Chapter-85: Vendetta-2

When Ronan came closer to where Hermione was sitting, from a glance he understood that she was reading about Hempo-alo Potion. It was a pretty new potion, which was recently made by an Austrian Potion Master. Because of the language barrier, it was challenging to deduce the ingredients of the potion, as Austrians use a whole other naming system for their potion ingredients.

Luckily, he knew about the potion and thought that it would be the best way to talk to her, "Hempo-alo huh?" he said, making her look up, "I didnt know that was something that third years were being taught" He then took a seat beside her, "Well. Professor Snape did mention that he would be introducing it in NEWTS. But not in the third year,"

"This.." She was hesitant at first, then said, "This is my punishment,"

"Your punishment?" he asked, genuinely confused, "What did you do now?"

Hermione looked offended, "I didnt do anything. I was just…" she became silent.

"Being a smartass? Being Obnoxious?"

She glared at him, then ultimately sighed, "I just asked the professor about the potion. I have heard that it is the talk of most of the potion masters of the world and I just wanted to know what all the fuss was about,"

"And he punished you because…."

She sighed, "He made fun of my curiosity. Professor Snape that I should really focus on potions in my syllabus. I let the matter go, but then he had the brilliant idea of giving me this homework," she dropped her quill in frustration, "I need to translate the Austrian recipe's ingredients to English. But I dont know any German,"

He smiled, "Do you need any help?"

She looked around, trying to see whether anyone was around. Then she nodded slowly, "Help me, Ronan. I am already swamped with a lot of homework,"

He laughed, "This is what you get when you dont adhere to my warning. I told you that taking lectures on all electives was a very bad idea…" he said, "And why are you so swamped with homework anyway? Why aren't you using your time turner?"

Hermione looked like an owl caught in the light, "How.. How do you know?"

"If you think that I didnt know, then you are insulting me, my friend. Nothing happened in this castle, without me knowing,"

Hermione then smugly asked, "If you really know what is happening in the castle, then why didnt you stop Sirius Black from breaking in the castle?"

He didnt have the answer for that, "You want my help or not?"

She looked pissed, but then slowly she nodded her head. So he went by her side and started helping her. He didnt know any German, but he had read The Stock of Ingredients, which was a 7000-page, leather-bound, 12-inches long book. It was a compendium of all the potion ingredients of the world. The good thing was, that the book also contained the pronunciation and translation of ingredients in different languages. Which is why, it really took him a few seconds to decode what the ingredients were like in the potion. But he didnt want Hermione to know that. 

With The Stock of Ingredients opened before them, they spend hours finding the ingredients. Only when they were done, did they lean back on their chairs and sigh.

"That was intense," he said.

"It was." Hermione nodded. She looked tired, which he wanted. 

"Hey," he said, making her look into her eyes, "You looked tired. Right? Reading all these books must have taken a toll on you. Why dont you go and Sleep?"

She looked at him weirdly, and then sighed, "I cannot. I have to work on DADA and Runes homework,"

"When it is due?"

She thought for a moment, "I have to submit it on Monday,"

"Well Monday is four days away," he said, "You should really rest… You know what, I have a way to relax you. I know a spell, from which you would be able to rest your brain and energize yourself for the rest of the evening… Wanna try?"

"Will the spell make me sleep?"

"No." She sighed and then finally gave the permission. So he did what he needed to do. Ronan then sent out a telekinetic pulse to see whether anyone was around them. It is only after sensing that no one was around, did he acted.

"Imperio." A silent spell, with all of his power, is what it took. The whole demeanor of Hermione changed, and she became his puppet.

He then commanded her to give him the time turner and then told her to go and sleep for now. And she was only allowed to get back to her normal routine till the next morning. Until then, she is supposed to lie in her room and sleep. With the command, she started acting normally. She greeted him goodbye and started heading towards the Gryffindor common room…

***

Due to Sirius Black, the ministry had put a lot of rules and regulations over the Hogsmeade village. One of the rules was about a curfew, that would take place after nine o'clock. Which is why, before 8:45 everyone had left Rosmerta's bar that night. Seeing that no one was around, she started cleaning up the bar. But then the door of the bar was opened, and a boy walked in.

He looked like he was in his teens, and usually, someone of his age is from Hogwarts. Rosmerta, who felt concerned about what a student was doing there, asked, "Are you from Hogwarts boy?"

The boy took a seat at the bar and nodded, "Yup."

"Bloody hell," she exclaimed, "What the hell are you doing here? How are you out of the school, this late?"

The boy waved his hand, "Its alright. I have come here to meet some friends."

"Friends? At this hour?" she couldnt believe herself, "Are you out of your mind? There is a killer loose in around here!"

"I can take care of myself," he reassured. It was then she heard the sounds of popping, someone apparated outside. Then came Kingsley Shacklebolt and Arthur Weasley…

***

It was a normal day for Arthur, he only had to raid a tea shop in the little town at the edge of England called Dees Huts. Apparently, the toilet of the place was behaving strangely, when flushed, it would suck in the user as well. The user would then come up in the local stream. It was an eventful raid and he thought that he might be able to leave early today. It was then a black barn owl came swopping in his office.

The owl had a letter, from none other than Ronan himself.

______________________________________________________

Dear Mr. Weasley,

I want to urgently talk to you. It might be a matter of life and death. Please meet me at Rosemerta's bar, tonight at sharp at 8:45. Please dont be late. I will be breaking curfew because of the matter at hand. If you really care for me, please meet me there.

Ronan Johanson.

__________________________________________________

The hell? Arthur then looked at the clock, it was 8:40. Immediately he took his suitcase and started running. One cannot apparate from his office, they have to use the public chimneys in order to apparate.

As fast as his legs could carry him. As soon as he got to the chimney, he immediately apparated outside the Rosmerta's bar. What surprised him, was that apparently another person appeared just beside him. To his surprise, it was Kingsley Shacklebolt.

"Arthur?" Shacklebolt said, "What are you doing here?"

"I got a letter from Ronan. He says that he wants to meet me here. Says that it a matter of life and death,"

Kingsley looked puzzled, "I got the same one as well,"

Both of them looked rather surprised by the turn of events. Kingsley then gestured towards the bar's door, and Arthur obliged. As they entered together, they saw Ronan sitting alone at the bar. In front of him was Rosmerta, who seemed surprised to see them both here.

"How is it going Rosmerta?" Kingsley said.

"Good," Rosmerta said with uncertainty, "You know what time it is, right Kingsley?"

"We know," he replied, "And this would take long,"

Ronan then stood up and, with a flick of his wand got a table and four chairs around. The boy then sat down and gestured for them to sit down as well.

"Ronan, what is going on?" Arthur asked. Ronan didnt say a word, just put a cylinder at the table. With a flick of a button, the cylinder made a small barrier around the table.

"Now, no one would be able to spy on us," Ronan said, "Is Tonks coming?"

"You called her as well?" Kingsley asked.

"Yup." The boy nodded, "This concerns her as well," Arthur looked at Kingsley, who looked as puzzled as he was.

"What is the matter, Ronan?" Arthur finally asked.

"Do you know.. What kind of power does Occlumen possess Mr. Weasley?" Both the adults looked at each other, both of them puzzled, "The answer is our memory. We do have a natural shield for mental attacks. But, our memory is sharp as well…"

Then Ronan took out a small slip of paper and put it between them, "Do you guys know what that is?" Arthur looked at the slip. It looked like a bill, from a place McDonald's.

"Seems like muggle Bill," Kingsley said,

"Yes. It is a bill from a very famous muggle restaurant. And the thing is… I dont remember ever going to that restaurant,"

Kingsley then slapped the table, "Are you trying to say that you called us here because you dont remember going to a restaurant?"

Arthur then put his hand on Kingsley's shoulder to calm him down, "Let him complete his story, Kingsley," Ronan nodded, and surprisingly didnt look pissed or enraged at Kingsley.

"To give you some context," Ronan said, "The oldest memory that I have, is of when I was two years old. I think that was the time when my Occlumency power awakened. I can tell you everything that happened that day. From the colors of clothes that my friends wore to the details weather forecast that I heard on the radio. I remember everything. So, not having to remember that I went restaurant is a very alarming thing for me. Especially when the day this bill was generated, was the day when I saw Tonks, before her attack,"

This made Kingsley and Arthur both tense, so Ronan continued, ".. And now I am thinking.. Tonks was not the only one that got attacked that day," Both of the adults looked at each other, with shocked faces…