Chapter Notes: I know this is another short chapter but I promise you the next one has A LOT of action. On the surface I think this is a cutesy bit of fluff, but there are things I am planting, insignificant details that you will see later in a new light. Enjoy it for what it is and know it is significant! Here's a bit of Ron/Hermione ship to tide you over...

When last we left our story...

George slumped. His face turned away hiding his shame. "What do you want me to do?" he murmured.

Harry finally relented. "I need you to find him Georgie. If you can't, then none of us can."

George turned, desperation etched on his tired features. "What makes you think I can, when the great and mighty Chosen One can't?"

Harry grinned, shrugging. "You are still a Weasley twin, George. You guys could always find trouble were there was none!"

At that George had to chuckle. "How long do we have?"

Harry checked the clock, "Three hours, then it's too late."

George threw an arm around Harry's shoulders, grabbing his baby sister with the other arm. "Plenty of time! Lets get this disaster on the road shall we?"

They turned to where Ron and Hermione where waiting. Ginny thought to herself happily,

Look out! Here come the Weasleys!

Now, in the ministry archives...


AfterMagic

Chapter4

The Crux of the Situation

Hermione's P.O.V.

Hermione looked over the list as she perused the shelves. She was looking at more than two thousand years of Wizard history here.

Any other day and she would have been absolutely enthralled.

She had flooed into the ministry, with Ron, trying to be as official as possible. Which wasn't an easy task considering how Ron was saying things like, "Hi there, official business here. No need to help us, we can find our way, not that we are up to anything."

She almost smiled. He was so cute when he was clueless and trying to help, but she hissed, "Let me do the talking...Please!"

He had looked wounded, which she hated to see; if he went back to the lethargy of the last months, he would be utterly useless. She reached out for his hand; he took it and gave it a squeeze, giving her that smile that melted her heart: Part boy, and part imp, all Ron.

The trip to the Aurors office was smoother than she had expected, before she got to the door to the office entrance Podemore came out and handed her a letter giving her full access. She noticed it was signed by Minister Shacklebolt himself. She found that interesting, but filed it away for later.

The guards to the archive vault were just as lax as they were when Percy smuggled the tome out, barely looking at her letter before clearing her through into the Department of Mysteries giving them a marker to follow. Walking these halls again, was like re-living a nightmare. She held Ron's hand tight, the dampness in his palms told her that he wasn't extremely happy to be here either as they passed through the room of spinning doors with their magical disk-like beacon to point out their destination.

Now she was walking through the pristine stacks of the oldest books she had ever laid eyes on, including the Hogwarts' Library Restricted Section. She checked her list again, and moved over to the log files. She started tracing names written sixty years ago. As her eyes rapidly scanned, her quick mind absorbed, she turned page after page. The first name she was looking for was in the ledger for 1942, she made a notation in an ever present notebook she normally kept to organize her day. Her finger traced a time period nearly thirty years later when she ran across the second name on Harry's list.

Harry was right, as usual.

She sighed, absorbing the implications. She straightened up, looking for Ron, hoping he wasn't getting into trouble. There were artifacts and books in here with power that whispered inside her head. You could feel the potential in the air. It was easy to imagine how someone in a desperate frame of mind would think they could find the answers. She got the feeling that if she wasn't careful, her curious mind could get carried away, and inadvertently unleash all sorts of damage.

She searched through the archive files and didn't see Ron anywhere. She had things to do, so she tried not to worry. So during her perusal of hundreds of years of research on the items in this room, she kept an eye cocked for a familiar tall, gangly, red head.

The organization of these particular files was immaculate. She could see where some of the tabs had been added recently. She was almost positive that Percy had written several of the new labels, the t's were crossed very similarly to Ron's. A fact which would most likely appall him.

All of the files on Morganna's spell book were missing; she could tell because everything was neat and alphabetically arranged up to that point. She was surprised that her and Percy had more in common than she imagined!

He must have researched it thoroughly before he took it out!

Hermione felt her jaw tighten as resolve gripped her. She wasn't defeated yet! This is where you find out how good you are! She said to herself.

She closed her eyes for a minute, thinking about the other myriad possibilities were she might find the information they needed.

Suddenly she felt two hands lay gently on her shoulder and she tensed up, her wand was halfway out of her robes.

"It's me," Ron whispered in her ear, as she tried to relax. He began to give her a distracting shoulder rub to help.

She enjoyed the feel of his strong hands and sighed. "I hit a dead end Ron. I can't think of another direction to go. What have you been up to?"

She couldn't see his face but his tone spoke for him. "Oh nothing much. Puttering around a bit. Checked out a suit of armor that belonged to Godric Gryffindor, perused a wand that belonged to some chap in the Middle Ages who invented Scourgefy, handy spell that one. Found a way to destroy Morganna's spell book, sneezed a bit...found a nice couch for a kip down that aisle and then...

Hermione grinned, and grabbed his hands. "Back up a bit. You found a way to destroy Morganna's spell book?" she inquired her voice taking a shrill note.

"Oh, sure! Ages ago. I didn't want to interrupt, though."

She spun around to face him, "Stop being a prat and tell me already!" She came dangerously close to yelling in her excitement.

He gave her that old Ron Weasley smile she hadn't see in a while, she hadn't realized how much she missed it. "How about I show you?" he replied with a wink.

Hermione followed him down an aisle as far back into the archives as they could go, and there in the far corner, was an empty slot where Morganna's tome most likely should have been. She was frustrated. Why didn't she think of just checking the shelves chronologically!

He stopped and pointed a little further down on a lower shelve, his face was blank in anticipation of her reaction.

She let out a girlish squeal, he found it! The final piece of the puzzle!

"Is it in there?" she asked in an awed whisper.

"Oh, it's in there alright!" he replied his eyes twinkling. "As a matter of fact, it goes beyond anything we could have hoped for."

"Brilliant!" she called as she gave him a hug.

Ron chuckled. "I thought so."

They knew that they were on a tight schedule, but they held each other a little tighter, for a little bit longer.

Hermione and Ron left as easily as they got in. The notebook with the answers they came for tucked safely in her purse. Considering the names written there in those pages. The ministry's laxity in matters of security wasn't a new problem!

They made their way to the Main Hall where the floo fireplaces where, and popped back home.

Harry and Ginny where sitting at the old battered dining room table as they arrived, he had her hands in his and they were talking earnestly. The way they turned easily showed it wasn't a private conversation.

"So did you find it?" Harry asked, a note of excitement in his voice.

Hermione knew that Ron would want to milk it a bit but she was too excited. "We found everything!" she squeaked.

Ron shot her an annoyed look for stealing his thunder, "Well we went a bit further than your list, mate," he stated with a big grin on his face.

"What do you mean?" Harry sighed in his relief.

"Well, what we are saying," Hermione interjected breathlessly, "is that if we can find a body of water somewhere near by, we can destroy that awful book once and for all!"

Ginny, who had been filled in by Harry, looked worried. "So Harry was right?"

Ron nodded gravely. "Fraid so."

Ginny sighed, placing her head in her hands. "Than we are in deep trouble!"

Hermione sat in the seat beside Ginny, exhausted. "The whole world is," she stated flatly.

They were interrupted by the sound of another arrival through the floo.

George stood there with a big grin on his face. "Well, are you lot ready?"

Harry stood. "As we'll ever be."

George's grin faltered a bit. "Good thing! Because I found him. We need to hurry."

Hermione spoke up. "I hope we have time for a stroll by the lake."

Character Notes: In his own way Ron is one of the most debated characters in HP cannon. He is maybe the most flawed, annoying, clever, and pig-headed bloke JK ever wrote! I have read a ton of fan fiction based on the desire to get Hermione away from him for her own good! I think though if you scratch the surface you have a stout-hearted guy who is so passionate about everything that he leads with his heart and not his head. When you put him with Hermione who often leans with her head and not her heart you get a couple who is so complimentary to one another that them NOT winding up together is the strange idea. I hope you enjoy my take on this passionate, funny, erratic, and ultimately loving couple. NO wonder Rose and Hugo are going to be so interesting LOL!

Bart