The dining room of the resort was nearly empty on Sunday morning, allowing Ron and Hermione to enjoy a quiet breakfast together. They were gathering their things to prepare for another relaxing day when John the bartender entered the dining room and called out a greeting that echoed across the tile. He wasn't dressed in his usual resort uniform, prompting Ron to ask, "Day off?"
John nodded as he shook Ron's hand. "Yeah, I'm headed to the Muggle resort a few places down," he replied. "I usually take a group from here out parasailing on my days off. Would love to have you join, if you're interested?"
Hermione was already shaking her head, a look of terror on her face. "What's parasailing?" Ron asked.
"Oh, it's brilliant," John replied. "Closest thing the Muggles have to flying."
Ron snorted and nudged Hermione. "Well, that explains your reaction. Em's not much of a flyer," he added to John.
"That's an understatement," Hermione agreed. "I think you'd like it though, Owen. You should go."
"Yeah?" Hermione nodded. He loved flying, of course, and it was a chance for him to get closer to a member of Berisha's staff, like Hermione had done with Laurel. "Alright, yeah," Ron said to John. "Count me in."
John clapped his hands together. "Excellent. Meet me back down here in an hour, and we'll head out." He headed off in the direction of a door labeled Staff Only, and was halfway through it when he turned around. "Oh, you'll have to leave your wand here. Muggle resort, you know."
Ron nodded. "No problem. See you in a bit."
Hermione reached down and took his hand, squeezing it tight. "I think I'll hit the pool, then. Do you mind helping me with a bit of sun potion before you go?"
"Yeah, of course." Ron let her lead the way back to their suite, knowing from the vice grip she had on his hand that sun potion was the last thing on her mind.
The door to their room had barely shut when Hermione rounded on him and blurted, "There is absolutely no way you're going anywhere without a wand, Ronald Weasley." She put her hands on her hips in a show of authority, but the slight tremble of her lip gave her away; she was clearly frightened by the idea.
Ron kissed her forehead and put his hands on her shoulders. "C'mon, Hermione. Trained Auror, remember?"
"They weren't training hand-to-hand combat at the Academy, last I checked," she sniped back. "What if you get into trouble and don't have your wand?"
"Will you relax?" Ron shook his head even as he said it, knowing she wouldn't. "You'll go downstairs with me and I will very blatantly hand you my wand so that nobody worries about the spare I'll have tucked in my sock. Okay?"
"That simple?" she asked, looking up at him with wide eyes.
Ron shrugged. "Doesn't have to be complicated to work."
"Do you always carry a second wand on you, then?"
"When I'm working, yeah."
Hermione sighed. "Okay. But be careful?" She looped her arms around his neck and stood up high on her toes to kiss him. "I'd like you back all in one piece, please."
"You know I will be." He let his hands circle her waist in reply. "So what is it exactly that I've got myself into?"
She gnawed at her lip, a picture of angst just at the mention of it. "You'll be tied to the back of a boat, strapped to a parachute. As the boat speeds up, the parachute will pull you into the air. Sort of like a giant kite."
It sounded like Hermione's worst nightmare. "Wicked," Ron said, to which Hermione snorted a laugh. "It's not dangerous, then, is it? If Muggles do it for fun?"
"Terrifying, yes, for people like me who prefer both feet on the ground. But no, it's not dangerous as long as the proper protocols are followed."
Ron tightened his arm around her to pull her in close and leaned his forehead against hers. "Then what are you worried about?" he asked softly.
Hermione gave a slight shake of her head, her nose just brushing against his at the movement. "I'm being silly," she replied. "I suppose I'm just not keen on splitting up."
"I'll be fine. Promise." Ron gave her a soft kiss before pulling away to get ready for the excursion. "Besides, the longer we're here, the more I think we're not going to find anything untoward."
"But your sources?" Hermione questioned as she watched him change into his swimming trunks. "The intel?"
Ron shrugged. "It's not always accurate," he pointed out. "That's why we do these missions in the first place—to check it out. To verify information. Sometimes, even a sure thing turns out to be nothing."
"I suppose that's true."
"Trust me. You and I are going to continue enjoying a very boring stay at the Sphinx." He wasn't as confident in that idea as he was making it sound—there was still plenty of time for them to uncover the resort's secrets—but he wanted to put Hermione at ease while they spent the afternoon apart. Now properly dressed himself, he reached for the sun potion and the hem of Hermione's shirt. "Now, I think you wanted my help with this?"
Forty-five minutes later, they entered the resort's lobby and found John waiting alone, chatting with the receptionist.
"Are we early?" Ron asked as they approached.
"Right on time. Just didn't have any other takers today," John replied.
The sudden prick of Hermione's fingernail digging into Ron's palm prompted him to say, "Well, I don't want to put you out. No sense in you taking just me."
"Nonsense, I'm going with or without you. Although, Emily, the offer stands if you'd like to join us? Plenty of room on the boat."
Hermione shot an anxious glance at Ron before shaking her head. "No, thank you. The two of you have fun, though."
"Thanks, love, we will." Ron gave her hand another squeeze as he leaned in to kiss her. "Oh, almost forgot." As planned, he withdrew his wand from his pocket and pressed it into Hermione's palm. He could see the thinly veiled anxiety in her expression as she wrapped her slender fingers around the twisted wood.
"Be careful," she insisted as she tucked his wand into her beach bag. "I'll see you in a bit." Hermione stretched up onto her toes to kiss him again before she pulled away and hurried out the lobby's back exit toward the pool.
"Is she alright?" John asked as he motioned for Ron to follow him out the front door where a golf cart sat waiting for them.
"Yeah, she just worries," Ron answered, doing his best to sound nonchalant. "Hates flying—the magic and muggle ways. Always has."
John shrugged as he turned the key in the ignition, bringing the cart to life with a gentle rumble of the engine. "It's not for everyone. If you're comfortable on a broom, though, you're going to love this."
They rode a little ways in silence before Ron ventured, "So how long have you worked at the Sphinx?"
"Reckon it's been about two years now."
"You must meet a lot of interesting people."
He was tip-toeing toward the subject, he knew, but it wasn't as if he could outright ask the bartender if he'd ever served drinks at a Death Eater meeting.
John's eyes darted sideways to Ron before he refocused on the road in front of them. "Yeah, loads."
Ron took note of his discomfort and changed course. It wasn't an easy thing, ratting out your boss, and Ron would have to build a rapport before coercing John to spill Berisha's secrets. "What got you into parasailing?"
His answer to that question was more relaxed, and it carried them all the way to the Brighton Beach Club down the street. The Sphinx had been quiet when they left, but the Muggle resort was swarming with tourists. John parked the golf cart out front with a casual wave to the parking attendant, who returned his greeting with barely a nod of acknowledgment. John was clearly known and comfortable here, and Ron wondered if they ought to expand their reconnaissance. Maybe the bartender wasn't the only one who was friendly with the staff of the neighboring resort.
Ron followed his guide past the building and across the beach to a long set of docks, full of boats that ranged widely in both size and type. John wove through the maze-like setup to where a mid-sized speed boat was tied up, bobbing gently with the waves. The boat bore the name of the Muggle resort down the side, but none of its few staff members nearby were paying them any mind as John withdrew a small set of keys from the pocket of his trunks and climbed aboard.
"It's nice of this place to let you use one of their boats like this," Ron said as he took a careful step onto the deck of the boat. It tipped slightly at his weight, and he found himself gripping the railing for support. He was sure that was perfectly normal for a boat of this size, but it wasn't a sensation he was used to. John, by contrast, moved around the vessel with ease, readying it to go out into the open water.
"Yeah, they're nice folks." He tossed a life vest to Ron before settling into the driver's seat. Ron strapped the vest on as the engine roared to life and then took the seat next to John. "Ready?"
Ron nodded, and John slowly backed the boat out from its place at the dock. He navigated out toward the Channel, and once there was nothing but blue in front of them, John accelerated until the boat was speeding through the water, skipping against the rough patches and leaving a foamy white wake in their path.
Over the sound of the engine and the wind whipping in his face, there was no chance for any further conversation, but Ron was enjoying himself all the same. He had thought about asking Hermione to come along just for the boat ride, but he was sure she would hate this part almost as much as the parasailing itself.
It felt like they had gone quite a distance when John finally slowed the boat to a stop, but it was hard to be certain when Ron had no frame of reference for water travel. John stood from his seat and motioned Ron to the back of the boat and the parasailing contraption that resembled a large, complex fishing pole. Where there would have been a fishhook at the end of the line was instead a harness affixed to the colorful parasail that John was unfurling.
"Just relax and enjoy the ride," he said as Ron strapped the harness over his life jacket. "It'll kinda jerk you at first when the wind grabs the chute, but it's smooth sailing after that. Ready to give it a go?" John held up the open carabiner, ready to connect Ron's harness to the rope that would keep him tethered to the boat.
"Yeah, brilliant. Let's do it."
He snapped the hook into place, and Ron gave a final tug on his harness as John resumed his spot behind the steering wheel. He gave Ron a thumbs-up over his head before the boat began moving again. It cut through the water slowly at first and then picked up speed, and before he knew it, the wind had caught in the billowing fabric of the parasail, yanking Ron into the sky.
It was a different sensation than flying on a broom, without the support beneath him. As the wind pulled him still higher, Ron wondered if he had been a muggle, if he would still crave the weightless feeling of being in the air like this, or if it was something he had acquired as a result of his magical upbringing. There was obviously a desire for this activity among Muggles, but for those who had never done it, how did they know what they were missing out on?
Ron had been soaring for a few minutes when the harness suddenly slipped. It was loose where he had tightened it around the thick life jacket, which had disappeared without warning. Startled, he looked down at the boat, where he could just make out John on the stern, pointing a wand at him and making him very glad he had snuck his own spare on this outing. Why would John vanish his life jacket? Or was he trying to help?
He put the wand against his own throat to cast what must have been a Sonorous charm, because despite the distance between them and the noise of the wind and the waves, Ron heard his next words perfectly. "You have no idea what you're really into here, Auror Weasley."
He's involved.
His stomach was leaden at the realization that he had completely misjudged the amicable bartender. Before he could make a grab for his wand, the rope went slack and he watched with horror as the boat began to speed off without him, half of the severed rope dragging behind it in the waves.
Worse, the parachute was only partially slowing down his imminent plunge into the water below.
If he went for his wand, he might hit the surface in a weird position and injure himself further than what the fall itself would surely cause. He had to make a quick decision as he plummeted, and he streamlined his body as best he could. He had to get back to Hermione. John had planned this for him, so he was surely going after her next, and Ron couldn't let anything happen to her.
Hermione was the only thought in his mind as he hit the water with a deafening crack.