A
week had passed without any sign of Ron. His parents had been sent
an owl, of course, but there was little they could do. Two weeks
passed. Three. Harry and Hermione were worried sick, though not
half as much as Ginny was. Even Draco seemed worried over Ron's
disappearance. True to his word, Ron had tolerated Draco's
prescence. He was worried because Hermione was worried. He had been
hoping to eventually become friends, but also realized that it would
take a long time to undo all the damage he had done over the years.
The
Forbidden Forest had been searched thoroughly. Even the centaurs had
been helping. Every last inch of Hogwarts had been searched. Both
Dumbledore and Filch led parties throughout the castle, long into the
night, looking for any clue that could be found. It was as if Ron
had vanished without a trace. Neville said he had seen him enter the
Common Room, as he was leaving, but beyond that, no one had seen him.
The Fat Lady said he had never left, which only added to the
mystery. How could he go into the Common Room, and vanish without a
trace?
*********************
One
Saturday afternoon, Harry and Hermione wearily climbed the stairs to
the tower after lunch. Worrying over Ron was taking its toll. Both
of them were sleeping less, eating less. Even Harry's scar had begun
to ache, probably from worry or lack of food. They couldn't
understand how everyone else could just go on when a Gryffindor was
missing. Harry was about to go up to the dormitory, when Seamus
suddenly came barreling down the steps, laughing, almost crashing
into Harry.
"Sorry
Harry, I'm trying to escape Neville."
"Why?"
"Cuz
I kinda hit him with a pillow and knocked him over. He's a cinch to
beat in a pillow fight."
"Kinda
slow though, isn't he?" Harry smiled, noticing Neville had
failed to come down the stairs.
"Yeah.
He was right behind me though. Hope I didn't hit him too hard."
"Let's
go make sure he's all right." Harry suggested.
The
room was empty. Neville and Seamus' beds were disheveled, victims of
a spontaneous pillow fight. They called his name, but received no
answer. Harry walked to his bed and noticed his ruby laying on the
floor.
"Oh
yeah, I think he might have fallen into your table when I hit him.
He isn't under any of the beds is he?" Seamus asked.
Harry
placed the ruby back on his table and began searching under the beds
and in the trunks with Seamus. After almost half an hour, they had
searched every square inch of the room, every possible place he could
be, with no sign of Neville.
"Get
Professor McGonnagall." Harry told Seamus. "Whatever
happened to Ron, I think it happened to Neville also."
Search
parties were organized immediately, but to no avail. Neville's
disappearance was even stranger than Ron's. Seamus had seen him only
seconds before, and he could not have snuck by him and Harry.
Harry
sank exhausted that night onto one of the couches. Rather than going
up to the dormitory, he decided to fall asleep there. The voice
hissed at him again in his dreams. "Can you find me before I
find you?" it taunted. "You are so close, but you'll die
before you find out. You'll never defeat me."