A/N: Hey hey hey! Look who's back! I feel like this took forever to be finished, It really gave a lot of work to write this chapter, I don't know why, because I love this story! And I love all of you my fantastic, terrific reader! I hope you enjoy this!

First Comes Marriage, Then Love?

Chapter XV: Harry's Request

December turned into January. The cold weather persisted, and so did the war. There was no circumstantial change in the amount of snow that fell over London, and likewise there wasn't a relevant variation in the development of the fighting. Dementor attacks, useless arrests, mysterious disappearances, all this was everyday news. People were almost used to opening their morning papers to find terrible news on every page. There was a constant general feeling of despair and hopelessness and the worst part was that nobody seemed strong enough to try and fight it. There were few places were this atmosphere had not been able to intrude upon the happiness. And Hermione and Fred's apartment was one of those precious places. No matter how awful was what the Daily Prophet said, no matter how hard it was to go through each they, when they were together at home, there were very few things that could destroy their joy.

One of those few things was Harry. Hermione worried constantly about him and Fred worried because he didn't know how to help her. He knew it was useless to try to talk her into leaving him alone. First of all because he himself would never leave a friend in need; and secondly, because Hermione was the most stubborn person he had ever met. But still, he couldn't help but feeling of no use every time he felt her toss and turn in bed, knowing that the boy who lived was the reason she couldn't sleep.

One morning, Hermione was in her office trying to deal with a suspicious letter from a certain Mario Fletcher when someone apparated in front of her desk. A black-haired, green-eyed someone.

"Harry!" exclaimed Hermione looking up from the piece of parchment she was holding. "Hi! What are you doing here?" She didn't like his face at all, she knew that face only too well.

"I don't have much time, I'm here to ask you a favor," he said hastily.

"What is it? Is everything ok?" She was scared now.

"Yes, but I have to leave. I think I found one…"

"One? One Horocrux?" Harry nodded. "Then I'm going with you, you will not deal with this alone. I will not let you… and Ron, he'll want to come too…"

"Calm down 'Mione, I'm not sure yet. That's why I have to go alone. Just to make sure I'm not mistaken. I promise I won't do anything stupid without you two watching my back. But if the three of us leave together, someone might get suspicious."

"Does Dumbledore know?"

"Yes, and he also thinks I should go alone. Voldemort doesn't know that I know about his severed soul. But I don't know for how long this will be kept a secret, so I have to seize every opportunity I have. And if this is a real Horocrux, then I'll swear you and Ron will be the first ones to know."

Hermione felt a little more reassured, but not much. She didn't like the idea of Harry going alone to a place Voldemort considered a sanctuary. But she knew she had no choice, this was his battle. However, she was going to do anything she could to help him.

"Ok. What is it that you want me to do?" she asked.

"You know how Haley suddenly decided to drop school this term and she moved back to London? Well, these past weeks I've been keeping an eye on her. And I've been trying to find out everything I could about her. The thing is, there is nothing. It's as though she appeared out of thin air one day, what of course makes her more suspicious."

"Do you want me to investigate her?"

"No, I think I've covered all the places where there could be information about her."

"Then?"

"I need you to get close to her and try to discover what she is up to. It should be easier for you than for me. You are a woman and I donno… you can make friends with her and see if you find something funny or dodgy."

Hermione didn't like the idea, mainly because she wasn't sure why Harry kept insisting that there was more to Haley than met the eye. To her, she was nothing more than a plain girl. And there was the fact that getting close to Haley might give Ron the wrong idea about her intentions, something she was completely against doing. But, on the other hand, experience had long ago taught her to trust Harry's instincts.

"Ok, I'll see what I can do."

"I knew I could count on you 'Mione… I have to go now. I'll let you know as soon as I get back. Could you tell the rest that I'm gone on a mission? You know how it is, there's no need to give details, except maybe to Ron." Hermione nodded and Harry disapparated, leaving her to her thoughts.

One of the most difficult parts of Harry's request was deciding if she should tell Fred about it or not. Harry had asked her not to repeat her suspicions to anyone, and she had already broken her promise by telling Ginny. She did not want to betray his trust again. But not telling Fred had too many down sides. The first one being that she didn't want to lie to him, or to hide things from her husband. The second one was that if she started to spend time around Ron in order to get close to Haley, Fred would get jealous and she didn't want to do anything that could hurt him. And then there was the fact that when he eventually found out what she was up to, he would feel left out and would feel that she trusted Harry more than him. Besides, if he was in the same position, she would have liked him to confide on her, not because she didn't want to feel left out, but because she would like to try to help him.

"Is something wrong honey? You've barely touched your food." It was dinner time and Hermione was still mulling over what Harry had asked her to do, or rather if she should speak to her husband about it or not.

"No, its delicious, I'm just not hungry. I had a big lunch today."

"Ok." There it was again, his 'I wish you trusted me' expression. She couldn't bear it.

"Today Harry came to see me," Hermione started.

"Oh, it's him the reason you are not hungry? I mean, did you have lunch with him?"

"Not precisely. He came to ask me a favor. Do you remember when he wanted to talk with me alone, on Christmas?"

"Vividly"

"Well, he wanted to discuss Haley, you know, Ron's girlfriend. He said there was something about her that made her suspicious and that he was going to try to find out all he could because he didn't trust her. But apparently he had been investigating since he met her and he could find nothing, what of course made her more suspicious."

"I see. And of course he could not talk about this with Ron because he would go crazy."

"Exactly. The thing is that now Harry has to go away on a mission and he asked me to take over his position as investigator. He suggested I became her friend and tried to unmask her."

Fred could think of at least one hundred valid reasons why Hermione should have said no to Harry, but he knew none of them would penetrate her skull. So he accepted the fact that his wife was going to look into Haley, on top of everything she was already doing.

"Ok, I want to help you then," said Fred,

"Really?" Hermione's eyes were shinning with happiness.

"Sure, we could go in a couple of double-dates with my youngest brother and his lovely slash dangerous girlfriend. I'm sure Ron would love the opportunity to try to make you jealous. That's the only reason he is dating her, after all."

"Why does everybody keep saying that? Isn't there any chance that he has moved on?"

"No, there isn't. He is still in love with you and that necklace is the proof." Hermione realized that she had been unconsciously playing with Ron's Christmas gift. She didn't know what to say. Mainly since there was nothing left to say on the Ron subject, so she started to pick up the table.

Once the kitchen was cleaned, they went to their bedroom. Fred went to have a shower, but Hermione was so exhausted she got into bed. Her husband came out of the bathroom wearing the bottom part of his pajamas and with his hair sill wet, looking absolutely adorable. He sat on the bed and looked at Hermione smiling, but in silence.

"What?" asked Hermione amused by her husband's expression

"I love you," he said simply.

"I love you too," she answered back, also smiling.

"Thank you?"

"What for?"

"For letting me in, for trusting me. It really meant a lot to me."

"Fred, I'm not kidding when I tell you that I love you. Don't get me wrong, I love Harry, but right now, you are the most important person in my life and I want to share everything with you." His smile widened even more.

"Have you always been so wonderful?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you are the most extraordinary person in the world and no matter how much I think about it, I have no idea how I didn't see it before. It seems Ron was the smart one after all."

"Yes, I've always thought so too. That's why I married him," joked Hermione.

Fred threw a pillow at her, which hit her squarely in the face. She retaliated by sending three pillows flying at him and the war was on. Thirty minutes later both of them were lying on their backs, exhausting and breathing deeply.

"I'm too old for this," said Fred in a complaining voice.

"Ha, you are only saying that because I bit you."

"You did not!"

"Then explain the 'Ok, ok, I give up' shouts."

"Those were not shouts."

"You are right, they were more like yells."

"You do realize that all this started because I was trying to pay you a compliment, don't you?"

"And you do realize that that is not going to eliminate the fact that you suck at pillow fighting and that you were beaten by Hogwarts biggest bookworm, don't you?"

"You are too smart for me! I give up! I'm all yours, do whatever you want with me!" he pronounced raising both his hands in the air in sign of surrender.

"That's a dangerous thing to say, especially to someone who has a wand."

"Well I trust that you are going to be gentle, given that you love me."

"Who told you that?"

"You did!"

"Oh, yeah… All right then," she kissed him deeply and passionately, leaving him breathless.

"That," he said in between mouthfuls of air. "Was not gentle, but I loved it all the same."

"I thought you might," she said going back to her side of the bed. "Good night honey."

"Good night. I love you."

"Me too."

Three nights later Hermione and Fred were opening the doors of their house to the latter's younger brother and his girlfriend. Hermione had sent Ron an owl to invite them for dinner under pretences of getting to know the girl. 'If she is going to be around for a while, I would like to be friends with her, so she can feel welcomed to the family' she had written. Ron's answer had been so short it was impossible to say if he was pleased with the invitation or not.

The guests were already fifteen minutes late, but Hermione was so used to Ron's unpunctuality that she wasn't surprised. She didn't even complain, she merely sat on the couch next to her husband and read a magazine while waiting for the bell to ring. What she did not know was that this time Ron wasn't to be blamed for the lateness.

He was at his apartment, ready to leave, but he was waiting for Haley. Opposite to Hermione, he was worried. Haley was never late; since they had met she had always been impeccably punctual. Had something happened to her? He thought of using the fire to try to contact her. And it was then when he realized that he had no idea where she lived. And thinking about it, he realized that he knew nothing about Haley. His owl had always found her without problem, but he didn't know her address. He wasn't sure if she had moved back with her parents. He wasn't aware if she had brothers or sisters, what her folks did for a living, what her last name was. In all this time he had never cared to ask. What was more, she had never said anything about herself or her family.

All of a sudden Ron felt he was dealing with a total stranger and he felt fear. Was it safe to trust someone he didn't know with all the information he had given her? Especially during times like this. Though he had never mentioned any of his missions for the order, he was almost sure he had said something about it;; about him being a member and about Hermione being a member and that was dangerous enough. If Haley was not to be trusted, only that small piece of information was enough to cause a great deal of damage. He had been too reckless and it couldn't go on like this. Despite the fact that he trusted Haley- she had ever given him a reason not to- it was not the time to rely on his instinct. So he made up his mind, he was not going to tell Haley anything else about anyone until he was sure she was on the right side. He was not going to put his friend and family in danger for a couple of tips on how to win Hermione's love. He knew better and he was better than that. Perhaps he was being paranoid, but being paranoid had kept his best friend alive for the last eighteen years and he, Ron, was taking a leaf out of Harry's book.

It might have been Ron's sixth sense what had made him start being suspicious about Haley at that precise moment, because the reason she was late was that she was with her master, getting orders on how to behave at Hermione's house. He instructed her to make friends with the mudblood and try to get as much information as possible.

"Remember, she is not going to be as easy as the blood–traitor. From what my sources tell me, she is very smart and cunning. So you'll have to be very careful in the way you approach her. And keep your mind on the prize. I need information about Potter. I don't care about the rest of Dumbledore's pets unless it can lead me to Potter, ok?"

"Yes master, I won't fail you," said Haley bowing deeply.

"I know you won't. Go now."

Five minutes later Haley was knocking on Ron's door. He opened the door to find her looking stunning and wearing a smile capable of melting the greatest iceberg. She gave an elaborate excuse for being late that included a lot of feminine terms of which Ron wasn't sure he knew the meaning. Although he believed her, he kept his resolution not to tell her more than was absolutely necessary. He was not going to send her letters telling her of Hermione's every move, or give her information about his brother's business and his mother's hobbies. If she really wanted to help him, she was surely going to find a way of doing it without needing to know Hermione's work schedule. And if she was not who she claimed to be, then Ron wasn't going to make her job any easier. He just hoped his suspicions were unfounded, otherwise he didn't want to think what everyone in the family would have to say about him and his latest blunder.

By the time they finally arrived to Hermione's apartment, she had already read to magazines and was starting to regret having invited Ron and Haley for dinner. She was having a great time alone with her husband it was a pity it would soon end. And sure enough the bell rang.

Hermione reluctantly stood up and walked to the door, with her husband tailing her.

"Hi, welcome," she said offering her guests her brightest smile.

"Hello 'Mione," said Ron kissing her on the cheek. "I'm sorry we are late." Fred threw a dirty look at Ron, but otherwise ignored the fact that his brother had just kissed his wife.

"That's quite all right. Come on in and sit down, would you like something to drink?"

Hermione went into the kitchen to fetch a bottle of wines and some glasses while the other three made themselves comfortable in the living-room. Ron and Haley sat on the sofa where Hermione and Fred had been only minutes previously, and Fred chose the armed chair opposite it. Hermione deposited the tray with the glasses and the drink in the small table in front of the sofa and sat on the arm of Fred's chair. It was Ron's turn to glare.

"Dinner will be ready in a couple of minutes. I'm just heating it."

"Please don't tell me you cooked!" cried Ron mockingly.

"Seriously, neither Harry nor you have ever tried something cooked by me. So, what is it with this revulsion to my food?" asked Hermione indignantly.

"Are you sure of that? Don't you remember that cake you made for Harry's seventeenth birthday? Even Hagrid's raspberry pay tasted better than that."

"Hey! That's not fair. My cooking is far better than Hagrid's. Isn't it Fred?"

"I'm sorry Honey, I can't back you here!" answered Fred winking. Hermione looks at both men and then stood up angrily and went to the kitchen without a word. Fred and Ron burst out laughing but Haley followed Hermione.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" she asked in her sweetest tone, her voice was friendly and fresh. It reminded Hermione of Ginny somehow; although she made a mental note not to tell her friend that little detail.

"No thank you," answered Hermione with a smile. "Everything's almost ready. Why don't you go back there and tell those two they can sit at the table. I'll bring the first course in a minute."

"Sure," said Haley before walking out of the kitchen.

Shortly after the four of them were enjoining Fred's delicious dinner. The eldest Weasley engaged Ron in a quidditch talk giving Hermione the perfect opportunity to talk to Haley. Trying to be as discrete as possible, Hermione asked Haley everything she could think of that would give away any fishy affair. But either she was an excellent secret agent or Harry was starting to lose his gift because she could discover nothing. Each question was answered in a completely natural manner. The only thing Hermione found odd was that Haley seemed to hate all animals except snakes. But that was just an eccentricity, not a reason to be thrown into Azkaban.

"Are you a Parcel tongue?" asked Hermione hoping her guest didn't feel offended by the question as many people in the wizarding world did.

"No, but I wish I could be. Snakes are such fascinating creatures, don't you think? A very close friend, I could even call him my mentor, speaks Parcel but sadly it is a skill that cannot be taught."

"I know, it must be interesting being able to communicate with animals," said Hermione, fighting hard to keep her astonishment from her tone. Not every day she had a chat with a witch who wanted to have a closer relationship with serpents.

"Not with any animals, only with snakes. Animals are weak creatures who only serve for magical purposes like being potions ingredients. But snakes are something different. They have so many qualities and properties. I believe they are the most useful beings on earth."

Hermione could think of nothing to reply to this, so she changed the subject to Haley's childhood. And again there was nothing weird about it. Long before they had finished dissert Hermione had come to the conclusion that the only thing she could report to Harry from her first encounter with Ron's girlfriend was the girl's, in Hermione's opinion, abnormal love for slithering creatures.

"Everything was excellent," said Haley when she and Ron were ready to leave. "Thanks again for inviting us Hermione."

"Call me 'Mione, all my friends do. And I'll send you an owl this week to arrange that shopping trip we discussed."

"Sure, I'd love that."

Ron was looking at the two women with a weird look on his face. Clearly he didn't like the idea of them becoming friends. The idea of 'dating' Haley was to get Hermione jealous, not to present her with a new friend. He would have to change tactics soon. Then again, may be it was part of Haley's plan. If they became close she could tell her how wonderful a boyfriend Ron was, or something like that. In any case he hoped Hermione didn't trust Haley too much, otherwise if she was not who she said she was… well, he didn't want to think of the consequences. Luckily for him, Hermione was much more careful than he was.

Haley was already out in the hallway and Ron was about to join her when Hermione stopped him.

"Ron, I think you forgot your scarf," said Hermione from the door.

"I didn't –" but he stopped in mid sentence at the meaningful look on Hermione's face. He followed her back into the house. Fred was in the kitchen doing the dishes.

"Listen, Harry came to see me a couple of days ago," Hermione started.

"What did he want?" asked Ron curiously.

"He reckons he found a Horocrux, that's where he went, to investigate further."

"And you let him go alone? What's wrong with you, that's too dangerous?"

"Do you honestly think I'd do that? I tried to convince him to let us go with him, but he said he was only going to make sure it was the real thing, that he didn't want to rise suspicions and that if it really was one, he was going to let us know. I just wanted to fill you in."

Ron was already feeling ashamed of his little outburst. "Ok, thanks," he said in a small voice. "I'm sorry I burst on you like that. I'm just too worried lately."

"That's all right, I understand. Go now, before Haley comes back in to get you. See you later, bye." And before Ron could kiss her again she had gently pushed him out of the door and closed it.

A/N: You know the deal, you review I continue writing he he he he he, love you:o)