"Harry...is that..."Hermione trailed off who was now staring open mouthed at the red head.
Harry slowly nodded not removing his eyes from the figure "Yeah Hermione, I think it is."
The duo continued to stare at Ron as he hesitantly walked over. Harry got the chills when Ron got closer, there was something strangely off with him. There wasn't a sparkle in his eyes, but now they were cold and dark. His face was more sunken in and it looked like he had lost a good 5-10 pounds while being gone for the last few weeks.
"Hi…" Ron said sternly. He held absolutely no emotion in his voice. "Look it's not safe here, I know you came to Godric's Hollow for a Horcrux…here I have it."
Harry and Hermione continued staring at him curiously as he reached into his bag. Soon he was holding a gold cup.
"That belonged to Helga Hufflepuff…where did you find that?" Hermione spoke up.
"That's not important right now, we ought to get out of here then I can explain everything to you." Ron said glancing around suspiciously.
"How can we trust you?" Harry finally spoke up. "Maybe we're better off taking that from you and then ought to just send you back to your family."
"Look, I will tell you everything you want to know once we get to a secure location." Ron answered dully.
"Harry, I think he's right. Let's just go somewhere safe first then decide what to do." Hermione whispered to Harry.
For some reason the thought of Ron going anywhere with them made Harry a bit nervous. How did he find that Horcrux and where was he this whole time? Why didn't Ron just go back to the Burrow after leaving them? Needless to say it was best he took Hermione's advice and question Ron somewhere more secure. Being out in the open at Godric's Hollow with a Horcrux was certainly not the smartest thing to do.
"Fine, but give me your wand Ron." Harry demanded. "Just until we figure out what is going on."
Harry was very surprised when Ron handed his wand over with no hesitation. Something was certainly off with him.
"Can we get going now?" Ron said looking a bit bored. Harry looked over at Hermione who nodded; she then grabbed both Harry and Ron's arm and they apparated back to the forest of Dean. Hermione began to set up the tent as Harry put up the protective charms. Ron stood there scanning the area making Harry a bit more concerned about his behavior.
"Alright Ronald, let's see it again." Hermione said who was still very angry with Ron even though he had the horcrux. He quickly pulled back out the cup and handed it to Hermione. Harry stared at the cup and instantly knew it was indeed a horcrux.
"Look, I know I was a git and screwed up. I'm not saying you two have to forgive me today or ever, but I want to be a part of this again. Right after I left and said all those horrible things I realized I made the biggest mistake of my life. I tried to find you guys so many times but I had no luck…if I could have found you sooner I would of." Ron said trying to sound his most sincere. Before Harry could question Ron, Hermione beat him to it.
"How'd you find us then?"
"I knew Harry wanted to go to Godric's Hollow and see if there was a horcrux there, so I waited for you both to come. While waiting I was able to find this horcrux, it was hidden in your house." Ron said turning too Harry.
"Let's destroy it now." Harry said to the two. Ron was now holding the cup and looked very hesitant.
"I don't think we should now Harry." Ron said looking a little bit taken back.
"Why wouldn't we do it now? I don't know about you Ron, but I'm not looking to carry around a piece of you-know-who's soul any longer than necessary." Harry said feeling a bit irritated.
"I just say we keep it till tomorrow, that's all. It's been a long day for all of us, and you know how the horcrux reacts when we kill it. I don't reckon any us are in the mood for that now." Ron spoke looking at the duo. Harry looked at Hermione, she gave Harry a nod.
"Fine, we wait till dawn then kill it. Ron you can go on lookout first, we'll keep the Horcrux in the tent with us seeing you've had it the longest." Harry said reaching out for the Horcrux. After a few seconds Ron reluctantly handed Harry the gold cup. This action made Harry become suspicious. Without saying another word to Ron, Hermione and Harry made their way back into the tent.
"I don't trust him." Was the first thing that came from Harry's mouth as they got back into the tent. "He didn't want to give us that Horcrux."
"Harry, it's the power of it that made him like that. It's a very powerful dark object, tomorrow we will be rid of it." She spoke quietly. Harry became angry at her words.
"So you just trust him so easily?" Harry questioned. "He left us Hermione, and now he just comes back into our life just like that?"
"Harry, I don't forgive him and I'm certainly mad but what should we do? Kick him back out and let you-know-who get to him? It's safer he stays with us, he certainly isn't a harm to us Harry, if anything it's just more beneficial for us."
"I guess, but for some reason I have bad feeling." Harry spoke.
"Let's just get some sleep Harry; we'll deal with it in the morning."Hermione said before laying down on her bed. Hermione was already turned over in bed before Harry could argue further.
Harry sat on his bed, now knowing what exactly to do. If it wasn't for him being completely paranoid he would be able to fall right asleep. After several moments Harry finally laid down and closed his eyes. For the next couple of hours he found himself tossing and turning. Images of Ron flashed his thoughts; not just any images but ones of him torturing Hermione and even some of him killing a small muggle family. The last image he saw was Hermione and Ron…kissing! Harry awoke in a jolt; he couldn't bare trying to sleep anymore or even having Ron around. His eyes wandered over to a peaceful Hermione sleeping. Harry admired her beauty, Merlin he wanted to tell her he loved her. He loved every bit of her; everything about her was intoxicating.
"Harry what's wrong?" Hermione said yawning. She must have awoken without him realizing, he was too much in thought.
"Nothing Hermione, I was just thinking." He said somewhat honestly.
"About what?" She questioned.
"About you." Harry said without hesitating. He felt his face blush; he wasn't entirely sure where this new found courage was coming from.
"What about me?" Hermione asked curiously. She looked at him in a way she never had before.
"You two awake?" A voice sounding like Ron's was heard. Hermione looked somewhat annoyed.
"Yeah we'll be right out." Hermione said getting up being closely followed by Harry. Ron always had a way of disrupting things.
The site the duo was about to see shocked them. Hermione and Harry were greeted by Ron and a few dozen death eaters.
"You bastard! You brought them here, you betrayed us!" Harry roared as three death eaters grabbed onto him. "How could you!"
Ron smirked at him, he seemed like he was enjoying the sight of the event unfolding.
"Don't you touch her!" Harry yelled at the men who were grabbing onto Hermione.
"She's a pretty mudblood huh Goyle. Maybe we can have a few goes at her before the Dark Lord finishes her off." The man purred in Hermione's ear.
"Watch it Goyle, you know the deal I have with the Dark Lord." Ron said speaking up, he looked quite angry.
"Ron, why?" Hermione said tears slowly falling down her face. "We were your best friends, how could you do this to us?"
"I had no choice." Ron said simply. "It was the only way I could have you for my own."
"You'll never have me for your own, I'd rather die." Hermione said angrily. Ron slowly walked over to her, and grabbed her face.
"By the time I'm done with you, you have wished you were dead." Ron snarled. Hermione then spat in his face which got quite the laugh from Ron causing the hairs on the back of Harry's neck to stand up.
"I say we pay a visit to Malfoy Manner and await the arrival of the Dark Lord." Ron instructed to the death eaters. Before Harry or Hermione could react they found themselves on a cold hard floor. Harry rushed over to Hermione and grabbed onto her.
She was trembling…Harry wanted to get her out of here, have them take him and let her be. He knew it wasn't logically but he would die before he let Ron lay a hand on her. His eyes scanned the room; both Ron and Bellatrix had their wands pointed at the duo. Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy were in the corner looking at ease, however Draco was shivering.
"The Dark Lord will be pleased!" Narcissa hissed. She was almost drooling at the pair as though they were a stuffed Turkey. "Let's call him now!"
"Not yet Narcissa, I need to have a chat with the girl." Bellatrix said smiling at Hermione.
"You won't touch her!" Harry said lunging towards Bellatrix. Before Harry came close to reaching her he was stunned and sent flying towards the wall. He was barely conscious and felt blood trickling down his face.
"Harry!" He heard Hermione scream
"Oh shut it." Ron hissed.
"Thanks Ronald." Bellatrix said. "Now time to deal with you. I believe you have something that belongs to us."
"I don't know what you're talking about." Hermione said flatly. Harry struggled to move, but the room was still spinning and he had a splitting headache.
"If you don't start talking I'll make you." Bellatrix said a little more forcefully this time. Hermione remained silent.
"Fine then, crucio!" Bellatrix yelled sending the curse at Hermione. The screams Hermione were making sent a sharp pain through Harry. He tried to stand up but kept falling down. He fumbled around and tryied to get to Hermione but he couldn't move anymore.
"Still no talk? Crucio! Crucio!" Bellatrix screamed. Hermiones cries made Harry crazy, he couldn't save her, he couldn't get to her.
"Ronald I knew you shouldn't have brought the cup, were all dead if the Dark Lord finds out they have it!" Bellatrix said grabbing Ron by the collar of his shirt.
Slowly Harry's sight started to come back, he glanced around the room and was surprised to see a familiar house elf grabbing onto Hermione.
"No you don't!" Bellatrix screamed. "I command you to bring her back now!"
"Dobby is a free house elf and has came to help Harry Potter and his friend!" Dobby said now grabbing onto Harry. The last thing Harry saw before passing out was the hatred covered on Ron's face.
I just want to say sorry for another not so quick update, I'm in the middle of a semester at college so I don't have too much free time. But I want to thank everyone who is sticking with this story, it means a lot! I will finish and hopefully update within the next couple of weeks. Please continue to leave feedback, I enjoyed the reviews from last chapter they were interesting and helped me make a few decisions with this story. Also I'm taking suggestions if anyone has something they want included (to a point). Thanks again.
