Ron Penalty Drabble
a Harry Potter story
by tarotgal
“heh-IHHHSHHhhhh!”Though sneezing, Ron thrust violently with his wand, sending the magically bound, gagged, and disarmed supposed Deatheater stumbling forward into Harry’s waiting arms. “hitchuhh! hehShuhh! hehShoo! There! Dod’t tell Kigsley I dever do adythig.”
“Bless you, Ron.”
“Thadks. Sniff! I cad’t go five midutes without sdeezig.”
Harry chuckled and took the man down the hall to the holding cell, leaving Ron snuffling into the sleeves of his Auror robes. It had taken them months to track this one down. He had eluded them many times with the cleverest of guises and ploys. But in the end, it had been Ron who had finally brought him in.
Harry walked back and put his hand on Ron’s back. Ron was doubled-over, sneezing again. “hihhShoo! Heh-EHShoo!” He shook off Harry’s touch and headed towards his office with a concerned Harry in tow. “Thidk he hit be with sub—hehhCHISHHHH!—sdeezig hex. hehhKShhh!” He nuzzled his nose into his sleeve with a violent sniffle. “Dod’t have a hadky od you, do you?”
After patting his sides then checking his pockets, Harry shook his head. “Nope, sorry.”
“S’all right. Got sub back id the… the… the off-hehSHOO!”
“Office?”
Ron nodded miserably. They took a right at the next hallway then had the elevator take them several floors up. Ron’s sneezes sounded louder in the tiny, contained environment. Harry looked even more sympathetic. “Are you sure it was a spell?” Ron glared at him over his arm and sleeve. “Only I’ve never heard of a powerful Deatheater like Balston using something childish like a sneezing spell.”
“I had hib od the defedsive.”
“Even so…”
“ehhh-Hihshoo! Hekshooo!”
“And you’ve been working almost twenty-four hours a day for two weeks straight. It’s only natural you’d get a bit run down.”
“I’b dot ill,” Ron said. “I’b just sdeezy.”
“Right.”
Ron looked insistent. “Right.”
Harry cracked a smile. “You are.”
And Ron gave a chuckle. “I ab.”
The elevator doors opened and the two went to Ron’s office. It was beyond untidy with Ron’s usual charm. Harry felt as at home in it as he did in his own office or his own home. He took a seat in the plushy armchair, avoiding the few papers resting there, as Ron slumped into the chair behind the desk. The folder dead center on his desk was labeled ‘Balston.’ Ron opened it, made some motions with his wand, and closed it again. The file slowly faded away, off the desk and into the records room downstairs.
Then Ron pinched his nose with thumb and forefinger and rifled through the drawers of his desk. He finally pulled out a clean albeit slightly-wrinkled handkerchief and tended to his nose. “Merlin, that feels better!” He sighed with relief and slumped further into the chair. It was practically enveloping him. “Hihshhhh! Hehshhhh!” Even when he sneezed, he shook but still melted back into the chair. “ihhShuhh!”
Harry shifted in his seat. He folded his hands. “Ron…”
“So what habbeds dow?”
Harry paused, then, “Well, Balston gets a hearing followed by a fair trial. Then, depending on the outcome—”
“Dot with Balstod,” Ron groaned. “I bead which Deatheater do we target dext?”
Harry leaned forward, putting one hand on Ron’s desk. “Ron, you just brought in a supposed Deatheater who’s been eluding capture for months. You’ve earned a break.”
“Really?”
“Absolutely.”
Ron sighed with relief. “Oh thadk you. ihhhShhhh! Hehh-heh-Ehhshhh!” He rubbed his nose. “Because I ab so ill.”
Harry laughed. “Go home, get into bed, and don’t come back until you can make it five minutes without sneezing.”
Written at RC's request. I missed a week generating the plot bunnies. Bad tg!