This story was also written for the Fifth Round of the Seventh Season of the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition: In a Dimension Far, Far Away.

I'm writing as Chaser 1 for The Tutshill Tornados.

Chaser 1 prompt: (Dark World Dimension) Write about a parallel world where the characters' worst fears come to life.

These are the prompts I'm using to as a chaser to score some extra points: 2: [Object] Portkey, 9: [Song] Shatter Me by Lindsey Stirling, 10: [Creature] Spiders

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of the world J.K. Rowling has created. It's all hers, from Diagon Alley to Hogwarts to all the people living there.

Thanks to my fantastic teams for betaing!

WARNING: This is a story about spiders and the main character (Ron) facing his worst fears. This is a Spider-ruled world!AU and dystopian-like setting. Mentions of character deaths.

Title: Shatter Me

Words: 2960

I'm scared of changing, the days stay the same - Shatter me - Lindsey Stirling

The day started like any other. Ron woke up in the flat he shared with Hermione and prepared to travel via Portkey to America for an Auror conference. He had been a part of the Ministry's Auror Department for two years now, and he was beginning to doubt his choice of career. Ron had loved it to begin with but soon was reminded of the fact that he had, in some way or another, been fighting the dark arts since he started at Hogwarts. He longed for something more peaceful, but he didn't know what.

Stepping out into the cold November air, he made his way across the deserted car park by his building to where a ministry official was waiting with the Portkey. He nodded to the man. "Morning, everything ready?"

"Yes, it's ready. Thirty seconds." The man gestured to the object on the ground in front of him. "It will reactivate in two days so don't lose it."

Ron reached down and gripped the object in his hand; he had seen something like it in his dad's shed years ago, so knew it was a part of a car, a headlight maybe. The man began to count down as Ron prepared himself for the all too familiar feeling of the Portkey activating.

As the car park spun out of view, figures advancing on their location, wands raised. Ron noticed only the red light of a stunning curse before he was pulled further away by the Portkey. He spun round and round like a ballet dancing performing a pirouette. His vision blurred. He saw stars and felt sick. Ron closed his eyes to combat the nausea and hoped that he would soon arrive.

He lay face down in the dirt and slowly pulled himself up. The earth was the first thing that should have alerted him that something was wrong; he was supposed to be in New York where there should only be pavement— unless he was in Central Park. Rubbing his face and looking around, Ron spotted the familiar sights of Hogsmeade outside the mouth of the alley he had landed in.

However, it was not at all like the Hogsmeade he remembered. The shops were boarded up, the sky had a rusty red colour, and behind the shops and houses stood tall buildings with large sooty windows, strange wispy white threads connected them, and tall chimneys billowed out black smoke.

Around him, there was a lot of clicking and the sounds of metal crashing, as if he was caught in the middle of a machine. His heart beat so hard he could hear it, and his hands grew sweaty. Where was he and what was going on? He pulled himself to his feet and gathered up the Portkey that lay not so far away; he needed to get away from this place, whatever it was.

Just as he was about to exit the alley, he caught sight of something that made his heart freeze in his chest. The scuttling sound of eight gigantic legs and the clicking of pincers hit his ears as he saw a giant spider pulling a webbed chain behind it. The chain was linked to a series of people whom Ron recognised in a heartbeat, his old professors. McGonagall, Flitwick and Sprout were all bound at the hands with a clamp-like vice around their wrists as the spider dragged them down the street. The spider was an Acromantula, like Hagrid's Aragog. Ron watched in horror, unable to act despite his will to do so, his body betraying him as he was locked in fear.

The scuttling of another set of eight legs drew his attention in the other direction, and it addressed the Acromantula pulling the chains in a strange, low voice. "What are you doing with those humans, Mantu?"

"Ah, Tula! Good morning. These humans have outlived their purpose. I am taking them to the food production centre."

Ron gasped. What would happen if they found him? He willed himself to move. He had to save them; he couldn't let them become food! He was an Auror for Merlin's sake! He looked over at his professors who were wearing rags and looked as if they had both been starved and worked to the bone.

Before he could bring himself to act, they were dragged off, and Ron's mind went blank. He didn't know what to do or where to go. Nothing made sense, and he suspected he was greatly outnumbered.

He went to Apparate away, and nothing happened. He tried again. Again nothing. Why couldn't he Apparate? Maybe it had something to do with the red sky. It could be something preventing wizards from escaping. He would have to try on foot, run until two days had passed and the Portkey would take him back home where everything was normal.

He took a step back but hadn't noticed that behind him was a pile of cobweb-covered cogs, and he fell noisily.

"What was that?" came a voice. Before he knew it, he was surrounded by three spiders, the two he had heard out on the main street and one behind him who had been in a nearby building.

"A loose human? What is it doing here?" the Acromantula behind him asked as it placed a great furry leg on his body to hold him down. Ron struggled against it, trying to grasp his wand to protect himself, but the spider, Tula, noticed and took the wand, snapping it in its vice-like pincer. Ron gasped and felt all warmth leave his body; how would he defend himself now?

"It looks too clean to be one of ours, and it had a wand," Tula said. "Never mind. It is ours now. I will take it to the factory; we need to replace the old ones anyway."

Ron struggled against Tula, but the new Acromantula helped it, knocking him on the head, stunning him. "Be happy that we don't send you with the old ones… we need young workers for our factories; you should be honoured to work for the Great Colony."

They clasped a cold, hard set of iron shackles around his wrists, and pulled him to his feet, the world still spinning around him.

Luckily, he had dropped the headlight before they found him, and it had been kicked to the side of the alley. If only he could collect it again before it was set to reactivate, he could get home. A little shred of hope found its way to his heart for just a moment despite the gravity of his situation. They pulled him by the link on his wrists towards one of the tall buildings he'd seen after he had arrived.

Ron was soon stripped and given a threadbare set of clothes, brown and itchy. Tula explained the rules. He was to work from sundown to sunset and would get a meal in the morning and evening and water would be supplied at midday. Ron was placed in a separate section to prevent 'contaminating the other humans'. He suspected that this was in case he had some sort of disease or something. Maybe to break his spirits. If so, it was working.

The shackles on his wrists were connected to a podium in the middle of the chamber. There was a machine on the right side of the room which spouted out springs and magnets for some sort of contraption. Ron wondered, as he studied the room, why the Acromantula needed machines; he had always considered them a low-tech species. Then again, nothing in this place made sense, and the fact that he was now enslaved to a group of spiders had Ron questioning his sanity. He felt numb, his head hurt both from the whack on the head he got from the spider and from everything that had happened so far. He was beyond confused and wondered what had happened here. Was he in some sort of nightmare?

The podium in the middle of the room started spinning, and Ron was pulled along with it. A new Acromantula called Acro had come to keep an eye on him. Perhaps all their names were somehow related to the name of their species. Acro was a bit smaller than Tula and Mantu, potentially younger, but just as terrifying. Acro had eight, coal black eyes and was covered in dense black hair. Ron guessed that it was roughly the size of a Thestral. He could hear the clicking of Acro's pincers and the acidic stench of its venom stung Ron's nose.

"Get to work!" Acro barked, clicking his pincers menacingly. Ron shook his head to try to push his terror and confusion out of his head. Out of fear for what would happen if he didn't work, he started picking up the springs and magnets as the podium brought him over to the machine. He nearly dropped the first one. It was red-hot, and they hadn't given him anything to pick up the objects with.

He was pulled away from the machine as the podium kept spinning, and he was instructed to load the springs in one tube and the magnets in another. His head spun and even when he could stay still, he felt the room turn around him.

This continued all day, and Ron grew despondent. He was constantly lightheaded and wondered whether he would ever get home to Hermione and his family. Arco left him after a couple of hours and only returned with his ration of water at midday and then again in the evening to take him to the cages. He was placed in a solitary cage, but at least this time, he could see other humans. They were quiet, huddled together, and weak. When Ron was thrown into his cage with a piece of bread and another cup of water, they watched him curiously.

Finally away from the spiders, Ron could think about what had happened and the terror that had built up in him over the day began to loosen its grip on him. He was exhausted. Despite this, Ron knew he had to think of something; he had to find a way out. He couldn't allow himself to miss the Portkey and get stuck here.

Ron figured that as he and the Portkey were hit by the spell in the carpark, that it must have sent him to another dimension, another version of reality. Maybe Aragog had rebelled against Hagrid way back when he was released into the Forbidden Forest? He nibbled on his bread, and his hunger made itself acutely known. He wolfed down his meal, and with something filling his stomach, the headache that had formed around lunchtime started to subside, leaving him yet more clear minded.

He had to return to the Portkey, but how would he do that when he was chained to the factory and was without a wand?

The Portkey would activate again in just over a day, and he needed to be there when it happened. He needed to find a way to break free once he was alone in the factory and make his way back to the alley, find the Portkey, and then find somewhere to hide until it activated. The sting from his hands surged, and then it hit him. The springs! The springs were scorching hot when they came out of the machine. If he used one of them to pry open the shackles on his wrists, it might just open enough for him to get out. Not all hope was lost.

In the morning, a gruff looking spider woke him and gave him a piece of bread before silently dragging him into his working space again and starting the podium. Another slave, a hassle like Ron, was paraded by, guarded by a troop of large Acromantulas. Ron's heart beat right out of his chest in fear, and his palms turned slick with sweat. He so wanted this nightmare to be over. Why did it have to be a spider dimension?

Once Ron was sure that he was alone, he started his plan. He had watched for the exits as he was dragged into the factory and swore when he saw that all of them were heavily guarded. So no walking out the front door; he would have to find an alternative. As he moved the springs and magnets round and round in the chamber, he noticed that above the machine, there was a small platform which went all the way to the large windows at the end of the building.

The water arrived, and he downed it thirstily. He couldn't wait anymore. He had to act now. Once the spider was out of sight, he grabbed a spring on his next turn and wedged it into the shackle attached to each wrist. At first, it didn't budge, and the spring soon grew too cold for him to use. He threw it down the tube and collected a new one every other turn, alternating with taking the magnets.

An hour before sundown, the shackles clicked open one after the other, and he inwardly cheered. The locks were busted, but he could easily hide the fact that it wasn't working. Ron decided that as it was so close to nightfall, it was too risky to try escaping now. The spiders would be preparing to escort them out of the factory, and he wouldn't be able to get away fast enough to prevent them from finding him.

The next day, he was mentally ready. He was still terrified of the Acromantulas, but his fear of having to stay in this place was greater. He was locked into the vice which they had yet to notice was broken and started to work. At least for a little while, he needed the spiders to go about their daily business.

'Now!' Ron thought to himself, and he bound the shackles together and wound them around the podium so they wouldn't drag on the floor and alert the guards to that something was wrong. He clambered on top of the machine and pulled himself up onto the platform by the windows. Two days of little food, little water, and little rest meant that he was physically drained, and he dreaded to think what he would feel like if he couldn't get away. He hugged the wall to avoid being seen and approached the window, swearing when he saw that there was no opening. He would have to smash it or find another way out. Looking around, Ron felt a moment of despair as he saw no other way out and knew the second he broke the glass, the guards would be alerted.

Gathering up his Gryffindor courage, Ron took a few steps back before running head-on at the window, turning at the last second to shield his face. He flew out of the window and hit the ground below. He pulled himself up, adrenaline pumping through him so much that he didn't feel any pain; he only noticed the blood pouring down his leg. He didn't care; he wouldn't stay there, and he would be damned if he let an injury stop him. Behind him, the alarm blared and the spiders shouted. The humans had taken the opportunity to rebel when the guards were too preoccupied looking for him. This distracted some of the guards, though not all.

He made his way to the alley, and to his delight, the Portkey was there. He grabbed it tightly in his hand and kept running. He needed to find somewhere to hide or at least keep going long enough for the Portkey to activate. Unfortunately, the delight of getting the Portkey had relaxed him enough that he could feel his leg that was getting more painful for every step he took.

Ron's heart beat loudly in his chest, and he clutched the Portkey even tighter as he tried to get away, weaving between buildings in the hopes of losing his pursuers. However, they climbed on the rooftops and were gaining on him. Just as he turned a corner, there was a strange spitting noise, and he was immobilised; they had shot a web at him.

They carried him out to the main road in Hogsmeade, and soon he realised where they were taking him. They chattered amongst themselves, saying that they hadn't had an escapee for dinner for a long time and chuckled in menacing tones. They arrived at their destination, where there was the most enormous spider Ron had ever seen. His loved ones flashed before his eyes; he would never see them again. A sharp pain hit his arm; the giant spider had bitten him. He felt cold and sleepy as the venom took hold. As his eyes drifted shut, the Portkey activated, and he was pulled out of the spider's grasp.

"Ron! Wake up!"

His eyes blinked open, and he met a set of brown eyes he had thought he would never see again. He was lying in the carpark he had left two days before. She was holding a small potions bottle, an antidote. Behind her, there was a team of Aurors and Healers.

"Hermione!" He shot up and pulled her into a massive hug, his whole body shaking from the ordeal he had been through and the relief of seeing her again. Hermione gripped him just as tightly. "I was so worried, I am so glad you are okay."

"I want to quit being an Auror, and I am never using a Portkey again," he said, and as he held his beloved, he thought, 'there are more important things in life than fighting.'