Grave Revelation

by Redd Butterfly

Disclaimer: HP characters and anything associated with HP belongs to JK Rowling.

A/N: Set in the summer after 4th year. You could say it's a continuation on my first fic, "Perfect Goodbye." You don't need to read it to understand this, but please read/review it anyway. Thanks.

Chapter one: Awakened

On the ride home from Kings Cross, mom and dad asked how last term went. What was I suppose to say?

Oh, the term wasn't too grueling until Harry was kidnapped from the school grounds and taken to a graveyard where he not only witnessed the return of the most evil wizard in the world, but also saw an innocent seventeen-year-old student get murdered. Oh, did I mention that since I'm muggle-born and one of Harry's best friends, I'm probably somewhere at the top of the Death Eaters' 'To Kill' list.

Yeah right! They'll just get worried---worried enough to stop me from going back to school on September.

So instead of the truth, I gave them a vague reply saying that it was "eventful," but "everything's fine now." Then I put a smile on my face and hoped that it looked real enough.

I really do hate lying to my parents, but the less they know about what's going on in the wizarding world the better.

So, basically, all I have to do is just keep a smile on my face and pretend everything's all right. That shouldn't be too hard now.

~ * ~

One week after he arrived from Kings Cross, Ron was awakened from his sleep at the early hours of the morning. He glanced around his room to see what could have woken him up, but found everything to be normal.

He closed his eyes again in an attempt to fall back to sleep, but it was hopeless. He was fully awake now. But something didn't feel right.

He felt like there was something weighing him down, making him feel depressed and irritable.

Dismissing his odd feelings, he decided to read his latest issue of Quidditch Today. If he couldn't sleep, might as well do something important.

This is where Ron knew something was definitely wrong. He was reading is favorite magazine--about his favorite sport, and was still feeling down and depressed.

Suddenly, it hit him.

"Oh no…. Hermione…. Harry…."

He rushed to his desk and grabbed a quill and a sheet of parchment, which he tore in half.

On one piece, he wrote:

            Hermione,

            Are you all right? I just got a strange feeling that something is wrong.

            Ron

And on the other:

            Harry,

            You okay? I feel like something's wrong. Write me back, ok.

            Ron

He gave one of the letters to Pigwidgeon and one to Errol. Then he watched them fly off, hoping against hope that his friends were fine.

~ * ~

Ron woke up around eleven in the late morning. He must have fallen asleep as he laid in bed worrying. He sat up and noticed that he still felt the same as he had when he had first awoken just a few hours ago. He was just thinking that he was probably only coming up with the cold or something when he spotted a familiar piece of parchment laying on his desk.

He quickly got up to read it.

            Hey Ron,

I'm all right, but I know what you mean. I woke up about two hours ago feeling like...like crap. Sorry to sound so ill-tempered but I am not in the mood to be nice right now for some reason.

How's Hermione doing?

Harry

As if to answer Harry's question, Ron search his desk for the other letter. Finding none, he looked around his bed. Nothing.

Thinking that Hermione probably wasn't awakened by the strange thing that woke him and Harry up, Ron went downstairs for some food.

But when he reached the kitchen, his hunger went forgotten. Both Errol and Pig were perched on the window sill sleeping. He searched the counters and dining table for a reply from Hermione, but, again, found none.

Since she didn't have an owl, Hermione usually sends her replies with the same owl that came to her. Knowing this, Ron immediately knew that something was wrong with Hermione.

~ * ~

This entire week has been terrible. I've spent the last seven days hiding the truth from my parents. Every time we're together, I put on this happy face and jolly voice. But on the inside, I'm sad, worried, and, most of all, terrified.

Every time someone would knock on our door, I half expected it to be Lucius Malfoy or some other Death Eater ready to kill me and my parents.

It's been difficult--very difficult--and I don't think I can last one more day. These hidden feelings are destroying me with each passing minute. I can't hold them in any longer.

But I won't tell my parents. I just can't.

TAP! TAP! TAP!

I looked out the window and saw Pig. That's odd. Why would he be delivering a letter this early in the morning?

Am I all right? Well, no! I'm not! I just spent the last few days lying to my parents more than I've ever done in my entire life.

I was going to write that. But I suddenly stopped. I didn't want Ron to worry, but telling him I was fine would be a lie, and I don't think I can lie anymore. One more lie would kill me. I know it will. So I sent Pig back.

Sorry, Ron.

~ * ~

            Harry,

I think something's wrong with Hermione. She didn't reply to the owl I sent her asking if she was ok. I'll find a way to see her, and owl you about what happens later.

Ron

As Ron tied the letter to Pig, he clearly noticed how happy he seemed to be delivering another letter in such a short time.

Bloody owl! Didn't he know there's nothing to be happy about?

Since it has become somewhat of a tradition for Mr. Weasley and Percy to apparate home from work to have lunch with Mrs. Weasley, Ron, Ginny, and the twins, Ron decided to wait so he could ask his father for help.

"Dad, can you hook Hermione's house to the Floo Network," asked Ron the moment his father and older brother apparated into the kitchen.

"Aww! Is Ickle Ronniekins gonna visit his girlfriend," Fred asked mockingly as he made his way down the stairs, George and Ginny right behind him.

"Shut up Fred!" Then, regaining composure, he turned back to his father and continued. "Please Dad. Something's wrong with her. I feel it." Realizing what he just said, he hurriedly added, "And Harry feels it too."

Mrs. Weasley enters the room, takes one look at the worried faces on her husband and children and immediately asks what's happened.

"I--I mean, Harry and I think that something's wrong with Hermione. We both feel it. Like there's something--something not right. And I was just asking Dad if he can connect Hermione's house to the Floo Network so I can see if she's ok."

The same worried expression crossed Mrs. Weasley's eyes, but it left as quickly as it appeared. Can't have the whole family break down now. She has to stay strong for all of them.

"Would you be able to do that, Arthur," she asked her husband, though it sounded a little more strained that she would have liked.

"That wouldn't be a problem. I could go now if--"

"No," she said firmly. "We will all eat our lunches first."

Ron sighed. He didn't want to wait any longer, but since the events that had taken place at the end of last term, his mom wanted them to spend as much time as a family as possible. With no other choice, he sat with his unusually quiet family around the dinning table, sending a mental message to Hermione for her to wait just a little longer 'til he gets to her.

To Be Continued...