6

Chapter 10

Disappearance

As he walked through the door, Harry saw a figure slumped against the far wall of the room. The figure did not move, but it looked rather familiar. As he neared closer to the figure, he realized who it was.

"Ron!" he shouted as he drew nearer to his friend. Before he could get to Ron, a tall, dark, hooded figure appeared in his way. Harry stopped dead in his tracks and just stared at the tall figure. "What have you done to him?!" Harry asked, with the sound of fear in his voice. The tall figure just smiled viciously at Harry, but still said nothing. Harry took out his wan, but the hooded figure was too quick for him.

Before he knew what hit him, Harry found himself unable to move due to the magical cords that were now binding his hands and feet together. The figure moved closer to him, but still hid his face. "Harry Potter. I knew you would come after your friend. You're pathetic. You just can't resist saving people. I knew that if I captured one of your close friends, you would come to the rescue, just like when you came to save your beloved grandfather." Harry looked away when the man said this, for the thought of Sirius still pained him with guilt and sadness. "You will never see your friend again. But before I kill you, you must first watch him die." The man looked at Ron and raised his wand. "Avada Kedavra." There was a flash of green light and then…

"Harry, wake up! Are you all right?" Ron asked him as Harry sat up in his sweat-soaked bed. "What's the matter, mate? What did you dream about this time? Was it You-Know Who?" Ron asked him looking a bit frightened. Harry looked at Dean, Seamus and Neville, who were standing at the foot of his bed looking terrified. He looked back at Ron and swallowed hard.

"I- I- I dreamed you were- he-." Harry couldn't bring himself to finish his sentence. He looked at Ron, who looked as if he had just seen a ghost. Ron stared at him, but was unable to speak. "It was probably just like last time. It's nothing. Let's just go to bed," he told Ron quickly. Ron didn't look convinced, but he agreed and went to bed. As Ron laid in his bed, he thought about what Harry had said, and what he didn't want to say. I wonder what Harry dreamed. I wonder if it had anything to do with his scar hurting last week. Does this mean that something is going to happen to me soon? I seriously hope not. I just got together with Hermione and I want to enjoy it. It was with these last few thoughts that Ron drifted off to an unsettled sleep.

Harry tossed and turned for the rest of the night. What did that dream mean? Was something going to happen to Ron? Was Voldemort planning something to do with Ron? Should he say something to Dumbledore? Or was it just like last year when he thought that Voldemort had Sirius. A tear began to form in Harry's eye. Thinking about Sirius was painful. Harry decided that he was not going to think about Sirius now. He simply rolled over and closed his eyes. He was asleep in minutes.

The next morning, Harry told Hermione, while Ron sat there quietly and listened, about the dream that he had the night before. She wanted Harry to tell Dumbledore straight away, but Harry refused.

"I'm not telling Dumbledore." Harry told her. She stared at him and then opened her mouth to protest. "At least not yet. I want to see if I have another dream like that. Then I'll tell him. I don't want to make something of this and it turn out to be nothing. Remember what happened to Sirius?" he told her angrily. Hermione and Ron knew that it was painful for Harry to talk about Sirius. She just smiled and made him to promise to tell Dumbledore the next time he had that dream.

The rest of the day went fairly well. He received extra homework from Professor Snape, but it wasn't like that was a surprise. Not to mention his regular load from Professor McGonagall and Professor Trelawney. After dinner, the trio sat down in the common room to do some of there homework. After a few hours, Ron decided to go up to bed. After he had gone, Hermione took this opportunity to talk to Harry about his dream.

"Are you all right Harry? I know you're wondering if this is real or if Voldemort is just trying to trick you again," she said to him. He just looked at her, unsure of what he wanted to say, so she continued. "I know it's difficult, since you thought of Sirius as a parental figure. And you think of Ron as your brother."

"I don't know what to think. I know that Voldemort tricked me two years ago by making me believe that he had Sirius trapped in the Department of Mysteries. And I don't know if Voldemort really. wants to go after Ron or if he is trying to make me think he is so that he can hide his real plans from me," he told her as he began to put his books away.

"I don't know what to think either. I guess we should wait and see if you have this dream again. If so, we go straight to Dumbledore. Ron's not taking this very well. He looked upset all day today and he wonders, as do I, if this has anything to do with why your scar hurt last week. Because if it does, than that means that Ron is in trouble. I really hope this dream means nothing." Hermione told him sadly, as she too began to put her things away. They said goodnight and went to their rooms. When Harry walked into his dorm to go to sleep, he felt that something wasn't right. As he walked further into the room, he realized that-.

"RON!!!!!" he cried when he reached the foot of Ron's bed. Ron wasn't there. His blankets were thrown around, as if he was taken from it. Dean, Seamus, and Neville got out of their beds and came over to Ron's empty bed. Harry looked at them, wondering how long each of them was in the room that the five of them shared. "Was he in bed when you came up?" he asked them, with pain and concern rising in his voice.

"You, Ron, and Hermione were still downstairs when I came up to bed. I was the first one up here." Seamus said. Dean said that he came up not too long after Seamus did.

"Ron, Dean and Seamus were already sleeping when I came up." Neville told him in a small voice. "I have been asleep for a about an hour, so I don't know what happened," he said, looking as though he was about to cry.

"Neville, I need you to go get Professor McGonagall. She needs to know about this immediately. Tell her that I will be in Dumbledore's office. Dean, I want you and Seamus to try and see if you can call up to Hermione and Ginny and tell them to meet me there as well. I have to go and see Dumbledore now." Harry told them as he ran out of the room.

The whole way to the headmaster's office, Harry kept replaying the dream that he had the night before in his head. When he got to the staircase to get to Dumbledore's office it was already open, which saved him from having to figure out the password. When he got to Dumbledore's office, Professor McGonagall was already there and, to his surprise, so were Lupin, Tonks, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Professor Snape. They all stopped talking when he walked in. Mrs. Weasley took him up in a huge hug and asked him to tell her what happened.

"Ron, Hermione, and I were doing our homework in the common room. Ron was a little upset, so he set off to bed before me and Hermione did. When I went upstairs, he was gone. Neville told me that he was in his bed when he went to bed, but that he was asleep for about an hour. I saw Neville go upstairs about an hour and a half before I did." Harry explained.

"Why was Ron upset, Harry?" Mrs. Weasley asked him through some sobs. At that moment, Hermione and Ginny burst into the room crying hysterically, this saved Harry from having to explain his dream at that moment. Ginny went right into her mother's arms.

"What happened? Is he okay? Where is he?" Hermione asked. She burst into tears again and hugged Mrs. Weasley. "Do you think this has to do with your dream, Harry?" she asked him as she wiped her tears. When she said this, everyone in the room looked at him with interest.

"Dream? What dream?" Mr. Weasley asked him with a concerned and scared look on his face. Harry saw the look of fear in Mrs. Weasley's eyes and knew that he had to tell them. He took a deep breath and told them about the dream he had the night before. Mrs. Weasley cried softly as Harry told his story. When he finished, everyone looked rather upset. "Why didn't you tell anyone about this dream, Harry?" he asked when Harry had finished talking. Harry looked away.

"I didn't want to make a big deal out of it. I wasn't sure what it meant, and I didn't want to make the same mistake twice," Harry paused after those words, for everyone knew what he was referring to. They all knew that he was talking about Sirius and what happened that night in the Department of Mysteries and how Harry blamed himself for what happened to Sirius. Dumbledore rose from his chair and told Harry, Hermione and Ginny to go back to their dormitory. He then sent Tonks and Lupin out to begin searching for any leads as to the whereabouts of Ron. He then told Snape and McGonagall to return to their quarters and he would contact them shortly. He offered Mr. and Mrs. Weasley a place to stay inside the castle, but they politely refused and decided to go back home. They told him that they needed to send word to their other children about the situation. They said their goodbyes to Harry, Hermione and Ginny and then left the castle so that they could Apperate home from Hogsmeade.

Soon enough, what had happened had finally sunk in to Harry's head and he shed a tear. Ron had been kidnapped. Harry feels responsible because he dreamed that it would happen, but he never told anyone. He ignored these dreams because the last time he thought that his dreams were true, he ended up making them come true. Harry knew that if he had never gone to the Department of Mysteries to try and save Sirius, Sirius would still be alive. Harry still felt guilty about that and now, with Ron missing, he felt even worse. Hermione wasn't taking it well either. She looked really upset about the whole situation. She didn't tell Harry this, but she was afraid of what happened to Ron because she felt that they might come after her next, since she was Harry's other best friend.

Once the weekend was over, the news of Ron's disappearance was buzzing all over school. Harry could hear people whispering as he passed them in the corridors. Hermione kept her head down as she walked beside him, for she always had tears streaming down her cheeks. Ginny wasn't taking it well either, for now she was the only Weasley at Hogwarts. It was bad enough for her when Fred and George left school two years ago year, but now that Ron was gone; it made everything else feel even more distant. As they neared the dungeon to begin Potions, Harry and Hermione heard a loud and very obnoxious voice coming from inside the classroom.

"I can't believe that the Weasel was kidnapped. Who would want to kidnap that Mudblood lover? I won't be too surprised if the rest of his Mudblood loving family was kidnapped too. Serves them all right. That'll teach them to get in the Dark Lords way." Malfoy was saying to anyone who would listen to him, but Harry had heard enough. With Malfoy's final words, he leapt on him, not caring if he lost Gryffindor hundreds of points for it. At that moment, Snape entered the room and called for silence. This time, to everyone, especially Malfoy's, Snape took points from his own house for Malfoy's words. "Professor!" he exclaimed with astonishment. "Why are you taking points from your own house and not from theirs?" he asked as he threw a nasty glare towards Harry and Hermione.

"I do not feel any need to have to explain myself to you, Malfoy. You will mind your tongue or I will mind it for you." Snape snapped and then looked back at the roll of parchment that was on his desk. Malfoy looked as if he had been slapped in the face a hundred times. Several of the Gryffindors were so shocked that they didn't realize that they were still standing up and not sitting in front of their cauldrons where they were supposed to be. Harry, however, just stared at Snape from his chair. He did not know what had just happened, but he was determined to find out. When class ended, Harry packed his stuff up slowly so that he would be able to talk to Snape. "What can I do for you, Potter?" Snape asked him as Harry approached his desk.

"Professor, I was wondering if I could ask you a question," he said as he moved closer to Snape's desk. Snape looked at him with a look that told Harry not to even bother asking his question. Harry ignored it and decided to press the matter further. "I was wondering why you took points from Malfoy earlier, but not from me. It just doesn't make any sense," Harry said meekly.

"Do you want me to take points from your house, Potter?" Snape asked him in a disgruntled tone, still not looking up from the parchment that he was writing on. Harry shook his head. "Good. Then I suggest that you run along to your next lesson before you do get points taken from your house." Harry nodded and left the room. He was still unsure as to why Snape sided with him, but he decided to leave it at that for the mean time.

Transfiguration was next. Hermione tried to talk to Harry during class, but was unsuccessful because Professor McGonagall did not allow anyone to talk while she spoke, which was usually during the entire class. When class had ended, Hermione went over to Harry and asked him what Snape had said to him. McGonagall had overheard their conversation and decided to join it.

"What happened during Potions, Potter? You fought with Malfoy? He said what? Snape did what?" she asked as Harry and Hermione told her what had happened earlier that day. "Interesting," she said, and then dismissed them both before she left the room. Harry and Hermione exchanged curious looks and then they went to the Great Hall for lunch. Before they arrived, they were stopped by Malfoy and his usual crowd.

"I don't know what happened earlier Potter, but when my father hears about this…" he began with a smug expression plastered on his face.

"Yes, well when you see your father, you better have him tell Voldemort that he better release Ron or else," Harry said angrily. Malfoy laughed at that.

"Do you think that the Dark Lord is scared of you?" he said with a laugh. Crabbe and Goyle sniggered at Malfoy's comment.

"Oh I know he's scared of me. Every time I've faced him, I've beaten him. And if he doesn't let Ron go, he will face me again, only there won't be a next time. Make sure he gets that message," Harry said as he strode past them. Malfoy and the others all looked dumbstruck. Hermione was even amazed at what Harry had said.

"I can't believe you just said that," she gasped as she plopped down next to him at the Gryffindor table. Harry didn't say anything to her; he just filled his plate and began to eat. She followed suit, sensing that he didn't want to talk about it right now. Harry thought that if he sent a message to Voldemort telling him that he would die if he did not release Ron, then he would surly do it. Unfortunately for Harry, this would not happen. Voldemort would not be scared into doing anything.