Thanks to those who did review.

The main reason I'm updating, is because I wanted to finish year one.

Hermione's POV

What was I going to do? Harry was gone, and I had no idea what to do.

I couldn't leave Ron here, but I couldn't drag him on. He was hurt, bad, and if there was an enemy the next room over, all dragging him in would do was make sure all three of us were killed.

So what to do?

Then it snapped.

I wasn't the only one who could help now. There was a very good chance that one of the professors could help Harry now.

After all, one does not get a job at Europe's most prestigious wizardry school for having no talent. (Later I would learn just how wrong this was.)

My mind was made up. I would hurry back to the school, and find a way out.

"Wingardeum Leviosa," I whispered, levitating the slab of rock Ron was on.

I learned quickly that the doors were only locked one way, making retreat not only possible, but very easy.

Apparently the last challenge was designed to be so difficult that return challenges were not necessary.

Needless to say, this worried me.

Nonetheless, I continued on my journey.

The devil's snare was easily enough blasted through. The trapdoor was easy to reach on the hovering rock Ron and I were on, and it was easy to conjure a tune to lull Fluffy to sleep.

We were just heading out when we ran into Professor Dumbledore.

"He's gone down, hasn't he?" He asked, before quickly heading off.

I stared, slightly miffed. I just knew that Harry was going to give Dumbledore all the credit for saving him.

But that wasn't important now.

Now I had to get Ron to the hospital wing.

Later

Ron's POV

My eyes flitted open. The first thing I saw was the hospital wing.

Cool, apparently Hermione had gotten me out alive.

She was gone, which also meant that our binding spell had worn off.

My happy feelings sunk as I saw who occupied the bed next to me.

Harry.

How the hell did he manage to get out of this alive!

I was all ready to get up and stab him, when the nurse bustled in, and began bloody interrogating me about what happened.

She then spent the rest of the day keeping a close eye on Harry.

While he was clearly pale and weak, he also seemed like he was gonna survive.

Shoot.

Then Hermione came in and didn't give me a moments peace.

When it came time for visiting hours to end, she put a spell adhering me to the bed.

That night, I sent poison spells at the pile of sweets by Harry's bed, but Hermione opened all of the cursed chocolate frogs.

Still, she didn't notice a different spell…

A long time ago (about a hundred years), there had been a disease that ravaged the land. Most who caught it died, though survivors have immunity.

The Dark Moon agency has found a way to turn this into a spell, so, the previous night, I had cast it on a different piece of candy.

The idea, was to make Hermione think that only the frogs were cursed.

And it worked.

After Ron was released.

Hermione's POV

I stood on a staircase, outside the hospital wing, arguing with Ron.

We had just been made aware of what happened after Harry went on ahead.

I'm just speechless that Dumbledore didn't notice. I'm irritated that I didn't, of course, but Dumbledore is quite a bit more powerful than I. Plus, one would think that the greatest headmaster Hogwarts has ever bloody seen wouldn't let VOLDEMORT teach at the school!

Heck, I should be glad Harry's still alive!

Ron was also angry, but he was ticked that he didn't get Quirrell's help, before he died.

I was just trying to absorb this, when Ron smiled.

"It doesn't matter now," he said, softly.

I picked up on a dangerous tone.

"What do you mean?"

He smiled sinisterly. "I put another curse on a different piece of candy, you know. The chocolate frogs were just a ruse to throw you off. But… I just got feedback that my spell went off."

I stared at him in horror. This couldn't be happening! I couldn't have gotten Harry through a maze of traps just to lose him to a piece of candy!

He whispered the name of the illness in my ear. "The candy was eaten about thirty seconds ago. I put enough dosage to take out a giant in a minute. Scrawny weak Potter would never survive."

Tears welled up in my eyes. Was this it then? Was it over? I had just started to feel like I had gotten to know Harry, to actually care for him.

"Wh-what did you put it in?" I asked, trying to regain my composure.

He smirked. "A every flavored bean." He paused thinking. "I believe it was an earwax flavored one."

Ron's POV

I was ecstatic. I never thought this would work!

Then… I heard footsteps.

I saw him out of the corner of my eye.

Hermione and I, who had been giving each death glares a moment before, turned, both smiling, toward Harry.

We exchanged quick words. I could tell Hermione was overjoyed.

Me? I almost didn't care how he did it.

The year was over, I hardly made a scratch on him.

I tried a few more attempts at the feast, but they didn't do much good.

Hermione later told me that the reason my spell didn't work was because the particular bean wasn't eaten by Harry. Instead, it was eaten by someone who had been alive during the epidemic, and had full immunity.

Curse our esteemed headmaster.

During the feast, we got to watch as Dumbledore did some quick math, and gave Gryffindor enough points to win the house cup.

Which is, you know, good and all, but I really didn't care.

Later, Harry filled us in on everything that happened after Hermione left.

How does he get so lucky? He goes to fight the world's most dangerous wizard, and defeats him with 'love'?

Well, that was… different.

Later

At the Hogwart's train station

Ron's POV

As we began to file on the train, Hagrid pulled Harry away.

I couldn't really hear what they were saying, but it sounded like Hagrid was trying to convince Harry to use magic on his cousin.

Oh Hagrid, you loveable oaf. Keep trying to get Harry expelled!

To be honest, because of a charm placed over Harry's aunt and uncle's house, I couldn't attack during the summer. That's why I needed to get him expelled.

"It feels strange to be going home, doesn't it?"

Now, I knew that Hermione was referencing how she and I would be heading back to our agencies, after our first year as a professional assassin/protective agent. It definitely would feel different, to have everyone treat you as an equal, instead of a recruit or trainee.

But Harry adds, all pensively, "I'm not going home. Not really."

Even Hermione had to look away, to avoid rolling her eyes.

As the train left the stations, I was absorbed in my thoughts.

I think this statement of Harry's nicely summed up what I didn't like about him.

He thought every pearl of wisdom that dropped from his mouth was something worth listening to. That everyone would naturally care about what he does and says. That Hermione and I were his loyal stooges, who were content to playing second fiddle to his excellence.

I think that, even if I wasn't trying to kill him, I wouldn't like him. He was just too self-absorbed, and didn't even notice it. He didn't even think that he was being conceited.

Hermione, on the other hand, I could see befriending, if we had met in another place and time. She's smart, cunning, and really knows what she's doing.

But that doesn't matter. We're keeping this professional, and professionals don't contemplate feelings amongst either their targets, or their rivals.

After I got back to the Weasley's, I would modify their memories, to forget about me, and return to the Dark Moon agency. It wouldn't be until the end of the summer that I would return to the Weasley's.

I knew that Hermione would do the same thing.

That we'll both spend the summer practicing, preparing, planning, and plotting for the next year.

A new year, full of new opportunities.

Opportunities to get the job done.

.

.

Please stay tuned for the second year! I will be making it an extension of this story, so you don't have to comb the archives for a separate story.

Thank you for those who did review, but I'll tell you guys now, I'm currently working on 11 stories. I am likely to update if I get lots of reviews, so please don't hold back! I'm not going to hold this story hostage for reviews, but I will take a break on it if I don't get more than a few. I'm not being mean, reviews are what motivate me to write. Without those, I can't get the motivation to update. You guys seriously are what get me to write more.