CHAPTER 78: THE SPAR

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Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie,

Which we ascribe to heaven: the fated sky

Gives us free scope, only doth backward pull

Our slow designs when we ourselves are dull.

– Shakespeare (All's Well that Ends Well, 1.1.209)

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July 2nd, 1994. A boy and a girl were seen in the middle of a room, it was of course Ed and Hermione. The place was huge, it looked like it could fit a small house, and the room's floor was dirt and stone, not a tile. It was the training room, it had been transformed so that Hermione's elements can be well used. Ed practically wore nothing except shorts and a cloth to wrap his hands, his scarred torso is in full display. Hermione wore a simple tank top and workout trousers, but she was barefoot, she also had some metal bracelets around her arms.

"Ready? Remember, elements only. " Ed asked with a smirk on his face, while Hermione was frowning.

"But no space magic and that annoying shield!" she grunted, which made Ed smirked more widely.

"Alright, alright, I promise." Ed chuckled.

"And don't hit me too hard." Hermione added.

"How am I supposed to teach you a lesson then?"

"I'm your girlfriend! Can you at least be more gentle!?"

Ed shrugged. "I don't know, maybe you'll like it rough." Ed cheekily added.

"Ugh!" she scowled, and without warning, she started to attack. She stomped her feet to the ground, making a chunk of stone float in front of her, she punched the stone and it shot at Ed, trying to hurt him.

Ed then easily dodged. His body was now cloaked with electricity, boosting his speed by a considerable amount. After he dodged, he dashed towards Hermione, his palm now covered in ice, and he punched her right on her stomach, throwing her back for a couple of feet.

"That's a naughty move, darling, throwing rocks at me without warning, I haven't even said that it started yet." Ed grinned at the fallen Hermione.

"I thought you would be caught off guard." She groaned in pain as she tried to stand up. "And please wear a shirt, it's extremely distracting."

"You can't be distracted in a real battle, Hermione." Ed chuckled. "Try to hit me without getting electrocuted, will you?"

Ed then dashed backwards, adding some distance from Hermione. The girl then took a stance, her right foot in front, and left foot in the back. Her palm was clenched, alert at all times.

"Use your elements and think creatively." Ed instructed. "Use that beautiful mind of yours."

Hermione concentrated, and she stomped her feet once again on the ground. She controlled the ground, creating a tsunami like shockwave, and it targeted Ed. The boy didn't use the space magic, so he was blind right now. He couldn't see Hermione as she was covered by the shockwave. Ed dodged the ground tsunami by jumping high enough, and once he was in the air, he didn't see the girl anymore.

He then heard something. He turned around in the air and saw Hermione launching herself, using the spiked ground as some sort of booster. She then covered her fist with stone so she wouldn't be electrocuted and punched Ed, who was in the air, throwing him back to the ground. Hermione fell to the ground again. She cracked the floor as she landed, her face showing a proud smile.

"That's nice." Ed groaned in pain as he stood back up. "Now, let's see if you can see using only your elements."

He then summoned ice in the left hand, and a fireball in the other, then, he slammed it against each other, creating mists rather quickly, covering the entire area. The mist is quite thick, so thick that Hermione can't see using her normal eyes anymore.

"Come and find me~" Ed sang. Hermione then felt ice spikes starting to target her. She barely dodged them as she only saw the spikes when they were only one foot away from her. The ice spikes kept coming, and Hermione's skin started to bleed from the sharpness of the spikes.

'He's not holding back!' she whined in her mind. "I hate you so much!" she gritted her teeth as she tried to dodge the ice spikes as much as possible.

"You love me." Ed refuted it somewhere in the mist.

She rolled her eyes, then calmed herself down and slammed her feet once more to the ground, feeling the vibration. She was using seismic sense. As soon as she sensed Ed, she jumped again, boosted by the ground. She then transformed the metal bracelet that was on her arms into a hammer, trying to slam Ed. The boy then dodged, but not before he got knocked away by the force of Hermione's slam, which also dispersed the mist.

"Good." Ed nodded. "By the way, since when can you jump that high and not break your bones?"

"I don't know, Gilligan told me a few tricks, and I can barely feel the impact of the ground slamming my feet anymore…"

"Maybe it's like when I can't die from cold anymore, or fire and lightning can't burn me." Ed said.

Hermione shrugged. "I don't know… maybe?"

"Right, let's continue." Ed took a stance, he covered his fists with ice, so does Hermione, transforming the hammer into gauntlets. Both looked at each other, seemingly ready for another fight. "This time, close quarter combat."

Ed started to cloak himself up again using electricity, and they dashed towards each other, trading punches. Ed was the first to punch as he was the quickest, but it was in vain, Hermione raised her gauntlet, blocking his fist and shattering Ed's ice gauntlet. He quickly covered his fist with white flames now, and he side-stepped, looking to strike Hermione from the side. Hermione slammed the ground with her foot, and a stone pillar rose from the ground, blocking Ed's punch, and the boy had put a hole in the pillar.

Hermione then smirked, she stomped the ground again, but nothing happened, then she crossed her hands and made a grabbing gesture, when she pulled her hands towards her chest, the surrounding became hot, and the floor surrounding them had turned to lava.

"Molten rock, eh? Creative." Ed commented, making Hermione swelled with pride.

The two stared at each other again, circling the area that was not covered in lava. Both of them were sweaty now as it was hot, Hermione's tank top was soaked with sweat, and Ed could see her developing curves in full glory.

"You look hot when you're sweaty, you know?" Ed teased, but Hermione was unfazed.

"Is that one of your fetishes? Sweaty girls? "She threw back a question as both of them continued circling the area.

Ed chuckled. "Maybe." Ed then dashed again, a white flame on his fist, and his body was brimming with electricity. Hermione wanted to stomp her feet again, but she couldn't. Ed had frozen her feet quickly, and she took a direct punch from Ed in the face, slamming her to the ground. She was groaning in pain, glaring at Ed, who was smiling victoriously.

"You have a big weakness, you know? Now, let's deal with your wounds and bruises. " Ed helped her stand up, offering his arm.

"Carry me, this is your fault." She huffs while lying on the ground, refusing Ed's hand and acting cute.

"With all your sweat? Yeah, no." Ed answered, making Hermione huffs again.

Ed then walked to the lava around him. He stepped on it, and the molten rock instantly froze, turning into a black rock. "Come on, stand up. I'll read you a book after we shower."

"Really?" she asked, seeming happy at the thought.

Ed nodded. "We need to take care of your bruises and wounds first though, and shower, of course."

She then happily gets up and says, "I'll do it myself; you just shower and wait for me in the living room." Before Ed could say anything, she dashed to the shower room, leaving Ed alone in the training room.

Ed shook his head in amusement. "Getting excited just because I'll read her a book…" he smiled softly at himself, slowly walking to the exit of the training room.

About an hour later, Ed was in the living room, petting Crookshanks on the couch, he was looking at the newly installed device in there, it was the receiver for the bracelet, and whoever has the special bracelet can contact the suitcase. He then looked away, looking at the pile of books besides the couch, in this one month, Ed and Hermione had picked up a new habit, whenever Ed had time, he would read Hermione a book, and Hermione would put a book that she wanted Ed to read with her besides the couch. The girl then entered the room with her pajamas and a piece of blanket, she giddily threw the blanket to Ed, and walked to the pile of books. "What do you like more? Dune? Or the Dark Tower?"

"I haven't read Dune yet, so let's go with that." Ed answered with a smile. Hermione then walked towards Ed, who was spreading the blanket so Hermione could get in, she continued to pick up Crookshanks, she snuggled to Ed, resting her head to his shoulder, making herself comfortable and putting the cat on her lap.

"What magic did you use? The bruise isn't even visible anymore…" Ed mumbled, caressing her cheek ever so gently.

"Gilligan taught me that... He said that women in the family should at least know more about healing than the men, being a mother and all that..."

"That's a bit sexist, don't you think?"

Hermione shrugged. "But it makes sense, mothers stay with their children more often."

"Right." Ed cleared his throat as he wrapped his arm around Hermione, opening the book. "Book one: Dune. A beginning is the time for taking the most—"

But then his short read was interrupted by a sudden ring from the newly installed device, making Ed stop his read.

"Ignore it." Hermione grumbled in annoyance. "Continue."

But the device continued to ring, making Hermione more annoyed.

"I need to take it Hermione, it's the first call since I've installed it." Ed pleaded.

"Fine." She grumbled, snuggled away from Ed and hugged Crookshanks tightly, making him able to stand up. "Thank you." Ed smiled as he kissed her forehead softly. He then walked to the device and picked up the call, using a speaker so Hermione could also hear it.

"Who is this? Is it Richard or Daphne? Or Alan? "

"Hello mate, it's Richard." The voice sounded.

Hermione snorted as he heard the boy's name. "What do you want, Richard?" She grunted in dissatisfaction.

"What's gotten into you, Hermione? You sound annoyed. Am I interrupting something? " Ed can practically hear Richard's teasing voice behind the device.

Hermione was about to lash out at Richard for disturbing her peace, but Ed prevented it. "You didn't, Richard. Why did you call?" Ed closed Hermione's mouth, making her unable to speak, and she just glared at Ed for doing that.

"Oh, I'm just telling you that Daph just won the championship!" Richard said excitedly. "I dueled her in the final, and I lost badly…."

"You've just got to rub it in, mate." Ed grumbled. "Tell her I said congratulations, though."

"Yeah… good for her." Hermione added, a bit happy that her friend won the tournament.

"Well, I'll tell her that, oh, and by the way, Harry and Ron had tested the broom, and it was good; faster and safer than firebolt, a bit more handling, and it's cheaper as well. When did you think we could produce it?"

"Quite hard right now." Ed was straight to the point. "The orders for the werewolf ring, the bracelet, and the defensive necklace were overwhelming right now. Maybe next year we can start producing the broom."

"That's great then. How much are we making by the way?"

"In the opening month?" Ed asked as he summoned a paper near him using his wand. "Um... around one hundred thousand, three hundred and eighty-three galleons."

"Damn… in the opening month? That's a lot of money…"

"Yeah, I plan to buy more workshops though, maybe we can start up the broom production quicker."

"I just leave all those things to Lupin, man; I don't like management…"

Ed shrugged. "That's why we hire employees…"

Ed heard Richard hum. "By the way, are you coming to the World Cup?"

Ed looked at Hermione, who was staring at Ed in anticipation for some reason. "If I get a formal invitation, then sure, I'll go; otherwise, no."

"Well, I'm sure we will get one. Anyway, I've got to go. Talk to you later. " The connection was then cut, not leaving Ed to say goodbye to Richard.

Hermione then suddenly spoke as Ed walked back to the couch. "You're not going to the World Cup?"

"You want to go?" Ed asked as he sat, snuggling back to Hermione, Crookshanks was now laying on his lap.

"Well, what about those muggles…" she mumbled.

"I'm sure you can handle them if I'm not there."

"But I want you to go too…"

Ed sighed. "We'll talk about this later, Hermione; do you want to continue reading or not?"

The girl nodded meekly and snuggled closer to Ed, burying her head in Ed's neck.

"Now, where were we?" Ed opened the book once more, reading it aloud to Hermione, who looked tired from all the training.

After about half an hour of reading, Ed heard the girl snoring on his shoulder. Noticing this, Ed bookmarked the page he was on and closed the book. He then caressed the girl's head, making her comfortable. He also told Crookshanks to move away, which the cat hesitantly did.

After that, he gently picks her up, bridal style, and proceeds to walk slowly to her bedroom in the suitcase. As he was bringing her to the bedroom, Hermione slithered her arms around Ed's neck unconsciously, burying her head in Ed's neck once more.

Once he arrived at her bedroom, he gently laid her on the bed, tugging her beneath the blanket. He kissed her forehead, preparing to leave. But then she grabbed Ed's arm and hugged it tightly as if it was the last thing she would ever do. "Don't leave..." she pleaded, her eyes fluttering open.

Ed sighed once again and relented. He climbed onto the bed, and Hermione rested her head on his chest, hearing his heartbeat. "Good night..." she whispered.

Ed kissed her forehead once more and said, "Good night."