Ron Weasley (weasleyis) wrote in eighth_rpg, @ 2011-01-05 16:21:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | hermione granger, ron weasley |
Who: Ron and Hermione
What: Arriving home after that night's search.
Where: Their flat
When: Late Tuesday night
Rating: Nothing too bad.
Arriving home, Ron still had his arm around Hermione, and he turned to look at her. "Er, sorry," he mumbled. "If I knew that was what we were going to find, I wouldn't have bothered calling you there."
The sight had been disturbing, but he guessed more for her than for him. He was getting rather used to gruesome sights, and nothing compared with the day he'd seen his parents dead anyway.
--
Hermione had been a little apprehensive when Ron had gone out flying with Harry and George, particularly due to the fact that they were actively looking for anything to do with Death Eaters. She would have gone with them right from the start if they hadn't taken their brooms, but as it was she was just waiting with her map and pawn, waiting for the chess piece to change.
As soon as it did she had apparated to their current location, happy to see that everyone was alright. The following situation had been rather unpleasant to walk in on, but Hermione was still glad that Ron had been as good as his word and let he know that they had found something.
Shaking her head at his apology once they had reached home again, she didn't want him to be sorry. "It's alright, I want you to call me. Regardless of what you might find." Even something like that was better than being left out of everything.
--
Ron nodded. "I will," he said. "Especially since we'll probably go out on more trips, since that one turned out to be at least somewhat productive. Feel bad for them though," he added. "They probably never even knew what magic was until then. And clearly no one missed them..."
--
"It felt good to be doing something," Hermione agreed. "Even if I was only there for half of it." Obviously they had an advantage from the air though, so she couldn't fault them for doing as much without her.
"What do you think they were killed for?" she asked quietly. "Fun?" Nothing really looked touched and as Ron said, no one seemed to have noticed that the couple were missing, so they couldn't have been too high profile. It made her wonder if she should be doing more about her own parents and their place.
--
"Probably," Ron agreed. "One of the places we found, it was clear they had been living there. But that was just senseless. Killing for sport, really. Bit sad, and I didn't even know them," he shrugged. "But it's not the first time I've seen that, won't be the last. Even if I wish it was."
--
Previously unaware that Ron had seen many more instances of that particular situation, Hermione almost wished he had told her sooner. "Perhaps I should warn my parents," she thought aloud. "Or add some wards to their house."
--
Ron looked sheepishly at Hermione, "Oh yeah. Was going to ask you why it wasn't warded, but I forgot. I did that before I left on Christmas. Though you probably know more than I do." He frowned, "Sorry. I wasn't thinking clearly when I got home."
--
"I'm trying to keep their lives as normal as possible," she explained. But she didn't want to have to repeat their trip to Australia. That had been hard enough on her, not to mention to explain to them, the last time she had done it. "Their safety is more important than that though, so thank you for putting something up. Though I wish you had told me." Not that Hermione could blame him for being in a rather scattered state at that point in time. "And more about what happens at work, too," she added after a moment.
--
Ron apologised again. "Sorry, I only thought to check because of... and the Burrow was warded. They managed to..." Why couldn't he complete a damn sentence?
He sighed. "Most of it happened early on. Before you got back. And then they were quiet... until Azkaban. Most of our work now is chasing after phantoms that mental people report. Like the lady Harry and I had to check in on today, who claimed Death Eaters broke in and stole her crup. Even though the crup was back home by the time we got there."
He shook his head. "Are you going to be upset if I have something to drink?"
--
"I know," she said quietly. "They're not fail-proof, but at least it's something. I might go over there tomorrow and see what else I can add, maybe let them know to be a bit more careful." The idea made her feel better in any case, even if any kind of ward was no real guarantee when it came to protection.
Arching an eyebrow, she wasn't sure whether to be amused or disgusted by the Aurors current work regime. "That's what they have you doing lately? Honestly." No wonder he wanted to search for Death Eaters on his own time.
As Ron asked about having a drink, Hermione waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. "Go ahead." He was home for the night now, so it couldn't hurt.
--
"You should add them to your map," Ron suggested. "That couldn't hurt, could it?"
He moved to get a glass, and then a bottle of firewhiskey, before changing his mind and putting them both back. Instead he selected a bottle of ale from the fridge, and then asked, "Want me to get you anything to drink? Or make tea or something?"
And yeah, that was what they had him doing at work. "We don't have any real leads, but they want us to look like we're doing something. Bloody ridiculous, if you ask me."
--
"I don't know that it would work," Hermione admitted. "The way it is now, the map is tracing our magical print, I'm not sure it could follow Muggles in the same way." Otherwise she most certainly would.
Watching Ron as he indecisively made himself a drink, she shook her head. "No, thank you, I'm fine." Moving across to sit on the couch, she shifted the map from where she had left it on the seat.
"You have a lead now," she reminded him. "It might not be much, but at least it's something. What are they going to think of you coming across that after hours?"
--
"We'll find a way to have it reported in a less suspicious manner," Ron said. "Not sure how, but we already decided that. Otherwise they'll want to know what we were doing."
He shrugged. "Keeping the activities separate and all."
Glancing at the map he said, "Well, could you set it up so that it traces any magical print at your parents house? Ours, of course, when we visit. But it's already tracking us. Don't know how that would work, but you're the one who always figures out the details anyway."
Sighing, he moved back into the living room and sat down on the couch. "I'm being paranoid, aren't I?"
--
"Like an anonymous tip?" Hermione mentioned. That seemed like the best idea to her, too. Keeping it all separate seemed more necessary than ever, particularly if the Aurors current work was anything but useful. She was aware of Ron's desire to undertake certain things off the radar as well. They never did finish talking about that.
Considering his idea for a moment, she shrugged. "I'm really not sure. I suppose I could try, but I'd like to get the coins organised first, then work on the idea of a more complete map for Dumbledore's Army and perhaps even approach the Ministry about the same thing for your department." Not to mention complete seventh year in between.
"Careful," she corrected him, as Ron sat down beside her. "Not paranoid."
--
"Yeah. Careful," Ron agreed. Whatever it was, he didn't want anything happening to Hermione's parents. That would be too much for both of them, and he wanted to make sure she never went through that.
"Anonymous would work," he nodded.
And then he smiled slightly, "You'll be busy then. But when you get the map working for all of Dumbledore's Army, Harry and I want copies. Cause right now you can track us, but we can't track you."
--
"We could just send an owl from the post office," she suggested. "Give them the address and the minor details and then they can go from there. Naturally you will have to act surprised when they advise you as much."
Hermione considered it fair enough that Harry wanted his own copy, but she didn't see why Ron did. "Can't you just share mine? I was too mad at you to object last time, but I think it's a bad idea for the map to leave the flat." Giving a shrug, she admitted, "I'm almost afraid to start on a new one. You know how long it took me to get it right last time." At least now she had the basic concept to work off and she had the spell right, but this was going to be on a much larger scale.
--
Ron rolled his eyes, but he was teasing as he said, "Really? So I should say, 'Oh yeah. Harry and I noticed that last night'?"
He considered that for a moment. "I don't know. I like the idea of being able to know at anytime, but I see your point. Just, if anyone wanted to destroy me, they'd go after you. I worry about you too, you know."
He thought about it a moment, "Or you could make it like Harry's map. You can only see it by knowing the right thing to say. And you can clear it as well."
--
"You don't have the best poker face in the world," Hermione informed him with a smile.
The idea of being able to wipe the map like Harry's had occurred to her, but she'd had so much trouble just getting the location charms to work the last time that she had foregone anything fancier. "I could try," she promised.
--
"That would be good," Ron agreed. "And how do you know? Just because I can't hide things from you doesn't mean I can't hide them from my boss. Besides, they've taught us that sort of thing." Just in case. He figured he shouldn't add that.
--
"As long as it's only your boss you use those newfound skills on then," Hermione mentioned.
--
"Should I clarify that I know better than to hide things from you?" Ron asked, grinning. He was hiding something from her though. But she wouldn't mind, in the end.
--
"You should, after all these years," Hermione said with a smile. "If not, I haven't trained you nearly as well as I thought I have."
--
"You've trained me. You should have heard Harry and George talking about how well I've been trained," Ron said, grinning at Hermione. "But I had to point out that I'm the one in a serious relationship, so they can't really talk."
He gave her a look. "And besides, there are definite perks to be enjoyed in a serious relationship."
--
She smiled back at Ron as he told her all about Harry and George teasing him. "I assume that shut them up." Though she did feel a little bit sorry for Harry, seeing as he had just ended his relationship with Ginny. For good this time, she supposed.
"Are there?" Hermione asked when Ron mentioned perks, feigning ignorance. "Such as..?"
--
Ron had barely touched his ale, and took the bottle to the kitchen to drain it into the sink. Throwing it away, he walked back into the living room, around the couch, where he gently brushed Hermione's hair out of the way to lean down and kiss her neck, teasing her.
"Think you might need to be reminded," he said softly.
--
Leaning back into the couch as Ron wandered off to the kitchen, Hermione was glad to have it turn into a quiet night at home, no matter what it had started out as. They weren't fighting, they had done something useful, however small, and they were both better off for it.
A small smile crossing her face as he came around the back of the couch, she arched her neck as he kissed her. "I think I might, too," she agreed. "And that's a good start."