything the same she had done since they had started, except she had felt this extra surge of energy.
When Ron got to his feet, she said, "don't hold back this time."
He looked at her like she had lost her mind. "Hermione, no. I could really hurt you – I could do worse than that."
"You won't," she said confidently.
"I know you think since you got to me once, you can do it again – "
"Ron, trust me, okay? I know what I'm doing."
Damn it she was stubborn. She didn't even allow him the chance to argue any further. She was already taking up a fighting stance and aiming her wand at him. He barely had his out in time before she started her attack.
She moved as quickly as before, and it wasn't long before he was doing exactly what he hadn't wanted to do – not holding back. He was doing it because it was the only way he could keep up with her. She was matching him move for move and not giving up any ground.
Minutes passed, and they were still going at each other relentlessly, but never causing any real damage. If anyone had been watching them they would have looked like two blurs moving from one spot to another, never stopping. Finally, they broke apart, sweating and breathing heavily.
"Wow," Hermione said in amazement.
"Wow? Hermione, that was bloody amazing!" Ron exclaimed. He couldn't believe it. Not only had she been able to keep up with him, but she had actually put him on the defensive several times.
"I want to go patrolling with you," she said suddenly.
That was more insane than her wanting to fight him in an all-out match. "Absolutely not," he said when the shock of what she said had worn off. "There's a big difference between trading curses in a gym and being out there dealing with Death Eaters and Merlin knows what else. It's against regulations to bring out a civilian. I'm not even supposed to be patrolling until I take that stupid test."
"It wouldn't have to be official Ministry business. "It could be for the Order."
"Hermione, no," he stated more firmly this time.
"Fine, then I guess I'll just go out on my own."
He swore inwardly. He couldn't stop her from going out on her own and she damn well knew he would never let her do that. If Harry found out what he was agreeing to he would kill him.
Ginny paused to consider one of the homework questions Lupin had given her. She chewed the tip of her quill thoughtfully. Lupin was a good teacher – almost too good in fact. She had always known he was brilliant in Defense Against the Dark Arts, but she had no idea he was so well versed in practically every other subject area. She felt a pang thinking about what a brilliant career he could have had if there weren't all those ridiculous anti-werewolf laws. But hopefully that prejudice might soon be coming to an end.
"Dad's put into motion a new law that will overwrite the existing one on werewolf policies," she sad to the person sitting at the other end of the couch.
Harry just shrugged, keeping his attention on the television screen.
She wasn't sure if he was paying attention to the program or not. Even if there wasn't anything on, it seemed to catch his interest just to flip through all the channels.
"Remus could get a job at the Ministry then. Or I'm sure he would go back to teach at Hogwarts when it re-opens."
"Gin, if you've got something to say, just say it," Harry snapped, tearing his gaze away from the telly to look at her.
She moved her legs from where they were lying draped across his lap and sat up. "He doesn't say anything," she began slowly, "but he misses you, Harry. Can't you just talk to him?"
"I have nothing to say to him."
"Harry, he made a mistake but that was years ago. Your parents weren't even together at the time. You're punishing him for something that has nothing to do with you."
"Don't talk about things you don't understand," he said coldly, standing up.
"You are such a hypocrite," she cried, jumping to her feet. "You kissed your best friend's girlfriend," she reminded him.
"That was totally different!" Harry argued. "I didn't know she and Ron were together. Besides, it wasn't like I shagged her."
She didn't know why she was so upset. She had purposely picked a fight with him and now she just wanted to get out of there. She grabbed her bag and threw her books inside.
While she was doing that, she heard the front door open. She saw her brother and Hermione standing in the hall. Hermione didn't look surprised to see her, but Ron did.
"Where the hell have you been?" Harry asked, still angry.
"Out," Ron answered. "Not that it's any of your business."
"Were you in a fight?" Ginny asked. She could make out the faint line of a bruise on his cheekbone. When she took a closer look at Hermione, the other girl looked like she might have been caught in a scuffle a well.
"Why are you here?" Ron asked, avoiding her question.
"I was looking for Hermione. I didn't know where she was," Ginny lied smoothly.
"The Healer came to the Ministry looking for the both of you," said Harry. "You didn't show up for your scheduled appointment."
"I guess we lost track of time. It's no big deal," Ron said.
"We'll go first thing tomorrow," Hermione interjected, hoping to avoid a row. "Gin, are you going home now?" The younger girl nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow," she said to Ron. "Good night, Harry."
When the girls were gone, Ron turned to Harry. "What are you pissed about?"
"Nothing," Harry said with a scowl and walked down the hall to his bedroom.
Ron sighed. He wished that he and Hermione hadn't shown up when Harry had been in such a foul mood. He was just lucky Harry didn't follow through on Ginny's comment about having been caught in a fight. Ginny was too damn observant for her own good. If Harry had found out where they had been, he would be a dead man.