Just a Wizard

Chapter Two

Remus grinned broadly at this display and watched with amusement the way Hermione stared at the huge private investigator, her stunned eyes following him as he left the room.

"You okay Ninny?"

"I'm fine," she said quietly, her eyes still on the door. "Who is he?"

"Er... I don't understand," Remus replied, bewildered before becoming concerned. "Are you alright?" she was really beginning to worry him.

"Yeah, I know he looks like Ron Weasley, but I don't remember my Ron ever being so..." she said, trailing off and frowning slightly, trying to come up with the appropriate word to describe him.

Remus's frown turned into a grin. "Charming?"

"Yeah," Hermione replied, shaking her head and shrugging. "He's just changed so much. I hadn't expected to see him in the first place, and when I did I assumed he'd be angry with me. Why didn't you tell me he worked for you?"

"Why, so you could avoid coming back even longer?" Remus scoffed. "Hermione, people do grow up you know. Especially in four years."

"I suppose," answered Hermione, shaking her head again as if to remove the cobwebs.

Remus eyed the bags on the floor. "You seem to have an awful lot of luggage for someone on a short visit."

She blushed and bit her lip. "Well, actually...when I lost my job, I sort of lost my flat too," she admitted, obviously reluctant. "But I'm not here to try and get anything out of you! I've already seen a job advertised at the new Apothecary in Diagon Alley, so I can..." she quickly added, worried that he might think she was begging for money or help.

"Hermione, I never thought you were! You're not the type," he cut in, smiling at her. "As for the Apothecary, forget it. It wouldn't be any good anyhow since Blaise Zabini owns it. Besides, you don't want to be on your own most of the year do you? We'll all be travelling around the country, and that being the case I've got an offer for you," he said, watching her reaction carefully.

"What offer? Oh, Remus, please don't offer me any money..."

"No, no. I wondered if you'd like to work for me? Since you don't have a job and now I find you have no residence, it would be perfect."

"What sort of job? You're not just making one up are you?"

"As if I would!" he said, trying to look offended, because that was exactly what he had done. "The head of surveillance needs a new assistant and, as I recall, you were top of your class in basic training. You'd have to travel everywhere with us of course, since there's about six months left on the Weird Sister's tour and they're our biggest contract, but the pay is more than generous. Plus we'd foot the bill for all hotel rooms. What do you think?"

"It sounds good, but...I don't know. Where would I live?"

"Well, like I said, most of the time you'd be living in hotels, but you could rent a nice place anywhere you liked, maybe even buy somewhere eventually, when you could afford it. It goes without saying that whenever we rent a house you'll be staying with us. Come on, and say yes. I'm not going let you say no anyhow, so you may as well accept your fate!" he told her, grinning at her.

Hermione thought about it for all of two seconds before smiling. "Okay, thank you. What would my job entail?"

"Oh you know, surveillance type stuff; charming artefacts, creating new spells, and all of that. Nothing too difficult and anything you can't do straight off, Tabitha will get you on the straight and narrow. She's the surveillance specialist, and is only a couple of years older than you. You'll like her."

Hermione frowned. "Charming Artefacts? Not muggle I hope?"

"Well, yeah, that would be the general idea. Don't panic," he added noting the uneasy look spread across her face. "There have been amendments to the laws! It's perfectly legal. Now then, tell me about this job you lost," he said, changing the subject abruptly and looking a little stern.

"It wasn't my fault," she said slowly, wondering how to tell him.

"So you said. So why'd you get fired?"

"The Manager didn't like me," she said, thinking of the repulsive man she had been working for.

"That's not a very good reason for firing someone. If it were I'd have lost half my agents by now. Tell me the rest," Remus said, knowing she was hiding something and determined to get it out of her. "Why didn't he like you?"

"Because I missed a few days," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Remus frowned. "And why, exactly?"

"I was sick."

Remus instantly sat up straight, his jaw clenching and eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What do you mean by sick?"

"Nothing, really. I...I had a small relapse is all, nothing I couldn't handle."

"A relapse? Go on," Remus urged, he had a feeling something like that had happened and he couldn't help unless she told him the details.

"I just started to panic one morning, and I couldn't bring myself to leave the flat. I don't really know why, but I worked through it."

"What caused it Hermione? Something like that doesn't just happen out of the blue. You've been doing so well, unless of course you've been lying to me."

Hermione shook her head. "NO! I haven't!" she assured. "It's just... I saw him one day following me in the market."

The werewolf knitted his eyebrows together in confusion, him? He thought and then it dawned on Remus that by him she meant Roman Castleton, the Legion member who had gone AWOL after attacking Hermione and his eyes blazed with anger. "By him you mean..."

"Yes." Hermione whispered, cutting him off. "Please don't say it... I, It just all came flooding back and overwhelmed me a little and I floo called in saying I was ill. After about a week I realized I couldn't continue living like a prisoner and ignore all of the work I'd put into recovering from my agoraphobia. So I sucked it up and went back to work, but when I came in the boss told me I was fired."

"He followed you? Has he stopped?"

"I don't know. I kept getting letters, but then I had a choice between paying the rent for one last month, or using the money for a portkey. The portkey won out. So I couldn't pay my rent and I lost the flat and came here with the last money I had. I haven't seen him, so I guess he doesn't know where I am."

"You got letters? Threatening letters?" At her nod he scowled. "Did you tell the Legion Authorities?"

"What for? They're hardly going to believe me. Without proof they'd say I was suffering from paranoia and ship me off to the loony ward at the Legion Hospital for evaluation."

"What about the letters? Where are they?"

"I burnt them. Well, all except one..."

"Where is it?"

"In my bag."

"Let me see it," he told her, watching as she reluctantly got it and handed it over to him.

The man who had written it wasn't very subtle, but he was serious, and Remus thought she might have a big problem if he was as tenacious as he sounded. He hadn't made any attempt to disguise his own handwriting and he had even signed it, obviously he wanted Hermione to know whom it came from. Roman Castleton, the name read. The contents of the letter made Remus want to get hold of the man and rip his head off.

"Were all the other letters like this?" he asked her, appalled that she had been forced to read such filthy threats. He didn't bother mentioning that the Legion could have easily put him back on their most wanted list, simply because he had signed the letters, not that they would have. The entire organization was corrupt.

She nodded, looking miserable. "Some were worse. They mostly said what he was going to do to me when he got hold of me. I had to replace a couple of windows when someone threw stones through them, and I guess it was him that was doing it, he did know where I lived."

Remus looked at her down bent head and felt a rush of sympathy for her. She had had enough evil in her life, and Hermione didn't need to be subjected to any more. "Well, fine, you're safe here. And if this scumbag comes within ten metres of you I'll have him torn apart!" Remus lifted his wand impatiently and flicked it toward a filing cabinet in the corner. "Castleton, Roman" He said as the top drawer opened and a lone file came rushing towards his now outstretched hand. "Tell me what he looks like now so I can circulate a photo, just to be on the safe side."

Hermione's mouth turned down with distaste. "He was bigger... I guess he did body building, but he seemed overweight too, so he didn't look all that muscular, just large. He was strong though. His hair was darker, he had grown a beard, and his skin was quite darkly tanned. I'm sorry, it's not much help is it?"

"Of course it is. How about the way he dresses? Anything unusual there?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes! He was dressed in really flashy robes. I don't mean expensive robes, but garish ones. You know? Bright colours that probably looked okay back in the eighties, but now...ugh!"

Remus chuckled. "Now that really does help." He scribbled notes on a memo, and flicked his wand over the photo from the file he had summoned.

"You have a file on him?" she asked, in confusion.

"Yes." He told her, lifting his gaze to her momentarily. "You didn't honestly think the man who attacked you and got away with it wouldn't make my wanted files did you?"

"You have a photo?"

Remus only looked up once more and nodded.

"Can I see it?" she asked.

The werewolf hesitated, before apprehensively holding out the photo. "If you're sure..."

"I am." Hermione quickly responded, snatching away the photo before she lost her nerve and peering at it. Her stomach twisted, and pulse quickened when her gaze fell upon the face of the man. Hermione had never been certain that the person she saw was indeed Roman Castleton, but with the changes Remus had made there was now no doubt in her mind.

"Yeah, that's him." She sighed as she handed it back to him and watched as he put it through the magical fax machine.

"This is all really helpful. As soon as I can spare the manpower I'll put someone on the case for you Hermione, but as of right now we're up to our ears in contract work so for now I've sent it to security here and at our next stop, so you can relax. If he shows up they'll tear him a new arsehole."

"Remus!" Hermione said.

"Ah, don't Remus me! I bet your language gets a bit colourful sometimes!"

"It does not!"

"Well, now you're here with us, you'll soon learn!" He grinned at her and was pleased when a genuine smile broke through the mask she had been wearing. His own smile turned into a frown. "I'm sorry this happened to you, honey."

Hermione shook her head and looked at the anger on his face. "It's okay, I got through it. I knew I'd be okay once I was with you." She looked up suddenly and put her hand over her mouth. "I don't mean that I expected anything... I don't want you to think I'm freeloading..."

"I don't think that, don't be ridiculous! And anyway, I wouldn't care if you were." Remus said, smiling and putting her at ease.

She wiped a hand over her eyes and gave a tired smile. "Thank you for the job."

"Hermione, you are most welcome. Now, come on, let me give you the grand tour!" he said, giving another lightning change of subject and pulling her out of his office with him. The next few hours were spent looking around the large building and meeting people, mostly agents who she found it hard to speak to, and of course the surveillance head Tabitha. She was a tall, blonde woman with a ready smile and laughing blue eyes. She made Hermione feel warm and welcome, giving her some hope for her new job.

Before she knew it, Hermione was sitting down with a tray of food in the security office at the Weird sisters concert, watching the start of the show.

Watching the band come out made her remember the Yule ball back when she was fourteen, and she fell into it happily. After an hour she had heard a few of the songs from back in that day, as well as a few of her more recent favourites. She giggled at the new and more modern look the band had adopted with their flashy robes, but otherwise they looked the same as he had years ago, maybe a bit older.

The door opened and Ron walked in, catching his breath when he saw her laughing at the Irish jig the guitar player was currently attempting. He had thought her pretty before, but with a truly relaxed smile on her face she was stunning. Yet she seemed totally unaware of her looks, not bothering with makeup and not doing her hair up professionally, just pulling it back into a ratty ponytail. She looked up when she heard him, still smiling, and he found himself grinning back at her.

"You enjoying the concert, Ninny?"

She nodded. "Very much, I forgot how much fun it could be just to relax. They're so different, and yet still very much the same as they were in our fourth year."

Ron chuckled at the girlish look playing on her pretty face. "I thought you might like to come and watch from the wings, so to speak. They have a huge monitor down there and it's pretty quiet. But you get to experience the crowd from afar, makes it that much better. How about it?"

Hermione bit her lip and thought about it. What harm could it do? She wouldn't be in the middle of the crowd and he made it sound like she'd be mostly on her own. Plus she'd be able to experience some of the concert bowl atmosphere. She nodded and stood up. "I'd like that," she said shyly, walking to the door with him.

They made an odd couple as they walked slowly down the hallways, him a hulking giant of a man, rough looking and scowling menacingly. And her, tiny compared to him and looking clean cut and innocent. But there was something about the two of them that looked right, and some people looked twice as they walked past.

Ron sat her down in a small chair by the monitor. "Okay. You'll be all right here, but I have to patrol. I'll be back in a while. Enjoy the concert okay?"

Hermione nodded and watched him leave with regret. She felt old feelings she thought long dead begin to stir within, perhaps because he treated her so nicely and because he was really the only one she had spoken to since she got here. She turned her attention to the big screen in front of her and watched the crowd erupted in a mass of cheers as the next song began to play. Apparently security was about to have a serious problem on their hands as members of a rival band made their presence known on stage. Apparently, they had a problem with Kirly McCormack, the lead guitarist, who was being accused of stealing the man's wife. Hermione snickered and watched as the obviously concocted soap opera unfolded and the large bellowing wizard, who, to her eyes, looked about 10 feet tall, pushed his way through the throng of fans and lumbered up the ramp. She didn't think anything more of it. For about ten seconds.

"There you are!" a deep voice boomed in her ear and she felt herself plucked out of the chair and hoisted easily over a huge shoulder. "You were supposed to wait by the stage entrance! I nearly didn't find you!"

Hermione was too shocked to say anything at first, her throat closing up with terror as she was carried out in front of the whole crowd and thrown from the massive shoulder over the drum set, to be caught by another man. He had short dark hair and a funny shaped hat on top of his head. She vaguely thought he looked Romanian, but she was so shocked that she couldn't speak or move as he put her on her feet in front of him and then spun her around, holding her shoulders and keeping her in front of him.

"Kirly, I now have something you want, so what are you going to do about it? You going to show that damn self-proclaimed magical talent of yours and rescue her, or act like the Slytherin coward we all know that you are?" he yelled, obviously under a sonorous charm.

"Yeah come on McCormack, step forward and save her," the giant said, leering at her. "On second thought, don't. We have lots we can do to her!" he said, reaching out and grabbing her around the throat with one massive hand.

Remus Lupin had been talking to one of the crew when he looked at the monitor. He nearly exploded with panic when he saw Hermione being held by Isaac Rawlson and Yvgeny Makarov, looking absolutely terrified.

"What the hell is going on?" he yelled to anyone within earshot. Ron walked up behind him then, and looked at him strangely.

"What's the matter with you?"

"They got Hermione! The dunderheads, they were supposed to take Rea!" he said, nodding at a girl who was standing looking impatient.

Ron felt his heart thunder in his chest when he looked at the monitor. Isaac and Yvgeny wouldn't hurt her, he knew, not intentionally. It was all part of the show, and Ron had trained them for the publicity stunt himself. But Rea knew what hexes were going to be used on her and Hermione didn't, plus she looked like she was on the verge of passing out.

"How the hell am I going get her out of there without ruining the show?" Remus asked, heading to the stage entrance anyway.

"Wait, I can do it," Ron said, marching out as the crowd began to roar, and instantly filled the arena. Ron Weasley had quite a bit of notoriety himself, as he had played back-up keeper for England in the world cup his summer out of Hogwarts. Even though England had lost to Romania, Ron had been the hero of the match and wizards across the country had not forgotten. To this day, he even graced the pages of "Quidditch World" Magazine on occasion.

He rushed out to the cheers of the crowd, pulling his face into its habitual frown and snarling at the two musicians holding Hermione. He practically threw himself onto the stage and stood up in front of the two men, lifting his wand and uttering a sonorous charm himself.

"You've got the wrong girl," he stated loudly, glaring at them and pulling the Isaac's arm down with some force, his eyes softening slightly when he looked at Hermione. She was visibly shaking and her face was as white as chalk. He lifted the sonorous charm momentarily and leaned down to her. "Just go along with this, and I'll get you out of here, okay?" He watched her nod her head slightly, her eyes huge and frightened. Yvgeny heard what he said and looked down at the girl he held, his brow creasing in quick realisation. He knew it was best to play along with this. "What are you talking about, the wrong girl? This is McCormack's latest tart, and we're taking her for ourselves, unless someone's going to try and stop us?"

"She isn't McCormack's, she's mine, and I will stop you," he threatened in his most deadly tones, getting an ear splitting roar from the audience.

Yvgeny widened his eyes in mock horror and abruptly pushed Hermione gently towards Ron. "Have her, she isn't worth it anyhow, Weasel!" Yvgeny yelled. "It's Mccormack we want to duel, not you!"

"You'll be duelling me if you touch what's mine again, do you understand?"

Yvgeny sneered at him and nodded. Suddenly Kirly McCormack strode out with Rea, smiling evilly up at the Russian Pop singer.

Hermione was in a stupor by now, not really hearing what was going on around her, just concentrating on breathing. She felt strong arms lift her up again and started to panic, struggling against the seemingly immovable body holding her. "Shh, it's just me, okay?" Ron asked her, still frowning as he was in character, which simply set her off more.

He watched helplessly as her eyes rolled up in their sockets and she flopped limply against his chest. It made it easier to carry her, and the audience were lapping it up, thinking it was all part of the act, but he truly wanted to break someone's neck for this. He took her as quickly as he could to the backstage area and into the security room, the nearest place he knew of that he could lay her down. When he had deposited her on the couch, he knelt down next to her and pushed her hair out of her face, stroking her cheek softly and waiting for her to come round.

Her eyes fluttered open a few seconds later and then widened as she tried to push herself away from him.

"It's okay, I'm not gonna hurt you, alright?" he said, holding his hands up in front of him.

Hermione took a deep shuddering breath and nodded, before putting her hands over her face and bursting into tears. Ron felt totally helpless. "I'm sorry," she said, her voice muffled behind her hands and barely audible.

"Hermione, you haven't got anything to be sorry for!" he said, pulling her into his arms and cuddling her. She didn't object to the comfort and he rocked her, amazed at how right it felt to be holding her like this. "They made a mistake, that's all. They would never have hurt you, but they thought you were someone else."

Hermione sniffed and nodded, calming down a little. "I guess it scared me," she mumbled.

Ron chuckled at that understatement. "I guess it did."

"You must think I'm an awful coward," she whispered against his neck.

"I don't think anything of the sort. Those two are enough to scare the sh...er...the life out of fully grown wizards, let alone a little bit like you!" he said, his voice rumbling pleasantly against her face.

A knock at the door made him glance up and Carter stepped into room, looking at the scene in front of him with raised eyebrows and not a small amount of shock. "I hate to interrupt, old buddy, but we gotta be out front in 3 minutes!"

Ron swore softly. He nodded to Carter and watched as he left the room, waiting until he was gone before moving Hermione gently away from him. "I have to go. The band needs full security on patrol when they're on stage. Listen, stay here all you like or go back to Remus's office. I'll be back soon and I'd like to make sure you're okay." He sat her back on the couch and ran a finger down her face, wiping away the remnants of her tears. "You gonna wait for me?"

Hermione nodded, wondering at the odd emotions she felt when he touched her. He didn't scare her as much as he had, and he certainly didn't scare her as much as she thought he should have. He stood up and then bent to place a small kiss on her lips, almost as an afterthought. He was gone before she could react in any way and she sat there, touching her suddenly tingling mouth with her fingertips.

Remus walked in seconds later, looking a little worse for wear and saw her touching her mouth. "Dammit! What did they do? Did they hurt your mouth?" he said, reaching down and pulling her hand away from her lips. When he saw there was nothing wrong, he looked puzzled, then suspicious. "What's up with your lips?"

Hermione shook her head. "Nothing."

"Mmm-hmm. You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. It just scared me, that's all," she said, giving a shaky smile. "Can we go and watch TV in your office? I want to see the rest of the concert."

"Sure, come on," he took her hand and tucked it in the crook of his arm, walking her back to his office and setting her up in front of the TV once again.

Hermione watched with fascination as one of the band members actually drove a huge flying motorcycle around the arena, guiding it expertly around the stage once before landing, and parking it and stepping off.

She realised that Remus was still sitting next to her, watching her expression with faint amusement. "Enjoy the concert?"

"Yeah, it's..." she searched for right word, "...very amusing."

"Not so amusing when you're in the middle of it though, huh? I'm sorry that happened. They were supposed to take Rea out there and do their little act, but apparently she wasn't where she was meant to be and they found you instead."

"It's okay, they didn't really hurt me, I just panicked." She reached a hand up and touched her neck, still feeling slightly sore from where that enormous man had been holding it.

Remus's eyes dropped to her hand and he frowned. "Let me see," he said, reaching forward to pull her hand away.

Just as he did, Ron walked into the room, having just broken all speed records ushering the band out of the arena and tending to any mishaps. He saw what Remus was looking at and joined him, crouching by her chair and lifting her chin up with his large hand. "Dammit," he muttered, seeing the bruises forming on the slender column of her neck. He felt himself vibrate with rage at the marks on her skin and stood up abruptly, gritting his teeth. "I'm gonna go have a little word with Yvgeny and Isaac," he said, moving to leave the room. He was shocked when Hermione reached out a small hand and grabbed his arm, stopping him from leaving as effectively as if she had placed a wall in his way. He looked down into her imploring brown eyes and found himself trapped in that gaze, unable to look away.

"Please don't," she said softly, looking worried. "They didn't mean to do what they did, you said that yourself."

"Yeah, but I didn't know they'd actually hurt you, did I?"

"I'm okay, it doesn't hurt, really," she said, tugging on his huge treelike arm.

"It must hurt, it's bruised," he pointed out, sitting in a chair next to her at her gentle insistence, still frowning. "I shouldn't have left you there on your own," he persisted.

"It's not your fault either. Let's just forget about it, okay?"

"Forget about it? Right," he said, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "Like you didn't just faint from shock when I picked you up? You scared the crap out of me!"

Hermione raised her eyebrows and couldn't stop a small smile forming on her full lips. "I scared you? I thought nothing scared the big, bad, Ron Weasley?" she said, lowering her voice dramatically.

Ron was surprised when a laugh burst out of his throat. "Yeah, well. A little lady like you can sure put the heebie-jeebies into a fella," he drawled, looking down at her hand still curved over his huge arm.

"I can?" she asked, her eyes wide at his sensuous tone, her heart beating that much faster at his incredibly sexy accent. He had been dropping endearments on her since he had met her, but for some reason she found it nice. Other men that had done the same had made her feel somewhat uncomfortable. She blinked at the heated look he was giving her and cleared her throat in discomfort. She must be imagining it, she thought. A man like him would never look twice at someone as plain as her. Mind you, she mused, her eyes dropping to his very sexy mouth, he had kissed her. Even though it had only been a tiny kiss, to her it meant a lot.

Ron saw her eyes drop and cursed the fact that Remus was still in the office, keeping himself busy behind his desk and pointedly ignoring the two of them while surreptitiously watching over his young charge. He knew that if the older man were absent he would have pulled her against him and kissed her senseless, an urge he found hard to suppress even with their current audience.

"Do you...er," he cleared his throat and lowered his voice. "Are you seeing anyone?"

"No," she answered, honestly wondering why he had asked.

"Good, I mean, well, do you have plans for dinner?" he found himself asking before he even thought about it, and he felt odd, almost embarrassed like he had when he was about seventeen and had asked a girl out on a date, a girl he had been lusting after for months. Ironically enough this happened to be the same girl he always had lusted after. For some reason he felt unsure of himself right now, waiting for her to answer him.

"Yes, she does," Remus said from the background, proving that he had been listening to them all along. "She's eating with Emmaline and myself tonight and tomorrow night. Of course, you're welcome to join us tomorrow if you'd like, if Hermione doesn't mind?"

Ron glanced briefly at Remus and then pinned Hermione with those burning eyes once again. "How about it, Hermione? Would you mind if I joined you?" he asked, thinking of another kind of joining he'd much rather be doing with her.

Hermione shook her head. "I'd like that," she said, smiling shyly.

He smiled back and then narrowed his eyes. "Sure you aren't going to be scared?" he drawled deeply, in his best scary voice.

She contemplated his words seriously for a second. "No. No, you wouldn't hurt me," she said, gauging his kindness and the gentle way he had handled her.

"Damn straight I wouldn't." He brushed his fingers gently down her cheek and then stood, making arrangements with Remus on where to meet the following evening and what time, before winking at her and leaving the room.

Hermione let out a deep breath when he left, feeling her heart beating overtime in her chest. She heard Remus chuckle and turned to see why he was so amused. "I don't think I've ever seen Ron act so gentlemanly in all the years I've known him. You seem to have a strange effect on him, Ninny!"

Hermione blushed. "He's very nice," she said softly.

"Apparently so. You sure seem to like him, anyway," Remus pointed out, chuckling again and shaking his head. "Well, I'm finished here. Let's go find Emma and get ready to go out, shall we?" He took her arm and guided her out of the room, a silly grin still spread across his face.