Chapter 8
"Alright, this will be a three-person apparition, so we'll need to link arms with each person," said Harry.
"What?" Draco winced. "I'm not touching that mudblood!" He flashed a scornful glare at Hermione, who was returning it with an equal look of disgust.
"I will not obligate myself to link arms with that prick," snapped Hermione. "I'd rather just go alone and let you two apparate after me."
Harry rolled his eyes. "Fine! Just do whatever works."
Hermione was the first to apparate to the casino. Draco and Harry appeared shortly after her, and Draco found himself feeling rather woozy as he reoriented himself to his surroundings.
"Damn….apparently apparition and alcohol don’t go well together," grumbled Draco, pressing the palm of his head against the right side of his forehead.
Harry made a disgruntled sound in agreement, then turned to Hermione. "So where shall we find them?"
Hermione was staring at her phone, pursing her lips and looking like she was going to explode with fury. Harry looked over her shoulder and realized she had received a message from Ron's number-- Luna had sent her a picture of where they were at.
"She was chasing him, and he ended up breaking into a strip club," Hermione growled. "I am NOT going in there."
Harry scowled at the photo. "You can leave it to me. I'll grab him by the neck and drag him outta there before he impregnates another--"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Draco gave Harry a light prod on the shoulder. "You leave the neck-grabbing to me."
Harry turned and flashed Draco a grimace. "Fine. Just be sure YOU don't get distracted while we're in there."
"UGH!" Hermione banged her phone against a nearby pool table. "Mentally handicapped or not, that Ron is a foul, loathsome arsehole!" She kicked against the pool table to stop herself from breaking down in tears. "I hate him!"
Draco blinked at her. That was the first time he had seen Granger act on her anger in such a childish way.
Harry put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey. We all hate him. Which is why we're here to bring justice to him."
Hermione kicked against the pool table again as she started to feel tears cloud up her eyes. No, she was not going to let herself cry. She was not going to get sensitive about such an insensitive bloke. "I hate him, Harry. I hate him," she spoke through clenched teeth.
Draco watched as she began kicking repeatedly at the pool table as tears began to stream down her cheeks. Damn. He had to admit, it was rather fascinating to see the more infantile side of Granger's anger.
"I know," Harry's voice was soft, but his face was reddened with rage too. He looked like he was about to join her in kicking the pool table. "Don't worry, though. Draco and I will waltz into that strip club and drag Ron out for a beating."
Hermione whipped her head so that she was glaring in Harry's direction. "I'm going in with you. Forget what I said earlier-- I will go in if it means I get to give that arsehole the treatment he deserves."
Draco raised an eyebrow, then he stifled a laugh. But for some reason, he couldn't get himself to say anything spiteful. He was too distracted with a strange thrill that surged through him at the thought of Granger joining him and Harry in beating up Ron.
Harry was nodding. "Alright, cool. Let's get going."
The three of them made their way through the casino, navigating their way around until they finally reached the strip club in Luna's text.
As soon as they walked up to the entrance, however, the doors flung open and two security guards were standing on either side of a disheveled-looking redhead.
"Ron!" Harry shouted, glaring at the redhead.
Ron looked around himself, laughing maniacally. "The grizzly kazam shoot off the soap bar pristine match!" His voice was full of exuberance as he spat out a random mix of words.
The security guards tossed him forward and then turned to head back into the strip club. Ron fell on his knees in front of Harry, Hermione, and Draco. He coughed a few times then looked up at them with a grin. He fixed his eyes on Hermione and pointed at her.
"Raggedy whiplash! Jump up the ahabba-dabba-donga!" Ron spat out a mouthful of mixed gibberish and then grabbed at her calves.
"Hey!" Hermione flinched, staring at him with wide-eyed shock.
Draco found himself stepping forward to deliver a sharp kick at his arms. Ron instantly released her with a yowl, and Harry grabbed his left arm and yanked him up.
"You're dead, Ron," Harry seethed, letting go of Ron's arm so that he could grab the front of his shirt and pull him up to his face. "You're dead."
Ron stared at Harry with a dopey smile. "Kibrasha!" He laughed.
Draco fumed. "Well what do ya know. The Weasley's outer stupidity is finally matching his inner stupidity. About time!"
Ron turned to Draco's direction, and suddenly, his face turned pale with horror. He wriggled himself free from Harry's grip and stumbled back, then pointed at Draco with a shaking finger.
"The rottabog! Buggabugga!" Ron instantly turned and ran away, bumping into a few people as he clumsily dashed through the casino.
Draco, Harry, and Hermione stared after him, too thrown off by his odd behavior to feel any urge to chase after him.
Then Hermione turned to Harry and Draco. "I think you guys broke him when you beat him the other night."
Harry was slowly shaking his head, still staring in Ron's direction. "Ron was already acting strange before we beat him-- you said it yourself."
"Hermione, you're here…." a soft, airy voice sounded from behind them. Luna was approaching, wearing a relaxed smile on her face. "Oh, wonderful. It was beginning to feel rather trapping, being alone with just Ron and the unfriendly blumdingers."
Draco rolled his eyes. "Hey, we already had an earful of word vomit from the Weasley-- we don't need to hear more, thank you very much."
Hermione stepped forward. "Luna! Has Ron done any magical activity? With an unstably psychotic state like that, he could definitely risk exposing--"
"Don't worry," said Luna smoothly. "I've been casting amnesiac spells on any muggle who happens to see him doing anything magical. And thankfully, he's only been apparating when we're in a quiet, empty spot, where no one can see him. I guess anyplace that gives off the quiet feel like my garden triggers him to apparate…."
"Well, let's find him!" Harry said. "He's run off-- we have to catch him and bring him to the Ministry of Magic before he does anything worse."
"Oh…..run off?" Luna suddenly looked disturbed. "Strange….he's never done that without dragging me with him. If he's under the spell that I think he is, that must mean he encountered an important trigger."
Hermione huffed. "He took one look at Malfoy, and then took off in a flash."
Draco gave a snide smile. "I guess I can intimidate Weasley just by standing here. How flattering."
"No…not good…." said Luna. "Oh no, we must go after him immediately."
They hurried through the casino until they were wandering through the hotel portion that housed the casino. They found Ron by an indoor fountain with his pants pulled down. No one was around, however.
"Ron!" Harry shouted.
Ron turned and pointed in Draco's direction. "Bi-hahaha!" He wore the same look of shock and horror on his face. Then he turned to Hermione, and he suddenly looked relaxed. He gave a dopey grin and dragged his feet up to her. "Jewels of the great ring dion fallen leaf from rainbow high…."
He drew closer to Hermione, and as soon as he was within arm's reach from her, Hermione gave him a forceful smack on the face, causing him to swing his head to the side and clumsily fall to his right.
Draco flinched. Damn, that Granger sure knows how to get physical. He suddenly had flashbacks of their third year in Hogwarts, when she had punched him in the nose. Somehow, he found himself feeling a surge of exhilaration.
"Ron, you loathsome arsehead…" Hermione was speaking through clenched teeth again as she watched him clumsily get up.
Draco noticed how fierce she looked, standing there with her arms stretching out behind her and her knees slightly bent. She looked like she was ready to jump and lash out at the redhead any moment. Get him, Granger….Draco thought silently. Then winced at himself. Did he just root for Granger?
But before anyone could make a move, Ron whirled around to face Hermione with a blank gaze, then pointed a finger at her. "Fake." He shifted his gaze to Luna. The redhead pushed Hermione out of the way and jumped at Luna. But before they both toppled over, the two of them vanished.
"They just apparated!" Harry gasped. He turned to Hermione, who was standing there with her mouth wide open. He grabbed the map from the pocket of her sweater and widened his eyes. "They're at the borders of Azkaban!"
Draco, who was staring at Hermione with a vacant expression, suddenly flinched. He turned to Harry with a frown. "Really?" He looked at the map. "Hmph. Where the Weasley belongs."
Harry gave a disgruntled snort. "Let's get going….Hermione? Are you alright?"
Hermione was still frozen with shock. Then she shook her head and turned to them. "Ugh…I'm fine. Let's go." She grabbed Harry's arm, and grabbed Draco's arm, keeping her angry, yet disturbed, expression fixed on the ground.
Draco felt a sudden surge of….fear….or perhaps, excitement. Granger was clutching his forearm. And she was clutching it rather tightly, with that intense look in her eyes.
Then Harry grabbed Draco's other arm, and the three of them simultaneously disapparated.