Can't Escape The Ghost

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Chapter Two

Can't Escape the Ghost

September 19, 2003

Harry was woken by the sound of a voice in the grate.

'Harry! Harry, you there? Harry?'

Ginny groaned and rolled over in her sleep. Trying not to disturb her, he threw back the covers and padded to the Floo. It was Tonks.

'Tonks, I haven't slept in four days. Please tell me this is important.'

'Harry, it's Hermione. Some bloke attacked her tonight as she was headed home.'

Harry's heart stopped.

'Is she okay? Where is she?'

'She's fine. She was half way Apparated by the time he got to her. She splinched and spooked the guy.'

'How bad was the splinch?'

'Not fatal anyway. They've got her in St. Mungo's.'

Harry checked the clock on the mantle. A hand marked 'Hermione' was pointed to 'Hospital'.

'I'll be right there. Floo Kingsley for me and tell him I won't be in this morning.'

Harry quickly threw on a shirt and a pair of trousers, accidentally rousing Ginny as he stumbled about their darkened bedroom.

'Harry ... what's going on?' She asked.

'Hermione was attacked last night.'

'WHAT?'

'It's all right, she's fine. I'm just going over to St. Mungo's to check in and get a statement.'

'What happened?'

'The attacker must have startled her while she was Apparating. She splinched and scared the guy off.'

'I'm going with you.'

'Gin, it's two in the morn...'

'I am going with you.' Her tone bespoke warning.

'All right, all right. I never said you couldn't. I just thought you might like to get a full night's sleep. God knows I'd love to remember what that felt like,' Harry added bitterly.

'She's my friend too, Harry. You need to stop cutting me out of things.'

'I know, I know. I'm sorry. Can we please chalk it up to the hour and forget what an inconsiderate bastard I am?'

Ginny shrugged on a set of robes over her nightgown.

'You're buying breakfast.'

'I'll take that as a yes.'

---

'How'd you get here so bloody early?' Harry asked, surprised to see Ron at Hermione's bedside. She slept, oblivious to the ginger-haired young man holding her hand.

'I see Tonks got a hold of you then. That's good,' he replied vacantly. There were dark circles under his conspicuously red and swollen eyes.

'Oh, Ron, you look awful,' said Ginny. 'Have you been here all night?'

'Hermione patched me up after scrimmage this morning. She said she needed a hand with...' Ron trailed off waiting for them to fill in the blank on their own. They did. 'I was on my way to ... the place ... last night when I heard her screaming...'

Ginny let out a little shriek. Harry paled beside her.

'Fun times, this...' added Ron solemnly. Harry nodded, unable to shake the image of the mutilated corpses from his mind and appreciating fully how very close his friend had come to sharing that same fate.

'Harry, you don't think this had anything to do with the place ... do you?' asked Ginny.

Harry considered for a moment. He supposed it was possible. There really were only two rational explanations for the rash of murders. The possibility of a genuine psychopath perpetrating the crimes out of sheer blood lust had not escaped him, but something about the timing of the attacks was not sitting right with him as a simple matter of random violence. In fact, hadn't Remus remarked over tea only last week how conveniently these 'attacks' were taking place in conjunction with the issuance of anti-werewolf legislation? Conspiracy sounded ludicrous, and yet...

'I think it very well might,' he replied.

Ron looked up, alarmed.

'You don't think someone's on to ... but they couldn't be, could they? I mean, who would have...'

'No, I think we're still safe on that front. But Hermione's never made her position on the new Ministry acts very private, has she? I mean, she's all but fronting the Association for the Rights of All Beings, and even with that clown they have for a mouthpiece, she's still the only clout that group has and everyone knows it. I'd say they're the only legitimate stumbling block the Ministry has in passing any more of those asinine decrees.'

'Not to mention her research,' Ginny added.

'Not to mention her research,' Harry acknowledged.

Ron chuckled slightly. Ginny and Harry stared at him.

'ARAB,' he said, by way of explanation. Ginny rolled her eyes.

'Hermione's predilection for terrible acronyms aside, who would want to kill her?' she asked Harry. 'I mean, sure, she's a public figure and very outspoken in her views, but that isn't really Scrimgeour's MO, is it? I would think he'd be courting her the way he went after you during the war.'

'You would think so. But Scrimgeour isn't necessarily the only one with a vested interest in these decrees. We may just have another Umbridge on our hands.'

Ron flinched.

'Another Umbridge?'

Harry smirked.

'I'll look into it.'

---

As Hermione awoke, she discovered some very inconvenient builders had taken up residence within her temples and were doing their level best to demolish her skull.

'Nice of you to join us.'

Ginny's face slowly came into focus as Hermione regained consciousness. Beside her sat Ron, looking much worse for the wear.

'Ginny, how long was I out? What happened? There was a man ... he had a knife...'

'Shh. Relax, Harry's looking into it. You splinched yourself.'

'I have to get back ... I never finished last night's batch! I'm already terribly behind...' Hermione began to get up.

'Hermione sit down,' ordered Ginny. 'You were almost murdered last night. Let someone else worry about that.'

'Ginny, who else is there?'

'Ron and I will both come by tomorrow to help pick up the slack and Harry has promised to stop by after his shift is over. Remus has everything else well enough under control.'

Hermione sank back onto the bed.

'I can't do this anymore. Augustus and I are scheduled to start trials next week ... I've got a publicity mad vampire breathing down my neck for interviews, photo ops and sound bites ... Now I've got some lunatic trying to kill me ... When exactly did I sign on for Harry's life?'

'When you decided to single handedly save the world,' quipped Ron.

Hermione smiled weakly.

'I suppose I have you to thank for saving me, don't I?'

Ron shrugged.

'Call it an early birthday present. Saves me the trouble of actually having to find you something.'

Hermione fortunately found strength enough to swat him on the arm.

'In the meantime,' began Ginny, 'Harry is going to have you followed for a while, just to make sure this kind of thing doesn't happen again.'

'Is that really necessary?'

'Harry thinks these attacks may be related to your work.'

'My work? How is that possible? I don't even know any of the other victims.'

'No, but somebody really has it in for werewolves, and you and Roman are their most visible advocates,' Ron pointed out.

'Oh my God, Roman! Is he okay? Did some lunatic go after him, too?'

'No, no, he's fine,' soothed Ginny. 'Tonks checked on him this morning. It looks like whoever is cutting up all these people was counting on everyone thinking it was done by werewolves. Now that you can confirm Harry's report that some knife wielding assailant is doing all the damage, whoever is behind this will have to find some other way to discredit your work.'

'So in a way, you've just put the nutter out of business,' observed Ron cheerfully.

Hermione smiled despite herself.

'I suppose I did. But even so, I'm not entirely out of danger, am I?'

'No, I don't reckon you are,' replied Ron, 'but I wouldn't worry. Harry will make sure you and Roman are tailed by the best Aurors he can find. You won't even know they're there unless you need them.'

'I'd rather I didn't need them at all.'

'That would be the ideal, wouldn't it?'

Just then, Clara Sedgwick poked her salt and pepper head in.

'Hermione, I don't think I saw this much of you even as my trainee, love! Let me have a look...'

Clara ran her wand across Hermione's midsection, noting the flicker of yellow as she passed over the scar left by Dolohov's curse and the green glow emanating from her bandages.

'Well, dear, it looks as if you're as right as rain. I do wish there was something we could do about that curse scar of yours, but I'm afraid that may be there for good.'

'I know, Clara.'

'Well, there isn't much more I can do for you. You're free to go.'

'Thank you, Clara.'

'And we could do with seeing a little less of you around here, young man,' she told Ron.

He blushed.

'I can't help it if the other teams have no respect for Hermione's delicate timetable of research,' he threw back easily.

"Humph. Hermione, feel free to stop by any time, but I want you to take the day off today. Augustus said your trial is ready for next week, and it's your birthday besides. You work yourselves too hard, you young people!'

'Yes, Clara.'

As she left, Ginny helped Hermione to her feet.

'You're coming with me today...no, don't argue...it's your birthday and you were nearly murdered last night. I have a right to spoil you a little.'

'I appreciate that, Gin, but I really should...'

'Hermione, if I hear the words 'I really should' come out of your mouth one more time today I'm going to send love letters to Percy in your name.'

'Then I suppose I really should just go along, shouldn't I?' Ron laughed and Hermione grinned.

Ginny shot him a withering look, grabbed Hermione's arm in a death grip and steered her out the door.

'For that,' she retorted, 'we're going to my spa.'

---

Harry sat at the end of the bar, nursing his drink and listening to Neville and Luna debate the magical properties of some plant he had never heard of. Ron had left momentarily to escort Ginny and Hermione to the Leaky Cauldron from the spa. It was unnecessary, but Harry thought it unlikely he'd be able to convince Ron of that fact. As he signaled Tom for another drink he saw Tonks arrive. Her demeanor was as stayed as had become customary these days. She hadn't descended to the depths of melancholy Harry had witnessed seven years prior when she had been almost incapacitated with unrequited love, but requited love clearly held complications of its own.

'Wotcher, Harry,' she said, saddling up to the bar and ordering a double.

'Hey, Tonks. How's Remus?'

'Oh, you know, the usual. Busy, but optimistic as ever. He thinks there's a chance he and I might be able to get married soon.'

'Tonks, that's great!'

'Yeah.'

'Just, yeah? You've been waiting for this for six years!'

'I know, I know. But Remus can't work right now, and no matter how hard I try to get excited about getting married I can't stop worrying about what we're going to do. I keep remembering what happened with Dawlish...'

'Tonks, that was entirely different. You aren't the werewolf...Scrimgeour wouldn't have a leg to stand on if he tried to sack you.'

'Somehow I doubt it would take very long for him to make the leap between werewolf and werewolf's wife. He'd probably say it was only a matter of time before he infected me as well.'

'That's rubbish, no one is more careful than Remus. He wouldn't let that happen.'

'Harry, you know that and I know that, but someone is jerking Scrimgeour's strings pretty hard. I'm not that essential to the Aurors that Kingsley would risk making waves to keep me.'

Harry opened his mouth to argue, but she cut him off.

'You know it's true, Harry. Not everyone can afford to be as loyal as you are.'

The door swung open and in came Ginny pulling on Hermione who appeared to be walking in very slowly and extremely bowlegged. Ron followed close behind, carrying their cloaks. Beside him, Tonks downed the last of her whiskey.

'I'm thinking about leaving the force,' she said simply. She set her glass back on the bar and as Harry watched, she slid off the stool and greeted them with a carefully practiced smile.

---

'They look so good together, don't they?'

'Hmm?'

'Ron and Hermione. They look good together,' reiterated Ginny.

Harry took the opportunity to dip his wife slowly as he tried to formulate a response to that non-sequiter. Three feet away, Ron danced with Hermione.

'I suppose so,' replied Harry unenthusiastically.

'Did either of them ever tell you why it never worked out between them? God, looking at them like that ... it seems like such a waste, doesn't it?'

As she spoke, Ron spun Hermione with great flair, making her laugh. She looked so happy with Ron, even Harry wondered for a moment why she couldn't just...

'Yeah, it does,' he said.

'I've tried to get her to talk to me about it but every time I mention the subject she clams up.'

Harry thought back to the last conversation he had with Hermione on the topic of her relationship with Ron.

He's not what I want anymore...

'They tried it and it didn't work.'

'Sometimes I just don't understand her, Harry.'

Harry smiled.

'Join the club. But don't you think you might be just the slightest bit biased? He is your brother after all.'

'Mmm, maybe,' Ginny conceded.

As the song ended, they returned to the large table where the others sat. Hermione laughed at something Ron said as he pulled out her chair for her. She played her role exquisitely. Harry didn't even have to listen to the other conversations at the table to know that they all agreed vehemently that Hermione belonged with Ron.

Harry noticed, however, that her smiles never really reached her eyes. He was, perhaps, the only one in the room who noticed. He was certain he was the only one in the room who knew why.

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