That night forward one of the twins slept in Ron's empty bed. Harry found
it slightly comforting, yet disturbing. He'd wake in the night to see the
red hair and want to cry. Other times it just made him angry and he thought
of stomping down to the Slytherin dorms and pounding Ron's head in.
Yet school continued on. Harry was forbidden form all Hogsmeade visits
incase Voldemort appeared or a student Deatheater attack. Dobby was always
a few passes behind him, which got him some lighthearted teasing. Quidditch
was canceled, as was Care of Magical Creatures.
Harry headed toward potion class, his mind never was free of the thoughts
of Ron. How could it be? How can you forget someone who you had shared so
much with? At least harry knew who his true friends were now, Fred and
George, Herminone, Ginny, and all the other Gryffindor's. For no
Gryffindor's had joined the Deatheaters, save for one. Only one Hufflpuff
and three Ravenclaws, but nearly all the older Slytherins had joined.
Potion class had turned into a joke. Ron had instantly partnered up with
Malfoy. They seemed to get along well. Harry watched Ron's movement, he
tried to think of anything else that would have told him of his best
friends betrayal. Ron looked over his cauldron straight into Harry's eyes.
Harry's knees buckled the pain exploded across his scar, his head felt like
it was on fire. It was worse than when Voldemort had touched him in 4th yr.
Seamus grabbed his arm trying to steady him. Harry yanked his arm from the
boy, grabbed his bag and left.
He was over this.this life. Being chased by Voldemort, being stuck in this
school. He wanted out of here, maybe visit Sirius Black. Hell, at this
point he would be happy to return to the Dursley's if they would have him.
He walked the school, finally finding his feet in front of Dumbledore's
office. Dobby came forward and mumbled the password.
Dumbledore was sitting at his desk waiting for him. Harry wondered vaguely
what the man did all day. His desk was clutter free as it always was. Harry
sat with out waiting for an invitation. Dumbledore flexed his fingers. They
sat in silence. Harry emptied his mind, he did not want to think now.
"Well Harry?"
"I need to leave . perhaps visit Sirius. or."
"I'm sorry that's really out of the question. You'll be safest here."
Harry looked at the Headmaster, he hated to be rude, and he trusted
Dumbledore with his life. The man had done everything in his power to trust
Harry, when no one else had done so. He had believed his story at the end
of last year and all pervious years and had even helped him over the
summer.
"Professor" Harry said the words as delicately has he could "I'm leaving
this school. Maybe temporally, maybe permanently. But I am leaving."
Dumbledore hung his head, "Harry, I ask you not to do this at this time."
Harry stood ignoring Dumbledore last response. He slowly walked to the
door, "Sir, may I take Dobby with me?"
Dumbledore smiled "He's a free elf ask him yourself." Dobby ran forward and
tackled Harry around the middle, nearly knocking him over. "I guess that's
a yes."
*********
Harry packed his backpack with as much as he could. He wasn't even sure yet
where he was going. He thought perhaps his families home or back to the
Dursley's. Though he doubted that they would want him back. Uncle Vernon
had spent a week in St. Mungo's hospital after being hit with the Crucio
curse, mostly for just observation, but they were proabley still mad.
Harry turned expecting to see Dobby returning with his broom from the shed.
Instead he found Ron standing there.
"Heard you're leaving school, Potter?"
Harry shook his head, "bastard" he muttered, and turned to continue
packing.
"Going to the muggles?"
"I'm not telling you. you rat. Wormtail."
Ron smirked he dragged his finger across the footboard of Nevilles bed,
then Deans, Seamus, and then his own. He inched forward "I will hand
deliver you to Voldemort. Make no mistake of that Potter."
"It would be the finest moment of your pathetic little life Weasley."
"Yes, it will Potter. I will be rewarded beyond my dreams." Ron's eyes
gleamed with a glee Harry had never seen before. This was not his friend
Ron, this boy who stood before him was a new Ron, possessed with greed.
Harry's stomach was in a knot he didn't know how he had ever become friends
with this person. The very sight of Ron repulsed him.
"It's not over Potter, the Deatheaters will be trimupet in their goal." He
leaned over and poked Harry in the chest.
Dobby ran into the room, "ya get away from my Harry Potter" he shrieked.
Ron laughed a way that confirmed that this was not Ron, it was pure evil.
"Nice, your armies a house elf" Ron thumped Dobby on the forehead as he
turned to leave. Dobby in return sank his teeth into Ron's shin. Ron
shrieked, half of Gryffindor tower appeared in the doorway. The newest
member of Slytherin broke form the commotion and dashed threw the door and
down the stairs, leaving Gryffindor tower, perhaps forever.
******
Harry arrived on the doorsteps of Molly and Arthur Weasley. It was like a
family reunion. Bill and Charlie were both there, Percy was the only one
still at work. Mrs. Weasley pulled Harry into a big hug, one she seemed
reluctant to let go of. He understood, he needed this just as much as she
did, he in return clung to her like a son. She started to cry, muttering
"Oh Harry, were so sorry." over and over again, finally Bill had to pry her
from him.
He didn't speak for fear that he would also break down. He just let his ex
best friends mother hold him giving him tea and cakes. He didn't know what
he had expected to find in coming here. He really wasn't in the mood to
talk. It was sort of like returning to the scene of a crime. He listened to
the friendly rap of the extended family, he didn't follow the conversation,
he was to involved with his own thoughts.
"I'd like to see Ron's room" he finally whispered, maybe there was some
indication of what was going through Ron's mind in there. Molly kissed the
top of Harry's head "of course dear."
Harry slowly made his way up the 3 flights of stairs. He had forgotten what
it was like in this house. The creak of the steps, the lived in look,
comfortable, friendly, inviting, why Ron would want to give this up was
beyond him.
Harry entered the violently orange Ron. The quidditch pictures and posters
were peeling from the wall. A bed and desk stood empty, one bookshelf
toppling over with sets of childhood books and other broken toys and games.
Harry looked at the titles of the books pulling each from the shelf and
shook them out. Nothing on the dark arts. He searched threw the desk
drawers, looked in the closet and the chest of drawers, nothing.
Harry shut the bedroom door locking it with his wand. He got on his knees
and crawled under the bed. He stripped back the carper and pulled up the
per-cut plywood to revel a 1-foot by 1-foot deep hole. Ron had shared his
secret hiding place with Harry the second summer he spent at the Burrow.
They had swiped Percy's journal and needed a hiding place while they read
the book. Since then they have hidden all their treasures here. Many a
nights they had sat here going threw all the past objects and artifacts.
Harry pulled his wand "lumos" it lit the under of the bed. The hole was
empty except for a scrape of parchment. Harry sighed Ron had cleared it out
of everything. Harry ran his hands along the edge of the
box to see if there was anything he was missing. He even stuck his wand in
there to see, nothing. "Nox" the light went out. He put the lid back and
replaced the carpeting.
Harry crawled into Ron's old bed, it still smelled like Ron. He shut his
eyes and drifted to sleep. Please don't let me dream, he whispered.
When he woke Charlie was gently shaking him awake. "Harry, Harry" Charlie
smiled down at him. "You've been a sleep for hours. You want some dinner?"
Harry sat up his head was throbbing. He scrambled out of bed to follow
Charlie downstairs, as he did so the parchment fluttered to the floor.
Charlie picked it up and turned it over.
Trust me
Was all it said. "Where did you get this." Harry took the parchment it was
Ron's messy handwriting.
"It was here in Ron's room."
"Dad and I searched this room, looking for spells and hexes. We didn't see
this."
"It was in our secret place."
"It could be a trap."
"Yeah."
"You don't still trust him, do you?"
"I. don't know.it's hard to. I have the thoughts of Wormtail in the back of
my head, of his betrayal. But then I think this is Ron." Harry turned the
parchment every which way, half expecting more words to appear.
"If he knew something about Voldemort he could have just told me. We always
had our adventures and there was no secrets." Harry mumbled to himself,
trying to work out this message, if it was that. Was this a clue, or was it
just a random piece of parchment. Ron after all would never had expected
him to leave school and come here.
Harry fixed his eyes on the parchment, was history doomed to repeat itself?
Was he about to betrayed by his best friend? His parents had never
suspected Peter, just like Harry would never have suspected Ron.
"Don't tell anyone about this okay Charlie?"
Charlie eyed him, it almost reminded him of Dumbledore. "Okay, for now."
Dinner was a quite affair, Molly had tried to keep the conversation
flowing. But had soon given up. Harry had every intent of returning to
Hogwarts at the end of the week. Charlie said he would accomplish him,
along with Dobby.
******
By the time Harry returned to school September was past and October was
mostly over. Fred and George continued to sleep in the empty bed when
Charlie was at the castle. The tension in the school seemed to be mounting.
It seemed that the school knew a battle was coming. Rumors were flying
freely of Voldemort, of the Deatheaters, of the battle that was yet to
come.
Harry saw Ron in Potion class only. Harry couldn't quite stomach lunch and
dinner with everyone else just yet and avoided it all together. Ron and
Draco seemed to be great friends, they were always in each other's company,
just like Ron and he had once been. If Ron was playing a game he was
playing it well. He harassed the other students just as well as all the
other Slytherins did. He even seemed to building a friendship with Snape,
enough to improve his grade in class.
Harry spent long hours starring at Ron. Ron never went out of his way to
avoid Harry's eyes or stares but he rarely met them. Harry carried the
parchment from the Weasley home with him, he pulled it out of his pocket at
all times of the day to stare at it. No magical words appeared, even when
he had touched it with his wand nothing happened. He had showed it to no
one. He thought about showing it to Dumbledore or Professor Snape, but he
didn't. This was something he needed to keep for himself.
31 October
Like every year on Halloween the 3rd years and above were allowed to go to
Hogsmeade. Harry was one of the few to be left behind, though he was quite
all right with that. He walked the castle feeling how lonely and what an
outcast he had become. Few people wanted to be his friend for fear they
would be the next target of Voldemorts attack.
Harry considered sneaking out, but his heart wasn't in. He stood now at the
foot of the statue Gregory the Smarmy. His mind fought with thoughts, to
stop him from going, there was no reason to go to Hogsmeade, Ron wasn't
there to spend his time with.
Finally Harry turned to head back to Gryffindor tower, when he heard it,
"Stupefy."
Harry fell to the ground, footsteps rushed forward. Harry felt his robes
being lifted, the vile around his neck snapped, and Harry passed out.
