Transcript
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The Case of the Dark
Artefacts by drcjsnider
Category: Harry Potter
Genre: Humor, Romance
Language: English
Characters: Hermione G., Ron W.Status: Completed
Published: 2009-07-22
Updated: 2009-07-22
Packaged: 2013-03-15 22:31:08
Rating: T
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,183Publisher: www.fanfiction.net
Summary: A crate of Dark Artefacts havebeen delivered to the Department for th
Regulation and Control of Magica
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Creatures. Ron has been assigned to fin
hem and bring to justice whoeve
mported them. A Ron and Hermione post
war story.
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The Case of the Dark
Artefacts
Title: The Case of the Dark Artefacts
Rating: PG- 13
AN: Written for Spring Image Challenge
This is the image I had to work with: imsrc=".com/albums/ss124/checkmated_".
'd like to give a big thanks to Kazfeist an
Queenb23 for agreeing to beta this. The
are both absolute dolls, who in addition tpreventing me from looking foolish
provide much needed reassurance.
Ron Weasley stretched his legs out infront of him and slouched down in hi
chair. Usually he enjoyed the mornin
Auror briefings, but today his mind kep
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wandering back to his girlfriend. Eve
since Hermione had moved in with hi
wo months ago, she'd been trying to figur
out the most effective way to wake him un the morning. Several of her attempt
had been bloody annoying like th
stinging hex to his buttocks. Thi
morning's experiment, however, had reapotential.
He had woken up to Hermione straddlin
him and pressing kisses all over his faceRon had allowed her to think it was wasn
working, keeping his eyes closed and hi
breathing steady until she'd given a cut
ittle huff of exasperation. He'd the
grabbed her by the arms and rolled on top
of her, burying his face into her neck and
gently biting her skin, causing her t
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squeal in mock fright.
"Who dares wake the big, strong
powerful Auror!" he had growled in thvoice he used when trying to intimidat
suspects.
Despite her vulnerable positionHermione had rolled her eyes. "Oh please
happen to know all of your weaknesses.
Still holding her down, Ron had scoffed"I don't have any weaknesses."
"Chocolate frogs, spiders, this"
Ron had felt Hermione's knee come up an
rub against his morning erection. He'
clenched his teeth together to stop himsel
from moaning.
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"Me."
With that, he had bent down and captured
her mouth with his. They'd spent the nexwenty minutes 'wrestling', as Harr
nsisted on referring to what Ron an
Hermione did together in their bedroom s
he never had to verbally acknowledge thfact they had sex, then rushed through thei
morning showers, barely making it t
work on time.
He began paying attention to Auro
Dawlish handing out assignments for th
day only after Harry kicked him in th
foot. Ron assumed he and Harry would b
on Diagon Alley patrol. They alway
patrolled the main thoroughfare the firs
week of every month. According t
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Minister Shacklebolt, the genera
wizarding population stayed calmer if i
got to see Harry in his Auror robes on
regular basis, and Ron never minded. Hiked being able to chat with George
Ollivander, Hannah, and all his othe
friends who worked in that part o
London.
He was taken aback, therefore, whe
Dawlish called out, "Potter and Ackerley
patrol Diagon Alley. Weasley, you arewith me."
Glancing over, Ron saw Harry shrug hi
shoulders before standing up and headin
off with the new recruit.
"Weasley, my office," Dawlish barked
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before striding away.
Ron stood slowly, worried that despite th
day's amazing beginning, things were nowgoing rapidly downhill.
0-0-0
Ron had barely taken a seat, whe
Dawlish shoved a folder at him. "We'v
got a problem that I need you to take car
of."
Opening the case file, Ron frowned as h
started to read the report inside. Th
Auror monitoring the Muggle CustomOffice the evening before had noticed
shipment of Dark Artefacts bein
collected by a representative of th
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Department for the Regulation and Contro
of Magical Creatures. "Why didn't Whitb
deal with this last night?"
"Apparently the official from the DRCMC
refused to hand over the box of Artefacts
Rather than cause a scene in front of th
Muggles, Whitby followed him back tMinistry. When he tried to gain admittanc
o the Department, however, he found th
facility locked and none of the guard
willing to permit a search until thimorning."
Ron flipped to the second page of th
report. "And today, no one on that leve
will admit to having received a Dar
Artefact shipment?"
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Dawlish nodded.
"Does Whitby have any proof beyon
what he saw last night that this crate reallarrived at the Ministry?"
Dawlish passed Ron an evidence bag tha
had two leaves sealed inside it.
"What's this?"
"Stinging Nettle leaves. They are used in host of dark potions and magical items
Whitby found one at the Customs Offic
and one outside the door of the DRCMC."
Ron placed the file and the evidence ba
on the desk then rubbed his eyes. "Wh
me?"
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"Why do you think?" Dawlish replied
arching an eyebrow.
"But sir" Ron began only to get cut off.
"Weasley, you know as well as I do tha
hree-fourths of the people who work i
hat department are nutters. All they carabout is not upsetting magical creature
and insuring the ethical treatment of al
ypes of monsters. We won't get anywhere
with them unless I send in someone with personal connection to a respecte
member of their staff. So unless you hav
broken up with your girlfriend in the las
welve hours, this case is now yours."
Ron thought about protesting th
characterization of the staff of th
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Department for the Regulation and Contro
of Magical Creatures as being dominate
by batty beasts' rights do-gooders, bu
since he'd been on the receiving end oseveral lectures from Hermione's co
workers about everything from th
necessity of a 'Ghost Repatriation Act' to
how Crup-fighting would soon become bigger spectator sport than Quidditch i
he Ministry didn't act soon to declare i
llegal, he figured that Dawlish probabl
had a point.
0-0-0
Twenty minutes later, Ron tried to strol
casually into Hermione's office. "Hey
uv."
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She didn't look up from her work. "No, no
and yes."
"What? I haven't even asked you anythinyet."
That did make her look up. "No, we ar
not hiding any Dark Artefacts. No, therwere no Dark Artefacts shipment
accepted last night. And yes, Whitby is a
diot."
Ron grinned, not even bothering to as
how she knew why he was there
Hermione was wrong and he was going t
enjoy himself. "Then how do you explaihis?"
Hermione picked up the evidence bag Ro
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aid on the desk, her eyes open wide i
surprise. "Ron, these are Stinging Nettl
eaves! They are a banned substance, use
n all kinds of Dark Magic. Where in thworld did you get them?"
"Whitby found them; one last night a
Customs and one outside of thidepartment."
"Impossible," she murmured, turning th
bag over in her hands to examine the bacof the leaves.
"You know, Hermione, not everyone in th
Ministry besides you and your co-workerare dolts. It is possible that Whitby is righ
and there is something suspicious going o
here," Ron replied, sounding slightl
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rritated by her dismissive attitude.
"Of course not everyone working at th
Ministry is a dolt, but you must admit thaas an institution we have more than ou
fair share. That, however, is beside th
point. There was already a thoroug
search of the department this morning anno evidence of a crate of Dark Artefact
was found."
"Then you won't mind if I give a looaround the facility?" Ron spoke in
commanding tone that made typica
wizards and witches nod in agreement.
Unfortunately for him, Hermione didn
respond like the typical witch. "Yes,
mind! You just can't go poking around
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here and disrupting everyone's activities
especially since your department ha
already disturbed our entire morning."
"Really? Was your morning disturbed?
Did you waste time participating in th
pointless search?"
Hermione shook her head, her cheek
flushing and mouth quirking slightly with
smile. "No, I got to the office later tha
normal today because of my randboyfriend."
He grinned back at her. "Let'
compromise. We'll search together; if youare right and there are no Dark Artefact
n this department, tonight I'll be yours t
command."
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"And if you are right?"
"Then this evening you'll get to pretend t
be a Quidditch groupie to my all-staChudley Cannon's Keeper."
Hermione laughed. "Fine, but don't b
disappointed if you end up spending thnight rearranging our file cabinet."
As Ron and Hermione searched th
department they talked comfortably abouwhat was going on in their respectiv
offices. It was amazing how easily they'
maintained their easy friendship in spite o
starting a romantic relationship. The thinghey'd enjoyed about each other before ha
simply multiplied when there was n
onger the underlying tension o
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unexpressed feelings.
When they reached the back wall of th
department, Hermione smiled broadlyalmost bouncing on the tips of her toes i
anticipation. "See, I told you, no Dar
Artefacts. I'm going to spend the rest of th
day figuring out how best to make use omy prize tonight."
Ron couldn't help but grin in return. Sh
was just so damn beautiful when excited"Not so fast." He pointed at a door in th
wall marked Danger Entry to Authorized
Personal Only. "We still haven't looked
back there."
"That's the just the quarantine facility fo
magical beasts. Nothing is stored bac
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here."
"I'd still like to see for myself."
"You're postponing the inevitable."
"Indulge me."
Hermione grabbed Ron's robes and pulle
him down until she could kiss him. "Onl
because it's you," she murmured agains
his lips.
He gave her a quick hug and then release
her so she could drop the wards aroun
he door. He then followed her inside andwaited while she raised the protection
around the area once again.
"There are fifteen rooms located off thi
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corridor. Each one can house a group o
magical or mundane beasts that require
observation." She took a clipboard off
hook on the wall and flipped through thpages. "It looks like there are currentl
five rooms being used."
Ron nodded and moved past her to thfirst door. Looking through the glass, h
saw what appeared to be a roomful o
drunken Bowtruckles. He raised hi
eyebrows at Hermione.
She shrugged. "A pub owner in Sherborn
found them in a barrel of mead thre
months ago. They still haven't sobere
up."
"That must have been some really grea
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mead," Ron chuckled.
She clucked her tongue disapprovingly
"It's not funny. It's been a real challenge tkeep them hydrated and from breaking int
fights."
Ron bit his lip and turned his head to keepfrom laughing even more at the idea o
ipsy Bowtruckles duelling. "What's in th
next room?"
Hermione glanced down at the clipboard
"Black aardvarks. They just arrived."
Ron glanced in the room. "Ugly buggersWhy are they here?"
"They are supposed to be mundane beasts
but they have been exhibiting high level
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of magical essence. We brought them in to
ry and determine what exactly is causin
he alteration."
Ron nodded and started to move on whe
he noticed something in the corner. "Wait
What is that next to the wall?"
Hermione looked in the room and gasped
"It's another Stinging Nettle leaf! Th
aardvarks must have been feeding on the
n their natural habitat. That explains theihigh level of magic."
"It also explains where the banned leave
came from," Ron mused. "But it doesnell me why Whitby thought he wa
dealing with Dark Artefacts."
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Hermione looked back in the room. "Tha
explains it," she said, pointing to where
crate clearly marked 'Dark Aardvarks
stood. "Is being able to read no longer requirement for becoming an Auror?"
Ron sighed, determined to wring Whitby'
neck the next time they worked together"Maybe it had some sort of Muggl
concealment spell on it that distorted th
words."
"I'm sure you are right," Hermion
grinned, wrapping her arms around hi
waist. "Nevertheless, you are min
onight."
"You're not really going to make me spend
hours organizing papers, are you?" h
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asked, turning in her embrace until h
faced her.
Hermione shook her head. "No, I've comup with a better idea. I think I'll pretend t
be a helpless Muggle being held captiv
by drunken Bowtruckles and you can b
he big, strong, brave Auror, who is goingo save me."
Ron laughed and pulled her more tightl
against him. "I think I pull the second parof that off convincingly. I'm not sure I can
magine you as helpless, though."
"I'll hide my wand," she said, tilting heface up to him.
"Still can't picture it."
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"And let you tie me up."
Ron smiled widely before kissing hi
ovely witch passionately. "In that case'll be home early with a bottle of mead."
The End
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