Chapter 8: I Wanna Be Sedated
A/N: This title seemed appropriate somehow. Not only did it fit the theme of the chapter, but also served as a tribute to Johnny Ramone of the Ramones, who died recently. Sorry for the long wait between chapters, but I hope you like it anyway. Now on with the story...
It had been a week since the procedure to try to impregnate Ron. Both he and Hermione had been looking for any signs of pregnancy, but so far everything was the same. Molly Weasley had been by three times that week, each time with some excuse to bring food or with some information about a member of the family that apparently needed to be told in person. But her reasons were thinly veiled excuses to keep an eye on her youngest son and his wife. Truth be told, she was starting to get on Ron's nerves a little, but Hermione welcomed the older woman's loving support. She was much closer to her mother-in-law than she was to her own mother, and was glad to have her around. Ginny and Harry had stopped by a couple of times to chat, and assured Ron that it was still too early to tell if he was pregnant. Ron's patience was wearing thin with the waiting, but luckily, Molly had threatened Fred and George within an inch of their lives to leave Ron and Hermione alone until they had some news. Although he loved his brothers dearly, those two were the last people Ron wanted to see when his nerves were already so close to shattering. Unfortunately, Ron suspected that when they were permitted by Molly to call on the couple again, that their visit would be far too memorable. Ron could only venture to guess what kind of pranks were in store.
Ron and Hermione tried to focus on other things to keep their mind off of things. They went for long walks at night, visited friends, and played chess. Well, Ron played chess and Hermione just surrendered her pieces to him. With Ginny's blessing, Ron continued working with Harry keeping a close eye on him. They hadn't been assigned anything remotely dangerous in a while and Ron had not yet informed their boss. He figured his boss would only need to know if it were successful.
On the eighth day of what was jokingly termed "the longest bloody two weeks ever", Ron apparated home after work to find his mother there, again. Ron stiffened and tried to hide the annoyance he was feeling before approaching his mother. He loved her dearly, he honestly did, but enough was enough. He was tired of her constantly coming over unannounced. Did she honestly think they wouldn't tell her if they had any news?
"Oh, Ron dear. You're home at last. I just stopped by to have a chat with Hermione and I brought you some stew. I never have quite learned to cook for just your father and I after all of those years of cooking for all of you children. I hate to see it go to waste," Molly said as she reached out to straighten Ron's robes and pick some lint off his collar.
Ron, his patience worn down to a thread now, decided this was the time to confront his mother. "So you just happened to have some extra stew and decided we needed it?"
"Well, of course. I know that you two work such long hours, and with everything you've been going through, I thought you could use it." Molly was now reaching into the cabinet for three bowls.
"Mum, Ginny and Harry work just as long as we do. Did you take any to them? Or is there some other reason you're here? I've seen you more in these last few days than I have in the last month combined. I appreciate your concern, but I'm just fine. We're fine, and perfectly capable of cooking our own meals." Ron knew as soon as the words left his mouth that he shouldn't have said them.
"Fine. I'll just take my stew and go, shall I? Maybe I'll drop it off at Ginny and Harry's place. Hopefully my youngest child is a little more grateful for a home cooked meal. I do hope that you decide to stop by The Burrow soon, Ronald, as I wouldn't want to intrude on you here. Hermione, it was lovely to talk to you dear. I hope you take my advice, and feel free to call on me any time." Molly said stiffly. She quickly gathered her cloak and pot of stew and disapparated before Ron could respond.
If looks could kill, Ron would have been mortally wounded by Hermione's stare at that moment. "Ronald Weasley! Was that any way for you to talk to your mother? After all of the things she's done for you?"
Ron released a loud sigh and closed his eyes. "I know, I know. I didn't mean for it to sound so harsh. I had a long day, and I was looking forward to a peaceful night with my wife, alone. I'll floo mum in the morning and apologize."
"Well, we're alone now, aren't we? And thanks to you, without anything to eat. I hope you know what you're going to make for dinner, because you're cooking tonight," Hermione said with her arms crossed over her chest.
"Why me? I didn't mean for her to leave, well ok, I did want her to leave. But if she hadn't stopped by, we would have to make something anyway. Why do I have to cook everything by myself now?" Ron's face began to turn the Weasley crimson, never a good sign.
"Because you are the only one who's going to eat. I'm so mad at you right now I can't even look at you. I'm going over to Ginny's for a while." Hermione's voice was now raised an octave and a few decibels.
"Why are you so mad at me? Weren't you getting tired of her being here all the time?"
"As a matter of fact, I wasn't. I, unlike you, enjoy being able to talk to Molly about what we're all going through. You aren't the only one who's anxious, Ron. As for why I'm so mad at you, I hope I never see you be so disrespectful to your mother again. If... when we have a child, I hope they don't ever treat me the way you just treated your mother tonight. I'm ashamed of you. " Hermione turned away from Ron, picked up her wand, and disapparated.
Ron slumped into a kitchen chair and laid his head down on the table. Somehow he had managed to anger the two most important women in his life in one fowl swoop. He thought this must be some sort of record. He briefly considered tracking down his mother immediately and apologizing for his temporary lack of gray matter, but the rumbling in his stomach pushed that thought away for the moment as he needed to take care of his most basic needs first.
The next morning, after having begged for his mother's and his wife's forgiveness the evening before, Ron awoke feeling miserable. His muscles ached, he felt weak and a little feverish. Perfect, he thought to himself, nothing like getting a virus on top of everything else. He didn't feel ill enough to stay home and he didn't want to bother Hermione sleeping peacefully in their bed, so he got dressed and headed for work. He figured he'd go see Ginny after his shift to see if there was anything he could take for this cold.
When Ron arrived at work, Harry immediately noticed something was wrong. "Hey mate. You alright? You look like shite."
"I feel like crap too, thanks for asking." Ron flopped into his chair behind his desk. There were several stacks of folders not-so-neatly piled on his desk waiting for his review. Ron sighed to himself as he mentally tallied the paperwork he would have to complete before the day was over.
Harry walked over to Ron and placed the back of his hand on Ron's forehead. "I'm serious. You don't look well. You're a bit warm. Perhaps you should go see Ginny. You think this has anything to do with...you know?" Harry asked, with he eyes pointed directly at Ron's mid-section.
"I already though of that. Don't know, but if I start feeling any worse, I'll go see her. Anything going on around here today?"
Before Harry could answer, the door to Shank's office opened and he bellowed, "Weasley, Potter, I need you in my office." Shanks was a portly man of about 50. He was a few inches shorter than Harry and his remaining hair surrounded his head like a crown. His face was weathered like he had spent far too much time in the sun, but his brown eyes glinted with the same power they had radiated as a young man of 20. He had been one of the top aurors in his day, and a fine leader. He liked to give the impression that he was a gruff and intimidating man, but it was well know that he had a heart of gold, which annoyed him to no end. Shanks had been married 3 times, but never had one of his marriages last long enough to have produced any children. Shanks, for all intents and purposes, was married to his job. Bertram Shanks did not tolerate anything less than the best out of his aurors, but he was a fair man who had earned the respect of everyone who worked for him.
Ron and Harry looked at each other with a similar look of trepidation before heading into Shanks' office. Ron was a little nervous. Did Shanks find out about his 'extracurricular activities' or was he going to give them a dangerous assignment? Ron was hoping for a nice, easy stake-out or a forgery case, but one never knew what they were in store for with Shanks.
Lieutenant Shanks got right to the point. "We've had a new development on the Amato case. Seems the little wanker has turned up again in London working for a curry shop. If this bloke had a brain, he'd really be dangerous. As it is, he doesn't know when to quit while he's ahead. He shouldn't be too hard to apprehend. Here's the address." Shanks handed Harry a slip of parchment with the address to the curry shop. Delroy Amato was a small Frenchman who was known to be a distributor of Class 3 non-tradable substances. He had escaped capture until this point through sheer dumb luck, rather than through cunning tactics. It was a well known fact that he was on the low end of the intelligence bell-curve, and it was a wonder that he was still walking the streets. The last anyone had heard, Delroy had returned to France. He was an idiot for returning to England, but there it was. Ron and Harry figured this was an easy enough job, as they were not dealing with a criminal mastermind.
"Well then, if there aren't any questions, you two should get a move on." Shanks looked the two men over as they were turning to leave the office. Shanks' brow furrowed for a moment before speaking again. "Wait. Weasley, come back in here." Ron glanced at Harry, who simply shrugged his shoulders as he continued out the door.
Ron turned around to face the Lieutenant. "Yes sir?"
"Weasley, you're looking a bit off color. Are you ill?" Shanks looked Ron over carefully, noting the red-head's pale complexion.
"Just a little under the weather this morning, sir. It'll pass soon." Ron replied, believing it to be true.
"I don't want you going on assignment if you're sick. You could jeopardize the mission if you're not at peak performance." Shanks was honestly worried about Ron putting himself or Harry in danger, but he would never admit that out loud. "Are you sure you're alright?"
"Positive sir. Just a little bug, I'm sure." Ron was eager to get to this job, as it would give his mind something to do besides wait and worry. Besides, Ron had worked feeling much worse than this over the years. This was nothing but a little cold.
"Well, if you're sure then. Dismissed." Shanks returned to his own mountain of paperwork as Ron left, closing the door behind himself.
Harry was waiting for Ron by the equipment room, having gathered everything they would need for their new assignment. "Well, what did Shanks want?"
"He was just telling me that he cares and to eat all of my veggies like a good lad," Ron replied dryly, as he donned his utility belt. "And before you say anything, I'm fine. I'd tell you if I couldn't do this job."
"Just don't go getting yourself killed. It would take too long to explain to Hermione, Ginny, and Mum, and blood never really comes completely out of your clothes, you know," Harry said, clapping a hand on Ron's shoulder, grinning.
Ron rolled his eyes at his partner. "Are we going to do this, or are we going to spend all day flapping our gums about."
With a pop, Ron disapparated a second before Harry to the coordinates of the curry shop. It was only 9 am, but there were lights on in the small restaurant. Harry and Ron decided to wait until the shop opened before going in, giving them time to watch things a bit from across the street, using their omniocculars.
After an hour and a half of watching the front window of the store, one of the cooks walked out into the front of the restaurant, with a drink in hand as he sat down at one of the tables. He was a small man, with thinning hair and a large hook nose. He wiped the sweat that had formed on his brow with the towel that was hanging off the front of his apron. "Ah, there you are Delroy, you slimy git. Thought you could just sneak back into the country without anyone noticing." Harry handed the omniocculars over to Ron so that he could get a glimpse of their man.
"That's him alright. Ugh, he just picked his nose and wiped it on his towel. That's disgusting, that is. Remind me never to eat here," Ron observed, his face twisted into a grimace. "Shop opens in another 20 minutes. Guess we'll hang out till then." Ron returned the omniocculars to Harry, and leaned back against a tree with his eyes closed.
"So, you feeling any better?" Harry was still concerned about his friend, given the unusual paleness of his features. Ron hadn't mentioned anything lately, but Harry could tell he was still under the weather. He hoped that it didn't mean anything was wrong.
Ron didn't bother opening his eyes before replying. "Not really. I think once we take this guy in, I'll pay Ginny a visit." Ron really was feeling lousy, and counted himself lucky that they had been given an easy assignment.
After a long wait, a pretty, dark-haired young woman unlocked the front door and turned a sign in the window over to read 'open'. Seizing the opportunity, the two aurors walked in as the first customers of the day. As soon as Ron entered the restaurant, the various curry smells assaulted his nose. Ordinarily, he would have been salivating, as he loved a good, hot curry. But today, the smell of the Indian food made him feel a bit queasy. They needed to finish this job quickly, before it all became too much. As they continued walking past the front counter toward the kitchen, the hostess tried to stop them. She continued shouting that they weren't allowed in the back, but they ignored her.
The commotion the two had caused made Delroy look up from the table where he was chopping carrots, and instantly knew the two aurors were there for him. He immediately dropped the knife and headed for the back door. Harry took off, running after him. Ron tried to follow, but the smell of the curry was strongest here. It was making his stomach churn and his head pound. The hostess was still yelling at him, but he could no longer hear what she was saying. The other cooks continued on, as if nothing had happened, and the sound of the utensils scraping on the pans, mixed with the hostess' voice and the curry smells overwhelmed him. Ron could only hear a white noise in his head and the room seemed over bright. He had the sensation that the ground had tilted to the side and was now rushing up to meet him just before everything went black.
Harry easily caught up with Delroy and had him stunned when he suddenly realized Ron wasn't behind him. He called Ron's name, but didn't get a response. Observing that Delroy was subdued, Harry ran back into the kitchen to find Ron passed out cold on the floor. His heart beating a mile a minute, he looked around at the kitchen workers. Not seeing any wands in sight, and realizing that there weren't likely any wizards in a muggle curry shop, Harry concluded that Ron hadn't been hexed.
Worry etched on his face, Harry reached down to shake Ron's shoulder and try to wake his partner. "Come on Ron, wake up. This is no place for a nap. Ron? Come on mate, wake up." Harry's facial expression turned from worry to relief when Ron's eyes began to flutter. "That's it mate, open you eyes. There's a good lad."
His eyes now open, Ron saw a fuzzy outline of black, unruly hair and glasses peering over him. "Harry, what happened? What am I doing on the floor?"
"You must have passed out. When you weren't behind me, I came back to find you unconscious on the floor. Do you feel like you can sit up?" Ron nodded his head weakly as Harry assisted him to a sitting position.
Harry summoned a glass of water, and helped steady the glass as Ron drank from it with shaky hands. Whatever had happened to Ron, Harry was now sure that it had nothing to do with a common cold.
After a few minutes, Ron was less shaky and a bit more alert. Remembering why they had come to the restaurant in the first place, Ron ran his hand through his hair and asked, "Well, did you catch him?"
Harry's eyes went wide with the sudden realization. "Oh, shite. Be right back." Harry tore out of the kitchen headed for the alley where he had left Delroy stunned. In all the excitement, he had almost forgotten about his prisoner. When Harry reached the alley, he knew what he would find. "Damn," Harry exclaimed to no one in particular. Delroy was gone. His lucky streak had continued.
Harry returned to the kitchen and helped Ron to his feet. He swayed, but Harry steadied him. "The buggering fool is gone, but there's not much we can do about it now. Let's get you to Ginny so she can check you out. I'll floo Hermione once we're there so she can meet us." Ron knew better than to argue. Harry helped Ron out into the alley where he made a port key to Ginny's office out of a cardboard box. With Ron's arm draped over his shoulders, Harry grasped the box and felt a familiar tugging behind his navel.
A/N: Sorry, I know, another cliffhanger. I promise that I won't take as long updating with the next chapter. Again, thanks to my wonderful Betas Michelleywelley, LJ Fan, and VisiOnOfDeath. Who knew I would have my own beta posse? I couldn't do this without your help (ok, I could, but it would suck so much more). You guys are the best. And for everyone that took the time to review, it is much appreciated. Chapter 7 received the most reviews of all of the chapters so far, so lets go for a record with this Chapter!
LJ Fan: See, you were the first one to review chapter 7. And you beta read it too. So you read it twice and still reviewed! Yay you! Oh you, with all the compliments, you're making me blush. So sap-sister, seen any good sappy movies lately?
AnonymousPHancock (to lazy to log in): I guess I was on a roll, until it took me 3 months to update. Hopefully, I'm back on track now.
Strayct: Thanks for reviewing again. I look forward to hearing from you, my international representative.
Secretly Smiling: Thanks. Sorry for the wait.
Michelleywelley: Hello again, my friend. I took your advice about the last part dealing with the length of the spells. I looked on the lexicon for any reference to how long spells last, but couldn't find anything. So I tweaked it a little, and it hopefully makes a little more sense. Anyway, the story worked better with the spell lasting only a short time, so I went with it. Thanks again for help. I'll see you on Pumpkin Carver's reviews in the near future (I love her story, too.)
ShortyFaillace: Thanks, I'm glad you like it.
hp/charmed obsessed: I'm here to tell you, that you missed out on a fantastic beta in michelleywelley. Your loss is my gain, I suppose. Anyway, I hope the search is going well. If you want a resource for some "British-isms", check out The Best of British at if you haven't already. Hope this helps.
Boffin: Well, thank you very much. As you can see, I'm not always quick in my updates, but I hope that I can make up for it in quality (well, it sounded good anyway). Don't be so impatient to get to the end...there are a few good parts coming up that you would miss. And that's all I can say.
Triniroo: Thank you so much for your offer. Wow, I never expected anyone to want to be a beta, let alone have all the amazing offers I've received. That was very kind of you, and I appreciate it. Right now, I have 3 betas which is working out well. I'll defiantly keep you in mind for the future.
Clothes-peg rules: I'm curious as to how you came up with your name. Thanks much for your review. Hope you continue to enjoy the story.
Nikki: Look what happens when you ask nicely? I was just getting ready to post and saw your e-mail. We must be on the same wavelength today. Spooky...