Just a Wizard

Chapter Five

"Well, well," Remus said, sitting back down and staring at Hermione. "Only in town three days and already you have one of my biggest and most feared agents wrapped around your little finger!"

"It's not like that," Hermione said, sinking down into the chair opposite him.

"No? What is it like then?"

"He's really sweet," she said, smiling as she remembered the lovely picnic he had set out for them.

"Sweet? Ron?" Remus said, looking at her as though she were crazy.

"He is! He's really nice," she said, not having the faintest idea of how dreamy her expression had become. She frowned suddenly. "Although, sometimes he says the most outrageous things!"

"Really, like what?" Remus asked, finding her reaction to the large wizard amusing. Not that Ron was large in a Hagrid sort of way, but compared to a tiny person like Hermione, Ron did look like a monster.

"Oh...er...nothing much...er..." she cleared her throat and stood up. "I need to finish those clothes, before Tabitha comes looking for me."

Remus chuckled as he watched her move away and sit down on the other side of the office. He hadn't been able to help himself from worrying about her, even though he actually did trust Ron. He knew the younger man wouldn't hold his words against him, they had argued in the past. Still, he would have to let Hermione have her freedom, even though he felt like he should lock her away from the world now she had finally come to him for help.

One thing did worry him quite deeply though, and that was what Ron's intentions were. He had only just finalised his divorce, and he had to be a little wary of getting involved again, especially considering the circumstances of the lengthy divorce. He had only had one use for women since the initial split, and Remus had watched him use them and fling them aside without a moment's hesitation. For the last two months he hadn't actually been seen with a woman, however, seeming to avoid them at all costs, and had got himself quite a reputation as a misogynist. Okay, so he seemed to be paying more attention to Hermione and obviously he hadn't actually dragged her off to his bed, but Remus felt it would only be a matter of time and he knew Hermione wouldn't be able to handle that. She seemed smitten, and she was so damned innocent to the wiles of man, and so fragile that her heart would be completely broken if Ron used her.

Remus frowned. He resolved to have a serious talk with the younger man as soon as they both had a moment free later that day. As it was, the whole company was extremely busy. In three weeks they were to be in London and would remain there for four weeks, one of the longest stays anywhere they had made for some years. Remus would be going there in a few days time ahead of everyone else and he was looking forward to going home instead of staying in rented houses all the time or worse, hotel rooms. He would also enjoy showing off his house to Hermione, who had never actually seen it since he and Emmeline had remodelled.

A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts and he absently called out for the person to come in. Tabitha stuck her head around the door and grinned at Remus. "Only me, just thought I'd come and see how Hermione's getting along." She walked into the office and flung herself down in a chair near Hermione, sorting through the box full of clothes.

Hermione had just finished stitching the trousers and handed them to Tabitha as well, waiting quietly whilst the other woman inspected everything. "You're good. These stitches are so neat you can barely see them! Well, I wanted to know what you were capable of, and now I know. A lot more than I just gave you." She smiled at Hermione. "There's nothing else for you to do today and I've pretty much finished up, so how about we go get a coffee and I can get to know you better?"

Hermione smiled. "I'd like that," she said, standing up and looking at Remus. "Is it okay if I go off with Tabitha?"

"You don't have to ask my permission, despite how I was just now. Now, go off and have a bit of fun and we'll meet back here at...say, five?" He smiled at both of the women and waved his hands towards them. "Go, shoo!"

As soon as they left the room Tabitha started asking questions. "What did he mean about how he was just now?"

"Oh, nothing really. He just gave Ron the third degree because he hadn't been able to find me and he found out we had just had lunch together."

"Ron? Weasley? So that's you, huh?" she said, her eyes glittering with amusement.

"Me? What's me?"

"You're the one he's been seen with. You realise you're the first female he's been spotted with for a couple of months now?"

Hermione shook her head. "I didn't know that. But then, I don't know much about him anymore really and Remus hasn't told me what I've missed out on yet." At Tabitha's perplexed look Hermione elaborated. "Oh, Ron and I attended Hogwarts together. You know... the famous Trio... Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger..."

"Oh my GOD!" Tabitha exclaimed. "That was YOU?" She paused shaking her head "Then again I should have known shouldn't I have? I mean how many Hermione's can there actually be?"

"True enough..."

"So what happened? I remember all the talk about how you'd disappeared, and even the "boys" didn't know where you'd gone."

"I went into the Legion, special Ops training and all. No one was supposed to know."

"Interesting," Tabitha said. "Finally, a witch around here with some professional training. Not that Ron isn't a good instructor or anything, but you've learned with the best."

Hermione laughed. That was a severe exaggeration. "So... Why hasn't he been seen with any women?"

"Something to do with his ex-wife, or so we all think. We thought he hated women, but I guess we must have been wrong!" Tabitha smiled at the shorter woman as they walked towards the restaurant.

"He was married?" Hermione asked, incredibly curious to find out more about the man who was making such an impression on her.

"Yeah, to Lavender Brown actually. From all accounts she was the bitch from hell, but I don't know the exact circumstances of their split. Not that I haven't tried to find out, believe me!"

"Lavender Brown?" Hermione screeched then laughed disbelievingly at Tabitha's amused expression and they sat at a table an ordered their coffee. "I can't believe he married that tart. I mean if boobs were brains, then she'd be brilliant, but that's all there was to her at Hogwarts. Maybe he'll tell me about it, if I asked."

Tabitha shook her head. "I wouldn't try it, Hermione. The last person who even mentioned Lavender's name was knocked through a doorway. Of course, they've made it up since, but if it had been anyone else I'm sure they wouldn't be friends anymore."

"Who was it?"

"Carter. You know, Carter Nelson? The Wiz kid? They're good friends and I guess he thought he'd be safe talking about Ron's ex, but he was dead wrong." She stopped talking suddenly and looked momentarily lost in thought. "Carter came to me to patch him up, because the staff healers had already left for the day. He wasn't wearing very much and that sort of made my day."

"You like Carter?"

Tabitha nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah. Not that he's ever noticed me, of course. Even when I was wiping blood from his mouth he barely made eye contact. Ah well, that's the way it goes for some of us I guess."

Hermione frowned at the other woman's glum expression, quickly covered up with a smile. "Have you ever tried talking to him? Carter, I mean?"

"Sort of. Well, no, actually, I guess I haven't. I've said hello and remarked on the weather in passing, that sort of thing." She shrugged and gave a small laugh. "I get a bit tongue tied when he's around, which doesn't help. Anyway, enough about the gorgeous Agent with the sparkling hazel eyes and fantastic body...see? There I go again! Stop me, tell me about you."

Hermione laughed and proceeded to tell Tabitha about her life so far, missing out all the bad things and glossing over her discharge. "You lived in New Zealand? And you came all the way to Manchester just to see Remus?"

"I had some trouble and I...well...I needed to see a friendly face again. Remus is like family, the only family I have left, and there wasn't anything left for me in New Zealand. Besides, it wasn't that far to travel by portkey." Hermione shrugged and tried not to look too uncomfortable. "Now Remus has offered me this job and it's a real Godsend. This is only my second day here and I already feel at home. Everyone's been so nice."

Tabitha grinned. "Especially one big, crimson haired agent, huh? So what's going on with you two?"

"I really don't know, to be honest. We had dinner last night with Remus and Emma, and Ron made me lunch today. He's been nice."

"Nice. Hmm, not a word I've heard to describe Ron Weasley before, but I have to admit he's only ever

been polite to me so I have no complaints. So all you've done so far is eat together?" Tabitha studied Hermione's face carefully, noticing the slight flush that crept into her cheeks at her question. "Oh, so that's not all?"

"Well, not quite. He kissed me," Hermione admitted, almost feeling like she was doing something wrong by confessing it.

"You lucky thing. I wish Carter would kiss me. Actually, I wish Carter would look at me. Tell me what your secret is, maybe that'll help?"

Hermione laughed at the wistful look on her face. "I wish I knew what it was, then maybe I could have made it work before now. It never has before."

"Never? What, you've never...?" Tabitha asked, looking faintly shocked.

When Hermione nodded her head, and said "Only once." she grinned. "Should have known, you're still shy about the whole prospect of mere kissing. Don't worry I used to be the same way."

"What?" she lowered her voice, "You shouldn't have anything to be insecure about...You're beautiful."

"Well, beautiful might be pushing it a little, but I know I'm not ugly. As to how, well I guess I'm just a shy kind of person. That sort of attitude doesn't fit in well with today's society, I might have experience Hermione, but I'm not a trollop, and I am extremely fussy."

"Well, it's nice to know I have someone to come to if I need advise. I'm really terrible with this sort of thing," Hermione said, smiling as she sipped her coffee.

"I'm sure you'll be a natural...oh my God! Look who just walked in!"

Hermione glanced back over her shoulder and saw a man who was equal in height to Ron, if not taller, and just as big. He had longer, curly brown hair that hung past his ears and hazel eyes. He wasn't fantastically handsome, but he was very attractive in a purely masculine way. "I assume that's Carter?"

"You don't know?" Tabitha squeaked, suddenly looking years younger than she had and very nervous.

"No, when he came into the security office, I wasn't looking at him, I was sort of upset..."

"Oh, I heard about that! Isaac and Yvgeny haven't stopped apologizing to Ron for it, from what I hear. What's he doing?"

"Carter?" Hermione asked, watching the tall man sit at one of the tables across the room. "He's just sat down and now he's ordering something. Why don't you go and say hello?"

"Are you crazy? Would you?" Tabitha asked, her face slightly pink.

Hermione shook her head. "No, I wouldn't have the guts. But you seem so confident, or you did until he walked in."

"I know. You see what I mean? I don't just become tongue tied, I end up like a shivering mass of jelly!"

She watched as Hermione's eyes suddenly jerked up. "What? What's he doing?"

"I think he's coming over here!" Hermione said, watching as Carter approached their table.

"Hi, you're Hermione, right?" he asked as he stopped next to them. "I sort of met you the other day, but you were a little preoccupied at the time. I'm Carter Nelson, welcome to the world of personal security and investigation."

He held out his larger hand and Hermione let him shake hers, smiling up at him shyly. "Pleased to meet you," she said, glancing briefly at Tabitha's lowered head. "You know Tabitha, of course?"

Carter turned his head and stared down at the blonde woman, who seemed to be looking everywhere but at him. "Tabitha? I think so. You work in the surveillance department don't you?"

Tabitha jumped when he said her name and her arm flicked out, knocking over her cup of coffee and sending the contents flying across the table to spatter all over Carter's trousers. "Oh, God, I am so sorry," she said, her voice trembling as she looked on in wide-eyed horror at the mess she had caused.

Carter frowned when he saw her panic and he held his hands up, smiling and trying to lighten the mood. "It's okay, it doesn't matter. A quick cleaning spell..." he broke off as she pushed out of her seat and hurried out of the restaurant, not saying another word. "Merlin, what did I say?"

"Nothing, it's okay. I'd better go after her," Hermione said, moving out of her seat.

"Is she alright?" Carter asked her before she could leave.

Hermione looked at him and a plan formed in her mind. "You know, I keep getting lost and I don't know if I'll be able to find her. Maybe you could show me the way, or better yet, maybe you could check on her yourself. You must know her better than me."

"Actually, I don't. I've seen her before of course, and she's even had me in the surveillance department to measure me up for a new weapons belt, and surveillance charms. But she never seems to look at me." He looked like that fact bothered him, and Hermione felt happy all of a sudden, trying not to show it when Carter started talking again. "Come on, I'll show you the way back to Remus' office then I'll go and see if she's okay. I didn't mean to upset her."

"You didn't do anything to upset her, don't worry. She's just a little jumpy, that's all," Hermione said reassuringly, walking out of the restaurant next to him and wondering where all her previous nervousness was going. Being here was obviously doing her good, she decided.

Carter walked her to Remus' office as promised, hardly talking and seeming preoccupied the whole time. He gave Hermione a brief smile before marching off.

"You're back early," Remus said, leaning back in his chair with a tired sigh.

"I know. I simply couldn't stay away from my favourite werewolf!" she replied, sitting in the chair in front of him and grinning.

"I'm the only werewolf you know personally, so that doesn't count. Well, seeing as you're back so soon and I have just finished everything I need to do, how about we get out of here early? We can have a nice relaxing dinner at the house with the rest of the family." Remus said, standing up and moving around the desk. "Maybe we could even get some swimming in, I haven't even used the pool yet. Have you got a suit?"

Hermione shook her head and tried not to look too worried. She hated showing her body off to anyone and the thought of parading around in a swimsuit made her shudder, even if it was only in front of Remus and his family. "That's okay, I'm sure Daffy will have something for you to wear. You should really keep up that tan, it looks rather good on you!"

She took Remus' hand as he reached to help her up, and they left the office, walking slowly through the maze of corridors until they reached the exit.

"I should actually keep it up, now that I've spent so much time in the sun I have a ton of freckles and the tan hides them," Hermione said, grimacing as she pointed to the bridge of her nose and the spattering of freckles that marched their way across it.

"Ah, Ninny, don't you know that men just love freckles? Gives us something to count when we're bored," Remus said happily holding the door to corridor leading to the apparition area open for her. When he joined her he gave her a slightly wicked look. "I'm sure Ron would have a huge amount of fun counting your freckles, as you would his."

"Ha, as if you'd let him! I thought you two were going to come to blows earlier, and I still have no idea why!"

Remus looked briefly uncomfortable. "I was just worried about you, I didn't really mean to be verbal about it. I'd hate to see you get hurt, you know that."

"I know, it's okay. It's quite nice to be worried about for a change, it just feels a bit weird I suppose. You don't really think Ron would hurt me, do you?" she asked, not able to help herself from voicing the question.

Remus took his time replying, which made Hermione worry even more. "I don't think he'd deliberately hurt you, no. And he definitely wouldn't physically hurt you, so you don't have to worry about that."

When he stopped talking and concentrated on their path to the apparition point, Hermione stared at him and frowned. "But?"

"But...he's been through a really bad divorce. For the first few months after they split up, he used and discarded more women than I can count. He's not normally that sort of man as you well know, but I guess what Lavender did to him turned him around for a while." Remus scowled as he thought of Ron's ex-wife.

"Anyway, he settled down again. But for the last two months he hasn't spoken to a woman at all, except for Emma and Daphne. All other females have avoided him because he just yells at them. He got himself quite a reputation for hating women."

"Oh." Hermione chewed her lip and her frown deepened. "But he wasn't rude to me."

"No, he definitely hasn't been rude to you, Ninny. That's not how I'd describe his behaviour towards you at all. He's been very attentive."

"You don't trust him, do you?" she asked him.

"I trust him a great deal with anything else, but not with you. I've seen how he's treated women and I don't want that happening to you. I'd have to kill him and then where would I be? Without one of my best agents, that's where!" he said, with an attempt at humour.

"So you'd rather I didn't see him again?" she asked, trying to sound calm and controlled, where in reality she was starting to feel sad. If Remus said he didn't want her seeing Ron, then she felt like she'd have no choice but to bow to his wishes. After all, he was doing so much for her and she didn't want to appear ungrateful, but the thought of never seeing him again was horrible.

Remus gave her a sideways look and smirked. "I keep forgetting how different you are from Daphne. She wouldn't even have thought of saying that, let alone obeying me if I said yes. I wouldn't ask you to stop seeing someone, but I can't help having reservations." He stopped speaking as he flicked his wand, apparating to the woods outside their rented house, Hermione following a moment later. They landed in the small wood at the end of the curved driveway to the house and began the short trek to the front door. He turned to her before entering. "I will tell you that I intend to talk to Ron and find out what his intentions are. Oh, I don't mean in the marriage sense, just to make sure that he's not just playing you. But I want you to know that that's what I intend to do. If he can make me believe that he won't hurt you, and I warn you that I am hard to fool, then I won't have any problems with you seeing him."

Hermione stared at him for a while, wondering at how strange it felt to have someone be concerned for her well being. She smiled at him and nodded. "Okay. Why did he get divorced?"

Now it was Remus' turn to smile. "That's not my story to tell, honey. If you want to know what happened between Ron and Lavender, then you have to ask him. If you think you're brave enough. Have you heard what he did to Carter?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes, Tabitha told me about it. I suppose I'll never find out what happened, then, because I am definitely not brave enough to ask him about it."

"Hmm, we'll see. You're changing before my eyes, young lady, even in just a few days. It's nice to see."

That evening they sat down in what would have been a family dining room had the house actually belonged to the Lupins. Daphne spoke to Hermione for a while before studying a large sheaf of papers, getting lost in whatever it was she was reading. Remus and Emmeline entertained Hermione with some of the stories they had concocted in the past for the benefit of their clients safety. She thoroughly enjoyed the evening and the only thing that would have made it better was if Ron could have been there. In all honesty, she didn't have any idea where he actually was and since she had only been reintroduced for him two days, she knew she had no right to know. Still, he was the first man who had ever shown an interest in her since Hogwarts who wasn't abrasive or overbearing, and so far she had enjoyed his company. She couldn't help but hope that he would ask her out again, even if it did seem unlikely.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Remus said, reaching inside his jacket pocket for something. "I got you this today." He placed a magical cell phone, called a shell phone on the table and slid it across to her. "It's so I know where you are at all times."

Emmeline elbowed him and rolled her eyes. "No, it isn't so he can keep tabs on you, at all! It's so you can always call us if you need us, even if it's for us to pick you up from somewhere."

"Plus you can use it to make long intimate phone calls to a certain someone," Remus said, raising his eyebrows, his mouth curving into a smile when she blushed.

Hermione felt overwhelmed that they cared enough about her to want to make sure she was safe, that she could contact them if she needed them. She picked the phone up and studied it for a few seconds while she swallowed down the lump that had formed in her throat. "Thank you so much," she said quietly when she could trust her voice again.

Emmeline squeezed her hand. "It's nothing Hermione, just a phone."

"It's the thought behind it though," Hermione replied.

"You know you're going to have to get used to this? You're a part of our family and we'll worry about you all the time that you're not with us. It's what families do," Emmeline said, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Not all families, the legion were supposed to be family too." Hermione said, her tone subdued as memories tried to crowd in on her current happiness.

"No, not all families. I know that as well as you do," Remus said, recalling bad times from his childhood. "But this family looks out for one another, and you better not forget it! It works both ways you know? Any one of us may need you to help us at some time, and we'll expect you to be there for us, too."

"I would be," she said, worried that he might think she would ignore them if they needed her.

"I know," Remus said, smiling gently. "So you better get used to the idea that we'll be there for you as well, for as long as you need us."

Hermione bit her lip. "That may be a long time."

"We're counting on it," Remus replied, smiling with something like relief. It was the first time she had intimated that she would stay for any length of time. "As far as we're concerned, Ninny, you're welcome to stay forever."

"Thank you," Hermione whispered, looking half sad and half happy. She swiped at her eyes self -consciously. "I'm sorry, I guess I'm just tired. I'll go up if that's alright?"

"Wherever we're staying is your home, so you can treat it as such. Off you go and we'll see you in the morning." Emmeline smiled and watched as the young girl left the room, her shoulders drooping slightly.

Remus looked at his wife's concerned expression and grabbed her hand. "It's going to take some time for her to get over her past. She's not used to being cared about anymore, but she'll get there. We'll help her."

"Yes we will." Emmeline squeezed Remus' hand.

"Do you remember when we got married back in her sixth year?" Remus asked and Emmeline nodded. "Daphne was head girl at Hogwarts, and I'll never forget how mad, and rebellious she was. It took a long time for the two of us to get things straightened out, because she thought I was trying to replace her father. I always thought that the two of them were so alike then. Both headstrong and highly intelligent witches." Here Remus chuckled. "It wasn't any surprise when she became Daffy's successor as head girl. Then everything came crashing down on her like a dozen bludgers, when her parents died. Hermione's been this sad and meek little girl ever since, and the incident with Roman Castleton took the last of her with it. But when she's with Ron, I see that spark of the girl she was again, and I'd do anything to have that girl back."

Emmeline nodded again and watched as Remus got his own shell phone out and sent a text message. "Who was that to?"

"Oh, nobody important. Just letting someone know Hermione's new number," he replied innocently.

"Is this nobody important a rather large red haired wizard with a billion freckles by any chance?"

"Could be," he said, smiling smugly.

"I wish you'd make your mind up about him," Emmeline said, shaking her head.

"What do you mean?"

"One minute you like the idea of Hermione coming out of her shell with him, the next you want to deck him for daring to look at her in a certain way. She's not a child," Emmeline said sternly.

"No, she isn't. And neither is he, which is far more important. Still, I guess I do trust him, which is why I gave him her number. He cheers her up." Remus rubbed a hand through his hair. "Anyway, it's extremely early days yet. Once we leave for home she won't be able to see him for two weeks anyway, because he's committed to the Agency. She can have a holiday with us in the meantime."

"And I suppose you think that will make her forget him or vice versa?"

"Well, you never know," Remus said, pursing his lips thoughtfully.

"You know what they say. Absence makes the heart grow fonder," Emmeline said, giving him a knowing look.

"Oh, for Merlin's sake. They've only been re-united for a few days, they aren't in love!"

"Remus, they were in love with one another back at Hogwarts. So don't be too sure about how they feel."

Remus glared at his wife and sighed, wondering what he'd done by even reacquainting Ron with Hermione. Well, it was too late now, he would just have to watch and wait...and be ready to kill if necessary, he thought grimly.

The next morning Remus dragged Hermione with him to work and handed her over to Tabitha, with instructions to make sure she 'gave her something complicated to do.

Tabitha grinned at her as Remus walked away. "What did you do to piss the boss off?"

"I have no idea," Hermione replied, shaking her head and staring after Remus' retreating figure.

"Well, what the boss says, goes. So, I have just the thing for you to do, and you never know, you may even enjoy it!" Tabitha said with a wicked glint in her eyes. She pulled Hermione inside the room and handed her a tape measure. After picking up the same for herself she gave a slightly unsteady smile. "Okay, let's go."

"Go where?"

"To Ron and Carter's office, of course. We have some measurements to take," Tabitha said, starting to look nervous.

"M...measurements? You mean I have to...oh, I can't," Hermione said, not moving.

"You have to. I have to do it and I feel just as nervous, and I've been doing it for years. I suppose it makes it worse because of who we're measuring..."

"But...but they've been working here for years, you must have their measurements already!" Hermione said hopefully.

"I have old ones. But the new surveillance charms have to be specially designed and I need more precise measuring, especially Carter's, he's lost a few pounds. I have to do this every once in a while. It'd make me feel much better having you there, because I can teach you how to measure at the same time I'm doing it. That way Carter won't think I'm just there to feel him up!" Tabitha said, smiling shakily.

"You could always measure Ron and I could measure Carter, if that helps?"

"No, no. I am there just so I can feel him up. Carter's mine!" Tabitha said, giving a small laugh.

"Talking of Carter, did he find you yesterday after you threw your coffee all over him?" Hermione asked, reaching for any subject to delay what she knew she was going to have to do.

She watched as the older woman blushed. "Yeah, he did. And you want to know what I did? He burst into the room without knocking and I threw a tray full of permanent sticking bugs at him in shock! It took me quite a while to pick them out of his chest, not that he seemed to mind. He laughed at me the whole time."

Hermione couldn't help but laugh herself at the mental picture she got. "You really know how to make an impression!"

"Don't I just? Still, it wasn't all bad. He said thanks and then touched my face..." she tailed off and started to look mesmerized, before shaking herself. "Anyway, we have to do this, and you have to learn, so let's go."

Tabitha marched off so quickly that Hermione found herself jogging to catch up with her long legged stride. "Do we have to?"

"Yes, we do. I had this scheduled for this morning anyway, and now I have you to back me up. Come on, deep breaths, we're nearly there."

Almost too soon they were standing outside the door and Hermione could hear the rumble of voices from inside, punctuated by deep laughter. She took a deep breath and swallowed. "Are we measuring er... their bottom half?"

"Oh yeah, we sure are," Tabitha said, sounding just as breathless as she did. Gathering her nerve, the blond knocked on the door and swung it open as soon as she heard one of them shout out to come in.

Hermione had to admire her resolve. Obviously this was a part of the job that she found difficult, but she gritted her teeth and got on with it. Hermione decided she would have to do the same.

Ron was sitting on the settee, leaning his head against the back with his eyes closed. He opened them and immediately sat up straight when he saw her walk in, a smile curling the corners of his mouth. "Good morning, Hermione," he said, his deep voice sending a shiver down her spine. "Busy?" he asked, nodding towards the tape measure.

"Oh...er...well, I have to...er...measure you..." she stammered, blushing when his eyebrows shot up.

"Measure me?" he said, standing up and moving closer to her, noticing how Carter was leaning down to talk to Tabitha and that neither of them were paying any attention to what he was doing. "What part of me are you measuring, Ninny?" He watched as her face was completely suffused with colour and her mouth opened and closed a couple of times. He touched a finger to her nose. "I've called you Ninny since fifth year, remember? But seeing as you're face changes colour whenever you're around me, I think I'll just call you Scarlet."

Hermione was shocked when he leaned down and planted a brief kiss on her lips. He didn't seem to care that the other two were in the room, but when she looked across at them, she realised why. Carter was standing so close to Tabitha that they were virtually touching and Tabitha's face was the same colour as Hermione's. Whatever he was saying to Tabitha had made her eyes become incredibly wide.

Ron's hand caressing her cheek made her attention jump back to him, and she looked up into his impossibly blue eyes, seeing them crinkle at the corners as he smiled. "You know, you looked just like this when I kissed you in Remus' office. Am I not allowed to touch you in front of anyone?"

"I...I don't mind...you..." she swallowed and tried again. "People will think that we're...you know..."

He raised an eyebrow and grinned. "I am an adult, you know? I am allowed to have a relationship."

"A relationship?"

"Mmm-hmm. A relationship. Me and you. You got a problem with that?"

"You don't really know me anymore and...I don't really know you..."

His thumb rubbed across her bottom lip, stopping her from rambling. "I know enough for now, and the rest we'll find out as we go along. I'm not looking for a quick roll in the hay, Scarlet, if that's what's worrying you." He studied her expression and his eyes narrowed. "Merlin's balls, you've only been here for a few days and the gossips have already got to you haven't they?"

"Well, I heard some stuff," she admitted as he led her to the settee and pulled her down on it next to him.

"And you believe it all?"

"Not really, but..."

"But? Either you believe it or you don't!" he said, his voice like a soft growl as he became impatient. It would be nice for just one person to disbelieve all the rumours for once, even if some of them were true. He saw her tense as his voice deepened and took a calming breath, forcing himself not to get angry at her. After all, she hadn't actually done anything and he knew he was being unreasonable.

"You know I don't believe rumours just for the sake of it," she said quietly, biting her lip. "I prefer to get to know the situation first. I...I'm sure there's a grain of truth in them somewhere, but you've never been like that and you don't seem like that to me now."

Ron was surprised and his face showed it. "You don't think I'm like that?" He watched as she shook her head and his face relaxed into a smile. "How would you like to have dinner with me tonight at the hotel?"

Hermione smiled shyly and lifted her chin. "Is this a date?"

He chuckled and tugged at a strand of her curly chestnut hair. "Yep, this is a date. Well?"

"I'd love to. I haven't got anything glamorous to wear, though," she said worriedly.

"We can soon fix that. I'll take you shopping this afternoon, and don't argue, I always get my own way!" He fixed her with a warning look.

"So not all the gossip was untrue then?" she said, trying for a teasing tone, pleased with her efforts when he slanted her a stern glare and grabbed her chin threateningly, but gently.

"Want to know which bits are true?" he growled, leaning closer to her, his intentions clear in his eyes.

Just as he was about to make contact, a loud cough came from in front of them, making Hermione jump back guiltily. Ron had no such problem, merely looking up at Carter with a frustrated smile. "Can we help you?"

Carter grinned. "Much as I hate to break things up, I think these ladies are here to do some work. Shall we let them do it?"

Ron stood up and studied Carter's face, unable to help laughing. "Sure. You think the other guys will like that particular shade of pink?"

"What?"

Ron pointed to Carter's mouth where a smudge of bright pink lipstick could clearly be seen and the younger man quickly wiped it off, glancing over at Tabitha who looked as if she wished the floor would open up and swallow her.

Hermione stood up and unrolled her tape measure, calling Tabitha over and hoping to make the older girl feel more at ease by getting on with their job.

"Okay, so...er...where do I start?" she asked, looking up and down Ron's body and wondering if she would actually have the nerve to do this. Not that Ron seemed to mind, he was standing with his arms folded across his impressive chest and his legs planted apart, staring at her with amusement.

Tabitha moved to kneel in front of Carter, placing one end of the tape measure on his outside ankle. "Just do what I do the tape will record the measurements in the register by itself, When it has the correct measurement the end will glow green."

Hermione nodded and copied Tabitha, running the tape up the outside of Ron's leg to his waist. Then came the inside leg and Hermione watched Tabitha carefully, blushing when she saw how her hand actually brushed up between Carter's legs, even though the contact was impersonal. She glanced up at Ron and his mouth was twitching as he tried not to laugh at her expression. "Not up to it, Scarlet?" he said mockingly.

"Yes, are you?" she asked, narrowing her eyes. She took a deep breath and gritted her teeth, running the tape firmly up the inside of his leg until she got to the crease where his thigh met his body and moved her hand away, glad that this part was over. She couldn't help but notice the changed contours of his body and her eyes shot to his. "If I wasn't up for it before, Scarlet, I sure as hell am now," he grumbled, not in the least bit ashamed of how his body had reacted.

Hermione didn't say a word, her face so red by now that it almost hurt. She continued taking measurements, making him hold his arms out straight at shoulder height so she could do his chest and waist. When it came to his arms she had to stand on the settee behind him so she could reach properly, and she swatted his head when she heard him chuckling.

He turned around when she had finished. "Need some help down from your high perch, tiny?" He didn't give her time to answer, merely grabbed her around the waist, his large hands nearly spanning it entirely, and lifted her down to stand in front of him.

"Tiny, Scarlet, Ninny...I don't know what I'm supposed to call you!" Carter said, grinning stupidly down at her as he walked towards them.

"You can call her Miss Granger," Ron growled at him, making him smile even more.

"I think I'd prefer to call her Hermione," Carter said, his eyes glinting wickedly as he wound Ron up.

"You'd probably prefer to keep your head where it is too, wouldn't you?"

Carter held his hands up. "Whoa, okay, message received loud and clear. I don't think Remus would appreciate having to put a new door in just yet, do you? Anyway, I have other fish to fry," he murmured, his eyes darting to where Tabitha stood.

"What a romantic way to put it. Now get lost, I want to talk to Miss Granger here," Ron said, drawing Hermione towards him and away from the other two. When they were on the other side of the room he smoothed her hair away from her face, his hand possessive. "I hope you don't think Carter's good looking?"

Hermione stared into Ron's eyes for a second and then looked over at Carter, making it look like she was admiring him. "He's not bad, I suppose. Why?"

"Uh-uh. Wrong answer. You don't think Carter's good looking." he said, his words more of an order.

"I don't?"

He grinned at her bemused expression. "Nope. You only go for guys with dark blue eyes and red hair. And freckles. Tall men."

"I do? Do I know anyone that fits that description then?" she said, glancing around the room.

Ron leered down at her. "You sure do. Open those pretty eyes wide and look up."

She did, looking at the ceiling. "Nope, there's no one up there. Ah well, if I can't find someone fitting that description, I guess I'll have to look for someone else."

He reached out a hand and held her face up to his. "Don't even think about it." His fingers caressed her cheek gently. His eyes boring into hers until she couldn't drag her own eyes away from his hypnotic gaze.

He frowned suddenly. "I'm really going to miss you."

"You are?"

He nodded. "Yeah, sounds crazy right? We've been back together What? Three days, four? And yet I feel as if we've never been apart, and I'll miss you over the next couple of weeks. You must think I'm a psycho."

Hermione shook her head. "I don't think you're crazy. I feel exactly the same way, as if we've been together all this time. Except I don't actually know anything about you anymore, not really."

He tilted his head to one side. "And I suppose you have a lot of questions you want to ask me, right? Well, if you're good, maybe I'll let you ask me some questions tonight."

"Really? You won't mind? I mean, I don't want to poke my nose in or anything," she said, glad that he was willing to open up about all the gossip, but worried that he might think her a busybody.

"I don't mind with you, but I might not answer all your questions. I guess it all depends what you ask me, doesn't it?" He gave her an easy smile and glanced across at Tabitha who was standing waiting for Hermione. "I think your work here is done, Scarlet. I'll come and find you at two o'clock and we'll go shopping. We could even catch a matinee movie before we have dinner."

Hermione stared at him silently for a few seconds, a small smile curving her mouth. "You're really charming, do you know that?" Ron looked almost uncomfortable with the compliment and Hermione laughed softly. "I don't suppose that goes well with your mean image does it?"

"Not really, no," he grumbled, fighting a smile. "But I guess it's okay as long as you don't go blabbing it to everyone you meet."

"Don't you like being called charming?"

"I wouldn't know, no one's ever said it to me before. I guess it feels okay, coming from you. You have more reason than most to think that most men aren't nice," Ron said, not thinking of what he was giving away.

Hermione went completely still. "How would you know...Remus wouldn't have told you, he..." she shook her head and pulled back from him.

"He didn't tell me, I guessed. Then I asked for details, but he didn't tell me much." He stared at her steadily for a moment, taking a deep breath. "Maybe we can both discover some more about one another. I don't suppose either story is very nice, and neither of us seem comfortable with them, do we?"

Hermione shook her head. "No one knows about my life between Hogwarts and coming back here. I don't know...I'm not sure if I want to talk about it."

"Sometimes it helps," Ron pointed out.

She stared up at him and raised her eyebrows. "Really? How often have you spoken about your past?"

"OK, fair enough. I haven't. But I've heard that it helps. So will you help me by listening?" he asked, reaching out to take her hand, absently stroking her fingers.

How could she possibly refuse when he looked at her like that? She wondered, smiling involuntarily at the little boy lost look he was using. It was ridiculous that a man of six and a half feet could look so helpless.

"Okay."

"Good. I'll see you at two," he said, losing the lost look and grinning triumphantly. The small goodbye kiss he pressed on her mouth stopped her from saying anything about his playacting and she soon found herself ushered out of the room and the door closing behind her.

Tabitha stared at her with her mouth hanging open. "Sweet Merlin, Circe, and Zeus!"

"What?"

"He was kissing you and...holding your hand...and...Merlin, you looked like a couple and you've only just started seeing one another!"

"I know," Hermione said, starting to walk along next to the other girl, smiling softly as she thought of how nice Ron was. "I feel like we've never been apart."

"Soul mates," Tabitha said knowledgeably, nodding her head. "They say that's exactly how it feels."

"Really? But I didn't...you know...fancy him when we I saw him the other day. I was scared of him to be honest."

"I bet that didn't last long though did it? I bet you were soon chatting away and gazing into each other's eyes!" Tabitha said, grinning and rolling her eyes.

"Huh, you can talk! Your lipstick's still smudged and I noticed that Carter was wearing most of it!"

Now it was Tabitha's turn to blush, but she smiled even as the colour swept across her cheeks. "Guilty as charged. I can't believe he actually kissed me. I didn't expect that at all, so if I look a little shell shocked you'll have to forgive me."

"Did he ask you out?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact. He asked me to go to dinner tonight and I accepted, but now I feel so nervous that I swear I'll be sick the moment he picks me up."

"Ron asked me to dinner, too. He said we'd be eating at the hotel."

"Hopefully that'll be where Carter wants to eat, so that when I run out of things to say to him, you two can sit with us and keep the conversation flowing!"

Hermione laughed. "I doubt you'll have any problems, but it would be nice to sit with you if you really wouldn't mind."

"I would love it. But Ron might not, so maybe you'd better wait to make plans until you see him later."

"You're right. He's taking me shopping to get something nice to wear this afternoon, and he said we'd see a film too."

"Sounds to me like he's smitten. I haven't seen him pay this much attention to a woman, not ever." Tabitha grinned at Hermione as they reached the surveillance room. "Well, enough talk about luscious men, we have work to do!"

The day rushed by with Tabitha showing her all sorts of things she would be expected to do, and Hermione thoroughly loved it. Before she knew it, two o'clock had come round and the door flew open to reveal Ron standing there, dressed in loose fitting jeans and a black shirt.

Hermione glanced up from the bunch of artefacts she was charming, surprised at how so many hours could have just disappeared, and her eyes ran over him, her mouth watering at how sexy he looked.

"Well?" Ron said, raising one eyebrow at her confused look. "What are we waiting for?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't really notice the time." Hermione looked around her at the mess she had made. "I'll just clear up a bit and I'll be right with you."

"You mean I have to wait? You know I hate waiting!" Ron grumbled, walking into the room and throwing himself down into a chair.

Hermione looked at him and smiled at his petulant expression. "You could always help, you know."

He gave her an outraged look and stuck his chin out. "I have been working all day, throwing people around. It can be exhausting. I really don't think I have enough energy to pick up all those heavy trinkets!"

Hermione continued clearing her work things away, nodding her head. "I can see how that would be exhausting. For you, anyway."

"Well, I'm sure glad you understand how hard this can all be and...what do you mean, for me?" Ron asked, leaning forward and narrowing his eyes on her suddenly innocent face.

"Oh...nothing," she mumbled, still smiling as she carried a basket of work to the cupboard. When she turned back from it she jumped, Ron had moved silently and was standing directly behind her.

"Nothing? Are you sure?"

"Well, I only meant, you know, that you...er...obviously work harder than anyone else here and that you would then feel much more tired than anyone else," Hermione said, trying to keep a straight face as he leaned down and studied her eyes.

"You're lying," he said, nodding his head with certainty. "You better start telling me the truth, or you're in a whole heap of trouble."

"Do you think you can take the truth?"

"Do you think you can take what'll happen if you don't tell me?" Ron countered, smiling wickedly at her.

"What will you do?"

"Now there's a leading question," he murmured, eyeing her body. "I think I'll begin by seeing exactly how ticklish you are. If I remember correctly, I was going to do that the other day and I got sort of got distracted."

"You can't tickle me," Hermione said, biting her lip.

"I can't? You better start talking then," Ron said, planting one hand either side of her head against the cupboard so she was trapped.

"Okay. I meant that someone of your large stature would probably get tired far quicker than all the smaller agents." She gave him a smug grin as she finished, waiting for him to explode.

"You're calling me fat?" he asked, frowning and not looking at all amused.

Hermione stopped smiling and just stared at him, wondering if she'd really insulted him. She hadn't meant to. "No...I...sorry."

Ron dropped his arms away and stepped back. "You think I'm fat. You think I'm too big for you."

"No! No, I didn't mean anything by it, I was joking!" Hermione said, moving forward and grabbing his arms, her eyes wide as she felt guilt flood through her. She had hurt his feelings. Her eyes fell away from his stern face. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it."

"How sorry?"

Her eyes shot upwards again and she noticed the amusement crinkling the corners of his eyes. "You fake!"

"There you go again, insulting me!"

She smacked his arm. "I thought I'd hurt your feelings, you big oaf!"

"Oaf? Fake? Fat? Anything else? Be careful what you say, or I won't buy you a nice dress!"

"Hunk? Devilishly handsome? A fine specimen of manhood?" she ventured, smiling at him in a winning way.

"Gold-digger!" he said, shaking his head in mock disgust.

"Gold...! I am not! You offered! Well, fine, I'll buy my own dress, I have some money you know! Gold-digger indeed!" she muttered, stalking out of the room once she'd grabbed her purse.