Falling Into Place

Harry watched as Hermione clutched Ron's limp hand with both of her own.

Ron wasn't sleeping, that was very clear, there were too many whimpers and flinches, but he wasn't conscious either. His whole body was tense but tired. Dreamless sleep draught wasn't doing anything to alleviate his discomfort and the Healer's attempts to put Ron into an enchanted sleep were equally futile.

Ginny stood at the foot of the bed, chewing her lip and double, triple, quadruple checking that people's presence around Ron's bed wasn't causing him more pain.

"We'd know if we were getting pulled into his mind, Ginny," Harry said as he put an arm around her.

"You heard what the Healers said," Ginny said as she watched her brother toss his head on the pillow and screw up his face in pain, "he's spread so thin in so many minds now that, to them, it feels like nothing more than a little niggle at the back of their mind. We could be in there and hurting him and we wouldn't even know it."

"So you want to go away?" Harry asked her, knowing that was the last thing she wanted.

"I just don't think...we should all be thinking...so much...so close to him."

Harry pulled her face into his chest and rubbed her back, soothingly.

"You're not hurting him by worrying Ginny, it's like expecting Ron to hear you whispering from the middle of a screaming crowd."

Ginny clung to Harry and watched as Hermione sprang up out of her seat to hold Ron as he had a full body convulsion.

"Let it go Ron," she whispered into his sweaty red hair, "It's not real. None of it is real, nothing except me. Let it all crumble away."

Ron's body loosened up and he slumped in his girlfriend's arms, twitching every once in a while.

"I love you. Can you hear me? I love you Ron and I'm here with you." Hermione whispered as she rocked him in her arms, "Find me in there somewhere. Find a place where it's just you and me and lock the door. I'll take care of you."

Harry felt his insides beginning to churn and he pulled Ginny away from himself to look her in the eye.

"I need to do something other than watch him suffer."

Ginny sniffed and nodded.

"I know but they won't let us look for the Deluminator, they're really pissed off with me, Harry. I messed up the whole mission."

Harry shook his head.

"That's bollocks and that's not what I mean."

"What do you mean?" Ginny frowned.

"I mean, we can't help him, we can't look for what he needs, so let's look for this Tracy girl."

Ginny giggled and wiped her face with the back of her hand.

"Foster, she's called Foster, Tracy is her last name. Ron keeps getting them the wrong way around."

Harry smiled and looked across the hospital room to Hermione.

"Go," she said, "I won't be on my own with him for long. There's always one Weasley or another popping in to talk to him."

Harry took Ginny's hand and they walked to Ron's bedside. Harry gave his best friend an awkward pat on the shoulder and said goodbye. Ginny leaned over, brushed her brother's hair away from his face, and kissed him on the forehead.

Ron's body twisted in Hermione's arms and his legs drew up to his chest, a strangled yelp catching at the back of his throat, and Ginny jumped away as if her being close to him had added to his massive burden somehow.

"Harry and Ginny are going now, it's just you and me," Hermione shifted further onto the bed so she could lie him across her lap, "just the two of us and nobody else, all peaceful and quiet."

Harry was amazed at Hermione's strength. She was already missing Ron and worried about him to begin with and now she was in the hospital, holding him while he writhed in pain, and throwing herself into soothing his troubled mind as best she could.

"I think he knows you're there," Harry said as he stared down at her.

"I hope so," she said with a sad smile.

His Dad had been gone for a long time now. He'd dissolved into nothing in Ron's arms and ever since then the stranded Auror had been searching his own psyche for him again.

Arms would push their way through the ground and grab at him, sometimes taking a good enough hold to pull him with them for a time, dragging him into their mind until he could shake himself free and find a neutral space or even a memory of his own.

It was getting harder to find his own place in his mind though. When he did manage it he never realised that it was one of his own memories until it was almost over and he was trying to escape it. He was still shaking all over after finding himself reliving a memory he'd blocked out from when he was very young.

His Uncle Bilius had lifted him out of his cot, it was dark and quiet, and the man's eyes were unusually wide. He held Ron before him, little legs waggling beneath his infant body, and whispered into his face.

'You've been controlling me.'

Ron felt cold and frightened and he wanted his Mummy.

'I keep telling them what you say to me and they tell me you can't talk yet. They think I'm mad. I'll show them.'

Ron started crying and his Uncle gave him a short, sharp shake.

'I'll make you talk, then Arthur will see, he'll see he has an evil child.'

Ron started squirming in the man's large, strong hands but he was too little and his funny Uncle wasn't funny any more. He was scary looking and when the door opened and light shone on his face Ron screamed as funny Uncle Bilius turned into a nasty monster.

'Bilius, did he wake up?' Ron's Daddy was asking as he moved closer.

'Let me take him and settle him down,' Mummy was saying, Ron saw that she was crying too as she reached out her hands to take him, 'I'm so sorry he woke you Bilius, dear. He's usually no trouble. Here give him to m-'

Ron stretched out his chubby little arms towards her and burbled her name through his grizzles but Uncle Bilius carried him away and towards the window.

'Ma-ma...he says more than that when you're not here Molly. When it's just him and me. He tells me to destroy things. He's possessed or a demon or something evil. He whispers to me all the time. When I'm all the way at home I hear him whispering his odium inside my head.'

'Bilius, he's just a baby.' Mummy was crying more and coming closer to take Ron from the scary monster man.

'That's what you said about the girl and she's a Banshee!'

'Ginny is a little baby, she's teething and it hurts so she screams. You know how babies are.' Daddy was saying as he pointed his wand at the monster.

'Give me Ronnie, please Bilius, he's upset.'

'The devil twin is making the good one evil too and the quiet boy knows too much. He thinks other people's thoughts!'

'Bilius my children are not evil or possessed or demons forced into my wife's uterus by Death Eaters,' Daddy shouted as he lunged forward and pulled Ron out of the monster's claws and gave him to his Mummy, 'I'll do everything I can to help you Bilius, but if you ever hurt my children that will be the end for you.'

Ron felt his Mummy's warmth all around him and the sounds from the roaring monster and his shouting Daddy faded away. Ron gripped his mother's nightie so she couldn't go away but a cold chill ran through him and he found himself clutching torn rags and standing alone on an icy lake.

"Mum?" he called out, voice echoing across the grey landscape.

Just as the last of his voice faded into nothing the thick ice beneath his feet cracked and he jumped back in shock. The ice where he'd been standing fell through and into jet black water. The cracks spread further and fractured out from beneath his feet once again.

Ron turned and ran. The ice fell away beneath every footfall and the safety of the bank wasn't getting any closer. He skidded and stumbled but kept on going, snapping and cracking ice growing louder behind him until...

Sploosh.

Ron was swallowed up in freezing blackness, sinking fast, and the water was pushing its way down his throat and into his lungs.

'Please stop thrashing Ron, it's not real, none of it is. I'm here and I've got you.'

Ron's eyes opened and he sat up with a gasp. He was bone dry and it was a clear autumn day. He was lying on a bed of fallen leaves, crunchy and golden, and he jumped as he heard a young girl crying her heart out as she walked through the park with her mother.

The mother and daughter were wearing bright clothing and had very dark skin. The mother's hair was wrapped up in fabric but the little girl's was wild and frizzy.

'The trees aren't dying, child, they just like to change their look from time to time in this country. They are tired of their leaves so they are shaking them off and then, in the spring, they will be covered in flowers.'

'Flowers?' The little girl sniffed, calming down now.

'Yes, Foster, flowers in all the trees.'

"Foster?" Ron said and the little girl turned and gasped at him.

"Ron!"

She let go of her mother's hand and ran to him, growing older with every step until she looked like the Foster he knew.

"How many of you did I go into?" Ron said as he gripped his head in his hands.

'Ron, you found me, in your head you found me!'

"What?" Ron frowned.

'This means you're still...you didn't find it. I dropped it so they would find it. It's right there in the road. Oh your poor head!'

Foster lifted her hand to Ron's face and then drew it away sharply before touching him.

"I dunno what's happening to me, you have to get Ginny, I need Ginny."

'Ron, she's with you, you collapsed and she's with you. I...Kain found me and took me. I'm with him at his hideout.'

"He...what?" Ron screwed his eyes tightly shut as he felt the park scene spinning around him with increasing speed.

'I know it hurts but we're going to do something. You're going to be able to wake up,' Hermione's voice was saying from somewhere very distant, 'just keep listening to me. Listen to me and not to them. I won't let anybody hurt you.'

'Ron!' Foster said as she gripped him by the shoulders and shook him.

He opened his eyes and saw a murky, narrow room with a large window facing out on to a windswept beach. Waves crashed and rain poured. The clouds were as grey as steel and the curtains framing the scene outside were ragged.

"Huh?" Ron said, shaking his head and turning to see Foster standing beside him.

'Stay with me for as long as you can,' she pleased, 'when you leave I'll be stuck here.'

"Where's..." Ron began before a blue light blinded him and all the voices and the pain were sucked away.

Footsteps clattered down the corridor of St Mungo's and Kingsley turned to see one of the Aurors, a woman in her forties with long black hair, hurrying towards him.

"Minister! Minister Shacklebolt!" She was calling, out of breath, as she held up her hand and something glinted in the light.

Kingsley knew what it was before she said another word.

"Oh the fl-fl-floor," the woman puffed, "in the street. This is it isn't it?"

The witch held out the Deluminator to Kingsley and he took it and spun away to run to Ron's hospital room.

"This is it, thank you Tasca!"

By the time he threw open the doors to Ron's room the young Auror was in dire need of relief. Healers were trying to ease his discomfort while Hermione struggled to keep him still enough to take the potions they were trying to pour down his throat.

Ron was shivering terribly and gasping for breath.

"I have it!" Kingsley yelled over the noise.

The Healers froze and Hermione began to sob with relief. Ron struggled, weakly, in her arms and it was then that he noticed George and Molly Weasley had been holding Ron's legs down.

"The Deluminator?" George asked, an expression of hope on his face that looked as if it didn't belong there for a moment, that face had gone from laughter to a permanent frown and all other emotions now looked wrong on it.

Kingsley nodded before looking to Hermione.

"Will it work for him?"

"Put it in his hand," Hermione said as she turned Ron's palm upwards and held it out for Kingsley to press the Deluminator into, "Feel it Ron? You have it back."

Ron was still breathing heavily and moaning softly every once in a while.

"You can hear me, I know you've been listening to me too, grip it. Come on, grip it."

Ron appeared to be trying to squirm out of Hermione's arms but didn't have the energy for it. His body drooped against her and then his face contorted tightly in pain. Hermione slid her thumb over his and pushed down on it to activate the Deluminator.

Ron's hand jerked and the device slid from his palm and onto the sheets. George offered to help and pushed the Deluminator into his brother's clammy skin before forcibly curling his fingers around the cool metal.

He held Ron's fist closed with one hand and moved the thumb across and pushed down to activate it. The lights dimmed and a bright blue ball of light swelled from the top of the Deluminator.

Kingsley reached out for Molly and put his arm around her shoulders as she drew in a breath and held it. The ball of light broke away from the Deluminator like a bubble and bobbed towards Ron's face before sinking into his head.

Ron gave a full body judder before slumping and the lights returned to full strength around the room. Ron was still and the Healers swooped down on him to make sure he was physically well. Hermione met George's eyes at first and then looked to Kingsley.

"He was lost for so long," she said in barely a whisper.

"He didn't give up though did he?" George said, his old smile trying to push its way back onto his face.

"Maybe he needs to rest," Molly suggested.

One of the Healers immediately turned around and agreed with Molly.

"All those sleeping potions and calming spells are going to take effect now. He'll be out for a long time but it's probably the best thing for him at the moment. He'll be utterly exhausted."

"Do you have any idea how long it will be before he'll wake up?" Kingsley asked.

"None, but I'd be willing to bet you could all go home and have a good night's sleep without missing a thing."

"He'll be out until tomorrow?" George said in shock.

"At the very least," the Healer nodded. "Once he does come round we're going to have to evaluate him to find out just how...troubled his mind is after the extrication."

"I want to stay," Hermione said, immediately.

"Miss Granger, you've been here all this time and it's been an awful lot of work for you. I think you need as much sleep as Ronald does."

"Then I'll sleep here," Hermione said as she took Ron's limp hand and lifted her chin, "because I won't let him wake up alone if he is...if he is...troubled."

"Hermione, there's no risk of that tonight," Kingsley said with a sympathetic smile, "go to bed and rest. It'll be better for Ron if you're fresh when he wakes up."

"I'll rest here," Hermione said with determination, "I can make up a small bed on the floor or sleep in a sleeping bag. I left him on his own once, I am not doing it again."

Kingsley decided to leave it to the Healers and Molly to try and persuade her while he excused himself to find Harry and Ginny and let them know that Ron's extrication was finally over.

"So come on then," Ginny said as they looked through the post that had been delivered to Foster's home address while she was in hiding, "what's the big plan?"

"Excuse me?" Harry blinked, as a catalogue for 'nick-knacks for the modern witch' slid from between two old copies of the Daily prophet and thudded onto the floor.

"Well, you're the big name in finding hidden stuff that evil genius' don't want you to find. A whole person can't be as hard to find as an object you didn't even know you were looking for like the diadem."

"Yes because that arduous year of 'finding things' just flew by!" Harry huffed.

"You know where to begin to look for stuff though don't you?"

"Not exactly, if that were the case I'd never lose anything. You know better than anybody that I'm not infallible in the remembering things department."

"Forgetting anniversaries is just a man thing, not a you thing," Ginny huffed.

"Ron remembered his and Hermione's, I remember that because you were pissed off with me all over again!"

"Well Ron knows he has to remember things because Hermione's a tyrant about that," Ginny began before the wind left her sails and she turned away, not wanting to think about the state of her brother's mind at that moment.

"Hermione's not a tyrant, she's just a sponge for remembering things like dates and facts," Harry said as he stooped to pick up the catalogue, "and Ron likes to remember a couple of dates to make her happy."

"Yeah well...where did you start when you had to find Horcruxes and had nothing to go on?"

"We were on the run before the wedding was over, remember? We were ambushed in Muggle London and ended up at Grimmauld Place where we stumbled upon the story of the locket and Kreacher filled in all the blanks. Want me to go and ask Kreacher where Foster is?"

"You were obviously connected to Regulus but things like the cup and the sword..."

"Snape's patronus led me to the sword at the bottom of a lake. The cup was in a vault at Gringotts, finding a person isn't like finding Horcruxes Ginny and I had help and luck and informants...That's what we need, informants."

"Fat lot of good you are!" Ginny snapped, "I could have come up with that, asking low lives if they've bloody seen her. It's a good job I loved you before you were a hero otherwise I'd have been bitterly disappointed!"

Harry stared at her with piercing green eyes before clearing his throat and tossing the remainder of Foster's post back onto a side table in the hallway.

"It's also a good job that I know you're only acting like this because you're worried about your brother, otherwise I'd seriously reconsider going out with you at all."

They both stood apart, eyes blazing, before their shoulders fell and they moved into each other's embrace and clung on tightly.

"I'm sorry," Ginny sighed.

"Be as big a bitch as you want to, I don't think I'd really notice," Harry said with a deep sigh, "He's my brother too y'know?"

Ginny nodded against Harry's shoulder.

"What was she wearing, doing, talking about, when you last saw her?" Harry asked, clutching at straws.

"She was cooking, she makes really unique food," Ginny said as she rubbed at her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Smelly food?" Harry asked, cocking his head to one side.

"Distinctively aromatic," Ginny said as she narrowed her eyes and looked at him curiously.

"See, if we had a Bloodhound of some kind of sniffer dog we could track her down by her cooking," Harry said with a smile and a shrug.

Ginny laughed.

"Maybe we could get somebody who was a dog Animagus to..." Ginny stopped herself as soon as she realised she was reminding Harry of Sirius, "Or maybe a dog Patronus could sniff her out. Can Patronus'..." Ginny stalled again, thinking of her brother, "...sniff?"

"We'll come up with something," Harry said as he took her hand, "Let's look up spells about smell. Hermione would suggest that wouldn't she? She'd say, 'go to the library', so that's what we should do. Let's go to the library and find a way to track down Foster."