A/N - Hi all, this is just a short, 3 parter I've been working on for a while. Its my first time writing conflict of this scale so I'll be interested to know what you guys think. I'm honestly not sure how I feel about it atm but here you go anyway lol.This came about because I've always felt that Ron's character arc was lacking in the last book and he wasn't developed enough as his own character and didn't really get his own time to shine. This is my attempt and giving him that moment.I don't own Harry Potter.
9 months. It had been 9 months since he'd felt like this. He'd forgotten exactly what it had felt like. The calm. The contentment. The relief. That's what she always did. She had a way of just saying things as they were, and it all just sounded so trivial. So simple and clear in a way he had never thought possible before. The worst things in his life seemed so inconsequential when she put them into perspective.
They had spent a lot of time during his Fifth and Sixth years just talking about stuff. The real stuff. She always had this way of grounding him in reality and that's the feeling that returned when he saw her come out of the passageway between the Hog's Head and the Room of Requirement. When Neville had heard that the Golden trio were back, he had sent messages to the appropriate people, and that included Luna Lovegood.
She looked as angelic as always. So... uncomplicated and assured. He marvelled at her, as he always did. He couldn't stop himself from smiling at her appearance. It was just something she did to him. He had noticed it a short while after he broke up with Lavender. He had been so pre-occupied with his issues with her and why he had got with her in the first place. That was all down to Hermione. He had been so convinced that she was the one for him. Somehow, that led to him gladly letting Lavender have him so he could make her jealous. Loads of other people had mentioned how much they thought he and Hermione were 'meant to be' given the, apparently, 'sexual and romantic tension' they had. He had always been a bit confused by that.
But, that wasn't the reality, was it? No, Hermione was not the one for him. Driven mad by his infatuation with her and his insecurities about his place in the 'Golden Trio', he allowed himself to use Lavender. He hadn't meant to, nor was he even aware that that's what he was doing. But, he couldn't deny that he had been using her for his own self-gratification. That was the straw that broke the camel's back when it came to breaking it off. That and she was a bloody nightmare. He'd used those words about Hermione before, but they worked with his experience of Lavender better. Maybe if he had actually loved her, he would've been just as clingy and cheesy.
However, it was only a few weeks after he'd returned to the single life that he registered his feelings for Luna. He had talked through his feelings about everything else to her. About his many epiphanies when it came to Lavender and Hermione and about his insecurities. But, she never seemed to waver in her confidence that he was fine and worthy of being part of the trio. Considering all of that, he recognised the feelings in his stomach he got when she was around. He wasn't distracted by anything else, as much, so the butterflies he got when she hugged him and the smile that had been, subconsciously, appearing in his face when she entered his view were all easily identifiable.
He liked Luna. A hell of a lot. He had never experienced this, so thought that maybe it was love. He decided to give it some time before he settled on that notion.
Now, though, he had the biggest smile of his life on. 9 months he had missed this. When he had actually seen her last, they were at Shell Cottage but the circumstances were worse for her. She had been in the Malfoy's dungeon for weeks. She looked awful, but still persevered through it all. Seeing her like that, shrivelled, ill, weak but still fighting, it tortured him.
But, now, she was the Luna he knew again. Descending the stairs in front of him, she looked as ethereal as she always had, her gorgeous, blonde hair flowing behind her and her blinding smile making him weak at the knees. He had missed exactly this.
Her smile widened a little when her eyes landed in him. She charged forward and engulfed him in her arms, so he reciprocated without hesitation.
"Oh Merlin, I'm so happy to see you." he breathed out.
"I'm happy to see you too, but you're looking a little worn out, Ronald. Are you fairing alright?" she replied easily, pulling back to look him over.
"I mean, I'm kinda tired, yeah." he explained with a humourless chuckle. "We did just break in and out of Gringotts, with a dragon and nearly got caught by Death Eaters in Hogsmeade. Who knew stress could make you this tired?"
"You only need to ask Hermione!" chimed in a chirpy voice he knew all to well. He turned to see his sister, expecting her to come straight to him for a hug. He hadn't been expecting to see her jumping at Neville as enthusiastically as she had. The two of them held each other for a moment before gazing into each other's eyes for several seconds.
"Blimey, she hasn't seen me in months!" he muttered, indignantly, turning to Luna again. "She barely looked at me! I'm only her brother!" Luna just grinned at him.
"She's got lots of those though. Only one Neville!" Seamus pointed out.
"Shut up Seamus." he scowled in reply. "Wait, since when were you two a thing?" he demanded from his sister and friend. The response came from Luna, though. She was clearly trying to save him from another aggressive sibling confrontation, judging by Ginny's face.
"They've got close this year." she explained, rubbing up and down his arm. "Anyway, that's not important right now." She was right, of course.
It was then that Harry tried to enforce that they were not there to fight and the others shouldn't have been called. He also, foolishly, tried to keep every single detail of their mission from all of the people in front of him. Thankfully, Ron and Hermione were able to convince him to let them help a small bit.
After Harry vaguely explained what they needed, Luna had an idea.
"Well, there's the Lost Diadem of Ravenclaw."
"Well, the Diadem is lost, Luna. No one knows where it is, so that's useless." Michael Corner interjected. Ron wanted to smack him, but he could imagine that Luna would be telling him that that wouldn't help, so he clenched his fist and stopped himself. The conversation carried on, and, at one point, Luna mentioned the crown that her father was making.
"My father's replicating it. Remember, I told you, Ron?"
"Oh yeah, we saw it actually." he responded. "Oh and discovered that what he thought was a Crumpled Horned Snorkack horn was actually an Erumpent horn!"
"Ah, yes. I had been beginning to wonder." she revealed. Ron smiled a little at that. Over the last two years, while she had been supporting him, he had found some success in bringing her back down to earth a little. Some of her and her father's crazy theories did hold some merit, he had discovered, but some of the more ludicrous stuff he had been able to make her a little more skeptical of. Perhaps they were both benefitting from their time together.
"Anyway." Harry interrupted. Ron nodded at him apologetically. "Listen, I know it's not much of a lead, but I'm going to go and look at this statue, at least find out what the diadem looks like. Wait for me here and keep, you know - the other one - safe."
"Harry," Cho spoke up. "I'll take you to the Ravenclaw Common Room if you like." Before Harry could respond, Hermione interrupted quite aggressively.
"No, Luna will take him, won't you Luna?"
"Ooh, yes, I'd like that very much." Cho sat back down, looking disappointed. Luna gripped Ron's arm and smiled brightly at him, which he returned, before Neville showed her and Harry to the way out. Ron turned to Hermione with an amused smile.
"Feeling territorial?" he questioned, resisting bursting out into laughter.
"Shut up." she responded, trying, and failing, to hold back an embarrassed grin. Ron then looked around and saw everyone milling about, silently. One or two of them were looking at him and Hermione expectantly. This jump started him back into fight mode. He started thinking about the situation and remembered that they had no Sword of Gryffindor anymore.
"Hermione, its not gonna matter if Harry finds the thing or not, is it?" he asks.
"What on Earth do you mean? Of course it matters?" she responded, looking completely baffled.
"Not if we've got no way of destroying it." Hermione was immediately stumped by that.
"OK, well, we... just need to think of other ways to destroy them. There were other ways, like fiendfyre. Basilisk venom wasn't the only method." Then, it clicked.
"Holy crap. Hermione, look at where we are!" he exclaimed.
"What? Do you know about something in the Room of Requirement that can help?"
"What? No! Hogwarts! We're back at Hogwarts!"
"Well, I'm aware of that! So what?" she demanded, clearly getting annoyed now.
"Well, where was the first one destroyed? Where was that diary when Harry destroyed it?!"
"The Cha... The Chamber of Secrets." she said, slowly catching on to his meaning.
"Exactly! Now, you said that Basilisk venom lasts a long time! That carcass will still be down there. Do you think the venom could've lasted the last, what, 5 years?" She seemed to contemplate this.
"Ummm... I would've thought so. I can't be sure though." she responded.
"Well, it's worth a go, right? If we don't, we might not find any other way to destroy the things." Hermione started looking excited now.
"Do you still remember the way in?"
"Of course! It's in Myrtle's bathroom."
"Then, Ron, we need to go, now!" she insisted. She then turned to Neville. When she did so, Ron noticed everyone watching them, slightly in awe but mostly utterly baffled by the conversation. But Ginny looked grimly aware of more than the others. "Neville, we need to get somewhere. Do the doors still open out on the 7th floor?" Rob hadn't even noticed Neville come back.
"Uh, no. It comes out in different places every time, keeping us from coming out next to any death eaters."
"OK, maybe we'll end up closer to the bathroom then." Ron said, trying for a little optimism.
"Yeah, that's true. Let's keep our fingers crossed then." Hermione responded. The two of them, then, marched over to the other end of the room and, carefully, opened the door.
They came out into a long corridor, at the corner, and saw how dark it was out of the windows.
"Hermione, we're only two floors up. We're basically directly above it!" he whispered excitedly.
"Let's go then!" she insisted.
Together, they scurried there way along the corridor and headed for the stair well. They got down one floor when they heard footsteps. Mercifully, those footsteps were headed away from them. They continued down the stairs. They got to the right floor and made their way down the corridor, the door to Myrtle's bathroom in sight.
But, more footsteps rang out before them. They were coming from the other end of the corridor, past the door they were aiming for. It was clear that whoever it was was heading straight for them. Hermione grabbed Ron by the collar and pulled him backwards towards a, hopefully, empty classroom.
Thankfully, it was. They crouched themselves by the door as they waited.
"You could have strangled me you know!" Ron informed Hermione in a whisper, indignantly. However, her eyes were on whoever was approaching.
"Well, it was that or Snape killing you." Ron's eyes widened and leaned closer to the crack between the door and doorframe to see if it was true.
It was. The treacherous, greasy-haired git was gliding down the corridor, blissfully unaware of their presence. It took every ounce of Ron's self-control to not pounce on him. He made it through, but with bright red nail marks on his palms.
Once Snape was well out of earshot, they exited the classroom and made it to the bathroom.
It had been years since he'd seen the place. It seemed smaller. Much smaller. But, it hadn't changed at all, other than the odd cobweb. Clearly, it remained an abandoned lavatory. Although, the one very noticeable difference was the lack of moaning or sobbing. Perhaps the ghosts had fleed and hidden from Snape and the Death Eaters too; refusing to show support to them. Good on them, he thought.
"Do you still remember how to get in?" Hermione asked, pulling him out of his thoughts. He looked at her briefly then turned to the sinks. He located the tap that had the symbol of a snake on it.
"Pretty sure yeah. Just gimme a second." He strained his memory. The last thing he wanted to do was remember that night, but he needed something from it. He needed a word. He closed his eyes and chanted "Seeearafash." He opened his eyes but nothing happened. He shut his eyes again, tightly.
"Ron? What in the name of Morgana's bosom are you doing?" Hermione asked incredulously.
"Shhh! Gimme a minute! Seeearasash!" Nothing happened.
"Ron! Don't tell me you need to speak Parseltongue to get in?! You can't speak Parseltongue! We need Harry!" she despaired.
"Will you shut up for just a moment! I'm begging you!" He strained his mind as much as he could before trying one more time. "Syarasasha!" He was too scared this time to open his eyes. He didn't need to, however. He heard two sounds that gave away his success. First of all, there was a mighty rumbling from in front of him, and then a gasp from behind him.
He opened his eyes and was greeted with the sight of the sinks dispersing to reveal a tunnel going straight down. The same tunnel he remembers from 5 years prior.
"How did you do that?!" he heard Hermione ask, disbelievingly.
"It's what Harry said to open the Locket. Just needed to try and remember it. Come on." and without a second's hesitation, he jumped down the hole.
As he had suspected, it wasn't as scary and long as he remembered it from second year. When he got to the bottom, he backed out of the way for Hermione. It took a few moments, but she appeared, eyes shut tighter than he'd thought possible.
"Its over, Hermione. You're alright." he reassured. She opened her eyes and took his outstretched hand, pulling her up. He led the way through the tunnels and past the giant snake skin that was flat and rotting after these several years. He had to pull Hermione by the arm then because she had stopped to gape at the size of the thing.
Eventually, they came to another door. He spoke the word in Parseltongue again, only needing two tries this time, and they entered the main chamber.
"Whoa." was all he could articulate. It was magnificent. It was a long hall, snake heads lining the walls.
"I thought you'd been here before, Ron?" Hermione asked, absently while her eyes, wide as he'd ever seen them, roamed the view before them.
"I never got this far. That massive pile of rocks we past? I was stuck behind that thanks to Lockhart. There was only enough space for us cause I was moving them the whole time that Harry and Ginny were in here." he explained as they ambled down the Chamber, admiring the room as they did so.
Eventually, they reached a rise in the ceiling, at the end of the vast hall. They looked up and saw a statue of, who one could only assume to be, Salazar Slytherin. It was 2 or 3 times bigger than any of the full sized giants they had seen.
But, their attention was taken elsewhere only moments later because, at the foot of the statue, there laid a vast skeleton of the very beast that had petrified Hermione and nearly killed Harry in their second year.
The Basilisk.
Ron approached the thing with slight trepidation, but managed to extract 5 or 6 fangs from it's jaws before turning back to Hermione. She was already extracting Hufflepuff's cup from her bag when he made the decision. He held one of the fangs out to her.
"You do it." Her eyes widened immediately.
"What?! Why? You've done this before! It's better that you do it." she insisted, hurriedly.
"Yeah, I've done it before and you're the only one who hasn't. Hey, if I can do it, you can do it. I think you should do it." They stared at each other for a few moments before Hermione, reluctantly, acquiesced and took the fang from him, not before placing the horcrux on the ground.
"What should I be expecting?" she asked, a small, shake in her voice.
"I don't know. I mean, the memory of Riddle in that diary tried to kill Harry, the ring cursed Dumbledore and the Locket tried to manipulate me using my insecurities. They don't seem to all fight in the same way, but it will fight. Just, be ready for anything." he advised.
"Oh, great. Be ready for anything. Really useful!" she whined. She looked back at him, let a moment of shame cross her face before saying a very quiet "Sorry."
Her eyes met the cup, which was laid down on it's side, and he saw the familiar look of determination. But, strangely, as she lifted the fang, getting ready to plunge it at the cup, water started spilling from the cup. More and more started pouring out of the cup. They looked at each other, confused. They looked back at it but, at that very moment, a great gust of wind, or magical power of some kind, erupted from the cup and the two of them were thrusted away, on opposite sides. That eruption seemed to affect the Chamber itself as well, because then there was water filling it from all directions.
It hit them like an avalanche as they tossed and turned, trying to get themselves in the right place and back to each other. But, they were completely submerged now, as was the entire chamber, so he opened his eyes and searched around for Hermione.
It was too dark. He couldn't see a thing, so he got out his wand and cast a lumos. He didn't find Hermione, but he saw a glint of a reflection near him. He looked towards it and saw the cup.
He didn't hesitate to struggle his way towards it. It wasn't easy. The water was still moving manically and there was a great deal of resistance, on top of the fact that he was struggling to breath. He had managed the bubble head charm the year prior, after a lot of effort, but doing it while underwater was different. He didn't have time to focus that hard so he knew he needed to just get to the cup.
As he kicked his way towards it, he saw another light a little way away and looked up to see Hermione, having also lit her wand. She had the fang in her hand, which was a sudden relief for Ron because he hadn't noticed that, in the chaos, he had dropped the other ones. So, he knew what he needed to do now. He needed to get to the Cup and hold it in place for Hermione to destroy it.
He surged forward, as best he could, with a reinvigorated determination. He pumped his arms and kicked as powerfully as he could but his energy was draining, and he was nearly completely out of air. He could feel that he would need to breath in soon. He wouldn't survive much longer. Hermione was making good progress as well, but he had no idea if it would be enough. Would they be conscious long enough to destroy it? We're they about to drown? Was this it for them? Would he never get to see Luna again? Would he never get to kiss or hold her like he wanted to?
That thought nearly broke his heart and he became evermore determined to make it out of this. After another stroke or two, he got his hand on the cup. He then slammed it against the floor and, then, could only wait. He looked up, his eyes landing on Hermione immediately. It was only a few metres. They could do it. But, now he couldn't do anything but wait, resisting the pressure and the lack of air became all the more difficult. He could feel his eyes stinging and his body losing it's strength. He could feel himself losing the battle. His eyelids began to droop and his vision began to disappear. He was losing. He was succumbing. He was dying.
Suddenly, he heard a furious, inhumane scream coming from below him and some kind of explosion blew him backwards. The water flowed out of the chamber, through the gutters at the sides of the hall, and he landed on the wet floor with a thud, sliding towards the basilisk skeleton. He spluttered, water spilling from his nose and mouth. He choked as he pushed himself off his back into a plank position as all of the water escaped his lungs.
He looked up and saw Hermione in a similar state as him. His mind panicked at the sight of his friend in such a state and he struggled his way to her. He couldn't quite get himself upright so he ended crawling over to her. He passed the mangled cup, Hermione now crawling towards him as well, and, eventually, they reached out and took hold of each other's arm. From there, they pulled each other into a tight embrace. Tighter than he had ever had with Hermione.
He loved her more now. More than he ever really had. More than when he thought he was in love with her. They understood each other better now. They had now reached the point of genuine trust. That's what this hug felt like. He felt like he had never trusted and loved her more than he did now. His best friend, Hermione. They pulled back, looking each other in the eyes, and he saw that she knew it too. All of the arguments and tears that they had caused between them, they were long forgotten. This was the moment they both knew that they were lifelong friends.
But, the moment couldn't last too long. There was a job to do. They both turned to look at the cup. It sat there, broken, and it almost looked like a dead body. It had an atmosphere of grief around it. But, their relief was stronger.
"Well, you weren't wrong." Hermione broke the silence. "It definitely put up a fight." In his exhaustion, Ron laughed and nearly became delirious, bent double as he and Hermione cackled. After a few moments, they were able to collect themselves.
"Well, we better get going then. This isn't over yet." he said, standing up and going to pick up all of the Basilisk fangs he had dropped. It only took a moment and, before they knew it, they were running back through the Chamber and it's tunnels, and climbing their way back to the surface.
When they got back top-side, they exited the bathroom but the atmosphere in the corridor was different. It remained empty, desolate even. But, it didn't seem as eerily silent as it had. There seemed to be some movement in the castle that neither of them could place. They gave each other significant looks before, silently, making their way back to the Room of Requirement. They met no resistance, but, when they got to the seventh floor, they saw something incredibly odd.
They were stood by the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy but the doors to the Room were wide open and, in front of them, what looked like the entirety of Slutgerin House were heading for the room. Ginny was stood there, ready to usher everyone in.
"What's going on?" Ron asked when they got closer.
"There's an evacuation. Anyone underage or not willing to fight is leaving the castle through the passageway you guys came in." Ginny explained. "Naturally, the vast majority of Slytherins are heading out."
"Where's Harry?" Hermione asked, hurriedly.
"He's down in the Great Hall, I think. With everyone else." she said, seeming bitter and resentful for some reason. The two of them barely hesitated to start sprinting down to the Great Hall. They fought their way through the crowd, fangs still in hand, and got down to the Hall quicker than they ever had. Students from 5th year and down were all streaming out of the room when they arrived. But there was also a large crowd near the staff table, Harry stood in the centre.
As they got closer, they managed to hear Professor McGonagall say something urgently to Harry.
"Isn't there something your supposed to be looking for?!" she asked, sternly.
"Oh, yes! Thank you Professor!" Harry turned around but didn't go far as he caught sight of his two friends. "Where the hell have you two been?" he asked, furiously. His question was cut short by Hermione's crushing embrace. "Why are you so wet?" he then asked, his fury having been replaced by confusion. In response, Ron held up one of the fangs and Hermione pulled the broken cup from her beaded bag. "How the...? Where did you...?"
"It was all Ron." Hermione said. Ron felt himself begin to blush. "He remembered about the Chamber and that the venom lasts long enough. It was brilliant thinking."
"Sure, but Hermione destroyed the thing." Ron interrupted, wanting not to overshadow Hermione's triumph. "It put up a hell of a fight as well. We nearly drowned." Harry looked utterly flabbergasted.
"OK, well done! But, how did you get in? You need to speak Parseltongue for it to open!" Harry insisted. Hermione just looked at Ron expectantly, so he repeated what he had said to open the Chamber. "I'm sorry, what?!" Ron had to hold back a laugh at Harry's reaction.
"That's what you said to open the Locket that night. Took me a couple of goes but I got it." He explained, sheepishly.
"Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant." Harry said slightly in awe of his best friend. "You both are! So much so I could kiss you both!"
"I'll transfer my kiss to Hermione I think." The three of them giggled for a moment before Harry did, indeed, bring Hermione in for a searing kiss. It was a monumental moment, he knew. They had all understood that the two of them were a thing now, more or less. Jokes were made in the lighter moments, but this was, as far as he knew, the first real kiss. Fear and relief is as good a reason as any, he thought, to stop maneuvering around the obvious.
Ron awkwardly looked around as it went on. He, then, noticed everyone who was there. His family, minus Ginny, the Order, most of the Sixth and Seventh years, including Luna, on whom Ron let his gaze linger a little, and even Percy. He did a double take there. Percy was with them. He couldn't help the smile that grew. As much as he complained about his brother, he felt a lovely warmth spread through his entire body at the sight of his, up until now, estranged sibling. He was then pulled back to his friends when their kiss broke and they began talking again.
"Right," Harry began. "We need to go and find this bloody diadem. This lot are gonna defend the castle. We need to be quick though. We don't know exactly how big this army is or how long this lot can hold out. Let's get going." He then began pulling Hermione with him but stopped when Ron fell into stride next to them.
"Ron, I actually need you to stay here." The adrenaline was gone in a flash. He blanched at those words. He thought he'd done enough. Hadn't he done enough? Enough to earn the trust of his friends back? After his talk with Harry after the Locket, after what had just happened with Hermione, after these past months after he'd returned. Had he not done enough?
"What?" he asked, hoping his heartbreak hadn't bled into his voice. It had. Harry's eyes widened and he surged forward towards Ron.
"No, no, no. Not like that! It's not that I don't trust you! I swear I do!" Then what could it have been. Was he really not good enough? He thought Harry had meant it, encouraging him he was good enough to be with them. He thought Harry seriously saw him as an equal after that night. But, was he lying? Did he just feel guilty? Why would he do that?
"But, I can help!" he promised, tears beginning to creep out.
"I know you can, Ron. I know! But you can do more here! In the fight itself." That confused him. What could he have meant by that? While Ron was pretty good at Defense, and had been improving massively at duelling, which they had practiced on the run, he couldn't see how he could do as much good as all of the others.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Ron, listen to me. You know what's coming. You know everything about this place. Every detail, every passageway, shortcut, everything. And, you know what we've got to offer." He gestured behind Ron. He turned to see the whole group stood there. The Order, the DA, the other students. "This is about to be the biggest battle this castle has ever seen. This is going to be the most important game of chess you will ever play." Ron's eyebrows furrowed at that, turning back to Harry in befuddlement. "And there is no one I trust more to move our pieces around this board than you." He was... He was telling him to lead? He wanted to him to lead the fight?
That was a level of trust and belief he had not been expecting. He had been confident that Harry trusted him to have his back and fight alongside him. But, this was a whole different level. Did he really think he was ready for this? That he was good enough for this?
"Are you serious?" he asked, disbelieving.
"Deadly." Harry responded, his eyes fixed on Ron's. "You are the best chess player this school has ever seen and you have the knowledge and the strategic skills to pull this off. Hogwarts is our home. Defend it." He couldn't believe it. Harry was actually asking him to lead these people in what would come to be known as the Battle of Hogwarts.
"OK." he said, still a little in shock.
"Good." Harry replied, nodding slightly with a smile growing. "Oh! Here, take this. That way you can keep track of everything and find us if you need to." He thrust the Marauder's Map into his hands before taking Hermione's hand again.
"Ron." He looked up at Harry. "Hold them back for as long as you can. The likelyhood is that they'll get in eventually. But, make sure it takes as long as it possibly can. Then, get everyone ready to fight when they do. This isn't going to be easy." he explained sternly. Ron nodded.
"You got it. Now go find this bloody thing and blow it to hell."
"See you on the other side." Harry said before turning and running off. Hermione gave Ron one last encouraging smile and nod before following Harry.
Ron took a slow, deep breath before turning around to see everyone staring at him. Professor McGonagall looked a little skeptical, Remus, Bill and his dad looked downright amused, but his mum beamed and her eyes glistened with pride. He smiled a little before steeling his emotions and addressing them.
"Well then. Let's do this."