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Chapter 7

"I saw you in the flames"

Glancing up at the strange statement Ron got a good look at the woman. She was undeniably beautiful but felt almost unnaturally so. Ron felt drawn to her in the same way as a veela, only he had no wish to remove his shirt and flex his muscles.

Above all else she felt magical, the ruby around her neck felt warm and strong to Ron. It was refreshing to Ron, uplifting almost. But her read eyes reminded him uncomfortably of Harry's description of You Know Who, and when he looked directly into them, he felt a chill run up his spine.

"My lady, do I know you?" She knelt before him

"My lord, I have travelled far from distant lands. The lord of light has blessed me and lead me to you. I will devote myself to your cause, as the mighty R'hllor has guided me to." Ron would have been sceptical. On a normal Tuesday he would see this strange red woman and know something was off with he, he'd be wary.

However, this was not a normal Tuesday. Ron didn't know what day it was, he'd lost track. He was tired of this mundane world where they wielded swords instead of wand Ron had been surrounded by mean people or people scared of the power he possessed, this woman however, she wanted to serve him. He felt confidence fill his body and a grin spread across his face.

"You've heard of my power, then? Well I can't deny you are powerful yourself. What do you mean 'you saw me in the flames'? Divination?"

"I am unsure what you mean my lord. The Lord of Light has shown me your power." She said again serenely. Ron was getting a bit tired of it all.

"Lord of Light?" Arya cut in, "I've never heard of that."

"A god of light and love and joy, and a god of darkness, evil, and fear, eternally at war. R'hllor is the god of fire, which provides light, heat, and life, and struggles against darkness, cold, and death, represented by an opposing deity, the Great Other." She recited patiently

"The Other? You mean li-"

"Arya. that religion is from across the narrow sea. Our way is the old way." Interrupted Ned.

"Well I know that, father, I'm just curious. Besides Others? That's northern!"

"Others are myths. Myths can travel across lands and have unknown sources. Just because they are wide spread does not mean they are true."

"My Lord the Great Other is real. He lives beyond the wall and is building an army of the dead."

"Is she serious?" Sansa Added.

"I don't want my daughters listening to this anymore. Leave, witch."

Ron's mind was whirring. He didn't know what to think. Ron didn't believe in religion, it all seemed to be based in magic. Ron did believe in dead armies. Hell, he learned about them at school. Zombies, skeletons, inferi, they had all been used in armies by villainous wizards throughout time. He was in a different time now though; would that mean armies of the dead aren't possible? This woman who was now staring him down hard, her red eyes seeming to boar into him, she was magic. He could sense it off her, and she had seen him in the flames. Ned had stood now, his hand on Melisandre's shoulder.

"Wait!" cried Ron, Melisandre's serene smile seemed to stretch a bit wider across her face. "I, uh, I don't think we should be so hasty in saying no to her, I mean, if she's right then we should definitely be cautious, right? We don't want an army of the dead attacking us!" Ron's voice was pitching higher and higher as he thought of it all. He was getting stressed out, Ron really wasn't used to being the one to make decisions all the time.

"The Others have been dead for thousands of years if they even did exist." Ground out Ned in frustration.

"Look man, I'm just saying, I have magic, it's possible that some other creature has magic and is making some zombies with it."

"Zombies?" muttered Sansa quietly to herself.

"I am a Lord and you will address me as such!" Spoke Ned quite loudly. Loud enough for the people at the nearest table to snicker and guffaw.

"Lord? HA, if you're a lord I'm the bloody Mountain!" slurred out a scrawny, red-faced man.

Ignoring them Ned stood up, gripping the table to support his weak leg.

"We are wasting time. Eat up girls, we're going back on the road. Ron, bring the woman if you like but I will not have her trying to spread her religion to my daughters."

So, they journeyed on. Without money they had to fend for themselves in the wild of the forest. Arya was the best at it, her agile hands being able to catch birds without a trap, Sansa was the worst, her skillset not really being in the physical area. Melisandre remained fairly quiet most of the time, but during the evening when they would sit around camp fires, Melisandre would stare endlessly into the flame. Ron tried to join her one time, remembering having done something similar in divination class, although he and Harry never sincerely tried to see anything in the flames, lies were far easier. This time when Ron tried all he got was blindness for a few moments and hurt eyes.

Melisandre shook her head at him.

"You are trying to see something in the flames. If the Lord of Light has something to show you then you will see it, don't try so hard."

The journey carried on in this way, however Ron seemed to find this leg far more manageable than the last. The only explanation was the presence of Melisandre. They would talk to each other about magic and the future and fire, Melisandre really spoke a lot about fire. Her expression changed to one of almost happiness when Ron showed her incendio. He would chat with the starks as well, Ned becoming friendlier with him as time went on.

When they were cold, Ron gave them fire. When they were thirsty Ron gave them water. All the people around him really depended on him and appreciated him and Ron lived off it. He felt important and wanted more than he had ever been in his old life.

Some nights Ron would lie awake wondering what the world was like at Hogwarts these days. Was Harry spending his summer unhappy and with the Dursleys or was he with Sirius, happy to be with his family?

Did his friends even survive the attack by the Death eaters, would Ron have dies along with them if he had stayed?

Was Hermione spending another summer in the company of Viktor Krum?

Did his family miss him? Think he was dead? Did they forget about him quickly and enjoy the new empty bedroom in the house? Did anyone miss him at all?

Ron drove himself crazy on nights like those, but every morning he would wake up and forget about it all for a while in the face of survival.

He was good at controlling the horse now, stronger too. The once strong quality of his robes were now thin and feeble beneath his grip, the fabric having been touched by a reparo so many times. His trouser legs were too short for his growing legs and Ron was afraid of ruining his trousers completely by transfiguring them long. He had not taken off his clothes for weeks. Countless scourgifies and deregeos had touched his and his companions' clothes and bodies over the last few weeks.

Surprisingly the thing people complained most about on this hard, tiring, cold and hunger-inducing journey was their hair. The Stark girls would not stop going on about their dislike for their new hair colour while their father just quietly nodded along to their complaints. Sansa missed her ginger locks and Arya despised her new Lannister-looking locks. 'but', Ron thought,' At least they are safe.'

It wasn't all work no play either, Ron had fun with the girls, treating them like they were his sisters.

Arya and he would grab long branches and fight each other with them, Eddard occasionally giving pointers on how to improve. One day they were passing a tavern with loud, jolly music coming out of it. Excited Sansa jumped up and begged Ron to be her dancing partner, to which he eventually agreed.

After seeing Sansa's stiff, boring lady-like moves to match her general demeanour, Ron made it his mission to loosen her up. He grabbed her hands and swung her around to the beat of the music, twirling her until she was a giggling mess.

As time went on the Starks were getting more and more excited and Ron could understand why. They were getting closer and closer to Riverrun. The day the beautiful castle came into their eyeline, Sansa squealed with excitement and Arya was grinning from ear to ear. Ned was the happiest Ron had ever seen him, it was very uplifting.

Ron spent that day trying and succeeding to return the initial colours to everyone's hair. That change made it seem as if he had instead cast a cheering charm on the lot of them.

Riverrun was truly a beautiful castle. All yellow brick and spires surrounded by water gave the castle as much of a homely feel that a castle could have. Riding the cart up to the draw bridge, Ned took charge.

"I am Eddard Stark, Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North. May I be granted entry?"

He opened his cloak to reveal his grey doublet, adorned with a wolf.

"Send message to her lady!" An incredibly loud voice rang out, "Lord Eddard Stark has survived! Lower the bridge!"

With a creak and the noise of moving metal, the draw bridge lowered, and the ragged group of companions made their way into Riverrun.

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