Into the Fire ~ The Whole Darn Thing

by Elizabeth Notrab

Alternate Reality...Ron's a part of the Underground trying upheave Voldemort's tyrannical rule. Hermione and Harry make appearances as well as a few others. I just figured I'd post the story as a whole instead of the parts.

A/N: Ack! I know that some people like to read the whole thing instead of in parts
so I decided to post the whole shebang. I tried to amend it so that it was more GoF
friendly and so that it was decent. (Scientists are looking into the subject of whether or
not I succeeded.) I would appreciate your opinion either way. I hope that I
caught everything when I proofread, but my editing skills leave something to be
desired, so I apologize now if I missed stuff. All owls are welcomed at
mtfbwya@pacbell.net, and most are even answered by the author herself! But no
autographed pictures as I'm running out of 8 X 10 glossies. Hope you liked.

Into the Fire^
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Prologue
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Outside the house at Godric's Hollow, he saw the happy family inside and smiled to
himself. He walked up to the front door and knocked. James answered the door and
quickly paled.

"Oh, God, Peter…" James said quietly backing up.

"Yes, Peter betrayed you James. He found real power…my power. Now, I've come to
destroy you. And that boy of yours. Unless, of course, you'd care to join me…"

"Never."

"Hmm. Pity, but I really didn't think that you would. You're too caught up in your petty
little world. Your mind is eternally closed to your potential, James."

"No, just closed to evil. You'll have to kill me, but not without a fight." With that, James
Potter yelled a spell and pointed his wand at Voldemort. The Dark Lord brushed the
spell away and sent purple lighting dancing fatally toward his attacker. James vaporized
on the spot.

Voldemort looked sadly at where James had stood. He felt no remorse for the violent act,
because James could have lived had he chosen wisely. But the man would have been a
good ally. The moment was over, though and Voldemort walked into the hallway, where
he knew Lily would be with the boy. When he walked into the room, Lily turned around
in a graceful twirl.

"Please, not Harry! Please!" she cried. Voldemort laughed at her desperate pleas.

"I don't want you, Lily. You don't have to die. Just give up the boy."

"Never," she said, echoing her late husband's words. Voldemort sent a flash of lighting
flying at Harry who was in Lily's arms. She turned her back to him though, and took the
bolt for her son who dropped clumsily to the ground after his mother vaporized.
Voldemort shook his head with a smile. Another bolt was aimed with near carelessness
at the crying baby on the floor. This one found its mark.

Voldemort turned to walk out in the silence of the house that had once belonged to James
and Lily Potter. Something stopped him dead in his tracks, though: a baby's cry.
Voldemort whirled to Harry lying there. The bolt had stunned him temporarily, but now,
he was back to crying for his mother.

"This has never happened before…oh no," Voldemort muttered to himself in real terror.
He could feel the magic draining out of him. "NO DAMMIT! THIS WASN'T HOW IT
WAS SUPPOSED TO BE!" Voldemort knew what was happening to him and he
stormed out of the house. He was at the end of the walkway when he turned back and
with his last bit of magic, destroyed the house.

~

Not five minutes after Voldemort fled from the child, Sirius Black landed on his flying
motorcycle. He cursed loudly when he saw the devastation.

He went to the where the bedroom once was and saw the overturned crib on the floor.
Tears welled up in Sirius' eyes. "It's all my fault," he said as he lifted some debris off the
crib and turned it over. "Harry?" Sirius asked in surprise.

It was Harry. The crib had landed right over Harry before the house fell down, protecting
him. Sirius wondered why in the world Voldemort hadn't killed Harry. Then he saw the
ugly red scar on Harry's forehead.

"Oh, my God. It's a miracle. Voldemort will be looking for you, my boy. Come with me
and I'll get you somewhere safe. I know some Muggles who would take you in. I'll let
Dumbledore know about this tomorrow. Hell, kid, the whole world will know about this
tomorrow." And with that Sirius lifted Harry Potter off the ground and carried him back
to the motorcycle. They flew off together into the night sky.

~

The next day, Sirius flew to Hogwarts. Professor McGonagall met him there.

"How dare you come here after what you did! The proprietor of Azkaban will be here
shortly…"

"What? Oh, I see. Minerva, I wasn't the secret keeper. Peter was. James changed it at
the last minute because he knew that Voldemort would know that I was the obvious
choice. Minerva, now where's Dumbledore. I have wonderful news. Harry's alive!"

"Alive!" she hissed back at Sirius. "Impossible. There's no way…but it would explain
why Dumbledore wanted to see you. And why he was disappointed when Hagrid met
him last night. Oh, Sirius he went to see you. In one of those enchanted Muggle cars."

"Well maybe I can catch up to him," Sirius said heading out the door to get his broom.

"I'll go with you."

They flew out towards Sirius' house and it wasn't a half-hour out when they saw a fire on
the side of the road. A car had swerved into a tree and the paramedics had the body of
the drive zipped into a bag.

Sirius felt something unpleasant at the back of his throat. "I've got a bad feeling about
this," he said and flew down to land unnoticed in the trees. McGonagall could do nothing
but stutter, "C-c-car…s-s-stupid…c-contraption," as she followed him down. They
walked over to the wreckage and a medic stopped them.

"Sorry, no further, folks," the medic said. Sirius looked over to McGonagall who was
more pale than usual.

"Oh, sweet skies. That **was** the car that Albus was using…" she trailed off, unable
to speak. The medic looked at her.

"You know the driver, ma'am?" the medic asked.

"I hope not," she replied. The medic asked her to follow him to the ambulance. She did
so haltingly, and Sirius followed her. The medic went to the stretcher carrying the body
bag.

"The driver had no identification. If you can ID him, it would be very helpful." He
unzipped the bag. McGonagall gasped and turned away. Sirius looked at the bloodied
body of his old professor.

"His name is…was…Albus Dumbledore. He didn't have any family. She," he said,
motioning to McGonagall, "was probably the closest thing he had.

The medic wore a look of sympathy. "We got a call from a passerby and…well, he was
dead when we got here. We're thinking that it was instant and he didn't suffer at all.
That's supposed to make you feel better, but I don't think it ever does." Sirius shook his
head at the medic's words. He put his arm around McGonagall's shaking shoulders to
lead her back to their brooms. He struggled to console himself, though now three deaths
were on his hands instead of just two.

~

"Master," Lucious Malfoy said as he kneeled before the Dark Lord.

"Get out of my sight, Malfoy. I'm not in the mood for your grovelling."

"But I bring good news. Dumbledore was killed in a car accident. Now there is no one
to oppose your rise."

Voldemort looked at Malfoy who smiled a sickening smile. No one knew that Voldemort
was powerless. He hadn't told anyone or let on that fact. He had found a body with just
the right proportions to allow the Death Eaters to believe that everything was the same.
He usually hid in the folds of his robes anyway. The Death Eaters were all power hungry
mongrels who would jump on him if they knew that he wasn't at his peak anymore.
Voldemort was preparing secretly to steal away to a remote location, but how could he
pass up the chance to take over unopposed? It would mean hiding the fact from everyone
that the boy had defeated him. But the prize was every bit worth the cost. And besides,
there was a spell that he knew would be able to return him to power. There would be
ones to help him. And once he again had power…he could simply…take care of them.

Voldemort got up and walked over to the window. As he looked out at the scenery, he
weighed his options. He had come this far… "Give the signal, Malfoy. Set my ascention
into motion.

************************************************************************
Chapter One - Fate

"The true adventurer goes forth aimless and uncalculating to meet and
greet unknown fate." (O. Henry)
************************************************************************

Ron was nearly out of breath. He couldn't run much longer. How did those
damn Dragons find out about the meeting? Someone obviously hadn't been
careful enough. It was those new people, thought Ron. What in the world
gave him the bright idea to put new people on the job of planning the
meeting? No matter how qualified you were before the takeover, you sure
as hell were not qualified enough to know what kind of careful planning
it too…but what did it matter? They found out now. And they were
running. Ron looked at his dad who was breathing harder and wheezing a
bit. He's getting too old to be doing this kind of crap.

From behind, Ron heard a horrible clacking noise and then a distinct
rumble. He swore under his breath. The spiders. They let out the
spiders. The whole lot of them was done for. The spiders were fast and
soon Ron heard them passing with their long legs clacking disgustingly
all the way. The spiders would kill us eventually, but they wouldn't do
it anytime soon, Ron thought with a shudder.

The spiders were not ordinary, run-of-the-mill, squish-it-with-a-rolled-
up-newspaper spiders. They were about as tall as a horse and they ate
people. Slowly. And if they didn't eat you then they would do something
worse that Ron tried never to think about. When the Dragons set the
spiders out on fleeing Muggles, Rebels, or whatever they deemed worthy
of a fate worse than death, the arachnids ran ahead of their prey and
spun webs so fine, they were invisible. They prey would run on thinking
that the spiders were still behind them, and they would be caught. The
Rebels knew better and tried to avoid running further once the spiders
were released. It was the general assumption that even a Farm was better
than the spiders.

"Dad, we have to stop. You heard them," Ron panted. He saw his dad
briefly nod and point off to the right. There was a thick clump of tree
in the distance. Ron gulped. It was far. The webs could be anywhere now
that the spiders had passed them.

"Okay, head for there. Run fast! If they see we're planning to trick
them, they won't bother with webs," Ron said. His father veered towards
the clump and Ron kept going straight. The man next to him, a new member
named Dave...something, was running on pure adrenaline. His eyes were
wide with fear and Ron knew that he couldn't be thinking straight. He
started running more to the right as the trees drew near. Ron saw his
dad make it and disappear into the foliage.

"Dave! They haven't set up this close! Run to the trees!" He yelled when
he saw that the other man wasn't following.

"No! They'll find us in the trees. We have to get away. My car is just a
little fur-" He stopped dead. It was like seeing a mime bump into an
invisible wall. But Dave couldn't move back, though he tried. He just
stuck. Ron moved into the trees with his father and watched as two huge
spiders carried poor Dave away.

~

Ron trudged into work the next day with bloodshot eyes. There had been
little sleep last night after the spiders and the thought that at
anytime, Dragons would come in and arrest him and his father. It ad
happened to all of his brothers. But it didn't happen that night. He
popped his identification into the scanner and saw the light flash
green. He was only nineteen, but he had been lucky enough to get a job
in the government. Most of the Rebels had mediocre jobs because they
were too afraid to risk getting caught in a job where your colleague
would gladly turn you in if they discovered your loyalties. No one had
ever suspected Ron, though. He was only a boy, and he worked in the
sorting room of the post office, the most tedious of all the jobs.

The morning plodded on as it always did, but noon came quickly and that
was the time of day that the employees all sat back with the newspaper
to make sure that none of their relatives were put on a Farm that day.
Everyone gathered around Lewis as he opened the paper to read off the
names. It was a sort of way to honor the people that had to suffer in
the camps to read their names out loud.

"Where's Lewis?" asked Neville, one of Ron's fellow workers.

"I saw him leave to get the newspaper. He'll be back soon," Ron
replied.

"Oh. Have you heard about Randi Karen?" asked Neville. Ron flinched at
the name of one of the people who had been unaccounted for after the
raid last night.

"No, I hadn't. What happened to her?"

"She was put on Farm Watch. She lives next door to me. She came over
to my house to tell me about after the Dragons left. She tried her card
in my scanner. It was bright orange. She cried for half an hour,"
Neville stated, sadly. Everyone had cards that went into special
scanners. A dot of light would pop up on the scanner screen and
whatever color it was told you your caste. Farm Watch was just a step
above those in Farms, who carried red cards. The colors went in the
order of the color spectrum, and white was the highest. Ron, carried a
green card.

"What did she do?" Ron asked as if he didn't know.

"That's the funny thing. They've accused her of being part of the
Underground, but because she was such a good government worker, they're
gibing her a chance to make up for it. It's a miraculous blessing, but
she'll have to work her way up all over again." Ron felt genuinely
sorry for that fact, but Neville was right. She could have been sent
directly to a farm.

Ron didn't have long to think about Randi, though, because Lewis walked
in with the newspaper under his arm.

"Before the sadness sets in," Lewis started, "I would like to announce
that this weekend one of our own was married! I'm proud to give you Mrs.
Hermione Granger-Lowry!" There was respectful applause as a young woman
who couldn't have been any older than Ron stood quickly and sat back
down. "Now, for the norm. Alcott, Abijah - thirty-five. Alcott,
Meredith- thirty-five. Alcott, Rebecca," Lewis paused before. He read
the little girl's age. "Seven." A few heads shook mournfully; others
winced. Ron heard a gasp and saw that it was Hermione Granger-Lowry.
There were tears in her eyes.

Lewis read all the names down to "Yottmon, William," and the employees
were silent for a full minute. Slowly, heads came up and conversation
started again. Ron decided to talk to Mrs. Lowry. The way she had gasped
at all the children's names had moved him. It was funny, he thought that
he had never noticed it before. Now that he thought of it, there always
had been gasps during the readings.

"Congratulations Mrs. Lowry," he said with a kiss on the hand when he
reached her. She looked up and her face was sad. She had brown hair that
was tied back, but a few rebellious strands were loose. Her deep brown
eyes showed sorrow that mirrored Ron's own eyes.

"Please don't call me that. You're older than I am, and it makes me
sound too proud," she said quietly. There was a small smile on her face.

"How old are you? You can't be over twenty-five," Ron said, although he
would have been surprised if she were over twenty.

"I'm nineteen. Don't say that I'm too young. I'm a legal adult and I am
quite capable of making my own decisions," she said reproachfully when
Ron's mouth opened to say something.

"Oh, I wasn't going to say anything like that. I just wanted to say that
whoever he is, he's lucky to have such a pretty wife. And I'm not older
than you are by the way. I'm nineteen too." Ron smiled at her and kissed
her hand again as the bell to go back to work rang. He was quite used to
people thinking that he was older. At well over six feet tall, people
had trouble believing that he was just barely an adult.
After lunch the day went on. People came in, they went out. They picked
up packages, they dropped off letters. And Ron sat and sorted them out
to be put with the proper owls.

When the post office closed, the employees all said good night to one
another and left. Ron went to the closet where all the brooms were kept.
He was normally the last one out, but today there was another broom in
the closet. Hermione walked into the room.

"Oh! Looks like we're the only two left!" she said.

"Yes, it looks like."

"Goodbye...um...I'm sorry, I don't know your name," she smiled
sheepishly.

"Ron. Ron Weasley." He reached out and shook her hand.

"Goodbye Ron." She grabbed her broom and turned to walk away. She was
almost to the door to the street when she turned around to face Ron
again.

"Listen, Ron, you seem like a very nice man. I would like to get to know
you better. Would you like to escort me home and have some tea?"
Hermione looked surprised after she said the words. Ron wasn't expecting
them either. They had just met and Hermione was just married over the
weekend. He would have thought that she had better things to do than
have tea with someone she just met. At her own house. So Ron was even
more surprised when he heard himself say, "Yes, I'd love to."

~

Hermione led the way to a nice, mid-size house out in the countryside
not far from the city. She led Ron around to the back of the house where
she left her broom and they went inside.

"Let me start the water, and I'll be right out," she said. Ron looked
around the house. It was a nice sized house that seemed perfect for a
couple who was just starting out. He could see into the kitchen from the
living room. On the other side, there was a hallway that he assumed led
to the bedroom and bathroom. There was another door that he assumed was
a closet.

Ron watched Hermione fill the kettle and place it on the burner. She had
just met him. They had worked together for a while, but they had never
really spoken. And yet, she invited him over. It was strange, and Ron
was curious to find out her motives. When she came back, it was as if
she read his mind.

"Oh, what a clod I am! Please sit down. I suppose you're wondering why I
invited you here. The truth of the matter is that the question has been
bothering me for a while. I don't know why I asked you here, but now
that you are here, we might as well get to know each other better. We're
the youngest people at the post office, and yet we've not spoken two
words to each other until tonight," she said.

"I agree. Normally we would have attached to one another. I suppose that
I always found you unapproachable, but today it was...easy. Maybe I'm
just goofy because I didn't get much sleep last night," Ron said.

"Maybe that's why I invited you over. Of course I never get much sleep.
Oh well. Tell me about yourself, Ron Weasley."

"Myself? I'm not that interesting," Ron replied. He might have been
interesting, but there was no way that he was going to tell her about
it. "I'm the second to youngest child in a family of six children. All
my older brothers are on Farms, my younger sister doesn't take the whole
thing very well, and she's kinda become a recluse, and I just try to
earn enough money at work to help support my family. My mom and dad are
getting old, and Ginny won't do anything to help. That's about it. Your
turn." Ron rushed through his story, leaving out the part where two of
his brothers were killed because they had been twins and the Dragons'
doctors loved to experiment on twins.

"Well, I'm a Muggle born who just barely avoided being taken away. My
parents died before the Dragons got to them, and I was left on my own. I
drifted in and out of orphanages. They thought I was a handful because I
always tried to sneak books in. Excuse me if I wanted to be more than an
uneducated drone," she said lightly. Her eyes widened for a second as if
she'd realized what she said. "Of course I got over that stage," she
added quickly.

Ron nodded his head. If she still read books that got her kicked out of
orphanages, she would most likely be sent to a Farm or at least be on
watch. "Well, we've had interesting lives-" Ron was interrupted by a
commotion outside. Hermione ran to the window and Ron followed.

"Don't worry, it's just my husband. He's breaking in a new broom with a
very difficult personality," Hermione said with a smile as the broom
carrying a dark-haired man skidded across the small pond out in front,
scattering ducks left and right. Ron didn't smile though.

The meeting was going over-schedule. It was dangerous. If the people
that lived here got impatient, there would be hell to pay. They could
call...and even if they didn't, going over the allotted time meant
opening yourself to busts.

"We have to hurry, folks, I know," stated Jules Stevenson, the leader of
the meeting that night. "But it's terribly important that you know that
we have a new idea for the coup. We know that Voldemort-" (No one in the
Underground called him You-Know-Who because he liked the fear associated
with not being able to say one's name) "-is quite powerful. Not only is
he the most powerful dark wizard ever, but he has many followers. We
have to know a weakness. We can't just attack without knowing how..." He
paused for dramatic effect.

During the pause, the door to the basement where they were meeting
splintered. The Dragons were coming. The crowd levitated towards the
other door, but one more hit with the battering ram burst the door and
men in commando gear poured into the room. Red streaks of light were
flying everywhere. Dave turned around next to Ron and faced the Dragons.
His wand leveled a blue light streaked out and hit the Dragon who seemed
to be in charge. Dave froze as another Dragon walked over and grabbed
both Ron and Dave's arms. The Dragon had dark hair and a little scar
just beneath his right eye...

Ron backed away from the window and the memory of the disastrous
meeting.

"Hermione, your husband. He's...a Dragon?"

"Why, actually, yes. How did you know?"

"There's no time, I have to hide. NO, I can't go. If I go, he'll see me.
He'll recognize me. Please, hide me, Hermione," Ron was nearly on his
knees. Hermione's mouth opened and a look of realization passed across
her face. The look quickly changed to fury.

"You're a Rebel, aren't you? You...I can't believe...and I invited you
to my house! Were you trying to get me killed?!" She kept raving on
about Ron putting her in danger even as she backed him into the door
that he had seen and thought was a closet. Shut up as he heard the back
door open and he heard a voice...

"You two are coming with me," the Dragon said with a deep thunderous
voice. Dave nodded, but Ron elbowed the Dragon in the diaphragm. It was
a weak spot in Dragon gear. The man doubled over in pain and let go of
Ron and Dave who immediately ran as fast as they could out the other
door. Behind them, Ron could hear the Dragon's deep voice. "I'll get
you, you red-haired bastard! I got a great look at you, and I never
forget a face! You'll pay!"

..."Hi, Honey, how was your day at work?" It was the same voice. It was
the same man. Of course Ron knew that it was when he saw him flying the
problem broom. Hermione's voice came next. "I had a fine day. What about
you?"

"Okay. Nothing extremely troublesome," Mr. Lowry said.

"Good, good." There was a lot of small talk that followed, but Ron
didn't get very much of it. He was busy exploring the room that he was
in. It was much larger than he thought, and incredibly dark. He didn't
dare turn on the light, though, in case it could be seen under the door.
He started to walk around with hands outstretched. His fingertips
touched what seemed to be a self and he pulled something off of it. A
book.

Ron opened it up and a bright light shot straight up out of it. The
title page read, "Dancing with Fairies: A Look at Magical Creatures and
Their Habits, by Leona Leettola, copyright 1952." Ron gaped at it. Any
book copyrighted before the year of Voldemort's takeover was banned.
Hermione kept forbidden books in her house that she shared with her
Dragon husband. And she yelled at me for putting her in danger thought
Ron. He realized that the light from the book was getting brighter and
he slammed it shut.

"What was that?" he heard Mr. Lowry say.

"Nothing," replied a flustered-sounding Hermione. "Probably just mice in
the locked room. Maybe they're having a party." There was a pause in
conversation.

"Oh. Well. You're most likely right. I'm going to go down to the box
office and get tickets for us to the theater tonight. I feel horrible
that we can't go on a honeymoon, dear, but I'll make it up to you. The
next two weeks will be wonderful. We'll honeymoon in our own hometown!"

"I can't wait." Ron heard him kiss her goodbye as he went out back to
get his broom. Ron waited until he heard the commotion die away into the
distance. Then he turned to the door and waited for Hermione to open it.

"What in the world do you think you're doing. I could be put on a Farm
simply for hiding you, and you sit back there making all the noise you
possibly can. Lord only knows why I agreed to hide you. I suggest you
get out and don't talk to me at work again," ranted Hermione.

"Big talk coming from someone who keeps a whole library's worth of
forbidden books in her 'locked' room. If I'm not mistaken, that can get
you taken away for just as long as hiding a Rebel." Ron was grateful for
her help, but she was being quite rude, and so he felt he had to bring
her down a few notches. "No one will find out about you hiding me, but
how long will it take for your husband to discover that that room isn't
really locked. It seems to me you like living on the edge."

Hermione looked at him, speechless. Her face fell as she realized she
had lost the argument and she plopped down on the chair that she had
previously occupied. "Fine. You have me. Stay or go. I don't care." Ron
regretted his words the minute she said that. He hated being an
imposition on anyone and here he was making a young woman feel bad after
she had just saved his life.

"Listen, I'm sorry. Thank you for hiding me. It was more than most
people would have done. If it makes you feel better, I think I know why
you invited me over." Hermione looked up skeptically. "It's fate. I'm a
part of a movement searching for a weakness to overthrow a totalitarian
government and I've found someone who will almost certainly be able to
help."

"Oh really? How do you figure?" said Hermione with a sarcastic smile on
her face.

"Most people that hide books hide fiction novels. That's not you. You
have...textbooks. Those books are the kind of thing that they would have
taught at Hogwarts. Listen, if this wasn't fate and you weren't meant to
help me, then why did you hide me in your book room? Why not in the
kitchen?"

"He could have gone in the kitchen, and that was the next closest room.
Besides, I don't believe in fate. How could anyone believe in fate in
this world where if you try to buy a newspaper without the right
clearance, you get sent away to be tortured or killed? Is that the way
it's supposed to happen?" Hermione demanded.

Ron sighed. "I hope not. Maybe it's only fate every once in a while. My
point is that you can help. We've been looking for someone to help us
find a weakness. Most people that are part of the Underground don't have
books. They think it's an unnecessary risk. If you don't want to join
us, then at least help us. Any little tidbit of information-"

"If I do that," she interrupted, "I might as well join. I don't care
what you say, Ron Weasley. Joining the Rebels or the Underground or
whatever you call it is a death sentence. Plain and simple."

"Think about it, Hermione, what's worse? A death sentence plain and
simple, or living in a world where if you try to buy a newspaper without
the right clearance, you get sent away to be tortured or killed?" The
two looked in each other's eyes for a while without saying anything. He
then turned, leaving her with her own words to mull over. Maybe she
would help him, or maybe she would turn him in. Well, the only thing
that Ron could do was sit and wait.

*****************************************************************
Chapter Two - Decisions

"Decide promptly, but never give any reasons. Your decisions may
be right, but your reasons are sure to be wrong." (Lord Mansfield)
*****************************************************************

The days went by, one by one. Ron sorted the mail carefully, but one eye was
always on Hermione. She knows, and any minute she's going to walk up to that
Dragon husband of hers and rat you out, said a little voice in Ron's head. Ron
tried to tell himself no, that she wouldn't do that. If she does though, said
the voice, you can always turn her in. Ron thought on it for a moment. It was
true. He could turn her in. But it would be petty and vengeful, the very
things that he was fighting against in the Underground.

About a week after Hermione had invited Ron over to her house, he finally
decided that she wasn't going to tell anyone about him, but she wasn't going to
help him either. If that was the case, then he had to do something about it.
She had textbooks that could be potentially helpful to his cause. He cornered
her after work one day.

"Hermione, I understand why you don't want to help me. But if you just loan
me some books that you think would be..um...helpful. If anyone finds them or
asks, they're mine. I won't tell anyone anything." Ron knew that he was
begging, but it didn't matter.

"Ron," Hermione hissed, "even if I lent you books, and you said they were
yours, Id lose them. Do you have any idea how much those books cost and how
hard it is to get them? They'll be lost forever and you'd be out of luck. Ron,
I'm not going to help you. I cant. Gary trusts me, and I'm betraying him
enough just by not telling him about you. Ron, please understand." When he
looked in her eyes again, there was that same confused look that she had given
him the day he left her house. He felt the sudden urge to hold her, to just
tell her that everything was going to be all right. He suppressed it because
he didn't want to lie to her.

"I understand. I'm sorry that I put you in such a horrible position.
Hermione, can I ask you one more thing? Nothing to do with books or the
Underground, I promise." She nodded. "Do you love your husband?"

Hermione looked at him, shocked. Of all the questions that she thought he
was going to ask, Ron was sure that that one wasn't one of them. Her face
turned hard and her voice was like steel when she spoke. "Ronald Weasley, I
cannot believe that you would ask me a question like that. Of course I love
my husband. I hate what he does with all my heart, but I do love him very
much." She grabbed her broom and stalked off towards the door. She stopped,
turned round, and added, "Not that it's any of your business," and left.

~

"Ron! Hurry up! They just sent me the location!" came an excited voice from
downstairs. Ron smiled. He knew that his dad loved the risk of it all, even
though it was taking its toll on his health. His mom on the other hand hated
it. The whole mess had already taken four of her children. Ron frowned as he
thought of his older brothers now gone for an indefinite amount of time.

"Ron, will you go downstairs already. Dads about to have a fit," said Ginny
standing in the doorway. There was no emotion in her voice and after she had
said her piece she left and went to her room. Ron heard the lock click, and
sighed. If only Ginny would come outside and be social every now and then,
both of our parents would have an exponentially smaller number of fits,
thought Ron.

He went downstairs to where his dad was waiting. "So whereas it this time?"
he asked.

"A Mrs. Barbara Goldman has offered us her basement to use. It's in London,
but it's the only offer we've gotten so far, so we have to take it. The
password is "Hogwarts." " Ron winced at the name of the wizarding school.
It's where he had always dreamed of going when his mother told him stories
about it at bedtime. He found out, later on of course, that Hogwarts had
been the first place shut down by Voldemort's henchmen. It was pat of an
effort to not raise anymore children adept at magic. The effort was later
abandoned, but the schools were never reopened. Parents were required to
home school their children n the arts of magic. Some textbooks that made it
past the inspection could be used, but they were little help. They mostly
taught Dark Arts and many parents still refused to use them.

Arthur Weasley walked over to the fireplace and took a handful of Floo
Powder.

"Be careful, dear," said his wife.

"Donut worry, I will." He threw the powder into the flames and said clearly,
"Mrs.
Barbara Goldman's house." He walked into the fireplace and disappeared. Ron
repeated his father's actions and then followed him into the fire.

~

Mrs. Goldman was sitting alone in her rocking chair in front of the fire when
Ron and Arthur arrived, one after the other. The woman looked up at them
suspiciously.

"How is it you boys find yourself in this part of London?" she said in a
gravelly voice.

Arthur replied, "You mean this isn't Hogwarts?" The lady seemed to relax a
little.

"You're in the right place. Go down the hall to the very end and it's the door
on the left." She then turned back to rocking in the chair and waiting for the
next people to arrive.

Ron and is dad found the right door and went downstairs to the basement. Ron
instinctively searched for the second exit that every meeting room was
required to have. He just saw a tiny window that very few people would be
able to fit through.

"Dad, if there's a bust, how will we get out?"

"I don't know, son. I suppose we just pray that there's no bust."

People came and soon the room was filled past the capacity. There weren't
enough chairs for everyone and there were quite a few people standing in the
back. Jules Stevenson stood up and greeted everyone. The meeting was soon
underway.

"As many of you have noticed, there is no way out if our entrance is blocked.
Mrs. Goldman was kind enough to let us use her house, but we have gotten so
desperate, that we are forced to take meeting places that are dangerous to
be caught in. Because of that, I must thank you all for coming tonight.

"At our last meeting, there was a bust and I'm afraid that a few of or number
was sacrificed to the Dragons. There were only five, but it should have been
none. I fear that a bad planning commission was to blame. Our first order of
business tonight is to elect a new one. If we cant even get together for a
simple meeting, then how will we ever organize against Voldemort?" A murmur
of approval washed through the assembly. There were nominations (of which
Arthur Weasley was one) and a vote. The head of the planning commission
would be Benjamin Lincoln, an older man who had experience planning meetings
in a Scotland chapter of the Underground.

"With that taken care of, we may now move on to our primary goal. We have
been getting less and less support from the public. If we do not start our
attack soon, we will die away all together, and all hope will be lost. That is
why it is imperative that we find a weakness in Voldemort's armor soon. If
we do not, then we will be forced to attack with nothing, just to keep the
people thinking that we have some plan. The point is, folks, that if we don't
find any weakness, we will attack anyway, and many will die. I cannot limit
this task to a committee. I ask that you all try to help out and if you find
something, be in contact with Mr. Lincoln so that he may plan to get us all
together. That is all for tonight if"" Jules trailed off for a moment as the
sounds of a fight came from above.

"I'm sorry, dear you have the wrong house. I don't know about any meeting.
What kind was it again? Maybe I can help"" came the gravelly voice of Mrs.
Goldman.

"It's a meeting of the Underground," replied a barely audible hiss. Ron could
tell it was a woman's voice. Dragons weren't in the practice of hiring women,
so they probably weren't in direct danger of a bust.

"The Underground! In my house? My dear, I am a law-abiding citizen"" Ron
had to hand it to the old girl, she was a great actress.

"I'm not saying that...ooohhh! How can just it through to you that I want to
help them. I've found some information on You...""Know...Who." The last words
were drawn out for effect and there was a long pause. Mrs. Goldman didn't
know what to say. At that moment Jules went up the steps and opened the
basement door.

"Mrs. Goldman," he said. "I appreciate your trying to protect us, but I'll take
it from here. Would you please come downstairs, miss?" Ron tried to get a
good look as Jules cam back down with the woman who had been fighting with
Mrs. Goldman. He gasped when he saw that it was Hermione.

"Mr...ahh""

"Stevenson."

"Yes. Mr. Stevenson, I have a library of..well...illegal textbooks, and
something that I heard prompted me to look through them and I believe that I
found something that may be of interest to you." Hermione was obviously
nervous. Ron saw her eyes dart about the room as if she thought that any
minute someone would jump out at her.

"We take any help that we can get. Now, this information...is on Voldemort?"
Jules said smoothly. Hermione winced at the name, and nodded. "By all means,
then, take the podium."

Hermione walked to the podium, a very tall packing crate that Jules had the
habit of bringing to every meeting. He was around sixty and had trouble
standing for very long without leaning on something. She stood behind it and
cleared her throat.

"Most of you here, are older. Old enough to remember a time before
Voldemort's rule, and that's why you've joined this force. Most of you are
also old enough to remember a young couple who were very powerful when it
came to magic " James and Lily Potter. Voldemort killed them, yes, but they
had a son."

Someone from the back interrupted. "The son's dead, too. He was killed, same
as his parents."

"Thank you sir, because you've just stated exactly what Voldemort wants you
to think. I don't think it's true. There was a book, written by the couple's
secret keeper (they went into hiding when they found that You-Know-Who was
looking for them), saying that there was no trace of the baby, corpse or
living, anywhere near the house when he arrived at the scene. If it was true
that the baby died would not his body have been there with his parents?"

"This is very enlightening," said Jules, "but it's nothing that we don't know
already. Only you've read further into than I think is safe. The boy has to
have been dead. Callous-sounding or not, there would not have been much left
of a small child after Voldemort was through with him."

"Maybe you're right. But there's more evidence. After this attack,
Voldemort went into hiding again. After killing two of the most powerful
wizards, wouldn't he have gone further instead of moving back? It's only
logic. My point is if the boy survived, then somehow, it must have defeated
You-Know-Who and forced the Dark Wizard into hiding. Only when Albus
Dumbledore died, the road was clear for You-Know-Who's followers to help
bring the Dark Wizard back out to take over."

"This is an interesting story," Ron's dad piped up. "I don't know whether to
believe you or not. It's incredible to say the least. But it's the only thing
we have so far. Jules, don't you think that we have to try everything? If
she's right and this kids alive, then maybe he has the power to finish the job
he did eighteen years ago. We can at least put a few people on finding out
whether it's true." Ron smiled at his dad. For some strange reason, he
wanted everyone to believe Hermione.

Jules Stevenson thought for a moment, then said, "Well, I don't suppose we
have a choice. We can afford a few people."

"Actually, Mr. Stevenson, I only need one other person to help me. You can
definitely afford one person," Hermione chimed in.

"Now, just a minute. I am aware that you brought us this information, but it
could be a set up. You understand that we have to be careful. I'm sorry, but
I-"

"I can vouch for her, sir," Ron interrupted. "She hid me from a Dragon who
had previously vowed to make me pay for hurting him." Ron saw Hermione look
at him in shock. He had never told her what Gary had done to him. Ron winked
at her and continued. "Furthermore, I volunteer to aid her on this mission.
That way if she does turn out to be a dirty spy, no one will suffer from it,
but myself."

"Very well, Ron." Jules said. "You are a trusted member of the Underground
and I believe you. If you say she can be trusted, then she will be. Now if
that is all," he looked around, "This meeting is adjourned."

Ron waited until most of the people had sifted out of the room. Then he
walked up to Hermione who was now sitting in the front row of chairs.

"I hope you're not still mad at me," he said, "Otherwise, this mission will
probably be unpleasant."

She looked up at him with those deep brown eyes of hers and smiled, lighting
up her whole face. "No, how could I stay mad at a puppy dog, like yourself?"
She pinched his cheeks playfully and stood up. "Shall we go?"

Ron offered her his elbow and she took it. "What happened to joining the
Underground, being a death sentence?" Ron asked as they walked up the steps.

"Well I thought for a long time and then George Orwell hit me."

"What? What did you do?" Ron said, outraged that anyone could have struck
her. She smiled.

"I thought that might get your attention. George Orwell was a Muggle
author. I have a biography of his and a quote hit me. "To survive it is often
necessary to fight, and to fight you have to dirty yourself." "

"Wise words."

"I thought so too." With that she took a handful of Floo Powder, threw it in
the fire, and recited her address. She waved to Ron and walked into the fire,
disappearing.

Ron watched after her for a moment before he realized that she hadn't really
answered his question. He had wanted her reasons for joining. He shook his
head as he waved goodbye to Mrs. Goldman. She's clever, he thought to
himself. But it doesn't matter now what her reasons are, as long as she
decided to join us.

~

Two days later, Ron was in his room. It was a holiday and the post office was
closed, so he was working on his model ship when Ginny knocked on his bedroom
door.

"Ginny, how many times have I asked you not to bug me when I'm working on my
ship?" He didn't really mind. As it was, he was nearly finished and All he had
to do was finish gluing the brass to the bottom and tie the riggings. There
wasn't much that his sister could do to mess him up, short of smashing the
ship.

"Sorry. Jeez, you think I like being the messenger of the house? There's
some woman downstairs that says she wants to talk to you. I let her in." Ron
wondered what his sister was doing answering the door when he remember that
his parents had gone out for the day to run errands.

"I'm sorry, Ginny. Thanks." He got up and rubbed his hands with the special
glue soap on his desk. Then he went downstairs to see who was visiting. It
was Hermione.

"Hermione," Ron said, trying to hide his surprise. "I didn't expect you until
later on tonight. Why are you here so early?"

"Nice to see you too, Ron," she said with a grin. Ron tried to protest,
realizing that he had sounded rude, but Hermione put up her hand. "No, save
the astonishment. You're going to need it. We have to go to Breaker."

"What?!" Ron yelled. He lowered his voice and put his arm around Hermione
and started to speak to her in a low secretive voice. "Hermione I respect
your opinion and I know I agreed that you're running this show. But Breaker?
I'm just a step away from a Farm (you are too, I might add, now that you're
helping us) and you want me to walk into the Lion's Den?"

"Breaker is not the lion's den. The lion's den would be Voldemort's castle.
Breaker is just the most notorious Farm there is. Although, I believe that
all the Farms are probably just as bad, but Breaker is just publicized more
because it happens to hold high publicity prisoners," said Hermione as if she
were talking about a school or theater, not a Farm. "Anyway, it also holds
Sirius Black, the person we need to talk to. He was the first person on the
scene of killing, and if anyone knows anything, it'll be him."

A million thoughts went in and out of Ron's mind at once. Most of them
involved him laughing at Hermione, calling her crazy, and backing out of his
deal. He couldn't though. The look on her face was so serious. He knew that
he didn't want to disappoint her. What could he say though? "Well...you know
that what you're suggesting is dangerous." A thought struck him. "How are
we going to get in?"
"We walk in the front door," Hermione said with a smile. She had obviously
expected this question and pulled her ID out of her pocket. She swiped it
through the Weasley's scanner. All families were required to have them at
home. Ron watched as the dot popped up white. He stared at Hermione.

"Bet you didn't know you were hanging out with a big leaguer, did you?" she
asked with a smile. "There are perks to marrying a Dragon. Instant upgrade
in social status." She pocketed her ID and stood up grabbing a jacket from
the stand near the door. She threw the jacket at Ron. "Come on, we need to
get there during 'visiting hours.'"
Ron just took his jacket and followed her out the door.

~

Ron and Hermione flew overhead just outside the boundary lines of the Farm.
No one, no matter what ID they carried was allowed to fly over the Farm.
Any violators would be killed first and questions asked later.
They could see the prisoners working. Some were digging large holes and
others were filling in the holes behind the first workers. Ron flew lower to
see why they were doing something so pointless. There was something in the
holes that the second group was filling in...he could almost see: bodies. The
first crew was digging graves. He shuddered and felt a soft hand on his
shoulder.

"They're the lucky ones, most likely," said Hermione. She then landed and
walked over to where the guard was. Ron stepped up behind her. They had
decided that she would do the talking.

"Stop right there behind the red line. Place your brooms in the shed," said the
guard. Ron and Hermione did as they were told. The guard continued, "State
your business."

"I'm here to do a report on the mental health of select prisoners. If they're
loony, they're not much good to you guys out here." Hermione's detached and
apathetic voice surprised Ron. He had no idea she was such a good actress.

"I wasn't told about this," said the guard. "I don't think that anyone else
knows about it either-"

Hermione interrupted angrily, "Does You-Know-Who have to check with you,
now? Maybe I should just go back and tell him that the door guard at Breaker
didn't know about this, so we'll have to save it for later. You can go back and
tell him that, because I certainly won't." The guard bought it. He pulled out
his scanner and she swiped her card and marched past the gates that opened
automatically when she was cleared. Ron stuck right on her back and tried to
look menacing. He hoped to God that no one would ask for his clearance. They
had devised an excuse, but he wasn't sure that anyone would buy it.

It worked. Hermione whispered to him, barely audible, "I can't believe they
bought it. You'd think that they'd clear everyone to death to get in here."

Ron whispered back, "Not too many people break in. They'll clear us to death
getting out."

They came up to the office of the captain in charge of the Farm. Hermione
cleared her face of the conversation she and Ron had shared. The captain was
a short man with a long moustache reminiscent of pictures that Ron had seen
of the American Civil War. He shook Hermione's hand with rigid formality
and seemed incredibly perturbed to have to cater to this unexpected visit.
He offered his hand to Ron, but playing the role of inanimate bodyguard, Ron
refused.

"Good day, Miss..." the captain trailed off expectantly.

"Doctor Bleaker, captain. Thank you for your time. The Dark Lord has sent
me to choose one person at random from every Farm to interview and find the
mental state of. If the prisoners are not at their peak mentally then we
cannot hope to keep them in working condition physically. May I please have
the first twelve pages of the prisoners' names alphabetically?" Hermione
asked. She spoke quickly in a businesslike manner and the captain could do
very little but indulge her.

Ron kept his eyes darting about the room assessing it in case the captain
decided to question Hermione's merits and the two had to make a break for it.
The short man behind the desk took two deep breaths and took his wand out.
He tapped the desk twelve times and each time a page appeared. Ron prayed
that twelve pages were enough to get to Black's name. If it wasn't...he didn't
know what they would do.
Hermione smiled and picked up the pages. She thumbed through them and Ron
could have sworn that she was just glancing over this name and that, but he
knew she was looking for one specific name.

"How about Black, Sirius, captain?" she said casually.

"Black? No, he's not a good judge of the mental state of this Farm.
Everyone here can tell you that he went insane years ago. He's-"

"He's the random prisoner. That's whom I'll interview. Can I please get a
private room? I want none of your fancy bugs listening in on me either. I'll
perform a standard blanket spell so that my patient's confidence is not at
any time broken."

The captain looked like he might explode at any moment being ordered about by
an outsider. Ron supposed that the only thing saving them was the threat to
the captain if he questioned Hermione and was wrong.

"Guard, send for Black. He's on kitchen duty according to the roster. Bring
him to the hole. It's the room that offers by far the most privacy, Miss, I
mean Doctor, Bleaker." The captain got up and led Hermione and Ron out of
his office and across the way into a house shaped like a giant bubble.

Inside there was no light and both Ron and Hermione used their wands for
light. The captain opened a safe to the right and pulled out candles. He lit
the candles with his wand and asked Ron and Hermione for theirs.

"Absolutely not, captain. I understand that I should trust you not to listen
in on our interview, but I can't be too careful. I have my bodyguard here if
Black gets unruly and tries to steal my wand." The captain did not look happy
at all but he had didn't question her. Ron thanked his lucky stars that this
was working. He stewed there for a few seconds and then turned and walked
outside, shutting the door behind him.

Ron an Hermione looked at each other, but before they could say anything, the
doors opened again and a grossly underweight man with long hair and a dirty
face was pushed inside. The door was sealed behind him. While Hermione
performed the necessary spell to blanket the conversation, Ron studied the
man before them.

Sirius Black was somewhat shorter than Ron was. The prisoner was studying
them too, Ron noticed. It was as if he was deciding whether or not to
participate in the interview that he was to be subjected to. Ron saw that the
man really wasn't that much of a threat to them and he relaxed a little.
Hermione finished up the spell and looked at Ron.

"I think we're safe. Um...how much do you want him to know? You're the
professional at this. I'm just the new girl," Hermione said. Ron thought. He
really didn't want Black to know anything that could be damaging if Black was
tortured for information. But they had to gain his trust if they were to get
any useful information"

"Mr. Black, how much did they tell you about what you were brought her for?"

"Nothing. Prisoners don't have to know what's going on." His voice was weak
and somewhat raspy.

Ron sighed. "Well, Mr. Black, we sort of lied to get in here. Voldemort didn't
send us. In fact it's quite the opposite. We're from the underground, trying
to get information to stop Voldemort." Ron studied the effects of his
revelation. Black's eyes brightened significantly and then grew shifty.

"What is this? Are you telling the truth or is this a test? How did you get
in here if you're not with Voldemort? Why would someone from the
Underground come to Breaker? If this is true, you two should be the ones
having your heads examined," Black said.

"We can't prove it to you. I mean, we don't carry around cards that identify
us as rebels. Please trust us. Things are getting tight and if we don't make
a move soon, we'll be wiped out. We're looking for information that will help
us not to get wiped out when we do make a move," Ron explained in a voice he
was afraid was too pleading. Black looked them over carefully and sighed. It
was a scary sight to see. The deep breath seemed to upset his entire body.

"Well, what have honestly got to lose? Why me though? What can I tell
you?" Black's tone sounded as if he knew the answer, but was praying that it
wasn't right.

Hermione moved forward and said in a soothing voice, "I collect books, Mr.
Black. I have yours. In it, you mention your friends, Lily and James Potter."
Black flinched, but Hermione went on. "They were the last people to be killed
before Voldemort went into power. You said that when you got to the scene
you saw their bodies, but you never found their son. He wasn't there. For
obvious reasons, you didn't want to state what you thought might have
happened to him in your book. The Dragons would be after the boy in a flash,
and the only hope for the world would be gone." Hermione paused for a
moment. Black was looking down at the ground and she waited until he looked
up. When he did she held his gaze with her own and asked, "What do you think
happened to that boy?"

Black looked down again. Ron could understand what he was thinking, because
it was what he would be thinking in Black's place. If Black tells us and we're
working with Voldemort, then he knows that the kid will be killed, and all hope
will be lost. Ron tried to will Black to do the right thing and tell them.
Come
on, Black, we're on your side. Really.

"When I got to the scene, Harry was there."

Ron nearly fell against the wall. Hermione's maddening calm had been broken
too, he could see. "What?" she said in a snappish voice.

"He was on top of the rubble, crying. I knew that Dumbledore would have sent
someone to get Harry when he heard that Lily and James were dead. I had to
get Harry out of there before everyone started mulling around.

"You have to understand, I was in trouble. Everyone thought that I had been
the Potters' secret keeper. But it was Pettigrew. He betrayed them, not me.
I decided that if I hid Harry, everyone would see that I wasn't to blame.
They would see that I was really helping the Potters and would believe the
truth. I tried to get word to Dumbledore, but he died so soon after. I never
told anyone what I did. I wrote the book to dispel any thoughts that Harry
might have been taken anywhere. Of course, a Dragon somewhere found the
book and I was brought here. There are you happy?"

Hermione's mouth was hanging open. Ron waited for her to compose herself
again, but she didn't. He took over. "So...the baby did survive. But how
could
he? Hermione, you were right! Mr. Black, thank you so much. If Harry
survived once, then he might be able to help us again. Where did you take
him?"

"I sent him to live with a Muggle family I knew. The Kings. I don't know
what happened to him or them. They lived in the part of town that was later
roped off as a Muggle area, so they might not have gotten moved." Ron took
down the address that Black gave them and shook Hermione a little.

"Hermione, we have to go. Snap out of it." She shook her head, trying to
clear it and nodded faintly. She walked over (with less authority than she had
had before, Ron noticed) and knocked on the door to the bubble. Guards oto
meet, but that was only a problem for a few seconds. There was soon a brand new
one to deal with. A teacher turned around the corner and stopped. Harryís heart
skipped a beat when he saw who it was.ìWho are you?î asked the cruel voice of
Professor Snape.ìUm, I was looking for Professor Granger. We had an
appointment, that is, she was going to replace a hipicius flower that was lost
to me because of two of her students,î Harry stated in a confident tone, but his
knees were shaking. He rubbed his bodded, and he walked them to the exit where
he let them leave
without any trouble. They took their brooms and set out to have a chat with
the Kings. Ron hoped that they were still at the address that Black had given
them. He didn't want to have to go through another sweat session with
Hermione playing psychiatrist.

~

The house was in the wrong part of town. The Muggle part of town. Everyone
that lived here was on Farm watch, and they all knew that if they set one toe
out of line, they would be set away to a fate worse than death. Ron and
Hermione landed outside of town and left their brooms in a wizard café and
walked into town. Ron had reasoned that the Muggles would be scared of
wizards.

The two of them walked in silence to the correct street: Mason. The house
that Black had told them of was run down and Ron wondered how anyone could
live there. Suddenly Hermione was persistently pulling on his sleeve. She
was pointing to the mailbox. It said 'The Kings.'

Ron's hope shot up a few points, but them he remembered that it could just
mean that the new residents hadn't bothered to change the sign. They walked
up to the door and knocked and an old woman answered the door. She only
opened it a crack.

"Is this the King residence?" Hermione asked. The woman nodded, but didn't
speak. Hermione smiled. "We're here to speak to Harry King. May we please
come in?" The woman looked at them and shut the door. Ron's mouth hung
open in shock. They had come all this way and the woman wasn't even going to
let them speak to Harry?

Suddenly, from inside there was a click of the lock. The door opened again,
wider this time, and the woman stepped back so Ron and Hermione could enter.
The woman still didn't speak and she motioned into the den where there was a
young man with wild black hair and glasses reading a book. Ron took a deep
breath and then cleared his throat.

The young man looked up. He had bright green eyes and his hair fell out of his
face to reveal a perfect lightning shaped scar on his forehead. Ron saw
Hermione eyes widen, and he said, "Are you Harry King?"

"Yes, that's me. What did you want to see me about?"

"Um, gosh, I didn't actually expect to find you. I hadn't planned on what to
say. Um, I'm Ron Weasley and this is my friend Hermione Granger. We, um,
came here to, um..." Ron's voice trailed off. He couldn't believe that standing
right there in front of him was perhaps the key to defeating Voldemort.
Hermione picked up where he left off.

"We cam here to ask a huge favor of you, but before we do, there's probably
something you should know. You are, how shall I say this, adopted."

Harry looked bored and a little angry. "I know that," he said tersely.

"Good, then that'll make the next part somewhat easier. I don't know how
far you remember back, but when you were about a year old, your parents were
killed -"

"In a horrible car crash. I know that!" Harry interrupted angrily. Hermione
looked abashed at the outburst, and a little insulted, so Ron quickly took over
again.

"No, that's the point. Voldemort killed your parents," he explained quickly.
Harry flinched at the name of the Dark Lord. Ron went on. "A friend of your
parents came to get you and bring you somewhere where you would be safe. He
wrote a book before they carted him off to a Farm and he told about how you
survived even though he had reason to believe that Voldemort was trying to
kill you." Ron had thought that this would surprise the person in front of him.
But Harry only looked more annoyed than ever.

"That's insane! How could a baby survive an attack by the Dark Lord himself?
Listen guys, I have a feeling that you're wizards and we don't allow that sort
over here, so I think you'd better leave."

"But don't you see," Hermione wailed, "You're a wizard too!"

Harry stood up and said in a menacing voice, "How dare you call me that.
Wizards have brought nothing but hardship on this whole stinking world and
I'll be damned if you come to my house and accuse me of being one."

"Listen, we're part of the Resistance. You've no doubt heard of it?" Ron
asked. Harry glared daggers at him, but nodded slightly. "Well, we're
preparing to make a move on Voldemort. We figured that because you
defeated him once, you might be able to finish the job off. But of course if
you're too good for killing You-Know-Who, then we'll be off." Ron grabbed
Hermione by the arm and dragged her towards the door, but Harry stopped
them before they got there.

"What do you mean defeated. You said I survived the attack. There's a
difference between the two," Harry said warily.

Hermione turned around. "Oh yes, there's a huge difference. I have read
through this book that talks about you and there's reason to believe that
after you survived the attack on your life, Voldemort lost all his powers. And
if you think about it really, we have no reason to believe that he has gotten
them back. He never does anything, he gets his lackeys to do it for him." Ron
looked at Hermione. She was going out on a limb, but he knew that he would
say anything to in the situation.

"They're right. Sirius told me." Ron and Hermione spun around to see who
had spoken. It was the woman who had opened the door. "When he brought you
here that night, he told me that Voldemort had run away. Run away, Harry!
Why would he run away if he were capable of the powers that he's said to be
capable of? That night was when you got your scar." Harry looked at the
woman he had known as his mother for the past eighteen years. His
expression turned from defiant to surprise, then finally to sadness. Harry
plopped down on the chair again.

"What were their names?" he asked. Ron didn't know whom he was talking
about, but Hermione spoke up.

"Potter. James and Lily Potter."

"So I'm really Harry Potter...the wizard?" he asked meekly. Ron nodded.
Harry looked down, and said, "Well, what do you want me to do about it? I
don't know any spells. I've never even been near a potion. And I don't have
the faintest idea how to help you."

"Would you help us if we taught you and helped you learn?" Hermione asked
stepping over to him and putting a compassionate hand on his arm.

Harry looked at the hand, then at her. He jerked his arm away. "I don't like
wizards. I don't care if I am one. Look at what they did to the people I love.
Look at what they are doing to the people in Farms. I'll help you, but what
happens if we actually do win? Huh? Do you just expect Muggles and wizards
to live in harmony?" Harry laughed cruelly. "No, they won't. Not after
what wizards did."

They left promptly after that, going back to Ron's house. They picked up the
brooms and called a cab instead of flying. The drive was quiet and no one said
a word. Ron took the time to wonder why Harry was helping them. Maybe he
figured that he would eventually end up on a Farm and so he had nothing to
lose by helping with their little plan. Maybe he felt some loyalty to the
parents he had never known. Or maybe he just hated Voldemort like everybody
else in the world.

Ron sighed. He didn't know, and he really didn't care. As long as Harry made
the right decision, then it didn't matter what reasons he had for making it.
But a little voice in the back of his head asked, 'What if it's not the right
decision?' and laughed cruelly just as Harry had done before.

************************************************************************
Chapter 3 - Training

"A man can seldom - very, very seldom - fight a winning fight against
his training: the odds are too heavy." (Mark Twain)
************************************************************************

Jules Stevenson rushed over when he heard the news. Arthur Weasley
greeted him at the door with a huge smile.

"So she was right?" Jules prompted. "The boy's alive?" Arthur Weasley
nodded. "I must meet him."

When Jules was brought in Harry threw up his hands in exasperation.
"What is this?! Am I going to be some caged up zoo animal to be gawked
at or are we gong to get this over with?" Ron knew that Harry must be
very irritated. It had been a week since he and Hermione had picked him
up and brought him to stay with Ron. He hadn't seen Hermione for that
week except at work and they never had the chance to speak.

"Now, Harry," Ron said. "I've told you before that we can't start until
you get a wand and Jules here is the person that's going to get you that
wand. Then we'll be able to start. I've already taught you how to fly
and that's useful isn't it?" Ron smiled faintly as he thought about
what he just said. Taught really hadn't been the right word. He had
given Harry a broom and told him what to do to get in the air. Once
there, Harry seemed at home on the broom, a natural, he was already
flying circles around Ron by their second lesson.

Harry didn't reply and Ron took that to mean that Harry was at least
backing off. Ron could see the excitement in Harry's eye's anyway and
Ron remembered when he had gotten his wand. It was the best moment of
his life. God, I wish I was young again, Ron thought. The world didn't
seem half as bad as it is now, and yet I know that it was worse. The
innocence and naivete of youth. Ron sighed.

Jules was asking Harry questions that Ron knew would determine which
wands Mr. Ollivander would bring Harry to try out. It was illegal to
sell wands to anyone over the age of fourteen, but Mr. Ollivander was
willing to look the other way once in a while. When Jules had finished,
he left saying that he'd be back in a while.

"All that crap and I don't even get a wand yet?" Harry asked
impatiently.

"Choosing a wand is one of the most difficult processes that a young
wizard goes through. It can take over a hundred wands before a wizard
finds the one that suits him. We, unfortunately don't have that luxury.
He was just trying to narrow down the field a bit with the questions."
Ron knew that the answer sounded snappish, but to tell the truth, Harry
was getting on his nerves. He never failed to complain about anything
and Ginny never came out of her room when Harry was around. He scared
her. He was starting to wish Hermione were there. Somehow, when she
was there, it was easier for Ron to keep control. But she was out with
her husband that night.

It took less time than Ron thought it would take and Jules was back with
Mr. Ollivander. They set to work having Harry wave around many wands
with no luck.
After wand number 25, Ron prepared himself for a log night.

~

Hermione looked over at Gary. She smiled inwardly to herself as she
admired his handsome face. He caught her looking.

"What are you smiling at?" he asked playfully. She felt his hand on her
knee.

"Just the handsomest man in England," she replied. He chuckled and
leaned over to kiss her. Hermione looked at the scar under his eye and
Harry popped into her head. She quickly forced him out, but soon Ron
was there too. She blushed and Gary saw it.

"We're married and I can't even kiss you without you blushing?"
Hermione looked downward, but then to prove him wrong she leaned over
and kissed him.

"I'm sorry we couldn't go out tonight, but they wanted me on call at
home. They've lost track of Alpha Threat and anything could happen.
It'll just be for a few nights," Gary explained apologetically.

"I know, dear. You don't have to apologize. It's quite romantic just
sitting here at home." And with that she turned on the radio with her
wand and a slow waltz came on. Gary took the hint and swept her off her
chair so that they could dance.

~

The next day, Hermione went over to Ron's house. "How did the wand
search go? Did he get one?" she asked.

"Yes, and you'll never believe what Ollivander said. The wand has
phoenix feather in it and the phoenix in question gave two feathers
instead of one. Guess who has the wand with the other feather." Ron
demanded as he ushered her out to the back where Harry was playing
around with his new wand.

"I don't know, who?"

"Voldemort." Hermione gasped a little and stared at the wand and Harry
as if he were Voldemort himself. Ron looked at her worriedly and
touched her arm. It bothered him deeply when little things like that
set her off and she seemed to be absorbed within her own mind. It
scared him to think that she might not snap out of it. But Hermione
shook her head clear and went over to Harry.

"Harry, I have some books that I want you to study and look over for the
next few weeks. Do all the work that the books tell you to do. They
can teach you better than either Ron or I can. If you have trouble with
a spell ask one of us and we'll help you. I know I must sound
patronizing, but this is important. You must learn these basic spells
quickly so that we can teach you the more complicated ones."

Harry had trouble learning from the books. He usually had to ask
questions and Ron could understand it. Hermione, despite her protests
when he commented, was a wonderful teacher. She was also much more
intelligent than he had known. In another world, she might have been a
professor at a wizarding school.

It took about two weeks for Harry to start to understand the spells at a
high enough level for Ron to start teaching him defense against the dark
arts spells. It was amazing that Harry had learned quickly, but Ron
knew that he was born to two of the most powerful wizards of the time.
Harry's training came along quickly (grudgingly, but quickly) until one
day when Harry finally exploded. It was the day when Ron was teaching
him to perform the spell that he hoped would work on the Dark Lord: the
Tödlich Spell.

"Harry, please, try it again. It's a hard spell to master and you've
only learned basic magic up to now."

"This is ridiculous. Why am I different than all the other kids whose
parents Voldemort killed?"

"You survived."

"What difference does it make. Do you actually think that we can win?
It's ridiculous. He's a master of the dark arts, and I'm just some kid
whose been studying magic for two weeks." Harry sat down in a chair and
Ron saw that the spell had been draining a lot of energy. Harry
continued, "Besides, I hate wizards. I thought that it would be worth
it if it meant killing Voldemort, but it's not. I'm starting to hate
myself now too. I don't want to do this. I quit."

Ron stood up. He was sick ad tired of this attitude. He knew that it
was next to hopeless, but at least he was trying. "You can't quit. I
won't allow it. What do you want me to tell everyone in the Underground
who had their hopes on you? There are people in the Underground that
remember a better life. My father is one of them. Am I just supposed
to tell them that 'I'm sorry. Harry Potter is too tired to help, so
you'll just have to suck it up and live with it?' Is that what you want
me to say? Well, no, that's not what I'm going to do!" By the time Ron
ended, he was screaming.

Harry sat there in silence staring at him. Ron suddenly felt sick.
That's just what I need to do, thought Ron. Scare him into helping us.
Harry looked at his wand and picked it up. Ron looked at the young man
before him. There was something in Harry's eyes that Ron liked:
defiance.

All day long for the rest of the day, the two men worked together and
there was something different about their relationship. Harry didn't
complain as much, and when he did, Ron could understand. By the end of
the day, when Ron was lying in his bed staring at the ceiling, he could
hear Harry snoring in the other room.

He wished that Hermione could have been there today. They had made
wonderful progress. He decided that he wouldn't tell her, and just let
her see for herself. Boy, she'd be surprised he thought. Then he
started thinking about Harry again, and how maybe he could learn to like
the guy. When Harry was trying to perform the Tödlich Spell, there was
such potential there. For the first time since he had met Hermione, he
felt that there was perhaps a chance that the actually could win the
battle against Voldemort.

~

"Harry, this is wonderful! Ron, why didn't you tell me he was ready?"
Hermione was saying later on that week.

"I wanted it to be a surprise. I have even better news, though. Jules
is going to call a special meeting sometime this month. At his own
house if he has to. He and my dad have been working up for an attack
plan." Ron smiled, but Hermione didn't.

"This fast? I may be new to this, but...do things always move this
fast?"

"No, of course they don't. That's been the problem. Now, we can afford
to move quickly." Ron was a little disappointed. He knew that things
were going quickly now and he had to admit that he was a tad worried,
but the change was still welcome. Now Harry spoke.

"Wait, Ron. I mean, I'm proud of the work that I've done and how far
I've come, but I don't think I'm ready for this."

"Of course you are, Harry. You don't have any idea what strength you
have inside you." Ron was starting to get annoyed. He had dealt out
this good news in hopes that everyone would see it as good news. This
was not how he had planned it at all.

"Ron, I'm afraid Harry's right. He does have strength and he
theoretically is ready. But he's only been training for a month. We
have no idea how he'll last in a real battle, no idea if he has the
endurance to last long enough to even get to Voldemort." Hermione put
her hand on Ron's shoulder. He started at the feel of it, then put his
hand softly over hers and picked it off. Ron stood.

"You don't understand. Neither of you do. Every other group against
Voldemort has been weeded out and sent to a Farm and Lord knows what
other ungodly things have happened. The Underground has remained. God
only knows how, but it happened. We've lied low for nearly twenty
years, and now we have our chance to attack. The chance to do what the
other groups only dreamed about. Not only will we attack, but we can
win. And you two are sitting around here saying to wait longer?"
Hermione looked up at Ron apologetically. He stormed out of the room,
leaving her and Harry alone.

"What's with him?" Harry asked. "It's as if he's the one suffering
under this rule. And he's not. Believe me, he's not. He as a cushy
job, and his family's not dead."

"Actually, he had four or five brothers. They're all dead...or on a
Farm. I've forgotten. But that's not why he's like this. I can't say
why for sure, but it has something to do with him being so close to it
all his life. He threw himself into it, and a loss for the Underground
is a loss for him. His sister's the opposite. She removed herself
completely."

"He acts as if he's the one who's going to die if we lose. Has he
forgotten that I'm the one that has to do the dirty work?"

"No, he hasn't forgotten. And it's true that you're in danger from
Voldemort personally. But you're not the only one at risk. There are
so many people that will die during this battle. It's going to be very
bloody."

"Everyday I wonder if I made the wrong decision. I still hate wizards
and yet I am one. I can't help hating what I am, because of what they
did to my...adoptive family. Deep down, I know that all this training
will one day lead to me becoming a full fledged wizard and that I'm
going to be one of 'them'." Harry confided.

Hermione sighed. She had sensed that Harry still wasn't quite sure of
himself. "Harry, you are a wizard. You were always a wizard. It
doesn't take learning magic to make you one. The magic is running
through your veins, and the training just shows you how to take
advantage of what you've been given. You can't fight the training.
Even if we didn't come looking for you, you would have had to admit it
to yourself, or your parents would have told you after you started
talking to snakes." It was true. Ron had told Hermione that he had
caught Harry speaking to a garden snake. Finding out that Harry was a
Parseltongue came as shock. The only people that had the ability
quickly found their way to Voldemort's inner circle.

Hermione suddenly felt very sorry for Harry. It was true that he was
not suffering as the people in the Farms, but he was still stuck between
two worlds, not really belonging to either in his own mind.

"Its only been a month," Harry said.

"You're a fast learner. And we skipped a lot. After this is all over,
you're going to have to go back to learning the basics. We only taught
you the spells that you would need directly. I hope we taught you
enough," Hermione said. She ignored the fact that there might not be an
"after all this" for any of them. Harry seemed to take heart in her
words.

"I think you did. It seems like you two taught me so much and...thank
you. After all this, will you two finish the job? Or at least get a
little more done?" Hermione nodded at Harry's request and then she
suddenly realized what he had said. He had asked her for more training.
She looked at him in surprise. He just winked.

Hermione went home to Gary, but all trough their dinner, she wondered
whether or not Harry's wink meant that he had finally come home to the
thought of him being a wizard or if it meant that he had doubts about
coming home at all.

**********************************************************************
Chapter 4 - Struggle

"Struggle is the father of all things...It is not by the principles of
humanity that man lives or is able to preserve himself above the animal
world, but solely by means of the most brutal struggle." (Adolph Hitler)
**********************************************************************

Hermione and Gary were dining out. She had been zoning in and out of
conversation, because she couldn't get it out of her mind how mad Ron
was when she and Harry had fretted about the attack moving so quickly.

"Hermione? You're not listening, are you?" Gary said, interrupting her
thoughts.

"Oh, of course I am...heard every word...something about Breaker?" It
was a safe guess. He had been given guard duty at a general inspection
there and it was a very high honor.

"Yes, I had some time to kill before the inspection and I went through
the admission records. Imagine my surprise when I found your
identification number there." He was looking at Hermione innocently.

"You...know my number?" she asked, sounding a little sick. When he
nodded, she grasped at excuses inside her head. "Well, I, er, wanted to
take advantage of my new level of clearance and I always wanted to see
the inside of a Farm, so
I...oh, I knew it was dangerous, but I was very quick about it."
Hermione hoped that she hadn't sounded too desperate.

"Dangerous?! You were alone in a room with a high security prisoner!
Sirius
Black is insane. He would just as soon reach over the table and snap
your neck as give you the time of day! Hermione it was a stupid thing
to do. Why the false credentials?"

"Even with clearance, the best I would have gotten was a tour around the
place. I wanted to talk to a prisoner, and see what it was really like.
About ten minutes in, I realized I was being stupid and I got out of
there. Gary, you have to forgive me." Gary gave her a look that
Hermione couldn't discern and it scared her.

Then, he changed the subject. "Remember a while back ago when we
couldn't go out, because we'd lost track of Alpha Threat?" Hermione did
remember. She had wondered what exactly Alpha Threat was, but known
enough to not ask.

"Well, Alpha Threat is our code name for the one and only group left
that is working against Lord Voldemort. It's known as the Underground.
It had been doing a good job hiding before, of course. That's why we
could only raid some of their meetings. But, around the time when I
told you about it, they started doing an excellent job of hiding. We
assumed that this meant they were preparing for an attack and so we got
ready for it. The attack never came. This made us wonder why exactly
they had suddenly gotten better at their jobs. Any ideas?" Gary asked.
Hermione stared at him. What was he getting at?

"Probably none that haven't already crossed your mind or the minds of
every other Dragon. Why are you telling me about this? You never talk
about work to me."

"This is a special occasion, dear. You see, you're right. We had a few
ideas, and so we decided to do our homework. We found that the group
had gone all hush hush because of something they'd found. More
specifically someone they'd found. The Dragons were given some inside
information. Seems there was this kid back around the time Dumbledore
died that Voldemort lost track of and hasn't been able to find who could
pose some problems." Hermione knew that she must look incredibly pale
and scared.

"What are you saying, Gary? What does all this have to do with me?"

"What indeed? Well, Hermione, I know about your little bookroom. I
turned a blind eye because I really did love you at one time. And I
also know that you've been inside the Underground. I had to dig deep
for that bit. All you have to do to save yourself is tell me who the
person is. If you do, you'll be safe. Everything stays the same. If
you don't, you can walk out of this restaurant and I won't do anything.
I can't guarantee what happens tomorrow." Gary leaned back in his chair
and crossed his arms expectantly.

Hermione looked at him and made her decision.

~

Ron was sitting at the corner table of the Leaky Cauldron reading his
report from Jules. It was a notice outlining his duty as one of the top
players in the attack on Voldemort. To anyone but Ron it looked as if
he was reading The Daily Prophet.

There was a commotion as a very wet woman (Ron hadn't realized that it
had started to rain) came into the bar. Her hair and clothes were
plastered against her body. She looked quite tipsy and unstable. Tom
gave her a cup of coffee from the backroom and she took it. The woman
started looking around for a free table and Ron got a good look at her
face for the first time.

It was obvious she had been crying. Her eyes were swollen and red and
her lip was still quivering a little. Well, he felt sorry for her,
whatever her problem was. She saw him looking at her and she looked
relieved. She started towards his table.

When she arrived, Ron said, "I'm sorry, miss, this seat is taken."

"Ron, he knows. They know. Everything had better be moving fast. The
Dragons know just about everything."

"Hermione?"

"Yes, Ron, I was having dinner with Gary and he told me that he knew
that I was a part of the Underground. He didn't say how, and I don't
think he knows about anyone else, but he knows about Harry, well not
Harry specifically, but he knows that there is someone who is a threat
to Voldemort." Hermione's words were a quick, whisper and Ron just
barely got most of it.

"If he knows about you, then why did he let you go?" Ron asked,
wondering why he was more concerned with Hermione right now than with
what she had said about the Dragons knowing everything.

Hermione broke down again and mumbled, "I don't know" over and over
again.
Ron moved his chair beside hers and put his arm around her. As her
shoulders racked with sobs, he thought of the plans that he had been
reading. The attack would be in two days. The Underground was strong
and there were many members that were all willing to go and fight for
what was right. But those members were civilians. People who hadn't
dueled in their entire lives. And the Dragons were highly trained hit-
wizards. If they knew what the Underground's plans were...if they
anticipate the attack...the Underground's chances for survival just got
considerably worse.

~

The attack had been carefully organized by the leaders of all the
chapters of the Underground, who had then passed specific assignments
onto people who were high up in the inner circle of their chapter. The
Underground's member list was quite long. It had survived the Dragons
for nineteen years by cleverness and planning, and a hell of a lot of
luck.

Ron had been one of the lucky ones to get a specific assignment that
didn't involve the main attack on Voldemort's castle. In fact, Ron
really had the most important job of all. He had to get Harry into the
castle to deal with Voldemort. Ron had no idea how to go about it and
he was discussing the problem with Harry and Hermione, who was going to
help Ron get Harry in.

"How do we break the defenses of the most powerful wizard in the world?
I mean, we have one more day to figure this out!" Ron was shouting as he
paced.

"If it makes you feel any better," Hermione said in a voice that made
Ron know whatever she said would not make him feel the least bit better,
"We don't know exactly how powerful Voldemort is. There's a chance he
hasn't' ever regained power from when Harry defeated him the first
time."

"I'm no feeling any better," Ron announced.

"Neither am I," Harry added. "I've agreed to do this thing and I've
been working my ass of to get to the point where I feel that in a duel
with this guy I might not die right away, and we don't even know how to
get in the castle? Why don't we just use the front door?"

"I don't know what protocol at the Dark Lord's castle is, but I'm will
to put money on the fact that when a considerably large army of people
is storming it, they shut and lock the front door as well as all doors
on the ground floor,"
Ron snapped.

"Now, Ron, snapping isn't going to get us closer to the solution. If
only we had some way to get in before the attack started. They wouldn't
be prepared for us," Hermione said in a far away voice that told Ron she
was thinking.

"Hey, Hermione, try your card in my scanner," Ron said, as an idea
formed. He hoped that it would work. Hermione looked about to cry
again, but she got her card out and ran it through Ron's portable
scanner the way she had before they had gone to Breaker together. The
light that popped up was bright white.

Hermione stared at it open-mouthed. She soon found her voice though.
"It didn't change. But...how could they? It must be a trick. Gary
knows my card number. He probably has it programmed into any high-
security system that it pops up orange." Ron didn't want to mention
that if he had done that, her card would probably pop up red and she
would be carted off to a Farm.

"That's impossible. They can't selectively program scanners in the
system. If it's white here, it's white everywhere. Hermione, you could
get in before the attack and then we could come in behind you,
invisible! It could work. With your clearance, you could get in!"

"Wait a minute," Harry interrupted. I'm not much up on how wizards do
things, but even if we were invisible, wouldn't they have some security
against that? Something that would say 'Hey, there's an invisible
person coming in!' That would end our idea real quick."

"In that case we would just screw it and run inside, taking as many
Dragons down as possible," Ron said. That could end just as badly as
them standing still and letting the Dragons kill them, but they would
have a chance. It was possible it would work.

"Okay, then," Hermione said, still staring at her card, a little
frightened. "We'll just call that plan A. Let's get working on
something to do if Gary was just late on reprogramming my number.
There's a lot of time between now and the attack."

Ron knew that she was right. They would have to come up with a plan B,
but maybe it would come to them while they were teaching Harry how to
become invisible.

~

Ron, Harry, and Hermione stood a few blocks down from Voldemort's
castle. They had an hour until the all-out frontal attack would begin.
They figured that that would be enough time for them to get in and find
where Voldemort was, even if they were trying to elude the Dragons at
the same time.

Ron had his portable scanner with him. Hermione took a deep breath and
inserted her card. The light was still white. She looked as if she
wasn't sure whether to be happy or scared. Ron truly didn't either.

"Inspectruos," Ron whispered and suddenly he was gone. Harry murmured
the same word and he slowly faded out. After a day of working with
Harry on the Invisibility Charm, they could only get him part of the
way. Ron had to concentrate twice as hard to keep both of them
invisible.

Hermione started off in the direction of the castle. It looked like she
was alone. She didn't even look back to see that Ron and Harry were
safely concealed. Ron knew that she was acting. And he knew that she
would be able to fool the guard the way she had at Breaker. He just
hoped that there weren't charms to reveal Harry and him when they walked
through the front door.

He didn't have to think about it for long. Hermione's brisk pace soon
brought them to the castle door. The guards standing outside eyed her
suspiciously.

"Card," demanded the first guard. Hermione presented it and stuck it
into the scanner, which was built into the mouth of a giant sculpture of
a snake. The snake's eyes lit white and Ron tried not to jump for joy.

"Name and business," the second guard demanded.

"I'm Dr. Bleaker with the results of the psychiatric examinations of
random
Farm prisoners. I'm sure that Lord Voldemort will want to see me
immediately. I pushed myself to get them done a day ahead of time to
please my master," Hermione said in a voice that chilled Ron to the
bone. He felt Harry, who was standing very close so that they would be
able to get through the door, shiver.

"I don't have your name on my list," the first guard said.

"I told you that's because I'm a day early. Do you have tomorrow's
list?"
Hermione demanded, with the right amount of impatient outrage in her
voice.

"No, we don't get the lists until five hundred hours tomorrow morning."

"Then, let me in, or when I get here tomorrow morning at five hundred
hours there will be hell to pay." Hermione stared the guard with the
list straight in the eye. Ron knew that it was going to be a standoff
and it seemed to take forever. Finally the guard spoke.

"Fine, then, I'll take your word for it Dr. Bleaker." He nodded to the
second guard who touched the door to the castle with his wand and the
door popped open.

Hermione walked inside confidently with Ron and Harry close behind her.

They thought they had made it. The door shut behind them and there was
only a guard and a man who looked like a receptionist inside. Then, all
of a sudden, Ron felt the Invisibility spell rip away from him. He
yelled to Hermione who looked at him and immediately pointed her wand at
the Dragon guard and yelled a spell.

The guard's eyes glazed over and he stood there. The receptionist
stared at her as her eyes glazed over too. Ron yelled "Stupefy," and
the receptionist slumped. He went to Hermione and touched her arm.

"The Imperious Curse? Hermione what were you thinking?" He didn't mean
to snap, but it was one of the Unforgivable Curses. Everyone knew it.
The Dragons used them and so did Voldemort. No one else did.

"I was thinking about the Unforgivable Curses when I was walking here.
I was thinking that if worse came to worse we might have to use one."
Her voice was far away and Ron knew that she had panicked when she saw
him fading back into visibility.

"It's okay. Just take it off and I'll be ready to stun him." Hermione
nodded and murmured the counter-curse. Ron stunned the guard just as he
was coming out of it.

"Come on, we have to find where Voldemort is. We haven't got much time.
They'll be here in under an hour, and these guys won't stay stunned
forever," Ron said.

Harry and Hermione nodded and they went up the main staircase, assuming
that that's where Voldemort would be.

There were very few guards to block their path through the dark and
twisting corridors. That fact alone made Ron nervous.

"We must be going the wrong way. They would have more guards around
Voldemort. He may be powerful, but there's something funny about
someone who doesn't have guards around him, as unpopular as he is," Ron
said, voicing his fears.

"I don't know. Maybe it's just overconfidence. Harry, how much time
left?"
Hermione asked.

"We've been trudging around this hellhole for twenty minutes. We'll
never find him. We should have given ourselves more time. It doesn't
look this big from the outside," Harry answered. Ron had to agree with
him. The castle was much bigger than they expected. And if it really
had been twenty minutes, the receptionist and the guard would be coming
to and they would have even less time to find Voldemort.

"Maybe we should just start opening doors. There's not much that we
could do to make things worse. And it would even the odds a bit.
There's a good chance that we might just happen upon the inner sanctum
by luck," Hermione said with a sigh.

"Right, then. We'll just open up a bunch of doors," Ron said, not the
least bit confident in their chances. Suddenly, Harry slapped his hand
to his head and doubled over in what Ron could only guess was pain.
Hermione rushed to Harry's side with Ron hard on her heels. Harry was
recovering when they got over to him.

"What was that?" Ron asked.

"My...scar. It...hurt...when I opened this door. It hurt a lot. This
is where Voldemort is. It has to be," Harry muttered. And he started
down the staircase that the door opened into. Ron and Hermione looked
at him and followed, figuring that since the scar came from Voldemort,
it might be a sort of beacon.

The staircase wound around and around making it hard to judge just how
far down it went. After a half-hour, though, Ron knew that they must be
headed to a dungeon deep underground. There was little light and every
once in a while, they would find a patch of staircase missing. Ron
nearly fell all the way down, when he stepped down to find the stair
missing. They finally reached the bottom of the staircase and there was
a large wooden door with two more stone snakes on either side. The door
had no knob.

"Now what?" Harry cried. "He's in there. I know it. How do we get in?
Even if it's one of those freaky wizard doors like the front door to the
castle, there's millions of things that could open it."

"Maybe it's in the snakes. God, he must like them; they're all over the
place,"
Ron said as he tickled one of the giant stone snakes with his wand. It
started to change color and came to life. "Oh shit, this is bad..."

The snake came up to them hissing. Harry started hissing too. The
hissing went back and forth between them. Ron silently prayed that
Harry was as good an actor as Hermione because he could hear clanking
coming down the stairs. The rest of the guards were coming to warn
Voldemort that there were intruders. Or maybe the attack had started.

The snake turned away from them and tickled the door with its tongue.
The door opened and the snake resumed its position and turned back to
stone. Ron, Harry and Hermione walked cautiously into the room that was
behind the door.

A large chair with its back to them was the main focus of the room.
There was a small table next to it and on the table was a wand. Harry
clutched his head again and Ron knew exactly who would be in the chair
when it turned around. He was gripped with fear.

"Well, well, well," said a cold, high voice. Ron assumed that it was
Voldemort.
"Didn't think that there'd be three. You did well, Lowry, and shall be
rewarded." The chair swiveled and Ron nearly retched when he saw
Voldemort for the first time. The man looked like the stone snakes that
decorated his castle. Ron could see that he was tall and thin, and
Voldemort's red eyes shone from skeletally sunken sockets.

Hermione looked just as bad off as Ron, but she wasn't focused on
Voldemort. Her eyes were looking past him to her husband who had
stepped out of the darkness.

"You see, Hermione, I told you that I would give you that day, but that
I couldn't guarantee tomorrow," Gary said with a bitter smile on his
face.

"Did I give you permission to speak?" Voldemort demanded coldly. Gary
backed down, properly chastised. "The ill-fated Mrs. Lowry, I presume?"
He said turning to Hermione. She looked at the skeletal man in the
armchair for the first time and flinched underneath his stare. "And Mr.
Weasley. God, how many of you brats are there?" Ron was terrified
right down to the tips of his toes, but he couldn't help feeling anger
at the insult.

Then Voldemort turned his head to look at Harry. "You," he spat. "I
hoped that I would never have to see you. I was stupid for not having
you killed long ago, but that idiot Black did a good job hiding you. I
suppose you came here to try to defeat me because I didn't kill you a
long time ago, hmmm?" Harry just stared, his face a mixture of fear and
determination, at the man in the armchair.

"Hasn't anyone ever taught you to speak when you are spoken to? You're
not being very polite, my dear boy," Voldemort said, raising himself up
from the chair. Ron looked at Harry and silently urged him to do
something... anything... besides sitting there staring. "Well perhaps I
shall be able to teach you some manners. Lowry, would you be so kind as
to tie up the others so that they may watch the last hope of their
fragile Underground vanish?"

Gary smiled and he shouted "Expelliarmus!" as Ron and Hermione raised
their wands up to try to defend themselves. At another word, ropes
jumped from his wand and wound themselves around Ron and Hermione. Gary
walked over and kissed Hermione on the cheek. "Wrong choice," he
whispered to her, just loud enough that Ron could hear.

Gary then walked over to Ron and punched him in the stomach. "I told
you at the raid that I'd get you. Thought I'd forget, did you?" Then
there was silence.

Ron and Hermione watched in horror, both praying that Harry would be
able to defeat whatever Voldemort had in store. Voldemort just stood
there, though, not saying anything. Harry stood, transfixed. Do
something now, Ron urged Harry silently.

"Lowry, leave us. I'll let you deal with your wife and the Weasley, but
right now I want to be alone with them." Gary left without a word, but
Ron read his displeasure in the look on his face.

"Well, you are smart aren't you. Read a book by Black and assume that
because Harry got away from me once, he can do it again, and maybe bring
me down. Clever, even though you did jump to a lot of conclusions. Too
bad they were the right ones." Voldemort gave an evil sounding chuckle
that chilled Ron further.

"When I tried to kill you the first time it was nearly the end. But
then Dumbledore died. Why he was driving around in that insipid Muggle
contraption, I'll never know. I rose to power, performed the spell to
get my body back, and disbanded the Death Eaters," explained Voldemort.
"They knew that I was vulnerable. They were all much too power hungry.
And so the Dragons were born.

"Of course I'm sure you know this basic history. Might have even
figured out that I lost my powers for a short period of time. But it
does you no good because I'm well now, and your attack on the castle
will fail. Even your 'hero' can't save you now." Ron realized that the
reason Harry hadn't attacked was because Voldemort must have had him
under some sort of confusion spell. Voldemort smiled wickedly and
reached out to stroke Harry's chin. When their skin touched, Harry
seemed to snap out of it and Voldemort drew back quickly in pain.

"What the...?" Harry muttered and he remembered where he was. Harry saw
Ron and Hermione tied up and rushed over to tug at their bonds. It was
too late, though, as Voldemort had recovered from the shock of touching
Harry.

A huge snake came from a secret passage in a wall. It slithered over to
sit between Harry and his bound friends. "You try to free them and
Nagini will kill them. This is between us, for now, Potter. No help.
One on one." Voldemort sounded desperate and completely insane. Which
didn't really surprise Ron all that much. Despots usually were one
brick short of a wall.

"We duel now, Potter. And whoever wins, wins all." Voldemort bowed to
Harry, slightly. Harry merely inclined his head. And Voldemort
bellowed "Crucio!"

Ron had never actually seen somebody under the most tortuous curse of
all, though he had known many people in the Underground that had been
victim to it. Harry screamed as if he was a banshee heralding its own
death. When the curse was finally lifted, Harry shook all over and Ron
struggled against the ropes harder than ever before. The Tödlich Spell,
Harry, come on!

The Tödlich Spell had been invented as a much less powerful answer to
Avada Kedavra. It could be blocked, with difficulty, by a powerful
wizard like Voldemort, but it was their only chance. There was no way
that Ron and Hermione could have gotten Harry up to the level of magic
understanding to use Avada Kedavra (even if they wanted to) in under a
year.

As if he could hear Ron's thoughts, Harry lifted his wand and yelled
"Mortalus Monutum!" while Voldemort shrieked "Avada Kedavra!" The blue
beam of light from Harry's wand and the green one from Voldemort locked
in midair. Ron watched in fascinated horror, as the beam holding the
wands together became gold. A sort of light-cage formed around Harry
and Voldemort as both stared at their wands dumbfounded.

A bead of light appeared directly in the middle of the beam that held
the wands together. Voldemort stared at it and then looked at Harry.
"You know, Potter, Muggles raised you. Don't all Muggles hate wizards?
I'm surprised you decided to help the Underground. All wizards are the
same, right? You're no better than me now that you're a wizard,"
Voldemort said slowly in a lower than usual voice. Ron could see he was
trying to keep Harry's attention from the bed of light that was now
slowly moving towards Harry's wand.

"Harry!" Hermione suddenly cried. "Watch out!" Harry looked down at
the bead and it stopped. It moved back to the middle of the beam and
there it stayed. Ron knew that it couldn't stay there forever. Harry
would definitely lose this battle of wills simply because of his
inexperience. Ron racked his brain, trying to come up with something.

"Distract him," hissed Hermione. Nagini looked at them, as if waiting
for some reason to kill them.

"What?" Ron asked, trying to move his lips as little as possible.
Nagini lowered her head again and watched as the bead ever so slowly
made its way back toward Harry.

"Distract Voldemort so that Harry at least has a chance," Hermione
directed.

Voldemort was talking to Harry again, and Ron waited for him to say
something that would inspire Ron. "What you're doing now is the exact
same thing that I did when I took over. There's absolutely no
difference. Making up some elaborate coup so that another person can
rule with an iron fist. Good and evil, Potter, are the same things.
It's all a matter of relativity..."

"You're wrong!" Ron said very loudly, all of a sudden. Nagini's head
popped up again and Ron could have sworn that the snake was smiling.
Ron ignored the snake, because he had also gotten Voldemort's attention.
"Harry, you're not the same as Voldemort. You know what the difference
between good and evil is? When the good guys lose, they're not sorry
they tried. They know that they fought the good fight, and that they
made it just a little bit easier for the next people to win. That's the
difference, Harry. If the bad guys win, they go home and regret what
they did because they lost. Harry, if for some reason we don't come out
on top, we won't regret it."

During Ron's speech, Voldemort was glaring daggers at him, as was the
huge snake. But Harry, seemed to have gained confidence from it and the
bead made its way back to the middle once again, but it didn't stop this
time. It kept right on until it touched the end of Voldemort's wand.

The tip of the wand exploded and grayish ghosts were coming out of it.
There were people who seemed surprised as anyone that they were there.
They seemed to be talking to Harry and Voldemort both, though Ron
couldn't hear what they were saying. After about half a dozen people
had emerged, the look on Harry's face changed. He looked scared as a
male ghost with unruly hair came up to him and said something. A female
ghost with long hair was right next to him a second later.

Harry suddenly pulled his wand up, breaking the connection. As if
inspired by the ghosts, who were huddled around Voldemort, blocking him,
Harry stunned the snake and used his wand, transfigured into a knife, to
cut the ropes around Hermione and Ron.

"Open the door. You have to tap it with your wand three times," Harry
commanded. Ron didn't know, nor did he care just how Harry knew this
information. He just ran to the door and did as he was told. Harry was
keeping his eye on Voldemort while Hermione was covering Ron in case
there were Dragons waiting outside the door.

She nearly hurt Arthur Weasley.

"Dad, what are you doing down here?" Ron asked with a look of surprise.

"Trying to find where you guys were. I was worried that you...oh my!"
Arthur exclaimed when he looked past Ron and Hermione.

The grayish ghosts had left, but Voldemort was out cold in his chair.

"He's not dead. I hit him with the Tödlich spell while the ghosts were
distracting him, but...he's not dead." Harry sounded confused and a
little scared.

"Don't worry about it, Harry," said Arthur with a smile. "As long as
he's out, we can get him to someplace where we can lock him up to await
trial. We beat back the Dragons. I never knew just how many people was
a part of the Underground. I don't think he-" Arthur motioned to
Voldemort, "knew how big we were. Otherwise we never would have
survived this long. It's a new dawn, kids. The white hats won."

"Heh," laughed one of the Dragons that they must have captured waiting
in front of the door. Ron and Hermione turned to see that it was Gary.
"You think you've won, don't you?" He laughed a cold, insane laugh that
sounded eerily close to Voldemort's. "Voldemort knew that he wouldn't
be around forever, much as he hated to admit it. So he made sure he
screwed things up for everyone. Do you actually think that just because
you have him locked away in solitary confinement somewhere, that things
will just go back to normal? Now that the Muggles know about us and
don't trust us as far as they can throw us? Things won't go back to
normal. Not after what wizards did." He jerked his arms free and
walked confidently up the staircase, leaving his captors to follow after
him.

Ron watched Gary's back. He wondered if Hermione and Harry were
thinking the same thing that he was thinking. Harry had said nearly the
exact same thing when he and Hermione had tried to convince him to help
them in the first place. Ron knew that it was true, that the
reconstruction would take a long time. But wars happen, egos are
damaged, people are damaged. Life moves on. Ties are rebuilt.

~

"The losses were heavy on both sides. They nearly beat us, but they
didn't back down. I think that a lot of the people didn't want to face
what would happen if we lost and they fought all the better for it.
They didn't give up even in the face of death," said Arthur Weasley the
next day.

"Sometimes you have to die when there's nothing left to live for," Harry
observed in a far away voice.

Harry explained to the meeting of the temporary Ministry what happened.
He didn't know why a lot of it happened, but he explained what he could.

When he got to the part about the bead of light on the beam, Mr.
Ollivander spoke up.

"Yes, when two brother wands are forced to do battle, one will force
Priori Incantatum on the other."

Harry choked up when he got to the part where his parents (So that's who
they were, thought Ron). "They said that they were proud that I had
stood up for the right thing. They," Harry sniffed, "said they were
proud of me."

He went on to say that one of the gray ghosts had said that I'd better
take Voldemort off his high horse, thanking the Death Eaters by putting
them in Farms or killing them like common Muggles. Then he told Harry
how to open the door.

After Harry's description, Arthur Weasley looked contemplative. "First
decent thing Lucius Malfoy's ever done," he said.

After the meeting, Harry Hermione and Ron were talking about when they
would continue with Harry's training.

"Well, they're thinking about starting up Hogwarts again. They'll most
likely have special classes for the wizards who were born into Muggle
families, but never got a chance because of it. There's a lot out there
that needs taking care of, Harry," Ron said. "What are you going to
do?"

"Right now, I'm going home. To see my family. I figure that maybe I'll
just help out with the Muggle front for a while," Harry smiled and left.
Ron and Hermione were left standing there.

"And what are you going to do?" Ron asked her finally.

"I don't know. I figure that I'll go try to live on my own somewhere.
Maybe I'll ask for a job at the New Ministry when they get the
particulars worked out. Until then..." Hermione shrugged.

"I'm eventually going to Moor and Dolman," Ron said, naming two Farms.
That's where my brothers are, last I heard. When they freed the camps,
they just gave the prisoners food and more comfortable beds and more
space. Most of the prisoners are there still, though. Some left. But
for now, you wanna go out and get some butterbeer?" Ron asked, not
really wanting to think about the reunion that would take place with his
brothers. It would be bittersweet, he knew.

Hermione smiled at his request. "Yeah, sure, why not?"

THE END^

************************************************************************

AN: Wow! That's all she wrote! It's finally over! I really do like
this story (not as much as I did when I first started it, but whom ever
does?) Anyway, at least, it stayed a Ron story throughout most of it.
I really don't do well at first person limited. I'll remember that next
time. Oh yeah, and I never said that I was good at writing action. All in all
the fourth chapter took me four days to finish and three of it was writing the
action sequence. ::Shudders::

I'd like to thank Slytherin Dragon for helping me get rid of the
introduction so that you guys didn't have to see it. I would also like
to thank those of you who stuck with this story when I was deep in
writer's block and e-mailed me to get my rear in gear and get the darn
thing up.

This is the last paragraph. I promised Flourish that I would get the
word out however I could that if you're in the Sacramento area (or if
you can get there) when the movie opens (first day, first show) we are
going to be holding a Harry Potter fanfic authors convention. If we can
plan it right there might even be t-shirts. Drop me an owl about it at
mtfbwya@pacbell.net. There will be a screening process and it helps if
I recognize your name, so mention your ff.n nom de plume. Thanks, and
by the way, none of the characters are mine except Gary and a few other
minor ones. They all belong to JK Rowling. I just twist them around
until they're unrecognizable and hope no one sues.