Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. And for the life of me I can't come up with a funny disclaimer.

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Everything To Lose

Chapter 4: Do something! Anything!
In which good guys try to cope with what they have just heard and Ron does a lot of yelling.

"We have to do something! Anything!" Ron yelled at the top of his lungs.

He was the first to react to the message they had just received, after standing in complete silence for what seemed like hours.

"I'll go tell Moody," said Remus quietly.

"NO! We don't need him! He's the one behind all this, it's all his fault!"

"He might have made a mistake, but he is still the Head of Order and needs to know about this. Besides," Lupin raised a hand authoritatively, when Ron opened his mouth to start yelling again. "He knows where she went."

"You're right!" Ron shouted, jumped into the air and dashed through the door before others realized what was happening.

Lupin sent Harry a pointed look, which probably begged him to remain reasonable, before hurrying after Ron to stop him from doing something incredibly silly and dangerous. Like attacking Moody, again.

Harry, however, took his time. He slowly walked towards the door but instead of disappearing through it, made a lazy circle round the word still hanging from the thin air, once burning and fiery, now only a wisp of diminishing smoke. With a sigh he stretched out his hand to touch it, and watched it completely vanish at the contact of his fingertips.

Then, twisting his wand calculatingly in his fingers, Harry sent out his own Patronus with his own message, and only then did he follow the others up the stairs and into Moody's room.

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He was staring at the animal with his eyes empty. They were both silver – his eyes and the animal. A noble stag it was, standing in front of his bed, waiting for him to retrieve the message it bore. Why should he do that – he knew what the message said. He felt it. He didn't need to see it written in flaming letters as those words were already burning into every wall of his mind.

He had let her go, and now she was gone.

They had talked about it and accepted it a long time ago – this was war, and it was more than likely that one day one of them wouldn't come home anymore. That was how it was, and there was nothing they were able to do about it, nothing but accept the reality, however cruel it was.

At least, that what they said – they said they had accepted it. But how could one ever accept something like that?

Or, they could accept it and live with it, until the day finally came, until one of them didn't come home anymore, and would never come either. Then, on that day, acceptance was thrown out of the window.

And that day was today.

He pointed his wand towards the silver animal, but before he managed to speak or think the incantation, voices were heard from the living-room. Rather angry voices. And a moment later the bedroom door was blasted open to reveal a royally pissed red-hair whose face was a solid indication that from this source no valuable information would be heard, other than hundreds of thousands of curses. He turned to question Potter, but Ron was in no mood to be left out of this conversation.

"You cowardly murdering Death Eater scum!" he began with a friendly greeting. "You are just sitting here and doing nothing! NOTHING! She risked her life for you, but you, ungrateful bastard, are not willing to do anything for her! You never loved her, you never cared one bit about her, you just used her for your own pleasure! You only seduced her to get her into bed with you! You got what you wanted and now, thanks to this, you even don't have to face her to tell the truth. You're probably so happy now! You probably even planned this, you traitor! Spying on us for your precious Death Eater scum buddies!"

He took a short pause to catch his breath, but continued before Harry had the chance to interrupt.

"You never cared for her, and you never deserved her. I knew it, I knew it the moment you walked in the door – nothing good would ever come of this. Once a ferret, always a ferret. You say you're on our side, but actually you're on nobody's side but your own – the spoilt brat you really are! I told her that, I told her, don't fall for the evil tricks of that stupid bastard, he just plays with you. And that you did, but that's the last thing you ever do because I, in the name of Merlin, swear here and now that I'll make you regret every…"

Harry sighed. Ron didn't look one bit like he was going to stop any time soon, nor did he look very tolerant about being interrupted. So he droned out his friend's rather loud voice, and went through all that had happened just before. Moody was not pleased. He was not pleased with Ron accusing him for getting Hermione caught either, but he actually had been more concerned about her – whether it was her life or the information she bore. As soon as Moody had revealed them the location, which he did on Lupin's insistence, the four of them had portkeyed there immediately, only to find empty ruins grey and gloomy in the rain. There had been no trace of Death Eaters, but what could they have been expecting? Of course they had left, left and taken her with them. But where had they gone? Moody had specifically forbidden them to go back to the castle for a useless search. Harry and Ron, of course, were determined to disobey. And that's why they were here – to ask Malfoy to join them. Ron had protested when he first heard of that idea – loud and clear – but he had managed to convince him that they needed all the help they could get if they wanted to find her as soon as possible. For Hermione's sake, Ron had finally agreed. But that, apparently, didn't mean he wasn't going to yell at him first.

And he understood his reason. They needed to blame someone for it, and it was always easier to blame someone other than themselves. Harry had chosen Moody for that, but Ron found someone better for him. He had hated Malfoy for a long time, and Hermione's choice had only deepened it. He hated him for seducing Hermione since he couldn't bring himself to hating her. So he hated him. A lot.

But it wasn't his fault. At least, it wasn't his fault more than it was their fault. They had let her go, knowing very well in what condition she was, and they had let her face Moody alone. Never in a thousand years had they expected the punishment to be what it was – but that didn't mean they were innocent. The moment she needed them, they had left her alone. Of course, Moody was to be blamed as well, despite the fact the mission he sent her on was fake. But he still sent her out of the safety of the house, alone, at night, after having been tortured the same day. It would have been utterly wrong to say that Harry understood why Moody did this, but then again, neither did he understand why they had let Hermione face the music alone.

And in the end, it was him who had knocked on her door and sent her out to die.

Die.

"Is she still alive?" Harry asked suddenly.

"… stupid Death Eater bastard responsible for everything… what?"

"Is she still alive?" he repeated his question.

Ron visibly blanched at that.

"Of course she is," he said at length, his voice shaking. "She has to."

But Harry was looking past him and paying him no attention whatsoever.

"She is alive," Draco answered quietly.

"Is she all right?" Harry questioned further.

"What do you think, Potter?" came the reply, the exact words he had spoken a few hours ago when he had asked the same question. Only then she had been, despite hurt and exhausted, completely safe. Or at least as safe as anyone could be these days. She was here, at her home, with her beloved. Then, she had been safe.

"How bad is she?" he forced the words out of his mouth, afraid to hear the answer, entirely ignoring the confused glances Ron was throwing his way.

"She's at their mercy. If they want her alive, she will live. If not…"

"What are you two talking about?" Ron finally blurted out.

"Hermione," replied Harry with a broken smile.

"But you were asking Malfoy whether she is alive!"

"I was."

"But how would he know it? Unless… unless he betrayed her to the Death Eaters! That's it, is it? He's a double agent and traitor just like his great mentor Snape! He made a deal with the Death Eaters and gave them Hermione. But how would you know about this, Harry? You, of all the people, would never make a deal with Voldemort or his servants, and you would never put Hermione into danger. You wouldn't, Harry, you couldn't!"

"Of course I didn't, you git!" Harry snapped angrily upon hearing the pleading tone in his voice. "I would never. And neither did Malfoy."

"But then why… how?"

"Exsecratio debilis" said Malfoy calmly. "Curse of the Weak."

"Curse? What curse? You cursed Hermione? Why you…"

"It's love," said Harry, suddenly too tired to play with words. "He loves her and he feels her pain."

Whatever Ron had been expecting that wasn't it. Plus, this was something he was more than a little unwilling to hear.

"No! He doesn't love her! He doesn't even care for her! I mean, he is sitting here doing nothing when he should be out there looking for her. Just look, look at him, he just sits here and does nothing. Look how calm he is – not one bit worried, or hurt, or grieving!"

Harry looked. Yes, he was sitting there doing nothing, and yes, he was calm. But he wasn't untouched. Malfoy, cold as ice, impossible to read, showing no emotion whatsoever – that's what he had always thought. But perhaps he just hadn't looked. Because now when he did look the pain and worry were evident in his eyes and showing on his face. He was an open book, one just had to look. Perhaps it was her doing, or the bond's, but suddenly Malfoy was as easy to read as any other.

Ron, however, wasn't looking. He was yelling.

"Did you know Hermione's Patronus is a dragon?" Harry asked suddenly, looking intently at Malfoy trying to test his theory. And indeed, the flash in his eyes told Harry everything he needed to know.

"Well, it is. Now. And we better get going and see what we manage to find."

"Ron, shut up," he added in a moment. "We're going to look for Hermione."

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A/N: Not as interesting as you hoped? Sorry. :( Next chapter will be about Hermione.

So, drop me a line to tell how much you enjoy reading about Ron yelling. :P