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Ron didn’t know what woke him up, but once he’d blinked his eyes open he couldn’t fall back to sleep, no matter how much he tossed and turned. He could hear Seamus snoring two beds down as loud as ever, but while the sound had turned into something of a lullaby after 5 long years of it, it wasn’t lulling him to sleep now. He yawned and threw back the curtain of his four-poster, hoping the cool air would be such a shock that he’d be catapulted back under covers without a second thought. But, the moment he opened the curtain he knew why he’d woken up.
The curtains on Harry’s bed were open, carelessly draped like he’d left in a rush, and his bed was empty.
“Oi, Harry,” Ron whispered as loud as he dared in the quiet of their dormitory. There was, predictably, no response. Ron stood up and peered around the beds. The bathroom light wasn’t on, and Harry wasn’t anywhere in the room that he could see.
Ron was completely awake now. Harry had been in a weird mood all evening after seeing Sirius and he wouldn’t tell him why. Normally after seeing Sirius, Harry would be in a great mood, albeit pretty tired, and they’d sit in the common room and lazily flick through their homework together, but tonight Harry had walked straight past their usual corner without even registering him. And now he was gone, after ignoring both he and Hermione for most of the evening - it just didn’t add up. Something must have happened, and knowing Harry it was likely he’d dived headfirst to the most insane course of action possible. Ron still hadn’t forgiven him for the whole ‘follow the spiders’ incident. Not that he held grudges or anything - he even loved Crookshanks now.
Ron lit his wand and cast it over his best friend’s bed. He knew the Map was most likely with Harry, but it wouldn’t hurt to check. After turning everything upside down, he finally found it in the second drawer of Harry’s nightstand, right alongside a stack of letters from Sirius and Professor Lupin.
Unfurling the Map and laying it across the bed, Ron raised his wand and let the light highlight every room in the castle. He scanned it from corner to corner, but there was no sign of Harry anywhere. Everyone was where they should be and yet Ron had never felt more uneasy. Why wouldn’t Harry have told them what was happening? They did everything together, even - no, especially - the stupid things. And yet, he was gone...alone.
Ron flicked his wand and the Map folded neatly into a square which he shoved into his pocket. He’d need Hermione to help him get to the bottom of this. He crept out of the dorm and down the stairs to the common room. His foot was on the first step up to the girls’ rooms before he realised he couldn’t get up there. Hermione wouldn’t notice a message on the DA coins at this time, and he still hadn’t got the hang of the alarm charm, but he remembered seeing a patronus send a message before. He hadn’t tried it himself yet, but he brandished his wand anyway.
“ Expecto patronum ,” his little jack russell terrier burst from the tip of his wand and sped around the room, no doubt sniffing out his enemy. When he found none, the little dog trotted back over to Ron and stood at attention, floating in midair at eye level. Ron took a deep breath and looked around the room to make sure no one was around to see this. “Right...can you send a message for me?”
The little dog, who Ron now thought definitely needed a name, just stared at him with his intelligent eyes. His tail wagged which seemed to be a good sign.
“Okay, can you tell Hermione - Hermione Granger, that is - that Harry is gone and he isn’t on the Map and that I don’t know where he is?”
The dog barked once, more of a little ‘yip’ than a bark really, and bolted up the stairs and disappeared from view with a silvery trace.
Ron sat down to wait.
The fire was out but the common room was still warm, and Ron found himself wishing for the fire to be there. If it were he could at least let the dancing flames distract him for the moment. Instead, all he had to look at were piles of unfinished homework and discarded Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes products.
He jumped to his feet as he heard Hermione’s footsteps clatter down the stairs.
“Harry’s gone?” Hermione was in pyjama shorts and a t-shirt, and Ron forgot for a moment the severity of the situation as he tried not to stare, or blush too much, at the sight of his best friend. It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen her in pyjamas before, but that had been last summer when his eyes hadn’t been opened, for better or worse, to the realisation that he was maybe, just maybe, a little bit in love with her.
“Er...yes!” Ron’s face was red, despite his best efforts, “here, check the Map but I’m pretty sure he isn’t on it.”
Hermione rushed forward and took the offered Map, falling inelegantly to the floor in order to open it up. She poured over it, her nose practically touching the old parchment as she read.
“He isn’t there,” her voice cracked as she folded the Map back up and handed it back. “You don’t think -”
“That he’s gone to the Department of Mysteries? Yeah, I do.”
“Oh Harry,” Hermione bit her lip and her eyes roved around the room as she thought the situation through. The relief Ron felt at sharing the burden was leaving him light headed, and his own thoughts hadn’t stuttered past ‘thank god for you’ since Hermione had taken the Map. “We need to tell Professor McGonagall.”
“Really?” McGonagall was a sound enough teacher, but she was still stricter than even his mum was. No way would she let them help. “No way will she let us help!”
“Well…” Hermione hesitated over her words and Ron was instantly on edge. Hermione only hesitated when she was going to say something really annoying. “Harry’s obviously doing something pretty stupid if he didn’t even tell us, so god knows what’s happening. And I really don’t want to die before I get my OWL results back. I think I did really well -”
“We know you did really well ‘Mione!” Ron didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Hermione said he was the one with emotional problems but honestly - at least he thought about stuff other than school. “You don’t think he had another vision like with my dad, do you?”
Hermione bit her lip, “but he said he hasn’t had any visions for weeks now.”
“He also says he does his homework on time and uses your study guide.” Ron hissed back. But the moment the words registered in his brain he knew Hermione was right. “C’mon then, let's tell McGonagall.”
They searched the Map as they crept out of the portrait hole but it was unnecessary; the corridors were completely empty. Their steps echoed as they half ran the short journey to McGonagall’s office. They hesitated on the threshold and it was with a deep breath that Ron raised his fist and knocked.
Quicker than he thought possible, the door was cracked open and their Head of House gazed out at them, wrapped in a tartan dressing gown. Her eyes were piercing even in the dark.
“Miss Granger, Mr Weasley. What is it?”
“Harry’s gone,” Hermione blurted out. “We checked the Map and he isn’t on that either and he didn’t tell us where he might be going and he always tells us when he’s got some stupid plan going and -”
“‘Mione!” Ron whispered and elbowed her. McGonagall wasn’t glaring at them anymore. Her eyes were wide with alarm and that was somehow even worse.
“Come in, please.”
They filed into her office and sat in the plush armchairs in front of the desk. Hermione nudged the Map onto the desk and pushed it in front of McGonagall, who picked it up and examined it with a raised eyebrow.
“So, they did end up making it.” She sounded vaguely impressed before she schooled her features into her usual severe mask. “You say it doesn’t show Harry?”
They shook their heads and showed her.
“And Mr Potter didn’t tell you where he was going?” They shook their heads again. “Did he give you any clue?”
“No,” Hermione said, “but he was acting strangely after he saw Sirius this afternoon and he wouldn’t tell me why.”
“Me neither.” Ron said.
“I need to talk to Sirius and Remus,” McGonagall rose from her desk and towered over them, her body cast into shadow by the brilliant fire she spelled into existence. Ron turned in his seat and watched her take a handful of floo powder and toss it into the dancing flames before kneeling on the rug and enunciating, “the Lupin-Black residence.”
As he watched his teacher stick her head into green flames, Ron felt completely useless. Harry was out there somewhere with no one watching his back because that was Ron’s job, and Ron wasn’t there with him. Harry didn’t have anyone telling him to ditch his stupid plans and listen to reason, because that was Hermione’s job. And if Sirius and Remus were at home that meant he didn’t even have someone to stop him if things got out of hand either. And Ron was just sitting in his teacher’s office, sinking into a plush armchair, in his hand-me-down pyjamas. His ankles were cold.
Hermione rose from her seat and pressed a finger to her lips.
“What are you doing?” Ron hissed.
The only response he got was Hermione rolling her eyes and emphasising the finger on the lips gesture like he was a child. To be fair, he hadn’t respected the gesture at all, he thought.
She tiptoed across the rug, neatly avoiding McGonagall’s crouched body, and stretched her arm up until she could reach the small pot that McGonagall had taken her floo powder from. Ron didn’t know what they would do without Hermione. He hadn’t even thought of stealing their teacher’s floo powder, but it seemed like such an obvious next step.
Just as Hermione sat back down with her hands clean of any green powder and her expression remarkably innocent looking, McGonagall stood up again. She looked even more worried than she had before.
“What’s happened?” Ron said at the same time Hermione asked, “is Harry at home with them?”
McGonagall’s lips pursed until they were practically non-existent.
“Thank you for bringing this to my attention, but you must now go back to your dorms and back to bed. We will make sure Harry is okay.”
“We can’t just go back to bed!” Ron couldn’t understand what she was asking them to do. He wouldn’t be able to sleep a wink knowing that Harry wasn’t safe. “Not if he’s run off to the Department of bloody Mysteries!”
“Ron!”
“Mr Weasley!” McGonagall’s voice was as sharp as a whip, “how do you know about that?”
“Umm,” Ron turned to Hermione, imploring her to help him but she just grimaced and shrugged. Ron sighed. He wasn’t much of a liar. “Harry told us when he realised what the dreams were showing. He said he hasn’t had a dream for ages but - but I’m just worried.”
McGonagall’s hand landed on his shoulder and squeezed gently. Ron stared at it in disbelief. Harry had said she was kind, but he sort of thought Harry had finally gone barmy.
“We will find him and make sure he’s safe. Please, go back to your dorms and,” at this McGonagall pinned Hermione down with her stare as well, “do not, under any circumstances, try to find Harry or to follow me. Do you understand?”
Ron nodded, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Hermione’s head bob up and down in a nod as well.
They were guided to the door gently, but the sound of the lock was cold and final.
“We are going to follow her, right?”
Hermione set her jaw and nodded. Ron reached out and squeezed her hand, shaking slightly. They only ever held hands when Harry was in trouble. He really should get Harry a present for how often he managed it - right after he’d slapped him round the head for making them so worried in the first place.
“If we’re going to go then we need to change.” Hermione turned on her heel and started to power walk back down the corridor.
“Yeah, not to mention we’ll need our wands too.”
“Yeah, those too.” Hermione wasn’t listening to what he was saying, Ron could tell. She had that look in her eye that meant she was thinking thoughts he would never reach himself. In a minute she’d unveil her master plan, he would pretend to be annoyed at her being bossy, and she would roll her eyes and call him Ronald. Finally, something was as it should be that evening.
But, when they hopped through the portrait hole the common room wasn’t as deserted as it had been before.
“Oh c’mon Neville mate, are you always up when we need to run off somewhere?”
Neville stood from his place on the sofa and stared them down, wringing his hands. Neville had hit a growth spurt this year, but he still held himself like he was the chubby kid he’d been five years before. Ron understood - he was taller than all his brothers already and he hadn’t even stopped growing. If he could be an annoying, short, dumb kid again for a day he’d jump at the chance.
“O-only when y-you’re off doing something really stupid!”
“Well it isn’t stupid,” Hermione snapped. She really had no patience sometimes. “And you’re going to have to let us go.”
“Tell me what you’re doing and I might.” Neville looked a little scared of Hermione and so he turned back to Ron. “Harry’s gone somewhere, hasn’t he? He isn’t in the dorm.”
Before Ron could try and think up some excuse, Hermione was talking again. Her words were as sharp as Cornish pixie’s teeth.
“Look Neville, you know how this went the last time. I don’t want to have to jinx you again.”
Any colour that was in Neville’s face vanished. But, and Ron’s heart swelled at this, he stood up straighter and balled his fists at his side.
“You won’t. I can defend myself now, and you’re the one who taught me how.” The words came out in a rush, but out in the open they lingered, and Ron chanced a glance at Hermione. “Tell me.”
“No -” Hermione said at the same time Ron sighed, “okay fine.”
“Ron!” And, oh dear, the glare was on him now.
“Look, we’re wasting time. If Nev wants to know, he’ll find out soon enough anyway. Harry’s gone to the Ministry of Magic to get a prophecy that was made about him and You-Know-Who. He’s probably walked into a trap, so we’re going to go try and save him from whatever bloody mess he’s in this time.”
“I’m coming with you.”
“Great! Get dressed then and we’ll leave in five.”
Ron grinned to himself as he sauntered past Neville and started up the stairs.
“Ron!”
He didn’t get a chance to respond - Neville was clattering up the stairs behind him and making an almighty racket.
“Nev, be quiet! Get dressed and grab your wand then we’re out of here.”
They were ready in three minutes. Hermione was waiting for them at the portrait hole as they walked back across the common room.
The thrill of nerves at what they were about to do was setting in. Ron felt like his stomach was on fire from the way it was twisting and turning. His wand was slippery in his sweaty palm. But, he pushed the Fat Lady aside and strode out into the hallway first. He always felt a little better when he could pull his weight, and if that meant taking the lead then he’d take the lead. No questions.
McGonagall’s office door appeared in front of them much too quickly.
Hermione unlocked the door with a tap of her wand.
The flames of the fireplace went green and all of a sudden Ron was staring into Hermione’s frightened but sure eyes, Neville shifting uneasily beside him as they paused, for just a second, before spinning out of Hogwarts.
*
The floo coughed them out in the Ministry of Magic. They were in the atrium, that huge imposing space that Ron had never been able to marry in his mind with the place his soft hearted dad worked. It just didn’t seem to compute.
“This way,” Hermione was whispering even though they were the only ones around.
They each muffled their footsteps as they set out to the lifts. They cranked downwards alarmingly, just like Ron remembered from the day of Sirius’ trial last year, and in a breath they were staring down the corridor Harry had dreamt about for months.
Ron inched out of the lift first. He didn’t know what he was expecting to happen, but when nothing moved apart from dust in the air he shed a bit of the fear he was carrying with him; if no one was here then maybe they’d got there in time.
One step followed another and soon they were facing the door to the Department of Mysteries. It was ajar, but only slightly, and nothing but blackness lay within.
“Oh god,” Neville whimpered and huddled so close to Ron that he could feel his shaky breath on his neck.
Ron and Hermione stared in the direction Neville’s finger was pointing. There was a body on the floor. It was a man; short and battered looking, with wisps of mousey hair on his head.
“Who is that?” Hermione hissed, directly into Ron’s ear.
He shook her off and grunted, “Mundungus Fletcher.”
They all stared at his slumped form.
“Should we do something?” Neville said.
“No time,” Hermione took in a deep breath and looked away like it hurt to do so. “C’mon, let’s go.”
The door didn’t creak as they pulled it open. It was eerily silent - like nothing at all was there. Apart from doors. There were plenty of those.
“Bloody hell.” Ron said. “Harry couldn’t have warned us of this bit with those bloody dreams, could he?”
“Ronald!”
“Let’s try this one.” He walked through the nearest door to him. It was immediately obvious that it was a mistake.
The room was large and looked like a cross between the Defence classroom, the Potions storeroom, and one of the Herbology greenhouses. Things were everywhere. Huge tanks of water that housed plants that looked like animals, or maybe they were animals that looked like plants - either way, Ron didn’t want a closer look. There were cupboards everywhere that glinted with gold and glass, and a huge grandfather clock which seemed to be counting down to their demise.
“Look at these,” Hermione had a hand stretched out to touch one of the cupboards, and Ron reached for it on instinct. Something in him screamed that nothing in this room should be touched. “Time turners.”
“Huh?” Ron was still looking at their hands. Hermione had curled her fingers around his without thought. “Oh, yeah. Neat.”
“Neat?” She looked at him with raised eyebrows.
“Umm... guys?” Neville grabbed them both by the shoulders and yanked them down. “I think there are people out there.”
Ron strained his ears, but he couldn’t hear anything for a while, just the pounding of his own heart. But, there - a voice. Multiple voices.
Cold and cruel. Low and gruff. The voices of Death Eaters.
“Not this door, you idiot! I said the one to the left of the hall, not the right. ” The swish of cloaks passed them by, so close Ron thought he could feel the whisper of air cross his face.
“Just so we’re clear,” Neville’s voice cracked, “those were Death Eaters, right?”
“Lucius Malfoy,” Hermione’s voice was filled with so much venom Ron was, for a moment, terrified.
He took a breath and chanced a look around. The room they were in was still deserted, and so quiet he was sure they were alone.
“We have to go and find Harry. Now.”
Ron couldn’t think of anything else. Not the danger they were walking into, not the fact that they knew the Order were on their way to help, not the fact that they were just kids and the only training they had was from a classroom. His best friend was in danger, and he was going to go and stand by his side and fight with him. Even if all he could do was be there to take a hit for him.
Ron felt a calmness settle around him and he stood up to his full height and looked at Hermione and Neville. They looked the same as he felt, and they all locked eyes before slipping out of the door.
They turned to the door two to their right.
Ron turned the doorknob. It was cold to the touch and the door was heavy. He had to shove it open to see what was on the other side. But when it finally opened he had to pause to take the whole scene in.
The room they were walking into was like a miniature version of Sirius’ trial, just squeezed into the wrong shape of a poorly remembered memory. They were standing at the top of stone steps which ran the length of the room and fell in sharp juts to severe seats that overlooked a bare floor. The only thing of note in the whole room was a raised dais. There was something on it that didn’t quite look real. It was a tall wooden structure, almost like a doorway, but it had nothing in it. Ron took a step forward, inexplicably drawn towards it. The space between the posts shifted with his movement, hypnotic as it seemed to swirl in midair.
“Merlin’s beard,” Neville said, staring at it too. The fear in his eyes prompted Ron to remember what it was - the subject of more than one childhood ghost story come to life. “That’s the Veil.”
And Harry was standing right next to it, staring at it like he’d stared at the Mirror of Erised. Ron didn’t even see Sirius and Professor Lupin standing next to him, and he certainly didn’t see the Death Eaters bursting in through every door. His world had narrowed down to Harry and his outstretched hand which was reaching for the Veil like it was an old friend.
He ran across the no man's land of the stone floor like he ran across the Quidditch pitch when Harry won a game.
Ron reached Harry before a single curse was cast in his direction.
“Harry!” Ron yanked Harry away from the dais and only then did he notice the shining blue orb Harry was holding. “Get away from that.”
“Can’t you hear them?” Harry’s eyes were glazed over. Ron could see curses reflected in the lenses of his glasses.
“Who, Harry?”
“The voices,” Harry turned back to the veil and made a movement like he wanted to step towards it again. “They’re whispering. I can’t hear what they’re saying.”
“There’s no one there Harry.” The guilt Ron felt at having to tug his best friend away from the only connection he had left of his parents tore at him, but Harry didn’t have a clear head in times like these. Ron knew he would reach his parents through that veil. The problem was, he wouldn’t live to tell the tale. “That’s the Veil. If you touch it, you die.”
Harry retracted his raised hand, but slowly. Too slowly.
“Harry! Get down!” Professor Lupin was breathing hard as he turned to them. Hadn’t Harry sent him a chocolate cake just the day before because of the full moon? Ron saw a cloaked body fall behind them. “Ron! What the fuck are you doing here?”
“Erm,” Ron didn’t know what to say to this version of Professor Lupin. His version of the man wore tattered sweater vests and a calm smile, not leather jackets and curses. Even as he tried to stutter some excuse out, Lupin’s eyes hardened and he shot a curse at something behind them. “I came for Harry.”
“‘Course you did,” Lupin smiled, but it didn’t look very happy. “Stay down. Do exactly what we say. Is anyone else here?”
Ron’s heart jolted. Hermione and Neville. How could he have run away from them so stupidly?
“Hermione,” he searched the room for her desperately, “and Neville.”
“Sirius,” Lupin barked out, “did you hear that? Ron, Hermione, and Neville are here.”
“Bit busy babe!” Sirius was locked in a duel. It was hard to watch, but even harder to take his eyes from, and Ron stared as Sirius wordlessly brought his enemies to their knees. He turned around with a mad smile when he was done. It dropped as soon as he saw Ron. “We need to get you two out of here.”
“I’m not leaving, I’m fighting.” Harry had his wand in his hand and Ron realised he did as well.
“Like hell you are.” Sirius said, “Remus, take them to the door. I’ll cover you.”
Ron searched the room as he took the first step forward. He still couldn’t see Hermione. His heart was beating at a thousand miles an hour.
Each step forward took them closer to another duel. Ron saw Kingsley Shacklebolt duelling two Death Eaters at once and barely break a sweat. McGonagall was lit up in the red light of the flames she was wielding, and all Ron could think was that she looked like the spirit of Gryffindor come to life. As his gaze slipped away from the bright light, too much to look at for more than a few seconds, he saw something that made his heart stop.
Hermione and Neville. They were backed up against some of the stone steps with their wands brandished. Even as Ron stood there he saw them fire curses off into the fray, the telltale red light giving them away as stupefies ; the least fatal of any spell being cast in the room.
Another of the doors that lined the far wall burst open and Ron’s heart stopped for the second time in thirty seconds. It would be a miracle if he made it out of this room, and not for the heart-stopping drama or the fatal spells, but because it was his father who’d just walked through the door, with Bill and Fleur hot on his heels.
“Ron, come on.” Lupin’s voice was urgent now; he’d just spotted the others too.
They ducked their heads and ran. Ron clutched onto Hermione as soon as she was in reach. He stared into her deep brown eyes and wanted to cry. He wasn’t sure why.
Shrieks sounded around them and the whooshing, flapping sounds of Death Eaters flying away suddenly filled the echoing room. Ron’s head whipped around as he searched for the commotion. It didn’t take long to find it - Dumbledore had burst in through the door they’d come through. His pale robes were rippling like he himself was magic incarnate. Just the sight of him had sent more than half of the Death Eaters running.
“Sirius!” Lupin and Harry pushed past them at the same time, both shouting his name.
Not every Death Eater had gone. Bellatrix Lestrange was standing on the dais like she owned it, and Sirius was right there with her. The resemblance would have been uncanny if not for the vicious snarl on Bellatrix’s face.
They duelled like they were born to it; Sirius was graceful, almost lazy with the joy of the dance; Bellatrix was cruel and sharp and vicious, and not a single movement was wasted. They were like two sides of the same coin. Good and evil. Sane and insane.
Bellatrix screamed as Sirius landed a curse which left gashes running down her arms.
“You filthy blood traitor! How dare you touch me!”
Harry was still standing next to him, and Ron realised belatedly that he had a hand on Harry’s arm to stop him running after his godfather.
Sirius laughed, “is that the best you can do, Bella?”
Bellatrix took the words for the taunt they were and doubled her attack. Her laugh was maniacal; Ron wanted to cover his ears but he was afraid to let go of Harry for even a minute.
The choice was made for him when another Death Eater, mask in place, appeared in front of them from nowhere. A wand was pointed at his face before Ron could react, and he closed his eyes to brace for the impact of a curse. But none came.
He opened his eyes to see Lupin in front of him, fighting the Death Eater off. He was shooting off spell after spell and forcing the Death Eater to retreat. The mask slipped off enough to reveal a hooked nose and scarred face - Rockwood, then.
Lupin had his back to Sirius and Bellatrix as if he’d been on his way over there before spinning around to fend the Death Eater off.
He didn’t see it when Bellatrix got a hit in. But Ron did. Harry did.
The jet of light hit Sirius square in the chest, and for a second nothing happened. Then, everything happened at once.
Bellatrix screamed in glee; Sirius stared in shock at his chest and started to fall, ever so slowly, in a perfect arc towards the veil; Harry shouted and started to run forwards; Lupin spun around and pointed his raised wand at his husband; Rockwood grinned and raised his wand.
Rockwood cast first.
A jet of bright light was on perfect course to hit Harry in the back. Ron watched. Lupin moved so quickly it must have been instinct. He jumped in front of Harry and pushed him out the way, and he cast a protective spell as quickly as any wizard could, but still - the jet of light hit him, and he fell.
Harry was sprawled on the floor, his wand inches from his fingers.
Sirius was still falling, as if caught in a snapshot of time.
“ Impedimenta!” Hermione shouted.
“ Stupefy!” Kingsley’s deep voice boomed across the hall. It was too late; Bellatrix was gone.
But Hermione had been quick enough. Sirius was paused mid-fall. Wisps of his long hair escaped his bun and were millimetres from the surface of the veil when Harry grabbed his godfather’s hand and yanked him off the dais.
They half ran, half fell to Lupin’s side.
Hermione’s small hand wrapped around his arm and pulled. Ron stumbled backwards into the throng of people watching the scene play out with bated breath.
“What spell did he hit him with?” The question passed through the room like a horrible game of Chinese whispers. “Is he...you know?”
Ron could barely breathe past the lump in his throat. The grip Hermione had around his arm tightened with every second that Lupin lay still.
Dumbledore rushed down the steps and swept passed the Order without a second glance. He gathered up his robes in one withered hand and knelt on the floor, his free hand roving over Lupin’s body like a Healer looking for a curse mark.
Harry and Sirius hadn’t moved an inch from their vigil and they didn’t move even for Dumbledore.
Sirius pushed Lupin’s hair from his face and picked up one of his husband’s slack hands. His mouth was moving quickly, but Ron couldn’t make out any of the words he was muttering. Harry didn’t seem to know what was happening either, if the look he was throwing his godfather was any indication.
Ron was a second from running out to join Harry when a golden light started to glow from Sirius’ heart. It seemed to travel underneath his skin, swirling and pooling in beautiful sunlight, as it made its way to the point at which Sirius and Lupin’s skin touched. When it reached their hands, the light transferred to Lupin and within a minute his torso was blindingly golden.
Then, just as fast as the light appeared, it went out.
They waited with bated breath for any sign of life from Lupin.
“You idiot,” Lupin’s voice was weak, but it was there. Everyone cheered, Hermione hugged him, and Harry sat back on his heels with a look of utter relief on his face. “You absolute fucking idiot.”
Sirius bent over his husband, and his whole body was shaking - with sobs or laughs, Ron didn’t know.
Dumbledore cleared his throat and turned to them all.
“We must leave.”
Ron bent his head low as they filed out of the room, trying to get lost in the crowd. But he wasn’t so lucky.
“Ronald Weasley.” His father was on his right, and even as he looked for an escape route he saw Bill come up on his left. “What in the name of Merlin are you doing here.”
Ron opened his mouth, but he had no idea what he was expecting to say that would get him out of this one.
“If you don’t tell your mother you were here, I won’t.” Ron couldn’t believe what he’d just heard. He looked his dad over, but other than looking wearier than usual, he didn’t look like he’d suffered any head injuries that might alter his personality completely. “You did save your best friend’s life. But - you are not to do this kind of thing again. For my own sanity, if nothing else.”
“Yeah, you’re alright Ronny.” Bill ruffled his hair.
Ron felt a sense of rightness that he hadn’t felt before. He knew coming after Harry was the right thing, but having his family agree with him made him even more sure.
They stepped out into the atrium, the golden gates of the fireplaces looking like the golden snitch - reaching those gates would be the end of the game, and they were the winning team.
They started to pile into the lifts in small groups. Bill and Fleur went with Neville and Kingsley into the one next to his, Hermione’s and his dad’s. The green flames flickered around them, but the spinning sensation of travel didn’t come. They all looked around in unease, but as his dad poked his nose out of the fireplace to check on the others, the grates fell down around them, trapping them inside.
The smashing of glass broke the uneasy chatter, but Ron didn’t think anything of it until he heard Harry scream. It was how he’d screamed when he had nightmares about the night of the fourth task.
The fireplaces looked out across the open floor of the atrium, so Ron had a clear view of Harry as he staggered among the broken glass and odd, bluey smoke that was rising around him. The mist seemed to whisper into his mind.
For neither can…
But the sentence was gone before it even began. As soon as the voice stopped, Ron forgot what it said.
Harry was clutching at his scar and gasping for breath. The only people left out there with him were Sirius, who was half carrying Lupin, and Dumbledore.
Then, someone screamed. It wasn’t Harry this time. It was Tonks. That small shout was all the signal they had before a black mist coalesced into the shape of a man. Tall, thin, and with a face that Ron had never seen before but which he knew instantly anyway. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.
He was smiling, or at least Ron thought he might be. He was looking at Harry, who was sprawled on the floor with small cuts from the glass littering his skin, and smiling.
Ron had never been more terrified in his life, but he had also never been angrier. If not for the grates trapping him, he would have raised his wand and charged. No matter the consequences.
“You smashed my prophecy,” You-Know-Who’s voice was cold and curiously high pitched. Like it wasn’t a real voice at all. “You have ruined many months of planning...many months indeed...and thwarted my Death Eaters once again, Harry Potter.”
You-Know-Who looked around at them all with his arms half outstretched, as if taking them all in.
“The Order of the Phoenix,” You-Know-Who laughed a pitiless laugh, “a shame your bravery will all be for nothing when I kill the boy...when you see how meaningless he really is...how weak.”
Ron’s vision was going grey around the edges and all he could focus on were the long, white, spindly fingers that were holding a cruel looking wand.
Lupin limped in front of Harry.
“You remember what happened last time you made that threat in front of me, don’t you Vol-”
Lupin’s words were cut off as You-Know-Who bared his teeth and hurtled a curse his way. Lupin grunted with pain and fell to the floor.
“You dare to speak my name, you filthy creature?”
“Don’t you fucking dare touch them.”
Quicker than even McGonagall had been fighting, Sirius stepped in front of Lupin and shot back curse after curse. The grace and humour from his previous duel was gone, and in its place was the viciousness the Blacks were known for.
Sirius cursed, and blocked, and parried. He had You-Know-Who distracted, but Ron noticed what he hadn’t. Harry was slowly crawling across the floor to Lupin’s side. Dumbledore was murmuring spells under his breath that were causing the air to ripple. Protective spells and enchantments to keep them safe, Ron had no doubt.
Sirius was locked into a deadly battle now. The curses that were flying across the room were white-hot in their intensity and the air was crackling with danger.
Sirius landed a curse which seemed to choke You-Know-Who of air, but the effects only lasted seconds before You-Know-Who laughed and echoed Sirius’ words of just minutes before, “is that the best you can do?”
He drew back his unnaturally white hand and waved his wand through the air in arching circles. Shards of glass spun in the air, reflecting the green flames of the fireplaces, before pelting down upon Harry and Lupin.
Sirius yelled and ran to them, but Dumbledore’s protective charms were doing their work and they were unharmed. The shards bounced off the bubble around them and tinkled on the polished floor like chimes.
Before Sirius reached them, Harry shouted in alarm. You-Know-Who had his wand raised again.
“ Avada Kedavra!” The jet of green light bolted for Sirius’ back. For the second time that evening Ron watched certain death find Sirius as if in slow motion. For the second time, he knew there was nothing he could do but watch.
A great metallic clang sounded, ringing loudly in the hall, as a part of the golden fountain came alive and jumped in front of Sirius, taking the curse intended to end his life. As it fell, it trapped Sirius in a safe embrace, and Ron could see it was a deer that had jumped in front of him.
Dumbledore sent another of the golden creatures charging at You-Know-Who, but this one had huge antlers that went straight for his middle. You-Know-Who cast it aside with a blast, and laughing, sent a serpent of fire back.
“You do not seek to kill me, Dumbledore?”
“We both know there are other ways of destroying a man, Tom.”
“There is nothing worse than death! The fire serpent reared upwards almost ten feet tall. Ron was reminded of Fred and George’s firework dragon, but that looked like a pygmy puff in comparison to this.
Dumbledore didn’t falter though. He stood, calm and patient like he was teaching a student, as the serpent lunged at him. With a flick of his wand he sent the flames scattering back across the atrium, then with a roaring that was unlike anything Ron had ever heard before, he summoned a tsunami of water and whipped it around his head before directing it to drown You-Know-Who.
Ron’s heart beat triple time. This had to work, Dumbledore was a better wizard than You-Know-Who, and a better man. It just had to work.
Ron held his breath. But before he’d even felt the burn for oxygen in his chest, the water was gone.
You-Know-Who was standing in the middle of the atrium with raised arms. He grinned his open mouthed grin and everything exploded.
The glass windows, the domed ceiling, the glass on cabinets around the room - it all just exploded. It was deafening and blinding all at once, but Ron forced his eyes open and his hands away from his ears. He had to be ready. One hand on his wand, the other gripping Hermione’s hand tight.
The glass swam through the air as it tried to find a target. But Dumbledore’s protections held strong. Through the glittering of glass, Ron saw the dark shape of You-Know-Who shift and blur until he was gone.
The minute he was gone the glass fell to the ground and the grates disappeared. Ron and Hermione were the first out of the fireplaces. They ran, as fast as they could, towards Harry. He stood from where he was crouched next to Lupin.
Harry took a step towards them on wobbly feet when it happened.
He seemed to be staring at something no one else could see, then he shook and took another step forward. He fell to the ground with a grunt before either Ron or Hermione could offer a hand to him.
Ron hadn’t ever seen Harry like this. Not even when he’d woken from the vision showing his dad being attacked by that snake. Then, Harry had been shaken. Now, it was like Harry was possessed. He was looking about from his position on the floor like he was seeking someone out.
“You’ve lost, old man.” Harry’s voice didn’t sound right. He was staring straight into Dumbledore’s eyes like it was a challenge.
Ron’s hand twitched where it was still clasping Hermione’s. There had to be something they could do. She squeezed back - a warning; a support.
Lupin was trying to crawl across to Harry, but he was too weak and the glass underhand was cutting him every time he tried to move. Sirius was cursing and shouting at the statue that had him trapped, but his wand had been knocked from his grip and was just out of reach.
“ Wingardium leviosa, ” Ron muttered under his breath. The deer set Sirius free. Ron saw Hermione’s small smile from the corner of his eye.
“Harry, Harry,” Sirius was at Harry’s side, squeezing his shoulders and forcing him to make eye contact. “Remember our lessons. Breathe, Harry. Control your mind. Block him out!”
Harry struggled, gasping and squirming as he tried to fight off something none of them could see. Ron felt a horrible understanding dawn on him in that moment. This is what it meant to be Harry Potter. No amount of attention, or fame, or Firebolts could make this okay.
“Kill me now,” the hateful voice hissed out of Harry’s mouth. “If death is nothing, Dumbledore, kill me now. Or are you too weak?”
“Harry, fight it! Fight him!”
Harry shouted and curled in on himself, breathing harder than ever. But when he next spoke, it was his own voice.
“You’re the weak one. And you’ll never know love. Or friendship. And I feel sorry for you.”
Ron stared. The whole group of them were so quiet it was like they weren’t there. Harry grunted in pain again before falling silent. The only sound was Sirius and Lupin trying vainly to get through to him, but even they fell silent when the very shape of Harry seemed to shimmer and distort.
A great cloud of black mist swirled out of Harry until You-Know-Who was standing above him once more.
He had eyes for no one but Harry. He bent over him with that horrific smile on his snake-like face.
“You are a fool, Harry Potter. And you will lose,” he paused and gestured at them all without taking his eyes from Harry’s, “everything…”
The fireplaces flared behind them. Fudge walked out, flanked by other Ministry officials. Ron saw his brother’s curly red hair somewhere in the group.
“He’s back.” Fudge said.
And You-Know-Who disappeared into a tornado of smoke.