Weasley, Ron Weasley

Chapter Two: I Think I Need A Drink

I woke up with a splitting headache, a foul taste in my mouth, and the desire to throw up. I was in a shabby little flat with very little furniture. I sat up quickly and instantly regretted it.

"Lie down, or you´ll make yourself worse."

"Hermione?" I croaked. Merlin, I sounded terrible.

"Don´t talk, Ron, you sound terrible." She was making tea. I couldn´t believe it. She had knocked me unconscious in a dark alley, dragged me home, and now the woman had the gall to be making tea. I just gaped at her.

She noticed my stare. Her eyebrows raised in a questioning way.

"I saw that you were about to collapse from my hitting you and-" I was going to protest that the alcohol I had consumed had something to do with it, but she wouldn´t let me, "I didn´t want Malfoy to get his claws into you. I didn´t think you´d come willingly, so I knocked you out."

"You could have just asked me," I pointed out, reluctantly accepting the steaming cup of tea.

"I know you, Ron. You would have told me that you were fine and then collapsed a block away."

I was indignant. "I´m made of stronger stuff than that, Hermione. I´ve faced things that would send you running home to your mummy."

Another eyebrow raise. "I highly doubt that."

"And what about Malfoy? Shouldn´t you be off shagging him somewhere?"

Hermione made a face. "You´re disgusting. I wouldn´t shag Malfoy for all the galleons in Gringotts. He only thinks I´m attracted to him, that´s what counts."

"Care to explain what´s going on? Since when do you sing in skintight sparkly dresses in dreary pubs?"

Hermione ignored my question and fiddled with something in the kitchen. "How´s Harry? Are you two still friends?"

"He´s fine. He´s at Hogwarts with Ginny, they´re hunting Voldemort. Yes, we´re still friends. Which is more than I can say for you and me. Are we going to talk about it?"

"No," Hermione said. "We´re not. Ever."

"Fine," I replied. I sat up gently and rubbed my head gingerly. Merlin it hurt. I also had a lump the size of Diagon Alley on my skull. "Can we at least discuss what you think you´re doing?"

"None of your business," Hermione replied promptly.

"Ah, I see," I said. "You knock me out, drag me home, and don´t tell me anything. Makes perfect sense." I suddenly realized I was only in my boxers. "Did you undress me as well? Naughty girl, Hermione. It´s not nice to undress a man while he´s asleep." Then I realized what Hermione was wearing. "Nice outfit. A bit cliché, though, don´t you think?"

She was attired entirely in black leather from the black leather pants to the black leather halter top. Her hair was held back with a black headband and she had on black combat boots. She looked like she was going to star in a very strange army movie.

She admired herself in the mirror. "I like it. Although I had the hardest time getting into these pants. What´s more important is that Draco likes this look."

That did it. I spilled the entire contents of my stomach onto her floor. Hermione recoiled slightly, and then waved her wand so that it disappeared.

"I have to go meet him. You´re welcome to stay here until you feel better, just let yourself out when you´re ready."

Hermione left me alone. I managed to whip up a cup of coffee with my wand and took a shower. After I stepped out, I felt a hell of a lot better. There would be plenty of time to find out what she was doing later. It was time to see my gadgets man.

* * *

"Hullo, Dad," I greeted. My father was bent over his workbench fiddling with some muggle apparatus. He looked up; his glasses were smeared with grease and he had a smudge on his nose. Arthur Weasley, my father and gadget maker, smiled brightly. There was nothing my father loved more than tinkering with muggle contraptions.

"Ron!" he said happily. "So good to see you."

"You, too, Dad," I replied. "So, what have you got for me today?"

My father ushered me over to one corned of his "workshop" (in actuality the Burrow´s garage) where there was a table covered by a cloth. He whipped the cloth off and proudly displayed his new gadgets.

I picked one of them up; it looked like an ordinary pair of black shoes. Rather shiny, but ordinary.

"What´s this, Dad?" I asked, holding one of the Hush Puppies.

His face lit up. "Ah, that is a special communicating device. The right shoe will act as a fellytone now-"

"Telephone, Dad," I corrected gently.

"Yes, of course, a telephone. But with no eklectricity. It´s magically enhanced. The other shoe has a hollow heel to hold some of the other items. Ah, now this I´m sure you´ll appreciate."

He held out a small metal cannister. I looked at it; it didn´t look large enough to hold anything of importance.

"What is it?" I asked curiously.

"It´s a compressed `Stupefy´ hex!" Dad looked positively gleeful. "I got one of my friends in the Experimental Charms division to show it to me."

"How does it work?"

He held it away from himself, as though it contained something dangerous. "Pick your victim, aim this little bottle, and unscrew the top. The magic has been compressed in here and will act as if a wand has cast a spell. You must be close to your intended victim though, and that person will drop like a log. Just be careful that it doesn´t leak."

I pocketed the bottle. "That´s great. Do you have anything else?"

He snorted. "Do I have anything else? When have you only known me to make two things for you? Here, what do you think this is?"

He handed me something else. "It looks like rope, Dad."

"Of course it´s rope," he said. "But it´s magically enhanced rope. Can´t be cut, magically expands to reach any height, and if you tap it and say, "Ironius!" a grappling hook will appear. But it weighs nothing."

"Brilliant!" I exclaimed. "Is there more?"

"Of course! Here, this is a tie clip, but you can clip it anywhere on your robes. It´s a recorder. Whisper, "record" and it will turn on and record whatever conversation is happening at that moment."

"That´s wonderful, Dad, thanks." I hesitated. "Er, I´m sorry to have to tell you this, but I sort of smashed my last broomstick. Any chance that you´ve got another one?"

"I assumed you would say that," Dad said, a small smile playing at his lips. "Sorry, no new broomsticks. But I have something better. Er, don´t tell your mother."

He whipped a sheet off of something much larger that was in the middle of the garage; I hadn´t noticed it before. When I saw what it was, my jaw dropped.

"Shit, Dad, that´s wicked!"

Dad frowned at my use of language, but I knew he was please with the response. Sitting there in the middle of the garage was a shiny red `76 Jaguar convertible. I walked around it, examining every inch. It was in amazing condition.

"And that´s not all, son," my father said. I looked at him.

"You don´t mean...?" He nodded. "That´s brilliant! It flies?"

"And can go invisible. You´re welcome," he added.

"Thanks, Dad. This stuff is wonderful. Since I´m here, I´ll say hello to the family. Are Fred and George here?"

He nodded. "Percy, too. Why don´t you stay for dinner?"

"I´ll think about it. I´m rather busy saving the world at the moment, and besides, I want to take my new car out for a ride."

I headed into the house. My mother was in the kitchen like she usually was, cooking up something wonderful, no doubt. She was doing fifty things at once and her wand was waving about madly. I noticed, not for the first time, the absence of the clock that used to be in the kitchen. Mum got tired of seeing hands on Mortal Peril. Ever since Ginny and I started this line of work, Mum had a few heart attacks and it seemed as though our hands were permanently on Mortal Peril. So she got rid of the clock.

Of course, Mum didn´t know what we really did. She thought that Ginny and I were Aurors, which in a way I suppose we were. But we were more like Unspeakables. Our official title was Fidelities, wizard secret agents, if you will. Since Dad and Percy worked at the Ministry, they were aware that we weren´t just Aurors, but neither of them knew just how dangerous our jobs were. Harry and Ginny were partners, their assignment was to go after Voldemort himself. I worked alone, my partner, Susan Bones, having died the previous year. My assignment varied, sometimes it was recovering important information, artifacts, and sometimes it was people. I was responsible for the death of Lucius Malfoy. My current assignment was Peter Pettigrew, aka Wormtail. Malfoy had come close when he asked if this was vengeance. I had specifically requested this assignment from my superior. I still held a grudge about harboring that scum for three years.

Now, Ginny, Harry, and I didn´t officially work with the Ministry. We were part of a secret branch known as M.A.T.D.A. or Magic Against The Dark Arts. My work took me all over the globe, to the extent that I now knew the rudiments of nearly every language, from Spanish to Chinese. Harry and Ginny were stationed in Scotland for the most part, and worked out of the M.A.T.D.A. home office.

"Hullo, Mum."

My mother dropped her wand in the sink, and jumped. When she saw that it was only me, she wiped her hands and hugged me tightly.

"Ron, I´m so glad you´re here! You are staying for dinner tonight, aren´t you?"

"Sure, Mum," I replied. It was just easier that way. If I really had to go, I could always say I got an urgent owl from the Ministry.

"And guess what? Harry and Ginny are here!" Mum took on a wistful expression. "I just know they´re going to be engaged any day now."

"I´m glad they´re here. I´ll go find them."

Now, I knew Harry and Ginny, and even if my best friend had begun to develop feelings for my sister, they wouldn´t get married. Ginny just wasn´t in love with Harry anymore. She told me so.

I was just heading up the stairs to my old room, when I heard someone whisper my name.

"Psst, Ron!"

I turned my head. "Fred? George?"

The twins popped their heads out of their room. "We have a present for you."

I raised an eyebrow in a questioning way. "And to what do I owe this honor?"

"Consider it an early birthday present. Here," Fred said, handing me a vial of mud colored liquid.

"What´s this?" I asked.

"Polyjuice Potion," George said gleefully. "Enough for one transformation." He then handed me a book. "And this is what you´re going to transform into."

"I´m going to be a book?" I said skeptically.

"No, idiot," Fred said, rolling his eyes. "There are `samples´ of different people in there. You know, eyelashes, strands of hair, toenails, etc."

"Use it well," George said in a serious tone.

I flipped through the book. Each page had several tiny bags and was labeled with the name of the person they had once been a part of. I decided I really didn´t want to know how my brothers had collected their `samples´. Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, Mandy Brocklehurst...

"Mandy Brocklehurst?" I said in disbelief.

"You never know when you might want to be a woman," Fred said with a glint in his eyes. He flipped to the back of the book. "Now, these are your anonymous people. Random strangers, some muggle, some magic. They´re labeled male and female. These are in case you don´t want to be recognized."

I shrank them down and placed the book and vial into my pocket. "Thanks. I´m sure it will come in handy. Any idea where Harry and Ginny are?"

The twins exchanged a glance. "Last time we saw them, they were outside."

"Thanks again." I headed back downstairs and out into the back yard. I was almost out when I was waylaid by Percy. He looked almost exactly the same as he did the last time I saw him. Red hair, a shade lighter than the rest of us, a disapproving glare, and horn-rimmed specs. Typical Percy. Once I saved his life. I had to Memory Charm him, though, because during the course of that rescue, I revealed a bit too much about my line of work.

"Ron," Percy said, nodding his head in my direction. "I would like to speak to you about something."

I glanced at my watch. It was purely to annoy Percy; I didn´t have anywhere to be.

"If you insist," I sighed. "What is it, Percy?"

"You haven´t been into the Ministry in months, Ron!" he said forcefully. "What sort of Unspeakable are you?"

I nearly laughed, but Percy looked so annoyed that I didn´t dare. "Percy, we´ve been through this. It´s none of your business. I´m doing my job, leave it alone."

"I´m worried about you, Ron," Percy said, looking so serious that a splutter of laughter burst from my lips.

"Thanks for the concern. I´ll be going, are Harry and Ginny still outside?"

"Yes," he replied, although he was staring at me strangely.

"Great, thanks, Perce."

I walked outside and immediately saw Harry and Ginny. They were sitting on the grass watching the gnomes in the yard and whispering to each other. Ginny saw me first.

"Ron!" she said happily. "It´s wonderful to see you!"

I gave her a hug and turned to my best friend. We clasped hands and Harry smiled.

"How are you?" he asked.

"Oh, you know," I replied. "The same as always."

"That bad, huh?"

I sat down next to them. "So, what´s new with you? Any Voldemort sightings?"

Ginny sighed deeply. "No, drat the luck. We heard rumors that he´s in the forest, but there was no sign of him."

"The forest? The Forbidden Forest?" I asked skeptically. "Who´d you ask, a centaur?"

Harry shook his head. I noticed more lines in his face than I remembered; he looked so much older.

"Since Firenze disappeared, there´s not a single centaur in the entire forest you can get any sense out of. You know how they are, Ron. `Venus is in the twelfth house´, `Mars is bright tonight´." He snorted and shook his head. "Hagrid once said to me, `Bunch of ruddy star-gazers´."

"So who told you?" I asked curiously.

Ginny shook out her long red hair. I noticed my sister had grown a bit since the last time I saw her; maturity wise. I also noticed that Harry noticed.

"Aragog," she said simply.

My jaw dropped. "Aragog? As in giant spider?" I shivered just thinking about it. "Why didn´t he eat you?"

Harry shrugged. "We took Hagrid with us. He didn´t tell us much though." His face was suddenly serious. "But we did hear something from another source." When I didn´t react, he cleared his throat and said, "From Malcolm Baddock."

I yawned lazily. "Good for him. What did you hear? Something to do with my assignment, I´m assuming, since you wouldn´t mention it otherwise."

"He said that Malfoy´s back."

I shrugged. "I know that. I tracked the slime down the other night. Didn´t tell me anything, though. I wasted a perfectly good pouch of leprechaun gold on him. Oh, and Pansy´s had a nose job. She looks much better."

Harry was quiet. "No, not Draco Malfoy, Lucius Malfoy."

My insides froze. "That´s impossible. I killed him myself, even wizards can´t come back from the dead."

Ginny´s voice was soft. "I saw him, Ron."

I turned quickly. "What!"

"I saw him. He was across the lake on the Hogwarts grounds, just watching. Before I could move he had Disapparated."

"Shit!" I muttered under my breath. Then aloud I said, "Has Voldemort figured out how to raise the dead?"

Ginny´s slim shoulders raised in a shrug. "We don´t know. But there´s more. It´s about the other Malfoy."

"What?"

Harry took over. "Baddock said that Malfoy has a new woman."

I froze for a second. "So?"

"He said she looked like Hermione."

I scoffed. "He´s probably making it up."

"We don´t think so, Ron," Harry said. "What good would it do Baddock to lie to us?"

I shook my head. "Then he must be mistaken. She hasn´t been seen for ten years."

"Hermione," Ginny stressed, "is not dead. We know that. Ron, let´s talk about this."

I stood up and dusted off my pants. I shook my head and headed back into the house. I was almost inside when Harry and Ginny each took one of my arms.

"Hermione was the only woman you ever really loved," Harry said in a low voice. "You and I both know that you have been with many women..."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, this conversation is heading in a wonderful direction."

"She was special to you, Ron," my sister said softly, but firmly. "You two exchanged words, and-"

"And she disappeared," I finished. "Taking my money with her. My money and the diamond of Calliope."

Ginny shook her head. "You have no proof she stole from you."

I sighed. "Look, I don´t want to discuss this. Let´s go inside and eat. I´m hungry."

I walked inside and entered the kitchen. Mum was just setting things out on the table. Harry and Ginny came up behind me, but they couldn´t say anything with Mum in the room. Harry shot me a glare from across the table which clearly said, "This discussion isn´t over." Fortunately Mum distracted him.

Now, Mum doesn´t know that Harry is a Fidelity. She thinks he´s a professor at Beauxbatons Academy. I don´t know why he didn´t tell her he worked for the Ministry.

Dinner was great, although Percy didn´t join us. Maybe that´s what made it great. I knew I was unusually quiet, but Ginny chattered away enough for the both of us. After dinner was finished, I managed to catch Dad´s arm.

"Dad, can you distract Mum, Percy, and the twins? Harry, Ginny, and I need to use the fireplace. It´s urgent."

"Certainly, Ron," my father said. That´s one of the great things about my dad; he knows when not to ask questions.

I grabbed Harry and my sister and pulled them into Dad´s study. Our boss supposedly had an important message for us. So we sat around the roaring fire and waited for his head to appear.

"Hello, Agents Rose, Flash, and Rook."

"Good evening, Mr. Black," I said with a straight face.

Sirius Black´s head was floating in our fireplace. Yes, that´s right. Sirius Black was our superior, and the head of M.A.T.D.A.

"What´s our assignment, Boss?" Harry asked. "And why the urgency?"

"I requested that you all be here because this time your missions collide. You´re all going to Monte Carlo."

Ginny looked confused. "What would Voldemort be doing in such a populated place?"

"Maybe Voldie´s developed an attraction to Black Jack," I joked.

"This is no laughing matter, Rook," Sirius said sternly. "And, Rose, you´re not looking for Voldemort this time. You´re looking for the only person who knows where he is. While they´re tracking down this person, Rook, you´ll be recovering a lost artifact. I´m afraid that your mission regarding Wormtail will have to be put on hold."

I shrugged. "I wasn´t getting very far anyway."

"So who are we supposed to capture?" Harry asked.

"I´m glad you asked that, Flash," Sirius said, his expression grim. "We have received special information that Draco Malfoy will be in the Lucky Clover Casino in Monte Carlo. Your mission is to capture him and bring him back to headquarters."

I cursed loudly. Sirius looked at me quizzically. "Is something the matter, Rook?"

"Only that I had tracked down that ferret the other night. Had I known you wanted him, I could have brought him in. Bastard! He told me he knew nothing."

Harry nearly laughed. "Since when do you trust Draco Malfoy?"

"I don´t, but had I known he was dangerous, I would have taken him hostage." Of course, I had also been distracted by Hermione´s reappearance, but I didn´t say that out loud.

Sirius interrupted. "It´s not important. You´ll get him tomorrow. You will all take a Portkey out of M.A.T.D.A. in the morning. All of the necessary papers will be waiting for you. Flash, Rose, you will be posing as a newlywed couple, and Rook, you´ll pose as a businessman. We have already made the appropriate contacts and they will be expecting you."

"What artifact am I acquiring?" I asked.

"The original Book of the Dead. They Egyptian Ministry is up in arms about it´s theft. In the wrong hands it can be very dangerous. They are threatening war if it is not returned."

Something about that book was stuck in my mind, but I couldn´t figure it out. Fortunately, Ginny figured it out for me.

"Isn´t it the Book of the Dead that brings dead people to life?" she asked.

Sirius flipped through his notes. "Yes, that´s correct. How did you know that, Rose?"

I knew. Once a few years back, twelve in fact, Hermione, Harry, Ginny and I had rented several muggle movies, among them, The Mummy. It had quickly become Ginny´s favorite.

"Read it somewhere," she muttered.

I suddenly realized something. "Oh, shit, that´s it."

"What is it, Rook?" Sirius asked.

"That´s how they brought Lucius Malfoy back. Bloody hell, it´s a trap."

Harry frowned. "How do you know it´s a trap, Ron?"

"Harry, if the Death Eaters have a book that can bring dead people back to life, do you really think they´re going to sell it? Just imagine the army they could raise."

Sirius frowned as well. "But the group you´re acquiring it from isn´t Death Eaters. They call themselves the Diablos, they´re an organization based in Spain. But they weren´t the ones who originally stole the book. It, er, `passed into their hands´."

"Who´s hands did it pass through along the way, huh?" I said. "At some point, Death Eaters had that book. Oh well, I´ll get it back for you, chief."

Sirius smiled wryly. "I don´t doubt it. Now, remember, Rook, if you see Flash and Rose in the casino-"

"I don´t know them," I interrupted. "I know, I know."

Sirius glared. "Did you get your equipment?"

"Yes, Dad made us all sorts of interesting gadgets."

"I heard you got a car," Ginny said with a pretend pout.

"That´s because I´m Dad´s favorite, and I´m the only one who knows how to drive," I said, smiling.

"Children don´t bicker," Sirius said, hiding a smile. "You all need to take steps to alter your appearances. Just show up tomorrow morning at ten am. You will spend an hour adjusting to your new identities. Good luck."

"Thank you, Mr. Black," Ginny said as his head faded away. She turned to us.

"So, Monte Carlo?" She smiled at Harry. "Ah, my newlywed husband. I hope I get a beautiful ring."

"I, for one, am glad we´re headed for Monte Carlo," I said. "I feel like playing poker."